A small soldier of the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 280 Next Target

Chongzhen 11th December 27th.

The bitter cold wind howled across the entire capital, and the New Year's Eve would be in a few days, but there was no festive celebration in the entire capital.Bad news kept coming. More and more victims flooded into the capital these days. The government couldn't provide enough relief. Every day, a large number of people froze and starved to death in the cold wind.

Inside the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Chongzhen was reviewing the memorial with his brows tightly locked. In just a short time, his face became much paler, with more wrinkles and white hair.

The situation in the war took a turn for the worse, Xuan Dajun and Guanning Army were defeated one after another, the government and the public were shaken, and Ming was powerless to stop the offensive of the Qing army.They watched cities fall one after another, but no one could do anything about it.Although Emperor Chongzhen handled political affairs more diligently, he found that he was doing completely useless work. He was exhausted physically and mentally, and he felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen frowned and looked at several memorials, but they were about Liu Yuliang, the chief minister of the cabinet.

When the Qing soldiers entered the bandits, Liu Yuliang asked himself to be an inspector, and Chen Xinjia and other soldiers and horses from the towns and kings followed. As soon as he arrived in Baoding, Liu Yuliang heard that Lu Xiangsheng had died in battle and Guan Ning's army was defeated, and his heart was full of fear.His army passed through Anping County again, and when they heard that the Qing soldiers were coming, they took care of Chen Xinjia and hurried to Jinzhou to take refuge.

Chen Hongxu, the magistrate of Jinzhou, refused to accept him behind closed doors. Liu Yuliang was furious and ordered the arrows to be ordered, otherwise he would follow the law of the generals.Chen Hongxu ignored him, and sent a message to Liu Yuliang: "The supervisor came to defend against the enemy. Now that the enemy is approaching, how can we avoid it? There is no supply of food, and there is a responsibility. If you want to enter the city, you dare not hear orders."

Liu Yuliang had no choice but to lead the army to avoid Tianjin, while writing a letter of impeachment.Emperor Chongzhen issued a decree to arrest Chen Hongxu, and the people of Jinzhou filed a lawsuit against Chen Hongxu, and were willing to replace him with his own body.Seeing these memorials, Emperor Chongzhen hesitated again.

He threw the memorial on the desk, and said bitterly: "Liu Yuliang is useless in the end, it will only increase and disturb the people. The cabinet will handle things, and Zhou Yanru and Yang Sichang will still be there."

He passed on a decree to summon Chen Hongxu, the prefect of Jinzhou, and ordered to severely reprimand Liu Yuliang, and then sat blankly for a long time.In the end, thinking about the military situation, he ordered an eunuch to invite Yang Sichang, a senior scholar, Minister of Rites.

Soon, Yang Sichang came in, went up to pay respects to Emperor Chongzhen, and then lay quietly on the ground.

Every time he saw Yang Sichang, Emperor Chongzhen was very relieved, and he said softly: "Aiqing, get up."

Yang Sichang kowtowed again, then stood up, waiting for the emperor to speak.

Chongzhen said: "Where are the soldiers from the East?"

Yang Sichang said: "Back to the emperor, the main force of the eastern captives has gathered in Hengshui, Zaoqiang and other places. The cabinet agreed that the captives had the intention to enter Shandong directly from Dezhou, and my ministers have passed on Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, to lead his troops to guard against the captives. deep."

Emperor Chongzhen nodded, and said: "Shandong is an important place, so don't lose it, especially in Jinan Prefecture where there is King De's fiefdom, so be careful."

Yang Sichang respectfully accepted the order.

Emperor Chongzhen pondered for a while, and said, "Lu Xiangsheng, Gao Qiqian, is there no news yet?"

Hearing Chongzhen's words, Yang Sichang's body trembled.

Although it was reported that after the Battle of Julu, Lu Xiangsheng and Gao Qiqian died in battle, but the Ministry of War and local officials have not found the bodies of the two, so it is impossible to determine whether they died in battle.Not only that, the whereabouts of the remnants of Xuanda and Guan Ning were also unknown. Some people saw some Guan Ning troops wandering in the wild, but those general officers never showed up.As for the entire Xuan Da army, there is no news at all, as if the entire army has disappeared.

