Daming pirates

At this time, Chongzhen was worried about the issue of the slaves joining the invaders. He heard no good news every day. All he heard all day long was that the slaves had conquered some places and which officials and generals had died in battle. Especially when he heard that

Gaoyang was defeated, and more than forty members of Sun Chengzong's family died fighting the enemy. At that time, he burst into tears.

Chongzhen still had great respect for Sun Chengzong. As an old minister, Sun Chengzong had worked hard for the Ming Dynasty for decades. He was very clear about his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, Chongzhen also had great respect for Sun Chengzong. Now he heard that Sun Chengzong, who was in his seventies, actually

He also took his family with him, went to the city to fight against the slaves, and was defeated and committed suicide. He was loyal to the country. How could he not feel sad?

But not long after, he heard the eunuch secretly tell him that there was a rumor circulating in the market that Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of the world's army, had died fighting Jian Nuli in Julu, Guangping Prefecture.

The tens of thousands of officers and soldiers under Qi Qian's command refused to save him. After Lu Xiangsheng was defeated and died, the officers and soldiers under Gao Qiqian's command collapsed without a fight.

Moreover, the eunuch had the courage to secretly tell Chongzhen what he had accidentally heard in the market about how Lu Xiangsheng was hampered by Yang Sichang this time, how Yang Sichang Gao Qiqianru was trying to divide Lu Xiangsheng's military power, and how Lu Xiangsheng went south to fight against the invaders.

At that time, officials from various places along the way also informed Chongzhen about how they cut off the food and salary of Lu Xiangsheng's troops.

Chongzhen was shocked after hearing this. He still held Lu Xiangsheng in high regard. At least in his eyes, Lu Xiangsheng was considered a capable minister among these ministers.

During the period of guarding, Lu Xiangsheng seized the opportunity and was transferred to the capital, and ordered his governor to reinforce the country to resist the slave army.

During these days, Yang Sichang indeed spoke ill of Lu Xiangsheng a lot, which also made him have some opinions about Lu Xiangsheng. He was very disappointed with Lu Xiangsheng's performance recently. In his opinion, this time the slave army entered two thousand miles into the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty.

The inability of the officers and soldiers to control it had a lot to do with Lu Xiangsheng's inability to do things well.

He had never thought that there could be such a fishy thing here. How could Yang Sichang and Gao Qiqian secretly divide Lu Xiangsheng's military power and put Lu Xiangsheng in such a situation?

Therefore, when Chongzhen heard the news, his first thought was not to believe it, thinking that someone must have deliberately spread rumors to slander Yang Sichang. However, this kind of thing was widely circulated in the market, which could not but make him suspicious.

And until now, he has not heard from Yang Sichang about Lu Xiangsheng's current location and whether Lu Xiangsheng has been defeated and died. How come such news has spread among the public?

So he immediately summoned Cao Huachun to investigate the matter, and also to find out where the rumor came from. It didn't matter if Cao Huachun went on to investigate, the news that came back almost frightened Chongzhen to death.

It turned out that the eunuch who secretly told him the news did not tell him that there was something about him in the rumors. Now, many people are vividly spreading rumors in the market that he, His Majesty, is secretly fighting a war.

Jian Nu proposed peace and offered Jian Nu an annual tribute.

The news brought back by Cao Huachun really scared Chongzhen to death. What Chongzhen cared about most in his life was his reputation. Although this time he did have the idea of ​​​​making peace with Jiannu, but in this matter he

Chen Xinjia was only sent to secretly contact Jiannu, but the matter was not implemented and did not continue to develop.

Moreover, Chongzhen was most afraid that someone would know about this, because if people found out that he secretly wanted to make peace with Jiannu, the scholars in the government and the public, as well as the so-called Qingliu, would be able to spit him to death! So when he made the idea,

, and immediately regretted it again, so the matter was dropped and shelved.

Moreover, very few people knew about this matter. Even Yang Sichang and others did not know clearly. At best, they could guess some of his thoughts.

Now the news brought back by Cao Huachun and the news brought back by the eunuch last time are corroborated with each other, and it can be found that someone has indeed grasped the things they did in private.

Who leaked the news? The first thing he thought of was Chen Xinjia, because he had left this matter to Chen Xinjia. If the news was leaked, then Chen Xinjia would be the most suspect.

In addition, Yang Sichang deceived his superiors and secretly restrained Lu Xiangsheng. This matter cannot be verified at present, but judging from the information that Cao Huachun sent people to inquire about, this matter should not be groundless.

Chongzhen also knew about Lu Xiangsheng's division of troops. Now the 20,000 elite soldiers in Shanxi have been assigned to Chen Xinjia, but there are also tens of thousands of soldiers and horses such as Guan Ning's army, which should be under Lu Xiangsheng's command, but Gao Qi

Qian now supervises the army in the army as a supervisor.

Now there is news in the market that Lu Xiangsheng has been forced by Yang Sichang and Gao Qiqian and is left with only three to four thousand old and weak soldiers. Where does this matter begin?

But now Gao Qiqian is in the army. According to the news sent back before, he should be in Guangping Prefecture now. So since Lu Xiangsheng is in Guangping Prefecture, he should be with Gao Qiqian. How could he be enslaved alone?

Surround them and eventually fight to the death?

This news cannot be verified at present because Gao Qiqian cannot be found. Beizhili and Shandong are now full of soldiers and horses of Jiannu slaves, and it is difficult for all kinds of news to reach the capital as soon as possible.

