Chapter 553 If you don’t have the ability to be the emperor, just change it to do it!

"Shi Lang, please."

Zhang Zhun looked at Shi Kefa, who was tired and said calmly.

"Governor, the lower-ranking official came here with rudeness."

Shi Kefa said in a somewhat obscure tone.

It can be seen that Shi Kefa's mood was heavy and looked very depressed. His riding skills were actually not very good, and it was no problem to walk slowly. However, in order to meet Zhang Zhun as soon as possible, he rode a horse from Fushan City and arrived in Qixia in just two days. Such speed was not a big problem for professional soldiers. It was a bit difficult for civil servants like Shi Kefa.

Shi Kefa's mood was so heavy. If the Tartars really launched the third invasion, there would definitely be another wave of war in the north of the Ming Dynasty. For officials like him who still have a conscience and were indeed worried about the country and the people, the Tartars' invasion would definitely be a disaster. Shi Kefa hated the chaotic army in Shaanxi, hated Zhang Zhun's greed, but even more hated the Tartars' burning, killing, looting.

Just from the perspective of a conscientious official, he could not allow the people of the northern country to be poisoned by the Tartars again. The first two rampages of the Tartars have turned many parts of the northern country into ruins. The large loss of population and property also had a significant impact on the national strength of the Ming Dynasty. At present, no one is inhabited on the front line of the Great Wall of the Northern Kingdom. He once went to the Baoanzhou area and found that there were only ruins and dust everywhere there, but there was no trace of people.

Not to mention, the invasion of the Tartars may have caused great loss of reputation to the court. It is really speechless that the country of the celestial dynasty was bullied by the Tartars to such a point. The first two invasions of the Tartars caused a heavy blow to the reputation of the court. Everyone's confidence in the court is getting less and less disappointed. Even if it cannot be said that the majesty of the court is gone, it is already very much. God knows how many of the decrees issued by the emperor and the cabinet can truly be implemented to the end.

In the entire Ming Dynasty, if anyone can fight against the Tartars strongly, it is probably only the Hu Ben Army commanded by Zhang Zhun. This is Shi Kefa's only hope. Shi Kefa had a headache and disgusted with Zhang Zhun's identity as a rebel, but he had to admit that the Hu Ben Army was the strongest army he had ever seen. Where is the Hu Ben Army strong? The 3,999 heads of the Tartars sent to the capital are enough to prove everything.

Zhang Zhun smiled calmly and said meaningfully: "I dare not. Shi Langzhong came to provoke a military force on behalf of the court. It represents the face of the court and the majesty of the Tian family. How can it be said to be presumptuous? Please sit down and speak."

Shi Kefa could only smile bitterly when he spoke to Zhang Zhun.

To serve as a military force instead of the court? Is there really a military force? If the court really wants to serve as a military force, it should be the army, not me running alone. From the court's perspective, Shi Kefa felt that it would be an exaggeration to cut Zhang Jun into pieces. Unfortunately, the court did not have this ability. Letting himself question Zhang Jun's army is a sign of weakness.

Things have come to this point and cannot be changed. Shi Kefa had to calm down and said helplessly: "The Governor is joking. Since the Tartars may initiate the third invasion, all of us should eliminate the barriers and be consistent with the outside world. Even if there are some misunderstandings in the past, we should erase them in one breath."

Zhang Zhun said with a smile: "As Shi Langzhong said, it is indeed the case."

When Shi Kefa heard Zhang Zhun's tone relaxed, he breathed a little relieved. What he was most worried about was that Zhang Zhun refused. The relationship between the court and Zhang Zhun was obviously one, but in fact both sides knew very well that there was no possibility of reconciliation of the conflict. The impact of the Tatars' invasion on Zhang Zhun is not yet visible. Even if Zhang Zhun was completely standing by, it was not impossible.

"Juntian Order" harms all the officials of the court and the powerful landlords, even above the chaos in Shaanxi. As long as Zhang Zhun does not change the Juntian Order for a day, the court will not dare to relax its guard against him for a day. Will Zhang Zhun give up the Juntian Order? It seems that there is no possibility. If he gives up the Juntian Order, the Hu Ben Army may also be disbanded.

Shi Kefa said with a stern saying: "This time the Tartars hit the south, and the momentum was huge. I also asked the Governor to attack with all his might to eliminate the Tartars to save the world. The Emperor and all the ministers must be grateful."

Zhang Zhun nodded and said lightly: "As long as Shi Langzhong cooperates and rescues most of the people, I think there should be no problem."

