In the autumn and winter, in the city of Beijing, with an urgent document sent into the inner courtyard of the imperial city, up to the officials and dignitaries, down to the common people, the situation in Shanxi was known in an instant, and the rebel armies from all walks of life continued to spread to the hinterland of Shanxi, constantly approaching the surrounding areas of Shuntianfu.

For a while, the city of Beijing suddenly became tense, and there was a faint trend of rumors. Since then, the dignitaries and dignitaries of Beijing have a point to talk about, not only the Kong Youde Rebellion in Shandong, but also the rebellious army in Shanxi.

In the Imperial Palace, Chongzhen sat on the dragon chair. is only in his early twenties, and between the sideburns of the young Emperor Chongzhen, there are faint silver threads, and there are wrinkles on his forehead.

Teenagers and old adults, nothing more than that!

At this time, Zheng Zongzhou, the Taifu Temple, stood up, bowed and saluted: "Emperor Qiqi, since the first year of the Apocalypse, the Jin land has no year and no disaster, and last year was especially worse. Heavy along the Yellow River faction, anxious for the spark. Although the imperial court sent 200,000 yuan, the civil disaster relief cost was more than one million. The minister believed that in order to completely quell the rebellion in Shanxi, heavy encirclement and suppression was only one of them, and the most important thing was to appease and relieve the victims in order to cut off the root cause of the civil unrest. ”

A bureaucrat stepped forward and echoed Zheng Zongzhou's words.

"Your Majesty, since the chaotic army from Shaanxi poured into Shanxi, coupled with the natural and man-made disasters in Shanxi for several years, the anti-thieves have been like fish in water and have grown rapidly. In less than a year, there were two or three hundred thousand people. Moreover, more and more anti-thief leaders have emerged, among which Li Zicheng is the most famous, and his strength can be ranked in the top ten of the 36th Battalion. ”

Hearing this, Chongzhen's brows furrowed, but he didn't say anything, and another official walked out, it was Yang Sichang, who had just been transferred back from Liaodong.

"Emperor Qiqi, Weichen feels that the most important task of the imperial court is not to suppress the rebellious army in Shanxi, but the Kong Youde Rebellion in Dengzhou."

Yang Sichang paused, peeked at Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youzhen with his eyes, saw that his brows were locked tighter, and he did not stop himself, so he further explained: "Your Majesty, although Sun Yuanhua was punished and beheaded, Yu Dacheng, Song Guanglan, Wang Weizhi and others were sent to the border. However, Kong Youde's rebellion in Dengzhou intensified, and Laizhou was in danger. Coupled with the response of Chen Youde's department on Phi Dao, the arrogance of the Kong Department became even stronger, and he wanted to tear the soil and become the king independently. ”

"At this time, the rebellious army in Shanxi is spreading eastward, causing trouble in Pingyangfu, Taiyuanfu, Fenzhou, Lu'an, Liaozhou, Zezhou and other places. Among them, the allied army of the anti-thief leader Wang Ziyong and the rising star Li Zicheng was the most arrogant, and the soldiers invaded Lu'an Mansion and Zezhou counties. ”

"Holy Lord, you might as well think about it, if Wang Ziyong crosses Shanxi and southern Henan, once he enters Shandong, he will be in the same stream as the anti-thief Kong Youde's department, and the Jingshi will be completely isolated. If at this time, Houjin enters the fortress again, attacks Shanhaiguan, and enters the pass, and the Beijing division is in danger! ”

In an instant, as soon as Yang Sichang's words fell, the hall became extremely silent, as if it was a dead silence, everyone was shocked, goosebumps rose all over their bodies, and there was a faint fear.

At this moment, up to Emperor Chongzhen, down to the smallest officials, a picture came to mind, Shanxi's chaotic army and Kong Youde's anti-thieves converged together, the world will be turbulent, Shanxi, southern Henan and the whole of Shandong will fall into chaos, and the Ming Dynasty will be cut in half, along the north bank of the Yellow River.

Once it really happens, the Ming army will not be able to echo from the end. If Houjin attacks again, Qin Wangbing will be blocked in the Yellow River accident, and he will not be able to quickly rescue the Jingshi like last time.

When the other people looked solemn, Zhou Yanru, the head of the civil officials, had a bright eye, and secretly said that he had a good opportunity, and then said loudly: "Emperor Qiqi, according to Lord Yang's words, Weichen feels that the imperial court should still show favor to Kong Youde and appease ......."

