Before hanging himself, Chongzhen lifted the table

Chapter 124 The Emperor's Responsibility

Wang Chengen, the governor of Liaodong, accompanied by Li Yutian, had just finished his meal in the back office when he heard his subordinates coming to report that Wu Sangui, the commander-in-chief of Ningyuan, wanted to see him.

When Li Yutian heard this, he knew that Wu Sangui was here to curry favor with the eunuch, so he immediately found an excuse to leave.

He has also experienced this kind of thing.It can even be said that the officials who came to Shanhaiguan were all treated with filial piety by Wu Sangui, and they understood each other tacitly.

Wang Cheng'eng had just rejected Li Yutian and said that he would go to a restaurant to pick him up. After all, the emperor's instructions were in his ears, and his predecessor's example was also in front of his eyes.

He is not naive enough yet. Emperor Taizu said that he can do whatever he wants because he is loyal. If the emperor really discovers that he is doing the same thing as Wang Zhixin, will the emperor go easy on him?
To be loyal, you must show loyalty!
Therefore, regarding Li Yutian's misunderstanding, Wang Chengen immediately said calmly: "General Ningyuan came to see our family. Maybe there is something important. Mr. Li does not need to avoid it. Let's listen first!"

Li Yutian was a little surprised when he heard this, but after Wang Chengen said this, he couldn't insist anymore, so he waited until Wu Sangui entered the lobby of the back office.

As a result, Wu Sangui was a little hesitant when he saw Li Yutian was there. If possible, he didn't want others to know, but at this time he had no choice but to say: "The general has some private matters that he would like to ask the prince for advice."

When Li Yutian heard that he didn't want him to hear it, he was actually a little unhappy, but he also understood the point and stood up again.

But before he could speak, Wang Chengen said calmly: "If it's just your own private matter, our family is actually not interested, but if it's related to Liaodong's private matter, it's not a private matter anymore. Let's talk about it!"

Wu Sangui was a little shocked when he heard this.He could tell that it was probably what the emperor had said to Wang Chengen.

Therefore, he did not insist anymore, and immediately took out a letter and said to Wang Chengen: "When the last general returned home, he received a letter from the former Jinzhou Commander-in-Chief, Zu Dashou. .”

Li Yutian had actually heard that the Qing Dynasty had contact with Wu Sangui, but he had no evidence.

At this time, he never expected that Wu Sangui would take the initiative to tell Wang Chengen this kind of letter, which meant that there was no room for him with the Qing Dynasty.

Wang Chengen was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then he immediately came back to his senses. He laughed immediately, stood up from his seat, walked up to Wu Sangui in person, and said with a smile: "Wu Marshal really lived up to Long Live Lord's expectations. very good!"

Li Yutian was surprised again when he heard this.Wang Chengen even changed his name to Wu Sangui, and even said that he had lived up to Long Live Lord's expectations. What's going on?

Even Wu Sangui was a little shocked by Wang Chengen's reaction. He thought that Wang Chengen might be very surprised, but unexpectedly, they seemed to have expected this and were waiting for him to take the initiative to say it.

After coming back to his senses, Wu Sangui repeatedly said that he did not dare, but became more respectful and presented the letter to Wang Chengen.

Wang Chengen said nothing more and read the letter on the spot.

After reading it, he put the letter away and said at the same time: "This is what you want. I will send a fast horse to deliver it to Lord Long Live for review."

Wu Sangui took the initiative to take out this letter to express his feelings.Therefore, Wang Chengen said that he would show this letter to the emperor, and of course he was happy.

After receiving the letter, Wang Chengen stood in front of Wu Sangui and said with a smile: "Long Live Lord has told me that Ningyuan has given up temporarily. You, Ningyuan's commander-in-chief, are only in name only. Therefore, after Long Live Lord returns to Beijing in triumph, you will choose You enter the capital camp and serve as the commander-in-chief, and from now on you will follow him to conquer the world!"

When Wu Sangui heard this, he was overjoyed. He was treating him as a confidant!
The emperor is wise and powerful, and he wants to conquer the world again. If he follows the emperor to conquer the world, isn't he just like those heroes who saved the country?

In this way, there is no need to think too much about where he will go in the future, because this is already a good path.Unless the emperor suddenly changes back to what he was before, then there will be no future and he will have to make other plans.

