In the gloomy main hall, Wang Jiayan, Shi Kefa and Zhu Dadian stood in a row in the main hall. Facing the secret fold in front of them, everyone was frightened. They didn't dare to speak or speak loudly.
Make a sound.
After a long time, the charcoal in the stove was almost burnt, but none of the eunuchs and maids dared to come forward to lick it. Finally, the eunuch in charge of the stove was afraid of being punished, so he had the courage to add charcoal. Zhu sat on top of it.
Ling Que suddenly roared, scaring the little eunuch so much that he knelt down on the spot.
"You already knew this, right?"
"I don't know."
The three of them were so frightened that they quickly lowered their heads, not daring to raise their heads to face the furious Zhu Ling.
"This kind of thing happened in Nanjing. As the Minister of War, don't you Wang Jiayan and Shi Kefa know anything?" Zhu Ling stared coldly at the three ministers kneeling below. This incident in Nanjing has already touched him.
The most intolerable thing happened in Nanjing, and he had no idea about it before.
"I am scared. I have been busy with the war these days, and the news from Nanjing has not been transmitted. We don't know at all." Wang Jiayan still answered in a deep voice. He knew His Majesty's temper, and he could calm it down as long as he gave a solution.
anger.
"Then what do you think we should do?" Zhu Ling already had the idea of killing people in his heart, but the overall situation did not allow him to act recklessly, so he could only tolerate his anger for the time being.
"I believe that this matter should be discussed in the long term." Shi Kefa also agreed.
"Within today, what happened in Nanjing and what you mentioned this morning must all be resolved. First thing first, Ma Shiying of Nanjing is trying to conspire against us. How do you think we should deal with it?" Zhu Ling held back his anger with patience.
Discuss your own affairs rationally.
"We should immediately send a message to the surrounding provinces and order their provincial commanders and inspectors to cooperate with the local generals to enter Nanjing first. This will temporarily deter Ma Shiying. After all, we cannot act rashly. The queen, prince and several princes are all in Ma Shiying's hands.
.Furthermore, Wu Linzheng and the others also estimate that the situation is critical, otherwise they should have sent a message to Yanzhou long ago."
Wang Jiayan thought quickly and answered immediately.
"I believe that the troops should stay put and the documents should not be rushed to inform the provinces, so as not to arouse Ma Shiying's alert. Instead, people should be sent to test the situation in Nanjing before making a decision." Shi Kefa on the side had a completely different opinion.
In the end, after some consideration by Zhu Ling, Shi Kefa's suggestion was adopted. He immediately asked Wang Guoxing to send Jin Yiwei to inquire about the situation in Nanjing, and asked Wang Chengen to disguise Yanzhou as if he was not aware of the current situation in Nanjing, in order to stabilize Ma Shiying's suspicion.
"In addition, how should Wu Sangui and the capital provide assistance? We must not let Meng Zhaoxiang really die in the capital, nor can we force Wu Sangui to surrender to the enemy."
This question immediately stumped Shi Kefa and Wang Jiayan. They had no way to deal with the matter and could only remain silent. But Zhu Dadian beside him said loudly: "I have a way, but I don't know if your Majesty is willing to do it.
"
"any solution?"
"The first way is to abandon Shanhaiguan and the capital, and withdraw the army to defend Shandong with all its strength. In this way, the intruders will not be distracted by the capital and Shanhaiguan, and thus be defeated by the Jiannu."
"But in this way, if the slave-building plunder goes north, the intruders will have the energy to deal with us. Besides, if we lose the capital, it is the core of our Ming Dynasty. Can you bear the infamy of the ages?"
Wang Jiayan immediately scolded him coldly, and his momentum was enough to shock everyone present.
"Sir, don't worry, I have another way."
Seeing that Wang Jiayan was dissatisfied with this method, Zhu Dadian had no choice but to change it to another one.
"What is that method?" Zhu Ling continued to ask.
"Take the initiative to attack! Open up the road between the capital and Shandong! That way we can realize your majesty's previous idea of stabilizing Shandong, opening up the channel, and supporting Shanhaiguan and the capital. But in this way, the pressure we will have to bear will inevitably be much greater, and the risks will also increase.
