Wang Shouren and Hu Lian left the garrison yamen, and Hu Lian was indignant: "At noon, I found that the situation was wrong and advocated withdrawing troops, but Zhang Yuan insisted on pursuing him, and finally bewitched His Majesty successfully. Finally, he suffered a crushing defeat afterwards. He did not bear any responsibility and wanted us to take responsibility!"

Wang Shouren sighed: "It's also because I was not very careful in thinking that the Tatars were not enough and would not force the battle. But the Tatars sent soldiers to fight with our army. Brother Jinqi, have you calculated the losses in the army?"

When asked about the pain, Hu Lian seemed helpless, "Send five thousand troops, more than 1,200 soldiers and horses... more than 2,000 horses... As for the many casualties and injuries under the city block, it has not been clearly counted..."

"well!"

Hearing such a huge loss, Wang Shouren couldn't help but sigh.

Someone will definitely take responsibility for this failure, and as the emperor, Zhu Houzhao will definitely not let himself take the blame. In this way, anyone may become a scapegoat.

Hu Lian said again: "But it is fortunate that the final counterattack was about 400 Tatars. There were 600 or 700 enemies killed during the cavalry battle. Unfortunately, the corpse was not brought back, so this number is up to be discussed!"

The Ming Dynasty's military achievements always mean that they had to see the head. Now the soldiers who came back reported that they had killed so many enemies, but they did not bring back the corpse and head, and there was no evidence. In this way, the numbers only existed in words.

Wang Shouren looked up at the sky. It was dusk. Although the rain had stopped a long time ago, it was still covered with dark clouds. He sighed: "I don't know how many people are responsible for this time. Brother Jin, you and me..."

Hu Lian said: "We share the responsibility. When I go back, I will submit a memorial to your Majesty for apologizing. Isn't Your Majesty going to meet with his ministers tomorrow? At that time, you will be able to resign and return home..."

Wang Shouren wanted to say something, but he wanted to say something but stopped. Obviously, he didn't think that just resigning could solve the problem.

The two were about to leave, but they saw a few people coming from the front and were stopped by their guards from afar.

"who?"

Wang Shouren asked.

After looking carefully, I realized that the leader among the people was Xu Tai, the deputy general of Xuanfu whom Zhu Houzhao was very popular recently. After Xu Tai was released, he came over and saluted respectfully: "Two sirs, I will make an announcement."

"What's up?"

Wang Shouren and Hu Lian looked at each other and did not guess the purpose of Xu Tai's visit.

Xu Tai said: "At the end, we will impeach Bai Yu, the general of Xuanfu, with two masters. He usually bullies others, bullies the good in the army, and illegally invades the military's pay. He led his troops out of the city and fled in the face of the battle, resulting in the lack of a leader in the army, and finally ushering in a crushing defeat! If he is allowed to stay in the army without being punished, the soldiers will be disloyal..."

Wang Shouren probably understood what Xu Tai meant. Isn’t the court looking for a scapegoat this time? The main responsibility should be borne by Bai Yu, who led the troops, so it is easy to explain in all aspects.

As a subordinate of Bai Yu, Xu Tai took the lead in confessing Bai Yu's trick, which means to define a clear relationship with Bai Yu, and also means to replace it.

Of course, Xu Tai could also go to Zhang Yuan to impeach Bai Yu, but the problem was that Bai Yu was Zhang Yuan's person. In addition, Zhu Houzhao had to listen to the opinions of the people around him and the army, so he came to Wang Shouren and Hu Lian to participate in the report, and in the past he made contributions.

Wang Shouren said: "I will talk more about it when I go back. This is not a place to speak!"

After saying that, the group headed towards the gate of the Central Army.

...

...

Zhu Houzhao came down from the city, and was so shocked that he lost his heart to the generals and officials. When he returned to the garrison yamen, he was still recalling what had happened on the city.

Zhu Houzhao muttered: "If the Tartars were one step late and they would come into the city, I might be the Supreme Emperor!"

Concubine Li kept waiting by her side. Looking at Zhu Houzhao's reaction, she felt the nervousness of the little emperor before, but she felt a little pitiful of the young man in front of her, saying that she had a lot of ambitions, but when she was in a critical moment, her true colors were revealed.

"Your Majesty, it's not your fault. General Bai is the one who leads troops to fight ineffectively!" said Concubine Li.

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand: "Concubine Li, you can't say that. The key is that I'm not properly dispatched. At that time, both Wang Qing's family and Hu Qing's family advised me not to pursue, but I felt that returning without pursuing would ruin my face, so I made a wrong decision. Actually...ah! The person who should blame me the most is me."

