Ming Dynasty: Starting from Liaodong Jiangmen

Chapter 34 Who are you fighting for?
In the past few days, the Houjin cavalry had been burning, killing and looting all over the important area of ​​Jifu, and there were complaints from top to bottom.

The capital should have been a safe place, but this time it was not.

From the princes, nobles, ministers, to the ordinary people, traders and servants, they all felt like mourning their heirs. Many people's families were ruined, and there were not a few wealthy families who had their savings over several generations robbed by slaves.

As soon as the slave knights retreated, in addition to secretly competing for merit, an evil trend of liquidation arose in the capital.

This evil trend spread to those Liao soldiers who had traveled thousands of miles to serve the king, to the civil and military ministers and generals who led their troops to fight to the death to defend the capital, and even to the refugees who were chased by the slave cavalry.

Only, it did not hit the temple high above.

Thick smoke billowed into the sky on both sides of official roads from the suburbs of Beijing to Tongzhou.

The once prosperous shops, manors, and farm buildings were burned to the ground, and even the cemeteries were not spared. Many people's ancestral graves were dug up, and the bones were exposed in the wilderness, and the treasures buried with them disappeared.

Before Huang Taiji withdrew his troops, he led the Eight Banners army to conduct a sweeping sweep of the suburbs of Beijing, taking away everything of value.

The fires burned away the savings of many years or even lifetimes of the dignitaries in the capital. Naturally, they could not catch up with Nuqi. Even if Nuqi was still under the city, they did not dare to leave the city and say a harsh word.

But as the slave cavalry retreated, the bones of the dignitaries suddenly became hardened.

Most of the supplies and treasures taken away by the slave riders belong to their names, so they urgently need an explanation to relieve their hatred.

Under such a turbulent situation, the great court meeting was held in the Huangji Hall of the Forbidden City.

This was the second time Li Shunzu met Chongzhen and the first time he participated in the imperial dynasty.

Li Shunzu's heart was no longer as shocked as it was the first time. Standing behind Mangui, as well as several Liao generals such as Sai'erzhai and Sun Zushou who had been summoned to the court due to their outstanding military exploits, slowly walked into the hall.

Huangji Hall is still so majestic and majestic, but this time, Li Shunzu came as a hero.

"I see my emperor, long live long live—"

"Everyone is flat!"

Emperor Chongzhen's face was full of spring breeze, and he immediately turned his head to signal.

Wang Chengen took a step forward and unfolded the imperial decree drawn up last night. Before he could read it out, someone came out from the lower step.

"I have the original play!"

Everyone looked around and saw that it was the Queen Zhou's biological father and the current head of state, Zhou Kui.

Even Chongzhen was very surprised when he saw that it was his father-in-law who had come out. He quickly asked: "What does the father-in-law have to say? Can't we wait until I canonize the officials of the Liao army who have contributed to the country?"

"Can not be done."

Zhou Kui was trembling and his face was wrinkled, but he knelt on the ground with a thud.

"Your Majesty, I cannot just watch you do something wrong."

"The Liao army had merit in this battle at Yongdingmen, but not all of it was the Liao army's credit."

Emperor Chongzhen's expression changed, and he was obviously unhappy.

It is said that if you win, you should be rewarded. The imperial edict has been drawn up. The theme of today's dynasty was originally to confer awards to the Liao army, but it was suddenly done like this, which was not in line with etiquette at all.

But Chongzhen thought about it again. Considering that Zhou Kui was the queen's father after all, he still asked coldly out of respect for the royal family: "If the abbot has anything to say, just say it quickly. Wang Cheng'en, listen to the abbot before he reads it out." The decree is never too late.”

Li Shunzu had been standing among several Liao generals. He thought that today was just an ordinary court meeting, and he was here to go through the motions of promotion, but he didn't expect that something unexpected happened, and Zhou Kui appeared halfway.

Li Shunzu, Zhou Kui, knew that this was not a good thing.

