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On the morning of the next day, with the sound of "play early if there is something to do, go down to the court if there is nothing to do", an official immediately mentioned the matter of the Cao boat smuggling case, and all the evidence pointed to Shen Changmao, the first assistant of the current dynasty.

Next, Shen Changmao's downfall can be described as direct, swift, and crisp.

This is also a matter of course, Zhu Hejian, the seventh prince of Shen Changmao, an ally of Shen Changmao, not only did not reach out to pull Shen Changmao this time, but emptied Shen Changmao's family in advance, and Emperor Deqing would not protect him at all after seeing that Shen Changmao had lost his use value.

The most important thing is that since Shen Changmao served as the first assistant to the cabinet, his political achievements, ability, and reputation are really indescribable, and those clear and neutral officials will not speak for him.

In this way, Shen Changmao fell into an isolated and helpless situation, and when the officials of the "Zhou Party" and the "Zhao Party" joined forces to attack and impeach, Shen Changmao naturally had no power to resist.

Emperor Deqing was still the same old method, and he did not stop the attacks of the officials at all, and let Shen Changmao's prestige be discredited, but he did not directly remove Shen Changmao, but only hinted that Shen Changmao should take the initiative to resign.

Of course, after Shen Changmao takes the initiative to resign, whether he will return to his hometown safely and soundly, or whether he will be imprisoned without dignity, it depends on whether Shen Changmao is "sensible".

At the same time, because of Shen Changmao's matter, the officials did not pursue Zhao Junchen and Li Chengru too much for violating the rules of the court and misappropriating Caoyin without permission, but in the end they were only reprimanded by Emperor Deqing for a few words, saying that if they were not an example, this matter would be revealed.

Facts have proved that after witnessing the downfall of Wen Guanliang and Huang Yourong, Shen Changmao was very "sensible", and after the end of the court meeting, he returned directly to the mansion, raised all the silver in his hand, and quickly sold part of the farmhouse, and dedicated most of his family assets to Emperor Deqing that night, and also submitted his resignation to Emperor Deqing by the way.

This time, Zhao Junchen did not participate in it, so he didn't know how much silver Shen Changmao gave to Emperor Deqing, but it should be a lot of money, so Emperor Deqing happily allowed Shen Changmao to return to his hometown.

There have been no accidents in this matter from beginning to end, and from the moment Zhou Shangjing stared at Shen Changmao, the ending was already doomed.

The only thing that surprised people was Shen Changmao's gaffe.

It is said that after Emperor Deqing "graciously approved" Shen Changmao's resignation, Shen Changmao stumbled out of the palace, because he did not belong to the gods, and fell hard outside the noon gate, and did not stand up directly after falling, but howled and cried on the spot, which attracted the attention of the people around.

Compared with Shen Changmao's usual seriousness and coldness, such a performance of crying in public can be described as an extremely gaffe, and it does not have the dignity of the previous first assistant at all, which makes the officials watch a joke, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a laughing stock.

However, Zhao Junchen can understand Shen Changmao's mood, he has long seen clearly that Shen Changmao's cold and tough past is just a disguise of lust and inwardness, and this time he has experienced the tragic situation of betrayal and separation, and he was also taken away by Emperor Deqing for most of his life's savings and family assets, and it is natural that he was physically and mentally traumatized and emotionally out of control.

Therefore, after hearing about Shen Changmao's tragic situation, Zhao Junchen did not have too much ridicule, but was secretly vigilant in his heart - Wen Guanliang, Huang Yourong, Shen Changmao, these vivid examples all show that Emperor Deqing is a cold-hearted, ruthless emperor, it is too difficult to retreat from his hands and get a good ending, no wonder Zhou Shangjing would have spent so much effort in order for himself to return to his hometown smoothly.

From this aspect, Zhou Shangjing is worthy of admiration, he has obviously successfully resolved the jealousy of Emperor Deqing, so that Emperor Deqing's attention shifted to Zhao Junchen, but when he found out that there were hidden dangers in Jiangshan Sheji, he still returned to the core of the temple without hesitation, even if it caused Emperor Deqing to be suspicious again.

Of course, Zhou Shangjing's scheming methods are too clever, and few people can guess his true thoughts before he uncovers the mystery, and this kind of performance may just be his disguise, and in fact, there may be other intentions - but his approach is indeed a sacrifice and a risk.

