weaving

Chapter 897 The Heart Will Change
On September [-]th, after another day of bargaining, the merits of each member of the Ming army in the counterattack in Liaodong were finally verified.

Almost all of them are political tactics here, depending on the level of each person's official position, as well as the distance between the governor Hong Chengchou, the commander-in-chief Zhang Ruoqi, and Futai Qiu Minyang, the merits of the evaluation are naturally different.

Unless they can be like Zhang Cheng, who not only fight bravely to take the lead, but also have a strong backing in the military department and the palace, otherwise even if they make the credit, they will be shared by people with more background.

Just imagine, if Zhang Cheng didn't have his own soldier Chen Xinjia and the current emperor as his backstage bosses, would he still be able to hold this great achievement firmly in his hands?

Even if the soldiers under his command can fight again, no matter how bravely they fight, so what?
After all, two fists are hard to beat with four hands, so how can he deal with the dozens of civil and military officers and generals in Liaodong by himself?

If that's the case, I'm afraid that even the first effort will be given up in the end, and it may not be impossible.

Because no matter how powerful Zhang Cheng is alone, he is bound to be controlled by the system when he is in such a huge system, and he will eventually bow to the system and the huge bureaucratic group of Ming Dynasty.

But Zhang Cheng just didn't want to do that!
That's why he made painstaking efforts to make good friends with Lu Xiangsheng, Yang Sichang, Chen Xinjia and other governors and elders, and made friends with those unhappy officials in the court.

Its purpose is not to form an independent team to serve him so that he can survive in the troubled times of Ming Dynasty, but as time goes by, now he may have more than just a small goal of "surviving".

"People's hearts will change", Zhang Cheng is like this.

With the stabilization of his status, Zhang Cheng's mentality has also gradually grown accordingly, and the improvement of his status has also gradually improved his ideals, thus strengthening that lofty goal in his heart!

Of course, as a man of two lifetimes, Zhang Cheng naturally knows the strength of a team, and also knows the necessary condition for team cohesion, which is to draw a big cake for team members.

As long as they can see hope, as long as they are constantly developing, as long as the snowball is still moving forward, it will become bigger and bigger, and more and more people will join the team pushing the snowball come.

Moreover, as the snowball gets bigger, the people who join later will become more and more excellent, while the people who joined earlier will gradually be eliminated. In this way, a virtuous circle of survival of the fittest is formed.

But in this way, just like the "multilevel marketing" familiar to modern people, in the end, because the snowball is too big, it will not be able to continue to push it, and it will even roll back and bite those who pushed the snowball.

But this situation is not something that Zhang Cheng needs to consider now!
As for the future of this snowball, future people will be responsible for solving it. What Zhang Cheng needs to do now is one thing - round the pie and push the snowball bigger, the bigger the better.

…………

On September [-]th, the imperial decree of commendation from the imperial court was finally delivered to the front line of Songshan, and it was the eunuch Wang Chengen, the eunuch of the Admiral Dongchang who came to read the imperial decree.

After hearing the letter, Hong Chengchou, governor of Jiliao, hurriedly ordered people to put down the incense table and censer, and led all the officials and generals out of the east gate of Songshan Castle to meet the imperial envoy in person.

Outside the city gate, the crowd just greeted each other a little, then surrounded one of the celebrities in front of the emperor, the eunuch Wang Chengen, who was holding a pen, went to the Governor's Xingyuan.

Naturally, Wang Chengen went first, and besides the governor Hong Chengchou, the only one who rode his horse was Zhang Cheng, the chief soldier of the Xuanfu, and Zhang Ruoqi, the commander in chief, and Qiu Minyang, the governor, could only follow behind.

And along the way, Wang Chengen and Hong Chengchou seemed to be just official articles, they didn't say a few words, but they had a good chat with Zhang Cheng, they walked side by side, talking and laughing.

This really made everyone envious, especially Zhang Ruoqi, the commander of the army. In Liaodong, he always relied on the trust of his soldier Chen Xinjia and the name of the current emperor to dominate the people, domineering, and even dictated to the military.

Just a few days ago, he had a quarrel with Zhang Cheng because of the military. Although he chose to endure it at the time, he was not convinced. But seeing this situation today, he couldn't help thinking about his future again.

Even Hong Chengchou, governor of Jiliao and Qiu Minyang, governor of Liaodong, secretly speculated in their hearts. They said that Zhang Cheng was favored by the emperor, and he had done a lot of cheap things in the local area to achieve today's achievements.

Now it seems as expected, what kind of person this Wang Chengen is, he is the old man of the current emperor's hidden residence, one of the few internal officials who can win the trust of the emperor.

With Wang Chengen's identity and status, he could treat Zhang Cheng like this. It can be seen that Zhang Cheng's holy family has not declined, and the emperor still has great favor for him. That's why Wang Chengen treated him like this.