Historically, Zhou Kui was extremely greedy. He was greedy for money, and surrendered first to the Huns and then to the Qing Dynasty. There are also rumors that when the Qing army entered the customs, the crown prince Zhu Cixiang did not escape, but he was taken out and sold by this guy. No, no national integrity.

Li Shunzu's eyes changed slightly, and his heart sank, he was going to be bad!

The smiles on the faces of Sai'erzhai and several other Liao army generals all froze. They all knew that it was impossible for an iron rooster like Zhou Kui to suddenly come out to stop them and ask for credit.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Kui, a veteran movie actor, suddenly burst into tears in the hall.

"Your Majesty, there is another secret behind this battle."

"It is true that Mangui and Nuqi fought vigorously, but Xuanhua Deputy General Ma Ke, Datong General Wang Pu, and Shandong Staff General Liu Zeqing also rescued in time. Without their cooperation with Nuqi, it would be difficult for our government to achieve this victory!"

"Besides, Your Majesty also heard that a few days ago, the nine gates of the capital were firing cannons day and night, and the shells and gunpowder they consumed emptied several internal treasury. Without the assistance of the capital camp, this great victory of the Liao army would not have been possible! "

"Hou Shilu, the deputy general of the Xuanhua Army stationed at Deshengmen, died outside the city while rushing to aid Mangui. These soldiers also need to be comforted!"

"Your Majesty will only attribute this victory to Mangui and the first army of the Liao Army. I am afraid that the remaining officers and soldiers of the three armies will not accept it!"

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he realized that there was such an inside story. His face instantly stiffened, and he signaled Wang Chengen not to continue reading out the imperial edict. He looked at the person below and asked coldly: "Is what the abbot said is the truth?"

Li Fengxiang trembled all over. Even though he was well prepared, he was still frightened to the point of being scared out of his wits by the emperor's look.

He composed himself and stepped forward in front of everyone's attention.

"Return to your Majesty, it is indeed the truth."

"Hou Shilu of Xuanhua died in battle outside the city. There is no body left. Ma Ke, Wang Pu, and Liu Zeqing have arrived outside the palace and are waiting for His Majesty's summons. The heads of the reinforcements from the three towns were submitted to the Rong government for sealing. This can be proved Military merit.”

"Each of the nine gates of the capital has the heads of slaves and knights, and they have been sealed by the Rong government."

Mangui was already furious after hearing these nonsense, but since this was a court meeting, he never got angry.

Heads, where did these people get their heads?
Emperor Chongzhen narrowed his eyes slightly and raised his hand to signal.

"Xuan!"

A young eunuch immediately opened his voice and shouted loudly outside.

Accompanied by waves of shouts, three powerful generals in armor stepped onto the Huangji Palace.

"Ma Ke, the deputy general of Xuanhua."

"Your Majesty Datong, Commander-in-Chief Wang Pu!"

"My Shandong general, Liu Zeqing!"

"Long live my emperor!" Sang'erzhai and Sun Zushou looked at the three of them with a murderous look in their eyes.

The three of them also looked up and looked back, with the corners of their mouths raised. Liu Zeqing even sneered, quite provoking the Liao general.

For a moment, Li Shunzu fully understood what he was going to do.

This is to deceive heaven!
The credit was about to be snatched away. Li Shunzu really didn't expect such a change.

If the credit does not involve himself, Li Shunzu may choose not to intervene, but since his own credit needs to be taken away, it is impossible for Li Shunzu not to care.

But it's useless to throw a tantrum at this time. Li Shunzu recalled Chongzhen's character in history. Li Shunzu knew that if he wanted to break this matter, he could only rely on Chongzhen himself to discover the truth!
Chongzhen was not a mediocre king, he was passionate, but he was too deceived!
Since this group of people dared to go to court for a confrontation, it meant that they were ready for everything.

Emperor Chongzhen twirled his fingers slightly, with extreme distrust in his eyes. He stared at the three people closely and asked lightly: "How do you three explain what the abbot said about the three towns rushing to help and encircling the slaves?"

This matter involves the three people's respective military exploits, so how can they object.

