After many arrangements, the left war has now begun to grasp the situation in the DPRK. After the establishment of the Internal Affairs Office, Wang An concentrated on assisting Zuo Zhan in taking care of the Inner Treasury and managing the Yingtian Weaving Bureau, which severed the connection between the Inner Court and the Donglin Party. In terms of ceremonial eunuchs, Cao Huachun took over the post of eunuch of Zhangyin, and Li Fengxiang took over the eunuch Bingbi, completely becoming a secretariat that only obeyed the emperor's orders. On the Dongchang side, Wei Jinzhong was like a vicious dog biting the Donglin Party members around. As for the cabinet, the main members are still the team of the Guangzong period, including Shi Jikai, He Zongyan, Liu Yixi, Han Yi, Zhu Guozuo, Shen Yu, and the cabinet elder Fang Congzhe, a total of seven people. Although there was no change in personnel, the office location was transferred to the Qinzheng Palace, and of course these old foxes knew who they should listen to.

The army is okay, Qi Baoguo is in charge of Jinyiwei, Qi Changguo is in charge of the Shangzhi Army, Luo Sigong is in charge of the five military camps, and the defense of the entire vicinity of the Beijing Division can be said to be impassable. Coupled with the prestige of the British Gong Zhang Weixian in the Ministry of War, the guards in various places are quite safe. The biggest headache for the left war was the officials of the six ministries and nine qing, and the first to bear the brunt was the Donglin Party. Zuo Zhan once thought of sending someone to secretly blow up Donglin Academy, but this treats the symptoms but not the root cause, and the root cause of the Donglin Party's ability to become bigger and stronger lies in the Ming Dynasty's teacher system. This problem involved the entire scholar class, and he could only let Wei Jinzhong first collect their incriminating evidence and eradicate them one by one by boiling frogs in warm water.

When Li Rubai was escorted to Jingshi, Zuo Zhan decided to start restoring the early dynasty system. As mentioned earlier, although this system is fucked, it is related to the reputation of the emperor, and Zuo Zhan does not want to be handled.

Today's topic is to discuss the situation in Liaodong, and the two sides are poised to go. As soon as Wang An finished saying "there is a book to play, there is nothing to do to retreat from the dynasty", Yao Zongwen, a representative of the Donglin Party, took the lead in making a difficulty:

"Yang Hao led an army of more than 100,000 people out of the customs, but he was destroyed by Jianjiao, and this person should be engaged in military law. In addition, Wechen thought that the cabinet had the fault of lax review and improper employment, and the cabinet elder should take the blame and resign. ”

Zuo Zhan thought to himself that you guys were too direct, but the show had just begun, and asked gently:

"Yang Hao, do you have any excuses to defend yourself?"

More than 100,000 people stained Liaodong with blood, but Yang Hao just took the blame and resigned and hid in his hometown, such a ridiculous thing is probably supported by a huge force behind it. Now that he was imprisoned by Jin Yiwei himself, Yang Hao knew that he could not escape death, and when he saw that Xinjun was young, he quibbled:

"Qi Shengshang, the ministers attacked in four ways originally wanted to be a battalion step by step, approaching the lair of Jianyu, who expected that Li Rubai, the general soldier of Liaodong, was a reinforcement, but he saw that the armies from all walks of life were struggling to meet the enemy, but he was able to retreat with his whole body. Lao Chen once imagined in prison that it was not because Nurhachi was an entourage of the Li family, and the Jurchen tribes were unified with the acquiescence of the Li family, so he wanted to return the favor to the Li family. ”

Li Rubai saw Yang Hao biting himself, and said angrily:

"Villain Yang Hao, my Li family has been loyal and good for generations, guarding Liaodong for the imperial court, how can I allow you to slander you. My brother Li Rusong died on the battlefield of counterinsurgency against Mongolia, and several younger brothers died in the battle of Salhu, what is the favor you are talking about? At the beginning, I wanted to be the vanguard to meet the enemy, but you ordered me to be the backup, and when the main force was lost, you were the commander but left the soldiers who were fighting bloodily and fled alone, and when my department rushed to the battlefield, I saw the bones of the Ming soldiers, so I could only retreat. Now the soldiers of Liaodong are still guarding the city in Shenyang and Liaoyang, how can you be idle in your hometown. ”