Thinking about this, Wu Sangui became a little alarmed. He suddenly understood that if he didn't take the initiative to take out this letter to express his feelings, Wang Chengen would definitely not reveal this arrangement, but would have other ways to deal with him.

Emperor Taizu's appearance is different, everything can be taken into account!

With emotion in his heart, he heard Wang Chengen say to him again: "Long Live Lord also told me that you and Jian Luxu can drag them with you first. If there is any news that you can find out, try to find out as much as possible."

Wu Sangui was a little confused after hearing this, so he asked tentatively: "Then what should the general do?"

When Wang Chengen heard this question, he did not hesitate and immediately explained: "You can reply to Jianlu and agree to see Jianlu's next move, and try to keep Jianlu's eyes on you, so that there will be fewer other things to worry about. If Jianlu makes any moves, we can know it early and respond accordingly!"

This is an internal response!Wu Sangui thought so in his heart, and immediately clasped his fists to accept the order.

When he was about to leave, Wang Chengen suddenly stopped him again and said to him: "Jinzhou Commander-in-Chief Zu Dashou is your uncle. You can tell him that Long Live Lord misses him and knows that he surrendered to Jianlu just because of the situation." It’s just a matter of necessity, if I can come back, I will still be entrusted with important responsibilities.”

The relationship between Emperor Chongzhen and Zu Dashou is really complicated.

In the third year of Chongzhen's reign, the Jianlu who entered the customs for the first time were still besieging the capital, because Emperor Chongzhen imprisoned Yuan Chonghuan, and then Zu Dashou led his troops and ran away.At this time, it is estimated that Emperor Chongzhen at that time had thoughts of killing all nine of his tribes.

But there was no way. Zu Dashou led the elite Guan Ning Army. Sun Chengzong, who was still alive at the time, acted as a peacemaker and ran to persuade Zu Dashou to come back. Emperor Chongzhen promised not to care.

Later, when Zu Dashou was building the Daling River, he was surrounded by the Manchu Qing army led by Huang Taiji. After running out of ammunition and food, he surrendered to the Manchu Qing, but he escaped back when he had the chance.Emperor Chongzhen didn't care and still entrusted him with important tasks and continued to be the commander-in-chief of Jinzhou.

But Huang Taiji captured him again and didn't care.So far, Zu Dashou has been staying in Liaodong.If the original historical development is followed, after entering the customs with the Manchu Qing Dynasty, he expressed to the Nanming envoy that he wanted to serve but had no chance, and did not help the Manchu Qing conquer the world. He died of illness 13 years later.

At this time, Wu Sangui was a little surprised when he heard Wang Chengen conveying the emperor's intention. He did not expect that the emperor was still thinking of his uncle. He was slightly moved and quickly responded: "I will definitely convey your majesty's good intentions."

Li Yutian, who was standing next to him, was quite shocked as he listened to their conversation.It seemed that Wu Sangui and the emperor had a tacit understanding for a long time.

Wu Sangui wrote a reply letter in front of Wang Chengen in the Yamen, and only left after Wang Chengen confirmed that there was no problem.

Watching him leave, Wang Chengen said to Li Yutian: "Li Zhongcheng, please pay more attention to the calculation of the salary arrears. Our family will just wait and see the results. We don't want anything unpleasant to happen!"

"I will definitely go all out for you!" Li Yutian did not dare to neglect and responded quickly.

This has already dealt with Ning Yuan, the most powerful commander in Shanhaiguan, which means that half of the obstacles have been removed. He doesn't dare to be perfunctory.

On his side, Wang Chengen wrote a memorial, together with the letter sent by Wu Sangui, and sent someone to deliver it to the emperor quickly. At least Jianlu's wooing of Wu Sangui must be reported.

………………

The Taihang Eighth Routes are the eight throat passages through which the three provinces of Shanxi, Hebei and Henan communicated with each other through the Taihang Mountains in ancient times. They are the location of important military passes on the borders of the three provinces.

Among them, the most important one is Jingxing, which is where Guguan is located.The reason why this road is the most important is that it is the only road where large vehicles can travel.

