ps: (Thank you for the monthly passes of "DOG Chapter", "Yixian", and "White Lotus Cultist" book friends, and thank you for the "DOG Chapter" book friends for the reward!) Your support is a great motivation for my writing!

But I still want to say sorry to the majority of book friends, recently due to thinking problems, the update is not on time, and the number of words in the latest two chapters is also a little low. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info But please rest assured, as long as I think of your support, no matter how big the difficulty is, I will overcome it and insist on writing this book)

On the evening of the fifth day of the first month of March, Hengzhou Palace

Emperor Longwu urgently summoned all the ministers to come to discuss the matter, and a tense atmosphere filled the hall.

Not long ago, the messenger sent by Zhu Dadian finally arrived in Hengzhou after a day and night journey and the death of many fast horses, and sent the news that the main force of the Qing army had bypassed Changsha and headed south. In the report, Zhu Dadian emphasized the criticality of the current situation, suggested that Emperor Longwu be prepared, and it was best to leave Hengzhou first to take refuge elsewhere, and said that he had led 30,000 reinforcements from Changsha to the south day and night to rescue him.

After receiving this report from Zhu Dadian, Emperor Longwu couldn't help but be surprised, and his mind immediately came to mind the scene of the Jin soldiers bypassing the Shanhaiguan Pass and breaking through the northern border wall to approach the Beijing Division two years later. Moreover, the current situation seems to be more serious, from Changsha to Hengzhou is only more than 400 miles, and the amount of available troops is far less than that of the past.

The ministers who learned the news were also in an uproar. Originally, most of them still hoped that they would gradually thwart the offensive of the Qing army with Changsha and other northern cities, but they did not expect that the Qing army would repeat the tactics of the year and go straight to Hengzhou.

Faced with such a situation, those ministers who persuaded Emperor Longwu to leave Huguang and enter Guizhou at the beginning, such as Fu Guan, the second assistant of the cabinet, Zhou Yingzhi, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and Li Chenyu, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, once again strengthened their original ideas. And those ministers who had advised Emperor Longwu to stay in Huguang also began to waver, after all, when the Qing army was pressing, the safety of the Son of Heaven was the first priority.

As soon as Emperor Longwu finished his opening remarks, the ministers below began to rush to speak, their tone sincere and eager, although it seemed noisy. But words like "leave Hengzhou" appeared in almost everyone's voice.

"Everyone, be quiet!" Emperor Longwu really couldn't stand the kind of confusion where you said everything and what I said, so he had to stop it. But he still felt a little relieved in his heart, at least now the ministers still have something to say, and there is no such cold situation as when Emperor Chongzhen convened the cabinet ministers.

"Ladies and gentlemen, don't be anxious. Said one by one. Fu Aiqing. You come first! Since he had already exchanged views with Huang Daozhou, the first assistant of the cabinet, Emperor Longwu directly named Fu Guan, the second assistant of the cabinet.

"Yes!" Fu Guan came out and said, "Your Majesty, Weichen is still the original idea. The East is menacing. Just in case, His Majesty should still leave Huguang first and temporarily avoid the enemy's edge. The land and city that have been temporarily lost can be restored in the future, but the safety of His Majesty is related to the country's society, and there is no room for loss. What's at stake. I hope Your Majesty will think twice! ”

Subsequently, some other ministers who were named by Emperor Longwu also expressed their opinions one after another. Like Fu Guan, Zhou Yingqi, Li Chenyu and others also suggested that Emperor Longwu leave Huguang and enter Guizhou as soon as possible, as they had originally believed. This time, their reasons were even more sufficient, the Qing army's troops were already hundreds of miles away, but there were very few available troops left in the court, and if they did not move quickly, the consequences would be unimaginable.

And several ministers who originally suggested that Emperor Longwu stay in Huguang also changed their original intentions and echoed the views of Fu Guan and others. Only Yang Tinglin, a scholar of Wuyingdian University, and Lu Zhenfei, the imperial historian of the right capital, have not completely given up their previous views. Although they also believed that Emperor Longwu should leave Hengzhou as soon as possible, they only suggested that they should go to the Wugang and Lijing areas in the southeast of Huguang to take refuge temporarily, and did not agree with the view of moving to Guizhou. In their view, although these areas are not far from Guizhou, their meanings are very different. At least it can be shown to the loyal ministers and righteous people who are still persisting in resisting the Qing Dynasty in various places: the Son of Heaven still has not given up Huguang. It's just that this time, due to the absence of the strong man Zhu Dadian, their voices were a lot weaker and they seemed a little weak.

