In the city of Beijing, it also snowed for the first time of the year.

Under this snow, I don't know how many of the victims outside the city will freeze to death, pitiful, maybe the Shuntianfu that collected the corpses the next day can know the exact number of Lu Dao, who knows Lu Dao.

In the East Warm Pavilion of Qianqing Palace, the charcoal fire was lit, and I couldn't feel a trace of chill, but Chongzhen's face was like outside the window. In the gloomy sky, he looked at Zhou Yanru, Wen Tiren, He Ruzhong, Wu Zongda, Zheng Yiwei, Xu Guangqi and Xiong Mingyu, the official of the Ministry of War, and his expression was extremely displeased.

Zhou Yanru's face was covered with sweat, his face was pale, and his eyes were staring at the fold on the case, which was half an hour ago, and the six-hundred-mile urgent document sent by the Ministry of War was lost in Dengzhou.

At the meeting of the Celestial Empire the day before yesterday, the cabinet and the Ministry of War still patted their chests and said that Dengzhou was impregnable, and there was enough food and grass in the city, and the rebels would not be able to take it even if they attacked it for a year. Fortunately, now it's only been half a month, and Dengzhou has fallen.

The more Chongzhen thought about it, the more angry he became, he looked at the ministers angrily, and reprimanded: "This is good, the more you really think about it, the more troublesome things will be, the thieves in the Central Plains have not been exterminated, but the rebels in Dengzhou have occupied a heavy town, and it has become the climate!" You say, "To whom shall I be inquired of sin!" ”

"The minister was overlooked for a while, and recommended Sun Yuanhua, and the minister deserved to die...... Zhou Yanru was panicked, and Xu Guangqi behind him was even more pale, but he strongly advocated to Zhou Yanru that his student Sun Yuanhua should be the governor of Denglai. Now that Sun Yuanhua has an accident, there is no reason for him, a teacher and a recommender, not to be implicated.

Chongzhen interrupted Zhou Yanru impatiently, and said in a muffled voice: "This matter is not the time to pursue responsibility, let's think of a safe way!" Dengzhou has been lost, and if Laizhou is lost again, the thieves will be more and more out of control. ”

Speaking of this, he hated and said: "That Sun Yuanhua is too lenient, he is not responsible, and he has made a gambling book for tens of thousands of taels of silver, and he still doesn't know what to do?" There was such a big mess, and he hid it and didn't report it, and he was delusional about it. He also dispatched perversely, dealt with mistakes, and was bent on being a good gentleman and appeasing Leniness, so that the rebels were like bamboos in Shandong and Zhili, and they were trapped in Lingxian, Linyi, Shanghe, Qingzhou, and Xincheng. Wow! Now that he is a prisoner of others, no matter how clever he is, it is useless, and the face of the court has been disgraced to him! Sun Yuanhua is Zhou Yanru's person, and now that the emperor is angry with Sun Yuanhua, Wen Tiren is naturally secretly happy in his heart, but he opened his mouth to resolve Sun Yuan's escape and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Sun Yuanhua is also kind, thinking that he will put down the mutiny first, atone for his crimes, and then report to the court." Things have come to this point, I'm afraid he also showed that he had expected it. ”

Hearing this, Chongzhen couldn't help but "snort", "Think about it thoroughly!" Then why did the rebels destroy the city? There is also that Yu Dacheng, when he heard about the mutiny, he was so frightened that he couldn't get sick, and I had to send Shen Tingyu of the Chinese army and Tao Tingyan, a staff general, to lead the troops to conscript, how could I have borne him, he was so negative! ”

The more Chongzhen spoke, the more angry he became, and he shouted coldly: "Someone! ”

Hearing the emperor's call, the eunuch on duty hurriedly trotted in, and Chongzhen was angry and ordered him: "Tell Dongchang to twist Yu Dacheng to Beijing and put him in prison!" ”

Chongzhen seemed to be very angry, and Yu Dacheng's guilt should also be tried by the Ministry of War and the Three Law Divisions, and he should be detained in the prison of the Criminal Department, not in the Imperial Prison. However, the ministers knew that the emperor was angry, and no one dared to advise, seeing that the eunuch had left.

Xiong Mingyu's eyelids jumped even harder, but he took over the military department and got a big mess, for fear that one day he would be like Yu Dacheng, and he would be thrown into prison by the angry Son of Heaven.

