The jng bell in Changli City rang "dang dang dang". When the people in the city who didn't know the truth heard it, they thought the Tatars were coming to attack the city again, and their mood immediately sank. They didn't know if they could resist this time.
But soon, their mood changed completely.
The initial cheers came from the top of the city. Anyone who heard it could tell that the voice contained great joy from the heart. Soon, the good news spread to all the people in the city along with the cheers.
in the ears.
"The imperial reinforcements are here to save us!"
"Thousands of Tatars were wiped out by the imperial army and only three or two kittens escaped."[
"Child's mother, go and report to her nn quickly. Seven or eight thousand Tatars have been destroyed by the imperial army. Changli has been saved."
"The imperial court sent a hundred thousand troops to destroy the Tatars outside the city. Have you heard about this?"
"..."
When Zuo Yingxuan told his guess to the surrounding village soldiers, government officials, and squires, and received circumstantial evidence from people who had also seen the coming and going of the Tatars, everyone believed that the imperial army had come to rescue Changli.
Although no one saw the shadow of the imperial army, everyone believed that the imperial court had sent reinforcements, and it was a real army.
When Zuo Yingxuan returned to the county government office from the city, he had already heard the people saying that the imperial court had sent 200,000 troops to exterminate 40,000 to 50,000 Tatars, and so and so had seen it with his own eyes.
Zuo Yingxuan refused to correct these increasingly outrageous remarks. He could feel that the morale in the city was unprecedentedly high, which was a good thing.
Besides, the leaders of the Mongolian tribes bargained with Daishan, and finally got Daishan to agree that the soldiers of the Jin Kingdom would also participate in the siege. Then he slowly returned to his camp to mobilize, preparing to start in the afternoon.
Suddenly, they heard bursts of cheers coming from Changli City, and they couldn't help but be a little surprised. Changli City was a little far away from the camp, and they could still hear the movement over there. What a happy event it must be to be so excited.
.
So, people were sent out one after another to inquire about the situation.
After a while, the people who went out to inquire about the news came back in panic and said that the Aohan tribe and the Zalut tribe who had gone out to annihilate the Ming army had been completely wiped out.
When the leaders of various tribes heard this, they were shocked and rushed to Daishan to inquire about the news.
When they arrived at Daishan's tent, Daishan was questioning several people who had escaped with their lives, including the leader of the Aohan tribe, who all looked lost.
These few people turned around and ran away as soon as they found out that they were in an ambush and saw the Ming army charging across the mountains and plains. How many people did they bother to see how many Ming troops there were? That's why they ran in front of everyone and became Cao Cao's enemy.
Several people were let go by Wen Zhao.
None of them could tell clearly how many people there were in the Ming army. Some said there were thousands, some said tens of thousands. Anyway, in the end, even Daishan was confused.
If Dai Shan knew that the coming Ming army only had 5,000 troops, his own strength would be enough to deal with it. He would leave some of the troops behind, and the rest could attack the city as usual. Maybe he could also use this as bait to find an opportunity to attack these Ming troops.
Encircled and annihilated.
But no one knows the exact number of the Ming army now. The Ming army that can wipe out four thousand Mongolians at once is definitely not a minority. Based on their previous impressions of the Ming army, they can estimate the minimum number, but they have no idea of the maximum number.
Bottom.
The leaders of the various departments in the big tent were as unsure as Dai Shan, and were a little frightened. They didn't know whether it was a tiger lurking in the dark or just a cat.
In the end, it was Dai Shan who took charge of the crime and decided on the countermeasures. Everyone waited, postponed the attack on the city, and went back to wait for orders, waiting for him to send Da Jin's elite detective horses to investigate clearly before making a decision on where to go.[
At this critical moment, Daishan could not trust these Mongols. He would rather lose some of the expedition horses he sent to find out the details of this Ming army.
Soon, large groups of Jianlu's reconnaissance cavalry went out in all directions, with Changli as the center, searching for traces of the Ming army.
In the Forbidden City, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen, like Daishan, had no idea what to do next.
Daishan had no idea how many Ming troops there were, and Emperor Chongzhen had no idea how many corrupt officials there were.
Judging from the confessions handed over from Jin Yiwei today, there are fewer ** officials than in the previous few days, but judging from the results of the joint trial of the three divisions forwarded by Wang Chengen of Dongchang, more people were involved, and even more people appeared.
In addition to the cases of generals in the army bribing and running away from office, there was also the case of Jin Yiwei using his power for personal gain a few years ago.
Judging from the situation these days, the government officials have spread to the six departments of Rites, Works, Officials, Punishments, Households, and Soldiers, including civil and military officials, and even the emperor's personal army.
Emperor Chongzhen was a little scared whether he should continue the investigation. But if he didn't continue the investigation, he would be letting those moths go in vain, and he was very unwilling to do so.
Emperor Chongzhen remembered his ambition to revive the Ming Dynasty. He had also been trying to imitate Emperor Taizu, who was not close to women, was diligent and frugal, worked hard and worked hard at night, and served the people diligently for several years.
