The fall of the two cities of Luoyang and Xiangyang and the killing of the two feudal domains of King Fu and King Xiang also marked the complete failure of Yang Sichang's encirclement and suppression. It was only after he hurried back to Huguang that he heard these two pieces of thunder one after another. By this time, he was in complete despair.

A few months in Sichuan galloping in the army, Yang Sichang had already been exhausted, and he was seriously ill when he left Sichuan. After returning to Huguang, he took a boat down the river to Jingzhou (now Jiangling), and lived in Shatou City (now Shashi) on the outskirts.

Yang Sichang had been a secretary of the military department and knew what it meant to him to lose the feudal domain. What's more, in the past year or so, the superintendent has spent his labor, and the rogue has become blazing, which in itself is enough to kill any military commander. He also lamented that he had not been able to quell the civil strife and could not repay the emperor who had given him a very special favor.

So Yang Sichang said sadly and helplessly in a letter to Song Yihe, the governor of Huguang: "A strange disaster fell from the sky, and the Xiang Domain was suddenly hit. The servant vomited blood and was sad, tied to death, and there was nothing to say. "Everything is hopeless, only to repay the emperor's favor with death.

And Yang Sichang, who was disheartened, heard the news from Luoyang again at this time, which was another huge blow to him. On the first day of March, he died in Xingyuanli in Shatou City at the age of 54.

Although Yang Sichang is dead, the courtiers who have always had prejudices against him still hold on to him. Long before the news of his death reached the capital, Zhang Jinyan attacked him for the crime of trapping the city and losing the domain. Emperor Chongzhen was also very angry that his most trusted Yang Sichang had done such a bad thing, and issued a decree that "from the supervisor below, the scheduling is inappropriate, and the clever words are good at deception", so that the relevant yamen can discuss the crime according to the law.

This time, the courtiers got a chance. A group of civil servants led by Li Rixuan, the secretary of the ministry, Wang Daozhi, the imperial historian of Zuodu, and other senior officials, demanded that Yang Sichang be removed from his post as the supervisor and that he be held responsible. But until this time, Emperor Chongzhen's trust in Yang Sichang had not completely declined. Perhaps because Yang Sichang was specially appointed by him to go out of Beijing to supervise the teacher, and he also had to take care of his own face, so he went against the norm and did not punish Yang Sichang who was wrecked, but greatly protected him.

Emperor Chongzhen specially summoned officials from the Sixth Ministry, Jiuqing, and Kedao into the Qianqing Palace for this matter, and said to the ministers very unhappily: "Yang Sichang was appointed by me Tejian, and the use of troops was ineffective. I will judge myself. Moreover, he still has a talent to be desired, and when you see that I have the intention to discuss the crime, you will fight together, and there will be endless disagreements. If it was really out of loyalty and integrity, why didn't it come forward before Zhang Jinyan corrected him? I won't delve into it this time. In the midst of each sparseness, I will tell you that you know. The courtiers were too embarrassed to say more.

Soon. The news of Yang Sichang's death also came. And the news of this death also made Emperor Chongzhen feel very shocked and sad. But the courtiers refused to give up. once again launched a climax of the attack on Yang Sichang, and the chapters were discussed and repeated.

Emperor Chongzhen also seems to feel that it seems unfair that he has killed so many wrecked ministers, and still insists on protecting Yang Sichang, who is already dead. Once again, it was decided to convict the Council of Ministers of Jiuqing. The courtiers believed that Yang Sichang's initiative to increase the faction caused the people of the world to be poor and run for theft; And the wrecked territory. To conceal the crime and disguise the merits, it should be beheaded and killed according to the story of the revenge Luan in Jiajing, and the "law of the lost city" should be used to behead and kill the corpse.

But at this time, Emperor Chongzhen hesitated again. After all, his feelings for Yang Sichang are different from the ordinary, and the loss of this only minister who can rely on and trust him has brought him great sadness, and he can't even erase this figure in a dream.

Just when the courtiers were clamoring for a vicious posthumous punishment for Yang Sichang, he dreamed that Yang Sichang knelt in front of the court and kowtowed to avenge himself. Yang Sichang said: "The minister has done his best, and he has died. But the ministers were unfair and unjust, and slandered them in chapters, so they returned and appealed to the emperor. Emperor Chongzhen also asked some specific questions about the courtiers' attacks on Yang Sichang in the dream, and Yang Sichang also denied them one by one.

The true meaning of this dream should also be analyzed by Zhou Gong or Freud. But no matter what, this dream is also a reflection of Emperor Chongzhen's psychological emotions. At that time, the level of understanding strengthened Emperor Chongzhen's determination to no longer govern Yang Sichang.

So Emperor Chongzhen told the ministers about this dream, his expression was very bleak, and he announced at the same time: "Therefore, Yang Sichang was ordered to supervise and suppress, and there was no special responsibility for defending the city, and he repeatedly strictly issued military orders for disguised entry into the city and sneak attacks at night, but the local officials turned a deaf ear. When the city falls due to the violation of the order, it is not fair to blame all the blame on the superintendent. Moreover, Sichang has been on the front line for two years, and he has repeatedly made great achievements, died of exhaustion, and was industrious. Zhao Xue discussed his guilt, gave him an altar, and let his family be buried in his hometown Wuling.

After Emperor Chongzhen succeeded to the throne, he and Yang Sichang's monarchs and ministers knew each other from beginning to end, reaching an absolute and blind level of trust. Compared with Emperor Chongzhen's harshness and indiscriminate killing of other ministers, such a monarch and minister are even more rare.

It should be said that Yang Sichang's talents, especially in military affairs, are outstanding, and if his strategies of "fighting outside must first secure the interior" and "opening the net on all sides" are effectively implemented, they will be able to stop the decline of the Ming Dynasty. And his idea of negotiating peace with the Manchus in order to buy time to restore national strength can also be called far-sighted.

It's a pity that because Emperor Chongzhen wanted to reduce expenses, he first appointed Xiong Wencan, who was greedy for money and could only appease, as the first strategic commander, and the second entry of the Manchu Qing Dynasty completely crushed Yang Sichang's prestige, so that even after Yang Sichang became the prime minister of the five provinces, his orders were also violated by the generals of the Ming army, and his strategy could not be implemented at all.

In addition, Yang Sichang's character is also very deficient, he is quite narrow-minded and has a strong sense of revenge. In his hands, directly and indirectly, he lost excellent military commanders such as Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting, and Zheng Chongjian, so that when he arrived in Zuihou, the Ming court could not come up with a supervisor who had the ability to lead the world and encircle and suppress the peasant army.

Therefore, Yang Sichang is an excellent military staff officer, not an excellent military commander; He was a good adviser, but he had no heart for a prime minister. He is a tragic figure who chooses the wrong leader and sits in the wrong position.

And for such a long time, what is Wu Shigong doing in Liaodong? He was completely eating, drinking, and doing nothing, because Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, had been delaying sending troops again. (To be continued......)