Chapter 360: Minister of Rites (XVIII)
"Sister Qing, is there any good news?" The sixth sister Wan Qian asked in surprise when she saw Qian Qing.
"Sister, what happened to you? Why are you so happy?" Liang Liang asked happily when they saw Qian Qing.
When Qian Qing saw Qiangwei, although he didn't say anything, he wanted to see what Qiangwei would say. However, Qiangwei didn't say a word until they parted, which made Qian Qing a little disappointed.
Not long after sitting in the office to work, Qiangwei sneaked in and asked Qian Qing in a low voice: "Sister, have you met a good man?"
Qian Qing was so angry that she wanted to curse! I have so many good men around me, why do I need to meet a new good man?
But Qiangwei's words were not malicious, and Qian Qing knew this. In the end, he said nothing.
Between women, not saying anything often implies more than saying something. Qiangwei realized that this matter was more troublesome than she had imagined, so she said nothing in the end.
Qian Qing didn't want to say anything. Qian Qing . Now that he thought about it, there was indeed no one more suitable than Taoist Changxin in the Chinese court. But the most important thing was that Huo Chong didn't show any sign of rejection.
As for Huo Chong's dilemma, Qian Qing felt resentful but also understood it. He even felt sorry for Huo Chong.
The Chinese court is such a big deal, enough for Huo Chong to worry about. However, marriage is a big deal! Especially when it comes to Qian Qing's marriage, if Huo Chong doesn't take it seriously, Qian Qing will only be sad. It's necessary to affect Huo Chong's mind and pull him out of the big deal of the Chinese court!
Between the Chinese court and Qian Qing, Qian Qing believes that even if it is just for a few days, he has to put himself before the court!
However, Qian Qing had various thoughts in his mind. When he saw Huo Chong was still busy with the affairs of the court, he put this competitive mood aside.
Perhaps he was used to this kind of work, or perhaps overthrowing the Qing Dynasty was also a necessity for Qian Qing, or perhaps he was just willing to share Huo Chong's worries. In short, after Qian Qing received Huo Chong's order, his mind was full of Huo Chong's order itself, "Sir, why do you want to raid the capital? Is there any big shot in the capital?"
"Hong Zhou will take a small part of the archives in the capital when he leaves. Most of them are still in the capital. The people in Shengjing are definitely not interested in them. We must take them back before there is a big chaos. This operation will not be short. It will take at least a month or even two months to search out so many things. It is not easy."
After hearing what Huo Chong said, many people, including Qian Qing, were puzzled.
Looking at these guys, Huo Chong casually pulled out a few books from the bookcase behind him and threw one to each of them. Everyone was quite skilled and caught the books easily.
Huo Chong knew that Qian Qing had been insisting on running drills, and the other generals had only recently lost their potbellies and recovered their skills.
However, everyone had already made an effort, and Huo Chong did not bring up the past. "Weigh this book and think how heavy it is. And guess how many books like this we need to bring back from the capital."
The books of the Chinese court were all printed in printing houses. The paper used was very cheap, and the characters were small and clear under the lead type ink. A book was light and fluttery, and everyone felt that it weighed about 2 taels. In this era when 16 taels were still common, it was 50-100 grams.
"If that's the case, you have to bring back at least a few million books like this, maybe even 10 million. Many of them are unique copies, and there are also archives. Hundreds of thousands of kilograms, or even millions of kilograms is possible. These things have to be packed, especially. It's not easy." Huo Chong was very concerned about this. It is said that in this era, the information about Yuan Chonghuan had not been destroyed. This was undoubtedly a case that Huo Chong cared about.
Hearing this number, the group of people present at the meeting were a little confused. These guys had an idea of what a million was. They had participated in battles with a scale of 100,000 people and had seen enemies with more than 100,000 people. A million was not something that was difficult to understand.
Qian Qing couldn't help but ask: "If that's the case, can we send 50,000 people?"
The number of 50,000 people has been generally recognized. It is indeed necessary for 50,000 people to handle such a complex problem. Ten million divided by 50,000 equals 200. It is not easy for one person to collect 200 books.
Everyone immediately started discussing the issues of transportation and sorting, and Huo Chong was delighted. After all, these guys were really useful. At least before Huo Chong gave the order, they could design solutions to the problems that needed to be solved.
