A few days later, Tian Zhenbei, the deputy commander-in-chief, led the 6th Battalion of the garrison to Beijing and escorted Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui, and thousands of prisoners into the city, bringing Liu Yan's good news.

As the army marched into the city, Tian Zhenbei deliberately sent fast horses to announce the good news of "killing Li Zicheng and exterminating the million-strong army of thieves" along the streets and alleys, and the people were empty for a while.

Tian Zhenbei personally sent the good news to the outside of the noon gate, and Tian Huixu, the secretary of the Ministry of National Defense, took it and sent it to the palace, while Wu Sangui and Hong Chengchou, as well as thousands of prisoners, were imprisoned in the edict of the Ministry of Military Intelligence and in various prisons in the capital.

Li Zicheng was beheaded, millions of thieves were wiped out, this news made the whole Beijing city completely boiling, the streets and alleys were crowded, everywhere were cheering and celebrating, thousands of large and small Beijing officials flocked to the noon gate, crying and reporting to Emperor Chongzhen, and even some old Beijing officials, crying and fainting outside the noon gate.

In the palace, Zhao Min, the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Yue Ming, the secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Tian Huixu, the secretary of the Ministry of National Defense, Xun Jingyun, the secretary of the Ministry of Equipment, Zhang Lei, the secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Song Gongming, the secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Bao Xuezhen, the secretary of the Ministry of Health, Wu Guojin, the secretary of the Ministry of Military Intelligence, Wang Weizhen, the secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Shang Wenyuan, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Huang Jin, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Song Shiwen, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the General Staff, and the thirteen secretaries of the cabinet gathered outside the imperial study.

In the imperial study, Emperor Chongzhen burst into tears, a person lying on the table and crying, the thief who almost destroyed the Ming Dynasty was finally destroyed, and Li Zicheng, who excavated the tomb of the Fengyang Emperor, was also killed, and he finally had face

I have gone to see my fathers and fathers!

Wang Chengen on the side also cried non-stop, knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing, and said: "The sky is worth it!" The sky lives up! ”

After a long time, Emperor Chongzhen finally stopped his tears, sorted out his emotions, and accompanied by Wang Chengen, opened the door of the imperial study and walked out.

No matter how Liu Yan was autocratic and how he suppressed the imperial power, he finally exterminated Li Zicheng and blocked the Manchu army in the north.

At this time, everyone saw Emperor Chongzhen come out, and under the leadership of Chen Xinjia, everyone shouted in unison: "The Li thief is destroyed, the national thief must be removed, the minister must be sure that His Majesty will sacrifice to the Taimiao, and dispose of the captives outside the noon gate, so as to comfort the ancestors and the ancestors, and to calm the hearts of the people in the world!" ”

Emperor Chongzhen suppressed the excitement in his heart and said loudly: "Quasi-play!" ”

"Your Majesty Shengming!"

The next day, under the auspices of Huang Jin, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Emperor Chongzhen sacrificed three sacrifices to the Taimiao, and reported to the emperors of the Ming Dynasty that Li Zicheng's million-strong army had been wiped out, and the internal troubles of the Ming Dynasty were completely cleared.

Then in the afternoon, Emperor Chongzhen ascended the Wumen Tower, accompanied by the thirteen Shangshu of the cabinet, looking at the thousands of captives in the Wumen Square, the two people standing in the front were Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui.

At this time, Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui's faces were like ashes, the last time they left Beijing, they were still the governors and chief military officers of the Ming Dynasty, but now they have returned to Beijing again, but the two have become thieves and generals, and they have become prisoners of the Ming Empire.

Emperor Chongzhen is condescending

Looking at the captives outside the noon gate, he naturally also saw Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui kneeling at the front, with very complicated expressions.

Once upon a time, Emperor Chongzhen regarded Hong Chengchou as the Optimus Prime of the Ming Dynasty and was the best candidate to fight Liu Yan. But now Hong Chengchou has become Li Zicheng's military advisor and was escorted back to Beijing as a prisoner, which made Emperor Chongzhen's eyes red.

Then Emperor Chongzhen loudly declared that the Ming Dynasty was the orthodoxy of China, and everyone was a traitor, and they would be punished by the law of the country and spurned by all generations!

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen very much wanted to personally send these prisoners, especially Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui, but when he came over, Chen Xinjia had already mentioned that he hoped to wait until Liu Yan led the army back to Beijing triumphantly, and then send these prisoners.

Although Emperor Chongzhen was a little unhappy in his heart, he also knew that these were all details, so he could be regarded as acquiescence.

So Emperor Chongzhen loudly reprimanded the thousands of captives outside the noon gate for "not knowing the country's grace and committing themselves to the thieves to poison the world", so he ordered the officers and men of the sixth battalion of the garrison army to maintain order and escort thousands of captives such as Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui back and wait for the fate of the imperial court.

At this time, Hong Chengchou and Wu Sangui looked at the Wumen City Tower together, saw Emperor Chongzhen under the cover of the Ming Yellow Umbrella, and also saw the Thirteen Shangshu of the Cabinet.

Subsequently, the news of Dingzhou's victory was like a hurricane, sweeping the territory of the Ming Dynasty's two capitals and 13 provinces, especially Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Hebei, Hubei and other places

The thieves' officials and generals also went anyway, and began to gather soldiers and horses to besiege the soldiers and horses left behind by the thieves in various places, and in just over a month, the thieves and soldiers and horses in various places were all wiped out, and the northwestern provinces of the Ming Dynasty changed banners one after another, and returned to the rule of the Ming Dynasty.

