Chapter 163: Two emperors share the same court
No matter how ups and downs and twists and turns the process took, when the calendar turned to December, the flames of war burning in Nanjing finally gradually extinguished.
Therefore, Zhou Yanru, the chief minister who narrowly escaped death, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and prepared to clean up the mess and rebuild the Nanjing court with the help of the "friendly forces of the Qing Dynasty". But this work first encountered a big problem. Zhu Yihai, the Yonghe Emperor supported by the Donglin Party, had already shaved his head and put on a monk's robe before the outbreak of the Nanjing War, and disappeared to no one knows where. After that, there was constant war and chaos, and Zhou Yanru didn't even bother to search. Now that the imperial court was about to be rebuilt, I noticed this trouble, and immediately became upset - even the emperor was gone. Whose chief minister would he, Zhou Yanru, be?
You can't learn from the Poles and play the role of aristocratic republic and have a veto right, right? ! It seems that the scholar-officials of the Ming Dynasty did not have this concept at this time!
However, before Zhou Yanru could decide which Zhu Ming clan should be proclaimed emperor, the "Friends of the Qing Dynasty" had already solved this problem for him.
——Looking at the fat, middle-aged man standing cowering next to Huang Taiji, Zhou Yanru, the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty, couldn't help but swallow hard.
"...This is...Prince Fu Wang...er, no, should I say Young Fu Wang?"
"...Exactly, this is Zhu Yousong, the young blessed king of the Ming Dynasty. He is on the jade plate of the genealogy. I guarantee that he is genuine and guaranteed to be a fake!"
Huang Taiji smiled and patted the chubby middle-aged man on the shoulder, and announced, "...Mr. Zhou, you Donglin gentlemen reformed the old and established the new in Jiangnan, and now you are at odds with that Chongzhen boy. And Prince Fu's whole family also died. The hand of Chongzhen who deposed the emperor can be said to have the same hatred as you. You might as well have more in the future. Get close... Also, I heard that your original emperor has disappeared, and the throne in Nanjing is vacant. Do you need someone to take it? I think this Shaofu King is very suitable. It should be no problem for him to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor! Well, in order to prevent long nights and many dreams, let’s make this decision!”
——Speaking of which, the fate of the young blessed king Zhu Yousong in this time and space can be said to be extremely bumpy: his father (Old blessed king) and his family were attacked by Emperor Chongzhen because they were suspected of treason, and the whole family was wiped out. Only the young blessed king Zhu Yousong took advantage of the chaos and escaped from the tunnel. Under the cover of his close eunuchs and servants, he fled to the Huaihe River area. He originally wanted to flee to the south of the Yangtze River, but was taught by Wen Xiang on the way. The rebels were captured.
Knowing that such a high-ranking prisoner of the Ming Empire had been captured, Wang Ke, the leader of Wenxiang Cult, was also very interested and felt that this guy was a rare commodity. But because the situation in the world was too chaotic at that time, Wang Ke didn't think about how to use this guy for a while, so he ordered Zhu Yousong to be taken to the Xuzhou Palace and imprisoned. Next, the Qing army successfully raided Xuzhou, and Shaofu Wang Zhu Yousong in the cell was immediately beaten again and became a prisoner of Huang Taiji.
At this moment, His Royal Highness Prince Fu was thrown out by Huang Taiji as a "symbol of the transitional period" when the Qing Dynasty took control of Jiangnan.
Obviously, His Majesty the Qing Emperor's imaginative approach caught the Jiangnan scholars off guard.
Looking at the fat-bellied, sluggish-looking His Royal Highness Prince Fu before him, Zhou Yanru suddenly broke into a cold sweat, profuse sweat, and a waterfall of sweat!
Is there any problem in letting this Shaofuwang Zhu Yousong become the emperor?
This is obviously the biggest problem, okay? ! !
