Chapter 787 Eliminate the hidden dangers of the Zheng family
In short, the current situation is the chaos in the Southern Ming Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty in the north is even more chaotic. Both sides are too busy to take care of themselves and are unable to attack the other side. The Qing court experienced the Haoge Rebellion within the Qing court, while the Ming court suffered a stroke in Chongzhen and the Tang King's rebellion. Only now have the stability returned to its current state.
"Oh, if it weren't for the hasty northern expedition, if it could endure it until now, if the court did not let King Qi, you be filial, but would have regained love, with the elite troops of the Pingnan Army left by King Qi, under the leadership of your prince, you would have been able to succeed in the northern expedition in one fell swoop, drive the Manchus out of the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and restore the old mountains and rivers!" Lu Zhenfei said in annoyance, regretting his failed northern expedition in the past.
"It's not too late now! Prince, everyone, now the princess is in charge of the country and the court has stabilized. Although the Western thieves have not been completely wiped out, they cannot become a climate at all. Just use local troops to deal with it.
We can now draw our main force from Jiangxi. If we have too many, we can still have 50,000 or 60,000 troops. The northern expedition of 50,000 troops is enough to recover Henan's threat to Shandong and support Shandong Wu Ping. And if we can meet with General Wu Ping, we will have more than 100,000 troops. Such a force will be fine if we fight the Qing soldiers!"
Wang Yin, the Minister of War, has always been a firm Northern Expedition faction, and he couldn't help but say when he heard this.
Lu Zhenfei shook his head: "Last time, the northern expedition failed, and this time it must not be like this. Moreover, the court is far from stable. Although the rebellion of the King of Tang has been quelled, don't forget that the Zheng family in Fujian is the Zheng family in Fujian. As the general of Fujian, Zheng Zhilong has more than 100,000 troops and thousands of warships in his hands. He has earned huge wealth through maritime trade. The Zheng family's army has no shortage of financial resources. Now the Zheng family's conspiracy to support the King of Tang has gone bankrupt and is charged with killing the third prince. If nothing else, the princess of the governor will definitely refuse to forgive the Zheng family. How can we know that the Zheng family will not take risks? We will make a move to betray the Ming Dynasty! Therefore, we should not only not be able to fight the northern expedition, but we should draw off our troops and prepare to deal with the upcoming Zheng family rebellion and be prepared to quell the rebellion at any time!"
After Lu Zhenfei said this, Wang Yin and others' passionate hearts calmed down. Yes, the time for the Ming Dynasty was far from stable and the civil strife was not yet calmed down. How could they go to the Northern Expedition?
"Everyone, let's not talk about the Zheng family in Fujian for the time being, but there are 30,000 Zheng Sen's soldiers in Jingzhou. If Zheng Sen leads troops to cause trouble, Jingzhou will be in Huguang's abdomen again, things will be very troublesome!" Liu Neng, who had been listening quietly, suddenly reminded.
Yes, there was Zheng Sen's 30,000 troops, and everyone suddenly realized the situation was so serious.
"Prince, sir, you don't need to worry too much. Although Zheng Sen has 30,000 people, his food and salary are in the hands of the court. If their food is cut off, his army will be in chaos for no more than ten days. In addition, with Hao Yaoqi and tens of thousands of people restrained him in Wuchang, Zheng Sen can't do anything at all." Gu Junen said: "And, Jingzhou may not know what is happening in Nanjing now. As long as the imperial edict is issued to Jingzhou in the name of the court, Zheng Sen's uncle and nephew leave the army and return to Nanjing to report his duties, and at the same time send generals to take over his army, maybe 30,000 people can easily be in the hands of the court. Although the Zheng family is deeply rooted in Fujian, and the soldiers in the army are also children of Fujian, they are even more of the Ming Dynasty. What ability does the Zheng family have to make ordinary soldiers loyal to them?
As for Zheng Zhilong from Fujian, the same method can be used. The court can order Zheng Zhilong to go to Beijing to meet him, and at the same time order Fujian Governor Zhang Kentang to take control of the Fujian army. We can also send troops to Fujian via Xianxia Pass to cooperate with the Dongfan Navy to put pressure on Fujian and prepare for the failure to suppress it forcibly.
