"Your Majesty, Zhang Guowei has published another book, reporting dozens of small victories in Anqing. The main purpose is still to call for reinforcements."
Snowflakes were falling in the capital in the afternoon, and the golden layers of the imperial city were covered with white.
In the square in front of the Qianqing Palace, a group of eunuchs were cleaning the snow on the corridor.
Emperor Chongzhen was wrapped in a yellow robe with a fox collar and strolled slowly on the white marble palace platform, followed by Wang Chengen and several personal eunuchs.
Since the New Year had just passed and a lot of memorials had been accumulated, Wang Chengen was still asked to take the memorials with him and read them while walking.
“How is the cabinet voted for?”
"It was drafted by the chief assistant. Zhang Guowei should not postpone the attack on the grounds of a small number of troops. He should work with the various supervisors and patrols to send troops to suppress it."
"Mr. Wen is right in what he wrote. The Supervisor of Ceremonies can just approve it as usual."
Chongzhen paused and said, "If Zhang Guowei can't defend Anqing with the money, food, troops and horses of the ten prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River, then what can he say about Huguang, Henan?"
If you only ask for reinforcements in the future, let the Chief of Ceremonies draw up the draft according to the vote, and there is no need to bring it to me for review."
"My slave understands."
Chongzhen stopped by the sun crown on the east side and looked at the busy crowds in the square. At this time, a north wind blew by. He couldn't help but tighten his collar a little. Wang Chengen quickly waved back and asked the eunuch to move the canopy to cover the snowflakes. But the emperor waved his hand and refused again, letting the snowflakes fall on him.
"The one just sent by the Supervisor of Ceremonies is still from Liaodong?"
Wang Chengen said hurriedly, "Your Majesty has learned from thousands of miles away. It was the governor of Liaodong who sent the inscription from the Ministry of War. He said that he had received reports from various places confirming that the slave chief had mobilized troops, and he left for North Korea in early December.
In addition to the Jiannu banners, there is also the Mongolian tribe."
Chongzhen's hands trembled slightly. He noticed it immediately and held the hem of his robe with his hands.
Wang Chengen stopped talking at the right time, waiting for the emperor to digest the bad news.
The situation of the entire Liao Dynasty became more and more serious in the ten years after the emperor came to power. Chahar was defeated by the Hou Jin army. Mongolia north of Jiubian surrendered to the Hou Jin Dynasty. Dongjiang Town existed in name only. The last stronghold, Lushun, has also been conquered. Now only Phi Island is left alone on the sea. It is barely supported by North Korea's aid. It has extremely limited restraint on Hou Jin, which allows Hou Jin to have the power to enter the customs and plunder many times. Now Huang Taiji is going to take action against North Korea again.
In the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Hou Jin attacked North Korea for the first time to relieve the threat from the east. At that time, a brotherly alliance was signed. However, after that, North Korea still regarded the Ming Dynasty as its suzerainty and paid tribute to the capital every year. He disobeyed the orders and secretly supported Dongjiang Town of Pi Dao.
This was the second time that Hou Jin attacked North Korea, and he obviously wanted to completely surrender to North Korea.
With North Korea's military strength, when faced with a massive attack by the Qing army, the result is obvious.
In the entire surrounding area of Liaodong, except for the defense line in western Liaoning, there is no force that can contain the Qing army. When the Qing army attacks next time, the Ming Dynasty will face unprecedented pressure.
The emperor's eyes were empty, and his hands unconsciously clenched the hem of his clothes. After a long time, the emperor said, "Since Fang Yizao has detected the large number of Jian Nu, Liaodong must be empty. Why didn't he lead Liao Town directly to the Liao River? Encircle Wei, rescue Zhao Xiang and help Korea?"
Wang Chengen said cautiously, "I think that Jiannu must have left troops and horses when he came. Fang Junmen hastily reported, and then organized his troops to raise food. By the time we get to Liaohe, I'm afraid that Jiannu has returned. I'm afraid, I'm afraid... "I'm afraid that because of Liao Zhen's failure, not only will it not be able to help North Korea, it will suffer another major defeat."
Chongzhen's face was pale, he clenched the cotton robe tightly with his hands, and took a few heavy breaths, which turned into white mist in the air, and then dissipated.
His eyes fell on the sundial, which was also covered with snow at this time. Because the sky was gloomy, he couldn't tell the current time.
"Liao Town is already the strongest frontier army in the Ming Dynasty. It is invincible when chasing the northern captives and attacking the rogue bandits. However, it is vulnerable to a single blow when encountering the Jian slaves.
Jianzhou was nothing more than a traitor, but it was left uncontrollable for decades. I have a vast empire. Wang Chengen, tell me, are there no soldiers in the world who are stronger than Jiannu?"
Wang Chengen whispered, "Your Majesty, please calm down. Those Jianu are barbarians from the outside world. They are more arrogant to begin with, but they only number in the tens of thousands."
As long as the civil and military forces work hard, they will be able to wipe out this traitor sooner or later."
"Doing things with heart is based on this intention."
Chongzhen glanced at the snow-covered square and said in a cold tone, "Since Wang Jiazhen took office, he has not taken a step out of Zhongzhou, so that's it. Even if the soldiers and horses have not moved, the soldiers in the standard camp can mutiny. This can be called
Are you careful?
