Chapter 371 The storm is turbulent and the country is shaken IV
After the news of military reform reached Yangzhou a few days ago, the commander-in-chief Weng Linzhi finally had a number. The commander-in-chief of the 1st Group Army was under the jurisdiction of five conventional infantry divisions, 51-55. Except for Zhang Yingwu's 52nd Division, he was still in North Korea. After the defense change, the four divisions of the 1st Army were on standby in Yangzhou.
"Commander Weng,"
Kang Ze, commander of the 51st Division, walked into the Yangzhou headquarters: "The 56th Division has crossed Shaobo Town and has arrived thirty miles outside Gaoyou as ordered. Are we about to take action?"
Weng Linzhi had received the news a long time ago and was studying the map at the moment. Even if Kang Shu didn't say anything, he would still act in accordance with the military orders given by Chen Cao: "Well, your troops and Pang Zhihuan's troops will set off for Gaoyou immediately. I will march first." The plan is to send people to Nanjing, and after the prince’s military orders arrive again, we will set off for Gaoyou.”
As far as the Liang Fan army is concerned, there is no such thing as not being able to march in winter. There is still less than a month until the fifth year of Chongzhen, but military conditions are military conditions. Weng Linzhi did not want his little sister to fall out of favor with Chen Cao in the future, so he risked his life I also want to make a career in Liang Fan.
As a result, for some unknown reason, Chen Cao halted the originally prepared combat plan and ordered the entire 1st Army Group to be stationed in Yangzhou. He transferred back the 56th Division and entered Shaobo Town with the 51st Division as the main force.
This operation puzzled Weng Linzhi.
...
On Xuanwu Lake in Nanjing, Chen Cao was meeting a mysterious figure in a boat.
"According to the instructions of the prince, my master has made an appointment with the senior officials of Jiannu and passed them the news that Yingzhou is undefended. Before I went south, I had received the news from Liaodong's secret envoy;
After the thief chief Taiji conquered Monan Mongolia a year ago, he ordered all Mongolian tribes to gather 100,000 troops to Jinzhou to gather;
In addition, Jiannu changed the Jurchens to Manchus and changed the name of the country to the Qing Dynasty..."
Chen Cao frowned, then continued to listen to him.
"In addition, the slaves sent out an army of 200,000, including 80,000 Manchu soldiers and 120,000 Han soldiers. The Han soldiers also established eight banners of the Han army. The puppet army set out for Ningyuan first;
The thieves chief personally took action this time, senior officials from the Jueluo family were dispatched one after another, and Amin, who was idle, was also recruited into the expedition. The threat along the Yalu River was no longer great;
Finally, the secret envoy said that when the Mongols arrived in Jinzhou, it would be the beginning of the war to destroy the Ming Dynasty. "
Chen Cao took a deep breath, his expression extremely serious, and then asked: "Did Chen Yan show any flaws?"
"My master is very careful. He knows that this is a deal to kill the Nine Clan, so he thinks it is safe. This time, he asked me to escort the eldest young master and several young ladies to go south first. Mr. Zou's family members will also return to their hometown to worship their ancestors in the near future. It comes from the head south."
Chen Cao nodded. Chen Yan and Zou Weilian were not stupid and knew the seriousness of the matter, so they sent their family members first.
"How about Beizhili?"
"After the defeat of Duke Cheng Guo, he secretly returned to Beijing under the imperial edict. The Gaoyou army is now commanded by Duke Bao, assisted by Qin Liangyu. In addition, the court is not aware of the slave establishment for the time being, and the territory of Beizhili is still very quiet."
Chen Cao smiled sarcastically: "Chen Yan did a good job in this matter. When I get back, I will tell him that I will remember it. When I talk about my merits in the future, I will definitely be in front of him."
The visitor immediately knelt down and kowtowed to Chen Cao, then stood up: "I would like to thank the prince for my master..."
The reason why Chen Cao urgently stopped Weng Linzhi's actions was because he suddenly received news that Jiannu was about to go south. In order to act in accordance with the original plan, he chose not to attack Gaoyou but continued to wait.
...
The fifth year of Chongzhen, the fourth day of February
The heavy snow in Beijing has not yet melted, and even seems to be unstoppable.
A group of merchants quietly entered the capital city from Ande Gate. The man at the head wandered around for a few streets before quietly disappearing into the heavy snow.
In Zou Weilian's mansion, Zou Weilian, who returned from the cabinet urgently after receiving the news, met with the big man in the study.
"Hey...isn't this Mr. Xu?"
That's right, it was Xu Kaixian who entered the capital. The current commander of Jinyiwei has been sitting in the Shanghai Yamen in the town. This time he went to Beijing secretly to take care of a big event at Chen Cao's instructions.
"Master Zou, it's been a long time..."
Zou Weilian's servants are all tough guys selected from the Liang clan, and they are all Zou Weilian's hometown in Jiangxi, so they will not be suspected by the court: "Master Xu is here, why is there no news about my servants when they come back?"
Xu Kaixian whispered: "Mr. Zou, don't be surprised. This time I came to the capital, I came secretly under the instructions of the prince, in order to meet the people of the capital."
Zou Weilian nodded thoughtfully: "But what about us?"
"Not only..." Xu Kaixian shook his head: "There are also some of Mrs. Li's family members in Beijing. In addition, the most important thing is a person in the palace."
Zou Weilian took a deep breath and frowned. He didn't know who else in the palace Chen Cao had not picked up: "I'm stupid..."
"Empress Dowager Zhang..."
