Beijing City, in the Imperial Study Room.

Emperor Chongzhen, wearing a coarse cloth dragon robe, was furious after listening to the statements of Pei Lun, a hundred households of the Jinyiwei and Jiang Zhi'e, the general bannerman, and was immediately furious.

Hong Chengchou's defeat in the army destroyed 130,000 elite Ming troops, which made the Ming Dynasty completely passive in the war with the Qing Dynasty.

Although Hong Chengchou was not dead and was trapped in Songshan, Chongzhen no longer had the ability to rescue Hong Chengchou.

For this reason, Emperor Chongzhen could only announce the news of Hong Chengchou's death in advance with tears in his eyes.

This made Chongzhen very unwilling to admit that the Battle of Songjin was failed, and naturally he was unwilling to admit that it was his several edicts that ordered Hong Chengchou to "advance the troops in an order". He also sent Ma Shaoyu, the head of the Ministry of War, and Zhang Ruolin, the doctor, to urge the war to begin, causing Hong Chengchou's army to go forward, with the front being more important than the back being less important, and was captured by Huang Taiji and eventually defeated.

Chongzhen thought he was wronged, and Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War, who also asked for a quick battle, and Zhou Yanru, the chief assistant, were very frightened.

According to the emperor's habit, at this time, we must find someone to take the blame.

The two of them also felt wronged, and they supported the quick decision, which was a helpless move.

The north was corrupt, and the imperial court's money and food were transported from the south. The Ming Dynasty's treasury was empty and could not support Hong Chengchou and the 130,000 Ming troops to fight steadily. If it was dragged down, the supply in the rear could not keep up, so the Ming army could only retreat to Shanhaiguan. Therefore, the two could only ask Hong Chengchou to fight as soon as possible.

Now that the battle is lost, we naturally have to find the reason. The two of them are trembling, afraid that the emperor will kill them and will be punished.

At this time, the two knelt in the study. After listening to Pei Lun’s statement, they couldn’t help but turn their heads and look at each other.

As a big boss in the court, even though the Donglin Party is spread all over the government and the opposition, he is still favored by the emperor, joins the cabinet and serves as prime ministers, and controls the big bosses of the court, naturally they are masters of political struggles.

Zhou Yanru couldn't help but feel very happy and said to himself: "Gao Huan is such a good comrade!"

The two looked at each other and had an idea. Chen Shangshu immediately turned the blame: "Your Majesty, the failure of the Songjin War is the key to the lack of money and food in the court, and the inability to support the long battle between the commander Hong. His Majesty had no choice but to urge the Hongdu Division to start a war. Previously, Henan and Shandong bandits and local bandits made chaos, which affected the grain transportation. The grain transportation was consumed too much. The minister suggested transporting money and grain from sea, but was rejected by Hou Xun and others. If the sea transportation could be restored and the court could mobilize Jiangnan money and grain, there would be no such defeat."

From the 12th year of Chongzhen, Shen Tingyang, the secretary of the cabinet, began to write a letter, suggesting that the court resume shipping to solve the problem of money and grain in Liaodong, but it was opposed by smuggling maritime merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang and the grain transportation yamen.

It was not until June of the 13th year that the court and the government reached a compromise with the support of Chongzhen and the cabinet. Shen Tingyang was added as the doctor of the Ministry of Revenue, leading two ships carrying hundreds of stones of grain from Huai'an to sea and transported the grain to Tianjin.

Originally, the shipping of grains in the sea could reduce losses and facilitate transportation for the Ming Dynasty’s money and grain transportation, but due to the opposition of interest groups, it could have set sail directly from Shanghai, Chongming, Hangzhou and other places, and changed to having to go to the canal first, transport it to Huaian, then out of Huaian from Huaian and head to Tianjin.

Moreover, there were only two of the first ships, which almost meant that there were none.

This year, the national treasury was empty and the money and food were in a hurry. Chen Xinjia was anxious and proposed again. However, the Donglin Party gave him a move, which was to remove the firewood from the cauldron, squeezed Shen Tingyang out of the Ministry of Revenue, and was promoted to the Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple.

At this time, navigation is a technical job, and people who know navigation need to be executed.

Chen Tingyang was from Chongming, and his ancestors were sand-run ships. He was very proficient in inland river shipping and sea transportation. He understood the pros and cons, so he wrote a letter to ask for sea water transportation.

Now the Donglin Party members drove Chen Tingyang from the Ministry of Revenue, which was in charge of money and grain, to Guanglu Temple, which manages sacrifices, banquets, and meals. The officials who took over did not understand the shipping of sea, so they let the shipping of grains be kept at the discussion.

Chen Xinjia's words appeared to excuse the emperor, but actually excuse himself.

If the Donglin Party had not stopped the court and could have transported money and food from sea, His Majesty would not have to urge him to start a war.

