The sun was shining brightly at noon, and the soldiers, horses, artillery and baggage of the Shenji Battalion braved the scorching heat and headed south from the city. The Yamen of the Eight Guards of the Pro-Army Army was also busy, attracting many people to watch and whisper.
"There is going to be a war again. I don't know how many people will die before the world can be peaceful." A rickety old man sighed in a low voice under the shade of a tree outside the city gate. He looked far to the southwest. White flags were fluttering and there were many new graves. During this period, the capital was guarding The war plus the plague killed many people.
"But some people say that if we don't fight, more people will die. We can't let thieves harm us in this world. Look at how the Ming Dynasty has been ruined for so many years. If this great eunuch hadn't known how to fight, I'm afraid all of us in the Ming Dynasty would be destroyed. Die." A young man next to him raised his eyebrows: "Grandpa, I even want to join the army and kill thieves."
With a bang, the old man gave his grandson a piece of cake: "A good man should not be a soldier. He should study hard and get a good name." As he spoke, he looked at the army marching south in the distance and shook his head slightly: "The people who prosper are suffering, and the people who die are suffering. When It's too hard for ordinary people, so you must get ahead."
Getting ahead may not be without hardship. At least Wu Sangui, the mighty general of the country, was full of bitterness at this time. He increasingly felt that things were too strange.
He was refused to leave the capital and was refused to meet the Holy Spirit. Although he was confused in his heart, but thinking that Emperor Chongzhen said that he would enjoy a few more days of family happiness in the capital, he was able to enjoy this rare and beautiful time with Chen Yuanyuan every day. The sky was dark and the earth was dark, and it was very comfortable. However, almost ten days had passed in the blink of an eye. The soldiers and horses heading south had left the capital one after another, but there was still no movement from the imperial court, which was a bit wrong.
But even if he used all his connections in the court and could not get any useful information, would he really give himself such a long leave?
But Dorgon was in Jinzhou at this time, so how could the court be so worried!
"Wu Sangui, the general of the Zhu Kingdom, received the order." At this moment, a eunuch from the Wu Mansion came to deliver the oral instructions of Emperor Chongzhen, summoning Wu Sangui to the palace to meet the emperor.
Wu Sangui was overjoyed and finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that he had thought too much.
In the Guanghan Hall on Qionghua Island in Taiye Pool in Xiyuan, Emperor Chongzhen looked at the sparkling silver lake with far-reaching eyes. The breeze blew away the heat, and the heat of the tea on the table beside his hand dispersed with the wind. The eunuchs waiting outside Announcement: "Your Majesty, Wu Sangui is here."
"Your Majesty, Wu Sangui respectfully asks for your blessings." Wu Sangui entered the hall and knelt down to worship. Chongzhen smiled slightly and said, "I am in peace. Please give me a seat."
Wu Sangui thanked En and stood up and took his seat: "Your Majesty is in such a good mood today."
Emperor Chongzhen twitched the corner of his mouth, shook his head and sighed: "I am too worried today, so I came here to take a breath and talk to you."
Wu Sangui hurriedly said: "Can you tell me what the emperor is worried about? I am willing to share the emperor's worries."
"Are you really willing to share my worries?" Emperor Chongzhen stood up with a chuckle, walked out of the shade of the trees outside Guanghan Palace, and looked at the lake with his hands behind his back without moving. Wu Sangui followed closely and bowed: "My lord, ten thousand are willing. ".
"You are so nice when you talk." Emperor Chongzhen smiled, and then he sighed: "The thieves in the south are making a lot of noise, Zuo Liangyu can't cry alone, Nanjing and the surrounding governments are helpless, I have mobilized troops thousands of miles away, but I am worried that the water far away cannot quench the thirst nearby. Even if it's too late, whether we can exterminate the thieves is what worries me."
"It turns out that the emperor is worried about the south." Wu Sangui said: "I heard some news. Although Zuo Liangyu is a little stretched and in a hurry, he can still contain the thieves tightly. As soon as the imperial army arrives and the two sides encircle, The thieves will be defeated..."
