Chapter 369: New Outlook of the Ministry of Rites (V)
In June of the fourth year of Qianlong, General Fucha Fuqing of Jiangning, who was stationed in Wuhu, received two pieces of news.
The good news is really good. Hong Zhou, who led the army in person, finally conquered Shengjing. The emperor Hong Xi, who was established by the Eighth Prince in Shengjing, fled Shengjing and his whereabouts are unknown. Hong Zhou's biggest enemy, the Eighth Prince, died of illness before Hong Zhou conquered Shengjing.
Jiangning General Fu Qing even felt that it was because of Lao Ba's accidental death that Hong Zhou was able to take advantage of the chaos in the Shengjing army to attack Shengjing.
Anything other than good news is not good news. Hong Zhou ordered Fu Qing to attack Jiangning again to avenge last year's failure.
Fu Qing is really determined to "live and die with the country", but Fu Qing's subordinates do not seem to be so determined.
"General. Back then, our Qing Dynasty entered the country and swept across the world. Now that the emperor has recaptured Shengjing, the road to the country has been opened!"
"Yes! General, we still need to forge firearms and train soldiers."
Fu Qing was not angry. It was easy to understand what these people were thinking. When Dorgon's cavalry entered the pass and swept across China, the main force was the Qing army that entered the pass from the south. Fu Qing and his men were just a small army.
If Fu Qing attacks Jiangning first, then Fu Qing will bear the burden of the attack. It will also be the pressure for the court to attract the Huaxia Army. The attitude of the subordinates is very clear, and they must not do this.
The generals did not reach a consensus. When Fu Qing returned to the back tent, several staff members worriedly advised him, "General, we must not attack Jiangning again. Why don't we send troops to Anhui?"
Someone took the lead, and the other staff members also expressed their agreement. "The bandits have occupied Jiangning for three years. At this time, Jiangning City has been completely conquered by the bandits. If we attack again, I am afraid we will still not be able to take it down."
Fu Qing did not comment, but listened quietly. The staff members also had the same opinion. The Huaxia Army had not established a firm foothold in Jiangning before, and Fu Qing's army of more than 100,000 people still suffered heavy casualties and returned in vain. Now the Huaxia Army is not only more stable, but has even broken through Fujian. If they attack Jiangning again, the situation will be even more unfavorable.
After the staff finished speaking, Fu Qing asked them to leave. At this time, his mood became even worse. Fu Qing couldn't help but slam the table to vent his dissatisfaction with the situation.
Whether it was his subordinates or his staff, Fu Qing was very disappointed. If he could not launch a fierce attack while Shengjing was defeated and morale was high, could he wait for Huo Chong to continue to expand his power step by step?
Looking back at Huo Chong's rebellion over the years, it completely presents the style of "sitting bandits". The scary thing about bandits is that they roam around everywhere, causing unrest in the world. However, although the bandits are vicious and cunning, they can only move around and can never occupy a place.
As long as the bandits occupy a place, they will immediately lose their fighting spirit and cause internal unrest. At that time, the imperial court will send troops to encircle and suppress them, which can ensure that the bandits cannot become bigger.
The bandits seemed to be stable and not aggressive. However, they really took every inch they could get. Jiangning City was so big that it could not be defended without 100,000 people. But Huo Chong had been entrenched for three years, and Jiangning City had become a place that the government troops did not dare to attack easily. Not to mention that in the past ten years, the land Huo Chong had obtained had not been lost to the government troops, not even a county.
Three cities are lost today, five cities are lost tomorrow. If this continues, the whole world will be completely devoured by Huo Chong.
After confirming this, Fu Qing decided to fight Huo Chong again no matter what. However, after making up his mind, Fu Qing felt a little guilty. Can he really beat the Chinese army?
On June 15, Lei Hu received news that the Qing army, after obtaining food from the two lakes, was preparing to attack Jiangning again.
After reading the report, Lei Hu was not interested in commenting, but ordered the headquarters to prepare for war. After handing over the work to others, Lei Hu rode his horse and went to the riverside to relax.
No one in the headquarters dared to say a word. After Lei Hu left, everyone whispered that many high-ranking guys seemed to be in a bad mood recently.
There are even people who, without knowing where they got the courage from, said, "Beauty is really a disaster."
However, as soon as these words came out, the others immediately turned their faces away, and even left the office directly. It can be seen that most people are very afraid of talking about Qian Qing and Huo Chong's marriage behind their backs.
