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Volume 13 Reviving the Ming Dynasty Chapter 625 Before all the birds are gone, the bow wants to be hidden

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    The actions of the rebels were beyond Tang Feng's expectations. They were not focusing on breaking out in one route, but in three directions. In addition to coming towards him, there were also rebels attacking from the northwest and northeast.  It seems that they also knew that the officers and soldiers would be waiting for them outside Xi'an City, so they deliberately divided their troops into separate routes to make the officers and soldiers defenseless.

    But this played into Tang Feng's plan. He was worried that if the rebel army gathered in one place, his troops would be too thin to stop them, but the enemy actually divided their troops too.  So in this darkness, he immediately used fire as a signal to command the officers and soldiers on those sides to stop the rebels and not let them leave.

    A big battle broke out in the darkness.  Although everyone in the rebel army fought bravely to save their lives, the fighting power of the official army was obviously not weak, and their weapons, equipment and morale were far superior to their opponents, so they naturally had the upper hand.  For a time, the two armies were fighting inextricably. People kept falling at the hands of the enemy, and people continued to join the battle. Their heads were rolling, and their feet were covered with blood.

    While Tang Feng was directing the battle on his side, he was also constantly learning about the situation in the other two places. It could be said that he was very busy.  Constantly, the casualty figures of the sergeants were handed to him, which made Tang Feng feel a little heavy. In just half an hour, thousands of people had been killed.  Of course, the number of rebels who died at the hands of their own people was even greater.

    When he saw a hint of fish belly white in the sky, Tang Feng's mind suddenly turned to one thing. It was a problem he had in mind before, how to release some of the rebels so that they could eliminate some silverfish that would harm the development of the Ming Dynasty.  .  Isn't now an opportunity?  Taking advantage of the dark night, when no one knows the enemy's situation, as the commander-in-chief, he can make some arrangements that are conducive to the enemy's breakout. This can also reduce the casualties of the soldiers, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

    Tang Feng did it as soon as he thought of it. He ordered people to raise fire as a signal and let the troops in the northeast support his side. The excuse was of course that the enemy here was the most powerful and the Chinese army was in danger.

    The rebel troops who were leading the troops to rush to the northeast were also having a headache at this time. They never expected that the government troops would have ambushes everywhere, and it would be really difficult for them to save their lives this time.  But now it's impossible to retreat even if you want to. The 100,000-strong army is divided into several groups, and the cooperation between them has long lost its meaning. If you only retreat all the way, it will be harder to defend Xi'an.  In desperation, Gao Yingxiang had no choice but to bite the bullet and lead his army to continue the attack.

    But just when he was a little desperate, he suddenly found that the resistance in front was much less, and it seemed that the officers and soldiers had been killed and dispersed. This made him very excited, and immediately ordered the entire army to attack with all their strength, taking advantage of the fact that the officers and soldiers had not yet received backup.  Come and break out of the siege.  There were only more than 30,000 people left in the battle of 50,000 people along the way. Fortunately, the most elite forces were still there, so after Gao Yingxiang's order, he still burst out with great combat power and broke through the encirclement in one fell swoop.  .

    With the breakout of this group of people, the strength of the rebel army was greatly reduced. After holding on for a while, other rebel armies that were still unable to break out had to abandon their weapons and surrender. The battle ended completely at noon.  In this battle, more than 20,000 rebels were killed, 50,000 surrendered, and more than 30,000 people broke out with Gao Yingxiang. As for the official casualties, 10,000, most of them were from Shanxi.  The Liaodong Army surrendered and the Liaodong Army suffered only a few thousand casualties. It can be said to be a complete victory.

    The only shortcoming is that Gao Yingxiang and other important rebel leaders are not on the list of those who surrendered or died in battle. They obviously broke out.  But this is exactly what Tang Feng hopes to see. As long as these people are still there, the rebels will not be content with being ordinary. Since they have lost their foothold in Shaanxi and Shanxi, these people will inevitably find another place.

