Chapter 115: The Fall of Zhejiang
Zhao Kun proposed to the cabinet to expand the construction office of the Ministry of War. Writing "Fun" Cabinet www.biquge.info his uncle Xia Yan naturally would not refute his nephew's face, and the cabinet readily agreed.
Chen Di secretly advanced a lot of silver to the military department, and increased the manufacturing speed of the tiger power gun by three or four times.
Next, there is the long wait. What are you waiting for? Naturally, it was the news of the invasion of Zhejiang by Inoue Shishiro and other Japanese pirates.
Two months have passed. In the past two months, Chen Di went to the manufacturing office of the Ministry of War every three or five times to guide craftsmen such as Style Sun to make ordnance. On weekdays, he discussed the eight-strand article with Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng and others in the Hanlin Courtyard. In his spare time, he coaxed Princess Yan's wife in the Pony Mansion.
Comfortable times are always short-lived.
On the third day of the second month of the 25th year of Jiajing, the Japanese head Inoue Shishilang led 100,000 Japanese to land in Zhejiang.
On the seventh day of the second month, the Japanese invaders fought with the Flying Tiger Army in Taizhou, and the Flying Tiger Army was defeated, leaving only 1,000 people to retreat into Jiangsu. Taizhou fell.
On the ninth day of February, Jiaxing fell.
On February 13, Ningbo fell.
On February 17, Hangzhou fell.
By the end of February, the whole of Zhejiang had fallen into the hands of the Japanese Invaders.
When the news reached the capital, the government and the opposition were in an uproar!
In another period of history, although the Japanese invaders ravaged the southeast of the Ming Dynasty for decades, they never occupied a single province of the Ming Dynasty. Perhaps it was Chen Di's crossing that brought about a series of butterfly effects that led to the occupation of the entire territory of Zhejiang.
In the middle of the night, the lights in the Yongshou Palace are bright. Emperor Jiajing is holding a pre-imperial meeting. This pre-imperial meeting was attended by all civil and military officials above the fifth rank in Beijing.
Xia Yan cleared his throat and said, "Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there has never been a precedent for a province to fall into the hands of enemy chiefs!" There is an edict, and you can speak freely in front of the imperial council today. If you can't come up with a good plan to retreat from the enemy, you don't have to go home, and you all live in Xiyuan! ”
Emperor Jiajing sat upright on the throne with his eyes closed.
As the saying goes, the rafters that come out of the house rot first. None of the civil and military officials wanted to be the first to speak out.
Xia Yan saw that the scene was a little embarrassing, and gave one of his two generals, Zhao Zihui, the imperial history of the left capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, a color.
Zhao Zihui understood and said: "Zhejiang Governor Zhao Wenhua is responsible for losing his land, and he should be beheaded!" He has died at the hands of the Japanese Invaders, and the Ming Dynasty has a custom, and the father and the son inherit the crime. The minister thought that his son should be exiled for 3,000 miles to atone for his father's sins! ”
Chen Di stood in the midst of a group of officials, secretly shocked in his heart. Zhao Wenhua has died at the hands of the Japanese Bandits! To say that he was in Zhejiang, his attitude towards Zhao Wenhua was mainly to use. can work together for several months, after all, there is a bit of affection. is a good living person, saying that he will die when he says he is dead, Chen Di actually felt a little sad in his heart.
While grieving, there is anger.
Zhao Wenhua is Yan Song's person, and everyone knows about this matter. Zhao Zihui wants to exile Zhao Wenhua's son, to put it bluntly, it is to deal a blow to the arrogance of the strict party. The implication is self-evident, Zhejiang was lost in the hands of your strict party, and your strict party is responsible!
Millions of people in Zhejiang have fallen under the iron hooves of the Japanese invaders, and the high-ranking officials of the imperial court are still thinking about party strife, how can Chen Di not be filled with righteous indignation?
On the side of the strict party, not to be outdone. Jiang Guangdao, the squire of the military department: "Zhao Wenhua was martyred to resist the Japanese invaders!" This is clearly written in the Tang newspaper of the Ministry of War! Zhao Duyuan said at this time that Zhao Wenhua should be held accountable for losing his land, what is his intention? ”
Zhao Zihui sneered: "Martyrdom? How did I hear that Zhao Wenhua took the initiative to surrender to the Japanese invaders. After that, he was killed by the Japanese and sacrificed the flag? ”
Jiang Guang looked angry: "Zhao Duyuan, you are slandering the loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty!" The heroic spirit who slandered Zhao Wenhua and Governor Zhao! ”
A group of officials talked about it.
