Chongzhen Chat Group

"Your Majesty, last night King Qin of Tongzhou's troops attacked Jianlu's camp near Jizhou. Unexpectedly, Jianlu was well prepared and was defeated by an ambush. Almost the entire army was wiped out!" Man Gui cupped his fists and played.

Because it was night and no urgent reports were received, he had no time to ask someone to write a memorial for him. He was in a hurry to report, so he could only make a verbal report.

"What?" Hu Guang didn't expect that he finally heard the news about the main force of Jianlu, but by the way, tens of thousands of Tongzhou Qinwang's troops were wiped out! As a result, Jianlu's morale, which had been reduced after two defeats in a row, suddenly returned.

Mangui thought that the emperor did not hear clearly, so he reported it again, and then added: "In fact, the main force of the Jianlu, especially the Jurchen Tatars, were not seriously damaged. When he went to the field with the Jianlu, the number of people was not as large as the Jianlu. With this, A defeat is not unusual.”

Hu Guang nodded, and then immediately asked: "Then how should we deal with it next?"

"Continue to strengthen the walls and clear the country, so that the built-up barbarians will not have enough food and grass." Mangui, an expert on the built-up barbarians, said eloquently, "If you want to annihilate the main force of the built-up barbarians within the pass, the general will find it difficult, and the only choice is to drive them out!"

He was a little worried when he said this. After all, these words would somewhat boost the morale of others and destroy his own prestige. I don’t know if the young emperor can bear it. But the fact is, he can only tell the truth.

If it were the original Emperor Chongzhen, he might not be able to stand such words, and might even force Mangui or various people to attack Jianlu to fight to the death regardless of the facts.

But Hu Guang would never be so arrogant. After thinking about it, he immediately nodded in agreement and said, "What Qing Man said makes sense. It seems that the plan now is to expel Jianlu from the pass as soon as possible and restore peace in the pass as soon as possible. "

At this point, he remembered what he had thought of before, and immediately continued: "You send people to spread rumors, saying that one hundred thousand white pole troops and southeastern musketeers will arrive in the capital soon to prepare for a decisive battle with Jianlu in the capital. In addition, Guan Ning’s army has left Shanhaiguan and headed straight for Liaoyang. Well, another version says that Guan Ning’s army has gone to the grasslands to take revenge on those Mongolian tribes.”

Mangui was overjoyed when he heard this and quickly said: "Your Majesty is wise!"

However, some people don't think so. Soon some courtiers heard about this and wrote memorials one after another, either demanding severe punishment for the governor's interpretation of the scriptures, attacking the unjust people entrusted by Sun Chengzong, or demanding that King Qin's edicts be continued to protect the capital, etc.

As for these memorials, Wang Dehua, the eunuch and eunuch in charge of the ceremony, sent them all to Hu Guang, who reviewed them personally. Looking at this large number of memorials, Hu Guang first came up with the idea of ​​​​replacing the eunuch in charge of the ceremony.

What Hu Guang wants is that ordinary matters can be handled by the cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies, and only important matters should be decided by him. As the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, he must have the ability to distinguish between general and important matters and share the work for the emperor. Of course, to do this, you must understand the emperor's attitude.

After Liu Xingzuo received Hu Guang's instructions, he rushed to Sun Chengzong immediately and announced the news that Tongzhou's soldiers and horses were almost wiped out near Jizhou.

As soon as the news came out, the originally relaxed atmosphere in the lobby suddenly condensed and became a bit heavy. Some of the assumptions brought about by the Changli victory were immediately shattered.

Liu Xingzuo glanced at the people present, looked at the faces of Sun Chengzong, Zu Dashou and others, and then continued: "Your Majesty has a decree. From now on, my Ming Dynasty's strategic goal is to expel Jianlu from the capital as soon as possible. The strategy used is to continue. The walls must be strong and the country must be clear, and the Jianlu must not be allowed to seize the city again and obtain supplies of food and grass..."

He described several methods that Hu Guang had thought of, and then added: "Elder Ge can also adopt other methods, but the ultimate goal is to expel the Jianlu as soon as possible and restore peace to the capital."

Sun Chengzong was quite surprised when he heard this. In his impression, the young emperor did not seem to be so realistic. Even though the previous impression he had given him had changed a lot, the decree also stated that Jianlu would be cut off from his retreat, and that Jianlu would either be severely damaged or annihilated within the pass.

As the commander-in-chief of a party, what he was most afraid of was that the emperor could not see the actual situation clearly and issued orders from a distance to forcefully command and do whatever he asked!

You know, soldiers are crafty! If the strength had not reached the crushing level, there would have been too many factors that would have affected the outcome of the war. The result of forcibly commanding remotely regardless of the actual situation was the last thing he wanted to see.

In the original history, Emperor Chongzhen did many things like this. Of course, he may have his reasons, but he can forcefully issue orders to ask the generals in front to do whatever they want, which can easily become an assist for the enemy.

Sun Chengzong was shocked but also a little relieved, and immediately nodded and said: "I know what I know, come on, beat the drum and gather the generals!"

As soon as he finished speaking, before the guards took action, Liu Xingzuo cupped his fists and continued: "Mr. Ge, your Majesty has appointed the commander of the Jinyi Guards. He needs to go to the capital immediately to take up his post and rectify the Jinyiwei. In order to facilitate communication with Shanhaiguan, I will A person will be sent to Mr. Pavilion. If you have any questions, please contact the capital immediately."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the lobby was immediately surprised. Commander of the Imperial Guards, this is the emperor's confidant, the highest ranking among all the troops!

Although the people present had thought that Liu Xingzuo would be promoted, they never thought that he would become the commander of the Imperial Guard. To put it bluntly, in the eyes of Sun Chengzong, the commander-in-chief of one side was just his subordinate, but from now on, Liu Xingzuo would be someone even he would treat politely.

Even Sun Chengzong thought so, let alone Zu Dashou and others. Even though they were jealous and envious in their hearts, on the surface, they immediately smiled and congratulated Liu Xingzuo on his promotion. Suddenly, Liu Xingzuo became the central figure in the lobby, like stars holding the moon.

It has been thirty years in Hexi and thirty years in Hedong. Who would have thought that Liu Xingzuo, who defected back to the Ming Dynasty, would suddenly become the commander of the Imperial Guard after being ostracized by everyone. This is the emperor's confidant!

I originally thought he had no backstage, but it turned out that his backstage was the Ming Emperor! Zu Dashou felt regretful and thought about how to make up for the unhappiness between him and Liu Xingzuo. Wu Xiang also regretted it. He had already seen signs that Liu Xingzuo was about to change his fortune before. He should have spent more money at that time. It didn't hurt or hurt, and it didn't count as a friendship!

Knowing that Liu Xingzuo was about to leave immediately, Sun Chengzong looked at the situation in the hall and also withdrew the order to beat the drums and gather the generals, and enthusiastically wanted to carry it out for Liu Xingzuo. Zu Dashou, Wu Xiang and others also tried to persuade them to stay, saying that their colleagues must be treated well. At the same time, he quickly sent someone back to prepare a heavy gift.

Liu Xingzuo knew the emperor's attitude towards Sun Chengzong. At this time, he had not yet taken office as the commander of the Jinyi Guards, so he could not refuse Sun Chengzong, so he agreed.