Due to Li Zicheng's advance to Beijing, Shi Kefa was the Minister of War in Nanjing and the only person among the six ministries in Nanjing who held real power. It is understandable to prepare for the regulation and deployment.

Under the Ming Dynasty's two capital system, Nanjing was almost a place for officials to support their elderly care. Those who were unsuccessful or temporarily avoided the edge of political enemies, going to Nanjing to support their hopes is the best choice.

But Nanjing is not just a place to support idle officials. Nanjing is a place where Jiangnan is a place of beauty, and it is an unyielding place for dragons and tigers to occupy. It is also the core area of ​​the entire Jiangnan. It was once the capital of the state, but now it is a capital. Therefore, in terms of politics, military, economy and culture, Nanjing is far superior to Suzhou and Hangzhou. As for provincial capitals such as Guangzhou, Nanchang, Fuzhou and Changsha, it is even worse. The ones below are Kunming and Guizhou. It can be said that Nanjing is the important town of the Ming Dynasty in the south, including the southwest. The Japanese turmoil in the southeast, the turmoil in the southwest, the dispatch of military supplies, dispatching troops and appointing generals. These things are all under the jurisdiction of Nanjing, not the capital far away in the north.

Of course, the general direction is still in control of the capital. Under normal circumstances, Nanjing is responsible for the operation and execution of southern affairs.

Those who do these things are the Minister of War in Nanjing and the Ming Dynasty's real power in the entire south, and their status is far above that of ordinary governors.

The current Nanjing soldier is Shi Kefa. He made his mark during his tenure as Fengyang and was famous for his ability and responsibility. Chongzhen personally sent his son-in-law Gong Yonggu to the south to check. After Gong Yonggu returned to the capital, he praised Shi Kefa. Shi Kefa originally had the blessing of Donglin connections, but was trusted by Chongzhen and finally took the position of Nanjing soldier. That is, Emperor Chongzhen entrusts most of the safety of the south to Shi Kefa.

Chongzhen was actually useless and had a wise mind. In the peaceful times, Shi Kefa, a minister who was well-behaved and capable in Nanjing was quite suitable. At least he was just a regular person and would not cause any major troubles or troubles. In the late Chongzhen period, there were strong Qing enemies who had already established the country, and there were two major troubles in Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong. The southeast was not only the rear of the Ming Dynasty, but also the source of grain transportation and food and wages. This was the most

In the important places, we should choose ministers with more practical experience, stronger skills, and more firm minds and will to guard the situation... But Chongzhen really had no choice. By the end of Chongzhen, Sun Chengzong died of his country, Fu Zonglong died, Lu Xiangsheng died, Hong Chengchou surrendered, Sun Chuanting and Ding Qirui Chongzhen wanted to fight against the peasant army in the northwest of the Central Plains. Looking at it, there were really few suitable candidates, and it was a forced one to use Shi Kefa.

From the perspective of outsiders in later generations, Shi Kefa’s most commendable thing is ethics, but apart from ethics, it is useless.

If it was not Shi Kefa who presided over the overall situation in Nanjing, but Sun Chuanting, the situation in the entire Nanming might be very different. Of course, it may not be any different. After all, the political resources Sun Chuanting could master in Jiangnan were far less than Shi Kefa, and the history of the Nanming might be even more chaotic, and no one could say it.

What is happening now is of course the arrangement of Shi Kefa.

Beijing is in crisis, and the order to serve the king has been issued long ago, but this time is completely different from the situation where the Eight Banners soldiers besieged the capital.

There were only a handful of soldiers and horses going north to serve the king, and the enthusiasm of civil and military officials was quite limited. Shi Kefa was making arrangements in Nanjing. For example, Liu Liangzuo, known as the Huama Liu, guarded Linhuai and peeked at Henan, which had been controlled by the rebels.