On the third day, Emperor Deqing first announced to the officials that Shen Changmao had taken the initiative to resign, and then reluctantly reappointed Zhou Shangjing as the first assistant to the cabinet.

Obviously, Emperor Deqing did not want Zhou Shangjing to become the first assistant of the cabinet again, because it would mean that his previous achievements were lost, but Liang Fuchen still remained in Shaanxi and Gansu to preside over the military and political affairs; Wang Baoren sat in Nanzhili and presided over the rectification of the six departments in Nanjing; Cheng Yuandao has always only known how to talk rhetoric and embarrass heavy responsibilities; Zhao Junchen is too young, too young, too young, and more threatening; Li He has always worn the same pants as Zhou Shangjing......

Therefore, after counting, Emperor Deqing had no other choice but to let Zhou Shangjing return to the position of the first assistant of the dynasty.

I have to say that Zhou Shangjing's prestige and means have indeed played a mainstay role, when he became the first assistant of the cabinet again, the chaos in the center of the temple lasted for more than half a year, and soon gradually stabilized, and the major yamen did not have any chaos at all because of the change of candidates for the first assistant of the cabinet, as if Zhou Shangjing was the first assistant of the cabinet from beginning to end.

In the next few days, everything in the temple was smooth, and after the relevant yamen received the river silver, the fortifications of dredging the cao transport were also progressing very quickly, and the cao boats from the southern provinces could soon arrive in the capital, and a crisis in the imperial court was also invisible.

Under such a calm situation, news came from Huamachi Camp again.

*

In the evening of this day, when Zhao Junchen finished his official duties in Wenyuan Pavilion and returned to the Zhao Mansion, he saw an acquaintance waiting for him in the Zhao Mansion.

This person is Song Bai, the leader of the private army of Fang Zhenshan, the general soldier of Guyuan, who brought a secret letter from Fang Zhenshan.

After seeing Song Bai in the study, Zhao Junchen knew that there must have been some kind of change in the Hetao war, but it was not clear whether such an accident was good or bad.

The success or failure of the Hetao war was related to many of Zhao Junchen's plans, and Zhao Junchen's mood was inevitably a little apprehensive, but he did not eagerly ask for details, but opened Fang Zhenshan's secret letter with a calm expression and read it carefully.

While reading, Zhao Junchen's expression gradually became solemn at first, and his brows became tighter and tighter, but he soon stretched his brows, as if he was secretly relieved, and finally looked mocking like a smile.

"Emperor Deqing was too anxious, and Liang Fuchen was too foolish and loyal, and he almost broke a big thing, but fortunately, the ending was not bad...... Especially Guan Wuyuan, the fat pig standing on the tuyere, this time he actually flew higher and higher, and the time was also lucky, and he fell to the biggest benefit......"

*

Time went back to five days ago.

Emperor Deqing concealed from the officials of the imperial court and sent a secret edict to Huamachiying, urging Liang Fuchen to end the Hetao war as soon as possible, and must completely recover the Hetao area before his birthday.

For Emperor Deqing, if he could announce in public on his birthday that the imperial court had completely recovered the great achievements of the Hetao, it would obviously be an extremely glorious thing.

Of course, Emperor Deqing also knew that victory or defeat on the battlefield should not be urgent, but he just couldn't bear it.

After Liang Fuchen received the holy decree, he was actually in line with his heart.

Zhao Junchen thinks that this battle should not be rushed, because he did not sit in the position of Liang Fuchen, and his ideas are a little too simple.

This war has developed to the present, especially after the winter solstice in various parts of northern Xinjiang, the weather is freezing and the ice wind is cold, and the situation has become more and more difficult.

During this period of time, in order to recover the Hetao area as soon as possible, the imperial court requisitioned troops and horses from all walks of life to rush to Shaanxi and Gansu to support, with a total strength of more than 200,000, which also caused unprecedented burden and chaos on the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu.

All kinds of armies are mixed together, logistics supply, military discipline management, combat coordination, and so on are all headaches - not everyone is "Han Xin's more troops, the better", at least Liang Fuchen can't do this.

Because the climate in northern Xinjiang is getting colder and colder, there are many soldiers who have froze to death and frostbite in the army, which greatly affects morale;

In order to compete for logistics materials, dozens of private fights have occurred one after another, and the private robbery of the people has also been repeatedly prohibited;

In order to support the imperial army in the war, all parts of Shaanxi and Gansu have long exhausted the last bit of spare strength, and gradually they do not respond;

The people have delayed this year's autumn planting, and next year's life has not been settled, and their dissatisfaction is growing day by day.