Since everyone was capable, Huo Chong did not interrupt and just let everyone do it. However, Qian Qing asked a question while everyone was still waiting, "Sir, do you have any calligraphy or paintings you want to get?"
Huo Chong was a little unhappy, "If I say that I don't have anything to keep for myself, can you believe it?"
Everyone nodded first, then shook their heads. The third apprentice brother, Tie Niu, who is now the commander of the Security Command, said, "Big Brother, if you don't take it, those bastards will. I know what you mean, Big Brother. I think if you want to keep those things, you have to get them."
When Tieniu said this, even Qian Qing nodded repeatedly. Huo Chong also felt helpless. In terms of status, Li Tieniu had not been a frontline commander. But he was not without war experience. In several battles where people were lined up for execution in the plains, the troops responsible for guarding Huo Chong also participated in the war. The performance of the third junior brother Li Tieniu was quite satisfactory. Even if it was not remarkable, there was nothing to criticize.
Li Tieniu's current position is equivalent to that of the Nine Gates Admiral. He controls the Imperial Guards. His words made Huo Chong feel that Tieniu's political awareness might even be better than his military talent.
If Huo Chong had not taken those excellent cultural relics into his hands and put them in museums for exhibitions, the people below would never have regarded these cultural relics as public goods and would have privatized them.
Thinking of this, Huo Chong sighed. Some principles can be said, but when it comes to practice, you can't do it according to that principle. Because there is no corresponding punishment measure for this principle. If there is no reason for punishment, it is probably better not to say anything.
Perhaps this question was too depressing, so Qian Qing found a more lighthearted topic, "Sir, don't you want to find something for yourself?"
"I have things I'm curious about, but nothing I have to get. Because before I saw the real content, I had already made up my mind. That is the conclusion about the Donglin Party. These guys are all bastards. At least for me, who does not stand on the side of the landlord class, I think the Donglin Party are all bastards..."
Some of the people understood Huo Chong's attitude, while some did not. But they still listened.
The Donglin Party was a bureaucratic political group mainly composed of scholars and officials from the south of the Yangtze River in the late Ming Dynasty. It was founded by Gu Xiancheng, a doctor in the Ministry of Personnel of the Ming Dynasty, and lasted for nearly 40 years until the end of the Ming Dynasty.
In the 32nd year of the Wanli reign, which was 1604 AD, Gu Xiancheng and others restored the Donglin Academy where Yang Shi of the Song Dynasty taught, and gave lectures there with Gao Panlong, Qian Yiben and others.
The Donglin Academy lectures were held at a time when social contradictions were becoming increasingly intensified in the late Ming Dynasty. Donglin scholars satirized the government and commented on officials. They demanded honesty and integrity, the revitalization of officialdom, the opening of channels for speech, the elimination of the accumulated malpractices in the court and the opposition to the corruption and abuse of power by the powerful. These views that criticized the current political situation received widespread sympathy and support from the society at that time, but were also fiercely opposed by the eunuchs and their affiliated forces. The differences in political views between the two evolved into a fierce party struggle in the late Ming Dynasty. The opposition generally referred to the lectures at Donglin Academy and the people in the court and the public who were related to it or supported and sympathized with the lectures as the "Donglin Party."
Huo Chong's attitude towards this is very clear, "Don't ever bring up an individual. We all know that if someone has only shortcomings and no advantages, then this person is a true god. This person is an absolute great god. Everyone understands, right?"
Everyone thought about it for a while and nodded. It was not easy for a useless person to survive. It was even more difficult for a person with only shortcomings.
"As long as you are a person, you have to have some good points, and even say some good words. If we simply talk about this, everyone is a good person, and everyone is helpless due to the situation. So it is better to be rough than to be detailed about such matters. I have only one opinion, that is, whether this group of Donglin Party members have ever truly and effectively implemented the collection of taxes from the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River. If they have never really and effectively implemented it, what they said is of no use! After all, many of these Donglin Party members are officials. If these officials were the ones who could truly implement the collection of taxes from the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, the situation would be very different. Occupying the toilet without doing anything proves that these people are against the collection of taxes from the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River and the gentry in the entire Ming Dynasty."
Huo Chong was a little worried that everyone didn't understand, but everyone did. It seems that the results of actual work are different.
Even the more honest Tie Niu sighed, "That's true. Big Brother, as long as those people don't do anything, they are doing bad things."
