Zhang Xianzhong captured Yingzhou and looted it wantonly, and then directed his troops towards Fengyang, the capital of the Ming Dynasty!
Zhang Xianzhong was very good at using troops. He first asked his subordinates to continue looting in Yingzhou and paralyze the Fengyang defenders, while he left Yingzhou with the main force overnight.
Fengyang's great disaster has arrived.
Zhang Xianzhong attacked all night and surrounded Fengyang City in the foggy morning. In less than half a day, he completely wiped out the 20,000 officers and soldiers guarding Fengyang, killed the guard Zhu Guozheng and others, and captured Yan Rongxuan, the prefect of Fengyang.
He was sentenced to death. He also beheaded the commander-in-chief Yuan Ruizheng, Lu Chengyin, the prefect Yan Daxuan, the official Wan Wenying and other officials.
Fengyang was the capital of the Ming Dynasty and the place where the imperial mausoleum was located. Zhang Xianzhong cut down hundreds of thousands of pines and cypresses in the imperial mausoleum, demolished the surrounding buildings and the Longxing Temple where Zhu Yuanzhang became a monk, then dug up the emperor's ancestral tomb, and at the same time dug up the emperor's ancestral tomb.
All the wealthy people in Fengyang were killed.
Fengyang is in chaos...
...
When the news reached the capital, Emperor Chongzhen immediately put on mourning clothes, ran to the Ancestral Temple, knelt under the memorial tablets of his ancestors and burst into tears. He also ordered the court officials to go about their official duties in plain clothes and vegetarian food to express his condolences. Emperor Chongzhen withdrew the funeral of Xiong Mingyu, the Minister of War.
He beheaded Yang Yipeng, the governor of Fengyang, and the censor of the imperial censor. He also pulled out the governors of the five provinces who had been dismissed from their posts and lived idle for a long time and sentenced them to death.
At this moment, Chongzhen, the supreme ruler of the Ming Dynasty, felt angry and painful.
They hunted down thieves everywhere, but failed to do so. Instead, their ancestral graves were dug up. I tried so hard to revive the Ming Dynasty, but in the end, I even lost the title.
What kind of court is this? What kind of officials are those?
Chongzhen sat in the Xinuang Pavilion in a daze and numbness, not wanting to say a word. He just sat there in a daze, sitting...
"Your Majesty, have something to eat." Wang Chengen advised carefully.
"I'm not hungry." Chongzhen, who had recovered slightly, shook his head: "Wang Cheng'en, I feel very miserable. Come and have a conversation with me."
Wang Cheng'en stood aside solemnly, and Chongzhen's voice was very low: "I suppress bandits every year, but the bandits are rampant every year, and they can't be suppressed no matter how hard they are suppressed. Do you think I am wrong? Or are those ministers not paying attention?"
"It is not wrong for the Emperor to spread his influence over the world." Wang Chengen responded: "Those ministers cannot be said to be undedicated, such as Hong Chengchou. As soon as he took office, he formulated an eight-pronged attack plan and defeated the rebels several times.
The bandits fled in disgrace."
Chongzhen said in a daze: "But, with all the efforts of the king and the hard work of the ministers, why did the rebels even dig up my ancestral grave?"
"Selfishness." Wang Chengen said without hesitation: "It's nothing more than selfishness. Your Majesty asked those generals to go to the Central Plains to suppress bandits, and they only suppressed them in the Central Plains. Once they were outside their jurisdiction, they had nothing to do with them. And the rogue bandits also
Just grasping this point. You had a strong army in Shaanxi, so I went to Henan. The imperial court sent capable generals to Henan, so I fled to Anhui. What about stopping in Anhui? I then transferred to Shaanxi.
It is impossible to prevent and suppress them. And as long as those ministers have completed the tasks assigned by His Majesty, they will feel at ease. The thieves are not within their scope of encirclement and suppression, so what do they have to do with them?"
"Selfish, selfish." Chongzhen murmured: "Isn't there anyone in this imperial court who is dedicated to the public good?"
