Yang Sichang, the secretary of the Soldier Department of the Cabinet University, died of illness in Xiangyang, and more than 100,000 officers and soldiers had no choice but to retreat to Yunyang, and the situation in the southwest and northwest of the entire Ming Dynasty was eroded.

When Chongzhen heard the news, he was inexplicably saddened, he personally wrote a memorial for Yang Sichang, and posthumously presented him as the crown prince, and issued an order to comfort his family, and lived for a few days.

At this time, the capital was already in an uproar, and the ministers of the court and the central government played one after another, asking the emperor to quickly issue an order to send people to the southwest and northwest to sit in the town, and ask the emperor to investigate Yang Sichang's responsibility.

Regarding the impeachment of Yang Sichang by the ministers, he stayed in the middle and did not send it, and left a sentence in the early dynasty, "Yang Sichang is used simply, the use of troops is ineffective, I judge myself, and he still has talents, and he has sacrificed his life for the country. Such slander of the important ministers of the court should have been re-governed, and you said that I would protect the heirs and forgive this experience! ”

The matter of the courtier's impeachment of Yang Sichang was suppressed by him like this, but the situation in the northwest and southwest cannot be suppressed with a word, Chongzhen was also panicked at this time, what should I do?

After thinking about it for a long time, he had to ask for advice, but he did not look for Zhang Bin, but recruited Xu Guangqi, the first assistant of the cabinet.

Although Xu Guangqi has never led troops into battle, he is still very skilled in the art of war, and he has also published several military books, so there is nothing wrong with Chongzhen asking him.

Question: What is the purpose of you putting Zhang Bin, a capable minister, and blindly messing around?

Basically, no one dared to ask him this question, even Yang Sichang didn't dare to ask this, but Xu Guangqi dared, because he was enough to be an official, even if he was dismissed and cut down, it didn't matter if Chongzhen dragged him out and cut him because of this sentence!

Of course, Zhang Bin didn't let him take this risk, he was completely "self-assertive" and wanted to make this last effort for Zhang Bin.

After the monarch and the ministers saw the salute, Chongzhen said with anxiety on his face: "Zixian, the situation in the northwest and southwest has eroded to this point, do you have a good plan?" ”

Xu Guangqi had already thought about it before he came, no matter what, he must help Zhang Bin return to power this time, and Chongzhen asked this, which was a good opportunity, so he asked instead of answering: "Your Majesty, Weichen is bold, may I ask the emperor, why does the emperor appreciate Yang Sichang so much but abandon Zhang Bin, the second assistant of the cabinet who is also outstanding?" ”

What he said was polite, Yang Sichang's talent was a fart compared to Zhang Bin, he just didn't want to hit Chongzhen.

Xu Guangqi is not good at fighting for power and profit, but this is not because he is not intelligent or EQ enough, but because of his personality, he also understands that he is stubborn and temperamental, you can only follow his hair and compare Zhang Bin and Yang Sichang, he should not be disgusted.

When Chongzhen heard this, he really didn't show a dissatisfied expression, but began to reflect, why did he reuse Yang Sichang and suppress Zhang Bin?

Actually, this question is very simple, because Zhang Bin and Yang Sichang have different impressions on him.

Zhang Bin was slandered and slandered by Wen Tiren and other eunuch remnants, and he has formed the impression of a powerful minister in his heart, coupled with his suspicious nature, so his suspicion of Zhang Bin has always lingered.

Moreover, Zhang Bin himself did not blindly obey him and coax him, so that he faintly felt that Zhang Bin and him were really not of the same mind, which made his suspicion of Zhang Bin even heavier.

Yang Sichang is different, when he was the king of letters, he read Yang Sichang's masterpieces, and he admired Yang Sichang very much.

Moreover, Yang Sichang later behaved quite well, and he was even more "obedient", which made him feel like he had found a soulmate, so he reused Yang Sichang and abandoned Zhang Bin.

At this time, he was like turning a book and thinking back to the past, and the scenes of Wen Tiren and others slandering Zhang Bin came to his mind one by one, and he subconsciously defended: "This, it's not that I don't want to use Shuangquan, the main thing is that many courtiers have said in front of me that Shuangquan is quite similar to Cao Wei of the Han Dynasty, and it is not suitable to be reused." ”

Xu Guangqi also let go, and continued to ask: "Then who said this in front of the emperor?" ”

Chongzhen thought about it for a moment and said embarrassedly: "Wen Tiren, Wang Yingxiong, Tang Shiji and others have all said so. ”

When Xu Guangqi heard this, he couldn't help but shake his head and sighed: "Your Majesty, this is what they are framing Zhang Bin, these traitors and villains will do anything in order to fight for power and profit, just like they framed Lord Bi Ziyan Bi and Lord Cao Yubian Cao in the first place, it turns out that Lord Bi and Lord Cao are both loyal ministers, and Wen Tiren and other eunuch remnants are traitors who bring disaster to the country and the people!" They framed Zhang Bin, which proves that Zhang Bin is a rare loyalty, the emperor, Mingcha! ”

