While the new scholars were celebrating their high school and worrying about their next move, after several months of trekking, the new trilateral governor Yuan Chonghuan finally arrived in Beijing from Dongguan, Guangdong. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

In July of the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Yuan Chonghuan, who had just won the victory of Ningjin, originally thought that the imperial court would have a big reward for himself and his subordinates, but he did not expect that the merits that originally belonged to the Liaodong soldiers were taken by Wei Zhongxian and other eunuchs, not only Wei Zhongxian himself openly claimed to be nine thousand years old, but also Wei Zhongxian's sons and nephews, Wei Liangqing, Wei Liangdong, Wei Liangcai and others, also because of the merits of the Liaodong soldiers, and one by one they were added to the knighthood, and the Wei family was a family of five princes.

Yuan Chonghuan angrily wrote to the emperor to rectify the matter, but at this time, the Emperor of the Apocalypse was terminally ill, and the government was controlled by Wei Zhongxian and his party, so no one cared about it at all.

However, not long after his resignation, the Emperor of the Apocalypse died, and the court fell into turmoil, Yuan Chonghuan, who originally wanted to wait for the emperor to retain, of course, did not wait for the expected retention, so he had to continue to go south, and three months later, he finally returned to his hometown in Dongguan.

But Yuan Chonghuan, who returned to his hometown, was still paying attention to the major events of the imperial court, first the news that Wei Zhongxian committed suicide in fear of crime, then the news that the emperor killed the eunuchs, and then the news of reusing Sun Chengzong and others, as well as the news of rectifying the military affairs of the Nine Sides.

In just half a year after the new emperor ascended the throne, the Beijing court was renewed, and the situation in the world seemed to be changing in a better direction day by day. It's just that Yuan Chonghuan is still worried that there has been no news from the court that the emperor has enabled himself.

Yuan Chonghuan lived in his hometown Shijie Village for more than a month, and finally couldn't sit still, but just when he was hesitating whether to write a letter to his old boss, Sun Chengzong, who is now a scholar of Wuyingdian University, to explore the wind and brush up on his existence, he unexpectedly received a letter written to him by Sun Chengzong.

In November of the seventh year of the Apocalypse, after the new emperor's determination to appoint Yuan Chonghuan as the governor of the three sides was decided, Sun Chengzong immediately wrote a letter to the capable general under his command that year, and sent several confidants and family members to rush to Yuan Chonghuan's hometown in Dongguan, Guangdong, and finally rushed to Shijie Village in the first month of the year to deliver the letter.

The new content was naturally to inform Yuan Chonghuan in advance of the news that the new emperor was determined to appoint him as the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi, as well as some considerations of the new emperor on the northwest issue, and instructed Yuan Chonghuan to accept the appointment, and to plan in advance to suppress the civil rebellion in the north, restore Hetao and other places, and solve the northwest problem.

After reading Sun Chengzong's letter, Yuan Chonghuan breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the new emperor still valued him very much, but what puzzled him was that the new emperor did not use him in Liaodong, where he thought he was competent, but in the northwest, where he did not know the situation very well.

Although the jurisdiction and actual power of the trilateral governor were greater than those of Liaodong, he still felt that the imperial court did not use him in the right place, and he still thought about how to persuade the new emperor to change his mind and put himself in the position he was best at, after all, pacifying Liaodong was the foundation of his success, and it was also his lifelong pursuit and ambition.

Just when Yuan Chonghuan was thinking about how to persuade the emperor to change his mind, the holy decree of the imperial court finally arrived, and it was indeed the will to appoint himself as the governor of the military department with the title of governor of the trilateral military affairs, and to take care of the grain and salary of the four towns of Gansu, Guyuan, Ningxia, and Yansui.

Three days after receiving the holy decree, Yuan Chonghuan set off from his hometown to the north, stayed overnight in Xiaoxing along the way, and finally arrived in Linqing along the canal in mid-April.

Coincidentally, as soon as Yuan Chonghuan stayed at the Linqing Canal Post House, he heard a report from the post officer, saying that it was the Shandong salt transport envoy Wang who asked to see him.

When Yuan Chonghuan was wondering which Lord Wang of Shandong Salt Transport was, he heard someone say aloud outside: "The Lord of the Ministry has forgotten my Wang Zegu? ”

As he spoke, he heard the man outside laugh and lift the curtain and enter.

