Emperor Chongzhen, who had lived in the palace all year round, did not know the sufferings of the people in Henan, and he did not expect that the intruder would suddenly punch him in the waist, knocking him out of control.
But at this time, the world was uneasy, and the imperial court was using troops everywhere. He still knew that the cabinet minister Yang Sichang was supervising the division in Sichuan to pursue and suppress the Xian traitors, and Hong Chengchou was also fighting fiercely with the slave thieves in Liaodong.
The reoccurrence of unrest in Shandong was like a fire, and it was difficult to extinguish it for a while. He was afraid that it would cut off water transportation. What worried him even more was the movements of the intruder Li Zicheng.
Since Li Zicheng broke through Wuguan and crossed the Han River, the court has not received any news about the intruders, although no information is the best news.
But the long-term Emperor Chongzhen was even more worried. He was afraid that the intruder was lurking somewhere and would suddenly come out and kill him, disrupting the court's strategic strategy of pursuing and suppressing Zhang Xianzhong.
The New Year is coming in less than a month, and the city of Beijing is filled with a festive atmosphere, not affected by the wars in various places at all.
At this time, Beijing, Jinzhou in Liaodong, Luoyang in Henan, and Sichuan, which had been ravaged by bandits, were like two worlds. They still had a peaceful and festive atmosphere, as if the Ming Dynasty was still prosperous, without any hint of doomsday.
…………
The Xuanwu Gate in the Forbidden City has just played the fifth watch of drums. All the temples inside and outside the imperial city are ringing with bells and drums. The Hall of Yinghua, because in the Forbidden City, the bells, pans, shengs, Xiaos, wooden fishes, and clouds are ringing. Along with the chanting and Sanskrit singing, waves were transmitted to the Qianqing Palace.
Emperor Chongzhen had gotten up early. Wearing his regular court uniform, he drank a bowl of rock sugar bird's nest soup and ate a piece of tiger eye candy. The eunuchs, following the custom of the palace, placed a "Pepsi Lucky Box" on his imperial desk, containing Persimmons, lychees, longans, chestnuts, and ripe dates.
But he only glanced at it and didn't eat anything, but sighed in his heart: "Oh, when will we see Pepsi success!"
Seeing that the emperor had finished breakfast, the maids hurriedly stepped forward to change Emperor Chongzhen's court robes and crowns. Emperor Chongzhen walked out of the Qianqing Palace, got on the chariot, and went to the Huangji Palace to attend the morning court.
That day, Emperor Chongzhen returned to the Qianqing Palace after the morning court. He still felt uneasy. He looked at the small mountain of memorials on the imperial desk and felt even more depressed.
After walking around the Qianqing Palace for a while, Emperor Chongzhen called a young eunuch who was accompanying him and said: "Send Chen Xinjia here!"
The little eunuch sang "O", turned around and left quickly, not daring to delay even a moment.
After a while, Chen Xinjia hurriedly arrived at Qianqing Palace. He knelt down and saluted and said, "Your Majesty, Chen Xinjia, pays homage to you."
"Chen Qing, get up!"
After Chen Xinjia thanked him, he stood up and stood aside, waiting for Emperor Chongzhen's instructions.
Emperor Chongzhen sat behind the imperial desk and looked at Chen Xinjia, who was standing with his head bowed in the palace. In his heart, he was very satisfied with Chen Xinjia. He even thought that Chen Xinjia was a rare and capable talent.
"Is there any new military intelligence report from Yang Sichang and the governor of Henan?"
Chen Xingjia bowed and replied: "There was a report in front of Yangge's department that the supervisor in Sichuan was quite successful in suppressing the bandits. Now the bandits have been forced in western Sichuan, and there will be good news in the near future.
The governor of Henan claimed that Li Chuang was a thief. After entering Henan, he defeated dozens of villages in Funiu Mountain and Xiong'er Mountain. His power resumed, and he had already attacked Lushi, Songxian, and Yongning. There are worries about marching into Luoyang.
