Chapter 373: New Outlook of the Ministry of Rites (IX)
Henan Prefecture. Just by hearing the name, you would think it refers to the capital of Henan Province. In the Qing Dynasty, the capital of Henan Province was Kaifeng, and the so-called Henan Prefecture refers to Luoyang.
Luoyang is a basin, connected to Hulao Pass in the east and Shan County in the west. It is a key transportation hub. At this time, 100,000 troops from the northwest had gathered in Henan Prefecture. At this time, Henan Governor Tian Wenjing was seriously ill, but he still dragged his sick body to personally inspect the troops.
This is the face that must be given to those who are fighting against Huo Chong.
After barely inspecting the 100,000-strong army and ordering wine and meat to be provided to the men, Tian Wenjing returned to his official residence and lay down on the bed.
General Urban, who led the troops, came to visit. Tian Wenjing held the hand of General Urban of Xi'an and said breathlessly: "I wish the general a successful start. Kill all the traitors and avenge the late emperor!"
As the general of Xi'an, Urban's status was far higher than that of the governor of Henan. However, Urban could not help but be moved by Tian Wenjing's heartfelt words. As everyone knows, Tian Wenjing was one of the most trusted ministers of the late Emperor Yongzheng. However, most of Yongzheng's confidants became ministers of the Grand Council. When Huo Chong raided the capital and burned down the Old Summer Palace, all the ministers on duty were killed.
The only remaining confidants of Yongzheng were Tian Wenjing and Ortai. Ortai and Yue Zhongqi were assassinated by Lao Ba's men when they entered Beijing, and both died. At this time, the only recognized old minister who was Yongzheng's confidant was Tian Wenjing.
"Don't worry, Lord Tian. I will definitely kill all the rebels!" Urban said loudly.
When Tian Wenjing heard this, his face turned red with excitement. However, in a moment, Tian Wenjing's whole body twitched, and his face turned pale from rosy. Urban saw that he was not doing well, and hurriedly called a doctor. However, Tian Wenjing was an 80-year-old man after all, and the doctors looked at this situation and were helpless.
Urban didn't expect that he came to visit but ended up "killing" Tian Wenjing. Just when he was at a loss, Tian Wenjing suddenly sat up and grabbed his wrist tightly. Tian Wenjing's voice was hoarse and completely devoid of the tone of a living person, "Please... General... avenge... the late emperor... uh..."
As the sound stopped, Tian Wenjing fell weakly on the bed. The fingers that were tightly holding Urban soon lost their strength. As Tian Wenjing's hand fell to the side of the bed, Tian Wenjing let out a loud fart. Looking at him again, his face was pale and he was gone.
Seeing Tian Wenjing's persistence before his death, Urban was deeply moved. At the same time, Urban finally understood what "burp fart" meant. A burp means the person is dead. A fart means the person is dead.
No matter how tragic the scene was, this fart really made the scene... a little funny. It also proved that the term "burp fart" is not just a casual remark.
Urban had no choice but to ask his advisor to write a memorial to the court, while he led his troops straight to Hulao Pass.
The story of the hero fighting Lü Bu during the Three Kingdoms period may be what the storyteller said, but this dangerous pass in the world is indeed located in the most dangerous place. On one side is the undulating earthen hills, and on the other side is the river channel that has penetrated deep into the soil due to long-term erosion. There is a small path in between. If a single person is agile, he can still find a way to cross it. Even a team of dozens of people can only go through Hulao Pass. Not to mention an army of tens of thousands.
After Huo Chong captured Henan, he stationed troops in Zheng County, with the vanguard stationed in Gongyi, further west of Zheng County. He did not attack Hulao Pass. When the imperial court passed through Hulao Pass, they could not see the end of the team. They saw a long dragon of troops either moving forward on the road or turning into the valley and disappearing, but then reappearing on the road that could be seen from a farther distance.
Urban was excited. According to the plan, the Qing army was divided into four groups. The troops from Shanxi marched along the Eight Passes of Taihang Mountain and headed straight for Zhili. His group went out of Shaanxi and marched into Henan. The troops from Wuhu in the south marched into Jiangning.
The most important route was the army that conquered Shengjing. This group of people, led by Emperor Hongzhou, was marching south along the road that Prince Dorgon took to enter the country, heading straight for the capital.
With four armies and 400,000 men, Urban believed that this time he would be able to make it difficult for the traitor Huo Chong to defend himself and eventually be defeated by the imperial court.
Even just hearing the words "enter the Pass", General Urban of Xi'an had a belief that he would win.
