In late July, the city of Beijing on a midsummer night was hot and windless, even in the palace hall, it was just as uncomfortable, there was a feeling of steaming everywhere, and the slightest movement was full of sweat and extremely uncomfortable.

Emperor Chongzhen was wearing a robe as thin as a cicada's wings at this time, and there were two copper basins beside him, which were full of ice cubes, but sitting in the imperial study, Emperor Chongzhen was still sweating like rain, so anxious that Wang Chengen stood next to him and kept shaking his fan.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was looking at the eight hundred miles sent by Sun Chuanting, and the military department mobilized the border troops of the six towns to rush to the aid of Tongguan, but only Xuanfu Town and Dongxie Town two armies killed all the way to Tongguan, and finally Xuanfu Town was wiped out outside Tongguan, and the main general Yang Guozhu was beheaded by thieves, and Dongxie Town suffered great losses, and entered Tongguan to assist in defense.

This kind of news made Emperor Chongzhen angry, the original huge rush to help, the government and the opposition were originally very excited, thinking that the battle of Tongguan will be the battle of Jinzhou, the battle of Kaifeng, another big victory, the situation in the world will be changed because of this, and it may even completely exterminate Li Zicheng's army of thieves and realize the elephant of Zhongxing!

But the reality slapped Emperor Chongzhen in the face, and four of the six towns were frightened by Li Zicheng's million-strong army, which made the subjects of the world look at the imperial court?

So Emperor Chongzhen immediately issued an edict to punish Wang Pu, Li Fuming, Ma Ke, and Tang Tong, and ordered people to call Hong Chengchou, the first assistant of the cabinet, and Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, overnight.

While waiting for the two, Emperor Chongzhen said worriedly: "Tongguan has been besieged by Li Zicheng for a long time, but Sun Chuanting can still send the news, what does this mean?" Li Zicheng made up his mind

Besiege but not attack, want to encircle and send reinforcements, or consume the court's money and food, and drag down the court! ”

Wang Chengen said: "Emperor, yesterday the Ministry of War also sent an excerpt, saying that several batches of money and grain sent to Tongguan before were actually delivered, and there were thieves and soldiers and horses following them along the way, but there was no looting, which shows that Li Chuang's heart is sinister!" ”

"Li Zicheng is so deliberate, the emperor must be guarded against"

Emperor Chongzhen said: "Now that Cao Bianjiao's troops have arrived at Tongguan, Sun Chuanting already has tens of thousands of elite soldiers in his hands, if he is ordered to go out of the pass to attack the thieves, he should be able to defeat Li Zicheng......"

Emperor Chongzhen said and spoke, he also felt that he was not confident enough, he had just killed the chief soldier of a town, and tens of thousands of elites in Xuanfu Town were all wiped out, and at this time he ordered Sun Chuanting to take the initiative to attack, is it really the right time?

But now knowing that Tongguan is besieged, the imperial court will continue to send money and grain over, the huge consumption of money and grain has made the treasury dry day by day, and Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, has also played several times, asking to mobilize reinforcements as soon as possible to rush to Tongguan, otherwise if the time is delayed, the money and food of the army will be cut off, and the court will really have no chance of winning at all.

"Could it be that Li Zicheng knows that the imperial court is difficult, and all the deliberately surrounding it without fighting, consuming the money and grain of the imperial court?"

Emperor Chongzhen didn't believe that Li Zicheng could have such a strategy, and Li Zicheng's subordinates would not have such a visionary talent, and they were just entangled in their hearts, whether to order Sun Chuanting to lead the troops to attack.

At this moment, Hong Chengchou and Chen Xinjia rushed to the imperial study, Emperor Chongzhen didn't care about letting the two salute, and directly handed over Sun Chuanting's recital to the two to circulate, and then asked: "I want to order Sun Chuanting and Cao Bianjiao to lead their troops out of Tongguan and take the initiative to join Li Zicheng."

The decisive battle of the ministry in order to settle the battle in the first battle, what do the two Aiqing think? ”

Chen Xinjia hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, you must not, the morale of the Tongguan garrison is low at the moment, and it has just been defeated, at this time, Sun Chuanting's troops are forced to attack, and their army will be defeated!" ”

Emperor Chongzhen's face was displeased, and he looked at Hong Chengchou.

