"What? The defenders of Luoyang rebelled to meet the thieves? King Fu and Luoyang Governor Yinchang have both been killed? ”

The speed at which the news of King Fu's death spread back to Huguang in the south was obviously a day or two faster than that in the north to the capital.

In Xiangyang City, Yang Sichang, who was already in deteriorating health and full of gray hair, was so shocked that he almost fell off the bed when he heard about this nightmare, coughing and wheezing violently.

Shi Langzhong, the staff of the Nanjing Military Department, and Wan Yuanji, the supervisor of the Nanjing Military Department, who brought him bad news on the side, could only take the decoction with their own hands, and while patting Yang Sichang on the back, he tried his best to comfort him:

"Take care! Victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, and the defenders are from the thief as the internal response, this is not your fault for not dispatching reinforcements in time, you can only blame too few loyal ministers and righteous men who know the general righteousness.

Alas, to say something rebellious, according to the information from Luoyang, His Royal Highness the Fu King does not say that he is to blame, but at least he does not know the general situation.

The local people have a deep resentment against the rich people of King Fu, and the family wealth is nearly 10 million taels, but before the city is broken, they are only willing to take out 1,000 taels to reward the soldiers who defend the city, which gives the thieves an opportunity to fan the army and the people.

Lu Shangshu of my Nanjing Military Department, who had been temporarily ordered by His Majesty to live idle because of his refusal to fight, also returned to his hometown to live in Luoyang at that time. I heard that before the city was broken, Lu Shangshu also bitterly admonished King Fu to scatter wealth and pay people, but King Fu insisted on being stingy. Lu Shangshu himself scattered all his family wealth, but unfortunately it was only tens of thousands of taels, and he couldn't feed the soldiers and people who defended the city, and after the city was broken, Lu Shangshu's entire family was also killed. ”

Listening to what Wan Yuan Jifen said so much, Yang Sichang's remorse was gradually transferred by "anger and indisputability".

If it is in front of people, this kind of rebellious words will not dare to talk, who dares to accuse the vassal king of being insatiable and refusing to scatter wealth.

But in private, he only had confidants, and Yang Sichang couldn't care about it, so he took a bite with hatred.

"Zhu Changxun! Such a fortune-guarding guinea dog, fortunately, the loyal and upright people of the Manchu Dynasty followed one after another, striving for the country, so that the Divine Sect did not cause a catastrophe, and took this generation of wine bags and rice bags as heirs! This time, he killed the old man and killed the great cause of the world's thieves! ”

Wan Yuan Ji was shocked when he heard this, although there was no one left and right, but Yang Ge Lao actually dared to insult the vassal king, with his understanding of Ge Lao, a bad premonition faintly rose: Could it be that Ge Lao is afraid of crime and has no desire to survive? Would you be so bold?

He hurriedly persuaded for a long time, lest Yang Sichang commit suicide.

Yang Sichang also calmed down a little and asked: "Where are the reinforcements of the Henan army now?" ”

Wan Yuanji, as the supervisor of the whole army, was very clear about this information, and replied: "Zuo Liangyu has just passed Xinye, and the day before yesterday, he came from the Han River against the current, slowly swallowed to Fancheng and crossed into the Baihe.

However, Shen Shuren and Liu Guoneng were unable to supply military food from Kaifeng Prefecture before, and they were unable to open up the grain road in Runan and Huaibei in a hurry, so they had to lead the army to turn back, and also go north to Nanyang and Luyang, trying to break the Funiu Mountain Pass from Luyang and aid Luoyang in the north.

It is also because of the detour, which leads to delays. But Shen Shuren and Liu Guoneng were indeed loyal and brave, and when Luoyang City was broken, they were still fighting fiercely with the intercepted Ma Shouying in Luyang. After hearing that the city was broken, they seemed to have given up on going north and were ready to turn back. ”

"Turned? Luoyang is broken, they won't fight Li Zicheng? Yang Sichang seemed to be a little old-fashioned, and he was a little disappointed when he heard this.

Seeing Wan Yuanji's bewildered expression, he realized that he had too high expectations for Shen Shuren - he was just a soldier in Hubei, and he had just been promoted to Huguang a few days ago.

Even if the Imperial History of the Imperial Capital is added, the scope of his inspection of the Imperial History of the Imperial History of the Imperial Capital does not include Luoyang and Kaifeng Mansion, at most it is only in Runing Mansion in Henan.

Before rescuing Luoyang and rescuing King Fu, it was the will of the imperial court, and the temporary matter was urgently sent by the power. Now that King Fu is dead, Luoyang's wealth has been robbed, and the thieves are powerful, where can they still run headlong into it?

It's really time to retreat and trim, Shen Shuren and Liu Guoneng are right to do this.

