Xiong Wencan never thought that he would be the governor of the five provinces again, and he had been idle at home for more than two years, he had been thinking about the opportunity to make a comeback, but by no means he was the governor of the five provinces again.

After receiving the holy decree, Xiong Wencan did not rush to set off immediately, although the officials of the Ministry of Rites who announced the decree repeatedly urged him to leave earlier.

Xiong Wencan needs to think and prepare, almost no need to guess, he knows that the army that exterminated the Liukou must have encountered a predicament, the death of the commander is a very big blow to the army, and after the Liukou knows the news, he must be greatly boosted, at this time as the governor of the five provinces, he needs to show extraordinary courage.

In a short period of time, Xiong Wencan learned about the battle between Huguang and Henan to exterminate the Liukou through some means, which made him gasp, and he couldn't imagine that the situation faced by the army was even worse than he expected.

Xiong Wencan can choose not to take office, and just find a reason to be unwell and resign, but he is still a little reluctant, after all, the opportunity to make a comeback is not easy to come by.

On the way to the post, Xiong Wencan was not in a hurry at all, he seemed to be touring the mountains and rivers, and he had to stay for about a day to two days every time he went to a place, and the officials of the Ministry of Rites who set off together did not know that they were in a hurry, in fact, Xiong Wencan was not idle, he continued to understand the specific situation of the army through all means, including the attitude of the imperial court and so on.

When arriving at Xiangyang Fucheng, a bigger blow came, Kaifeng Fucheng was captured by Li Zicheng, the governor Wu Fu was killed, Fuzhou County officials were killed and wounded, and Zhu Gongfang, the king of Zhou, evacuated Kaifeng Fucheng under the desperate defense of the palace guards. However, many family members were killed in the process of escaping Kaifeng Fucheng.

Xiong Wencan has not officially arrived, and all he got was depressing news, especially the fall of Kaifeng Mansion, which made him smell the smell of danger, and the emperor knew such news, I was afraid that Long Yan would be furious. Someone is definitely going to suffer.

Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

No one dared to pick up the broken pieces of teacups on the ground, Zhu Youzhen's face was calm, but flames could erupt from his eyes, the fall of Kaifeng Mansion City was too big a blow to him, and the death of Sun Chuanting in front of him was already unacceptable, who knew that it would only take about half a month. The city of Kaifeng fell.

The imperial court exhausted its strength to exterminate the Liukou, and the manpower and material resources were huge investments, and in less than a year, the power of the Liukou became stronger and stronger, and they actually captured the city of Kaifeng.

The cabinet didn't speak, and they didn't know what to say, and the imperial court dispatched more than 100,000 troops, under the dominant situation. Let the Liukou capture Kaifeng Mansion City, this can't be justified.

Yang Sichang, the secretary of the military department, and Chen Xinjia, the left attendant of the military department. is even more bowed head, the fall of Kaifeng Fucheng, the military department has an unshirkable responsibility, after all, this battle to exterminate the rogues is all deployed by the military department.

"Yang Aiqing, Chen Aiqing. Kaifeng Mansion City fell, what do you think? ”

When the emperor's words came, Yang Sichang raised his head.

Yang Sichang's face was pale, his eyes were red, and he looked frightening.

"Your Majesty. The minister is guilty and willing to accept any punishment. ”

After saying this, Yang Sichang knelt down, and Chen Xinjia also knelt down.

Zhu Youzhen did not let the two of them flat, but looked at the two of them and spoke unceremoniously.

"In order to exterminate the Liukou, I approved your proposal to levy and exterminate the salary, and the people of the whole world took out the silver, so that the court could exterminate the Liukou, in order to exterminate the Liukou, I approved your ambush on all sides, the operational deployment of the four corners and six corners, so that Shaanxi, Shanxi, Beizhili, Shandong, Nanzhili, Jiangxi, Huguang, Sichuan, Henan, Jiangxi and other places were unified under your disposal, in order to exterminate the Liukou, I didn't think about tea and dinner, I couldn't sleep at night, every time the army won a battle, I was happy, I prayed to the heavens, hoping that the army could completely exterminate the Liukou, I have been looking forward to it day and night, and what I have gotten is such news, I really don't understand, why the more the army exterminates the rogues, the more arrogant the rogues become, is it possible that I want to drive the expedition in person, what use do I want you to do......"

Although Zhu Youzhen tried his best to restrain his emotions, he couldn't help it as he spoke.

Everyone, including Zhou Yanru, the first assistant to the cabinet, knelt down, and the emperor was no longer talking about the military department at this time, but directly to the cabinet, if it was in the matter of the fall of Kaifeng Fucheng, the cabinet would definitely be responsible.

Zhu Youzhen's emotions had fallen into endless anger, and he didn't look at the people kneeling in front of him at all, and continued to speak at length.

“…… Since I ascended the throne, I have trembled, walking on thin ice, and thinking about governing the world well, but unfortunately I always have a group of good civil and military ministers by my side, who help me do things on the surface, but in fact act recklessly for their own interests, do you think I don't know, the court has formed a party for personal gain, deceived me, squeezed and suppressed each other, the entire court has been made into a miasma, and the whole great tomorrow has also been shattered......

