Since the end of the battle of Loess Ridge, the main forces of the Qing army began to assemble in the area of Rufeng Mountain, in addition to the scouts of the Qing army's various flags are still constantly harassing, wandering in Jinzhou, Loess Ridge, Songshan and other places, there is no trace of the main force of the Qing army.

The Ming army also began to rest, Hong Chengchou garrisoned Loess Ridge with soldiers and horses from Shanxi Town, Shanhaiguan Town, and Miyun Town, and then led the rest of the towns to arrive at Jinzhou City and station. 33

As for the defeated troops in Jizhou Town, after a period of rectification, they were temporarily assigned to Shanxi Town, Miyun Town, and Shanhaiguan Town, which could be regarded as supplementing part of the troops of these three military towns with the most serious losses in troops.

In this regard, Li Fuming, Tang Tong, and Ma Ke were all happy, and Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, Wu Sangui and others were envious.

Liu Yan didn't feel anything about it, those defeated soldiers and soldiers, even if they gave money to themselves, they wouldn't want it.

At this time, the Ming army and the Qing army were basically bounded by the Loess Ridge and the Jinzhou City line, and the two sides continued to send night scouts and scouts for small-scale confrontations, but there was no large-scale troop mobilization. The Jinzhou battlefield was in a stalemate.

Before Hong Chengchou moved to Jinzhou City, he sent a fast horse to send the good news to the Beijing Division, and Ma Shaoyu, Zhang Ruoqi and others also sent it to the Beijing Division in an expedited manner of 800 miles.

From Jinzhou all the way to the south, through Shanhaiguan, and then to Beijing City, the post stations on this road are quite complete, so the good news is sent out very smoothly, on the fifth day of the first month of July, the good news and the twists and turns of the people are almost sent to the city before and after.

The fast horses of the brigade that sent the good news all had Hong Chengchou's instructions, and after everyone rode into Beijing City, they shouted all the way: "Liaodong Loess Ridge victory!" The officers and soldiers inflicted heavy losses on the slaves and thieves, beheading more than 13,500 people, and the siege of Jinzhou has been lifted! ”

As the fast horse rushed all the way to the Forbidden City, the entire Jingshi was boiling, and when Wang Chengen came to the imperial study with the good news and everyone's recital in his hand, he was so excited that he almost fell to the ground, and then reported to Emperor Chongzhen with a crying voice.

"What!"

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen only felt that his blood was surging, and a burst of Venus flashed in front of him, and he almost fainted to the ground, but Wang Chengen hurriedly ran over to support him.

"Is this true? More than 13,500 decapitations? ”

"Hooray, it's true! The twists and turns of the two prison guards can confirm each other, and it is absolutely true! ”

"Haha! Ancestors bless, God bless me Ming! ”

Then Emperor Chongzhen excitedly picked up the good news, and the crowd's recital turned over the looks, and when he saw the highlights, he couldn't help but praise the knots. Although the good news and everyone's recital all mentioned Bai Guangen's death in battle and the rout of Jizhou Town, but under so many beheadings, these losses were also brushed aside, and even Emperor Chongzhen only sighed that Bai Guangen was martyred in battle and his loyalty was commendable, and he did not lose his interest because of this.

Then Emperor Chongzhen happily issued an edict to read the good news to the Manchu Dynasty civil and military in the early court tomorrow.

To the morning of the next day, only to see the civil and military officials all wearing auspicious clothes, and so on after Xuanjie, the official of Honglu Temple made a speech, each official performed five bows and three kowtows, and then the Hanlin Academy wrote an article, Taichang Temple did the sacrifice, that is, sent the official to recommend the suburban temple, and the big line of sacrifice to celebrate the ceremony.

Outside the palace, the people in the capital division also set off firecrackers and gathered people to celebrate, and the prestige of the new army in Qinglai Town also spread throughout the entire Beijing division and beyond.

Since Hong Chengchou led his troops out of Shanhaiguan to fight, Emperor Chongzhen has been sleepless almost every day, even if bad news comes one day, the more than 200,000 elites of the Ming Dynasty will be destroyed.

But now the good news is coming, although the main force of the slave army is still there, but the siege of Jinzhou has been lifted, and the army has also won the first battle, which shows that this victory is very large, and Emperor Chongzhen then put his mind at ease.

So Emperor Chongzhen summoned Zhang Sizhi, the first assistant of the cabinet, and Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, to enter the palace and prepare to discuss the matter of rewarding the front-line soldiers.