Yang Sichang thought for a long time, sighed and ordered: "That's it, the battle situation is like this, and the old man can only bear the responsibility himself." Shen Shuren and Liu Guoneng are right, they have done their best. Let Shen Shuren return to his teacher and Huang.

Liu Guoneng's original stronghold in Yexian and Yuncheng has no value in sticking to it, and such a loyal and righteous man makes him alone in the dangerous place surrounded on three sides, which inevitably chills people's hearts. Let him retreat to Runing Mansion, and from then on, take Xinyang as the foundation, and raise troops to defend the Huai River.

For now, let's think about how to explain to Your Majesty the culpability of Luoyang's defeat. A big defeat, seeing through the hot and cold world, the old man can still have a few days of authority, it all depends on whether His Majesty is in a hurry to ask for the guilt. For the sake of the world, in the last few days, I have to fight this old bone and make those domineering generals pay the price! Praise and belittle the evil!

Also, Yuanji, is ready to let the army pack up and leave, and the governor will personally go north to Nanyang. In the last few days, I always have to put on a leading role and live up to my mission. ”

Yang Sichang was ready to die soon, and he didn't want to be humiliated before he died. But he also felt a sense of responsibility in his heart, and in the last days, he would bite down those rebellious ministers, thieves and warlords!

The First Cause of All Worlds

In order for the emperor to slow down the progress of his punishment as much as possible, it is also important to act a positive posture in the last few days. That's why he decided to change from sitting in the center of Xiangyang to personally leading troops north to supervise the war-

As an aside, before Yang Sichang's death in history, the reason why Zhang Xianzhong temporarily stole Xiangyang and killed King Xiang was also related to Zhang Xianzhong's theft of Xiangyang more than a month ago, Li Zicheng killed King Fu in the north.

Before Li Zicheng killed King Fu, Yang Sichang's layout was still based on Zhang Xianzhong as a more important enemy and the core of the main attack. But Li Zicheng's move to kill King Fu suddenly made Li Zicheng's head more valuable.

Therefore, in order to show his determination to the emperor, Yang Sichang had to go north in person, and put on a posture of giving higher priority to destroying Li Zicheng, which led to the temporary emptiness of Xiangyang.

In this life, the difference is only that Yang Sichang can transfer back the butterfly effect that did not exist in the original existence of the Shen Shu people, and transfer it back to the defense area that the Shen Shu people should defend.

At the same time, Yang Sichang also intensified the impeachment of Zuo Liangyu, which was heavier than the same period in history, and wrote a note to the emperor on the causes and consequences of a series of defeats for the first time.

After all, under the operation of Shen Shuren, Zuo Liangyu's crimes in this life have also increased compared to the same period in history.

……

Yang Sichang led his descendants to Nanyang from Xiangyang to the north, and Shen Shuren and Liu Guoneng retreated from Luyang to Xinyang and Suizhou respectively, which naturally took some time to march.

The dispatch of the army is only sixty or seventy miles a day by land, and more than 100 miles by water.

The straight-line distance from Xiangyang to Nanyang is 240 miles, and when passing through Xinye and Dengzhou, it is necessary to make a slight detour to avoid danger, and it is normal for the army to walk for five days to arrive. In addition, Yang Sichang needs to prepare for the emergency extraction, and in fact, he will arrive in Nanyang in seven days.

Liu Guoneng went back to Xinyang from Luyang, it was more than 400 miles, and he needed to part ways with Shen Shuren and return to Xinyang by Rushui into the Huai River in Henan.

Shen Shuren first returned to Xiangyang, and then returned to Suizhou from Xiangyang down the Han River, the distance is the farthest, but fortunately, the waterway part of the whole process is downstream.

Therefore, according to this itinerary, it is estimated that four days later, Shen Shuren will meet Yang Sichang in the Dengzhou area north of Xiangyang, and then staggered by, Yang Sichang continues to go north to Nanyang, and Shen Shuren continues to go south back to his own defense area.

Four days is not a long time, but it is not a short time. Because of the emergency military situation in the Luoyang Theater and the determination of criminal responsibility for the cause and effect, they all belong to the 600-mile urgent intelligence. Therefore, these four days are enough for Yang Sichang's fast horse messenger to send the petition to Chongzhen in the capital.

This also meant that the Shen Shuren did not have the opportunity to speak from beginning to end about how Yang Ge Lao shared the blame for the killing of the vassal king this time.

It's not a good thing, it's not a bad thing. Shen Shuren could not carry private goods, and also avoided the suspicion of sowing discord, but with a public heart, it was determined by the imperial court itself.

……

Four days later, Yang Sichang's plea was reversed and he arrived in the capital as scheduled.

It has been seven days since King Fu died.

Chongzhen also gradually recovered from the initial sadness, and the posture of dropping out of the dynasty for three days was also completed, and the routine court meeting has resumed as usual for four days.