Surrounded by Hong Chengchou and others, Wang Chengen entered the hall of Governor Xingyuan. He was not polite and went straight to the top. After arriving at the incense table, he stood still, turned around and faced the crowd with a serious face.

He cleared his throat first, and then said in a high-pitched voice: "The imperial decree has arrived, and Governor Hong Chengchou of Jiliao will kneel down to receive the decree!"

"Clatter!" There was a sound of vibrating and colliding nail leaves.

The hall was crowded with kneeling officials and generals of the Ming Dynasty, because they were at the front line of the war, from Governor Hong Chengchou down, all the officials and generals were wearing armor, when they bowed down and bowed, the leaves of the armor trembled, and there was a ringing sound.

Wang Cheng'en read out the imperial decree with a majestic expression. The content was nothing more than to encourage the generals to serve before the battle, to drive back the Tartars, to report to the court, and to bring peace to the people.

He also praised the achievements of all the officials and generals below Hong Chengchou, governor of Jiliao, and hoped to make persistent efforts to get rid of the slaves and thieves in one fell swoop. This time, only Zhang Cheng's meritorious service will be rewarded first, and the rest will be rewarded after the merits of the others in this battle are evaluated.

After the imperial edict was read out, Hong Chengchou, governor of Jiliao, led the officials and generals to thank Huang Enhaodang again, and immediately stepped forward to accept the imperial edict with both hands.

And Zhang Cheng, the only Xuanfu general who received the award this time, also stepped forward and knelt down to receive General Zhenshuo's seal ribbon and other things, as well as the armor and sword bestowed by the emperor.

After everything was over, Hong Chengchou invited Wang Chengen to the banquet prepared in advance.

However, Wang Cheng'en didn't seem to care much about the banquet. He suggested that while it was still early, he should first go to see the corpses of Duduo, Ashan, E Shuo and others, and examine the heads of those Tartar thieves.

Naturally, Hong Chengchou could understand Wang Chengen's feelings of loyalty to the king, so he didn't say much at the moment, and led all the officials to accompany him to the small martial arts arena next to the Governor's Xingyuan.

Wang Chengen first looked at the corpses of Duoduo and the others. The wounds on their bodies had been mended, even the cracked armor, so although they looked a little scary and had a cold and cold air, they were generally intact. .

After seeing it, Wang Chengen was very satisfied, especially the set of gilt armor on Duduo and others, which was extremely luxurious, showing their extraordinary status.

Next, after seeing the heads of the Tartars, the smile on Wang Chengen's face also became brighter. He stroked the piles of heads of the Tartars like he was stroking treasures.

Wang Chengen said in his mouth: "Your Majesty, a big victory, really a big victory, an unprecedented victory!"

His voice was choked up, and tears flowed from his eyes, falling on the head of the Tatar thief in front of him. Even Hong Chengchou, who was by the side, was deeply moved by this situation.

Zhang Cheng even reminded: "My lord, this great victory is enough to comfort the sacred heart. Even if you are happy for today, you must pay attention to your body. You have been exhausted all the way. If I wait for the banquet first, you can rest early. .”

Wang Chengen grabbed Zhang Cheng's hand, and his voice trembled slightly: "Okay, okay, okay. Good Zhang Cheng, you really lived up to the Sacred Heart and killed the slave and false king Duoduo. The emperor is very happy. "

Just like this, he took Zhang Cheng's hand and walked all the way back to the governor's office. Hong Chengchou and others had to follow behind, but they couldn't talk to each other. The general soldiers were extremely envious.

Wang Cheng'en said softly to Zhang Cheng again: "The emperor originally wanted to confer you an uncle, but the elders of the court thought that the sudden high position would be very disadvantageous to the country and you, so they tried their best to advise the emperor, and they will reward you after you have achieved special merits. "

Zhang Cheng hurriedly said: "Zhang Cheng wholeheartedly serves the court, serves the emperor loyally, and dare not ask for rewards."

Although Wang Chengen looked very calm, his eyes never left Zhang Cheng, carefully observing the changes in his expression, and then continued: "The soldiers are bloody on the battlefield, so they must be rewarded, and the hearts of the soldiers must not be chilled."

He couldn't help but tighten Zhang Cheng's hand and said: "You shouldn't feel chilled because of this, not only don't you want to be chilled, but you have to use your life before the battle and fight the enemy bravely, so that the emperor can stop the mouths of all the cabinet ministers."

Zhang Cheng hastily lowered his head slightly, and whispered in Wang Chengen's ear: "My lord, please rest assured, Zhang Cheng will definitely live up to the lord and the grace of God."

…………

In Songshan City, the officials of the Ming Dynasty gathered together to celebrate the great victory of Changling Mountain, while the Qing Dynasty, from the emperor to the officials, all looked sad.

In fact, as early as the [-]th day of September, Qing Emperor Huang Taiji had already received a joint report from General Gong Adai of the Fuguo State, Sheng Zhong from the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Gushan Ezhenshuotuo and others.