Shi Kefa felt a little uncomfortable. He mentioned the emperor in everything, hoping that Zhang Zhun would remember that there was an emperor in this world. All the kings under the world are kings, and all the kings are kings. You, Zhang Zhun, should not be too arrogant as a human being. Even if you occupy the land of the two palaces, you are just a clown. Compared with the emperor, you are nothing! But Zhang Zhun did not mention the emperor in everything, as if he had forgotten the existence of this person.

But Shi Kefa clearly knew that Zhang Zhun looked down on the court and the emperor, but he was helpless. He was a civil servant, with no power to catch chickens, and there were only more than a hundred followers around him, so he could not turn against Zhang Zhun. Shi Langzhong is indeed young and easy to be impulsive, but he would not do such a brainless thing. His followers didn't even have weapons! In desperation, Shi Kefa had to say obscurely: "I don't know how the governor is going to fight against the Tartars?"

Zhang Zhun said meaningfully: "Dr. Shi, let's open the skylight and say everything, what do you think?"

Shi Kefa hurriedly said, "I can't find it."

Zhang Zhun nodded, his eyes shining on Shi Kefa's face, and said sternly: "What do you think will the court respond if the Tartars knock on the south side?"

Shi Kefa pondered for a moment and said slowly: "Border martial law is strictly prohibited, mobilize troops to Beijing to serve the king."

Zhang Zhun nodded gently, and then slowly said: "Where to adjust? How many people do you need to adjust? How long does it take? How much food and money do you need to prepare?"

Shi Kefa suddenly hesitated and said in embarrassment: "This..."

He was just a member of the Ministry of Revenue and did not know much about military affairs. He really didn't know where the court would mobilize the army and how many people he had to mobilize. As for how much time it would take and how much food and salary it would take, he had never calculated it. These were all the powers of the Ministry of War. He was a member of the Ministry of Revenue and was completely out of the way.

Suddenly, he found a slight sneer on the corner of Zhang Zhun's mouth. Shi Kefa knew that the situation was a little bad. This is a simple saying to be a capital, but difficult to do, and I am afraid that it may not be able to proceed smoothly. If it backfires, it may even lead to serious consequences.

When the Tatars first invaded, the army that went to Beijing to serve the kings, one kind of problems occurred, which eventually led to the killing of Shanxi Geng Ruqi and Shanxi General Zhang Honggong. This has always been a heart-wrenching problem for the court. Because of this, officials from all over the country were greatly reduced in enthusiasm for entering Beijing to serve the kings, and even disobeyed them. They always looked for various ways to delay their actions, and even used false information to perfunctory the court.

I felt helpless when I thought about it. Others came to serve the king excitedly, but they didn't even have to eat, and the soldiers had to find something to eat on their own. This was originally the responsibility of the Ministry of War, but in the end it was blamed on the army of serving the king. The two most active officials who served the king, and the two most loyal officials of the court, were finally killed unjustly. There is such a precedent, who is willing to actively enter the capital to serve the king? Isn't it that I live impatiently?

The consequences of Geng Ruqi and Zhang Honggong's killing were fully demonstrated when the Tartars invaded the second time. The imperial edict was issued, and all localities expressed that they would actively send troops to Beijing to serve the king. At that time, the Ministry of War optimistically estimated that 300,000 troops could be mobilized from Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, Nanzhili, Huguang, Sichuan and other places to come to the capital. However, the final result was that no soldiers or soldiers arrived at the capital.

The reports of officials from all over the country were very consistent, either the bridge was destroyed and unpassable; the road was blocked and needed to detour; or the food and salary were insufficient and needed to continue to raise funds; or there was a plague in the army and needed to be dealt with... There were many, as long as anyone with a discerning eye could see, all these were excuses. However, the court had no way to deal with these local officials. The so-called law did not punish the masses, you could not lay off all the local officials, right? If the Tartars had no plan to attack the capital, they were afraid that the capital would be in danger.

According to Zhang Zhun's information, the Tartars' third invasion was much stronger than the previous two times. In this case, if no one came to Beijing to serve the king, it is really unknown whether the three camps could defend the capital! Even if the Tartars could not conquer the capital and besiege the capital for several months, it would be a big problem.

There were at least 600,000 people in the capital, and the grain consumed every day was astronomical. The Ministry of Revenue was in charge of money and grain, and Shi Kefa knew the grain reserves of the capital best. Even if the strictest grain control was implemented, it would probably not be able to last for three months. In other words, after three months, even if the Tartars did not attack the city, the capital would be destroyed.

After pondering for a while, Shi Kefa said slowly: "I would like to ask the Governor for advice."