In all fairness, Nurhachi's rise was not caused by the Li Chengliang family, and the strategy of the Ming Dynasty at that time was to use razing to defeat the Jurchens, and supporting the Jianzhou Jurchens was only to fight against the Yehe Jurchens. Zuo Zhan couldn't help but be a little moved when he saw Li Rubai talking about justice, and said:

"Today's court discussion is the situation in Liaodong, don't climb it. Ning Yuanbo's meritorious court has its own judgment, the Li family can be described as a loyal martyr, I believe in Li Rubai's loyalty and backbone. ”

The Donglin Party is good at seeing the wind and making the rudder, and I heard that the emperor has no shortage of praise for Li Chengliang, and he has the meaning of leniency for Li Rubai, Qian Qianyi took the opportunity to echo:

"Qi Shengshang, Ning Yuanbo's father and son are famous, and the sons are brave and accustomed to fighting. The thieves descended to the mongrel, went in and out of the border, light-hearted China, and feared the Li family. ”

Li Rubai returned this time, and several younger brothers also died in Liaodong, and he wanted to go to Yangshan to worship his father and then kill himself. Now that he heard that the little emperor trusted the Li family so much, he was overjoyed, grateful, and bowed his head and said:

"The criminal minister's family is deeply favored by the emperor and trusted by His Majesty, so they are ashamed and willing to die on the battlefield to protect the name of the Li family. Please ask the Holy Grace to allow the guilty ministers to return to Shenyang, reorganize the Liaodong Iron Cavalry, and fight to the death with Jianyu. ”

Salhu was defeated, and the Ming Dynasty temporarily lost the initiative in the Liaodong battlefield, but the national strength is still there, as long as the whole body is united, it will soon make a comeback. Moreover, there are many Jurchen tribes in Guanwai Mongolia and Jurchen tribes, and Nurhachi is not enough to pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty with tens of thousands of Eight Banner soldiers.

For this reason, Zuo Zhan decided to temporarily abandon several cities east of Jinzhou and lengthen the defensive front of Jianyu in order to break through each in the future. At this time, if Li Rubai is sent to guard Shenyang, he will inevitably be alone, and once the consequences are unimaginable, he has to divert the topic and ask:

"During the encirclement and suppression of Jianjiao, the Korean general Jiang Hongli, who was with you on the South Road, led his troops to surrender, and Nurhachi set up a banquet to entertain them and released them all. If the imperial court sends troops to Liaodong again, what do you think will happen to Lee's Joseon? ”

This question has risen to a political level, Li Rubai did not dare to answer, and was silent with everyone. Zuo Zhan knew that this was Nurhachi's trick, and after Jianyu entered the customs, Li Chengliang's line was wiped out, which shows that he is letting go of Li Rubai and Jiang Hongli now, because he doesn't want to make too many enemies.

Thinking that in the future, it is necessary to encircle Nurhachi on all sides, and Li Rubai is still needed to lobby on the North Korean side, Zuo Zhan planned to take it to heart, and smiled at Xiong Tingbi, Xiong Tingbi understood the holy will, stepped forward and said:

"Holy Lord, the grass people have a book to play."

At the beginning, after Yang Hao came out of the shell of the golden cicada in Liaodong, Xiong Tingbi made a strategy for Liaodong as the right attendant of the military department, recruited refugees and officers and soldiers in exile everywhere, rectified military discipline, and temporarily stabilized the military morale outside the Guanwai.

At this time, Xiong Tingbi was a backstabber, because of the suspicion of the Chu Party, he was ostracized by the Donglin Party and had no position. After entering Beijing, Zuo Zhan placed him alone, held candles late at night, and had a long talk, and then decided to give up the east of Jinzhou. The two monarchs and ministers sympathized with each other, and they had a tacit understanding, and when they saw Xiong Tingbi opening his mouth, they motioned for him to continue.

"When the grass people passed through Liaodong, they fought with Jianlu in Puhe and repelled the thieves who invaded Shenyang. According to the opinion of the grass people, there were only tens of thousands of people in Jianqing, so they gathered various armies and distributed them in strategic places such as Fushun and Qinghe.

In addition, elite soldiers were selected to form guerrilla units to plunder the enemy's scattered troops and horses, disrupt their production, and exhaust the enemy. Kechen used his life on the front line, but he was repeatedly impeached by villains, and he could only see Fushun and Qinghe falling, and Shenyang and Liaoyang were isolated in Liaodong. ”

What Xiong Tingbi said is true, but it is also related to his character. This man is seven feet tall, can shoot bows and arrows left and right, and is proficient in military affairs, brave and strategic, and is a rare general. It's a pity that he has a hot temper, is too upright, is not modest, and does not restrain himself, which annoyed the Donglin Party and was forced to resign and go home.

