Watching the changes in the political situation and the erosion of the war in the Northwest, Zhou Zheng concentrated on his affairs.
Sun Chuanting came to Beijing many times and asked him some questions.
Zhou Zheng talked with him for a few days, and went to Tianjin Wei personally, gathered the people, introduced Sun Chuanting to them, and then determined the reform and advancement arrangements of Yongping Mansion, Hejian, Laizhou, Dengzhou and other prefectures.
By the time Zhou Zheng came back from Tianjin Wei, it was already October.
The court was worried about the war in the northwest. Hong Chengchou mobilized a lot of soldiers and horses to chase and intercept the insurgents and bandits, with little effect. The bandits were too chaotic, and they affected too many places. This side did not die, and the other side rose again. He was fighting with the officers and soldiers. During the continuous growth, he also learned various tactics.
The originally scattered bandits gradually showed signs of contacting each other and cooperating against the officers and soldiers.
Hong Chengchou gradually felt helpless, and began to purge various officers and soldiers, preparing to deal with the biggest ones, and get rid of the'head evil'.
However, there are dozens of officers and armies from various provinces in the five provinces, governors, governors, general officers, and more general soldiers. There are also prefects in some localities. They are not under the control of each other. Hong Chengchou still has difficulty deploying. All kinds of problems.
In the 7th year of Chongzhen, at the end of October, Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang posted a heroic post, calling on the'rebels' from all walks of life to come to Xingyang to hold a meeting to discuss and deal with the army.
The officers and soldiers of the various roads are standing in front of the enemy. The court was even more panicked and desperately thinking of countermeasures.
Emperor Chongzhen paid homage to the ancestral temple in plain clothes, and cried to sacrifice to heaven and earth. It was the first time that he had sinned himself!
This shows that Daming has reached a very dangerous juncture!
In the eighth year of Chongzhen, on the sixth day of the first lunar month, thirteen chaotic bands from the 72nd Battalion gathered in Xingyang and adopted Li Zicheng’s strategy of “dividing troops and determining whereabouts” instead of scuffles, and coordinated more targeted cooperation to deal with officers and soldiers. .
Once the chaotic bandits had order and goals, they would no longer fight alone, split their forces and deal with the officers and soldiers in a targeted manner. Hong Chengchou immediately encountered great difficulties.
In the eighth year of Chongzhen, on the 16th day of the first month, Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others attacked Fengyang, destroyed the imperial mausoleum hall, burned the Longxing Temple, killed more than 60 eunuchs, and left thousands of officials and soldiers in the Ming Dynasty.
Fengyang, also known as "Zhongdu", was the hometown of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. The so-called Longxing Land, the dragon veins were destroyed, and the government and the wild were in great pain.
Chongzhen cried again and sacrificed to the ancestral temple, and sinned twice.
The entire court suddenly panicked and violently disturbed.
This time, unlike the past, Fengyang was breached, as if foreshadowing something. Not to mention other places, the capital was the most frightened. There were talks about Fengyang everywhere, and the topic of "subjugation of the country" was no longer covered up. .
The Lantern Festival this year is probably the most embarrassing in recent decades.
Zhou Zheng didn't want to go out to play, so he slipped the children at home.
On this day, Zhou Qingli came back from outside, did not go back to his study, and went straight to Zhou Zheng's yard.
This kind of situation is extremely rare. Zhou Zheng hugged Xiao Deshen and stood up quickly and said, "Father, what's the matter?"
Zhou Qingli did not usually see the joy of her grandson, so she sat down and said, "I have something to tell you."
Shangguanqing listened inside, and came out yelling'Father', and took the little guy away, leaving Zhou Zheng and his son behind.
Zhou Qingli's expression was condensed, her brows wrinkled, and she said for a while: "Hong Chengchou is somewhat unsupported in the northwest. The court has discussed adding one prime minister of the five provinces. Hong Chengchou will run the northwest and the other southeast. There are some controversies at present, and many people tend to prefer. As for Lu Xiangsheng, Zhang Tangbu insists on you."
Zhou Zheng's expression was slightly different when he heard it. He didn't know this yet. It was obviously only in the brewing stage of a few people.
