Saving the Ming Dynasty: I can exchange bodies with Chongzhen

Chapter 85 Chongzhen's venting
"Your Majesty, can you take another look?" Wang Chengen handed the victory report to Chongzhen.

Chongzhen read the victory report word by word, reading it over and over again, fearing that he had read it wrong.

Ringing in the ears.

Win?

Actually won?

And it was such a big victory?
He listened to Zhu Changgan's preparations in the early stage, so he knew all of Zhu Changgan's arrangements clearly, and Zhu Changgan's judgment on the Manchu Tartars was completely correct.

Tongzhou... Chongzhenmei did not return the memorial to Wang Chengen, but spread it out, folded it, and put it into his clothes. After thinking it was inappropriate, he picked it up and held it in his hand.

His whole body couldn't help but tremble. He closed his eyes and said, "Ancestors... we won. The Ming Dynasty finally won once."

Over the years, he has almost gone insane and has a deep-seated fear of the Tartars.

Outside the Qianqing Palace, civil servants, nobles, and censors stared at the emperor in amazement. The shouts of victory were so deafening that they were completely left there.

At this point, they couldn't retreat, nor did they know whether to retreat or not.

They kept saying that Your Majesty was stupid, that Yang Sichang had bewitched the Emperor, that the Yongwei Battalion, the Beijing Battalion and the White Spear Soldiers were unable to stop the Tartar cavalry, and that if people from all over the country did not come to support the Emperor, the capital would be in danger and the Ming Dynasty would be in danger.

But now, we have won, and it’s a big win!

Chongzhen clutched the victory report in his hand, looked at the civil and military officials kneeling on the ground in front of the Qianqing Palace, straightened his back, and shouted: "Shout, keep shouting!"

"Didn't you say that we would lose this battle and the Ming Dynasty would be in jeopardy?"

"Didn't you say that if the rest of the country doesn't come to the king's defense, the capital will be slaughtered?"

"Aren't you claiming that the Tartars are invincible and that the Ming soldiers cannot resist them?"

"The soldiers are fighting desperately on the front lines, but you are pouring cold water on them in the rear, threatening me and asking them to retreat. Isn't this discouraging the soldiers?"

"You all claim to be the loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty, but now you are advocating that the Ming Dynasty will definitely fail. What is this?"

"With ulterior motives!"

"Evil intentions!"

"Ignore the facts and erase the determination of our Ming soldiers!"

"For the sake of party struggles, you have disregarded the overall interests of the court... Is this what you call self-cultivation, family harmony, governance of the country, and peace in the world? Is this what you call loyalty to the emperor and patriotism?"

These words are very important.

It was like a knife falling on the heads of all the civil servants and nobles present, scolding all the dignitaries in the court.

Their faces turned pale and they were speechless, unable to utter a word in rebuttal.

Chongzhen felt so happy when he saw everyone's faces turning red or white.

Over the years, this group of people have always used loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, ancestral etiquette and the teachings of sages to poke at his lungs.

Coupled with the scenes he saw in King Xiang's house, today he finally vented all his anger at once by taking advantage of the victory in Tongzhou.

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

"..."

All the ministers knelt down and kowtowed one by one.

Chongzhen was about to say something when he suddenly remembered something. "I will not punish you today, but isn't it even more ironic that you are all in high positions but are making a fuss?"

"Wang Chengen, write down the names of everyone present."

"Hahaha~~" Chongzhen laughed and turned back to the Qianqing Palace, leaving the civil and military officials on the ground trembling all over.

The emperor did not punish them, but these words were more painful than punishing them.

Why were the scholars and officials of the Ming Dynasty not afraid of being beaten with a stick or being punished for their words? To put it bluntly, this was a manifestation of their noble character.

If they were demoted or forced to retire by the emperor because of this, it would be a great honor for them.

However, if they are exiled because of ill intentions and because they have harmed the country and the army, even if they return to their hometown, they will be criticized by others. It will be a great shame not only for themselves but also for their descendants.

Huang Shijun was particularly dedicated to his work and never engaged in corruption. He did not participate in other party struggles for personal gain and resigned from office many times.

Having served as an official in Beijing for thirty years, he had neither made great achievements in bringing about innovation nor committed any bad deeds that would cause him to be condemned by others. However, due to his profound knowledge, hard work, and fairness, he won the reputation of being "upright".

He is now seventy years old, but he has been accused of harming the country and the emperor. How can he accept this?

Huang Shijun was shaking all over. He raised his arms vigorously and shouted loudly: "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, I beg to leave my body. I beg to resign from the post of Minister of Rites and return to my hometown to retire!"

"No!"

Before the door of the Qianqing Palace was closed, a low voice was heard from inside.

"Minister Huang? Minister Huang?"

"Master Huang..."

