Spring is coming to the north, flowers are blooming, the snow is melting, and the capital is slowly waking up from hibernation. The canal has opened up a lot, but the capital has never returned to its former bustle and prosperity.
On both sides of the canal, where land was once at a premium, more than half of the shops were closed for business. People are coming and going, and there are few people on the busy streets now.
Due to the invading invaders who established slaves, the entire Beizhili was in ruins after months of continuous burning, killing, and looting.
Refugees and hungry people fleeing the war have gathered in the surrounding areas of the capital, and their number has now reached nearly 200,000.
"Great victory, great victory, great victory at Qingshan Pass, beheading the slave thieves at a thousand levels!!!"
"A great victory, a great victory, a great victory at Qingshan Pass. The formation beheaded Manchuria's Zhenghuang Banner Gushanzhen Tan Tai, and beheaded thirty-seven of his generals and commanders below!"
"Great victory, great victory at Qingshan Pass!!!" The sound of victory announcements came from outside and inside, from the suburbs all the way into the city, shattering the tranquility on the streets of the capital.
The sound of rapid horse hooves was as loud as the tide, disturbing the people who were resting under the houses.
"Great victory, great victory..." The sounds of great victory were heard. Everyone stayed in place in a daze, staring blankly at the knight speeding past the street.
"Victory at Qingshan Pass!" The sound of victory accompanied by the biting cold wind reached the ears of everyone inside and outside the city in the streets.
Above and below the city, all the generals stationed at the city gate turned to look at the knights reporting their victory, and at the pond horse galloping in.
On the outskirts of the city, among the dilapidated shanties, countless hungry people were sitting in the shanties. Their eyes were blank, looking straight into the distance, as if everything had nothing to do with them.
In the streets and alleys, all the people looked confused, and they were confused by the good news. The sounds of victory were clearly heard very close by, but they were so far away that they seemed to be echoing in the horizon, giving people an unreal feeling.
The originally noisy street suddenly became deserted. All the voices of people and horses seemed to disappear at this moment.
Some people stood up in a daze, wanting to hear more clearly. Some people subconsciously followed the victorious knight and stumbled around.
Some people grabbed the people around them, trying to confirm whether they heard the words correctly. The knights waving their flags to report victory galloped all the way, passing through the city gates of the capital, walking through the streets and alleys of the capital, and wading through the avenues of the capital, and finally gathered in front of the tallest, largest and widest building in the center of the capital— —Forbidden City!
Behind those knights, without exception, were followed by a large number of pedestrians, all of whom were blocked outside the Forbidden City.
The guards guarding the palace stopped everyone who wanted to come forward. The people who were blocked outside the boundary included dignitaries wearing silk and satin, ordinary people wearing short-sleeved clothes, and even poor servants in ragged clothes.
All of their eyes followed the document reporting the victory, all the way to the depths of the palace city - looking forward to seeing it... The victory report finally passed through the palace gates, and the layers of palace prohibitions went all the way to Wenyuan Pavilion.
The moment the good news came into Wenyuan Pavilion, the entire Wenyuan Pavilion was filled with silence. Yang Sichang and Xue Guoguan, who were in the pavilion, read the good news over and over nine times and confirmed it nine times.
I read it word by word, read it word by word, and even confirmed the authenticity of the seal on the good news. In the end, Yang Sichang slowly closed the good news, and the good news left Wenyuan Pavilion and went all the way to Xinuan Pavilion of Qianqing Palace.
In the Xinuan Pavilion of the Palace of Qianqing, Chongzhen wore a Yishan crown on his head and a red narrow-sleeved robe with a plate collar and embroidered with golden coiled dragon patterns.
The twenty-eight-year-old emperor, who had been emperor for twelve years, was carefully reviewing the memorial in the Nuan Pavilion.
They established slaves and became invaders, wreaking havoc on the land thousands of miles away. The entire Northern Zhili and most of Shandong were affected by the war.
The people were displaced, so that refugees were everywhere. They were precarious and hungry. Most of the memorials placed on the table were asking the court to send grain for disaster relief and money for reconstruction.
Chongzhen, who was sitting at his desk reviewing memorials, looked pale. His body was thin and not heavy, and could not even hold up the dragon robe he was wearing. Deep in his eyes was a tiredness radiating from the bottom of his heart.
Chongzhen slowly put down the brush in his hand. He had no way to deal with all the requests on the table.
It is said that the emperor is rich all over the world, but he, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, is tired and trapped by these yellow and white things.
There is very little money in the internal funds, and the household is empty all year round, and the grain has been eaten for a long time. Not long after he took office, he signed the most edicts to increase taxes one after another.
