In the ninth year of Ming Chongzhen, the thirteenth day of the first month. 【For more exciting, please visit】 .

The cold night is long, the Forbidden City is quiet, only the sound of the sound from time to time, reflecting the passage of time, the lights in the palace of diligence are still bright, for several days, this hall is always like this, until nearly three watches, the lights will be extinguished.

Chongzhen sat on the warm couch, was watching the music under the lamp, the four corners of the hall were placed charcoal stoves, making the hall warm like spring, but Chongzhen's heart was always shrouded in a chill, which could not disappear.

He was reading the newspapers in various places. There are Anhui, Liaodong, Guanzhong, Henan, Huguang, Sichuan, Shanxi, stacked thickly. Chongzhen looked at them one by one, couldn't help frowning, shook his head lightly and sighed.

Of all the battle reports, there is hardly a single piece of good news.

There are thieves harassing in Anhui, it is the old Huihui, the five battalions of the left, about 200,000 people, the emperor Taiji of Liaodong is preparing to build a country, this group of Jurchen barbarians really built a country, it is clear that they are fighting against the Ming Dynasty, because there are no two days, and there are no two masters of the people.

Guanzhong is very quiet, but there is a report on the details, the Qin army in Guanzhong is fighting hard horses, stepping up drills, rushing to make weapons day and night, supervising the manufacture of firearms, bows and arrows, etc., as well as siege equipment, although I don't know where to attack, but look at the frame, there will definitely be a big action in the near future.

Hong Chengchou of Shanxi came to report that Datong had been recovered, and the Houjin army had withdrawn, because Dolgon wanted to return to Liaodong to participate in the founding of the country, so Shanxi temporarily settled down.

Then there is about Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, Fu Zonglong came to report, Li Zicheng entered Henan, he laid down the old county, supplemented the grain, grass and silver, men and horses, and then spent the New Year here, on the third day of the first month of the first month, he drove into the hinterland of Henan, at this time Fu Zonglong was mobilizing troops, preparing to surround Li Zicheng's troops.

Chongzhen is most concerned about Yang Sichang's side. It is reported that Yang Sichang is still following and pursuing Zhang Xianzhong, but Zhang Xianzhong is extremely cunning, and he has not been annihilated after repeated pursuits, and Zhang Xianzhong's troops are at the junction of Sichuan and Huguang, suddenly to the east and west, so that the official army cannot catch his main force for a decisive battle.

Chongzhen threw the Tang newspaper on the case, frowning.

Zhang Fengyi, the secretary of the military department who was standing on the side, looked at it and asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, the current matter of suppressing thieves is complicated, the situation is unclear, and it is easy to handle other places, and there are famous generals to supervise it, but the Qin army in Guanzhong lacks the power of checks and balances." Once the Qin army also opened Tongguan, entered the Central Plains, and joined forces with Li Zicheng, Fu Zonglong was only afraid that he would lose control of one and the other. ”

Chongzhen sighed: "If there is a good handsome, why worry about the thieves who will not be destroyed?" It's just that at the moment, there is no one available in the DPRK. ”

Zhang Fengyi said cautiously: "Weichen thinks that there is another person." ”

Chongzhen raised his head, stared at him and asked, "Which one is it?" Zhang Fengyi groaned: "That's it...... It's the ...... who is still in prison Sun Chuanting......"

When he said this, his eyes were fixed on Chongzhen's face, for fear that he would become angry.

When Chongzhen heard this, he was not annoyed, but his expression was gloomy, and then he stood up, walked to the edge of the fire, stretched out his hand and roasted it, and then said, "How can I not know?" But Sun Chuanting and Yang Sichang are on the same page, if Sun Chuanting is used again, Yang Sichang will definitely stop it, the two will definitely not get along, he will not get along, he will definitely involve the thief, if the time comes, if they hinder each other, will they not lose the country? Just like a few years ago, Datong was lost, all because of the discord between Gao Qiqian and Lu Xiangsheng, although I investigated Gao Qiqian, but after all, I lost Lu Xiangsheng, a famous general, and I regretted it. ”

Zhang Fengyi was convinced: "Your Majesty has thought it through, and the ministers don't investigate, and they are guilty and guilty." ”

Chongzhen said: "I also know that Sun Chuanting is handsome and very strategic, but Yang Sichang also has strengths, and the two can only use one of them, in the final analysis, it is still a big pity." ”

At this time, there was a eunuch sent in a letter, Chongzhen looked at the cover, and knew that it was Yang Sichang, he had issued an order to the cabinet, as long as it was Yang Sichang's report, no matter when, it must be reported immediately, without delay.

Chongzhen immediately opened the reading, read it once, frowned, and then handed the fold to Zhang Fengyi and let him read it.

Zhang Fengyi opened the recital and took a look, and was also startled, Yang Sichang said in the newspaper that in recent days, Zuo Liangyu said that he was not sick, and he was very negative about the extermination of Zhang Xianzhong. He repeatedly urged the order, but Zuo Liangyu just ignored it. And not only that, but his subordinates learned that Fan Ju had deliberately accepted Zuo Liangyu for a period of time recently, and the two often corresponded and had a close relationship. Yang Sichang was worried that Fan Ju had different ambitions and wanted to win over Zuo Liangyu and set up another mountain, whether it was like this or not, he needed to be vigilant, and he suggested in the report that Fan Ju should be transferred out of Huguang and let him go to other provinces, isolate him first, and then observe his words and deeds so that he could deal with it.