The emperor's words made Concubine Li feel that it was valuable. She took the initiative to take responsibility in the face of failure, which shows that the young emperor is at least responsible.

Unfortunately, Zhu Houzhao would not say these words in public, but would just say them in front of his concubine. The last person responsible must be selected among the officials and generals.

Concubine Li said: "Your Majesty, you will win in the end. Lord Wang personally visited the corner tower and urged the artillery to fight. Lord Hu commanded the muskets and cavalry to counterattack, killing many of the unexpected Tartars."

Zhu Houzhao sighed: "The Tartars may have been blinded by victory. If it weren't for Wang Qing's family's planning at that time, what kind of evil consequences would have happened... Oh, I'm suddenly so tired, not saying that my headache was split, and my eyelids were still fighting. No, I have to go to bed first!"

Just then, Xiao Tiaozi came in from outside and reported, "Your Majesty, you have told those adults as you told me, and they each returned."

Zhu Houzhao said: "Have everyone gone? It's good that way, I hope they don't blame me."

Xiao Guozi thought for a while and said, "But General Bai still knelt in the front yard of the garrison yamen, as if he was apologizing to His Majesty."

Zhu Houzhao said annoyedly: "I asked them to leave, including him, why should I stay? It's really annoying! If you have anything to do, I'll talk about it tomorrow."

With Zhu Houzhao's personality, he always wants to escape when encountering problems. The most worry-free thing is that he is not upset.

Just as Xiao Guozi was about to go out to pass the death, Concubine Li suddenly said, "Your Majesty, no!"

"My beloved concubine, I'm tired. Even if you want to say anything, you can wait until tomorrow?" Zhu Houzhao lost patience with Concubine Li and couldn't help but complain.

Concubine Li shook her head: "Your Majesty, even if you disobey you, I will say that General Bai led the army to fight and returned from a defeat. He should have been taken away from his post. If he continues to serve, he knows that he will be pursued tomorrow, and he may have done something dangerous tonight!"

Zhu Houzhao frowned: "I didn't say I wanted to blame him, I said it, the biggest person responsible this time is me."

"But Your Majesty did not receive the ministers and did not explain to them, how could this General Bai know?" said Li Fei, "This General Bai will definitely guess in his heart, believing that His Majesty will convict him of death tomorrow... This is the most dangerous thing!"

Zhu Houzhao asked, "What do you think of the beloved concubine?"

Concubine Li said: "Since he took the initiative to accept the crime, if Your Majesty ignores it, it will make the army think that Your Majesty cannot clearly determine the rewards and punishments, so... it is necessary to be exiled!"

...

...

No matter how responsible Zhu Houzhao was, he would eventually find a scapegoat. This man was Bai Yu, the general of Xuanfu who led his troops out of the city to fight.

The reason for Zhu Houzhao to sue is very simple. Even you know that you are guilty and you know that I want to sue you. Why should I be kind to you?

If you are not punished and you want to take revenge on me after you go back, then isn’t I going to be in danger?

When Bai Yu was taken down and handed over to the Jinyiwei for interrogation, everyone knew that the person responsible for the defeat this time was found.

Bai Yu led his troops to fight, and he worked hard without any credit. He did not need to bear the responsibility for strategic decision-making mistakes, but the emperor who originally needed to bear the greatest responsibility had to find someone to help him take the blame. What if this happened?

Zhang Yuan learned that Bai Yu was arrested and brought to justice in the yard next to the garrison. It was a big touch for him. After a long time, his body still trembled. It was not that he was angry, but that he was afraid.

At this time, only Xu Tai and Zang Xian were by Zhang Yuan, and his reactions were all in the eyes of the two.

"Father-in-law?"

Xu Tai was unaware of the situation and thought that Zhang Yuan was going to blame someone for being angry, so he asked for it.

Zhang Yuan could only use a domineering tone to cover up his uneasy emotions and said angrily: "Isn't it a clear investigation before? I said that there were not many Tartars outside the city, so why did so many Tartars suddenly appear? And a prince led the troops... Is the whole army all over the army eating a good meal?"

Xu Tai looked at Zang Xian.

At this time, Zang Xian looked like an old god, obviously it was nothing to do with him. Xu Tai was helpless and understood that Zhang Yuan was angry with him, so he had to reluctantly ask him: "Dadult, the investigation of information is not the last person. Who is talking nonsense in front of you, just check it a little and you will be clear. That person must be a detailed work by the Tartars!"