It was really a bolt from the blue, like a thunderbolt on the ground, completely shattering Huang Taiji's dream!
Originally, Fan Wencheng, Xi Fu, Gang Lin and others from the Inner Academy had solved two dreams for him one after another, which made Huang Taiji have great expectations for the Liaodong War.

While looking forward to the completion of the Jinzhou incident, defeating the last army of the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop, and working hard for the future collection of the land and people of the Ming Dynasty, they waited for the sad news of the failure of the western front to attack the Xingta grain road.

In particular, the death of Prince Yu Duoduo was like a dull hammer, hitting Huang Taiji's chest hard, making him breathless for a long time.

Since the rise of the army, there have been such defeats, losing tens of thousands of warriors in the Qing Dynasty, and even a prince died in battle, and Gu Shan Ezhen also died two people before the battle.

"It's never happened before... It's never happened before!"

Huang Taiji's expression changed rapidly, his brows were tightly furrowed, his face was sad, and his eyes were fixed on the carved windows of the hall. Gradually, Huang Taiji's thoughts changed from the sadness when he heard the bad news to how to deal with the future. .

He didn't say a word, just stared out of the window, thinking quickly about the issue of power adjustment after the defeat of this war.

The strategy this time was entirely determined by him alone. Of course, other princes, Baylor, and ministers also agreed. After all, in reality, Huang Taiji's strategy can be said to be completely correct.

They tried to use Shimen Mountain and Huangtu Ridge to contain the main force of the Ming army on the front line of Songjin, and sent out a partial division to attack the back of the Ming army on Xingshan and Tashan. It would be even better if they could cut off their food routes.

In Huang Taiji's plan, Prince Rui Dorgon was stationed at Shimen Mountain, commanding the Qing army of Zhengbai Banner and Xianglan Banner to contain the main force of the Ming army, and then Prince Su Hauge led the Qing army of Zhenglan Banner to contain Xuanda's troops in the direction of Huangtuling.

Prince Yu Duoduo led the main force of the Qing army from the other Five Banners, went south along the Daughter River Valley, and raided Xingshan, Tashan and other places. It would be better if they could capture these fortresses. The road is cut off to disturb the morale of the army.

Among the main forces of the three-way Qing army, the two most important ones were actually led by Dorgon and Duo Duo, two sibling brothers, respectively. This was actually Huang Taiji's helpless move.

After all, his own son, Prince Yu Hauge, had an embarrassing task, and this battle of Jinzhou was a battle related to the fate of the country, so he dared not be careless in the slightest.

But for Dorgon and Duduo brothers, he can't be completely at ease, so he sent Prince Zheng Jierhalang and Azige to check and balance Dorgon, so as to prevent his prestige in the court and the army from growing, and eventually become a grandson. The tail is too big to lose.

At the same time, it is also a way of checks and balances to send the Zhenghuang and Xianghuang flags that he directly leads to Duoduo to command.

Because in this way, their meritorious deeds on the battlefield will not affect the loyalty of Jierhalang, Azig, Ashan, Baiyintu and others to themselves.

But they can share the military merits of Dorgon and Duoduo, so that they will not receive great rewards for their achievements in the First World War and increase their prestige.

But people are not as good as heaven, Huang Taiji has calculated everything, and he has calculated everything, but he has not counted, there is an extra person in this world who is dedicated to restraining him!

Now that the army on the western front has been defeated, which has led to the complete failure of Huang Taiji's military strategy, which will inevitably seriously affect his prestige in the hearts of the princes, Baylor and ministers.

At the same time, due to Dorgon's remarkable performance on the center line battlefield, he gave up Shimenshan's original strategic vision, but Dorgon defeated tens of thousands of troops in the towns of Make and Bai Guangen of the Ming army on the south bank of the Xiaoling River.

Even against Wu Sangui, Cao Bianjiao, Wang Tingchen, Tang Tong and other four towns, they fought vigorously, and even attacked Shimen Mountain at one point, almost recapturing Shimen Mountain.

On the other hand, Hauge's soldiers and horses on the East Road only needed to contain the Ming army's Xuanda soldiers and horses across the Xiaoling River, but Hauge was eager to make contributions. He crossed the river privately to capture the Ming army's stockpile at the mouth of the river, but was defeated instead.

Every time he thinks about this, his heart can't be peaceful. Hauge marches and fights reluctantly, but he is reckless by nature and not good at using tactics. How can he rule a country from north to south?
And it's not that he has no sons under his knees, but except for Hauge who is an adult, the rest are all in their infancy.

At this moment, an urgent report came in. Huang Taiji just glanced at it, and couldn't help being startled, even the hand holding the report was trembling slightly.

He hurriedly opened the cover, it was okay if he didn't look at it, but after looking at it, Huang Taiji couldn't help it anymore, "Wow! Wow! Wow!" He spit out three big mouthfuls of blood.

(End of this chapter)