Zhang Zhun nodded and said casually: "I'm talking casually, even if the doctor Shi has heard of it."

Shi Kefa naturally wouldn't have heard of it, even if he subconsciously corrected his body and listened carefully.

Zhang Zhun immediately started to give advice without hesitation.

Once the Tatars knocked south, the court of law will certainly want to mobilize troops into the capital to serve the king. To be honest, the three camps of the capital may not be able to protect the capital. If the Tatars were really vicious, the emperor and the cabinet would probably not dare to rely on the three camps to guard the capital. The first time the Tatars invaded and the second time the court would all dispatch troops to the capital to serve the king. I believe that the third time would be no exception.

The question is, where will the imperial court dispatch troops? How many troops can it be transferred?

At present, the main army of the imperial court is divided into two large lumps. One is in Liaodong and fights against the Tartars head-on, and no one dares to move. The lump, in the Central Plains, dares not move. The only troops that the imperial court can mobilize are Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, and Nanzhili. Among them, Henan itself is decayed and there is no army to adjust. The army in Nanzhili needs to protect Jiangnan and protect the wealth of the Ming Empire, and it is also impossible to adjust too much. Therefore, the army in the end had to be transferred from Shanxi and Shandong. However, how many troops can be transferred from Shanxi and Shandong?

Shanxi is already on the front line of fighting against the Tartars, so it is not good to have to continue to increase troops. How can we draw troops to reinforce the capital? Unless the Ming Empire doesn’t want this land in Shanxi. It should be noted that this time there were a large number of Mongolian cavalry accompanying Jianlu to the south. The first two invasions of the Tatars were only cavalry from a few tribes such as Korqin, Mongolia, with only 20,000 or 30,000 people. Now, all Mongolian cavalry have joined the ranks of Jianlu and become accomplices of Jianlu. The total Mongolian cavalry has at least 100,000 people.

A clear understanding of the combat capabilities of Mongolian cavalry must be made.

The Mongols have always been a little unwilling to accept their own failure. The Tumu Fort Incident and the Tatars' besiege of the capital during the Jiajing period are all manifestations of this unwillingness. In terms of combat effectiveness, the current Mongolian cavalry is of course not as good as the Mongolian cavalry during the Temujin and Kublai Khan. As a whole, the Mongols were degenerate. However, they were cavalry after all, and they were nomadic peoples, and they had advantages that the Han army could not match in terms of cavalry and shooting and mobility.

The Jianlu is in the rising period, and both the slave chiefs and the internal incentive system are excellent. The combat effectiveness of Jianlu is based on this advanced and effective incentive system. Their biggest flaw is that the number of people is too small and the military strength is insufficient. Without the existence of the Mongols, the development speed of Jianlu would definitely be much slower. However, the existence of the Mongols gave Jianlu great help.

In fact, the combat effectiveness of the grassroots Mongolian cavalry is still good. The main reason for the fall of the Mongols is that the upper class is completely corrupt. There is no outstanding figure in the current Mongolian princes and nobles, including Lin Danhan. Even if the grassroots Mongolian cavalry are very brave, the Mongolians, as a whole, have lost the ability to seize the Central Plains. However, if Jianlu commands these grassroots Mongolian cavalry, the situation will change.

The so-called "soldiers are a bear, and the generals are a nest. This is how the Mongols used to be. Now, this very bear general has been replaced and turned into a group of lions led by a tiger. Such combat power is still very considerable. If Huang Taiji could combine the Mongolian Eight Banners with Jianlu, even Zhang Zhun dared not wipe his edge easily. Fortunately, Huang Taiji did not have enough time to fully integrate the Mongolian Eight Banners, and he was unable to fully exert the combat power of the Mongolian cavalry for the time being.

If the army in Shanxi cannot move, then there is only one that can move Shandong. If there is no troublesome Zhang Zhun, Shandong can indeed draw some troops to enter Beijing to serve the king. Question, isn’t Zhang Zhun strong in Shandong? It is already very good for the court to continue to mobilize troops to suppress Zhang Zhun. Still relying on the transfer of troops from Shandong? Do you really have to hand over Shandong to Zhang Zhun?

Moreover, even without Zhang Zhun's existence, Shandong could only mobilize 30,000 to 40,000 troops. In the battle sequence of the Ming army, the combat effectiveness of Shandong's army can only be considered average, and it is definitely incomparable to the Ming army in Liaodong and Qin army in Shanxi. Even the court could not have too high expectations for the combat effectiveness of Shandong army.