In his subconscious mind, Chongzhen was about to find a scapegoat for the failure of the Songjin war. After hearing Chen Xinjia's words, he immediately opened up his mind for him. "Yes, the fundamental reason for Songjin's defeat was not that I urged Hong Aiqing, but that the money and grain were not transported in time. This was all because Hou Xun and others hindered the shipping of grain."

Zhou Yanru glanced at Chongzhen's expression and knew that Chen Xinjia's shot had worked, so he immediately added a new word: "Your Majesty, the enemy forces in the pass have been suppressed by Ding Qirui, Gao Mingheng, and Gao Huan. Ding Qirui defeated Zhang Xianzhong in a row, and Gao Huan also suffered several defeats in Henan. However, Hou Xun suddenly recommended Wang Qiaonian to go to the Henan governor. I originally thought that Hou Xun recommended Wang Qiaonian just to compete for merit. Today, I heard Pei Baihu's statement and realized that this was not the case."

Speaking of this, Zhou Yanru suddenly kowtowed with grief and anger: "Your Majesty. I want to participate in Hou Xun, Wang Qiaonian, to raise the bandits and respect themselves, and to seek personal gain, he ignores the court's country! When Wang Qiaonian arrived in Henan, he did not want to eliminate the bandits, but instead restrained Gao Huan and slandered the loyal ministers and colluded with the enemy. In fact, he acted as the umbrella of the Hou family, secretly saved the trespasses and earned silver and profit. It was Wang Qiaonian and Hou Xun who interfered with it, which greatly boosted the momentum of the bandits. If there were no two bandits who secretly helped the bandits, the court might have already wiped out the bandits. And the Central Plains must have, the court could have had the power to deal with Jiannu and relieve the siege of Jinzhou. This failure of the rescue was because of Henan's suppression of the bandits, which divided the court's troops and money and food!"

After a roundabout way, Zhou Yanru successfully pushed the responsibility of Song Jin's defeat to Wang Qiaonian. Hou Xun secretly broke through and failed to suppress the enemy.

After hearing what the two of them said, Chongzhen became more and more angry. If the court quelled the thieves and transported food and wages from the sea, he could concentrate his efforts to fight the Battle of Songjin, and he would have enough money and food to supply the front line, and the Ming army would not be defeated.

Chongzhen said with a gloomy face and angrily: "Transfer my order and immediately arrest Wang Qiaonian and be imprisoned and taken to Beijing for trial. I want to execute him Lingchi! As for Hou Xun, let him think about his mistakes behind closed doors and wait for Wang Qiaonian to explain clearly before jailing him."

Hou Xun is a big boss in Donglin and has a wide connection in the court. Although Chongzhen hated him in his heart, he did not dare to touch him rashly.

Chongzhen was not a hero, and he could not suppress the civil servant group. There was no sufficient reason and he would inevitably suffer a fierce counterattack from the Donglin Party.

Zhou Yanru and Chen Xinjia were happy when they heard the words. Zhou Yanru hurriedly said, "I obey the order!"

Chongzhen let out a long sigh, waved his hand tiredly, and asked, "Two beloved ministers, Hong beloved ministers sacrificed their lives for their country. Most Chinese officials in the court are not trustworthy. I can only rely on two beloved ministers in the future."

When Zhou Yanru and Chen Xinjia heard this, they were both in a panic. History told them that any minister who was trusted and relied on by the emperor in front of them would either be killed by him, or be shocked, exhausted, or died of battle. In short, no one of them would have a good ending.

The two kowtowed in fear, and then Chongzhen asked again: "Two beloved ministers, now Songjin has been defeated, and the bandits in the pass are becoming more and more intense. Do you have any strategies to teach me?"

Zhou Yanru, who was still full of righteous indignation just now, was immediately unable to stand up and had no intention of offering advice.

Chen Xinjia, who saw that he didn't speak, saw that the atmosphere in the imperial study was terrible and afraid that the emperor would get angry, finally saluted: "Your Majesty, I think that at present, I will first give Gao Huan the general of Henan, and order Gao Mingheng to take over the Henan suppression of the enemy in the place of Wang Qiaonian, and then use Sun Chuanting as the governor of the three sides to go out to Shaanxi to attack the thieves with Gao Huan and Gao Mingheng. Secondly~"

Chongzhen couldn't help but urge him to ask, "What's next?"

Chen Xinjia gritted his teeth, "Secondly, I think I should discuss peace with Jiannu, wait for the imperial court to eliminate the bandits, and then fight with them."

Chongzhen stretched his eyebrows when he heard the words, but Zhou Yanru looked at Chen Xinjia with complicated eyes, and admired him arises naturally, not wanting to be as good as Old Chen.

However, Chen Xinjia didn't know that today's suggestion would soon usher in a fierce counterattack from Donglin, which would lead to his tragic death at Caishikou.

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Chapter completed!