On this day of the first month of the third year of Chongzhen, there was a sensation in Beijing, up to the royal family and nobles, down to the people of Limin, all shocked!

Within a month, the situation was almost suddenly reversed, and the officers and troops who originally occupied an absolute advantage allowed Li Zicheng to break through the layers of defense lines and conquer Liaozhou in one fell swoop.

Once that situation occurs, with the situation that the north of the Beijing Division is a fertile plain of thousands of miles, the iron hooves of the chaotic army only need to gallop in the morning, and in the afternoon it is possible that the troops will come to the city of the Beijing Division, which is already weak, and the situation of being surrounded will be even worse.

For a time, there was an atmosphere of panic in the city of Beijing.

In the imperial city, in the hall of the Ming monarchs and ministers, the military generals stood on both sides, no one dared to open their mouths easily, the hall was quiet, shrouded in a tense atmosphere, the young Emperor Chongzhen sat on the dragon chair, with a white head and a dignified look, it can be seen that his mood is extremely bad.

After a short silence, the oppressive atmosphere reached an extreme, Chongzhen's face was gloomy like water, he looked at the ranks of Wenchen coldly, and asked in a cold voice: "Zhang Shangshu, what's going on with your military department?" The rebellious army is about to hit the capital, not only did you not quell the rebellion in Shanxi, but also let them threaten the safety of the Beijing division, as the person in charge of the military department, what crime should you be guilty of? ”

In an instant, the atmosphere was stagnant, and a person walked out of the civil official team, his body trembled, and he immediately knelt in front of the main hall, which was Zhang Fengyi, the secretary of the military department. In a trance, Zhang Fengyi remembered his predecessor, Yuan Chonghuan, the secretary of the Ministry of War, not only because he was framed for colluding with the Later Jin Emperor Taiji, but mainly because his rebellion against Liaodong was unfavorable, he was sentenced to death by the emperor to vent his anger.

At this moment, even in the cold winter wax moon, as soon as he thought of this, Zhang Fengyi's frightened body trembled like chaff, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Your Majesty, Wechen is guilty, and there is no way to quell the rebellion, so that the leaders of the anti-thieves such as Li Zicheng and Ma Shouying threaten the safety of the Jingshi, and Wechen is willing to accept the guilt."

After finishing speaking, Zhang Fengyi crawled on the ground with both hands, knocked on the ground with his forehead, and the whole person seemed to be lying on the ground, not daring to get up and speak for a long time.

At this time, before Chongzhen could speak to punish the crime, Zhou Yanru, who was the head of the cabinet, immediately stood up and hurriedly pleaded: "Your Majesty, Zhang Shangshu cannot be responsible for this matter. Since the withdrawal of the Houjin army, the war continued, and there were more and more bandits in Shaanxi, and as soon as they used iron-blooded means to suppress it, Hong Chengchou and Cao Zongbing had to quell the rebellion in Shaanxi, and the leaders of the anti-thieves saw that the situation was not good, and they crossed the Yellow River east and entered Shanxi. ”

"Because Shanxi is also a natural disaster for many years, similar to the situation in Shaanxi, many disaster victims, through the instigation of the anti-thieves who rushed in, the chaotic army, which had been contained, rose sharply again. Moreover, coinciding with the rebellion of Kong Youde in Shandong, and the return of Houjin to the Daling River, the military department is also powerless, and it is impossible to take care of them all. ”

Hearing these words, Chongzhen's anger weakened a little, and his expression was still very ugly.

At this time, Wen Tiren, who had always been at odds with Zhou Yanru, stood up, and as a scholar of the Ministry of Rites and a scholar of Donglin Pavilion, he did not extinguish the fire and extinguish the anger in Chongzhen's heart, but instead added fuel to the fire.

