Since the end of the Battle of Huangtuling, the main forces of the Qing army have begun to gather in the Rufeng Mountain area. Except for the scouts of the Qing army's various banners who are still harassing and wandering in Jinzhou, Huangtuling, Songshan and other places, there is no clear sight of the Qing Dynasty. There was no trace of the main force of the army.
The Ming army also began to rest and recuperate. Hong Chengchou garrisoned Huangtu Ridge with troops from Shanxi Town, Shanhaiguan Town, and Miyun Town, and then led troops from other towns to station at the foot of Jinzhou City. 33
As for the defeated troops in Jizhou Town, after a period of rectification, they were temporarily placed under Shanxi Town, Miyun Town, and Shanhaiguan Town, which could be regarded as replenishing some troops for these three military towns with the most serious losses.
Regarding this, Li Fuming, Tang Tong, and Ma Ke all looked happy, and Yang Guozhu, Wang Pu, Wu Sangui and others were all envious.
Liu Yan didn't feel anything about this. Even if those defeated soldiers and soldiers gave him money, he wouldn't take it.
At this time, the Ming and Qing armies were basically bounded by the Huangtu Ridge and Jinzhou City lines. Both sides continued to send out night patrols and scouts for small-scale confrontations, but there was no large-scale mobilization of troops. The Jinzhou battlefield fell into a stalemate.
Before Hong Chengchou moved his troops to Jinzhou City, he sent fast horses to deliver the good news to the capital. The memorials of Ma Shaoyu, Zhang Ruoqi and others also rushed 800 miles to the capital.
All the way south from Jinzhou, through Shanhaiguan, and then to Beijing City, the post stations along the way were quite complete, so the delivery of the good news was very smooth. On the fifth day of July, the good news and everyone's memorial were delivered to the city almost immediately.
The brigade of fast horses that brought the victory news all had Hong Chengchou's instructions. After riding their horses into the city of Beijing, everyone shouted loudly: "Great victory at Huangtu Ridge in Liaodong! The army severely wounded the slave thieves and beheaded more than 13,500 people. The siege of Jinzhou has been lifted!"
As the horse rushed all the way to the Forbidden City, the entire capital was excited. When Wang Chengen came to the imperial study room with the victory report and everyone's memorial in his hand, he was so excited that he almost fell to the ground, and then reported to Emperor Chongzhen in tears.
"What!"
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen felt his blood surge, and a burst of gold stars flashed before his eyes. He almost fainted and fell to the ground, but Wang Chengen hurriedly ran over to help him.
"Is this true? Beheading more than 13,500 people?"
"Long live, it's true! The memorials of the two supervisors can confirm each other, it is absolutely true!"
"Haha! My ancestors bless me, God bless me!"
Then Emperor Chongzhen excitedly picked up the good news and looked through everyone's memorials. When he saw the wonderful things, he couldn't help but admire them. Although the victory reports and everyone's memorials mentioned Bai Guangen's death in battle and the defeat of Jizhou Town, with so many beheadings, these losses were brushed aside. Even Emperor Chongzhen only lamented that Bai Guangen died in battle and was commendable for his loyalty. , and did not lose interest because of this.
Then Emperor Chongzhen happily issued an edict to read out the good news to the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty in tomorrow's morning court.
On the morning of the next day, all the civil and military officials were seen wearing auspicious clothes. After the victory was announced, the officials of Honglu Temple gave a speech, and each official performed five bows and three kowtows. Afterwards, the Hanlin Academy wrote an article and Taichang Temple organized the ceremony. After receiving the product, officials were sent to recommend it to the temple in the suburbs, and a large sacrifice was held to commemorate the ceremony.
Outside the palace, people in the capital also set off firecrackers and gathered in crowds to celebrate for days, and the reputation of the new army in Qinglai Town spread throughout the capital.
Ever since Hong Chengchou led his troops out of Shanhaiguan to fight, Emperor Chongzhen could not sleep at night almost every day, fearing that one day bad news would come and the more than 200,000 elites of the Ming Dynasty would be destroyed.
But now the good news came. Although the main force of the slave and bandit army was still there, the siege of Jinzhou had been solved and the army had won the first battle. It was obvious that the victory was huge, so Emperor Chongzhen felt relieved.
So Emperor Chongzhen summoned Zhang Sizhi, the chief minister of the cabinet, and Chen Xinjia, the minister of war, to the palace to discuss the matter of rewarding the frontline soldiers.
When the two came to the imperial study, they saw that Emperor Chongzhen was still reading the reports of Hong Chengchou's success, with the memorials of Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi beside them.
