On weekdays, Chongzhen learned about Sun Xuanhuai's general situation through Song Xiancai's mouth. This Sun Caishen started from scratch, and his business spread all over the north and south of the river, and even the Mongolian tribes outside the Guanxi had business dealings. The trading involves all walks of life, mainly tea, horse, salt and coal, as well as their own ticket numbers.

The Shun army broke through Datong, Sun Xuanhuai gathered the rich families to negotiate with Li Zicheng, reconciled in the middle, and then married his little daughter to the senior officials of the Shun army, and preserved most of the people in the city at the cost of losing part of the benefits.

So this is a very capable person, and he has a very high reputation among the Datong gentry.

The situation is turbulent, thieves and thieves are rising, the credibility of the Ming court in the north has bottomed out, Chongzhen wants to tie Sun Xuanhuai firmly to his chariot, only with swords and soldiers, three or two empty words are far from enough.

The reason why Sun Xuanhuai is willing to sit in the chair is that he can see Chongzhen's attitude of not giving up if he does not achieve his goal today, and second, if the military situation is true and the Jingshi changes hands again and is obtained by Jianyu, then Shanxi will bear the brunt of the war, and he is very clear about the temperament and danger of these foreigners. In this way, it is better to sell Emperor Chongzhen a face first, and it is not too late to make plans after seeing the stakes clearly.

Wang Chengen quietly walked into the main hall from the outside, said something to Chongzhen, and stood aside to watch his nose and nose.

Chongzhen bowed slightly, left Song Xiancai and Sun Xuanhuai behind, and ordered the rest of the gentry to go back to their respective homes and rest early.

Jiang Xuan also rode a horse from the palace of the king of Dai, and entered the main hall at this time, looking at Emperor Chongzhen in the hall excitedly, "Minister, Jiang Xuan, deputy chief soldier of Yanggao, knock to see Your Majesty." Your Majesty, all the thieves in the city have been cleared, and the minister has ordered his subordinates to escort the prisoners and seizures to the outside of the government for inventory, so that His Majesty can dispose of them. ”

Except for Yang Boxian, all the people available to Chongzhen at the moment are gathered here.

The plan couldn't catch up with the changes, and Chongzhen's original plan was to infiltrate and win over under the pretense of being a high-level member of the Shun army. But after being followed, he realized that he was too idealistic, and Jiang Jiu's rebellion progress was surprisingly fast, which was beyond his expectations, so he had to change his strategy again.

"Good work."

"Ministers don't work hard, begging for thieves for Your Majesty is the duty of ministers and other martial artists."

Chongzhen helped Jiang Xuan up and asked everyone present to sit down and talk, but he himself was standing in the center, who would dare to sit? One after another, Wang Chengen saw this, and hurriedly covered his face with his hands and coughed.

As time passed, the advanced ideas of later generations in Chongzhen's mind were gradually taking over the dominant position, so much so that he often forgot about the system of respect and inferiority, and only then did he make such jokes.

"Haha, it's my fault, don't accuse me, just sit down and talk." Chongzhen smiled embarrassedly, walked back to the hall and sat upright, and when he sat down, everyone in the hall slowly sat down.

"Tonight, I have gathered you here because I do not treat you as outsiders and need your help."

"It's incompetence..."

"Damn the grass people...."

Chongzhen was speechless for a while, and the good guy started again.

"Stop! From now on, I will not be allowed to accuse me again. Extraordinary times should be used in extraordinary times, and you should not be more polite. "Everyone, you look at me, I look at you, and stop squirmingly, Your Majesty's current road is not accurate at all.

"The military intelligence of Shanhaiguan is transmitted to Datong, and it will take more than ten days at the earliest. This means that Jianyu has successfully entered the customs as early as more than ten days ago, and there is not much time left for Datong. Therefore, today I want to negotiate a charter with you. Jiang Hao, why don't you talk about your thoughts first? ”

Jiang Hao thought for a moment and said cautiously: "Go back to Your Majesty, and be foolish to the minister." Datong is easy to defend and difficult to attack, the fortress is lined up, and most of the captives are horsemen, so they have to fight in the field. ”

"Jiang Xuan, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty, what my brother said is extremely true, to deal with Jianyu, it is the best policy to stick to the city. It's just that the minister is worried that Datong is surrounded by enemies on all sides, isolated and helpless, and may be a hidden danger.

Jiang Xuan listened to the words and nodded, he knew that he was guilty, he was eager to make meritorious contributions, and he didn't want to say anything to His Majesty, so it was better to say it from Jiang Xuan's mouth.

