Half a month later, the capital.
Outside the Xuanwu Gate in the south of the capital, a group of Ming troops rushed into the city without gathering their flying horses at night. This group was the victory personnel sent to the capital by the Xuanda and Shandong armies.
At this time, these night warriors excitedly waved the red triangular flags in their hands and shouted at the top of their lungs to the people along the way: "Great victory, great victory! Xuanda and Shandong armies were victorious over Julu, beheading more than 5,000 slaves and thieves!" "
"Great victory! Great victory! Great victory for Xuanda and Shandong Army!"
The news of Xuanda and Shandong Army running all night without stopping immediately caused a sensation in the whole city. Countless people followed the team with joy and ran behind it. Under the surging crowd, almost all the people who heard about it were It brought tears to my eyes.
When the good news was delivered to the Ministry of War, all the officials of the Ministry of War were dumbfounded. Suddenly, a minister suddenly woke up, picked up the news, and ran towards the imperial city. There were several people from the Ministry of War behind him. The officials also turned around and ran away after him.
In the imperial city, Wang Dehua, the eunuch of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, personally received the good news. He just glanced at the line of writing on the cover of the good news and heard what officials from the Ministry of War told him: "5,000-level beheading of slave thieves?" This is real?
If it were anyone else, Wang Dehua would definitely not believe it, but this good news was sent by the governor Lu Xiangsheng. Lu Xiangsheng would never lie about military information. This was the consensus of the government and the public, and even Yang Sichang had to admit it.
"This is real!"
At this time, Wang Dehua hugged the good news tightly, as if he was afraid that the good news would fly away, and then ran towards Qianqing Palace tremblingly, like a wild horse running wild.
Suddenly, by accident, Wang Dehua tripped and fell to the ground. However, Wang Dehua ignored the pain and quickly got up again and continued running wildly.
In the Qianqing Palace, Emperor Chongzhen was reviewing memorials. The long review made Emperor Chongzhen's eyes sore and unbearable, but the imperial pen in his hand still kept moving. Wang Cheng'en, the eunuch and eunuch Wang Cheng'en, the eunuch who was in charge of etiquette and was beside him, felt sour in his heart and almost burst into tears. It's about to fall.
"Damn the Tatars, damn the thieves! Your Majesty works day and night, wishing you could break an hour into eight parts, but even so, the world is still in turmoil and the people are miserable. When will such days end!"
Wang Chengen sighed in his heart, and was about to persuade Emperor Chongzhen to rest for a while, when he heard a sound of running outside, and someone seemed to be shouting outside the hall.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen also raised his head, looked at the door of the hall with furrowed brows, and said, "What's going on outside?"
"Old servant, go take a look."
Wang Chengen knew that Emperor Chongzhen was most taboo about being disturbed when dealing with state affairs, so he walked quickly to the door of the hall. Before he could reach it, he saw Wang Dehua pushing open the door and rushing in with a face full of joy.
"Be bold!"
Wang Chengen immediately scolded him. Although the two were of the same rank, Wang Chengen was Emperor Chongzhen's companion when he was King Xin. This status was unmatched by anyone.
Only then did Wang Dehua realize that he had lost his composure and hurriedly knelt on the ground to apologize.
Emperor Chongzhen glanced at Wang Dehua, and then noticed that many guards and maids had gathered at the entrance of the hall. Everyone's faces were filled with joy. This was the joy he had not seen for a long time. The last time he saw such a smile, he remembered It was still when he ascended the throne.
At this time, Wang Chengen also noticed the looks of everyone, and seemed to have thought of something. He suddenly turned his head to look at Emperor Chongzhen, then looked at Wang Dehua, and said in a slightly trembling voice: "What's the matter? Tell your Majesty!"
Wang Dehua kowtowed to the ground and suddenly cried loudly: "Your Majesty! Lu Xiangsheng led his troops to severely defeat the slave thieves in Julu. He beheaded more than 5,000 slave thieves in one battle. What a great victory!"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone outside the hall knelt on the ground, and then they began to cry bitterly, not knowing whether they were excited or something else.
Emperor Chongzhen stood up slowly and looked at Wang Chengen with some disbelief. He saw Wang Chengen kneeling on the ground at this moment, and then cried loudly: "Your Majesty, a great victory!"