Seeing the two people coming in, Emperor Chongzhen said with a cheerful face: "The battle of Jinzhou is related to the fate of our country, the Ming Dynasty, and I have been worried about it. Now the governor of Jiliao, Hong Chengchou, led the elites of each town to fight the slave thieves. After winning the first battle, he beheaded 13,500 people. Yuji, this is the biggest victory since the Liao Dynasty. It shows that the battle of Jinzhou is promising, and our Ming Dynasty has a great chance of winning!"
Seeing Emperor Chongzhen's joy, Zhang Sizhi naturally complimented him and said loudly: "This battle is a success because your Majesty's benevolence has been extended to the world. Therefore, all the soldiers in the army marched forward bravely, and this is why we have today's great victory!"
Emperor Chongzhen was really happy today. After hearing Zhang Sizhi's words, he couldn't help laughing.
Chen Xinjia glanced at Zhang Sizhi calmly, feeling very unimpressed with Zhang Sizhi in his heart. This position of chief minister of the cabinet was what he expected, but now that it was occupied by Zhang Sizhi, he was always hostile to him in his heart.
Now that Liaodong was victorious, it should have been him, the Minister of War, who took the limelight, but Zhang Sizhi took the lead. It was really abominable!
So Chen Xinjia stood up and said: "Your Majesty, I think that the soldiers of the army won the first battle. The court should reward the meritorious soldiers as soon as possible to inspire the hearts of the soldiers in various towns and urge the soldiers of the army to continue their efforts and make new contributions to the country!"
"Well, that should be the case."
Zhang Sizhi's eyes flashed and he said: "Your Majesty, I think this matter should be taken with caution. The imperial court should first send ministers to Liaodong to verify the authenticity of the military achievements and the specific circumstances, and then return to Beijing to report. Only in this way can the meritorious soldiers be rewarded to avoid mistakes. It’s generous enough to make people laugh.”
Chen Xinjia suddenly said angrily: "Without reward for meritorious service, wouldn't it dampen the enthusiasm of the soldiers at the front to serve the country? In such a national war, there are Governor Hong Chengchou of Jiliao and two supervisors Ma Shaoyu and Zhang Ruoqi at the front. Is it possible that someone would lie about the military situation? Can’t do it?”
Zhang Sizhi just insisted on surveying the military merits first, and then commending the soldiers. He also advocated that the matter of rewards should be discussed at the court meeting, and then the courtiers would draw up a charter, discuss it slowly and handle it properly. This is the right way.
Chen Xinjia laughed angrily and said loudly: "Discuss slowly? When those people in the court who only want fame and reputation come up with a plan, the Liaodong War will probably be over!"
Zhang Sizhi said calmly: "That's not good. It would be nice to reward each department's meritorious service at once, so as to save the court from being busy going back and forth."
Chen Xinjia was so angry that he almost couldn't breathe. Emperor Chongzhen also frowned. No matter what happened, these ministers would fight for it, regardless of the priority of the matter. At the same time, Emperor Chongzhen was also quite dissatisfied with Zhang Sizhi. Since he took office as the first assistant, he has done nothing in government affairs and has no authority as the first assistant. He has repeatedly made mistakes in the affairs of the court, which annoyed Emperor Chongzhen.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen thought of Yang Sichang again and thought to himself: "It would be great if Yang Qing was still here."
Then Emperor Chongzhen said: "Since the matter of the reward for the army cannot be decided, let's discuss the matter of Bai Guangen first. The general of the country is killed in action, and the court must pay attention to the compensation, so as not to chill the hearts of the frontline soldiers. This matter cannot be disputed. There must be something today A result."
Emperor Chongzhen also knew that only by putting pressure on Zhang Sizhi and others from time to time would these ministers do something practical.
Zhang Sizhi pondered for a while and said: "Your Majesty is wise. Bai Guangen died on the spot and fought bravely to defend the country. The intention of the cabinet is to imitate the examples of Jin Guofeng and He Huchen. He was posthumously awarded the title of Special Imperial Doctor Ronglu and the Governor of the Left. He was given a funeral and burial. Build an ancestral hall, add Prince Shaobao, and give Shiyin the post of commander!"
Emperor Chongzhen nodded in agreement, Zhang Sizhi finally said something useful. However, Emperor Chongzhen seemed to have some unfinished ideas, and added: "I will give him a gift for the three generations above him. When his clothes, clothes, and coffin are transported back, officials along the way can be ordered to pay homage. I want all the people in the world to know that those who died for the country, I I won’t forget it even a little bit.”