Hong Chengchou said: "Your Majesty, the minister thought that Sun Chuanting and Cao Bianjiao should be ordered to continue to defend Tongguan, with tens of thousands of elites under the command of the two, plus the money and grain that were delivered one after another, it would not be a problem to defend Tongguan. ”

"At the same time, the imperial court should mobilize reinforcements again, and after the army is assembled, they will go to Tongguan to rescue together, so that they can attack inside and outside, gather heavy troops to fight with Li Zicheng's troops and Tongguan area, and they can break millions of thieves!"

Emperor Chongzhen said: "Ma Ke, Tang Tong, Wang Pu, and Li Fuming kept dispatching orders, so that the entire army of Xuanfu Town was wiped out, and the chief military officer Yang Guozhu died. I have issued an edict to deprive the four of them of their titles, remove them from the title of general, order them to return their general seals, and order them to return to their respective feudal towns to garrison, thinking that it will be effective. ”

"At present, the soldiers and horses of these four towns cannot be counted on, and the slaves and thieves are also ready to move recently, so the elites of the towns in Liaodong cannot be mobilized. Although there are many soldiers and horses in the south of the Yangtze River, the combat power is sparse, and it is not easy for the soldiers and horses of various departments to defend along the Yangtze River and prevent the thieves and horses from going south across the Yangtze River. ”

Hong Chengchou sighed in his heart, now that the commanders of the various places are like separating themselves, the imperial court still has to do its best to supply money and food, so as not to defect to the enemy and rebel. The actions of Wang Pu, Li Fuming, Ma Ke, and Tang Tong have become rebellious, but the imperial court can only use such means as reducing their titles and titles

Punishment, there are no substantive measures at all, and in the long run, it will be more difficult for soldiers to be mobilized in various places.

Then Hong Chengchou suppressed the worry in his heart and said, "Your Majesty, the minister recommends Liu Yan, the governor of Shandong, to lead his troops to fight!" Now Liu Yan, the governor of Shandong, has implemented a new policy at the local level, reorganized all the soldiers and horses in Shandong, and added tens of thousands of elite garrisons under his command, which is strong and will definitely be able to defeat Li Zicheng's thieves. ”

Chen Xinjia saw that Hong Chengchou had opened his head, and also arched his hand and said, "The minister seconded the proposal!" Liu Yan's troops are well-fed and have strong combat power, and they will definitely be able to relieve the siege of Tongguan. As long as Li Zicheng's troops are eliminated, the war in the pass can be completely quelled, and the imperial court can use several years to recuperate, and then organize and train new troops throughout the country, and when the military strength of the country and the dynasty is strong, His Majesty can send a general to lead the army out of the customs and completely recover Liaodong! ”

Emperor Chongzhen saw that the two of them joined forces to protect Liu Yan to fight, even if the two of them said that the sky was falling, he was still very dissatisfied in his heart, and said: "The death of the King of Han, I have not strictly investigated, do you dare to say that Liu Yan can get rid of it?" Isn't it too child's play to have to trust me with state affairs now! ”

"He Liu Yan exterminated Li Zicheng in the future, how can I reward him? Is it you Chen Xinjia who gave up the secretary of the military department, or did you Hong Chengchou give up the first assistant of the cabinet? Do you want Liu Yan to be outside Desheng's gate and threaten me again! ”

Hong Chengchou also turned his heart at this time, and now there was really no one else available except Liu Yan, so he said: "Your Majesty think twice, the matter of the King of Han has no evidence, only the impeachment of the King of Shandong, which doesn't mean anything." Now Liu Yan is implementing new policies in various parts of Shandong, and the people have benefited from it, but the vassal kings of Shandong have suffered a big loss, and they hold a grudge

Heart, it is also possible to attach the death of King Han to Liu Yan. ”

"Really?"

Emperor Chongzhen said: "What kind of new policy is Liu Yan implementing? He, the governor of Shandong, did not consult the imperial court and did not play to me, and privately implemented a new policy in Shandong, what did he want! Could it be that Shandong is his Liu Yan's Shandong? ”

Hong Chengchou said: "Liu Yan's move is indeed inappropriate, but his heart is for the public, and the minister can guarantee this." At present, the war in Tongguan is urgent, and the imperial court is short of money and food, His Majesty should make a decision as soon as possible and order Liu Yan to mobilize troops and horses to rescue as soon as possible. ”

Chen Xinjia said: "Your Majesty, the minister has already calculated that the eight battalions of the new army under Liu Yan's department only need to dispatch six battalions, and the imperial court can raise money and food for Liu Yan's department for three months. In the opinion of the minister, this is already the last chance, if His Majesty hesitates and delays for more than a month, then the imperial court may not even be able to raise enough money and food, and it will be impossible to recruit Liu Yanbu at that time. ”

Although Hong Chengchou and Chen Xinjia are both fighting in the defense of Liu Yan's department, Emperor Chongzhen did not waver at all, at this time in Emperor Chongzhen's view, Liu Yan is already a big existence, and Shandong has also become Liu Yan's world, no longer owned by the imperial court.

