He once served as a thief, and because of his resourcefulness and strategizing, he was appointed as a member of the bandit staff. He was famous among the thief army because of his strict military discipline, but his reputation became famous after Taiyuan surrendered and attached itself to Dongchang.
First, he rushed thousands of miles outside the pass to help the Ming army by surprise, and at the critical moment, he surrounded the Qing army from behind. In one fell swoop, he defeated the Qing army. From then on, Li Yan's name became famous in both the government and the public.
Later, Chang Yu re-employed him, and Baoding Mansion gave him absolute command. Li Yan refused to accept the trust and fought several bloody battles with the bandit army in Baoding Mansion. He overcame the arrogance of the bandit army and finally disintegrated their attempt to go north. At this time, Li Yan truly became the leader of the army.
The Ming army has gained a firm foothold!
You must know that as a rebel general, you will be looked down upon by everyone in the Ming army. Miaozheng Miaohong will not look down on you from the bottom of his heart. Even if you have military honors, even if you are summoned by the emperor to give him a military name, so what?
.
In other people's eyes, it's just the court trying to appease you. If you decline, you will have to sacrifice your life.
If you want to convince these big bosses to be careless, you have to show your real skills, otherwise you will still be looked down upon even when there are many people carrying the sedan for you.
Li Yan was lucky. He met a good Bole. Chang Yu gave him two opportunities, one was the Baoding defense battle, and the other was the southward pursuit battle.
Li Yan has real abilities. He firmly grasped these two opportunities and shined brilliantly. It can be said that almost every battle had his advice and personal command.
Therefore, it only took him a few months to convince a group of generals, and they all respected Li Yan.
Among the generals in the army, few could compare to him in terms of strategy, and in terms of bloodiness and courage, he was as good as any of them. During the Xianghe blockade, he would rather die than take a step back, and the entire army was almost annihilated.
Coupled with his relationship with Chang Yu, it can be said that Li Yan is definitely a legend and a well-known figure in the northern army system.
Even if he is only a fourth-grade military general, which of the generals with the rank of general in the hall is not a second-grade boss (the chief military officer in the Ming Dynasty has no rank, but the deputy general (that is, the deputy general) is one level after the chief soldier and is the second rank)
However, no one dared to make trouble in front of him. This was also because Li Yan was in charge of military discipline during the march, and the generals also had a subconscious fear of him.
Having said so much, even the seven generals in the hall wanted to give Li Yan face, and Gao Jie and Huang Degong, who were about to get angry just now, had to hold back their anger for the time being.
"The weather is hot and you are a bit angry." Li Yan smiled and sat down as he looked away from everyone. He knew what Chang Yu was thinking. He knew that several people were at odds with each other, but he still gathered these people together.
Everyone in the hall is the commander-in-chief of one party. They hold military power and have connections and backers in the court. Now that the war has just ended, all the forces in the court are ready to make moves. They are taking the opportunity to make some trouble or taking advantage of the fact that there are many people before the military parade.
Get some benefits for yourself.
But Chang Yu arranged them all here, which seemed appropriate, but it was also a centralized surveillance. In this way, they would not dare to act rashly, and the situation inside the court would be calmer.
Furthermore, knowing that several people have grievances and grudges against each other, so gathering together will prevent them from being quiet and have no time to do other things. They can both restrain each other and get along with each other, so why not do more in one fell swoop.
"Whether we are chasing thieves for thousands of miles or chasing Tatars for thousands of miles, we are all following orders, and the outcome of victory or defeat is determined by fate. There is no need to argue about this. Li Yan gently fiddled with the tea. We are all under the supervision of the little governor.
The Lord's subordinates listen to orders. Have you ever seen him treat one person favorably but not another? How have you ever treated us badly? Don't be arrogant or impatient. We will see the result in a few days."
Everyone understood what he said, and the anger in their hearts gradually subsided. After all, the military parade is about rewards based on merit. Maybe the smaller ones are those who get promoted. The so-called promotion and making a fortune, people who are promoted are ranked first, so they should get more supplies. That’s even more exciting.
"What General Li said is absolutely true. The Factory Supervisor has always been a bowl of water. He has already made up his mind how much he should receive according to how much effort he has made. We will find out in a few days. There is no need to lose your identity in this quarrel. "As he said this, he glanced at Huang Degong, obviously sarcastic at him.
Huang Degong opened his mouth to curse, but was pulled by Zhou Yuji. Liu Zeqing continued: "Maybe we took advantage before, but now hey, we know how easy it is to take advantage of the little governor!"
"Why, you took advantage and acted like a good boy!" Huang Degong snorted, Liu Zeqing smiled bitterly and shook his head, signaling Liu Liangzuo to continue.
"We have reached an agreement with the young governor. We will be self-sufficient for three years. The court will not release food and salary. If any of you still feel that we are taking advantage, how about we exchange it?"
As soon as Liu Liangzuo said this, everyone was surprised, even Li Yan was surprised, and secretly sighed in his heart, the little eunuch's methods were far more powerful than he thought.