Of course, in the most critical situation, the court could consider drawing the army from the Central Plains to join the ranks of fighting against the Tartars. Whether it was Hong Chengchou or Lu Xiangsheng, they were all relatively capable civil servants. Both of them had a team of servants who were more capable of fighting. But in that case, the chaos army in the Central Plains would develop in a great way. Now that Hong Chengchou and Lu Xiangsheng worked together, they finally suppressed the momentum of the chaos army in Shaanxi. Suddenly transferred away, and the chaos army in Shaanxi would definitely rebound. God knows how much it would rebound.

The court was most painful for being stretched and demolished the east and west walls. In real history, the Shaanxi chaos and the Tartars seemed to have a close relationship. Whenever one side was nervous, the other side would launch an attack, forcing the court to draw troops from the front line to alleviate the other side's dilemma.

The most obvious one is that in the eleventh year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng had been beaten to only a few dozen people, and the government army could eat him as long as it worked harder. However, the Tartars suddenly invaded and the government army had to be transferred away. So Li Zicheng successfully survived the catastrophe and ascended all the way, eventually ruining the Chongzhen Dynasty.

In addition, the court's money and food were always very nervous. It was absolutely impossible to order troops from other places to come to the capital to assist in defense. Without enough money and food, it would be absolutely impossible. Even though we knew that going to Beijing to fight the Tartars, we would have to fight with the Tartars, and it would be life-threatening. In terms of money and food, if the court had not given double the food and food, it would have been impossible to stimulate the morale of the army to fight the king.

However, can the current court get double the amount of food and salary? Shi Kefa expressed his pessimism about this. The annual income of the Taicang silver (national treasury) of the court was only three to four million taels of silver, plus Emperor Chongzhen's own treasury was only six to seven million taels of silver, which was not enough to spend. At present, the amount of Taicang silver is probably less than 300,000 taels, so what should I use to pay the food and salary for the army to defend the king?

What’s more important is food. Money can be temporarily not distributed, but soldiers cannot not eat. Fighting with the Tartars, where can they get the combat effectiveness if they don’t eat enough? But food is a huge problem. Northern Zhili was invaded by the Tartars last year and suffered heavy losses. Basically, not much food was returned to the warehouse. All the food must be transported from the south of the Yangtze River. This is an extremely heavy burden.

Shi Kefa said cautiously: "The officials will do their best to promote it, and ask the court to dispatch the adults to the capital to take on the important tasks."

Zhang Zhun couldn't help laughing.

I've seen naive, but I've never seen so naive!

Shi Kefa actually thought that the court would let him go to Beijing to serve the king!

His political and military affairs knowledge was really too lacking. Later, when the Qing army headed south, he still naively fantasized that the Qing army would not stay in the Central Plains for a long time, and after enough burning, killing and looting, he would still go back to his hometown in Liaodong. He also wanted to use the Qing army to eliminate Li Zicheng. As a result, he was caught off guard by the Qing army. Shi Kefa defended Yangzhou to the death, which was tragic, but in terms of strategy and tactics, it was really terrible.

Zhang Zhun shook his head and said coldly: "Dragon Master Shi, the court will not allow me to enter the capital to serve the king, and it is impossible to even cross the Yellow River."

Shi Kefa was slightly stunned and asked subconsciously: "What...what should I do?"

As soon as he spoke, he felt that he was a little weak and shouldn't have asked such an ignorant word. After all, he came on behalf of the court, so Zhang Zhun could not feel that the court was completely helpless in this matter. However, it was impossible for him to take it back.

What Zhang Zhun wanted was a speech like Shi Kefa that expressed weakness, and what he wanted was the opportunity to speak like this. He directly raised his request and said loudly: "If the court believes in me, I hope I can be in charge of Shandong's military affairs."

Shi Kefa subconsciously refused and frowned and said, "This is impossible. Only the governor, governor, prime minister, governor, and commander can rule over the military affairs of a province."

Zhang Zhun said with a smile: "Does Shi Langzhong think that Zhu Dadian can be competent?"

Shi Kefa frowned.

He had heard of Zhu Dadian's ability, but he was not very clear about the details. However, he was definitely not as good as Zhang Zhu. Because in Shandong, Zhu Dadian had been beaten by Zhang Zhu to no avail. Zhu Dadian could not do anything to Zhang Zhu's fact, and the emperor, probably knew everything. However, everyone was tacitly informed and did not make the matter public.

The reason is very simple. If anyone reveals the inside story, he must be prepared to replace Zhu Dadian. If you think Zhu Dadian is not good, then you can replace him. After arriving in Shandong, you will clean up Zhang Zhun and return to the capital. Who is the fool who can get into the top leadership of the court? The powerful relationship will naturally be clear. Going to Shandong to replace Zhu Dadian at this time is no different from jumping into the fire pit.

