Chapter 827 Sun Chuanting’s helpless choice

(0827)

【Today's first update is delivered!】

Northern Zhili, capital, and Forbidden City.

In July, the climate in the capital is already quite cool. This is the best season of the year, with no heat, no cold, no wind and sand, blue sky and cloudless sky. Looking around, no matter where you see, you can clearly feel that autumn is coming.

In the past, autumn was the autumn of spring and autumn fruits, and the air seemed to have the smell of harvest and the strong fragrance of fruit. However, in the autumn of the ninth year of Chongzhen, for some reason, the Forbidden City was particularly desolate, and some leaves even turned yellow a little. Chongzhen's mood was like these leaves that turned yellow in advance, with signs of withering.

The situation from Shaanxi was very bad. During this period of time in the southern Tatars, the Shaanxi bandits were dormant for a period of time and became very powerful again. Li Zicheng's troops even approached the ancient city of Xi'an. They were so scared that the King of Qin, who was in vassal of Xi'an, hurriedly sent people to the capital to ask for help. Gao Yingxiang's troops conquered Fengxiang and Zhang Xianzhong's troops conquered Pingliang and Cao ***'s troops conquered Qingyang. Basically, the northwest part of Shaanxi fell into the hands of the bandits.

There are rumors that the number of bandits in Shaanxi has reached one million, of which 30,000 to 40,000 people were alone. During the period when the imperial army left Shaanxi, bandits in Shaanxi concentrated their main force and went to Ningxia Town for a walk. Although they did not capture the important strongholds of Ningxia Town, they obtained a large number of war horses and soldiers from Ningxia Town, and their strength was greatly developed.

As for the situation in Liaodong, it was even worse. Originally, Chongzhen was preparing to withdraw all the 150,000 Liaodong Army and other military households, leaving Zhang Zhun a piece of white land. As a result, after Zhang Zhun went to Liaodong, the situation of the Liaodong Army changed drastically. Not only did Zu Dashou rebel against the Tartars, but a considerable number of Liaodong troops were unwilling to withdraw to the mainland.

According to the reports of Gao Qiqian and Wu Aheng, the Liaodong army that was willing to withdraw from the mainland had only about 50,000 people. The army of 150,000 people was only 50,000 people in the end. Chongzhen really wanted to cry without tears. All the money and food in the past were wasted, and Zhang Zhun was trained. Who suggested giving up Liaodong at the beginning? Chongzhen really wanted to cut his skin and remove his bones! In the end, Zhang Zhun was cheap again!

July 15th is the traditional Zhongyuan Festival (i.e. Ghost Festival), and it is also a day to mourn ancestors. In the morning, Chongzhen first went to Fengxian Square Hall to worship his mother. Chongzhen's mother was just an ordinary palace maid. Because of the favor of Prince Zhu Changluo, he luckily had Chongzhen. When Chongzhen was five years old, his mother was given suicide by the irritable Zhu Changluo.

This incident had a great impact on Chongzhen's psychology. He hated his father very much and felt that he was sorry for his mother. From then on, he did not dare to trust anyone and kept full doubts about everyone. Chongzhen was also just doing his life with his father Zhu Changluo, and had no intention of being proactive. Unless the Ministry of Rites had any proposal, he would not be willing to mention his father at all.

What's even more terrible is that his mother was just a palace maid and had no title, which brought her a great title to Nanfu. Now that he has become an emperor, it is difficult to give his mother a noble honor. Because his mother's original status was too low, he could only take it step by step. Until now, his mother's spiritual position could only be placed in the side hall of Fengxian Hall, and not in the main hall.

The treatment of the side hall and the main hall is obviously different. It would be better to move my mother from the side hall to the main hall, and it would be better to sit in the position of the Empress Dowager. Unfortunately, the difficulty of the work here is quite high, and the people of the Ministry of Rites will not easily agree. Without the support of the Ministry of Rites, Chongzhen's wish would definitely not be achieved. Besides, those crazy censors would also write letters to impeach themselves. Therefore, Chongzhen was unable to do this for the time being.