When the news came back to Beijing, it was already the beginning of June, and Emperor Chongzhen at this time could be described as radiant, with the fall of Li Zicheng and the defeat of the Manchu Dynasty, the day of the Ming Dynasty was just around the corner!

On this day, Emperor Chongzhen ordered Wang Chengen to go to the cabinet office in the palace and summoned the thirteen cabinet scholars to the imperial study to discuss matters.

Soon, Chen Xinjia, Tian Huixu and other thirteen people all came to the imperial study, Emperor Chongzhen smiled and greeted everyone, and asked, "I wonder when Lu Guogong will lead the army back to Beijing?" ”

Everyone was stunned, when Liu Yan returned to Beijing, he would definitely report to Emperor Chongzhen first, but now Emperor Chongzhen wanted to ask everyone in the cabinet, what does this mean? Emperor Chongzhen is showing that he thinks there is a secret connection between the cabinet and Liu Yan?

Everyone looked at each other, and then Chen Xinjia arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the ministers don't know, Lu Guogong didn't give any news to the ministers." ”

Emperor Chongzhen frowned slightly, and said: "At present, the implementation of the new policy in various places has been blocked, and Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi have just been recovered, and the imperial court continues to send soldiers and horses and officials to manage, so many affairs, but the cabinet has not been able to come up with a strategy, why is Lu Guogong still stranded in Xingtang County?" ”

After speaking, Emperor Chongzhen looked at Wu Guojin, although Wu Guojin, the secretary of the Ministry of Military Intelligence, was not his confidant, but he was the eyes and ears of the imperial court, what Liu Yan was doing in Xingtang County, Wu Guojin was sure

Yes, yes.

Wu Guojin saw Emperor Chongzhen looking at him, so he arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the minister has not received any official documents from Lu Guogong, and there is nothing to say. It's just that the battalions of the new army and the garrison army were seriously damaged in the battle of Dingzhou, and the minister guessed that Lu Guogong must be resting and replenishing troops in Xingtang County, which is very time-consuming and understandable. ”

Emperor Chongzhen was noncommittal, and then said: "Since this is the case, I don't care, it's good that the current government and government are handled by the cabinet ministers, but don't make a shocking giant like Li Zicheng because of the delay in political affairs!" ”

"Minister, Commander!"

Then everyone walked out of the study room one after another, and when they returned to the cabinet office, Chen Xinjia quickly caught up with Tian Huixu and Xun Jingyun, and whispered: "The elder of the pavilion is reorganizing the soldiers and horses in Xingtang County, is it true that the battalions of the new army have suffered such huge casualties?" ”

Tian Huixu and Xun Jingyun glanced at each other, and then Tian Huixu asked rhetorically: "I have lost thousands of more than 100,000 soldiers, and I am almost about to reach a casualty rate of 10%, which is not a huge casualty rate?" ”

Chen Xinjia was dumbfounded, if the loss of thousands of soldiers and horses was considered a huge casualty, then what would Li Zicheng's million-strong army think, and what would the hundreds of thousands of Manchu troops think?

"That being said, it's just that Elder Ge hasn't come back for a long time, I'm afraid there will be turmoil in the capital!"

"Huh?"

At this time, Tian Huixu and Xun Jingyun stopped, looked at Chen Xinjia in unison, and said almost in unison: "What does Lord Chen know?" ”

Chen Xinjia hurriedly waved his hand and said, "I don't know anything, I'm just worried, it's not the capital."

What's going to happen! ”

"I said you two, can you not be so nervous, one of you is the secretary of the Ministry of National Defense, and the other is the secretary of the Ministry of Equipment, if you are nervous, then the capital will be shaken three times!"

Xun Jingyun didn't speak, waved his hand and took a step first, Tian Huixu said to Chen Xinjia in a serious tone: "If the old man doesn't come back, naturally there is a reason not to come back, what we can do is to ensure that the government and the court will not have any trouble before the old man comes back." Even if something goes wrong, we have to suppress any evil fire, can Lord Chen understand? ”

Chen Xinjia nodded hurriedly when he heard this, although he was the secretary of the General Staff, according to the current military-oriented government, he was the first of the thirteen scholars, but because it was just conventional.

And among the thirteen Shangshu, most of them are Liu Yan's henchmen, and they are the hardcore who followed Liu Yan step by step from Lingshanwei, Chen Xinjia understands that he can't offend these people no matter what.

"Don't worry, Lord Xun, I know what to do!"

After Chen Xinjia left the palace and returned to his residence in the city, he stayed in the house alone, thinking about the current situation.

"The northwestern provinces have all recovered, but they have recovered on their own, isn't this the result that Lu Guogong wants? Lu Guogong still wants to fight back inch by inch? ”

Chen Xinjia shuddered suddenly, and suddenly remembered what Liu Yan once said: "Only the peace that is fought is the most rare, and only the territory that is fought back is the most stable!" ”

"Yes, most of the officials and generals in the northwestern provinces are self-appointed, and the banner of the imperial court is planted on the head of the city, and it is external

Announcing that he is an official of the imperial court, with the temperament of Lu Guogong, he will naturally not accept such a situation! ”

Therefore, Chen Xinjia expected that Liu Yan had stayed in Xingtang County for a long time, and he must be planning some big move, and once this measure is implemented, it will definitely stir up the entire Ming Dynasty, and I don't know what kind of earth-shaking it will be when the time comes!

is just like another sentence that Liu Yan once said before: A spark can start a prairie fire!

Chen Xinjia said secretly: "Maybe Lu Guocheng wants to ignite such a fire and temper the entire Ming Dynasty!" ”