However, it is absolutely impossible for Zhang Zhun to rule over the military affairs of a province. This involves the power struggle between civil servants and military officers, and the most basic principle of using civil servants to transform military affairs with civil servants. Shi Kefa is a civil servant, and deeply believes that military officers must be bound by civil servants. He will never agree to Zhang Zhun to rule over the military affairs of a province. If such a precedent is set and military servants are supreme, civil servants will never die in the future.

After pondering for a moment, Shi Kefa said slowly: "Perhaps, the Governor can focus on front-line military affairs under the leadership of the Governor, and can handle it on the spot without asking for instructions."

Zhang Zhun said coldly: "The meaning of Shi Langzhong is to let me die in front, and did Zhu Dadian say sarcastic words later? The meaning of dealing with the opportunity without asking for instructions can be understood as if I am the only one who fights against the Tartars and everyone else is watching from the wall?"

Shi Kefa suddenly said stuttering.

In fact, he didn't mean that. However, he really wanted Zhang Zhun to charge forward. This was the cause of the civil servant's thoughts - you military men were charging into battle. However, in specific circumstances, it is indeed not an exaggeration to Zhang Zhun have such an understanding. In fact, in Shi Kefa's consciousness, he really wanted Zhang Zhun and the Tartars to fight for both sides and die together. This is also the usual thinking of civil servants, driving wolves and tigers, fighting for crabs and clams, and fishermen benefiting!

Shi Kefa hurriedly said, "Don't misunderstand, the subordinates don't mean that."

Zhang Zhun shook his head and said bluntly: "I will not let the corpse-like people sit on my head and act arrogantly. If I want me to fight the Tartars with all my might, I have to give me the corresponding power. If I cannot preside over the military affairs in Shandong, my ability will not be able to be exerted."

Shi Kefa will never compromise on the issue of principle, and he is not afraid of Zhang Zhun's threat. Shi Kefa, who is afraid of death, will not die in Yangzhou in the future. He also said bluntly: "It is absolutely impossible. Shi must not agree to the request of the governor."

Zhang Zhun nodded and said coldly: "Since that's the case, please come back."

Shi Kefa rushed up angry and couldn't help but say, "The Tartars are raging and poisoning creatures. The governor doesn't think about how to fight the Tartars. He just wants to expand his territory and power, put his personal ambitions above national interests, and he can be punished with his heart!"

Zhang Zhun said coldly: "Of course I will fight against the Tartars, but I am definitely not the dog of the court! As for your words, I can return the original sentence. The Tartars are rampant, and the court does not think about how to gather the strength of all parties and jointly deal with the difficulties, but only wants to guard against this and that, and is not at ease with their own people than the Tartars. What is this? I can punish it with my heart? Can't Chongzhen's intention be punished?"

Shi Kefa suddenly turned red and shouted in anger: "You! Zhang Zhun, don't be stubborn! You, you dare to say that the emperor is not!"

Zhang Zhun said coldly: "Since the court cannot deal with the Tartars, then get out! If you don't have the ability to be the emperor, just change to another person!"

Shi Kefa suddenly became furious and pointed at Zhang Zhun and cursed: "You! You traitor!"

Zhang Zhun was still tough and said: "I will repeat it again! If the imperial court did not allow me to take charge of Shandong's military affairs, I would not have to send out a soldier!"

Shi Kefa clenched his fists angrily, his face turned pale. At this moment, he was really furious. Zhang Zhun actually spoke in front of him that he wanted to change the emperor's words. As an orthodox scholar and a loyal and famous official, Shi Kefa would never tolerate Zhang Zhun's madness.

However, no matter how angry Shi Kefa was, he could not do anything to Zhang Zhun. He knew very well that Zhang Zhun did have the determination to challenge the court. What's more serious is that Zhang Zhun had the ability to challenge the court. The Hu Ben Army could kill thousands of Tartars in Huang County at one go. Such combat power was never achieved by the imperial army. At this moment, what Shi Kefa most hoped for was a lightning strike from the sky, beating Zhang Zhun, the thief, to pieces.

After a long time, Shi Kefa controlled his anger, tried his best to calm himself down, and said slowly: "Zhang Zhun, you will regret it!"

Zhang Zhun said coldly: "I hope Shi Langmao gets what he wants!"

Shi Kefa left in anger.

"Walk!"

"Let's go to Cangzhou!"
Chapter completed!