The voice was not loud, but when I heard Gao Qiqian, my scalp went numb, my palms were sweating, and I knelt there with my head drooped, not daring to speak. The eunuchs and maids in the palace were also shocked. Everyone knew that
The emperor is about to lose his temper.
"What, you said it to yourself, don't you remember?" Gao Qiqian's silence made Chongzhen even more annoyed. He stared at him motionless, his face was frighteningly cold.
Gao Qiqian, who was well versed in guessing the emperor's temper, knew that the emperor would be really angry. He hesitated again and again, knowing that he could not escape this level, so he whispered in a worried voice: "My slave said that it is better for thieves to have a flat hole."
The war must be fought quickly and without delay, otherwise Denglai will suffer misfortune.”
"You do remember."
Chongzhen raised his eyebrows, sneered, stood up slowly, and still asked in a cold tone: "Quick victory, good, then why did the Kong thieves conquer Linyi, Shanghe, and Xincheng, and the thieves and soldiers fought
We have arrived in Qingzhou! I ask you, how did you supervise your army? Did you try your best to carry out the mission? How did you fight this battle?" [
"Slave"
Gao Qiqian murmured, and his face was full of shame from the moment he answered. The fall of Shanghe, Xincheng and other prefectures and counties was entirely caused by him underestimating the enemy. Otherwise, how could Kong Youde have such a small number of soldiers and horses to control the situation?
Hebei, Shandong.
Chongzhen snorted and ignored Gao Qiqian. Instead, he took a cup of tea from the hand of a palace maid. The faint fragrance of tea was refreshing. He smacked it gently with his lips and looked at it thoughtfully.
He only had a sky-blue Xuanyao cup, and the expression on his face was uncertain, and he didn't know what he was thinking.
Although Gao Qiqian had not served Chongzhen for a long time, he had a good feel for Chongzhen's temper, observed his appearance, and knew that Chongzhen was not really blaming him for delaying the military plane, but was beating himself up. But this emperor
But he is also a person with a good face. He never shows off to his subordinates and always waits for his subordinates to speak out for themselves.
However, Gao Qiqian couldn't kowtow like garlic, and then speak generously and make sure of the truth, because he underestimated the power of Kong Youde and Li Jiucheng's group of old Liaodong generals. He would be scared of being beaten by those group of old Liaodong generals now.
There is also some ambition before leaving Beijing.
After leading the imperial camp out of the capital, Gao Qiqian was eager to perform meritorious service and wished that he could put down the rebel rebellion in Hebei. He urged Zhu Dadian to supervise the troops and move quickly, hoping to achieve the "quick victory" he had promised when he left the capital. Unexpectedly,
The five thousand soldiers of the Beijing camp were really embroidered. As soon as they entered the battle, the five thousand soldiers of the Beijing camp were killed by six hundred thieves.
Gao Qiqian, who was supervising the army for the first time, was going to end up being wiped out.
Relying on the defeated generals like the remnants of the Jingying camp, Gao Qiqian could not fight the battle, but it was impossible not to fight. The Kong thief soldiers had reached Qingzhou, and if they did not advance and suppress them, Denglai would be in the pocket of the thief soldiers. This is not true.
There was no way to think about it. Gao Qiqian hurried back to Beijing overnight in order to ask for reinforcements from Chongzhen. But the reinforcements he wanted could not be proposed by himself. He had to wait for the emperor to mention it himself, so as to avoid the situation in the future.
Once things change, if something happens over there, I can't afford to take the blame.
With this in mind, Gao Qiqian naturally did not dare to speak out easily. He knelt there, lowered his head, and secretly looked at Chongzhen from time to time, so as to judge when it was best to speak out.
Zhao Quan and several palace maids who were standing nearby did not make any sound. They were all observing Chongzhen's facial expression and his subtle movements of looking at the tea cup.
Zhao Quan murmured in his heart, Eunuch Gao was defeated and he came back to plead guilty and ask for troops. However, the emperor's pretentious behavior just now did not seem to be to punish Eunuch Gao. What was the emperor's intention?
The maids did not see any instructions from Chongzhen to them, so they did not dare to avoid it automatically. These maids usually did not need to wait for Chongzhen to speak. They would act according to any slight movement of his eyebrows, lips or beard.