Huang Degong, a powerful general who was born in the Beijing camp, had his character and ethics trusted by Shi Kefa, so he guarded Chuzhou and Hezhou, which were very close to Nanjing. At the end of the sixteenth and early seventeenth years, Huang Degong was ordered to attack the rebel general Liu Chao.

The general of Caozhou, Liu Zeqing, was not weak, mainly because fourteen years later, he was ordered to rescue Kaifeng in Henan. He did not fight. He was ordered many times, but Liu Zeqing made excuses not to obey the order. By the seventeenth year, Liu Zeqing, who had tens of thousands of troops, was already strong. When Shi Kefa was preparing to go north to serve the king and defend Nanjing, he placed Liu Zeqing in Huai'an, which had a lower position.

More importantly, Xuzhou was not under the control of the generals at this time, but Gao Jie, who was born in the peasant army, would flee south from the battlefields of northern Shaanxi and Shanxi. After failing to attack Yangzhou, Gao Jie followed Shi Kefa's order and moved to Xuzhou in September.

At this point, the four towns in Jiangbei were generally formed. The armed forces of the Southern Ming Dynasty faced the powerful enemy and stationed in Xuzhou in Huai, Si and Xi. The four towns were allowed to raise their own troops.

In addition, there are Zuo Liangyu in Hubei, as well as local generals such as Zhejiang, Hunan, Fujian and Guangzhou, with a large number of troops, and their strength is still above one million.

"It's Caozhou Liu." Zhu Wanchun deserves to be knowledgeable. He looked at the window on the second floor and said, "In the eighth year of Chongzhen, Caozhou Liu was ordered to lead troops to protect the grain to Huai'an. Huaiyang soldiers prepared the road to hold banquets and hospitality. Many officials and gentry were accompanying him at the banquet, and my father and I were also in the banquet. At that time, he was just the deputy general, and he was quite humble and liked to write poetry, but his poetry was average... Well, quite ordinary. In a few years afterwards, he was the general of Caozhou, the general of Shandong, and then he was the left governor and the chief magistrate. Now he is even more powerful. We are here

Min Yuanqi saw a general wearing a phoenix-winged helmet, a mountain-piercing armor, and a cloak of a large flower and brocade robe and cloak under the banner. He looked about forty years, with a very thin face and a huge eyes. He looked very powerful when he looked at him. However, from a distance, he could tell that he was quite arrogant and gloomy. Judging from the reputation of Zhu Wanchun and others, Liu Zeqing's ethics was quite not very good.

"The people who have just spoken so boldly." Zhu Wanchun whispered: "Caozhou Liu is not a person of great ruthlessness. When he was in Shandong, he dared to contradict him either to be executed or skinned. If he could not move, he sent people to assassinate him secretly. He controlled tens of thousands of soldiers and horses like this, and the court did not dare to do anything to him. During the Linqing period, his subordinates burned all the towns and villages along the way, and more than 10,000 people died. Han Ruyu impeached him by the inmate. Caozhou Liu sent people to assassinate Han Jia. The court did not dare to inquire about this matter."

When Zhu Wanchun talked about this, his dissatisfaction was quite obvious.

If Min Yuanqi knew the weight of the minister in the court, he would also feel Liu Zeqing's domineering and unruly.

The ancestral system of the Ming Dynasty was the general system of the big and small, the cabinet and the six ministries were large, and the censor of the clerk was small, but the cabinet and the six ministries were generally unable to move the clerk. Although the clerk was a small official of the seventh rank, the weight of power and responsibility was much greater than that of ordinary fourth rank and fifth rank officials. Senior clerks had a much greater say in their affairs than ordinary ministers.

For example, in the Liaodong war, the memorials of the military department in the military department were more important than ordinary governors and ministers. His attitude was fully capable of controlling the military movements of the court.

Before Chongzhen, let alone a general, even if a noble prince assassinated a minister, he would be in a sudden uproar and no one could save him.

Now, a small general brazenly assassinated the sergeant just for a bullet stamp. The court not only had no choice but to have no superficial investigation and reprimand.

