Chapter 886: Thunder in winter is not a good sign!

(0886)

【Today's fourth update is delivered!】

Shaanxi, Tongguan.

The head of the army was quiet. There was no pedestrians coming and going, and even the figures of patrol soldiers disappeared quietly. Even the standing sentries tried their best to prevent themselves from making any sound. They seemed to be standing statues, completely condensed on the sentry.

The big flags in the military camp were also hung on the flagpole and motionless. The soldiers responsible for guarding the military flag did not unfold the general flag to prevent the sound of the military flag being blown by the wind from alarming the Lord Supervisor. Because, everyone knows that after the news of Luoyang being broken, the Lord Supervisor's mood has been not very good.

There was news that after receiving the bad news from Luoyang, the Supervisor had not closed his eyes. Every night, he stood in front of the dripping eaves, looking at the deep starry sky, and seeing dawn. Anyone who is qualified to get in close contact with the Supervisor will find that the Supervisor's eyes were already deeply sunken, covered with dense bloodshots.

Many soldiers who used to think that the Supervisor Master was hateful suddenly discovered that their Supervisor Master was also very fragile, and it turned out that he was also deeply hit. Thinking about it, no one could stand such a big blow! Even Emperor Chongzhen could not stand it.

I was about to completely wipe out the bandits in Shaanxi, and I was about to create unprecedented achievements. I was about to become famous all over the world and recorded in history. But I was suddenly hit and was beaten to pieces, and my brain burst out, and no one could stand it!

At this moment, Master Hong Chengchou, was standing in front of the ancient Master Roof, looking at everything outside weakly. His face was dark and his eyes were covered with blood, which was indeed very similar to what outsiders described.

In fact, Hong Chengchou also knew that his image must be very bad, and it was very inconsistent with his image as the governor, but he had no intention of dealing with it for the time being. The news that Luoyang was broken came, and Hong Chengchou felt that he seemed to have grown ten years old overnight. His ambitions and his confidence were all gone.

Zhang Zhun's attack was indeed too fierce, and it just hit the seven inches of the official army. It can be said that all the official army in the Central Plains were all deceived. Originally, in Shaanxi, the official army had organized many encirclements and suppression of the bandits, killing many bandits each time, and it was about to be completed. Hong Chengchou felt that it would be possible to completely eliminate the bandits in just three months. However, at this moment, the bad news came.

Now, Hong Chengchou has no interest in pursuing Shaanxi bandits. At this time, even if he killed all the bandits in Shaanxi, Emperor Chongzhen would not let him go. Hong Chengchou was very clear about this. It would be no big problem for Luoyang to be broken. However, if King Fu was killed, the problem would be even bigger than that of the sky.

This is the first time Hong Chengchou has heard such bad news in his more than ten years of joining the army. He can no longer recall who gave the Hu Ben Army such an opportunity, and who made such a low-level mistake when dispatching troops. However, at this time, it is no longer meaningful to pursue these things.

If you want to surrender, you must prepare for the future. The preparations for the future include many meanings. First, you must conceal the news of King Fu's death to prevent Emperor Chongzhen from getting angry. Second, you must push the guilt of Luoyang to others. Third, you must think about what way out of your retreat in the most unfavorable situation.

"It's strange, why did I think this way?"

Hong Chengchou suddenly asked himself quietly.

In the past, he never thought that he would have such ideas about the court and Emperor Chongzhen. In the past, he had never implemented the orders of the court and the edicts of Chongzhen. But now, he was actually thinking about what he should do to avoid the court's punishment, and how he could avoid the pursuer of Emperor Chongzhen, and even if the court punished him, what should he do.

Could it be that he also felt that the court could no longer succeed? Is it necessary to change the dynasty? Could it be that the defeat of Luoyang has caused the last straw in his heart to fall quietly and crush his psychological defense? Could it be that God destined that everything he did before was futile? This world is ultimately the world of the Tiger Army?

"Sir, Liu Xingguo is back."

The guard suddenly came in to report.

"Call him in!"

Hong Chengchou said hurriedly.

"Governor!"

Liu Xingguo stepped in and knelt down and saluted.

"Get up, tell me quickly, what's going on?"

Hong Chengchou said a little impatiently.

Liu Xingguo introduced in detail the meeting with Yang Sichang, and specifically mentioned Yang Sichang's coma. Yang Sichang sent troops to Longmen Pass to find Zhang Zhun's trouble, so he also reported truthfully. However, he was not clear about what happened after Yang Sichang set out to Longmen Pass. Because at that time, he had already returned to Tongguan.