Zhang Yuan did not ask for permission and looked at Zang Xian again, but his think tank still had no intention of speaking. He immediately said annoyed: "We must find out clearly. We need to know who is spreading fake news, and we must also find out how many Tartars are outside the city..."

"Receive the order!"

Xu Tai didn't want to stay in Zhang Yuan for too long, so he quickly took the order and left.

After the person left, Zang Xian asked thoughtfully: "Defendant believes in this Deputy General Xu?"

"What does it mean?" Zhang Yuan frowned.

Zang Xian said: "As far as the villain knows, after Deputy General Xu left the garrison, he first went to see Lord Wang and Lord Hu, saying that he was reporting General Bai's plan, and then came to my father-in-law and didn't mention a word in front of him... Who is he leaning towards? Can't my father-in-law see?"

Zhang Yuan frowned and began to think about what Zang Xian said.

Zang Xian continued: "Now General Bai has been investigated by His Majesty. Even if he does not die, his position will be lost. So who will have a better chance to become General Xuanfu in the next step?"

Zhang Yuan said: "You mean the surname Xu is a stingy?"

Zang Xian nodded: "Deputy General Xu approached his father-in-law, but he wanted to use his father-in-law as a springboard to have the opportunity to contact His Majesty. Now that his wish has been fulfilled, His Majesty has a lot of trust in him and often takes him with him to advise military aircraft, he doesn't think his father-in-law is too important. Now he is going to approach Lord Wang and Lord Hu, with a very obvious intention, and he must rely on the support of the two ministers in charge to go further!"

Zhang Yuan's face was pitch black: "This kid, I can't see that he was so heartless before. Our family introduced him to His Majesty. He was not grateful and started to tear the bridge before he could cross the river?"

Zang Xian said: "According to the investigation by villains, there are actually not many Tatar soldiers outside the city. This time, the third Tatar prince suddenly came with thousands of elite cavalry. General Bai was caught off guard and was defeated... The third Tatar prince didn't know how to stop when he saw the opportunity and tried to attack the city. As a result, a lot of people were lost. We were considered to be a face-saving victory, otherwise it would be a complete defeat."

"What do you mean..." Zhang Yuan frowned, looking very confused.

Zang Xian smiled and said, "Your Majesty is in a bad mood now. Why not take the battle in Yansui as an example to turn big defeat into small victory and promote your Majesty's great achievements?"

Zhang Yuan's eyes lit up: "Do you want our family to say the black ones to white ones and report their achievements to Your Majesty, so as to boost the morale of the soldiers and soldiers in the city and inspire the morale of those unknown people?"

Zang Xian nodded again: "There are not many people who really went up to the city to witness the battle. Besides, even if they stood on the city, they saw the final counterattack. The Tatars left hundreds of corpses and fled in a panic. As for the war that happened forty miles north of the city, does anyone know the details? Looking back, the Tatars will definitely take away the corpses. Even if we decide to lure the enemy deeper and defeat the strong enemy, isn't that reasonable?"

Zhang Yuan was worried before, but after careful consideration, he realized what Zang Xian said was extremely clever, and his emotions became excited: "Just do this, let's go to see the saint immediately, and make your Majesty clear, so that your Majesty will be happy!"

...

...

Zhang Yuan went to the garrison office in a hurry, but like before, he was still turned away.

Zhang Yuan said anxiously: "Our family has an urgent military information to inform Your Majesty. If the communication is not promptly reported, can you afford to bear the loss of the city? Even if you dare not let it go, you should go in and pass it on!"

After working with Zhu Houzhao for a long time, Zhang Yuan understood one thing. If you want to face the saint, you should talk about the problem first. In short, Zhu Houzhao is still kind to his servants, and even if he knows that it does not match the truth afterwards, he will basically not be punished.

The guards did not dare to be negligent, so they quickly went in and communicated with each other, and then Xiao Guozi told Zhu Houzhao who had just woken up. Then Zhu Houzhao asked Xiao Guozi to go out to welcome Zhang Yuan into the room.

On the way, Xiao Tiaozi asked, "Eunuch Zhang, is the Tartars making a comeback?"

Zhang Yuan did not answer, and his disdainful look seemed to be saying, "Is this kind of thing only a slave like you can ask about it?"

When he entered, Zhu Houzhao was already using dinner.

After dealing with Bai Yu, Zhu Houzhao's mood improved a lot. After all, he found a scapegoat and the shaky city was now solid. Zhu Houzhao returned to his former lofty attitude.

"What's the situation with the Tartars? They're coming to the city again?" Zhu Houzhao's question was basically the same as Xiao Thorn.
To be continued...