Although Zheng Zhilong has a huge influence in Fujian, Fujian is still the world of the Ming Dynasty. The veteran soldiers of Fujian may not be willing to rebel against the court. Perhaps the power of the Zheng family can be eliminated without using any weapons!"
Chen Yue nodded, "What Mr. Gu said is deeply in my opinion. Everyone, we now represent the court, with great righteousness in hand, and to serve the emperor to attack the unjust ministers! Although the Ming Dynasty is turbulent now, it has a majesty of three hundred years. The rule of the Ming Dynasty is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and a few traitors cannot shake the foundation of the Ming Dynasty at all.
I will go to the court tomorrow to discuss with Shi Kefa, and follow the ideas we just discussed, and the court will issue an order to summon Zheng Zhilong and his son to Beijing. At the same time, I will ask Lu Tai to take his fleet back to Dongfan Island and meet Qian Fenglin from Dongfan to put pressure on the Zheng family from the sea. Don’t forget that we still have tens of thousands of troops on Dongfan Island. After the training of the past six months, we should be able to take action. If the Zheng family dares to rebel, they can immediately send troops from Dongfan to attack Quanzhou across the sea.
At the same time, I will ask Jin Shenghuan and Jin Xin to fully pursue Zhang Nengqi from Jiangxi, and then divide a group of troops from Jiangxi to cross Xianxia Ridge into Fujian, and cooperate with Fujian Governor Zhang Kentang to control the entire territory of Fujian."
Chen Yue slowly expressed his plans, discussed with Gu Junen and others for a long time, and finally formed a detailed plan.
First, we should quell the hidden danger of the Zheng family, and then recruit soldiers and train troops while eliminating the Western thieves. When the soldiers are well trained after autumn, we should send troops to the north to recover Henan, Hebei, Shandong and other places. This is the consensus among the King of Qi.
The next morning, Chen Yue went to the cabinet to meet with the chief minister Shi Kefa. Chen Yue had the title of assistant to the government affairs, and the court could be inquired about the government affairs, so he could naturally enter and exit the cabinet at will.
Shi Kefa was very busy, but he still put down his affairs and received Chen Yue. After asking for the purpose of the visit, Chen Yue explained the analysis of the Zheng family's chaos.
Shi Kefa asked, "The King of Qi is sure that the Zheng family was involved in the killing of the third prince?"
Chen Yue nodded and said, "The Jinyiwei interrogated Han Zanzhou strictly tortured. Han Zanzhou had already confessed. He revealed the information of the third prince to the people of the Zheng family. At that time, Zheng Zhibao led his troops in Nanjing. Now the Jinyiwei was interrogating Zheng Zhibao, and he would be able to ask for his confession.
However, I think that no matter what, the Zheng family was involved too deeply in the Tang King incident and that it definitely had a motive for rebellion. Zheng Zhilong had tens of thousands of troops and thousands of warships, and his power was too large. If he really started, it would inevitably be a great disaster.
Therefore, the court should take the initiative and eliminate the rebellion in its infancy!”
Shi Kefa: "But if Zheng Zhilong comes to Nanjing in this way? Wouldn't he be alerted if he rashly issued an imperial edict to him?"
Chen Yue said: "Since Zheng Zhilong made the move to support the Tang King, he must have plans to fail. If he was willing to obey the will of the court, a disaster could be easily eliminated. If he refused to obey the order and returned to Beijing, it would only cause the disaster to a few days ago. I will order the army to prepare. Once Zheng Zhilong really rebelled, the army would enter Fujian from Jiangxi. At the same time, the navy went from east to west and attacked Fujian from land and water, and would definitely eliminate the power of the Zheng family in one fell swoop! Although Fujian has many troops, they are all weak soldiers who have never been to war. How can it be compared with my Ming elite who have been on the battlefield for a long time? In less than two months, the Zheng family's rebellion can be completely suppressed!" (https:)
Chapter completed!