However, Zhang Cheng's troops in Xuan Town and Chen Jiugao's troops in the Beijing camp had been transferred to Henan to assist in the suppression. There was no new report, and it is expected that there will be no major changes in the future. "
When Emperor Chongzhen heard that the bandits were approaching Luoyang, he was very excited and nervous. When he heard that Zhang Cheng had led his troops into Henan Province to assist in the suppression, he felt a little relieved.
He said to himself: "Ah, since Zhang Cheng has gone to Henan Province to help with the suppression, Henan should be fine!"
Emperor Chongzhen seemed to remember something, and he added: "The important land of Luoyang vassalage must not be lost. You tell Li Xianfeng that we must use all our strength to suppress the thieves, and we must not let the bandits attack Luoyang and Kaifeng, the important vassalage land."
He paused and asked: "Where is Zhang Cheng in Henan now?"
"Reporting to your majesty, at the end of November, Zhang Cheng's troops had left Feng and marched into western Henan to help suppress the intruders and ensure that Luoyang was not lost."
"Yeah. How's it going in Jinzhou?"
Chongzhen then asked about various situations of the war in Liaodong, and Chen Xinjia reported them one by one. Although there were frequent wars in all directions, Emperor Chongzhen also deeply felt that Chen Xinjia had managed things well and greatly appreciated him.
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On December 11th, the 13th year of Chongzhen reign in the Ming Dynasty, in the afternoon, the sun shone on the frozen hard ground. A group of armored sergeants were marching forward, and the sunlight reflected the sparkling light and shadow on the armor.
Yanshi County was right in front of him. Zhang Guodong looked at the south gate of Yanshi City. There were stains of blood on it, which seemed to show people the brutality of the previous war.
Groups of turbaned thieves were guarding the city wall. They seemed to be holding on to the city and had no intention of leaving the city to fight in the field.
On the bank of the Luoshui River south of Yanshi City, Zhang Guodong said beside Zhang Cheng: "Commander, the last general proposes not to attack Yanshi, but to leave a post battalion to monitor the bandit army in Yanshi City, and the army will march westward to Luoyang."
Zhang Guangda also said: "The general thinks it is feasible. The bandits are holding on to the city. Our army has only been training for a long time and has no experience in attacking the city. It is better to bypass Yanshi, go straight to Luoyang, lure the bandits in the city to attack, and kill them in the wild." Cut off.”
Zhang Cheng looked at Yanshi City not far away, silent, and fell into deep thought. No one wanted to disturb him, so they gathered around to discuss whether to attack Yanshi.
After a long time, Zhang Cheng turned around and looked at everyone, and said in a deep voice: "Master Yan must fight!"
The generals looked at Zhang Cheng in surprise, only to hear him continue: "Although our army has been training for more than a year, it only has experience in field battles, but it has never experienced anything in defending or attacking a city. When the town was declared, He has only broken through a few bandit strongholds.
Today, there are only thousands of bandits in Yanshi City, and among them there are only a few hundred who can be called elites. Moreover, their occupation of the city is limited, and they lack the ability and experience to govern the place. They may not be able to unite the army and the people and defend to the death.
This is an excellent opportunity for our army to practice siege. How can we miss it? If we can't even capture Yanshi today, how can we dare to call it a powerful army! "
After listening to what Zhang Cheng said, all the generals felt that it was reasonable. At this time, Zhang Cheng said: "In the future, defending cities, fighting in the field, and attacking cities and strongholds will be indispensable. The armies led by each general will also be When there is a difference.
A good defender, whether setting up a camp or building a stronghold, or defending a city, should be impregnable and unbreakable by the enemy; a good attacker, destroying a city and building a stronghold, should have no disadvantages; a good fighter, judging the situation, should look for the enemy's negligence or weak points. , make full use of the advantages of the terrain, overcome difficulties, and defeat the enemy in field battles. "
"Here!"
"The general has learned a lesson. Please rest assured, commander, we will capture Yanshi City tomorrow."