In the face of Yang Sichang's plea, of course Chongzhen will not forgive easily, but the reason still has to be carefully examined.

After all, even if you want to ask about the crime, who to ask and how much responsibility you have, you have to rely on Yang Sichang's analysis and self-defense.

Chongzhen Tie read it with a blushing face, and in the midst of disappointment, he still found two or three points of relief.

After all, there are still loyal and righteous people in the Ming Dynasty - Liu Guoneng and Shen Shuren are capable of working hard, and they are tired of running for their lives during this time, just killing He Jinhe Yilong, and running hundreds of miles to rescue Luoyang and King Fu.

Although it was not saved in the end, after all, it was to recover several counties in Runing Prefecture along the way, and to clear the remnants of He Yilong's death. This is already a matter of hard work.

As for why they didn't go to the boundary of Kaifeng Mansion and rescue Luoyang from east to west, it was only because Kaifeng Mansion could not supply the military rations for this army of soldiers and horses, so they had to make a slight detour and rely on the Nanyang area that was still under the control of Yang Sichang to maintain the grain route, and finally fought fiercely with the horse guards blocking the road in Luyang.

Yang Sichang wrote in detail, and also attached a summary of the documents begging for food and returning between Shen Shuren and the prefect of Kaifeng.

In the end, Yang Sichang sincerely pointed out: The reason why Liu Guoneng was transferred from Henan was Zuo Liangyu. When the Battle of Suizhou broke out two months ago, if Zuo Liangyu hadn't been close to Wuchang and Hanyang, which were separated from Suizhou by a river, but he couldn't save him, where would he need to transfer Liu Guoneng from Henan to copy He Yilong's back road and play Wei to save Zhao?

Moreover, Zuo Liangyu not only did not save Suizhou two months ago, but this time after hearing that Li Zicheng entered the Luoyang Basin, his action to the north was still very slow.

Liu Guoneng, a Shenshu person, had a battle with Ma Shouying in Luyang, and Zuo Liangyu hadn't arrived yet! He also said all the way that he had a large number of people and horses, and it was difficult to raise grain and grass!

Chongzhen was really angry this time. For Zuo Liangyu, who sells his teammates and preserves his strength and wants to be a warlord, Chongzhen must be severely punished this time.

It's a pity that he also knows that Zuo Liangyu's tail is too big to fall, so he can't ask directly - Zuo Liangyu has gathered 100,000 people, and many of them are not within the imperial court establishment, and they all rely on Zuo Liangyu to raise their own food and salaries. Therefore, that part of the supernumerary troops was only loyal to Zuo Liangyu alone, and was not loyal to the court at all.

Even if Zuo Liangyu himself could be designed to be booby-trapped, his supernumerary troops would most likely directly become a new rebel force, and then the entire Huguang would be completely eroded.

This point, even if Chongzhen didn't fully understand it, Yang Sichang deliberately reminded him in the secret performance.

In addition to grief and indignation, Chongzhen could only choose to take two steps and slowly figure it out.

"Wang Chengen, summon Hanlin to draft the edict! Cut off Zuo Liang Yuping's rank of thief general! Deprive him of the right to continue to recruit troops on his own to fight the thieves! ordered him to leave Wuchang Mansion and Hanyang Mansion to go north, and stationed in Nanyang Mansion, and from then on he was responsible for blocking Li Zicheng from going south!

Give Yang Sichang another secret edict, if Zuo Liangyu refuses to accept even the right to deprive the general and the right to recruit new troops, then it can be determined that the opposite action is clear! Let Yang Sichang dispose of it by any means! ”

What Chongzhen thought of was to use the imperial court and authority to slowly weaken part of Zuo Liangyu's power.

Zuo Liangyu's troops included the private armed part that was wantonly expanded after Ren Ping's general, and the regular guard army of the imperial court that he controlled when he was in Wuchang Mansion and Hanyang Mansion.

Zuo Liangyu's personal armed forces were not so easy to change their ways, but they finally let Zuo Liangyu move the place and first bring the imperial guards of Wuchang Mansion and Hanyang Mansion under the control of the loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, if Zuo Liangyu is ordered to move north to Nanyang, he will definitely transfer the old imperial army in Nanyang first, so as not to give Zuo Liangyu the opportunity to control the new imperial army.

In this way, he can first weaken Zuo Liangyu's foundation and reduce the number of twenty or thirty thousand horses, and then force him to the forefront of dealing with Li Zicheng. Even if Zuo Liangyu can't be forced to fight for the time being, at least it is possible to wait until Li Zicheng takes the initiative to go south to fight Zuo Liangyu.

In today's Chongzhen's view, if Zuo Liangyu and Li Zicheng can both lose, then he will already burn high incense.