"Have you ever captured that intruder?" Chang Yu hurriedly entered the palace and before he could greet him, Chongzhen asked impatiently. At this time, the Qing soldiers were right under his nose, but he was still thinking about this serious problem, which showed that he hated Li Zicheng.
How unforgettable.
Chang Yu sighed slightly and shook his head slightly: "I am incompetent. If I can stay for another ten days and a half, maybe, but... now I can only do my best and listen to fate."
Emperor Chongzhen couldn't hide his disappointment after hearing the news, and finally sighed: "You have tried your best, you have done a good job." He was immediately offered a seat, and the eunuch next to him quickly sent a chair. Chang Yu hurriedly refused: "
The little ones don’t dare!”
Although the ministers of the Ming Dynasty did not always kneel when they went to court to discuss affairs like the Qing Dynasty, they rarely sat on the bench. Except for some meritorious officials or veterans, everyone had to stand.
However, at this time, Chongzhen went to court informally to discuss politics at Huangji Gate, and those summoned were all ministers who were close to the cabinet, and they all had seats.
He offered a seat. If it was a private occasion, he would have accepted it. But how could Chang Yu dare to sit now? The reason was very simple. Who were the people next to him? The big bosses of the cabinet. Who was he? The emperor's slaves, eunuchs,
Although he had great military exploits, eunuchs were not allowed to participate in government affairs according to the ancestral instructions, and those big bosses could not accept being treated as equals with a eunuch.
Seeing that Li Banghua and others' faces turned dark, Chang Yu knew how to protect one's self wisely. He did not want to follow Wei Zhongxian's high profile and make everyone shout for beatings.
"You have done great work in suppressing thieves. I will give you a seat. You can sit down." Seeing Chang Yu's tired face, Chongzhen felt pity for him. He ignored the fact that the faces of Li Banghua and others beside him had turned from black to blue, and he was extremely insistent.
"Your Majesty, the Qing army is in danger of entering the capital at this time. There are still many unknown things that need to be clarified. How did the Qing army enter the capital without anyone noticing? Do you have a topographic map of the vicinity of the capital..." Chang
Yu Jian Chongzhen insisted on offering him a seat. If he refused again, he would lose face, so he quickly changed the subject. This move immediately won the favor of Li Banghua and others. This eunuch was much better than Wei Zhongxian.
This topic really diverted Chongzhen's attention, and the eunuch immediately sent him a map. Chang Yu spread out to search for the location of Gubei. Next to him, Wang Jiayan told him the latest information: it had been snowing in the north for days, and the Qing soldiers and cavalry were moving fast.
There were many local guards who did not respond in a hurry, and they did not report until Chengde. By the time the imperial court learned that the Tatars were only at Gubeikou...
Chang Yu looked at the map carefully. Gubeikou is directly north of Miyun, and Chengde is northeast of Miyun. The fastest route for the Qing army to enter the Pass should be from Chengde directly south to Xinglong County and enter the Pass via Qiangziling or Qingshan Pass. In the eleventh year of Chongzhen,
The Qing army entered the Pass for the fourth time from here. But this time, why did the Qing army go straight from Chengde to the west and then go to Luanping County and then go south to enter the Pass through Gubeikou?
Wang Jiayan guessed that it was because of the lessons learned from the past that the Ming army rebuilt Qiangziling and other passes and stationed heavy troops, so the Qing army unexpectedly broke in from the weakly defended Gubeikou...
It seemed that the intelligence was very detailed. Chang Yu knew that the Qing army had coveted the Ming Dynasty for a long time. Over the past decades, they had established a large intelligence network in the Ming Dynasty. They knew everything inside and out, and no slightest sign of trouble could escape their eyes.
Chang Yu frowned and remained silent while staring at the map. Emperor Chongzhen and a group of cabinet bosses stared at him closely and did not dare to take a breath, especially Li Banghua and other cabinet bosses. Although they strongly opposed eunuchs' participation in politics, they were worried that another eunuch would appear.
Wei Zhongxian knew very well in his heart that the situation at hand was critical and had reached a point of imminence. The only one who could put out the fire was the little eunuch in front of him. In terms of marching and fighting, they were all unmatched. He could only brainwash himself: This is not participating in politics, but fighting in the government.
Two different things...
After a long time, Chang Yu took a long breath, and Emperor Chongzhen hurriedly asked: "Is there any way to deal with it?"
Chang Yu smiled bitterly: "Just fight when we come. What other countermeasures can we take?"
Chongzhen was stunned: "Fight? How to fight?"
Li Banghua also said: "Eunuch Chang, the number of troops that Gyeonggi can mobilize at this time is only 20,000 from Tang Tong and Ma Ke. I'm afraid they won't be able to defeat..."
Chang Yu couldn't help but rolled his eyes, saying that if he dared to fight with an army of 100,000 people, he would be able to defeat them. In the past few times when the Qing army entered the pass, the Ming army did not have more than 100,000 troops to act as bodyguards.
, escorting the Qing army along the way to rob, kill and set fire. Of course, I couldn't say this directly, so I said: "There are still tens of thousands of people in the capital camp in the city..."
"The capital camp cannot be moved." Before he could finish his words, Wang Jiayan interrupted hastily: "The capital camp is used to defend the city. The capital city is too important to be moved."
Chang Yu smiled slightly: "The Qing army will not attack the city."
Everyone was startled and looked puzzled, wondering why he was so sure.
"The Qing army suffered a disastrous defeat in the battle of Ningyuan. Not only did they abandon their helmets and armor, they also almost threw away all their siege equipment. It was reported that their more than 30,000 troops were almost all cavalry. It can be seen that they did not carry siege equipment, so it is concluded that he did not carry any siege equipment.
