The Ministry of Punishment, the official residence of Shangshu.

Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War, who was sitting in the official residence of the Minister, had a look of helplessness and indignation. He would never have imagined that this time he was sent to Xi'an Fucheng to supervise the war, but it would lead to the current outcome.

If Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai hadn't led the bandits towards Xi'an Fucheng, preparing to besiege Xi'an Fucheng, Chen Xinjia still would not have left, and would have persisted instead of returning to the capital in despair.

When the news of the fall of Xiangyang Fucheng came, Chen Xinjia didn't believe it at all. You must know that Xiangyang is an important town in Huguang. The city is tall and easy to defend and difficult to attack. Unless there are people in the city to assist, it will be impossible to capture it in a short time.

Chen Xinjia is not a straw bag. He has fought in Liaodong and wiped out bandits in Huguang area. He has certain combat experience. The suggestions he made to Hong Chengchou are completely feasible. If Xiangyang Fucheng does not fall, then the three-pronged army will encircle and suppress Zhang Xianzhong's troops.

The deployment will definitely be implemented, and at least Zhang Xianzhong can be completely defeated.

However, Xiangyang Fucheng fell, and all arrangements were in vain.

What Chen Xingjia never expected was that Zhang Xianzhong, who had captured Xiangyang Fucheng, did not stay in Fucheng for long. Taking advantage of the Sichuan general Qin Liangyu leading the white pole soldiers to enter Huguang, he quickly entered via Yicheng and Zhushan.

In Sichuan, Hong Chengchou, who summoned an army to attack Xiangyang Fucheng, found an empty city.

Zhang Xianzhong's troops, who received a large amount of supplies, entered Sichuan, did not stop in Kuizhou, and went straight into the capital of Chongqing. Sichuan was in danger.

Hong Chengchou had no choice but to urgently order Qin Liangyu to return to Sichuan and rush to the aid of Chongqing Fucheng.

At this time, news came from Shaanxi. Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai led an army towards Xi'an Fucheng. Their purpose was to attack Xi'an Fucheng. At the same time, there was even worse news. Other people entrenched in Shanxi and Henan

Many rogue bandits were ready to attack many cities.

One step was wrong, and every step was wrong. Now it was not Hong Chengchou who led the imperial army to exterminate the bandits, but Li Zicheng, Luo Rucai, Zhang Xianzhong and other leaders of the rogue bandits who mobilized Hong Chengchou and the imperial army under his command.

Chen Xinjia wrote a letter to Hong Chengchou specifically, asking about the reasons for the fall of Xiangyang Fucheng, and also asked about Hong Chengchou's next plan to exterminate the bandits. The answer he quickly received was that the fall of Xiangyang Fucheng was due to the inaction of the officials in the city and the lack of height of the sergeants stationed there.

The alert led to the bandits sneaking into the city and creating chaos. While the people were restless and rioting and fleeing outside the city, the bandits under Zhang Xianzhong entered Xiangyang Fucheng. As for the next plan to wipe out the bandits, Hong Chengchou's letter did not mention it at all.

Hong Chengchou's explanation made Chen Xinjia feel strange. It was not just a day or two before the rogue bandits attacked and coveted Xiangyang Fucheng. In the past, Xiangyang Fucheng was impregnable and the rogue bandits had no choice but how could they easily sneak into the city this time and create chaos.

Common people and merchants who enter the city need to be guided by roads. In principle, rogue bandits cannot sneak into the city.

Of course, this does not deny that the sergeants guarding the city gate were jealous of the money.

The most important thing is that if you want to create chaos in Xiangyang City, there must be a lot of bandits entering. It is possible to put one or two of the soldiers guarding the city in, but if you put dozens of people in at once, it may not be that big.

courage.

Therefore, there are great doubts about the fall of Xiangyang Fucheng.

Hong Chengchou did not mention the next battle plan to eliminate the bandits, which made Chen Xinjia very unhappy.

For these reasons, Chen Xinjia did not leave Xi'an Fucheng immediately after writing a memorial to the emperor, hoping to see Hong Chengchou and sit down face to face to have a good talk.

It's a pity that Hong Chengchou didn't give Chen Xinjia this chance at all.

Chen Xinjia left Xi'an Fucheng with great anger. He was not afraid of Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai, but felt that staying in Xi'an Fucheng would not be of much use. After all, the emperor and the court gave Hong Chengchou the power to command operations alone, and Chen Xinjia only

Being able to make suggestions but unable to make decisions, Hong Chengchou has shown a perfunctory and impatient attitude. Under such circumstances, continuing to stay in Xi'an Fucheng is tantamount to humiliating himself.

When he returned to the capital and attended the morning court, Chen Xinjia saw the emperor, but the emperor did not look at him. After the morning court, Chen Xinjia went to the side hall to report to the emperor about his trip to Xi'an Fucheng, but he was unable to enter the side hall and did not see the emperor.

.

This made Chen Xinjia extremely depressed. When he heard that the magistrate of Xiangyang Prefecture and the commander of the guards were escorted to the capital for questioning and imprisoned in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment for escaping from battle, he suddenly became excited and decided to see the prefect and the commander of the guards in person.

Ask about the real reason for the fall of Xiangyang Fucheng.

Based on his directness, Chen Xinjia believed that the fall of Xiangyang Fucheng must be related to Hong Chengchou, the governor of the five provinces. If the connection could be discovered, Chen Xinjia could impeach Hong Chengchou.

It was the emperor's order to ask Hong Chengchou to send troops to exterminate the bandits. Hong Chengchou did nothing wrong. From this aspect, Chen Xinjia could not impeach Hong Chengchou.

