Chapter 352: Minister of Rites (10)
"Ming Shilu" records: On Jiazi day, the emperor led the troops north to Checher Mountain, encountered Hu soldiers, fought with them, captured their chief general Borin Temur and dozens of others, chased them to Uriankhaitu City, encountered Kharawu, fought with him again, defeated him, and then withdrew his troops.
Qian Qing told the history of the early Ming Dynasty to the Manchu officials who claimed to have come to persuade them to surrender. In the 29th year of Hongwu, Prince of Yan Zhu Di once again led his troops to Liaodong to attack the remnant Yuan forces, chased them to Wulianghatu City, defeated Kharawu and returned.
Under the careful planning of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, many Jurchen tribes were conquered in successive expeditions. The entire Liaodong region, as well as Outer Northeast and Sakhalin Island, surrendered one after another, laying the foundation for the Ming Dynasty's rule in the area.
Seeing the look of the Manchu opposite him change from astonishment to helplessness, Qian Qing couldn't help but sneer: "Humph! The Nurhaci you are talking about was originally a wild tribe from Tungus. He came to be a domestic slave for Li Chengliang and sought to make a living under the rule of the Liaodong Commandery. After that, the Manchus claimed that Manchuria was the Manchus' homeland. Have you ever read an education? Can you please have some shame?"
After hearing Qian Qing's ridicule to this extent, several Manchus were so angry that their faces turned pale.
Qian Qing was also looking at these Manchus, and felt that they might walk away in anger. However, Qian Qing was disappointed, and saw that several Manchus actually tried their best to calm down and said politely: "We are not here to curse. May I ask this lady, if the court will forgive the past and let Mr. Huo surrender, is Mr. Huo willing to give up the dark and join the light?"
Qian Qing was a confused. If he heard correctly, these Manchus came to persuade Huo Chong to surrender. Qian Qing felt angry because he did feel angry. But overriding this feeling was a funny feeling.
The Chinese army was invincible, and the Qing army was defeated again and again. At this time, the Qing actually sent people to persuade Huo Chong to surrender...
"Bullshit!" Someone next to Qian Qing started cursing loudly.
Qian Qing didn't bother to see which young and energetic person couldn't help laughing. He was about to turn thirty, and he had never thought that he would encounter such a funny thing. Qian Qing couldn't help laughing.
Everyone in the room was stunned by Qian Qing's laughter, and Qian Qing was laughing so hard that he fell backwards. Suddenly, Qian Qing felt sad and his eyes were wet.
My whole family was killed and I barely escaped from prison. At that time, I felt that there was no place for me in the world. I was tired and hungry, and there were only wolves in the wild mountains and ridges following me. They must be waiting for me to die so that they can eat my body.
In such a desperate moment, I only thought about fighting the two wolves to the death, pretending to be dead to lure the wolves to my side, and then killing them with a knife. I survived by eating the wolves' flesh and blood.
Then, I met my master Huo Chong.
Qian Qing wiped his wet eyes, and then looked at the envoys sent by the Qing Dynasty to "recruit surrender", and felt that the eyes of several people were surprisingly similar to those of the two wolves. They were eyes of testing, expectation, fear, and trying to avoid. They were eyes that wanted to continue to try even though they knew there was danger.
The powerful enemy that had made Qian Qing feel despair more than a decade ago has seen its fate of destruction in front of Huo Chong, whom Qian Qing followed.
What a relief and joy this is!
Qian Qing waved his hand, "You guys go now. When you go back, quickly prepare a grave for yourself. Otherwise, your body will be abandoned in the wilderness after you die."
The Manchus had never been so angry before, and the leader finally exploded, "Don't think the court is afraid of you."
"If you are not afraid, why did you come here?" Qian Qing just wanted to get rid of those people as soon as possible, so he said to the people around him: "Send them away. Don't do anything to them. If these people have the courage, they will go to the battlefield in the future. Then they will be dead."
After hearing Qian Qing's words, the staff around him immediately stepped forward to see the guests off. No matter how the Manchu envoys tried to talk to them, they pushed and shoved them out of the door.
Qian Qing felt his legs go weak, and then he realized that he was too excited, so he just sat down.