Different from history, it is impossible for Yang Sichang to put all the responsibility on Lu Xiangsheng for this battle of Julu, otherwise Gao Qiqian will inevitably be blamed, especially... Lu Xiangsheng praised Yang Tinglin in the army, shouting everywhere , Said that the reason why the Battle of Julu was defeated was because Gao Qiqian saw death and did not save him.He shouted all the way from the local area to the capital, saying that Duchen Lu died in a bloody battle and absconded in fear of crime. Some censors have already heard that they are ready to impeach.

Yang Sichang also had doubts about Gao Qiqian's whereabouts. Of course, this eunuch did not have the courage to die in a bloody battle.If Gao Qiqian didn't show up, he couldn't use Lu Xiangsheng's series of late moves.Coupled with the fact that the bodies of the two were not found, this matter was delayed again and again.

Hearing Chongzhen's questioning, Yang Sichang's heart was full of blessings, and he had already made a decision in his heart. It didn't matter whether Gao Qiqian died or not, Lu Xiangsheng must have died, and the matter should be done.

He said: "Going back to the emperor, there are rumors in the local area that Duchen Lu and the high supervisor's army died in a fierce battle. During the Battle of Julu, our Ming Dynasty had only [-] officers and soldiers, while the Dongnu soldiers were close to [-]. They were outnumbered. Xuan Dajun and Guan Ning The defeat of the army is also a matter of helplessness."

Chongzhen sat silently, and in his heart, he also agreed with Yang Sichang's words. The combat power of the Ming army was still not comparable to that of the Qing army.At that time, Yang Sichang said that he must settle down first when fighting against the outside world, and tried his best to avoid a decisive battle with the Qing soldiers. Otherwise, once the main force was defeated, all his tens of thousands of soldiers capable of fighting would all fall, and it turned out to be the case.

After a long time, Emperor Chongzhen said: "Lu Xiangsheng and Gao Qiqian died in battle. What about the officers and generals under them? Have they been hiding like this?"

There was strong anger in his tone.

Seeing that the emperor was angry, Yang Sichang was secretly startled, he kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty, I believe that the reason why Xuan Dajun and Guanning Army are hiding is because they lost their generals in battle, and they are afraid of the court's punishment, so they dare not show up for a long time. When the country is in crisis, it is also good to keep some soldiers and horses. Therefore, I think that if the imperial court issued an imperial decree and pardoned the mistakes of the generals in the towns, they will try their best to serve the imperial court because of their gratitude."

According to history, Lu Xiangsheng died in battle, Gao Qiqian survived, and Guan Ning's main force was not lost, so Yang Sichang could take the opportunity to put all the blame on Lu Xiangsheng.However, today is different, both Lu Xiangsheng and Gao Qiqian are missing, Lu Xiangsheng is guilty, and Gao Qiqian is equally guilty.

If it is agreed that Lu Xiangsheng has made meritorious service in the bloody battle, Gao Qiqian has also made meritorious service, and Yang Sichang can also win the favor of Emperor Chongzhen.

And the army lost its general, and if Xuan Dajun was to be punished, Guan Ning's army also needed to be punished, so the situation involved would be serious.If Guan Ning's gang of arrogant soldiers did something wrong, they went to join the Qing soldiers, and Yang Sichang's guilt would be great.Moreover, Chen Xinjia, the new governor of Xuanda, would not agree to punish the generals of Xuanda.

For Yang Sichang, the most important thing now is how to deal with the aftermath. After all, although he is the minister of the Ministry of Rites, he still manages the affairs of the Ministry of War. When the matter is investigated, he can't stay out of it.

Emperor Chongzhen also had a deep understanding of the issue of generals in the Ming Dynasty at this time, and knew that if the investigation was carried out, it might arouse the worries of the generals in various towns.

He got up and paced slowly. After a long time, he suppressed the anger in his heart and said: "Forget it, I will issue an imperial decree to forgive their mistakes. The battle of Julu, the East slaves are powerful, and the officers and soldiers of the two places are not crimes of war." Just like Wang Dou, the guerrilla general in the Xuanda army, who repeatedly beheaded more than two thousand ranks. I deeply admire his loyalty and bravery. It's just that there are too few elite soldiers like General Wang. In the end, they will be outnumbered. We need to train more elite soldiers."