Zhang Sizhi and Chen Xinjia both saluted and knelt down, and inevitably praised them again.
The smile on Emperor Chongzhen's face never broke, and he said to Chen Xinjia: "The war in Liaodong went smoothly, and Aiqing, the Minister of War, naturally played an indispensable role, and I will not forget it. But the war is not over yet, and Aiqing must continue to work hard. Don’t slack off!”
"My lord, how dare you disobey your orders!"
At this moment, an eunuch outside the main hall looked in anxiously. Wang Chengen hurried out when he saw this, and took an 800-mile express from the eunuch's hand. It read clearly on it: The war in Henan has been ruined. Please ask the imperial court for reinforcements.
Wang Chengen changed his color in shock and ran quickly towards Emperor Chongzhen on the dragon throne. While running, he accidentally tripped and almost fell to the ground.
When Emperor Chongzhen saw this, he immediately became nervous. All kinds of bad news have been constant in the years since he ascended the throne. Wang Chengen's look is simply too familiar. He doesn't know where the big thing happened!
"His Majesty!"
Emperor Chongzhen didn't wait for Wang Chengen to finish speaking, and grabbed the memorial directly. When he saw the writing on the cover, the smile on his face disappeared instantly.
Chen Xinjia and Zhang Sizhi also had their hearts beating. Seeing Emperor Chongzhen looking at the memorial with furrowed brows, they both wondered what had happened.
After a while, Emperor Chongzhen slammed the memorial on the table and said angrily: "You all have a look! Lu Xiangsheng is known as a fierce general, but he was defeated by Li Zicheng at Dazhou Mountain in Kaifeng Prefecture, losing his troops and generals!"
Chen Xinjia was shocked when he heard this and hurried forward to check the memorial.
Just over half a month ago, Li Zicheng pretended to attack Kaifeng Prefecture with a force of troops, attracting Lu Xiangsheng to rush to help. Lu Xiangsheng, in order to protect Kaifeng Prefecture, assembled Du Biao Camp, Fu Biao Camp, and soldiers and horses from all over Henan, totaling more than 40,000 people. Gather Kaifeng Fucheng.
However, Li Zicheng led hundreds of thousands of main troops to attack Luoyang. At this time, only Lu Xiangsheng's troops were in Henan, and the rest of the Ming army had been defeated one after another. Lu Xiangsheng had no choice but to lead his troops to Luoyang for reinforcements. When passing through Dazhou Mountain, he was surrounded by more than 200,000 troops from Liu Zongmin, Li Dingguo, Hao Yaoqi and others, and the two sides immediately started a bloody battle.
Although Lu Xiangsheng's troops were powerful, they were outnumbered. In the end, the entire Fubiao Battalion led by General Xu Tonghui was annihilated, and Xu Tonghui died in battle. More than half of the Supervisory Biao Battalion was lost, and Lu Xiangsheng and Lu Huaiying led their troops to retreat to Kaifeng City in embarrassment.
As for the Ming army soldiers and horses in various parts of Henan, they were all defeated by the army of bandits. At this time, the Ming army in Henan only had more than 4,000 soldiers from the newly defeated Dubiao camp. The situation was very critical!
After Chen Xingjia read it, he felt that half of his three souls and six souls had been lost. If Henan was lost, then all the vassal kings in Kaifeng City and Luoyang City would be lost. By then, it would be easy for him, the Minister of War, to lose his official position and go to jail. With Emperor Chongzhen's temper, he would be sentenced to the end of exterminating the three clans no matter what.
"His Majesty!"
Chen Xinjia immediately said loudly: "I am requesting you to immediately dispatch troops and horses from the Liaodong army to go south to assist Lu Xiangsheng's troops!"
"Which troops to deploy?"
"The new army in Qinglai Town is under Liu Yan's command!"
Before Emperor Chongzhen could speak, Zhang Sizhi stood up and refuted: "Now that the war in Liaodong has just picked up, we have mobilized strong troops to go south. If our army is defeated because of this, who will bear the responsibility?"
Chen Xinjia had already made a plan. He ignored Zhang Sizhi's questions and said directly to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, Liu Yan's army has a strong force, numbering tens of thousands. You can order him to divide his troops and leave one army to continue to guard Liaodong. , let Liu Yan lead the main force south to aid Lu Xiangsheng, so that both sides can take care of the battlefield."
Emperor Chongzhen thought for a long time and said, "Let me think about it, I want to think about it."
Some people died, but not completely...
