Chapter 678 Hong Chengchou wants to rise

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"Hong Chengchou..."

Zhang Zhun stood on the Ximen Tower Mountain in Dezhou City, thinking about things silently.

The grain on the Linqing canal ship was prepared to be supplied to Hong Chengchou. If the Hu Ben Army robbed it, it would be like a feud with Hong Chengchou. This was not aimed at the court, but specifically targeting Hong Chengchou himself. It can be imagined that after Hong Chengchou learned the news, he would definitely hate him.

Hong Chengchou is still very famous in the history of the late Ming Dynasty. Not to mention the things between him and the empress dowager of the Qing Dynasty, this person's strategy and courage are actually quite good. His human nature is actually very complicated. The responsibility for the failure of the Battle of Songshan is not on him. Therefore, it is inappropriate and unfair to criticize Hong Chengchou for being criticized by the Battle of Songshan.

After he surrendered to the Qing Dynasty, Huang Taiji was always worried about him and did not give him any official positions. He even sent someone to monitor his residence. It was not until Dorgon took power that Hong Chengchou had the opportunity to hold an official position and became the first Han prime minister of the Qing Dynasty. After taking office, Hong Chengchou used his power to do a lot of things that were conducive to the stability of the country. This is worthy of recognition.

For example, when Hong Chengchou was in charge of five provinces including Huguang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Guizhou, it adopted a people-oriented policy, actively trying to find ways to reduce the burden on the people and promote the development of productivity, which is of positive significance. Compared with Wu Sangui, Hong Chengchou did much more things that were beneficial to the people.

In essence, there are some differences between Hong Chengchou and Kong Youde, Shang Kexi, Geng Zhongming, Wu Sangui and other big traitors. However, once the stains of traitors are stained, they will never be washed away. So Sun Dapao said that "the creatures are not devastated, but who knows the great achievements." As for the meaning of it, I will leave it to everyone to slowly think about it.

"I wonder what Hong Chengchou looks like now?"

Zhang Zhun muttered to himself gently.

To deal with the court, we must first deal with several powerful figures, one is Hong Chengchou, one is Sun Chuanting, and the other is Yang Sichang. As for the wastes such as Wang Kun and Gao Qiqian, they are not in Zhang Zhun's eyes at all. There was originally a Lu Xiangsheng, who was definitely a powerful military force, but he had been destroyed by Emperor Chongzhen himself. As for Shi Kefa, it has not yet been formed and is not enough to see it.

Hong Chengchou's current situation is actually not very good. He was sieging Li Zicheng in Shaanxi. When he was about to succeed, the Tartars entered. As a result, he hurriedly led his army north to serve the king. Not only did Li Zicheng and others escape from the sky, Hong Chengchou was surrounded by the Tartars after he arrived in Zhending City and could no longer leave.

Now Zhending City is full of troops and is more vigilant than before. The four gates of Zhending City have long been closed. Standing on the head of Zhending City, you can see a large number of Mongolian cavalry scouts wandering outside. Since learning that Hong Chengchou is in Zhending City, Huang Taiji has specially sent cavalry from the Mongolqin tribe to deal with Hong Chengchou, and obviously he attaches great importance to this person.

At this moment, the prince Taibao was appointed as the Minister of War and the Right Censor of the Ministry of War, and the Governor of the Three Borders, and the military officer of five provinces including Henan. Just like Zhang Zhun, he stood silently on the city tower and looked at the movement outside the city. This is his daily habit. He always holds his body and wants to get a problem. Walking along the city wall every day is just to exercise.

Hong Chengchou was a Jinshi in the Wanli period. When he was promoted, he was very young. From then on, he rose to the top and went smoothly. He became the governor of Shaanxi, the three sides, and was appointed as the Minister of War. In fact, he was only in his early fifties. Years of military life made his plump and fair face look a little old.

Strangely, on the one hand, he led the army to revolt, and allowed the soldiers to kill good people and make contributions, but on the other hand, he maintained the neat and elegant manner of clothing and disguise developed in his career as a senior civil servant. The more he experienced the worldly style, the more he removed the edges and corners, and kept the viciousness and treacherousness in his heart, so that he could not be arrogant or impatient when encountering things, and be far-sighted.

