Chapter 20 Chapter 20 Striving

Yuan Chonghuan was so anxious and aggressive that his face turned red in the snow, and a roar burst out of his throat: "What? Withdraw all the soldiers outside the pass? It makes no sense—who came up with such a bad idea?" He was originally a person with a fierce personality, and when he encountered such a big event, he would of course become even more furious. What's more, since the matter was so serious, he couldn't restrain himself, and shouted all the way: "Master Sun's hard work is in vain! All brothers All the hard work is in vain! I want to give away the four hundred miles outside the pass to Nurhachi—this man is a traitor!"

Jin Qiyu, the governor who came to report the matter to him, made a calm analysis to him: "The Jin and Ning defense lines were built with great difficulty, and the three cities of Jinzhou, Youtun, and Dalinghe are the frontiers. Otherwise, the hope of restoring the Liao Dynasty will be lost forever! Secondly, the common people have already settled in the city, and they are engaged in agriculture, industry and commerce. After speaking, Jin Qizheng's expression became more worried, and after sighing, he continued in a deep voice: "If the land that has already been harvested enters the enemy's hands again, and the people who have already settled down are relocated, it will definitely be a big disaster. Disappointed! A humble official believes that the way of government is the most taboo to change the order from day to day; Ningyuan City was built and completed in only a short period of time, and suddenly ordered to abandon it. In the end, they will no longer be convinced by the imperial court—once the hearts of the people collapse, how can there be any "war defense" and "chengguan" to defend? Since the defeat in the Battle of Sarhu in Liaodong, there has been tangible defeat and loss of territory. , the invisible people's hearts and morale have been severely damaged, and they can no longer withstand the blows of laxity and collapse. If the Jinning line of defense is withdrawn, it will make things worse!"

And how could he not understand these principles?He even saw a deeper level: "Jinning withdraws, and the enemy will approach Shanhaiguan; Gao Di is so incompetent, how can he stop it? What's more, the hearts of the people have collapsed, and there will be no use for millions of troops; by then , the enemy army went straight into the capital, so what? The discoloration of the country and mountains, the displacement of the people, and the loss of the country—is it just a problem in Liaodong?" As he said that, he gritted his teeth and said in an emphatic tone: "Of course I will try my best!"

Moreover, he immediately wrote the book himself without the hands of his master; after a while, a letter to Gao Di was drafted, and he chose to read it aloud: "The art of war has advanced but not retreated, the three cities have been restored, An Can you withdraw lightly? Jin and right waver, then Ning and Qian will be shocked, and closing the door will lose their protection. Now, if you choose a good general to guard it, you will have no other worries—” While reading it, he said to Jin Qizheng: "Send this letter to Shanhaiguan—in addition, I have to go to the imperial court to try my best to make sure that the imperial court understands the importance of pros and cons, and will not mistakenly accept Gao Di's advice. statement!"

In the past, he also "leapfrogged the appeal" and directly wrote to Ye Xianggao, the chief minister of the cabinet, to oppose Wang's decision to build the city of Balipu in the Jin Dynasty. Recalling this past event while being emotional, it made him so forgetful that he compared the past with the present. ——He recalled loudly: "In the end, after all, the cowardly and incompetent Wang Zaijin was resigned!" Jin Qizhen also knew about that past, but he was still calmer than Yuan Chonghuan and thought about it for a while After that, he finally said to Yuan Chonghuan: "Your Excellency—a humble official dares to speak out. The situation in the court is not what it used to be. You have to think twice about the matter of 'appealing'—"

One sentence reminded Yuan Chonghuan of something he had almost forgotten: the candidate for the chief assistant of the cabinet had been changed from Ye Xianggao of Donglin to controlled by the eunuch party—not long ago, there was a personnel change in the cabinet, and Zhou Rupan, Minister of Rites, joined the cabinet And Feng Quan, who was promoted to the right servant of the Ministry of Rites by Shao Zhan, and others-these people are not gentlemen, let alone they will support his approach like Sun Chengzong. Therefore, it is difficult to predict what the outcome of this "leapfrog appeal" will be.