Jingxing has a gourd-shaped structure tilting from southwest to northeast.Yangquan is the bottom of the gourd, Niangziguan and Guguan are the thin waist of the gourd, Tianchang Ancient Town is equivalent to the mouth of the gourd, and Tumenguan is the handle of the gourd.

This was the only way for Emperor Chongzhen to march from Zhending Mansion to Taiyuan.The first one to bear the brunt is Tumen Pass.

The forward general Zhou Yuji was indeed powerful. When Emperor Chongzhen arrived, he had already captured Tumen Pass through a surprise attack. However, he lost his surprise and was stopped at the main pass of Gu Pass, which is where Gu Pass is. .

Zhang Tianlin, the general of the Dashun Army, was stationed at Guguan, so the main force was naturally stationed here.

After Emperor Chongzhen arrived with his army, Zhou Yuji reluctantly told him: "Your Majesty, this pass is easy to defend but difficult to attack. If we want to attack by force, it will not only be time-consuming but also cause heavy casualties."

The implication is that we still tend not to hit Guan Guan.

Even though Emperor Chongzhen came, he couldn't just return. Wouldn't it be like Li Zicheng attacking the capital, excited when he left, and embarrassed when he came back!
So, he personally went to Guguan to check the terrain.Guguan is built on the top of Taihang Mountain. There is a Great Wall defense line connecting Niangzi Pass and Guguan Main Pass. If the army wants to attack, there is basically no other way except an official road. It is really difficult to climb the high mountains. It's too difficult.It's no wonder that famous generals like Zhou Yuji also find it very difficult.

As a person of later generations, the first thing that can be thought of is of course to form a special force to see if they can steal the pass.

But if this is possible, it obviously underestimates the wisdom of the ancients.

The main force of the defending army is stationed in the Guguan Pass, which is blocked by the official road. Even if elites cross the mountains and ridges and steal a section of the Great Wall's defense line, the defenders can quickly attack along the Great Wall and recapture the Great Wall.

Unless this elite team can fight one against a hundred, or the sneak attack army can increase its troops across the mountains faster than the defenders can support them from the Great Wall.However, this is simply impossible, otherwise, why would it be called a natural hazard?

Of course, if the defenders are corrupt and the attacking army is elite, it may still be possible to fight.

Today, the Dashun army stationed in Guguan may not be as elite as the army led by Emperor Chongzhen, but it is not the kind of army that is vulnerable. It is really difficult to conquer Guguan.

When Emperor Chongzhen was observing the terrain, on top of Guguan City, the garrison general Guo Tianxing Zhang Tianlin also received a report from his subordinates and came out to see the situation.

When he saw that the leader of the imperial army was the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he suddenly felt new and old grudges.

When he was reinforcing Daizhou, he was ambushed by the troops led by the Ming Dynasty emperor and was captured. Then he treated himself like a nobody in exchange for someone who he thought was a real nobody.This incident was ridiculed by his companions, and it was also a humiliating experience for him. Li Zicheng ordered him to garrison Guguan.

No matter what, this is a humiliating black history.

So, he immediately asked his men to scold and laugh at the Ming Emperor.

"If you have the ability to lay out an ambush, then you have the ability to fortify the barrier!"

"Whoever dares not to attack the pass is the dog emperor who is as timid as a mouse!"

"If you are a hero, don't retreat, come and fight!"

"..."

Emperor Chongzhen was a little far away and could not hear the shouts clearly from the top of Guguan City.

There was really nothing that could be done about Guguan, but since there was a commotion at the top of Guguan City, Emperor Chongzhen wanted to hear what they were talking about.

He had an idea to see if, as the emperor, he could recruit and surrender this obviously abandoned garrison?
After getting closer, Emperor Chongzhen finally heard clearly what the shouts on the top of the city were, and then he was a little speechless.

He finally heard that Zhang Tianlin seemed to be very unconvinced by his capture, or rather unwilling to do so, and wanted to regain his position!

Thinking about it, most of Li Zicheng's men are men of the world, rather than coming from a family of military generals, so they will have more of a rough atmosphere.He was ambushed by me and captured alive, and then traded for Zhou Dabiao. It seemed that he was not important at all. For people in the world, it was really a slap in the face!
After thinking for a while, Emperor Chongzhen made a decision. Under the cover of his men, he got as close to the city as possible, raised his head and shouted: "I am the current emperor, let Zhang Tianlin come out and answer!"

