On the 30th day of the first month of the third year of Chongzhen, Sun Chengzong arrived at the northern suburbs of the capital with the wartime base camp and the new army. Although several scholars in the cabinet had already taken hundreds of officials out of the city to welcome the returning victorious division, Chongzhen still changed into civilian clothes and ran out of the city, and met with Sun Chengzong and other wartime base camp officials in the northern suburbs to discuss how to hold the triumphal ceremony.

Although most of the members of the cabinet were opposed to allowing the army to enter the city and hold any triumphal ceremony, they were worried that this army that had been on the battlefield would harass the people of the capital after entering the city; Second, they hoped to downplay the victory, so as not to raise the prestige of the army and the emperor in the hearts of the people.

However, Chongzhen, who has not made any moves since returning to Beijing, has given these officials a head-on blow. He made the decision with a quick cut, bypassing the cabinet and having the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Beijing Municipal Department jointly organize the triumphal ceremony of entering the city.

On 1 February, the various armies returning from the front were divided into seven groups, entered the city from Deshengmen, then circled the Forbidden City, passed through the east and west Chang'an Avenues, and then returned from Deshengmen to the northern suburbs of the camp to disband the troops, to show that the army had completed its mission and returned their command to the imperial court.

Whether it is the new army, or the imperial army and other Ming troops, the triumphant ceremony of the army returning from victory and entering the Deshengmen to boast of military exploits has not been held for hundreds of years.

Although there were also victories in the three major expeditions during the Wanli period, because they were all contributed by the border army, they had nothing to do with the Beijing army, so naturally there would be no triumphal ceremony to enter Beijing.

This time it was different, the new army established on the basis of the Beijing camp and the guards reorganized from the imperial guards could be regarded as troops from the capital. When they returned to the capital, the people in the capital who participated in this triumphal ceremony and cheered to the marching soldiers were crowded.

For the first time in his life, the Ming sergeant who received such a welcome naturally tried his best to puff up his chest and tried his best to show his most courageous appearance in front of these people in the capital. On both sides of the wide street, some people clumsily waved small red flags issued by the city hall. Most of the people who did not get the flag excitedly waved all kinds of fluttering objects they could find, such as women's handkerchiefs, the corners of their scarves, and so on.

Chongzhen and civil and military officials who stood on the Chengtian Gate to watch the ceremony, but the army they saw was very different from the army in the eyes of the people. failed to get out the columns, goose steps, and modern military uniforms, Zhu Youzhen felt that the Ming army passing below always lacked a bit of momentum.

And Sun Chengzong and other officials of the General Staff who stood on his right felt that the Ming army passing below was neat, and it was a rare strong army in the Ming Dynasty.

The cabinet and the officials of the six ministries standing on Chongzhen's left hand were a little jealous of the soldiers below. Such an army that cannot be controlled by the cabinet and civilian officials is stationed in the capital, and for them, they always feel an inexplicable pressure. In the past, although the Beijing camp had little combat effectiveness, it was controlled by the Rong government, which was controlled by civilian officials, so everyone could sleep peacefully at night.

However, today, they have no way to intervene in the army below, and this army only obeys the orders of the General Staff and the emperor.

Listening to the sound of the groups of sergeants below passing by the Chengtian Gate, constantly shouting long live to the city tower, many people's faces became even darker. In the eyes of some officials, the two palace walls that were demolished on Chang'an Avenue were like two huge gaps, which were really ugly.

However, Zhu Youzhen, who looked at the whole picture of East and West Chang'an Avenue for the first time, did not see it that way, and he felt that after demolishing the palace wall, the scenery in front of him was quite a bit of the style of the ** square in the later generations.

Zhu Youzhen kept waving to the troops passing under the city tower, which was a louder cheer for him. Sun Chengzong looked at the scene in front of him, thought for a long time, and felt that he should make a decision.

Sun Chengzong naturally would not be ignorant of the storm against him in the capital, and his protégé in the court had already written to him to convey these changes.

Sun Chengzong was not too angry about the fact that some officials wanted to remove him from the post of chief of staff, and as a civilian official, he was also prepared for the worries and vigilance of his colleagues in the DPRK and China. After all, this is not the first time he has experienced that he has been suspicious of his colleagues in the DPRK and China and want to remove him from military power.

As the most trusted teacher of the Apocalypse, he was ordered to go out of the customs to restore the defense line outside the customs that day, and the situation outside the customs began to stabilize, and some people in the court were worried that his power was too great, so he led the troops back to Beijing to force the palace to find out the king's side, so he wrote to attack him in front of the apocalypse every day, which set off a huge storm in the court, and finally calmed down the controversy in the court with his voluntary resignation.

Of course, it was the time when the party struggle was at its most intense, so Wei Zhongxian was not worried about him, a member of the Donglin Party who had mastered the military power. But now the capital is quite calm, and it has not reached the point where the officials of the two factions in the court are incompatible. As long as he doesn't want to, he doesn't need to resign again.

But Sun Chengzong didn't want to be disgusted by these colleagues with the title of reward, as a civil official from the Ming Dynasty, no one would be able to afford the title of reward. After all, after becoming a noble, it will be difficult for his family to get ahead in the imperial examination, and civil officials and lords will not be compatible.

It's like after Wang Yangming became a new uncle, his family's context was broken. A generation of spiritual masters, but no one can inherit his knowledge, which is undoubtedly a disaster for the literati of the Ming Dynasty.

