Chongzhen found an open space to sit cross-legged, leaning against the city wall and looking up at the sky, the Qing army's offensive lasted for several hours, until dawn in the early morning, the sky gradually brightened before the gold was withdrawn.

Wang Chengen carefully held the lunch box, followed by two household handymen holding the bedding in their arms, and the three of them went to the city with supplies and looked for Chongzhen's whereabouts.

"Long live you, you're hungry, the slave has brought you some food." Wang Chengen saw Chongzhen sitting in the corner, knelt in front of Chongzhen while greeting, and put the lunch box on the ground.

Chongzhen was covered with dust and blood, and his face was muddy and dark, if it weren't for the bright yellow mountain armor being conspicuous, it would be difficult to see at a glance. Looking at the food in the box, there were two meat and one vegetable plus a soup, and the white rice was used in a porcelain bowl, and the steaming heat came up.

"I don't have an appetite, so give them the food." Chongzhen pointed to the soldiers who could be seen everywhere in the city, resting.

"This.... Hooray, will you eat some? The slave and maid will go and prepare some for them. ”

"Don't talk nonsense, do what I say. Bring back the bedding as well, and if you have too much, send it to the wounded barn. Chongzhen's mind was still immersed in the fierce battle last night, so his tone was decisive, faintly revealing a sense of anger.

Wang Chengen was taken by the momentum, and with sincere fear, he picked up the lunch box, obediently distributed it to the guards in the city, and then left with the same frightened miscellaneous servants.

The soldiers were exhausted from fighting all night, and their eyelids drooped listlessly, when they suddenly heard that the emperor had given his food to everyone to share with him, and they were all happy.

Several leading officers came to thank them and were sent away by Chongzhen, which was not enough to eat enough for the two of them to have a full stomach, talking about what a great grace. But seeing the scene of all the soldiers gathering together and eating a bite by themselves, Chongzhen felt a little relieved.

Seeing the three of them slowly descending from the steps, Sun Xuanhuai, who was waiting under the city, hurriedly stepped forward to salute and asked, "Husband Wang, is Your Majesty okay?" ”

Wang Chengen couldn't help sighing, and said with a sad face: "Master Sun, let's do things according to the rules, long live the Lord and everything is fine." He didn't stop and walked away slowly.

Sun Xuanhuai saw that Wang's husband had a different expression but didn't ask much, he brought the people to come, and he made a special trip to deliver dry food and blankets to the guards in the city. After arranging things properly, Sun Xuanhuai went to meet Chongzhen alone.

"You're here."

"Your Majesty is sitting here, so it's easy to find Weichen." Sun Xuanhuai finished saluting and was sitting opposite, the two of them asked and answered one by one, and Sun Xuanhuai reported the current situation in the city and the operation of various places, and Chongzhen one by one.

"Where's the gentleman?" When talking about the stability of people's hearts, Chongzhen asked deliberately.

"Thanks to Your Majesty, none of the major families in the city have fled, and they are all willing to support Your Majesty's resistance to the captives. In the past two days, most of the grain stock has been donated, and even the families with each family have also taken out the nursing homes, saying that they want to increase the number of people for His Majesty. ”

Chongzhen nodded lightly after hearing this, and it may be true that he came to Datong to conform to the will of heaven. For him, the problems involving the "gentry and aristocracy" class are quite thorny, and it is troublesome to not have their money and food, and if you want to control them, it is completely impossible to just draw cakes and coerce with swords and soldiers.

Even the capital has been lost, how tempting can the painted cake be? As for the coercion of the knife soldiers, it is nothing more than a matter of sticking out and shrinking the head, forcing everyone to finish playing together.

Therefore, it is necessary to choose an "agent" to temporarily neutralize these problems for Chongzhen. Sun Xuanhuai, a gentleman, is the most suitable candidate, and he has the concept of "country" in mind, is practical and pragmatic, and is a rare talent.

Chongzhen adjusted his body slightly and said, "I owe them a lot!" But you also know that in this situation, I want to reward but can't. ”

"We wait for the errand, the upper is to repay the emperor's kindness, and the lower is to serve the imperial court, that's all." Sun Xuanhuai's words are categorical, no matter what other people think in their heads, the ass must not be crooked.