Zhou Zheng picked up the teacup and poured tea for Zhou Qingli, looking thoughtful.
He is very similar to Lu Xiangsheng. Lu Xiangsheng reorganized the Daming Mansion and other armaments, and Zhou Zheng simultaneously reorganized the Yongping Mansion. However, the development trajectories of the two were completely different. Zhou Zheng mainly faced the prisoners, while Lu Xiangsheng focused on suppressing the bandits.
Six years have passed since the second year of Chongzhen. Lu Xiangsheng has made great achievements in battle, and is now in the fourth rank. The army he led is known as the'Tianxiong Army', which is quite prestigious.
This time, no matter who is the prime minister of the military affairs of the five provinces, he must at least be assigned the rank of Minister of War, that is, from the third grade, formally stepping into the'management' of Ming Dynasty and becoming an official high-ranking official.
Zhou Zheng thought for a while, raised his head to look at Zhou Qingli, and said, "Father, what do you think?"
Zhou Qingli's expression was solemn, her brows wrung, and her mood was very tangled.
Daming is in such a crisis, he naturally hopes that he or his son can come forward and turn the tide, but he is worried that his son will not help the situation, but also hurt himself.
Zhou Zheng looked at Zhou Qingli's expression and guessed his thoughts, and said: "Father, want me to go?"
Zhou Qingli sighed softly and said: "The Northwest Chaos has been three years from the Apocalypse to the present. How many governors, governors, and no one has died. I want you to go, but I am afraid that you will never return."
Zhou Qingli understood that this second son was really going to face the northwest gangsters. He was afraid that he would have to be arrested by the court soon. He would go to jail for a while, but he would be put to death for the rest of his life.
Zhou Zheng thought of the ending of Lu Xiangsheng in his mind. Like Cao Wenzhao in history, he was besieged by the bandits, and other officers and soldiers sat idly by, running out of ammunition and food, and died on the battlefield.
Zhou Zheng couldn't make a decision for a moment, so he thought about it carefully and said, "Father, let me think about it."
Zhou Zheng now has no official positions and no handy troops. If you go to the northwest, you may not be able to mobilize people from all walks of life, and this is not in his plan. Zhou Zheng needs to think carefully.
Zhou Qingli nodded gently and said, "Father knows that this is embarrassing you, so think about it. No matter how you decide, Dad will support you."
Zhou Zheng responded thoughtfully, and suddenly some reaction came, looking at Zhou Qingli and said: "Father, you won't, are you planning to go into an official position?"
Zhou Qingli didn't conceal what was going on, but shook her head again, saying, "The current court is not the first year of Chongzhen, so I can't go back. The emperor... doesn't necessarily want me to go back."
Zhou Qingli sighed, and said lonely: "The letter from the Bi family, Bi Jinghui is afraid that it won't last long."
Bi Jinghui means Bi Ziyan.
Zhou Zheng nodded silently. In fact, there was some kind of fault in the talents of Daming, and such faults were constantly appearing.
In addition to the constant deaths of military commanders, there are also various deaths of civil servants.
In the last years of Chongzhen, the phrase "The death of the court, the death of the Ming Dynasty" also shows that the talents of the Ming Dynasty have been exhausted and cannot be saved.
"Father, want to go and see?" Zhou Zheng asked.
Zhou Qingli was silent for a long time, and sighed: "How can I not give it away? I plan to leave Beijing in a few days."
Zhou Zheng thought for a while and said, "I will send someone to escort my father."
Although the civil unrest in the five northwestern provinces is the most raging, there is actually no place in Daming that is stable. Even in the prosperous Nanzhili, there are various bandits and mutinies, which are extremely insecure.
Zhou Qingli did not object, stood up and said, "Think about it."
Zhou Zheng sent him out and stood under the eaves, his expression condensed.
Daming is now at the crossroads of national subjugation, and many signs are already very obvious, and there is pessimism both inside and outside of the country.
Even if it was long ago determined and affirmed that the current court is irredeemable, Zhou Zheng still felt a strange depression, a sense of emptiness, and uncomfortable breathlessness in his heart. (End of this chapter)