Since Zhang Xianzhong was appeased in Gucheng, Li Thief's uncle and nephew lost their echo and almost fell into a lonely battle, and the country was able to transfer more troops to Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting to deal with the thieves. ”

The emperor listened to Shoufu's explanation, he nodded with satisfaction, but he couldn't say with complete relief: "I'm afraid that the thief's uncle and nephew will contact the rest of the thieves and accept him to escape from Shaanxi and enter northern Shaanxi." ”

Yang Sichang considered for a moment that the Shaanxi referred to by the emperor today included the whole territory of present-day Gansu, Ningxia and part of Qinghai Province, and according to research, today's Xining City was also a part of Shaanxi Province. finally replied: "The reason why Uncle Li Thief's uncle and nephew dared to run north was because he contacted Luo Ru to go to Tongguan to answer. ”

He thought about Hong Chengchou's strategy and continued: "Luo Rucai once united more than 100,000 thieves from various groups to enter the Lingbao and Ruxiang areas last month, intending to break through Tongguan and meet the thieves; Now they have fled to the mountains of Junzhou and Fang County, begging to be appeased, and there will be no other thieves to meet the thieves today, so the destruction of the thieves is just around the corner. ”

"If the thieves are exterminated from now on, it will be a blessing for the country!" Chongzhen hoped from the bottom of his heart that this group of thieves would be eliminated by Hong and Sun, so that he could save a lot of food, baggage, and provisions.

"Therefore, at present, Shaanxi's military is very important, and the war against Dongyu is also related to the security of the country. The two people in the hall finally looked at each other for the first time.

"If the Shaanxi side can put the rebellion to a halt, that is, Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting will lead a large army to the king of Jingqin in the starry night, there must be no mistake; Mr. Ke drafted another edict on behalf of me, ordering Hong, Sun and others to be sure to put the rebellion to a halt, so that no one would slip through the net and cause trouble. If there is negligence or ineffective combat, the law of the country will never be tolerated!" Chongzhen's face began to turn blue again

"Order!" Yang Sichang's answer was very simple, he must have contributed to a battle, the Ming Dynasty was weak and consumed in the ocean of war for many years, that is, the US imperialism three hundred years later, all because of several wars with small countries, the government closed its doors and closed down five times.

Judging from the recent situation of the thieves, both Yang Sichang's strategy and the willingness of Hong and Sun to do things satisfied the young emperor; whenever he thought of the very smooth military situation in Shaanxi, Chongzhen was eager to see the final good news.

He prayed many times in his heart, hoping that Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting would be able to behead Li Thief's uncle and nephew, and it would be better for Liu Zongmin and a few of the generals who broke into the camp to send their heads to the capital; of course, it was best to capture them alive and sacrifice them to their subordinates, so that the morale of the soldiers and people in the capital would be greatly boosted.

Sometimes he closed his eyes and pondered as if he saw himself sitting on the noon gate, the prince Zhu Cihong stood aside, the prince and the civil and military officials in the court stood under the noon gate, in the magnificent military music, accepted the prisoners offered by Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting, and at the same time sent the lord or prince to pay tribute to the Taimiao on his behalf, and the soldiers and civilians waiting on the chessboard street outside the Daming Gate would look at the palace and shout "long live".

At this moment, Chongzhen thought of his dream again, and he immediately asked Yang Sichang: "Can you tell them to capture the thief's uncle and nephew alive and sacrifice them to His Majesty?"

"A few days ago, the minister had asked Kuaima to inform Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting of the saint's intentions. Yang Sichang's answer was not leaky, he knew that in the emperor's heart, Daming had not had a major event to boost morale for too long.

"Okay, good, you should sacrifice your majesty!" Chongzhen's voice was very happy

After a pause, Chongzhen ordered in a low voice, "As for the matter of discussing and appeasing the Eastern Emperor, it must be kept extremely confidential, and the ministers of the outer court must not be allowed to grasp the slightest handle and obstruct the plan." ”

"Such a major event naturally has to be kept secret, but as long as the emperor is determined to discuss it, even if the outer court knows a thing or two, no one dares to object. "Yang Sichang, as the first assistant of the Ming Dynasty, is still brave in doing things, his words are actually right to the point, this is a military matter, how can he sneak up?

"But the atmosphere in the court is not right, those crows can say anything!" Chongzhen was very afraid of criticism from people in the court, and he even learned from officialdom and scolded his court officials as crows, which shows how much he cares about people's remarks rather than the status quo of the Ming Dynasty.

"As long as Your Majesty's holy heart is determined and resolute, the first and second officials do not understand the reason, and talk in vain, and they must not obstruct the plan. "Yang Sichang, as the first assistant minister, as the head of a hundred officials, still wants to persuade the emperor to act seriously, and he is not a master who wants to do it for Yao Shunyu Tang.

In Emperor Chongzhen's heart, he naturally understood the meaning of Yang Sichang's words, he smiled slightly bitterly, and changed the topic without embellishment: "Aiqing, if Lu Xiangsheng can rush to the capital tonight, Qing can inform him to come to the platform tomorrow morning, and I will summon him alone." ”

Yang Sichang naturally knew that the platform call had always been the honor given to the minister by Chongzhen. He himself has repeatedly discussed state affairs with the emperor in the Jianji Hall in the Forbidden City, and at the right back door of the Jianji Palace, there is a relatively wide platform, which is also used by Emperor Chongzhen as a place to summon important ministers, so the platform summons the emperor's attention to the ministers.

"Yes. Hearing that the emperor wanted to summon Lu Xiangsheng on the platform, Yang Sichang, the first assistant, immediately responded, and he himself admired Lu Xiangsheng's talent, so he recommended Lu Xiangsheng to take over as his secretary of the military department.

At this moment, the palace is already playing the third watch. There were no stars in the dark night, and there was silence in the Forbidden City, Yang Sichang suddenly found that so much time had passed for the monarch and ministers, and he saw that the emperor's face was full of tiredness, so he hurriedly retired to the emperor at the right time, and he advised the emperor to rest early, and the state affairs should be more important to the body.

With that, he leaned over and kowtowed to Chongzhen, and walked backwards out of the Wenhua Palace, looking at the dark night sky, listening to the sound of cannons from time to time outside the city, "It's going to be another sleepless night!", he walked towards his own duty room in Wenyuan Pavilion with heavy steps.

Chongzhen was really tired, and not long after Yang Sichang went out, he took the chariot to the Kunning Palace where the queen lived.

On the way, Chongzhen kept thinking: "If Lu Xiangsheng doesn't agree with Yang Sichang's opinion......; In that case, it will not be possible to deal with the East Prisoner, and the war will not be able to win, so how can we deal with the aftermath?"

Sitting in the middle of the chariot, Chongzhen shook his head slightly, and he sighed deeply in the unfathomable dark night.

(End of chapter)