Indeed, according to the rules of feudal etiquette, if the royal lineage of Emperor Chongzhen is not considered, then the Ming clan with the closest blood relationship to the emperor is the family of King Fu of Luoyang - King Fu is the son of Emperor Wanli, Emperor Chongzhen and Emperor Tianqi The emperor's uncle, Emperor Wanli had intended to depose the crown prince (Emperor Taichang) and let his youngest son inherit the throne... Moreover, in order to recruit troops to prepare for war and raise military pay for the crusade against the Donglin Party in Jiangnan, Emperor Chongzhen indeed ignored family ties and executed Killed the whole family of King Fu. It seems that this Shaofu Wang and the Donglin Party should be able to get along well.
But the problem is that King Fu and Emperor Chongzhen are indeed new enemies, but they are also old enemies with the Donglin Party members in Jiangnan!
I remember that during the dispute over the establishment of the crown prince in the last years of Wanli, the Donglin Party at that time stood clearly on the opposite side of King Fu. In order to thwart Emperor Wanli's attempt to let his youngest son Prince Fu succeed him to the throne, the early Donglin gentlemen used all kinds of tricks to confuse right and wrong. After all their efforts, they finally succeeded in bringing the old Prince Fu to the throne. I rushed to Luoyang. The Donglin Party was very proud of this, and they also promoted it as a great achievement that will last forever... If Zhu Yousong, the son of Prince Fu, was now promoted to the throne, wouldn't it be a slap in the face?
But the question is, facing the bloody knife of the Qing emperor, can the unarmed Zhou Yanru have the ability to say "no"?
Therefore, no matter how painful the slap in the face was, the Nanjing Donglin Party clique headed by Zhou Yanru could only thank the Manchu master for the slap with tears in his eyes.
Of course, he could also find a rope and hang himself to death like those moral scholar-bureaucrats in the history books, in order to save his whole name.
But the problem is that now that he has reached this point, does Zhou Yanru still have any reputation to speak of?
As mentioned before, the vast majority of people who seek death in the world usually do not have the courage to immediately commit suicide a second time if they fail to commit suicide once. Nowadays, Zhou Yanru, in order to fight for power in troubled times, has even done such things as supporting the establishment of a false emperor and using the help of captives to suppress it. Naturally, there is not much integrity left. Isn't it just to support the King of Fortune? What's so great about it? Is it worth dying for this?
So what if you slap yourself in the face? Is it something like a slap in the face? You get used to it after a while.
Besides, even if Zhou Yanru wanted to "repay the king with death in danger", Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian and Yonghe Emperor Zhu Yihai would probably not accept his love!
Therefore, on the third day of December in the sixth year of Chongzhen, under the persuasion of Zhou Yanru, the former chief minister of the cabinet, Shaofu King Zhu Yousong ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor in the Imperial City of Nanjing. He changed his reign name to Hongguang and was known as Hongguang Emperor in history. At the same time, he worshiped the Qing Emperor Huang Taiji as his adoptive father and called himself "son emperor".
Next, as the saying goes, one emperor has one courtier. Since Nanjing has Emperor Hongguang, there should also be corresponding courtiers. But the problem is that during the previous war, almost all the ministers and ministers of the Nanjing imperial court escaped, leaving only two or three big cats and kittens headed by Zhou Yanru. There was no way that all six ministers of the imperial court could be assembled at one time. team. Besides, the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty launched an overwhelming army and sacrificed so many warriors to finally capture the city of Nanjing. Is it necessary to carry forward the selfless internationalist spirit and really restore the Ming Dynasty here?
Faced with this situation, His Majesty Huang Taiji once again fully developed his divergent thinking and put forward the rational suggestion of "one court, two brands" - Huang Taiji smiled and patted Zhu Yousong on the shoulder, saying: The timid "son emperor" said: Son, since you worship me as your adoptive father, then we are a family. A family should not be separated from each other. My court is your court, and my ministers are your ministers. This saves trouble and money! From then on, the Qing Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty merged into one, and there would be no more conflicts. Isn't it a good thing?