When the triumphal ceremony ended and everyone began to leave Chengtianmen, Sun Chengzong, who was walking beside Chongzhen, couldn't help but whisper to the emperor: "Your Majesty, the minister has something to report to Your Majesty." ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at the surrounding environment, then said with a smile: "It's okay, Mr. Sun and I will go to the Wuying Hall to talk together." I also want to hear the advice of the General Staff on this military merit award. ”

Seeing this, Huang Liji, who was on the other side, couldn't help but arch his hand at Chongzhen and said, "Since Your Majesty has something to discuss with Master Sun, then the ministers will retire first." ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded at Huang Liji and other cabinet members and said: "A few gentlemen can go to their own business, tomorrow morning, I will go to the cabinet to discuss with all the gentlemen, and deal with the political affairs accumulated in the past few days." ”

Seeing Chongzhen leave with Sun Chengzong and others, Qian Shisheng, who was far away, wanted to go out to catch up, but Lu Chengyuan stopped him quickly.

Qian Shisheng suddenly looked up at him with some puzzlement and asked, "Why did Brother Lu stop me, I was about to step forward to give advice to Your Majesty, Sun Kaiyang showed off his martial arts in the capital, not by the courtiers..."

Lu Chengyuan said unhurriedly: "This army has returned victoriously, and there is an old precedent to follow when entering the Desheng Gate to boast of martial arts. And this time the army went out, and it was His Majesty who led the troops instead of Master Sun, which boasted of martial arts and His Majesty's merits, not the merits of Bachelors and the new army.

If you go up to impeach Master Sun now, not only will you not get Your Majesty's approval, but I am afraid it will also ruin our plans. And after waiting for two days, we have already contacted us, and once Your Majesty has discussed military merits, we will propose together to reward the Lord Sun Bachelor. Whether Master Sun wants to accept it or not, he will resign from the position of chief first to show his innocence to His Majesty..."

In the Chongzhen duty room in the Wuying Palace, Sun Chengzong solemnly proposed to the emperor the idea of abdicating and making way for Xian. Zhu Youzhen looked at him puzzled and said: "Mr. Sun, this General Staff Headquarters is just on the right track, although we have won a battle, Mr. and I should know that there is a lot of water in this victory."

The next time Houjin violates my Daming again, it is impossible to make such a low-level mistake again. At this time, Mr. wanted to abdicate and make way for Mr., not to mention whether he could find a sage to replace him, and even the members of the General Staff would not be able to do things with peace of mind. ”

Sun Chengzong thought for a while and said: "The minister also thought about it for a long time before making this request to His Majesty, the minister is almost seventy people, and he often feels low on weekdays. In the process of His Majesty's personal expedition this time, the ministers often had the problem of forgetting things.

Since its establishment, the General Staff Headquarters has handled dozens or hundreds of major matters every day, and even fewer trivial matters. The minister thought that if the minister continued to occupy this position, not only would he not be able to assist His Majesty in rectifying military affairs, but it would be easy to attract ridicule from the courtiers and the bad comments of the ministers who were greedy for power.

For the sake of His Majesty and the General Staff, it is better for the minister to resign from the post of chief of the general and concentrate on the teaching of the military academy. As for the virtuous ministers who can replace the ministers, the court and the central government abound. Yuan Chonghuan and Lu Shanji both have the ability to immediately take over the position of minister; Mao Yuanyi's talent is quite good, but his experience is insufficient, as long as he exercises for a few more years, he can also be suitable for the position of chief executive. ”

Zhu Youzhen listened to Sun Chengzong's plea, and thought for a long time before saying, "Even if Mr. Sun really wants to retreat, it is not at this time. Lest it be said that I was suspicious of Mr. and let him abdicate and make way.

It is better for me to choose a successor to be familiar with government affairs by my side, and he can slowly transfer the matter to him to deal with, and only need to grasp the direction of the General Staff. ”

Sun Chengzong was silent for a moment before he said to Chongzhen: "Then who does Your Majesty want to take over the position of chief minister?" ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at Sun Chengzong's eyes and said, "Sir, what do you think, how is Sun Chuanting, the deputy envoy of Henan and the prefect of Luoyang?" ”

Sun Chengzong suddenly frowned and said: "Although Sun Baigu has prepared several battalions of the Henan New Army, he has nothing to do with the border town and the Beijing army, and his qualifications are also thin. Let him take over as the chief minister, I'm afraid it will be difficult to convince the public? ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded and said, "I want to promote Sun Chuanting, just because he has nothing to do with the border town and the Beijing army. Since the establishment of the General Staff Headquarters, most of the people who have entered the army have come from the towns of Xuanfu, Jizhou, Liaoxi, and Dongjiang, and the preparations for the establishment of the new army have also been based on these border towns and Beijing camps.

With Mr. Sun here, other border towns and local health offices naturally did not dare to complain. But if after Mr. Sun leaves, the chief is replaced by these people with border town backgrounds, I am afraid that other border towns and local health offices will complain about my partiality.

Moreover, the General Staff violated the power of many local officials in this operation, and if Sun Chuanting, who was born as a local official, was allowed to take over the General Staff, it would inevitably appease the dissatisfaction of the Korean Chinese officers with the General Staff and make them feel that the General Staff did not jump out of the control of the civilian officials..."