When the two of them came to the imperial study, they saw that Emperor Chongzhen was still looking through Hong Chengchou's good news, and there were Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi's recitals at hand.

Seeing the two of them coming in, Emperor Chongzhen said with a spring breeze on his face: "The battle of Jinzhou is related to the fortune of my Ming Dynasty, and I have always been worried in my heart. Now the governor of Jiliao, Hong Chengchou, led the elite blood war slaves and thieves in each town, and won the first battle, and beheaded more than 13,500 levels, which is the biggest victory since the Liao incident, it can be seen that the battle of Jinzhou is promising, and my Ming Dynasty's chances of victory are great! ”

Zhang Sizhi saw that Emperor Chongzhen was happy, and naturally he was also a compliment, and said loudly: "The victory of this battle flag is the benevolence and virtue of Your Majesty to the world, so the soldiers of the army are all moving forward bravely, which is why today's victory is achieved!" ”

Emperor Chongzhen was really happy today, and after listening to Zhang Sizhi's words, he couldn't help laughing.

Chen Xinjia glanced at Zhang Sizhi quietly, and was very uninterested in Zhang Sizhi in his heart, the position of the first assistant of the cabinet was what he expected, but now he is entrenched by Zhang Sizhi, and he has always been hostile to him in his heart.

Now that Liaodong has won a great victory, this should have been his own military department Shangshu in the limelight, but he was preempted by Zhang Sizhi, which is really hateful!

So Chen Xinjia stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the soldiers of the army have won the first battle, and the imperial court should reward the meritorious soldiers as soon as possible, so as to inspire the hearts of the soldiers in all towns, and urge the soldiers of the army to make persistent efforts and make new contributions to the country!" ”

"Well, it should be."

Zhang Sizhi's eyes flashed, and he said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that this matter should be cautious, and the imperial court should first send the minister to Liaodong to verify the authenticity of the military merits, as well as the specific situation, and then return to Beijing to report, so as to reward the meritorious soldiers, so as to avoid mistakes, and be generous." ”

Chen Xinjia suddenly said angrily: "If you don't reward your merits, wouldn't it chill the heart of the soldiers in front of you to serve the country?" In such a national war, there is Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, and Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi, the two supervising troops, will there be anyone who lies about the military situation? ”

Zhang Sizhi only insisted on investigating the military merits first, and then rewarding the soldiers, and advocated that the matter of the reward should be discussed in the court, and then the courtiers would draw up a charter, slowly discuss and properly deal with it, which is the right way.

Chen Xinjia laughed angrily and said loudly: "Slowly discuss? When those people in the DPRK and China who can only sell their fame and reputation discuss a plan, it is estimated that the war in Liaodong will be over! ”

Zhang Sizhi said lightly: "That's not right, it's good to reward each ministry for meritorious service at one time, so as not to keep the court busy back and forth." ”

Chen Xinjia was so angry that he almost didn't catch his breath, and Emperor Chongzhen was also frowning, no matter what happened, these ministers had to fight, and they didn't care about the priority of things. At the same time, Emperor Chongzhen was also quite dissatisfied with Zhang Sizhi, since he took office as the first assistant, he did nothing in government affairs, and there was no authority of the first assistant, and there were repeated mistakes in the affairs of the court and China, which made Emperor Chongzhen annoyed.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen thought of Yang Sichang again, and said secretly: "If Yang Qing is still here, how good it would be." ”

Then Emperor Chongzhen said: "Since the matter of the army's reward cannot be decided, let's discuss the matter of Bai Guangen first." The general of the dynasty was killed, and the imperial court must pay attention to the compensation, so as not to chill the hearts of the front-line soldiers, this matter cannot be disputed, and there must be a result today. ”

Emperor Chongzhen also knew that he could only put pressure on Zhang Sizhi and others from time to time, and these ministers would do something practical.

Zhang Sizhi pondered for a while, and said: "Your Majesty is wise, Bai Guangen died on the spot, bravely follow the country, the meaning of the cabinet is to imitate the example of Jin Guofeng and He Huchen, and posthumously present him as a special Ronglu doctor, the governor of the left capital, give sacrifices and burials, let people build a shrine, add the prince Shaobao, and the command of Shiyin!" ”

Emperor Chongzhen nodded in agreement, this Zhang Sizhi finally said something useful. However, Emperor Chongzhen seemed to be a little unsatisfied, and added: "If you give it another product for the last three generations, when its coffin is brought back, you can make the officials along the road pay respects, and I want all the people in the world to know that those who died for the country will not forget it a little." ”

Zhang Sizhi and Chen Xinjia bowed one after another, and they inevitably praised again.

