After Zhang Mingzhen and the Kaifeng garrison re-opened the food route, the humanitarian relief transfer and food relief in the following days are nothing worth elaborating.
Li Zicheng's troops had already retreated far away, and they had no idea that the Ming Dynasty would come to rescue the people in Kaifeng City, so it was impossible for them to think of killing them.
In Li Zicheng's eyes, from the moment he broke through the water, he thought that the whole city of Kaifeng was full of dead people. He didn't want to rob the treasures that were scattered out of the Zhou Palace, so he just thought that they were all fed to the dogs.
In addition to saving people, Zhang Mingzhen also did two other things immediately. One was to report the news to Chen Shuren, and the other was to jointly sign Gao Mingheng and the King of Zhou at the same time, and immediately reported the victory to Chongzhen, confirming that Li Zicheng was completely gone.
…
A few days passed by in a blink of an eye, and it was November 22, three days later, in Beijing.
In fact, Chongzhen had already learned from the normal Ministry of War reports two days ago that Shen Shuren seemed to have defeated Li Zicheng's army near Chen County.
Although there was no more detailed information, it really made Chongzhen feel relaxed for two days.
The reason why the news of the Chenxian War was delivered only two days earlier than the Kaifeng siege relief was because not everything in the Chenxian War was settled. Shen Shuren was a humble man, so there was no need to rush the six hundred miles.
.
Subsequently, I got in touch with Gao Mingheng and the King of Zhou, and after confirming that the siege of Kaifeng was relieved, everything was finalized, so I rushed to Liubaili.
Therefore, although the actual time of the two events occurred was five or six days apart, the time difference in the time when the news was sent to the capital was only two days apart.
When the news of Chen County's victory first arrived, Chongzhen was excited for a whole day, always dreaming about "when will further accurate information be sent."
So much so that he couldn't sleep until midnight that day, and asked Wang Cheng'en to call Chen Xinjia into the palace in the middle of the night to report to him, asking him "why he hasn't had more detailed military information all day long."
At that time, Chen Xinjia was speechless and had to patiently explain to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, Chen County is more than three hundred miles away from Kaifeng. A normal march can take six or seven days. Even if it is an urgent march without food and grass, it will take four or five days.
The area around Kaifeng has been repeatedly looted and looted by intruders, so it is certainly impossible to raise food on the spot. Therefore, if Shen Shuren's troops want to advance, they must bring their own food and grass. This is still a state of marching all the way without fighting. If there is still
If there is a battle, such as when a bandit gathers the defeated army and fights again, it will be even more protracted..."
After hearing this explanation, Chongzhen realized that he was too impatient, so he secretly warned himself to stay calm for the time being, so as not to make his subordinates feel that he was not a king.
In order to cover up his anxiety, he also temporarily asked Chen Xinjia about the progress of some other matters, such as asking him how the peace negotiations with Huang Taiji of Liaodong were going.
Chen Xinjia also said at the time that everything went smoothly and that the two parties had little disagreement on the substantive conditions. However, Huang Taiji always insisted on signing a formal peace treaty and not a private agreement to prevent Ming from committing fraud and regretting it in the future.
Of course Chongzhen couldn't accept this, and he tacitly told Chen Xinjia to think of a solution on his own. Chen Xinjia had no choice but to retreat in despair——
As an aside, historically, Chen Xinjia should have been dead for almost two months at this moment, because at the end of September in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, he should have been criticized by the Manchu officials for leaking secrets about the peace talks with the Qing Dynasty.
, said that the emperor had surrendered his power and humiliated the country. In the end, Chongzhen could only say, "This is what Chen Xinjia deceived the emperor and betrayed his master by talking to Huang Taiji privately." He asked Xu Shiqi, the Minister of Punishment, to discuss the crime with Chen Xinjia, and finally decided to behead him.
But now, it is obviously due to some butterfly effects. For example, in March, at the final stage of the Songjin War, the Ming army Zhang Mingzhen and Zheng Chenggong's troops achieved additional victories, annihilating two fully armored soldiers of the Zhenghong Banner, and almost
Annihilated the Qing army and the entire Han banner,
By the way, the Ming army's great victory actually had a subtle effect, which was to make Huang Taiji's health deteriorate further. Historically, Huang Taiji actually lived until August of the 16th year of Chongzhen before he died of illness. Now it is estimated that he will
He would have died earlier. And when Huang Taiji was in poor health, the Qing army certainly did not dare to be too arrogant and had no intention of speaking to the outside world. They were all thinking about fighting for power and profit to gain chips for their own faction.
All this resulted in the Qing army's attitude towards the Ming Dynasty being slightly more subdued than at the same time in history. The process of secret negotiations was maintained more smoothly, there were no leaks for the time being, and Chen Xinjia was not dead for the time being.
If he can successfully survive this winter and finish the discussion and reward of Shen Shuren's series of great victories, it will obviously be great news for Shen Shuren -
Shen Shuren's relationship in the DPRK was mainly with Yang Sichang. After all, he himself followed Yang Sichang's route and was promoted.
After Yang Sichang died in the middle of the year, Shen Shuren was in the court, leaving only Zhou Yanru, a new friend who had been developing for less than a year, but the relationship was not very strong. Apart from that, there were only a few friends who were also members of Yang Sichang's faction.
Chen Xinjia has always been very close to Shen Shuren.
If Chen Xinjia is removed in the future, or even killed as in history, the new Minister of War will probably be a faction that is not easy to deal with. It is impossible for Shen Shuren to raid Shaolengzao to maintain the corresponding relationship, and even if it is maintained
I don't know if it will last for a full year.
