Han ride

Chapter 224 Cross the river and demolish the bridge
In the middle of the night, in the darkness of the Forbidden City, only the lights came from the Imperial Study Room. Emperor Chongzhen was still holding the memorial, which was passed down by Li Xin.

"Chengen, do you think Li Xin is really that good at fighting?" Emperor Chongzhen shook the memorial in his hand and sighed: "Several gentlemen have said that between Dengzhou and Laizhou, the best place to fight is Laizhou. The defense of the state city is extremely strong. Without a hundred thousand troops, Dengzhou cannot be conquered at all. But how did Li Xin ignore it? Only a few thousand troops can conquer the fortified city of Dengzhou. Tell me, is it true that you are all lying to me? ?”

"Returning to the emperor, the words of the gentlemen are not wrong. Compared with Laizhou, Dengzhou is still very strong, especially when Sun Yuanhua was in Dengzhou, he once repaired the city defense of Dengzhou. Now Dengzhou is even more difficult to attack. It is." Wang Chengen quickly said: "As for why Li Xin was able to break through Dengzhou, he was just a coincidence. If the imperial army attacked Dengzhou, it would definitely attack from land, but Li Xin attacked from the sea. The rebels did not When I noticed, I was attacked by him."

"The generals below are too incompetent." Emperor Chongzhen's face darkened, and he said coldly: "What's the matter with this Liu Yulie, I have seen such a stupid one, but I have never seen such a stupid one. I was deceived by the other party twice and was not defeated. Kong Youde didn’t say anything, but instead he was forced to lose his troops and lose his generals. Now he’s fine, he was forced to Ninghai, and he dared not come out. When will these people defeat the rebels in Shandong?”

"Your Majesty, don't worry. Li Xin has already defeated Mao Chenglu. Presumably, he will attack the rebels in Laizhou soon. At that time, Shandong will return to the imperial court." Wang Chengen comforted him quickly.

"You said that Li Xin really defeated the rebels, will he take Shandong as his own?" Emperor Chongzhen asked nervously as if he had thought of something.

"Well, this servant thinks it won't happen." Wang Chengen cried out inwardly, what was Li Xinxin thinking, how did he know, but he still whispered.

"How did you know?" Emperor Chongzhen thought that Wang Chengen really knew, so he couldn't help asking again.

"This, because Li Xin's roots are not in Shandong, but in the grasslands." Wang Chengen said hastily: "Li Xin is just a criminal, and this person can have such a high official position, which is already the emperor's grace, how can he get Longwangshu, occupy Is Shandong not possible? Even if he wants to occupy Shandong, I am afraid that the gentry in Shandong will not agree. His foundation is on the grassland, and Shandong is nothing more than a chicken rib to him. Even if Shandong is given to him, he has no way to defend it. Now Donglu has not yet been eliminated, and his hatred with Donglu is as deep as sea, and if Donglu is not eliminated, how can he have the mind to do other things." The more Wang Chengen said, the smoother he said, the more he felt that what he said made sense.

"The grassland is just a land of barbarians. Although Yunzhong has a good geographical location, everything depends on the Central Plains. He didn't have the opportunity to occupy Shandong before. If he had the opportunity to occupy Shandong now, I'm afraid he would not let it go." Emperor Chongzhen shook his head.

At this time, the suspicious character of Emperor Chongzhen was exposed again. He had previously granted Li Xin the title of Shandong Economic Strategy, but he did not give him any military power. This was to make Li Xin lose face. Shameless and shameless.Now that Li Xin has captured Dengzhou, and has thousands of soldiers in his hands, he began to worry again, fearing that Li Xin would occupy Shandong and would not leave.

"Your Majesty, Li Xin has captured Dengzhou and defeated Mao Chenglu. The next step must be to go north and use Laizhou City to surround Kong Youde. By then, Kong Youde will be hard to fly. The situation in Shandong will definitely be reversed." Wang Chengen was cautious on the side. He reminded that, in his view, the situation in Shandong is about to stabilize. Li Xin defeated Mao Chenglu and occupied Dengzhou. He is also a Shandong manager. With this official position, he can control the entire Shandong, and Shandong is in his hands. , in this case, even if the court is afraid, so what?
"Where is Guan Ning's cavalry now?" Emperor Chongzhen didn't think so.Now Hong Chengchou sits on three sides, Gao Yingxiang and other rebels have been compressed to a certain extent, and Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong and his ilk will be eradicated very quickly. Jiannu was defeated by Li Xin last time, and he is still recovering from his wounds. Although Jinzhou has not yet occupied Dalinghe City, but there is no slave-building army around Dalinghe City. It can be said that Liaodong has no hidden dangers for the time being. As for Shandong, although there is a rebellion, the rebels have not yet attacked Kelezhou, and Dengzhou has also fallen into their hands. It can be said that, Kong Youde was about to be defeated. In this case, the problems that had occurred in the court since the first year of Chongzhen had been resolved.The next thing to deal with is Li Xin, the prairie king who is at ease.

For Li Xin, the prairie king, he can fight as long as he can, and it is good to be able to kill him. If he can't be killed, he can no longer take advantage of him. Since Shandong is almost done, there is no need to keep him in Shandong.

"I'm about to enter Shandong." Wang Chengen looked up at Emperor Chongzhen, and said, "The emperor also knows that the commanders-in-chief of the Liaodong reinforcements this time are Jin Guoqi and Jin Guochen, but it is the Zu family who is nicknamed "Zu Er Crazy" in the army. "Zu Dabi, Zu Kuan, Wu Sangui and others are all powerful generals under Liaodong Zu Dashou's command. These people have enmity with Li Xin. It may be difficult for them to obey Li Xin's orders!"

