Wu Zheng listened and asked strangely, "What's wrong with Emperor Hongguang?" ”

Ma Shiying smiled bitterly: "Lord Hou is also a high-ranking person now, and he should know the character and talent of people in the royal family." ”

Wu Zheng was stunned at first, and then quickly came back to his senses, Ma Shiying pointed out that it was the practice of the clan, and the vassal kings in various places were not allowed to study since they were young, which was to prevent these vassal kings from having different intentions in the future.

In fact, the so-called "King Lu has a virtuous name" advocated by the Donglin Party is just an excuse, and Zhu Changshu, the king of Lu, who does not study and is not virtuous, is definitely not virtuous.

Wu Zheng smiled and said, "Let's go on." ”

Ma Shiying sighed before speaking, and paused for a long time before saying, "Emperor Hongguang...... It's very expensive. ”

Wu Zheng naturally understood that Ma Shiying finally took care of the monarch and ministers, and it was not good to openly accuse Emperor Hongguang whom he supported.

But Wu Zheng didn't have this concern, he said clearly: "I know about this, after ascending the throne for a year, countless money was looted, and Shan Xiunu levied it three times, and none of the taxes collected were used for people's livelihood, this is the emperor you support!" ”

Wu Zheng's straightforwardness made Ma Shiying's face red and white for a while, and he squeaked: "Compared with the King Lu that the Donglin Party wants to establish, Emperor Hongguang ...... It's not too outrageous. ”

Wu Zheng was stunned, yes, it is not too outrageous, Emperor Hongguang fled from Nanjing in defeat, and went to Wuhu to take refuge in Yasukuni Gong Huang Degong, which caused the Qing army to attack, and Huang Degong fought to the death.

After Huang Degong died in battle, his subordinates Tian Xiong, Ma Degong, Qiu Yue, Zhang Jie, Huang Ming, Chen Xiance and others rushed to the imperial boat, kidnapped Emperor Hongguang, and dedicated him to the Qing army.

Although Emperor Hongguang did not subjectively dedicate the country to the Qing Dynasty, his actions were not too outrageous as Ma Shiying said.

Wu Zheng asked: "Even if Emperor Hongguang is mediocre and decadent and indulges in wine, it is not he who is really in charge of government affairs in the Hongguang Dynasty, right?" I'm afraid what you're talking about isn't the main reason for the defeat of the million Ming army in a few days, right? ”

Ma Shiying nodded in agreement: "That's right, in just one year, the million army has been wiped out, and whoever is responsible for it is probably not true." But Ma still has to say that the emperor is difficult to resign. ”

Seeing that Wu Zheng's face was a little uneasy when he heard this, Ma Shiying hurriedly explained: "Listen to me finish speaking." When I contacted the ministers and the surrounding four towns to raise troops to support King Fu, King Fu had privately reached an agreement with the commander of the four towns, and in order to ascend the throne, King Fu promised many things that even I did not know, so that after King Fu ascended the throne, the four towns did not listen to the announcement, absorbed the taxes of the station, and even turned a deaf ear to the will of the imperial court. ”

Wu Zheng frowned and said, "The Shi Pavilion Department has a large army, how can they be allowed to do this? ”

Ma Shiying smiled bitterly: "Shi Kefa was vacillating left and right in the matter of supporting the establishment before, and he even joined Zhang Shenyan, Gao Hongtu and other seventeen people to sign the seven reasons why the king of Fu cannot be established - greed, lewdness, alcoholism, unfilial piety, abuse, ignorance and arbitrariness. This letter was later known to Emperor Hongguang, how could he not regard Shi Kefa as a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh? Therefore, although Shi Kefa had hundreds of thousands of troops in his hands, he had long been abandoned by the emperor outside the court, so that later, when Shi Kefa was in danger of defending Yangzhou, he asked the court for help several times, but the emperor ignored it and let Yangzhou fall. ”

Wu Zheng's heart throbbed, this was a typical unanimous search for destruction.

