The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 177 Political Turmoil
While Jiang Han's army was happily celebrating the Lunar New Year in Shanzhou City, thousands of miles away in the capital of the Ming Dynasty, in the Forbidden City, Emperor Chongzhen was also joyfully celebrating this year's Lunar New Year.

Compared to the simple and lively atmosphere of Jiang Han's makeshift troupe, the New Year celebrations in the capital were much more solemn and elaborate.

Starting with the Laba Festival on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the palace began to busily prepare for the New Year.

Offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God, sweeping the New Year, hanging New Year pictures, hanging various exquisite palace lanterns... all these activities exude royal grandeur and create a lively atmosphere.

Emperor Chongzhen, who was known for his frugality, was in high spirits this year and made an exception by being generous.

He personally issued an edict to reward the empresses, princes, princesses, civil and military officials, eunuchs, and palace maids with a considerable amount of gold and silver ingots, as well as silk and satin as annual gifts.

Upon receiving the reward, the ministers were overwhelmed with gratitude, and congratulatory messages poured into the palace like snowflakes.

On New Year's Eve, Emperor Chongzhen held a grand banquet in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, with all kinds of delicacies from land and sea, a dazzling array of food.

The banquet was filled with singing and dancing, and opera performances continued. The emperor and his subjects enjoyed themselves together in harmony, and they finally had a proper and good New Year, sweeping away the previous decadence.

There was no other reason than that the fourth year of Chongzhen's reign was arguably the most pleasant and successful year for Zhu Youjian since he ascended the throne.

In Liaodong, the once-destructive Battle of Dalinghe has come to an end. The Later Jin Tartars, unable to capture the city after a long siege, finally withdrew their troops. Zu Dashou also successfully escaped and returned, finally managing to hold the Guan-Ning-Jin defense line.

In addition, the rebellion of Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng, which had been rampant in Shandong for a time, was also suppressed.

In Shanxi and Henan, the military governor Hong Chengchou even issued a proclamation announcing his victory, claiming that the government troops had decisively defeated the bandits in the Huaiqing Prefecture area, beheading tens of thousands of them, and that the notorious bandit Wang Jiayin had already been beheaded.

Seeing these successive reports, Emperor Chongzhen was overjoyed and filled with boundless pride:

My Great Ming Dynasty is invincible!

Overwhelmed with emotion, he immediately took Crown Prince Zhu Cilang to the Imperial Ancestral Temple and burned all the recent reports of victory to comfort his ancestors, hoping that they would continue to bless the Ming Dynasty and ensure its longevity.

However, amidst his joy, Chongzhen also discovered several less "harmonious" war reports and impeachment memorials containing mutual attacks among a stack of memorials.

The first letter was from Cao Wenzhao, in which he wrote:

"In this battle to suppress the rebel Shangshanhu, Shenmu Lieutenant General Ai Wannian was greedy for merit and acted rashly, disobeying orders, which caused his troops to be surrounded, suffer heavy losses and casualties."

"Guerrilla General Zuo Guangxian feared the enemy like a tiger, avoided battle and watched his allies be defeated and killed."

"Zuo Liangyu, the deputy commander of Changping, was lax in his military discipline, allowing his troops to plunder the local area and missing crucial opportunities, which enabled the enemy troops to easily cross the river."

Zuo Liangyu's memorial, however, was sharply opposed:
"I impeach Cao Wenzhao, the deputy commander of the Yansui East Route, for being stubborn and self-willed, easily believing the slander of bandits and spies, and failing to distinguish truth from falsehood, which led to the defeat of the army."

"Furthermore, Qin generals Zuo Guangxian and Ai Wannian, among others, failed to provide adequate support, acted slowly, and allowed our troops to fall into peril, which was a major reason for the defeat."

As for Zuo Guangxian and Ai Wannian, they formed a united front, and their memorials contained almost identical content:
"We impeach Cao Wenzhao, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Route of Yansui, for readily believing slanderous words and remaining unmoved when friendly forces were in trouble, which led to their tragic ambush by enemy troops."

"We, your humble servants, impeach Zuo Liangyu, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Changping, for his ineffective combat performance, which allowed the enemy troops to move freely along the Yellow River."

Emperor Chongzhen read these memorials, which were all about shifting blame to each other, over and over again, and all he felt was a headache coming on.

Instead of reflecting on their own mistakes, these four defeated generals are fighting amongst themselves.
Emperor Chongzhen originally intended to dismiss all of them from their posts, investigate them, and bring them back to the capital for trial.