Many old brothers in the military academy here almost broke the camp, and all asked to see Huo Chong. Some old brothers even wrote in blood to participate in the battle to annihilate the Qing Dynasty.
If possible, Huo Chong didn't want his old brothers to participate. But even though he wanted to, he couldn't do it.
Qian Qing knew that he couldn't suppress this group of people, so he persuaded Huo Chong to let his old brothers come back to join the battle.
Huo Chong did not discuss the matter with Qian Qing in private, but slammed the table in a public meeting, "Are these old brothers confused? They are not old! How can they be confused at such a young age!"
The committee members present looked at each other in bewilderment, not knowing why Huo Chong said that. Huo Chong was half angry, half pretending. He slammed the table and said, "Is it so hard to join the Ministry of Rites? Join the Ministry of Rites first! Are these people really too old to join the Ministry of Rites?"
If Huo Chong had been reasonable, many people would probably have felt confused. However, after hearing such a clear rebuke, applications to join the Ministry of Rites began to arrive at the general branch of the Military Academy's Ministry of Rites like snowflakes that afternoon.
Seeing that these guys finally gave in, Huo Chong still left them alone for two days. Within two days, 95% of the ten old brothers submitted their applications.
Huo Chong then arrived at the military academy. When the old brothers arrived at the auditorium, Huo Chong went straight to the stage and asked the first person: "We have been together for so many years, I just want to ask one thing. Are you willing to follow the rules of the Ministry of Rites?"
The old guys who really didn't want to be with the young people were the half, and the rest understood Huo Chong's meaning. Everyone didn't dare to refuse and expressed their willingness to abide by the rules of the Ministry of Rites.
However, Huo Chong did not allow his old brothers to join directly. Instead, he gave them the status of reserve members of the Ministry of Rites and asked them to return to their respective troops to participate in this great battle.
When Qian Qing learned that things had finally changed, he advised, "Sir, why do you have to be angry with your old brothers?"
Huo Chong shook his head repeatedly, "I'm not angry. I'm definitely not angry. I never get angry with my own people. It's just that my philosophy is to manage the army . The old brothers have made such great contributions, and I will definitely not let them suffer. It is even more reasonable to raise them and bury them. But the old brothers are recognized as meritorious officials after all. If they dare to say openly that they are meritorious officials, then they must say everything. It's okay for me. There were always talks at that time. What I don't want to see is that they think they are already meritorious officials and I have to personally deliver everything else. I will never recognize such a thing!"
Qian Qing felt a little embarrassed. She originally thought that she agreed with the views of her old brothers. Since he was a meritorious official, he should be rewarded according to his merits. Power, status and wealth were within her reach.
Just like if someone said that Qian Qing, as Huo Chong's eldest disciple, could not enjoy the benefits of Huo Chong's rule over the country, Qian Qing would probably beat the guy who said that so hard that even his own mother wouldn't recognize him.
But now that she was pregnant with Huo Chong's child, Qian Qing suddenly felt that her mind had changed. Of course the old brothers wanted to reward her, but it was Qian Qing who decided on the reward. There was no reason to let the old brothers who had always followed Qian Qing sit on Qian Qing's head.
Qian Qing was fully confident that he could suppress his old brothers, but the child in Qian Qing's belly would take 20 years to grow up. And even after growing up, it might not be able to suppress the formation. If we can't use the system to determine it now, will Qian Qing and Huo Chong's child be bullied in the future?
In the end, Qian Qing said nothing, but just advised: "Sir, just let these brothers know the rules."
"It's not a system. They need to know that there is an organization! Organization! Organization!" Huo Chong repeated the important words three times. But he didn't say much.
The Military Commission has sent us pre-war intelligence. The Chinese army has expanded to 300,000 troops. There are 50,000 troops in the capital, 50,000 in Jiangning, 70,000 troops stationed from Kaifeng to Zhengxian, 50,000 in Xuzhou, 50,000 in Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, and 30,000 in Fujian and the navy.
The troops actually fighting were the 170,000 already on the enemy front line, and the second line was the 100,000 troops in Xuzhou, Yangzhou, and Zhenjiang. In terms of military strength alone, the gap in military strength between them and the Qing Dynasty was not at all like in the early years.
Since the old brothers were convinced, they rushed back to their old unit to report to the Ministry of Rites. Huo Chong really hoped that these guys would not make any more trouble. If they still refused to obey, they would have to be called back for further training.
Hong Zhou certainly didn't know about Huo Chong's arrangements. He led an army of 100,000 and followed Dorgon's old route straight to the capital.
In history, the Qing Dynasty defeated Li Zicheng's troops at Yipanshi and then easily captured the capital. At this time, there were no Chinese troops on the road, and the Qing army went straight to the capital.