"Yes, and there are many." Wang Chengen said decisively: "Although Fengyang fell this time, there is a general who is dedicated to the public, dedicated to our Ming Dynasty, and dedicated to fighting to the death for the Holy One."
"Who?" Chongzhen's eyes widened.
Wang Chengen said slowly: "The five tiger guerrilla generals personally proclaimed by the Holy Father, the captain of the light carriage, Ding Yunyi!"
Seeing that Chongzhen didn't know about Ding Yunyi's affairs, Wang Chengen said eloquently: "Ding Yunyi was ordered to rush to the aid of the Central Plains. When he arrived, he first defeated 50,000 thieves with three hundred cavalry and rescued the deputy commander-in-chief He Renlong. Then he clearly pointed out the rogue bandits.
It was inevitable that he would divide his troops into four groups and attack Fengyang. Hong Chengchou gave him 800 cavalry to reinforce Yingzhou. He fought with 800 cavalry against tens of thousands of thieves and fought bloody battles for nine days and nine nights. Your Majesty, he fought bloody battles in Yingzhou for nine days and nine nights.
Ah, but the reinforcements never arrived."
"Where are the reinforcements? Where are the reinforcements?" Chongzhen suddenly became furious.
Wang Chengen shook his head helplessly and said: "Hong Chengchou offered congratulations to Renlong and Ai Wannian as reinforcements, but these two people delayed and refused to advance. They delayed the opportunity to fight in the Huoqiu area, and finally waited for Hong Chengchou to go to supervise the battle in person, and then broke the rogue bandits.
, to restore Huoqiu, but by then it was already too late."
Chongzhen's eyes showed murderous intent: "Congratulations to Renlong, Ai Wannian! I will take their heads, otherwise I will not be able to calm the anger in my heart."
"Your Majesty, no!" Wang Chengen said hurriedly.
"No?" Chongzhen said with murderous intent: "I can kill the governor and the governors of five provinces, but can't I still kill the two deputy generals?"
Wang Chengen knew that the emperor was angry and said patiently: "Your Majesty, He Renlong and Ai Wannian should be killed, but now is not the time to kill them. He Renlong is brave and Ai Wannian is resourceful. They are all generals. Besides, this
The two of them each have elite soldiers and have fought against the bandits for many years. They know very well that the bandits are real and false. If they kill them now, they will be doing the bandits a big favor. In fact, the ministers hate it equally in their hearts, but now they cannot kill them. Not only can they not kill them, but they can also
I commend them for their efforts to help Fengyang, so as to reassure them and allow them to serve the court more conscientiously."
Chongzhen sat there blankly for a long time, and smiled bitterly: "What kind of emperor am I? You can't kill those who deserve to be killed, but you have to reward them. If the news spreads, where will the dignity of the court be? How can those soldiers who died in death be willing to obey me?"
Although he said this, he knew in his heart that what Wang Chengen said was right.
Now that the court is in crisis, it is an opportunity to employ people, especially those generals who are leading troops to fight outside. I have killed many ministers in the past few years. If I continue to kill, I am afraid that there will be no one to lead troops to fight.
To suppress thieves, we have to rely on these people.
"Where is Ding Yunyi? How is he now?" Chongzhen asked suddenly.
"Ding Yunyi led the remnant troops from Yingzhou to Linquan, and then broke out of the encirclement. Life or death is unknown." Wang Chengen shook his head, and then said: "However, the minister believed that with Ding Yunyi's courage, he would be able to successfully break through. The minister also heard that,
Starting from Xinyang, Ding Yunyi held high the banner of "The Brave, Loyal Tiger and Guard" given by His Majesty, marched east and west, and fought bloody battles. Others were maimed and their swords were curled, but the flag given by His Majesty was never dropped.
Pass!"
"This is my loyal and brave minister, this is the loyal and good general of the court! For nine days and nine nights, nine days and nine nights, eight hundred cavalry fought against tens of thousands of thieves. How did he persevere?" Chongzhen suddenly became energetic: "This is what the court wants.