But I didn’t expect there to be so many moths. It seems that if we don’t learn from Taizu’s determination and methods, our efforts will be in vain and our ambitions will not be realized.
When he thought of this, he no longer hesitated and made up his mind. He immediately said to Wang Cheng'en who was standing aside: "My companion, those Jin Yiwei guys will be arrested and interrogated by you in Dongchang."
When Wang Chengen heard this, he was secretly happy. He quickly agreed and got ready to do the work.
Dongchang arrested people, and they arrested the emperor's ministers. It didn't need to be as troublesome as the Jinyiwei arresting people. Wang Chengen could arrest people directly with the imperial edict.
Unexpectedly, he was called back by Emperor Chongzhen before he walked out of the palace gate.
It turns out that Emperor Chongzhen remembered that Zhong Jinwei had said that it would be best for Dongchang and Jinyiwei to be on the same level. One cannot overpower the other, lest one of them becomes too powerful and unable to control them, which is not a good thing.
I only heard him say to Wang Chengen: "From now on, it will be a common practice that separate interrogations in Dongchang require Jinyiwei to send officials from more than a thousand households to observe. You should remember it."
When Wang Chengen heard this, he was stunned for a moment, but he immediately came to his senses, agreed, and left after seeing that Emperor Chongzhen gave no further instructions.
He doesn't want to learn from Wei Zhongxian, but he just can't stand Jin Yiwei's recent arrogance. In any case, there must be competition between the two departments with similar functions. Now it is a happy thing to take advantage of this opportunity to suppress Jin Yiwei, and that's all.
That’s it.
Therefore, although Wang Chengen was dissatisfied with Emperor Chongzhen's orders, he did not react much.
Emperor Chongzhen was not a brainless person. He would not investigate the generals involved until the Jianlu were dealt with. Therefore, he put aside the disposal of those people for the time being and did not let Dongchang or Jinyiwei arrest them.
.
Emperor Chongzhen didn't know how much trouble there would be in dealing with the generals in the army. Emperor Chongzhen felt a little overwhelmed when he thought about it.
When he first came to the throne, even though Wei Zhongxian's power was at its peak at that time, he did not panic at all, he was handled calmly and gracefully. Thinking about it now, he is still a little proud.
But now, facing the rape confessions one after another, I feel a sense of fear. I have to think about it over and over again. I am not sure yet, and I have a feeling of strength. Is it because I am not as capable as before or my opponent is more capable than Wei Zhongxian?
Deal with?[
Emperor Chongzhen was sitting on the throne thinking about this issue. Before he could understand that it was because Wei Zhongxian was in the Ming Dynasty, it was easy to deal with it, while the corrupt officials were in the secret world, and there were too many people involved, so it was difficult to deal with it. He was interrupted by the First Assistant Wen Tiren.
Emperor Chongzhen was a little tired. He pressed his temples and asked Wen Tiren who came in: "Why does Wen Qing want to see me?"
"Your Majesty, too many officials have been arrested in the case of rape, and now the Ministry of Civil Affairs has selected officials for use." Wen Tiren is also a little overworked these days, and he doesn't look so energetic.
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he stopped pressing his temples and asked Wen Tiren in surprise: "Have all the candidates been used up?"
Wen Tiren smiled bitterly and explained to Emperor Chongzhen: "Many of those candidate officials also have problems and have been imprisoned. Moreover, not only is there a serious shortage of officials, but the shortage of staff is even worse. Several yamen have actually been
We can't handle things normally."
Emperor Chongzhen felt that his forehead hurt again, and he asked Wen Tiren again: "Where are those candidates who are preparing for the Jinshi examination at home? If you have talent, you can use it."
It is not impossible to appoint people to become officials, but usually they are officials below the seventh rank. Nowadays, many vacant positions are for those above the seventh rank. Wen Tiren felt that Emperor Chongzhen was a little sick and urgently sought medical treatment.
He replied to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, all the available candidates have been filled to fill the vacancies."
Emperor Chongzhen still didn't believe it. He couldn't even find anyone who wanted to be an official. He said to Wen Tiren: "Then we can look for him from the local area. He will spread the newspaper around the world and order all the people from all over the country to come to Beijing for interviews. If they pass, the vacancies will be filled."
"
Wen Tiren had some words, knowing that Emperor Chongzhen was angry, so he advised Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the list of assassins has now been implicated in the local area. If your Majesty insists on arresting them, I am afraid that there will not be enough local officials.
"
Emperor Chongzhen felt like one of his heads was getting bigger than the other two. Do you really want me to stop here?
How to deal with the officials who have been arrested now and convict them all according to the law? It is already a mess now and there is a shortage of people to do things, but we can’t let them all go? If we don’t let them go, there is a possibility that they will continue to bite other people.
What should I do if I come out?
Should we grit our teeth and arrest all the people who have confessed, so that the officials can govern clearly and the world will be at peace?