In the imperial city, Chang Yu exited the Qianqing Palace and took a long breath. He was about to leave the palace and return to the Yamen. He was stopped by someone, and it was the palace maid Linglong who came out.
Chang Yu was about to say hello to this little rich woman when he saw Linglong hurriedly walking toward Cining Palace in the west with her head lowered. He knew that she was looking for him to whisper to avoid being noticed, so he walked over there slowly as if nothing had happened. .
Cining Palace was the residence of the noble concubines of the former dynasty, as well as the residence of several sisters-in-law of Emperor Chongzhen. On weekdays, few people come here, so it is very secluded.
"Eunuch Chang, His Royal Highness has been grounded." There was no one in the corner, Linglong grabbed Chang Yu and was very anxious.
Chang Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He thought something had happened to his secret residence Huang Mansion, so he asked: "Is this the emperor's will?"
"No, it's the Queen." Linglong told the story about Queen Zhou going to Duanben Palace to reprimand the Crown Prince early in the morning. Chang Yu said, "This is a good thing."
"A good thing? If the prince goes out, why don't you be upset? Your Highness asked you to find you and you have to rescue him no matter what..." Linglong was anxious, Chang Yu chuckled: "Save him out? What do you think? He looks like he has been kidnapped. Can the queen tell me how much ransom will be paid before letting him go?"
"Eunuch Chang, you are still in the mood to joke at this moment, you have to think of a way!" Linglong scratched her ears anxiously.
Seeing him like this, Chang Yu stopped laughing and said, "There is nothing wrong with just letting the prince be quiet for two days. He has been in and out frequently in the past few days and his mind has become unstable. It is not a good thing for him in adolescence."
Adolescence? Linglong is confused.
Chang Yu did not explain, but suddenly asked: "Do you know who the Crown Princess is?"
"The Crown Princess Ning is the daughter of Ning Hong," Linglong thought for a moment and said, but she didn't know what her name was.
Chang Yu exclaimed: "The prince's marriage should be coming soon!"
Ah, Linglong became even more anxious: "Eunuch Chang, this is what His Royal Highness is most afraid of. He said that the current national crisis is at the forefront, and he has no desire to get married at all due to the injustice among the rebels and thieves..."
Chang Yu's head immediately got big. Zhu Cihong and Zhu Yasuo were really brothers and sisters. They were extremely opposed to early marriage in their hearts. Princess Kunxing begged him in vain and finally messed up the marriage. Could it be that she would help Zhu Cihong do it again? , if Emperor Chongzhen knew about it, he would be so angry that he would be killed.
"I will talk to His Highness the Crown Prince about this when I have time. You can go back and tell him first. You will be satisfied in a few days."
"Then please leave it to Eunuch Chang." Linglong breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that once Chang Yu agreed, he would have his own way. He looked around and cupped Chang Yu's hands, then hurriedly wanted to leave, but he shrank his head again when he looked around.
return.
Chang Yu saw her expression changed drastically and asked in a low voice, "Who is nearby?"
"Queen," Linglong put her finger to her lips, signaling Chang Yu to be silent.
Chang Yu quietly looked around and saw several people strolling not far away. Among them was the graceful figure of Queen Zhou, and there was a little boy beside her.
"That is His Highness Prince Yong, who was born to Concubine Tian. After Concubine Tian passed away, she was raised and taught by the Queen herself. A loving mother and a filial son are highly praised by the Emperor..." Linglong whispered beside her.
A loving mother and a filial son? Chang Yu chuckled.
Wherever there are people, there are rivers and lakes, and wherever there are rivers and lakes, there are disputes. The disputes in the emperor's harem are even more intense. Anyone who has watched palace battle dramas knows how fierce it is.
But to be honest, in the Chongzhen Dynasty, the harem disputes were really ordinary. This largely depended on the environment at the time. The family and country were in turmoil, and Chongzhen did not have much energy to indulge in women. There were few beauties in the harem, except Zhou Zhou.
The queens are Concubine Yuan and Concubine Tian, and there are two other unknown concubines.
Empress Zhou has a strict and generous temperament, and she is neither evil nor evil. Concubine Yuan Gui is humble. Only Concubine Tian is pampered and spoiled, but it is not particularly excessive. Therefore, the harem is calm, and there is no fight over the establishment of the heir apparent. Concubine Yuan Gui
The daughter had no children. Although Tian Guifei had several children, most of them died young. Only the Yongwang Zhu Cixiang remained. Moreover, Tian Guifei had died of illness and no one could compete with Zhu Cixiang. (Emperor Chongzhen had seven sons, but he only has three sons at present. The rest all died in infancy. The crown prince Zhu Cixiang
They are only fifteen years old, and the other two are still half-grown brats)
Perhaps what Emperor Chongzhen wanted to see most was not a kind mother and a filial son, but what Empress Zhou wanted to see most was a kind father and a filial son.