At the Qianqing Gate, Wang Jiayan was summoned to the palace to meet the emperor. Emperor Chongzhen saw that his face looked tired and gave him tea and a seat. Wang Jiayan was flattered and thanked him repeatedly.
"Tell me everything that happened outside the city during the day. Where are the Qing troops at this time?" This was what Emperor Chongzhen was thinking about all day long.
Wang Jiayan cleared his voice and asked him to speak loudly: The fourth battalion of Dongchang was training and sharpening its troops. They divided their troops into several groups to hunt down the Qing army's detective horses around the capital. Once they were thirty or forty miles away, they encountered dozens of Tatar soldiers and surrounded them and annihilated them. The Tatar soldiers are fierce and ordinary people are no match for them, but with the Fourth Battalion of Dongchang in charge, how can they be allowed to be arrogant?
With a large number of people and the fourth battalion of Dongchang in charge, the morale was so high that the North Road even rushed to Shunyi... In one afternoon, they slaughtered all directions and returned to the army in the evening, killing more than a hundred Tatars.
Emperor Chongzhen was overjoyed when he heard this. He didn't care if he sent more troops, but he would be happy as long as he killed the Tatars.
However, this happiness did not last for long, and then Wang Jiayan reported the military situation: Ma Ke's men were beaten head-on by the Tatars in Pinggu and returned to Changping. The road to the east from Tangtong was full of troubles and they encountered a Tatar army when they arrived in Pinggu. They were exhausted and had no intention of fighting. Fortunately, The Tatar soldiers entered the city and held the city behind closed doors. While the Tatars besieged the city, they sent out troops to plunder.
"What's going on in Shunyi County? Didn't your troops encounter the Tatar army when they arrived in Shunyi?" Chongzhen asked with a frown.
Wang Jiayan nodded hard: "We met across the city but didn't fight."
Emperor Chongzhen was shocked: "We really encountered one, why didn't we fight..." He felt regretful as he said it. Why didn't he fight? Why didn't he have a few tricks? It's okay for these green melons to bully the small ones and hunt down the small ones. Fighting against someone else's main force is too much because one's own side has too many heads.
Wang Jiayan looked slightly embarrassed: "When I entered Shunyi County more than ten miles away, I wanted to go to the city for a walk, but I had to report that the main force of more than 10,000 Tatars was resting for more than ten miles north of Shunyi City. The Gongzi Camp led by the team was several After a brief discussion, the father-in-law ordered to return to the capital... Your Majesty, the men and horses in the Beijing camp led by me at that time were only scattered in four directions and traveled thirty or forty miles..."
"Stop talking, I know." Chongzhen interrupted him: "No one in the whole court can go beyond Chang Yu when it comes to marching and fighting. Why did he say that you can just obey orders and act?"
Then Wang Jiayan was dismissed and Chang Yu was summoned into the palace.
Too many things happened in one afternoon. The officers and soldiers outside the city made gratifying hunting results, and the city was almost overturned by Wu Mengming's enthusiasm. However, these did not affect the little governor Chang Yu of Dongchang from sleeping. He really slept. Wake up naturally.
In the evening, he got up to wash up. Fang San brought delicious food. Chunxiang reported various intelligences beside him. Chang Yu listened while eating. After hearing the news, the Qing army repelled Ma Ke on the west road and approached Changping, and surrounded Tang Tong on the east road in Pinggu. , when Shunyi got off the road, his face was expressionless. Chunxiang shouted anxiously: "Brother, you are already talking about it, how can you still eat it?"
Chang Yu raised his head and glanced at Chunxiang, and laughed: "I'm hungry. When the Tatars come, I have to eat enough to have the strength to fight. Okay, let's talk about something in the city."
"What's going on in the city? Oh my gosh, it's incredible." Chunxiang told the story about the Octopus Chamber of Commerce teaming up with dozens of merchants to raise donations and Wu Mengming staged a stage show to use public opinion and morality to kidnap nobles to donate money. Chang Yu almost laughed when he heard this. In tears: "I have always liked this guy Wu Mengming. Being greedy for money will lead to trouble."
Chunxiang also smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I thought he was just a money-loving villain before, but now I know something is going to happen. Brother, do you know that this guy really goes from door to door asking for money, and he can't even say a word less about the amount. Whoever doesn't give it means he doesn't give him face. If he doesn't give face to anyone, he will make trouble in whose house. A dignified commander of the Jinyi Guards has become a rogue, but no one dares to take care of it."
Chang Yu shook his head and laughed: "He is not the commander now, he is Wu Mengming. If he were the commander, the memorials carved by the big guys in the court would fill the Qianqing Palace. The more rogue he is, the worse those people will be." There is nothing we can do against him."
While they were talking, a palace eunuch came to the Yamen: "Eunuch Chang, the emperor has summoned you to the palace."
