Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 107 Courage
"Your Majesty is wise and mighty, and promises to let bygones be bygones!"

"What?" Upon hearing this, Yang Kun, Guo Yunlong and others were all surprised, as if they had heard something very funny, and confirmed with an incredible expression, "Commander, how did he become wise?" Is he powerful?"

As Wu Sangui's confidants, how could they not lament in private that the situation in the Ming Dynasty was deteriorating year by year.As for the current emperor, it has long been decided!
Hearing these words from his men, Wu Sangui was also a little emotional. He looked at them and said seriously: "Don't forget, all sudden changes are due to the instructions given by Emperor Taizu in his dreams. So, wouldn't it be logical for the current emperor to become wise and powerful? ?”

"No!" When Guo Yunlong heard this, he was very surprised and said, "Didn't the Marshal say it a few days ago? Isn't it a lie?"

Yang Kun listened and nodded in agreement.

Seeing them like this, Wu Sangui explained: "If it was just a matter of the capital, it might indeed be false. However, the emperor led his troops to conquer the country in person. Instead of going south, he went north to Xuanda and beheaded them. The commander-in-chief killed eight large Shanxi merchants and rescued Ningwuguan in time..."

At this point, he saw that his confidants still seemed puzzled, so he further explained: "No matter whether the generals of Xuanfu and Datong really want to surrender the thieves, if he kills people, he will establish his authority and kill those eight families." The great merchants of Shanxi gathered together a large amount of food, supplies and military pay. Only this step allowed the emperor to control Xuanda and Dazhou. In addition, Ningwuguan was rescued. Although Li Thief had millions There are so many people, I, the commander, also expected that the troops under your Majesty’s command would be defeated!”

Yang Kun and others have been fighting in Liaodong, and they certainly have a keen eye for military affairs. After hearing Wu Sangui's introduction, they immediately thought that the emperor now has sufficient food and grass, and has troops from two important towns, as well as powerful generals like Zhou Yuji. Indeed, This is an army that cannot be underestimated.

While they were thinking, Wu Sangui was still saying: "According to what the Jin Yiwei said, when His Majesty rushed to the Xuan Mansion, Shanxi merchants colluded with the eunuch Du Xun and the general of the Xuan Mansion Wang Chengyun to write a letter of surrender. Then Wang Chengyun's affair was exposed. At that time, he even tried to assassinate the emperor, but he was kicked off the city wall by the emperor. And in Datong, he happened to catch the commander-in-chief Jiang Quan and sent someone to surrender. From all this, it can be concluded that Emperor Taizu really appeared. Guidance!”

After hearing this, Guo Yunlong had a different opinion and said, "Then it couldn't be that the emperor framed them and had already prepared it?"

Although Yang Kun didn't speak, he nodded, thinking that this was a possibility.

Wu Sangui nodded after hearing this, but said with a stern expression: "But in the secret decree given to me by His Majesty, he knew everything about me. He even knew about the several letters he had with my uncle. What can I say?"

His uncle was Zu Dashou, and he had surrendered to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. He also wrote several letters to Wu Sangui according to Huang Taiji's order, and used high-ranking officials and generous salaries to induce him to return to the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

This kind of thing is naturally impossible for outsiders to know except for a few close friends.

Therefore, the emperor knew about this, which definitely shocked Wu Sangui the most.

He was so confident that anyone who knew about this matter would never report it. It could even be said that he even knew several key words in the letter. This was only known to him, but the emperor still knew it.There is really no explanation other than the appearance of Emperor Taizu.

Hearing this, Guo Yunlong and others were also dumbfounded.

If Emperor Taizu really appeared, there would be no need to doubt whether there would be any problems in the Ming Dynasty.

They only heard Wu Sangui say to them: "His Majesty said in his secret edict that after I move the Liao people into the pass, they don't have to worry about the supply of food and grass supplies, and they can guard Shanhaiguan with peace of mind. He has put all his thoughts aside, and we must listen to him in the future." Yes, if you dare to violate the law, even if we surrender to the Qing Dynasty, he will one day conquer the Qing Dynasty personally, attack the Qing Dynasty, and kill us!"

Being on the front line against the Jianlu, seeing the imperial court lose one battle after another, and wars in the pass, the Liaodong military group represented by Wu Sangui had already learned to support its troops and respect itself.

If Guan Ningjun is asked to fight Jianlu, he will definitely not do it.The army in your hand will be gone if you run out of it!

