Chapter 253 Fatal error

Although there was no official war report, the rumors about the unfavorable war in the front have spread throughout the capital, and people were panic, and almost everyone was worried about their future and destiny. The most reflective of this worry is the price of rice. When a tide of rice storage spread throughout the city, the price of rice doubled within two days, not only made rice and other grains also become popular materials, but even sweet potatoes that were popular in the year of disaster began to become in short supply.

Early in the morning, Ye Tianming went out as usual. Since he was demoted to the people, he seemed to have become relaxed suddenly. He had to go to the teahouse to have tea and chat every morning. The place Ye Tianming often went is called Songhe Teahouse, not far from his house, and he arrived after walking hundreds of steps. He walked into the teahouse with his hands behind his back. A waiter immediately came up and smiled and said, "Mr. Ye is coming very on time."

"Is my seat still there?"

"Yeah! I'm here! I'm leaving it for Mr. Ye."

Ye Tianming smiled and gave him a piece of silver. He stepped upstairs. When he came to his seat, two tea friends immediately stood up and bowed and smiled, "Brother Ye is here."

One of these two people was named Shi Hua and the other was Hong Dezhi. They were both knowledgeable people with wealthy families. Ye Tianming also replied with a smile: "I thought you didn't come! I didn't expect that we would come first."

Hong Dezhi pointed to Shi Hua next to him and said, "Brother Shi just got the exact news that the imperial army was defeated, so he came to tell Brother Ye."

Ye Tianming was shocked and asked quickly: "Is the news true?"

Shi Hua sighed, "Brother Ye will sit down first."

Ye Tianming sat down, and the friend brought a pot of tea and a few plates of fine dishes. Shi Hua said: "Last night, a relative of me fled from Henan and said that the Marquis of Jiangyin Wu Gao retreated to Kaifeng. They were like tigers and wolves, robbed their families and raped women. The people fled one after another. I heard that their 100,000 troops were defeated in Baoding Prefecture, and only 30,000 people were left to cross the Yellow River."

Ye Tianming frowned and said, "Wu Gao is just the Western Route Army. The main force Li Jinglong has no news yet, so it should not be considered a big defeat."

"Brother Ye doesn't know that my relative was late. Before leaving, he had heard that the main grain-heavy land of the imperial court's main army was occupied by the Yan army. This news was true. He walked on the road for half a month, and probably Li Jinglong was not much better."

Ye Tianming said 'Ah!' and was stunned. Now he knew that Li Jinglong's situation was gone.

At this moment, a fierce sound of horse hooves came from the street outside the teahouse, and someone was shouting: "Give up the way forward, urgent military information!"

Ye Tianming quickly leaned over to the street and saw four cavalry rushing towards him like lightning. They were all covered in dust and looked worried, and there was no ecstasy after the victory. Ye Tianming's heart immediately sank. He knew that it was news of the failure of the imperial army.

He could no longer sit down, so he stood up and bowed to the two of them, "I still have something to do, so I won't chat with you today."

The two of them returned and said, "Brother Ye can do whatever he wants!"

Ye Tianming hurried back to the mansion. He walked into the study and sat down. He unfolded a piece of paper and wrote: "The criminal Ye Tianming dared not talk about the government affairs, but he had three worries in his heart and did not speak up or give up. Please forgive him...'

In fact, the reason why Ye Tianming did not return to his hometown to retire was that he was unwilling to give up. He was still waiting for the opportunity to come back. He knew that his political life was not over. As long as the strong son-in-law he did not admit still exists, the emperor would not forget him. However, he has been waiting for the opportunity. Now that the news of Li Jinglong's defeat, which Huang Zicheng strongly recommended, has come, Ye Tianming knew that his opportunity has come again.

Ye Tianming wrote a letter, and he pondered for a while, and then ordered someone to send it to his confidant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Zhuo Jing.

