Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 270 The Aspiration to Be King, the Three Evils of Liaodong!
He has a rebellious mind and the desire to be king.

As soon as these two sentences were spoken, the people in the cabinet changed their expressions instantly.

The resignation of four governors-general and twelve provincial governors had just ended, and the emperor had made clear his bottom line to all court officials.

Those are the two words "loyalty and filial piety".

Your Majesty is the emperor and father of the world. Loyalty to the emperor and filial piety to the father are nothing more than this.

In the current court, this is undoubtedly a complete denial of Li Chengliang, the general commander of Liaodong Town.

Although Wang Chonggu did not agree, he tacitly agreed with Hu Zongxian's words.

That old guy Li Chengliang definitely has ulterior motives.

Second Prime Minister Gao Gong and Cabinet Minister Li Chunfang immediately set their sights on Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng showed his suspicion and said, "Ruzhen, the words of traitorous mind are just a joke in the legend, and the words of ambition to be king are just random guesses without investigation and cannot be relied upon. Now, our Ming Dynasty is in a prosperous era, with wise rulers and good ministers, and the sea is peaceful and the rivers are clear. Don't say anything that is not conducive to unity."

After the Northern Expedition.

The entire Ming Dynasty military was cutting ties with the imperial court. Wang Chonggu and Qi Jiguang even used the life of his younger brother, the chief minister of the cabinet, to demonstrate their determination to separate the military and politics.

cabinet.

It is the power center that is higher than the imperial court and the military.

Wang Chonggu was awarded a title for his military merits, which only represented personal progress, but the hatred between the prime minister's office and Wang Chonggu for killing his brother did not end. They were just ministers in the same cabinet and maintained superficial harmony.

The Ming military led by Qi Jiguang has had no contact with Zhang Juzheng to this day.

But there was one exception, and that was Li Chengliang, the general commander of Liaodong Town.

When all the military generals cancelled their past friendships in order to avoid suspicion, only Li Chengliang still maintained good contact with Zhang Juzheng, and their concern for each other in letters did not diminish in the slightest.

Whether out of personal friendship or to increase his influence in the military, Zhang Juzheng would lend a hand when Li Chengliang encountered difficulties or was questioned.

At times like this, the Deputy Prime Minister Gao Gong would always lend a helping hand and said with a smile, "Could the Yuan Fu's words be related to the painting?"

Not long ago, Li Chengliang sent someone from Liaodong Town to bring a painting to Zhang Juzheng.

It is an ink painting covered with densely packed cinnabar seals, but its value is over ten thousand gold coins.

There are two good words (paintings) in the world, Chen Zi'ang's horse and Song Huizong's eagle.

The painting shows an eagle of Emperor Huizong of Song.

On the seal, there was a seal script with the words "Daojun..." vaguely written on it, while the rest was blurred. Below it was written "The fourth year of Chongning..." in ink, and the half-line of fine characters was quite clear, enough to prove that it was an authentic work.

As for those cinnabar seals, there are those of Yue Shaobao, Qin Hui, Wei Su, Wang Yangming, and Yan Song, which represent that these people, both loyal and treacherous, have all collected the painting.

It is not clear how Li Chengliang obtained it, but nominally, he wanted Zhang Juzheng to identify its authenticity and there was no need to rush to take it back. It would take two or three years to identify it.

Let me put it more clearly: this is a new form of bribery in the court.

However, it is impossible to define bribery or corruption because it is obvious. Take this painting as an example. Li Chengliang could ask for it or take it back from Zhang Juzheng at any time, and Zhang Juzheng could also return it at any time.

Such bribery and humiliation is based on mutual trust between both parties. You know I won't ask for it back, and you know I won't give it back, but I will do what you asked for.

Even if something happened to Li Chengliang in the future and he blamed Zhang Juzheng, the worst that could happen was that Zhang Juzheng would just return the painting or hand it over to the national treasury. It wouldn't have any impact.

And if something happened to Zhang Juzheng in the future, Li Chengliang could take the painting back and even reduce some of the stolen money.