He knows how to attack the city, and he is only here to plunder!" Chang Yu said firmly.
Everyone raised their eyebrows in thought, and then nodded in agreement. Because this matter of only plundering but not attacking the city has happened before. For example, when entering the pass for the second time, they only looted but did not attack. Even when they entered the pass for the third time, they circled around the capital and had no intention of attacking.
.
Hearing that the Qing army did not attack the city, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and looked a little calmer. Chang Yu suddenly felt a chill. People's lives are not their lives. What kind of mentality is this? People are breaking into houses and robbing them as long as they don't rob them.
The rest of the inner government is just casual? How about thanking God?
Fortunately, Emperor Chongzhen didn't think so, and gritted his teeth: "The Tatars are so determined that they attacked twice in a few months. Chang Yu, please break their legs for me!"
The ministers are feeling sad, but come on, if they don't attack the city, just burn incense and break their legs. Why are you beating them?
Chang Yu clasped his fists and received the order: "Now that I'm here, if you don't bend your waist, then you will bend your legs."
Chongzhen was very excited: "You can mobilize the people and horses of the capital, including the capital camp, and the personal guards. I want you to beat them hard, break their bones, and break their courage. Are you sure?"
"No"! Chang Yu said calmly, Chongzhen almost spit out a mouthful of old blood, and the officials also changed their expressions.
Unexpectedly, Chang Yu smiled slightly: "When we marched west to Taiyuan, when we left the border in the north, and when we marched south to Baoding, we were not sure."
Chongzhen smiled and took a long breath: "You boy, you have learned to talk a lot." The faces of the ministers also softened, and the atmosphere in the palace became less tense.
"Eunuch Chang, why did the Tatars suddenly go south and enter the pass just after their defeat outside the pass?" asked the second assistant Wu Gang, and everyone was puzzled.
Chang Yu was silent for a moment. He guessed that there had been internal strife in the Qing Dynasty just after Dorgon came to power. He originally wanted to use this entry to consolidate his position. Unexpectedly, he was lured to Ningyuan by Chang Yu, but it was a disastrous defeat. He knew that he would return to the army.
A fight is inevitable, and it is very likely that he will step down because of it. He is unwilling to mobilize the people at hand to make a last ditch effort.
Another possibility is that Dorgon got the information that the bandit army in the south was approaching the capital, and the capital's defense was empty, so he took advantage of it. And the summer harvest is not far away now, which is a good time to let horses and pastures rob. In the past, he only needed to take a stroll.
The gains in the circle are astonishing. This dispatch of troops can be regarded as a failure. It not only solved the crisis but also consolidated the position, killing two birds with one stone.
Apart from this, Chang Yu really couldn't think of any other reason why Dorgon would grit his teeth and send troops to enter the pass despite being seriously injured.
After saying this, everyone in the palace nodded, secretly saying that this little eunuch was really thoughtful.
Since the Qing soldiers are not attacking the city, they will give him a good fight and cripple him in the Gyeonggi area to prevent him from causing harm to other places. Chongzhen has reason to believe that with Chang Yu leading the army, the Ming army will never appear in the previous days.
Like this time, they fled when they heard the news, and hundreds of thousands of troops only dared to watch from a distance and did not dare to fight.
It's just that the Qing army's cavalry is invincible, and field battles are what it's best at. The number of troops in the capital is only what Tang Tong's thousands of men and horses can barely handle, and the rest are not worth mentioning. As for the Beijing camp and the emperor's personal guards, I'm afraid their swords are useless.
It's rusty, and it's no different from a vegetable on the battlefield.
But even so, Emperor Chongzhen still had confidence in Chang Yu, because he had no choice, and because this little eunuch gave him too many surprises.
Wang Jiayan was the first to leave. He was the governor of the Beijing camp. Chang Yu wanted to use troops to bear the brunt of the attack, so he was busy mobilizing troops and signaling. Chang Yu also resigned after half an hour. Emperor Chongzhen looked at his back until he disappeared, and then he sighed and left.
He glanced at the ministers in the cabinet: "You are using the ancestral teachings to restrict me and say that eunuchs cannot interfere in politics. You are just afraid that they will become the next Wei Zhongxian. But when the national crisis is approaching, everyone in this court can share my worries and cover up the great Ming Dynasty.
Who would he take to protect him from the wind and rain? Let’s see if he looks a bit like Wei Zhongxian?”
Li Banghua and others looked at each other in confusion, with mixed feelings in their hearts. The little eunuch had all the power that Wei Zhongxian had, and he also had the abilities that Wei Zhongxian had, and even surpassed them. In terms of fighting, even Wei Zhongxian couldn't catch up with him.
But Wei Zhongxian was not as arrogant and domineering as Wei Zhongxian, nor was he able to cover the sky with one hand. At that time, Wei Zhongxian also trained nearly ten thousand eunuchs for his own use to contain and attack civil servant groups, and to intervene in government affairs of both the government and the public, but the training of young eunuchs
The eunuch army was dragged out to kill the enemy and defend the country. Thinking about it this way, this little eunuch is really good!
Emperor Chongzhen looked at the expressions of the ministers and secretly smiled in his heart. How could you nerds see through Chang Yu's methods? In fact, Wei Zhongxian's tricks of participating in politics, amassing money, etc. have not fallen behind. Speaking of the recent changes in officialdom, who is behind various civil affairs measures?
There is no shadow of him, but Wei Zhongxian is in the light, and this guy is fueling the flames in the dark, unwilling to come out of the water even if he kills him. (To be continued)