Night often casts a veil of mystery and horror over the otherwise majestic palace.

Under the guidance of the eunuch carrying the palace lamp, Yang Sichang walked through the dim palace road, crossed the heavy palace gates, passed through countless guards, and finally came to the front of the pavilion gate of the Xinuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace.

Natural disasters have been repeated for many years, taxes are difficult to collect, and the household department is empty, and even Yu Yin eats grain, and there is no money left at all.

After years of consumption, the money in the treasury is also extremely scarce, and before it is collected, every money is already useful.

Therefore, for the use of the palace, Chongzhen also ordered to save if it can be saved, and the palace lights are not bright because of this, and even the palace lights are simply stopped in many places and are not used.

On weekdays, the consumption of Chongzhen's clothes is also save, and it is very thrifty.

In the last few years of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen even asked the palace people to take out the utensils in the palace and sell them in order to prepare for military salaries......

Yang Sichang looked around at the cold palace pavilion, only to feel that something was blocked in his heart, like a knife cut.

Even if he has been in the palace countless times, every time he sees such a scene, he still can't help but feel sad.

It is said that the Son of Heaven is rich all over the world, but now, he was once reluctant to even count all the palace lamps in the palace.

The country is so poor......

Yang Sichang didn't wait long, the rumored eunuch had just entered the pavilion with the front foot, and Wang Chengen had already walked out of the warm pavilion and respectfully invited Yang Sichang into the warm pavilion.

"Aiqing, please take a seat."

As soon as he entered the warm pavilion, Chongzhen directly motioned for Yang Sichang to sit down.

"Thank you, Your Majesty cares."

Chongzhen's attitude was gentle, but Yang Sichang did not forget the courtesy of the monarch and ministers, and still saluted Chongzhen respectfully first, and then slowly sat down.

Looking at Yang Sichang, Chongzhen felt that the burden on his shoulders was a little lighter.

Every time he sees Yang Sichang, he can feel very relieved.

Now that the rebellion in the Guannai has been eliminated, the military department is in order, and the court is no longer as chaotic as a few years ago, these are the achievements of Yang Sichang since he took office.

It's just that thinking of the current crisis, Chongzhen's brows that had just stretched out couldn't help frowning again.

At the beginning, Liu Yuliang asked himself to supervise the military situation, which made him feel quite relieved.

But after going for many days, he was defenseless, and after leading the army into Hejian Mansion, it seemed that he could not control his subordinates, which caused many complaints from the surrounding states and counties.

Chongzhen's face was even worse, and now the battle situation was going down, and the Qing army drove straight in, destroying the city, and capturing the people and plundering the land.

On paper, there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers in each town, but it is just a joke, the Qing army is like a bamboo, invincible, as if entering a no-man's land!

The people outside the city suffered from the wind and snow, and he was the Son of Heaven and the emperor.

But he could only watch the cities fall one after another, and the states and counties everywhere were destroyed, but he couldn't come up with any way.

As a result of the repeated unrest, displaced victims gathered outside Beijing, and as time went on, more and more people poured into Beijing.

The country is in a difficult situation, the household department is empty, and even the food and salary of the battalions in the towns and towns are difficult to supply, and what can be used to help the victims.

Every day and every night, a large number of people are freezing and starving to death in the wind and snow, and he has nothing to do.

The music in his hand was as light as silk, but Chongzhen felt like a thousand jun.

At the beginning of his succession, the country was already crumbling, internal and external troubles, the court was constantly in the middle of the situation, the internal provinces of Shaanxi were full of natural disasters, and the nine sides were rampant.

He thought that as long as he could be diligent and attentive, he would be able to save the situation and rejuvenate the country.

A pro-virtuous minister, a far villain, an understatement in the book, but he spent twelve years not being able to read it.

What kind of courtier is a virtuous minister, and what kind of courtier is a villain?

Flipping through the history books, looking at the names one by one in the history books, he could recognize them.

But being on the throne, sitting in the main hall, and looking at the divided ministers below, it is really difficult to distinguish.

He originally thought that Yuan Chonghuan was, but when he played on the platform, Yuan Chonghuan, who was full of righteousness and swore to him that he would be in peace for five years, was not.

Since Yuan Chonghuan took office in Guanning, the household department has transferred military salaries for him, the Ministry of Industry has supplied equipment for a period of time, the officials have hired personnel, and the military department has transferred troops and selected generals, and all internal and external affairs have been fully cooperated.

But in exchange for what?

In exchange, at the end of the second year, Jiannu came to the city of Beijing!

In exchange, he killed Mao Wenlong and destroyed the real Great Wall of Liaodong!

In exchange for Liaodong, which is gradually losing control, in exchange for Dongyu, who is like a tiger!

Those corrupt Confucians who are full of benevolence, righteousness and morality, those ministers who are full of righteous words, and those Qingliu who talk wantonly regardless of reality, are they really virtuous ministers?

Chongzhen lowered his eyes, his eyes full of tiredness.