However, in his report, Hong Chengchou strongly recommended Cao Wenzhao, Zuo Guangxian, and Ai Wannian, saying that these three were all veteran generals who had fought many battles and that he hoped they could redeem themselves by making meritorious contributions after their temporary setback.

Zhu Youjian now trusts Hong Chengchou implicitly. Since Governor Hong has pleaded for leniency, he naturally won't refuse Hong Chengchou's request.

So Zhu Youjian suppressed his displeasure and stopped pursuing the three men's mistakes. He simply issued separate decrees to reprimand them and ordered them to atone for their crimes by performing good deeds, so that his future performance would be observed.

Emperor Chongzhen was such a person. When he needed his ministers, he would give them his complete trust and reliance, and even tolerate some "out-of-line" behavior.

Even when Yuan Chonghuan executed Mao Wenlong without consulting him first, he could still grit his teeth and bear it.

On the other hand, Zuo Liangyu had a powerful minister in the court, Hou Xun, the Minister of Revenue, who vouched for him. After weighing the options, Zhu Youjian gave Zuo Liangyu another chance.

It must be said that Emperor Chongzhen was in an extremely good mood at this moment.

If this had happened a few months earlier, if he had seen these reports, he probably would have sent every single one of Cao Wenzhao and the others to the imperial prison to "reflect on their actions."

The problem of military generals shifting blame among themselves has been temporarily resolved, but the civil officials in charge of coordinating local military affairs have started fighting amongst themselves again.

The Governor of Shanxi, Song Tongyin, together with Wang Guoliang, the General of Shanxi, and Xuan Mo, the Governor of Henan, jointly submitted a memorial impeaching Governor-General Hong Chengchou with strong language.

They accused Hong Chengchou of condoning his generals, including He Renlong, to plunder and harm the people during the bandit suppression campaign.

Back then, Hong Chengchou led tens of thousands of troops, marching from Shaanxi into Shanxi, and then fighting his way into Henan.

His strategy was to suppress the bandits while simultaneously obtaining food from the enemy.

Of course, this "enemy" sometimes also includes the local people.

Inspector Hong always believed that these unruly people were inherently rebellious.

As citizens of the Ming Dynasty, faced with these bandits and rebels who were destroying the country, they not only did not think of rising up in resistance to protect their homes and country;

Instead, they flocked to join the thieves and became accomplices to the wicked for a pittance.

In Governor Hong's view, if loyalty is not absolute, then it is absolutely disloyal!
Therefore, during the suppression of bandits, Commander Hong decisively adopted the "Three Alls" policy, leaving nothing but desolation wherever his army went.

In addition, the consumption of food and supplies for tens of thousands of soldiers and horses was staggering. After a few months, they almost devoured all the prefectures and counties in Shanxi and Henan.

Seeing their jurisdiction ruined by Hong Chengchou, resulting in widespread poverty and resentment, the two local governors, Song Tongyin and Xuan Mo, naturally refused to stand by and watch.

They even neglected to suppress the remaining rebels within their borders, instead focusing on mobilizing censors and officials to gather evidence of Hong Chengchou and his arrogant and unruly troops. Every few days, a group of people would submit memorials to the capital, requesting the emperor to make a judgment and severely punish Hong Chengchou and his associates.

But at this critical moment when manpower was needed, and Chongzhen had just received news of Hong Chengchou's victory, he certainly wouldn't punish Hong Chengchou for such a "trivial matter".

In his view, eliminating the bandits was the most important task.

In this process, there were some losses in the local areas and some grievances suffered by the people, but these were all "necessary sacrifices" made for the stability of the Ming Dynasty.

For the sake of the Ming Dynasty's long-lasting prosperity, there was no other way but to let the common people suffer for now. I'm sure they would understand the court's predicament if they knew in the afterlife.

Now that Wang Jiayin has been beheaded, the court's next target naturally falls on the notorious bandit Shangshanhu, who has been entrenched in Shanzhou.

Since the civil and military officials at the front were fighting amongst themselves, Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand and prepared to send another general to suppress the "tiger who went up the mountain".

After careful selection, Emperor Chongzhen finally chose Deng Qi, the deputy commander-in-chief of Sichuan who had made numerous military achievements, and ordered him to personally lead 4,000 Sichuan soldiers to the Henan Prefecture area at full speed.

There is only one objective: to stop the giant bandit, the Tiger, from fleeing further south.

In addition, Chongzhen transferred Zuo Liangyu to Xuanmo's command and ordered his deputy general Tang Jiuzhou to select 3,000 Changping soldiers to compensate for Zuo Liangyu's losses.