Therefore, Shen Shuren must really hope that Chen Xinjia can handle his last bargaining with the court in Chen Xinjia's hands.
…
After hearing Chen Xinjia's explanation, Chongzhen secretly warned himself to be patient, so the day after the victory in the Chen County battle was reported, he did not ask if there was any updated big news all day long.
On the morning of the third day, he just had a brief moment of lust, and then forcibly drove away the concern from his mind, forcing himself to focus on handling other government affairs.
This day was not the day of the court meeting, so there was no need to go to court. Early in the morning, Chongzhen went to the Wenhua Hall to directly read the memorials, review them, and deal with the requests from the ministers. When there were very urgent matters that needed to be dealt with, the elder Ge Lao who was on duty
Scholars can also come directly to the Wenhua Hall to ask for an audience.
However, just after Chongzhen finally regained his concentration, Wang Chengen came in and announced: "Your Majesty, Chen Shangshu of the Ministry of War has asked for a meeting, saying that there is another major victory."
Chongzhen was stunned for a long time, pinched his thigh, and then called fiercely: "Come in quickly, Xuan! This guy is really unreliable. After a while, the paper said that the march would take five or six days, and now it's here.
What!"
The first half of the sentence was an instruction to Wang Chengen, and the last part was a complete murmur to himself. Wang Chengen pretended not to hear it, but felt very emotional in his heart: It is rare for His Majesty to be so happy and unexpectedly happy.
It's time.
After a while, Chen Xinjia rushed in with a red face and held the fold: "Your Majesty, forgive me! I apologize for being rude and running in the palace! The siege of Kaifeng City has been relieved! This is His Royal Highness the King of Zhou, Gao Mingheng, the governor of Henan, and Chen Shuren's subordinates
Good news on the joint venture!
Chenshu actually wiped out 200,000 enemies in total in the battle! Li Zicheng was beaten and fled back to Luoyang! According to reports from Chenshu's scouts, he seems to be preparing to flee back to Shaanxi!"
Chongzhen suddenly stood up from the throne, regardless of the pain in his thighs on the royal eucalyptus: "Bring it up quickly!"
As he said this, he actually stepped down the imperial steps in a few steps, took the memorial from Wang Chengen's hand, and unfolded it while pacing back and forth to read it.
"The intruders have their day! The intruders can also be severely injured! The temporary defeat of Yang Sichang and Sun Chuanting was just a lucky break for the intruders! The Ming Dynasty is really lucky to have Shen Shuren as a loyal minister and good general to protect him!"
Chongzhen kept breathing heavily while watching, and then noticed the part stated by the King of Zhou above, which was very sincere. He said that he was seriously ill in Kaifeng City, lacked medical treatment, and had a poor diet. His family wealth had been used to reward the army. Fortunately, the imperial court's heavenly soldiers
They repelled the intruders in time, rescued Kaifeng, and saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
In the end, of course, it is inevitable to talk about Li Zicheng's atrocities of digging up the Yellow River and describe the tragic situation in the city. King Zhou also said that he was seriously ill and died soon, so this was considered a deathbed statement. But if he could be rescued by Zhang Mingzhen, he would be able to be buried in the future.
Therefore, the body will not be soaked in the turbid current of the Yellow River.
The king of Zhou earnestly requested that if he died of illness in other places, he could be buried in Kaifeng without having to return to Kaifeng according to the ancestral system, because the feng shui around Kaifeng would not be restored within a year, and everything would definitely be covered in yellow and mud.
Speaking so sincerely, it was of course impossible for Chongzhen not to criticize, so other merit-based rewards could be discussed slowly for the time being. He first replied with a separate letter of instructions and sent it to Shouxian County to King Zhou, because King Zhou said in the memorial,
He has to evacuate along Yingchuan River with the army, and may enter Shouxian County in Huainan, which belongs to Fengyang, the central capital.
The Zhou kings are all about to die, and they are far from the central bloodline of the royal family. Of course, they will not be as worried about the negative effects of entering Fengyang as King Fu Wang Lu. If he can be buried in Fengyang Mansion after his death,
It is also the best choice after returning to Kaifeng.
After giving instructions to King Zhou, Chongzhen felt more and more indebted to Chen Shuren. After all, he not only saved Kaifeng, but also allowed King Zhou to have a good death.
Chongzhen then chatted with Chen Xinjia about merit-based rewards: "Chen Aiqing, do you think Shen Shuren should be rewarded for his military exploits this time? Should he be promoted to governor of Huguang?"
When Chen Xinjia heard this, he was also happy to see the result, but he knew that his words did not count, so he said steadily: "Your Majesty, this matter should be discussed with Mr. Zhou Ge, and the opinions of the staff will be the main one.
As far as I know, the attitude of Zhou Ge Lao and other cabinet elders before the war was that if they could win, they would be given titles, but they would be promoted to governor... Shen Shuren, who was just transferred to the governor of Huguang this year, was
The year can’t go up anymore, why not take it slow and wait until the end of the year?”
"Then just give me a title?" Chongzhen thought for a while, but was still a little unwilling, so he told Chen Xinjia to go back and think about it first, and convey it to Zhou Yanru, and we will discuss it together tomorrow.
Chen Xinjia took the order and left.
The day passed quickly, and Zhou Yanru also knew about the matter, and joined Chen Xinjia to discuss it the next day.
However, within just a day or so, another urgent message arrived from the south. It was sent urgently from Hefei, six hundred miles away, and it was a memorial of gratitude from King Zhu Changzi of Lu.
Before meeting Zhou Yanru and others, Chongzhen took the time to read what Uncle Lu Wang said. When he unfolded it, he learned that the content was also related to Chen Shuren, and he couldn't help but pay more attention to it.