Forbidden City.
In the main hall of Qianqing Palace, Tianqi sat on the dragon couch with a dark face, and in front of him, kneeling were two ministers wearing red official robes.
"Come and tell me why the soldiers and horses I sent to Datong to suppress the bandits all came back defeated. Didn't you say that the Liu bandits in Datong just suffered from ringworm and scabies?" Tianqi asked sharply.
Wow!
Angry, Tianqi flicked his arm and threw the dragon-patterned tureen on the table to the ground.
The lid of the porcelain tea cup that had fallen to the ground separated, and the remaining tea inside was scattered on the blanket, soaking a large area.
Wei Zhongxian, who was guarding Tianqi, winked at the little eunuch on the side.
The little eunuch hurriedly stepped forward, bent down and picked up the bowl with a dragon pattern that fell on the blanket.
"Speak!" Tianqi shouted,
The little eunuch's arm trembled as he was about to pick up the cup lid.
One of the two ministers kneeling on the ground raised his head, looked up at Tianqi and said: "The reason why the several armies sent to Datong to suppress the bandits failed was entirely because the commander-in-chief of the Taiyuan Army was greedy for merit and advanced rashly, repeating what happened in the Saarhu. The defeat of the battle.”
"What Mr. Zhu Ge said is wrong. How can the Liu thieves be compared with the slave thieves of Liaodong? In my opinion, there may be some greed for merit and rashness, but more importantly, it is the incompetence of one general that exhausted the entire army." Kneeling aside Gu Bingqian retorted.
Zhu Guozhen on the side was speechless.
Mr. Jie Shigong is indeed a disappointment. At this time, someone must be responsible for the failure to exterminate the Liu thieves, and Mr. Jie Shigong, who is greedy for credit and rushes forward, becomes the most suitable person to take the blame.
"Where is Chief Han? Why didn't I see him coming?" Tianqi asked with an ugly face.
After such a big thing happened, Han Xu, the chief assistant, did not show up, which made Tianqi very angry.
Zhu Guozhen, who was kneeling on the ground, said hurriedly: "Reporting to Your Majesty, Mr. Hange is unwell and has been recuperating at home these past few days."
"Are you really sick, or are you scared?" Tianqi sneered coldly.
Zhu Guozhen lowered his head and said nothing.
"The Chief Minister of Han is loyal to the country. I think he is really seriously ill, otherwise he would not have failed to come to see you, the Emperor." Wei Zhongxian explained to Han Xu in a seemingly kind-hearted way.
However, when Zhu Guozhen heard this, he was not only not happy, but his face became extremely ugly.
"Han Shoufu really disappoints me. He can't even do something as trivial as solving the Liu thief. When something happens, he can't even see me." Tianqi said in a neither serious nor serious tone.
But these words caused different reactions in different people's ears.
Compared to Zhu Guozhen's heavy look, Gu Bingqian's eyes showed a bit of joy.
Tianqi looked at the two cabinet bachelors kneeling in front of him, raised his right hand and said, "Okay, stop kneeling, all of you, stand up."
"Long live thanks."
Zhu Guozhen and Gu Bingqian stood up from the ground one after another.
Tianqi raised his hand to touch the table beside him, but failed to find what he wanted. He said to the little eunuch serving in the palace, "Where's the tea?"
The palace maid who had been waiting for a long time hurriedly sent the tea cup over.
"What solution does your cabinet have to deal with the Liu thief in Datong?" Tianqi held the tureen presented by the palace maid in his hand, brought it to his lips and took a sip.
The tea has been prepared by the palace maid a long time ago, and there are more than one cup prepared. Each cup has a different temperature. You can drink it immediately after it is brought to you.
Zhu Guozhen bowed and said: "The Liu bandits who have won several battles in a row are now in a period of great power. I believe that relying solely on local soldiers and horses is no longer enough. Elite soldiers and horses should be mobilized from Shanhaiguan to Datong, and then local soldiers and horses should cooperate. We will definitely eradicate the Liu thieves in one fell swoop.”
