If you describe the period from the end of the 11th year to the beginning of the 12th year of Chongzhen in one sentence, "a wave of unevenness and another wave" is very appropriate. No one expected that just when Xiong Wencan's strategy of "suppressing and appeasing and using" between Chu and Yu seemed to be bearing initial results, the Qing Dynasty outside the Cyprus suddenly hit the head with a blow. It was as if a patient with a slight improvement in internal illness suddenly suffered a heavy external injury, and the Ming Dynasty, who was walking in secrecy, was dizzy and drunk.

In September of last year, the Qing army's eastern and western flanks broke through the border wall and attacked. In October, Emperor Huang Taiji of the Qing Dynasty came to Ningjin in person. The flames of war immediately dispersed, and the all-out war between the Ming and Qing dynasties inside and outside the Guanxi officially began. In November, the imperial court was in Kou Luoping, Zhao Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting led the Ming army from all walks of life in Shaanxi to go to Beijing to Qinwang, Liaodong Zu Dashou led part of the Liaodong army back and forth to help, Lu Xiang was promoted to the rank of governor, and supervised the reinforcements of the world. In December, Lu Xiangsheng was besieged in Julu Jiazhuang, died in battle to serve the country, and the Qing soldiers drove Shandong, Hebei and other places.

In the first month of this year, Hong Chengchou was appointed as the governor of Jiliao military affairs, and Sun Chuanting was the governor of Baoding, Shandong, and Hebei, and the army was cleared. However, the Qing soldiers continued to break through Jinan, killing many Ming clans such as Zhu Youshu, the king of Germany, and the capital was shaken. In February, due to Huang Taiji's defeat at Songshan Fort, the Qing troops who had reached the Yellow River began to shrink, killing and plundering along the way. Most of the Ming troops in various places watched from the wall, delayed the pursuit, and only symbolically intercepted sporadically a few times, a drop in the bucket, and finally sat back and watched the Qing soldiers retreat through the side wall breach.

After the war, the Qing soldiers entered the fortress this time, which lasted more than five months, and won dozens of battles in Jinan Prefecture, Keshan Province, Erguan, Sanzhou, and 55 counties, and captured nearly 500,000 people and animals, nearly 5,000 taels of gold, and 1 million taels of silver. Corresponding to such a rich spoils of war was the extremely low battle losses of the Qing soldiers, and the eight banners and the three Shun kings were all together, and the casualties did not exceed 1,000. If we talk about the biggest loss, it may be counted as Yue Zhan, the commander of the right-wing army of the Qing army, and his brother Ma Zhan, who died of smallpox in Jinan.

After the fright, the respite is fixed, and the Ming Court, as always, is seriously accountable. Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, and Ni Chong, the general soldier of Shandong, were both dismissed and arrested respectively due to the fall of Jinan. The internal officials and supervisors of the army were dive to sit back and watch Lu Xiangsheng die in battle and slack off the crime, and he was demoted three levels in a row. Liu Yuliang, a scholar of Shoufu University, was dismissed due to cowardice and fear of war. Sun Chuanting was demoted to one level, and was later impeached by Yang Sichang, demoted to a commoner, and imprisoned in the prison. Yang Sichang also pleaded for his guilt, but Chongzhen protected him, and in the end he only took the position.

This series of events all happened during Zhao Dangshi's trip to the southeast, and Zhao Dangshi later learned that when the Qing army offensive was at its peak, it had touched Xuzhou, and Shi Kefa, the governor of Anlu, had to lead troops to Xuzhou to deploy defenses. At that time, Xiuning's family said that "my father-in-law is seriously ill and difficult to see each other", which may be true, but I think it is more of a pretext to cover up the important tasks of the military aircraft.

Although foreign affairs are far away, Zhao Dangshi has always been far-sighted, carefully analyzed every military information and every newspaper provided, and prepared for the follow-up actions of Zhao Ying, and what he was most concerned about was of course the follow-up impact of the Qing troops on the situation in Chuyu and other places, the most important of which was the military deployment.

As early as before leaving for the southeast, Zhao Dangshi had already learned that Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting led the Ming army of Shaanxi to enter Beijing. Now it seems that Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting are in Liaodong and imprisoned, and it is unlikely that they will be transferred back to Shaanxi and Henan in the next few years. Especially Hong Chengchou, after the Qing State made such a fuss, the whole country was panicked, and the success or failure of Liaodong had been regarded by the Ming court as the key to the national lineage. Looking at the ministers, Sun Chengzong and Lu Xiangsheng died in battle, and no one can compare with his qualifications and abilities to sit in Jiliao. Sun Chuanting may still return to Shaanxi, but Hong Chengchou will never move lightly.