Before Wu Sangui could finish his words, Emperor Chongzhen interrupted him with a cold snort: "I came to you to speak my mind, not for you to deal with me. If the thieves were so easy to fight, they would have been wiped out ten years ago, and they would not have become adults. Today’s trend?”
Wu Sangui's face turned red and he quickly confessed: "I am not perfunctory with the emperor. If it were in the past, maybe... But it is very different now. The six generals have joined forces and Eunuch Chang is supervising the army. This is a sure win. Will the emperor return the favor to Eunuch Chang?" Don’t you have confidence? In the past few months, he has been a victorious general who has met and killed gods and demons, and is unstoppable by gods and ghosts!"
Hearing others praise Chang Yu, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but smile, but in the blink of an eye he became serious again: "Although Chang Yu is good at fighting, he is young after all, and he is only good at field battles and defending the city. However, the thieves in the south are either hiding in the mountains and forests. The wild rats are either hiding in the city, neither of which Chang Yu is good at, and he has no experience in this."
Wu Sangui raised his eyebrows and thought for a moment: "Although Eunuch Chang is not good at attacking cities and fighting in mountains, Huang Degong, Liu Liangzuo and others are all experienced and experienced generals. Your Majesty, don't worry. I believe that they can defeat the enemy together." It must be done!"
Emperor Chongzhen laughed, turned his head and stared at Wu Sangui and said, "Don't you think Chang Yu is too powerful now?"
Wu Sangui was shocked: "The emperor means..."
Emperor Chongzhen chuckled: "Now he is responding to hundreds of calls in the army. Li Yan, Zhou Huang, Tang Ma, etc. are all attached to him. He can mobilize the troops and horses that cannot be mobilized by the Ministry of War. He can do the work that the Governor's Office of the Five Armies cannot do. Those generals I am obedient to him, but I am not so obedient to me. If things continue like this..."
Wu Sangui's heart was already in turmoil, and he clenched his fists tightly without realizing it: "Then why does the emperor still treat him..."
"Do you think I want him to become big because I have to use him? Who else can be used by me now, and who else can be used by me as capable as him?" Emperor Chongzhen snorted heavily and stared at Wu Sangui slowly. He said slowly: "It's not that he is incapable, I just don't know if he is willing to contribute to me."
Wu Sangui knelt down with a puff: "I am willing to do my best for the Emperor, and I am willing to share the Emperor's worries and solve his problems, as long as I am trustworthy by the Emperor."
The opportunity has come, it has finally come. Wu Sangui is very excited. Everyone can see that the little eunuch is too popular now, and there are many people who are jealous and want to kill him, but there is no way to do it. After all, he is just a eunuch, but who knows how suspicious Emperor Chongzhen couldn't even trust the eunuchs around him, so he wanted to find someone to restrain him.
The most basic art of imperial control is balance, which does not allow one family to become dominant.
Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen wanted to use others to contain Chang Yu. Wu Sangui believed it, and it was not surprising at all.
Moreover, Wu Sangui had been unhappy since the military parade. With his military exploits in the Ningyuan War and the three princes of North Korea, he was barely ranked among the pillar states. However, Tang Tong, Huang Degong and Zhou Yuji were knighted, which made him extremely frustrated. envy, jealousy, hate.
The reason why he was anxious to leave Beijing and return to the customs was for this reason. He wanted to take advantage of the critical moment when the Qing army was defeated to see if he could take advantage and recover Jinzhou. At that time, he was awarded a title for his great achievements in recovering It's a sure thing.
But looking at it, it seems that there are other ways to become a knight.
"If you are really willing to help me solve my problems, you will go with Chang Yu when I go south to quell the chaos!" Emperor Chongzhen stared at Wu Sangui and said, "The day when the chaos is quelled is when you will be knighted, how about that?"
