national surname chiming

Chapter 278
After Zhang Mingzhen and the Kaifeng garrison re-opened the food channel, there is nothing worth repeating about the humanitarian aid transfer and food relief in the next few days.

Li Zicheng's troops had already retreated far away, and they never expected that the Ming court would come to rescue the people in Kaifeng City, so it was impossible for them to think of killing the carbine or something.

In Li Zicheng's eyes, from the moment he broke through the water, the whole city of Kaifeng was dead.He didn't want to snatch the treasures scattered by the Prince Zhou's mansion, so he just fed them to the dogs.

In addition to saving people, Zhang Mingzhen did two other things immediately. One was to report to Shen Shuren, and the other was to co-sign Gao Mingheng and Zhou Wang at the same time, and immediately reported to Chongzhen to confirm that Li Zicheng had completely gone away.

……

A few days passed quickly, and time came to the capital city on November 22, three days later.

In fact, Chongzhen had learned from the normal channel of the Ministry of War's Tang newspaper two days ago that Shen Shuren seemed to have defeated Li Zicheng's army in the vicinity of Chen County.

Although there is no more detailed information, it really made Chongzhen feel relieved for two days.

The reason why the news of the Chen County War was only delivered two days before Kaifeng's relief was because the Chen County War was not all settled. Shen Shuren was a modest person, so there was no need to expedite it by six hundred miles.

After getting in touch with Gao Mingheng and Zhou Wang, after confirming that Kaifeng was free from the siege, everything was concluded, and they rushed to Liubaili.

Therefore, although there was a difference of five or six days between the actual occurrence of the two events, the difference in the time when the news was sent to the capital was only two days.

When the news of Chen County's victory first arrived, Chongzhen was excited for a whole day, always fantasizing about "when will further letters of approval be sent".

So much so that he couldn't sleep until midnight that day, and asked Wang Chengen to call Chen Xinjia into the palace in the middle of the night to play the right question, and asked him "why there is no more detailed military situation all day long."

At that time, Chen Xinjia was also very speechless, so he had to patiently explain to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, Chen County is more than 300 miles away from Kaifeng, and a normal march can take six or seven days. Even if you march without food and grass, it will take four or five days.

However, the area around Kaifeng has been looted and looted repeatedly by thieves, so it must be impossible to raise food on the spot, so Shen Shuren's troops must bring their own food and grass if they want to advance.This is still a state of not fighting and directly advancing all the way. If there is a follow-up battle, such as burglars gathering defeated troops and fighting again, it will be even more protracted..."

After hearing this explanation, Chongzhen also realized that he was too anxious, so he temporarily warned himself to be calm and not make his subjects feel that he is not like a king.

In order to conceal his anxiety, he also temporarily asked Chen Xinjia about the progress of some other matters, such as asking him about the peace talks with Huangtai Ji in Liaodong, and how the talks were going.

Chen Xinjia also said at the time that everything was going well, and the two sides actually had little disagreement on the substantive conditions, but Huang Taiji always insisted on signing a formal peace agreement, not a secret agreement in private, in order to prevent Daming from cheating and going back on his word in the future.

Of course Chongzhen could not accept this, so he noncommittally hinted to Chen Xinjia to figure out a solution by himself.Chen Xinjia also had no choice but to retreat in despair——

To make a digression, in history, Chen Xinjia should have been dead for almost two months at this moment, because at the end of September in the 15th year of Chongzhen, he should have been criticized by the Manchu officials for leaking the peace talks with the Manchu Qing. Said that the emperor admitted to losing power and humiliating the country. In the end, Chongzhen could only say, "This is what Chen Xinjia deceived the emperor and talked with Huang Taiji in private."

But now, it is obviously because of some butterfly effects, for example, because in March, in the final stage of the Songjin War, the Ming Army Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong won additional victories, annihilating two full-armored Zhenghongqi, and almost Annihilated the entire Han army flag of the Qing army,
By the way, the Ming army's great victory at the beginning actually had a subtle effect, which was to make Huang Taiji's health deteriorate further due to anger.Historically, Huang Taiji actually lived until August of the 16th year of Chongzhen before dying of illness, and now it is estimated that he will die earlier.And when Huang Taiji's health was not good, the Qing army certainly didn't dare to be too arrogant, and had no intention of going out to the outside world, and they all wanted to fight for power and profit for their own faction.

All of this made the Qing army's attitude towards Daming a little softer than that of the same period in history, and the process of secret negotiations was maintained more smoothly. There was no leakage of secrets for the time being, and Chen Xinjia was not dead for the time being.

If he can survive this winter smoothly, and finish dealing with the merits and rewards for Shen Shuren's series of victories, it will obviously be great news for Shen Shuren——

Shen Shuren's relationship with the court is mainly from Yang Sichang's lineage. After all, he himself followed Yang Sichang's route and was promoted all the way.

After Yang Sichang died in the middle of his life, Shen Shuren was in the court, and only Zhou Yanru, a new friend who had been developing for less than a year, was left, but the relationship was not very strong.In addition, Chen Xinjia, who is also from Yang Sichang's faction, has always been very close to Shen Shuren.

If Chen Xinjia is removed in the future, or even killed as in history, the new Shangshu of the Ministry of War will probably be a difficult faction to deal with.It is also impossible for Shen Shuren to raid the stove to maintain the corresponding relationship, and even if it is maintained, it is not known whether it can be used for a full year.

Therefore, Shen Shuren must very much hope that Chen Xinjia's last bargaining with the court will be dealt with cleanly.