"Laicheng was besieged for fifty days, and it was in danger. Day and night, I looked for reinforcements, but the soldiers did not arrive. I knew that there must be a mistake in the appellation. The ministers sent letters to the ministers, copied the edict and the Ministry of War, but they knew that the ministers had reported to the ministers. Listen to Dasheng. Husbands and ministers have a deep love for their hometown, and they endured bullying the sages and fell into the border....The minister died as a ghost to kill thieves, and never dared to caress the supreme, confuse the state, seal the border by mistake, and kill his life." Chongzhen also The emperor suddenly read a few words in his mouth.

On the other side, Wang Chengen bowed his head and remained silent. This was a memorial sent by Xu Congzhi, the governor of Shandong who died at the time. It suggested that the court should exterminate the rebel Kong Youde, but those who advocated the surrender of Kong Youde in the court had the upper hand. The army quelled the rebellion, and acquiesced in this kind of surrender. Unfortunately, the facts proved that these guys didn't want to submit to the court at all. They used fraudulent surrender, and the fraudulent court troops suffered heavy losses. In the end, Li Xin benefited out of thin air. .Occupied Dengzhou, I heard that this person was still in Dengzhou for disaster relief, and Li Xin's reputation resounded throughout the Shandong Peninsula for a while.

"If governor Xu can know what the emperor is thinking, he will be able to smile at Jiuquan." Wang Chengen also knew that Emperor Chongzhen was extremely uncomfortable, so he quickly comforted him.

"There is no one in the court, no one!" Emperor Chongzhen's voice was full of exhaustion. Even Wang Cheng'en didn't understand what he was thinking. He wanted to revitalize Daming, but until now, he has not found anyone available. Yu Yuan Chonghuan, Yuan Chonghuan failed him, and later Zhou Yanru and other great scholars, he also hoped that these people could seriously assist him and rejuvenate the Ming Dynasty. Unfortunately, he now finds that Zhou Yanru and other people from Donglin are too selfish , put personal grievances above the court, resulting in a situation where Li Xin did not tell the truth.

"Your Majesty, Liu Chongqing, Minister of Household Affairs, may be available." Wang Chengen was silent for a while and hurriedly said: "He has submitted memorials many times, and asked himself to be demoted to Laizhou, the imperial censor."

"You're talking about Liu Erzhi?" Emperor Chongzhen thought for a while and said, "What can he do as a civil servant?" The southeast corner of the town), a famous calligrapher in the Ming Dynasty, the official to the right servant of the household department.

"He's sick." Wang Chengen said with his head down.Wang Chengen can be said to be an anomaly in history.Eunuch is a contradictory, ironic and sad name. In the history of our country, eunuchs are always reptiles in the shadows. They are cunning, cruel, and full of bad water. They are full of musty smell from spirit to body. Say yes without a word of praise.Since ancient times, there are few virtuous eunuchs, but many treacherous ones. However, Wang Chengen is definitely an outlier. As an undercover agent, he monitors his master and helps his master ascend to the throne. It can be said that he is loyal and traitorous; He was also afraid; he was extremely loyal but also did bad things, which made Emperor Chongzhen love and hate him.What kind of character is Liu Erzhi? He used to be a censor, once criticized Wei Zhongxian, and hated eunuchs extremely. Such a character is definitely the object of Wang Chengen's dislike, but at this time, he said that Liu Erzhi was available.It's not because he hates Liu Erzhi, so he wants him to die. He wants to choose a character for Emperor Chongzhen. This Liu Erzhi is definitely a person who can do things, and he is from Shandong. If he goes to Shandong, he can help Emperor Chongzhen .

"Has Gao Qiqian returned?" Emperor Chongzhen shook his head, and said again: "Cheng En, you said that you can send troops into Shandong again? Let Gao Qiqian go."

"Send another army?" Wang Chengen's face was startled, his eyes rolled, and soon he understood what Emperor Chongzhen was thinking. This army was not only to quell the Shandong rebellion, but more importantly, it was probably for other reasons.But it's hard for him to say this kind of thing, so he can only bow his head and say: "Please ask the emperor to make a decision."

"That's good." Emperor Chongzhen finally made the decision, only to hear him wave his hand, and said: "From today onwards, Li Xin will be removed from the position of Shandong's economic strategist, and Zhu Dadian will be the governor of Shandong, and Gao Qiqian will be the supervisor of the army." , led [-] soldiers and horses, and wiped out Kong Youde's rebels. Jin Guoqi, Jin Guochen, Zu Dabi, Zu Kuan, and Wu Sangui, the generals of Liaodong, led the Guanning cavalry to Zhu Dadian's command, and ordered him to pacify me within a month. Shandong. Destroy all enemies of the imperial court."

Wang Chengen, who was writing the imperial decree, was startled, and the vermilion pen in his hand almost dripped a drop of ink on the imperial decree.He is cunning by nature, and has been with Chongzhen for more than ten years. He doesn't know what Chongzhen thinks in his heart. The so-called "enemy of the court" not only refers to Kong Youde, but also Li Xin from Dengzhou, Shandong.Emperor Chongzhen is going to destroy Li Xin in Shandong!Can people be convinced that this kind of story of crossing rivers and demolishing bridges is spread?Wang Chengen disagreed in his heart, but there was nothing he could do.

(End of this chapter)