However, before Wen Tiren finished speaking, he was interrupted by Wen Tiren, who was a scholar of the Ministry of Rites and a scholar of Dongge University, and his words contained mockery.

"Lord Zhou, this is a bad statement, judging from past events, Kong Youde is a capricious villain. Let's not talk about whether it will accept the appeasement of the imperial court, even if it does, it is not enough to be believed, and it may rebel again at any time. Could it be that Lord Shoufu has forgotten the lesson of Shaanxi? ”

After finishing speaking, Wen Tiren's mouth pursed a sneer, and he didn't mean to end, but looked at Yang Sichang and teased: "Lord Yang, I guess you won't forget that when Ling Zun was the governor of Shaanxi, what he advocated was to suppress and appease both the people, and to appease them. However, the result? ”

Yang Sichang was dumbfounded, there was a feeling of speechlessness, he didn't know how to answer, and he was even more angry in his heart, but Wen Tiren was unforgiving, and said coldly again: "The result is that the chaotic army is more and more." If it weren't for the strong suppression of Governor Hong and General Cao, I don't know what Shaanxi would have become now? ”

At this moment, a cold snort came from the hall, and Zhou Yanru's disdainful voice came, ironically Wen Tiren.

"Wen Shangshu, you are so convincing and sharp, denying our strategy, do you have any good strategy? Also, if the rebellious army in Shanxi colludes with Kong Youde, if the Beijing division is in crisis again, is Wen Shangshu willing to be responsible? ”

Wen Tiren's expression froze, it was very ugly, his lips squirmed a few times, but he didn't say a word.

Seeing that the two ministers of the humerus were facing each other, looking like they were not giving in to each other, Chongzhen waved his hand, although he was a little unhappy in his heart, but he still said loudly: "Okay, okay, Zhou Shoufu, Wen Shangshu has no malicious intentions, just a kind reminder to me, now let's discuss how to solve the crisis of the imperial court?" ”

Zhou Yanru glanced at Wen Tiren with disdain, very contemptuous, turned to look at Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youzhen, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, the reason why Weichen suggested that he once again take a placating strategy against Kong Youde and other anti-thieves is to win time for Cao Wenzhao Cao's general soldiers. As long as the anti-thief Kong Youde is stabilized, the imperial court will be able to mobilize more troops and cooperate with General Cao to quell the rebellion in Shanxi. ”

"As long as the Shanxi Rebellion is quelled, even if Kong Youde's department is capricious and has two hearts, the imperial court can still go back and clean it up. After all, it is impossible for the imperial court to start two wars at the same time. If at the same time, heavy troops encircled and suppressed the Shanxi rebel army and Shandong Kong Youde and other rebels, once the Houjin invaded again, the imperial court would have no troops to support Shanhaiguan. ”

While speaking, the courtiers nodded frequently when they listened, Chongzhen also looked like he was deeply convinced, and Zhou Yanru's voice was still echoing, talking eloquently without humility or arrogance.

"Your Majesty, the current situation in Shanxi is bounded by Taiyuan Mansion, and there are chaotic armies raging in the north of Shanxi. Led by Wang Ziyong's bandit leader, Li Zicheng, Xing Hongliang and other leaders followed, and continued to attack Lu'an Mansion and the eastern part of Zezhou. In less than a month, the thieves captured Qinshui, Yangcheng, Yangping, and Lingping in a row, and the troops approached the border of Lu'anfu, Zezhou and Henan. ”

"In order to ensure the safety of the Beijing Division, and to prevent the Shanxi Rebellion from colluding with Kong Youde, Weichen felt that he should let Xu Dingchen, the governor of Shanxi, use troops from Liaozhou, and use the troops of Taiyuan to encircle and suppress Zhang Xianzhong and other departments, so as to protect the safety of the Beijing Division; Zhang Zongheng, the governor of Xuanda, sent troops out of Yangcheng and sent troops from Lu'an Mansion and Zezhou, blocking Wang Ziyong and Li Zicheng, Xing Hongliang and others in Lu'an Mansion and Zezhou, so as to completely prevent him from colluding with Kong Youde and others. ”

"Subsequently, as long as General Cao leads the troops into Shanxi, he will be able to form a three-sided attack and completely wipe out the chaotic army in Shanxi, so as to prevent future troubles."

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