A few days later, the good news reached Yang Sichang. It was originally a happy thing, but Yang Sichang was a little embarrassed.

Zuo Liangyu did not listen to moderation and led troops to Sichuan without authorization. He was very angry, so he exchanged letters with Chen Xinjia, the new secretary of the Ministry of War, and discussed that he wanted to take back Zuo Liangyu's 'Ping Thief General' seal, and let He Renlong be the 'Ping Thief General'.

After so many days of operation, this matter has been reported to Emperor Chongzhen, and the emperor has agreed, but at this time, there is a "great victory in Agate Mountain", which is not embarrassing for him. And there is also Emperor Chongzhen, here he just agreed to remove Zuo Liangyu's 'Ping Thief General', and Zuo Liangyu immediately came to a big victory, which is not what a wise emperor should do.

Yang Sichang was distressed, thinking that this good news was a slap in the face!

"Cabinet Department," said the staff, "this matter cannot be confused. Zheng Chongjian, the governor of Shaanxi, is also in the army, if you don't report here or report late, I'm afraid Your Majesty will be suspicious. ”

Yang Sichang was thinking about this, should he report to Beijing later, and let the emperor report the edict of removing Zuo Liangyu later. But this sentence from the staff killed his thoughts.

Chen Xinjia is the newly appointed secretary of the military department, and he has not yet had the courage and control to deduct a governor's excerpt and not report it. Fu Zonglong, the previous secretary of the military department, could not allocate sufficient military rations to him, and he also intended to narrow the scope of thieves. This all conflicted with Emperor Chongzhen's strategy of eliminating the thieves in one fell swoop, so under the impeachment of Yang Sichang, he was already imprisoned.

Yang Sichang thought about it for a while, and said helplessly: "That's it, it's better for me to take care of it more, it's my duty to share worries for the king." ”

So Yang Sichang personally wrote a chapter to report his merits. and also wrote a letter to Chen Xinjia, asking him to explain to Emperor Chongzhen on his behalf, or continue to let Zuo Liangyu be the 'general of the thief'. The reason, it's easy to say, what kind of change of generals is taboo for soldiers; There is also Zuo Liangyu's prestige and strength, and it may backfire after replacing He Renlong. In short, he Yang Sichang was wrong, please take back your Majesty's order, and don't take back Zuo Liangyu's 'Ping Thief General' seal.

The reason why Yang Sichang did this was because of his understanding of Emperor Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen cares very much about the dignity of the heavenly family, and he also cares about the evaluation of his subordinates. Even if it is a matter of peace talks with Huang Taiji, this is what the emperor himself is willing to do, but as long as there are courtiers who say it, the emperor will not dare to say it publicly, and even the consensus reached in private will be immediately overturned. Therefore, he must personally bear this mistake, or he must bear the responsibility of history himself, and Emperor Chongzhen must be innocent, tall and wise.

Yang Sichang quickly wrote the good news and the letter to Chen Xinjia, he asked his staff to help him look at it, and after finding no problems, he immediately sent someone to report the victory.

In this great victory, a total of 3,500 people were beheaded, and Zhang Xianzhong's adviser Pan Duao was captured, as well as Zhang Xianzhong's wife and concubines Ao and Gao. The leader of the thieves, "Ten Anti-Kings" Yang Youxian, surrendered.

By the time Emperor Chongzhen received Yang Sichang's good news, it was already late February.

At this time, Chongzhen was in the Buddhist hall, not in the Qianqing Palace to deal with government affairs.

Since his son Cihuan was cursed and died by the "Nine Lotus Bodhisattva", he began to devoutly believe in the "Nine Lotus Bodhisattva", that is, his grandmother Empress Dowager Li. He felt that her grandmother was still quite effective, and said that he was not good to his relatives and would cut off his children and grandchildren. He has now re-named Li Guorui's son as Marquis of Wuqing, and has returned all the money he received. It's been more than half a year, and his three sons are all fine, not sick or sick, and he thinks that this is the "Nine Lotus Bodhisattva" to revoke the curse.

There were rumors before that Emperor Chongzhen, influenced by the Westerner John Tang, wanted to depose Buddhism and convert to Catholicism. The reason is also very good, because the nine sides are always short of pay, and the only suggestion of the ministers is to ask the emperor to send internal money. However, the emperor's internal funds had already been allocated to the household department in the early years of the Apocalypse and Chongzhen, and now there is not much money. Chongzhen had no choice but to take the golden Buddha statue enshrined in the palace and melt it to make military pay.

Therefore, Zhu Cihuan's death is not only the handiwork of the family of Xunqi in Beijing, but also the power of Buddhism, Taoism and religion. The eunuchs and maids in the palace were confined to a fixed place all day long, with heavy labor, and their hearts were extremely lonely and miserable. Therefore, any religion, as long as it can enter the palace, there will be many people who will entrust it. Even the Westerner John Tang has developed many palace maids in the palace as Catholic believers.

Wang Chengen waited outside the Longde Hall until Chongzhen came out of the Buddhist hall and he showed Chongzhen Yang Sichang's good news.

"Hahaha," Chongzhen laughed happily after reading the good news: "Good, good, good." Finally, it has worked, this time he was able to defeat the thief and behead more than 3,000 people, and there are not many elite soldiers who want to come to him. As long as he can continue to pursue and suppress, as soon as his elite soldiers are gone, the remaining homeless people will be easily settled. It is really blessed by gods and Buddhas, and blessed by ancestors. ”

Wang Chengen bowed and said, "Congratulations to Your Majesty. After that, he said: "Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, please see me." ”

Chongzhen smiled: "Okay, go to Wenhua Palace." ”

Wang Chengen beckoned, trotted over with the little eunuch carrying the royal court, Chongzhen sat on it, and went straight to the Wenhua Palace. After that, Wang Chengen asked the little eunuch to pass the decree and let Chen Xinjia go to the Wenhua Hall to see him.

When he arrived at the Wenhua Palace, Chen Xinjia first reported the "Great Victory of Agate Mountain" in detail, after all, he was the secretary of the Ministry of War, which was his own job. After that, he took out Yang Sichang's letter and said: "Your Majesty, Yang Gebu asks the ministers to say to Your Majesty, please take back your order, do not remove Zuo Liangyu from the post of general of the thief for the time being, and ask Your Majesty to adjudicate the Holy Judgment." ”

Chongzhen is in a good mood now, and this victory was also achieved by Zuo Liangyu. So he said happily: "Yes, Zuo Liangyu has made meritorious efforts to suppress thieves this time, and he has lived up to my expectations, so he wants to be rewarded!" ”

"Your Majesty is wise." Chen Xinjia bowed down and said: "The minister was short-sighted before, and he almost put the imperial court generals in a useless place, please ask Your Majesty to surrender." ”

"Chen Qing doesn't have to blame himself, if he is not a sage, who can be without fault? Fortunately, it didn't cause any bad results, so I won't pursue it. Chongzhen smiled and said: "What Chen Qing needs to do now is to set the promotion and reward regulations for meritorious soldiers as soon as possible, and not to chill the hearts of meritorious soldiers." In addition, I want to write a letter to Mr. Yang, urging him to march with all his might, take advantage of the victory, and sacrifice the thief Zhang in one fell swoop, or capture or behead him, and completely solve the problem of the thief's rebellion. ”

"Minister's purpose." Chen Xinjia bowed down to receive the order.

Chongzhen instructed again: "Also, the food must be guaranteed to arrive, and this time the thieves must not fall short!" ”

"Your Majesty understands, please rest assured."