    After wiping out the rebels, Tang Feng led his army into Xi'an City. As before, he distributed all the money and items he seized from the rebels to his soldiers, once again winning everyone's unanimous gratitude.  Then, everything here was written into a battle report and sent to the capital.  He wrote thousands of words eloquently, and the soldiers sent them to Beijing on an expedited six hundred-mile journey.  Looking at the messenger riding away, Tang Feng suddenly had a strange idea in his heart. He had made great military exploits many times in a row. He wondered if he would be as successful as some famous generals in history, and finally be the leader of the army.  The emperor is taboo.

    But then, he pushed away this uneasy thought. He was not one of those generals who only knew loyalty to the court. If that day came, he would never be willing to kill.  What's more, he still left some tails. Even if the court really wanted to hide the bird, it probably wouldn't do it at this time.  But he will take advantage of this opportunity to further expand his influence in the army until this army is completely used by him.

    On the third day of July, in Beijing, the capital of the Ming Dynasty, the sky was gradually getting brighter, and a new day finally began.  "Dong dong dong dong" Accompanied by the rhythmic sound of bells and drums, the nine gates of Beijing that had been closed all night slowly opened.?, the people who had been waiting outside the gate entered the capital in an orderly manner under the command of the gatekeepers.  Some of them come to the capital to visit relatives, and of course more of them are businessmen. Although the world is unstable now, businessmen who make a living by doing business are still walking around, buying and selling.

    Just as everyone continued to pass the guards in front of the city gate, there was an urgent sound of horse hooves from behind, and someone even shouted loudly: "Get out of the way, get out of the way!" Everyone hurriedly stepped out of a passage, and then they saw a dusty man.  The figure rushed over quickly on horseback. Just looking at the man's dress, the people did not dare to have any resentment, because the person who came was a soldier in military uniform, and they knew at a glance that he was delivering a message.

    "Shaanxi Six Hundred Miles Expedited! Shaanxi Six Hundred Miles Expedited!" Even though the visitor entered the city, he did not slow down. He still galloped on his horse and shouted for pedestrians to get out of the way.  In the face of this six-hundred-mile emergency, no matter you are a dignitary or someone else, you are not allowed to stand in the way. It is an urgent military intelligence report.

    After finishing the morning court, Emperor Chongzhen¡¯s brows were still tightly knitted together.  At today's court meeting, someone again raised the issue of the emptiness of the national treasury, and the cause lies in Shanxi.  Since the chaos in Shanxi was put down, the imperial court had to make great efforts to rectify the province, otherwise it would cause trouble again.  But when someone from the Si Yamen raised this matter, the Ministry of Accounts complained a lot, saying that the available silver in the treasury was now less than 300,000 yuan, and they had to maintain daily expenses, so they really couldn't come up with more silver.

    Many officials at these meetings discussed this matter. Some suggested putting Shanxi's affairs on hold for now and waiting until the tax money from Jiangnan and other places was delivered before re-building. However, some believed that this would only hurt the people's sentiments.  , then Shanxi will be even more difficult to govern.  Everyone's words made sense, so Chongzhen had to suppress the matter for the time being and prepare to make a decision after discussing with several cabinet ministers.

    After having a cup of ginseng tea and refreshing himself, Chongzhen called Wen Tiren and a few others in and asked them about the matter: "My dear friends, how should you deal with this matter?"

    "Your Majesty, I think that the reason why the people of Shanxi are in such trouble is their own fault, so I should teach them a lesson this time. After the wealthy provinces such as Jiangnan and other wealthy provinces transfer their taxes to Beijing at the end of the year, we will find a way.  Not too late." Wen Tiren had his own idea when he was outside and replied immediately.

    As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Yanru took a step forward and shook his head: "Mr. Ge's words are a bit wrong. Shanxi just suffered from chaos, which is when people's hearts are unstable. If we can't let the people live in peace, what is stable now?"  I'm afraid the situation will change. If Shanxi gets into trouble again because of such a trivial matter, I'm afraid it will really outweigh the gains."

    Wen Tiren snorted and said: "Your Majesty, there is less than 300,000 silver in our treasury now. Even if it is all given to Shanxi, it will not have much effect. But if the treasury is completely exhausted, there will be no more silver in other places."  If something happens, we will have absolutely nothing to do. So in my opinion, it¡¯s better to delay it for a while. And I think that with tens of thousands of elite soldiers from Anpinghou in Shaanxi, the situation in Shanxi will not happen.  confusion."