When Chongzhen heard this, he couldn't help but be stunned, of course he remembered the things of Bi Ziyan and Cao Yubian, but he rarely thought about these things together, let alone linked their things with Zhang Bin's affairs. ”

Xu Guangqi nodded solemnly and said: "Of course, Zhang Bin is gentle and elegant, how can he be Cao Wei's generation, he was completely wronged, although Weichen is not very familiar with him, he can also see that he is definitely the kind of loyal minister who serves the country and the people." ”

This is a bit deceitful, he is not familiar with Zhang Bin, then few people are familiar with Zhang Bin, it seems that people who never lie deceive people, and others will not be guarded at all.

Chongzhen really believed it, he still had the courage to admit his mistakes, he thought for a while, then nodded and admitted: "It seems that I am wrong, I am both wrong, let's not talk about this for the time being, let's talk about the southwest and northwest first, Zixian, you have a good plan." “

Seeing this, Xu Guangqi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, the emperor finally realized that he was wrong, although with his suspicious nature, it is impossible to get rid of Zhang Bin's suspicion, but it should not be much of a problem to let Zhang Bin return to power.

He took advantage of the situation and said: "Your Majesty, Weichen's specialty is to compile books, and if you want to talk about the southwest and northwest, you can only talk about it on paper, Zhang Bin and Zhang Dacai are a good choice to solve the problems of the southwest and northwest, whether it is a slave or a thief, they have all been defeated by him, the situation in the southwest and northwest has been rotten, and only he has the ability to turn the tide." ”

Chongzhen was stunned when he heard this, he thought for a while, and couldn't help but nod slowly: "You are right, now, only Shuangquan can turn the tide." You go down first, come here, pass on Zhang Bin. ”

Xu Guangqi retreated respectfully, and when he walked to the door, he couldn't help but glance at Cao Huachun excitedly, and the two almost high-fived each other.

Zhang Bin finally got the opportunity to regain power, and this time, he was afraid that he was going to soar into the sky.

In fact, when the news of Yang Sichang's death came back to the capital, Zhang Bin knew that his opportunity had come, and Chongzhen would definitely find him, because of the erosive situation in the northwest and southwest, no one dared to take over at all, only he had the ability to turn the tide, he just didn't expect that Xu Guangqi would ignore the anger of Chongzhen to say something for him.

This thing is really quite dangerous, like in the past few days, some people have said about the Zodiac Zhou and persuaded Chongzhen to reactivate the Zodiac Zhou, as a result, Chongzhen not only did not reactivate the Zodiac Zhou, but also removed the Jiangxi Governor Xie Xuelong, who played the Xiang, from his post and investigated it, and confiscated the army in Guangxi!

Fortunately, Xu Guangqi said that Xiang was successful, and Chongzhen was finally ready to reuse Zhang Bin.

Zhang Bin walked all the way from the cabinet duty room, met the jubilant Xu Guangqi, and saw Cao Huachun, who was secretly excited, he already understood that Chongzhen was afraid that he was going to use himself again.

However, this time Chongzhen's attitude shocked him, and after the monarch and ministers saw him, Chongzhen solemnly apologized: "Shuangquan, I used to believe slander by mistake, and it was quite unfair to you, I hope you don't go to your heart." “

This guy, sometimes Chongzhen can really put down the shelf and admit his mistakes sincerely, but it's just sometimes, if you want to take it seriously, you'll be finished, Zhang Bin hurriedly arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, Weichen is panicked, thunder, rain and dew are all Jun's grace, Weichen has always been grateful to Dade, how dare you be angry." ”

Chongzhen nodded with satisfaction and said: "Well, it's good that you didn't take it to heart, don't worry, I won't believe the nonsense of those traitors and villains in the future, you just have to let it go, I absolutely support you." “

This is said as if you can suddenly change your personality, and believe that you will come to the ghost.

Zhang Bin was disdainful in his heart, but on the surface, he pretended to be moved and said: "Thank you for the emperor's grace." ”

Chongzhen thought that it would be almost enough to soothe him like this, so he immediately got to the point, and said with hope: "Shuangquan, the situation in the northwest and southwest has been eroded to this point, do you have a good plan?" ”

Naturally, there are good strategies for a long time, but I'm afraid you won't be patient.

Zhang Bin pretended to be embarrassed: "Weichen doesn't have the ability of Lord Yang, and he can exterminate all the thieves in three months." ”

I don't know if I'm mocking Yang Sichang or touting Yang Sichang, even Chongzhen feels a little hot on his face when he hears it, Yang Sichang's cowhide is really too big, and Chongzhen already understands that it is impossible to exterminate the thief in three months.