Zheng Sanhou, the Minister of Punishment, entered the official residence and clasped his fists at Chen Xinjia.

"Mr. Chen, there are a lot of things going on in the Criminal Department during this period, so you have been kept waiting for a long time..."

"Where is it? I came here specifically to visit Mr. Zheng today. I have something to ask for..."

...

The prison of the Ministry of Punishments was very gloomy. After Chen Xinjia entered, his body could not help but tremble.

The former magistrate of Xiangyang Prefecture and the former commander of the guards have been escorted to the interrogation room.

Chen Xinjia looked at the prefect and the commander of the guards, his eyes a little indifferent.

"Chen Xinjia, Secretary of the Ministry of Officers and Soldiers, please tell me how Xiangyang Fucheng fell..."

A quarter of an hour later, Chen Xinjia was disappointed. The reasons given by the prefect and the commander of the guards were consistent with what Hong Chengchou said. It was indeed rogue bandits who had sneaked into Xiangyang City, causing chaos at night and causing panic in the city. As a result, the city gate was blocked.

The panicked people opened fire, causing Zhang Xianzhong and his bandits to enter the city.

However, Chen Xinjia did not give up and watched the prefect speak again.

"I find it strange that Xiangyang City is very tightly guarded. How could bandits sneak into the city? Is it possible that you are usually responsible for controlling the city gates..."

The prefect and the commander of the guards who were kneeling on the ground cried out loudly, saying that the city gate had always been very strict.

"Okay, don't say this in front of me. I want to ask you, who entered Xiangyang Fucheng on the day when there was a problem. When chaos broke out in Fucheng, did you check the people who entered Fucheng?"

The prefect was stunned and didn't know how to answer, but Commander Wei spoke.

"Sir, the only people who entered Fucheng that day were more than thirty sergeants sent by Lord Hong Chengchou. They came to deliver military symbols and letters. They were all living in Yin Guest House at that time. The rest of the people who entered and left the city gate were ordinary people living in Fucheng and

Merchant..."

Chen Xinjia was stunned for a moment and immediately spoke again.

"After the city fell into chaos, where did these soldiers go?"

Commander Wei showed an angry expression on his face.

"The guilty minister rushed to the Yin Hotel as soon as possible, but who knew that none of these sergeants were missing..."

...

With the confessions of the prefect and the guard commander Hua'an, Chen Xinjia hurried back to his residence. He vaguely remembered a letter written by Song Yihe, the governor of Huguang, which mentioned the matter of the governor of the five provinces, Hong Chengchou, sending sergeants to Xiangyang Fucheng.

Within a few minutes, Chen Xinjia dug out the letter.

Opening the letter, Chen Xinjia looked at it carefully...

Soon, Chen Xinjia's face showed an expression of ecstasy.

"You can't find anything after wearing iron shoes. It takes no effort to get here. Hong Chengchou, let me see what else you have to say this time."

...

Forbidden City, side hall.

Chen Xinjia entered the side hall and found that the chief minister of the cabinet Zhang Sizhi, the eunuch Wang Chengen, and many cabinet ministers were here. The emperor on the imperial chariot looked very bad.

"Chen Aiqing, you are impeaching Hong Chengchou, the governor of the five provinces. Are the statements in the impeachment memorial true?"

"Your Majesty, every word in my impeachment memorial is true and absolutely not false. If I falsely accuse Mr. Hong Chengchou, I am willing to bear all the responsibilities..."

The emperor on the chariot stopped talking, and eunuch Wang Chengen walked up to Chen Xinjia.

"Master Chen, our family has a few questions that I would like to ask, and I would like to ask Master Chen to tell you..."

"If Mr. Wang has any questions, just ask and I will answer truthfully."

"Well, Mr. Hong sent three sergeants to Xiangyang Fucheng to deliver military symbols. You only learned about this from the letter from Song Yihe, governor of Huguang. As for whether Mr. Hong will change his mind, for the sake of safety, he later sent thirty more soldiers.

Several sergeants escorted the military talisman to Xiangyang Fucheng, have you ever thought about it..."

Chen Xinjia was well prepared and spoke calmly.

"Sir Wang, by impeaching Lord Hong Chengchou, I am not saying that I have obtained conclusive evidence. The situation in the Central Plains has not been calmed down. On the contrary, there are signs of more chaos. I feel that Lord Hong Chengchou, the governor of the five provinces, is to blame, so I am

From the perspective of stabilizing the situation in the Central Plains, the official was inevitably more concerned about Mr. Hong. He went to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment and questioned the former magistrate of Xiangyang Prefecture and the commander of the guards. They all said that rogue bandits had sneaked into Xiangyang Prefecture and created chaos at night.

This caused the people to panic and open the city gates, which caused the bandits to enter the city..."

"The official specifically asked the original guard commander of Xiangyang Fucheng. When chaos broke out in Fucheng that night, the guard commander went to Yin Hotel, but did not see the more than 30 sergeants. If it is said that some of these sergeants left Yin Hotel, check

It’s understandable that there’s something going on outside, but if no one is missing, it’s suspicious.”

"Based on all the previous evidence, I suspect that the three sergeants sent by Hong Chengchou were killed by rogue bandits. The rogue bandits pretended to be sergeants under Master Hong and entered Xiangyang Fucheng holding military symbols and letters, creating chaos."

"Xiaoguan feels that it would be reasonable for Master Hong to report this matter to the court. However, as far as I know, Master Hong did not mention this matter in his memorial, which is different."
Chapter completed!