    "Your Majesty, I dare not agree with Mr. Wen's words. The Marquis of Anping only has tens of thousands of troops in his hands, and he is currently fighting with several times the number of rebels in Shaanxi. If something goes wrong in Shanxi behind him at this time, I am afraid that even they will also  Affected. So I still think that the first step is to calm the hearts of the people of Shanxi!" Zhou Yanru retorted.

    Chongzhen¡¯s brows furrowed even deeper as he listened to what they said.  Originally, he was counting on these two people to give him a unified opinion, but now, these two people are also at odds with each other. At this moment, he really regrets letting these two people be in the cabinet together. This cannot form a unified opinion at all.  What opinions.  But Chongzhen apparently forgot that this situation was caused by him in order to prevent the monarch's power from being suppressed by the power of the cabinet.

    Hearing them mention Anpinghou, Chongzhen felt a little unhappy. What Tang Feng had done in Shanxi? Although Tang Wenzheng, the supervisor of the army, did not report it, he still found out what happened in Shanxi through the eyes and ears of the newly established Dongchang.  things.  In the past, Shanxi would not be in the current situation that cannot be opened up. It was because Tang Feng, after taking down Taiyuan and other cities, put all the gains from the rebels into his own pockets. This made it impossible for the people there to survive, and the reconstruction there  Cannot proceed normally.

    Of course, the real situation is not like this. Ordinary people in Shanxi can still live a good life, but the officials there are unable to make a living because of the plunder by the rebels and Tang Feng's inaction.  And for some reason, those Dongchang spies who were trusted by Chongzhen would not let go of this opportunity to discredit Tang Feng.  It's just that the situation in Shaanxi is still unclear, and anti-military forces still exist, so even though Chongzhen is angry, there is nothing he can do.

    "Your Majesty, I wonder what you think of my suggestion?"What?  "While he was lost in thought, Chongzhen didn't hear what the other party was saying at all. It wasn't until Wen Tiren carefully asked this question that he suddenly woke up and looked at the courtier in front of him with some confusion. Wen Tiren saw that Chongzhen  A little absent-minded, he said again: "In my opinion, we should first provide one hundred thousand taels of silver to Shanxi for emergency, and wait until the taxes from Jiangnan arrive in Beijing before allocating other silver taels. What do you think, Your Majesty?"  "Obviously after being unable to decide the winner with Zhou Yanru for a while, they finally reached a tacit understanding.

    "Well, it seems that this is all we have to do now. But as a result, the money in our treasury has been reduced a lot. Also, the soldiers fighting in the front have to distribute rewards, but what should we do during this period?"  Chongzhen was a little embarrassed again.

    "This minister thought that he could talk to Tang Feng. He should be well aware of the current situation in the court. I thought that under such circumstances, as a minister, of course he should have the country in mind. Anping Hou should be able to understand the court.  , do the work of the people below." Wen Tiren continued.

    "Then do what you want. Ask the cabinet to send a letter to Tang Feng in Shaanxi, asking him to calm down the chaos properly. The court will not treat them badly in terms of rewards." Chongzhen finally solved the problem at the moment.  Problem, I finally let go of a stone in my heart, and my frown relaxed.  Just when he was about to order the two ministers to retreat, the chamberlain came in and said: "Your Majesty, there is a six hundred mile shipment from Shaanxi that has been urgently delivered."

    "Quick announcement!" The emperor felt nervous when he heard that it was an urgent matter from Shaanxi. He didn't know what happened to Tang Feng, and he actually had to travel six hundred miles to rush it.  Of course, it would be best to have achieved a decisive victory, but the emperor was obviously not so optimistic.  An eunuch walked in quickly with a battle report still stained with dust and handed it to Chongzhen.

    Because of the uneasiness in his heart, Chongzhen's hands were trembling a little. He finally took out the tightly sealed battle report, and then read it carefully.