You won’t make a mistake and be blamed for it.
Finally, when Chongzhen's eyes had just left the tea cup, a palace maid immediately stepped forward, took the tea cup with a plate in both hands, and walked out carefully. The rest of the palace maids all tiptoed within a second or two.
I stepped back and walked out. There was no sound of footsteps at all. The huge Wenhua Hall was eerily quiet.
Now there are only three people left in the palace, Chongzhen, Gao Qiqian, and Zhao Quan. Chongzhen is standing, Gao Qiqian is kneeling, and Zhao Quan is standing there tiptoeing.
After another moment of silence, Chongzhen turned around, paced back and forth for a moment, and then said to Gao Qiqian in a deep voice: "You still know the military and have some experience, so I asked you to supervise the army. I thought,
Asking you to supervise the soldiers to fight against the thieves is finally a small test, but I didn't expect that you would do such a bad job. In fact, it doesn't matter if you lose the battle, but you shouldn't hide it from me and only come up with the military information three days later. If
It’s not that I have other ears and eyes, I’m afraid you’ve kept it all in the dark now. You said, I’m so angry!”
"Your Majesty, forgive me! This slave deserves to die!" Gao Qiqian hurriedly knocked his head to the ground, knocking it several times, and his forehead was blood red. But in his heart, he scolded Cao Huachun. Why did he have other ears and eyes?
The people in his east factory secretly told the secret!
"Now I am aware of my guilt. Why didn't I know it before?" Chongzhen snorted, raised his hand, his expression softened a bit, and then changed the subject and said: "When I ascend the throne, you are the first person to go out of the inner court.
Man, I trust you and put this burden in your hands. Not only I am watching, but the foreign court is also watching, and the people of the world are watching. If you have done your job, I will be happy, and the foreign court will also be watching.
Explain. If you fail, it will not only affect the soldiers who died in the battle, but also me, you know!"
"This slave has failed the emperor, and this slave deserves to die!" His Highness burst out crying, making people feel that this slave was truly repentant.
Sure enough, Gao Qiqian's cry was very useful to Chongzhen. He nodded slightly and said lightly: "I didn't say I wanted to punish you. I'm a human being. You used to be able to talk on paper, but this is the first time you have done this. I
I can’t force you too much. However, after you go back, you have to be careful and settle Denglai’s matter as soon as possible. You must not disappoint me.”
How could Gao Qiqian have the ability to settle Denglai's matter quickly? He felt very bitter in his heart, but when the emperor said this, he had to express his feelings, so he still replied in a generous tone: "I am willing to go through fire and water and die in battle.
I will live up to the grace of the emperor’s support over the years.”[
Chongzhen nodded again, sat down on the dragon chair, and whispered: "Get up!"
Gao Qiqian kowtowed again, and then stood up from the ground. On the side, Zhao Quan lit the palace lanterns. Under the bright lights, Gao Qiqian's burly figure made people look very sideways. If he didn't have a beard on his face, how would he look?
, are all brave men. Although they are already in their early forties, due to their well-maintained skin and rosy complexion, they only look like they are in their early thirties.
The door in the hall was closed tightly. Although there was a howling wind outside, the lights in the hall did not waver at all, and the shadows reflected on the ground dragged long.
Seeing Gao Qiqian still standing there, Chongzhen couldn't help but said: "You still don't thank me?"
"Your Majesty" Gao Qiqian hesitated and said in a low voice: "The Kong thieves are all old generals from Liaodong, and they are extremely brave. Although I am not afraid of death, I am willing to go through fire and water for the Emperor and die in battle. However, it is not a pity for me to die. If I am mistaken for this, I will die in battle."
If the emperor's important matter is concerned, even if I die thousands of times, it is not a pity to die."
"Okay, what do you want to say?" Chongzhen suddenly interrupted Gao Qiqian impatiently. He knew that the slave in front of him must have a purpose when he said so many words.
"The slave wants to say what the slave wants to say"
Gao Qiqian thought about it over and over again. If he didn't speak again, he was afraid that he would not have the chance to speak again in the future. Taking a deep breath, he said loudly: "Your Majesty, I think that if we want to pacify the Kong thieves, we must have Liao soldiers to conquer Liao."