Chapter 69: A New Mission for the Court

Zhu Youzhen sat in the study and read Zhao Kang's resume over and over again, and Wang Chengen waited with a lamp on the side.

Zhu Youzhen asked: "Wang Daban, you have personally been to Shaanxi to see this Zhao Kang, what do you think of this person?" ”

Wang Chengen said: "If you go back to the emperor, the slave doesn't dare to comment casually on a feudal official like Zhao Kang, but since he can break through 100,000 Mongolian iron cavalry with 20,000 Eighth Route Army and recover the Hetao, he has some ability." ”

Early the next morning, Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen handed over Zhao Kang's battle report to the ministers of civil and military affairs for circulation. Almost everyone did not believe that Zhao Kang's army recruited from the refugees could break through the Mongol 100,000 iron cavalry and recover the Hetao.

But the number of kills can be faked, but the recovered places can't be faked, right? According to Zhao Kang, he was already rebuilding Dongshengwei, and the whole of Hexi was under the control of Yansui Town.

Fan Fucui, the first assistant of the cabinet, asked: "Your Majesty, is Zhao Kang's war report true?" Did you send someone to check? ”

Zhu Youzhen said: "I have sent someone to verify, but even if the number of enemies killed may be false, what he said about recovering the Hetao and rebuilding Dongshengwei is absolutely untrue." What do you think about this? ”

Zhang Sizhi, a scholar of Wuyingdian University and the crown prince, said: "Yang Sichang's Yang Pavilion Department proposed that the outside must first be safe, and Weichen thinks it is very correct. At this time, it was a critical moment to exterminate Zhang, Li and other thieves, but Zhao Kang sent troops to Mongolia to capture the Ordos Department, which was definitely a huge provocation for the puppet Qing State, and it would inevitably provoke a war. Therefore, Weichen believes that Zhao Kang should be reprimanded by order, and let him withdraw his soldiers from the Hetao and return to Yulin to defend Yulin, which is the best way to stabilize Sui. When Yang Gebu exterminated the rebels, it was not too late to order him to attack Mongolia! ”

As soon as Zhang Sizhi's words fell, a voice came: "What Zhang Gebu said is wrong! ”

Everyone followed the prestige, and the person who spoke was Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department. I only heard Chen Xinjia say: "Zhao Kang's governor Yansui, protecting the territory and the people, breaking Mongolia, and recovering the lost territory are not only useless in the eyes of Zhang Gebu, but have been, and the emperor wants to reprimand him, what is the reason?" ”

"Zhang Gebu is afraid that Zhao Kang will provoke the pseudo-Qing and provoke a war, can it be said that if Zhao Kang does not provoke, Huang Taiji will not make a mistake? Didn't the Yang Pavilion send people to the puppet Qing to negotiate peace the year before last? As a result, the puppet Qing Tartars still made a detour to Mongolia and entered the Central Plains. Therefore, Weichen believes that no matter whether Zhao Kang provokes or not, the puppet Qing will not give up the idea of invading the Central Plains. ”

Zhu Youzhen asked: "Then Chen Aiqing, what is your opinion?" ”

Chen Xinjia saw Emperor Chongzhen personally asking questions, so he asked someone to bring up a huge map and put it on the ground of the Jinluan Palace: "Please move the emperor and look at the map." ”

Zhu Youzhen took Wang Chengen to the map. The civil and military ministers stood in a circle around the map.