Think about it, it’s true… No matter how you assassinate the murderer, it would be a death sentence, but with the "pragmatic" personality of Emperor Chongzhen, he dared to force a military leader with tens of thousands of troops to fight against him?

The most corrupt period of the Ming Dynasty was Chongzhen. Even Emperor Tianqi, who was called the carpenter emperor, acted very well. Compared with Chongzhen, the realm of Tianqi exceeded eighteen streets.

During the Chongzhen period, no emperor of the Ming Dynasty would have destroyed the country...

Of course, Min Yuanqi didn't know this, and he didn't even know much about the four towns in Jiangbei and Liu Zeqing. The generals in the late Ming Dynasty, such as Ma Shilong, Zu Dashou, Cao Bianjiao, Mao Wenlong, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others, Min Yuanqi was quite aware of second-rate or even third-rate characters like Liu Zeqing.

Now this third-rate character has entered Huai'an in a dignified manner and will soon master the defense. With the current situation, it is not wrong to say that it is the Supreme Emperor of Huai'an.

"Oh..." Zhu Wanchun was restless and turned to Min Yuanqi and bowed to him: "Suddenly, I want to go home once, four hundred taels of silver. I will be sent to Brother Min's ship tonight. This time, Brother Min will also be invited to move to my Zhu family's salt shop."

"It should work." Min Yuanqi had been mentally prepared for everything in front of him, not as panic as Zhu Wanchun.

But when they had enough food and drink, they left the restaurant and returned to the dock, there were destroyed street stalls all the way, and many injured were still lying on the ground, and the streets were full of arrogant Shandong soldiers. These Shandong soldiers were tall and arrogant, wandering around the streets in groups, and they did not pay any money for their items. The shopkeeper dared to be dissatisfied or dared to ask for money, and were beaten by these guest soldiers without exception.

The garrison soldiers and battalions in this city were driven away, and everyone in the city was careful. Many shops closed the door for insurance, but if there were any visiting soldiers slapped the door, they had to open the door honestly and watch the visitors move items at will with a smile.

Garments, hats, shoes, food...

Min Yuanqi and the other two were wearing flag and military robes, and there was no trouble along the way. The guest soldiers saw that they were military officers from the three guards, and although they looked contemptuous, they just came to make things difficult.

These visiting soldiers also knew that the military officers of the garrison were all a group of poor people, and they really couldn't get much money from them.

Along the way, many wealthy businessmen and gentry were stolen, and even several scholars were stolen by the visiting soldiers with ornaments and silver. One student expressed his dissatisfaction loudly, but the visiting soldiers took turns to slap the mouth, and his face was covered with blood.

Those students looked shocked and incredible. The two Huaihe River were not as good as Jiangnan. The students in Jiangnan could drive away their parents and influence the general trend of the court. The students in Huai'an were definitely not as good as Jiangnan, but the status of the students was not much lower.

A group of ordinary soldiers dared to beat the live-action staff in the street, and they could only say that the sky of Ming Dynasty has changed.

Min Yuanqi didn't take these things seriously. What he noticed was that although the visiting soldiers robbed shops and pedestrians, they did not rush into the private houses to rob, and the dumping shops, money shops and pawn shops opened by large households were not affected... It seems that these visiting soldiers still have a bottom line in their actions, which should be Liu Zeqing's order in advance.

The enemy soldiers were sure to have no money, grain and military pay when they were in the process. Liu Zeqing would not use his own money to pay the pay. After entering the city, he would definitely be a promise before the process of the journey, but he was not allowed to rob the gentry and grain households, not to rob valuables, and not to act too much. This should be Liu Zeqing's order.

Judging from Zhu Wanchun's words, Liu Zeqing is not a person with integrity and bottom line. He did not steal Huaian and burn it to white ground, but just because it was possible that he would have to station troops here for a long time.

Rabbits don’t eat grass beside their nests, and they can’t eat too much, that’s the case.
Chapter completed!