Lei Hu was in a very low mood. When he passed through Jiangning City, he completely ignored everything around him. He walked to the riverside in an empty space, and only when a gust of river wind blew did he raise his head and look at the rolling river in front of him.
Qian Qing's thoughts were no secret. Although Lei Hu didn't like to pry into other people's privacy, he knew about it. However, Lei Hu always had the expectation that "sincerity can move mountains and open rocks". After all, his competitor was not other generals, but Huo Chong. Huo Chong didn't seem to respond to Qian Qing's feelings before.
So among the other generals who are interested in Qian Qing, Lei Hu... at least Lei Hu believes that he has an advantage, and a big one.
Now everything is over. Lei Hu couldn't help but feel some resentment towards Huo Chong.
As the river breeze blew, Lei Hu suddenly had an impulse. Maybe if he returned to Xuzhou and talked to Qian Qing again, there would still be room for a turnaround.
The thought became stronger and stronger, and Lei Hu just wanted to set off now.
After a while, Lei Hu recalled the Qian Qing he had seen over the years. Every time Qian Qing looked at Huo Chong, and the attitude he showed towards Huo Chong, the deep affection in her was undoubtedly from the heart. Qian Qing truly loved Huo Chong, and was not coerced by Huo Chong. How Lei Hu wished that Qian Qing would look at him with such eyes!
His nose felt sore and tears welled up in his eyes. Lei Hu was grief-stricken, but afraid of being seen. He could only jump off his horse and wipe away his tears. But the tears kept rolling down, so Lei Hu could only leave the guards behind and walk to the riverside by himself, letting the river breeze blow on his face and dry the tears on his face.
The guards looked at each other for a few seconds, but did not step forward. They just guarded Lei Hu from a proper distance, but did not disturb the commander from venting his pain.
Qian Qing, who was far away in Xuzhou, had also received news about the Qing army. She was quite puzzled as to how Hong Zhou could defeat Shengjing, so she asked Huo Chong: "Sir, is the Xi'an court so capable of fighting?"
"If they enter the country, it will make those people in the capital very happy. Brothers always want to make achievements!"
Qian Qing couldn't help but smile when she heard Huo Chong say this. As long as she was with Huo Chong, she wouldn't feel any special pressure. This was Qian Qing's favorite sense of security.
Feeling relaxed, Qian Qing asked what exactly happened with "Sneaking through Jimen".
Huo Chong didn't expect Qian Qing to be interested in this matter. He couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Qing'er, I'm not after Yuan Chonghuan, but the Donglin Party."
Qian Qing nodded, "I know. But I didn't understand why the Ming Dynasty collapsed so suddenly before, and I thought the Qing army was very powerful. Now, after fighting the Qing army for so many years, I feel that the Qing army is nothing special. Although I believe what you said, the Donglin Party is not a good person from the perspective of the country, but I didn't expect this group of people to be so useless! When Chongzhen died, he said that the court officials of the Ming Dynasty were all ministers who lost the country. This statement turned out to be true!"
Huo Chong felt that Chongzhen was responsible for the country being in such a state. However, among all the kings who lost their country, only King Zhou of Shang and Chongzhen committed suicide in the official history. Compared with the ugly appearance of the Qing Dynasty, Chongzhen was really strong and heroic. Therefore, it was hard to criticize Chongzhen.
Just when he was wondering what to say, he heard Qian Qing lower his voice a little, "Sir, I care about this matter for the sake of our children. They absolutely cannot let a guy like Yuan Chonghuan cheat them. That's why I want to hear your majesty's opinion."
Huo Chong was shocked and turned to look at Qian Qing.
The hairstyle in the army is regulated. All men have short hair, which is 3mm. From the supreme commander Huo Chong to the ordinary soldiers, all are the same.
Women have short hair that reaches their necks. Qian Qing has a dignified oval face, and with such short hair, she still looks like a little girl. However, listening to Qian Qing's words, there is a feeling of motherhood. Moreover, Qian Qing's eyes are calm and firm. Although they have been married for a short time, the feeling is quite different.
Huo Chong was moved for a moment, but he could not say anything to comfort Qian Qing. He could only tell Qian Qing about this famous event in the late Ming Dynasty.
