Both the Northwest Route Army and the Northeast Route Army were repulsed, and the strategy of dividing and attacking together was shattered. The main force of the Ming Army, the West Route Army, did not dare to advance any more. Chang Sheng, the general who swept the north, ordered the entire army to garrison in Baoding Prefecture, while facing the
The imperial court reported the military situation and sent people to investigate the distribution of the Peking Army.
The middle route army did not advance, and the rear route army soon came to join it. The main force of the Ming army rose to 130,000 people, with a camp nearly ten miles away. The Ming army was so concentrated that the Peking army did not dare to attack rashly for the time being.
The Peiping Army often bombarded them with artillery, but the Ming Army was always unable to defend. The two armies faced off, and the battle fell into a stalemate.
This stalemate lasted for four days. Although the Ming army was killed and injured thousands of people, Chang Sheng was still very tolerant. He did not attack or retreat, which seemed to be a waste of time. When the cannon fired, the gold was ten thousand taels, and due to the gunpowder
and artillery shells were very rare. Seeing that the bombardment for several days had no results, Wan Lei ordered a suspension of the bombardment.
At the end of February, the Ming army finally welcomed a special "envoy". This envoy was a captured Xiao Qianhu who was released from the Peking Army camp and brought a message to the Ming army:
The Peiping Army was willing to exchange some marquises and consorts with the Ming Army for some people.
When Chang Sheng heard the news, he couldn't help but suspect that he was dreaming, because the people the Peking Army wanted were ordinary people. To be precise, they were the family members of Jiao Yu, the former head of the Staff Department of the Ministry of War, and Yang Shiqi, the former imperial envoy.
.The people who were used for the handover were Pingxi Hou Musheng, Prince Consort Wang Ning and other senior generals.
Exchanging marquises and consorts for some ordinary people is no different from exchanging gold for stones. No wonder Chang Sheng couldn't believe it. He questioned the little Qianhu carefully and learned that the Peiping army was very powerful.
The sincerity of the substitution was not a joke, so I was convinced by it.
He was convinced, but it was not Chang Sheng's decision to exchange prisoners on the battlefield. He could only ask the court for an order immediately. As for whether the court would agree to the replacement, he could not guarantee it. He would have to accept the emperor's order when he was away.
, major events must be reported to the emperor, and only when the imperial edict comes down can we act in accordance with it. This is also one of the differences between the Ming army and the Peking army.
In fact, the reason why Wan Lei proposed to replace people with people was because the Ming Dynasty learned a lesson this time and sent many royal guards to monitor and protect the families of civilian officials and military generals who went out to fight. It was difficult for the elite guards lurking in the Ming Dynasty to control
Someone got it, so I had to take this step.
Of course, in Wan Lei's eyes, these captives such as the prince's consort are no more noble than ordinary people, and using them for replacements is considered waste. However, when the Ming army responded, Wan Lei sneered in his heart.
It can be seen: the imperial court does not trust the frontline generals. Not only does it send envoys down to supervise the army, but it also requires instructions from above in everything. By the time the instructions are given, it is afraid that this army will be finished long ago.
However, Wan Lei was not in a hurry. After all, the Ming army was fighting away from home. The longer the delay, the more disadvantageous it would be for them. This delay was delayed until March, and the plum rain season came to the south of the Yangtze River again. Jinling City was shrouded in gloom and mist.
It causes constant sorrow.
Just like the bad weather, the mood of officials at all levels in the Ming Dynasty was also very bad, because repeated defeats came from the north, the emperor was furious, and the officials below were all in danger, for fear of being affected by the anger. The most unlucky one was Mo
Qi Tai, the Minister of War, was really incompetent in his role as Minister of Defense, so he was impeached by his subordinates every day. If Emperor Jianwen hadn't protected him, he would have gone home and farmed.
Early that morning, a regular court meeting was held in the Fengtian Hall. There was still a lot of quarrel in the court, but they could not come up with a strategy to deal with the Peking Army. The civil servants asked Emperor Jianwen to put pressure on the soldiers on the front line and ask them to carry forward
Not afraid of sacrifice, he went to risk his life with the Peking Army as soon as possible. However, the noble generals were not happy and expressed their opposition one after another.
"You bunch of scholars can only make random noises, and you are not the one who goes into battle to fight." This is the collective voice of the noble generals. In short, the meaning is very obvious: whoever wants to die will be killed, and I will not go.
The military generals all expressed that they could not go to war, and Emperor Jianwen had a headache. Although he was the most respected person in the Ninth Five-Year Plan, to put it bluntly, he was alone. Without the help of his younger brothers, he would not be able to govern the entire country. Now the "official resentment" among the military generals group is boiling. If
If he is not appeased, I am afraid that his position as emperor will soon come to an end.
In addition to the resentment of the military generals, the civil service group also began to split. One faction was the main war faction headed by Qi Tai. Although this faction was not large in number, they were all heavyweights, including Fang Xiaoru, the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and Huang Zicheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry.
Waiting for senior officials.
The other faction is the Zhuhe faction headed by Huang Guan, the Minister of Household Affairs. This faction has a large number of people, most of whom are fifth- and sixth-grade hall officials of various ministries, as well as Kedao Yanguan. These people advocate temporary peace talks and ending the war with
The people rested and recuperated for several years, and after the imperial court regained its vitality, it launched an army to annihilate the Peiping thieves.
Facts have proved that speaking one's words does not necessarily mean being capable. The so-called adapting to the circumstances of the situation often outweighs the situation. The indignant and impassioned warring faction may not necessarily love the Ming Dynasty so much, and neither can those advocating for peace and retreat.
It means betraying the country.