Zhu Youzhen probably forgot that in such a situation, he himself has a great responsibility, indulging and even encouraging the struggle between the civil and military ministers of the imperial court and the eunuchs, and he coordinates in the middle, the purpose is to be able to control the government and control everyone.

A quarter of an hour passed, and Zhu Youzhen finally looked at the people kneeling below.

"I have said everything that should be said, you reflect on yourself, the situation has reached the current situation, and I want to hear the advice of the cabinet."

After saying this, Zhu Youzhen turned around and brushed his sleeves away.

Wenyuan Pavilion, the place where the cabinet deliberates.

Zhou Yanru's face was calm, no one thought that Liukou would be able to capture Kaifeng Mansion in such a short period of time, and the cabinet did not have the slightest preparation, but when such a thing happened, the cabinet had to face it.

"Everyone, let's talk about what to do next."

Zhou Yanru just spoke, and Yang Sichang followed.

"Lord Zhou, Lord Zhang, my lords, Kaifeng Mansion fell, the Ministry of War has an unshirkable responsibility, the lower official as a cabinet minister, the secretary of the Ministry of War, should bear all the responsibilities, the lower official earnestly resign from the post of secretary of the Ministry of War, waiting for the emperor and the court to punish, no matter how the emperor decides, the minister should accept it, as for the affairs of the Ministry of War, the lower official recommended Lord Chen Xinjia to be responsible for overall coordination, and please complete it."

After Yang Sichang finished speaking, he got up and saluted everyone, and then turned around and left.

Zhou Yanru opened his mouth, but finally did not speak, watching Yang Sichang leave Wenyuan Pavilion.

Chen Xinjia didn't move, it is said that Yang Sichang took the initiative to resign from all official positions, and he would follow suit, but Yang Sichang had already put aside his responsibilities in his words, and entrusted him with all the matters of the military department, if he left with him at this moment, it would not be very appropriate.

Besides, Chen Xinjia didn't want to resign from all his official positions.

The discussion finally began again, but the atmosphere was dreary.

The inside and outside of the capital were also shaken, the ancient capital of the Eight Dynasties Kaifeng Mansion fell, and was broken by the Liukou, which is hard to believe, the military department Shangshu, the governor of the five provinces Sun Chuanting was killed, and the governor of Henan Wu Fu was killed, these are all members of the second and third grades of the imperial court, and they are also very capable officials, the cabinet minister, the military department Shangshu Yang Sichang resigned from all positions, as for those officials and military generals who were punished, it is not yet known.

No one has ever really assessed the strength of the Liukou, among the ministers of civil and military affairs in the imperial court, they basically think that the Liukou is vulnerable, but every critical time, the Houjin Tartars will always harass in Beizhili, causing the Liukou to get a respite, but this time the situation is different, the Liukou captured the Kaifeng Mansion, you must know that even if it is the Houjin Tartar, it is impossible to easily break through the location of the governor's yamen, let alone a place like Kaifeng Mansion.

Overnight, everyone's opinion of the Rogue changed dramatically, and no one continued to despise the Rogue anymore.

There are more people worried about the Ming court, there are Houjin Tartars in the north, the Central Plains are crazy and harassing rogues, the Ming Dynasty is almost on the edge of brokenness, at this moment, someone needs to stand up and become the mainstay of the Ming Dynasty.

However, even if the situation has reached this point, no one dares to bring up Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun in the court meeting, everyone knows the emperor's thoughts, and if Zheng Jiajun is mentioned at this time, I am afraid that he will find death in front of the emperor.

But almost everyone thinks that when the situation has reached this point, the only ones who can save the Ming Dynasty are Zheng Xunrui and Zheng Jiajun.

The days of the cabinet have become difficult, and the fall of Kaifeng Mansion has caused a great stimulus to the emperor, and the emperor's requirements have become very high, requiring the new governor of the five provinces Xiong Wencan not only to recover Kaifeng Mansion City, but also to completely defeat the Liukou, such a difficult task, Xiong Wencan is obviously unbearable, and from Henan, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong have a tendency to fight together, once the two Liukou are united, its strength will exceed 200,000 people, such a huge team of Liukou, it is impossible to be defeated in a short time, Not to mention total extermination.

Zhou Yanru's gray hair is also increasing, and the cabinet needs to recommend the new governor of Henan, but almost all the court officials who know the news have found the cabinet to intercede and are unwilling to serve as the governor of Henan. Kaifeng Fucheng fell, Henan governor Wu Fu was killed, but this responsibility is not borne by Wu Fu alone, although the cabinet minister, the military department Shangshu Yang Sichang took the initiative to take responsibility, but the emperor did not follow, but had to deal with more people.

All the things piled up, so that Zhou Yanru was exhausted, he knew very well that at this time, what the imperial court needed to do to appease people's hearts and stabilize the overall situation, could not punish civil and military officials on a large scale, then the situation would be even more difficult to clean up, but the emperor didn't see it that way, so that he, the head of the cabinet, was at a loss.

Zhou Yanru moved the idea of resigning from the position of first assistant to the cabinet, but unfortunately he didn't dare to say it at this time, if he really said it, the emperor who was angry was afraid that he would be thrown directly into prison. (To be continued......)