"Zhao Wenhua is obviously martyred, everyone is dead, why do you want to slander others?"
"Martyrdom? Phew! Who doesn't know that Zhao Wenhua is a greedy person who is afraid of death? “
"Hmph, slandering Zhao Wenhua is nothing more than Xiang Zhuang's sword dance intended for Pei Gong!"
Emperor Jiajing was disgusted by the useless quarrels of his courtiers. He snorted coldly from the throne.
After this cold snort, the hall of Yongshou Palace was immediately so quiet that even a needle could be heard falling on the ground.
Xia Yan saw that Emperor Jiajing was obviously a little dissatisfied, and hurriedly started a round: "The whole territory of Zhejiang has fallen, and there is no point in discussing the merits and demerits of Governor Zhao Wenhua!" Today's discussion in front of the emperor is how to retreat from the enemy! “
Lu Botao, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, is Yan Song's person. Lu Botao said: "The Wa Kingdom is just a small state. The reason why I invaded the territory of the Ming Dynasty is nothing more than because I have a lot of resources and rich land! It's just greedy for money! According to Weichen's opinion, it is better to send a messenger with more gold, silver and jade silk, and negotiate peace with him! “
As soon as Lu Botao said this, the pot immediately exploded in the hall.
Zhao Zihui, the imperial history of the left capital, said: "Qi to play the emperor, Lu Botao, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, should be killed!" He's flattering the enemy and asking for peace! Sending gold and silver to the Japanese Kou? Lu Botao wants to go to the emperor in a disloyal and unrighteous place! Let the emperor bear the charge of his ancestors! Such Qin Hui and his ilk, if you don't kill it, it's not enough for the people to be angry! “
To put it bluntly, Yushi is a professional looking for officials. Zuodu Yushi is the head of the experts in finding fault, and Zhao Zihui is indeed very good at finding fault. A few big hats were buttoned down, and it was difficult for other officials of the Yan Party to speak for him.
The second assistant Yan Song personally opened his mouth and began a counterattack against Xia Yan's party: "Zhao Duyuan, depending on what you mean, you advocate fighting to the death with the Japanese Kou. In Zhejiang, there is only one Flying Tiger Army. After the first battle of Taizhou, the Flying Tiger Army only had 1,000 remnants and retreated to Suzhou, Jiangsu. The guest troops from various provinces rushed to help them could not reach Zhejiang for a while. Excuse me, what will the imperial court do at this time to fight to the death against the Japanese invaders? As Lu Shangshu said, negotiating peace with the Japanese is not to submit to the Japanese Kou! It's about buying time for the guest troops from all provinces to come to the aid of Zhejiang! “
When he heard Yan Song say that there were only 1,000 people left in the Flying Tiger Army, Chen Di was distressed! The elite division of 9,000 people was handed over to Zhu Houjun to lead the wine bag and rice bag, and 8,000 people were killed in a battle with the Japanese Kou! The Flying Tiger Army is Chen Di's hard work! How could Chen Di not feel distressed?
Shoufu Xia Yan saw Yan Song's voice, and also opened his mouth: "Yan Cifu's words, the old minister dare not agree!" No matter what the purpose of making peace with the Japanese is to the detriment of the majesty of our Heavenly Empire! The Wa Kingdom is no more than a small state of Yuer, how can there be a reason for the upper states of the Heavenly Empire to seek peace with the small state of Yuer? ”
Yan Song said again: "According to Xia Shoufu's opinion, what should we use to fight the Japanese Kou? Now that the Japanese invaders occupy Zhejiang, who dares to guarantee that they will no longer covet Jiangsu, Anhui, and Nanzhili? Jiangnan is a heavy place for taxation, and the taxes paid account for three-quarters of the imperial court. ”
Xia Yan retorted: "Aren't the guest troops from all provinces already on their way to Zhejiang? I don't believe that if I gather the strength of a country, I will not be able to defeat the Japanese barbarians! ”