Just as the city rumored, the court also connected to two unfavorable news within ten days. First, the Marquis of Jiangyin, Wu Gao, the Marquis of the West Route Army underestimated the enemy, and the 100,000 army was defeated by 30,000 Yan army. Then, the Hejian Prefecture was attacked, and the food and grass of hundreds of thousands of troops were burned down. Then, the governments in various places complained about the complaints like snow, accusing Wu Gao of looting the troops, and the people were deeply harmed. Even the people had shouted the slogan "Welcome the King of Yan and Jian Xinming".

At this time, in the inner hall of Zhonghe Hall, Zhu Yunwen held an emergency court meeting to discuss the front-line hostilities. Fang Xiaoru was most indignant of Wu Gao's army's actions that were harming the people. He loudly reported: "Your Majesty, the rebellion of the King of Yan was a rebellion. No one in the world supported him. He lost his moral integrity. Even if he had a small victory, he could not change the will of the people. The court army was originally going to quell the rebellion, but it was precisely because of the poisoning of the people that the people were resentful. The people even shouted the slogan "Welcome the King of Yan and build a new Ming". This is the existence of these bad things, which seriously damaged the emperor's reputation among the people. Your Majesty, I sincerely demanded that Wu Gao be severely punished and the people be restored to a bright sky."

At this time, Huang Zicheng also stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I also agree with Dr. Fang's words. It was Wu Gao's neglect to defend that allowed the Yan army to return from Shanxi. It was the sinner who led to the reversal of the war. He is now harming the people in Henan and should kill them to thank the world."

Huang Zicheng was very frightened. Li Jinglong was strongly recommended by him. Now the situation in the north is not good, and he was even more anxious. He tried every means to excuse Li Jinglong and at the same time relieved his faults. Wu Gao was not recommended by him.

Zhu Yunwen on the throne was also extremely angry, but he was worried that he would force Wu Gao too quickly, causing him to surrender to the King of Yan, or imitate Lan Yu to become king in Henan, so he hesitated for a moment.

At this time, Duke Xu Huizu of Wei stood up and shouted: "Your Majesty, Wu Gao is just a clown who is not worth worrying about. The focus of our consideration should be the war in Hebei. I heard that the food and grass of the Hejian Prefecture have been lost, and I am afraid that the major event will not be good. I ask Your Majesty to send troops to support immediately. Even if you cannot seize Peiping, at least you should make the main army of the court return safely. This is the top priority. I hope Your Majesty will make a decision early."

Zhu Yunwen woke up and asked quickly: "Then Xu Aiqing has good suggestions. How should these reinforcements be sent?"

"Since Your Majesty has withdrawn from Shanxi and Shaanxi's army, he can order them to rush to Hebei to respond quickly, and perhaps he can still protect the main army of the court."

Huang Zicheng, however, said, "Your Majesty, Wu Gao killed the people. If he didn't get rid of them early, he might be the second in Lan Yu. I heard that the 200,000 troops withdrawn from Shanxi and Shaanxi were still in Luoyang, and it was just right to go to Kaifeng to eliminate the harm. As for the army in Hebei, I think there would be no major problems. The Yan army sneaked into Hejian Prefecture to understand the siege of Peking. Since there is a shortage of food, I believe that Li Jinglong will withdraw his troops properly."

Huang Zicheng's suggestion made sense, and Zhu Yunwen changed his mind again. He immediately issued an order: "Transfer my will and order the commander of Shaanxi to command Guo Ying and commander of Shanxi Wu Jie to lead the army to Kaifeng to capture Wu Gao's defeated army, and at the same time escort Wu Gao to Beijing."

Seeing that the emperor believed Li Jinglong too much, Xu Huizu couldn't help but sigh in his heart and stopped talking. At this moment, a guard rushed into the hall and reported loudly: "Your Majesty, Hebei emergency battle report."

"Ah!" Zhu Yunwen stood up and shouted: "Come in quickly!"