Ma Ke, Wang Pu and Liu Zeqing looked at each other and stood up.

"I have no objection!"

Emperor Chongzhen hesitated for a moment, nodded and said, "In that case, the Liao army's military exploits will be discussed later, and the contributions of the three towns and the Beijing camp will be settled after the head seal is sealed."

"Your Majesty! I have something to say!"

Seeing that all the brothers were about to die in a vain battle, Mangui stood up.

"Oh?"

Emperor Chongzhen's eyes lit up and he quickly asked: "What do you have to say, Ai Qing?"

Mangui said: "I am not greedy for military glory, but in this battle, our Liao army fought alone and suffered thousands of casualties. The Beijing camp fired nine cannons to help the battle, and not a single cannon fell on the slave cavalry outside the city!"

As he spoke, Mangui's throat was choked with sobs, and his words sounded like tears.

"Your Majesty, I don't need any reward. I just ask that your Majesty can clearly understand this matter. The soldiers and horses of the other three towns all arrived late. This battle was all won by our Liao Army soldiers fighting alone!"

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he looked very surprised and stood up.

"What did you say?"

Chongzhen also did not expect that the Liao army and the Beijing army would have completely opposite opinions.

One said that the two armies encircled and defeated the slave chief, but the other said that it was entirely his own credit.

"What proof do you have?"

Mangui was stunned when he heard this and stayed for a long time without replying.

Except for the pain all over his body, he had no evidence to prove that the Liao army fought this battle himself.

Seeing that Mangui was speechless, the lower-ranking officials also jeered.

"Your Majesty, Mangui was recommended by Yuan Chonghuan back then. He must have wanted to control Liaodong alone, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, the Liao army is not as powerful as the slave army. How could it be possible to repel the slave army on its own? If he really had that ability, Liaodong would have been recovered long ago. How could he be invaded today?"

Every sound and every word made Chongzhen's mind more and more confused.

"Shut up for me!"

"To shut up!!"

However, no one expected that Li Shunzu suddenly interjected while no one was talking when everyone was shocked by Chongzhen.

"Your Majesty, my Guangqumen battle is genuine. The heads of hundreds of slave knights have been sealed for a long time. I don't want any reward now. I only have one request."

Emperor Chongzhen looked at Li Shunzu after hearing this and suppressed the fatigue in his heart.

"what do you want?"

Li Shunzu's hand pointed outwards along the Huangji Palace towards the city of Beijing.

"I want your Majesty to condescend to come out of the palace to see what the nine gates of the capital are like now. I want your Majesty to go to Marco Polo Bridge to see in person and see the corpses of those soldiers who died in battle before they had time to finish. There are no subordinates of these three generals."

"We, the Liao Army, have thirty thousand soldiers, and this is all we ask for."

Li Shunzu said, turning around and looking at the Liao army generals behind him.

When Mangui, Sang'erzhai, Sun Zushou and others reacted, they all half-knelt on the ground in unison.

"I beg you!"

"The [-] Liao soldiers outside the city only want to see me, the Emperor of Heaven, so that we can know who we are fighting for!"

Emperor Chongzhen looked at the scene below the steps and was a little at a loss for what to do, subconsciously looking to one side.

"D-Daban, what do you think? What should I do?"

Wang Chengen looked at Li Fengxiang at the foot of the stairs, his eyes full of disappointment.

Li Fengxiang only felt that he was being looked at thoroughly by Wang Chengen, and he huddled in one place, filled with regret in his heart.

Wang Chengen smiled slightly, as if there was a knife that could kill people hidden in his smile.

"The old slave has been with the emperor for almost 20 years. The old slave feels that the emperor should go out and have a look sometimes, not for the Liao army, let alone the Beijing army, but for the sake of the people in the city and to appease people's hearts."

Wang Chengen's words were like a needle that calmed the sea, clearing away the clouds in Emperor Chongzhen's chaotic mind.

After hearing this, Chongzhen stood up.

"Never mind!"

"I will go out of the city to inspect this time at the request of thirty thousand Liao army soldiers!"

(End of this chapter)