Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 184 The Angry Xiong Dashuai
Back in the house, Zhu Shenzhui sat on the kang, opened the envelope, took out the letter and started reading.

After the first glance, Zhu Shenzui's expression became serious. After he finished reading it all, the smile and indifference on his face were gone.

"Husband, what happened?" Xu Jingqiu noticed the change in Zhu Shenzhui's expression and couldn't help but ask.

Zhu Shenzhu looked up, thought for a moment and said nothing, but handed the letter in his hand over.

Xu Jingqiu took the letter and read it. Just like Zhu Shenzhui just now, her expression changed after she read only two lines, and she couldn't help but let out a soft cry.

"How could this be? Is this...is this news true?" Xu Jingqiu asked anxiously before he finished reading it.

"This letter was sent by my brother-in-law." Zhu Shenzhui said.

Xu Jingqiu was speechless for a moment, she knew very well who Zhou Anmin was. Now Zhou Anmin was the actual controller of Jinyiwei of Luzhouwei, and everyone in Ming Dynasty knew what Jinyiwei did.

Since the news was delivered by Zhou Anmin, there was no need to guess the authenticity of what was said in the letter. However, this matter was too shocking after all. No one expected that such a big thing happened in Liaodong shortly after the Chinese New Year and the first month of the year had just passed.

For a moment, the room was silent. Xu Jingqiu did not ask any more questions, while Zhu Shenzhui frowned and no one knew what he was thinking.

Not long ago, the war in Liaodong broke out again. On the 20th of the first lunar month, Nurhaci of the Jiannu crossed the Liaohe River and attacked Guangning.

Prior to this, Liaodong had deployed Liu Qu with 20,000 men to garrison Zhenwu Fort, Qi Bingzhong with 10,000 men to garrison Luyang Fort, and Luo Yikuan with 3,000 men to garrison Xiping Fort.

Wang Huazhen's most trusted general, Sun Degong, was stationed at Xiping Fort. He secretly defected to the Later Jin Dynasty without fighting, and spread the news that the army had already approached the city, causing the people in the city to flee in panic.

At the same time, Wang Huazhen's plan to bribe Li Yongfang also completely failed. Guangning fell in just two days. The three defenders arranged by Luo Yiquan died in battle one after another. Wang Huazhen fled hastily from Guangning City with his remaining troops. Until Guangning fell, he did not even see a hair of the 400,000 troops of Ligdan Khan that he had been expecting.

Upon learning of Wang Huazhen's defeat, Xiong Tingbi rushed to rescue him, but it was too late. When Xiong Tingbi just arrived in the Daling River area, Guangning was lost, and he could only pick up Wang Huazhen who had fled in a panic.

Seeing Wang Huazhen, who looked like a lost dog, Xiong Tingbi was furious and immediately mocked Wang Huazhen, saying, "Didn't you say before that you could defeat the Jiannu with only Guangning's 60,000 troops? What do you say now?"
Wang Huazhen suffered a crushing defeat, with General Liu Qu killed in battle and Guangning lost. He felt ashamed, but he also knew that if Guangning could not be recaptured, he, as the governor of Liaodong, would have a huge responsibility.

In desperation, Wang Huazhen asked Xiong Tingbi for help, hoping that Xiong Tingbi would put aside their past grudges for the sake of the overall situation in Liaodong and join forces to fight the enemy. The most important thing now is to deploy defenses in the second line of defense, that is, Ningyuan and Qiantun as soon as possible to block the attack of the Later Jin, and then find a way to recapture Guangning.

In theory, Wang Huazhen's idea was correct, although Wang Huazhen made a big mistake in the previous Liaodong strategy, and made inappropriate arrangements on the Guangning defense line, and was overconfident, which led to the current defeat. But after the defeat, Wang Huazhen also came to his senses and proposed the deployment of a second line of defense, first blocking the Later Jin army and then waiting for an opportunity to retake Guangning. This idea is still quite reliable.

But Wang Huazhen never expected that, because of his previous conflict with Xiong Tingbi, although Xiong Tingbi sent troops to rescue and bring Wang Huazhen back, he despised Wang Huazhen in his heart and secretly gloated over his misfortune.

It was not known whether Xiong Tingbi wanted to watch Wang Huazhen's show on purpose or whether the battle situation was indeed promising, but he rejected Wang Huazhen's suggestion out of the blue and told Wang Huazhen that after the loss of Guangning, it was no longer possible to defend Ningyuan and Qiantun. Now that the troops in Guangning were gone, it would be of no help at all relying on the small number of troops in Xiong Tingbi's hands. The reason for the current result was entirely because of Wang Huazhen's greed for merit and reckless advance.

Now the Ming army in Liaodong no longer has the capital to compete with the Later Jin. The only thing they can do now is to relocate the millions of Ming people in Liaodong as soon as possible, and move from Liaodong to Shanhaiguan to preserve their vitality.

Faced with Xiong Tingbi's decision, Wang Huazhen was shocked and begged Xiong Tingbi not to act on impulse, but Xiong Tingbi was not moved at all. Even the military supervisor Xing Shenyan, who had a good relationship with Xiong Tingbi, tried to persuade him, but Xiong Tingbi refused to give him face.

Wang Huazhen was defeated and had lost the capital to speak on the Liaodong battlefield. Xiong Tingbi was the nominal governor of Liaodong, and now he was the only one with an army.