It’s not that he doesn’t know that he’s tearing down the east wall to make up for the west wall, and it’s not that he doesn’t know that he’s drinking poison to quench his thirst.
But so what if he knew... Chongzhen looked around the empty Nuan Pavilion and sighed silently.
Now it is his twelfth year on the throne, and he is no longer the young emperor who is ignorant about everything.
He understood many things. But now I understand that many things are already too late. When he removed Wei Zhongxian after ascending the throne, the power of the factory guards was also weakened by him to the point where it was almost unusable.
So now, Chongzhen wants to use factory guards, but it is difficult for the factory guards to regain their former momentum. Chongzhen looked tired. He raised his hand and slowly rubbed his slightly swollen temples.
Since Jiannu entered the customs, reports have been urgent, and memorials from various places reporting disasters have come in like snowflakes. He has not been able to sleep well a day.
The country was exhausted, but the performance of the officials below made him more and more disappointed. The so-called righteous people and the so-called virtuous and loyal ministers are just a group of selfish and despicable people.
Over the years, Chongzhen has understood a lot of things. The Qingliu in the middle of the court is mostly made up of people seeking fame and reputation.
Those ministers in the court seem to be better at party fighting than running the country. Chongzhen leaned back and leaned on the back of the chair. He was really too tired.
Domestic affairs, large and small, party disputes in the DPRK and China, and urgent documents constantly coming from the border were all piled up together, making him unable to breathe at all.
The reason why Chongzhen trusted Yang Sichang and was willing to appoint Yang Sichang was not only because Yang Sichang was a talented person, but also because he felt that Yang Sichang could solve the problem.
This is especially because Yang Sichang is impartial and party-free, has the courage to do his job, and answers all questions. It's not like other ministers who talk empty words and do things that don't seek merit, but seek no fault.
Yang Sichang has always done practical things. Since Yang Sichang took office, the country's situation has indeed been greatly improved.
The rogue rebellion that was spreading to many provinces was put down because of Yang Sichang's strategy. The border troubles in the North were also alleviated because of Yang Sichang's border policies.
It's just... Chongzhen clenched his fists, and a trace of anger flashed in his eyes. Those rotten scholars in the imperial court can only talk empty talk, and they can't come up with any strategy for fighting the enemy. However, when they talk about reason, they suppress people everywhere.
Under the current circumstances, negotiation is undoubtedly the best option, but there are countless people who oppose it. Among the people who opposed it, Huang Daozhou was the most fierce and upright.
After the court meeting, Chongzhen's general Huang Daozhou was demoted to six ranks and transferred to Jiangxi Province as Chasi Zhaomo. Huang Daozhou was a loyal minister and a direct minister. These Chongzhen knew clearly that every word Huang Daozhou said was engraved in Chongzhen's heart.
Before the court meeting, Chongzhen had actually made up his mind to negotiate a peace no matter what the outcome was, and first completely solve the problem of rogue bandits in the country.
Heroes such as Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, had temporarily negotiated peace with the Xiongnu, and towering figures such as Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty had tentatively entered into a Weishui alliance with the Turks.
But after the court meeting, what Huang Daozhou said finally made him hesitate.
He hesitated... hesitated... and then God made him immediately pay the price for his hesitation and hesitation.
In September of the eleventh year, Jiannu entered the palace again, and all the way... the momentum was overwhelming... all the ministers who had been upright in the past were now silent.
It's really ridiculous... Chongzhen closed the memorial on the table. The court had no money, the treasury had no food, and he could not resolve all requests. All these matters could only be left to the Ministry of Household Affairs to decide on their own.
King Qin's army from all over the country gathered in Beizhili. Not counting the troops guarding the capital, the size of King Qin's army led by Sun Chuanting in the Great Wall area alone already exceeded one hundred thousand.
More than 100,000 people eat horse chews every day, which is an astronomical figure. The grain ships south of the canal almost unloaded one ship and sent another to the Great Wall.
It's not just Beizhili and Shandong that are short of food. The capital is also short of food, and even the imperial palace is also short of food.
During this period of time, the porridge and rice provided to the hungry people outside the city could only sustain one life, or even a full meal.
Hundreds of thousands of elites gathered around the Great Wall. Yang Sichang told him that if there was a major defeat, the country would even be in danger of overthrowing.
When the two armies are facing each other in a battle, there must be no shortage of military pay and food. Precisely because everything is supplied to the front line first.
On Sun Chuanting's side, Chongzhen originally didn't want to rush him. But now the government is in trouble, and it is difficult to provide food and grass.
