Chapter 35 Chapter 35: Defeated Army
Eight hundred miles away, it was quickly passed to Beijing, and the court was once again shaken.
In just two days, the city of Shenyang fell, and the reinforcements were exhausted—no one in the court, civil and military, could say a single word about this matter, and no one could come up with a countermeasure; What they do is to kneel together on the Golden Luan Hall, kowtow to the emperor, trust, trust, trust, and hit the carpet with their foreheads to express guilt and powerlessness.
The seventeen-year-old Emperor Tianqi looked around blankly with no expression on his face; these things were too far away and unfamiliar to him, Liaodong, Houjin, and a series of names that died in battle, he had no impression of them before.
He was still a child, and his mind was twice as weak as his physiology; the most familiar and closest people in his life were nurses and eunuchs, not state affairs—his accession to the throne was due to the accidental death of his father. He has no desire or preparation to be an emperor at all, and he never knows what political affairs are or what an enemy country is. According to the emperor's rule of "knowing people and doing good work" put forward by honest gentlemen, all the famous and learned people who he used were all helpless about the Liaodong issue. They knelt at his feet one by one, reading the list of generals who died in battle, and then Old tears.
"Cry, cry, cry—"
Throughout the morning, there was only one content, and he only heard one voice, and he wanted to cry loudly.
After finally enduring the next court, after returning to the Qianqing Palace, he got his wish and fell into Ke Qingfeng's arms and cried his fill.
After crying until he had vented all his emotions, he asked Ke Qingfeng to wash his face, changed his clothes that were completely wet, and ate fresh melons and fruits, which were delicate and small; then, he told Ke Qingfeng the reason for crying bitterly. Explanation: "The men and horses I sent outside to fight were defeated and all were killed!"
Ke Qingfeng didn't know much about the Liaodong issue, so she was at a loss when she heard it, but she was in a dilemma—she didn't know how to answer the conversation, so she comforted him a few words; After exhausting his brain, he came up with a sentence: "Just leave this matter to the ministers, and they will figure out a way anyway!"
Emperor Tianqi sighed, and murmured, "They are also crying, kneeling one by one, holding their knees and crying!"
Ke Qingfeng couldn't help laughing, she gritted her teeth with all her strength, finally held back, and then comforted him along the way: "It's okay, when they cry enough, they will find a way, and soon I'll figure it out!"
As she was talking, a thought suddenly flashed in her mind - she had a way to make Emperor Tianqi stop worrying about Liaodong's affairs and cry bitterly.
So, she said: "The ministers have read a lot of books and have a lot of knowledge in their heads. No matter what they do, they can't trouble them-don't worry, there are fun things these two days! Wei Zhongxian found The craftsman said that he can not only make wooden balls, but also make many things. As long as the Lord Long Live wants it, he can do it; right now, he is in Wei Zhongxian's house, making some hands, feet and heads for you. A wooden figure that can move!"
Sure enough, as soon as Emperor Tianqi heard this, he turned all his attention—he clapped his hands happily and said, "That's great! Tell him to do it quickly!"
After speaking, he immediately answered: "Ah, tell him to move to Qianqing Palace to make it, so that I can see it with my own eyes--last time, he made really good wooden balls, and I want to learn from him!"
Of course, Ke Qingfeng smiled and said immediately: "Okay, okay, okay, send someone to announce it immediately!"
Emperor Tianqi added: "Even Wei Zhongxian called to help explain the method!"
Of course, Ke Qingfeng said "Okay, okay" three times in a row, and then said: "Long live God wants to call him, it is the emperor's grace, Wei Zhongxian even crawled here!"
Emperor Tianqi smiled: "Tell him to crawl and ride a horse for me!"
So, the issue of Liaodong was completely forgotten, and he spent a happy afternoon and evening; the next day, he simply didn't even go to court in the morning, but ordered the eunuch to deliver an order saying that he was not feeling well and asked to go to court. The ministers first discussed the countermeasures for Liaodong, and then went to the public; then they announced that Wei Zhongxian and the carpenter would enter the Qianqing Palace to serve.
