There is a genius in the inner court who is capable of making money and fighting. He is not as young as the weak crown but he is the governor of the East Factory. He has just been promoted by the emperor to eunuch Bingbi. If word spreads that the government and the public will be affected, even the inner palace will be affected. There was an uproar.
The journey from Xuanwu Gate to Qianqing Palace was neither long nor short, but it attracted all the concubines in the harem to meet the saints along the way. Even Queen Zhou and Princess Kunxing used this as an excuse to come closer and nodded slightly to Chang Yu. This was already The sky is so glorious.
Emperor Chongzhen, who was chatting hotly with Chang Yu, naturally knew the meaning of these harems. He was not here to meet the Holy Daoxi, but he was just curious about this little eunuch who turned the tide. After shooing everyone away, he entered the Qianqing Palace and ordered not to disturb each other. The father and son When meeting Chang Yu alone, even Wang Chengen could only serve as minister outside the palace.
The monarch and his ministers sat opposite each other, and actually served tea with the prince holding a pot. Such high treatment was unprecedented. Chang Yu refused, knowing Chongzhen's intention in his heart. First, he expressed his stance to win over, and second, he tested it.
If Chang Yu takes it as a matter of course, it means that this kid is drifting and needs to be beaten and beaten.
But seeing Chang Yu's strong refusal, Chongzhen breathed a sigh of relief and motioned to Zhu Cixiang to listen, asking Chang Yu to explain the details of his release from the seclusion from beginning to end.
This long story lasted for more than an hour, and the Chongzhen father and son who listened were sometimes frowning, sometimes gritting their teeth, sometimes showing their faces and stroking their hands, and sometimes feeling regretful...
Chang Yu was like a storyteller, leading the two of them to gallop through thousands of troops and run through everything that had happened since they came out of seclusion.
The meaning was still not finished. Chongzhen and his son had endless aftertaste. After a few cups of tea, they sighed: "The talents of the generals who marched in formation and strategized are ridiculous. There are countless soldiers in the Ming Dynasty, but no one can compare with the little boy in the inner palace! It's shameful, shameful, but also It's a great blessing."
"The emperor has given you too much praise. His mediocre ministers are no better than the sages. They only pick up the wisdom of others. The battle at Ningyuan was mostly based on the tactics of Governor Yuan."
Hum, Chongzhen curled his lips and said: "It's a big difference. If Yuan Chenghuan were alive, he would be ashamed to talk to you."
Chang Yu coughed lightly and thought to himself, it's almost done, don't praise me to death.
However, due to Zhu Cixi's young mind, his focus is always different: "Then the assassin never shows up again?"
"Back to Your Highness, the assassin last appeared before the counterattack against the Qing army. He killed Xiao Ran in the downtown area of the city. No trace was found after that. I speculate that he had left the city early during the chaos, and might even have arrived in the capital at this time." .
Hearing this, Chongzhen raised his brows and said, "In the capital, he can't make flowers out of water, but just in case, you need to be more careful." He paused slightly and said, "I'm afraid you won't be able to stay in the capital for a few days." .
Chang Yu had already been mentally prepared: "Your Majesty, Master Shi has a bad start. I have heard something outside the customs and please inform the Emperor of the details."
Chongzhen let out a long sigh, and the excitement he had felt when he heard Chang Yu's story disappeared in an instant. He stood up and walked back and forth in the hall, saying bitterly: "It's not the disadvantage of war, it's the fault of man."
More than twenty days ago, the Qing army assembled a large army in an attempt to enter the pass. The intruders joined forces in the Central Plains and headed north. The north and south were in emergency at the same time. Emperor Chongzhen issued an imperial edict. Chang Yu, the admiral of the East Factory, went north to supervise the army, and Shi Kefa, the Minister of War, went south to the governor-general to suppress the bandits.
Almost both of them left Beijing, and they were both busy and working hard. The bandits were so powerful that Emperor Chongzhen did not dare to underestimate them. He sent orders to Liu Zeqing, the commander-in-chief of Shandong, Gao Jie, the commander-in-chief of Xuzhou, Liu Liangzuo, the commander-in-chief of Fengyang, and Huang Degong, the commander-in-chief of Fengyang. And Zhou Yuji, the commander-in-chief of Shanxi Province, listened to Shi Kefa's dispatch to suppress the bandits.
It can be said that Emperor Chongzhen put his money where his mouth was and dispatched two-thirds of the Ming Dynasty's military generals to Shi Kefa to help him suppress the bandits.
Shi Kefa led Tengxiang's four guards, nearly ten thousand men, non-stop from the capital to the south, while the remaining troops were scattered in all directions. Liu Zeqing was in Jinan, Shandong, Huang Degong had just quelled the rebel general Liu Chao in Yongcheng, Henan, and Liu Liangzuo was ordered to go north to attack Huaibei at the beginning of the year. However, this time The cargo has been going on for a long time, until now it has just crossed the Huaihe River and entered the Zhengyang area of Henan Province, and Zhou Yuji is far away in Taiyuan.
On the other hand, the rebel army was concentrated in strength. When Li Zicheng besieged Taiyuan, Liu Fangliang's East Route Army was already invincible. They successively captured Huaiqing Mansion, Weihui Mansion, and Lu'an Mansion. After leading Li Zicheng to defeat Taiyuan and flee eastward to join forces, they became even more invincible. , then went to Zhangde Prefecture, Guangping Prefecture, and went north to Xingtai, Hejian and other places. Finally, the army approached Baoding Prefecture, the southern gate of the capital.