Because of these strengths, his generals were willing to serve him. Liang Tingdong, Zhang Fengyi and others were not jealous of him, and Emperor Chongzhen, who was too jealous of suspicion, also relied heavily on him. In the war to encircle and suppress the rioters in Shaanxi, he was basically the commander-in-chief, and Lu Xiangsheng also attacked him. Lu Xiangsheng was willing to fight this. If the Tartars hadn't been hit by a slam, Hong Chengchou would have the confidence to completely wipe out Li Zicheng and the others in two or three years.

The Mongolian Tartars outside the city were still cruising. I wonder if they had discovered Hong Chengchou and quietly tried to approach him. As a result, Zhending City immediately launched a bombardment and drove them away from afar. The war was in a stalemate. It was a bit difficult for the Ming army in Zhending City to go out. However, it was also difficult for the Mongolian cavalry outside the city to enter Zhending City.

In fact, the word Tartar was first called the Mongols, but later transferred to the Jurchens. This time, Hong Chengchou went north and basically did not see the real Tartars, but only saw these Mongolian cavalry. This made Hong Chengchou feel strange, as if he was ignored. Whether it was ignored by his boss or by the slave chief of the Tartars, it was a bad thing.

The accident of Lu Xiangsheng made Hong Chengchou feel somewhat surprised. The emperor actually arrested Lu Xiangsheng and was imprisoned directly, which was indeed a bit too severe. The decision to ask Lu Xiangsheng to reinforce Gaoyang City from a long distance was made by the Ministry of War, and it should be the people of the Ministry of War that took the responsibility. Lu Xiangsheng had already done his best and should not have ended up like this.

However, those who are ministers cannot slander the emperor. Therefore, Hong Chengchou could only sigh silently for Lu Xiangsheng. Yang Sichang, who succeeded Hong Chengchou, has not met him yet, and Hong Chengchou didn't know whether Yang Sichang is easy to deal with. His cooperation with Lu Xiangsheng is quite tacit. If Yang Sichang wants to be focused on it, things will be in trouble.

Hong Chengchou had known the battle report of Dongjiabao for a long time. However, Hong Chengchou did not believe in the so-called casualties of the Tartars. According to his general concept, he had to subtract 80% of this number. Subtract 80% was actually considered good, and some even needed to subtract 90%.

Hong Chengchou's feelings about Zhang Zhun are very complicated. This is a general but cannot be used by the court. This is Hong Chengchou's most basic judgment. He subconsciously feels that one day he will face Zhang Zhun directly. I wonder how much better Zhang Zhun is than Li Zicheng and others?

The footsteps behind him were heard, but Sun Chuanting came. Sun Chuanting was younger than Hong Chengchou and looked very capable, not like a civil servant. Compared with Hong Chengchou, Sun Chuanting's methods of dealing with things were more direct and ruthless. The Shaanxi chaos army originally thought that Hong Chengchou's killing methods were already very fierce. Later, when he saw Sun Chuanting's skills, he realized that Hong Chengchou was not as good as Sun Chuanting.

"Is the news true?"

Hong Chengchou asked calmly.

"My teacher, the news is indeed. I have been looking for horses and sending back many ways. The Mongolian Tatars in Luancheng, Zhaozhou, Ningjin and other places have all gathered in Hejian Prefecture. I don't know what happened there. It may be that the Donglu is going to fight the Hu Ben Army again."

Sun Chuanting said respectfully and cautiously.

He was a student of Hong Chengchou, and Hong Chengchou's official position was above him, so he called Hong Chengchou his mentor. Hong Chengchou almost always brought Sun Chuanting to fight south and north. It can be said that Sun Chuanting was Hong Chengchou's capable disciple and his capable subordinate. If Hong Chengchou could not come to the scene to command, it would be replaced by Sun Chuanting.

"What do you think about this?"

Hong Chengchou asked slowly.

"It should be a good thing. The Mongolian Tartars in Luancheng and other places retreated, and our army just launched an attack to open up the roadway between us and Linqing to facilitate our army's logistics supply. If all the food is transported from Shanxi, the road is long and the road is not safe. In southern Shanxi, there are many victims, and they are vast and everywhere, and they are killed endlessly."

Sun Chuanting said competently.

"What if it was a trap set up by Donglu?"

Hong Chengchou thought slowly and asked with some worries.