There was a eunuch nearby who had already received the good news from Wang Dehua and quickly delivered it to Emperor Chongzhen.
Looking at the handwriting on the victory report, Emperor Chongzhen opened it excitedly and began to review it.
In the victory report, Lu Xiangsheng reported the details of the Battle of Julu. He not only praised the bravery of Yang Guozhu and Hu Dawei, but also emphatically praised the bravery of Liu Yan's troops. He bluntly said: "The situation of the fierce battle in Julu was difficult. After a few days, Inside, tens of thousands of Jiannu took turns to attack fiercely. If Liu Yan, the defensive officer of Qianhu Station in front of Xiahe Village of Lingshan Guards, did not lead his new army to fight the enemy head-on, the ministers might not be able to turn the tide...Defensive officer Liu Yan and his new army The officers and men were truly the first contributors to Julu’s great victory!”
"Liu Yan?"
When Emperor Chongzhen saw this, he also remembered that Liu Yan had achieved a great victory in Shandong before, and that was the great victory on the Yaoshan Mountain Road. Although there were not many beheadings, it was not easy given Liu Yan's official position and military strength.
"I really didn't expect that the world situation is so corrupt, but our Ming Dynasty has a good general!"
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was excited. He first ordered Wang Cheng'en, Wang Dehua and others to escape, and then said to Wang Cheng'en: "Liu Yan, Yang Guozhu, and Hu Dawei are all great contributors, and Lu Xiangsheng is the first contributor. I will reward them heavily!"
Wang Chengen said: "What your Majesty said is true. Governor Lu and his several fierce generals really need to be heavily rewarded. Only in this way can the soldiers in the world be encouraged to continue to bravely kill thieves!"
"Um!"
Emperor Chongzhen was very happy at this time and sat down to continue looking at the good news in his hand.
But then, Emperor Chongzhen was not in a good mood.
Lu Xiangsheng impeached Gao Qiqian by the way in the victory report, and directly impeached Gao Qiqian for failing to save him.
"... I have led tens of thousands of soldiers under my command to fight hard in Julu for several days. They have severely damaged all the slave and bandit tribes, leaving all the slave bandit banners exhausted and demoralized. The supervisory army, Gao Qiqian, is sitting on tens of thousands of elite Guan Ning troops. After a long time, they stationed in Jize and waited and watched, so that the fighter planes to annihilate the slave thieves who entered the pass came to nothing. Tens of thousands of slave thieves were severely damaged and then returned north safely..." 33
Emperor Chongzhen frowned, but he didn't expect that the Battle of Julu would have such a juncture. Although Emperor Chongzhen also regretted that he could not encircle and annihilate the Qing army, if he really wanted to deal with Gao Qiqian's troops, if a mutiny was triggered, then The gain outweighs the loss.
After the mid-Ming Dynasty, although the court relied on civil servants to control military affairs, the status of military generals was far inferior to that of civil servants. But now, the world is in turmoil, and military commanders hold military power. Therefore, when something happens, Emperor Chongzhen has no intention of killing civil servants. He hesitates, but he can't make up his mind about the generals, for fear of triggering a mutiny.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen could not make a decision for a while, so he gave the good news to Wang Cheng'en to see, and then dismissed Wang Dehua and a group of guards and maids, and sent a decree to reward everyone.
After Wang Dehua left with everyone's gratitude, only Emperor Chongzhen and Wang Cheng'en were left in the hall.
Wang Chengen was also shocked after reading the good news. However, unlike Emperor Chongzhen, Wang Chengen was very clear about the struggles between the various factions in the court. Why did Gao Qiqian support his troops and not save him? Naturally, it was because Yang Sichang, the Minister of War, was at odds with Lu Xiangsheng. Another point...
"Naturally, the generals of the Guan Ning Army were unwilling to send troops. The slave thieves suffered heavy losses in this battle. If the Guan Ning Army really hit the Julu area with a single blow and wiped out tens of thousands of the slave thieves in one fell swoop, then the imperial court would probably There will be nothing more!"
Wang Chengen narrowed his eyes slightly, knowing in his heart that the generals of Guan Ning Army must be worried that after the defeat of Dongnu, the court will no longer allocate huge amounts of money and food to Guan Ning Army, and will even start to dismantle the various departments of Guan Ning Army, these bastards!
