On the morning of 25 October, Zhu Youzhen, who was discussing political affairs with cabinet ministers, received an urgent report from Zunhua on the military situation. After reading the information sent by Lu Qi in a hurry, Zhu Youzhen's originally somewhat uneasy heart suddenly settled down.

Ever since he received the news from Liaodong that Huang Taiji was leading his troops to go on the expedition, he had been a little uneasy in his heart. He always felt that Huang Taiji might not really lead the troops to the Chahar Department that moved west.

Although it was bad news from Zunhua, it finally made him feel at ease, and there was no need for him to continue to speculate about where Huang Taiji's goal was on this expedition.

Although Zhu Youzhen knew that Houjin had broken through the customs and entered the interior to plunder in history, he could not remember the exact time, and he was not sure whether this time and space was the same thing as the history he was familiar with. However, for now, it seems that the historical events that occurred in these two planes are quite consistent.

For Zhu Youzhen personally, he believes that a person's biggest fear is the unknown. Previously, Huang Taiji disappeared after leaving Shenyang with a large army, although there was information that Huang Taiji was going to go to the Har Department, but Zhu Youzhen was a little unconvinced. On the one hand, Dongjiang Town and other intelligence sources have shown that there was a heated discussion in the Later Jin Dynasty about whether to cut down Ming. On the other hand, Huang Taiji does not seem to be a good person, and it is impossible to make his goal of sending troops known to the whole world.

When it became clear that the army led by Huang Taiji was rushing towards the Great Wall in the area of Xifengkou, the stone in Zhu Youzhen's heart fell to the ground. Therefore, after reading the military emergency report, his expression remained very calm.

After Zhu Youzhen handed the information he had read to Huang Liji, who was suspicious on the side, he said to the ministers who were looking at him with curious eyes: "Jinyi Wei sent an urgent report from Zunhua, and Huang Taiji, the Great Khan of Houjin, led an army of no less than 30,000 horses and horses, bypassing the Guanning defense line from the place where the 36 departments of Guanmen were grazing, and came to the Great Wall Pass in the area of Xifengkou.

Obviously, after the army gathered by Huang Taiji left Shenyang at the beginning of this month, the target was not Lin Dan Khan but our country. They tried to break through the pass from the Zunhua area, and it is estimated that it was not a detour to attack Shanhaiguan and copy the back road of the Liaoxi army; It is to prepare to go south to the Gyeonggi area and plunder the essence area of my northern Zhili. ”

Although Chongzhen said it very plainly, the ministers present were stunned by the news, and once thought that the emperor was joking with them.

However, when the ministers circulated the military emergency report in Huang Liji's hand, they finally changed from the shock when they first heard the news to the anger.

Zhang Ruitu was the first to shout angrily: "What are Yan Mingtai and Man Gui doing, even Houjin organized such a large army to bypass the Guanning defense line, they don't know anything. Isn't that a dereliction of duty? ”

Yan Mingtai is the Liao Governor of Ji, and Man Gui is the general soldier of Liaodong, and it is their duty to deal with Houjin. Now it is obviously a dereliction of duty to let a Houjin army pass through the jurisdiction of the 36th Department of Guanmen and silently touch the area of Xifengkou.

Without waiting for other ministers to respond to Zhang Ruitu's statement, Zhu Youzhen had already interrupted him and said: "Let's not be busy pursuing responsibility now, let's discuss the countermeasures for the invasion of Houjin first." How much responsibility Yan Mingtai, Man Gui and the others bear will be discussed after Houjin retires. ”

Huang Liji, whose face was a little pale, hurriedly echoed Chongzhen and said: "What Your Majesty said is exact, now is not to hold them accountable, most of the soldiers available to the imperial court are outside the pass, we should immediately send someone to inform Yan Mingtai to bring troops into the pass and rescue Zunhua." Fortunately, there is a brocade guard who sent the news in advance, and now there are tens of thousands of male soldiers outside the pass, as long as half of them enter the pass, they should have time to block the slave soldiers in Zunhua and not go south.

In addition, Jimen Lingjing shouldered, once the slave soldiers rushed through Jizhou City, there was no danger to defend in the Gyeonggi area, and the slave soldiers could not only go straight to the capital, but also go south to Tongzhou, Hexiwu, Tianjin and other places. These places are piled up with supplies, and once they fall into the hands of slave soldiers, the capital will be in danger. ”

Guo Yunhou's face was also ugly, since the household department continued to receive the small treasury of each ministry with the support of the emperor, most of the reserve materials in the warehouses in Tongzhou, Hexiwu, Tianjin and other places were in the name of the household department. Once it falls into the hands of Jiannu or is burned in the war, he, the head of the household, will inevitably be held responsible.

He thought about it anxiously, and then said: "Wang Benbing happened to go to Tianjin to inspect the coastal defense battalion and military ration reserves, so it is better to quickly order him to take a boat directly from Tianjin to Shanhaiguan to urge the Liaoxi Army to go out of the customs and rescue." ”

Qian Qianyi also hurriedly chimed in: "Should we first order the Xuanda Border Army, Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, and the Zhenli of Beizhili to join the Beijing Division, so as to avoid the worst result?" ”

Qian Qianyi's opinion immediately inspired the ministers present, although since last year, the emperor has rectified the Beijing camp and organized a new army. However, the army in the Gyeonggi region has also shrunk from more than 100,000 to nearly 40,000.

