Zhongzhou. This article was first published by Since three days ago, an urgent report came in from the east gate of the imperial capital, and the entire court was plunged into turmoil and unrest. The report from Tang Mingzhe, the general of Tongshan Pass, let the ministers know that the battle at Tongshan Pass was critical, and at the same time, it also caused a huge controversy in the court.

The commander of the city guard army actually played a prelude without permission, and took the initiative to abandon Tongshan Pass, the core barrier at the border between Yuanshan County and Anqing County, and then retreated to Xudu.

Anyone who knows a little bit about the empire knows what that means.

The eastern half of Anqing County has since been handed over to Yan Yunjun!

It is a dispute over the whole world, and the gains and losses of half a county do not seem to be too critical. But Tongshan Pass is, after all, the core support point of the middle front, which is of great significance. Just giving up like this will have a huge negative impact on the morale of the army and even the confidence of the world in His Majesty Qianminghao.

On the day the news came, almost immediately, some ministers attacked Tang Mingzhe for his cowardice and fear of war, and directly led the defeat of Tongshan Pass before it was broken.

There are even ministers who think that Tang Mingzhe is very likely to be a puppet emperor and deliberately let go of Tongshan Pass to let Yanyun's army advance westward. He also demanded that Tang Mingzhe be punished and send a minister to take over the post of commander of the city guard army as soon as possible to prevent further erosion of the war.

In the face of the excitement of the crowd, Qian Minghao's face after the imperial case was a little ugly.

It's not that he was angry with Tang Mingzhe's decision to take the initiative to give up Tongshan Pass, although he was really angry at the beginning, but he was able to be favored by the old emperor, obviously not only because of Concubine Zhen, but also because the five princes themselves were quite outstanding. He quickly figured out that if the shape of Tongshan Pass was really as Tang Mingzhe said, then taking the initiative to retreat was actually the best choice. Maybe the impact will not be good in the short term, but in the long run, it will definitely be a good move to let Yanyun's army drive straight into and stretch their front.

What he was really angry about was the appearance of the ministers.

When the old emperor Qianyuanji was there, similar quarrels were not uncommon during court discussions. But that kind of quarrel is very different from the situation he is experiencing now. The five princes knew very well that the ministers of the Qianyuanji era, even if they quarreled because of different political views, would always pay attention to the old emperor's diversion from Qianyuanji's will. But at present, the civil and military officials in the Taiji Palace, except for a few important ministers who are too active and frivolous, and even have the implication of faintly uniting to force him to make a decision.

To put it bluntly, they haven't put Qian Minghao on the same position as Qian Yuanji. Although he admits that he is the Son of Heaven, the emperor, who has only been on the throne for a few months, has obviously not yet established his majesty.

Perhaps, I want to find an opportunity to clean up a few blind guys, so that these officials can understand what is unpredictable and unpredictable, and thunder, rain and dew are all Jun'en!

“…… After all, it will take time for the city guards to retreat. Without further ado, it is now necessary to immediately send an envoy to Tongshan Pass with the holy decree, take Tang Mingzhe and escort him back to Beijing, and find another general to strictly guard Xiongguan, and perhaps save the situation. Even if it is too late to recover, you can order the withdrawn city guards to fortify the Tonglu Mansion behind Tongshan Pass layer by layer, so as to block the westward advance of the puppet emperor's army and buy more time for our side to dispatch troops. ”

There were also officials from among the courtiers, stating the plan that the civil and military had already said. Aside from a change of rhetoric, there are few changes to the real action.

I listened to it seven or eight times in a row, which made Qian Minghao's heart indescribably crooked.

He finally couldn't help but slap the royal case, and snorted coldly: "Enough! ”

The Son of Heaven is powerful, and after all, he still has a sense of grace. With his angry shout, the low noise in the Taiji Hall suddenly stopped, and suddenly became quiet, and the temperature in the hall seemed to drop several degrees rapidly. The old man who was still talking was taken aback, and he didn't understand why His Majesty, who didn't say a word, suddenly became angry. But his reaction was quick, and although it was not clear why, he immediately began to accuse him of wrongdoing.

There was a half-silence.

At the critical moment, it was the Minister of the Interior Chen Sansheng who stood up to relieve the siege. The former emperor stayed behind and faintly served as an important minister of the minister, and he also saw the intention of Tang Mingzhe's move, and also knew Qian Minghao's attitude, and said: "Under Tongshan Pass, General Tang has to face the combined forces of the Yanyun Army and the Songjiang Army after all, and there is a new type of stone throwing machine. Defending Tongshan Pass may not be the best choice, and I believe that General Tang's decision must have his intentions. ”

Speaking of this, he hesitated for a moment, and added: "What's more, since ancient times, it has been said in military books that it is taboo to change generals in battle. Although I don't know anything about the military, I know it. Even if the responsibility for the loss of Tongshan Pass is really investigated, it should be said that the city guards should wait for the city guards to collectively withdraw to the Xudu front, and the battle line will basically be stabilized. ”

Anyone who has read a little bit of military books should know that while convincing some officials, he also made Qian Minghao nod secretly.

Huo Taoluo, who succeeded Feng Wu as Minister of Military Affairs, saw Chen Sansheng come forward, and then he also stood up.