After a whole day, he was so ecstasy playing, and of course he never expected that the next day, Liaodong suffered a greater catastrophe——
Nurhaci announced the next military operation on March 18: "This time the attack on Shenyang is God's blessing to our Queen Jin, and it is also a great achievement created by the soldiers who worked together; now, the enemy has been defeated and frightened. , our army should take advantage of the victory to pursue and go straight to Liaoyang!"
Give an order, and the whole army cheers—in the atmosphere of a great victory, the Houjin army is in high spirits and morale is boiling, and they can't wait to take down the whole Liao Dynasty in one fell swoop.
So, he issued tasks one by one——
After conquering Shenyang, he has been stationed in Shenyang for five days, taking care of the aftermath, rewarding the sergeants, and giving himself more time to think calmly.
He only let a few guards follow him, together with the veterans An Feiyanggu, He Heli, Hu Erhan, and the specially appointed Huang Taiji, he rode around the whole city of Shenyang to make a comprehensive inspection, and then thought Planning the blueprint for the future; he inspected the comparison between the present and the past of the whole city of Shenyang, paying attention and thinking everywhere; of course, he also went to Li Chengliang's former residence, and when he walked around the house, his thoughts were even more surging.
In his heart, he wanted to tell the people around him about the past, but he held back his mouth—he knew it was inappropriate. In today's situation, with his status, there are many things that must be endured, and there are many things that must be endured. He had to hold back his words—his purple-black and red face had occasional changes in expression, and even the corners of his eyes shone slightly; but, because he didn't say a word, he formed a solemn and solemn air that replaced him. Nostalgia born of nostalgia.
So, he only uttered a sigh of emotion like he was muttering to himself: "Now, Shenyang City is mine after all!"
As he said that, he immediately ordered: "Let's think about how to move to Shenyang—how to build Shenyang into the capital of the Houjin—"
Although the years of boyhood have passed, and there will be no turning back, so the dream is long gone, and Yiren has passed away, but after years of hard work, he has achieved achievements and abilities beyond expectations, and the dreams he has realized are far beyond the expectations of the past Be grand and broad.
He is very satisfied with this, and he can't wait to issue an order immediately, move the capital to Shenyang immediately, and plant a big banner of Houjin in Shenyang city——
And the veterans around him can more or less understand his mood. They listen to his orders and nod their heads, but they don't say much; only the young Huang Taiji has never heard of his past, nor can he understand it. He felt the deep and subtle feelings in his heart, so he discussed the matter objectively—after some careful observation and careful thinking, Huang Taiji put forward his own opinion: "Father Khan, my child thinks that although the scale of Shenyang City It is big, but the city has been built for a long time, and the houses and streets are too small and old; No palaces - I, Hetuala, have a population of tens of thousands. Once they move to Shenyang, the people will have no houses to live in, and the army will have no camps. Therefore, moving in should be postponed for a while, and the old city should be expanded first. Build more houses for my people to live in, and build palaces for the father Khan's palace—”
Upon hearing this, Nurhachi was taken aback for a moment, and then fell silent; however, after a while, he suddenly smiled, looked at Huang Taiji and said, "Very good! You are very thoughtful!"
Then he asked him: "In your estimation, how long will it take to rebuild Shenyang City?"
Huang Taiji replied: "In the past, Father Khan took more than a year to build Hetuala City; to rebuild Shenyang City, the scale is even larger, and the time-consuming may have to be doubled!"
Nurhachi first narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance, then smiled lightly and said, "Forty years are almost over, why not wait another two years?"
Immediately ordered to Huang Taiji: "As soon as our army squadron returns, you start planning this matter!"
Huang Taiji got this task by accident, a happy smile appeared on his face involuntarily, and he saluted respectfully: "My child obeys!"
And Nurhachi himself also pulled the focus of his mind away from Shenyang City, and returned to the macro-overall planning-he said to An Feiyangu and several others: "Liaoyang is not far from here, and our army does not need to waste time." The triumphant class teacher, start again, and should go straight down to Liaoyang!"
