Entering November, the climate has become more and more cold, and I don't know what the reason is, since the Chongzhen years, the climate is particularly cold every winter, and ordinary people will not go out at all, so as not to accidentally freeze to death outside.

Forbidden City, Wenyuan Pavilion.

The earth dragon has long been burning, and you can feel the strong heat when you enter the house.

Qian Shisheng, the first assistant of the cabinet who came in, rubbed his hands vigorously and spoke to the cabinet minister Hou Sui beside him.

"Alas, this weather, I don't know why it's so cold, and it's unbearable to be outside for a while."

Today is the time for cabinet deliberations, as the first assistant of the cabinet, Qian Shisheng maintained the habit of coming early, he waited for the arrival of the rest of the cabinet ministers, which can show his own posture, less than a quarter of an hour, the cabinet deputy Chen Xinjia, cabinet ministers Huang Shijun, Kong Zhenyuan, He Fengsheng and others came to Wenyuan Pavilion.

Qian Shisheng greeted each cabinet minister with a smile, especially when greeting Chen Xinjia, the deputy assistant of the cabinet, and whispered face-to-face, and outsiders seemed to have a particularly close relationship.

Because of the climate, many places in the Ming Dynasty have suffered from famine, and the northern performance is particularly prominent, and the performance is particularly prominent in Henan and Shanxi, which have been ravaged by the rogues, and Zhang Pu, the governor of Henan who has not been in office for a long time, has written several copies of the recitals, all of which are imploring the imperial court to provide relief.

Relief is not a trivial matter, there are many mysteries in it, there is not much silver in the treasury of the household department, it is impossible to relieve every place, where there is a famine, there must be an unstable situation, if the court can help, the local officials can barely stabilize the local situation. Where there is no relief, the magistrate will scratch his head.

Zhang Pu was the backbone of the Donglin Party, and Henan was the most serious place to be plundered by rogues, so Qian Shisheng naturally supported the implementation of relief in Henan, and his views had already been supported by other cabinet ministers, even Chen Xinjia, the second assistant of the cabinet, could not oppose it.

When the Cabinet was just beginning its deliberations. Qian Shisheng put forward a proposal for the imperial court to relieve 500,000 taels of silver in Henan, and this proposal was unanimously adopted.

Just when Qian Shisheng was about to announce the discussion of the next topic, Zhang Cai, the right attendant of the Ministry of War, entered the Wenyuan Pavilion with a fold in his hand, Zhang Cai's face turned pale, and his body trembled slightly.

Chen Xinjia looked at Zhang Cai who came in, and spoke expressionlessly.

"Lord Zhang, the cabinet is deliberating, and I will talk about what I have to wait for the official to return to the military department."

After Yang Sichang was dismissed from his post as a cabinet minister and secretary of the Ministry of War. Chen Xinjia concurrently served as the secretary of the Ministry of War as a cabinet minister, and Chen Xinjia basically had the final say on the affairs of the Ministry of War. Seeing Zhang Cai coming in a hurry at this moment, Chen Xinjia made arrangements that were understandable.

Chen Xinjia's impression of Zhang Cai is average, not that Zhang Cai's ability is insufficient, but mainly because Zhang Cai's status as a member of the Donglin Party makes Chen Xinjia very dissatisfied in his heart, but it is because of Qian Shisheng's face. It is not good for him to directly reject Zhang Cai, and besides, the power of the Donglin Party in the court has gradually become stronger. At this time, the exclusion of Zhang Cai is very likely to be the enemy of the entire Donglin Party.

Zhang Cai looked at Chen Xinjia, was stunned for a moment, and did not turn around to leave.

"My lord, the urgent performance of Lord Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao."

Zhang Cai's words made the room instantly quiet. Even the Chinese scholars who made records looked up at Zhang Cai.

Chen Xinjia's face also changed, and Hong Chengchou's urgent reversal showed that there was an unpredictable situation.

I wanted to take the fold from Zhang Cai's hand, but Chen Xinjia swept Qian Shisheng with his afterglow. Didn't do that.

"Since it's an urgent setback, then please report it to Lord Zhang and see what the situation is, Lord Qian, I don't know if the suggestion of the lower official is feasible."

Qian Shisheng, who had been thinking about it, heard Chen Xinjia say this, did not hesitate, and waved his hand to signal Zhang Cai to report the situation.

Zhang Cai picked up the fold and began to read it out loud.

The Wenyuan Pavilion was even quieter, only Zhang Cai's voice and heavy breathing.

Hou Jin suddenly dispatched a large number of troops to Guangning, Yizhou and Dalinghe in western Liaoning, according to the scout's reconnaissance, this time the total force of Hou Jin dispatched more than 100,000 people, stationed in Ningyuan Ji Liao Governor's Mansion Hong Chengchou, has sent the general soldier Zu Dashou urgently rushed to Jinzhou to investigate, to find out the overall situation, at the same time Hong Chengchou summoned the general army of Shanhaiguan and Datong, ready to rush to Jinzhou and other places, Hong Chengchou led the army, rushed to Jinzhou and Songshan to deploy movingly, to resist the attack of the Houjin Tartars.

The purpose of Hong Chengchou's writing was to report the sudden situation in Jinzhou and other places in western Liaoning, and second, to implore the emperor to allow him to dispatch garrisons from Shanhaiguan, Datong, Shanxi, and even Denglai to participate in the battle.

