Emperor Chongzhen, who had lived in the palace all year round, did not know the sufferings of the people in Henan, and he did not expect that the intruder would suddenly punch him in the waist and beat him to the point of paralysis.
But at this time, the world was uneasy and the imperial court was deploying troops everywhere. He still knew that the cabinet minister Yang Sichang was supervising the army in Sichuan to pursue and suppress the Xian traitors, and Hong Chengchou was also fighting fiercely with the slave thieves in Liaodong.
However, the rebellion in Shandong was like a fire, and it was difficult to extinguish it for a while. He was afraid that it would cut off water transportation. What worried him even more was the movements of the intruder Li Zicheng.
Since Li Zicheng broke through Wuguan and crossed the Han River, the court has not received any news about the intruders, although no information is the best news.
But the long-term Emperor Chongzhen was even more worried. He was afraid that the intruder was lurking somewhere and would suddenly appear and kill him, disrupting the court's strategic strategy of pursuing and suppressing Zhang Xianzhong.
The Chinese New Year is coming in less than a month, and the city of Beijing is filled with a festive atmosphere, not affected at all by the wars in various places.
At this time, Beijing, Jinzhou in Liaodong, Luoyang in Henan, and Sichuan, which had been ravaged by bandits, were like two worlds. They still had a peaceful and festive atmosphere, as if the Ming Dynasty was still prosperous, without any hint of doomsday.
…………
In the Forbidden City, the Xuanwu Gate has just played the fifth watch of drums. All the temples inside and outside the imperial city are ringing with bells and drums. The Yinghua Palace is because in the Forbidden City, the bells, pans, shengs, Xiao, wooden fish, and clouds are beating.
Along with the chanting and Sanskrit singing, waves were transmitted to the Qianqing Palace.
Emperor Chongzhen had gotten up early. Wearing his usual court uniform, he drank a bowl of bird's nest soup with rock sugar and ate a piece of tiger eye candy. The eunuchs, following the custom of the palace, placed a "Pepsi Lucky Box" in his imperial desk.
Persimmons, lychees, longans, chestnuts, and ripe dates.
But he only glanced at it and didn't eat anything, but sighed in his heart: "Oh, when will we see Pepsi success!"
Seeing that the emperor had finished breakfast, the maids hurriedly stepped forward to change Emperor Chongzhen's court robes and crowns. Emperor Chongzhen walked out of the Qianqing Palace, got on the chariot, and went to the Huangji Palace to attend the morning court.
That day, Emperor Chongzhen returned to the Qianqing Palace after the morning court. He still felt uneasy. He looked at the small mountain of memorials on the imperial desk and felt even more depressed.
After walking around the Qianqing Palace for a while, Emperor Chongzhen called a young eunuch who was accompanying him and said: "Send Chen Xinjia here!"
The little eunuch sang "O", then turned around and left quickly, not daring to delay even a moment.
After a while, Chen Xinjia hurriedly arrived at the Palace of Qianqing. He knelt down and saluted, saying: "Your Majesty, Chen Xinjia, pays homage to you."
"Chen Qing, get up!"
After Chen Xinjia thanked him, he stood up and stood aside, waiting for Emperor Chongzhen's instructions.
Emperor Chongzhen sat behind the imperial desk and looked at Chen Xinjia, who was standing with his head bowed in the palace. He was very satisfied with Chen Xinjia in his heart. He even thought that Chen Xinjia was a rare and capable talent.
"Is there any new military intelligence report from Yang Sichang and the governor of Henan?"
Chen Xinjia bowed and replied: "There was a report in front of Yangge's department that the supervisor in Sichuan was quite successful in suppressing the bandits. Now the bandits have been forced into western Sichuan. There will be good news in the near future.
The governor of Henan reported that Li Chuang was a thief. After entering Henan, he defeated dozens of villages in Funiu Mountain and Xiong'er Mountain. His power regained, and he had already attacked Lushi, Songxian, and Yongning.
There are worries about marching into Luoyang.
