When Zhang Sizhi, the chief assistant of the cabinet, walked to the side hall, his face turned slightly pale. Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War who followed him, also remained silent. The cabinet and the Ministry of War were shocked by the documents that came one after another. According to the emperor's request, these

The documents are kept strictly confidential and not many people know about them.

Zhu Youjian sat on the imperial chariot with his eyes closed and no expression on his face. Even when Zhang Sizhi and others saluted, he did not open his eyes. Wang Chengen next to him reminded him in a low voice, and he nodded slightly and opened them.

Eye.

"What do you think of Zhang Aiqing, Chen Aiqing, and Sun Chuanting's death in battle?"

Zhu Youjian's voice trembled slightly. Zhang Sizhi, who had been the chief minister of the cabinet for a long time, understood the meaning. This was a situation that would only occur when the emperor was extremely angry.

Zhang Sizhi discussed with many cabinet ministers and found it strange that the memorial from Sun Chuanting, the governor of the five provinces, clearly mentioned the matter of leading the army to fight deep into Henan and defeat the rogue Li Zicheng, and also mentioned that the army was preparing to return to Shaanxi.

After gathering strength, they once again went deep into Henan to fight, preparing to defeat and completely annihilate the bandit Li Zicheng in one fell swoop. However, within a few days, a memorial from Shaanxi came, reporting the death of Sun Chuanting, the governor of the five provinces, and the nearly 100,000 troops who entered Henan to fight.

The entire army was wiped out, and the rogue bandit Li Zicheng had led the army into Shaanxi to fight.

After receiving the memorial from Sun Chuanting, although the emperor was not very happy, he did not lose his temper. In any case, Sun Chuanting led the army into Henan to fight and wiped out hundreds of thousands of rogues. This record was still very good. Returning to Shaanxi

Renovation is also possible, and it will take a few months at most. When the weather improves next year, it will be feasible to enter Henan for combat again.

However, the memorial sent from Shaanxi made the emperor completely lose control. After all, the contents of the two memorials were very different.

Zhang Sizhi knew that the emperor was really anxious.

The imperial court had almost no troops to mobilize in the Central Plains, but the rogue bandit Li Zicheng was entrenched in the Central Plains, with millions of people under his command. This was a huge threat to Northern Zhili and the capital. The rogue bandit Zhang Xianzhong was entrenched in Wuchang Prefecture and began to attack the southern states.

The province launched a large-scale offensive, and urgent memorials arrived at the court like a snowflake. Strictly speaking, the threat of rogue bandits to the Ming Dynasty has exceeded that of the Tatars of the Later Jin Dynasty. If the rogue bandits cannot be eliminated in time, the Ming Dynasty may be overthrown at any time.

possibility.

Precisely because the situation was so critical, the emperor had high hopes for Sun Chuanting, the governor of the five provinces. He hoped that Sun Chuanting could lead the army to defeat the rogue Li Zicheng, restore stability to the Central Plains, and then send troops to Huguang to annihilate the rogue Zhang Xianzhong.

Now, the memorial from Shaanxi actually says that Sun Chuanting was killed in battle, and the entire army of more than 100,000 people was almost wiped out.

The emperor suspected that Sun Chuanting did not die in the battle, perhaps because he was afraid of taking the responsibility for the defeat.

Zhang Sizhi and many cabinet ministers believed that the news of Sun Chuanting's death in battle was true, and no one should casually write a memorial about such an important matter.

Seeing that Zhang Sizhi, Chen Xinjia and others did not answer, Zhu Youjian coughed lightly.

"Zhang Aiqing, I have received a lot of memorials recently, including some of the most critical matters and how the cabinet discussed them."

Zhang Sizhi breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that the emperor did not ask Sun Chuanting about anything.

There is a fact that Zhang Sizhi has to painfully admit, that is, the imperial court has almost lost control of the world.

The only places that the imperial court could directly control were the capital and Beizhili, and seeing that the rogue bandit Li Zicheng was about to launch a large-scale attack on Beizhili, at that time, it was still unclear in what direction the situation would develop.

Zhang Sizhi, as the chief minister of the cabinet, could not understand why the situation had deteriorated so much. He just blamed his own bad luck. After becoming the chief minister of the cabinet, he watched the Ming Dynasty collapse step by step.

"Your Majesty, the cabinet has discussed the request of the rogue bandit Li Zicheng to be crowned the king of the northwest. They believe that Li Zicheng is ambitious and a simple commoner. He has rebelled for many years. Now he has some temper and wants to be crowned the king. This so-called wishful thinking, the court has decided

It cannot be allowed..."

"Huang Taiji of Houjin died of illness, and the situation in Houjin was unstable. Some people thought that they could take this opportunity to temporarily negotiate a peace with Houjin to preserve the stability of the north. The cabinet held discussions and believed that since Denglai's new army was stationed in Liaodong, the situation in Liaodong has always been

Stable, under such circumstances, there is no need for the imperial court to temporarily negotiate peace with Hou Jin..."

"The rogue Zhang Xianzhong is causing trouble in the south. After deliberation, the cabinet believes that Zhang Siwei, the Secretary of the Southern Zhili Ministry of War, can be fully responsible for the extermination of the rogue bandit Zhang Xianzhong. Lord Zhang can control the Huguang Army and, if necessary, dispatch the sergeants from the Nanjing Camp to exterminate the rogue bandit Zhang Xianzhong.

Then the situation in the south can be completely stabilized..."