As far as the battle at Tongshan Pass is concerned, there are few civil and military forces in the Manchu Dynasty who can see it more thoroughly than him: "The minister also has something to say!" When two armies engage in battle, the first thing is to preserve the strength to kill and wound the enemy, and should not care about the gains and losses of one city or one place. What's more, Tang Mingzhe made it clear in the newspaper that he did not flee in fear of battle, but retreated in an orderly manner, and waited for an opportunity to lure and kill the troops pursued by the Yanyun Army. Perhaps, in a few days, we will be able to wait for the good news. ”

The two most important ministers spoke one after another, allowing the other ministers to figure out a lot.

Smart people have already realized that His Majesty does not seem to want to punish Tang Mingzhe severely. There were those who had never opened their mouths before, and began to change their words one after another, excusing Tang Mingzhe. Even if there are still stubborn ones, they no longer dare to insist on removing and replacing Tang Mingzhe, and change their words to punish and admonish them, so that they can make meritorious contributions.

A court turmoil subsided for a short time.

However, the impact of the loss of Tongshan Pass did not subside so easily, but began to ferment. In just two days, the news of the unfavorable situation in the middle road spread from the court and spread throughout Zhongzhou. From the nobles and wealthy merchants to the pawns and grooms, they all knew the news of the defeat of the city guards and the loss of Tongshan Pass. For a while, rumors spread and people were panicked.

At this time, the importance of controlling public opinion is highlighted.

If the emperor had an authoritative newspaper similar to "Songjiang Official Daily" and actively carried out propaganda, public opinion would definitely be guided in a positive direction. It's just that although the Military Intelligence Bureau got the newspaper of the Songjiang Army and was ready to imitate it for a while, with the death of the old emperor and the new emperor's accession to the throne, which caused a civil war, the newspaper matter was delayed.

Moreover, the courtiers of this era did not have enough awareness of the importance of public opinion, and even considered defeat a shame, disdained to mention it, and only blindly blocked the news, which only connived at the spread of rumors in disguise.

Among them, Yan Yunjun's secret agents added fuel to the fire, taking the initiative to spread rumors in major restaurants and teahouses, and exaggerating the defeat of Tongshan Pass. For a time, Zhongzhou fell into turmoil. Even if Qian Minghao lived in the deep palace of the imperial city, he felt that uneasy and turbulent atmosphere, and he could imagine the impact of the loss of Tongshan Pass.

Fortunately, today's urgent report from the east is like sending charcoal in the snow after a long drought, which resolved this crisis of confidence that was suddenly detonated, and made the turbulent situation in Zhongzhou a lot more stable.

When the cavalry of the city guard retreated, they set up an ambush to lure the cavalry of the Yanyun army into the depths alone, disconnected from the pursuing troops in the rear, and were severely damaged!

Not only did they behead 8,000 enemy cavalry (exaggerating the results), but they also captured no less than 3,000 prisoners, plus a large number of armor, weapons and horses!

When the news came, not only the officials in the court were relieved a lot, but even Qian Minghao, who was somewhat bottomless in his heart, breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately ordered officials at all levels to spread the news to all localities, and it was necessary to publicize it with great fanfare, so that all states and counties would know about this rare victory, so as to stabilize the morale of the army.

As for the veracity of the war report, not many people doubt it.

The reason is very simple, if only the number of kills is reported, then on the premise of the result of the loss of Tongshan Pass, there must be many people who will suspect fraud. But with 3,000 captives there, it was almost impossible to go wrong. Whether it is true or not, as long as someone is sent to inspect the number of prisoners, it will naturally be able to be debunked. As long as Tang Mingzhe is not stupid, he will never do anything with this amount.

It's almost certain that the city guards did win an ambush battle!

With this good news, it undoubtedly confirmed the truth of what Tang Mingzhe said in the previous report, and also blocked the mouths of all the officials who suspected that the city guards were fleeing in fear, leaving them with nothing to say

Now that it is certain that Tang Mingzhe's decision is meaningful, not war-threatening, then the next thing is a good way. After the news came from the Imperial Meeting, Qian Minghao had already ordered people to prepare new food and salaries, and asked a group of recruited recruits to prepare for departure. In the past few days, the organization has basically been completed, and they can rush to Xudu on the same day to reinforce the city guards.

At the same time, the results of Tang Mingzhe's treatment were also issued along with the holy decree.

As the other ministers expected, they only reprimanded a few words without pain, and then let Tang Mingzhe and the city guards make meritorious contributions. However, it is understandable to abandon Tongshan Pass, after all, the two armies have been fighting there for a long time, but Xudu, the county seat of Anqing County, is the top priority of the central line, and it cannot be given up no matter what. Once Xudu is lost, the entire Anqing County will completely fall. Next, whether Yan Yunjun marches into Qinghe or Wuhu, it can bring a huge threat to the imperial capital Zhongzhou.

Therefore, Qian Minghao clearly demanded in the holy decree that Tang Mingzhe must defend Xu Du next, and must not take a step back, otherwise he will be killed for any reason!

This involves the success or failure of the war on the entire middle front, and there is no room for negotiation.

This holy decree, together with the official document of the food and salary and the replenishment of the recruits, was passed into this thousand-year-old ancient city of the Three Dynasties one after the other at about the same time that the city guards returned to Xudu! (To be continued.) )