When Ding Qirui received the edict, he took his line with him, as well as thousands of soldiers and horses of the chief soldier Hu Dawei, and went to Huguang. At this time, Zhang Bingzhong had already left Xiangyang City. Zhang Bingzhong is a rogue, he has no foundation of his own, and he has no reliable logistics supplies, so he can't be trapped in one place, even if he takes a fortified city like Xiangyang by sneak attack, he will definitely not stay there. After killing King Xiang, he led his army south along the Han River.

However, the cities along the Hanshui have long been prepared, and the city defense of these cities is far inferior to that of Xiangyang, but Zhang Bingzhong has few people, and if he has any siege weapons, he has no way to take these cities, so he can only plunder in the countryside.

When Ding Qirui entered Xiangyang, he immediately summoned Zuo Liangyu and He Dalong to discuss with them about going north to rescue Kaifeng. In this regard, Zuo Liangyu did not express his position, only said that his army was exhausted from continuous battles, and the weapons and armor were also seriously damaged, and if there was no replenishment, this battle would be completely unfought.

With Zuo Liangyu taking the lead, He Dalong naturally followed suit, in fact, as a guest army, he could get much less supplies than Zuo Liangyu, and he could only rob behind Zhang Bingzhong to get some silver. As a guest army, he started to rob, and he became more and more unscrupulous, although he definitely did not grab as much as Zuo Liangyu, but the damage caused must be above Zuo Liangyu. Now that Zhang Bingzhong is going south, he is thinking about following Zhang Bingzhong and grabbing another hand in those rich places, how can he be willing to go to Henan, which is obviously poorer, at this time, or to fight with Huang Zide's "hundreds of thousands of troops"? Naturally, he refused to go to Henan, so he also followed Zuo Liangyu and said that now he is powerless to attack.

"My lord, is this Zhang Bingzhong still in Huguang? How can we go to Kaifeng at this time? He Dalong said, "Now that we are leaving, who knows what else Zhang Thief can do?" Even if you want to go to Henan, you must first solve the threat of Zhang thief before you can go! Besides, if you want to go to Henan, you must always have to pull out the silver, otherwise, what if the army mutinies? ”

As soon as the two of them put on this posture, the other military leaders said one after another that they had great difficulties and that they really could not send troops immediately. Although Ding Qirui put forward the holy decree, these military leaders still said that they did not resist the decree, but they were really powerless.

Ding Qirui couldn't command these military leaders, so he had to turn around and fool the court. On the one hand, he made a "lion mouth" to the imperial court, and put forward a lot of material requirements that he knew that the imperial court could not do, and on the other hand, he kept reporting that he was chasing Zhang Bingzhong, and he really couldn't pull it out.

At this time, outside the pass, Hong Yan led the most elite army of more than 100,000 troops in the imperial court, and was preparing to relieve the siege of Jinzhou. Hong Yan knew the gap between his army and the Tartars in terms of strength, so he adopted a steady and steady approach, trying to only engage in positional warfare with the Tartars. In the past half a year, more than 100,000 troops under his command have advanced only a few dozen miles towards Jinzhou, but along the way, six or seven fortresses have been built to protect the back road.

These more than 100,000 troops will consume a large amount of materials every day, which makes it even more impossible for the imperial court, which is already financially stretched, to come up with materials to meet Ding Qirui's needs. Even the material support for the more than 100,000 people in Hong Yan is no longer sustainable.

Under such economic pressure, the cabinet of Emperor Chongde finally made the decision to raise agricultural taxes again. Although they all know that the farmer's capacity has long been at its limit.

However, although the tax has increased, it will take time for the money to actually be collected. But the current situation makes it difficult for the imperial court to support until the money is collected.

"On one side is the rogue, on the other side is the tartar, both ends have to spend money, how can you afford it!" Emperor Chongde sighed more than once, and he felt that, no matter what, this kind of stalemate could not continue any longer. Emperor Chongde felt that if he didn't take advantage of the fact that the court's money had not run out, he would hurry up and fight, and if he dragged it on, he was afraid that if he didn't have to be beaten by others, the court itself would be finished. So he once again issued an order to Hong Yan and Ding Qirui, asking them to take immediate action to relieve the siege of Jinzhou and Kaifeng.

However, after receiving the decree, the two governors still wrote to refuse to send troops immediately for various reasons. Emperor Chongde was furious and almost ordered people to send Hong Yan and Ding Qirui to prison.

"How dare they do this without taking my will into account! How dare they not take my will into account? They must think that I dare not do anything to them, right? They must have thought that I would have no one else to use except them, wouldn't they? In the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Chongde said this to himself after breaking a vase.

"Wang Daban?"

"The slave is here." Wang Dehua hurriedly responded.

"Fu Yuanxian still has remorse in the prison?" Emperor Chongde asked suddenly.

Among the two people, Sun Baigu and Fu Yuanxian, to be honest, Emperor Chongde still looked at Fu Yuanxian more pleasantly, because although Fu Yuanxian had a nasty mouth, at least he was not like Sun Baigu, who tried to deceive himself.

"Your Majesty, Fu Yuanxian has a lot of remorse after being imprisoned." Wang Dehua replied.

