Just as the next day was dawn, Yao Wenchang's troops and Li Xiao's troops set off for the camp and continued to march towards the capital.

The path Yao Wenchang chose was to enter Qingyun County in northern Zhili from Wuding Prefecture, to Yanshan County, then to Cangzhou, then to Qing County, then to Baoding, the northwest of Shuntian Prefecture, then head north, and then head north, passing Bazhou and Gu'an, and finally enter Beijing from Yongding Gate at the southern end of the capital.

Because Li Xiao's army was moving fast, the two armies had unknowingly opened up their distance. A few days later, Li Xiao's army, whose journey was nearly twice that of Yao Wenchang's army in one day, had left Yao Wenchang's army, who could only travel thirty miles a day, far away.

Li Xiao deliberately accelerated the marching speed, and there was also helplessness. Now the entire army has more than 1,200 people, and the food on the road is consumed very quickly. Because the marching is hard every day, a warrior can consume up to three kilograms of rice and grain a day. After removing bran impurities and other substances per stone, he can only eat about 150 kilograms. After counting that day, the consumption of food consumed was nearly 25 kilograms. If the marching speed of Yao Wenchang's troops was marching, the food consumption on the road would nearly double!

In order to ensure the supply of grain, Li Xiao adopted the method of constantly purchasing grain along the way to supplement consumption, so that there was always sufficient grain stock on the four-wheeled carriage that transported grain. However, since he entered the northern Zhili area, the local grain prices have increased, and a stone of rice and grain can reach four or five taels! In order to reduce the speed of grain consumption, Li Xiao had to speed up the march to arrive as soon as possible.

While Li Xiao's army and Yao Wenchang's army were still marching hard in the southern part of Northern Zhili, the situation in the Xuanfu and Datong areas of the Ming Empire became increasingly corrupt.

On June 20, Huang Taiji ordered Beledegele to lead the two blue flags and troops from the Balin tribe, Tumot tribe and Zarut tribe in Mongolia to enter Mingjie from Dushikou, burning, killing and looting all the way to Shuozhou.

On June 30, Huang Taiji ordered Bele Ajige, Dorgon and Dodo to lead the two white flags and the Mongolian Alu Wengniuti tribe to join the newly affiliated troops of the Han tribe, enter the pass from the wall outside the Longmen Pass of Xuanfu, and attack from Xuanfu to the Shuozhou area.

On the eighth day of the seventh month, Huang Taiji, Beilehaoge, and Abatai personally led the two yellow flags, Han soldiers, Kong Youde's Tianyou soldiers, and Shangkexi's Tianshu soldiers, and they all entered Shangfang Fort together, and also burned, killed and looted from Xuanfu to Shuozhou.

The Later Jin army had a very fierce offensive, and the Ming army in various places could not resist at all. Zhang Quanchang, the general of Xuanfu, Cao Wenshao, the general of Datong, and others were defeated in the battles. They only dared to defend the important prefectures, and no one dared to repel the Jianrui army of the Later Jin Dynasty.

The Governor of Xuanda Zhang Zongheng, Governor of Xuanfu Jiao Yuanqing, Governor of Datong Hu Zhanen, Governor of Shanxi Dai Junen and others were all rebuked by the furious Emperor Chongzhen's personal decree for his inability to resist the Tartars.

What is even more worrying is that the rampant invasion of the Later Jin Dynasty also caused a more terrifying result.

At the end of July, because the court urgently dispatched troops from all over the country to resist the invasion of the Later Jin Dynasty, the bandits such as Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, and Chen Qiyu, the governor of the five provinces trapped in the Chexiang Gorge, had to deal with the imperial court's orders to continuously urge the extermination of the bandits within a time limit, but also had to continuously draw troops north to share the pressure of the Later Jin invasion between Xuanfu and Datong. The originally strong morale of the entire army to suppress the bandits was immediately depressed.

In order to end the bandit suppression war as soon as possible, Chen Qiyu ordered the bandits in the car box to increase the intensity of the attack to force them to surrender as soon as possible.

