In the upper floor of the Andingmen gate tower east of the northern wall of the inner city of Beijing, important officials from the Ming Dynasty who fought against the Qing invaders were gathered, discussing strategies to defend the Qing army.
In addition to the governor Lu Xiangsheng, the cabinet minister Yang Sichang, and the general general Gao Qiqian, those who participated in the discussion in the Andingmen Gate Tower were also two ministers from the Ministry of War, a distinguished nobleman of the imperial court, and the third commander of the three major battalions of the governor in the capital. Zhu Chunchen, the son-in-law of the twelfth generation Chengguo Gong, plus the chief eunuch of Emperor Chongzhen, the eunuch Ren Sili, Bingbi eunuch and admiral of the Dongchang, the chief of the internal supervisor Cao Huachun, who was the chief admiral of the military affairs of the Beijing camp, and several people who commanded the Beijing camp. General soldier.
On weekdays, the cabinet minister Yang Sichang was very good at being a good person. He was extremely respectful and courteous to the eunuchs around Emperor Chongzhen. Especially when he saw several powerful eunuchs such as Wang Dehua and Cao Huachun, he voluntarily took the lower position and made these famous people around the emperor noble. Sitting in the chief position.
The governor Lu Xiangsheng has always looked down upon these eunuchs and noble officials. He always believed that as a court minister, he should not make friends with the eunuchs, let alone take the initiative to curry favor with them. Wouldn't it be unworthy of a scholar to do so? Integrity, not to mention that he has always had a strong personality and never does anything to follow the crowd, so today he just showed a little humility and directly took the cabinet minister Yang Sichang to sit at the top of the table.
The supervisor Gao Qiqian was used to being majestic and arrogant in front of the courtiers. Seeing such a scene today, he felt unhappy in his heart, but there was nothing he could do about it.
The eunuch Cao Huachun, who was in charge of the East Factory, remained calm. He just smiled politely and sat firmly in his seat, waiting quietly for everyone present to talk.
Supervisor Lu Xiangsheng first spoke at the meeting. He was determined to lead the war, and his words were very impassioned. However, everyone in the room had expressionless faces and looked at each other in silence. They had no opinion on Lu Xiangsheng's determination to lead the war. Act very positive.
Lu Xiangsheng was very excited about everyone's performance and couldn't help shouting: "The Eastern captives are now approaching the city and wreaking havoc on our Jifu land, but the princes are still so hesitant. Can we just watch the captives riding across the capital and plundering wantonly?" Is it possible to plunder our Ming people as if they were entering an uninhabited land?"
Everyone present and participating in the discussion were impressed by Lu Xiangsheng's righteousness. Even the cabinet minister Yang Sichang and the chief military officer Gao Qiqian did not look very angry. They in turn advised Lu Xiangsheng not to be too eager. The relationship between war and defense is indeed important, and the strategy for this battle against King Qin Qilu still needs to be carefully considered and carefully considered.
The discussion reached a deadlock. Supervisor Lu Xiangsheng insisted on taking the lead in the battle, and even proposed strategies such as fortifying the walls to clear the country, recruiting brave people, and attacking prisoner camps at night. However, cabinet minister Yang Sichang and military commander Gao Qiqian did not say at all that they disagreed with Lu Xiangsheng. The strategies mentioned were just constant emphasis but at the same time they could not put forward any positive opinions. Time passed little by little in their wrangling.
On the other hand, Cao Huachun, the internal supervisor present here, was dissatisfied that Gao Qiqian had risen too quickly in the past two or three years, and now he has become the commander-in-chief of the army of the King of Qin in the World, which seemed to threaten him, so he said lightly: "After all, Mr. Lu is right."
The meeting lasted until late at night, and no result was reached.
Regarding the Tartar invasion, in Emperor Chongzhen's view, as long as the troops of King Qin from all over the country could secure the city of Beijing, everything would be fine. As for the people in Jifu, he could no longer take care of them.
