The news of Chang Miao's successful capture of Xinyang City reached the Jingshi.

In just seven days, the troops conquered the Liaodong Protectorate where the Chengyun rebels were entrenched, and most of the soldiers in the city abandoned their weapons and surrendered, which can be said to have solved the rebellion without blood. The casualties of the crusaders were negligible, far less than the damage caused by the forced march in those seven days. The only regret is that Cheng Yun's father and son escaped from the encirclement with hundreds of cronies and fled all the way into Liaoyang City.

Emperor Liu Yutong, who received the report, announced this happy event in public, and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty celebrated one after another. This operation was swift and hidden, and many ministers of civil and military affairs had only learned of the Liaodong rebellion until a few days ago, and before they had time to worry, the matter had already been resolved. The look of surprise on their faces was more than joy, and Liu Yutong, who watched this scene, was very satisfied, and immediately announced the appointment of Chang Miao as the temporary protector of Liaodong, and at the same time concurrently served as the generalissimo of the rebellion, and all the troops in Youzhou, Bingzhou, and Jizhou were under his control.

As soon as this appointment came out, the government and the opposition were shocked: a month ago, Chang Miao was just a small tiger Ben Zhonglang from the sixth grade, and he was instantly promoted to the feudal official of the third grade, and he was also in charge of the entire Liaodong region. However, since His Majesty the Emperor has issued an order, no one dares to say a word.

Within a few days, the British Mansion became the liveliest place in the entire Jingshi. At that time, the British Duke had such a prominent descendant, and there was an endless stream of people who came to congratulate him, which made the current British Duke of the hereditary title anxious and overwhelmed. Chang Miao was originally the most unworthy descendant of the Chang family, but now people seem to have forgotten all about his idle and idle activities for more than 30 years.

Wu Sicheng, who watched this farce coldly, returned to the prince's mansion and told His Royal Highness the prince Liu Yan the truth about the matter.

"Have you ever written down the names of these people?" Liu Yan asked with a sneer.

"Although not all of them, the villain can probably remember seven or eight percent."

Liu Yan peeled a walnut and put it in his mouth, and said while eating: "These people who tend to be inflammatory, they can't be used. ”

"Your Highness, this is a bad statement. There are people who tend to be inflammatory, and it cannot be inferred from this that these people are not very useful. The fault lies in this atmosphere among the officials in Beijing, not on each individual. There are unwritten rules in officialdom, and anyone who does not follow these rules will be excluded by others, and as a result, everyone has to do it. If these rules can be broken and the unhealthy trends in the officialdom can be corrected, how can there be no usable people among these people? ”

Liu Yan was stunned for a moment, and then smiled: "Yes, you kid is right!" This is a reward for you. ”

Saying that, Liu Yan threw the freshly peeled walnut kernel to Wu Sicheng. Wu Sicheng stretched out his hand to take it, with a sad face: "Your Highness, the reward is too light to arouse the loyalty of your subordinates." ”

"What nonsense, we're talking nonsense, you should be lucky to have walnuts for you, what a guy who doesn't know how to be grateful." Liu Yan scolded with a smile.

The two looked at each other and smiled, and Liu Yan asked again: "Tell me again, what else did Chang Miao say in this recital?" ”

"Back to His Highness, the villain has only heard a limited amount of information, but it seems that in addition to the chapter of the victory, there is another secret letter submitted to the saint."

"Oh? Dense folding? ”

"Yes, the content of the secret fold roughly means that although Xinyang City was conquered this time, it suffered a big defeat when pursuing Chengyun and his son. Due to the lack of training and lack of actual combat experience, the pursuing troops reacted inappropriately when facing the enemy, but were defeated by a small number of enemy troops, although the casualties were not large, but let Cheng Yun and his son flee into Liaoyang City. For this reason, Master Chang asked the emperor to allow him to train first, and then recruit Chengyun and his son. ”

Liu Yan listened and muttered: "This is indeed a problem, except for the army in Liaodong, the other troops lack actual combat experience; And a considerable part of the Liaodong army is Chengyun's old troops and cronies, although this army is strong, it is not easy to control. It seems that Chang Miao wants to stabilize the situation in Liaodong first, and isolate Chengyun and his son before taking action. ”

Wu Sicheng nodded and said, "Your Highness is wise, Chang Miao must be so calculating." Regardless of the loyalty of the Liaodong Army, the generals of Youji and Sanzhou alone may not be able to achieve it in just a few days if they are completely convinced. ”

Liu Yan took a sip of the tea bowl, and ate a few walnuts in a row, which made his mouth a little dry. After moistening his throat slightly, he said: "But then again, Chang Miao did a clean job this time, and he mastered the tens of thousands of troops in Liaodong in just a few days, plus the troops of Youji and Sanzhou, I'm afraid he already has more than 100,000 troops, right?" ”

"That's true, and the proportion of cavalry among these 100,000 people is quite high, and nearly one-third of the cavalry in the imperial court is under his control."

"That's a problem," Liu Yan leaned his huge body against the wall, looked up at the roof and said, "A traitor Chengyun has gone, and an acting Duhu Lord appointed by the imperial court has come······"

Wu Sicheng smiled slightly and said, "Your Highness is too worried, Lord Chang is not as confused as Cheng Yun." He has just been promoted by the emperor to protect the acting capital, and all the generals are looking at him, and his only way out now is to stabilize the entire Liaodong, pacify the traitor Chengyun, and establish a martial force that is enough to convince the generals, even if he has two hearts, he can't act. After taking 10,000 steps back, after all the generals have been convinced, if he wants to erect a rebel flag, Chengyun will be a lesson from the past. This time, Xinyang City was conquered within a day, and it was not all because the army was good at fighting, but the biggest reason was that His Majesty's rebellion made the rebels shake their hearts. Therefore, His Highness does not need to worry about this kind of thing. ”

Liu Yan's eyes blinked three times, and he suddenly jumped up and gave Wu Sicheng's head a shudder: "You, it turns out that you have thought about everything." I really shouldn't have given you walnuts to replenish your brain, and if you continue to make up for it like this, you should come and calculate me. ”

Wu Sicheng touched his head and said, "It hurts, Your Highness!" The villain's body is thin, and His Royal Highness is born with divine power, if you accidentally smash the villain's head and leak it, there will be no one to play chess with you in the future! ”

Liu Yan laughed while pressing Wu Sicheng to the ground, riding on him and laughing: "Where is your head so weak, besides, do you think I like to lose to you every time I play chess, without you chattering in my ear, I can be cleaner." ”

Wu Sicheng wailed loudly for help. When the palace maids and eunuchs who were waiting on the side saw it, they all pretended not to see it. Similar situations have long been commonplace in recent years.