The bandits have been poisoning Macheng for more than a month, and Huguang is helpless. Can this be called intentional?
Ming Yingtian was ordered to investigate the matter of Zhou Zhikui's resignation, but there was neither credible testimony nor credible evidence. Zhang Guowei delayed the report for several months and had nothing to do with Zhang Pu. Can this be called intentional?"
He let out a long sigh, "Although there are many civilized and military people, there are not many who can do things with their heart.
It is because of this carelessness that this great country has been so poisoned by the Dongnu bandits."
Wang Chengen was silent for a moment and then said in a low voice, "Your Majesty has a sharp eye, and Yang Sichang is the man who can handle the matter. Today, the rogue bandits are raging and establishing slave groups, and when troops are being used everywhere in the world, our troops are indispensable for a long time."
"Has Yang Sichang gone to Beijing?"
"I wrote the third book to resign."
"No."
Impatientness flashed across Chongzhen's face. This appointment had actually been made in October last year. Yang Sichang was still in Dingyou, and it was a special purpose to seize love. Yang Sichang had resigned twice and has not yet taken up the post.
"This slave dares to say something to me. Sanshu has no choice but to resign. Before he takes office, Huang Daozhou and others are already talking about the emperor using all the unlucky people. If there are not enough resignation letters, I'm afraid there will be one more.
In the name of unfilial piety, as soon as he takes office, he will be spread all over the government and the public, and it will be difficult for Mr. Yang to do things."
When Chongzhen heard Huang Daozhou's name, he snorted softly.
It is true that Yang Sichang had to go to Shu to resign. If he did not do so frequently, it would be unfilial. Otherwise, even if he took office, he would be spitted to death by the official. Chongzhen could understand this, but he was in urgent need of a qualified minister of the Ministry of War.
The emperor calmed down a bit at this time, put down his cotton robe with both hands, and said after a moment of pause, "Loyal ministers still need to practice filial piety. Tell Yang Sichang this meaning and ask him to go to Beijing and take office immediately."
"My slave has taken note of it."
Wang Chengen observed the emperor's expression and cautiously said, "The queen just sent someone to ask the emperor to come and speak in the evening."
"Are you talking about the right and wrong in this palace?
I heard that she punished the people around Concubine Tian again."
"This... I heard that someone from Chengqian Palace committed disrespect."
The emperor smiled coldly, "What a good thing she is."
Snowflakes were flying in front of the palace, but a layer of fine beads of sweat broke out on Wang Chengen's forehead. He didn't know whether the "she" the emperor was talking about was the queen or Concubine Tian. The queen was the master of the harem, and Concubine Tian was the most favored concubine. These two
They were all people who could not be offended in the palace, but judging from the context just now, it was more likely that "she" was the queen. Wang Chengen felt his mouth was dry for a moment.
He didn't expect that an ordinary sentence would cause such trouble. Fortunately, the other eunuchs were far away from each other and there was no fear of the news leaking for the time being. However, Wang Chengen must not express any opinions on this matter. It was best not to say a word and just roll his eyes.
Then quickly change the topic.
"This slave has just forgotten something important. The Supervisor of Ceremonies asked the Holy Master to tell me... It was Zhang Hanru who sued Qian Qianyi and Zhai Shichu. The cabinet draft was drawn up. Governor Ying Tian immediately asked to take it to the capital. The Supervisor of Ceremonies asked if the Jinyi Guards should be allowed.
manage."
"I know this."
The emperor thought for a moment and said, "I would rather have people who don't do things carefully than waste them. Zhang Guowei is in a dilemma. Zhang Pu's affairs are inherently perfunctory. Since Qian Qianyi is his mentor, let him handle the tasks."
.”
Wang Chengen responded in a low voice. Even he felt that Zhang Guowei was in a difficult situation. Because of Zhang Pu's incident, Wen Tiren demoted Feng Yuanbiao and transferred him to another country. He did not send reinforcements to him, and now he even asked him to arrest his own advisor. This is a rare thing for a scholar.
Extreme pressure.
The emperor thought for a moment and then said, "The draft of Zhang Guowei's memorial just now, the chief minister is still too lenient, and may not be able to make these civil and military officials use their intentions.
You give an oral message to Mr. Wen: There are thieves who have reported that there are many spies in Nanjing. The arresting yamen in the hub city are to be prepared to strictly enforce the arrests. The burning and looting of the countryside in Tongcheng is still confirmed and reported to the ministry.
Although Shi Kefa and others reported zero gains and were of no use in suppressing the situation, they did nothing to prevent and investigate the situation. They also gathered together with Nanshu Cao, Feng Li, and Fu Ke to obey repeated orders and quickly gathered the elite troops to jointly annihilate the attack without delay."
"My slave has taken note of it."
"Go immediately."
Wang Chengen agreed and hurried out.
The snow was still falling, and the corridor swept away by the eunuchs was once again covered with a layer of white. The emperor raised his eyes and looked at the stretching roof of the palace, as if he could see the endless mountains and rivers outside the palace.
After a long time, the emperor's lips trembled slightly, "This is the country of the Ming Dynasty, and my country."