——In the past, Shi Jingtang, the founder of the Later Jin Dynasty, ceded the Sixteenth Prefecture of Youyun and called the Lord of Khitan, Yelu Deguang, his son emperor, leaving him with eternal infamy. But even so, he did not invite Yelu Deguang to Bianliang (Kaifeng). Or you can move to the Liao Kingdom and go to Beijing, and let father and son go to court together...
Zhu Yousong must have felt very distressed about this matter, but the problem was that he, the son-emperor, also did not have the right to say "no".
In short, just like many troops of later European countries, they belong to both NATO and the EU. Now that Huang Taiji had moved to Nanjing, the Qing court also quickly put up two signs. Each official held the same official position in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. For example, Hong Chengchou, who had just shaved his head a year ago and had a money rat-tail, discovered to his amazement that he had once again become the cabinet bachelor of Emperor Hongguang of the Ming Dynasty... From then on, the people who went to court every day in the Nanjing Imperial Palace At that time, Jinluan Palace There were two people sitting on the Danchi. The Qing Emperor Huang Taiji naturally sat on the dragon chair, while the Hongguang Emperor Zhu Yousong took a bench and sat at the feet of Huang Taiji. The two emperors accepted the greetings from the civil and military officials. Worship ceremony...
Finally, as a reward for Zhou Yanru's adequate knowledge of current affairs, Huang Taiji allowed him to continue to serve as the chief assistant. He also accepted the employment of the two emperors Huang Taiji and Zhu Yousong at the same time. The chief minister of the Qing Dynasty's cabinet. In addition to not having any power at all, and not even an office, he can be said to be infinitely beautiful, just like the legendary Mr. Su Qin who "bears the seal of the Six Kingdoms" during the Warring States Period! !
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Although under Huang Taiji's imagination, the strange phenomenon of "two emperors sharing the same palace" and "two countries sharing the same court and capital" appeared in Nanjing, for the gentlemen of Jiangnan Jin Dynasty who had long lost their moral integrity, Said that as long as it does not violate their interests, everything is easy to discuss.
But the problem is that it is impossible for Huang Taiji not to offend their interests - the demands of these intellectuals and gentry in Jiangnan are even unwilling to pay taxes. But Huang Taiji's plan was to confiscate all their farms and mansions, and demote these scholars to slaves!
After the Battle of Nanjing ended, Huang Taiji took stock of the military strength at hand and found that there were still 10,000 Manchurian bannermen, 15,000 northern Han troops, and more than 20,000 surrendered Ming troops who had just been recruited and the original Nanjing court Yangtze River Navy and so on.
Obviously, with just these 10,000 Manchus, there is no way to gain a foothold in the unfamiliar Jiangnan.
Therefore, according to the principle that "he who has strong soldiers and horses can be the emperor", Huang Taiji believed that his top priority was to win over the morale of the military. Try to turn all the soldiers other than the Manchus into real people of our own. To this end, we must let them "those with permanent property have perseverance" and seize the property of the Jiangnan landlords and gentry to satisfy their appetites... Of course, this is the way to go If so, it will definitely offend the Donglin Party landlord Jingentry Group, which is huge in Jiangnan. But through this period of contact, Huang Taiji has seen through their true nature. He feels that these people are just a bunch of ignorant white-eyed wolves. They are not only greedy, unwilling to pay taxes or perform labor, but also all have brains. Later generations rebel - Emperor Chongzhen was so kind to them and gave them so many privileges, but he only appointed a political opponent of the Donglin Party as the chief minister, so they would support the false emperor to rebel. Now that he, the foreign Khan of Liaodong, is the emperor, how can he expect these white-eyed wolves to be sincerely convinced and loyal to him?
Since the Jiangnan scholars are a nuisance no matter what, and will rebel and cause chaos sooner or later, it would be better to kill them and eat them as soon as possible.