On this hall, Yao Zongwen, Feng Sanyuan and others who have impeached him are all nonsense, but now seeing that Xiong Tingbi didn't say anything about it, he was afraid that he would tell the truth, so Yu Shi Gu Yu hurriedly stepped forward to stop him and scolded:

"Your Majesty, Xiong Tingbi has been out of the customs for more than a year, there is no plan for everything, the army does not take the initiative to crusade against Jianyu, but only digging ditches to build cities, there are generals who ask for war, Xiong Tingbi threatens with the sword of Shang Fang, which leads to the loss of various places one after another. Weichen believes that if Xiong Tingbi is not dismissed, the land of Liaodong will not be recovered after all. ”

As soon as Gu Yu's voice fell, Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia, Zhang Xiude and others echoed one after another, and suggested that Yuan Yingtai, the squire of the military department, should pass through Liaodong.

Zuo Zhan thought to himself that it was really fish looking for fish and shrimp looking for shrimp, and asked them if they had real evidence, and the four of them said that they were listening to the words of the front-line soldiers. Zuo Zhan asked who they were, but they couldn't answer and reprimanded:

"I once sent people to the front line to investigate, and the soldiers and people of Liaodong all wept and praised Xiong Tingbi, and hundreds of thousands of lives were saved because of one person. If you slander meritorious people without investigation, resulting in repeated delays in front-line fighters, the failure to punish you and others today will not chill the hearts of the front-line officers and men. ”

After speaking, he ordered Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia, Zhang Xiude, and Gu Yu to be dragged outside the Imperial Palace, and they were heavily punished with twenty court rods. Everyone heard that the little emperor had sent someone to Liaodong, and now he recalled Xiong Tingbi, knowing that he had the truth, he didn't dare to talk nonsense for a while, and only heard the dull sound of the wooden stick hitting the flesh in the hall, which was very terrifying.

After the execution of the twenty sticks was completed, everyone came back to their senses, only to see Zuo Zhan get up and help Danqi and say:

"The criminal minister Yang Ho, who did not give orders, was afraid of war and cowardly the enemy, resulting in the annihilation of the three armies. Adulterous and adulterous, guilty and merciful, in vain attempt to avoid punishment! Today, together with Feng Sanyuan, Wei Yingjia, Zhang Xiude, and Gu Yu, Yang Hao passed the first nine sides to boost military discipline! ”

Zuo Zhan gave the order to kill people for the first time, and he couldn't help but have spasms all over his body, and no matter how he begged for mercy, he turned a deaf ear. A commander who only cares about his own life, not killing is not enough to comfort those dead heroes. If the Ming army wants to save the situation in Liaodong, in addition to the front-line soldiers using their lives, the imperial court must also reward and punish clearly. He wants to use the head of Yang Hao to revitalize military discipline, and use a few heads of the Donglin Party to establish authority for Li Rubai and Xiong Tingbi.

Even though Xiong Tingbi had experienced a hundred battles, he was also intimidated by the little emperor's decisiveness, and knelt on the ground motionless. Zuo Zhan knew that killing people alone could not solve the problem, and he had to use the right people.

"Li Rubai listened to the order, you should have repaid the country with death, and you couldn't bear to be left behind when you thought of Ning Yuanbo's exploits. I order you to return to Shenyang immediately, collect the old troops, and assist Yuan Yingtai in retreating to Jinzhou. ”

Li Rubai thought that the death penalty would be inevitable, and if he was reborn, he hurriedly kowtowed and thanked him. Zuo Zhan thought to himself that the Li family was raising thieves in Liaodong to fatten themselves, and they often didn't work hard, how could I believe you. When you return to Jinzhou, I will let Sun Chengzong take away your military power and hand it over to Yuan Keli of Denglai to dispose of.

"Xiong Tingbi, when Emperor Shenzong gave you Shang Fang the sword to guard Liaodong for the Son of Heaven, you were proud and did not know how to be humble, and you were framed and missed the opportunity. Today you roar at the court and blaspheme the majesty of heaven, are you guilty? ”

Xiong Tingbi was already playing a double reed with Zuo Zhan, kowtowing like pounding garlic, but he admired Zuo Zhan even more in his heart.