It will definitely not work if you want to drag Guan Ning's army to suppress the bandits.At least a few teams drawn from Guan Ning's army during the Chongzhen period, including Cao Wenzhao, Zu Kuan and others, even if they started with a winning streak, were wiped out in the end.

In contrast, the Manchu Qing tried to recruit Guan Ning's army. When there was still a way out, Wu Sangui could not go to Jianlu to beg for food or obey his military orders.

For the Guan Ning Army headed by Wu Sangui, it is best to occupy the key points of the Liaodong Corridor, support its troops with self-respect, and play both sides.

For this reason, after Li Yutian, governor of Liaodong, took office, he proposed at the end of the 15th year of Chongzhen that there was no value in defending outside the customs and it would be better to retreat to Shanhaiguan.However, this proposal made no splash at all.

Because if he retreats into the pass, Wu Sangui's Guanning army will have to obey the imperial court and will no longer be able to support its troops and respect itself. This is something he definitely doesn't want.

The reason is very simple. The western Liaoning corridor from Shanhaiguan to Ningyuan can provide food, grass and baggage for Guan Ning's army. Even if the court does not allocate enough money, Guan Ning's army can actually be self-sufficient.Of course, if the court dares not to allocate money and causes a mutiny, the court will naturally be frightened and allocate money.

However, after retreating into the pass, it is no longer the territory of Guan Ning's army. If it loses its own supply of food and grass, it will be controlled by the imperial court.

Therefore, even in the 17th year of Chongzhen, the situation was already very critical. Everyone agreed that Guan Ning's army should be rescued by King Qin. Wu Sangui was also dilly-dallying, using more reasonable reasons than Liu Zeqing and others to delay time and wait and see what would happen.

As a result, all his thoughts were seen through by Emperor Chongzhen and pointed out directly.

Emperor Chongzhen gave Wu Sangui two ways in his secret decree. One was to be obedient from now on, stop being petty, and forget about the past; the other was to let Wu Sangui rebel or defect to the Manchus. He swore that Wu Sangui would be killed in the end. Life!
This choice of one of the two might very well force Wu Sangui to rebel, which shocked Fang Zhenghua at the time.But for Emperor Chongzhen, it must be done.

If Wu Sangui is not forced to express his position, then Wu Sangui is likely to be a time bomb. If it explodes at a critical moment, this is not something he can bear.

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen would rather Wu Sangui rebel directly or defect to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. When the situation is clear, it will be easier to operate.

If his secret order had been given to Wu Sangui a month earlier, Wu Sangui would definitely not have obeyed.As for the former Emperor Chongzhen, if he really had the ability to punish Wu Sangui, he should have punished Wu Sangui after the Battle of Songjin. However, in order to appease Wu Sangui, he was promoted instead.

If Emperor Chongzhen had given it to Wu Sangui before leaving the capital, he might not have been obedient.Even if his closest family members are all in the capital, it's the same.Because he knew that the imperial court simply could not bear the consequences of handing over Shanhaiguan to the Manchus.

However, now that Wu Sangui had given this secret edict to him, he could see that the emperor really had such courage. Not only did Emperor Taizu appear, the emperor had become different from before. He really had the ability to break jars and break things. Lost money.

He could be sure that if he dedicated Shanhaiguan to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the emperor would definitely lead the army under his control to either use Jin as the base to conquer the world again, or lead the army southward and use the south as the base to fight the world again.Instead of the previous emperor, he would only hide in the Forbidden City and fool around.

At this time, when his confidants heard his words, they were shocked by the emperor's determination. He even said these words. Then he could only choose one of the two, and it was impossible to play both sides and get benefits from both sides!
After a long time, Yang Kun couldn't help but sigh: "He is really not afraid that we will vote for the Qing Dynasty!"

Wu Sangui was silent for a moment and said leisurely: "The emperor also mentioned in the secret decree that those who defect to the Qing Dynasty, no matter what official they are granted, must be inferior to the Jurchens. Just like in the Yuan Dynasty, let me find an opportunity to instigate It is a great achievement for my uncle to return to the pass!"

People like Guan Ningjun naturally have some understanding of the situation on the Manchu and Qing side.I know what the emperor said is true.

Not to mention anything else, it doesn't matter if Kong Youde and others are granted the title of king. When they meet the Jurchens, they are like dogs meeting their masters. I heard that Duduo even raped the wife of Han scholar Fan Wencheng. What can they do? !