An indescribable feeling filled his chest, with both sadness and joy. What supported Qian Qing over the years was the desire for revenge and gratitude to Huo Chong. Qian Qing still remembered that when he was subdued by Huo Chong and taken back to Zhangdian, he felt that nothing mattered. If he fell into the hands of a strong stranger, he would probably be taken away and bullied. He had already killed the jailer and escaped from prison. At most, he couldn't stand the bullying and escaped again.
Unexpectedly, when he had already decided to bow his head to the trick of fate, Master Huo Chong neither bullied him nor abandoned him. In addition to giving Qian Qing a full meal, he also gave Qian Qing a piece of iron wrapped in a cloth strip.
Not wanting to be seen crying, Qian Qing stood up and left. Returning to the study room, Qian Qing opened a wooden box on the bookshelf. On the brocade inside was a rough and crude iron tool that was hard to describe. More than a decade ago, after Huo Chong handed this iron dagger to Qian Qing, Qian Qing had been carrying it with him. Even though Huo Chong gave Qian Qing a sharper iron dagger, Qian Qing did not throw away the dagger that he had secretly sharpened in the dark.
When did he put away the dagger? Qian Qing also forgot. It seemed that it was after he learned swordsmanship from Huo Chong, when he felt that he could protect himself.
Since then, Qian Qing has changed many swords, but he has never thrown away this dagger. This is the first thing he received from Huo Chong. When he received this self-defense weapon, Qian Qing felt hope again. Even if it was just a little bit of hope, it brought a glimmer of light to Qian Qing's dark world.
Touching the iron dagger with his fingertips, he felt the large amount of grease applied for corrosion prevention. Hope is something that either exists or it does not exist. After the moment of regaining hope, more than a decade seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye. Today, seeing that the arrogant Qing Dynasty actually tried to change their fate of destruction by surrendering, Qian Qing realized that the glimmer of hope that he once had had has turned into a clear sky.
Even though the other side of the sky was still covered with dark clouds, Qian Qing was no longer the little girl she used to be.
He slammed the wooden box shut without putting it away. Qian Qing turned around and went to Huo Chong. The horse was going faster and faster along the way, and Qian Qing still had to work hard to control himself from running away.
Go to Huo Chong, go to Huo Chong. At this moment, Qian Qing only wanted to go to Huo Chong and tell him all the excitement in his heart. If he couldn't share all this with Huo Chong, all this would be meaningless.
Almost rushing into Huo Chong's office in the military academy, he saw Huo Chong raising his head. Qian Qing suddenly didn't know what to say and stood at the door in a daze.
Huo Chong in front of him had a lot of white hair, and the white hair in his beard looked very eye-catching in the sun. At this moment, Qian Qing couldn't believe his eyes. In his mind, Huo Chong had always been the tall young man with black hair. He was the young man who turned his head to look at Qian Qing, captured Qian Qing, and led Qian Qing forward.
In such shock, Qian Qing heard Huo Chong laugh: "Haha, what are you standing there for? Are you so angry that you beat up the people sent by the Qing Dynasty to persuade them to surrender?"
His master was actually old? Qian Qing just couldn't accept it. In the indescribable sadness, Qian Qing just felt his eyes were hot again.
"Hey, hey, you're not going to kill anyone, are you?" Huo Chong was really shocked.
Qian Qing couldn't bear it any longer, and took a few steps forward, grabbing Huo Chong's arm just like he did more than ten years ago, "Sir, you...I...you don't want to grow old."
Although Huo Chong didn't know what happened, he was also moved. He sighed: "...Silly girl, everyone will grow old."
There were too many things in the boiling emotions, but Qian Qing couldn't say anything else. He could only stubbornly oppose Huo Chong's statement, "The master will not grow old, definitely not."
Huo Chong didn't know what was wrong with his apprentice, so he could only turn a blind eye and said, "Okay, okay, I won't get old. But did you kill anyone?"
Only then did Qian Qing remember those bastards and shook his head, "No, I had them chased away. Those people are so shameless that they dared to come and persuade us to surrender!"
Talking about the situation, Huo Chong was not surprised at all. "Is it normal? If it were me, I would also be surprised why the enemy did not pursue us even though they had won the battle. Maybe there was a problem within the enemy, or maybe there was an epidemic in the enemy's army. If we can't figure it out, we can only guess what the enemy is preparing to do. Speaking of which, we are doing something earth-shattering. Qing'er, I want to ask you, do you want to be the Minister of Personnel?"