However, in his heart, Yang Sichang is still a rare bosom friend, and he couldn't help but defend Yang Sichang: "Wen Qiao is indeed a little too hasty, but his idea is still good, he really wants to exterminate the thief as soon as possible, three months is really not enough, you say, how long will it take." ”

Zhang Bin pretended to pretend to touch it, and then he arched his hand and said: "If you want to completely solve the anti-thieves in the five provinces, it will take at least three years for Weichen." ”

Three years is indeed a bit long for Chongzhen, but at this time, let alone completely solving the anti-thieves in the five provinces, it is difficult to stabilize the situation in the five provinces, at least he has nothing to do.

He could only nod helplessly and said: "Three years is three years, as long as you can exterminate the thief, what should you do, you just have to say." ”

Zhang Bin hurriedly explained: "The first step is to stabilize the situation in the five provinces, Lord Yang's plan to open the net on four fronts and six corners and ten sides is very good, but at this time the net is to receive the thieves but not in the net, Weichen thinks that it is better to apply the strategy of Lord Yang's four positive six corners and ten sides to open the net again, and first put the thieves into the net, so that the thieves will not run around and expand wantonly." “

Yang Sichang's plan to spread the net on all sides is not too big a problem, but the cost is too huge, and Chongzhen is poor and can only raise taxes to support his plan, which will make more people desperate and join the rebel army, which is the biggest problem.

Chongzhen couldn't think of so much, Zhang Bin actually thought that Yang Sichang's plan to open the net on four corners and six corners and ten sides was very good, but he loved to hear this, he couldn't help nodding with satisfaction: "Well, Wen Weak's plan is indeed very good, how do you think the net should be opened?" ”

What a fart, Zhang Bin actually has a better plan, he just said it in the name of Yang Sichang.

This Chongzhen, as expected, was inexplicably excited, Zhang Bin lost no time in paving the way: "Weichen thinks that the reason why the situation in the five provinces has eroded to this point is nothing more than the two thieves Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, so the focus is to trap Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong." At present, Qin Gongming, the commander-in-chief of Henan, commanded 30,000 troops to garrison Henan Mansion, and it is unlikely that Li Zicheng's troops will go out of Tongguan, but they can still go from Yulin to Shanxi, and from Qinling to Guanzhong. In this way, Li Zicheng's troops were confined to Guanzhong, but if he was allowed to occupy Xi'an, it would be troublesome, and it was advisable to transfer the Shaanxi general soldier He Renlong and his 30,000 Shaanxi soldiers back to Xi'an to guard, so that the situation in the northwest could be regarded as stable. As for Zhang Xianzhong, Yunyang is garrisoned by Qin Yiming, the general soldier of Huguang, and his 30,000 Huguang soldiers, and the possibility of him marching to the west and north is not very large, as long as the general Li Wanqing and his 30,000 horses are transferred to Changsha Mansion to garrison, his expansion to the south and east will basically be blocked, so that he will be limited to the line of Xiangyang Mansion and Wuchang Mansion, and the situation in the southwest can be regarded as stable. “

This is almost the same as the plan described by Yang Sichang at the beginning, Chongzhen couldn't help but nod and said: "Well, this can indeed stabilize the situation in the northwest and southwest, so what should I do next?" ”

Zhang Bin continued to explain: "Next, Weichen felt that he should first go south and then north, first exterminate the anti-thief Zhang Xianzhong's department and then the anti-thief Li Zicheng's department, because the anti-thief Zhang Xianzhong's department was almost all assembled in the two cities of Xiangyang and Wuchang, and there was no need to go around to encircle and suppress, and the troops needed were not much. The anti-thief Li Zicheng's troops are scattered all over the Guanzhong, and if they want to encircle and suppress it, they need more troops. ”

This seems to make sense, but Xiangyang is one of the most powerful cities in the world, and Wuchang is not comparable to ordinary counties, Xiong Wencan and Yang Sichang have both been to Xiangyang City, and they are both afraid and dare not attack, why is Zhang Bin so calm, and said that there are not many troops needed?

Chongzhen couldn't help but be curious: "Are you sure to capture Xiangyang, an important town in the world?" ”

Zhang Bin nodded confidently and said, "Weichen is sure." ”

Chongzhen didn't know anything about this specific siege, and he was embarrassed to break the casserole and ask in the end, as long as Zhang Bin grasped it again, and then, he asked curiously: "You said that the troops needed to conquer the two cities of Xiangyang and Wuchang are not much, and hundreds of thousands are always needed, but you have scattered all your troops to the provinces, where are the troops to attack Xiangyang and Wuchang?" ”

This is the key, Zhang Bin's plan is even more ambitious than Yang Sichang's plan to spread the net on four fronts, six corners and ten sides, and the existing troops seem to be far from enough, does he still have to increase taxes and expand the army crazily?

It turns out that the increase in taxes is just to quench his thirst, and he will only die faster, will he also make the same mistake as Yang Sichang?