In the end, whether Lu Xiangsheng died or not, whether the army led by Gao Qiqian was defeated, Chongzhen has no clue at all now.

So he simply sent an order to ask Yang Sichang. Only then did Yang Sichang realize that the matter could no longer be concealed. The news of Lu Xiangsheng's death must have reached the ears of the Holy Emperor through other channels.

Yang Sichang reluctantly explained that he had just learned that Lu Xiangsheng was defeated and died, but he did not know the specific circumstances. He only knew that Lu Xiangsheng led his troops and had a fierce battle with the Jiannu army in the Julu area. In the end, Mr. Lu died.

He's sending people to check whether it's gone or not. It will probably be confirmed in two days.

After Chongzhen heard this, he began to suspect Yang Sichang. According to rumors, Lu Xiangsheng should have died in the Julu area around December 20th, but it was already the tenth day of the first lunar month in the twelfth year of Chongzhen. There was no reason for Lu Xiangsheng to die in battle.

Yang Sichang had just received the news, and it hadn't been verified yet.

So he immediately asked Yang Sichang where Gao Qiqian was now, and where were the tens of thousands of Guan Ning troops and Baoding officers and soldiers.

In fact, Yang Sichang already knew about the defeat of Gao Qiqian's troops at this time, but he did not dare to say that he already knew. He could only covertly say that he did not know much about it, and it was not clear where Gao Qiqian was now.

However, there are indeed rumors that those officers and soldiers have been defeated by Jiannu. He is currently sending people to inquire about this matter, but has not yet received a clear reply.

After listening to Yang Sichang's explanation, Chongzhen couldn't help but become more suspicious of Yang Sichang, because according to rumors, Lu Xiangsheng died in battle on December 20, and within two days, Gao Qiqian's troops were also enslaved.

The army was defeated, and it was impossible for Yang Sichang not to receive any news for more than twenty days.

If we go by the rumors, it would be easy to say that Lu Xiangsheng's entire army died in the battle and no one reported to Yang Sichang. However, the army under Gao Qiqian's supervision numbered tens of thousands. Even if Jiannu defeated them, he would not be able to defeat them.

All the defeated officers and soldiers will definitely find a way to notify Yang Sichang. Even if the defeated officers and soldiers do not notify Yang Sichang, the officials of Guangping Prefecture and Shunde Prefecture will definitely notify Yang Sichang after hearing the news.

No matter what Yang Sichang said, it was impossible for him to not know about this matter for twenty days, so there must be something fishy here. Could it be that the rumors were true? Lu Xiangsheng was indeed tricked by Yang Sichang, Gao Qiqian and others.

Dead?

So Chongzhen suddenly began to feel that Yang Sichang was not as public-minded as he thought, and there was a gap between Yang Sichang and Lu Xiangsheng. This was also an open matter. This time, Yang Sichang tried every means to restrain Lu Xiangsheng. As long as Yang Sichang had his heart

Selfishness, then in theory it is absolutely true.

Moreover, as Yang Sichang is now the chief minister, he does have the ability to block the official channels of speech, making it impossible for him, the emperor, to know many things. Chongzhen has long been exposed to the ability of these ministers to deceive superiors and deceive others, so he began to have feelings for Yang Sichang.

Suspect.

Next, Chongzhen immediately ordered Cao Huachun to send his Jin Yiwei to verify the news, where Gao Qiqian was now, what happened in Guangping Mansion, whether Lu Xiangsheng was alive or dead, and who left.

It was revealed that he had sent Chen Xinjia to try to make peace with Jiannu.

Just when Chongzhen was full of doubts and wanted to figure out these things, suddenly news came from Shandong that Jinan had been captured by the slave army. When Chongzhen heard this, he felt dizzy on the spot and almost fell down.

Jinan is the capital of Shandong. It originally had many garrison troops and the city walls were strong. Logically speaking, it should not be easily broken by Jiannu. He couldn't figure out why Jiannu could capture the city of Jinan in such a short period of time.

In Jinan City, there were also the German King Zhu Youshu and the Fengguo General Zhu Enshang, but this time they were all killed by Jiannu.

This was a bigger blow to Chongzhen than hearing that Lu Xiangsheng died in battle. This was his royal relative, the prince of their Zhu family, and he was actually killed by Jiannu. How could Chongzhen bear it?

So Chongzhen immediately issued an order and asked Yan Jizu, the governor of Shandong, why he had such consequences, how did he defend Shandong, how did he defend Jinan Prefecture, and why did he let the Jiannu army march straight in, fight all the way to the Jinan City, and break through the Jinan City?

But before Chongzhen could recover from this shock, there was another news. He almost fell off the dragon throne. The Tianjin Guards sent people to rush into the capital. News that shocked everyone, Fujian General Soldier and

On the early morning of the 20th day of the first lunar month, the governor, Tongzhi Yu Xiaotian, suddenly led hundreds of warships to appear in the Dagukou area and began to land at Dagukou.

The Tianjin guard general led his people to prevent them from landing, and asked them why they suddenly led their troops here at this time without following the order. Yu Xiaotian sent someone to announce that he came here because he heard that Jiannu entered the pass and plundered the capital, and the capital was in danger.

King Qin’s.

Moreover, according to the judgment of the Tianjin Guard General, the number of troops led by Yu Xiaotian this time was no less than tens of thousands, and the Tianjin Guard garrison could not prevent them from landing.

(Special thanks to book friends 1766755, Baiyun Passing, zcf9527, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty 2, and several brothers from Li Buyi for their rewards! Keep shouting that I want a monthly ticket!)

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