When Chang Yu entered the palace, Emperor Chongzhen's early dynasty had just ended. This last emperor of the Ming Dynasty was really diligent in his affairs. No matter how hard it was, the early dynasty had never been interrupted for sixteen years.
Seeing Chang Yu enter the palace early in the morning, he knew something was going on and summoned him to Qianqing Palace for questioning.
What happened to Gao Jie and the other three?
How is it possible, Chang Yu didn't even mention this.
Instead, he made an astonishing statement: "Abolish the Jiaofangsi, grant amnesty to the wives and daughters of the guilty ministers, and give them freedom."
Emperor Chongzhen was very surprised. He vaguely remembered that Chang Yu had brought up this topic a few months ago when he proposed to abolish the eunuch military system. However, the trouble caused by thieves at that time and the whole court were too busy to discuss it. At this time, he Again, it seems like he really took it seriously.
"Why do you want to ban Jiaofangsi several times?" Emperor Chongzhen asked curiously.
"It goes against family relations, and I can't bear it. Since the war in the north is over, the emperor will grant amnesty to the whole world." Chang Yu bowed and said. Emperor Chongzhen looked at him expressionlessly for a long time: "You have made immortal contributions, and I have nothing to reward you. This time it will be as you wish."
"My lord, thank you." Chang Yu knelt down with his hands raised, which surprised Emperor Chongzhen a little. You must know that Chang Yu rarely knelt down. Even when he was commending his house for building a military memorial arch during the military parade yesterday, he didn't kneel down to express his gratitude. At this time, he actually knelt down for Those official prostitutes...this kid still has a heart of a holy mother.
"When are you going to go south?" Emperor Chongzhen was most concerned about the war in the south. There was chaos there. At this time, in addition to Zhang Xianzhong's invasion of Sichuan, Li Zicheng's troops were also writhing in the Yangtze River Basin.
Don’t think that Li Zicheng’s founding of the country in Xi’an was only about one-third of an acre. In fact, this was not the case. His revolutionary base was in the Huguang, Jingxiang, and Jiangxi areas. His confidant general Bai Wang was stationed in De’an County, Jiujiang Prefecture. In addition, Jingzhou and Xiangyang were also under his control, led by his general Yuan Zongdi.
It can be said that the towns in the Yangtze River Basin in Jiangxi and Hubei, except for Wuchang, are all under the control of Li Zicheng, while Wuchang and Jiujiang are controlled by Zuo Liangyu, another great warlord of the Ming Dynasty, which just divides Li Zicheng's power into one in the south and one in the south. north.
Zuo Liangyu was bound to lose every battle in the past few years. Starting from the 15th year of Chongzhen, he was defeated by Li Zicheng in Zhuxian Town and retreated to Xiangyang. He did not dare to fight in the battle of Kaifeng. Li Zicheng directly attacked Xiangyang. He retreated to Wuchang without success. After receiving supplies from the King of Chu, he plundered and retreated to Jiujiang to support his troops. Then Wuchang fell into the hands of Zhang Xianzhong. The court forced him to send troops, and then he fought with Zhang Xianzhong and regained Hanyang. However, Zhang Xianzhong took the opportunity to regain Wuchang when he entered Sichuan. , hiding inside and not moving.
He didn't move, but the rebel army was not idle. When Li Zicheng was marching eastward with loud gongs and drums, De'an's Bai Wang responded and sent troops along the Yangtze River to fight in the direction of Anqing, clamoring to capture the city of Nanjing.
This time Nanjing was frightened.
Why?
As the old saying goes, when water comes, earth will cover it, and when soldiers come, generals will stop it. The problem is that now there is neither earth nor generals.
Originally, Anqing Prefecture and Luzhou Prefecture were the areas hardest hit by thieves. At that time, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and the old bandit Kou Gezuo's fifth battalion were all in Qianshan, and they lingered in the Huoshan Mountain area for several years.
At that time, many soldiers from the imperial court were deployed to suppress bandits in the surrounding areas. In recent years, Zuo Liangyu would sit in Luzhou Mansion and keep an eye on them. Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo and other troops were also busy killing bandits in the surrounding areas.
But now, as the rebel army becomes more and more powerful, they have left their mountain dens and begun to surround the city in the countryside. The officers and soldiers of the two governments have also been mobilized to put out the fire. For example, Zuo Liangyu is in Wuchang at this time, and Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo are thousands of miles away. Besides, there are almost no soldiers and horses around Nanjing.
So much so that Bai Wang sent troops north along the Yangtze River to approach Nanjing with overwhelming force, but Zuo Liangyu, the only one nearby, stayed behind. It was not that he was waiting for the opportunity, but that he did not dare to fight at all. He was frightened by Bai Wang.
When Zhang Xianzhong was still in Wuchang the year before last, he had hundreds of thousands of troops waiting in Jiujiang, while Bai Wang had only tens of thousands of troops in De'an County under his jurisdiction. He had never fought against others and lost every battle. This is documented in history. The "Jiangxia County Chronicle" of Tongzhi made no secret of the fact that Zuo Liangyu "repeatedly fought with Bai Wang, the commander-in-chief, and was invincible.
