On the Chenghai Tower in the south of Shanhaiguan, Hong Chengchou suddenly heard that the angel was coming and was shocked. He was deeply afraid that Emperor Chongzhen would be angry because he failed to leave the customs as soon as possible and march to Jinzhou.
??Although Hong Chengchou was already the governor of Jiliao at this time, and still held the title of Minister of the Ministry of War and the title of Yushi of the Imperial Palace, and seemed to be deeply relied on by Emperor Chongzhen, he could not help but feel in his heart every time he heard that the angel was coming. Doubt and fear, sometimes cold sweat breaks out on the spine.
He could not predict at all whether Emperor Chongzhen would be suspicious of him, dissatisfied, or even furious. He could not predict whether Emperor Chongzhen would be dissatisfied or even angry because he had listened to the criticism of some official or the secret report of the Jin Yiwei. An angel was sent to suddenly announce the arrest, and he was thrown into prison.
Although he was uneasy in his heart, he tried his best to pretend to be calm, and ordered his staff and officials to prepare the incense case to welcome the angel's message.
Just when everything was ready, a young eunuch whom he had never seen before entered the Chenghai Tower. Although he was not a favored minister around Emperor Chongzhen, he held his head high as usual, walked straight to the incense table and screamed: " Hong Chengchou accepts the order!"
Hong Chengchou hurriedly knelt down to receive the imperial edict, and then kowtowed and thanked him. Because it was a secret edict, he did not read it out on the spot. He ordered his staff to hold a banquet for the eunuchs who came to deliver the edict, and he walked into the private room with the secret edict in his hand. go.
He gently opened the imperial edict with both hands, and his fingers could not help but tremble slightly. This was the edict of Emperor Chongzhen, and the content was very short.
Hong Chengchou just read it briefly and felt relieved. Only then did he read it carefully from beginning to end. He saw that the handwritten letter read: "To Hong Chengchou, Governor of Jiliao: Your troops have been paid enough. We should rush to Ningyuan as quickly as possible, encourage the soldiers, and advance to relieve the siege of Jinzhou. Even if we cannot restore Liaoshen in one fell swoop, we can still relieve my worries about the north.
Don't wait any longer and close the door to disappoint me. I have sent Director Zhang Ruoqi, a doctor from the Ministry of War, to assist Jin's division and quickly go to the Liaodong Army to lend a helping hand to you. How to march into battle, Zhang Ruoqi and Zhang Ruoqi should work together and make a decision, so that they can quickly go to the army and show off their skills as early as possible. This is an edict! "??
After Hong Chengchou carefully read the edict word for word twice, he put it on the table and sat down silently. Before he could think about it for a moment, several close aides came into the room with doubtful looks on their faces and asked about the edict. What was said.
He handed the edict to everyone to read and analyze together. Everyone was relieved when they saw that the edict only urged the dispatch of troops as soon as possible without any words of condemnation.
But everyone then started talking about Zhang Ruoqi. In fact, the matter of supervising the army had been spread among the people a long time ago, but there was no official edict at that time. Even if it was clear-cut, it was just rumored in private.
But today the edict came, everything has become a fact, and he will soon come to Guancheng to take up his post. Some people say that Zhang Ruoqi is young and energetic, and they are worried that he will be impetuous. After he takes office, he will insist on a quick decision.
In this way, if the governor's established strategies conflict with each other, everything will be restricted, and governor Hong will not be able to fight independently. The future of aiding Jin is unpredictable, and everyone can't help but shake their heads and sigh.
While everyone was talking about it, Hong Chengchou didn't say a word, neither stopped nor expressed his concerns. At this time, he slowly walked out of the house, looked at the sea in the distance against the railing, and thought for a while.
He suddenly turned back to the room and said to his staff and trusted generals: "Don't talk anymore. The emperor is very anxious about the military affairs in Liaodong. As a minister, I, the governor, and the reinforcements from all walks of life, should be considerate of the emperor's will and work hard to Do your duty, success or failure will depend on destiny.
I have decided that the army will set off on the eighth day of the lunar month in advance to break the siege of Jinzhou. "
He turned around and said to Chen Zhongcai, the deputy general of the Chinese army: "Go to the camp and make preparations as soon as possible. Today, all generals and battalions will inspect the troops. Tomorrow, we will have breakfast at Mao o'clock, and march out at Chen o'clock. The whole army will leave the customs."
