After arranging his own affairs, Lao Zhu was not idle, and began to review Chongzhen's recital in the Qianqing Palace, and it was not until one or two o'clock in the morning that this kind of review came to an end.

To tell the truth, during the Hongwu period, most of his government affairs were handed over to Zhu Biao, and he hadn't been so busy for a long time.

"It's a natural toil."

Lao Zhu sighed slightly in his heart, and then he didn't bother to move, and slept directly in the Qianqing Palace.

At five o'clock on the second day, before dawn, Lao Zhu had already rushed to the location of the early court, and the ministers were almost all at this time.

As Luan Yiwei waved the whip in his hand and made three crisp explosions, Lao Zhu came to the first court meeting of the Chongzhen Dynasty and officially began.

The Manchu civil and military stood below, and after saluting, fell silent.

In the south, Li Zicheng besieged Kaifeng, and in the north, Jiannu just defeated Hong Chengchou, and the elite of the nine sides of the imperial court was lost, and it can be said that the last elite soldiers were all buried, so the situation can be said to be extremely bad.

And the situation in the court collapsed, and their ministers were not happy, and the atmosphere in the court was extremely depressing for a while.

After a long while, Zhou Yanru, the first assistant of the cabinet, spoke: "Your Majesty, Hong Chengchou died in battle for the country, and the minister believes that Lord Hong is loyal to the country and should be posthumously sealed." ”

Although the news of Hong Chengchou's defeat at Songshan had reached the capital, because the news was not very accurate, the ministers in the court thought that Hong Chengchou had died fighting for the country, and did not know that he had actually surrendered to Jiannu.

According to the normal historical process, after Hong Chengchou surrendered, Chongzhen gave a posthumous seal, and also set up an altar to worship Hong Chengchou with the highest specifications.

Now that Lao Zhu knows that Hong Chengchou has surrendered, he will naturally not act according to history.

"No need."

Lao Zhu's flat voice sounded in the court, "We received accurate news that Hong Chengchou has surrendered to Jiannu, and don't mention the matter of chasing the seal." ”

"What?"

As soon as Lao Zhu's words came out, the whole dynasty was in an uproar.

Hong Chengchou is the governor of Jiliao, the absolute feudal official, and now that Songjin is defeated, he actually did not die for the country, but surrendered to Jiannu? The Manchu officials were in disbelief for a while.

But this was said by the emperor, and if there was no accurate information, he would not have put it in the court.

After discussing for a while, suddenly a speaker stood up and said indignantly: "Your Majesty, Hong Chengchou is a thief who has received the emperor's favor, and now he actually surrenders to Jiannu in order to survive, and there is no minister at all, and the minister asks His Majesty to issue an order to kill Hong Chengchou's entire family." ”

These ministers may not dare to speak out about the real court affairs, but if it comes to ups and downs, they are faster than anyone else.

also said that Hong Chengchou has no ministers, in Lao Zhu's opinion, these people are not as good as Hong Chengchou.

Therefore, Lao Zhu shook his head lightly and said: "Hong Chengchou just surrendered, and he has not yet been on Jiannu's side, so don't talk about his whole family for the time being." ”

"Spread the decree to demote Hong Chengchou's family to commoners, confined in the capital, and not allowed to go out."

Hong Chengchou is the governor of Jiliao, and he knows everything about the border passes of the Ming Dynasty, if his entire family is beheaded at this time, it will undoubtedly push him completely to the side of Jiannu, so Lao Zhu will reject the official's advances.

Anyway, people can't run away even if they are locked up in the capital, if Hong Chengchou really works for Jiannu in the future, it will not be too late to kill his whole family.

"Your Majesty......"

The official was obviously not very satisfied with this result, and just when he wanted to continue to say something, he was directly interrupted by Zhou Yanru, the first assistant of the cabinet, "Your Majesty is merciful, this is my blessing." ”

As the first assistant of the cabinet, although Zhou Yanru relied on his cronies, befriended the inner court, and made the court more corrupt, but since he could become the first assistant, he still had the ability.

Therefore, after Lao Zhu said these words, he immediately understood Lao Zhu's intentions, so he did not allow others to put his beak at all, and directly set the tone for this matter.

Seeing that the emperor and the cabinet ministers have unified their voices, although there are still ministers who still have objections in their hearts, it is not good to say anything more at this time.

"Your Majesty, now that Songshan City is broken, only Ning Yuan and Tashan Fort are left outside the pass."

When Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, said this, he secretly looked at Lao Zhu's face with his spare eyes and saw that his face had not changed, and then continued: "The minister thinks that it should be ...... Should the defense of Ningyuan and Tashan be strengthened? ”

To tell the truth, Chen Xinjia's words in his heart actually wanted to give up Ningyuan and Tashan, and let the soldiers and civilians of the two places withdraw to Guannei.

But when the words were on his lips, he changed his words again.

Without him, Ningyuan and Tashan are both the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and if they give up these two places, it will undoubtedly be equivalent to directly giving the territory of the Ming Dynasty to Jiannu.

And this Emperor Chongzhen is a face-saving person, and it is absolutely impossible for him to agree to this kind of thing.

Therefore, in Chongzhen, even if the soldiers and civilians of Ningyuan and Tashan were all killed in battle, it would be better for these two places to be taken away by Jiannu than to move the soldiers and civilians of the two places to Guannei.

It is precisely because of this that Chen Xinjia had to change his words against his will halfway through his words.

"Ningyuan, Tashan."

Lao Zhu groaned slightly in his heart for a while.

The Guan Jinning defense line built by the Ming Dynasty is in the western Liaoning corridor, and if you look at it on the map, it is basically a straight line.

Starting from Jinzhou and ending at Shanhaiguan, there are many guards in the defense line, and they can support each other at any time, which can be said to be impregnable.

It's a pity that because the imperial court ran out of food, Chongzhen forced Hong Chengchou to fight a decisive battle with Jiannu, but the result was a great defeat in Songjiang, with 400,000 elites on the nine sides, and almost all the troops were wiped out.

Without soldiers and guards to rely on each other, Ningyuan outside the gate was isolated and helpless, and it was undoubtedly a matter of time before the city was destroyed and people died.

However, Lao Zhu thought much more than Chen Xinjia, he has now begun to prepare for retraining, and within three years, he will definitely re-subdue those outside the Guan.

Therefore, it is easy to give up Guanning City, but it will be difficult to take it back when the time comes.

Therefore, after pondering for a long time, Lao Zhu said: "Ning Yuan really can't afford to lose, but the imperial court doesn't have any extra troops now, so let Ning Yuan hold on for the time being." ”

"As for the guard in the land of Tashan, let's give it up for the time being, as for whether to withdraw to the Guannei or withdraw Ningyuan, just let them decide for themselves, and there is no need to report this matter."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Hearing that Lao Zhu actually took the initiative to say that he wanted to give up the guards in Tashan and other places, Chen Xinjia couldn't help but feel happy in his heart.

If these guards are not evacuated, when Jiannu frees up their hands, what awaits them will inevitably be the death of the whole army.

At this time, Lao Zhu opened his mouth to let these people evacuate, which undoubtedly retained a trace of vitality outside the gate.

As for Ning Yuan, although Lao Zhu did not let go, Ningyuan City is high and deep, even if Jiannu waves his troops to attack, Ning Yuan will not have a problem defending it for the last year and a half, so he is not in a hurry for the time being.