Everyone agrees with this idea: "Liaoyang is the capital of Liaodong in the Ming Dynasty. Taking Liaoyang is like capturing eight or nine out of ten of Liaodong—"
He also had a certainty of victory: "Since Xiong Tingbi left, the Ming army has been getting weaker and weaker; Liaoyang claims to have 100,000 horses, but in fact only half of them can be used, and the combat power is inferior to our army; besides, Li Yongfang has contacted the wealthy family in Liaoyang. , welcome our army—”
When the order was announced, everything was actually ready, so the army set out immediately.
However, after Liaoyang's emergency 800-mile fast transmission was sent to the capital, the worry and anxiety in the court doubled, and the situation of being helpless remained the same, so that the people who originally belonged to the "non-Donglin" and were excluded became more and more determined. , new opportunities came, and more active operations formed a more and more special atmosphere.
In the palace too—
Wang An, who was seriously ill, took a deep breath, pulled himself together, and called Wei Chao for questioning.
He first hinted that Wei Chao took the initiative to explain the details: "I can't go out for a few days, and I can only rely on you to tell me about the affairs in the palace and court!"
But Wei Chao seemed afraid to speak, or even to face him, avoiding his eyes, and lowered his head.
Wang An waited for a long time without a response, couldn't help it anymore, sighed leisurely and said: "I think, firstly, I am old, and secondly, I have been sick for too long, it is useless, even you He also refused to tell me what was in his heart—oh! I am useless, but I always treat you as my own!"
Before he finished speaking, Wei Chao knelt down in front of the bed with a "gudong", kowtowed his head several times, and said with tears streaming down his face, "You old man just hit me—— scold me—"
Then, he gritted his teeth, straightened his neck, and said to Wang An word by word: "Long Live Lord's heart has changed. He has not been in court for several days, and he has ignored me. Even your old man's name He didn't mention it again! Now, there are only two people in his heart, Ke Qingfeng and Wei Zhongxian, and he doesn't care about anything else!"
Now, Wang An was surprised: "How come?"
He asked intuitively: "Ke Qingfeng is your 'opposite food'. Since the Lord Long Live has Ke Qingfeng in his heart, why does he ignore you? At worst, you can ask Ke Qingfeng to speak for you. I will listen to your report!"
Wei Chao clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and struggled for a while to make a sound: "Ke Qingfeng has been changed to Wei Zhongxian's 'pair food'—this is Ke Qingfeng's request to Lord Long Live, Lord Long Live With my own mouth!"
Wang An became more and more puzzled: "What's going on? Don't you always get on well with Ke Qingfeng? Have you been 'pairing food' for many years?"
Wei Chao hesitated for a moment, but blushed in an instant, and after a while, he whispered: "I can't get Wei Zhongxian's evil things, and I can't please Ke Qingfeng!"
At this moment, Wang An suddenly realized: "Wei Zhongxian eunuched himself into the palace after he was an adult. He has seen the world outside and knows how to play with many strange and obscene gadgets. If you are compared to him, Ke Qingfeng will change his mind—" —Once Ke Qingfeng changes his mind, Long Live Lord will of course change with him!"
After all, he is a senior eunuch in the imperial palace. With a lot of experience, it is easy to think things through. Although Wei Chao only talked about personal matters, he immediately thought of the overall situation after he finished speaking: "You I can't speak in front of the Long Live Lord, and the adults in the court have lost contact with the palace. Now, troubles are happening in Liaodong. Master does not go to court, otherwise, not only will he follow the old path of Lord Wanli, but he will also lose his power!"
As he said that, he gave more clear instructions to the Wei Dynasty: "Lord Wanli is powerful. Although people do not go to court, the power does not fall into the hands of others. Therefore, Wang Zhen, who has never been out of the Ying Temple in the palace, is as powerful as Wang Zhen. Chaoli is not as powerful as Yan Song when he left the Shishi Temple; but now this young master Tianqi is not good enough, not even two or three points as powerful as Master Wanli! According to what you said, Wei Zhongxian is probably not an easy man You should be more careful and prevent him from gaining power!"