"Your Majesty, the grass people have something to say." Sun Xuanhuai said and stood up.

"But it doesn't hurt to say it."

"The grass people have some business dealings with the Mongolian tribes outside the Guanwai, and I have heard those tribal leaders say that in the past two years, the Jianzhou Jurchens have vigorously developed firearms, made their own guns, and built firearms battalions with the captured Han people. The grass people are worried that Jianyu's ability to attack fortifications is different from the past, and if they only hold on to the fortified city, the victory or defeat may not be known. ”

"You!" Jiang Hao glared at Sun Xuanhuai, a lowly businessman who dared to talk about military affairs here with a few stinky money, if it wasn't for His Majesty's consent, he would have dragged this person down and whipped him.

Sun Xuanhuai did not show weakness at all, and looked at him.

In the past, in the face of such a dilemma, Chongzhen was afraid that he would have flipped the table earlier, whether he kept it or not, so what?

The key to these words, Chongzhen has long imagined, and in fact, he has made up his mind in his heart, and the reason why he threw the question to the people below is to observe their ability and heart through this matter.

It's time to make the decision yourself, and then said: "It's good to pay attention to the enemy, but you don't have to be arrogant. ”

The two of them each played a board, and the emperor's trade-offs were all shown here.

"Datong City must be defended, but not stubbornly defended. I have been free recently, and I have also studied some military strategies, and if I combine them with the lessons of the first battle of Dalinghe, I will dialectically argue with each other. It can be inferred that Datong's current geographical location determines the fact that as long as it is besieged, it will be a dead city, but Datong cannot be easily abandoned. For Jianlu is like a wolf, but if you are as cowardly as a sheep, it will follow you and bleed you until you die. Therefore, the city must be defended, the battle must be fought, and it must be won, and the wolf must feel the pain, let it know that we will fight back, so that there is enough space to transfer. ”

Everyone was engrossed, and the old janitor, who had been forgotten by Chongzhen, was still kneeling in place, shaking his head and listening with relish.

"That's why I need to rely on you, when it comes to preparing for battlefield expeditions, I'm still a layman, so this time I'll hand over my head to the two chief soldiers for safekeeping."

"Your Majesty, don't say that, ashamed of the ministers! My two brothers will swear to protect Your Majesty to the death. ”

"Okay, the armament records of the Guanfu are unknown, so you two will immediately set out to count the number of armaments, materials, and soldiers in the city, and report the detailed number to me. In addition, the four gates are blocked, civilians are forbidden to leave the city in the next few days, and the outside world is not allowed to know the news of my presence in the city for the time being. ”

"Yes!"

"Let's go."

When the two general soldiers leave, Chongzhen is going to take out his "Corporal Lixian" again, as long as he can hold Sun Xuanhuai, Datong will be stable.

Chongzhen moved a chair everywhere, placed it in front of Sun Xuanhuai, and sat down face to face with him. Sun Xuanhuai hurriedly moved his butt and knelt down, Chongzhen stretched out his hand to stabilize his figure, pressed him back to the chair, took Sun Xuanhuai's hand and said earnestly: "You and other gentry and I are one, one is prosperous, and the other is lost." In the past, I didn't do well as the emperor, lost the city and land, and harmed you, and I am ashamed. ”

Sun Xuanhuai's hand trembled slightly, and he opened his mouth to speak, Chongzhen patted it, and spoke again: "Businessmen pursue profits, for nature, to protect their families, and for filial piety." I don't blame you at all, Datong City has you, you have avoided meaningless killing, you have done a good job. ”

"This time, I will tell you the truth, the south of the Huai River is still in my hands, and the Ming Dynasty has not yet reached the point of defeat. I don't want your family background, as long as you Sun Xuanhuai has a sincere word, can you help me to let the people of Datong and the desperate soldiers on the front line have food, clothing, and weapons to kill the enemy? ”

The shopping mall is criss-crossed, and Sun Xuanhuai, who is over fifty years old, is full of tears, and His Majesty has begged me to such a degree.

"Your Majesty, Sun Xuanhuai, a grass citizen, is willing to scatter all his family wealth to thank the emperor."

"With your words, I am very pleased, Sun Xuanhuai, are you willing to be an official? You see, this government is deserted, and it needs a person who does practical things to help run Datong government affairs, and I think you are very suitable. ”

Now that his sincerity has been opened, Sun Xuanhuai no longer shirks, sighed, and said, "I don't dare to ask for it." ”