Although Wang Chengen understood the key, he could not express these words to Emperor Chongzhen.
According to Emperor Chongzhen's thinking, whether he believes this is another matter. Even if he believes it, what can he do? Except for Emperor Chongzhen being able to capture Gao Qiqian and bring him back for prosecution, none of the generals of the Guan Ning Army could be moved. What's the point of doing so?
So Wang Chengen said: "Your Majesty, although this old servant doesn't understand military affairs, he also knows that there is chaos on the battlefield. Perhaps the senior supervisory army and others were unable to detect the horse and the information was unclear, so they missed the opportunity..."
Although Emperor Chongzhen had no experience in personal battle formations, he was not a fool. Gao Qiqian's troops were ineffective in detecting horses? Guan Ning's army is known as the elite. So many elite soldiers are kept at night, even with sharp whistles. The fighting on Julu's side is so fierce, don't you know? Only a ghost can believe it!
What's more, Lu Xiangsheng had already mentioned in his victory report that he had sent people to Gao Qiqian many times to ask for help, asking Gao Qiqian to lead his troops to support them and together they could encircle and annihilate the main force of the Qing army. But Gao Qiqian always ignored him, and even the men and horses sent by Lu Xiangsheng disappeared like stones in the sea and disappeared!
Emperor Chongzhen looked at Wang Chengen. Although he didn't think as deeply as Wang Chengen, he could still get a glimpse of it. At this time, Emperor Chongzhen frowned and said after a long time: "It's better to wait for Gao Qiqian's report first. How to say..."
At this moment, Wang Dehua came over again with a report in his hand.
"Your Majesty! What a great victory!"
Emperor Chongzhen was excited again and hurriedly asked Wang Chengen to present the good news, but it was the good news sent by Gao Qiqian.
Emperor Chongzhen frowned slightly, but after opening it and reading it, he sighed.
Gao Qiqian wrote in this victory report that he led the Guan Ning army to attack south and fought fiercely with the Qing troops several times, but still allowed the Qing troops to withdraw. Even the bodies of the Qing troops they killed were almost all snatched away by the Qing troops.
However, Gao Qiqiu still had a lot of gains this time. He led various units of the Guan Ning Army to intercept a large number of people who were plundered by the Qing soldiers, as well as a huge amount of money, food and luggage, and also achieved a great victory.
After reading it, Emperor Chongzhen threw Gao Qiqian's good news on the table with some dissatisfaction and asked Wang Chengen to take a look.
After a while, Emperor Chongzhen said in a cold voice: "Did the Qing soldiers give up those people, money, food and materials on their own initiative and were taken advantage of by Gao Qiqian, or were they intercepted by his troops as Gao Qiqian said?"
The answer is self-evident.
But Wang Chengen didn't dare to say it clearly. At this time, he just said: "I can't say anything about the battlefield. However, the Gao Jianjun's capture is considered a great victory. Your Majesty should still reward the officers and soldiers of Guan Ning Army."
Emperor Chongzhen glanced at Wang Chengen and understood the meaning. This was to appease the morale of the various departments of the Guan Ning Army and make the arrogant and powerful generals of the Guan Ning Army say nothing.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen sighed and said, "If all the soldiers in the world were like Lu Xiangsheng and Liu Yan, I would be able to sit back and relax!"
Wang Chengen lowered his head and said nothing after hearing this, with a trace of regret flashing in his eyes.
At the end of December, Lu Xiangsheng and Liu Yan led their troops to the southern suburbs of the capital.
A few days later, Gao Qiqian also led various units of Guan Ning's army to the southern suburbs of the capital. He escorted more than 20,000 rescued people and a large amount of money, food and supplies, and set up camp more than ten miles away from Lu Xiangsheng and Liu Yan's headquarters.
Emperor Chongzhen was very happy after hearing the news, and immediately ordered Wang Chengen to pass on the decree and ordered Lu Xiangsheng to bring Liu Yan, Yang Guozhu, and Hu Dawei to the palace for an audience. At the same time, he ordered Gao Qiqian to also enter the palace for an audience.
Some people died, but not completely...
