The twelfth year of Chongzhen, the nineteenth day of the first lunar month.

It was dark at night, and Emperor Chongzhen was gently awakened by the eunuchs of the Qianqing Palace. He immediately realized that something big must have happened, otherwise these eunuchs who usually dare not take a breath in front of him would not have the courage to wake themselves up from their sleep. Wake up.

Wang Chengen came to him tremblingly and asked someone to bring the cooked porridge.

Chongzhen dismissed the young eunuch impatiently and said, "Tell me, what happened again?"

Wang Chengen said: "Your Majesty, the Tianwu Army has arrived on the outskirts of the capital and killed thousands of Tatar soldiers..."

Chongzhen only felt that his eyes were in a trance, as if he had not woken up, but his consciousness immediately returned to consciousness and he stood up straight.

I heard Wang Chengen say again: "Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting have also arrived on the outskirts of Beijing, and the army is camping outside the city."

Chongzhen breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out to be a false alarm. He really did not misjudge Hong Chengchou. Although he walked too slowly, he thought that for the sake of his starry night rescue, he could make an exception and praise him to boost his morale... .

He said calmly: "Summon the cabinet and six ministers into the palace to discuss matters."

........

Half an hour later, all the important ministers gathered in the Qianqing Palace, and the food supervisor brought out the hot porridge that had been cooked all night.

Looking at the steaming hot porridge, a group of old men were moved to tears, thanked him again and again, and praised the emperor for his consideration for his ministers.

Chongzhen looked at several important ministers and said: "The Tianwu Army and the Shaanxi Army have arrived outside the city. I have invited them here overnight, mainly to discuss how to counterattack and defeat the Donglu army in Tongzhou."

The arrival of reinforcements from all sides, especially the arrival of the Tianwu Army, gave everyone confidence. At this time, there were hundreds of thousands of Ming Dynasty elite troops outside the capital. If they wanted to defeat the Eight Banners Army in Tongzhou, they should be sure of victory.

In fact, everyone knows that what the Holy Emperor is discussing this time is not about tactical deployment, but how to coordinate and dispatch troops and horses. How to fight is a matter for the commander of the troops. The imperial court never intervenes and only arranges the commanders and combat tasks.

In the early morning, Li Fengxiang, the eunuch who was responsible for the ceremony and eunuch Bingbi, led a group of royal guards out of the city and headed towards the camp of Hong Bing and Qin Bing outside Fucheng Gate.

"The Crown Prince and Taibao, Hong Chengchou, the Governor of the Three Borders, accepted the order..."

Hong Chengchou ignored his armor and knelt down to receive the edict. Until Li Fengxiang finished reading the edict, his legs were already sore and numb, but his heart was excited.

In the imperial edict, Hong Chengchou was appointed Minister of the Ministry of War and the censor of the right deputy capital, leading the army to defend the capital, and he was also allowed to enter the palace to face the saints. Sun Chuanting was appointed the right minister of the Ministry of War and the censor of the right capital, and the governor of Baoding, Shandong and Hebei military affairs.

The words in the imperial edict were full of praise, which made Hong Chengchou feel indescribably relieved. He felt that his efforts in suppressing the bandits in Shaanxi all these years had been in vain.

Hong Chengchou felt relieved, but Sun Chuanting felt uncomfortable. He had captured Chuang Wang Gao Yingxiang alive in the first place, and he had half of the credit for defeating the second generation Chuang King Li Zicheng. Why did the emperor only allow Hong Chengchou to enter the palace to face the emperor? At this moment, Sun Chuanting was extremely dissatisfied.

Hong Chengchou didn't care so much, and immediately followed the eunuch Li Fengxiang into the capital happily.

But on the way, Li Fengxiang said a few words to him in a nonchalant manner, all he mentioned was that the Tianwu Army arrived in Beizhili and entered the battlefield two months ago...

Cold sweat broke out on Hong Chengchou's forehead. These words didn't mean that he, Hong Chengchou, was slow to lead the troops in march. If it was more serious, it meant that he wasted the opportunity to fight...