Fu Yuanxian actually showed no remorse in prison. But Wang Dehua knew that Emperor Chongde was now a useless person in his hands, so he had to think of Fu Yuanxian. If Wang Dehua replied that Fu Yuanxian "has no remorse", then the emperor's current predicament will be even more difficult to solve. And Wang Dehua feels that in the current situation, it should not be too difficult to persuade Fu Yuanxian to show a little "remorse".

"Does he really have remorse?" Emperor Chongde asked.

"Your Majesty, when Inspector Yang's suicide note recommended him, the slave asked the eunuch of the East Factory. Listening to him, Fu Yuanxian was quite remorseful for his failure to reverse the situation. Wang Dehua replied immediately.

The so-called "regret for his failure to turn the situation around" can be interpreted as regret for his failure to eradicate the rogue, but it can also be interpreted as regret for his failure to stop the emperor's misplaced policy. In this way, even if the emperor got Fu Yuanxian out and found that he actually had no regret at all, Wang Dehua also had a voice. Moreover, Wang Dehua also understood that what the emperor needed at this time was just a step, and he didn't really want to win or lose with Fu Yuanxian.

"Fu Yuanxian is still a capable person." Emperor Chongde said, "Wang Daban, you ask Cao Huachun to ask again." If he is truly remorseful and willing to serve the country, I can also release him and reinstate him. ”

"The slave obeys." Wang Dehua bowed down.

……

Cao Huachun received an edict from Emperor Chongde from Wang Dehua, so he hurriedly entered the Fusi Prison in Beizhen and came to the prison where Fu Yuanxian was imprisoned. He saw Fu Yuanxian facing the white wall at this time, and the words in his mouth seemed to be chanting poetry. It's just that Fu Yuanxian's voice is very low, and he can't hear what he is chanting clearly. Cao Huachun waited there, and when Fu Yuanxian finished reciting, he walked over with a smile and knocked lightly on the door of the cell: "Master Fu is so Yaxing." ”

Fu Yuanxian turned his head and saw that it was Cao Huachun, so he said: "The factory is here, I don't know what to do." ”

Cao Huachun ordered someone to open the prison door, walked in and bowed to Fu Yuanxian: "Our family is here to give good news to Master Fu." Master Fu's prison is about to sit at the end. ”

When Fu Yuanxian heard this, there was no joy on his face, on the contrary, he frowned and said, "What happened in the court?" But what did the rogue mess up again? ”

When Cao Huachun heard this, he also admired his acuity a little in his heart, so he said: "During this time, the situation is very bad. First, Huang Zide captured Luoyang, and King Fu's father and son were martyred. Immediately afterwards, Zhang Bingzhong attacked Xiangyang again, King Xiang's father and son were killed, and even Inspector Yang died of illness. Alas...... Now Huang Zide is besieging Kaifeng, and the situation is critical......"

"Why don't you immediately mobilize the border army to relieve Kaifeng?" Fu Yuanxian hurriedly asked.

"Master Fu, that Tartar Tiancong Khan besieged Jinzhou again, and there were spies in Jinzhou City who joined forces with him inside and outside, and captured the outer city at once. Now that the army of the Nine Frontiers is in a stalemate with the Tartars in Liaodong, how can there be border soldiers? Cao Huachun sighed, "Shengshang originally wanted to mobilize Anhui soldiers and horses, who would have thought, the Fifth Battalion of Zuo Ge had already been appeased, but the officers and soldiers just made a posture to leave, and they immediately raised a rebellion." This gang of rogues who killed a thousand knives...... Master Fu ......"

Fu Yuanxian knew that if the situation was not bad, the emperor would not reactivate him. But the situation in the court has been so bad that it has far exceeded his expectations.

"Why, how did it get like this!" Fu Yuanxian stomped his feet.

"Master Fu, now the emperor has issued edicts many times, asking Ding Qirui to lead the army of Huguang to relieve the siege of Kaifeng, but he doesn't want them to be attracted by Zhang Bingzhong, and it is difficult to mobilize. Now the emperor intends to let Master Fu lead the army and go to Kaifeng to relieve the siege, I don't know ...... Master Fu"

Fu Yuanxian thought about it, he knew that Kaifeng's trip was quite dangerous. But he also knew that this Kaifeng could not be saved. Then he said: "Xia Guan has been favored by the emperor for many years, and he is just breaking his bones to repay him. If the emperor really needs me, I will bow down and die and then ......"

……

Cao Huachun reported Fu Yuanxian's reaction to Emperor Chongde. Emperor Chongde sighed: "Fu Yuanxian is a solid and loyal minister. I used to be a little harsh on him. Cao Banban, if you go to the cabinet to draw up an order, you will reinstate Fu Yuanxianguan, let him be the governor of Ganshan, and assign Hu Dawei and He Dalong to him, let him take it, and go to Kaifeng to relieve the siege. ”

Cao Huachun obeyed the order.

Before leaving, Emperor Chongde summoned Fu Yuanxian on the platform and asked him about his method of breaking the siege.

Fu Yuanxian replied: "With the army alone, the force in the hands of the minister is still not enough. I hope Your Majesty can make Governor Ding cooperate with me a little. ”

Emperor Chongde sighed and said, "It's just that Zuo Liangyu is hateful and difficult to dispatch." ”

Fu Yuanxian said: "Your Majesty can let Lord Hou Xun persuade him, or it can be effective." And the minister doesn't need them to really go to the battlefield to fight, they just need to make a momentum to attract the attention of the thief army, and then the minister takes the opportunity to lead the army to attack, or it can succeed. ”