    "Your Majesty, Tang Feng, reports: In June of the sixth year of Chongzhen, I fought with the rebels outside the city of Xi'an. The enemy troops broke out in three groups, and I also divided my troops and resisted them. It was all thanks to the officers and soldiers of the three armies, and the care of my ancestors of the Ming Dynasty, that although the enemy was  The troops were far superior to mine, but they were severely defeated by me because they had no fighting spirit. Of the nearly 100,000 enemy troops, about 20,000 were annihilated, and more than 50,000 surrendered. Only 30,000 enemy troops broke out! The chaos in Shaanxi has ended  Big reduction" Seeing this, Chongzhen couldn't continue reading, and the joy in his heart could not be restrained and showed on his face.  In just a few months, the rebel army that gave him trouble sleeping and eating had been dispersed like this. How could he not be overjoyed?

    "Your Majesty, has Shaanxi made a major breakthrough?" Wen and Zhou asked at the same time, and it was rare for them to have the same opinion.

    Chongzhen nodded happily and said: "Yes, you two dears, let's take a look. This time the situation in Shaanxi is finally under control." Chongzhen smiled and handed the battle report in his hand to the chamberlain, who handed it to the two of them.  .

    After reading the above report, both of them laughed happily: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty is finally stable!" While saying this, Wen Tiren's eyes showed a hint of other meaning,  At the same time, he also caught the worried look in Chongzhen's eyes in time, and he understood it instantly.

    But at this time, nothing else could be said. Chongzhen immediately asked: "The chaos in Shaanxi has been settled. Can you tell me how I should reward the soldiers who have made such great contributions to the country?"

    "I think we should commend them well and let them come to the capital to be praised by hundreds of officials!" Zhou Yanru said immediately. He knew that it was no longer possible for the treasury to come up with large rewards, so he had to make a fuss about them.

    "I second the proposal! Your Majesty should immediately issue an order to allow those soldiers who have made great contributions to the country to come to the capital to receive rewards. There is also Anping Marquis Tang Feng. He should be the first to pacify the thieves in Dingshan and Shaanxi. Compared with Kai  There is no need to make too many concessions when expanding territory." Wen Tiren also said hurriedly.

    After hearing his words, Chongzhen¡¯s smile froze, and his original joy was diluted a lot.  The taboo against Tang Feng became more and more serious as his achievements became greater and greater.  He glanced at Wen Tiren and asked, "In your opinion, how should we reward Tang Feng?"

    "I think that for such great achievements, Anpinghou should be promoted to the title of Duke!" Wen Tiren said without any hesitation.

    As soon as these words came out, Chongzhen's face became even more ugly. At this time, Zhou Yanru also noticed that the situation was unusual. He glanced at Wen Tiren strangely and immediately guessed his intention: "So you are also worried about Tang Feng."  His reputation is too great, so I want to assassinate him and get rid of him. But what this person did is indeed not the same as mine, so I will try to help." So he also said: "Your Majesty, I also thought that this was the only way.  Only then can we convince the people of the world and make all our soldiers of the Ming Dynasty brave!"

    &nbsp"Thenjust do as you wish. When they return in triumph, I will reward Tang Feng generously!" The emperor finally nodded after hesitating for a moment.  But after the two courtiers retreated, his expression became very gloomy: "Tang Feng, what kind of person are you? I admired you very much when you helped me get rid of the traitors, but now you  But he seems to be following the old path of traitor. Not only do he have completely different views from me on some things, but he has also done so many things in the military, and now he has made so many contributions. What do you want me to do?  ? The greater your contribution, the more worried I am about you. Why can't you understand my painstaking efforts?"

    Although he said this, Chongzhen also knew that under the current situation, it would be very difficult for him to deal with Tang Feng. Even though he was the emperor today and had supreme power, he could not do it for his own selfishness.  If something is done that is not in line with etiquette and law, then you can only find an appropriate excuse and reason.  At this time, Chongzhen even missed the Jin people's previous tactics of sowing discord. If the Jin people used this strategy again at this time, he would definitely fall into the trap happily.

    After thinking for a while and having no other options, Chongzhen had no choice but to decide to transfer Tang Feng back to the capital under the pretext of the cessation of the chaos, then take away his military power bit by bit, and finally make further decisions based on his reaction.  But one thing is certain, that is, Tang Feng can no longer threaten him with heavy troops.
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