Chapter 109: Ming Dynasty has such a good general, Liaodong will be forever secure

"Hold your ground, and each team will advance in turn."

The ruddy-faced Zuo Liangyu commanded the spearmen to approach the city, and the chariots of the camp soldiers formed a barrier for the advance of the melee soldiers.

After large groups of spearmen climbed onto the top of the city wall, the resistance of the Eight Banners soldiers gradually died out. The Ming army quickly occupied the northern city wall. The spearmen from each team formed rows of spear formations and advanced against the Tatar soldiers who were still resisting stubbornly.

The news of the old Khan's death spread quickly, and the remaining Eight Banners soldiers in the city immediately lost their will to fight. Even though some veteran generals of the Two Yellow Banners tried to organize the bannermen to continue fighting, the Eight Banners soldiers did not want to have a head-on battle with Li Hao, who had killed many powerful generals of the Later Jin Dynasty.

Therefore, on the other three city walls, many Eight Banners soldiers helped each other and climbed down holding the ropes.

The siege took a long time, but the actual fighting part was very short. The fierce fighting only took place before the Jinzhou general killed the old slave. During the rest of the time, the Ming army soldiers were able to slowly occupy the entire city.

After all, only a few Eight Banners soldiers escaped, and the remaining Later Jin soldiers gradually surrendered.

After the Ming army transported away the sand, stone and rammed earth piled up in the city gate, a large number of Ming troops outside the city were able to enter the city. This time, the families of the Jianzhou Jurchen soldiers became obedient, and no boy dared to ride on the roof and shoot the Ming soldiers marching on the street.

The surrender was then accepted in the city. In view of the fact that there were quite a lot of surrendered Jianzhou soldiers, Li Hao ordered that only the Later Jin officials at all levels, such as Ezhen, Bashiku, and Daizi, should be killed.

Of course, he personally wielded the guillotine and sent the Jianzhou Jurchen officials to the underworld one by one.

……

At the end of June, the news of the great victory on the Liaodong front was passed down through the layers and entered the Ministry of War, the Cabinet, the Ministry of Public Security and other government offices in the capital.

In the lobby of the Ministry of War, Shangshu Wang Yongguang summoned the vice ministers, the four ministers, the deputy ministers, the principals and other officials in Beijing to discuss the upcoming rewards.

"According to the custom after Emperor Zhengde, a general officer cannot be given a higher title before he retires."

Wang Yongguang was just an official affiliated with the eunuch party, and his relationship with Duke Wei was not actually close.

This Shangshu actually supported giving generous rewards to the Liao army soldiers, but a huge explosion had just occurred in Wanggongchang on the fifth day of May, and the Crown Prince Zhu Cijing died of the shock. The emperor was also greatly frightened. It was rumored that carpentry work had been stopped for a long time, and the several titles proposed by the Ministry of War were actually not very suitable for the current court situation.

"There are exceptions. Marshal Li Chengliang was given the title of Earl of Ningyuan."

Tian Ji, a doctor in the Armory Department of the Ministry of War, also spoke in a conventional way, "Now that Marshal Li Hao has led his army to successively conquer Yizhou, Guangning, Gaihaiwei, Liaoyang and other important towns, he has not only achieved a great achievement, but also accumulated small achievements. If he is not granted the title of Earl, I am afraid that the people will resent it and the soldiers in the nine borders will be disheartened!"

He said this in a high-sounding manner, but this man had a bad reputation for cheating in the palace examination. Later, because of their hometown connection, he successively attached himself to officials of the eunuch party and even climbed up to the sight of Duke Wei. After only two or three years, he was promoted to the chief official of a department of the Ministry of War.

Everyone else in the hall looked down on him. Although what he said made sense, this eunuch party official cited the old example of Li Chengliang, and the other officials in the Ministry of War remained silent and did not agree.

"Let's discuss the affairs of the two commanders, Zhao Lujiao and Zhu Mei, first. Commander Zhao personally led his family servants deep into Liaodong, and fought fiercely in Haizhou City several times, and died under the arrows of the Tartars. It's not too much to posthumously confer a noble title on them. This department will first propose the title of Earl of Haizhou, or Earl of Jinglu. After all, Commander Zhao is from the Jinglu Guard in Shaanxi."

The old and frail Wang Yongguang first used Zhao Lushio, who died in battle, to break the impasse. He was 65 years old and had originally wanted to submit his resignation and return to his hometown to recuperate. After he conferred titles on the soldiers of Liaozhen, his official career could be considered a successful end.

At least the people have high praise for Marshal Li Hao and the soldiers of Liaozhen. Giving Liaozhen a high title can also earn some good reputation for oneself.

The officials were relatively tolerant of the fallen soldiers and began to discuss whether it was feasible. Tian Ji also knew that he was annoying, so he kept his mouth shut to prevent others from being disgusted and keeping silent.

"Zhao Lujiao died of wounds in the military camp, and he brought his family members back with him. He did not disgrace the dignity of the Celestial Empire. However, he died on the front line of recovering Liao territory, so it is not too harsh to confer a posthumous title. Let's first make him an earl, and if His Majesty is interested, we can promote him to a marquis."

"It's better to just make him an earl. He was posthumously conferred the title of marquis, so Marshal Li Hao must also be a marquis, otherwise all the civil and military officials in the court, as well as the officials and gentry in the two capitals, will file memorials to impeach us one after another."