After Zhang Cai finished reading the recital, Chen Xinjia's body trembled slightly, and a bean-sized cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Qian Shisheng's face also changed, now is the most critical time, the imperial court is still trying to quell the rebellion of the rogues, but they don't know that the Houjin Tartars are preparing to launch a large-scale attack in Liaoxi.

The geographical location of Jinzhou, Ningyuan and other places is extremely important, and there must not be the slightest mistake, otherwise the Ming Dynasty and Liaoxi will only be left with the pass of Shanhaiguan, and the Guanning Jinjin defense line will be destroyed in a moment, and what is even more fatal is that once the Houjin Tatars take Jinzhou and Ningyuan and other places, then all places from Ningyuan to Shanhaiguan may be occupied by the Houjin Tatars, and the Shanhaiguan does not have any buffer.

Once the Shanhaiguan Pass is lost, the capital of the Ming Dynasty will fall into great danger, and the Houjin Tartars can drive straight into the attack of the capital, or they can gallop through the Central Plains, and the Ming Dynasty will not be able to resist the attack of the Houjin Tartars.

What this means, Qian Shisheng and Chen Xinjia are very clear.

Such an important matter is not something that the cabinet can discuss.

Qian Shisheng stood up, took the fold handed over by Zhang Cai, and spoke with a serious face.

"This matter is so important that it needs to be reported directly to the emperor, and the cabinet cannot discuss it for the time being."

Chen Xinjia nodded, and the rest of the cabinet ministers also nodded.

A few days ago, Zhou Kui, the abbot, sent a beautiful woman, named Chen Yuanyuan, who played music for him, but unfortunately Zhu Youzhen, who was thinking about things in the court, did not pay attention to Chen Yuanyuan at all, so Zhou Kui took Chen Yuanyuan away from the palace, and reprimanded Zhou Kui unceremoniously.

At this time, the early dynasty is over, the cabinet is deliberating, Zhu Youzhen can use this time to review some more excerpts, and when the cabinet is finished and comes to report, it is impossible for him to be quiet.

Wang Chengen hurriedly walked into the Qianqing Palace and reported to the cabinet chief assistant Qian Shisheng and many cabinet ministers to report the matter.

Zhu Youzhen looked up at Wang Chengen, with a puzzled look on his face, the cabinet had less than half an hour to discuss the matter, how could he come to the Qianqing Palace, there had never been such a situation in the past.

Qian Shisheng and the others rushed in, and their faces were very solemn.

Seeing the expressions of Qian Shisheng and the others, Zhu Youzhen chuckled in his heart, it seemed that there was a big matter, and it was not a good thing.

Chen Xinjia, the second assistant to the cabinet, took the performance of Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, and began to report the matter.

Zhu Youzhen's face was slightly pale, and he looked calm, but his hands were clenched and trembling slightly.

After Chen Xinjia's report was completed, Zhu Youzhen closed his eyes and tried to control his emotions.

The army led by Xiong Wencan, the governor of the five provinces, together with the army of the garrison in Henan, Huguang and other places, is rushing to Xiangyang, preparing to completely exterminate the Liukou Zhang Xianzhong, the fighting in the two places is about to break out, but at this time, the Houjin Tartars are ready to launch a large-scale attack in western Liaoning.

Hong Chengchou's twists and turns said above, the total number of troops dispatched by the Houjin Tartars exceeded 100,000, and it seemed that they were determined to take Jinzhou and Ningyuan and other cities, and this fight must be extremely cruel.

In any case, Jinzhou and Ning Yuan can't afford to make any mistakes.

It's really an embattled situation.

After a while, Zhu Youzhen opened his eyes and looked at Chen Xinjia.

"Chen Aiqing, what do you suggest from the Ministry of War?"

At this moment, Chen Xinjia was already anxious, even if he had great ability, he could not deal with the attack of the three-way army at the same time, and these three-way army were all strong, when Zhang Cai was reading the fold in Wenyuan Pavilion, he was thinking nervously, and Zheng Jiajun also appeared in his mind, but he didn't dare to mention it, this was the emperor's heart disease.

Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao, led the troops of Shanhaiguan, Datong and Denglai to resist the Houjin Tartars, and did not dare to guarantee victory, but they could resist for a period of time, and the army led by Xiong Wencan was difficult to exterminate Zhang Xianzhong in a short period of time.

After this time, the Jin Tartars suddenly overwhelmed the border, so Jinzhou and Ningyuan in western Liaoxi will inevitably become the focus, and the heavy troops of the imperial court must be pressed to Liaoxi, so how should Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong deal with the two rogues.

The emperor asked, and Chen Xinjia replied stubbornly.

"Your Majesty, the minister's suggestion is to transfer part of the army under the command of Xiong Wencan, the governor of the five provinces, and rush to Jinzhou, and the imperial court agreed that the governor of Jiliao, Hong Chengchou, will dispatch the army of Shanhaiguan and Datong to resist the Houjin Tartars and protect Jinzhou and Ningyuan, and this battle is commanded by Hong Chengchou, the governor of Jiliao......"

Before Chen Xinjia finished speaking, a whispered discussion appeared.

The emperor was expressionless, he knew what Qian Shisheng and the others were discussing, but at such a critical juncture, the first thing the imperial court to protect must be Jinzhou and Ningyuan, as for Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, it was already a secondary issue.

"The Ministry of War will come up with a plan within today, the cabinet will discuss it, and it will be reported to me tomorrow for review." (To be continued......)