According to the group of people who defended Yuan Chonghuan, "On the 13th, in the morning, we received news that our entire army had passed Shimen Post. You ordered all the cavalry and infantry to set up camp outside the city. As soon as the camp was set up, more than 200 cavalrymen divided into four teams to camp in the southeast of our army. We held out for two hours and did not encounter any enemy troops. You ordered us to fire cannons. When the enemy heard the cannons, they formed four teams in a line and suddenly retreated. No cavalrymen came all day, so I wanted to fight but had no way to do so."
Even if the Huaxia Army's path dependence led to the fact that close combat did not satisfy Huo Chong, such a situation would never occur. The Huaxia Army relied on its firearms advantage and always defeated the enemy wherever it encountered them as long as it could engage in large-scale field battles with the enemy. It would never happen that they "wanted to fight but there was no place to fight".
Qian Qing once led his army to fight against Ortai Yue Zhongqi without engaging him, because Qian Qing did not want to fight a crushing battle and wanted to pursue greater results. Moreover, in Jining at that time, crushing the enemy was not the main goal.
Huo Chong sighed, "Qing'er, the reason why I want to reorganize the troops is that I don't want them to take some seemingly perfect tactics as the golden rule. If so, our Chinese army will make a mess of things that cannot be fought!"
Jimen is a natural barrier, not something modern people say. It is something that the ancients have passed down from generation to generation. Since it is called a natural barrier, it must be very difficult to pass through. One person can lie, but a group of people can also lie? It is a matter of national importance, so the whole country lies together? But it was sneaked through. Take a closer look at who was the superior officer guarding Jimen at the time, and what conflicts did he have with Yuan. Why were the soldiers transferred before sneaking through Jimen? Why did the army drag its feet when it knew that Jimen would be lost?
What a great phrase, there is no one to fight, there is no one in front of you, who would fight you? Moreover, Jimen has been lost, the king is dead, Zhao Lujiao is also dead, the capital is in danger, and you have set up the battle array for a whole day, and then there is no one to fight.
The army came back to help, but they didn't even send scouts? They didn't even know how many people were confronting them.
Obviously, even the dumbest commander would know to send out scouts to investigate the enemy. It is certain that the Liaodong troops, who have been fighting for many years, must know this. The Liaodong troops boasted that they were invincible all day long, so could they not even send out a scout? Definitely not.
Qian Qing had fought for so many years, and after listening to Huo Chong's simple analysis, she understood Huo Chong's concerns. She nodded slowly and sighed, "Sir, you're right. If our troops can only fire volleys on the plains, this will happen sooner or later!"
"So the key is not whether we lost the battle, but whether we can strive for victory according to the situation. More importantly, is this victory the victory of the generals or the victory of the people. If it is the victory of the generals, they certainly will not take the lives of the soldiers seriously. They won the battle and got promoted and made money. Those who died were just their stepping stones. If so, what is the sacrifice of the people?! The people's eyes are sharp, good iron does not need to be twisted, and good men do not join the army. Is this really nonsense? Of course not! Whose life is not life, why send others to die!"
Huo Chong was even more unhappy after he finished speaking. After thinking for a while, he asked someone to call the person in charge of the Ministry of Rites' publicity department to ask about the latest publicity of "Donglin Party", "Dragon Gate Inn" and several related dramas.
The guy at the publicity office was scratching his head and looking embarrassed. Huo Chong was very unhappy and asked him how much he had prepared.
The Ministry of Rites is the Ministry of Rites after all. Seeing Huo Chong's reaction, the propaganda officer did not make excuses or shirk responsibility, but replied with a face full of shame: "Your Majesty, we have never discussed the key points. So I always feel something is wrong. Please give me some advice, Your Majesty."
Huo Chong didn't care about such a reaction. If these people could write a script that was clear, layered, and profound, or even easy to understand in the eyes of the 21st Century Industrial Party, Huo Chong would be surprised. Since this guy told the truth, Huo Chong ordered , "Call them over, I'll talk to them in person!"
After taking a quick look at the script, Huo Chong was so angry that he laughed. This was completely the style of a storyteller, with emperors, generals, talented men and beautiful women. Everyone was the same.
Of course, we can't say that the people in the Ministry of Rites didn't work hard. They did try to write something. However, they didn't understand what the contradiction between the enemy and us was. Since they couldn't figure it out, they could only attribute it to good people and bad people, loyal officials and treacherous officials.
Huo Chong ordered people to set up several large blackboards and prepare the necessary stationery, then went to rest.
The next morning, everyone came. Huo Chong first asked, "Have you all eaten?"