"My teacher, according to Wansheng's opinion, it should not be. The slave chief Huang Taiji is currently fighting on both sides, not only to deal with the Hu Ben Army, but also to prevent our attack. The intelligence shows that the Hu Ben Army puts him very much pressure. He must have encountered something when he transferred the Mongolian Tartars back."

Sun Chuanting said confidently.

"Is Yuetuo's matter accurate?"

Hong Chengchou asked cautiously.

"The intelligence has verified that Yue Tuo did take the main force of the Donglu Zhenglan Banner to the north. A scattered horse personally witnessed them crossing Xiongxian and heading north in the new city."

Sun Chuanting answered skillfully again.

"Yuetuo went north...what do you think?"

Hong Chengchou still seemed very cautious and asked slowly.

When fighting against the Tartars, no one dares to be cautious. Because the consequence of carelessness is that the entire army is wiped out. With Yang Hao's lesson first, who dares to take it lightly? What's more, even if you are cautious, you may not be the opponent of the Tartars. Hong Chengchou is very clear that his military strength is obviously not as strong as Wang Kun and Gao Qiqian, at most, he is slightly stronger than Yang Sichang who succeeded Lu Xiangsheng. However, Yang Sichang was deeply trusted by the emperor, and if something happened, he would definitely get more assistance than Hong Chengchou. Therefore, when you go out, for your own safety, Hong Chengchou must be careful and careful.

Sun Chuanting said carefully: "I guess Huang Taiji is worried about his own way of retreat."

Hong Chengchou nodded, agreed with Sun Chuanting's proposal, and then said with some emotion: "The casualties of Donglu in Dongjiabao may be really not small, otherwise Huang Taiji would not consider retreating."

Sun Chuanting had some objections, shook his head and said, "Teacher, this habit of falsely reporting the results of the war has always been there, and the Hu Ben Army should be no exception. The losses suffered by Huang Taiji must not be as great as the outside world knows."

Hong Chengchou shook his head and said, "The Hu Ben Army does not need to seek credit for rewards, so they do not need to falsely report their military achievements. However, the military achievements in Wu Sangui are worth discussing. Wu Sangui only has four thousand cavalrymen, but actually killed one thousand Tartar heads. It is so weird no matter how you look at it."

Sun Chuanting pondered for a moment and asked for instructions and said, "Mr. Master, then our plan..."

Hong Chengchou said flatly: "Execute immediately!"

After pausing for a moment, he raised his tone and said, "Send the order! Promote the account tonight! Discuss military affairs!"

Sun Chuanting immediately sent an order.

Because it is necessary to be confidential, the performances of the governor's promotion on weekdays, such as firecrackers, drums and music, and civil and military officials who loudly sign up for the ceremony, were all exempted. They only put the Shangfang sword given by the emperor two years ago in a yellow satin embroidered dragon cover, placed it on the wooden slats in the middle of the lobby, leaning against the black lacquer screen.

Hong Chengchou changed into a second-grade brocade pheasant and a big red silk python suit, wearing a six-beam crown and a jade belt on his waist. When he came to the lobby with Sun Chuanting from the signing room, the civil servants and generals who were summoned had already stood and waited with no sound, and although there were two rows of warriors standing in the courtyard, they were still silent. Hong Chengchou sat in the middle, coughed gently, and swept the entire civil servants with his eyes.

The civil and military officials below the general all felt the majesty of the governor from this light cough, and they held their breath more and did not dare to look up. Then, the civil officials such as Sun Chuanting, Ding Qirui and others saluted in order according to their ranks, and then the military generals saluted in order. Ding Qirui turned out to be the military officials of Tongguan, but the emperor had an edict to follow Hong Chengchou to go north to serve the king. As a result, he was also pulled over.

Although it was not officially promoted tonight and the ceremony was simple, because the Shangfang sword was placed in the middle and Hong Chengchou was in good order, only Sun Chuanting, Ding Qirui, several generals, deputy generals and several senior aides of the Governor had seats. Dozens of sects stood up after the visit. The gentle, elegant and amiable attitude of Hong Chengchou when he met Sun Chuanting on the city wall became very majestic and reserved at this moment.