Therefore, on the second day after Emperor Hongguang ascended the throne, Huang Taiji issued a murderous imperial edict, announcing: "...Nanjing is a city full of traitorous people, all of whom are in secret collusion with the deposed Emperor Chongzhen. Therefore, all the people are demoted as slaves. , seize all their property and houses, and reward the Qing warriors! Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without mercy!"
In an instant, the remaining 500,000 citizens in Nanjing, whether they were traders and lackeys, or scholars, or even relatives of the emperor and officials, were all demoted from free people to slaves. And the residences and properties of these citizens will naturally belong to their future owners!
For a time, the whole city of Nanjing was in panic. Countless citizens rushed to various city gates, trying to escape from the slave camp, but they were blocked by the well-prepared Qing army, who drove them back with sticks and whips - the city gates were blocked, and the people on the city walls were blocked. The artillery was aimed at the city. Tens of thousands of Qing soldiers, including those who had just surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, all had swords and guns in hand, eagerly staring at the citizens in the city, as if looking at a group of lambs waiting to be slaughtered!
In the end, these 500,000 citizens finally discovered that they were now caged birds from which they could never escape and were destined to become slaves. So some hanged themselves, some jumped into the Qinhuai River, and more people accepted their fate in despair. The whole family sat in the street and cried.
Accompanied by the deafening cries of the citizens of Nanjing, the soldiers of the Qing Empire all received mansions, money and slaves, and then of course farms. For this reason, Huang Taiji issued an imperial edict on December 6th: "...all the people in the counties and counties near Beijing have no owners and abandoned fields, as well as the Ming Dynasty's royal relatives, consorts, dukes, marquises, uncles, eunuchs, etc., who died in the war Countless, there are many unclaimed lands... all the land will be distributed to the kings, ministers, soldiers, etc. from the north."
From then on, the Qing Empire launched a vigorous "horse racing and land enclosure movement" in Jiangnan.
——Although according to Huang Taiji, the enclosed land should be all unowned and unclaimed wasteland, when it comes to implementing the policy, in fact, the land with and without owners is often occupied by one and the same. Later, they simply selected farms where there were people working on them. In this way, not only did they have fields, but they also had serfs working on them. Huang Taiji also specifically stipulated standards. According to the level of title, official position, and military merit, each soldier and clerk of the Qing Dynasty could be assigned a certain number of farmland and slaves... At this point, the society in the Qing-occupied area of Jiangnan The system has completely regressed back to the era of serfdom.
At the same time, after learning that Jiangnan had begun to "distribute welfare" wantonly, various Qing troops stranded in Jiangbei (mainly Han troops whose loyalty was not reliable, as well as other Manchu forces groups that originally opposed Huang Taiji ) and other armed forces also crossed the Yangtze River south from Yangzhou and other places, hoping to get a piece of the pie. And Huang Taiji, who was determined to lay down his foundation in Jiangnan, would not refuse these new forces, and announced that he would "equalize the rich and the poor" - since the local tycoons in Jiangnan are so rich, we poor people in the north must equalize their wealth. ! Let everyone have a home, land and a woman!
Although such revolutionary words were spoken in the mouth of Huang Taiji, a foreign invader, it felt very awkward. However, a lot of more awkward things have happened, so there are only two of these - in short, the Qing government followed the principle of "accounting for people and granting land", and all generals and soldiers who crossed the river to join Huang Taiji, Everyone can get a certain amount of land according to their level. Of course, the serfs who farmed the fields had to be captured by themselves. This allowed them to forge countless enemies in the south of the Yangtze River and had to rely closely on themselves as the emperor.
Suddenly, thousands of northerners happily came to settle down in Nanjing, the largest city in the world. Many guys who were just small army leaders or even bandit leaders moved into the compound, sat on eight-carriage sedans, and slept with Qinhuai beauties. When they went out, gongs were played to clear the way, and when they were at home, they were personally attended to. Everyone seems to have won the lottery jackpot and is immersed in the joy of entering "heaven".