After reaching a consensus, Huo Chong continued to speak. The problem with the Donglin Party was that they never mentioned the essential issue of economic stance, but just talked nonsense. This nonsense made it impossible for the government to function.
The political activities of the Donglin Party in the late Ming Dynasty lasted for half a century, spanning the reigns of Emperor Shenzong Wanli, Emperor Xizong Tianqi and Emperor Sizong Chongzhen. As there was no fixed charter or strict organization, their political attitudes and ideas were often expressed through personal activities.
In summary, it roughly includes:
First, he strongly demanded a change in the situation of eunuchs' autocratic power and disorderly politics, and advocated that "political affairs should be returned to the six ministries, and public opinion should be handed over to the censors" so that the world would "hope for good governance"; second, he strongly opposed the emperor's dispatching of mining supervisors and tax collectors to various places to engage in crazy plunder and extortion; third, he advocated paying attention to both agriculture and industry and commerce, requiring benefits for merchants and the people, reducing taxes, reclaiming wasteland and building farms, and developing water conservancy; fourth, he opposed the frequent cheating in the imperial examinations, and advocated recruiting scholars regardless of their rank and status, and giving them special admissions based on their personal talents; fifth, he strengthened the military force in Liaodong and actively defended against the attacks of the Manchu nobles.
Qian Qing was already laughing out loud after hearing this, while some of the others understood but some didn't quite understand.
Tie Niu asked in confusion: "Big Brother, isn't the first point about seizing power from the emperor?"
"Hahaha. Tieniu, well said. That's what they meant." Huo Chong praised. "At that time, there was also a so-called eunuch party. It was Wei Zhongxian. Have you heard of him?"
The founding generals shook their heads, only Qian Qing smiled and said nothing. Huo Chong briefly talked about the eunuch system of the Ming Dynasty, Wei Zhongxian and the eunuch party. When he heard that the eunuchs did not dare to go down the river bank during the flood, but wanted to live and die with the river bank, Tie Niu sighed and shook his head. The other generals followed suit and sighed, "This is military law!"
Thinking of this, Huo Chong suddenly had some ideas. "Hey, I actually want to shoot a few new dramas. For example, Dragon Gate Inn is about how the East Factory was hunted down by the Donglin Party in order to save the orphan of the crown prince. There are also things like mines, which compare the East Factory with those so-called literati officials."
"Sir, is this why you want to take back those files?" Qian Qing was the most educated and felt that he had found the reason.
Huo Chong quickly corrected, "Getting these archives, including the Sikuquanshu, is to preserve culture and history. I want to do some research on the basis of preserving historical culture. The cause and effect relationship cannot be reversed."
If Qian Qing had listened to Huo Chong's words in the past, he would have listened obediently. Even if he didn't accept it, he wouldn't have shown it.
At this moment , he felt that his mood was affected, and he couldn't help pouting, showing a little unhappiness. Then seeing Huo Chong's helpless look, Qian Qing suddenly wanted to tease Huo Chong.
But at this moment, Tie Niu continued to ask honestly: "Big Brother, so, scholars are bad people."
Huo Chong nodded repeatedly, "The evil deeds of intellectuals are that they don't work. If a person doesn't work, he's doomed. There's a person I care about, his name is Yuan Chonghuan. This guy is amazing."
When the generals heard that Yuan Chonghuan dared to write in the official document that "one cannon can be fired more than ten miles away, destroying everything within a few miles". Huo Chong laughed and said, "This is a scholar."
Everyone laughed even harder. For a moment, no one knew what to say, they could only laugh non-stop. The air was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
Later, when people heard Huo Chong say that Yuan Chonghuan had dared to forge an imperial edict to kill Mao Wenlong, some people could not help but start cursing.
As for hearing that one of Yuan Chonghuan's greatest "achievements" was to allow tens of thousands of Qing troops to sneak through Jimen Pass, even those who had never been to Jimen Pass, as long as they heard a little about the local terrain, they couldn't help but curse, "Is this guy a liar?"
"I've only heard about what happened back then, but I don't know the details. That's why I'm particularly curious." Huo Chong sighed.
Huo Chong also has a conclusion about the debate on Yuan Chonghuan, because Huo Chong is puzzled by the description of Yuan Chonghuan by those who praised him as a national hero.