Yang Sichang's thoughts turned, and he quickly understood that Wang Dou's title of brave champion of the three armies was conferred by Emperor Chongzhen himself.To question and punish Wang Dou is to question the emperor's original decision.So no matter what happened to Xuan Dajun, Emperor Wang Dou Chongzhen would definitely keep it.

Yang Sichang said: "What the emperor said is true. The general Wang won the Tongzhou victory and the Dingzhou victory. He was invincible in all battles. It was the battle of Julu. I heard that the general Wang had a lot of gains. I can only sigh that I am as good as the general Wang. There are too few such brave generals and elite soldiers, so we really need to train more elite soldiers."

He said: "Now our Ming Dynasty has many soldiers but not good ones. Since the slaves came to the court, the courtiers have invited more soldiers to train the frontier soldiers. The ministers also thought that the proposal of army training was feasible, and they could train elite soldiers from each town, just like the three towns of Xuanfu, Datong, and Shanxi. There are more than 17 soldiers, and the three chief soldiers can each train [-] people, and the governor can train [-]. With [-] stationed in Huai, [-] stationed in Yanghe, such things can be coordinated to ensure that Xuanda is not lost. The rest Grant the town supervisor, and train under the governor, and only declare the three towns, and tens of thousands of elite soldiers can be obtained."

Emperor Chongzhen was very satisfied with Yang Sichang's quick response. He said: "Not only the three towns of Xuanda need to train soldiers and horses, but Liaodong, Jizhen, Yansui, Ningxia, Guyuan and other places also need to train elite soldiers. I will hand over the matter of military training to you." Yu Yangqing is in charge, wait for the slaves to retreat, and start immediately."

Yang Sichang hurriedly knelt down to thank the emperor, and he was deeply grateful for the emperor's trust and love.However, to train soldiers, the amount of taxes must be increased, which would increase the burden on the people of the world. Yang Sichang wisely did not bring up this issue at this time.

Emperor Chongzhen asked about Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting's guards.

Yang Guozhu replied: "Hong Chengchou, after Sun Chuanting received the order, Ji Xingye led an army of [-] King Qin to come, but the journey is far away, and it may take more than [-] days to reach the capital."

Emperor Chongzhen snorted. After Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting defeated Li Zicheng in Tongguan that day, he eagerly hoped that the two would kill Li Zicheng and others, and it would be best to capture them as prisoners.In the end, the two men's memorials came out, the officers and soldiers were victorious, and the entire army of the bandits was wiped out, but the bodies of Li Zicheng and others were not found.

On the way for Hong Chengchou and his wife to serve as king, Emperor Chongzhen got the news that Li Zicheng and others harassed Lingbao County. At that time, Emperor Chongzhen was furious and almost ordered Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting to be arrested and sent to Beijing for punishment.In the end, he was worried that doing so might disintegrate the King Qin's army, so he suppressed the anger in his heart.Hong Chengchou has outstanding talents, and Emperor Chongzhen is of great use, but Emperor Chongzhen will not forgive Sun Chuanting easily.

Of course, Yang Sichang knew the emperor's thoughts well, and there was also a deep conflict between him and Sun Chuanting.

When Yang Sichang first served as Minister of the Ministry of War, in order to implement his "four positives and six corners" comprehensive encirclement and suppression strategy, he added 12 troops and sent nearly 300 million taels of military pay.Sun Chuanting disagrees with this, and believes that the people's strength has been exhausted after years of fighting, and this move may not achieve the expected results.At that time, when the Ming Dynasty collected the number of recruits reported by the governors from all over the country, only Sun Chuanting's memorial had not been delivered.

At this time, Yang Sichang was keenly aware of the emperor's dissatisfaction with Sun Chuanting, and he secretly rejoiced that perhaps after Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting was his next target.

……

Yang Sichang retired respectfully, walked outside the pavilion door, thoughtfully: "Wang Dou."

Inside the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Chongzhen restored his frown again: "Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting led the army into the guard, and the capital has no worries. It's just that the Eastern captives are rampant everywhere, ravaging prefectures and counties, and my Ming Dynasty, how can we just sit and watch the barbarians wreak havoc? "

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Old White Bull:
The Spring Festival of the Year of the Rabbit is here. I wish everyone a happy family and good luck in everything.

The update resumes today, and the passion for the Chinese New Year has not calmed down. One update today and two updates tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)