Starting from Zhao Ying's own interests, it is a great benefit that Hong Chengchou cannot come back. Although the governor of Shaanxi was succeeded by Zheng Chongjian, Zheng Chongjian did have martial arts such as the deputy envoy of Jinan's military garrison, the imperial envoy, and the governor of Ningxia, who defeated thieves, but compared with Hong Chengchou, who won the governorship from Shaanxi with a knife and a gun, his prestige and ability are still far inferior. It is impossible to reproduce the scene when all the soldiers and horses in Shaanxi were the only ones in Shaanxi. Without the talent of coordination and control like Hong Chengchou, the power of the yamen of the three sides of Shaanxi has undoubtedly plummeted, and the efficiency of the once concerted efforts of all the ministries is bound to be difficult to survive. Not to mention Ding Qirui, who replaced Sun Chuanting as the governor of Shaanxi and has little military experience. It can be seen from this that the scene of those arrogant soldiers and fierce generals in Shaanxi returning to their old ways and doing their own thing is just around the corner.

Zhao Dangshi thought very clearly, in order to maintain the prosperity of Zhao Ying, it was necessary to ensure the important position of Zhao Ying on the ground in Shaanxi, Henan, and Chu provinces. The imperial court's transfer of Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting was equivalent to taking the initiative to remove two mountains for Zhao Ying.

The Qing army retreated, and in March, the alarm of the Beijing division was lifted, and part of the troops of the Shaanxi Diqin King continued to stay, and some returned to Shaanxi. The elite generals, including Cao Bianjiao, Bai Guangen, Ma Ke, etc., were all transferred to Liaodong with Hong Chengchou, while Chai Shihua, He Renlong, Zhao Guangyuan, Zhang Tianli and other soldiers and horses who returned to Shaanxi compared with the quality of the army and the ability of the generals were basically a little worse, and all of them were famous arrogant and lawless, and it was difficult to subdue them. This is also beneficial to Zhao Ying, and the more scattered the officials and troops in Shaanxi, the more difficult it is to pose a threat.

Zhao Dangshi and several major generals in the battalion roughly estimated that, according to the current situation, only the officers and armies of Shaanxi, Henan, and Huguang provinces were concerned, and the large-scale military groups were basically the Zuojia Army, the Yamen of the Governor of Shaanxi, the Yamen of the Prime Minister, and the four Zhao Ying. As long as you seize the opportunity, you can't become the best of them.

However, in April, there is one more variable.

Following the return of reinforcements from all walks of life in Shaanxi, the Yongwei battalion that had earlier assisted in suppressing the Kou in the Central Plains also came one after another.

The Yongwei battalion was first started from the Zhongyong battalion composed of eunuchs during the Zhengde and Jiajing periods, and belonged to the inner government battalion system. At the beginning of Chongzhen's accession to the throne, he was determined to repair the military equipment and focus on reforming the Beijing camp, although because of the nobles and eunuchs who took office in the Beijing camp, the results were very small, but the restructuring of the Yongwei battalion can be regarded as the only desirable place.

Chongzhen first received the left of Longxiang, the right of Longxiang, the left of Wu Xiang, and the right of Wu Xiang to unify the four guards of the forbidden brigade into the four guard battalions, the internal officials in Beijing, the ceremonial supervisor and the imperial horse supervisor fought in the dark, and the four guard battalions belonged to the imperial horse supervisor, but later by the minister Cao Huachun admiral, and in his hands the four guard battalions were renamed "Yongwei battalion". Since then, Cao Huachun's celebrant has completely controlled all the armed forces in the inner court, and he himself has also led the celebrant to take charge of the eunuch and the imperial horse eunuch to seal the seal, becoming the first person in the inner court.

After Cao Huachun, the ministers Liu Yuanbin and Lu Jiude were in charge of the Yongwei Battalion, and they were sent to the Central Plains many times to participate in the protection of the tomb and suppress the Kou or resist foreign insults. In the ninth year of Chongzhen, he assisted Jifu and resisted the Qing army. Chongzhen for ten years, guarding Fengyang, and wandering in Zhengzhou, Anqing and other places. In the eleventh year, King Qin rescued the driver and fought in Wuqiao. All these kinds of meritorious deeds, Chongzhen relied on as an arm, and continued to expand the scale. So far, the battalion has been subdivided into four battalions, respectively placed in the general soldier, deputy general, staff general, guerrilla and other positions, Sun Yingyuan, the chief soldier of the left battalion of Longxiang, Zhou Yuji, the guerrilla of the left battalion of Longxiang, Diao Mingzhong, the deputy general of the right battalion of Longxiang, Song Ji, the chief soldier of the left battalion of Wu Xiang, and Huang Degong, the chief soldier of the right battalion of Wu Xiang, all have the reputation of being able to fight.