"After saying that, everyone was silent for a moment. Zhu Dadian knew that this method would also make His Majesty sigh.
"But now that we are on fire in the rear, how can we still have the energy to take the initiative to attack?" Zhu Ling sighed and said somewhat helplessly.
"Now, there is really no way to save the capital and Shanhaiguan." Zhu Dadian could only retreat.
Suddenly, a guard in royal robes outside the palace came to report, which shocked everyone. Zhu Ling immediately let him into the palace. Perhaps this urgent report was the hope of saving the current imperial court.
The Jin Yiwei knelt down and said respectfully: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, we have just received news that Jiannu and Li Zicheng fought in Tongzhou the day before yesterday. Both forces suffered heavy losses, and Jiannu retreated along the same route as they entered the pass!"
"Is there any news?" Wang Jiayan in the palace was overjoyed when he heard this and asked immediately.
"read!"
Zhu Ling did not hide the joy on his face and hurriedly asked him to read out the contents of the Tang newspaper.
"According to a report from a secret agent, Jian Nu led 50,000 troops to fight against 80,000 bandits in the Tongzhou area three days ago. The two sides fought fiercely for a day. They bombarded with artillery and the cavalry fought fiercely. In the end, both sides suffered heavy losses. According to information, the bandits
The thieves lost 50,000 horses, while the Jiannu lost 20,000 horses. The Jiannu retreated along the original route, and the Jiannu from Shanhaiguan also returned along the same route."
After Jinyiwei finished speaking, he handed the contents of the Tang newspaper to a young eunuch, who then handed it to Wang Chengen, and then gave it to Zhu Ling.
Seeing the contents of the newspaper above, a hint of joy finally appeared on Zhu Ling's face, which had not smiled much in the past few days. It was really unexpected. He and others were still struggling here to figure out what to do.
That's good. I didn't expect that the intruders and the slaves were already fighting. The most important thing is for the slaves to retreat. This is the most useful thing.
"Your Majesty, it seems that Jiannu is no longer a threat to us for the time being. Relatively speaking, the capital and Wu Sangui have also come out of the siege, so we should be happy and congratulated." Wang Jiayan immediately stepped forward to congratulate him.
After taking a long breath, a stone in Zhu Ling's heart finally fell temporarily. From this newspaper, it can be seen that Jiannu's iron hoof is indeed extraordinary. He only had 50,000 yuan compared with Li Zicheng's 80,000 yuan.
The loss was 20,000. The contrast in combat power was too obvious. Li Zicheng was far from Jiannu's opponent.
If it were a battle of equal strength, Li Zicheng would definitely be defeated!
"Although Jiannu has left temporarily, we still have a worry in front of us." Zhu Ling then lowered his face and said.
Wang Jiayan and others naturally knew that His Majesty was talking about Ma Shiying of Nanjing, so they couldn't help but return silent. Ma Shiying was also a talented person, and he dared to rebel in Nanjing. Did he really think that the Ming Dynasty was going to fall?
Speaking of this matter, Ma Shiying actually did not intend to do this. It is just that since the Nanjing court meeting that day, many national policies were formulated, and these national policies were planned by officials who came from the capital to patrol the south, and they had nothing to do with their Nanjing officials.
After the business tax was raised, many businessmen came to him to complain, saying how much money they would lose this year.
After all, they have to give sacrifices to Ma Shiying every year, and he is the talisman of those businessmen. If something happens, they will naturally come to Ma Shiying. But how can Ma Shiying defeat Wu Linzheng and the others? They are already central officials, and they have a lot of money in their hands.
Thousand Iron Cavalry. If they were ordinary ministers, they might be able to do it, but they are not ordinary ministers.
Originally, he asked those businessmen to put up with it. After all, their combined annual income was more than the national treasury tax revenue. But something happened to hit him directly. That day, he secretly falsified the accounts and replaced missing and damaged items.
I wrote more, thinking I could make some money. But I didn’t expect that someone would check it!
But this person turned out to be Ni Yuanlu, the Minister of Household Affairs, who scolded him directly and told him that he would make up for the missing troops himself. Isn't this too much of a lie?
Then I happened to see the sick prince, and I couldn't help but have a bold idea.