nucmednet Chapter 671 Achilles heel
Chapter 671 Achilles heel
Liang Xiaoming asked, "If that's the case, wouldn't it have been better to stay in Qiongzhou Prefecture and develop quietly? Why did you come to the capital to fight Chongzhen and Yang Sichang to the death?"
"Actually, the whole thing in the capital was largely accidental, but it aligned with my goals," Liu Ye explained. "While developing in Qiongzhou was the least risky, it was slow to yield results. Without authority or official recognition, there were significant limitations in recruiting refugees or attracting talent. Our efforts to gather refugees by participating in the Shandong rebellion and defeating Gao Yingxiang were one-off deals with no sustainability. Once the local situation stabilized, we would lose our source of immigrants. At this rate, when would I ever be able to train my 100,000-strong army? Besides, as a local military commander, it's difficult to recruit scholars or clerks willingly, let alone lower myself to win them over. The people I have now were only won over through a combination of coaxing and intimidation, or when they were desperate. I need a large influx of immigrants, and I also need capable administrators. Otherwise, I can only be a local tyrant in one province. How can I compete with figures like Huang Taiji for the empire?"
"Does doing this now really change the situation?"
Liu Ye drew a large circle on the ground with his foot, then another: "Look, if the large circle represents the mainland and the small circle represents Qiongzhou Prefecture, the sea in between is certainly a safe barrier, but it's also a barrier, keeping us outside the mainstream of the mainland, making many things much less efficient." He then drew a line along the edge of the large circle with his foot, like a thorn stuck in the circle. "If I make Shandong semi-independent and under my control, it's like inserting a bloodletting tube into the body of the Ming Dynasty. I'll have a stable channel for absorbing immigrants. As long as I find a way to deal with the bandits, refugees from the Central Plains can flow to Qiongzhou from here in a continuous stream."
Liu Ye nodded: "No wonder you're so determined to take Shandong. This is a major reason, isn't it? It allows us to reach the sphere of influence of the bandits, maintain a relatively safe distance, and has a sea outlet to Qiongzhou. There really isn't another place that meets all these requirements at the same time."
“Theoretically speaking, Southern Zhili also barely meets the above requirements. However, the gentry and powerful clans here are too influential and deeply entrenched, making it far less easy to control than Shandong. Moreover, Shandong can serve as an important stronghold for containing bandits and Tartars, a role that Southern Zhili cannot replace,” Liu Ye explained. “Furthermore, if Chongzhen agrees to my conditions, I can legitimately intervene in the local affairs of Shandong and Guangdong. Although I cannot replace the government, I can use this as a pretext to recruit disillusioned scholars and build up a pool of administrative talent.”
Liang Xiaoming frowned and said, "I don't quite understand. Even if you can get involved in local taxation and mining, you're not the government, and you can't give people official positions. Why would they follow you?"
Liu Ye chuckled and said, “You’re a tech guy, but you also work in a state-owned enterprise. Don’t you understand the Chinese people’s mindset? In the future, even elementary school students have to campaign for class officers, and village chiefs have to bribe their way into office. Street aunties become all-powerful after wearing red armbands. Do these people have official positions? Do they hold formal government posts? The Chinese people’s yearning for power and official positions has never changed from ancient times to the present. But only a few people hold high positions. Most people can only rely on power and do odd jobs. Even so, many people still flock to it. Remember those hangers-on we encountered when we were collecting taxes in Qiongzhou? They didn’t have any official status. They were just clerks in the household registration office and henchmen of the yamen runners, but they lived very comfortably and were kings and tyrants in the countryside. When the time comes, as long as I provide a way out for those down-on-their-luck scholars who have no hope of passing the imperial examinations, even without official positions, I guarantee that many people will fight tooth and nail to get in.”
Liang Xiaoming sighed, “Character determines destiny. You always do things without following the rules, operating in the gray areas, yet the results are excellent, while I only know how to follow the rules and work hard. So, whether in this life or the next, you'll always be the boss, while I'll always just be a technician…”
"Hehe, don't make me sound so bad. This is called being innovative and unconventional..."
In the Jinluan Palace.
After Wen Tiren relayed Liu Ye's demands, everyone fell silent. Everyone knew these conditions were far too harsh; they were essentially creating a Ming Dynasty version of a regional military governor. Given the Emperor's temperament, it was impossible for him to agree. And Liu Ye was no pushover; in his rage, a massacre of the city seemed inevitable, and all the civil and military officials in the hall were about to be dragged into a catastrophe.
A sense of despair permeated the courtiers, and the hall was deathly silent.
Emperor Chongzhen's face was grim. Looking at his ministers, who seemed to have lost their parents, he asked sternly, "You are all my right-hand men, eating the emperor's food and sharing the emperor's worries. Now the situation is critical. Who can solve this predicament for me?"
Most people lowered their heads, avoiding his gaze. The current situation had reached a dead end. Warlords with heavy military power were forcing the emperor to abdicate, and the monarch was unwilling to yield. There was no middle ground. Under these circumstances, even if Su Qin were reborn or Zhang Yi were brought back to life, they would be powerless.
Yang Sichang, who had been silent all along, spoke up. His face filled with righteous indignation, he said, “Your Majesty, this traitor Liu is so rampant; we must not let him have his way. Otherwise, the emperor will cease to be an emperor, the ministers will cease to be ministers, and the court will be in chaos…”
Wen Tiren interrupted him rudely and asked, "May I ask, Minister Yang, everyone understands the principle, what good strategy do you have to repel the troops?"
After a moment's thought, Yang Sichang said, "Your Majesty, the rebels have only surrounded the south, east, and west sides. I am willing to volunteer to leave the palace through the Xuanwu Gate in the north, gather the remnants of the Beijing Garrison, summon the Ban Army (Note 1) into the capital, and coordinate with the Tengxiang Four Guards to drive out the rebels."
Upon hearing this, the civil and military officials were all seething with anger. "Damn it, Yang Wenruo, you slipped away, leaving us here! When will you finally gather your men? By then, we'll probably be dead. Besides, even if you do gather your forces, you might not be able to defeat the Qionghai Army. They're the kind of people who can make even a Tartar prince or noble flee in disarray, and they also have the support of the two major border towns of Shanxi and Xuanfu. Your bunch of pampered soldiers won't even be enough to fill a tooth gap."
Wen Tiren retorted, "Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. Liu Ye claims he will take action at noon. According to your method, it will be too late no matter what. Have you ever considered His Majesty's safety?"
Yang Sichang was speechless and had no reply.
Wen Tiren glanced at Yang Sichang, then at the hesitant Chongzhen, and decided to unleash Liu Ye's trump card to break the current stalemate.
"Your Majesty, Liu Ye also said that he wants to bring Panda and Wang Hong to the palace to expose to the world someone's treasonous acts of colluding with the enemy, destroying the Great Wall, and secretly aiding the enemy..."
Yang Sichang's expression changed drastically, and he nearly lost his balance and fell to the ground. To him, this was his Achilles' heel; even a thousand troops besieging the city were not as damaging as the charge of colluding with the enemy.
Emperor Chongzhen was also filled with apprehension. If Liu Ye persisted in pressing this point, not only Yang Sichang might be implicated, but his reputation as a wise and benevolent ruler would also be ruined. What should he do?
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Note 1: In addition to the Imperial Guards of the capital, the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison were transferred from the Zhongdu Garrison and the cavalry and infantry of the Shandong, Henan and Daning Garrison Commands to the capital for guard duty and training. They were called the "rotating troops".