There is a space for passenger planes in the late Ming Dynasty

To the north of the capital, Changping Prefecture.

After Hong Chengchou led the 130,000 Ming army to attack Datong City and failed, he was afraid that he would be outflanked by reinforcements from the Zhenming Army, so he retreated all the way east to Changping before stopping.

After the Ming army withdrew from Datong, Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu, returned to Xuanfu nearby with more than 20,000 troops. He still had the responsibility of guarding the border and could not run away with Hong Chengchou.

The government office of Changping Prefecture is responsible for signing the house.

Hong Chengchou, Wu Sangui, Cao Bianjiao and his close aides sat together to discuss.

Unlike the high-spirited people who were in the army outside Guanwai, now several people look depressed.

Hong Chengchou still tried his best to maintain his elegant image of being calm and calm in the face of trouble. After drinking a sip of tea, he said: "Our army has arrived in Changping. How many troops are left?"

"Superintendent, we brought a total of 50,000 troops out of the customs, joined the 10,000 soldiers of General Yang of Xuan Mansion, and collected the 70,000 defeated troops of the imperial court's new army.

A total of 130,000 troops attacked Datong City. They fought for more than half a month and lost 40,000 people.

General Yang returned to Xuan Mansion and took away 20,000 people, and some dispersed on the road. Currently, there are still more than 60,000 people. It just so happened that General Wu, General Cao and your Excellency each led 20,000 people. "His cronies and aides later reported on the statistics.

"Master Zhu Tai, this attack on Datong City has suffered a disastrous defeat. What should we do?" Cao Bianjiao asked.

"How can we call it a disastrous defeat? Fifty thousand of us left the border, and there are still more than 60,000 left. The losses are not big. If Commander Hong hadn't led us to arrive in time, the imperial court's 100,000 new troops would have definitely been lost." Wu Sangui argued very skillfully.

Hong Chengchou was also thinking in his mind that if he truthfully reported the situation of the Battle of Datong to the court, according to Emperor Chongzhen's character, he would definitely be in bad luck and might be killed.

So it definitely cannot be reported truthfully. But it is a fact that the attack on Datong was frustrated. How can we shirk responsibility?

Wu Sangui and Cao Bianjiao are currently the few generals under him who can fight, and they certainly cannot be pushed out to take the blame. Since Dorgon has also escaped, let him take the blame.

On the way back, Hong Chengchou also received the news that Dorgon was besieged and defeated in Shawo Castle and fled all the way back to the grassland.

At that time, he was glad that he retreated early, otherwise not even the Mantars could withstand it. It is estimated that his tens of thousands of troops would definitely not be able to defeat Lin Feng's Zhenming Army.

The decision was made, and Hong Chengchou said again unhurriedly: "San Gui's words are also reasonable. Although we did not capture Datong City, we broke through the outer city of Datong and killed at least tens of thousands of Datong's Zhenming Army. Our achievements are obvious to all.

The Qing army led by Dorgon, who had no choice but to take charge of the south of Datong City, was defeated by the Zhenming Army. Our food routes were cut off. In order to preserve the only capable soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, we had to retreat. "

"Master Taipei's summary is very accurate, and it is also true. I think it is better to report it to the court." Wu Sangui immediately agreed.

"This, is this okay?" Cao Bianjiao asked in surprise,
"If you don't put it this way, do you mean that we have suffered a defeat and are waiting for punishment from the court?" Wu Sangui answered.

"Then, you decide." Although Cao Bianjiao didn't want to falsely claim his military exploits, he also didn't want to take the blame.

"Master Taiwan, I think the imperial court may still need to do some work, at least Chen Butang of the Ministry of War needs to take care of it." Wu Sangui was very good at building relationships and suggested.

Hong Chengchou thought about it and said, "Okay, then please ask Sangui for a hard trip."

The Forbidden City of the capital, Wenhua Hall.

Emperor Chongzhen, who had gray hair on his temples and a sad face, was lying on the imperial platform with his eyes closed and concentrating. His beloved concubine Tian Fei was rubbing his temples.