Gao Gong called this kind of bribery "credit bribery."

"Are you doubting my character, Lord Su?" Zhang Juzheng turned the tables and asked Gao Gong while looking at him.

He never claimed to be a saint, he considered himself a mortal.

He pursued power and also enjoyed himself, so he liked pomp and circumstance and did not shy away from accepting gifts from some officials, but these gifts would never include things worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Zhang Juzheng was verifying the authenticity of this painting and wanted to keep it for a while, but one day, he would return it. It would not be placed in the storehouse of the prime minister's residence, and it did not belong to the prime minister's residence.

His arched lips moved slightly, but he still did not openly question the fact that the morals of this former younger brother, now his immediate superior, might not be high, but they were definitely not low.

Seeing this, Hu Zongxian and Wang Chonggu didn't know what to say, and Li Chunfang, who had been watching the show the whole time, didn't say a word.

At this time, the new cabinet secretary Zhang Wei entered the government hall and said, "Lord, Yuxi Palace has forwarded an urgent document from the Beiyuan Construction Corps, which is eight hundred miles away."

As he spoke, Zhang Wei placed the official document on the big case, which stated that Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou suspected Li Chengliang and the Liaodong Army, and asked the Shanhaiguan garrison to be vigilant. He also suggested that the Liaodong Army be urged to speed up the suppression of the Jurchens and that the Beiyuan Construction Corps should march from west to east.

After opening the letter and reading the words, Zhang Juzheng suddenly felt a little embarrassed. Hu Zongxian and Wang Chonggu were sitting in the cabinet, and he could still say that their suspicion of Li Chengliang was not conducive to unity. However, the war simulation of Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou almost confirmed that Li Chengliang was disloyal to the court.

Urgent official documents had to be discussed by the cabinet. If there were several cabinet ministers present, they would read the document and then express their opinions. Zhang Juzheng held his breath and asked Zhang Wei to show it to Gao Gong and the other three.

After the document was circulated, Gao, Hu, Li and Wang all looked very strange. However, since it concerned an entire town and the border troops, none of them had the intention of laughing at it.

Gao Gong looked at the two professionals, Hu Zongxian and Wang Chonggu, and said, "There is nothing wrong with Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou's arrangements. Let's do it this way?"

Hu Zongxian and Wang Chonggu looked at each other and nodded.

There were five people in the cabinet present. Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian and Wang Chonggu agreed to take precautions against the Liaodong Army. This matter could have been approved, but in order to save the face of the prime minister, it was still drafted.

The motion was passed unanimously, and the cabinet secretly sent an official document to Shanhaiguan, closely monitoring the movements of Liaodong Town and the Liaodong Army to prevent any unexpected events.

Two clear orders were issued in the name of the cabinet. One was to express dissatisfaction with Li Chengliang's slow progress in the war and urge him to speed up the suppression. The other was to let the Beiyuan Construction Corps take action.

As all matters were arranged, the Embroidered Uniform Guard also sent in information about Li Chengliang and Liaodong Town.

Li Chengliang colluded with Gao Huai, the mining tax inspector, and Zhao Ji, the governor, to plunder Liaodong Town on a large scale. The three were called the "Three Evils of Liaozuo".

There is even a Liaodong folk song that goes: "The Liao people have no brains, so they are all gouged out by the Huai River; the Liao people have no marrow, so they are all sucked out by the Huai River. In fact, it is the Liang Dynasty that gouged it out and sucked it out by the Huai River."

The Governor of Liaodong was not a governor of a province in the traditional sense. Instead, he was a second-rank frontier official. His full title was "Governor of Liaodong, Local Military Affairs Assistance". It was a low-rank but high-ranking governor position established by the imperial court.

It was established in the first year of Zhengtong with the aim of strengthening the management of Liaodong Dusi, and its jurisdiction included the entire territory of Liaodong Dusi.

Since Liaodong Town was a military town, most of the power was in the hands of the general, and the Governor of Liaodong became a real governor.

