Hong Chengchou put forward the strategy of diverting the water to the west in public, and finally talked about the theme of this military meeting, that is, how to deal with Fang Yuan's rapid expansion.

Zhu Cihong hurriedly asked, "Teacher, please speak!" ”

Hong Chengchou said loudly, "Now that Li Zicheng has just captured Kuizhou, he is entering Sichuan to fight Zhang Xianzhong, and Huguang and Henan are empty. Henan only has 80,000 soldiers and horses from Li Guo, and Huguang is almost unfortified, with only Li Yan's three battalions of sergeants, less than 30,000. ”

Zhu Cihong hurriedly said, "Since these rogues have died by themselves, and the rear of the thieves is empty, we can take the opportunity to recover Huguang and Henan!" ”

Hong Chengchou shook his head and said, "If there is no Fang Yuan in Jiangnan who is eyeing him, this is naturally a heaven-sent opportunity to recover Huguang and Henan." If today's one-third trend has been achieved, if we move, Fang Yuan will definitely not sit idly by. Moreover, although Li Zicheng entered Sichuan to fight, he would inevitably keep an eye on the movements of Huguang and Henan, and once there was a stir, his 50,000 elite cavalry would come back to help. When the time comes, it will be a joint operation between Fang Yuan and Li Zicheng, and our army will be in danger! ”

Zhu Cihong suddenly said, "I see! What is the teacher's idea? ”

Hong Chengchou said, "Huguang and Henan, not only can we not eat these two pieces of fatty meat, but we also instigate Fang Yuan to eat them!" If Fang Yuan takes the bait, he will inevitably fight viciously with Li Zicheng, who has returned to help, on the battlefields of Huguang and Henan. At that time, we took the opportunity to go south to Jiangnan again and took Fang Yuan's lair in one fell swoop. This is the plan offered by the old minister to lead the water to the west! ”

His plan was to make Fang Yuan and Li Zi fight each other for Huguang and Henan, and then the imperial court came to reap the benefits of the fisherman.

Zhu Cihong asked hesitantly, "But, teacher, Fang Yuan is now colluding with Li Zicheng in the dark, and even sent a fleet to support Li Zicheng to fight in Sichuan, will Fang Yuan fall for the scheme?!" ”

Hong Chengchou twisted his beard and said, "If Sun and Liu joined forces to resist Cao Cao back then, wouldn't Sun Quan stab Liu Bei in the back and seize Jingzhou?" The so-called covenant is nothing more than a matter of competing interests, and in the end it is still a piece of waste paper. ”

"Fang Yuan's goal is to dominate the world, and if he wants to win the scheme, he must do what he likes. Judging from Fang Yuan's strategic situation, if Li Zicheng's troops were trapped in Sichuan and captured Huguang and Henan by surprise, he would be able to completely suppress the forces of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan by virtue of the superiority of the naval division. He will be able to calmly fight a decisive battle with our army, and the strategic situation will be very good. Otherwise, once Li Zicheng attacked and destroyed Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan, the momentum of one-third would be achieved, and then no one in the three parties would dare to raise troops easily, and the unification of the world would be far away. ”

"Therefore, what we seduced Fang Yuan to take the bait was not the land of Huguang and Henan, but the strategic temptation of quickly breaking the three-legged tripod, and he would be successful nine times out of ten."

Everyone nodded again and again when they heard this, Hong Chengchou's plan was completely from Fang Yuan's point of view, and he laid out the strategic interests of Fang Yuan's side, and the chance of success was indeed not small.

Just like the reproduction of Sun Quan's sneak attack on Jingzhou back then, Sun Quan is not a fool, didn't he know in advance that the sneak attack on Jingzhou would be reported by Liu Bei? Just because the strategic temptation of a sneak attack on Jingzhou was too great, Sun Quan would rather bear the price of Liu Bei's revenge than swallow Jingzhou.

Hong Chengchou continued, "Of course, we also need a three-pronged approach to facilitate the battle between Fang Yuan and Li Zicheng. First, we first sent people to the defense areas of Li Guo and Li Yan in Henan to spread the rumor that Fang Yuan was about to attack Huguang and Henan, which made Li Zicheng and Fang Yuan suspicious of each other. We will send another secret envoy to remind Li Zicheng to pay attention to the movements in Jiangnan and not to be taken advantage of by Fang Yuan. ”

Second, through the Donglin Party and other literati channels, the newspapers in Jiangnan published a strategic analysis of the time to attack Huguang and Henan. Then he sent friends who had a good relationship with Fang Yuan's cabinet to fan the flames, so that they also supported the strategy of attacking Huguang and Henan. There is public opinion and the cabinet to put pressure on Fang Yuan and the military together, increasing the possibility that Fang Yuan will send troops to Huguang and Henan. ”