After waking up, the two of them let out a long sigh at the same time, and they didn't know what to say next. He and Gaodi already had a difference in official rank, so of course they have different weights in the court, and even more so in the eyes of the eunuchs who are in power—not to mention, the reason why he took up the post of economic strategy this time is that It was sending a large amount of goods to the eunuchs! "Leapfrog appeal" can still be as successful as last time, it has become an impossible dream... After being silent for a long time, when the conflicts and struggles in his heart began to change from intense to moderate and finally came to fruition, he looked up to the sky and shouted: "Let it be up to me!"

So, while sending a fast horse to send the book to Gaodi, he also drafted the memorial himself without pretending to be the master... Of course, Nurhachi's reaction was very different from Yuan Chonghuan's. He is actively preparing for the battle, and he is so excited that he often cannot sleep at night. His mind is filled with all kinds of pictures that seem to be real. From the army entering Shanhaiguan to the city of Beijing, every possible situation is transformed from imagination into images, non-stop Alternately floating, flickering, and jumping in front of his eyes until overlapping into a blur.

Especially after closing his eyes and before falling asleep, every time he has these kinds of hallucinations, it also stimulates his emotions to climb up, making his heart beat faster and his blood boil with excitement, so that he has no choice but to give up sleep and put on his clothes. Get off the kang. His hands trembled unconsciously, his eyes were brighter than in the daytime, and his breathing seemed rapid; after lighting the oil lamp, he began to pace around the room, and the guards outside the door heard, He leaned in to ask for instructions, but he waved his hand to signal to retreat.

Insomnia at night is not a very special thing for him - many years ago, because he set up an army with only thirteen armors, he had to do everything himself, and he was always busy day and night. Until recent years, the foundation of the country has been established, The scale has expanded, the children and grandchildren have grown up, the middle school has enough manpower, and I am already old, so I no longer sleepless nights and work hard. However, a situation like today is rare in my life - this time it is insomnia, not busy day and night. Therefore, as he paced back and forth, what filled his heart was not the courage, self-confidence, and energy he had when he tried his best to break through difficulties, but an incomparable statement , as if it was a sense of panic caused by the reaction of excessive excitement; it was also like the eve of the release of years of immersion, the end of long-term hard work, and the fulfillment of long-awaited wishes. The tension followed the excitement. , so that he couldn't hold it, so that he trembled - even, there was a little anxiety in these multiple and complicated feelings.