Moreover, the issue of whether to engage in a strategic decisive battle with the Tartar elite cavalry near the capital is extremely complicated. The advantage is that the best soldiers and generals from all over the Ming Dynasty gathered here, and relying on the imperial spirit and people's support in the capital, it was possible to conduct a decisive battle. The foundation and capital of the decisive battle.
If you plan carefully, use gold, silver and official positions to encourage the generals and boost the morale of the army, you can indeed fight against the fine Tartar cavalry. As long as it poses a certain threat to the Tatar cavalry, they will not dare to go further into the interior, and in the end they will have no choice but to Return without success.
But no one can guarantee that it will go smoothly and that there will be a good result. If you lose in one battle, you will have to bear the responsibility. If the emperor's last few fighting soldiers are defeated, it will be the end of confiscation and destruction of the family. crime.
Except for Lu Xiangsheng who took the lead in the battle, everyone else was ambiguous, made no constructive suggestions, and acted to protect themselves. What's more, the cabinet minister Yang Sichang and the chief military officer Gao Qiqian, one was thinking about peace and the other was thinking about peace. To control the military power,
Therefore, this matter of war and defense cannot be resolved in one meeting.
Governor Lu Xiangsheng only emphasized that the morale of King Qin's soldiers gathered in Changping was poor, while cabinet minister Yang Sichang and military commander Gao Qiqian and others were worried about the general low morale of the soldiers and horses in the Beijing camp and the generals were afraid of the prisoners and were timid to fight.
As Lu Xiangsheng said, to recruit the people of the capital to serve as righteous soldiers and brave men, he would have to order the big officials and gentry in the capital to donate money and pay, which was even more difficult. Raising the money would encounter fierce opposition from the big officials and gentry in the capital, and there would be no money to pay. We cannot recruit volunteers and brave people.
What's more, the bravery of the temporarily recruited volunteers and civilians were not trained, and they could not withstand the attack of the captives. Therefore, the meeting lasted until late at night, and no results were obtained. In vain, it increased the distress and depression in the heart of the governor Lu Xiangsheng.
Rumbling artillery fire rang out from time to time in the eastern suburbs of the capital. The sound shook the heart of the governor Lu Xiangsheng, and made him feel on pins and needles here. He wanted to rush back to the Changping army immediately and arrange the battle immediately, so as not to waste time here.
He frowned tightly, stood up and walked to the door. He raised his hand to lift the curtain and looked eastward at the sky-high flames in the direction of Dongzhimen. He turned back and cupped his hands to everyone present and said: "Tonight, there is constant fighting in the suburbs outside Dongzhimen. I, my generation, are having endless disputes here. Xiang Sheng is really saddened and I hope you can forgive me. The students still have military affairs to attend to, and there are still things to take care of in Changping. Let’s discuss it some other time.”
General Director Jun Gao Qiqian was happy that today's discussion ended hastily, and he quickly echoed: "That's right, let's discuss it another day."
Lu Xiangsheng and Gao Qiqian said so, and the others could no longer insist on continuing the discussion. They walked down the Anding Gate, waved goodbye to each other, and left with their respective guards.
Lu Xiangsheng was so angry that he sat on the Anding Gate all afternoon and discussed until late at night without any substantive strategy. He jumped up on Wu Mingji, whipped his horse and galloped away.
He neither showed humility to others nor turned around to say hello.
Upon seeing this, the cabinet minister Yang Sichang shook his head, exchanged meaningful glances with the chief military officer Gao Qiqian, and asked Gao Qiqian and the internal supervisor Cao Huachun to get on their horses and go ahead.
The internal eunuch Cao Huachun said nothing when he arrived, and after a brief exchange of hands with Yang Sichang, he got on his horse and left with the internal eunuchs and guards around him.
When it came to Gao Qiqian, who was the commander-in-chief, he had no intention of getting on his horse and leaving immediately. Instead, he continued to look at Lu Xiangsheng's retreating back and praised him repeatedly: "What a horse! What a horse! It's such a rare horse." Horse!"