If Liu Yan makes new contributions in the future, what official position should the imperial court give Liu Yan? At that time, I am afraid that this court will have to rely on Liu Yan to live!

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen's heart had already regretted the promotion of Liu Yan to the governor of Shandong, if Liu Yan had fought outside the Desheng Gate, and his emperor had withstood the pressure, maybe today's situation would not be like this!

So Emperor Chongzhen said coldly: "I am rich in the Ming Dynasty

Sihai, is it impossible to quell the rebellion of the thieves without Liu Yan? Could it be that Sun Chuanting is not as good as Liu Yan, and Cao Bianjiao is not as good as Liu Yan? ”

"Your Majesty!"

"Enough!"

Emperor Chongzhen got up and said: "Proposed edict: order Sun Chuanting's department to step up drills, within a month limit, and rectify the soldiers and horses to go out of the customs to exterminate Li Zicheng!" ”

After speaking, Emperor Chongzhen brushed his sleeves and left, and Wang Chengen hurriedly followed.

Hong Chengchou sighed and stood in place with his brows furrowed. And Chen Xinjia said anxiously: "How can this be good, this edict, Sun Baigu (Sun Chuanting's name Baigu) and Cao Bianjiao will definitely die, and once Tongguan is lost, half of the northwest will no longer be owned by the country!" ”

Hong Chengchou said: "Now it seems that there is no way! ”

Chen Xinjia said: "Ge Lao, I have an idea. ”

"Huh?"

Hong Chengchou asked differently: "Tell me quickly, what is the idea?" ”

Chen Xinjia looked around and made sure that there were only two people left in the imperial study, so he leaned into Hong Chengchou's ear and whispered: "I gave Liu Yan an order in the name of the Ministry of War, ordering him to raise money and food to go to Tongguan to help, and the cost of the expenses will be reimbursed by the imperial court in the future." Then the elder went directly through the process in the cabinet, stayed in the middle for the time being, and brought it to Liu Yan to lead the troops to Tongguan, and then reported to His Majesty Zhu for approval. ”

Hong Chengchou's eyes widened, and he said angrily: "You are looking for death!" ”

Who knew that Chen Xinjia suddenly said righteously at this time: "If the elder is afraid, I will bear this matter alone, and when the time comes, whether to kill the nine clans or exile thousands of miles, I will admit it!" ”

Hong Chengchou greeted all the women of Chen Xinjia's family in his heart, he Chen Xinjia is the secretary of the military department, and he lost Tongguan and lost

In the northwest, Emperor Chongzhen will definitely ask Chen Xinjia for the crime, and Emperor Chongzhen will not pay attention to the reason for Sun Chuanting's defeat!

So Chen Xinjia came up with this desperate plan and dragged Hong Chengchou and Liu Yan to death together.

Hong Chengchou really wants to do this, not only will Liu Yan be charged with supporting the army and acting recklessly, but no matter how strong he is, he will become a rat crossing the street, Hong Chengchou, the first assistant of the cabinet, will definitely do it, and he will be imprisoned for questioning at least and killed and robbed his home.

To put it bluntly, Chen Xinjia is gambling, as long as Hong Chengchou and Liu Yan agree, and defeat Li Zicheng and quell the thief rebellion.

The bet was won, Emperor Chongzhen was happy and happy, Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, should be the first merit, and he will just wait for the cabinet to enter the cabinet in the future.

lost the bet, anyway, there is Hong Chengchou, the first assistant of the cabinet, and Liu Yan, the governor of Shandong, who will be buried together, and Chen Xinjia's death is not unjust.

At this time, Hong Chengchou said coldly: "I don't think this matter needs to go through the cabinet, just do what the soldiers want to do directly, I don't hear it, don't inform the cabinet!" ”

After speaking, Hong Chengchou turned around and left, leaving Chen Xinjia in place with a hideous face.