After expressing his deep guilt to his mother, Chongzhen slowly returned to the Ganqing Palace, his eyes still rosy. After a while, he felt a little quiet, so he sat in front of the imperial case to read the documents. He first read Hong Chengchou's memorial request for the remarks, and then read Sun Chuanting's memorial request for the summoning of the right person. He immediately sent an order to summon them at the same time on the platform tomorrow morning. He seemed very weak in the Fengxian side hall, with tears on the corners of his eyes, and now his face was full of murderous aura.

Hong Chengchou had been renamed the governor of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Sichuan, and was responsible for the military affairs of the bandits in Shaanxi. Chongzhen and the civil and military officials of the dynasty both believed that he was a commander with a high qualification, high prestige, and could shoulder the heavy responsibility of suppressing bandits, and had great expectations for him. Hong Chengchou knew that there were many difficulties and the task of suppressing bandits was getting more and more difficult day by day, but he felt deeply that the emperor was grateful for his favor and was determined to go to Shaanxi to rectify military affairs and relieve the emperor's worries about the east.

This time, Chongzhen was determined to eliminate the Shaanxi bandits first, and then turn around and deal with Zhang Zhun. To do this, he had to buy time. The more time the court spent on the Shaanxi bandits, the stronger Zhang Zhun's strength would be. For this reason, some of the soldiers withdrawn from Liaodong were supplemented by Hong Chengchou's command.

These soldiers were mainly Liaodong cavalry, and their combat capabilities were relatively strong. Chongzhen was full of hope that the Liaodong cavalry could destroy all the robbers' cavalry and defeat all the bandits. Moreover, the cavalry was fast, so it would be even better if they could catch those bandit leaders. Chongzhen clearly instructed that once these main figures were caught, they would never repeat the tragedy of the chariot of the chariot gorge.

According to Chongzhen's arrangement, Hong Chengchou commanded the troops from Shaanxi, Sichuan, Gansu and other places, Yang Sichang commanded the troops from Huguang and Henan, Wang Kun and Shi Kefa controlled the troops from Shanxi and other places, Gao Qiqian, Wu Aheng commanded the troops from North Zhili, and surrounded the bandits from eight directions to the west. This tactic was originally proposed by Chen Qiyu, but later Yang Sichang evolved it and became a model of ambushing on all sides.

"Now, the army across the country has gathered in the Central Plains."

"Next, it depends on you."

Chongzhen said slowly.

In general, the atmosphere of today's platform is relatively relaxed, and Emperor Chongzhen's face is not particularly ugly. After Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting performed regular courtesy, Chongzhen asked Hong Chengchou a few words, nothing more than about the departure time and all preparations, etc. As for the future military strategy, we have already discussed it when we summoned the two times not long ago, so there is no need to ask again today.

Of course, Emperor Chongzhen's expectations have always been clear and clear, which is to completely eliminate the thieves. For this reason, he encouraged Hong Chengchou a few more words, hoping that he would make a quick sound soon and send the heads of Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others as soon as possible. After Hong Chengchou got up, Chongzhen restrained the gentle expression on his face and shouted coldly: "Sun Chuanting!"

"I'm here!"

Sun Chuanting knelt on the ground and did not dare to look up, waiting for the emperor to ask questions.

For a moment, Chongzhen looked at him without asking questions and remained silent. This unusual silence made Sun Chuanting feel uneasy. He vaguely felt that Emperor Chongzhen might be a little dissatisfied with him.

Last winter, Sun Chuanting and Hong Chengchou led their troops to the suburbs of ***. After Lu Xiangsheng was arrested and imprisoned, Hong Chengchou recommended Sun Chuanting as the governor to the court, and was appointed as the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War and the right assistant censor. He served as the governor of Xiangsheng and the governor of various reinforcements and requested the award of Shang Fang Jian. Unfortunately, Emperor Chongzhen chose Yang Sichang in the end, and Sun Chuanting's wish was disappointed.

Sun Chuanting was quite dissatisfied with this. He believed that Yang Sichang had never led many soldiers before, and had never personally directed the battle. He just knew how to flatter the emperor and won the emperor's favor, so he served as the prime minister of the five provinces, and even led the troops of the king in the world to support the king. How could Yang Sichang afford such a heavy burden?