Is this a private complaint by the eunuch, or is he relaying the emperor's wishes? The more Hong Chengchou thought about it, the more frightened he became. He was a smart man and was sensitive to many things in the court. This also allowed him to have a prosperous official career.

In an invincible position.

Hong Chengchou immediately humbly expressed that he was very anxious when he heard that the Donglu were causing chaos in the capital along the way. He wished he could travel thousands of miles to serve the king, but the marching road was rugged and difficult, and the soldiers were not accustomed to the climate...

As he spoke, he motioned to the deputy general beside him to stuff a heavy piece of gold into Li Fengxiang's sleeve.

Seeing Hong Chengchou looking loyal to the country, Li Fengxiang rolled his eyelids and wanted to say something, but he swallowed it back, stopped dwelling on the topic, and continued to lead the way to the Forbidden City.

After entering the palace, a special etiquette officer came forward to arrange for Hong Chengchou to change his official uniform, but he refused. He said: "The war is urgent. Everything should be done according to authority. It is better not to keep your majesty waiting."

The officials of the Ministry of Rites felt that this was reasonable, and knowing that Mr. Yang Ge had some concern for Hong Chengchou, they no longer insisted, so they led him into the Jinshui Bridge and went straight to the Huangji Palace.

The armor-clad Hong Chengchou, who was covered in military dust, stepped into the hall. All the officials felt that the chilling atmosphere of the interesting battlefield was pouring in.

After not seeing him for many years, Hong Chengchou's image has changed a lot compared to a few years ago. He was a scholar, but he was extremely brave and good at using soldiers. Chongzhen was so pleased that he almost got up from the dragon throne to greet him personally.

As the saying goes, you cannot perform a full salute when you are wearing armor. Hong Chengchou did not play this trick. He completed the salute respectfully, which seemed very laborious. After he completed the salute, he immediately apologized to Chongzhen, saying that he was late for the arrival of King Qin.

Zhu Cixiang, who was standing on the golden steps, looked carefully and secretly sighed that this man was very scheming and knew how to get involved in official circles.

This was the first time Zhu Cihong saw this capable minister in the late Ming Dynasty. He saw that Hong Chengchou had a clear face and was about forty years old. Although he was wearing a battle armor, his beard and bra were neat and tidy, and there was a restrained look in his behavior.

Elegant demeanor.

The prelude to Lord Hong Chengchou was carried out very successfully. Emperor Chongzhen was also very satisfied with the governor who traveled to Beijing at night to escort him. For the first time, the ministers did not jump out to cause trouble. Everything was carried out in an unusually harmonious atmosphere and ended successfully.

The image of a brave and resourceful Confucian general suddenly emerged in the hearts of all the ministers in the palace and even Emperor Chongzhen. Hong Chengchou's achievements in suppressing the bandits over the years were seen by everyone. There was nothing to say, he was very capable!

Chongzhen was in a good mood and ordered the Shaanxi army to replenish supplies near the capital. If you need anything, just ask for it and the Ministry of Revenue will replenish it.

In the past, the Ministry of Revenue would have definitely refused to complain about poverty, but this time Li Daiwen, the Minister of Revenue, did not even open his mouth to cry about poverty, which was an unprecedented acquiescence.

Hong Chengchou was not polite. When he came up, he asked for a replacement of the war horse. He said that the horse had lost weight during the long march and was too weak and needed to be overhauled. He then asked for armor and arrows, which was very willful.

Li Daiwen, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, was stunned for a moment and scolded Hong Chengchou for being greedy and excessive! If someone hadn't asked the Ministry of Revenue to take care of him in advance, he would have paid no attention to this madman Hong.

On the same day, Chongzhen summoned Hong Chengchou alone and discussed with him in detail the situation on the three sides of Shaanxi. This was something Hong Chengchou could not ask for. He took the opportunity to raise his concerns. The situation in Shaanxi was very dangerous, and there was still the danger of civil commotion. If no large army was sent for a long time,

The consequences of garrisoning would be disastrous.

Chongzhen didn't take it seriously. He thought it was because Hong Chengchou was used to being a feudal official and didn't like the constraints of the capital. Maybe he was suspected of being a self-respecting soldier. But now that he was being used, Chongzhen just smiled and asked him to wait.
Chapter completed!