All of this was unprecedented, which made his emotions drift, and he could no longer use his rational restraint. He even felt sad, with tightness in his chest; he stopped and sat cross-legged, but he heard his own slightly rapid heartbeat more clearly, forming a double mental oppression in the quiet night. After a while, he mustered up the strength of his will to examine and reflect on his strange emotions: "What happened tonight?" He understands that he is on the eve of his great cause, and there should not be any uncontrollable situation-whether it is the external situation or his inner emotions-and, because of his advanced age, he must not be able to control the situation because of the elusive emotions. And insomnia will affect your health! Therefore, he hopes to find out the reason for his insomnia and moodiness, so that he can prescribe the right medicine to surpass this matter, let himself return to constant stability, win the upcoming and most important battle in his life, and break through the Ming Dynasty. Shanhaiguan defense line, enter Beijing, enter the Central Plains... It was snowing outside the window, and the north wind was blowing slowly, composing a winter movement between heaven and earth, but his spirit entered the battle between heaven and man silently. His clear mind reminded him that this subtle emotion must be overcome and eliminated, and that as the Heavenly Mandate Emperor of the Jin Kingdom, he must maintain a normal, stable spirit and good health! After thinking about it, he attributed all these abnormalities and this insomnia to the excitement and nervousness on the eve of the completion of the great cause—he deliberately did not touch other possible reasons—then he told himself that this should only be the eve of the great war The spirit rebounded, and when the war started, it healed itself without medicine. His belief in defeating himself has always been as strong as defeating the enemy, and this time is no exception. He insisted on putting aside his emotional troubles. As the Mandate of Heaven Emperor of the Jin Kingdom, there should be only the mission of creating a new generation in his life, and he should not be mixed with unnecessary emotions... After thinking clearly, he lay down again; how could he know that when he closed his eyes, the hallucinations still gushed out, his heartbeat still accelerated, as if he refused to accept his own command at all. Some of his discomfort turned into pain. Suddenly, a thought sneaked into his mind: "Could it be that I'm already old—too old to control myself?" Immediately afterwards, he couldn't help thinking of many people: E Yidu, Fei Yingdong, He Heli, An Feiyanggu, Hu Erhan, and even Yarhazi and Murhazi—this thought made him even more so. He was terrified and shocked: "They are all dead—in terms of age, each of them is younger than me!" The word "aging" that has never been touched before is suddenly approaching... It was the first time he tasted this taste, and all kinds of intricate thoughts and feelings suddenly arose in his heart, and he couldn't fall asleep more and more. Even, an even more passionate thought surged in my heart: "I'm getting old, I have to conquer Beijing as soon as possible!" Time is not forgiving, let alone waiting for others, but he is a person who wants to win the victory from the hands of time, and wants to fulfill his ideals and wishes in his lifetime. "The sooner the better, I can't wait to send troops tomorrow!" There was some hot air rushing in his heart, which also made him make such a sound as if he was forced to make such a sound by the dense heat. While clenching his fists and waving them in the air, his whole body trembled unconsciously. So, complete insomnia is a foregone conclusion. However, as the king of a country, he is actually lonely, and no one can tell what is in his heart; thousands of people, civil and military officials, and even his wives, concubines and children cannot reveal a thing or two—he can only bear it alone. With this torment. I finally endured it until dawn, and I was able to get up justifiably, only to realize that after a sleepless night, my mental and physical strength were weak, and my standing feet felt a little vain. "It's really old—" He silently thought, in the past, if he didn't sleep for a few days and nights, he was alive and well! And now—what's even more sad is that with identity, even though his whole body is full of burnout, not only can't he say it, but he has to work harder to cover it up, so as not to be approached by the close body who comes to wash and change his clothes. Found by the guards! Breakfast was delivered, but he suddenly found that he had lost his appetite—this was the first time in his life! He remained silent but was secretly puzzled in his heart, and sighed unconsciously; after a while, he restrained these, and like a rebound, he developed new strength and made up his mind: "Simply send troops earlier!" Although in terms of the art of war, it is not the best policy to casually change the time to dispatch troops, but dispatching troops early can make him surpass the current unstable mental state - so he immediately ordered the guards: "Please come to the Grand Palace immediately to discuss matters !" At the same time, he also thought about his reasons for deciding to send troops early—unexpectedly, when he arrived at the palace, something unexpected happened... The Eight Banners Baylor he ordered to summon unexpectedly only seven people arrived, and they stood in the hall with their hands down and waited. This was also an unprecedented situation, and he frowned unconsciously. Although he didn't make a sound, his mood got worse. Reluctantly restrained, he took his seat with a serious face, and accepted the salute from his nephews; fortunately, just as several people finished the salute, Huang Taiji, who was absent, appeared.He walked quickly into the hall, his footsteps were still steady, but his breathing was a little hasty, with beads of sweat on his forehead, it was obvious that he came in a hurry. As soon as he got to the hall, he immediately knelt down on one knee: "Father, forgive me, the child is late—" As he said that, without waiting for Nurhachi to express his forgiveness, he eagerly explained the reason for being late: "My child received an emergency report on the way, which caused the delay!" And what he was really anxious about was this urgent report, so he continued in a more breathless tone: "Lin Danhan is about to send troops to attack Horqin—" As soon as these words came out, the audience was shocked. Nurhachi shouted subconsciously: "What?" In an instant, his vigor was restored, and his mental state was restored to be as vigorous as before, and he focused sharply on one thing. Huang Taiji then explained in detail: "Obateji has sent people to ask for help, and is also actively preparing for the war; our country's spies found out about this earlier, and reported it first-" With that said, he took out the paperwork and presented it. Nurhachi carefully read every word on the report, and remained silent for a while with a serious face, then suddenly smiled and said in a light tone: "Very good! Autumn is coming and winter is coming, it's time, after waiting for this Lin Danhan, who has been there for many years, is finally dispatched!" And at this moment, the idea of ​​​​attacking the Ming Dynasty in advance changed-Lin Danhan himself came to the door, how could he not solve it first? Therefore, he told Zhu Baylor: "The Horqin tribe has long been married and allied with our country. When attacked, our country must send troops to rescue!" The extra war that was inserted was like God's will assigning a force to help him forget his age and the emotions he caused, and to transfer the tension and emotional imbalance caused by the pressure he suffered from the pressure of the great cause. ... That night, he fell asleep peacefully, and when he woke up, he personally presided over the dispatching of the troops; afterward, he handed over to Huang Taiji to lead the team and set off for Horqin.