These problems are all unsolvable by Liang Fuchen.

In short, it's about to be overwhelmed.

Of course, the situation of the Mongol right-wing army was not much better than that of the imperial army, and the Mongol knights and war horses that could often be seen frozen to death in the Hetao were also to the limit.

It can be said that the armies on both sides are exhausted, and the follow-up will depend on which of the soldiers of the two armies can grit their teeth and hold on longer, but Liang Fuchen understands the situation of the Ming Dynasty army very well, and he does not have much confidence in his heart.

Moreover, Liang Fuchen, out of his own considerations, couldn't wait to end this war.

Before Zhao Junchen left the Shaanxi and Gansu trilaterals, because of Zhao Junchen's secret calculations, Liang Fuchen's prestige had been greatly reduced, and all parties in Shaanxi and Gansu were not very convinced by Liang Fuchen.

Now, seeing that the Hetao war has not progressed for a long time, everyone can't help but compare Zhao Junchen with Liang Fuchen, they will not see that the situation faced by Liang Fuchen is completely different from Zhao Junchen's original, they will only think that Zhao Junchen only took more than two months to completely annihilate the Mongolian coalition army, and created a good situation for the imperial army to recover the Hetao area, which can be described as immediate and meritorious, but after Liang Fuchen took over the war, he has not made much achievements. In comparison, it is believed that Liang Fuchen's courage and ability are far inferior to Zhao Junchen, which further affects Liang Fuchen's prestige.

If this situation continues, Liang Fuchen will soon be unable to mobilize those arrogant generals who support their own troops.

Therefore, no matter from any point of view, Liang Fuchen believed that he had to take the initiative and make a quick decision at this time, and the will of Emperor Deqing further strengthened his idea - after all, recovering the Hetao before Emperor Deqing's birthday would also become his political capital in the future.

After confirming this idea, Liang Fuchen quickly convened all the generals in the army to discuss the matter, expressing his desire to take the initiative to seek war and make a quick decision.

At this time, the generals of Shaanxi and Gansu, such as Fang Zhenshan, the commander of the Guyuan Army, Guan Wuyuan, the commander of the forbidden army, and the veteran He Zhang, because they had received Zhao Junchen's secret letter and also recognized Zhao Junchen's operational idea of "it should be slow rather than urgent", expressed their opposition one after another, believing that the imperial army should fight steadily and steadily at this time, focusing on prevention.

But on the other hand, the generals of the reinforcements from all walks of life expressed their support for Liang Fuchen's idea, these generals are all from the nearby military towns on the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu, and they have only arrived on the battlefield recently, so they will naturally not be affected by Zhao Junchen.

Seeing that the Hetao war had not progressed for a long time, and they were unwilling to endure the cold wind in northern Xinjiang all the time, they were naturally somewhat eager to make meritorious contributions.

Moreover, these generals are also full of confidence, believing that the imperial army has a high chance of winning this time by taking the initiative to attack and fighting quickly.

According to Zhao Junchen's suggestion, after Liang Fuchen unconditionally released the leaders and nobles of the Mongolian right-wing tribes captured by the imperial army, except for the army of the Ordos tribe, which was still eager to recapture the Hetao area and still maintained the will to fight, the armies of the other tribes showed a very obvious perfunctory and self-preservation intention, and rarely fought with the imperial army.

Therefore, these reinforcement generals believed that as long as the imperial army found the main force of the remaining army of the Ordos tribe and inflicted heavy losses on them in one fell swoop, the armies of the remaining tribes on the right wing of the Mongol flank would soon retreat and leave, and then the imperial court would be able to completely recover the Hetao.

What followed was endless quarrels and debates, with the generals who supported the steady fight and the generals who supported the quick victory insisted on their own words, and no one could convince anyone.

Then, because of Liang Fuchen's strong insistence, the imperial army finally took the initiative to attack and seek the enemy for a decisive battle.

Then, the imperial army soon ushered in a crushing defeat!

This is because, on the second day of the imperial army's dispatch, the Hetao area ushered in the first snowstorm of the year!

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Before next Monday, there is something wrong with the bugs, and the update may be unstable - just maybe, so that everyone can be mentally prepared.

But from next Monday, the update will be stable again.

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