Huang Kezhang is helpless

The powerful people in Xi'an City were even more anxious all day long. Many people had moved their small capital to Henan and other places, but now they found that the situation was not good, so they simply slipped away quietly. In fact, since the White Army occupied Ningxia City, the powerful people in Xi'an Prefecture were a little too late. Many people have already looked for a way out in Henan and other places. Some even moved to the farther south of the Yangtze River and avoided the White Army once and for all.

When the war in the northwest burned, the surrounding Sichuan, Henan, Huguang, Shanxi and other places may not be safe. Who knows whether the White Army will continue to march towards these places in the future? Moreover, with the continuous expansion of the war, the entire northern part of the Ming Dynasty may have affected. Judging from the various war situations in history, the war is generally burning in the north. Only the distant Jiangnan water town may be the safest.

Since the shadow of the White-Clothed Army always exists, Xi'an Prefecture has withered a lot compared to two years ago. The originally lively streets have gradually become deserted. A large amount of capital and wealth have quietly evacuated from Xi'an City to find new places to support it. Merchants dare not buy a large amount of goods, and ordinary people dare not buy too many items, for fear that when the White-Clothed Army cavalry will suddenly come. They are all ready to retreat. If they carry too many items, they will not be able to evacuate in time.

Among the most tormenting people, there is also the King of Qin. As the vassal king of Xi'an Prefecture, according to the regulations, if the emperor's written order, the King of Qin could not leave Xi'an Prefecture without authorization. Otherwise, he would be accused of being a ruthless person and would be demoted to a commoner. However, because the example of King Qing was in front of it, this rule did not seem to be strictly enforced. If the regulations were not strictly enforced, they would naturally have no deterrent power.

King Qing, who was a vassal of Ningxia City, seemed not to be held accountable after losing Ningxia City. He had always lived in a large mansion in Xi'an Prefecture, living in a simple and cultivated his mind and nature. He lived a free and easy life. It is said that he had bought a lot of mansions in Henan, Jiangnan and other places. It seemed that he was preparing to escape all the way and retreat all the way. Anyway, he had already run from Ningxia City to Xi'an City, and then from Xi'an City to other places, which was no big deal.

In fact, due to the complex situation in the northwest region, the court did not have the heart to deal with King Qing. After King Qing escaped from Ningxia City, he was almost forgotten by the court. Because everyone in the court understood that even if King Qing was chopped up, it would not have any effect on the solution. The defeat of the court's official army was a bit like a crime of non-war, and was not transferred by human will.

Why do you say so? Because the combat effectiveness of the White-Clothed Army is too strong. Compared with ordinary rebels, the combat effectiveness is too strong. It is unimaginable. Think about it, even the extremely strong Tatars and Mongolians are not opponents of the White-Clothed Army, and they fail repeatedly in the hands of the White-Clothed Army. What is there to say about the defeat of the imperial government army? No one has ever thought that the combat effectiveness of the imperial government army is stronger than that of the Tatars.

This has almost become the gold medal for the death-free officers of the imperial court's Ministry of War and the frontline generals. Every time someone tries to hold them accountable, they bring out this reason. After they are defeated, they don't feel any ideological burden at all. On the contrary, they think this is a relief. Anyway, we can't defeat the White Army. If you think you can defeat the White Army, you will take over the position of this General Officer!

As a result, in the face of such a rogue-like reaction, the court really couldn't hold them accountable. The law did not blame the public, but after asking, how to make up for the blame was another reason. It was simple to hold the Jinyiwei back and be imprisoned. If such a big mess occurred in the northwest region, it would be a dozen serious crimes to be punished. It would be no exaggeration to be beheaded and confiscated.

However, the problem is that after they were held accountable, almost no officials were willing to come and clean up the mess. I have to say that this is indeed a very strange thing.

Under normal circumstances, if the Three-Border Governor Huang Kezhang had such a big mess, he would have been imprisoned and had been replaced by others. The Three-Border Governor of Shaanxi was a second-rank official and had control of four military towns. What an attractive position! I don’t know how many people were staring at this position day and night. Even he himself was ready to be imprisoned and waited for punishment.

However, strangely, he was still sitting in the position of the governor of the three sides and never replaced. Every time the important officials of the court discussed matters, it seemed that everyone was deliberately avoiding this topic and not pursuing Huang Kezhang's guilt, so that he would continue to stay in this position. This was simply too strange. In fact, the reason was nothing more than that the white-clothed army was too popular and difficult to match, and no one was willing to come and take over him. After all, no one wanted to jump into the fire pit, right?