As at the end of the first month, there were two different voices at the Cabinet meeting. It's just that. However, the ratio of the two voices has changed for the most part, and the ministers who advised Emperor Longwu to leave Huguang for Guizhou have accounted for the vast majority.

Listen to both points of view. Emperor Longwu pondered for a moment, and then named the right attendant of the military department, Lu Daqi. Since Zhu Dadian went out on behalf of the Son of Heaven to supervise the army, Lu Daqi temporarily took the post of secretary of the military department and was in charge of military affairs. At present, Emperor Longwu wanted to hear his opinion on some issues.

"Lu Aiqing, in your opinion, how likely is it that I will hold Hengzhou?" Emperor Longwu asked.

Hearing Emperor Longwu's question, all the ministers present suddenly became nervous, they were afraid that this rather courageous son of heaven would make a decision such as "sticking to Hengzhou" under the urging of him.

Facing the many pairs of eyes thrown at him, Lu Daqi felt a burst of pressure, but he still decided to answer truthfully: "Your Majesty, at present, the only available troops in Hengzhou are more than 4,000 people from the Yang Guodong Department of the Hengzhou General Soldier and 10,000 people from the Xiao Kuang Department of the Li Jing General Soldier who came to help, plus thousands of soldiers from the Beijing Battalion, the total number is about 20,000. However, the combat strength of each department is uneven, especially in the Beijing camp, which is dominated by newly recruited soldiers, and it is difficult to compete with the tiger and wolf army in the east. In addition, near Hengzhou, there are also the Huang Jin Department stationed in Baoqing and the Huang Dynasty Xuan Department stationed in Youxian County, but the Huang Jin Department is only four or five thousand old and weak soldiers and hundreds of miles away from Hengzhou, I am afraid it will not be useful, and although the Huang Dynasty Xuan Department claims to have 20,000 people, but the real available soldiers are probably only about 10,000, not to mention, it will take some time for His Majesty to send them to help. Therefore, Weichen thought that the possibility of our dynasty holding Hengzhou was very small, and it was a safe policy for His Majesty to leave this dangerous place as soon as possible. ”

As soon as Lu Daqi's words fell, the ministers breathed a sigh of relief slightly, and continued to pay attention to Emperor Longwu's reaction.

After listening to Lu Daqi's words, combined with the opinions of the ministers he had heard before, Emperor Longwu fell into deep thought. Although he is now basically sure that Hengzhou can't stay any longer, he is extremely unwilling in his heart. He was an enterprising man, but after ascending the throne, a series of encounters were almost far from his previous ideals, and the planned Northern Expedition was never realized due to the Zheng brothers' elbow control and other reasons. Later, when the Qing army captured Fujian, he had to move to Huguang, and now in the face of the Qing army's pressure again, even Hengzhou can't stay. Moving away again and again, and being ambitious again and again, when is it the end?

Looking at Emperor Longwu pacing back and forth in front of the throne, all the ministers present were quiet, waiting for him to make a final decision. After previous contacts, the ministers have learned that although this son of heaven is relatively generous, he will be extremely stubborn on certain issues. Especially since he left Fujian last year and got rid of the elbow of the Zheng brothers, which is almost under house arrest, this character has become more and more prominent. Therefore, when he made a decision, the ministers did not dare to bother easily.

After thinking about it for a while, Emperor Longwu felt that things were not so bad. Although the Qing army was strong in combat and menacing, it was an expedition after all, and there were still 20,000 or 30,000 available soldiers around him, although it was almost impossible to win, but it was not difficult to maneuver with it and avoid its edge by virtue of its geographical advantage. What's more, Zhu Dadian has already led 30,000 reinforcements south, and Pang Yue's troops have annihilated more than 10,000 Qing troops in a few days. In addition, Du Yinxi has also led the loyal battalion from Kuidong. Once these two reinforcements can arrive in time, the situation is not out of control.

"Motosuke." Emperor Longwu stopped and looked at Huang Daozhou, who was at the head of all the ministers.

"The old minister is here."

"You draw up a will for me, and transfer the Huang Dynasty Propaganda Department of the county to come to King Qin. In addition, all the ministers in Hengzhou are ready to evacuate Hengzhou at any time. ”

"The old minister obeys!" Zodiac Zhou Yingnuo.

Emperor Longwu's words made the hearts of the ministers relax a lot, but his words have not yet spoken: "However, I will not leave Huguang and go to Guizhou until I have to!" ”