……

After listening to Chen Xinjia's explanation, Chongzhen secretly warned himself to be patient, so the day after the news of the victory in Chen County's battle, he didn't ask if there was any updated big news all day.

Early in the morning of the third day, he simply fancied himself for a while, and then forcibly drove the concern out of his mind, forcing himself to concentrate and deal with other government affairs.

This day is not the day of the court meeting, so there is no need to go to the court. Chongzhen went to the Wenhua Hall early in the morning to directly read the memorials and review, and deal with the courtiers' requests for instructions.If there is a very urgent matter that needs to be dealt with, the old scholar on duty can also come directly to the Wenhua Hall to ask for a meeting.

However, after Chongzhen managed to concentrate, Wang Chengen came in to report: "Your Majesty, Chen Shangshu of the Ministry of War asked to see him, and he said that there was another great success."

Chongzhen was stunned for a long time, then squeezed his thigh fiercely, and then called out viciously: "Come in quickly! This guy is really unreliable. After a while, he said on paper that it would take five or six days to march, so here he is." What!"

The first half of the sentence was given to Wang Chengen, and the last sentence was completely muttering to himself.Wang Chengen pretended not to hear it, but felt very emotional in his heart: His Majesty is so happy, it's time for such unexpected joy.

After a while, Chen Xinjia rushed into the room with a blushing face holding the booklet: "Your Majesty, forgive me! Forgive me for galloping in the palace in disrespect! The siege of Kaifeng City has been rescued! This is His Royal Highness Zhou Wang, Henan Governor Gao Mingheng, and Shen Shuren's generals. good news!
The number of Shen Shu battles has wiped out 20 enemies!Li Zicheng had already been beaten and fled back to Luoyang!According to Shen Shuren's scout report, it seems that he is going to flee back to Shaanxi! "

Chongzhen suddenly stood up from the imperial seat, regardless of the pain in his thigh on the imperial case: "Submit it quickly!"

As he said that, he stepped down the steps of His Majesty himself, took the memorial from Wang Chengen's hand, and paced back and forth to read it while unfolding it.

"There is still a day for trespassers! The trespassers can also be severely injured! Yang Sichang and Sun Chuanting lost for a while, but it was just a fluke for the trespassers! It is really a blessing for the Ming Dynasty to have such a loyal minister and good general as Shen Shuren!"

Chongzhen was panting all the time watching it, and noticed the part of Zhou Wang's statement above. He was sincere, saying that he was seriously ill in Kaifeng city and lacked medical care, poor diet, and all his family wealth had been used to reward the army.Fortunately, the heavenly soldiers of the imperial court repelled the intruders in time, rescued Kaifeng, and saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

In the end, of course, it is inevitable to say that Li Zicheng's atrocities of digging the Yellow River and describing the tragic situation in the city, and the King of Zhou also said that he felt that he was seriously ill and died soon, which is regarded as a deathbed watch.But if he can be rescued by Zhang Mingzhen, at least he will have a burial place in the future, so that his body will not be soaked in the turbid flow of the Yellow River.

King Zhou earnestly requested that if he died of illness in other places, he would not have to go back to Kaifeng for burial according to the ancestral system, because Fengshui around Kaifeng might not be able to recover within a year, and there must be yellow mud everywhere.

He spoke so earnestly, of course it was impossible for Chongzhen not to approve, so other rewards for meritorious deeds could be discussed slowly for the time being. He first replied with a separate letter of instruction and sent it to Shou County to the king of Zhou, because the king of Zhou said in the memorial, He had to evacuate along Yingchuan with the army, and he might enter Shouxian County in Huainan, which belongs to Fengyang, the central capital.

King Zhou is dying, and he is far away from the central lineage of the royal family. Of course, he will no longer worry about the adverse effects of entering Fengyang like King Fu and King Lu.If you can be buried in Fengyang Mansion after death, it is the best choice next to returning to Kaifeng.

After instructing King Zhou, Chongzhen also felt that he owed Shen Shuren more and more. After all, he not only saved Kaifeng, but also allowed King Zhou to have a good death.

Chongzhen then chatted with Chen Xinjia about rewards for meritorious deeds: "Chen Aiqing, what reward do you think Shen Shuren should receive for his military achievements this time? Should he be promoted to governor of Huguang?"

When Chen Xinjia heard the words, he was also happy to see the results, but he knew that what he said meant nothing, so he said solemnly: "Your Majesty, this matter should be discussed with Elder Zhou Ge, and the opinions of the officials should be the main ones.

As far as I know, whether it is Mr. Zhou Ge or the other elders, the attitude before the war is that if you can win, you can be awarded a title, but you can be promoted to governor... Shen Shuren just transferred Huguang governor this year. If you want to be promoted again, why not take it slow and wait until the end of the year? "

"Then just give a title?" Chongzhen thought for a while, and was still a little unwilling, so he ordered Chen Xinjia to go back and think about it first, and conveyed it to Zhou Yanru, and we will hold a meeting tomorrow.

Chen Xinjia took the order and left.

One day passed quickly, and Zhou Yanru also knew about it, so he joined hands with Chen Xinjia to discuss it the next day.

However, within a day or so, another urgent document was delivered from the south.It was sent urgently from Liubaili in Hefei, and it is a memorial of gratitude from Lu Wang Zhu Changhao.

Before Chongzhen received Zhou Yanru and others, he took the time to read what Uncle Lu said.When he unfolded it, he learned that the content was also related to Shen Shuren, so he couldn't help but pay more attention to it.

(End of this chapter)