The army turned back all the way to Wuchang, and two hours later, returned to Wuchang City.

At this time, the sky has gradually darkened, and it seems that it is impossible to leave for Beijing today, so Zhu Cihong ordered to leave tomorrow.

Ma Yue'e returned to the residence arranged for her, frowning all the time, looking at the emperor's appearance, and it seemed that she did not take the opportunity to send troops into Sichuan to destroy Zhang Xianzhong. Ma Yue'e was a little puzzled and wanted to ask, but she was worried about whether she would offend the emperor.

Ma Yue'e hesitated back and forth for a moment, gritted her teeth, and walked out of the door.

"Your Majesty, Miss Ma asks to see you."

"Xuan." Zhu Cihong said.

After a while, Ma Yue'e walked in.

"Miss Ma is looking for me, is there anything wrong?" Zhu Cihong asked.

"Back to the emperor, the courtiers have something unclear and want to ask the emperor." Ma Yue'e gritted her teeth and let go.

"Miss Ma, excuse me." Zhu Cihong said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, in today's war, Zhang Xianzhong's thief army of more than 80,000 troops was wiped out, and the traitors suffered heavy losses, I don't know if the emperor could have thought about mobilizing an army to pursue the victory, and wave his troops into Shu to completely exterminate Zhang Xianzhong, a traitor." Ma Yue'e asked.

That's what Ma Yue'e cares about the most.

Zhang Xianzhong this person has a violent temper, since entering Shu, continue to attack the city, force the people to enlist as cannon fodder, but also many times arson looting, indiscriminately killing innocent, the people of Shu are miserable, Ma Yue'e with his grandmother Qin Liangyu and Zhang Xianzhong fought for several years, all the time do not want to exterminate Zhang Xianzhong, but also the people of Shu a tranquility, now is an excellent opportunity, Zhang Xianzhong was wiped out more than 80,000 troops in a battle, the news came back, morale will definitely be hit, as long as the imperial court is willing to mobilize more than 200,000 soldiers and horses including Ying Longjun into Shu, in cooperation with the existing soldiers and horses in Shu, it will inevitably be able to exterminate Zhang Xianzhong in one fell swoop and recover the entire territory of Shu.

Zhu Cihong was not surprised that Ma Yue'e would come to ask him this question, he also wanted to mobilize a large army to pursue and destroy Zhang Xianzhong in one fell swoop, but he was powerless now.

Zhu Cihong sighed and explained: "Miss Ma doesn't know, now the Qing army has mobilized nearly a hundred red-coated cannons to storm Tongguan, Tongguan will be broken in half a month at most, Li Zicheng will lose the barrier of Tongguan, he will inevitably be defeated, at least he will be driven out of Shaanxi, once Shaanxi is controlled by the Qing army, then the Qing army will have no worries at all, and the main force of its Eight Banners is likely to turn to attack my Ming Dynasty, and the extermination of Zhang Xianzhong's rebels is by no means an overnight achievement." Therefore, at this moment, it is not that I don't want to destroy Zhang Xianzhong's traitor as soon as possible, but that I want to guard against the great enemy of the Qing captive, and only by repelling the first all-out southward movement of the Qing captives can I really free my hands, and I hope that Miss Ma can understand, and I also ask Miss Ma to tell General Qin Liangyu of my helplessness after returning to Lizhou. ”

"I see, it's a misunderstanding by the courtiers, please atone for the emperor's sins." Ma Yue'e confessed.

After listening to Zhu Cihong's explanation, she understood the reason, although she could understand the difficulties of the imperial court, but her heart was also full of worries, because now Lizhou City is besieged, if the emperor can't send troops into Shu, there are less than 40,000 soldiers and horses under her grandmother's command, and the governor of Sichuan is an unreliable, when will he be able to relieve the siege of Lizhou City.

Zhu Cihong saw Ma Yue's worries, and asked with a slight sigh: "I also know that Lizhou City, where General Qin Liangyu is stationed, is besieged by the thief army, is Miss Ma worried about General Qin Liangyu's safety?" ”

Ma Yue'e was a little embarrassed and said: "Your Majesty, the courtiers are not worried about the safety of their grandmother, but about Lizhou City, which is the last important town in Shu, once it is lost, the entire Shu Land is afraid that it will fall into the hands of the enemy, but please rest assured that the courtiers will definitely defend Lizhou City with their grandmother." ”

"I'm not a faint king, Miss Ma doesn't have to be so cautious." Zhu Cihong waved his hand.

Ma Yue'e didn't know how to answer, so she simply didn't say anything.