However, Chen Qiyu's helpless behavior was seen through his scheming by one person.

This person is Li Zicheng's adviser Gu Junen.

He suggested to Li Zicheng and other bandit leaders: "Dear leaders, Chen Qiyu stepped up his attack on our rebel army so hard, and he wanted to end the war as soon as possible. This person is so anxious, but our army is just right to take advantage of the plan."

When Li Zicheng and others heard what he said, they were all moved and asked him to explain his plan in detail.

"Dear leaders, there are still many treasure women in our rebel army. Why not bribe this person and make the joints clear. With these treasure beauties, Chen Qiyu and his generals will not be moved. They are now determined to end this battle as soon as possible. If our army can surrender falsely, wouldn't it be the same? Our army still has tens of thousands of people, and its strength is still sufficient. As long as this person agrees and let our army safely leave the canyon, our rebel army will be a tiger entering the mountain and birds flying into the forest. Then Chen Qiyu will find it difficult to control our rebel army."

After Gu Junen finished speaking, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other bandit leaders all said that this plan was wonderful. So he sent envoys to give it to Chen Qiyu and his soldiers with Chongbao and many beauties, saying that he was willing to surrender to the official army.

The envoy spoke humbly and many treasures were sent to him. Chen Qiyu and his generals were all overjoyed and immediately agreed to the surrender request of Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others.

As soon as these old traitors left the car box gorge, they immediately killed the officials and rebelled, killing all the more than 50 appeasers who were placed by Chen Qiyu. Then they entered Fengxiang, Renshou and others near the county town, and the bandit forces began to flourish again in Shaanxi and other places.

When Chen Qiyu saw that he had caused a big disaster, he regretted it. In order to protect himself, he turned the blame on the Shaanxi Governor Lian's state affairs. He submitted a memorial to impeach Dan Lian's state affairs, saying that he did not obey the command and acted recklessly, forcing the bandits who had originally surrendered, which made him lose all his money.

When the governor of Shaanxi practiced his plans, he heard that Chen Qiyu wanted to treat himself as a scapegoat, so he hurriedly submitted a memorial to the emperor.

In his memorial, he wrote: "The bandits in the south of Han entered the car box gorge, and they were already dead, and it was expected to be wiped out. However, the Governor Chen Qiyu issued an edict to stop the attack and accept the surrender of the bandits. When I heard about it, I was shocked! It is reported that there were 40,000 bandits in the gorge. Even if they really surrendered, where could they come from? It is not that they had to plunder the places everywhere! The official army encircled and suppressed by our army now, and there were only more than 20,000 people left, and the number was only half of the bandits. Originally, with the danger of the car box gorge, our army could still defend, but now we release the bandits out of the car box gorge, which is simply to release the tiger into the forest and release the dragon into the water. What else can we do to control it!..."

......

Capital.

Qianqing Palace.

The heat waves in the palace were surging and the heat was so hot that it was so hot that the rows of locust trees outside were so weak that they were shrouded by the hot and toxin sun. The cicadas were screaming and kept silent, which added an anxious summer heat.

The memorial for practicing national affairs slowly slid to the ground from Emperor Chongzhen's hands.

"Bang!"

Chongzhen smashed his right hand hard on the imperial table. The Jingci tea cup was instantly overturned, and the bones rolled off the table, and then they fell to pieces.

"The Tartars invaded and even captured the fortress, and the bandits were rampant again. The state affairs were so corrupt and civil and military officials were so incompetent. What is the use of me to support you! What is the use of me to support you!!"

Chongzhen punched the table with another heavy punch, then stood up from the dragon chaise, his young face full of twisted anger.

He was still angry and stepped on the memorial on the ground for practicing state affairs.

Several internal prisoners next to him holding whisks, and when they saw the angry emperor, they were all arrogant and did not dare to show off.

"So quickly send the Minister of War Zhang Fengyi to see me!"

Soon, Zhang Fengyi, the Minister of War, quickly entered the hall under the guidance of Cao Huachun, the eunuch of the Silijian.