In the past, they could still rely on the number of more than 100,000 Beijing troops to strengthen their courage, but now that the number has been reduced by more than half, it is really difficult for them to pin their net worth and lives on the downsized Beijing camp.

Although the army led by Wu Huai and Zuo Liangyu participated in the Battle of Fengzhen last year, the combined strength of the two troops was less than 10,000, and the combat effectiveness of the Mongols was not comparable to that of the slave soldiers. They are very worried about whether the current Beijing camp can hold the capital.

Therefore, after Qian Qianyi started, several ministers began to think about what troops could be transferred to the capital to guard the safety of Gyeonggi.

"Slap" Zhu Youzhen slapped the table hard, waking up several cabinet ministers from their nonsense. He was finally disappointed with the plans put forward by these ministers to deal with the war of the Houjin invasion.

In Chongzhen's ears, except for Huang Liji and Xu Guangqi, the opinions put forward by the other ministers were completely unconstructive. In addition to being frightened, they vigorously proposed to transfer troops to the Beijing Division, without considering the food and clothing required by the soldiers of these armies, and whether the imperial court could supply them.

It seems that in the eyes of these ministers, they will feel at ease when they transfer all the Ming troops from all over the world to the vicinity of the capital and tightly circle along the walls of the capital division. In just a while, some people have even proposed to transfer the Sichuan counterinsurgency army to the capital.

Zhu Youzhen obviously didn't want to continue listening, and after interrupting the nonsense of several cabinet ministers and quieting them down, Zhu Youzhen opened his mouth and continued: "How to fight Houjin, where to allocate troops, and how much military strength to deploy, I will then discuss with the General Staff, this is not a matter for the cabinet to consider.

What the cabinet needs to consider is whether we should deal with the war provoked by Houjin. Can the imperial court raise the funds and materials needed for this war? After the outbreak of war, how should the imperial court help the local government to collect refugees? How to get the local government to cooperate with the army to fight? How to maintain social order in Beizhili? How to control prices and public opinion? How to restore the local economy and reassure the people affected by the war after the war?

These are the issues that I would like to discuss with the Cabinet. Do you have any additions or different opinions? ”

Chongzhen's series of questions finally allowed these ministers to find a backbone. Although these ministers are several times older than Chongzhen, they are really helpless on the issue of the invasion of the Later Jin.

After being defeated by the Later Jin in a row, losing more than 100,000 Ming troops and losing Liaodong, the ministers of the court and the central government have faintly had the psychological shadow of Tan Nu's discoloration. Therefore, as soon as they heard that the slave soldiers had bypassed the strong Guanning defense line, they immediately felt helpless.

According to the historical record of the battle between the Ming army and the Later Jin, these ministers found that they had nothing to do with the Later Jin on the battlefield. When the shouts of a few hundred people in Houjin could make a Ming army with tens of thousands of people collapse and flee, no matter how carefully these ministers planned, they couldn't defeat the slave soldiers with their strength.

In addition to the safest policy of mobilizing troops from all over the country, other plans to defeat Houjin on the battlefield have to take great risks. Even Huang Liji was equally unwilling to stake his reputation for those incompetent Ming generals. After all, if any plan is proposed now, it is possible that because of the failure of the plan, all the responsibility for the invasion of Houjin will be borne.

Therefore, when the emperor took the initiative to put forward his own proposal, the cabinet ministers of course followed closely, so that even if the plan failed, the emperor could not blame them.

Guo Yunhou only calmed down for a while, and then said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, this year's autumn harvest has just ended, and the autumn grain in Beizhili alone has increased by 3 percent compared with the best years in previous years, and there are still 2.7 million stone grain in the Tongzhou granary, which is enough to support an army of tens of thousands."

However, the treasury has not much in deposits, and it is only 1.9 million yuan so far. These funds are still funds that have been allocated for use long ago. Even if you squeeze it, the household department can only come up with 100,000 yuan for the activity fee.

If there is really going to be a war, I am afraid that His Majesty will need to transfer the deposit from the inner treasury. Otherwise, the Ministry of Household Affairs will not be able to support the funds needed for this war. ”

After Guo Yunhou expressed the difficulties of the household department, other ministers also talked about the difficulties of their own departments, hoping to get special attention from the emperor.

Zhu Youzhen thought for a while, and then replied: "Jiannu dispatched 30,000 horses, so if the imperial court wants to block them, 100,000 troops should be enough."

In this operation, what we need is not to completely defeat the Houjin army, but to force the Houjin army to withdraw from the side wall. Therefore, as long as we hold the line of Jizhou City, Tangshan, and Qian'an, and do not let the Houjin army rush south into the plain area, it will be considered a victory.

Therefore, it is very likely that the war will end in a stalemate, and by depleting the food of Jiannu, Jiannu will be forced to retreat outside the Guanwai.

Then the duration of the war can be set at 3 months, calculated at 100,000 people spending 04 yuan per day, 3 months is 3.6 million yuan, plus some reserves, 5 million yuan should be enough.

Therefore, the most important thing for the household department now is that after raising 5 million yuan for war expenses, Mr. Guo can urgently negotiate with the three banks and ask them to underwrite and issue 5 million yuan of three-year war bonds, with the two Huai salt taxes as collateral..."