In the solemn atmosphere, Hong Chengchou was thinking about his thoughts while receiving the visits from the last few generals. After the ceremony, he was about to speak, a little dust fell from the abandoned bird's nest on the beam of the roof and fell on his left sleeve. Years of military life did not change his old habit of being clean, so he gently dusted off the dust with his right hand. Then he stroked his long and beautiful beards and began to speak.

He first praised the hard work and military achievements of the generals over the past year, and repeatedly praised Sun Chuanting for his "skills" and "makes great achievements" over the past six months. Now, the Prime Minister of Zhending City has been well-arranged, and he has lived up to the emperor's re-issue. Although his official words are not very good, and there are many local voices in Quanzhou, Fujian, he is very good at rhetoric. His words make Sun Chuanting and the generals sound very happy and excited. After saying these reward words, he continued to say in a heavy tone and refined wording:

"Since the end of the Tianqi period, internal and external troubles have been in trouble, and there has been no peace. The more bandits are suppressed, the more disasters are, and the more severe the disasters are. In recent years, the people have died and displaced, like water, deeper and hotter the fire, and often thousands of miles of naked land, smoke is cut off, and the children are changed to eat, which is terrible. The country has never been as poor as the people are now, and the power is like eggs being buried. The Eastern Captains are waiting for an opportunity to invade the inner world, and are becoming increasingly arrogant. Since the top of the world, they have entered the border three times and are siege in the capital!"

All the generals couldn't help but glance at his face secretly. Hong Chengchou's face became very serious, and he stood up from the tiger-skinned Grand Master's chair. The sitting civil and military officials also stood up quickly. He looked at all the generals and said, "Tomorrow's battle is all up to Lord Sun's command, and our headquarters will also personally supervise the battle. All generals, big and small, whoever fights ineffectively and shrinks in the face of the battle, will never tolerate Shang Fang Jian!"

Some of the generals couldn't help but look at Shang Fangjian leaning against the middle of the screen. Since Hong Chengchou was appointed Minister of War in the spring of the eighth year of Chongzhen, Emperor Chongzhen gave him this Shang Fangjian. He listened to his advantage and took action. He led the lead and then reported to the generals below the generals. However, in a few years, he only invited Shang Fangjian to supervise the battle. The first time was to fight Gao Yingxiang in Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi in July last year, and the second time was now. This time, his face was severe and his tone had not been there for several years, so this time it shocked everyone's hearts.

Hong Chengchou swept across the faces of each general with a bright gaze. Seeing everyone's expression of fear, he felt secretly satisfied. Then he slowly sat down and waved his hand to ask the civil and military officials to sit down again. He turned to Sun Chuanting and asked with a smile: "Mr. Sun, what instructions do you have to tell the generals?"

Sun Chuanting didn't say anything humbly, and turned his eyes to the group of military generals on the right. The generals knew that he was much more harsh to his subordinates than the governor. When he saw him wanting to speak, he stood up with a sound. Sun Chuanting smiled and asked the generals to sit down, but no one dared to sit. He said in a calm and majestic tone:

"I hope you will remember every word of the instructions of the military master just now. Now you are the heroic master of the world, and the power of heaven is unpredictable. If you are not fighting effectively and cause the thief to escape the net, not only will you be unwilling to be the military law firm, but even this court will not escape the condemnation. In short, there is only one sentence: tomorrow, you must move forward bravely and kill the enemy!"

The general, deputy general and the general replied in unison: "Abide by the order of the utmost!

Only then did Sun Chuanting issue a combat order.

The Qin army commanded by Hong Chengchou had a total of about 35,000 people, of which about 5,000 cavalry. Hong Chengchou's combat plan was to attack Luancheng with cavalry as the vanguard. If the battle went smoothly, continue to attack Zhaozhou, Ningjin and other counties. If the battle was unfavorable, he would quickly retreat to Zhending City.

After the order was issued, Sun Chuanting glanced at all the generals with a cold look and said coldly: "I believe everyone knows about Zhang Zhun's military achievements. I believe everyone knows Wu Sangui's military achievements. This time, the king has gathered all the elites of our army. Now, the other armies have made great contributions, but we have not yet achieved any results in the battle. I believe this is not what everyone wants to see. In tomorrow's battle, we will use the blood of the enemy to wash our swords. Everyone, fight!"

...
Chapter completed!