If there really were other ways, he would definitely not choose to join the Qing Dynasty!
With this thought and emotion, Wu Sangui began to write the memorial.

He actually didn't know that Emperor Chongzhen's courage was much more than that.Just when the secret edict was delivered to Shanhaiguan, another explicit edict had also arrived in the capital, which immediately caused a huge sensation. To be precise, it was a shock!
No, in the Wenhua Hall, the cabinet ministers and the six ministers who came after hearing the news all knelt on the ground and were admonishing the prince to supervise the country.

"Your Highness, we must not make this decree known to the world!"

"Yes, Your Highness, the world is already chaotic enough. If this decree is issued, it will really be too chaotic!"

"The best policy for the imperial court is to drive away wolves and swallow tigers!" "..."

However, no matter what they said, Prince Zhu Cixiang showed no sign of agreement. Instead, he asked them later: "Who is bigger, you or my father? Do I listen to you or my father?"

As soon as he said this, the officials were dumbfounded.

They discovered a situation that Prince Zhu Cixiang really respected the emperor. No matter what the emperor wanted, he would do it.It is said that even the time spent reviewing memorials at night was imitated by the emperor.

Seeing that the Wenhua Hall was about to reach a deadlock, Fan Jingwen, the only chief assistant who did not kneel down, couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Later, he came forward to smooth things over and said: "Your Majesty's decree may not be unreasonable. Liu Zeqing, Zuo Liangyu and others are obviously officers and soldiers, but are they really any different from thieves? They kill good people for merit, plunder places, ignore the superior's control, no matter what Either way will be very harmful to the imperial court!"

Seeing his colleagues looking at him with surprised eyes, Fan Jingwen continued: "It just sounds nice to drive away the wolf and swallow the tiger. Not to mention whether the wolf will swallow the tiger as he wishes, the place where the wolf is poisoning is not the imperial court. I can bear it. As you can see, the Li thieves have come up with the idea of ​​equalizing land and freeing grain to win over people's hearts. If the world does not know the purpose, it is easy to imagine the people's disapproval."

At this point, he seemed to understand the emperor's approach better, and said sincerely: "It is clear to the world that although it may cause pain for a while, it will benefit the long-term. If your majesty has such determination, I should support you!"

Hearing his words, Cabinet Assistant Minister Jiang Dejing still frowned and said: "Then we can't secretly have Liu Zeqing, Zuo Liangyu and others be captured first, and then declare their crimes. Wouldn't the harm caused by this be even smaller?"

When Fan Jingwen heard this, he immediately asked: "Who can take down Liu Zeqing, Zuo Liangyu and the like? They are all in the army now, with soldiers and armor following them. Who can mobilize them and take them down?"

When Fang Yuegong heard this, he interjected: "At least, the local government should be prepared to take precautions against them and then make the world clear, so that the harm can be reduced to one or two!"

After hearing this, Fan Jingwen shook his head and sighed and said, "Do you know who in the local area has contacts with them, who listens to the imperial court and does not know how to tell the truth? In today's world, how many places can really listen to the imperial court's will?"

In the past, peace had to be whitewashed, at least not in such a bad way.But now that the emperor has led the army to the local area, how can he not know what the situation is outside? Therefore, it is enough to tell the truth, and there is no need to whitewash the situation.

With Fan Jingwen to explain and smooth things over, the courtiers in the Wenhua Palace finally reluctantly accepted Emperor Chongzhen's will.Therefore, if the decree is issued to the world, it is conceivable that it will inevitably cause shock in the world!

However, none of them thought that Emperor Chongzhen actually had a hidden thought in this decree.

In addition to the reasons they understand, there is another reason for the crime of Zuo Liangyu, Liu Zeqing and others, which is that the land can be redistributed!

Li Zicheng's army pursued stolen goods for payment, and Zuo Liangyu and others looted places. Their targets must have been local gentry. Only these people had money and food.Once these people are killed, it will all be unclaimed land.If Emperor Chongzhen leads his troops and fights back, the land distribution problem can be easily solved.

In Emperor Chongzhen's view, chaos in the world or dynasty cycles were actually problems with distribution.

When most of the property is concentrated in the hands of a small number of people, they can enjoy good food and drink, wine and meat, but when the majority of people have no property, starve and freeze to death, the world will be in chaos.Finally, property was redistributed and the world regained stability.