Yuan Chonghuan looked at it, and sure enough, it was Wang Zegu, the governor who was once under the command of Sun Chengzong, the governor of Jiliao's Governor's Mansion, and hurriedly smiled and said: "It turned out to be Brother Wei Ze, I really didn't expect to meet an old friend here." Come on, come on, come in. ”

The person who came was Wang Zegu, who is now the official envoy of Shandong Salt Transport. Wang Zegu, the word Weize, Wanli forty-one years of Jinshi, and Wanli forty-seven years of Yuan Chonghuan, who won the Jinshi, once worked with Sun Chengzong under the support of the Jiliao Governor's Mansion for four years, and now is inspecting the salt transportation branch of Linqing, and learned that Yuan Chonghuan stayed in the Linqing Canal Inn, so he naturally wanted to visit.

It was also Wang Zegu's visit that made Yuan Chonghuan change his mind, no longer entangled in how to change the emperor's mind, and always wanted to go to Liaodong to serve again, but instead thought about how to implement the emperor's northwest strategy, how to exterminate the thieves in the northwest, how to recover the Hetao and open up the Western Regions.

Because Wang Zegu told Yuan Chonghuan that the emperor had appointed Lu Shanji, a former colleague of the two of them, as the governor of Jiliao and the governor of Liaodong, and Lu Shanji had rushed to Liaodong to take office, and at the same time told him what Wang Zegu knew about the recent appointments, dismissals and arrangements of the imperial court.

The former Jiliao Governor Wang Zhichen and Liaodong Governor Bi Zisu were transferred at the same time, so that Lu Shanji could unify his power in Liaodong and implement the Pingliao strategy of defending the west and attacking the east, which more fully illustrated the emperor's new appointment and respect for Lu Shanji. In this case, it is simply an impossible task to change the emperor's mind.

Although Yuan Chonghuan still regretted that his ambition to pacify Liaodong could not be realized, as a civil official from Jinshi, loyalty to the emperor and obedience to the imperial court was something that had already been engraved in his bone marrow, and this kind of thing made him only accept the reality in front of him.

When Yuan Chonghuan arrived in Tongzhou and met Sun Chengzong, the Minister of Military Aircraft and Governor of Zhili, who was sitting in Tongzhou, the idea of returning to Liaodong to take up his post had long been put aside. As Sun Chengzong told him, as a courtier, only obeying the emperor's will is the right way, if the emperor's decision is wrong, then it is the courtier's duty to advise the emperor and strive to change the emperor's decision.

However, if the emperor's decision is not wrong, then the courtiers do not think about how to implement it, but only think about how to change the emperor's mind, and think about achieving their own goals by swaying the emperor's will, which is definitely not what the courtiers should do.

Sun Chengzong's words made Yuan Chonghuan suddenly wake up. Yuan Chonghuan after the victory of Ningjin in July of the seventh year of the Apocalypse, he was indeed a little complacent and carried away, and the reason why he dared to resign in anger was that he concluded that the imperial court did not dare to let him go, and he thought that the situation in Liaodong would not change without him, and only he was the one who could save the crisis in Liaodong.

It is precisely because of this judgment that he became more and more domineering in Liaodong, first falling out with Zhao Shujiao, and the imperial court had to transfer Zhao Shujiao to Shanhai Town, and later clashed with Mangui, the chief military officer of Liaodong Town.

Historically, in the first year of Chongzhen, shortly after Yuan Chonghuan returned to Liaodong, he wrote to the imperial court to transfer Man Gui to Datong, and one thing that especially exposed his complacency was that Jiao Zhao killed Mao Wenlong, the chief military officer of Dongjiang Town. The meaning of the edict is to falsely proclaim the holy decree, and to kill without permission is to kill without permission.

If it weren't for the impodency to a certain extent, he would never dare to do this, not only killing the border marshal, but also making the emperor carry a big black cauldron.

In the four years of Chongzhen in history, the rebellion of Mao Wenlong's old department and his defection to Houjin were directly related to Yuan Chonghuan's arbitrariness and letting the emperor bear the black pot for him.

On 28 April, Emperor Chongzhen summoned Yuan Chonghuan, who had come to his majesty's speech, in the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, accompanied by cabinet ministers Li Guowei, Sun Chengzong, and Xu Guangqi, as well as military minister Zhang Weixian.