Zhu Cihong glanced at Ma Yue'e with a smile: "I naturally believe in Miss Ma and General Qin Liangyu, the governor of Sichuan is afraid that General Qin Liangyu has been dragged down a lot in recent years, otherwise, with General Qin Liangyu's ability, Zhang Xianzhong will not be so rampant." ”

What Zhu Cihong said is the truth, Qin Liangyu is the general of Zhendong appointed by Emperor Chongzhen, who is like the general army of Sichuan, and can control most of the army and horses in Sichuan. However, the Ming Dynasty has always respected the text, although it is the same as the official rank of the governor of Sichuan, but Qin Liangyu is a military attaché, to be controlled by the governor of Sichuan, if it is not for the governor of Sichuan to suppress Qin Liangyu in history, he has repeatedly denied Qin Liangyu's strategic concept, disrupted Qin Liangyu's layout many times, and often commanded blindly, missed I don't know how many good opportunities, Zhang Xianzhong is simply not able to grow stronger and stronger in just a few years, until today it occupies most of the Shu land, becoming the third confidant of the Ming Dynasty after the Manchu Qing and Li Zicheng.

"The emperor praised it." Ma Yue'e said with a smile.

Zhu Cihong tapped his fingers on the countertop, and after thinking about it, he made a decision in his heart.

"Miss Ma is here for a moment, I have something for you to bring back to General Qin Liangyu."

After Zhu Cihong finished speaking, he walked into the inner hall and turned out a volume of bright yellow blank holy decrees, spread them on the desk and opened them, and they had already been covered with a jade seal.

Ma Yue'e was wondering what the emperor was doing, when she saw the emperor walking out with a scroll of bright yellow holy decrees, she was shocked, her eyes widened slightly, and she didn't know what the emperor meant.

"Miss Ma, this is my holy decree appointing General Qin Liangyu as the governor of Sichuan and Guizhou, and you will find a way to bring it back to Lizhou City and hand it over to General Qin Liangyu." Zhu Cihong handed over this holy decree to Ma Yue.

"Emperor" Ma Yue'e was so shocked that she took a sharp breath, her beautiful eyes widened, and she was stunned.

No wonder Ma Yue'e was surprised, although Qin Liangyu has the rank of a second-class general, but in the end she is a woman, and she is already seventy years old, and there has never been a precedent for a woman to be a civil official in the Ming Dynasty, let alone a feudal official like the governor of Sichuan and Guizhou, the emperor is too chaotic.

Ma Yue's hands trembled, and she couldn't believe it at all.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid this can't be done, my grandmother is a woman, how dare she accept the position of such a feudal official, I'm afraid that she will be opposed by hundreds of officials in the world." This kind of thing is too important, how dare Ma Yue'e take it on behalf of her grandmother easily.

"Miss Ma is not worried, I am the supreme in the world, Chrysostom Yuyan, no one dares to learn from the Donglin Party to force the palace, I believe in General Qin Liangyu's talent, of course, if General Qin Liangyu lives up to my expectations, can not effectively contain Zhang Xianzhong's traitor, and causes the traitor to leave Sichuan when I am fully committed to dealing with the Manchu Dynasty, I will not leave any mercy, and I will definitely punish the crime!" Zhu Cihong's face was calm, and his murderous intentions were revealed.

Zhu Cihong's decision to have this decision is also deliberate, although Qin Liangyu is a woman, but her ability is indeed not bad, if she can get an unrestricted release, maybe it can have an unexpected effect on the war situation in Sichuan, and the worst can also contain Zhang Xianzhong to the death, for this reason, Zhu Cihong even did not hesitate to risk the trouble of being forced into the palace by hundreds of officials after returning to Beijing.

"The courtier's grandmother is trusted by Emperor Xie!" Ma Yue'e felt a pang in her heart, and after a moment of silence, she knelt down and bowed.

Zhu Cihong smiled slightly.

"Miss Ma is not in a hurry, Miss Ma has made a meritorious contribution to the news this time, I will reward her meritorious deeds, and title Miss Ma as the rank of general of Wu Luo, from Wupin, after returning to Beijing, I will notify the Ministry of War to send documents to Miss Ma."

"The courtiers will thank the emperor for his grace." Ma Yue'e was pleasantly surprised, although she followed her grandmother to fight and made a lot of contributions, but in the end she was a woman, it was not easy to ask for credit, and now the emperor Chrysostom said that she has also become a real general, and she is a female general.

"General Manu, please." Zhu Cihong said with a smile.

Ma Yue'e retreated, holding the holy decree in her hand along the way, her grandmother no longer had to be restricted by the governor of Sichuan and Guizhou with the position of governor of Sichuan and Guizhou, and she could also dispatch soldiers from Sichuan and Guizhou to fight against Zhang Xianzhong. Although there are not many generals in Sichuan and Guizhou today, there are 1120,000 horses together, not to mention the recovery of the entire Shu land, at least it is not a problem to firmly contain Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan.

...