Everything is ready. We just need to wait until next spring, when the weather warms up, to organize another large-scale encirclement and suppression operation, and make sure to wipe out the Mountain Tiger's forces near Shanzhou City.

But once the emperor speaks, the generals who actually carry it out are in big trouble.

After receiving the imperial order, Deng Qi, the deputy commander-in-chief of Sichuan, looked worried.

Deng Qi was a veteran who joined the army in the first year of the Tianqi reign. He made great contributions in suppressing An Bangyan, the chieftain of Shuixi in Guizhou, and was promoted to the position of Vice Commander.

He then rose through the ranks to become the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Sichuan, and followed Commander-in-Chief Du Wenhuan of Sichuan in quelling the She'an Rebellion.

In the second year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, the Later Jin dynasty entered the pass, and Deng Qi personally led 6,000 soldiers from Sichuan on a long journey to aid the capital.

He made outstanding contributions in the battle to recapture the four cities of Zunyi and Yongzhou.

Such a loyal and capable general naturally caught the eye of Emperor Chongzhen, who promoted him to the rank of Commander-in-Chief and assigned him to guard Zunhua.

In the fourth year of the Chongzhen reign, Kong Youde, Li Jiucheng, and others staged a mutiny in Wuqiao and captured Dengzhou City.

Adhering to the principle of using someone to their fullest potential, Emperor Chongzhen issued a decree to send Deng Qi to Shandong to suppress the Dengzhou-Laizhou Rebellion.

Not long ago, Deng Qi had just recovered the cities of Dengzhou and Laizhou, driving the rebel army to Liaodong.

Now, before he could even settle in, he received another order from the emperor, commanding him to immediately lead his troops to Henan to suppress bandits.

Upon receiving the order, Deng Qi had no idea how to address his soldiers.

I only came to the capital to defend the emperor, how did I become a firefighter now? I'm being moved to wherever there's trouble.

He hasn't been home for two whole years since he led his troops out of Sichuan to fight.

With the Spring Festival in full swing, the Sichuan soldiers under his command are all eager to go home.

Now, instead of receiving the imperial decree to return home, he is being sent to Henan to suppress bandits.

In addition, it's freezing cold now, and everyone is trying to stay warm during the winter, but I have to lead troops to suppress bandits. It's simply outrageous!

However, the emperor's decree was of utmost importance, and Deng Qi dared not disobey it.

He could only suppress his anger and lead his four thousand Sichuan soldiers to Henan in a great hurry.

After marching for several days in the dead of winter, the soldiers under his command were full of complaints and their morale was low.

Deng Qi had lived through the second year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, so he was certainly aware of the mutiny that occurred when the border troops came to the aid of the emperor.

Fearing a mutiny, he could only turn a blind eye and no longer restrained his troops, allowing his generals Wang Yuncheng and others to burn, kill, and plunder along the way to vent their anger.

The people along the way suffered greatly, and the prefectural and county officials submitted petitions to complain. Fan Shutai, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of Works, impeached Deng Qi for allowing his soldiers to abuse the people. However, Emperor Chongzhen was eager to appoint capable people and ignored the petitions. He merely symbolically sent the eunuch Zhao Jinzhong to Deng Qi's army to supervise the troops.

At first, Zhao Jinzhong thought he had landed a great job and that there would be plenty of money to be made along the way.

After making inquiries from various sources, he learned that Deng Qi was going to Henan to suppress the notorious bandit Jiang Han, known as the Mountain Tiger.

Zhao Jinzhong was so frightened that his legs went weak and he almost collapsed to the ground.

Back in Shilou County, he cooperated with Jiang Han to stage a grand scheme of substitution, and successfully rose from the Directorate of Ceremonial to the Directorate of Ceremonial.

But now, after going around in circles, why has the Emperor transferred him back again?

The image of that terrifying bandit leader once again surfaced in Zhao Jinzhong's mind.

It’s over! It's all over!

Zhao Jinzhong felt a chill run down his spine, and cold sweat instantly soaked through his clothes.

That mountain tiger is cunning and ruthless. If he finds out that I am in Deng Qi's army, he might use the old story of Shilou County to blackmail me into betraying the imperial army.

Therefore, Zhao Jinzhong made up his mind to keep a low profile, try not to show his face in the army, and even more so to prevent the bandit leader from knowing that he was in the army.

　Happy Dragon Boat Festival to my family!

　　Oh no, it's a duplicate! What should I do?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)