Zou Weilian's brows deepened, and then he was relieved. The empress dowager Zhang Yan was the empress of Tianqi, and she was so beautiful that she conquered the country. Moreover, everyone knew Chen Cao's lustful reputation. After Xu Kaixian said this, Zou Weilian couldn't help but guess whether Zhang Yan was I have had an affair with Chen Cao for a long time.
"I see... But the area inside the palace is heavily guarded. How are you going to get in, Mr. Xu?"
Xu Kaixian chuckled: "Before leaving, the prince said that Master Zou would be able to let me in during the chaos of war."
Zou Weilian was stunned for a moment, and then realized that he was already a cabinet member, and it was already very convenient to enter and exit the Forbidden Palace: "It is no problem to enter the Qianqing Palace area, but the Empress Dowager Zhang lives in the Kunning Palace area."
"I don't need to bother Master Zou anymore, just bring my brothers and us into the palace when the time comes."
When Xu Kaixian said that he saw Zou Weilian's doubts, he smiled and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Zou, we are coming in batches this time, and we have mobilized more than 300 special operations experts from our army. In addition, Liao Yaowen pretended to be an Hui merchant and brought a ship with him. The team is parked at Tianjin Port. As long as I succeed here, I can quickly go to Tianjin and take a boat southward;
At that time, the remaining family members of your lords can also leave with me. "
"Will the three hundred people be a little less?"
Zou Weilian's worries are not unreasonable. After all, the imperial palace is very big, and even bigger is the city of Beijing.
Xu Kaixian smiled and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Zou, there are still many of our people in the villages outside the city, numbering in the thousands together. There is no problem in protecting your evacuation."
"That's good...that's good..."
"By the way, Mr. Zou, is there any news about slave creation?"
Zou Weilian then took out a letter from the secret compartment of the study: "Look, this is from Jinzhou. One hundred thousand Mongolians have arrived in Jinzhou. The Ningyuan guard may have been lost. According to the marching speed of Jiannu, the Ningyuan guard may Already lost.”
"Where is Mr. Chen?"
"Chen Yan has already gone to Yingzhou according to the plan." Zou Weilian burned the secret letter as he said it, and then continued: "Sun Chengzong is in charge of Shanhaiguan. If there is no gap in Yingzhou, no amount of his people can get through."
"When does Mr. Zou think Jiannu will be able to break into the pass?"
"I don't know, maybe even within the past month I won't know."
"Master..." The confidant butler spoke outside the study: "Someone from the palace is coming, please master to attack quickly to discuss the military situation..."
.
In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Youjian had already lost his temper and scolded Sun Chengzong, but he still knew that the old guy had some abilities and made no next move.
"What do you think, sir?"
In the five years since Zhu Youjian took office, a lot of cabinet ministers have changed, and the chief ministers and ministers of the cabinet have rotated like a revolving door. In less than a year from the third to the fourth year of Chongzhen, four chief ministers and ministers were changed one after another. , Zhou Yanru has been the first assistant for less than two months, and he has already felt that it is really difficult to be the first assistant.
Four cabinet ministers have retired and become officials, and the ministers who have been promoted are all walking on thin ice. It is not that they are incompetent. Although the Donglin Party controls the entire government, the emperor in front of him is indeed not something ordinary people can fool.
The moody and self-willed Zhu Youjian often made them and their ministers feel that they were not as stable as when his brother, Emperor Tianqi, was in power.
Zhou Yanru paused, then bowed: "Your Majesty, I would like to guard Shanhaiguan closely and strengthen the defenses along the Great Wall to avoid the tragedy of Jisi's incident from happening again."
In the second year of Chongzhen's reign, the entry of slaves from Xifengkou was a disaster for the entire Ming Dynasty. Now Zhou Yanru said this as if he had never said it before.
Zou Weilian, the cabinet minister who replaced him and became the last cabinet minister, then spoke: "Your Majesty, Zuo Qiandu is the censor, and the right minister of the Ministry of War Chen Yanzheng is patrolling the border. Shanhaiguan has Governor Sun at Shanhaiguan, and there is Xiongguan Pass blocking it. Jiannu wants to break through. It can be said that the pass is as difficult as climbing to the sky, but the defenders along the Great Wall are weak areas, so Chen Yan can be ordered to patrol along the Great Wall and garrison Jizhou to prevent Jiannu from breaking through the Great Wall."
After hearing this, Zhu Youjian felt that it made sense, so he sat down at the imperial desk and sighed: "The country is suffering from internal and external troubles. Brother Emperor, what you have left me is a country riddled with holes..."
Several civil servants were silent when criticizing the former emperor Ni Lin. It was not until Zhu Youjian finished complaining that he looked at Zou Weilian: "I agree with Zou Qing's words. The cabinet drafted an order for Chen Yan to inspect along the Great Wall. In addition, it is issued to Sun Chengzong. If Ning Yuan can keep it, if he can't, Shanhaiguan can't throw it away. Let him do his own thing. If a Jiannu runs in, I will kill him and sacrifice the flag."
"Your Majesty, after Jiannu was defeated in Korea, his sudden move south this time may be suspected of taking revenge for personal gain..."
After Zhou Yanru finished speaking, Zhu Youjian couldn't help but became furious, and then suddenly swept the things on the imperial case onto the floor tiles, scaring several old ministers to their knees.
"Chen Cao is a thief..."
After a shameless curse, Zhu Youjian seemed to suddenly think of something and sneered: "What a good thing Yang He did...
I trust him in vain, I never thought that this old thief would have colluded with Chen Cao long ago..."