Since the beginning of his tenure, he has been diligent in political affairs, and everything is required of himself according to the standards of the sages and sons of heaven in the mouths of those ministers.

He killed Wei Zhongxian, he withdrew the mine supervisor, withdrew the tax collector, and withdrew the Jinyi guard.

After the eunuch party was removed, the court Qing praised and said: All are in the dynasty.

All are in the ascendancy? All are in the ascendancy!

Since it is the Zhongzheng Ying Dynasty, since the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty are all positive, why are the people in Shaanxi, Henan and other places struggling to make a living, why are the border troubles on the nine sides becoming more and more intense, and why is the situation of the Ming Dynasty declining!

Since his brother's death, this has been his succession to the throne for twelve years.

For twelve years, all his efforts have been completely useless.

Localities, provinces, states, governments, countries, the world, everything is getting worse and worse.

Chongzhen raised his hand and rubbed his swollen and sore temples, too many chaotic thoughts were accumulated in his heart, making him feel more and more exhausted, and a feeling of powerlessness was deeply felt in his heart.

"Jinan ......"

Chongzhen put down the note presented by Sun Chuanting in his hand, sighed lightly, and was silent for a while before asking.

"How's it going over there?"

Yang Sichang sat in the lower position, he had been sitting down for a while, but Chongzhen didn't speak, so naturally he wouldn't say it first.

"Back to Your Majesty......"

Yang Sichang's eyes flickered, and he paused for a moment before replying.

"The defeat of the Guanning army in Linqing was too sudden, and the soldiers of Shandong Prefecture were trapped in Dezhou and could not be saved, so they marched on two roads, combined 60,000 troops, and besieged Jinan City."

Yang Sichang's voice was low, and the resentment in his heart was even deeper.

The battle of Jiazhuang refused to rush to help, and the battle of Linqing did not dare to fight, and he didn't even hold out for a day, leaving him little time to react.

Lu Xiangsheng relied on the remnants of the 9,000 soldiers who lacked food and clothing, and even owed money for half a year, and he could fight with the 40,000 Qing army in Jiazhuang, and even kill the enemy.

He raised the potential Linqing City to be fed and clothed, and with the Guanning army, which was supported by millions of silver every year, more than 20,000 people, he couldn't hold on even for a day?

Waste with insufficient success and more than failure!

Yang Sichang was really completely disappointed with Gao Qiqian, and he originally thought that Gao Qiqian's approval of his strategy and strategy to avoid war was because Gao Qiqian also had some political vision.

But now it seems that Gao Qiqian simply does not understand military politics at all, has an empty name, has no political and strategic vision, and is just greedy for life and afraid of death.

A trace of killing intent flashed in the depths of Yang Sichang's eyes, and Gao Qiqian's defeat disrupted everything he had originally planned.

Also, the combat power of the Ning army is really outrageous.

Hou Gongji, the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan, was quickly defeated in Quzhou, so that the door to the Daimyo's Mansion was wide open.

Yang Sichang knew very well whether the Guan Ning army could fight or not, and the Guan Ning army could fight, but they didn't want to fight.

Hou Gongji, as the chief soldier of Shanhaiguan Town, has many elite horsemen under his command, and Quzhou City can rely on, how could he be defeated so quickly?

After the defeat, thousands of cavalry were all gone, and they sent people to send orders to find them, but thousands of people couldn't even find their shadows, and now they don't know where he is Hou Gongji.

Is it when he Yang Sichang is stupid, or when he Yang Sichang is stupid?

"Guanning ......"

Yang Sichang silently recited Guan Ning in his heart.

Liaodong has been out of control for a long time, and for a long time huge Liaodong has been transported to the northeast of the empire, where an extremely ugly monster has been raised.

Yuan Chonghuan took office in Guanning, and after the Liao people guarded the Liao land and raised the Liao people with the Liao soil, Liaodong became more and more out of control.

On the third day of Yuan Chonghuan's imprisonment in the second year of Chongzhen, Guan Ningjun did not respect the edict and directly evacuated Beijing to return to Liaodong, and at that time the Dongyu army was still on the outskirts of Beijing.

Then the Donglu army took the opportunity to attack again, and Man Gui led the lone army to fight with the Donglu in Yongdingmen, and finally had no choice but to be defeated and died, so that in the later period, the Donglu army plundered hundreds of miles of land, but there was no restraint.

Yang Sichang's eyes were slightly cold, the reason why he wanted to negotiate peace was precisely because he clearly knew that the Guanning Army was unreliable, and Jizhou Town was extremely close to Liaodong, and in fact, it was also greatly influenced by the Guanning Group.

Therefore, he wanted to cultivate a force that he could control, a new army that could fight, and after pacifying the Guannei, he would concentrate on external warfare, and by the way, completely solve the camps and towns of Liaodong and Jizhou, which already had the momentum of warlords.

Yang Sichang's eyes were cold, and he replied in a deep voice.