The eunuchs who were in charge of mining and taxation in the Ming Dynasty had enormous power.

The eunuchs who supervised the mines and taxes could collect a lot of money by increasing taxes and abusing taxes. They set up many checkpoints to collect taxes, which made it unprofitable for merchants and made them rich. After the Yongle Dynasty, the demand for mining and smelting in the Ming Dynasty increased, and the eunuchs who supervised the mines and taxes made a lot of money.

During the Jiajing period, most of the country's mines were controlled by the mining supervisor and tax collector Taijian.

After taking office as mining officials, mining supervisors and tax collectors and their entourage often colluded with local ruffians to oppress officials and civilians, plunder the rich, and commit crimes in the local area.

They also secretly withheld the huge amount of taxes they plundered and pocketed the money.

These mining supervisors and tax collectors, under the banner of contributing to the emperor, plundered and plundered everywhere.

In order to open a mine, the eunuch Gao Huai, the mine supervisor and tax collector in Liaodong Town, "killed the mine boss due to paying compensation, forced the common people to death, and crushed the miners to death". When the mined ore veins were very small and yielded nothing, he extorted compensation from the common people.

Even worse was the cruelty of the wealthy families in Liaodong Town who falsely accused them of stealing minerals and believed that there were mineral veins beneath their fertile fields and beautiful houses. They led their minions to round up and arrest people, humiliating women and even cutting off their hands and feet and throwing them into the river.

Previously, there were mining disasters and civil unrest in Kaihua and Dexing counties under Quzhou Prefecture in Zhejiang. Now, eunuchs who are in charge of mining and tax collection are causing trouble in Liaodong.

It is obvious that the time has come for the mine supervisor to resolve the problem.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard inferred that the reason why Li Chengliang deliberately delayed in exterminating the Jurchens was that he was worried that after the Jurchens were completely destroyed, the court would send imperial envoys to Liaodong to verify the military achievements and discover that he, Gao Huai, and Zhao Ji had committed many evil deeds.

If Li Chengliang wanted to attack Goryeo, the Goryeo counties was a fallback plan he prepared for himself. If his actions were discovered by the imperial court, he would block the Yalu River and establish his own regime in Goryeo.

Unlike Qi Jiguang's idea that Li Chengliang might defect to Goryeo and seek asylum in Goryeo, Li Chengliang did not think of putting his fate, life and death in the hands of others, but wanted to become the King of Goryeo himself.

This coincides with Hu Zongxian's speculation that Li Chengliang "had a rebellious mind and proclaimed himself king."

Hu Zongxian and Wang Chonggu said in unison, "Not good," looking at the unfolded map of Liaodong Town, the Jurchens, and the Kingdom of Goryeo, "Something is going to happen."

……

The place where the Mudan River and the Songhua River meet.

This was originally the ancestral land of the Jianzhou Jurchens, and during the Liao and Jin dynasties it was the Five Kingdoms tribe, a vassal of the Jin Wanyan tribe.

In the Yuan Dynasty, it was under the jurisdiction of Liaoyang Province. In the early years of this dynasty, the Jurchens were divided into three parts: Jianzhou Jurchens, Haixi Jurchens and Donghai Jurchens. The Jianzhou Jurchens were distributed in Mudanjiang, Suifenhe and Changbai Mountain areas, the Haixi Jurchens were distributed in the Songhua River basin, and the Donghai Jurchens were distributed along the Heilongjiang River and the Ussuri River.

During the Jiajing period, they were dispersed and settled in the northeast of Liaodong: the Jianzhou Jurchens were distributed to the east of Fushun Pass, and the Haixi Jurchens were scattered to the north of Kaiyuan.

Among the barbarians that the Ming Dynasty treated most generously, the Jianzhou Jurchens were treated the most generously.

However, the Jianzhou Jurchens were no different from other barbarians. They feared power but not virtue, and often invaded the Liaodong border.

But all this is about to come to an end with the arrival of the plowing and sweeping of the holes.