The smile on Emperor Chongzhen's face never broke, and he said to Chen Xinjia: "The war in Liaodong is going well, and Aiqing, the secretary of the military department, is naturally indispensable, and I will not forget it." It's just that the war is not over yet, Aiqing has to make persistent efforts, and she must not slack off! ”

"Minister, dare to disobey your orders!"

At this moment, a eunuch outside the main hall looked inward with an anxious face, Wang Chengen hurriedly went out when he saw this, and took a copy of the 800-mile expedited from the eunuch's hand, which read: The war in Henan is corrupted, please ask the court to send reinforcements.

Wang Chengen changed color in shock, and ran quickly towards Emperor Chongzhen on the dragon chair, but when he ran, he accidentally tripped under his feet, and he stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

Emperor Chongzhen suddenly became nervous when he saw this, all kinds of bad news have been coming to the throne for many years, Wang Chengen's appearance is simply too familiar, I don't know what happened to me!

"Your Majesty!"

Emperor Chongzhen didn't wait for Wang Chengen to finish speaking, he directly grabbed the chapter, and when he saw the handwriting on the cover, the smile on his face instantly dissipated.

Chen Xinjia and Zhang Sizhi also beat straight in their hearts, watching Emperor Chongzhen frown and looking at the concerto, both of them were guessing what was going on.

After a while, Emperor Chongzhen slammed the chapter on the table and said angrily: "You all take a look! Lu Xiangsheng is known as a fierce general, but he was defeated by Li Zicheng in Dazhou Mountain in Kaifeng Mansion, and his troops were lost! ”

Chen Xinjia was taken aback when he heard this, and hurriedly stepped forward to check the recital.

Just half a month ago, Li Zicheng made a feint to attack Kaifeng Mansion with a group of soldiers and horses, attracting Lu Xiangsheng to gallop to help, and Lu Xiangsheng did not lose to ensure Kaifeng Mansion, and gathered the Governor Battalion, Fubiao Battalion, and soldiers and horses from all over Henan, a total of more than 40,000 people gathered in Kaifeng Mansion.

However, Li Zicheng led hundreds of thousands of main forces to Luoyang, and at this time only Lu Xiangsheng's department was in Henan, and the rest of the Ming army had been defeated one after another. Lu Xiangsheng had no choice but to lead his troops to rush to the direction of Luoyang to help, and when passing through the Great Zhou Mountain, he was surrounded by Liu Zongmin, Li Dingguo, Hao Shaoqi and other troops of more than 200,000 troops, and the two sides immediately launched a bloody battle.

Although Lu Xiangsheng's troops were strong, they were outnumbered after all, and in the end, the Fubiao battalion led by General Xu Tonghui was annihilated, and Xu Tonghui died in battle. The superintendent battalion was also lost by more than half, and Lu Xiangsheng and Lu Huaiying led their troops to withdraw to Kaifeng City in embarrassment.

As for the soldiers and horses of the Ming army in various parts of Henan, they were all defeated by the army of thieves, and at this time, the strength of the Ming army in Henan was only more than 4,000 people left in the newly defeated Dubiao battalion, and the situation was very critical!

After Chen Xinjia read it, he only felt that he had lost half of his three souls and six spirits, if Henan was lost, then the vassal kings in Kaifeng City and Luoyang City would be finished, and when the time came, it would be light for him to lose his official position and go to prison, with the temper of Emperor Chongzhen, how could he sentence a person to destroy the three clans.

"Your Majesty!"

Chen Xinjia immediately said loudly: "The ministers are invited, immediately send troops and horses from the Liaodong army to the south and gallop to help Lu Xiangsheng's department!" ”

"Which troop to draw?"

"The new army of Qinglai Town, Liu Yan's department!"

Before Emperor Chongzhen could speak, Zhang Sizhi stood up and retorted: "Now that the war in Liaodong has just improved, we will send a strong army to the south, if our army suffers a defeat because of this, who will bear this responsibility?" ”

Chen Xinjia already had a plan, and he ignored Zhang Sizhi's questions, and said directly to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, Liu Yan's troops are strong, and there are tens of thousands, so you can order him to divide his troops, leave a group of soldiers and horses to continue to sit in Liaodong, and let Liu Yan lead the main force south to aid Lu Xiangsheng, so that both sides can take care of the battlefield." ”

Emperor Chongzhen thought for a long time and said, "Let me think about it, I want to think about it." ”

Some people died, but not completely......