As a result, the Qing Empire quickly gained a large number of die-hard supporters in the south of the Yangtze River. It only suffered for the Nanjing people who were demoted as slaves, especially those women with small feet and the elderly and weak. Not only did they lose their freedom, but their husbands and wives and families were separated. They were also forced to do menial and backbreaking work that they had never done before, such as sewing clothes for the Qing army, transporting rations, and even building government offices and digging fortifications. Many people were soon exhausted to death.
Of course, such a simple and crude "land reform" policy would naturally lead to serious backlash and even armed resistance in the countryside of Nanjing. However, relying on the continuous supply of soldiers from Jiangbei, the Qing army easily crushed the desperate struggles of the local gentry.
However, as the ranks of the Qing army expanded, the fields and serfs near Nanjing City were not enough. However, Huang Taiji said wisely: It doesn't matter, Yingtian is not the only mansion in Jiangnan, there is still a lot of land that has not been occupied! As a result, groups of soldiers and gangsters holding the banner of the Qing Dynasty soon launched a vigorous campaign against local tyrants in Taiping Prefecture, Ningguo Prefecture, and Zhenjiang Prefecture. Everywhere they went, there was looting, burning, and corpses. Everywhere - just like what Lu Xun wrote Comrade Ah Q, his motivation for going to the "revolution" was nothing more than "yuanbao, foreign money, foreign gauze shirts" plus "a Ning-style bed for a scholar's wife". I'm afraid the ideological consciousness of the soldiers and gangsters in the turbulent times in the late Ming Dynasty was... Not as good as Comrade Ah Q!
Faced with such a picture of purgatory, where all life was in ruins and prosperity was destroyed, Emperor Hongguang, who was purely a puppet, naturally did not dare to say anything.
However, Zhou Yanru, the powerless chief minister, couldn't stand it anymore, so he bravely found an opportunity and made suggestions to Huang Taiji, hoping that the Qing Empire could restrain its soldiers, treat the gentry well, and give the Donglin Party Only in this way can the gentry of the world return to their hearts, and the grand occasion of "all the people are upright and prosperous in the court" in the early years of Chongzhen can be restored, and the seas and rivers will be clear, and the world will be prosperous.
However, Huang Taiji was not at all interested in the grand occasion of "Zhongzheng Yingchao", but he was very interested in the "Zhongzheng" family property. He had already made up his mind to restore the slave system in Jiangnan, so he immediately retorted that, as far as he knew, Jiangnan scholar They are not gentlemen, but a group of shameless people without fathers and kings. They are not worthy of living between heaven and earth. The fact that they were not punished by the nine tribes to thank heaven is already due to the benevolence of the Qing Dynasty. How can you expect more? What about the benefits? Now that the Qing Dynasty is in trouble, it is natural to lend their children money to reward the generals.
——The reason why scholars in the feudal dynasty often behaved so arrogantly was because no matter who was proclaimed emperor or king in the world, in order to maintain the bureaucracy of a unified empire, they must be treated with courtesy as intellectuals. However, when rulers are determined to learn from medieval Western Europe and restore the feudal lord system and no longer need a bureaucracy, then they, cultural people, become useless.
The stunned Zhou Yanru could only say that if the Qing Dynasty insisted on doing this, it would be difficult to pacify the land south of the Yangtze River. Huang Taiji patted the saber on his waist confidently: "...it doesn't matter, as long as my bow and saber are still there, so what if the unruly people in Jiangnan are difficult to pacify? Just kill one to serve as a warning to others!" On the other side, it was hard to see Invited from Jiangbei The Master of the Qing Dynasty actually became the demon king Shura who wanted to confiscate the homes of scholar-bureaucrats like himself. The members of the Jiangnan Donglin Party, who were full of regrets, also quickly organized a gathering in private to discuss self-help strategies to deal with the current crisis...