When he found that Zhou Yanru's stomach was empty, and he didn't have any strategy to suppress thieves, he was completely taking one step at a time, Lu Xiangsheng was really anxious. He knows very well the power of the thieves, and Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are the strongest among the thieves.

Therefore, he couldn't care about his identity, and earnestly complained to Zhou Yanru bitterly, and asked Zhou Yanru to ask the emperor for an order to transfer the main force of the official army into Shaanxi as soon as possible.

But Zhou Yanru listened to Lu Xiangsheng very patiently, and helplessly spread his hands and said: "Brother Jiandou, what you said, my brother has also thought of it." But now that the main force of the official army is far away in Nanjing and Hukou, how long will it take to transfer thousands of miles to Shaanxi? How much food is consumed? Besides, Luo Rucai's thieves have not been cleared, his strength is still there, his brother just left on the front foot, and they made trouble on the back foot, so how can it be good? ”

"But Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are two thieves, far from being comparable to Luo Rucai and others." Lu Xiangsheng said eagerly, "Li Zicheng's department calls itself the 'Great Shun Army', and Zhang Xianzhong's department calls itself the 'Great Western Army', and their ambitions are not small. With the existing strength of the official army in Shaanxi, I am afraid that it will be very difficult to hold Xi'an and Tongguan, and if we do not move troops as soon as possible, the situation in the northwest will definitely be eroded! ”

"It's not like my brother didn't transfer troops." Zhou Yanru said slowly, "Yesterday, my brother asked the saint to transfer Zuo Liangyu from Henan to southern Shaanxi to deal with Zhang Xianzhong; The border armies of Yansui, Guyuan, and Ningxia rushed to the aid of Xi'an and attacked Li Zicheng. If necessary, the Gansu border army and the Sichuan native army can also be transferred. ”

Lu Xiangsheng shook his head after hearing this and said: "This is the method of treating headaches and foot pains." Not to mention the combat effectiveness of these officers and troops, the thieves are the best at interspersing and long-distance raids, and if the thieves take advantage of the situation and enter Gansu, Ningxia, and Sichuan, wouldn't it be even more tricky? ”

Zhou Yanru asked Lu Xiangsheng that he didn't know how to answer, so he sneered: "It is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, even if this is the case, it is not a crime of war." The Holy God ordered the younger brother to supervise the teacher, and gave the younger brother the right to dispose of the opportunity. The younger brother felt a great responsibility, so he never dared to be self-dictatorated, and every time he transferred a soldier, he would repeatedly consider it, and then pass on a letter to ask for instructions. The implication is that these are all approved by the emperor, and he, Zhou Yanru, does not take this responsibility.

"Then the Governor should also rush to Shaanxi as soon as possible!" Lu Xiangsheng hurriedly said, "Now that the thieves are attacking the city, if the Governor is in Xi'an, it is better than being in Chengtian Town..."

Zhou Yanru saw that Lu Xiangsheng was endless, and he was also angry, and said lightly: "In the past, the official army was led by the nose by thieves, so they were so passive. The younger brother has his own measure, and the brother of Jiandou is tired of traveling and driving, so he should rest as soon as possible. When his brother returns to Beijing to return to his life, he will come to the door to ask for advice. ”

This is the eviction order. Lu Xiangsheng had the heart to fight again, but Zhou Yanru couldn't listen to it at all, so he had to say goodbye. After returning to the post station, the more he thought about it, the more angry he became, anyway, he had finished the deal with Zhou Yanru, so he simply didn't sleep, and asked Gu Xian to pack up, went out of Chengtian Town overnight, and rode back to Beijing.

Two days later, when he returned to Beijing, as an official who had been dismissed from his post and ordered to enter Beijing, Lu Xiangsheng of course reported to the Ministry of Officials first, and then waited for the emperor's summons. Only after this question did I know that the emperor is not in the Forbidden City now, but has moved to Changchun Garden, and I don't know when he will return to the palace.

