Please ask me to be the emperor

"What happened to Yang Sichang?" Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian frowned and asked.

Because Fu Zonglong has a bad temper and offends too many people, Zhu Youjian also hates him a little.

But Yang Sichang was different. When Zhu Youjian was still King Xin, he had read twenty volumes of Yang Sichang's work "Collection of Local Officials" and particularly praised his talents.

After Zhu Youjian got rid of Wei Zhongxian, he successively appointed his father and son. Along the way, they patrolled Ruzhou Road, Bazhou Road, and even ordered the Shanhaiguan Internal Supervision Army to prepare the road.

Eventually, he was successively appointed as the right-hand censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, governor of Shanhaiguan and Yongping Mansion and other local military affairs, and the right-hand minister of the Ministry of War and the governor-general of three towns in Shanxi.

"Governor Xuanda is concerned with the safety of the capital, so don't touch it lightly!" Upon hearing this, the courtiers quickly dissuaded him.

Just kidding, we know you dote on Yang Sichang, but there is no reason to change positions casually. If this is the case, nothing can be done.

Wen Tiren quickly reminded: "The imperial court has agreed that Chen Biqian should be appointed governor of Henan. If he is removed without reason, it will be nothing!"

"Does Chen Biqian know military matters?" Chongzhen asked with some dissatisfaction.

Nowadays, thieves are rampant, how can we do whatever we want? If something unexpected happens, it will cause great trouble to the world!

Chen Biqian and Fu Zonglong were both from censorship backgrounds. Unfortunately, Chen Biqian did not have the opportunity to prove his talents like Fu Zonglong, so Chongzhen was quite hesitant.

"If you want to choose someone who knows the military, I have one person to recommend." Wen Tiren thought for a moment and then said, "Liang Tingdong, the former Minister of the Ministry of War, was more than 10 years old in the center, and the military affairs he reported were mostly appropriate. Although there are flaws, they are also good. Uncut jade.”

In fact, the reason why Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet, ignored him was that he was worried that Chongzhen would replace him after Yang Sichang had been trained many times. Therefore, he deliberately pushed back and blocked Yang Sichang's qualifications as much as possible to prevent him from entering the cabinet early.

Uncut jade? What kind of jade is he? Zhu Youjian wanted to laugh a little when he heard this. He completely ignored the thoughts of Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet, and was still thinking about how to exterminate the bandits.

Liang Tingdong once served as Minister of the Ministry of War in Chongzhen for about three years, but he had no choice but to leave because he "used a few people for personal gain".

However, although this person is not good at private practice, he is somewhat capable.

After thinking about it, Zhu Youjian ordered: "Fu Zonglong will be restored to patrol Henan, and he will be given the title of censor of Youqiandu."

"Appoint Chen Tingdong as the right minister of the Ministry of War and the censor of the right capital. He will be the governor of the military affairs of Shaanxi, Gansu, Yansui and Ningxia. He will take office immediately without any mistakes!"

Originally, Fu Zonglong should have served as the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi in the 14th year of Chongzhen. As a result, he was defeated by Li Zicheng before he could get his ass hot. Later, the rebels who chased him had his head chopped off, his nose and ears cut off, and he died outside the gate of Xiangcheng.

And Liang Tingdong should have replaced Yang Sichang as governor-general of Xuanda in the winter of the eighth year of Chongzhen. In the second year, because the Qing army entered the pass and failed to resist, he took poison and died out of fear of crime.

It was only because Liang Tingdong was originally from Yanling, Kaifeng Prefecture, Henan, that he was moved to the post of governor of the three sides of Shaanxi in order to avoid his hometown. The original governor of the three sides, Fu Zonglong, became the governor of Henan that he had never served in history.

The feudal officials in these two places have been decided, and Chongzhen felt a little at ease.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Fengyi, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, quickly made another suggestion: "There has been no military activity in the interior for a long time, and the soldiers are unable to fight. Now, although Hong Chengchou, the governor of the five provinces, has been defeated, the governors of the three provinces can still recruit troops and horses to resist the thieves."

"Although the land in Henan is rich, the west of Henan has been lost. It is no longer difficult to recruit gourds and miners as soldiers."