The facts after that seemed to prove that Yang Sichang's ability to command the army was indeed limited. When the Tartars were exhausted by the Hu Ben Army, Yang Sichang held heavy troops and did not give the Tartars any blows. He watched the Tartars leave the Central Plains and leave the frontier. Sun Chuanting wrote a poem for this, secretly mocking Yang Sichang's incompetence. As a result, Yang Sichang accidentally found out and had an opinion on Sun Chuanting.

Because of this, Sun Chuanting had a bad relationship with Yang Sichang. Later, because of the use of the Liaodong Army, he accidentally offended Gao Qiqian and was criticized by the emperor. Chongzhen asked Hong Chengchou to come to the capital to meet him, and asked the ministers to work in the suburbs, but he was not allowed to come to the capital to meet him. Obviously, Emperor Chongzhen did not trust him very much.

After the Qing army withdrew, Chongzhen adopted Yang Sichang's suggestion and appointed Hong Chengchou as the governor of Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan, and handed all the Shaanxi royal army to Hong Chengchou to prevent bandits. Sun Chuanting was very opposed to putting all the Liaodong army into the Central Plains. He submitted a memorial to fight and bluntly accused him, saying that this part of the Liaodong army would never come. If it came, the "bandits" in Shaanxi would be thriving again, and it would be of no use to suppress the bandits.

It was because of this memorial that Sun Chuanting completely offended Gao Qiqian and the senior executives of the Liaodong Army. What do you mean? It is said that after our Liaodong Army comes, the Shaanxi bandits will become even more powerful. Isn’t this accusing our Liaodong Army of ineffective suppression of bandits, or even mingling with the Shaanxi bandits?

In fact, the reasons in the memorials are all pretexts. The most fundamental reason is that Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting and others are unwilling to let the Liaodong Army come to share their contributions. They have always been suppressing thieves in Shaanxi, and once there are outsiders, it will be difficult to deal with. Some things here were agreed by them early in the morning. If there is another outsider, they will still be a very strong outsider. If they don’t do it well, something will happen.

To put it bluntly, if all the bandits were wiped out, their good days would come to an end. Without bandits, what else would they ask the court for money and food? Just like the Liaodong Army, if there were no Tartars, would the court still care about their feelings? Will they still allocate their money and food first? It would be good if they were not allowed to release their troops and return to the fields.

The Liaodong Army was unwilling to others to interfere in their territory, and the Qin Army was also unwilling to let others interfere in their affairs. Because of this, the Qin Army had many conflicts with Lu Xiangsheng's Huguang Army before. It took a lot of effort and the two sides finally coordinated. If the Liaodong Army and Jin Army were now in a thrust, God knew what the front line would be like. I am afraid that Li Zicheng and the others could easily pass through the junction of each army.

Sun Chuanting was a very proud and conceited person. He always looked down on the military strategy planned by Yang Sichang as the emperor. Because he was not able to be summoned by the suburbs like Hong Chengchou, he was even more dissatisfied with Yang Sichang and determined to fight with Yang Sichang. So before the Qing army retreated, he wrote a memorial saying: "There have been many disintegrations in the border areas over the years, and the plan is wrong. When the war is over, I beg the emperor to meet you and have a big plan."

After the failure of the struggle for the Shaanxi soldiers to return to Shaanxi, he was eager to see the emperor even more urgent. Now he was called right and had the opportunity to speak to him, but the emperor called him so harshly. Will he allow him to give him a lot of comments about the country's plans? He bowed his breath and was intimidating. While waiting for the emperor to ask questions, he looked at the ivory on the scepter and saw the key points of his strategy in neat little calligraphy on it.

After looking at Sun Chuanting for a moment, Chongzhen was furious and said in a majestic voice: "Sun Chuanting, the former ordered you to govern Shaanxi and assist Hong Chengchou in suppressing the bandits. Although there have been some minor efforts in the past three years, the giant thieves Li Zicheng and Liu Zongmin have not been captured, and they have endless troubles. In the battle of Nanyuan, Tongguan in the winter, you even won the victory, and all said that the army was destroyed, and the corpses were piled up like a mountain. The deception of the battle is very hateful! I ask you now: Where is the current place of the war?"