The emperor is not in the palace, of course, he can't go to court. Although the imperial court is still functioning normally, it is mainly the cabinet that deals with it. The cabinet votes are to be sent to Changchun Garden, and it often takes two or three days to approve the red back, and without exception, all of them are approved.

After learning about these circumstances, Lu Xiangsheng was anxious, thinking that the emperor was too young after all, could it be that he was a little depressed after this setback? Looking at the current style, it is a bit on par with Jiajing, Wanli and Tianqi. He did not have a mansion in Beijing, so he wrote a piece of music in the pavilion overnight, bitterly stating the urgency of the current situation, asking the emperor to cheer up and urging Zhou Yanru to transfer troops to attack as soon as possible.

The fold was handed to the cabinet, but the cabinet did not dare to snub Lu Xiangsheng. After all, the emperor only removed him from the post of governor, and the governor has a position without a title, and Lu Xiangsheng is still a second-rank member with the title of Shangshu. However, the Donglin Party didn't like Lu Xiangsheng in the first place, and the officials of Wen Tiren and Zhou Yanru also felt that the emperor would belittle him no matter what, so they all respected Lu Xiangsheng and stayed away. His recital was immediately sent to Changchun Garden, but there was no news of his departure.

Without a will to summon him, Lu Xiangsheng could only stay idle in the pavilion. This stay is more than half a month, the weather is getting warmer and warmer, the city of Beijing is already full of spring flowers, catkins are flying, and the street market has already recovered the prosperity of the past, and even surpassed.

But bad news keeps coming from the Northwest. Lu Xiang was promoted to a second-rank official, and he could see the emergency report of the imperial court. But he prefers to read the Beijing Times, the content of the newspaper is not only timely, but also every report is full of strong feelings, both deeply deploring the damage caused by the thieves, and resentful of the court's ineffective progress in suppressing the thieves.

In just over half a month, Hanzhong first fell, and Zhang Xianzhong's "Great Western Army" looted this thousand-year-old city; Immediately after that, the prefectures and counties of Chuxian, Ningqiang, Luoyang County, and Jiezhou fell one after another, and the local garrison troops either fled or surrendered, and the "Great Western Army" was almost bloodless.

Jiezhou is already the westernmost place in Shaanxi, and further west is the Longyou region. Longyou, also known as Longnan, is located in the west of Shaanxi, the south of Gansu, the three provinces of Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi, and has been a battleground for soldiers since ancient times. During the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang came out of Qishan Mountain, and Cao Wei fought for the land of Longnan, which is not only important in terms of geographical location, but also a place with abundant rain, fertile land and abundant products, known as "Longshang Jiangnan".

However, the official army in the Longnan area was extremely weak, and only 5,000 guards were stationed in Tianshui City. A few days ago, Zhou Yanru was afraid that Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong would attack Xi'an from the north and south, so he transferred the 5,000 guards to Xi'an. That Zhang Xianzhong was so clever and deceitful, after detecting the movements of the official army, he immediately led the army to Tianshui and occupied the empty city. The officers and troops of the rest of the counties in Longnan fled, but the roads leading to Shaanxi were cut off by the "Great Western Army", so they had no choice but to retreat to Lanzhou, and the entire Longnan area fell into the hands of Zhang Xianzhong.

In northern Shaanxi, Zhou Yanru made the same mistake again. Li Zicheng's troops pressed the border and eyed Xi'an. Zhou Yanru hurriedly transferred the border troops of Yansui, Guyuan, and Ningxia to aid Xi'an, but Li Zicheng only made a false shot, and he led the army to skillfully intersperse between Guyuan and Yulin. By the time Zhou Yanru found out that the target of the thieves was not Xi'an at all, it was too late, and the "Dashun Army" had already arrived at the city of Ningxia. At this time, there were not many officers and troops in the city of Ningxia, and the defenders surrendered to Kaicheng, and Ningxia Town fell.

This Ningxia town is not trivial, it is one of the "nine sides", and further north is the vast desert and the steep Helan Mountain. Ningxia is lost, and a gap is opened in the northern defense line of the Ming Dynasty!