"Jinan City is the capital of a province, there are hundreds of thousands of people in the city, and it is also the fiefdom of King De, so it must be saved."

"The military department has issued an order, and the deputy chief soldier Zu Kuan will lead the soldiers and horses of the headquarters to gallop south on the same day."

"At the same time, Gao Qiqian was ordered to collect the Guanning army, and Sun Chuanting led the Shaanxi army to coordinate and rescue to relieve the siege of Jinan."

Jinan City must be saved, even if it can't be saved.

King De is in Jinan, if he doesn't save it, he will lose his relatives, Yang Sichang can't bear this crime, and no one can carry it.

However, how to rescue this is something to pay attention to, and you can make a fuss.

As long as people can see that there is an intention to rescue, it can be regarded as rescue.

If it is not saved, it is not a big problem, and the responsibility for the fall of the clan will be borne by someone when the time comes.

Between the flow of his eyes, Yang Sichang's mind flashed the faces of many people for a moment.

Jiazhuang was extremely fortunate to be able to draw the first battle, and Sun Chuanting's soldiers did not have the ability to run such a long distance again, nor did they have the ability to force as many as 60,000 Qing troops to feel in danger and withdraw from the siege.

The fall of Jinan is almost a foregone conclusion, and since it is a foregone conclusion, what needs to be considered is naturally how to make the fall of Jinan less lossy, and at the same time whether it can be considered whether it can benefit from it.

The two towns of Guanning have been out of control for a long time, this time Jinan fell, and Shandong suffered from poison, although the losses caused were huge, but it was also possible to make a fuss from this to weaken the authority of the two towns of Guanning.

Zhending and Jiazhuang won one and lost one in the two battles, which has proved many things, Shaanxi soldiers can fight, and the Xuanda army is brave.

The dynasty can rely on not only Liaodong and Jizhou as before.

At this time, on the grounds of the defeat of the army and the fall of the domain, even if the Guanning group is unwilling, they must swallow the bitter fruit they have created.

Yang Sichang's eyes were ordinary, and he already had a strategy in his mind in an instant.

The arrogance of the two towns of Guanning is increasing day by day, and they even listened to the tune and did not listen to the propaganda for a time.

What the truth is on Gao Qiqian's side, he doesn't know yet.

Whether Gao Qiqian didn't want to go, or Guan Ningjun didn't want to go.

In this incident, it is necessary to take tough measures, kill chickens and monkeys, knock on the mountain and shock the tiger, and control Jiliao.

The rewards and punishments are not clear, and they are not enough to convince the people.

If you don't reward your merits, you will be chilled by the heroes.

If there is no punishment, it will lead the group to follow suit, and the court will lose its authority.

You can't govern the army without authority, and you can't govern the country without authority!

"Jinan...... But there is still ...... to save it."

Chongzhen raised his head, his eyes were full of hope, he knew that Jinan was besieged by the Qing army, but he was still unwilling to let go of the expectations in his heart.

"There are nearly 3,000 soldiers in Jinan City, if you gather to assist in the defense of the people, there can be tens of thousands of people, Jinan City is strong, if it is dispatched, Dongyu will not be able to conquer the city."

"Just defend a little, and when reinforcements arrive, the siege of Jinan can be solved."

Yang Sichang told Chongzhen that Dongyu had not been able to conquer the city, but in fact, he had already given up Jinan in his heart.

Although he had urgently ordered the dispatch of reinforcements from various state capitals to aid Jinan, Yang Sichang knew very well that this was just a drop in the bucket.

Calculate the time, I am afraid that the Qing army has surrounded Jinan for two days now, and the battle of Jinan has already broken out.

However, to answer Chongzhen, it is naturally impossible to directly say that Jinan is about to fall.

And what he said was not false.

As long as reinforcements arrive, the siege of Jinan can indeed be solved.

But in reality, how could reinforcements arrive.

The military department issued urgent orders one after another, but after Zu Kuan led the troops south and entered Jinan Mansion, he hesitated and looked for various reasons.

And Guan Ningjun is still wandering around Linqing for a generation, and he is also looking for a reason to prevaricate.

Sun Chuanting replied that he was willing to help, but he clearly said that it was difficult to fight alone.

However, even if Sun Chuanting dared to fight, Yang Sichang would not choose to let Sun Chuanting fight alone.

The soldiers under Sun Chuanting's command can fight, and they must be preserved, and now this situation is definitely put into Jinan and there is no return.

Liu Yuliang still has 20,000 or 30,000 troops to mobilize, but Liu Yuliang is still in Baoding Mansion at this time, and the army is also in Baoding Mansion, and far water can't save the fire.

Yang Sichang's words made the hope in Chongzhen's eyes even worse, and asked.

"Who is in charge of Jinan City now?"

"Shandong Zuobu political envoy, Zhang Bingwen."

I'm sorry, I'm not feeling well, I didn't hold it up and said yes, I'm trying to keep it updated these days, and then slowly make up for it.

(End of chapter)