Cao Huachun, whose ancestral home is Xuzhou, Jiangsu. In the second year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, his family moved to Wangjiatuo, Wuqing County, Shuntian Prefecture. At the age of twelve, he entered the palace. Because of his cleverness and diligence, he was appreciated by the eunuch Wang An. He was assigned to the palace of the King of Xin to accompany the five emperors Zhu Youjian. After Zhu Youjian became the emperor, he had a deep relationship with the eunuch who had grown up and affectionately called him Cao Daban. In the fifth year of Chongzhen, Cao Huachun became the eunuch of the Sili Supervisor and also served as the governor of the Dongchang.

At this time, he and Zhang Fengyi were able to enter the hall, and both of them were panting and sweating profusely.

"Long live my emperor!"

Zhang Fengyi, the Minister of War, who was kneeling on the ground, was still breathing constantly, and his face was sweating.

"Zhang Jiubao! You said, how did you become the Minister of War? Now the Tartars are rampant in the north and the bandits in the south are getting hot again. It's like we have agreed to deal with our Ming Dynasty. Let's talk about it, the situation is so decay now, what strategy do you have to save the crisis!"

The emperor roared anxiously, causing Zhang Fengyi to tremble all over.

He did not dare to look up and continued to kneel down and replied, "Report to the emperor, the situation is so critical now. As the Minister of War, I cannot refuse to blame me. If Your Majesty wants to punish the criminal, I will plead guilty to the crime!"

When Chongzhen saw his incompetent appearance, he was even more angry. He shouted again: "Zhang Jiubao, your corpse is in his position and I will pursue the crime of doing nothing. But now the current situation is so dangerous. As the Minister of War, can you be helpless!"

Seeing that the emperor was furious, Zhang Fengyi gritted his teeth, and stood up with courage and bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please calm down. The criminal has something to say to Your Majesty."

"speak!"

"Your Majesty, the criminals think that the Tartars invaded Datong, our Xuanfu, burned, killed, looted, and seemed to be critical, but they just wanted to seize the population and wealth. After they were full and plundered, they should leave the pass. But now the bandits are rekindled, poisoning our Zhongzhou, wandering around, killing the soldiers and civilians, and threatening the people, but this is a major concern that endangers the Ming Dynasty! Who is more serious? Please ask the emperor to investigate it clearly!"

Chongzhen calmed down a little after hearing Zhang Fengyi's words. He shouted coldly: "Zhang Jiubao, what do you mean? Do you want me to put bandits first and Tartars first?"

"My emperor is wise and the criminals meant this. I think that when dealing with the Tartars now, the troops can be drawn from various places and defended by the city so that they cannot attack our capital. After they have sufficient plunder, they will definitely withdraw their troops. However, the elite troops of our Ming Dynasty's bandit suppression cannot be easily transferred to the northern border. We still need to urgently attack the bandits who are causing trouble everywhere to fight hard to protect the fundamentals of our Ming Dynasty!" After Zhang Fengyi said that, he knelt on the ground again.

Chongzhen slowly sat back on the dragon chaise. He thought for a while with a grim expression on his face. Suddenly he remembered the memorial of the Shaanxi Governor Living State Affairs just now. He hurriedly asked: "Zhang Jiubao, the governor of the five provinces, Chen Qiyu, and the governor of Shaanxi Governor Living State Affairs. Do you know that the two of them criticized each other in the article?"

Zhang Fengyi felt a sudden stern and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I already know."

"Then you say that the situation is like this now, how should we deal with the two of them?" Chongzhen asked for a forced question.

"Report to Your Majesty, the truth of the matter has not been found out yet. Both Chen Qiyu and Lian state affairs are the same and should not be trusted easily. I think that Chen Qiyu has tens of thousands of elite troops in the Ming Dynasty under his command, but he needs to be comforted and should not be forced too quickly. However, the governor of Shaanxi, even if what he said is true, the Tartars have not retreated, but he cannot listen to his words to deal with Chen Qiyu. Moreover, this person impeachment is inappropriate, but he needs to be severely punished and regarded as the warning of all officials."