"knew."

"You go down."

Hong Chengchou said calmly.

"yes!"

Liu Xingguo hurriedly bowed and said he was leaving.

"Shh!"

Hong Chengchou couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Yang Sichang's reaction was indeed not beyond his expectations. This guy was indeed a guy with great ambitions, arrogant, stubborn, arrogant, and poor psychological endurance. After arriving in the Central Plains War Zone, this guy wanted to kill this one and that one all day long, with a fierce and aggressive attitude, and was more active than anyone else, which aroused the disgust of many people.

At the beginning, Hong Chengchou thought Yang Sichang really had some skills, but unexpectedly, when Yang Sichang heard that King Fu was killed, he immediately collapsed. How could such a guy take on a great responsibility? But that's good. As long as he knows fear and knows the preciousness of life, he will work with himself carefully to cover up the news of King Fu's death.

Hong Chengchou was most worried about collusion to cover up the death of King Fu. One was Yang Sichang and the other was Shi Kefa. Yang Sichang was a person valued by Emperor Chongzhen. Emperor Chongzhen repeatedly promoted Yang Sichang to the point of being unable to let go. Hong Chengchou was afraid that he would be "deeply grateful to the emperor's grace" for a while, or that he could not tell the truth about it, so he exposed the truth to the emperor.

Shi Kefa is a naughty man who doesn't know the worldly ways. He is straightforward and does not know how to turn things around at all. As long as King Fu is a human being, he knows that he cannot easily expose him, but Shi Kefa is not included. This guy is never afraid of taking responsibility.

Now, Yang Sichang's problem has been solved, and it is less than Shi Kefa. Fortunately, there is an old fox like Wang Kun around Shi Kefa. Wang Kun must be clear about the seriousness of the matter. Therefore, unless Shi Kefa makes a separate memorial, it is impossible to clearly mention the death of King Fu in the joint memorial of the two.

It's rare, it's so rare. The Ming Dynasty's *** never seemed to be so united. In the past, they always destroyed my platform and I broke your platform. No one would have thought of having a good life. However, when Brigadier General Zhang was killed, they united unprecedentedly. What a freak. If everyone had been so united before, would they still be today? But if King Fu did not die, would they be united?

"joke."

"A big joke."

Hong Chengchou complained to himself to himself outside the dripping eaves.

I believe that Zhang Zhun must be smirking quietly at this time. He broke Luoyang, killed King Fu, and stole countless wealth, but the reaction of the imperial army had never happened, as if he had acquiesced to Zhang Zhun to do this. In front of Zhang Zhun who was secretly smirking, Hong Chengchou felt that he was simply a clown.

But what can he do? If he doesn't do this, it's equivalent to sending his head under the butcher knife of Emperor Chongzhen. Being a clown is better than being a clown, and he has to bear the infamy for a lifetime. Besides, if he wants to kill Emperor Chongzhen, he really asks him to kill him, and Hong Chengchou feels that he is really wronged.

Hong Chengchou admitted that he had to bear certain responsibilities for King Fu's death, but it was definitely not the main responsibility, and he was not as good as being arrested and imprisoned, or even killed. However, was his idea useful? The key was the idea of ​​Emperor Chongzhen.

If Emperor Chongzhen blamed him for all the blame, he could only passively be punished. If he wanted to be punished without being passive, he could only escape from Emperor Chongzhen's control. In other words, he would change to a new boss.

"No, no, how could I think so?"

The idea of ​​changing the boss suddenly popped up in his mind, which made Hong Chengchou feel sweaty and his heart was so heavy that he almost couldn't breathe. Such an idea was really terrible. As a major official of the court, how could he have such an idea?

Suddenly, Hong Chengchou turned his head and looked at the deep central hall. In the middle of the central hall, a simple long sword was placed upright, with golden sword spears. This is the Shangfang sword that Emperor Chongzhen gave him a month ago. Hong Chengchou is still vivid in his mind when he was given the Shangfang sword that day.

On the same day, it was also here in Tongguan. Hong Chengchou received an edict from the capital. When he hurried to the gate, Eunuch Liu, who was sending the edict, had already arrived. According to the usual practice, the emperor's edict was just handed over to the cabinet to send officials, and there was no need to send eunuchs directly from the Silijian in the palace. However, Chongzhen was always suspicious of his ministers. Even if he was loyal to the loyal Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting were not very relieved, so he sent a trusted eunuch to come with the edict to see if the soldiers were willing to fight with strength.