"Your Majesty, are you feeling better? No matter how many state affairs there are, you have to take care of your dragon body." Concubine Tian asked while serving a small cup of lotus seed soup.

Emperor Chongzhen took the lotus seed soup and took a sip and said, "With my concubine's help in pressing, the headache is much better. But the country is in a difficult situation!"

There were too many headaches for him during this period.

If there is good news, it is that Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and other giant bandits who tormented the Ming Dynasty for more than ten years are all dead, and it seems that all the thieves in the world have been leveled.

It's a pity that Lin Feng's Zhenming Army was defeated. In the past, he focused mainly on dealing with the Tatars and bandits, but now he suddenly discovered that the Zhenming Army had grown into a towering tree that he even looked up to.

As a last resort, they could only follow the opinions of these ministers and unite the Mantars to attack the Zhenming Army.

He is also a face-conscious person and attaches great importance to historical evaluation. This is also an important reason why he has a hesitant character and cannot make decisive decisions on major issues.

Although the foreign ministers are not talking about it now, Chongzhen also knows that the collusion with the Manchus has caused a lot of discussion among scholars all over the world, and it will definitely be infamy in the future.

No matter what the name was, he would accept it as long as he could defeat the Zhenming Army.

However, the news from the front line does not seem to be good. Some time ago, good news finally came, saying that the outer city of Datong was breached.

He thought he would soon receive a battle report on the occupation of Datong City, but unexpectedly, nothing happened.

Chongzhen knew these ministers very well, and if there was no news, it must be bad news. As long as there is a bit of good news, Peipianpidian will definitely report it long ago.

When he was worried, the eunuch Wang Chengen came in and said: "Your Majesty, Mr. Fan Ge from the Cabinet, Chen Butang from the Ministry of War, Shangshu Hou from the Ministry of Household Affairs, and Li Mingrui, a scholar from the Imperial Academy, have requested an audience."

With so many important ministers coming together, could something serious have happened? Chongzhen felt a slight thump in his mind and motioned to Concubine Tian to step back, stand up and sit down. Then he said: "Let them come in."

Fan Fucui and others came in and bowed.

Chongzhen waved them to level up and asked, "Mr. Fan, what's the big deal for you guys to come together?" "Chen Butang, it's up to your Ministry of War to report the military aircraft matter." Fan Fucui said.

Chen Xinjia stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, Governor Hong and others have withdrawn to Changping Prefecture."

"What? Their attack on Datong has been defeated?" What did Chongzhen fear?

"It was not a complete failure. Governor Hong and his colleagues fought bloody battles to capture the outer city of Datong and killed more than 30,000 to 40,000 Zhenming troops.

Just when they were about to occupy the entire city of Datong, Dorgon's front line, which was responsible for sniping the enemy reinforcements to the south of Datong, was defeated, causing a large number of reinforcements from the Zhenming Army to arrive.

Because the food route to the rear was cut off, Governor Hong and his colleagues had no choice but to give up attacking Datong and retreat to Changping in an orderly manner in order to preserve the main force of our Ming army. "Chen Xinjia has a lotus-like tongue and does not even mention Mingjun's defeat.

Chongzhen was a little puzzled after hearing this and asked: "All the 50,000 Qing troops were defeated?"

"Defeated. It is said that Dorgon escaped from the Pass with only more than 10,000 people, preparing to detour back to Liaodong from the grassland. Even Duduo, Prince of Henan of the Qing Dynasty, died." Chen Xinjia continued to report.

If he heard about Manta's tragic defeat before, Emperor Chongzhen would have jumped up with joy, but now he only felt the biting cold air.

"The Zhenming Army is so powerful? What should we do? How many people did Hong Chengchou and the others bring back?" Chongzhen asked continuously.

Chen Xinjia still said confidently: "Your Majesty, Governor Hong and the others have brought back more than 60,000 people."

"So they didn't lose any troops? Then why did they retreat?" Chongzhen asked.

