Chongzhen thought quickly and understood immediately. There must have been major changes in the situation on the front line of Jiuyuan City. These people were greedy for life and feared death, and ran back on their own.
The emperor was trembling with anger and cold.
If one or two people came back, they could be arrested and punished. But hundreds of people all came back. What to do, they were all arrested.
"What happened to Jiuyuan City?" Chongzhen asked hurriedly. "Does Uncle Dingyuan have a memorial?"
Wang Chengen said doubtfully: "I haven't seen the memorial from Uncle Dingyuan today. The Supervisor of Ceremonies probably hasn't received the new memorial from the northwest."
At this time, Eunuch Shuangxi came in. He has now been promoted to the chief eunuch of Kunning Palace.
Kunning Palace is the main palace of the harem. There is one chief eunuch, who is the seventh-rank official attendant. The annual salary is four taels of silver and two dan of rice. There is one deputy chief eunuch, who is the seventh-rank official attendant. There are also twelve junior eunuchs.
Everyone only serves the queen.
There are also a large number of palace maids in Kunning Palace, and the status of palace maids is much higher than that of eunuchs. The highest status is the first-grade palace official.
She is responsible for managing the trivial affairs of the harem. She is the empress dowager or the person who holds the phoenix seal on behalf of the empress. She has a very high status. Therefore, when Aunt Tao and Shuang Xi went to find Yang Fan and Xiao Niang Pi, they must be treated with respect and caution.
Seeing Chongzhen's hesitant expression, Shuangxi did not dare to say anything and stood behind Wang Chengen with his head lowered.
"What's the matter?" Chongzhen asked.
"Your Majesty, Governor Gao Qiqian has returned and is asking to see Your Majesty outside the palace. He said he has urgent military information to present."
Chongzhen felt a little better now. At least Gao Qiqian didn't run back by himself, Yang Fan sent him to deliver the message. It seemed that he was most likely asking for help. If the battlefield situation hadn't worsened, those losers wouldn't have run away.
return.
Chongzhen is actually very smart and has a keen eye. He can understand many things at a glance. It is not easy to fool him. When several things are connected, they are inseparable.
"Let him come in," Chongzhen said. It seems that he won't be able to have a good meal with the queen and concubines tonight.
Gao Qiqian was a good man. He lowered his head and walked in hastily. He first looked at the emperor's face with his peripheral vision, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He had been by the emperor's side all year round and knew the emperor very well.
The emperor was already on the verge of anger. The reason why he still talked to him in a pleasant manner was because the queen was pregnant and was afraid of frightening the queen.
On the train back, he lay on the comfortable berth and kept thinking about the risks of returning to Beijing this time.
To be honest, Jiuyuan City is in danger this time, and he is willing to come back. But if he runs back without the emperor's will, I'm afraid His Majesty will not be able to pass the test.
Although the law does not punish everyone, and everyone has a reason to come back for business. They are not fools, and have already thought of countermeasures. But after all, the emperor is not easy to fool.
As soon as he looked into the emperor's eyes, he knew he was going to suffer.
The emperor's eyes were full of anger.
This anger was not because they, a large group of people, were all greedy for life and fearful of death and fled in the face of the battle. It was because they dared to return to the capital privately without the emperor's will. This was a violation of dragon scales.
Gao Qiqian plopped down and knelt on the ground, crying: "Your Majesty, the war in the northwest is extremely urgent. The Oirat people have gathered 240,000 cavalry, not counting the herdsmen who have come to herd and provide protection. The capital camp is in Jiuyuan City.
There are only 40,000 people. Uncle Dingyuan sent an old slave to ask for reinforcements from Your Majesty."
As if struck by lightning, Chongzhen asked in a trembling voice: "What did you say? Say it again. There are only 40,000 left in the capital camp of 80,000."
Gao Qiqian didn't expect that what shocked the emperor was not that there were so many Oirat people, but that only half of his best people were left in the Beijing camp.
Gao Qiqian quickly said: "There are still 15,000 people in the Beijing Camp in Guihua City. But it is an important area and is also the retreat route for the Beijing Camp army. Those people cannot move and do not dare to move, Your Majesty."