Seeing that Huo Chong couldn't understand his mood, Qian Qing felt extremely depressed and replied angrily: "I don't want it. It's so complicated and few people care about it."
"Don't be angry. The Qing dynasty is just desperate. The next time they come, they will probably beg for mercy. Then I will let you deal with them and see how they kneel down to you. Your family has been harmed by the Qing dynasty, and you have to vent your anger."
Qian Qing felt very disappointed when she heard Huo Chong's soothing words in a caring tone. Was she a child who would never grow up in front of Huo Chong? Did her teacher never notice that she was no longer a child?
"Qing'er, if you don't want to, then recommend someone else. I like Luo Yiren, but he's still young, and I'm afraid he won't be able to hold his own. After all, our people won't be convinced by him."
"With the master here, what does it matter if I'm not convinced?" Qian Qing had to return to his previous role as Huo Chong's spokesperson.
"The Ministry of Rites is a vanguard, not an official. Officials have their own system, and those officials only need to abide by the system. The people in the Ministry of Rites are different. They have to pave a way for everyone. They are our comrades and cannot be used and thrown away. We are responsible for everyone to the end. Just like you, as a squad leader, you have to lead everyone to do things. You must never treat your own people unfairly, and you must never bully honest people. If you can do these things, I will protect you even more."
Qian Qing was suddenly a little angry at this. Since Huo Chong was protecting her, shouldn't he marry her? But when the words came to her lips, Qian Qing couldn't say them at all.
In such shyness, Qian Qing quickly gathered his emotions and returned to the position he was used to. As Huo Chong's apprentice and spokesperson, Qian Qing felt that this position of following Huo Chong closely could protect himself, especially maintain his relationship with Huo Chong.
After calming down, Qian Qing thought for a moment and an idea came to his mind, "Sir, since the Ministry of Rites is holding an election, why not wait and see. Perhaps Gao Pang can do something."
"Gao Pang... we can only wait and see what happens over there. Now each department has its own interests. We can only wait and see whether Gao Pang can lead the Rites branch in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to create a vanguard that transcends departmental interests. However, the most urgent task at the moment is to first solve the foundation of the land revolution. As long as the people are mobilized, there is actually nothing to talk about in terms of victory in the war."
"Sir, do you have to wait for the troops from Lianghuai to be recruited?"
"Once the Huai River and Huai River areas are mobilized, Henan will be stable. If Henan is stable, it will be useless for the north and northwest to make trouble. The main contradiction at present is the land issue. Once the land issue is sorted out, the old order that depends on land relations will immediately collapse. I think it is a waste of time to attack the upper echelons of the old order in order to achieve quick success and instant benefits."
Qian Qing did not quite agree with Huo Chong's idea. If the Qing Dynasty was defeated, wouldn't it be easier to deal with the landlords and gentry below? Even though Huo Chong insisted that keeping the Qing Dynasty would leave the gentry with someone to flee to, and it would be easier to deal with the gentry. Qian Qing still felt that Huo Chong overestimated the gentry's backbone.
So far, except for those who served as officials in the Qing Dynasty, the number of gentry who fled was very limited. They just lamented their fate and passively accepted it. There were even guys like Luo Yiren who happily defected to the side of Huo Chong, who was supposed to be the enemy, in this war.
For example, Gao Pang's teacher Chen Mingtai, as a supporter of Confucius and Mencius, the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues, should have risked his life to incite a group of people to fight against Huo Chong, and then he was killed.
But in reality, those guys who shouted "The king is the leader of the ministers, the father is the leader of the sons, and the husband is the leader of the wife" readily abandoned the Qing Dynasty as their master, and let their sons and daughters take the civil service exam and become officials. They put on airs in various ways, and then obediently sought a place in the Chinese court. In the face of the overwhelming advantage of the Chinese army, those guys turned their faces faster than turning the pages of a book.
Thinking of this, Qian Qing sighed and said, "Sir, I will select talents as soon as possible and ask those who can't keep up with the team to leave."
Although Huo Chong felt that Qian Qing's attitude was a bit negative at the moment, he still encouraged him: "Haha. Thank you for your hard work."
The news that the Qing Dynasty came to Xuzhou, the capital of the Chinese court, to surrender quickly spread to all places controlled by the Chinese court. Except for a few confused guys, anyone with a little knowledge felt the weakness and fear of the Qing Dynasty.