However, Zhang Cheng’s troops in Xuan Town and Chen Jiugao’s troops in Beijing camp have been dispatched to Henan to assist in the suppression. There is no new report, and I hope there will be no major changes in the future.”
When Emperor Chongzhen heard that the bandits were approaching Luoyang, he was very excited and nervous. When he heard that Zhang Cheng had led his troops into Henan Province to assist in the suppression, he felt a little relieved.
He said to himself: "Ah, since Zhang Cheng has gone to Henan Province to help with the suppression, Henan should be fine!"
Emperor Chongzhen seemed to have remembered something, and he added: "Luoyang, the important land of the vassal, must not be lost. You tell Li Xianfeng that we must use all our strength to suppress the bandits, and we must not let the bandits attack Luoyang, the important land of the Kaifeng vassal."
He paused and asked again: "Where is Zhang Cheng in Henan now?"
"Reporting to your majesty, at the end of November, Zhang Cheng's troops had left Feng and marched to the west of Henan to help suppress the intruders and ensure that Luoyang was not lost."
"Well. How's it going over there in Jinzhou?"
Chongzhen then asked about various situations of the war in Liaodong, and Chen Xinjia reported them one by one. Although there were frequent wars in all directions, Emperor Chongzhen was deeply impressed by Chen Xinjia's good management and greatly appreciated him.
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On December 11, the 13th year of Chongzhen reign in the Ming Dynasty, in the afternoon, the sun shone on the frozen hard ground. A group of armored sergeants were marching forward. The sunlight reflected the sparkling light and shadow on the armor.
Yanshi County was right in front of him. Zhang Guodong looked at the south gate of Yanshi City. There were stains of blood on it, which seemed to show people the brutality of the war in the past.
Groups of turbaned thieves were guarding the city wall. They seemed to be holding on to the city and had no intention of leaving the city to fight in the field.
On the bank of the Luoshui River south of Yanshi City, Zhang Guodong said beside Zhang Cheng: "Commander, the last general proposed not to attack Yanshi, but to leave a part of the infantry battalion to monitor the rebel army in Yanshi City, and the army will march westward to Luoyang."
Zhang Guangda also said: "The general thinks it is feasible. The bandits are holding on to the city. Our army has only had a little training and has no experience in attacking the city. It is better to bypass Yanshi, go straight to Luoyang, lure the bandits in the city to attack, and kill them in the wild."
Cut off.”
Zhang Cheng looked at Yanshi City not far away, silent and lost in thought. No one wanted to disturb him, so they gathered around to discuss whether to attack Yanshi.
After a long time, Zhang Cheng turned around and looked at everyone, and said in a deep voice: "Master Yan must fight!"
The generals looked at Zhang Cheng in surprise, only to hear him continue: "Although our army has been training for more than a year, it only has experience in field battles. It has never been used to defend or attack a city. Even when it was announced that the town
He has only conquered a few bandit strongholds.
Today, there are only thousands of bandits in Yanshi City, and among them there are only a few hundred who can be called elites. Moreover, their occupation of the city is limited, and they lack the ability and experience to govern the place. They may not be able to unite the army and the people and defend to the death.
This is an excellent opportunity for our army to practice siege, so how can we miss it? If we can't even capture Yanshi today, how can we dare to call it a strong army?"
After hearing what Zhang Cheng said, all the generals felt that it was reasonable. At this time, Zhang Cheng said: "In the future, defending the city, fighting in the field, and attacking the city will be indispensable. The armies led by each general will also be
When there is a difference.
A good defender, whether setting up a camp or building a stronghold, or guarding a city, should be impregnable and unbreakable by the enemy; a good attacker, destroying a city and building a stronghold, should be invincible; a good warrior, assessing the situation, looking for the enemy's negligence or weak points
, make full use of the advantages of the terrain, overcome difficulties, and defeat the enemy in field battles."
"Here!"
"The general has learned a lesson. Please rest assured, commander, we will capture Yanshi City tomorrow."