When the defenders heard that the current emperor was shouting and naming their coach, they stopped talking and turned to look at Zhang Tianlin.

When Zhang Tianlin heard this, she immediately said angrily: "What did he say? He is not our emperor!"

At this point, he pointed at the person in front of him and said, "Come and ask him something!"

So, the man shouted down: "My commander-in-chief said, you are not our emperor, so what do you say? Just let it go!"

When Zhou Yuji and others heard this, they were immediately furious. When they were about to explode, Emperor Chongzhen reached out and stopped him.

If you get angry even after hearing this, that would be so shameless!

Emperor Chongzhen was not angry at all, but shouted loudly: "Li Zicheng took away the food from Taiyuan and other places, and left you here to guard the pass, but he ran away. This simply means that he did not pay attention to you and abandoned you."

After hearing this, the people on the city fell silent.

During the famine in Taiyuan, the victims all fled to Guguan, hoping to find a way to survive in the capital.But they also had Li Zicheng's will not to allow them to open or close the gate, but to keep the gate secure.Now Li Zicheng's army has not come, but the current emperor has led the army, which means that Li Zicheng's army will definitely not be around.

In other words, the current emperor was right, they should have been abandoned.

While they were thinking about this, Emperor Chongzhen was still shouting: "My attitude towards you was stated once in Daizhou. I also said it when I took Zhending and released the [-] captives. I know You are forced to rebel, so you can be forgiven. As long as you don't resist, you will not die. The same is true this time. If you don't resist, get out of the way so that I can go to rescue the victims. I will allow you to leave, even if you go again. You can also ask Thief Li."

Zhang Tianlin's men had naturally participated in the Daizhou War and knew something about the current emperor.

At this time, they heard that the emperor under the city actually released [-] prisoners in Zhending, and they were all a little shocked and a little doubtful.

Although they believed that the emperor meant what he said, was it a bit exaggerated to release [-] prisoners in Zhending?
Seeing the expressions of his men, Zhang Tianlin immediately became angry and immediately shouted: "Stop trying to win people's hearts here. If you have the ability, just come and fight. As long as you can beat them down, you can do whatever you want? I don't dare to fight." Damn, you think I’m a vegetarian and can win over Gu Guan with my words, so where can I put my face?”

Hearing that he said "I am my father" in front of the emperor, Zhou Yuji and others could not restrain their anger again.

However, Emperor Chongzhen still stopped them. If Guguan could be easily captured, then he would not have the need to gossip here.

Forced by the situation, it is helpless!

Zhang Tianlin didn't hear the emperor's shouting, and immediately felt proud, and immediately shouted: "Back then, you used the geographical advantage to ambush me, and now I also use the geographical advantage to bully you, how about it, are you not convinced? If you have the ability, just Come and fight, haha!"

It was very obvious that this guy was really worried about what happened back then.

Hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly felt something in his heart. He suddenly had an idea and asked loudly: "You mean, I took advantage of the favorable location and captured you alive, and it was not the work of a hero?"

After hearing this, Zhang Tianlin immediately replied: "Isn't that nonsense!"

Emperor Chongzhen wanted this sentence, so he immediately asked: "Then you are taking advantage of the geographical advantage, is it not the result of a hero?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tianlin was stunned for a moment.If you put it this way, it seems that it is indeed not the work of a hero!

However, he is not stupid. In order to be a hero, he gave up the natural barrier to fight against the imperial officials and soldiers?Isn’t that a brain disease?
So Zhang Tianlin shouted loudly: "What do you want? Am I stupid for asking me to give up Gu Guan?"

Emperor Chongzhen laughed immediately after hearing this, and then replied: "We don't care about the geographical advantage, how about we decide the outcome? It's just you and me, don't you dare?"

After he finished speaking, he immediately added: "If you lose, let go of Gu Guan. I will let you go or stay without making things difficult. If you win, I will go around you when I see you in the future. How about that?"

When he said this, Zhou Yuji, Fang Zhenghua and others wanted to speak, but were stopped by Emperor Chongzhen.

On the top of the city, Zhang Tianlin couldn't believe her ears, and couldn't help but confirm: "You mean, you and I, the two of us are duel?"

(End of this chapter)