In the Qianqing Palace, Chang Yu stood with his hands tied. Emperor Chongzhen asked Wang Chengen to move a stool for him. After several refusals, Chang Yu sat down. Emperor Chongzhen forced a smile and asked, "Did you sleep well?"
"I have been too tired recently, please forgive me." Chang Yu quickly stood up and said, Chongzhen smiled slightly: "I know you are tired, and I don't mean to blame you." He waved his hand to signal Chang Yu to sit down and said, "According to the latest information, Tatar Zi moved south from Miyun to first occupy Huairou, and then divided his troops into three groups to enter the three counties of Changping, Pinggu, and Shunyi. I am afraid that the army will approach the city early tomorrow morning, so why do you stand still?"
"With leisure waiting for work, the officers and soldiers in the capital cannot be reused..." Chang Yu told him his overall plan. Chongzhen was silent for a while and sighed: "You are planning to sacrifice several counties in the capital to play this game."
"Your Majesty, the Tatars have entered the customs several times, and each time they have not lingered for several months and half a year, poisoning countless prefectures. It is clear at a glance which ones are bigger and which ones are smaller. What's more, our troops are not strong enough at the moment, so it is a bad idea to go head-on. We can only chase, block, and intercept them. The losses should be kept to a minimum," Chang Yu explained patiently.
Emperor Chongzhen sighed: "I got up and walked to the window. Every plant, every tree, every child, every citizen is dear to my heart. I feel sad to lose it, but I also know that some things are unavoidable. I don't mean to blame. I am afraid that this is the time when we are marching and fighting." No one in Ming Dynasty can compare with you, just do what you have to do, I believe in you!"
The words "I believe in you" almost made Chang Yu burst into tears. He worked so hard to wash, pee, wash, sew, and mend for what? It's not for the Ming Dynasty, and it's not for your old Zhu family. With Chongzhen? In a word, no matter how hard you work, it's worth it.
"It doesn't matter if you sit back and wait for the rabbit, or you can wait for the work. At this time, the Tatars are just around the corner. Are you watching them show off their power outside the city? And when will the reinforcements from Zhou Yujihuang's victory arrive? Why is there no news from the south? What about the intruder? Have you escaped from the encirclement?" Chongzhen looked impatient as he spoke.
Chang Yu stood up and reassured: "Everything is under control. The fastest reinforcements have arrived fifty miles away to rest. As for the intruders, they can only do their best to obey fate. Moreover, he has already ordered Liu Liangzuo, who was wandering in Henan, to go north to intercept them. , even if the intruder gets through Gao Jie's level, there is still another level ahead, and the journey home, which is a thousand miles away, cannot be easy for him, and he will have to peel off his skin even if he doesn't die."
"As for the Tatars, they will arrive at the city as soon as tomorrow." Chang Yu chuckled: "How can we raise money if we don't come to the city? Does the emperor want a few thin noodles, or money?"
"I want money" Chongzhen was very decisive, but his mood was still not so smooth.
"A troubled autumn, a troubled autumn." Sometimes Emperor Chongzhen really wanted to point his fingers at the sky and curse, "What have I offended you for? What happened to you in the Ming Dynasty? You have to cause so many troubles. In the winter, it is so cold that it suffocates and freezes to death and frostbite, and in the summer, there is thousands of miles of drought." Harvests are lost, people are dying of hunger all over the land, plague is raging, locusts are infested, there is a rebellion by thieves, and the invasion of Tatars, who can bear it?
Seeing the sad look on his face, Chang Yu couldn't help but comfort him: "Your Majesty, you don't look well. You must get more rest. You and the officials should take care of civil affairs and military affairs. As long as the ministers are alive, no matter whether it is Li Zicheng or Zhang Xianzhong, , or that Dorgon will sooner or later one day carry their dog heads and hang them on the top of the city for you to see."
Chongzhen beamed with joy when he heard this: "I am waiting for this day." Then he sighed: "Although the military is urgent, the civil affairs are also in a hurry. Drought and locust plagues continue in various places. The plague is raging in Shanxi, Hebei, and the capital, and several prefectures are affected by war.
I really can’t bear how to resettle the displaced people.”
The drought locust plague depends on the weather. These days, drought relief is just a slogan. After all, there is no mechanized digging of wells, canals and water diversion in later generations, and there are no pesticides to control pests. Relying on manpower alone will undoubtedly be of no avail.
As for the plague that makes people helpless, this thing is even worse. With the current medical conditions, treatment is impossible, only prevention and isolation.
During this period of time, the capital has been vigorously promoting environmental sanitation, building garbage stations, and killing pests and rats in public places, which has achieved good results. However, it is still impossible to prevent the spread of plague. It can only be isolated immediately after discovery to minimize the infection.
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