Less than a hundred miles away, in the Falun Temple, were hiding the last of the Jurchen troops.

The decision on killing and seizing was all up to Li Chengliang, commander-in-chief of the Liaodong Army.

Liaodong Army, chief account.

Li Chengliang and Deputy General Yin Zhengmao were playing blind chess leisurely.

"Horse two into three!"

"Equalize five to four."

"Cannon five, level four!"

"Rook seven level four."

"Five soldiers advance to four!"

"Yangshi (Yin Zhengmao's pen name)!" Li Chengliang said with a smile, "Sell new silk in February, sell new grain in May. Heal the wound in front of you, but remove the flesh in your heart - how many chariots do you have to fill them? I will definitely win a round from you today!"

"Why don't you recite the whole poem?" Yin Zhengmao said calmly, "Also - I wish the king's heart could turn into a bright candle. Not to illuminate the silk banquet, but to illuminate the escaped house!"

"Why do you have to bring this up when you're playing chess?" Li Chengliang smiled and said, "I'll just take what's useful."

"The world is like a chess game." Yin Zhengmao said with a smile: "General, you have to think it through!"

"Well, your words seem to be off topic, please explain clearly."

"Yes!" Yin Zhengmao slowly stood up and sighed, "The remnants of the Jianzhou Jurchens are just a hundred miles away. If we take action, I'm afraid this place would have been pacified long ago!
You are the general of Liaodong, and you are above all the other townsmen, but you are acting recklessly and turning a blind eye to it. One day, you will be the one to "light up the ruined house". How dare you not seek the "heart of the king"? "

Li Chengliang did not change his expression at all, and said solemnly: "Yangshi, you know me well. I have no ulterior motives towards His Majesty, nor towards the court."

Seeing him making such a quibble, Yin Zhengmao turned around and was about to leave. Li Chengliang quickly grabbed the corner of his robe and said, "I did it in Liaodong, and Yangshi did it too. I also thought about stopping, but I didn't expect the grassland war to end so quickly. It's too late to regret it now."

In the two hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Liaodong Town has always been the frontline position. The generals here have always been the most capable and battle-hardened people in the Ming Dynasty, but they are also the most corrupt.

Li Chengliang, together with the eunuch Gao Huai, the tax collector of mines, and the governor Zhao Ji, colluded with others in Liaodong Town to make huge fortunes, while Yin Zhengmao also had the problem of embezzling military pay.

Generally speaking, corruption is rampant in Liaodong Town, and this has been going on for two hundred years.

The sudden change in the court situation and the sudden clarity of politics made Liaodong Town unable to react for a while.

By the time Li Chengliang and Yin Zhengmao fully understood the emperor's determination to crack down on corruption and fight it with an iron fist, the grassland wars were over. The Jianzhou Jurchens, who had once been a minor threat to the Ming Dynasty, suddenly became a strategic point of the court and attracted much attention.

Once the Jianzhou Jurchens are destroyed, the imperial court will certainly send imperial envoys to audit Liaodong. At that time, all the ugliness of Liaodong Town will be exposed to the public.

According to the great holy law, Li Chengliang was unwilling to die and his clan be destroyed. He firmly believed that my fate is in my own hands.

"General, even if there are millions of embezzled funds, as long as we can deal with the Jianzhou Jurchens and open up the roads to the grasslands and the ocean, I believe the emperor will show leniency even if we are held accountable." Yin Zhengmao was ready for the imperial envoy to come, to apologize, and to return the stolen goods.

"What if it's tens of millions of dollars of embezzlement?" Li Chengliang said with a smile on his face.

With the money right in front of him, why couldn't he control his hand?

Even here, some of the food, salaries and supplies that the court sent in a steady stream also went into his pocket.

At this point, he didn't want to take the risk, but he couldn't turn back.

We must fight the Goryeo Kingdom whether the imperial court agrees or not!

Expand the war, prolong the war, and leave a way for himself to secede from the peninsula and call himself the King of Goryeo...

(End of this chapter)