"I am willing to go!" Wu Sangui was so excited that he was almost speechless: "However, I don't have a single soldier at the moment. Even if I go with him, it will be difficult to contain him."
"I want you to go south to quell the chaos with him, not to contain him," Emperor Chongzhen said angrily: "I just don't want him to take the credit alone!"
"The minister made a mistake." Wu Sangui hurriedly apologized: "But to quell the rebellion, we need troops and horses. The ministers under other people's command cannot command them. Besides, they will not let me command them. Why don't you send someone to mobilize troops outside the pass immediately... No, Ning Yuan In the isolated city, the Qing army is still surrounding Jinzhou, and the troops and horses there cannot be mobilized. This, this will be difficult to handle." Wu Sangui said to himself and fell into anxiety.
"As long as you are willing to be loyal to me and solve your problems, I have already arranged the rest for you." Emperor Chongzhen chuckled.
Wu Sangui frowned: "Please let me know from the emperor."
Emperor Chongzhen smiled slightly, walked into Guanghan Hall and sat down: "Do you know where Chang Yu went?"
"Didn't Eunuch Chang go south first?" Wu Sangui was startled, and Emperor Chongzhen laughed: "You should know that the imperial court wants to make a deal between Azige and Dorgon."
Wu Sangui had a look of horror on his face: "Eunuch Chang went to exchange for his ancestor's birthday outside the customs! Is this...possible..."
He finally realized what had happened and what was about to happen or had already happened, and he was very annoyed.
"That's right." Emperor Chongzhen picked up the teacup and took a sip, then glanced at Wu Sangui, who was ashen-faced: "You don't have to think about it, exchanging Zu Dashou is very unreasonable at this time, and no one can take your troops, horses, and Ningyuan City." If you don’t leave, you just need to follow him south to quell the chaos. If you want to go outside the customs when you come back, I will allow you to go back. If you want to go somewhere else, I will allow you to go back. How about that?"
Wu Sangui was relieved, bowed to express his gratitude, and couldn't help but ask: "So the emperor actually secretly transferred Ning Yuan's army here?"
Emperor Chongzhen nodded: "How can I let you go into battle alone, but Ningyuan is an important town and cannot be without soldiers or generals. I asked Chang Yu to transfer five thousand to you, and asked Zu Dashou to guard Ningyuan temporarily. When you come back, I will return it to you intact." .
Wu Sangui smiled bitterly: "The emperor strategized and arranged these things in secret, and I was completely kept in the dark. This method must have come from Eunuch Chang."
"No." Emperor Chongzhen shook his head: "Chang Yu was very opposed to mobilizing your troops and people to go south, but the more he opposed me, the more he wanted you to go! So he thought that you had been outside the customs for a long time and needed to be mobilized. It would be embarrassing and even cause conflicts to work with you outside the Customs when he came back. He wanted to transfer you here on the grounds that it would be detrimental to Ningyuan Customs defense, so he reluctantly agreed..."
The wind picked up on the lake and blew into Guanghan Hall, which was very comfortable. However, Wu Sangui had no intention of enjoying the cool summer breeze at this time. His head was buzzing at this time, and he couldn't tell whether Chongzhen's words were true or false.
In just a few days, the emperor and the young eunuch actually mobilized troops from Ningyuan behind his back to arrange for him to go south to quell the chaos. Is it true that the emperor wants to use his hand to check and balance the young eunuch, or is there some other reason, such as plotting against himself?
He was a little confused, and it was difficult to distinguish the authenticity for a while. He was so confused that he had forgotten how he came out of the palace.
But after he left, Emperor Chongzhen looked at the palace in the distance with his hands behind his back, and his eyes stopped on the top of the Long Live Mountain: "Chang Yu, don't always think that I always ask you to wipe your butt. Occasionally I will wipe my own."
This was really beyond Chang Yu's expectation. At this time, he was rushing back to Beijing and was discussing with Li Muchian how to deal with Wu Sangui.