At this time, the special envoy sent by Li Jinglong came into the hall and knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I have sent Mr. Li's personal war report, please give me a look."

After saying that, he presented Li Jinglong's letter with both hands, but Zhu Yunwen didn't have time to read it and asked anxiously: "What is the current situation of the war in Hebei?"

The envoy kowtowed and cried, "Your Majesty, because Wu Gao withdrew from Jingxing's defensive defenders, the main force of the Yan army was able to return to Hebei. General Li was forced to withdraw his army to encircle Beiping and prepare to fight the main force of the Yan army in Liangxiang County. However, because General Chen Hui, the Shandong Army, did not cooperate with the general's strategy, withdrew his troops back to Shandong without authorization. The defenders of Beiping were unpredictable and drove south, causing the general to be attacked from both sides. The general personally fought bravely to kill the enemy. After two days of bloody battle, he finally lost his support. Now that the general has broken through the siege and led his troops back to Dezhou."

The civil and military officials in the hall looked at each other. No matter how the envoy made a self-righteous statement, it was actually four words: 'The imperial court was defeated', and the hall was silent. After a while, Zhu Yunwen asked in a hoarse voice: "How many troops do Li Jinglong have in his hands now?"

"Report to Your Majesty, Marshal Li still has 230,000 main army."

At this time, many ministers could no longer bear it. Zhuo Jing, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, stepped forward and said sternly: "Your Majesty, Li Jinglong is a playboy, everyone knows. From the fact that he is careless and loses the food and grass of Hejian Mansion, we can see that this person is definitely not someone to be entrusted. I beg Your Majesty to change the general immediately and not let him destroy His Majesty's country."

The Censor Zeng Fengshao said passionately: "Your Majesty, Mr. Zhuo said it very well. I heard that Li Jinglong had privately hiding prostitutes in the army, and even squandered military expenses in Jinan and ignored military affairs. I also heard that he believed the words of traitors and even made a private counterfeit book to kill the general. With such a person as the commander, how could he hear the news of victory? I not only demanded that the general be changed immediately, but also demanded that he be held accountable."

Zhu Yunwen was in a dilemma for a while. The special envoy said that Li Jinglong's defeat was objective, not his own fault. If he changed his general like this, he would probably disobey the soldiers of the three armies.

At this time, Xu Huizu came out again and said: "I think that Li Jinglong's so-called proficiency in military tactics is an exaggeration. Generally speaking, the commander who commanded more than 500,000 troops should be step by step and steadily advancing. However, he used the surprise attack of thousands of miles to make the 500,000 troops run hundreds of miles within three days. This is really a joke, and I am not optimistic about him."

Seeing that all the ministers were against each other, Zhu Yunwen couldn't help but sigh: "Let me think about it again!"

Zhu Yunwen returned to the imperial study room after scattered the court. At this time, Huang Zicheng followed him. Seeing Zhu Yunwen's face full of sorrow, he comforted him and said, "Your Majesty, victory or defeat is a common thing for military affairs, don't take it too seriously."

Zhu Yunwen sighed and said, "I actually think so. I don't want to change generals, but the ministers' opposition is fierce, which makes it difficult for me to deal with!"

Huang Zicheng had already thought of the words, and he patiently advised: "Your Majesty, not all ministers opposed it. Just now, Xu Zengshou told me that his brother Xu Huizu was actually jealous of Li Jinglong as the commander and wanted to replace him. Moreover, although Li Jinglong led a 550,000 army, the defeat of Wu Gao's troops had nothing to do with him, and the 150,000 army of Shandong Army also evacuated without authorization. I guess this was caused by the conflict between Li Jinglong and Sheng Yong. In fact, he only commanded 300,000 troops, and finally withdrew from Dezhou. Moreover, this was the evacuation of the main force of the Yan army after the battle. It should be said that it was very good. Therefore, Your Majesty must not believe one-sided words and do a taboo thing like changing generals in the last battle."
Chapter completed!