Judging from the current situation, the situation in the northwest region is much more dangerous than that in the Liaodong region. Nurhaci in the Liaodong region just emerged and was not very strong yet. At this time, the Battle of Sarhu had not yet happened, and the Ming Dynasty still didn't care much about Nurhaci. The focus of the Liaodong region was more often on the purpose of fighting for the power of the court and for local money and food. In fact, there were not many people who really value Nurhaci.

But Xu Xingxia is different. This guy not only fought with Lin Danhan and Mo Rigen, but also successfully defeated them. Such guys are simply a person who eats people and does not spit out bones. Huang Kezhang can't deal with him. If they go there, they probably can't deal with him. Since that's the case, why bother to make trouble? Isn't it good to stay in the back?

Faced with such a difficult situation, Huang Kezhang had to gather all his subordinates, gather ideas and work together to see if there is any effective way to solve the current dilemma. As a result, the number of officials coming was that there were more than a dozen civil servants of the fourth rank and above. There were even more civil servants of the seventh rank and above. As for the military officers... Huang Kezhang did not call any of them. He was completely disappointed with those military officers.

However, in the face of the current dilemma, all the officials here are at a loss.

If they had a good idea, they would have proposed it long ago. In the face of the powerful White Army, all the solutions they could think of were ineffective. The defeat of Mo Rigen and Lin Danhan made them feel very unconfident. How could they be the opponents of the White Army?

"Governor General, Censor Zhao has returned to Shanxi." Suddenly, someone came in and reported to Huang Kezhang in a low voice. Censor Zhao was naturally Zhao Nanxing. Huang Kezhang only learned about his arrival in Yansui Town later. Regarding his whereabouts, Huang Kezhang naturally had to send people to closely follow and monitor the court to determine the next move of the court.

"Have Zhao Nanxing returned to Shanxi?" Huang Kezhang said to himself in surprise.

Zhao Nanxing returned to Shanxi so soon, which can only explain one problem. That is, he was obviously very unbearable to Xu Xingxia. Huang Kezhang didn't know that Zhao Nanxing was going to Xu Xingxia in person before, which shows that the court was interested in pacifying Xu Xingxia. This was also what Huang Kezhang strongly advocated. He could pacify as much as possible. In war, no one was the opponent of the White Army. However, this pacifying must be sincere to 0

What should we do to be considered sincere? That is to agree to Xu Xingxia's conditions and hand over all the four towns in the northwest to him for management. This is the most accurate sincerity. If the court does not agree to this, Xu Xingxia probably would not accept the pacification. Zhao Nanxing's pacification was obviously unsuccessful. What does this mean? It means that the court is unwilling to hand over all the four towns in the northwest to Xu Xingxia, which will lead to Zhao Nanxing running back in disgrace. Either he could not withstand the pressure and had to run back. Or, Xu Xingxia was driven back with a big broom.

After receiving this news, Huang Kezhang felt that the pressure on his shoulders seemed to have become much lighter in an instant. With Zhao Nanxing, the old man, I guess the court will finally start to face up to the situation in the northwest region? No matter whether there is money or food, whether it contains money or not, Xu Xingxia and his white-clothed army must be dealt with directly and clearly. If it is a war, the whole country will be mobilized. If it is a pacification, it must be sincere.

Either, it is to recognize the legitimacy of Xu Xingxia and his white-clothed army, and to hand over all the four towns in the northwest to him to manage, and to admit that this is the existence of an independent kingdom. It is to ignore everything Xu Xingxia did, whether it was done before, now, or in the future. In short, it is when the Ming Dynasty no longer had the four towns in the northwest. This is the most thorough and proper way.

Or, it is to resolutely suppress Xu Xingxia and his white-clothed army. Since they have decided to take action, they must devote the whole country to gather all the money and food in the country, and all the elite soldiers and generals to come to the four northwest towns to deal with Xu Xingxia. As for whether it can succeed, that is another matter. However, the court must have such a decisive attitude.

Which one would the court choose? Huang Kezhang didn't know. He only knew that no matter which one it was, it was very difficult for the court. Because the current court did not have enough money and food, nor enough military troop. One Liaodong and one wild boar skin had already made the Ming Dynasty very difficult. Another Xu Xingxia, the Ming Dynasty would definitely not be able to stand it.

It is really unreasonable to hand over all the four towns in the northwest to Xu Xingxia and turn them into a de facto independent kingdom. This is obviously a slap in the mouth! Moreover, with such a precedent, other military towns may change their minds and undercurrents. This hole cannot be opened easily.
Chapter completed!