On the night of Chongzhen's arrival in Jizhou, Wu Huai also rushed to Jizhou with the Chinese army, except for some baggage troops and artillery units, the main force of the Gyeonggi New Army had basically arrived.

On the morning of the second day, Mao Yuanyi, who had stayed up all night without sleep in order to make a plan, hurriedly washed up and came to the front of the West Side Palace. There is a small square paved with bricks in front of the west side hall, and the small square at this moment is very lively, and the civil and military officials under the jurisdiction of the base camp are in a group of three or five people, forming a small circle, or nervous, or worried, or talking easily.

When Mao Yuanyi walked through the square, many officials stopped talking and saluted him.

After glancing at the situation in the Xibei Palace, he stopped a staff officer who was ordering someone to set up a seat and asked, "Hasn't Your Majesty arrived yet?" ”

The staff officer turned around and glanced at the person who was questioning, quickly dropped the things in his hand, and replied to Mao Yuanyi: "Lord Hui, Your Majesty followed Cui Shangshu to inspect Jizhou City early in the morning. Your Majesty told us to prepare first, and he will return to the meeting on time. ”

Mao Yuanyi said a little strangely: "Didn't Your Majesty already inspect the defense line of Jizhou City yesterday afternoon?" Where are you going to be today? ”

"It's a county school and a county elementary school." The staff officer replied respectfully.

When Mao Yuanyi asked about the emperor's whereabouts, Zhu Youzhen stood on the podium of a classroom in Jizhou Primary School with great interest, telling stories to the 3 or 40 primary school students below, "... A big bad wolf came to the brook and happened to meet the lamb who was drinking. When he saw that the lamb was alone, he had a bad idea.

The wolf went up to the lamb in a rage and said, "I was about to drink water, why did you make this water dirty?" The lamb was puzzled, and said, "But I'm downstream of you."

The wolf said to the lamb without shame: Even so, but you were still scolding me behind my back last year, and I was trying to settle accounts with you.

But I wasn't born last year, and the lamb said pitifully. The wolf couldn't hold back and pounced on the lamb, and said viciously: It's either you or your father, let me eat you, it's the same anyway. ”

Speaking of this, Chongzhen stopped and said to the students below who were worried about the fate of the lamb: "What about this Houjin, it is this big bad wolf, it is bent on eating my Ming people as lambs. In order to satisfy his own **, he will come up with many plausible excuses. Students, you say, should we believe the reasons that this big bad wolf says? ”

The elementary school students who listened to Chongzhen's stories were only six or seven years old, and the eldest was eleven or twelve years old. They didn't have that much reverence for the emperor, and the story Chongzhen told them also made these children worry about the fate of the lamb.

One by one, they stood up and refuted the excuses told by the big bad wolf, thinking that the big bad wolf was a bad guy, and the Houjin Tartars who were now attacking the Ming Dynasty were also a group of bad guys.

Cui Chengxiu stood outside the door with a group of gentry, watching in amazement as Chongzhen told a story to a group of children. Although the emperor gave a speech to the people outside the west gate yesterday, it made people think that the behavior of the Ming emperor was quite strange.

But after all, they didn't see it with their own eyes, and these gentry were still a little skeptical. Now seeing this scene, everyone is convinced of the rumors. Not all gentry appreciated the emperor's behavior, at least many people felt in their hearts that the emperor's behavior was unseemly, and he forgot the boundary between superiority and inferiority.

After telling the story, Zhu Youzhen gave each of these students a set of pen and ink, encouraged them to study hard, and then slowly walked out of the classroom.

Afraid that the emperor would make another incident, Cui Chengxiu quickly stepped forward and hurriedly said to Chongzhen, "Your Majesty, the time is almost up, shall we go back to the meeting first?" ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded, and then glanced at the large number of squires gathered in front of him with a flat face. After hearing yesterday that the representatives of the gentry had been rewarded with official status, the number of squires who came to serve today was at least twice as high.

However, Zhu Youzhen didn't plan to give them any more benefits today, he cleared his throat, and said sternly to the squires: "Even these elementary school students who are not yet 10 years old know that the big bad wolf who makes an excuse to eat lambs is a bad thing.

But there are some people among us, who have listened to the specious remarks of the slave chieftain, and feel that the responsibility for this war is not in Houjin, but in my Daming.

These people enjoy the preferential treatment given by the imperial court, the protection of the army, and the provision of the people, and they do not think about how to repay these kindnesses, but think of ways to open their eyes for our enemies.

They spread negative remarks among relatives and friends, and under the pretext of protecting the dignity of a gentleman, they prevented others from doing their part to resist the Houjin invasion. Some people are even collecting information for Houjin in exchange for a promise to preserve their own property.

Now I want to tell you that there is no neutral between the state and the post-Jin. For these people who enjoy the benefits of the Ming Dynasty, but are digging the corners of the Ming Dynasty, I will never be soft.

