In real history, after Sun Chengzong's death in Gaoyang City, Lu Xiangsheng was dismissed from his post as the Minister of War and the General of the World, because he was the Minister of War and the General of the World, and was immediately dismissed from his post by Emperor Chongzhen. Although Emperor Chongzhen allowed him to make meritorious contributions, he still had the responsibility to lead the army. However, after that, both the military power and the command power were greatly weakened and he could no longer continue to command the generals of the three towns. Therefore, the last battle commanded by Lu Xiangsheng was only the 5,000 troops led by his headquarters, so how could the participants be invincible?

If all events require a source and a cause, then the war and uncertainty of the court were the source of Lu Xiangsheng's final defeat. Sun Chengzong's unexpected death was the main cause. After Zhou Xian first saw Lu Xiangsheng, he was considering how to change his final outcome. After thinking for several days, he came up with such a solution. Once Lu Xiangsheng saved Sun Chengzong, perhaps everything that followed would change.

Lu Xiangsheng pondered for a long time and said, "This plan does have some feasibility. But Dorgon is very resourceful and good at fighting, and his military sensitivity is far beyond ordinary people's imagination. If he discovers that I have arrived, he may have thought of the first thing he wants is how to retreat north safely, and how can he continue to attack Gaoyang with huge risks?"

Zhou Xian smiled and said, "This requires the Governor Lu to sacrifice his life to accompany Dorgon to play this game? If you lead your troops to successfully enter Gaoyang, you only lead 5,000 troops from the headquarters. I believe Dorgon will continue to attack. You must know that your name is Lu Yanwang. Not only among the bandits, but also among the Manchus. Dorgon saw that you were just leading a few troops into the city, and with the arrogance of the Manchus, he would definitely not take you seriously. Gaoyang City is so small that it can be broken every moment. Do you think that the lives of two important officials of the Ming Dynasty are worth Dorgon taking a risk?"

Lu Xiangsheng pondered for a moment, looked at Zhou Xian and said, "Do you want to use me and Sun Gelao as bait to attract Dorgon to refuse to give up the attack on Gaoyang? In order to create opportunities for the subsequent Ming army."

Zhou Xian nodded and said, "There are indeed some risks in this matter. But once you successfully attract the mangroves there, you may really be able to break them. What the students said is just a little suggestion from me. As for the inappropriate points, I hope the supervisor can atone for his sins."

Lu Xiangsheng smiled boldly and said, "You are so brave to take the lives of our two people. But this plan sounds really feasible. From the day of leading the army, I will have the intention to die in the country. If I can trade one's own death for a complete defeat of the Manchu Captain, why should I cherish my life? I will accept your suggestion for the time being, but I still need to continue to investigate. I will send additional scouts and always pay attention to the situation in Baoding. Once it is confirmed that the Manchu Captain does have the intention to attack Gao Yang, I will lead my troops to support Gao Yang as soon as possible and do my best to persevere until the reinforcements of the court arrive."

Zhou Xian smiled and said, "Mr. Lu, the student has two other strategies. One is that he heard that His Majesty received 10,000 gold from the Ministry of Revenue, and then took out 30,000 gold from the treasury, a total of 40,000 gold was rewarded to you to reward the army. According to the students' opinion, you can give half of the 40,000 gold to the soldiers, and the remaining half will be used to purchase food near the capital. In this way, even if the prefectures in various places do not provide you with food and grass, you can guarantee that the soldiers will not suffer from freezing and hunger. Another thing is that when defending the city, various firearms are crucial. You now have the right to command the general of the three towns. If you hand over all the firearms of the three towns to your headquarters, defending the city will definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort. Moreover, it is best not to use it easily until the emergency is urgent. Only in this way will Dorgon think that he may break Gaoyang at any time, which is more conducive to nailing him there."

Lu Xiangsheng nodded and smiled and said, "I really did not read you wrong. Although I am young, I think carefully. If you give me time, I must be a general of the court. Come on, I will be optimistic about you." He looked up at the sky and stood up and said, "I didn't expect that I had been chatting with you for so long. I should leave now. I can't let the soldiers outside the city wait too long."

Zhou Xian stood up and bowed and said, "Students respectfully send you to the supervisor to help you get back safely this time."

Lu Xiangsheng smiled and said, "I would like to lend you auspicious words. If this time I can really defeat the Manchu captives, I will definitely host a banquet for you when I return to the capital."

Zhou Xian bowed and smiled and said, "Then the student is waiting for good news from Mr. Lu."

Seeing Lu Xiangsheng riding away from the horse, Zhou Xian sighed secretly and said, "Mr. Lu, I hope that all this I have done can ultimately help you."

After Lu Xiangsheng led his troops out of the capital, the main warriors and the main warriors of the court finally broke out. Yang Tinglin, the main warrior, directly denounced Yang Sichang for selling his country and seeking honor as a first-class traitor. He asked Emperor Chongzhen to directly dismiss Yang Sichang. His words were so fierce that the number of ministers echoed the large number of ministers, which was beyond everyone's expectations.

Emperor Chongzhen defended Yang Sichang without any rebukes him. However, Yang Sichang was completely disgusted with Yang Tinglin, and submitted a memorial to the emperor that he knew the military strategy and proposed that he be the head of the Ministry of War. He promoted him openly and surrendered secretly, and placed him in Lu Xiangsheng's army, and finally drove the annoying person out of the capital. On Zhou Xian's side, there was no one who could make him interested in teaching, and this loss was simply too great.

Zhou Xian has always been grateful to Yang Sichang himself. If it weren't for his strong recommendation, he wouldn't have been noticed by the emperor in such a short time and allowed the prince to accompany him to study. Moreover, in Zhou Xian's opinion, he never felt that his policy of "rest the country first" was wrong. But he was too slight, and his vengeful personality made Zhou Xian not like it at all.

Yang Sichang was one of the few people who could completely change the ultimate destiny of the Ming Dynasty in that era, and his talent was enough to shoulder such an important task. But unfortunately, he forgot that to completely change this chaotic world, he had to support him with a large number of talented people around him, not just seeking the support of the emperor alone.

Lu Xiangsheng died in Julu because of his reasons, and Sun Chuanting was not valued for a long time because of his jealousy and ability. In the court, generals who could shoulder heavy responsibilities were either hated by him or completely abandoned. In the end, he could rely on either rebellious people like Zuo Liangyu, He Renlong, or a group of incompetent generals who could only obey his orders. It is no wonder that he exhausted his energy in the end but failed.
Chapter completed!