Chongzhen nodded invisibly, and then sent an order to Cao Huachun, who had been afraid to say anything beside him: "Jiubao's words are also in line with my heart. My great companion passed on my decree, and Chen Qiyu made meritorious service and continued to pursue and suppress the bandits. The Shaanxi Governor trained state affairs and immediately removed him from office and took him to prison, and then interrogated him in detail."

"Sister obeys the order."

At this point, Chongzhen's mood calmed down a lot.

He said to Zhang Fengyi: "Jiubao, you can speak calmly."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Zhang Fengyi stood up tremblingly, Chongzhen paid attention to him. Zhang Fengyi, who is not too old, has been obviously thin and haggard in recent years, with his hair and beards half white, and his back is obviously hunched. Chongzhen sighed in his heart that state affairs are now difficult, and Zhang Fengyi, the Minister of War, can tell at a glance how hard it is.

"Jiubao, have you arranged the troops drawn from all over the country?" Chongzhen asked again, his voice softened a lot.

"Report to Your Majesty, I have sent orders. The soldiers and horses from the northern region drawn by Liaodong, Wu Xiang, general of Ningyuan and general of Shanhaiguan Zhen You Shiwei, each led 10,000 troops to urgently enter Datong. There were also Zu Dale, deputy general of the vanguard battalion, and Zu Kuan, deputy commander, led 5,000 troops to the Xuanfu. The soldiers and horses from Zhili, south of Shandong, were still on the way to the capital. After sending orders, after they entered the capital, they would make unified arrangements and sent to the northern region of Zhili or Xuanfu to protect the capital and ensure that the Tartars could not invade the capital."

Zhang Fengyi hurriedly finished this long passage and couldn't help but cough.

"Jiubao, the military situation is urgent, the Tartars will not retreat for a day, and I am uneasy. In my opinion, there is no need to let these southern soldiers come to Beijing. You can send orders to let them quickly go to the important military town that requires troops. This is the most important thing." Emperor Chongzhen said with a serious face.

Zhang Fengyi bowed deeply: "The emperor arranged a wise arrangement. After the weak minister went down, he immediately conveyed an order to the soldiers and horses on the road."

Chongzhen suddenly remembered something and told him: "The situation is urgent now. All reinforcements and horses are sent to the border. They must not be slandered and sent to the land without any trouble to live a life of misfortune."

Zhang Fengyi bowed again: "I am obeying the sages."

Three days later, Li Xiao's troops had just arrived at Bazhou and received an emergency military order from the Ministry of War.

The military order said that the entire army did not have to go to the capital anymore, but needed to go to the military town they were sent to immediately. The destination where Li Xiaojun was sent to was Longmen Guard on Xuanfu Town North Road.

Seeing the words Longmen Guard, Li Xiao suddenly felt a sudden stern.

He had read the Ming Dynasty in his previous life and knew that at this time, the Longmen Guard had been captured by the two white flags of the three brothers Ajige, Dorgon and Dodo some time ago, and was burned into a ruin. The entire fortress, the military and civilians, the elderly and the weak were almost killed, and the strong were all captured as coats. Now the Ministry of War sent itself to this place, but I don’t know what the purpose was.

Li Xiao didn't know that when he took the soldiers to Xuanfu with doubts, Yao Wenchang, who also received the order from the Ministry of War, was furious in the barracks.

"Fuck me, General Liu, you cheated me! Didn't you agree to arrange a safe fort for me? Why did you arrange for me to the right guard of Wanquan, Xuanfu Town, where birds do not shit! That ghost place, a little further north, is the Mongolian territory! General Liu, aren't you using the Tartars' sword to kill me? I'm afraid I won't be able to go back to Shandong again when I go there!"

Yao Wenchang pointed to the void and cursed loudly. Then he squatted on the ground dejectedly, lamenting continuously.
Chapter completed!