It can be said that at this time, the entire Henan, Shanxi, Shandong, and parts of Hebei were all under the control of the bandits, and the entire Central Plains fell.
There has been a saying since ancient times that chaos in the Central Plains will lead to chaos in the world, and the Central Plains refers to Henan. Since ancient times, there have been many military disasters. When disasters occur, they are like sparks of fire that start a prairie fire, and they are out of control. At this time, the rebel army is like the fire of the prairie fire, burning the sky wherever it passes. Destroy the Tao.
If only the bandit army caused chaos, it would be fine. Natural disasters would continue, the people would not be able to survive, and military disasters would occur. "People will eat each other, all vegetation will be destroyed, and local bandits will rise up." The Central Plains is like a hell on earth. At this time, the people still don't care whether you are a Ming Dynasty or a Dashun. , As long as he can survive, whoever feeds him is the father, so Li Zicheng swept northward, in addition to his more than 100,000 elite soldiers, he also carried hundreds of thousands of artillery fire.
According to historical records, the bandit army marched towards Baoding Prefecture, "The bandits marched for three hundred miles, their feather flags and iron armor were bright and dazzling. The dust was rising, and the day was dark; the horses neighed, the people shouted, and the sea boiled and the mountains were destroyed." This shows the power of the army. Sheng, rare in ancient and modern times!
What the Ming army faced was not only the more than 100,000 bandit soldiers, but also the aspirations of the poor people throughout the Central Plains, the direction of the banner of the Dashun army, and the Ming Dynasty's "defensive civil and military officials all fled in hope of the wind, or Gentlemen quarreled to be the leader of the chaos, dragged their clothes backwards, walked quickly in fear of others, praised each other and recited righteousness and said, "Welcome to God."
Even the people in Baoding City were unwilling to serve the Ming court and asked to open the door and pay money to surrender. This shows that Li Zicheng had many excellent political propaganda methods along the way, and Baoding Mansion was once in danger.
Li Jiantai, who historically "camped on behalf of the emperor himself", fled into Baoding Prefecture at this time and also clamored to surrender. However, fellow acquaintance Shao Zongxuan, the new prefect He Fu and the local squires insisted on defending the city, scolding "the people are ignorant and do not know the justice of the emperor and his ministers." …”
Li Jiantai was destined not to show up in Baoding City again. He was scolded out of the palace by Chongzhen when he proposed "personal expedition on behalf of the emperor" and was demoted to a commoner. Later, he was killed "inexplicably"...
Just when everyone in Baoding City was panicking and cooking a pot of porridge, the Minister of War, Shi Kefa, led the Tengxiang Guards to arrive, and finally calmed down a little bit.
As soon as Shi Kefa arrived at the ground, he ordered the detectives to go around, watching every move of the rebels. At the same time, he mobilized the soldiers and civilians to dig ditches and build fortifications to wait for the rebels. At the same time, he strictly ordered all the troops to rush to the rescue. Every day, they kept spitting in the city. Inspiring the people to fight bravely against the enemy seems to have little effect, and the people's enthusiasm is obviously not high.
However, more than ten days passed. The army of intruders, covering the sky and the sun, had already set up their posture outside Baoding Mansion, but reinforcements were far away. Zhou Yuji felt that he was the farthest away, but in fact he was the closest geographically. He went straight from Taiyuan to the east and crossed Yangquan. Five hundred miles to the northwest is Baoding Prefecture. After receiving the order, he led an army of 30,000 people to march eastward. He was the fastest marcher among all the troops. At this time, he had entered the boundary of Dingzhou and was within a stone's throw of Baoding. However, he was also captured by thieves. The army focused on it and sent troops to stop it. ,
As for Liu Zeqing, who was about the same distance away from Zhou Yuji, it was really disgusting. First, he used the excuse that it would take time to mobilize troops to prepare food and fodder, and then he couldn't help but Shi Kefa urged him repeatedly to finally send troops. More than ten days passed, and he had just left home for more than 200 miles. , in Texas.
This is not bad. Originally, Liu Liangzuo's troops were in Zhengyang, Henan. They had to take a detour on the pretext that it was difficult to pass through the area occupied by the rebels. After walking for more than half a month, they almost didn't move. At the border between Anhui and Henan, The head wanders.
Shi Kefa was very angry when he heard this, but had no choice but to stop counting on the farthest man and horse. When he arrived, the day lily was cold.
The remaining two troops, Huang Degong and Gao Jie, one in Yongcheng, Henan, and the other in Xuzhou, were very close to each other. Shi Ke ordered them to advance together to build momentum.
However, the two were naturally at odds with each other, and they were both arrogant and domineering people. They turned a deaf ear to Shi Kefa's words and went their own way. Fortunately, Emperor Chongzhen was still alive and could more or less keep the situation under control. At this time, the hostility between the two was still within control. , one of them didn't even dare to yell at Shi Kefa: "Edict, edict, what is the edict?" The other "Go, go quickly, I don't know what the edict is" and tore up the imperial edict like waste paper.
After the two received the order, although they did not march side by side as Shi Kefa wanted, they immediately led their troops northward. In half a month, they also entered Dezhou, and they were in no particular order with Liu Zeqing's troops!