Only then did Chongzhen realize that there were still 55,000 people in the capital camp, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
He calculated carefully. From last year's expedition, he fought all the way to Jiuyuan City and pacified the Ordos Plateau. It was all a tough battle. The loss of 25,000 people was really not that much.
The Beijing camp is mainly infantry, supplemented by a small amount of cavalry, musketeers, and artillery. Facing the enemy's elite cavalry, it is actually at a disadvantage. Yang Fan's ability to achieve this result is already very impressive.
It seems that this old dog came back to ask for help from my troops in Beijing.
Looking at the tired look on his face, the expression on his face relaxed.
"Bring the memorial from Uncle Dingyuan, you go back to the Royal Horse Prison to rest for a while. I will summon you if anything happens." Chongzhen said expressionlessly.
The longer he has been emperor now, the more he can get into the role, and the more he can express his emotions and anger.
Gao Qiqian knew in his heart that he had passed the test. As for the others, we only care about their dead balls.
I felt very grateful to Yang Fan in my heart. Fortunately, I gave him this letter, otherwise he might not have had a good time today.
He hurriedly retreated. Why don't you leave now? Are you waiting to see if His Majesty will attack others?
Chongzhen waved his hand and asked Wang Chengen to go down as well. He sat back on the chair and saw Queen Zhou and his two beloved concubines looking at him.
"Queen and your two beloved concubines, you have what you want and don't pay attention to me. I will read Yang Qing's memorial first."
There were strong rules in ancient families. If the head of the family didn't eat, it was hard for others to eat. The queen and others didn't take off their chopsticks, they just sat quietly.
Chongzhen picked up the memorial and found that it was very thick. When he saw the queen and others, they did not dare to eat it. So he stood up and said, "You guys eat it first. I will go to Qianqing Palace to deal with political affairs."
The queen and three other people stood up quickly, saluted the emperor and said, "I respectfully send you off to your majesty."
Chongzhen waved his hand from behind, without saying anything, and went directly to the West Nuan Pavilion of Qianqing Palace.
Yang Fan's memorial was very thick, with a total of 40,000 to 50,000 words written. It explained the situation in the entire northwest very clearly. Moreover, it emphasized the importance of blocking the Oirat people.
They must not be allowed to enter Monan Mongolia because they are more ferocious hungry wolves.
Tumu Fort is not far away. The hatred between Jingying and Wala has not yet been settled.
Yang Fan put forward his idea in detail in the memorial. Concentrate all his efforts to defeat the Oirat people, and wait for them to return to the Western Region. Then he will backhand deal with the Qinghai Haixi Mongolians and the Guanxi Mongolians outside the Jiayu Pass. At the same time, he will completely pacify Alxa.
Mongolia.
The Juyanhaicheng City abandoned in the Han Dynasty was rebuilt, and together with Jiayuguan Pass, the passage from the Western Regions into the Central Plains was blocked from the south to the north.
At the same time, a team of elite soldiers was sent to escort the master back to the Snow Region and to the Holy City and Palace. They also helped him reorganize the Snow Region. In this way, the problem in the northwest was completely solved.
And with the Hehuang Valley and Monan in Qinghai, the Ming Dynasty will no longer be short of good horses in the future.
With high-quality war horses, we will have a better chance of winning against Jiannu and regaining Liaodong in the future.
After the emperor read the memorial, his heart was churning.
Yang Fan had finished speaking. At this time, he was sailing against the current and retreating if he did not advance. If the Oirat people were further defeated, the northwest would be completely settled and Monan would be occupied.
If it fails and allows the Oirat army to rush in, I'm afraid new border troubles will form.
Yang Fan's meaning is very simple. At this time, we can't be picky about Sosou. We must use the strength of the whole country to win this battle first. Then the situation in the entire northwest will improve.
With Yang Fan guarding it, the forces from the Western Regions can't get in. The imperial court can also use its full strength to deal with Jiannu.
With Ma, the gap with Jiannu would be much narrower. Chongzhen was really tempted.
However, when he thought about increasing troops and spending money, he had a headache. For a while, he sat there and became entangled.