Sun Chuanting did not expect the emperor's anger and reproach, as if he was in a hurry to be hit on his head. Although his personality was very stubborn, he couldn't help but burst into cold sweat, his face was gray, and his limbs were trembling slightly. Soon, he woke up. While he was attacking Yang Sichang, wasn't it also attacking him? Emperor Chongzhen's reproach was obviously because of Yang Sichang.

Thinking of this, Sun Chuanting felt even more dissatisfied. You, Yang Sichang, have no ability to fight wars, but he is very capable of reporting small news! With your little care, he still wants to join the cabinet? He plucked up the courage to answer: "The prelude to the empress of the embroidery of the thief in the army is indeed the truth. I dare not deceive at all, and there is a Governor Hong Chengchou to prove it."

"Bang!"

Chongzhen slapped the imperial case, which scared Sun Chuanting so much that he hurriedly bowed his head.

"Questions! Not only did you not capture the thief, but even their important gangs such as Liu Zongmin, Tian Jianxiu, Gao Yidong, Li Guo and others all missed the net. What is the so-called "the entire army of thieves will be destroyed, either captured or destroyed" in your memorial is not a bully?"

Chongzhen shouted angrily.

Since it must be Yang Sichang's report, Sun Chuanting's dissatisfaction was even more intense. He tried his best to remain calm and replied slowly: "Why do you dare to argue strongly before the king and father? Last October, I and the governor went to Tongguan in person, and led the troops to encircle and suppress the thieves, setting up a three-in-one humiliation to wait for the thieves. After fighting for a day and a night, I did defeat the entire thieves, and killed and injured all over the field, and abandoned the armor and guards like mountains. Although the thieves and their important thieves were not captured, they thought they would die in the chaos. Later, because my minister Xingye led his army to serve the king, he was too busy to find the corpse of the giant thieves, presented them to the head palace, comforting the worries of the king and father, and releasing the doubts of the subjects in the capital, which was a great hatred."

Chongzhen shouted angrily: "Do you know that all the traitor Qu Ke have escaped?"

Sun Chuanting said tactfully: "After I led my troops to Shanxi, I heard that there were scattered thieves fleeing into Shangluo Mountain. In order to eliminate the roots and avoid the troubles, I immediately reported to Your Majesty, and sent Deputy General He Renlong to lead his troops back to Tongguan to search and suppress Shangluo Mountain seriously. As for the fact that the thieves all missed the net, I really don't know."

"Hmph, you're still dreaming!" Chongzhen picked up a few memorials and Tang newspapers from the imperial case, threw them to Sun Chuanting, and said angrily: "Look, this is the result of your great victory in Tongguan!"

Hearing that Li Zicheng and others had indeed "broken the net" and saw the emperor throwing down several documents, Sun Chuanting couldn't help but feel frightened. Yang Sichang really wanted to kill himself! Needless to say, these memorials and reports must have been made by Yang Sichang. He picked up the documents with trembling fingers, held them in his hand, and hurriedly browsed the "spike" and fully understood in his heart that this was indeed Yang Sichang's trick.

After calming down slightly, Sun Chuanting put a stack of literary astronomy, but the worry was not in the Mount of Wuhan, but in the Mount of Shangluo. The remnants of the bandits who entered Tongguan and burned Lingbao City Pass were just under the banner of a thief, and were definitely not the thief himself. If the official army ignored Shangluo and concentrated their forces in Wuhan, they would probably be deceived."

Chongzhen said angrily: "How do you know that it is not the thief himself who is in Wuhan Mountain?"

Sun Chuanting said tactfully: "If the thief is not dead, he will definitely lurk and wait for the opportunity to move. He will never be in a state of failure. He will not be able to rest in peace. He dares to raise the banner of rebels and deliberately provoke the official army to pursue and suppress the enemy."

Chongzhen said coldly: "But why do other remnants use the banner of rebels to provoke the official army to pursue and suppress them? Are they seeking death by themselves?"