I want to promote his loyal minister, I want to promote him to the rank of commander-in-chief! I want to allocate him a hundred thousand soldiers and let him exterminate the bandits for me!"
"Your Majesty, you must not do this!" Wang Chengen was shocked. His Majesty was angry and happy at times, and his words and actions were already a little confused: "Your Majesty can be promoted to an official, but he must not be promoted to the rank of Commander-in-Chief."
"This is not allowed, that is not allowed, Wang Cheng'en, you said it to me once and for all!" Chongzhen was a little unhappy.
Wang Chengen smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, Ding Yunyi has meritorious service and great achievements, but Ding Yunyi's promotion has been fast enough. If he is promoted to the rank of commander-in-chief again, I am afraid it will cause criticism. Moreover, all the generals in the Central Plains have made mistakes this time, except Ding Yunyi.
Great merit, His Majesty only promoted Ding Yunyi to one person, how could they accept it? To the generals of the Central Plains, Ding Yunyi was an outsider, how could there be any reason for an outsider to steal the spotlight from the locals? They could still accept the promotion to one level, but if they were suddenly promoted to the same level as Cao Cao
Wen Zhao, He Renlong and others are on equal footing, or even above them. These generals must have complaints. Your Majesty needs to know that in the future, we will still have to rely on them to suppress thieves."
Chongzhen sighed heavily: "Wang Cheng'en, you are always so smart and can see through the minds of those generals."
"The minister just said what His Majesty wanted to say. How smart is the minister?" Wang Chengen knew that no matter how many times he said these words, he had to treat them as what the emperor wanted to say: "Also, let Ding Yunyi continue.
The same cannot be said for leading troops to suppress thieves. Your Majesty, the hidden danger has emerged this time."
He quietly glanced at Chongzhen: "The ministers are still saying the same thing. Ding Yunyi is an outsider to them. When outsiders enter their territory, they will always threaten their own interests. If Ai Wannian guards Yingzhou this time, He Renlong
He must be rescued, He Ren Long Shou, Ai Wannian must be rescued, but it is Ding Yunyi who saved it. Ding Yunyi has stolen the limelight from the local generals by breaking Xinyang, wouldn't he give him another great contribution?
?No, they are absolutely not willing! So if Ding Yunyi continues to be here, not only will he not be able to accomplish anything, but he will also be restrained everywhere. Over time, changes may even happen in Taiwan. Your Majesty, there is still Zheng Zhilong in Fujian.
That!"
Chongzheng remained silent for a long time, and then he sighed softly: "I have an extraordinary number of brave generals but I can't use them. This is all caused by cliques and selfish interests. I have the intention but am powerless, and the intention is powerless?"
"Your Majesty, don't worry." Wang Chengen advised: "Ding Yunyi has left a great reputation in the Central Plains this time, and the court will always be of use to him in the future. When he comes back again, no one in the world will be dissatisfied. If we raise an army again, it will be overwhelming. Moreover,
This time it is not all without gain, at least His Majesty already knows about Ding Yunyi's loyalty to the imperial court, and his bravery is also known to the officers, soldiers and rebels. This is the biggest gain."
"Pass the decree." Chongzhen cheered up and said, "Promote Ding Yunyi to the rank of General of Taiwan, and be awarded the rank of Captain of Qingche, and the title of General Zhaowu. He will separately guard Taiwan and Penghu, and control the military and political affairs of the two places. Also, this time he established another
If he performs great service and bathes in blood in Yingzhou, he can take away whatever he wants."
"The minister expresses gratitude to Ding Yunyi." Wang Chengen said respectfully: "Ding Yunyi is unparalleled in his loyalty and bravery. Your Majesty will give him such a descendant, and Ding Yunyi will be loyal from now on."
There was no trace of happiness on Chongzhen's face: "It would be great if the court could have more Ding Yunyi."!~!