However, when Huang Shijun heard this, his eyes rolled up and he fainted on the ground.

Wang Chengen naturally could not let Huang Shijun die in the palace, as that would only enhance his good reputation, so he quickly petitioned the emperor to summon the imperial physician.

After pinching his Ren Zhong acupoint and feeding him medicine, Huang Shijun finally woke up.

This person in history lived to be over ninety years old and was in very good health. He just had to lie down. Now his lips were broken by the imperial physician. If he doesn't wake up, who knows what other measures may be taken.

……

Half an hour later,
Wang Chengen came in from outside, "Your Majesty, everyone has gone back."

"Bring me my pen, ink, paper and inkstone. During this beautiful time, please write an article as a commemoration." Chongzhen smoothed his sleeves in the Qianqing Palace and felt that he suddenly became ten years younger.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Wang Chengen prepared everything, watched the emperor writing, sighed, and slowly retreated.

When he arrived outside the palace gate, he called a eunuch over and said, "Go and tell the concubines in the harem to take down the lanterns."

"Yes, father-in-law!"

Wang Chengen knew that the emperor had just been in Chenghua Palace today... naturally there would be no action tonight.

What puzzled him was why Concubine Chen and Chen Yuanyuan were placed in Chenghua Palace?

After Chongzhen wrote an article, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The reason why he spared those civil servants and nobles outside was not because he did not want to punish them, but because he remembered what Zhu Changgan had said to him.

Don't interfere!
Chongzhen murmured, "As long as we can win the battle, I will not interfere!"

He blew gently on the ink on the article, then picked it up and looked at it carefully. "Sure enough, a good article also requires a good mood."

Chongzhen suddenly remembered the victory report, and quickly took it and read it again, "Good, good!"...

That night, the entire capital city was in a state of excitement.

While there is no curfew yet, some people are setting off firecrackers and lighting lanterns, making it even more lively than a festival.

The Tartars' entry into the Pass not only brought tremendous pressure and fear to the imperial court, but also brought great pain and fear to the people, because every time the Tartars entered the Pass they burned, killed and looted, and ultimately the consequences were passed on to the people.

What's worse, the Tartars entered the pass and directly abducted the people of the Ming Dynasty and made them slaves.

Now that they have heard that the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty have won a great victory, how can they not be happy?
When the people heard the news that the civil and military officials were scolded by the emperor, they cheered.

"Your Majesty is a holy monarch, so you should dismiss them from office and strip them of their titles."

"That's right, they are all useless, they can't do anything, but they are better than anyone else at hindering others."

"Your Majesty is still too merciful."

"It wouldn't be too much to kill them one by one..."

……

The news of the Qing army's defeat was heard by Yue Tuo as Beile Dudu fled back. He had just set up his tent and had not even eaten when he heard the news.

He was completely stunned, "How is this possible?"

The entire Qing army camp was in deathly silence.

The flags of the Eight Banners stood outside the tent, drooping, as if they had no energy at all.

What made it even harder for him to accept was that his own brother was also dead. He rode his horse to Beile Dudu and said, "You useless piece of shit. I gave you 25,000 men, but you can't even defeat the 20,000 Ming troops?"

"Why didn't you die on the battlefield?"

Beile Dudu knelt down in front of Yuetuo, "The Ming army is cheating. They not only have 20,000 cavalry, they have set up a large number of artillery and muskets on the hillside..."

Du Du revealed the entire war story.

An Eight Banners member who was hit by a musket but not in the vitals said: "Marshal, the Ming Dynasty is not as simple as we thought. Their artillery is much more powerful than ours and requires fewer people to operate. Their muskets can fire a hundred steps... We want to grab their artillery, but we can't get close at all."

Yue Tuo looked at them and asked, "You are still trying to make excuses now?"

"General, you can ask any soldier who has come down from the battlefield, and you will know whether what I said is false or not." Beile Dudu said angrily, "If I say even one falsehood, you will chop me off right now."

Yue Tuo looked at Du Du with red eyes, "I will verify the truth of what you said!"

"Alan Chai, take 8,000 cavalrymen to explore again and see if the Ming army has the kind of powerful artillery that only needs two people to operate, as well as fire guns with a range of more than 100 steps, as the deputy commander said."

"Yes, Marshal!" Yue Tuo's subordinate, the Mongolian Alanchai, led his cavalry to ride out on horseback.

As the Qing army moved,
On the hillside not far away, there were several Ming Dynasty Jinyiwei spies, watching their movements with binoculars and waving flags in the distance.

The Jinyiwei two kilometers away were also watching them with binoculars. When they saw the flag signals, they quickly waved their flags towards the distance.

Jinyiwei is different from 'Yebushou'.

"Yebushou" is on the verge of life and death every day and is under enormous pressure. Every time it is his turn to carry out a mission, he must first say goodbye to his family. If he returns safely, he will burn paper and incense to celebrate.