Zhu Youjian's face had a gloomy and uncertain expression. The situation reported by Zhang Sizhi did not require cabinet discussion at all. Ordinary people can imagine that the current situation is extremely dangerous, and just showing off verbally will not have much effect.

"I understand, Zhang Aiqing, I ask you, how should we destroy Li Zicheng's tribe? If Li Zicheng captures Shaanxi and Shanxi and other places, he will definitely march into Beizhili next, and even threaten the capital. Please tell me how we should respond.

.”

Although Zhu Youjian's tone was slightly soft, his words were sharp.

Sweat suddenly appeared on Zhang Sizhi's forehead. He knew the emperor's direction clearly.

The imperial court also has a large army in name, which is the Denglai New Army with strong combat effectiveness.

According to the information obtained by the court, the strength of the Denglai New Army may exceed 300,000. This is a large army that no one dares to ignore. However, everyone knows that if you want to deploy the Denglai New Army, you must get Jiliao

Supervisor Wu Zongrui's consent, otherwise even if the emperor directly issued the order, I'm afraid he would get nothing but tough resistance.

However, the emperor had always been wary of Wu Zongrui and Denglai's new army. He believed that Wu Zongrui had the intention to rebel, and he thought of punishing Wu Zongrui several times. This was something that everyone in the court knew.

Under such circumstances, how could the cabinet propose the deployment of Denglai's new army?

Seeing that Zhang Sizhi was speechless, Zhu Youjian's face turned livid.

"Zhang Aiqing, is this the case for cabinet discussions? Can't you share my worries..."

Zhang Sizhi's body trembled slightly and his face turned pale as he spoke.

"Your Majesty, I feel that if the rogue Li Zicheng's troops attack Beizhili, the imperial court can dispatch Denglai's new army stationed in Liaodong, Shandong and other places to come to the rescue..."

The side hall instantly became particularly quiet.

Including Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War, who opened his mouth to speak, he also closed his mouth at this moment. The Denglai New Army is a taboo of the emperor, and no one wants to mention it.

Sure enough, Zhu Youjian's expression changed again, and his face turned slightly red.

"Hmph, my life is tied to the sky, how can a small person deal with it?"

"I have decided. The rogue Li Zicheng wants me to make him king. This is a provocation to the imperial court and a shame to me. How can I agree? I will order my Ming warriors to kill the leader Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong. I

Immediately issue an order: whoever kills Li Zicheng will be rewarded with ten thousand gold coins, and whoever kills Zhang Xianzhong will be rewarded with a top-notch official."

"If Li Zicheng leads the bandits to attack the capital, I will personally attack him and vow to kill Li Zicheng."

"I will never negotiate peace with Hou Jin. The Manchus are our people of the Ming Dynasty. Nurhachi, Huang Taiji and others openly rebelled. I hope they can return. Who would have thought that they would not change their evil intentions and actually plot against our country of the Ming Dynasty. Such things

People and gods are outraged by his actions. Now that Huang Taiji has returned to the west, and the Manchus of the Later Jin Dynasty have elected Huang Taiji's six-year-old son Fulin as emperor, how can I discuss national affairs with a child."

"From now on, there should be no memorials in the court to negotiate peace with Hou Jin. If I find such memorials, I will never be lenient."

"I think it is feasible to propose that Zhang Siwei, the Minister of War in Nanjing, be responsible for exterminating the bandit Zhang Xianzhong. Zhang Siwei is responsible for many military matters in the south on behalf of the imperial court. I immediately issued an order to order Zhang Siwei to exterminate the bandit Zhang Xianzhong."

"Wu Zongrui, the governor of Jiliao, and the Denglai New Army, will they obey my orders? Humph, at this point, Wu Zongrui is just trying to make fun of me. I will never let them succeed."

"Zhang Aiqing, the cabinet will discuss it immediately, and I have decided that Wu Zongrui must be severely punished. The cabinet will propose a clause within three days, and I will personally take away all Wu Zongrui's honors..."

Zhang Sizhi blinked and looked up at Zhu Youjian, anxiously preparing to speak.

The situation was so critical that the emperor actually wanted to punish Wu Zongrui. If Wu Zongrui was pushed to the limit and he led troops to besiege the capital, or just stayed on the sidelines for Li Zicheng's troops, it would be a disaster for the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Chengen nodded secretly at Zhang Sizhi, signaling Zhang Sizhi not to speak at this moment.

...

Just a few steps out of the side hall, sporadic footsteps came from behind.

Zhang Sizhi quickly stopped, turned around and saluted with clasped fists.

"I would like to thank Mr. Wang today, otherwise the words I would say in a moment of excitement would definitely anger the Emperor..."

Wang Chengen waved his hand.

"Master Zhang, don't say that. In fact, we also want to speak, but the emperor is angry. If you and I speak, it will only make the emperor even more angry, so it is better not to speak."

"Master Zhang, regarding Wu Zongrui and Denglai's new army, our suggestion is that the cabinet should not come up with any statement for the time being. We feel that the emperor has not thought it through and said the words in anger. What you and I can do

Your Majesty’s needs to be analyzed.”

"As for other matters, the Emperor has already decided. You and I will do our own thing according to the Emperor's request."

Having said this, Wang Chengen let out a long sigh.

"Lord Zhang, the situation has become so unbearable. The Emperor must not feel comfortable with it. Sometimes he says some things that he doesn't mean. As ministers, you and I need to understand this carefully."
Chapter completed!