Now the only part of Liao territory left was the area around Fenghuang City in Qianshan, and Kaiyuan and Tieling in the north. The area around Shenyang City had been abandoned by the Tartars. Several officials in the Ministry of War believed that Li Hao should not be given too high a reward for the time being, lest he would have no more rewards to offer.

"It's enough to confer a posthumous title of nobility. I'll tell my godfather to ask the court to give him the title of earl. As for Zhu Mei, give him the titles of left and right commanders, posthumously confer him the title of general commander, and let one of his sons be the commander-in-chief of this guard."

Another troublemaker came out to cause trouble, and when everyone looked, it turned out to be Wu Chunfu.

He was also an official of the eunuch party who recognized Wei Zhongxian as his godfather and had a similar reputation to Tian Ji.

Among the officials of the Ministry of War, those who did not adhere to the eunuch party immediately covered their mouths and noses, and used their free hands to quickly fan in front of their faces, as if to fan away Wu Chunfu's bad breath.

Tian Ji glared at Wu Chunfu, and he also showed off his relationship with Duke Wei. "Our Ming Dynasty has a good general like Li Hao, Liaodong is forever secure, and it is really a loss to General Li Hao to be given an earl. In my opinion, he should be given a marquisate, and a hereditary title, and also the title of the crown prince's tutor, and the title of the grand guardian."

Even within the eunuch party officials, competition was extremely fierce.

Tian Ji's academic performance was average, he did not read books, and he had only a vague understanding of the conventions for rewarding military commanders, so he just added to what he knew.

Wu Chunfu had been an official for more than ten years longer than Tian Ji and had some knowledge of official rules. When he saw that Tian Ji had stolen his limelight in front of the officials of the Ministry of War and the officials of various departments, he became furious.

"You know nothing, you idiot who cheated in the palace examination, how can you confer a hereditary title on a general? And you're also a Grand Guardian. You've been given the title of Grand Guardian now, and when Liao is fully restored, what else can you add?"

Wu Chunfu stood up and shouted, threatening to complain to his godfather.

Tian Ji was not to be outdone. He rolled up the sleeves of his round-necked robe, walked over and started attacking Wu Chunfu while cursing him.

"Now everyone knows that Li Shuai is Duke Wei's man. With such a great achievement, how can he not be promoted to marquis? As a godson, you are inferior to an outsider. Today, I will teach you a lesson on behalf of Duke Wei."

The two eunuch officials started fighting on the spot.

Wang Yongguang did not order his servants to come in and dissuade him. He quietly bypassed the battlefield and left.

The other officials thought it was unlucky and left the meeting hall with their sleeves fanning their noses.

"What do you think, Minister Wang?"

After leaving the hall, a minister again asked Shangshu Wang Yongguang for his opinion.

"Zhao Lujiao will be given the title of Earl, Zhu Mei will be given the title of Left Commander, and one of Zhu Mei's sons will be given the title of hereditary commander. As for Li Shuai, he will be given the title of Earl of Jinzhou first, and then he will be given the title of Marquis after the Liao territory is fully recovered. As for the Prince's Tutor, let's not mention him for now, and wait until the storm has passed, so as not to make His Majesty sad."

Wang Yongguang's thinking is very clear. He is not like those two ugly guys fighting inside.

Many officials from the Ministry of War nodded in agreement. After Secretary Wang Shang wrote down the names of the officials who supported his point of view, he went out and took a sedan chair to the palace gate.

The reward proposed by the Ministry of War is just the beginning, and this matter needs to be implemented by the cabinet.

After the Liao land was gradually recovered, there were now more things to discuss. There were constant civil unrest in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, and the past two years were designated as the last two years for collecting Liao salaries. According to Wang Yongguang's opinion, another year of Liao salaries would have to be collected next year to pay off all the arrears of salaries for the nine border military garrisons.

As long as the nine borders remain stable, no matter how many civil uprisings there are, they will not cause any major waves.

In the warm room of the cabinet opposite the Wenhua Hall, most of the main officials of the Ming Dynasty were present. The Prime Minister, the Three Assistant Ministers and the Seven Ministers gathered in a small narrow room and continued to discuss the Liaozhen military pay, the Liao military pay, the taxes and goods from various provinces in aid of Liaodong after the recovery of Liaodong, and the rebellion in the southwest.

The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue firmly advocated that the Liao tax of nine cents per mu should no longer be levied next year.

"Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces have suffered from drought for years, and civil unrest has continued. If Liao tribute is levied for another year, even Henan will have the seeds of civil unrest."

Wang Yongguang from the Ministry of War doesn't think so.

"How can we solve the arrears of wages owed by the Nine Frontiers? We can collect Liao wages for another year, and everything will be fine. Even if there is a civil uprising, we can also draw elite troops from the Nine Frontiers to suppress it. With General Li's might, which farmer dares to rebel under his hands?"

The ministers of each ministry were only thinking about their own piece of land. Although they did not roll up their sleeves and start working directly, the intensity of their competition was no less than that of the two eunuch party officials just now.

Sun Chengzong, who was invited back by Emperor Tianqi to serve as the Minister of Personnel, smoothed things over. "You two, we must deal with the civil unrest and resolve the arrears of wages in the nine frontiers. In my opinion, it is better to continue collecting taxes in Huguang, Nanzhili, Zhejiang and other places for another year, and exempt Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan."

Old man Sun was a smooth official and got along well with officials from several factions. When he said this, the two ministers had to give him face.

But obviously no one considered whether the people in Huguang and Nanzhi provinces were willing.

No one considered whether Marshal Li would cause trouble for pay.

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(End of this chapter)