The so-called blessing and misfortune depend on each other, this sentence is true and not wrong at all.

In the past few days, Emperor Chongzhen has encountered good things in a row, and he is in a good mood, so he is in a bad mood by the urgent report.

No, he urgently summoned his ministers to discuss the matter. Among them, Zhang Mingwei, the prince of Xingguo, is included.

In the Wenhua Palace, Emperor Chongzhen pointed to the recital on the imperial case, and said to the ministers below with a stern expression; "Today, there are three consecutive urgent reports, one is from Kaifeng, saying that the Li thief's department has besieged Kaifeng for more than half a month, and the attack is very urgent, and this is the third time to ask the court for help."

Speaking of this, he paused and then said: "The second report is a joint performance by Wu Sangui, Bai Guangen and other five-way guerrillas, saying that they rescued Kaifeng, but they were reprimanded by the governor Hou Sui and wanted to transfer them to his command. If you dare not listen, you will rebel and even threaten to send troops. ”

After finishing speaking, he picked up a piece of music from the imperial case, and said with a serious face: "Hou Sui led Zuo Liangyu's department not only to blackmail the imperial court, but even when the thieves went north, they collapsed at the touch of a button and got out of the way. Now, this road of thieves has come to the vicinity of Baoding. At present, the situation is obvious, and this thief army really has to rush to the side of the Beijing Division. ”

This is a military matter, and Min Hongxue, the secretary of the military department, is the first to bear the brunt, so he was the first to speak: "Your Majesty, now on the side of the Beijing Division, there are very few soldiers who can fight, only the part of the Yongwei Battalion, and the newly formed Beijing Battalion. There are only about 25,000 in total, and they are all newly formed. And the thieves on this road claim to be 200,000, although there are fakes, but the number of 80,000 is there. And if the imperial court officials and soldiers go on the expedition, they still need to guard against Zuo Liangyu's department, and Weichen thinks that it is better to defend than to attack! ”

Hearing him speak, the others didn't speak, just looked at him.

Emperor Chongzhen listened, frowned and said; "If it's just to defend the city, the thieves will go north, although I don't worry about the safety of the Jingshi. However, if the land of Gyeonggi is ravaged by thieves, what can be done? ”

When the cabinet assistant minister Du Yinxi heard this, he also interjected and reminded: "If the thieves ravage the land of Gyeonggi, it will inevitably have an impact on the defense line of the Great Wall of Jizhen. If it is serious, it will affect the imperial construction outside the pass, and it will be even worse! ”

His vision is obviously high, and he has taken into account the situation inside and outside the customs.

Min Hongxue listened, and he was also puzzled: "Today's plan, there are too few soldiers available in the imperial court, what can I do?" Unless the edict is issued to the king of Qin! But the chaos in the world is very wide, and what soldiers can deal with the king's affairs? ”

If Zuo Liangyu listened to the dispatch of the imperial court, he would still have troops to use. Helplessly, this Zuo Liangyu has long been arrogant and undisciplined, and he ignores the dispatch of the local governor and governor. Now he openly shouted that he wanted to Qingjun not to say anything, and even threatened Bai Guangen and other five-way guerrillas, but it also involved the original small number of troops in the imperial court.

Emperor Chongzhen thought about this, and felt that there were two big ones in one head, and there was no way, so he had to turn his head to look at Zhang Mingwei, and asked tentatively: "Sir, do you want to transfer Qin soldiers into the customs?" ”

This pass refers to Tongguan, not Shanhaiguan. It means to let Sun Chuanting's troops enter the Central Plains to participate in the war.

Zhang Mingwei listened, frowned and replied: "Your Majesty, Sun Chuanting's side, calculate the time, he entered Shaanxi alone, to rectify the army, to prepare money and food, only about two months, I am afraid that the soldiers are not refined and the food is insufficient, and if he hastily mobilizes his troops and horses, I am afraid that the effect will be limited." If you lose the battle if you are not prepared enough, then all the efforts you have made in front of you will be in vain. The lesson of the Battle of Songjin is still in front of us! Moreover, there is no peace in Shaanxi, and Sun Chuanting will definitely settle in Shaanxi. ”

Hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was also helpless, so he asked again: "Then what should be done about today's plan?" ”

Zhang Mingwei listened, looked at Min Hongxue, and then looked at the others, and then turned his head to look at Emperor Chongzhen and replied: "I think that it is better to let Sun Chuanting's side have more time to organize the army until it is absolutely necessary." We will discuss the current difficulties and see if we can solve them, and try to solve them. Moreover, if you want to let Sun Chuanting's department out of the customs, it is actually difficult to quench your thirst from far water! ”

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he also knew that Mr. was right, so he had no choice but to turn his head to look at the other courtiers and ask, "Do you think it's better to deal with it now?" ”

In June of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, it was really a great chaos in the world at this time. Most of the officers and soldiers loyal to the imperial court were wiped out, and the generals who were originally loyal to the imperial court slowly changed their minds when they saw this troubled world.

At this time, the one who is still obedient is actually the Yongwei Battalion. However, the strength of the Brave Guard Battalion was really limited, and it was divided into three parts. Among them, Sun Yingyuan led the troops to protect the prince, on the Jiangnan side; Huang Degong led the troops to guard the imperial mausoleum, and now, together with Liu Liangzuo and local generals, is in a stalemate with Zhang Xianzhong's department.

It's all the stuff, and it's really not going to be a usable soldier.