Cui Benbing. ”

Although he didn't expect the emperor to pull down his face, Cui Chengxiu, who was quick-witted, still replied with an unchanged face: "The minister is here." ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at him and said coldly: "From now on, the Political Department will investigate the speech and actions of the local gentry and big families in this war. Anyone suspected of collaborating with the enemy will be taken into custody first, and then dealt with after the war.

The war between the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty was a national war. Every Ming person should pay for it, and those who have money must pay; He who has bread will give bread; Whoever has no money or food will be sent out.

Whoever dares to drag me back in this war, I will let him know what the wrath of the Son of Heaven is. ”

After Zhu Youzhen finished his murderous words, he got on his horse and left with the team of the imperial guards. Cui Chengxiu deliberately took a step behind, and after seeing the emperor walking away, he turned back to the silent squires and said.

"It's okay if you complained and complained in private before, if you let the official hear any rumors in the future, then don't blame the official for not thinking about Sangzi's feelings."

After Cui Chengxiu finished speaking, he quickly got up and went to chase the emperor, and several gentry who had been awarded the positions of the Political Department also left.

The rest of the squires all looked a little depressed, but soon someone muttered, "The emperor just came yesterday, how could he possibly know what we said in private before." Could it be that someone sold us in order to win the emperor's favor? ”

Immediately, someone chimed in: "It should be so, otherwise those rich landlords just pushed them out to pay for grain, how can they get an official status for nothing?" These damn bastards. ”

"Shh, you should pay attention, if it is rumored to the emperor's ears again, saying that we still have resentment, everyone will have no good fruit to eat."

"So what's next? Seeing the meaning of the emperor's departure, it seems that he wants to catch a few and make an example of him. ”

As soon as this man's worried words came out, all the squires were immediately quiet. After being silent for a long time, someone Fang said with some uncertainty: "Didn't the emperor say just now that those who have money have to pay; He who has bread will give bread; Whoever has no money or food will be sent out. Don't we mean it, don't be used by the emperor as a chicken to set an example for monkeys. ”

As soon as this person said a word, the squires around him suddenly thought about it in their hearts. People who can't see the big picture clearly only think about how to spend the least amount of money to get through the current difficulties. Those who are more sober are thinking about how much money they will have to spend to get a position in the Political Department, so as not to be beaten by the emperor next time.

After returning to the west side hall of Dule Temple, the first official meeting after the establishment of the Supreme Command finally began.

Although the work plan that was rushed out of the various departments in a hurry was not very perfect, basically the officials of the various departments finally found a sense of what they were going to do in this war.

After Jiang Dejing went back yesterday, he thought about it all night, and today, in addition to a plan on how to prepare for the establishment of the Second Theater Command, he also asked the emperor again to transfer a few staff officers to plan the defense line of the Second Theater.

Zhu Youzhen discussed a few words with Mao Yuanyi, and finally agreed to transfer two staff officers and five reserve non-commissioned officers to him to assist in the work of the Second War Zone.

The list of various materials in Jizhou City, the scale and supply of field hospitals, and the communication and liaison methods between various theaters and armies were all presented in front of Chongzhen.

After Zhu Youzhen listened to these reports, he asked everyone to go down to implement their own work plans. The General Staff Headquarters and the commanders of the various armies stayed behind and began to study the operational plan for fire reconnaissance and the discussion of the strategic layout of the current battle with Houjin.

There are two plans provided by the General Staff Headquarters for conducting fire reconnaissance of the enemy forces in Shimenzhai. One was prepared by Mao Yuanyi himself, with Zuo Liangyu's Fourth Che Cavalry Division as the main force, and the Fifth Cavalry Division covering from the side, an army of nearly 7,000 people slowly advanced, pressing the enemy army from Mashen Bridge to Shimen Village, forcing the enemy to abandon the village and flee.

Shimenzhai is located about 60 miles west of Zunhua City, east of Jiufeng Mountain, north of Chimpanium Mountain, south of Tashan; Looking at the Lin River in the west, the northwest is around the water. Shimenzhai is a small stone city, the floor plan is trapezoidal, the north is small in the south, and the north and south are more than 70 zhang. The wall is two feet and five feet wide, and there is no north gate, but the east and west gates are wide.

The west side of Shimen Village is empty, and there is only a 50-meter-wide Lin River separated from the Mashen Bridge. The Lin River is a short seasonal river, with a depth of only 1-2 meters in summer and autumn, and only a few tens of centimeters in winter and spring.

However, the bottom of the river is very muddy, and it is not always possible for horses to wade through the water during this season.

In the northeast of Shimen Village, there are two peaks facing each other, in the middle of which a stone gap is the door, there is an official road to pass through, commonly known as the stone gate, so the name of the village is "Shimen". The cliffs on both sides of Shimen Gorge are steep, and the terrain is steep.

The seizure of Shimenzhai is equivalent to blocking the nearest passage from Houjin West to Jizhou. The Houjin army could only make a detour from the mountain pass in the south, so that the Houjin army could not carry too much baggage, and could only carry out a surprise attack with a small number of elite troops.