"I also heard that the Dengfeng Shaolin Temple was destroyed by thieves. The monks suffered heavy casualties. The thousand-year-old temple was destroyed and the Shaolin monks are no longer usable."

"Only Kaifeng government officials can recruit one or two, but because of the scarcity of personnel, it is difficult to take on big posts."

"Moreover, in the southern Zhili area, thieves are rampant. With the new governor of Fengyang, Zhu Dadian, it will be difficult to control them in a short period of time."

"In my opinion, the elite border troops should be mobilized to destroy the current bandits as soon as possible, so as to avoid long nights and dreams, which may lead to changes!"

Zhu Youjian couldn't help but nodded when he heard the words and said: "Zhang Shangshu is really a mature man who plans for the country. I also have the same intention. I don't know how to choose him. Do you have any idea?"

Zhang Fengyi responded when he heard the words: "The thieves seem to be surging now, but in fact there are only two places. One is in the west of Henan and Henan. It is becoming more and more powerful and is a bandit. If it is not eliminated for a long time, it will be a worry to the heart!"

"One is in southern Zhili, attacking the central capital Fengyang. I want to cut off the canal transport but underestimate the canal grain. This is a choke point. If you are not careful, the capital's canal grain will be cut off and the elites from nine sides will have nothing to eat!"

"And the thieves also have the idea of ​​seizing the grain, following the example of Zhai Rang and Li Miwa Gang in the late Sui Dynasty. They will definitely be unstoppable by then!"

Chongzhen couldn't help being frightened when he heard this, and almost wanted to take action. After finally stopping his anxious mood, he couldn't help but ask: "In Zhang Shangshu's opinion, how should we act?"

Zhang Fengyi, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, pondered for a moment and quickly responded: "The policy of the minister is called 'one attack, one defense and one interception'."

"What is 'one offense, one defense and one interception'?" Zhu Youjian asked quickly.

"This attack will be in southern Zhili. Water transportation and the capital are like the throat and people. If a person cannot breathe for a while, he will not be able to live; if the capital is without food for a day, the nine sides will not be stable."

"If the thieves are allowed to break through Huai'an, Xuzhou and other places again, and drive away the people with food, I fear that it will cause disaster to Shandong and Beizhili, and to Yangzhou, Yingtian and other places. Therefore, we must strengthen the troops under Zhu Dadian, Governor of Fengyang, as soon as possible. Horse, urgent order to defeat the thief."

"I propose to dispatch 12,000 troops from Zu Kuan, Li Chongzhen, Ni Chong and Mou Wenshou to increase their strength. We will send Liu Zeqing, the chief military officer of Shandong Province, to protect the canal supply."

"Yes!" Chongzhen nodded when he heard this. The five battalions totaled 15,000 people, which was enough to drive away the thieves in Southern Zhili.

However, he still felt uneasy and added another sentence: "You must order Zhu Dadian to protect the safety of transporting grain and grass, and be careful not to be taken advantage of by thieves."

In the Ming Dynasty, the grain transported by water was not transported directly from the south of the Yangtze River to the capital in one go. There were many transshipments in between.

Among them, Huai'an, Xuzhou, Dezhou and Linqing, four cities located along the canal, were transfer stations. Most of them had granaries, storing millions of grains, for transfer purposes.

If one of them is really captured by the rebels, they can open a warehouse to store grain, and they can raise a million soldiers in an instant, and then Chongzhen can find a crooked neck tree to hang on.

Seeing that Chongzhen fully agreed with his opinion, Zhang Fengyi couldn't help but be greatly encouraged, and quickly continued: "This defense is to defend Shaanxi. Now that the thieves have broken through Hongchengchou, the officers and soldiers have suffered heavy losses. In their eagerness, they cannot destroy the thieves in time." .”

"The imperial court should immediately order the governors of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Huguang and Henan to step up defense and beware of thieves attacking the city and plundering the territory."

"Especially since both Shaanxi and Gansu have elite soldiers and are leaderless, this is especially critical. If it is obtained by thieves, they will be as indistinguishable as the Tartars, and they will be able to separate themselves from each other!"

"I have urgently ordered Zuo Guang, the commander-in-chief of Shaanxi Province, to guard Tongguan first and be on standby. When the thieves are tired, the governor will reorganize the army and wait for an opportunity to come out and destroy the thieves!"