………………

As for Emperor Chongzhen, the elite selected by Xuanfu and Datong successively arrived in the Ningwuguan and Yanmenguan areas, which is the southern end of the Datong Basin, and then reorganized the army. In addition to the local army, among the troops belonging to the Xinjing Battalion, the cavalry army The troop strength reached 1 cavalry and 5000 infantry.In addition to training, Ye Bushou was also sent to spy on Li Zicheng's army.

On this day, in the military camp behind Yanmen Pass, the gathering drum sounded, and the generals who were leading the training gathered in the central military tent.

After the three drums were completed, all the generals who were due to arrive had arrived.

Emperor Chongzhen, accompanied by Fang Zhenghua, moved out of the back tent and sat on the throne.

After the generals saw the ceremony, he solemnly announced: "Li Zicheng's army has withdrawn from Daizhou. The current news is that it is retreating south. He did not receive any news from the expedition all night, and even found that even the enemies of Xinzhou showed signs of retreating! "

Upon hearing this, the generals in the Chinese military tent were all surprised.

They thought that since the imperial court controlled the dangerous Ningwuguan and Yanmenguan, and had sufficient supplies of food, grass, and troops, the possibility of Li Zicheng's army trying to attack again was very slim.

However, they never thought that Li's army would retreat so simply. Even Xinzhou, south of Daizhou, showed signs of giving up.You know, Xinzhou is the northern gate of Taiyuan. Once Xinzhou is recaptured by the imperial court, the imperial army's troops will be able to point directly at Taiyuan!
Taiyuan is the provincial capital of Jin, so gains and losses are of great significance!

Therefore, after hearing the emperor's words, He Zan immediately stood out with his fists clasped and said excitedly: "Your Majesty, I am willing to lead my troops to pursue the bandits and recapture Xinzhou and Taiyuan!"

Wei Shizhen, who had already arrived from Yanghe, was also very active and went out to report: "Your Majesty, our army can be divided into two groups. One way will go out of Yanmen Pass to pursue the bandit army in the south, and the other way will go out of Ningwuguan and pass through Ninghua Station. , Jingle, directly inserted into the west of Taiyuan!"

After hearing this, the other generals were also eager to give it a try. When they wanted to call for a battle, they saw Emperor Chongzhen frowning and asking: "Li Thief's army is so powerful, why did they retreat so simply?"

Upon hearing these words, the generals were stunned for a moment, and then Zhu Sanle came out and said: "Thief Li must have known that he could not take Yanmen Pass and would only be beaten passively. And after hearing about His Majesty's reputation, he simply withdrew his troops and defended the important town of Taiyuan!"

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he immediately asked: "What next?"

Upon hearing this, several generals were stunned, and then?

Then there was a decisive battle between the two armies in Taiyuan!

On the other hand, Zhou Yuji, who had been silent all this time, frowned and said, "The general thinks that Li's army wants to force our army to abandon natural dangers and lengthen the supply line of food and grass, and then engage in a decisive battle with our army!"

At this point, he seemed to want to make his words more convincing, so he gave an example: "The decisive battle between Governor Sun and Li Thief last year was like this. Li Thief first pretended to be defeated and retreated all the way to Xiangcheng. More than [-] small earthen cities were built, and trenches were dug for a mile or two in front of the city, as well as in the gaps between the cities. They then sent Liu Zongmin to lead the cavalry to cut off the long grain road of Governor Sun, and finally defeated Governor Sun."

This matter, speaking of which, should be Emperor Chongzhen's fault.Because Sun Chuanting knew that it was not appropriate to pursue him, but the imperial court issued a decree that Sun Chuanting should not delay in suppressing the thieves. If he did not pursue him, he would be punished.In desperation, he committed a military taboo and had no choice but to pursue, but was defeated.

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen listened and felt that what Zhou Yuji said made sense.

The war in Jin has reached this level. The fluttering butterfly wings of the time traveler have triggered a series of events that have long been completely different from the original history. Emperor Chongzhen no longer has the ability to predict the future.

Here, there is a trap.

When Emperor Chongzhen led his troops in pursuit, he would find that what Zhou Yuji said was wrong. Because Li Zicheng's army was not actually in Taiyuan, he easily recovered the Jin area. Then, there would be no food and grass in the Jin area, and a huge trouble would arise. in front of him.

(End of this chapter)