"Who does Zhu Aiqing think is appropriate to send to Datong?" Tianqi asked.
The Tiger Banner defeated two frontier armies and two local soldiers and horses in Datong. He had realized that ordinary soldiers and horses may not be able to regain Datong, so he no longer resisted the dispatch of troops and horses from Liaodong to Datong to suppress the Liu bandits.
Zhu Guozhen thought for a while and then said: "I think it is most suitable to send the governor Qian Shi Zhao to teach the general Zhao soldiers. This man once led dozens of soldiers and servants to regain the former garrison city. It can be seen that he is a strong general. Let him go to Datong , I think we can quickly eradicate the rebels led by Liu Thief."
"What do Mr. Gu think?" Tianqi did not immediately agree to Zhu Guozhen, but asked another Mr. Gu Bingqian.
Gu Bingqian secretly glanced at Wei Zhongxian next to Tianqi, then stepped forward and intervened: "I also think General Zhao is a suitable candidate, but the Guanning area is also very important. Once the slaves invade, we will need elite soldiers and strong generals." withstand."
"The slave thieves in Liaodong really need to be on guard." Tianqi nodded lightly.
Slave thieves are no longer the scabies disease they were during the Saarhu War. Now the most elite soldiers and horses of the Ming Dynasty and a large amount of grain and grass armaments from the Ministry of Revenue are being used to deal with slave thieves.
Zhu Guozhen said: "Although the threat of the slave thieves is far greater than that of the Liu thieves, with the Guanning defense line built by Commander Sun in Liaodong, it is not easy for the slave thieves to break through, and it does not require too many troops to deal with the Liu thieves. Only General Zhao Some of the soldiers and horses under Bing's command will go with him to Datong, while his deputy general Sun Jian can lead the remaining more than 10,000 soldiers and horses to stay in the former garrison."
"If General Zhao is only allowed to take some of the soldiers and horses to Datong to deal with the Liu thieves, can it be used?" Tianqi began to worry that too few soldiers and horses were brought to Datong to eradicate Datong's tiger flag.
Zhu Guozhen said: "With more than 10,000 elite troops from Guan Ning, combined with the local troops, I believe that we will be able to wipe out the rebels who have occupied Datong in one fell swoop."
Apocalypse looked thoughtful.
"Your Majesty," Zhu Guozhen said, "Although the slave thieves in Liaodong are stronger than the Liu thieves in Datong, they are blocked by the Ning defense line. As long as the Liu thieves capture Taiyuan, they can attack Zhili directly. They will pose a far greater threat to the capital. The slaves and thieves of Liaodong.”
After speaking, he looked at Tianqi.
"According to what Aiqing said, Zhao Lijiao is appointed as the governor of the left, general of Pingbei, and general of Datong, and orders him to immediately lead troops to Datong to quell the rebellion." Tianqi gave the order directly.
"I obey the order." Zhu Guozhen bowed and saluted.
After deciding on the candidates to go to Datong to quell the rebellion, Zhu Guozhen and Gu Bingqian quickly left the Qianqing Palace.
On the same day, the decree appointing Zhao Lijiao as the commander-in-chief of Datong was sent to Shanhaiguan.
The news that the Tiger-Character Banner had defeated several imperial armies in Datong had already spread throughout the capital. The Tiger-Character Banner, which had not been taken seriously at first, finally entered the eyes of the world.
In restaurants and teahouses in the capital, many people are talking about the Tiger Flag.
The last time the Tiger Character Flag became a topic of chat among the people after dinner, it was the news that the Tiger Character Flag was going to rebel. However, the Tiger Character Flag did not rebel at that time, and everyone was just talking about why the Tiger Character Flag would rebel.
Nowadays, the Tiger-Character Banner has once again become the focus of people's after-dinner chats, because the Tiger-Character Banner has rebelled, captured Datong, and has the opportunity to threaten Beizhili.
As soon as the foreign intelligence personnel of the Tiger Banner who stayed in the capital received the news that the imperial court had mobilized troops from Liaodong to Datong to quell the rebellion, Wang himself immediately sent someone to pass the news back to Datong.