Chongzhen asked, "What do you think?" ”

Zhang Fengyi thought for a while before he said: "Your Majesty, Fan Ju has made military exploits since he returned to Shun, and he also needs to carefully consider the matter of winning over Zuo Liangyu, could it be that he watched Zuo Liangyu have made great contributions recently and became a celebrity in the eyes of His Majesty, and then wanted to stammer?" I don't know. You must know that Fan Ju is a general after all, and he has no foundation in the court, so it is normal for people to stammer others. ”

Chongzhen nodded slowly: "It's also a reason." However, what Yang Sichang said is not unreasonable. It depends on the overall situation of the current crackdown on thieves. For Zhang Xianzhong, it is enough to have Yang Sichang and Zuo Liangyu, Fan Ju is over there, and there is no room to display his talents, in my opinion, it is better to follow Yang Sichang's advice and transfer Fan Ju to another place, so that he can solve some problems for the court. ”

Zhang Fengyi listened, and his eyes lit up: "Your Majesty, at this time, there are several battalions of people such as Lao Huihui in Anhui, and the noise is not small, I think it is better to let Fan Ju go to Anhui to exterminate the thieves." If he is effective in suppressing thieves, it is naturally good, and if he is not effective, it is not too late to punish the crime, so it is also justified. ”

Chongzhen smiled: "It is in line with my intentions, and I am going to transfer Fan Ju as the governor of Anhui, Ziyi as the general, and the original governor Zhou Zhijun is unfavorable to suppress the bandits and resign." Fan Ju was ordered to take full responsibility for the elimination of thieves. ”

Zhang Fengyi said: "Obey." ”

A few days later, the holy decree came down to Yang Sichang's camp, and Fan Ju accepted the decree, and his heart was stunned.

On the second day of receiving the order, it was time to set off, and that night, Ziyi came to Fan Ju's tent and discussed countermeasures with him. Fan Ju didn't seem to have much energy, and sat there while a few cronies packed his things.

After Ziyi came in, Fan Ju waved his hand and asked the others to retreat, leaving only the two of them in the tent. Ziyi was a little anxious: "Sir, the court's will is very strange, I think someone said bad things about us in front of the emperor." ”

Fan Ju nodded: "This person must be Yang Sichang." Recently, we have been close to Zuo Liangyu, which has made him very uneasy. He was afraid that we would join hands with Zuo Liangyu and empty his position in the army, so he played the court, and the court did not know what we wanted to do, so in order to prevent accidents, they transferred us away. But when I was transferred to Anhui, there was a lot of article in it. ”

Ziyi said: "The emperor is not a small official, the governor of Anhui, but you must know that the previous governor of Anhui was dismissed and investigated because of the unfavorable suppression of bandits. ”

Fan Ju said: "Anhui has five battalions of Lao Huihui and Gezuo, with hundreds of thousands of people and horses, and the court is roasting us on the fire." If the peasant army cannot be exterminated, the great ambition of tearing the soil and becoming king in the future will be empty talk. If you don't get it right, you have to put your life into it. But the holy decree cannot be changed, so we can only fight hard. ”

Ziyi said: "But there are only five or six thousand people around us, and when we enter Anhui, don't talk about thieves, I'm afraid it's difficult to even save ourselves." What can I do? ”

Fan Ju's eyes showed a cruel light: "It's man-made, if God intends to let me split the soil, I will definitely succeed immediately, if God doesn't bless me, hehe, it's too bad, die again." ”

Ziyi also gritted his teeth: "Okay, let's take one step at a time." ”

The next day, Fan Ju and Ziyi took Li Congzhou, Su Dan and more than 5,600 men and horses to bid farewell to Yang Sichang. Yang Sichang was happy in his heart, but on the surface, he still showed a look of great regret, and with the meaning of encouragement, he said: "Mr. Fan was transferred to the governor of Anhui, which is greatly valued by the emperor, and he was promoted unusually. ”

Fan Ju was polite, and led people to the road immediately, he made a slight detour to see Zuo Liangyu, as soon as the two met, Zuo Liangyu also heard the news, greeted him, took Fan Ju's hand and said: "Sir, I already know about this, on the one hand, I want to congratulate Mr., but on the other hand, I am worried about Mr." ”

Fan Ju smiled: "What is there to worry about? ”

Zuo Liangyu said: "The situation in Anhui is very serious, the old Hui Hui and the five battalions of the Ge Zuo, among the thieves, although the combat effectiveness is only in the middle, but there are many people, no less than 200,000 people, even if there are family members, old and weak women and children, but there are 100,000 people who can fight, Mr. only brings a few thousand people, and it is quite difficult to suppress these people, the previous governor Zhou Zhijun is because of the disadvantage of suppressing the thieves and disgraced his office, you don't want to follow in his footsteps." ”

Fan Ju patted Zuo Liangyu on the shoulder: "General rest assured, Fan Ju is not surnamed Zhou, in the past, in the Qin army, I was able to use thousands of newly defeated troops to capture Huayin in one battle, and then take Xi'an, surrounded by strong enemies, seize a foothold, at this time lead the dignified official army, the righteous army, why worry about not winning?" It's just that after I left, the general did it himself, Yang Sichang and his people, with a sinister heart, first framed Sun Chuanting, put him in prison, and then colluded with Gao Qiqian to kill Lu Xiangsheng, although the general won many big victories, the emperor was happy, but also stole his limelight, you should be careful in the future. ”

Zuo Liangyu nodded again and again, and after he set up a banquet to entertain Fan Ju, Ziyi and others, the two sides cherished each other and said goodbye.

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