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Chapter 1269: Fight? Retreat?

Emperor Chongzhen's Concubine Tian was originally named Tian Xiuying. Her ancestral home was Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. Later, her family moved to Yangzhou. Tian Xiuying was very smart since she was a child, so her father Tian Hongyu spent a lot of money to find some people who were good at calligraphy and painting to be her teachers, and specially taught her to learn music, chess, calligraphy and painting.

On February 3rd of the first year of Chongzhen, the imperial court selected a concubine for him. In the end, the versatile Tian Xiuying, the later Empress Xiaojie Zhou, and the noble concubine Yuan were all chosen to enter the palace.

In April of the first year of Chongzhen, she was conferred the title of Li Fei. In May, her father Tian Hongyu was promoted to the third-rank commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. In the seventh year, Tian Li Fei was promoted to Noble Consort. In the fourteenth year, she was further conferred the title of Imperial Noble Consort.

It was precisely because of Tian Xiuying's beauty and intelligence, as well as her profound attainments in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, that she was able to gain the favor of Emperor Chongzhen in the palace and give birth to four sons for him.

Perhaps it was because of the saying "God is jealous of beauty", Concubine Tian had been ill for a long time. Despite the imperial physician's treatment, there was still no improvement. Seeing his beloved concubine becoming increasingly haggard both physically and mentally, Emperor Chongzhen felt more pain than anyone else!
Today, as usual, Emperor Chongzhen personally stayed in Chengqian Palace, and the Imperial Medical Bureau led the imperial doctors to take the emperor's pulse and diagnose the patient in turn. However, the result disappointed Emperor Chongzhen greatly.

According to the imperial doctors of the Imperial Hospital, "I'm afraid Concubine Tian will not survive until August."

For the already exhausted Emperor Chongzhen, this was like another bolt from the blue!
In the end, he had to accept the advice of the Imperial Medical Bureau, and at the urging of Empress Zhou, he ordered the Ministry of Works to immediately build a tomb for Concubine Tian at the place selected by the Imperial Observatory. He also allocated a thousand people from the Beijing camp to assist the craftsmen and laborers recruited by the Ministry of Works. The burial clothes needed by Concubine Tian were also being rushed to make by the Needlework Bureau in the palace.

However, Emperor Chongzhen still held out a glimmer of hope for saving Concubine Tian. He reprimanded the Imperial Medical Bureau for not doing its best, and ordered a large reward to folk eccentrics and doctors. He also ordered the Monks and Taoists to urge all monks and Taoists in the capital to chant sutras for Concubine Tian day and night, and ordered the Catholic Church in Xuanwu Gate to pray devoutly for Concubine Tian.

Since then, he often went to Nangong, Dagaoxuan Hall, Yinghua Hall, etc. to burn incense and make wishes for his beloved Concubine Tian...

…………

The news that Minister of War Chen Xinjia was arrested and imprisoned by Emperor Chongzhen had not yet spread to the front line of the suppression of bandits in Kaifeng, and naturally had no impact on the war on the front line.

However, another thing that could completely change the balance of power between the Kaifeng government troops and the bandits was already developing in a direction that was beneficial to the court...

Luo Rucai, the world-famous bandit known as "Cao Cao", was dissatisfied with Li Zicheng's control and autocracy over him, and was also afraid that Li Zicheng would swallow up his troops in the future. He had no choice but to lead his troops to leave Li Zicheng.

As a result, Li Zicheng's military strength was greatly reduced. Compared with the original joint camp between Chuang and Cao, his troops were reduced by one third, and they were all elite soldiers among the rebel army.

The person who was undoubtedly the most affected by this incident was Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion, who was determined to capture the city of Kaifeng so that he could use his remaining power to sit alone and lead the bandits in the world to overthrow the Ming Dynasty and establish a new dynasty!
Now there are only two options for Li Zicheng...

