Sun Baigu was frightened by Emperor Chongde's sentence "You are guilty", but he quickly stabilized his emotions and said: "Weichen doesn't know. ”

"You don't know yet!" The emperor became more and more angry, his face turned red, and he walked over in a few steps and shouted, "I ask you, it was you who wrote to me, saying that Huang Zide's main force has been broken, right?" You said that Huang Zide was 'only spared', right? You said that Huang Zide couldn't run for long, and it wouldn't take long for you to catch them, right? ”

These three consecutive "isn't it" smashed on Sun Baigu's head like one after another explosive thunder, and Sun Baigu didn't even know what was going on for a while. However, he quickly stabilized his emotions, and he realized that there might be something wrong with Shaanxi.

"Wechen did report it truthfully. If it weren't for Dong Yan into the Kou...... "Sun Baigu also tried to explain.

"Humph! You reported it as it is! The emperor snapped and threw a piece of music in front of him, "See for yourself!" ”

Sun Baigu picked up this piece and flipped it open with trembling hands, just looking at him, he immediately understood what was wrong.

This is the good news of his general He Dalong. He Dalong said in the good news that Huang Zide personally led an army of nearly 10,000 people to kill Shangluoshan and approach Luonan. He Dalong personally led more than 3,000 people from his headquarters to fight in a bloody battle. From morning to evening, He Dalong personally went into battle, wearing six wounds, and finally defeated Huang Zide, killed countless thieves, and hit a thief chief with a cannon, but saw the thief wrapped his body in a red cloth and wept. He Dalong originally planned to take advantage of the victory to pursue, but it was late, he had few people, and the losses were also very large, and he was afraid of being ambushed by the enemy, so he gave up the pursuit. Now the rogues have fled into the mountains again, and they are nowhere to be found. In this battle, He Dalong beheaded more than 500 people, killed more than 200 people, and the others were wounded.

Obviously, if Huang Zide was really beaten by Sun Baigu at the beginning, how could he be able to pull out so many troops in such a short period of time in the deep mountains? Of course, if it was just He Dalong's battle report, it might be that He Dalong himself knew that his army was guilty of mutiny, so he made it up to exonerate himself. But in addition to He Dalong's battle report, there is also a report by Yu Zhengyan, the prefect of Luonan, and the above statement is basically the same as He Dalong's statement. It's getting more and more troublesome.

Emperor Chongde saw that Sun Baigu was speechless for a while, and became more and more annoyed, so he said again: "Sun Baigu, I ordered you to patrol Shaanxi and assist Hong Yan in suppressing the thieves. went to the battle of Dongtong Pass in the southern plain, Ru Lian was victorious, and it was said that the whole army of Huang Wei was destroyed, and the corpses were piled up like a mountain. It is hateful to deceive the record! I ask you: Where is Huang Yi now? ”

Sun Bai Gu paused and said: "The prelude of Weichen and the destruction of the yellow thief army are indeed the truth, and I dare not have the slightest deception, which can be proved by the governor and the minister." ”

"You still have to argue!" Emperor Chongde was so angry that his voice trembled, "Then I ask you!" Now that the Yellow Thieves have been wiped out, how can they get so many men so quickly? Can the yellow thief scatter beans as soldiers? Besides, you said that the Yellow Thieves were wiped out, but not only did you not capture the Yellow Thieves, but even their important henchmen such as Liu Jiexuan, Tian Xiucheng, Shang Yidong, He Zhangqi, etc. all slipped through the net. The so-called 'all the traitors are wiped out, and they will die if they are not captured', is it not a deception? Where is the reason that the thief army has been completely annihilated, but not even a single thief general has been caught! ”

Sun Baigu tried his best to maintain his composure and replied: "Weichen is in front of the monarch's father, how dare he argue strongly. In October last winter, the ministers and governors went to Tongguan in person, encircled and suppressed the soldiers, and set up three ambushes to wait for the thieves. After a day and a night of fighting, the whole army of the rebels was indeed defeated, with casualties all over the field, and the armor was abandoned like a mountain. Although the yellow thief escaped, there were many thieves under his command who should have died in the chaos. Later, because the minister led the king in the starry night, he did not have time to find the dead body of the giant thief, and offered his head to comfort the worries of the monarch's father and relieve the doubts of the subjects of the Beijing Division, which was really a big hate. From beginning to end, the governor witnessed this battle. As long as the emperor asks Hongdu, he will know that Weichen has no intention of deceiving the emperor. ”

Hong Yan saw that the matter was involved in him, and he also led the victory in Tongguan, and the main credit was naturally his. If the merit of this battle is denied, then not only will he lose his credit, but he will even be guilty. Therefore, Hong Yan also hurriedly knelt down and said: "Long live, this battle Weichen is indeed on the battlefield." Seeing the collapse of the whole army of the yellow thieves in Tongguan with his own eyes, what Fu Chen said is not exaggerated, may His Majesty be aware of it. ”

Emperor Chongde sneered and said, "Qing doesn't need to intercede for him. Qing served as the governor and personally went to Tongguan to supervise the battle, but he made the culprit slip through the net, and he couldn't shirk his responsibility for the law. However, I remembered that your achievements were too big and too small, so I didn't delve into it, but handed over the important task of the east to the secretary to do it. Wangqing will work hard in the future, and don't live up to my high hopes like Sun Baigu. ”

Hong Yan saw that this fire was about to burn on himself, so he hurriedly kowtowed and said: "Weichen was ordered to suppress the thief, but he failed to eradicate the adverse atmosphere, and he did his best, causing the yellow thief to have the worry of resurrection, and he really deserved death." The emperor not only exempted him from heavy punishment, but also made his ministers supervise Ji Liao and defend Shenjing. Such a grace is so generous that Weichen is often grateful. Weichen dares not to break his bones in order to repay His Majesty! However, at present, when the country is employing people, Sun Bai is a good and strategic, and he is also a useful material among Xinjiang officials. Fu begging the saint to breathe the wrath of thunder, the grace of rain and dew, suspend the severe punishment, so that he can wear the guilt and try to merit, not only Sun Baigu will fear the power of Huaide, and try to redeem the previous sorrows, that is, the soldiers of the three armies will also hear it and be excited. When he had finished speaking, he prostrated and prostrate.