When he saw the familiar city wall in the distance, Hong Zhou suddenly felt like he was home. It had been two years since he fled the capital, and it was finally time to go home.
The capital is a big city with strong defenses, but it needs a large army to defend it. On weekdays, it takes 30,000 to 40,000 people to defend it, and 100,000 people are needed in wartime. When the scouts came to report, the enemy did not garrison the capital, but deployed their troops on the road outside the capital. Hong Zhou then felt that there was a war.
Basai said quickly: "Your Majesty, why not wait until the Shanxi troops arrive in the capital first, so that the enemy army can't take care of each other."
Hong Zhou hesitated, but heard Liu Tongxun say, "Master, the Shanxi troops can either go to Junduxing, in which case they will have to capture the fortress. Or they can go to Handan, which is a long way around. It is not convenient to pass messages on the road. If we wait for the Shanxi troops, we will have to retreat first."
Liu Tongxun tried his best to make suggestions in words that Hong Zhou could understand, and Hong Zhou understood them completely.
The Taihang Mountains stretch for thousands of miles, with hundreds of ridges interconnected, thousands of peaks towering, and thousands of deep ravines. Many rivers in Shanxi cut through the Taihang Mountains. From south to north, there are: Qin River, Dan River, Zhang River, Hutuo River, Tang River, Sanggan River, etc., thus forming several canyons that cross the Taihang Mountains.
The Eight Passes of Taihang Mountains refer to the many east-west horizontal valleys (passes) in the Taihang Mountains. The famous ones include Jundu Pass, Puyin Pass, Feihu Pass, Jing Pass, Fukou Pass, Bai Pass, Taihang Pass, and Chenguan Pass, which were called the Eight Passes of Taihang Mountains in ancient times. They were the eight throat passages through which the three provinces of Shanxi, Hebei, and Henan communicated with each other across the Taihang Mountains. They were important military passes on the borders of the three provinces.
Hong Zhou had studied all this knowledge before when discussing how to deal with Huo Chong. However, what Hong Zhou understood at this moment was the true content of Liu Tongxun's suggestion.
Hearing that they were going to retreat, Hong Zhou became angry and asked Basai, "There are 50,000 enemy troops in the city, right?"
Basai had suffered from the Chinese army before. Seeing that Hong Zhou was going to rely on his superior forces to fight the Chinese army, he could only bite the bullet and say, "Master, Liu Tongxun is right. If it's four against one, the chances of winning are greater!"
Hong Zhou did not expect that Basai would suddenly stand with Liu Tongxun. On second thought, it was Liu Tongxun who gave Basai a way out first. At this time, Hong Zhou's excitement had calmed down a lot, and he could only give face to the two trusted ministers and agree to withdraw one by one.
Just as the order was given, a scout came hurriedly to report, "Your Majesty, the enemy army has more than 10,000 troops and is heading straight for our army."
When Hong Zhou heard this, he immediately became excited. He asked Basai, "Two against one may not be safe enough. How about ten against one?"
Basai was also a man of blood. After hearing what Hong Zhou said, he also got angry. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Liu Tongxun persuade him: "Your Majesty, the enemy army is probably just trying to lure the enemy. What difference does it make if it's a few days earlier or later? It's all about killing all the enemy soldiers. If the government troops can keep their composure, the enemy soldiers will be impatient. It's better to retreat and show the enemy that you are weak."
It was not difficult to understand what Liu Tongxun meant. Hong Zhou certainly understood that it was right in principle.
The so-called showing weakness to the enemy comes from the ancient teachings: show softness to meet it with hardness, show weakness to take advantage of it with strength.
"In every battle with the enemy, if the enemy is numerous and we are few, or the enemy is strong and we are weak, we must set up more flags and double the number of stoves to show that we are stronger than the enemy, so that they can gauge our numbers, strength and weakness. Then the enemy will not fight us lightly, and we can leave quickly, so that the whole army will be far away from harm."
But at that moment, Hong Zhou felt that what Liu Tongxun said was just an excuse for withdrawing troops. So Hong Zhou looked at Basai.
General Basai was in a dilemma. If it was logical , there was no reason for a 100,000-man army to be defeated in a field battle with 10,000 men. If it was based on what Sun Tzu said in the Art of War, if the number of troops on one side was ten times that of the enemy, then of course they would be surrounded and annihilated.
However, Basai suffered a great loss in Shandong. Tens of thousands of troops besieged a town, but they could not take it down under the firearms and artillery of the Chinese army. After questioning the captured prisoners, they learned that the Chinese army guarding the city was not an elite force, but just a militia.