Everyone looked at each other. Finally, only two people said, "No."
"Eat your meal. You can't concentrate on your work if you're hungry!" Huo Chong went through the same process as before.
After everyone was no longer hungry, Huo Chong told everyone the famous case of sneaking .
"If you say that Yuan Chonghuan is a spy of the Later Jin, this is indeed too much. After all, everyone sees that the fall of the Qing Dynasty is imminent, and have any of their ministers surrendered? Not a single one! Because they got more benefits from the Qing Dynasty than we did. Those people were unwilling to abandon their rich family businesses and come to us to start from scratch this time. So don't portray Yuan Chonghuan as a bad guy with deep thoughts. If we want to make the people understand, we have to start with the basic human heart. Let's look at this case again!"
Zu Dashou was a close comrade of Yuan Chonghuan! Zu Dashou originally wanted to defend Yuan Chonghuan, but inadvertently, he exposed Yuan Chonghuan's request for Huang Taiji to "sneak into Ji", which made the truth clear: I was 300 miles away from Jinzhou, and everyone knew where I was. I didn't expect that he would be afraid of me knowing and avoid me being intercepted, so he sneaked into Ji from the north bank of Laohe River, six days away from the border. Yuan Chonghuan, the commander-in-chief, dispatched and selected elite troops to lead the western aid. On the third day of November, he entered Shanhaiguan. He followed the commander-in-chief and received news on the way that Zunhua, Santun and other places had all fallen. He thought that Jizhou was the gateway to the capital, and it was urgent to block it. On the tenth day, he led his troops into Ji, and within three days, he won consecutive battles. He was also worried that he would approach the capital, so he took a secret path to camp outside Zuoan Gate. On the 20th and 27th, he won two battles at Shaguo and Zuoan Gates. Thousands of eyes on the city saw it, how dare he talk about his achievements? How dare I complain about the hardship of sleeping outdoors in a moat for half a month?
To put it bluntly, Zu Dashou's logic of defense is that Yuan Dushi knew that Huang Taiji was in Laohe, but Huang Taiji was too cunning, so Yuan Dushi "accidentally" let Huang Taiji "sneak into Ji", but in the end Yuan Dushi still rushed to the capital and won battle after battle, so Yuan Dushi was wronged! Obviously, Zu Dashou felt that it was not a big crime for Yuan Dushi to let Huang Taiji "sneak into Ji", and he told the truth without a word. Therefore, it was a foregone conclusion that Yuan Chonghuan was sneaked across Jixi by Huang Taiji. You must know that Yuan Chonghuan had "more than 153,000 soldiers from four towns and more than 81,000 horses". He had the elite of the whole country in his hands, but he was "sneaked into Ji" by Huang Taiji, and he didn't even have a restraining effect. If you were Chongzhen, you would be furious.
After listening to what Huo Chong said, the propaganda staff of the Ministry of Rites were either in deep thought or at a loss. Huo Chong asked, "Sneaking through Jimen, this is something that happened. We are not talking about the incident itself. If we only talk about this, it is just a child who can only continue to make up stories to cover up his lies. Comrades, don't think that Yuan Chonghuan and others are amazing people. If they are really that amazing, they will handle the matter and will not say so much nonsense! There is only one key point in this matter, that is, the Guanning Army is unwilling to serve the country. Why is the Guanning Army unwilling to serve the country? There is only one reason, which is also a truth that everyone can understand. The status of the Guanning Army lies in the fact that the Guanning Army has troops. If the Guanning Army fights to the death and is wiped out, what will these Guanning Army generals use to guarantee their wealth and glory in the future! Start with the interests that everyone can understand!"
Someone asked, "Your Majesty, is it that the Guanning Army is not good?"
Huo Chong sighed, "Class struggle works as soon as it is grasped! Let's analyze the internal situation of the Guanning Army!"
After a morning of analysis, a lot of content was written on the blackboard, and pieces of paper with the characteristics of various characters and organizational relationships were written on them and pasted on various key points.
Huo Chong then pointed at several important figures of the Guanning Army and said, "We think that the Guanning Army is a bad guy, but from the perspective of the Guanning Army commander, they are all very good people. Why are they good people? At least they did not defect to the Later Jin. They went there even if the imperial court gave the order! This is the reason why they think they are good people!"
There was a burst of bitter laughter below, and everyone had no other way to express their feelings at the moment except crying and laughing!