But even if he was afraid, he had to show off, so he ordered Jin Shengheng, the general stationed in Jiujiang, to go to De'an, Baiwang's hometown, in an attempt to contain Baiwang's troops.
However, there are no eggs!
Bai Wang sang all the way and was about to hit Anqing Mansion along the Yangtze River when he suddenly heard the bad news. King Chuang was defeated and fled back to Xi'an. This was like a bolt from the blue. Although he heard that Taiyuan was defeated a while ago, Liu Fangliang's momentum on the other side was unstoppable. How come they were defeated in the blink of an eye when they forced themselves to attack the capital, and they were chased for thousands of miles by officers and soldiers.
In addition to being frightened, Bai Wang calmed down. Rushing forward might not be a good thing. It would be better to manage and consolidate the existing territory, so he slowed down the attack speed, which also made Nanjing relieved. However, Anqing Mansion, just a few steps away, was still uneasy.
Wangjiang County has fallen into the trap and is sharpening its sword against cattle and sheep.
Anqing Mansion is in emergency!
"I can leave at any time to go south, but the matter of troops and horses still needs to be discussed." Chang Yu bowed and frowned. Bai Wang was an experienced warrior and it was difficult to deal with him. Otherwise, Zuo Liangyu wouldn't have been able to defeat him with hundreds of thousands of troops. , Chang Yu was worried and was given a head-on fight. The Qing army's cavalry, no matter how powerful they were, were still missing their arms and legs. What he was afraid of was that Bai Wang would dive into the mountains when he saw that the situation was bad, and there would be few people there once he entered the mountains. You can't find out the year at all.
And the terrible thing is, there are too many mountains over there! The Huoshan mountainous area in Luzhou Prefecture and the Qianshan mountainous area in Anqing Prefecture are both old revolutionary base areas for the rebel army. They are very difficult to deal with!
In addition, there is an even more fatal problem. There are no troops around!
Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo, who were originally in Anqing Prefecture, are now thousands of miles away in the capital. Nanjing is short of major generals to protect themselves. However, Zuo Liangyu nearby has tens of thousands of elite soldiers and tens of thousands of miscellaneous troops. However, they are better than Liu Zeqing and Wu Sangui. Old fox who is even more scheming, if you want to parachute troops to seize power, you will have an accident in a minute.
Without soldiers or generals, is it possible for the little eunuch to fight alone against Bai Wang's tens of thousands of thieves?
Not realistic!
Therefore, it is still possible to mobilize troops from the north, but it is a thousand miles away and it is already the Year of the Monkey when we reach the end of the country. The supply of food and grass along the way... is a very stressful thing.
The grain harvest has been lost due to severe droughts in consecutive years, and wars have continued in the five northern provinces this year. First, Li Zicheng swept all the way from the Yellow River to the capital like locusts crossing the border, and then the Qing army entered the customs and did it again. The food in the north has reached the red line, and you will not see it outside the city. The ground was full of hungry people. If they hadn't fought all the way with thieves and Tatars to compete for food and grass, the soldiers would probably have no food to eat.
We have to provide disaster relief, maintain the most basic people's livelihood, and provide supplies for military and horse expeditions. This is simply impossible!
So, it’s up to the little eunuch to lead tens of thousands of troops along the road begging to fight in the south?
"We'll discuss the food and fodder matter later. Let's talk about your plan first. Who will be dispatched to go south to suppress the bandits?" Emperor Chongzhen also had his beard pulled out in worry. He paced back and forth in the palace and couldn't help but sigh when he looked at Chang Yu.
"It's better to go on a long journey with cavalry, but in mountainous areas we should mainly rely on infantry." Chang Yu took a long breath: "Li Yan's men and horses must go, Zhou Yuji still has to go back to guard Taiyuan, and we have to guard against the intruders." .
Chongzhen nodded slightly: "As you said, the Tatars are unable to send troops to attack in a short time. It just so happens that you can transfer Tang Tong and Ma Ke, plus Gao Jie, Liu Zeqing, and Liu Liangzuo, it will be enough."
"Enough is enough, but the more the merrier, I would like to have another army." Chang Yu's face became solemn, and Emperor Chongzhen raised his brows: "The personal guards? You can transfer them yourself."
Chang Yu shook his head and took a deep breath: "Guan Ning Cavalry!"
ah! Emperor Chongzhen was shocked: "This...you want to use Wu Sangui's troops...how can he easily do what you want?"
"Your Majesty, Rong Chen corrects me. The Guan Ning cavalry belongs to the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court, and your Majesty, but it is definitely not Wu Sangui's!"
Emperor Chongzhen took a long breath and nodded: "But at this time, the military power is in Wu Sangui's hands. How do you take it? You have to know that if you are not careful, you will..."
"My lord, if you have a plan, please let the emperor decide." Chang Yu turned around and looked at the door. Wang Chengen resigned and closed the door.
()