"Merit is not rewarded, and guilt is not punished, although Tang Yu cannot be transformed. I will not treat anyone who has contributed to the Ming Dynasty, Sun Xuanhuai, what do you think of the future? Speaking of which, Chongzhen changed the topic and alluded to military affairs.

Sun Xuanhuai immediately said that he could not answer, and implored His Majesty to solve his doubts.

"Datong or Shanxi, it must be untenable, everything I did in Datong was to better go south." Without waiting for Sun Xuanhuai to open his mouth to ask, Chongzhen spoke again: "As for how to go south, it is something I should consider, and after going south, it is something you should consider." I might as well make a deal with you first, if I get to the south, I will definitely kill a group, catch a group, and support a group. ”

"Your Majesty, what do you mean by killing a group, catching a group, and supporting a group?"

"In the future, you will know that I intend to let the Jin merchants who are willing to follow me replace the status of some Zhejiang merchants and Fujian merchants, and monopolize the royal maritime trade for me." After Chongzhen finished speaking, he silently looked at Sun Xuanhuai's expression.

Although the world is declining, but the legal orthodoxy of the great tomorrow's decision is still there, although this pie is really big, it is equivalent to binding all the Datong gentry to support themselves, as long as they can go south, there will be a hundredfold and thousand-fold return.

Merchants are very profitable, and even Sun Xuanhuai himself, when he tried to persuade others to stay, he had the idea of promising heavy profits under the pretense of the order of the Son of Heaven, because he was familiar with this four-character mantra.

Sun Xuanhuai did not speak, and solemnly bowed to Chongzhen three times, intending to thank the Jin merchant group behind him.

"Go and get busy, every soldier must take care of it, and don't let it go hungry or freeze." Chongzhen told him earnestly, and Sun Xuanhuai took the order and left.

Just when Chongzhen closed his eyes and recuperated, Sun Xuanhuai went and returned. When he came back, he carried a bunch of cakes in his left hand and a brown coarse cloth blanket on his right arm, handed it to Chongzhen and said, "Your Majesty, this is the standard in the army, and you also have one." ”

"Okay." Chongzhen took it, put the blanket on his legs, and ate the cake like the soldiers around him.

.......

"Doctor, help me, I'm dying."

"Save me first."

"Ah...... Uh....."

The wounded soldiers' shelter was littered with crimson cloth ribbons scattered everywhere. The beds were full, and the wounded soldiers sent in the follow-up could not be accommodated, so Song Xiance hurriedly called Lao Chen Tou and others and asked them to draw out the manpower to build two more rooms.

The chief medical officer of the army is surnamed Li, and his single name is a Xuanzi.

Li Xuanben walked among the wounded soldiers, and seemed a little helpless against those with deep wounds.

The medical department is inside and outside, what he is not good at is dealing with external injuries, he was framed by his colleagues at the beginning, and he was sent to the army as a medical officer.

"Lord Song, the lower officials have come to discuss something." Li Xuan finally mustered up the courage to find Song Xiance, who supervised the expansion.

"What's the matter? Eh, slow down, don't collapse. Song Xiance asked while directing the workers.

Li Xuan's expression was a little apprehensive: "Lord Song, this matter of wounded soldiers, it is really difficult for the subordinate officials to be competent, you see?" With that, he handed out a gold ingot from his sleeve. Song Xiance glanced at it, the weight of this gold ingot was really not small, and asked with a smile in his eyes, "What does this mean?" ”

"It's not a secret, the person sent in the second half of the night was too seriously injured, and the lower officials were really unable to treat it, if the above blamed it, please ask Lord Song to say a few kind words."

Song Xiance took the gold ingots and put them in his arms, and said, "You only care about the doctor, how much you can live depends on their own creation, Your Majesty will not blame." Li Xuan nodded in thanks, and then handed out another gold ingot.

"The piece just now is for the filial piety of the adults to eat tea, and this piece is a thank you gift for the adults."