At this time, the 10,000-man Chinese army came over so brazenly, which felt like a fraud.
But Hong Zhou's intention was to strike these 10,000 Chinese troops with all his might, so he really had no reason to refuse.
After thinking it over, Basai made up his mind, "Why not retreat 15 miles first? If the enemy army dares to follow us, we will definitely not let them survive."
Hong Zhou thought this request was completely reasonable, so he let Basai lead the troops. The Qing army began to retreat.
The so-called "Zhili" area specifically refers to the heartland under the feet of the emperor. The word "Zhili" was first seen in the Song Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the counties were governed by prefectures, and those directly under the capital were called "Zhili".
This kind of planning is somewhat similar to the municipalities directly under the Central Government of New China. For example, although Shanghai is located in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, it is not under the management of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Its management power is directly under the central government, including important fiscal and taxation.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the term "Zhili" was more of a place name, representing prefectures, states, counties and other places around the capital. In the Ming Dynasty, it was a large area directly under the jurisdiction of the central government. Soon after the Qing court entered the pass, it directly established Zhili Province, which became a general term for today's suburban counties of Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin and other places. What is obviously different from place names such as "Beijing", "Tianjin" and "Hebei" is that "Zhili" is not a formal place name, but a way of using "official titles" instead of place names. It was part of the central government's administrative control over local areas during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and it was an administrative system.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang first followed the old system of the Yuan Dynasty, establishing the Secretariat in the central court, and setting up the Executive Secretariat in each locality, and setting up prefectures, states and counties under the Executive Secretariat to govern the localities. However, not long after, Emperor Taizu ordered "to abolish the Executive Secretariat, and set up thirteen provincial governments to govern the prefectures, states and counties and other subordinate departments in the country." From then on, the Secretariat was abolished in the central government, the prime minister was abolished, and six ministries were set up to handle the confidential affairs of the country, and the Executive Secretariat was changed to thirteen provincial governments such as Zhejiang.
Because it is closest to the capital, this area is of great importance to the security of the capital. Therefore, the rulers of the Ming and Qing dynasties have always attached great importance to it, hoping to keep this area firmly under their control, for fear that any mistake would cause harm to the important areas of the capital.
Therefore, in the Qing Dynasty, Hebei was a place name. There was no real Hebei Province, and there was only Zhili Province in the official administrative system.
In the Ming Dynasty, the area directly under the capital was called Zhili. After the Yongle Emperor established Beijing (today's Beijing) as the capital, the area directly under Beijing was called Beizhili, or Beizhi for short, which was equivalent to today's Beijing, Tianjin, most of Hebei Province, and small parts of Henan and Shandong.
The corresponding area to Northern Zhili is naturally Southern Zhili. The area directly under Nanjing is Southern Zhili, or Southern Zhili for short, which is equivalent to the current Jiangsu and Anhui provinces.
In the early Qing Dynasty, the area south of Zhili was called Jiangnan Province, and the area north of Zhili was called Zhili Province, and the jurisdiction remained the same. After the reigns of Emperors Yongzheng and Qianlong, prefectures and counties were gradually set up in Chengde, Hebei Province, the northern part of Zhangjiakou, the south of Xilamulun River in Inner Mongolia, the upper and middle reaches of Daling River in Liaoning, the north of the upper reaches of Xihe River, and the former Mongolian banners such as Naiman and Kulun Banners in Inner Mongolia, and they were all under Zhili, and the jurisdiction expanded day by day. In 1914, the area north of the Great Wall was divided and changed to the two special districts of Rehe and Chahar.
It was not until 1928 that an administrative unit named Hebei Province appeared.
Therefore, Zhili Province was the hometown of the Qing army. Although the Qing army had lost northern Zhili for two years, they were very familiar with the terrain. But it was far from the previous time when Dorgon entered the pass.
The 15-li retreat did not surprise the Qing army at all. It was even very relaxing and pleasant.
The Chinese army was also somewhat surprised. The Qing army's retreat was so smooth and orderly, considering that there were 100,000 troops.
The old brother who commanded the attack had participated in the battles between Qian Qing and Ortai, and Yue Zhongqi and Qian Qing. In that battle, the Qing army commanded calmly. The troops were mobilized in an orderly manner, and they always kept a suitable distance from the Huaxia army. The Huaxia army felt that they would consume a lot of physical strength if they chased them fiercely. When they rushed to the front of the Qing army, they would be attacked fiercely by the Qing army who were ready for battle.
So the two sides fought for a long time, but in the end, no real large-scale battle broke out, and the confrontation ended after the battle was completed on other battlefields.