The hatred for one's parents is irreconcilable, this is the view of ordinary people. However, scholars would describe it as "the hatred for one's ruler and father must be avenged".
For the current Qing Xi'an Emperor Hong Zhou, the hatred for the emperor and father is no longer a general term, but a real hatred for the emperor and father. If Hong Zhou surrenders Huo Chong, it means that the hatred for the emperor and father is nothing. Forcing the Qing Dynasty to this point only proves that the Qing Dynasty has no confidence in defeating the Huaxia Army and has to play some dirty tricks.
When Gao Pang talked about this with his father-in-law Chen Mingtai, Chen Mingtai was very emotional. Seeing the once arrogant Qing Dynasty fall to such a state, Chen Mingtai couldn't help but mock it.
Seeing the teacher's sigh, Gao Pang didn't feel anything. He felt strange when he felt that he didn't care at all. If we talk about family background, Chen Mingtai is just a Juren, Gao Pang is the champion. Gao Pang should be more concerned about the Qing Dynasty. But the reality is completely the opposite.
But this cannot be said. Gao Pang knew that saying this would be disrespectful to the teacher. So he changed the subject, "Teacher, His Majesty asked the Literature and History Bureau to quickly sort out the things from the Qing Dynasty. We in Jiangnan cannot be worse than Shandong."
Chen Mingtai was even more moved when he heard Gao Pang's request. "Your Majesty is trying to dig up the roots of the Qing Dynasty. You are really wise. As long as the world understands that the Manchus are just a tribe that took advantage of the situation, the gold they put on their faces will be stripped off immediately."
Gao Pang nodded repeatedly and quickly asked about the teacher's research results. Chen Mingtai took out some historical materials.
The Odorli tribe moved to the Tumen River Basin, and in the ninth year moved to the Suifen River Basin, where they lived and grazed in the Jianzhou Guard. According to the "Ming Shilu", no later than the fourteenth year, the Ming government established the Jianzhou Left Guard in its place, and appointed the leader of the tribe, Mengge Timur, as the commander of the Jianzhou Left Guard. The two guards later moved around. In the third year of Zhengtong (1438), the Jianzhou Guard moved to the Suzi River Basin in the upper reaches of the Hun River , and lived and grazed in the present-day Laocheng Town (Hetuala) of Xinbin County. In the fifth year, the Jianzhou Left Guard also moved here and lived in Fuala City. In the seventh year, the Ming government separated the Jianzhou Right Guard from the Jianzhou Left Guard. Mengge Timur's younger brother Fancha was appointed to be in charge of the Right Guard, and Mengge Timur's son Dongshan was appointed to be in charge of the Left Guard. With Qinglongling (Maerdunling) as the boundary, the Jianzhou Three Guards were thus formed.
The ruling area of the Three Guards of Jianzhou roughly extended from the northeast to the Tumen River Basin, southeast to the Yalu River, west to Kaiyuan and the Liaodong Border Wall area. In the early days, it belonged to the Nurgan Commandery, but later it was mostly managed by the Liaodong Commandery. The leaders of the Three Guards were mostly hereditary, but they had to be recognized by the Ming government before they could take effect, and they had to go to the capital Yanjing to pay tribute every year. The Ming Dynasty often used conflicts and containment between tribes to rule the local area, and maintained trade exchanges with the Three Guards in normal times.
As a general of the Ming Dynasty, this has been passed down for 6 generations, which is very certain.
From the Zhengtong period to the end of the Ming Dynasty, the three Jianzhou guards basically settled in the Suzi River Basin in the upper reaches of the Hunhe River. Their activity area extended to the Tumen River Basin in the northeast, the lower reaches of the Yalu River in the southwest, and the Kaiyuan to Liaodong Border Wall in the west. Initially, they were under the jurisdiction of the Nurgan Dusi, but in fact they were mostly under the jurisdiction of the Liaodong Duzhishisi. Their leaders were appointed by the Ming government, received imperial seals, and wore crowns and robes; promotions, changes of titles, and migration to pastoral areas all required approval from the Ming government; their armies obeyed the Ming court's conscription; leaders at all levels paid tribute to the capital (Beijing) every year. According to the "Ming Shilu", the last tribute of the three guards was in the 23rd year of Wanli (1594) .