Hong Chengchou and the civil and military officials knelt outside the gate in two rows. Eunuch Liu jumped off his horse, took off the yellow bag from his back, held it in his hand, entered the middle corridor, walked through the ritual gate, walked into the lobby, and stood in the middle of the incense table that had been quickly arranged. Hong Chengchou led the civil and military officials to come in quickly and knelt down again.

Eunuch Liu said to everyone: "Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting obeyed the order, and the rest of the civil and military officials retreated!"

After the civil and military officials withdrew, he opened the yellow satin bag and took out a red lacquer and gold-painted dragon box. He opened the box, took out a yellow silk hidden dragon cover, and then took out the edict from the cover, reading it out:

Emperor Fengtian Chengyun issued an edict: The bandits have caused trouble to the country for nine years, and thousands of people have suffered a lot, and the tombs are shocked. Whoever is my minister is too frustrated? When I come to visit the sky, I am disgusted with chaos, and my fortune will turn around. The culprits are very evil, and they are one after another. They are either given heads in Guanzhong, or they are successively pacified in Hanbin. Ge, Zuo and others are watching and wandering in Huaidian, and Lao Hui and Hui are in trouble in southern Henan. These are all prisoners waiting to be killed, which is not a big problem for the court. However, Li Zicheng, a thief, was defeated many times, and the evil flames were not stolen. The lonely army ran away and still wanted to show off. He had the skills to win over, but his best friends were consolidated but not dispersed; Xiaohui deceived people, and the foolish people were willing to take action. If they were not to be dispersed, the country's conviction would rather have a bottom line!

I have issued a repeated edict before, and I have repeatedly told you: I will destroy the enemy quickly. In particular, I must capture the enemy and the thief wife Gao, the giant thieves Liu Zongmin, Li Guo, Gao Yigong, Tian Jianxiu, etc., and capture them one by one, or kill them in the formation. Do not let one person miss the net. You Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting have always been able to suppress the thieves and have made outstanding achievements. I am very pleased. He has sent out the generals to suppress the thieves and have ordered the officials and the two troops to quickly promote rewards. I will give you another Hong Chengchou a sword and do it cheaply in front of the formation. He also gave 30,000 taels of silver in the treasury, 200 pieces of red silk, and 500 silver medals for rewards in front of the formation.

In the play! The arrival of the triumphant drinks, there was a classic of praise for merits; I hope to hold a prisoner for today. However, there are special merits, and the court will not sting to be rewarded by the marquis; if you carry heavy mail, the national law will have its own punishment. Once the thief is cleared, you will lead the army to serve the king at night, and you will not be allowed to stay and miss the opportunity for the military. I admire this!

After the edict was read, Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting kowtowed and thanked each other, and shouted long live the mountain. As soon as Hong Chengchou stood up, he took the edict with both hands and placed it on the incense table. Eunuch Liu had already brought the Shangfang sword from the hand of a small eunuch beside him and said, "I will give Shangfang sword to him, Hong Chengchou kneels to receive it!"

Hong Chengchou quickly knelt down again, took Shang Fangjian with both hands, kowtowed and thanked him again, and shouted long live the mountain. He stood up and held Shang Fangjian onto the table, then carefully held up his hands and placed them in the center of the central hall to show respect for Emperor Chongzhen.

Hong Chengchou was indeed very satisfied with the Shangfang sword given by Chongzhen. Because among the military commanders ahead, only Yang Sichang had Shangfang sword. This made Hong Chengchou feel very unhappy. Yang Sichang had Shangfang sword, so he had the power to kill first and then report. This was a very obvious challenge for Hong Chengchou. Fortunately, Emperor Chongzhen gave him Shangfang sword, and finally tied with Yang Sichang.

Immediately, Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting began to talk to Eunuch Liu, greeted each other, and asked Eunuch Liu to enter the flower hall and ordered the banquet to prepare. They returned to the lobby, passed on the civil and military officials, and announced the content of the imperial edict. Everyone knelt down and kowtowed, shouting. Gratitude and excitement were intertwined in everyone's heart. Everyone was determined to show their skills in tomorrow's war.

In fact, in the following month, Hong Chengchou did lead his army to fight and launch an attack on the Shaanxi bandits. He repeatedly severely damaged the Shaanxi bandits, causing a great blow to them. Li Zicheng and others mentioned in the edict were surrounded, waiting to clean up the mess.