At this time, Ma Shiying continued: "If the emperor should bear the responsibility of 30% for the loss of Nanjing, then Shi Kefa should also bear 30%. ”

"And how much should you bear?" Wu Zheng asked coldly.

Ma Shiying was stunned for a moment, and then said angrily: "Although Ma is the first assistant, it can only last for a year, and there are also Wang Duo, the former secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Jiang Yueguang, the left waiter of the Ministry of Rites, who are both scholars of Dongge University, Zhang Shenyan, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, Liu Zongzhou, the new secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Qian Qianyi, and others. These people were used by the Donglin Party to restrain Ma, and their statement was to try to let the righteous people occupy the key areas, so that the establishment of the imperial court had a new atmosphere. But the result? ”

Ma Shiying mocked: "At least more than half of them have shaved their hair and surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, and the so-called righteous people are not as good as me, the eunuch who is spurned by the world." If Hou Ye had to ask Ma how much responsibility he should bear, Ma replied, at most, one percent. ”

"Oh?" Wu Zheng asked, "In this way, there are already seventy percent, and there are still thirty percent of the responsibility, who should bear it?" ”

Ma Shiying thought for a while and said, "There should be the coach of the four towns to take care of the remaining thirty percent." ”

When Wu Zheng heard this, he suddenly had a seizure and said angrily: "Are you slandering the Duke of Yasukuni in front of me?" ”

Ma Shiying was a little stunned, and he said: "Ma doesn't dare to slander the Duke of Yasukuni, although the Duke of Yasukuni is vulgar, he is indeed a loyal minister." But the other three towns, Guangchangbo Liu Liangzuo, Xingping Bo Gaojie, and Dongpingbo Liu Zeqing, which one is not two-faced and separated from the imperial court? The key is that there are internal grudges among the general soldiers of the four towns, and if it weren't for Shi Kefa's continuous mediation, I'm afraid the four towns would have already fought on their own.

Hou Ye must know that except for Yasukuni Gonghuang Degong who desperately escorted and died on the battlefield, the other three towns were all surrendered. Needless to say, Liu Liangzuo's younger brother Liu Liangchen had surrendered to the Qing court with the chief soldier Zu Dashou as early as the battle of Daling River in the fourth year of Chongzhen. His military exploits all come from the suppression of thieves, he has never really resisted the Qing Dynasty, Xingping Bo Gaojie was originally a general of the people's thieves, and in the early years with the Qing army, and after the Hongguang Emperor, only to kill a Xuzhou bandit leader, and was named Xingping Bo, the prince and the prince.

As for Dongpingbo Liu Zeqing, when Chongzhen was promoted to the general army of Shandong in the last years, he had already shown his antipathy. When the Dashun army approached Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen ordered him to lead his troops to quickly enter the Weijing Division, but he lied that he was injured by falling from his horse and refused to obey the edict. Soon the Dashun army entered Shandong, and he led the main force to flee south to Huai'an to occupy the king, which was a capricious villain.

Ma did not mean to slander the dead, waiting for the master to learn. I just want to say that the demise of the Hongguang Dynasty really shouldn't be blamed on Ma's head, at least Ma shouldn't bear most of the responsibility. ”

Wu Zheng actually agrees with Ma Shiying's exposition in his heart, Ma Shiying is a "traitor", and in this kind of troubled times, the negative impact he can play can never be so great.

Because he does not have military power in his hands, but it is the general soldiers of the four towns and Shi Kefa who hold heavy troops, which can play a vital role in this battle situation.

And the million Ming army of the Southern Ming Dynasty, in fact, is the imperial army in the hands of Shi Kefa, plus the soldiers and bandits in the hands of the four towns, and some temporary new army, which is by no means a real million regular army.

But Wu Zheng asked quietly: "If you hadn't provoked the party dispute, how could Hongguang Dynasty not have died in a year, right?" ”