Sun Chuanting said slowly: "I have been away from the thief suppression army recently and dare not make any reason. However, I have been dealing with the thief for three years and know that there are many cunning plans for the thief. I often regard the false as the real and the real as the false. Judging from the reasoning, the person who is under the banner of thief in the mountains of Wuhan is definitely not the thief himself."

Chongzhen was really angry, and he wanted to slam the table again, and said hatefully: "Nonsense! This traitor is elusive and has been slandering the official army. Judging from the deceitful situation of his use of troops, he will definitely be the traitor himself. Someone saw the traitor wearing blue clothes and felt hats, and standing under the banner with his own eyes. What's more doubtful? Do you still have to quibble?"

Feeling that Chongzhen was really angry, Sun Chuanting did not dare to continue arguing, so he had to curse Yang Sichang in his heart for not having a son. On the surface, he said with great grievance: "Even so, the foolish minister still dare not believe it is true."

Chongzhen said coldly: "The local report is conclusive. You say that you should not rely on your faith. Isn't it to deceive the king and father in person and try to escape from guilt?"

Sun Chuanting said helplessly: "I have not yet pleaded guilty and just quibbling. It is really abominable. Since you know how to repay me for my kindness, why not take the rebels and leave the king and father to worry about the worries?"

Sun Chuanting hurriedly said, "If it weren't for the edict of piao Tianwen."

Chongzhen said angrily: "Nonsense! Take it for me!"

Two Jinyishi immediately dragged Sun Chuanting from the ground, stripped off her clothes and pushed her out.

Hong Chengchou quickly knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty! Although Sun Chuanting is guilty, I beg Your Majesty to remember that he has been suppressing the thieves for several years, and it is not without any slight work. Although there are some bullying reports, the entire rebellion in Tongguan collapsed. It is true, and there is no boast. I beg Your Majesty..."

Before he could finish his words, Chongzhen sneered and said with a blank expression: "You don't have to plead for him. As the governor, you came to Tongguan to supervise the war, and even the culprits missed the net. You can't resignate your responsibility even if you discuss the law. But I think you have made great achievements and demerits, so I will not investigate them in depth. Instead, I will hand over the important task of suppressing the bandits again. I hope you will do your job sincerely in the future and don't let my high hopes down like Sun Chuanting."

Hong Chengchou kowtowed again and said, "I was ordered to suppress the thieves, but failed to eliminate the rebellious atmosphere. I was able to achieve complete success, causing the thieves to rekindle their lives. I deserve to die. The emperor not only avoided heavy condemnation, but also sent me to supervise Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan to continue to suppress the thieves. Such kindness makes me always grateful to me for it. I dare not to break my bones to repay Your Majesty!"

"However, at present, when the country is employed, Sun Chuanting is always wise and skilled in war formations, and is still useful among the officials in the border areas. He begs the emperor to ease the anger of thunder and the grace of rain and dew, and temporarily suspends the severe punishment, so that he can be punished for his crimes and seek merit. Not only will Sun Chuanting be afraid of power and virtue, but he will be strong in redeeming his previous mistakes, even the soldiers of the three armies will be excited to hear it."

After saying that, he kept kowtowing and almost bleeding.

He is Sun Chuanting's teacher, so he naturally needs to save his students. Moreover, Sun Chuanting is indeed a talent in fighting. If Sun Chuanting is really imprisoned, Hong Chengchou would have to lose a good helper. Thinking of the gathering of troops and many experts this time, Hong Chengchou had to work hard to defend Sun Chuanting.

Although Chongzhen was very angry that Sun Chuanting did not capture Li Zicheng and others, he also knew that he was a useful material. After hearing Hong Chengchou's words, he was silent for a moment and said slowly: "Okay, I'll give you a message, let him go this time. Get up."

When Hong Chengchou thanked him, Chongzhen glanced at him and ordered, "Call Sun Chuanting back!"