First, withdraw the troops immediately, try to break contact with the Yongyi Army, then build deep trenches and high fortifications to defend, and then find a way to retrieve Luo Rucai's Cao camp troops and fight against the Yongyi Army together. Only in this way can we capture Kaifeng, manage Henan, and plan for the world.

However, the fact that Luo Rucai led his troops to abandon Li Zicheng's camp showed that he had made up his mind. This was equivalent to an open break, so how could he turn back easily?
The second is to immediately launch a fierce attack on the Yongyi Army, and it must be an all-out attack. As long as they can defeat the enemy in front of them - the Yongyi Army - in one fell swoop, the soldiers and civilians guarding the city of Kaifeng will become frightened birds.

And it would be impossible for the imperial court to mobilize a large army for the time being. Kaifeng was like a turtle in a jar, and he had to surround and break it. Then, with the power of breaking Kaifeng, he could control the Central Plains and give orders to the heroes of the world. The Ming Dynasty would be within his grasp!
"Success or failure will be decided in this battle!" said Yuan Zongdi, the general of the Chuang army. It seems that he supports launching a full-scale attack on the Yongyi army immediately and achieving complete victory in one battle.

Gao Yigong, the chief of the old mansion of the Chuang army, looked serious. He said, "Since our army entered Henan, we have conquered Luoyang and killed Prince Fu, besieged Kaifeng twice, and attacked states and destroyed prefectures along the way. We have been invincible. Fu Zonglong, Wang Qiaonian and others have all died under our swords.

Even the hundreds of thousands of troops led by Ding Qirui and Zuo Liangyu at Shuipo were not easily defeated. Now, Xuanda's mere tens of thousands of frontier soldiers have caused our army to stop moving forward. If we waste time here for a long time, it will be disadvantageous to our army."

As the general manager of the old mansion, Gao Yigong first considered the supply of food and grass. After all, the advantage of the Chuang army is its large number of troops, but once it turns into a protracted war, this advantage will immediately turn into a disadvantage for the Chuang army!
After hearing what he said, Yuan Zongdi immediately asked, "General Manager Gao, do you also support an immediate decisive battle?"

Gao Yigong smiled and said, "It depends on everyone's opinions."

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Niu Jinxing, Song Xiance, Li Yan and others, wanting to see what they thought.
Niu Jinxing just smiled and waved his folding fan lightly without saying a word; Song Xiance next to him also had a calm expression and did not respond, giving people a sense of being unfathomable; only Li Yan seemed to want to say something but hesitated, but still did not say it out loud.

"It's all Luo Rucai's fault. The good situation has been ruined by him!"

Li Guo's left chest was wrapped in a thick layer of white cloth, with blood stains showing through the cloth. It was obvious that he had been seriously injured and had been bandaged not long ago. Now, when he spoke loudly, the wound would be affected, and his expression showed considerable pain.

Wu Ruyi was sitting next to him, holding his arm and whispering, "Master Tiger, you are injured, don't get angry."

A strong murderous intent flashed across Li Guo's face, and he said, "Cao thief, I will never let him go."

No one else seemed to react much, except Li Zicheng, the King of Rebellion, who was sitting on the top. After hearing this, his brows tightened, but he didn't say anything.

Gu Kecheng then interjected, "I think although Xuanda's army is small in number, it's not easy to defeat them."

Everyone listened to his words, and no one objected for a while, because what he said was true.

For several days in a row, apart from the troops led by Prince Chuang himself, the other two places suffered heavy losses. Although some Xuanda army soldiers were killed, the casualty ratio between the two sides was too damn touching...

Seeing that everyone was silent, Niu Jinxing gently nudged Song Xiance beside him with his elbow, indicating that it was his turn to speak.

Seeing this, Song Xiance nodded slightly to Niu Jinxing, and then said to King Chuang: "Grand Marshal, I think the best strategy now is to withdraw the troops as soon as possible and gather together to avoid being taken advantage of by Xuan's army!"

As soon as he said this, there was an uproar, and everyone started to discuss it. For a while, the debate about whether to fight or retreat filled the tent of King Chuang...