However, the war faction still had the upper hand in the court. As soon as the petitions from the leaders of the peace faction were delivered to the palace, they were called out to receive scoldings the next day. They scolded them no matter how unpleasant they were, and they were almost called Qin Hui. They were scolded.
After being scolded, he was demoted and fined, saying it was "taken as a sign of disloyalty."
Even though they were demoted and fined, they still failed to frighten the leaders and generals. They learned something wise and no longer openly asked for an end to the war. Instead, they turned their guns to the Ministry of War and concentrated their firepower on impeachment.
Qi Tai, the Minister of War, wanted to drive Qi Shangshu home. Of course, Qi Tai was not willing to go home to have his grandson, so he immediately organized a counterattack.
The peace faction scolded the peace faction for being incompetent, and the war faction scolded the peace faction for being disloyal and unjust. In this way, the original dispute of morale turned into a factional fight. The two major factions of the civil service group began to fight against each other.
A group of noble generals also came to join in the fun, and for a while, the excitement in the court hall rivaled that of a vegetable market.
Emperor Jianwen watched helplessly as the two sides continued to fight like this. He had always listened to the emperor's master Qitai Huang Zicheng and others, but with the help of these important ministers, the empire became more and more unstable. He had long been impetuous.
Deep down in his heart, he was somewhat dissatisfied with Qi Huang Fang and others, but he didn't know how to make a decision for a while.
Rather than saying that Emperor Jianwen didn't know how to make a decision, it would be better to say that he was indecisive. But it's no wonder that as an emperor, he was born in a peaceful era and grew up in the inner courtyard of the palace. He didn't know that people's hearts are dangerous and the world is difficult. As for his understanding of government affairs
The level is just above memorials, and they simply don’t understand how people’s hearts are following and people’s livelihood is in dire straits.
The morning court was noisy all morning, and towards the end of the morning court, a eunuch hurried up to the main hall, knelt down and said to His Highness: "Your Majesty, the Duke of Wei sent his son Xu Qin back to the court, and he is now outside the palace asking for an audience."
"Quick, call quickly." As soon as Emperor Jianwen heard the news, his originally gray face finally gained some life.
At critical moments, you have to trust your own people. This was Emperor Jianwen's realization, and Wei Guogong was the person he trusted most.
Soon, Xu Qin was led to the main hall by the eunuchs. After kneeling three times and nine times, Emperor Jianwen asked anxiously: "How is the war in Annan? When can Duke Wei return to the court?"
There was no other way, there were no good generals in the court, so Emperor Jianwen could only hope that he and Xu Huizu would return to the court soon so that he could send General Ren Saobei to deal with the Peking Army.
"My father was ordered by the Holy Spirit to lead the affairs of Pingnan. A few days ago, he fought a battle with the Annan rebels in Thang Long, and defeated the main force of the rebels in one battle. Now that the rebels have fled to the south, they need to retain troops to fight to prevent a resurgence. My father is not talented.
I went back to court last night and told everything." Xu Qin said loudly.
"Wei Guogong has defeated the rebels, and his contribution is to the country. I ask you, sir, to prepare a decree on my behalf to commend him." Emperor Jianwen was overjoyed when he heard that the main force of the Annan rebels had been wiped out, but his face immediately turned dark again, and the other party Xiaoru said: "Imperial decree
The above statement clearly states: Now the Peking bandits have raised troops to rebel again, and it is difficult for the court to control them. I hope that the Duke will return to the court as soon as possible so that I can share my worries."
"I accept the order, and now I will draw up the edict." After Fang Xiaoru kowtowed and saluted, he quickly wrote with his pen. After a while, an imperial edict with extraordinary literary talent came out. Emperor Jianwen was very satisfied after reading it, so he asked the eunuch to stamp it.
Jade seal.
Xu Qin knelt in the hall and knelt down to thank him again. However, he did not step down. Instead, he held up a memorial and said loudly: "My father heard that the Peiping thieves were revolting again. He had trouble sleeping and eating day and night, so he formulated a strategy to defeat the thieves.
Please take a look at it, Your Majesty."
"A strategy for defeating thieves?" Emperor Jianwen was overjoyed and said to the eunuch beside him: "Quick, bring it to me quickly."
The eunuch immediately came down the steps to get it, but Xu Qin firmly held on to the memorial and did not let go. He looked left and right. The meaning was very obvious. This was a secret memorial and no one else could hear it. Emperor Jianwen noticed it and waved his hand.
The order was given: "All ministers, please retreat first."
After all the ministers left, Xu Qin still did not let go. Emperor Jianwen had no choice but to order the eunuchs and guards to withdraw. Only the monarch and his ministers were left in the hall. Xu Qin then personally presented the memorial. Emperor Jianwen opened the memorial.
After scanning it once, his expression changed drastically.
"Is this Xu Aiqing's strategy?" Emperor Jianwen looked very unhappy.
"This is indeed what my father wrote. Before I left, my father also warned me in detail: The thieves in Peiping have become powerful and their plans are huge. It will be difficult to cure the sores by digging at the flesh. Only a strong man can have a chance of survival if he cuts off his wrist."
"A strong man cuts off his wrist?!" Emperor Jianwen's face turned even more ugly, and he said in a trembling voice: "Our ancestors' empire was hard-earned, but we can abandon it to non-human beings."
"Holy Majesty, this is a plan to lure a tiger to devour a wolf. If you follow the plan and move your camera, you will definitely reap the benefits of the fishermen and recover all the land you abandoned."
"This..." Emperor Jianwen still hesitated and said, "If all the ministers heard about this, wouldn't I become a king who abandoned the country?"
"If you give up, you will gain. My father has decided on this policy. Whether to use it or not is up to the discretion of the Holy One." After Xu Qin finished speaking, he knelt down and said long live, and slowly exited the hall, leaving only Jian who was still hesitant to make a decision.