Although Emperor Chongde hated Sun Baigu for deceiving himself, he also understood that there were few ministers in the court who did not deceive the monarch at all. Compared with those ministers, Sun Baigu is at least a useful person who can do things. Unlike some people, who shouted loudly and loudly, they really wanted him to do something, but he couldn't do anything. So he was silent for a while, turned his head and said to Sun Baigu:

"Sun Baigu, since there are governors who speak for you, I also remember that you are still willing to do things honestly on weekdays, so I will spare you for the crime of ineffective combat this time, and still supervise your military affairs in Hebei and Shandong, so as to see the after-effects."

Sun Baigu hurriedly kowtowed and thanked him.

"Let's go down." Emperor Chongde said softly.

Sun Baigu kowtowed two more times, stood up, lowered his head, and stepped back. Sun Baigu is not very old, he is only in his forties just now, and he is in the prime of life. But when he stepped down from the Danqi, he was like an old man, staggering, and he was almost unsteady.

After Sun Bai went down, Emperor Chongde said a few more words to Hong. saw Cao Huachun coming from outside and waiting outside the door. I knew that he must have something important to report. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered himself when he met Hong Yan and Sun Baigu. So he let Hong Yan retreat.

When Hong Yan left, Emperor Chongde said, "Come in, what's going on?" ”

Cao Huachun came in and knelt down and kowtowed: "Long live, according to the Imperial History Lin Mingqiu Gucheng County Order Ruan Zhitian wrote a letter, saying that Zhang Bingzhong's department was rampant and lawless, and that Zhang Bingzhong was a wolf and was ambitious, and he would definitely rebel." ”

Emperor Chongde was taken aback, and hurriedly said, "Quick, quickly show me the recital!" ”

Zhang Bingzhong's surrender was only a delaying tactic, and it would be reversed after a long time. This is almost the consensus of the people in the court. However, the imperial court recruited them, in fact, it was also a delaying tactic. At that time, the financial resources of the imperial court had almost reached the limit, and if they did not accept their surrender, it would be difficult to continue to support the strategy of "four positive and six corners, ten sides of the net". Until now, Emperor Chongde still felt that if it weren't for the sudden entry of the Jin army, the imperial court would have been able to completely exterminate Huang Zide. Once Huang Zide was completely wiped out, the imperial court could use its strength to eliminate Zhang Bingzhong and other thieves who had surrendered. It's a pity that those corrupt Confucians blindly interfered with the peace negotiations between the court and Dongxuan, so that they caused Dongxuan to enter the prison. The good times came to naught.

The situation is completely different now, and the court is now extremely weak. If Zhang Bingzhong raises the banner again at this time, the situation in the whole world will be unimaginable. Therefore, at this time, no matter what, even if it is a delaying tactic, we must find a way to temporarily appease Zhang Bingzhong.

Cao Huachun handed the two-part piece to Emperor Chongde. Emperor Chongde took it, but his hand trembled so badly that it took a long time to reluctantly open it.

The emperor silently watched the concerto, his face gradually became hideous, and the green tendons on his face also flared up. Suddenly, Emperor Chongde shouted: "Bastard thing! Then he smashed both pieces to the ground with a "snap". was so frightened that Cao Huachun also hurriedly knelt down.

Emperor Chongde didn't notice Cao Huachun, but scolded: "This damn thief! How dare he...... And these two idiots! Idiot! What the hell are they trying to do! Do they think Zhang Bingzhong is a fool?! How dare they ......"

Cao Huachun had already read these two pieces before he took them, and he also knew why the emperor was angry. This is first of all because Zhang Bingzhong is arrogant and lawless. Ruan Zhitian's recital mentions that Zhang Bingzhong not only sent his generals to rob in Gucheng, but also disguised himself as thieves to plunder. even openly broke into the home of a retired gentleman and robbed someone's lady - it's just lawless. Gucheng County Commander Ruan Zhitian caught Zhang Bingzhong's soldiers who were pretending to be thieves and plundered, nailed them to wooden shackles, and put them at the door of the county yamen for public display, but Zhang Bingzhong sent people to snatch them directly.

Ruan Zhitian rushed to Zhang Bingzhong's barracks, reprimanded Zhang Bingzhong for his lawlessness, and demanded that Zhang Bingzhong immediately severely punish the soldiers who caused the incident. Unexpectedly, Zhang Bingzhong scolded Ruan Zhitian in turn, saying that they had embezzled all the military salaries that the imperial court was originally going to give him. And he said: "If a soldier has no pay, no food, and no robbery, will he starve himself to death by closing the door?" He also said: "Lao Tzu's soldiers went out to rob and pretend to be thieves, which is already giving face to you dog officials!" You dog officials who don't know how to lift up, and you still arrest Lao Tzu's people, it's really shameless! And Lao Tzu wasted a lot of effort to manage them, go out to rob and try not to kill people, you are not a bad dog official, you don't come to thank Lao Tzu, but you still come to scold Lao Tzu! If it was before, Lao Tzu would have hung you, the dog official, to light the sky lantern! It can be said that the heart of disobedience is obvious.