Chongzhen Wu was angry with himself, and ordered: "I will draft a decree to cut off Sun Yuanhua as the governor of Denglai, and escort him to Beijing and put him in prison on the same day, and the post of governor of Denglai will be taken over by Xie Lian, the political envoy." ”

When they heard this will, the crowd chuckled, and no one dared to speak. Xu Guangqi just wanted to decorate a few words for the students, but he was Sun Yuanhua's teacher, so it was not his turn to speak, this should be avoided no matter what, otherwise he would be involved in a party by someone with a heart, but it would be a taboo for the emperor again. I can only sigh in my heart, thinking about waiting for the emperor's anger to disappear, and then ask someone to rescue the students.

Chongzhen was angry, and when he saw that the ministers were silent, he couldn't help but be even more angry, and waved his hand to tell them all to retreat, so as not to add to the blockage here.

But He Ruzhong suddenly stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, according to the thieves in Shaanxi and the Central Plains, the key problem is that the officers and soldiers are inconsistent and the orders are not uniform. The minister heard that at the beginning of the year, when my heavenly soldiers drove thieves into Sichuan, the chief soldiers Cao Wenzhao, Ai Wannian, Deng Xi, Wang Chengen, Yang Jiamo and others all fought separately and refused to accept the unified deployment. So much so that the thieves were running wildly, and they couldn't settle the battle in one battle. ”

Chongzhen was dizzy when he heard this list of names, and waved his hand and said, "Pick up the key points." ”

He Ruzhong hurriedly said: "The minister thinks that Cao Wenzhao, the general soldier of Yansui, has merit in suppressing the thieves and has a prestige, so that he can control the generals of Shanxi and Shaanxi to fight in a unified manner, so that the thief army can be successfully exterminated." lest the orders are inconsistent, and the armies fight separately. ”

Chongzhen tilted his head and thought about it, it seemed to make some sense, so he said, "Quasi-play." "Hong Chengchou went to Shaanxi to be the governor of the three sides, and now let Cao Wenzhao control the soldiers and horses in Shanxi and Shanxi. All the generals on the Henan side have been transferred, and they are all big cities, and they can't be lost in a moment, Chongzhen was a little relieved, and then he had a headache for Denglai, looked at the cabinet ministers, and asked: "Kong Youde's lawlessness, can no one cure him?" ”

Zhou Yanru said: "Although Kong Youde rebelled, he was a good general, and his soldiers were fierce, and Weichen thought that it was not appropriate to suppress Kong Youde, so he should send an angel to Dengzhou, and persuade him to return to the imperial court with good words, and he could also use his hand to fight against the Eastern Prisoners." As soon as he said this, Wen Tiren immediately refuted: "Shoufu's words are wrong! To the hole thief, you must no longer appease it! Without waiting for Zhou Yanru to react, he couldn't wait to say to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that he can't do anything more to appease him." At the beginning of the Confucian thief uprising, the soldiers and major generals were slight, and they should have been pacified, but now Dengzhou has also been occupied, and the matter has evolved so far, the minister thinks that it is not that the officials and troops are incompetent, but because of the appeasement! ”

After speaking, he took out a piece of music from his sleeve and handed it to the emperor, saying: "The minister has a joint letter from Xu Congzhi and Xie Lian, the guards of Laizhou, saying, 'As soon as the envoy comes out, the siege is urgent.'" It means that I should not attack the city to be angry. Guoer, will make any siege, I will give it to Lai, such as Sun Yuanhua to Laizhou and then become its caressing?

The rebel Zhu Chen and others were especially Yuanhua, and Yuanhua was mistaken, and the ministers let it go. Ying Ting assembled, thinking that a piece of paper was erected at 100,000, and the reinforcements were extinct. The ministers should die as a fierce ghost and kill the thief, and they will not dare to be honored with the word Fu, and they will be humiliated by defeating the territory and humiliating the people's lives'. ”

This is to the effect that once he goes to appease Kong Youde, he will rebel even more. Kong Youde has already attacked Dengzhou and captured a governor Sun Yuanhua, do you want me to follow in his footsteps? Some people in the court thought that a letter of appeasement could be worth 100,000 heroes, so they did not send reinforcements, in this case, the minister died, so as not to insult the people's lives and lose the favor of the king.

Xu Congzhi and Xie Lian's resentment towards the appeasement was overflowing on paper, and their attitude was very obvious, that is, they refused to agree with the imperial court to send someone to appease Kong Youde again!

Chongzhen took it, nodded heavily, slapped his palm on the imperial case, and said angrily: "What kind of appeasement, it's all a scholar's opinion, if the thief soldier has a loyal and patriotic heart, he will never do such a beastly act without a king and a father!" What kind of appeasement do you have to do to such a kingless and fatherless beast, are you not ashamed of my face enough! ”

The last words were undoubtedly directed at Zhou Yanru, so shocked that Zhou Yanru immediately lowered his head, and his ears were red.