In November of the second year of Chongzhen (1629), the ruler of the Later Jin Dynasty, Huang Taiji, led hundreds of thousands of troops to enter Longjing Pass and Da'ankou. Upon hearing the news, Yuan Chonghuan led Zu Dashou and He Kegang to guard the pass, and left troops to guard the cities of Jizhou, Funing, Yongping, Qian'an, Fengrun, and Yutian. When Emperor Zhu Youjian learned about it, he was very happy and ordered to reward Yuan Chonghuan's subordinates and let Yuan Chonghuan lead the reinforcements from various places.
If this is true, then Yuan Chonghuan must bear all the losses in the war. If all the merits are attributed to the superiors and all the faults are borne by the subordinates, then this kind of person is just a vulgar person and cannot be called a national hero at all.
Huo Chong told his subordinates about this issue, and they all agreed. Huo Chong wanted to take this opportunity to talk to everyone and see how they felt about this matter. Seeing that everyone was quite satisfied with his response, he was relieved. At least these people would not share the same opinion as Yuan Chonghuan.
If these people were the same as Yuan Chonghuan, the Chinese court would be doomed.
Because, not long after Yuan Chonghuan received this order, Zunhua and Santunying were both captured by the Later Jin army, Zhao Lujiao was also killed in the battle of Zunhua, and the governor Wang Yuanya and the general Zhu Guoyan committed suicide. The Later Jin army crossed Jizhou and headed west, approaching the capital, and Yuan Chonghuan hurriedly led his troops to protect the capital.
Qian Qing couldn't help but say, "Sir, what you said makes me want to go to Jimen Pass to take a look. How can this man still have the nerve to live after doing this?"
Other generals also looked helpless. Someone sighed, "After the commander of the theater received the order, the front line of the theater collapsed. Such a person can still be called a great loyal minister. Haha. No wonder the Ming Dynasty fell. It would be strange if it didn't end at this point."
Huo Chong went on to give a brief description of what he knew.
Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian summoned Yuan Chonghuan and rewarded him with royal wine and food and a mink coat. Yuan Chonghuan was exhausted from the long journey and asked to enter the city to rest, but was rejected. So Yuan Chonghuan stationed his troops outside the city and fought with the Later Jin army, with both sides winning and losing. Yuan Chonghuan ordered Dai Chengen to line up at Guangqumen, Zu Dashou to line up in the south, Wang Chengyin to line up in the northwest, and Yuan Chonghuan to line up in the west to prepare for battle. At noon, the Qing cavalry attacked from the southeast. Zu Dashou led his troops to fight hard, but Wang Chengyin withdrew his troops to the south to avoid the battle. The Later Jin army fought Zu Dashou hard, so they retreated. Ming generals Liu Yingguo, Luo Jingrong and others led their troops to pursue, killing and wounding more than a thousand Later Jin soldiers, and many Ming soldiers were also killed and wounded. After the troops were withdrawn, Zhu Youjian rewarded the army with wine and food.
Yuan Chonghuan also sent Ren Shouzhong to lead 500 people to bombard the Jin camp with artillery. The Jin army retreated and the siege of Kyoto was lifted.
After saying this, especially the last part, Huo Chong asked: "I read this in the history book and it was very strange. Yuan Chonghuan fired a few shots and the matter was over. If it wasn't said like this, I would have believed that Yuan Chonghuan was just incompetent."
After listening to this, Qian Qing only said, "Sir, there is definitely something wrong with Yuan Chonghuan. From a military point of view, this person at least does not understand military affairs at all. It is completely wrong for someone who does not understand military affairs to be appointed as a military governor. As for whether Yuan Chonghuan himself did anything, it does not matter."
The generals were obviously not interested in what Yuan Chonghuan had done. Everyone shared Qian Qing's view that when a man who had no knowledge of military affairs became the "theater commander", things had reached a stage where there was nothing much to discuss.
Huo Chong was satisfied, but he also discovered something about himself: he was too much of a scholar. Instead, he was not as pragmatic as his subordinates. At least from a military perspective, Huo Chong should not have had the slightest expectation of Yuan Chonghuan.
Therefore, Huo Chong ordered, "Go ahead. I don't care about anything in the capital. But these documents and archives must be seized no matter what. Control them in your hands. If you have any other questions, contact me immediately."