However, at this time, Zhang Zhun appeared. When Zhang Zhun appeared, Hong Chengchou did not feel any surprise. When the bandits in Shaanxi were desperate, they would definitely go all out and try their best to ask for help from the outside world. Zhang Zhun, who had once accepted the title of the 37th Battalion, was their ideal target for help.

Even, subconsciously, Hong Chengchou had prepared a certain amount of troops to deal with Zhang Zhun's attack. If Zhang Zhun led his army to Shaanxi, he would definitely make Zhang Zhun unable to take it. It would be absolutely impossible for Zhang Zhun to rescue Li Zicheng and others. However, no one expected that Zhang Zhun did not come to Shaanxi, but only attacked Luoyang.

As a result, Zhang Zhun's action changed all the situation. The encirclement of the government army collapsed instantly. The surrounded Shaanxi bandits also fled one after another. The commanders of the government army were no longer interested in fighting. I didn't expect it, I really expected that it would be gone. Everything was a dream!

"Supervisor, when will we set out for Luoyang?"

Ding Qirui, the soldiers in Tongguan, suddenly came in and asked Hong Chengchou for advice.

Ding Qirui, like Sun Chuanting, was both Hong Chengchou's confidant. The only difference is that Sun Chuanting led troops to fight on the front line and personally fought against the enemy, while Ding Qirui coordinated military rations and soldiers in the rear, and was silently working. Ding Qirui's official position has always been a military preparation. He started with the fifth-rank military preparation and is now a third-rank official.

The military preparation officials in the Ming Dynasty were a bit special. You should say that they have little power, but they also control the food and pay of the surrounding troops. Common sense tells everyone that if the army does not have food and pay, it will not have to fight at all. Therefore, the army has to maintain a certain degree of respect for the military preparation. Even if the general officer of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first rank of the first

However, if you say that the power of military preparation is very high, it may not be because it rarely visits the front line and its own grade is not high. Most military preparations are just fifth-rank officials. Apart from showing off their power in front of military generals, they are scumbags in front of civil officials. Ordinary governors, governors, prime ministers, and other things can all regard military preparations as babies.

In order to facilitate combat so as to avoid his food and salary being constrained, every more awesome army commander, who is a civilian military commander, will lead his own troops to prepare officials. It seems that Ding Qirui is the one who is owned by Hong Chengchou. Wherever Hong Chengchou goes, his official position will go. Over time, it becomes a routine.

"Go to Luoyang?"

"What are we going to Luoyang for?"

Hong Chengchou said twistedly.

"King of Fortune..."

Ding Qirui wanted to speak but stopped.

"He is dead."

Hong Chengchou gently spit out two words from his mouth.

In fact, from the bad news that the Hu Ben Army conquered Luoyang, Hong Chengchou knew that King Fu must be dead. Why did he have such a judgment? Hong Chengchou could not explain it. Perhaps it was out of personal intuition. Hong Chengchou personally felt that a person like King Fu would definitely not be able to survive in front of Zhang Zhun.

In short, no matter what, King Fu must have died. Since King Fu died, it would be meaningless to go to Luoyang. You can't be naive and hope to catch Zhang Zhun in Luoyang, right? Afterwards, Zhuge Liang and pigs beforehand, Hong Chengchou never liked such a way of doing things. Moreover, at this time, there is something much more important than regaining Luoyang, that is, colluding with officials from all sides to suppress the death of King Fu.

"What should we do?"

Ding Qirui looked around and asked in a low voice.

We here not only include Hong Chengchou, but also a large group of people including Sun Chuanting, Yang Sichang, Wang Kun, Shi Kefa, Yu Yinggui, etc. They are all responsible for the death of King Fu. If we want to overcome such difficulties, we must collude and work together to keep Emperor Chongzhen in the dark. Because of the great pressure, Ding Qirui could not sleep at night, and his eyes were covered with dense bloodshots.

"wait."

Hong Chengchou said concisely.

Indeed, he can only wait at the moment. There is no point in counterattacking Luoyang. Unless he has the ability to kill Zhang Zhun. Does Hong Chengchou have the ability to kill Zhang Zhun? He himself doesn't care about himself. Since he can't kill Zhang Zhun, everything will be useless.

Yang Sichang led his troops to approach Luoyang, which was actually a very stupid move. With his 30,000 Huguang Army, it was impossible to recover Luoyang. Even the 100,000 Tartars could not eat Zhang Zhun, and the 30,000 Huguang Army wanted to eat Zhang Zhun? Don't joke.
To be continued...