As the elite special forces of the Ming Dynasty, they were either captured or killed.

Because the mission is not carried out at night, in order to ensure secrecy, the number of people usually does not exceed ten.

If they encounter enemy troops, their numbers are usually far greater than those of the Ye Bushou, and both sides mainly use bows and arrows, so it is dangerous to fight one against two. In order to ensure ease of movement, the Ye Bushou usually use short weapons without armor, so it is indeed very dangerous for them to face the Manchu Mongols, who have both superior numbers and strong individual capabilities.

But now the situation is completely different for the Jinyiwei. They are equipped with telescopes and flintlock rifles with a range of over a hundred steps, so they do not need to get too close to the enemy.

Even if you are discovered, if you are far enough away, the enemy's bows and arrows cannot reach you, but you can use your flintlock rifle to attack the enemy's scouts first.

……

At this time, in the central military camp of the Ming Dynasty.

"General Cao, we won this battle because the enemy is not aware of the power of our artillery. What should we do next?" Li Banghua asked as he looked at the map and Cao Huachun who was in deep thought.

Cao Huachun was also thinking about what to do next. After this battle, the enemy must have been extremely wary. It would be difficult to go back as smoothly as last time.

The key point is that only Yuetuo’s tribe has arrived in Tongzhou, and Dorgon is more than a hundred miles away.

If the left and right wings of the Tartars were to unite together, it would probably be even more difficult for them to defeat them.

"I thought we should pursue the victory." Qin Liangyu gritted her teeth and said, "Now that we have just defeated the Tartars, there are only more than 20,000 soldiers left in Yue Tuo's army!"

"We should make a concerted effort to take them down."

"General Cao, His Majesty has entrusted the three armies to us, naturally hoping that we can stop the Tartars and keep them out of Tongzhou."

Cao Huachun shook his head. "No, Dorgon is very close, and the Tatar cavalry is faster than ours. If we fail to defeat him, we may be surrounded by him."

He also wanted to swallow Yuetuo in one go, but the Manchus were all cavalry, while he only had one-third of the cavalry, and a large amount of artillery and supplies.

The movement was too slow and it was impossible to catch up with the other party.

"Before I left, His Majesty gave me the order that, except for the first battle, I would not fight a battle with more than 30,000 troops."

"Not fighting a battle involving more than 30,000 men?"

Cao Huachun nodded, "Your Majesty's original words: Only use the majority to bully the minority, never use the minority to fight the majority. The Yongwei Battalion, the Beijing Battalion, and the White Spear Soldiers are all your Majesty's personal soldiers. Even if we have to trade one for one with the Tartars, I would not be willing to do so."

"Your Majesty..." Qin Liangyu's eyes suddenly turned red, "Your Majesty is really different from a few years ago."

Li Banghua's eyes flickered a few times, "Your Majesty means to force the Tartars to unite and not let them divide their forces?"

Cao Huachun thought for a moment and said, "If it is as your majesty said, this time when Dorgon and Yue Tuo enter the pass, they will mainly fight a raid, with their troops divided into the left and right wings. It is highly likely that they will not besiege the capital."

"Instead, they will bypass Beijing and march south, splitting up their forces to raid various places, killing, burning, looting, and capturing people. What we need to do is to make them feel uneasy, so that they dare not split up their forces, huddle together, and cannot raid."

Li Banghua frowned. "Tens of thousands of soldiers need a lot of food. If they are crowded together, they will definitely not be able to grab enough food. They will have to split up again."

"As long as they dare to separate, it will be our chance. After this battle, His Majesty will certainly mobilize the Ming army to come to our aid again and grind down the Tartars bit by bit."

If the army were to unite, they would not be able to plunder enough things, but once they were dispersed to plunder, they would be attacked by the Yongwei Camp, the Jing Camp, the Baigan Soldiers and the Ming troops from all over the country, putting them in crisis at all times.

Cao Huachun said with a slightly cold look, "For now, we will temporarily retreat..."

Before he could finish his words, he saw the Jinyiwei people outside shouting, "Report!"

"Report! Eight thousand cavalrymen from Yuetuo's army are attacking this way."

Ok?
I just thought that Yue Tuo's troops would retreat, but I didn't expect that there would be some who would come to die?
Cao Huachun was equally delighted, "Quick, notify all the camps and ask them to prepare. This time we will try to eat it all in one bite."

Soon, the military order came out.

There were bursts of roars coming from the barracks. The camps that had experienced the baptism of the battlefield were quietly undergoing a transformation.

Sun Yingyuan asked his men to put on armor for him, and just as he ran out of the tent with a spear in hand, he saw Huang Mengzi already on his horse, grinning at him with bared teeth, "Old Sun, is there a woman in the barracks or something? You're so slow!"

(End of this chapter)