"Your Majesty, Weichen disagrees with Lord Zhou's statement, merit is merit, and fault is fault, how can the two be compared? Could it be that just because there are many things and you have contributed to the imperial court, you can slack off on your duties and let the chaotic army run rampant. ”

Fallacy, this is definitely the voice of most courtiers. However, because of the great power of Wen Tiren and the favor of the emperor, those courtiers are all you look at me, I look at you, bow their heads and say nothing, worried about getting into trouble.

Everyone knows very well, don't look at Lord Zhou's intercession for Zhang Shangshu, but this Lord Shoufu is already a mud bodhisattva crossing the river, and it is difficult to protect himself. After experiencing Wen Tiren's several frame-ups, Zhou Yanru's position in the emperor's heart has long been shaky, and he may be deposed at any time.

For a time, many courtiers were gloomy in their hearts, since the first siege of Jingshi by Houjin, the first governor Han Yi was deposed, Cheng Jiming, Li Biao and other Donglin Pavilion scholars were expelled from the imperial court, and the atmosphere in the officialdom became worse and worse.

In addition, the emperor does not ask the reason, only looks at the result, and often pursues the blame and asks the guilty, inside and outside the government and the opposition, there has long been a rumor, and everyone is cautious.

Although he knew that he had been suspicious of the emperor, Zhou Yanru still argued with reason, and did not refute Wen Tiren, but bowed his hand to Chongzhen, and said sincerely: "Your Majesty, now is an eventful season, when employing people, Kong Youde's rebellion has just been quelled, the situation has not yet stabilized, and now there are Li Zicheng and other thieves threatening the safety of the Beijing Division, and I hope that the emperor will give Zhang Shangshu a chance to make meritorious contributions." ”

As soon as these words came out, he immediately reminded Emperor Chongzhen, frowned, and then stretched out, nodded lightly noncommittally, looked at Zhang Fengyi who was kneeling on the ground, and asked in a deep voice: "Zhang Shangshu, I ask you, if you are given a chance to make meritorious contributions, can you take back Liaozhou?" Can you exterminate Li Zicheng, Lao Huihui, Chaotianwang and other anti-thief leaders. ”

Suddenly, Zhang Fengyi secretly breathed a long sigh of relief, grateful to Zhou Yanru, and while raising his head, he nervously wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, and also answered Chongzhen's question.

"Enlighten the emperor, Weichen will definitely be able to take back Liaozhou."

Speaking of this, Zhang Fengyi remembered Yuan Chonghuan's five-year Pingliao theory, and couldn't help but keep an eye on it, he didn't dare to say it to death, and his tone eased.

"Your Majesty, although Weichen is not completely sure to exterminate Li Zicheng and other rebels, he is completely sure to keep them out of Shuntian Mansion and ensure the safety of Jingshi."

While speaking, Zhang Fengyi peeked at the emperor's expression, although he didn't have the anger just now, his expression was still very ugly, gloomy and terrible, and he was not very satisfied with his answer, so he threw out a few messages to appease the emperor's panic.

When Li Zicheng occupied Liaozhou, the Ministry of War had already issued a letter ordering Zhang Zongheng, the governor of Shanxi, Xu Dingchen, the governor of Shanxi, Cao Wenzhao, the chief soldier, and Li Bei, the chief soldier, to immediately rush to help, and they had also sent reinforcements. If there is no accident, Zhang Zongheng and Li Bei's reinforcements have entered Liaozhou, and now they should be encircling and suppressing Li Zicheng and other rebels. ”

Obviously, as soon as Chongzhen heard the news, his face suddenly became happy, and then he returned to normal, pretending to be old and serious.

"Oh... In this case, what should you do with the rebellious armies of Shunde Mansion and Zhending Mansion? Once Li Zicheng of Liaozhou joins forces with him, even if Lu Xiangsheng, the military commander of Hebei Province, joins Liang Fu, the chief soldier, and Kou Conghua, the senator, how can they resist. ”

Feeling that the emperor's tone was more relaxed, Zhang Fengyi's heart was settled, and he said slowly: "Your Majesty, about this matter, Weichen is trying to ask the emperor at today's court meeting. ”