The Yongwei Battalion is different from other Beijing battalions, with strong troops and better discipline, but because it is subordinate to the Beijing Formation and belongs to the guest army of the guest army, Zhao Dangshi is not worried that they will become a local armed force and compete with the Zhao battalion. What's more, Liu Yuanbin and Lu Jiude are both eunuchs, and they can't make things happen. Therefore, in terms of military strength alone, the Yongwei Battalion is enough to rank with the Zuo Jiajun, the Yamen of the Shaanxi Trilateral Governor, the Prime Minister's Yamen and the Zhao Ying, but it cannot pose a serious threat to Zhao Jian. However, at least in the short term, the existence of the Yongwei Battalion still has a great impact on the entire Chuyu situation and should not be ignored.

Zhao Ying, Zuo Jiajun, Shaanxi Trilateral Governor Yamen, Prime Minister Yamen, Yongwei Battalion, this large five departments plus Shaanxi, Chu, Henan, Sichuan Province Governor Yamen and all kinds of independent general soldiers, deputy generals, etc., are the current Ming court to rely on all the military forces to suppress the Kou.

On the other hand, the situation is a bit delicate.

The so-called subtlety is not only in the panic of Li Zicheng and Ma Shouying, but also in Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, who have already surrendered to the imperial court.

The idea of the imperial court was to soothe while suppressing, suppressing Li and Ma and soothing Zhang and Luo, and dividing and disintegrating. It looks clear, but the execution is not as smooth as expected.

If it doesn't go well, Li Zicheng and Ma Shouying have not been completely eradicated so far. Among them, there are certainly sudden reasons for warnings, but the hearts of each town to raise and play with the Kou are also important factors. Past experience has proven time and again that for such a giant, it is not of much significance to simply "defeat the crowd and kill its soldiers." Wildfires burn inexhaustibly, and spring breezes blow and regenerate. If Li Zicheng and Ma Shouying cannot be cut down and eradicated, even if the situation is calm for a while, once the situation changes, their crowd will inevitably grow like weeds. The imperial court mobilized heavy troops and spent huge amounts of military salaries, but it was never able to catch Li Zicheng and Ma Shouying, even if Xiong Wencan and others had some effect on a series of actions between Chu and Yu, but the attitude of the imperial court was still generally dissatisfied.

The second is not smooth, Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai's bad intentions are well known to passers-by. Soon after Zhao Dangshi returned to Zaoyang, he received a secret letter from Zuo Liangyu saying that "Zaoxi will change", and he thought it was true. The metaphor of "Zaoxi" actually lies in Xiangyang and Gucheng further west. If there is a change there, what else can change, only Zhang Xianzhong. Previously, including Yu Yinggui, the former governor of Huguang, who had been questioned, and Dai Dongmin, the current governor of Yunyang, both earnestly pointed out that Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai "occupied the tun department by trickery and did not let go of the troops to make the land." This belt knife is a cloud, as soon as there is a joke, that is, stand up and raise your ears", suggesting that Xiong Wencan and the imperial court take advantage of the unstable foothold of Zhang and Luo to suddenly attack. But Xiong Wencan believes that these people intend to "take credit" and resolutely resist. At that time, the imperial court also urgently needed to transfer troops to King Ma Qin, and believed that in this case, only Xiong Wencan and other remaining troops could not deal with the aftermath, so it maintained the status quo and did not do anything.

But as soon as this end was opened, it reached the ears of Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai, and Xiong Wencan was uneasy, and Xiong Wencan was greedy, so he felt that the situation was difficult to care for a long time, so he "recruited the outlaw and bought a horse and a device" for the future. Recently, they have even wantonly engaged in war training and set up rivers and taxes as salaries, and their backlash has been exposed.

Zuo Liangyu and Zhang Xianzhong have a grudge against their brother, especially pay attention to him, before writing a letter to Zhao Dangshi, in fact, he has already written a letter to Xiong Wencan, which is blunt: "The thief is good for the field, not for the defense of the city." We are all together, the thieves are scattered, and we will pull out when we attack, and we will be captured when we attack. If you miss this opportunity, you will regret it. It's a pity that Xiong Wencan still forbids talking about such things. Zuo Liangyu wrote a letter to Chen Hongfan again, asking him to persuade Xiong Wencan, but Chen Hongfan was also a master of peace, for fear that the upheaval would cause more trouble, so he obeyed Xiong Wencan and sent his cronies Ma Tingshi and Xu Qizuo to Gucheng Xiying to reconcile and comfort. Xiong Wencan also asked Huguang to patrol Lin Mingqiu to go to Xiying again to appease Zhang Xianzhong. It's hard to say what the effect will be, but Zuo Liangyu is a resolute main battle faction, and he was greatly disappointed with the attitude of Xiong Wencan and Chen Hongfan, so he contacted Zhao Dangshi.

Zhao Dangshi's thoughts were the same as Zuo Liangyu's, and he determined that Zhang Xianzhong and Luo Rucai would be opposed. With this view in mind, after sending Huaqing back to Xiangyang, the Zhao Ying immediately began to deal with the imminent stormy waves above the undercurrent in northern Chu.