Third, they falsely claimed that the Manchus were about to invade Guannai and plunder, and gathered troops and horses in the Gyeonggi region. One paralyzed Fang Yuan and Li Zicheng, our army will be dragged in the northern battlefield by the invading Manchu Qing for the time being, and will not participate in the annexation of the south, and they can rest assured that they will fight a decisive battle. The second is to justifiably assemble troops and horses, so as not to suspect Fang Yuan. ”

In the dispute between Sun and Liu, Cao Pi was indecisive in Jiangbei and delayed in sending troops to Jiangnan, which caused the trend of the Three Kingdoms to continue for 60 years. This time, we must not repeat the mistakes of the past. As long as Fang Yuan and Li Zicheng start a war, we will immediately go south and sweep Jiangnan! ”

He had already analyzed the strategic situation clearly, and the cabinet members and the generals of the Governor's Office of the Five Armies had nothing to say, so they all stood up and seconded the proposal and adopted the military plan of Hong Chengchou to lead the water to the west.

Empress Zhou and Zhu Cihong glanced at each other, and they no longer hesitated, and immediately made a decision, "Everything will be done according to the strategy of Elder Hong Ge!" ”

After the court meeting, Empress Zhou and Zhu Cihong were preparing to return to the harem, but Hong Chengchou stayed and met the two in private.

Hong Chengchou said in a low voice, "The queen mother, the prince of the prison country, there is one more important thing that must be decided at the moment. ”

Empress Zhou and Zhu Cihong hurriedly asked what was the matter, Hong Chengchou hesitated for a while, still knelt on the ground, and said in a mournful voice, "The old minister is guilty of ten thousand deaths, and he has the courage to make suggestions to the queen mother and the prince." Fang Yuan was under the banner of the crown prince of the prison country under house arrest and the Qing monarch's side, and there were not a few forces who did not know the truth who were blinded. To break Fang Yuan's game, the queen mother, the prince, must make up your mind! ”

Although he did not say anything explicitly, the implication was already obvious. Emperor Chongzhen stayed for a day, which was a drag for a day. The crown prince has been in charge of the country for several years, after all, his name is not right, but it will cause people to be suspicious, and it will make Fang Yuan occupy the moral high ground.

Previously, Chongzhen was ordered to continue to be named emperor, but he was worried that the ministers would not accept it, and Fang Yuan rebelled. Now that the cabinet and the Governor's Office of the Five Armies are all willing to stand on the side of the prince, Fang Yuan has also openly rebelled, and it is worthless to keep Chongzhen on the emperor's throne. It is better to make Emperor Chongzhen abdicate, and the crown prince can rightfully succeed to the throne and call on the world to jointly crusade against Fang Yuan.

forced Chongzhen to abdicate, Zhu Cihong was 10,000 willing, but the stakes were so high that he didn't dare to show joy easily, so he could only look at the queen mother and asked tentatively, "Queen mother, what do you think?" ”

As soon as his buttocks moved, Empress Zhou knew what he wanted to do, and she didn't look at him, stared at Hong Chengchou coldly, and asked, "Mr. Hong, your idea is to make His Majesty give up the throne, and then go to be the emperor?!" ”

Hong Chengchou kowtowed three times in a row, and then raised his head and said, "If the ceremony of Zen is to be done in front of the civil and military officials, will Your Majesty willingly cooperate?" If this Zen ceremony is smashed, it will really fall into the hands of people, and the gains outweigh the losses! ”

What he said is also reasonable, with Empress Zhou's understanding of Emperor Chongzhen, he is arrogant all his life, and he would rather die than engage in any Zen drama. When it came to the Zen Rang ceremony, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly turned his face, and everyone was in full view, how should this farce end? !

Hong Chengchou's hint is already obvious, it is best to directly make Emperor Chongzhen die, that is, to kill her and the crown prince, kill the king, kill the father, and kill the husband!

Empress Zhou took a few deep breaths, stabilized her mind, and said in a trembling voice, "Hong Chengchou, you are so bold and reckless, you actually said such a rebellious and deserving death!" ”

Hong Chengchou was so frightened that he kowtowed again and again, "Queen Mother, the old minister will die, the old minister will die!" ”

The crown prince Zhu Cihong also knelt in front of her suddenly, and kowtowed with Hong Chengchou, "Queen Mother, the overall situation is important, and the sons and daughters also have the courage to ask their father to die!" ”

Queen Zhou looked at her biological son incredulously, and even agreed with the beastly act of killing the king and killing the father.

"Bang Bang!"

Queen Zhou was angry, and a few slaps directly hit Zhu Cihong in the face, and she went away in anger.

Zhu Cihong was about to persuade again, but was pulled by Hong Chengchou and said in a low voice, "Prince, let the queen mother think more, I believe that the mother will never be kind to a woman and will make the most favorable decision!" ”