After a while, Sun Chuanting put on his clothes and was brought in by the eunuch. He knelt down again on the brick floor about ten feet away from the imperial case, and leaned down very low. Chongzhen looked at him and said coldly: "Sun Chuanting, I am thinking that you are willing to do your job in a solid manner on weekdays. For your crime of ineffective combat, I will still assist you in governor Hong Chengchou in military affairs in Shaanxi, Gansu and Sichuan to observe the future."

Sun Chuanting kowtowed and thanked him, but he still couldn't stand it. He couldn't help but have some complaints in his heart. Of course, most of the complaints were not directed at Chongzhen, but at Yang Sichang. Yang Sichang actually made such a cruel move against him. If he doesn't take revenge, he will not be a human being!

"Go down."

Chongzhen said impatiently.

Sun Chuanting kowtowed again, got up and lowered his head and retreated. Although his body was very strong and he was only forty-four years old, when he stepped down from the Danban, he was like an old man, with unstable steps and almost fell down. He was almost arrested and imprisoned by Emperor Chongzhen so reprimanded. He was indeed scared! The power of heaven was unpredictable!

Hong Chengchou answered the emperor's question and kowtowed to leave. He was a worldly-minded old bureaucrat who knew in his heart. He knew in his heart that the reason why the emperor was so strict with Sun Chuanting today was that Sun Chuanting himself asked him to deliberately use his words to kill chickens and scare monkeys, so that he could show some color. Therefore, he wanted to make a small plea to the emperor, but he did not dare to say it out loud.

As soon as he left the Huangji Gate, an eunuch chased him out and uttered an imperial edict saying that the emperor would give a banquet on the platform at noon tomorrow, and ordered all civil and military officials to bid farewell to him tomorrow afternoon. He knelt down and listened to the imperial edict, kowtowed to thank him, and shouted long live the mountain, but while he was grateful for the emperor's grace, he felt uneasy, as if he had a premonition that some misfortune was waiting for him.

Hong Chengchou knew that the emperor's kindness was unpredictable. If he went to suppress the bandits in this way, he would have to do his best to kill the emperor and die in Shaanxi, and never return to the court. But weighing everything, the hope of success in this way was really slim. After half a year of rest and recuperation, the vitality of the bandits in Shaanxi has been completely restored. It is not easy to defeat them!

The most terrible thing is that there is a Hu Ben Army beside them! What if the Hu Ben Army suddenly comes up and gets into trouble when they are exhausted when they are fighting to suppress the thieves? Zhang Zhun is the 37th battalion of the Shaanxi bandits! If the Shaanxi bandits are in trouble, will Zhang Zhun refuse to save them? This is simply impossible.

The latest Tang News, Zhang Zhun's power has extended to Huai'an Prefecture and Yangzhou Prefecture, and will go to Jiangnan soon. The grain transportation and other things have been cut off long ago. Once the grain and tax sources in Jiangnan were occupied by the Hu Ben Army, the court will collapse. At this time, Chongzhen was still staring at the bandits in Shaanxi, which seemed to be a bit of a waste of the roots and chasing the end!

However, after considering it for a while, Hong Chengchou understood Chongzhen's good intentions. At this time, the court had no chance of winning. Even Huang Taiji was beaten away by Zhang Zhun. The court's army was not Zhang Zhun's opponent? Only after defeating the Shaanxi bandits, they could have a good rectification of the army and concentrated their elite forces. It has to be said that from a strategic perspective, Chongzhen was correct.

When Sun Chuanting returned to the mansion, he felt his ears buzzing, and he couldn't hear clearly when his family talked to him. He didn't eat lunch and was not allowed to disturb him. He sat alone in the study and felt bored. He looked at the small words he wrote on the court last night and sighed. He had a lot to say to Chongzhen, but after being scolded by Chongzhen, he couldn't say anything.

After sighing a long time, Sun Chuanting took out the key, opened the copper lock, then slowly opened the drawer, took out a letter from it, and slowly began to think about it again. He thought about the letter for a long time, and finally, he slowly locked the letter back into the drawer, and put the key close to it.

When reading the letter, Sun Chuanting's face was a little painful and a little solemn. His eyes stared at the name of the signer for a long time. The signer of the letter was named Yang Tinglin.
Chapter completed!