This situation, these high-ranking officials of the Ming Dynasty in the Wenhua Hall naturally knew about it. Therefore, when they think about it, they feel that it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice.

Zhang Mingwei had been fighting about the internal evacuation of the military and civilians in Liaodong and dealing with the Jin merchants, but he was not particularly concerned about the affairs of the Central Plains. At this time, seeing that they were all frowning, as if there was no way, he was also anxious.

However, Zhang Mingwei knows that now he is the backbone of the court, and he can influence Emperor Chongzhen, how he performs is very important.

Therefore, although he was also anxious, he was still calm on the surface.

Seeing that no one had spoken, Zhang Mingwei asked, "Then let's analyze it one by one!" ”

Hearing him speak, Emperor Chongzhen and the others all turned their heads to look at him and pricked up their ears to listen to what he had to say.

I only heard Zhang Mingwei say to Emperor Chongzhen: "Over there in Kaifeng, the city is strong, and the will to King Zhou has also been passed over. I believe that with the material reserves and the scale of the troops in Kaifeng Mansion, it should be no problem to resist Li Thief's department for a while. ”

All the people present knew this, so after listening to it, they all nodded in agreement.

"Hou Sui and Zuo Liangyu's side, relying on the military power in their hands, have become rebellious. If it drags on like this, it will give them to strengthen their strength in the name of the imperial court. Just like that Hou Sui is now threatening Bai Guangen, Wu Sangui and other five-way guerrillas as a governor. Rather than this, it is better to directly find out the matter and ask Hou Sui and Zuo Liangyu to blame. ”

Hearing this, Liu Zongzhou opened his mouth and said: "I have already asked Liang Zhixian about the case of the fall of Guide, and the two assassins have also interrogated them, so it can be said that the matter is very clear. And Hou Sui not only did not admit his guilt, but shielded his son, and even sent assassins with the intention of assassinating the court officials, and the crime was complicit. ”

After a pause, he said again: "As for Zuo Liangyu, even more, in the past, he had escaped from the battle more than once, and the soldiers plundered the people, and there were reports from time to time in the locality. There are also things like not listening to the dispatch of Zhang Guowei, the governor of Tianfu, which is even more common. Now he dares to threaten and say that he wants to clear the king's side. This kind of thief general, although it is not too much to punish his nine clans! ”

After saying this, a helpless look appeared on his face and said: "But he has military power in his hands, known as 200,000 soldiers and horses." Before he tears his face, he can still fight with the thieves, but if he tears his face and puts it on the bright side, not only will he not be able to fight the thieves again, but he may join forces with the thieves to attack the imperial court. This comes and goes, and the thieves are even more powerful, how to deal with it? ”

The others listened and nodded, the situation is really not optimistic. If it was possible, how could Zuo Liangyu be so arrogant.

But then again, if Zuo Liangyu hadn't seen that the imperial court didn't have this strength, maybe he wouldn't have been so arrogant.

Zhang Mingwei listened, shook his head and said: "In fact, it is equivalent to tearing his face now, and if he hides it again, it will be conducive to Zuo Liangyu's department to continue to grow!" ”

This is true, but the difficulties are also great. Therefore, everyone turned their eyes to Emperor Chongzhen. This matter is ultimately decided by Emperor Chongzhen.

When Emperor Chongzhen saw this, his brain hurt, and after thinking about it, he still couldn't make up his mind, so he turned his eyes to Zhang Mingwei with a hint of help.

Seeing this, Zhang Mingwei frowned and thought for a while, then asked: "Then there is another matter, that is, what is the situation of the northbound thieves, who will tell me?" ”

This belongs to the military, so naturally it is the book of the military department.

Therefore, Min Hongxue immediately replied: "This group of thieves who went north called themselves Xiao Yuan Ying, and the thief leader Yuan Shizhong. At the end of the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, Shandong, Henan, Hebei and other places were in drought, and locusts covered the sun. This Yuan Shizhong gathered a crowd to rebel, attacked the state, and killed the state Tongzhi Xizhi. In the following year, he entered Kaifeng and Shangqiu with Liu Yuqi, Zhu Chengju and other thieves, and was active in southeastern Henan, northern Anhui and other places, with great momentum, and was later defeated by Yongwei Ying, Liu Liangzuo and other departments. ”

"As a result, the remnants of Yuan Shizhong entered the Central Plains and joined forces with Li Thief's troops, and the momentum was regained again." Speaking of this, after Min Hongxue paused, he said with a little doubt, "Later, I don't know why, this Yuan Shizhong suddenly led his troops south, it seems that he is in conflict with the Li thief, and wants to go south to join the Zhang thief, the fifth battalion of the left and other thieves." But I don't know why, this little Yuan camp suddenly turned back to the north, forced Zuo Liangyu's department back, and now it is even closer to Baoding! ”

is worthy of being a secretary of the Ministry of War, and the description of this thief is quite comprehensive. Emperor Chongzhen thought so in his heart, so he turned his head to look at Zhang Mingwei, wanting to see what Mr. had to say.

However, when he saw it, he couldn't help but feel happy in his heart. Because Emperor Chongzhen saw that Zhang Mingwei's face was obviously a hint of surprise, but his face was heavy. Doesn't that mean, isn't it that Mr. has thought of something, and what is the best way?

Thinking so, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't wait to ask, "Sir, is there a good way to deal with this group of thieves?" ”

The others also noticed Zhang Mingwei's face, so they were a little curious and listened with their ears pricked up.