Wei Chaoxian answered "Yes" and then murmured, "I'm afraid it's hard to be on guard - besides being able to make obscene tools to please Qingfeng, he also hired a carpenter to make many wooden gadgets for the Long Live Lord. The Long Live Lord was very happy, every day it was reported that he was serving in the Qianqing Palace; but it was me who couldn't come to the Long Live Lord—"
Wang An let out a long sigh, then closed his eyes and meditated. After a while, he opened his eyes and instructed him: "It seems that the only way to contact foreign ministers is to go to Lord Yang Lian and Lord Zuo Guangdou. Tell them about the situation in the palace, and let them wait for the opportunity to persuade them!"
Then he added: "Taking advantage of the urgent situation of the Liaodong Army, I want Lord Long Live to go to court every day, and he can't be lazy for a day-going to court will become a habit for a long time, as long as he goes to court every day for a year, he will be fine." I have been going up and down every day for ten or twenty years; but once I get lazy and don’t go up for a day or two, I will not go to court for ten or twenty years—be sure to tell the adults They agreed that as long as Long Live Lord does not go to court one day, he must be advised, and he must not go to court to become a habit!"
And after this series of long words, he was already out of breath. Fortunately, he had already taught Wei Chao the principles and methods, so he should take a rest, so Wei Chao got up to leave; but he still had something to do. With that in mind, I added another sentence: "Master Yang and Lord Zuo are both gentlemen, you must explain the affairs of the palace without any concealment, so that the adults can help you make up your mind!"
Wei Chao had already turned his body around and moved his steps. When he heard him speak again, he stopped and turned his head, and then answered "yes" repeatedly. Seeing that Wang An was already weak and exhausted, he felt even more uncomfortable in the complicated feelings. Therefore, in a firm and positive tone, he said to Wang An as if praising his chest: "Don't worry, old man, I will definitely do this!"
But he himself was worried—worried about Wang An's body—after he left the door, he spoke with the same emphasis to the little eunuchs: "Wang Sili's illness has dragged on for so many days, and now the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming." If you take good care of yourself, you will recover soon; you all have to be more careful and take good care of him, so that Wang Sili can recover as soon as possible, and everyone will have a good life!"
He is clear in his heart that he is not Wei Zhongxian's opponent at all, and if he wants to regain his original position in the Qianqing Palace, unless Wang An recovers from his illness, he can reassess the situation and suppress Wei Zhongxian; otherwise, even if he contacts the foreign ministers, it will not be effective : "The person Long Live can't live without for a moment is Ke Qingfeng, not Lord Yang, Master Zuo, those honest gentlemen!"
Of course, there are other hopes—he had also imagined secretly: "The empress will be named next month, maybe after the new empress enters the palace, Long Live Lord will automatically alienate Ke Qingfeng, and Wei Zhongxian will lose twelve points." With the help of—maybe, it turned Feng Shui to me again—"
In this way, he thought over and over again, his heart alternated hot and cold, and his emotions fluctuated endlessly; but all his thoughts were illusory and could not be concretely manifested, making his heart even more fuzzy; until two days later, he According to Wang An's instructions, he went to Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou to discuss the subtle changes in the palace.
However, as a palace supervisor, he is not completely familiar with everything in the imperial court, and he can't feel it. Just like in the imperial palace, a new force is gradually forming, developing, and cohesive in the imperial court. Just like the rise of Wei Zhongxian, the specific formation of the "Donglin" force is rapidly developing into prosperity; even, it is about to merge with Wei Zhongxian.
The main constituent forces of "non-Donglin" are the original three parties in the imperial court—Zhejiang Party, Qi Party, and Xuan Party—after years of evolution and the ebb and flow of Donglin forces, and then developed from invisible The specific formation, and the fighting with Donglin that turned darkness into light, of course has its background and strength; and whether Wei Chao feels it or not, it is useless.
The three parties have been reorganized into the Zhejiang Party, the Qi Party, and the Chu Party. Not only has the trend of confluence gradually formed, but even the main leaders have gradually emerged;
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