The sun is shining outside the Qianqing Palace, the windows inside the Dongnuan Pavilion are bright and clean, and after everyone has finished saluting, they have sat down, Emperor Chongzhen said: "Yuan Aiqing recently went north from Guangdong Province to Beijing, the road is far away, and the hardships can be known, I originally wanted to wait for Qing to rest for a few more days and then summon him, but now the situation in the northwest is changing several times a day, Shaanxi Governor Hong Chengchou, Yansui Governor Sun Chuanting, and the household department supervisor Cangchang Shilang Nanjuyi, all reported that since last year, the whole territory of Shaanxi has been dry and rainless, extended to this spring, the famine in the trilateral state capital is serious, the displaced people are everywhere, and the Fugu and Baishui under the jurisdiction of Yansui are all reported, Ansai and other places, now there are thieves in chaos, and there are more thieves Wang Er, Wang Jiayin, Gao Yingxiang, Wang Daliang, etc., in the trilateral land to coerce the homeless people to kill officials and rebel, besiege the prefectures and counties, burn, kill and loot, and do all kinds of evil. Every time I think about it, I really worry. Yuan Aiqing was appointed governor of the three sides, and although the journey was hard, he should still go to his post as soon as possible. ”

Hearing the emperor say these words, not only Yuan Chonghuan immediately left his seat and knelt on the ground, but even Li Guowei and others were also unable to sit down, so they got up and knelt on the ground one after another, and said: "The ministers are guilty, which makes Your Majesty worry about this. ”

Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "Qing and the others are flat." This is not the culpability of the Qing and other crimes. ”

Then when everyone sat down, Emperor Chongzhen said to Yuan Chonghuan again: "Does Yuan Aiqing have a charter for the chaos in the northwest?" If Qing leaves Beijing tomorrow to take up his post, what needs does Aiqing have? Whatever the court can do, Qing Ke can just say it. As long as Aiqing quells the thieves in the northwest, I will not hesitate to reward the prince. ”

After the emperor said this, the ministers in the cabinet were all shocked, the emperor attached so much importance to the northwest thief chaos, but they did not expect it.

Yuan Chonghuan bowed down and said: "Your Majesty, on the way to Beijing, the minister has been thinking about the strategy of stabilizing the northwest, Your Majesty intends to open up the northwest and recruit displaced people to settle in the Hetao, this is a long-term policy, but this policy has not been implemented for three or five years, and it is difficult to see results. Now the thieves are in turmoil, and the only way to do it is to suppress it first. The minister thought that the chaos in the northwest was nothing more than a two-pronged strategy. The minister asked His Majesty to grant the ministers the exclusive power to pacify the thieves, recruit the people with sufficient soldiers, and reclaim the land with sufficient food and wages, so that within three years, the ministers should eliminate the trilateral thieves and rebels, and return Your Majesty a stable northwest. ”

Speaking of this, Yuan Chonghuan paused, looked at the emperor, and then said: "The ministers heard that the towns on the three sides have been in arrears for a long time, although at the end of last year, His Majesty has made up part of the arrears, but compared with the amount of arrears, it is still a drop in the bucket. Please send 300,000 yuan of silver to your ministers, and the ministers will bring them to the three sides to boost the morale of the army and reorganize the armament, and within half a year, there will be a report to your majesty. ”

After Yuan Chonghuan said this, he was uneasy in his heart, worried that the emperor would refuse or reprimand, after all, he would ask for silver before taking office, which was really a bit like blackmailing the emperor.

What he didn't expect was that he heard the emperor say: "I give Aiqing the right to still have a sword and a secret fold, and the military affairs of the three sides and five towns are all handled by the Qing. In addition, with 300,000 taels of silver, Aiqing can be used to recruit people to reclaim in the Hetao, and can build 5,000 standard camps for the governor. As for the problem of the arrears of salaries in the towns on the three sides, I allocated another 500,000 taels, which were brought by the Qing to the five towns and handed over to the five towns for verification and distribution. ”

After hearing this, Yuan Chonghuan hurriedly knelt on the ground to thank him. Next, the monarch and ministers discussed again, and Yuan Chonghuan resigned under the guidance of Li Guowei and other ministers.