He then asked a close staff member to immediately draft a memorial for him, and dictated the general idea: "The ministers knelt down and recited the imperial edict. They were deeply touched by the emperor's high hopes and were extremely excited. It was originally planned that the army would leave the customs on the tenth day of the lunar month. A secret copy has been published.
Now it was decided to leave the customs in advance on the early morning of the eighth day and rush to Ningyuan to break the siege of Jinzhou. "
Everyone in the inner room was surprised when they heard this. There was only two days apart, so why bother to change the date?
But they didn't know that Hong Chengchou had a lot on his mind and his intentions were very deep, but he just couldn't say it in public. After everyone dispersed and only two of his most trusted aides were left in the inner room, he whispered: "You I don’t know, but the emperor’s secret edict has not yet punished me, but if my army continues to stay here and does not leave the customs, I am afraid that the next time the secret edict comes, the students will be in disaster.
What's more, the emperor has issued three imperial edicts to urge people to leave seclusion. It is no longer appropriate for me to violate the rules. As the governor-general, the student should act in accordance with the edicts and set an example for the generals.
Although the troops were only sent in two days in advance, it was still the way to serve the ministers loyal to the king. "
An older staff member with a three-lock beard said softly: "Supervisor, Zhang Ruoqi, the supervisor of the army, is coming to take office soon. Why don't we wait for him to arrive and come out together? Wouldn't it be great?"
A wry smile flashed across Hong Chengchou's face. He just shook his head gently, but was unwilling to express his concerns.
Another young staff member also agreed: "This is very true. Wait for Supervisor Zhang to prevent him from saying that the Superintendent has deliberately condescended to him. I think this is a good idea, and I hope the Superintendent will adopt it."
Hong Chengchou looked around and saw that there was no one else in the room, and then he said: "When Zhang Ruoqi was young and proud, he was impetuous by nature, and he was also a confidant of my soldiers.
Now the emperor has sent him to supervise the army. Of course he can make secret military reports at any time. Now the emperor is suspicious and jealous, so his secret reports are very scary.
If we stay here and wait for him to arrive and then get up to leave the customs, he will probably secretly report that it was because of his urging that we had no choice but to lead the army out of the customs.
It is entirely to prevent him from doing this that I decided to lead the troops out of the gate tomorrow and get up before him so that he has nothing to say. Although we must not have the intention of harming others, we must have the intention of guarding against others! "
After he finished speaking, he smiled softly, with a look of distress and helplessness on his face.
The two close aides were suddenly enlightened. They admired Hong Chengchou's thoughtfulness, but they also sighed softly, saying that the only problem in the court was that they had their own factions, fought against each other, and did not pay attention to the overall situation.
The older staff member said: "It has been like this for many years, how can it be done today?"
The young staff member also said: "It's probably been the case since ancient times, but it's just a martyrdom today."
Hong Chengchou smiled softly again and said: "The imperial court sent Zhang Ruoqi to supervise the army. The students feel very lucky and have nothing else to say."
The young staff member asked in shock: "Why did the supervisor say this? One more supervisor will mean more constraints!"
Hong Chengchou glanced at him and said with a smile: "You don't know, Zhang Ruoqi is not a eunuch after all. If the emperor sends eunuchs who are close to him to supervise the army, what should we do?
After all, Zhang Ruoqi is a civil servant, so he is much better than an eunuch. If Gao Qi hadn't lurked to supervise the army, how could Lu Jiutai have died by the Haoshui Bridge? "
After hearing his words, the two of them nodded in agreement. They both felt that the sending of eunuchs to supervise the army was indeed a serious drawback. Now that Zhang Ruoqi was different from those eunuchs, he might still be able to work with them.
While they were talking, a Chinese soldier from outside came in and reported: The eunuch who came to deliver the imperial edict came here for the first time and wanted to visit Guancheng. He got up in the afternoon and returned to Beijing to resume his duties, and did not want to stay here longer.
Hong Chengchou immediately ordered him to accompany the eunuch who delivered the order well and not to make any mistakes. In addition, he gave him five hundred taels of silver as Cheng Yi.
The young staff member said: "Master Governor, if such a young eunuch goes out on a mission and delivers an imperial edict, he may not be able to see the emperor again, so just giving him two hundred taels of silver is enough."
Hong Chengchou glanced at him, smiled at first, then shook his head and said: "You still don't know much about things. No matter how big or small the eunuch is, he has a mouth to speak to the palace.
Don't just look at his status. The scary thing is that he has a mouth. "