Chen Xinjia said: "Your Majesty, you see, judging from Zhao Kang's battle report, he has controlled the entire Hexi region. As long as the Eighth Route Army under the command of Zhao Kang crossed the Yellow River from the front banner of the left wing of Ordos, and was only less than 200 miles away from Guihua City, if the emperor could appoint Zhao Kang to lead his troops eastward and cross the Yellow River to defeat the Chahar tribes, the puppet Qing would no longer dare to make a detour from Mongolia to the border of the invaders, and there would basically be no more danger in Xuanfu and Datong. ”

At this time, Fan Fucui, the first assistant of the cabinet, asked: "There are only more than 20,000 people in the Eighth Route Army under the command of Zhao Kang, the governor of Yansui, and it is already overstretched to defend Yansui and Hetao, how can it be possible to send troops east again to attack the Chahar tribes?" ”

Chen Xinjia explained: "Now that the puppet Qing state Jierharang has surrounded Jinzhou on all sides, isolated from inside and outside, Huangtai Jitun has made a vow not to conquer Jinzhou. A large number of elites of the Mongolian tribes were transferred to the Jinzhou front line by Huangtai Jiqi, and the rear was empty, although Zhao Kang's troops were insufficient, it was not a problem to attack the Chahar tribes. If the troops are insufficient, you can transfer Xu Dingguo, the chief soldier of Shanxi, to Zhao Kang to listen to it. Anyway, now that Zhao Kang has taken Hexi, it is okay if Taiyuan Town is not set up. ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded and asked, "What Chen Aiqing said, do you have any objections?" ”

No one dared to answer Zhu Youzhen's question, and if something went wrong with this kind of strategic deployment, he would have to bear great responsibility, especially if he was a moody emperor like Chongzhen, he would be dismissed at least and killed at worst. All of you are court officials, and your family is living a good life, so there's no need to take such a risk for the sake of showmanship, right? And if the Shanxi General Army is transferred to Zhao Kang, then who dares to guarantee that Zhao Kang can hold the Hetao area?

From the head of the cabinet to Fan Fucui, everyone looks at the nose, the nose and the heart, and the heart looks at all things.

Since everyone didn't speak, Zhu Youzhen had to name him: "Fan Aiqing, you are the first assistant of my cabinet, can you tell me whether you should transfer the Shanxi general army to Zhao Kang, order him to cross the Yellow River, lead the troops eastward, and attack the Chahar tribes." ”

Seeing that the matter had come to this point, he, the head of the cabinet, could not shirk it, and Fan Fucui could only bite the bullet and say: "Back to the emperor, the old minister thinks it is feasible!" But it is necessary for Lord Zhao Kang Zhao to make a military order, even if he can't capture the Chahar tribes, at least the Hetao area must not be lost, and if the Hetao is lost, Shanxi will be in danger. ”

Everyone thought to themselves: Nima is really shameless, if Zhao Kang really suffered a big defeat and was followed and pursued by the other party, there would be no danger to defend in the Hetao area, and after the loss of the army, Zhao Kang had no choice but to return to Yulin, otherwise the previous establishment of Dongshengwei would not be abandoned.

A few words that seem to have no flaws will push their responsibilities away, if they win the battle, then they will have a lot of credit, if they lose the battle, it is completely Zhao Kang's fault, thanks to Zhao Kang's failure to hold the Hetao area, and he has nothing to do with himself. With such a thick skin, it's no wonder that he can be the first assistant of the cabinet!

Emperor Zhu Youzhen understood these military issues, looked at the map, and thought: Even if Zhao Kang loses the battle, he can at least retreat to the front line of the Yellow River and rely on the Yellow River to block the enemy's attack.

Of course, whether the Yellow River in the Hetao area can really be called a "natural risk", then Emperor Chongzhen doesn't know, anyway, I think it's a natural risk, then it must be a natural risk.

That night, two holy decrees were issued from the city of Beijing, one was to Xu Dingguo, the chief soldier of Shanxi, asking him to lead his soldiers into Shaanxi to listen to Zhao Kang, the governor of Yansui. The second was for Zhao Kang, the governor of Yansui, who made Zhao Kang an auxiliary general and the eunuch Wang Jixiang as the supervising army, and asked Zhao Kang to reorganize the troops from now on, expand the Eighth Route Army under his command, and prepare to cross the Yellow River to attack the Chahar tribes that had surrendered to "my Great Qing".