"Your Majesty, Governor Hong led 50,000 troops into the Pass from Liaodong. Once they arrived at the border of Datong Prefecture, they first rescued 60,000 to 70,000 defeated new imperial troops.

Therefore, their total strength is a little over 120,000. They lost about 40,000 in the attack on Datong. Yang Guozhu brought 20,000 back to Xuanfu. Now there are more than 60,000 left. It should be said that the losses are similar to those of the Zhenming Army. "Chen Xinjia explained, increasing the casualties of the Zhenming Army and reducing the number of the Ming Army, making it seem as if the battle was really not defeated.

"So that's the case. Will the Zhenming Army come to attack the capital next? Where are they now?" Chongzhen asked anxiously.

"Your Majesty, the Zhenming Army also suffered heavy losses in the Datong battle. Now they are resting in Datong Mansion and should not attack the capital in the short term.

But if they end their rest, they will probably continue to attack the capital, so I came here today to implore the emperor to make plans in advance. "Chen Xinjia continued.

"We have made plans early, but what should we do? How can our Ming Dynasty still have soldiers and horses to mobilize?" Chongzhen already felt desperate.

Chen Xinjia didn't say anything at this time. He didn't have any good ideas. It's hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice.

"Your Majesty, I still suggest that we move the capital to Nanjing as soon as possible to avoid the Zhenming Army." Hanlin scholar Li Mingrui suggested.

"Relocation is not feasible. Now that the Lin bandits have captured Henan, they may have sent troops into Shandong. South Zhili is not safe either." Chen Xinjia immediately refuted.

"Then what do you guys think we should do? Chen Xinjia, you are in charge of the Ministry of War. You go ahead and tell me." Chongzhen said by name.

"Your Majesty, the imperial court still has troops. Governor Hong and his men have 60,000 people in Changping, more than 20,000 in Xuanfu, and 20,000 in Liaodong.

The Beijing Camp, the Warrior Camp, and the Shenji Camp in the capital city totaled 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers and horses.

Liu Zeqing in Shandong has 30,000 to 40,000 men, and Zuo Liangyu in Hubei has the largest number of troops, with 70,000 to 80,000 men, adding up to another 200,000 to 300,000 men.

The main problem now is the lack of money. If you have money, you can mobilize troops. If you don't have money, it will be difficult. "Chen Xinjia made some analysis and passed the problem to the Ministry of Household Affairs.

"Hou Shangshu, tell me, can the Ministry of Revenue come up with the money?" Chongzhen asked.

"Your Majesty, the treasury of the Ministry of Revenue has long been out of money, and the old minister is still worried about the salary of the officials in the capital." Hou Xun replied with a sad face.

"No money, no money! How come Lin Feng has money?" Chongzhen said angrily.

"Your Majesty, Lin Feng is rich. They strictly collect commercial taxes. How about we also collect part of it?" Chen Xinjia suggested.

"This is not okay. The court cannot compete with the people for profit." Hou Xun represented the interests of the big merchants in Jiangnan and naturally did not want to levy commercial taxes.

"Then what are you going to do? Mr. Fan Ge, you are the chief assistant, what do you think?"

"Your Majesty, the old minister is already old. Please beg for his body." Fan Fucui said simply. He had no longer wanted to be the chief minister.

"No, you must come up with an opinion for me today." Chongzhen said angrily.

"Your Majesty, if you want to have money, there are only two ways. One is to increase taxes, add less commercial taxes, and increase some tariffs. Land taxes can no longer be increased. The other is to mobilize donations from the royal family and nobles. If the Ming Dynasty If there is a mistake, they can't be alone." Chen Xinjia came up with the idea. After all, it was his military department who was going to fight and couldn't be fooled.

"Do you have any other opinions?" Chongzhen asked.

Several people remained silent, and under the intimidation of Chongzhen's gaze, they reluctantly said: "I have no objection."

"Then we will follow Chen Butang's advice. Hou Shangshu and your household department will seize the time to implement it and raise a sum of money as soon as possible to prepare for the Zhenming Army's attack on the capital." Chongzhen finally made the decision.

"I obey the order!" (End of Chapter)