Jiannu could afford to delay, but they could not afford to do so. If Jiannu did not come out of seclusion, the suburbs of the capital and the entire Beizhili bordered Shandong, and countless more people would starve to death.
Chongzhen raised his head and looked outside the Nuan Pavilion, and he heard a rush of footsteps.
"Open the door and see who is running outside." Chongzhen waved his hand, and the eunuch guarding the palace gate responded and slowly opened the door of Nuange.
The bleak cold wind swept into the warm pavilion as the pavilion door opened, blowing across Chongzhen's cheeks. The cool breath made Chongzhen's originally groggy mind become much clearer.
Chongzhen sat on the chair and looked out of the palace through the open door. In the field of vision, Wang Dehua, the palm eunuch of the Supervisor of Ceremonies, seemed to be holding something in his hand, and he was running quickly towards Nuange along the palace road.
Wang Dehua was running all the way, but accidentally stumbled and fell to the ground. But soon Wang Dehua got up in a hurry, without even waiting for the few eunuchs who were following him to help him.
After Wang Dehua got up, he continued to run all the way, completely ignoring his own situation. Chongzhen's heart sank downwards. Wang Dehua was so panicked. His first reaction was that something bad had happened again. Wang Dehua had always been mature and prudent. The affairs in the court and local problems were not enough to make Wang Dehua such a panic. panic.
The only possibility is that the border customs have changed! Chongzhen's heart suddenly lifted, and he stood up suddenly. This was indeed the most likely thing to happen.
Because he had been sitting for a long time, Chongzhen suddenly felt dizzy when he suddenly stood up. Chongzhen held his hands on the desk and tried his best to stand steady.
He looked at Wang Dehua who was running quickly, and the fear in his heart continued to expand. There has been a change in the border, so it should be impossible for the Jian slaves to break through the border again.
The main force of Jiannu is at Qingshan Pass and is preparing to leave the pass. Those Jiannu near Liaodong and Yong'an are just partial troops as support and cannot be at this juncture.
Moreover, several checkpoints are heavily guarded with troops, which were unbreakable during the Jiannu period, and are even more impossible to break now.
The only possibility is that something happened in the direction of Qingshan Pass. Chongzhen thought back. He remembered the memorial sent by Sun Chuanting a few days ago.
On the sixth day of March, Sun Chuanting, Gao Qiqian and Chen Xinjia met at Taiping Village in Qingshan Pass.
Jiannu occupied Qingshan Pass as a means of support and defended it according to the danger. Sun Chuanting led his troops to attack the mountain, broke through the two outer fortresses, and beheaded more than 300 people. He reported a great victory, and he was very excited about it.
Even the matter of Sun Chuanting using Shang Fangjian to kill Chen Guowei was temporarily forgotten. Could it be... Chongzhen couldn't control his thoughts, he couldn't help but think about various situations.
Could it be that Jiannu suddenly attacked, and Sun Chuanting defeated Qingshan Pass and lost his troops to the ground... If this is true, then... While Chongzhen's mind was turning over and over again, Wang Dehua finally ran into the Nuan Pavilion.
"Great victory, great victory!" Wang Dehua's excited voice echoed in Nuan Pavilion, and also brought Chongzhen's thoughts back to the present world.
"Great victory, great victory, great victory... Your Majesty!!!" Wang Dehua's voice was choked with sobs at the last few words, and he could hardly speak as he knelt on the ground.
"You...you...said...what...a great victory..." Chongzhen's face turned pale. He couldn't believe his ears. His hands trembled and he subconsciously walked in the direction of Wang Dehua.
"Your Majesty..." Wang Dehua raised his head, tears already streaming down his face.
"A great victory at Qingshan Pass, a great victory!!"
"Governor Sun defeated the Jiannu slaves, beheaded thousands of people, and beheaded Manchuria's Zhenghuang Banner on the mountain's forehead. It's really Tan Tai!!"
"We...won..." Wang Dehua raised the victory report in his hand and presented it to Chongzhen.
"The great victory at Qingshan Pass... we... won..." Chongzhen stared blankly at the victory report in Wang Dehua's hand. He could only read a few words before he froze in place.
"Victory...Victory..."... Outside Bauhinia City, on the periphery of the palace gate, countless people stared at each other, eager for an answer.
Everything that happened before was like a dream, which was unbelievable. And soon, they finally got the answer they wanted.
A red horse galloped out of the palace city, and a general in armor was riding on the horse.
The general held a tall dragon flag and came flying all the way. Behind them are more knights and more banners!
All the knights loudly announced the news of the victory. They ride on war horses and want to spread the good news to the world!
Countless people burst into tears at this moment.