At this time, Wang Huazhen could no longer stop Xiong Tingbi from doing anything. Xiong Tingbi directly issued an order for all Liaodong soldiers and civilians to withdraw to Shanhaiguan. On the 26th day of the first lunar month, Xiong Tingbi and all Liaoxi soldiers and civilians withdrew to the pass, and Liaoxi was completely lost. When he returned to Shanhaiguan, Xiong Tingbi wrote a petition to plead guilty, saying that he had built a prisoner car, and after arranging the Liaodong soldiers and civilians who withdrew to Shanhaiguan, he would ride the prisoner car back to Beijing to plead guilty...

On the 28th day of the first lunar month, the imperial court received news from Liaodong and was instantly in an uproar when it learned that Liaoxi had been lost.

Before that, the imperial court held a court debate on the issue of discord between the governor and the governor of Liaodong, and finally came up with a painless plan. However, before the plan was passed, such a big problem arose in Liaodong. For a time, both the emperor and the court could not accept this sudden defeat.

Emperor Tianqi issued an edict to Xiong Tingbi, saying: "Since the frontier has been lost, how can Xiong Tingbi plead guilty? Let him bear the punishment and redeem himself by making meritorious deeds."

The imperial edict was urgently sent to Shanhaiguan. The Jinyiwei in Luzhou had just received the news. Because of Zhu Shenzhu's previous instructions, Zhou Anmin did not delay for a moment after receiving the news and hurriedly sent someone to deliver it to Pingyang on horseback. This is how Zhu Shenzhu received the letter.

“Husband…?” Seeing Zhu Shenzhu’s serious expression, Xu Jingqiu called out softly.

Zhu Shenzhui raised his head and looked at her, forcing a smile, but the smile seemed very stiff.

"Sir, don't worry too much. Although Liaodong has been defeated, Shanhaiguan is still in the hands of the Ming Dynasty. The temporary rampage of the Jiannu is nothing. Besides, there are naturally winners and losers in a war, and victory and defeat are common in the military."

Holding Xu Jingqiu's outstretched hand, Zhu Shenzhui gently patted the back of her hand and nodded, saying, "You are right. Perhaps I am over-worrying about this matter. Besides, the court has its own arrangements. You and I are just ordinary members of the royal family. It is useless even if you are anxious."

Xu Jingqiu then felt relieved and comforted Zhu Shenzhui a few more words. He was relieved when he saw Zhu Shenzhui's expression gradually return to normal.

Although she was shocked by the defeat in Liaodong, she did not think too much about it. After all, Liaodong was far away from Pingyang. And as Zhu Shenzhu said, they were just ordinary royal family members. They had no way to deal with such national affairs. Let alone them, even if it was the General's Mansion or the Prince of Jin's Mansion, what would happen? The princes and royal family members were not allowed to participate in the government. Since the Jingnan Rebellion, there has been such a strict rule. How could they have a say?
Putting the matter aside, as if nothing had happened, Zhu Shenzhui soon returned to normal.

But Xu Jingqiu didn't know that Zhu Shenzhui was hiding anger and frustration beneath his calm appearance. If Xu Jingqiu hadn't been by his side, Zhu Shenzhui would have been so angry that he almost burst into a curse after receiving the letter.

He never expected that Liaodong would suffer another major defeat after the Liaoshen Campaign, and that this defeat directly resulted in the loss of all territory in western Liaoning. Now the Ming army has retreated to Shanhaiguan, and all territory east of Shanhaiguan has fallen into the hands of the Later Jin. This result means that the entire Liaodong is gone.

Zhu Shenzhui didn't know much about history, so he didn't know that such a situation would happen. Last year, when he was talking with Zhou Anmin about Liaodong, although he was angry about Yuan Yingtai's misfortune, when he learned that Emperor Tianqi had re-employed Xiong Tingbi, Zhu Shenzhui and Zhou Anmin were relieved. In their opinion, with Xiong Tingbi back in Liaodong, the situation in Liaodong could be stabilized and would not continue to deteriorate.

But no one expected that only half a year after Xiong Tingbi arrived in Liaodong, Liaoxi was completely gone. And judging from the content of Zhou Anmin's letter, Xiong Tingbi's withdrawal to Shanhaiguan was obviously impulsive. He could still defend it, but he didn't care that the situation in Liaodong could still be saved, and instead made a move that no one expected.

It is true that Wang Huazhen and Xiong Tingbi did not get along in Liaodong. After Xiong Tingbi was reinstated as the governor of Liaodong, he was unable to fully control the military and political power of Liaodong because of Wang Huazhen. He also had a lot of trouble with Wang Huazhen because of the conflict between the two sides.

But even so, when state affairs are of primary importance, personal grudges should be put aside. But no one expected that Xiong Tingbi would still put personal grudges before state affairs at this time. In order to make fun of Wang Huazhen, he even wanted to use this defeat to add insult to injury, making Wang Huazhen bear most of the blame for the defeat in Liaodong, thus completely getting rid of this thorn in his side.

Xiong Tingbi is not a three-year-old child anymore, how can he think like this? And so naive? If he does this, Wang Huazhen will definitely not get any good results. Wang Huazhen is responsible for the loss of Liaoxi, and he will definitely lose his job and even his head.

But Xiong Tingbi didn't think about it. Even if he got rid of Wang Huazhen because of this incident, what benefit would it bring to him? Don't forget that Xiong Tingbi was the governor of Liaodong. He was the nominal commander of the Liaodong battlefield. Wang Huazhen's mistakes were Wang Huazhen's problems. Xiong Tingbi not only did not correct them, but also added insult to injury. He treated national affairs as a trifle and used them to attack political opponents. He also pretended to be helpless and aggrieved. He simply treated everyone in the world as fools.

Emperor Tianqi was not stupid, and everyone in the court was smart. Who could not see through Xiong Tingbi's childish behavior?

He thought that he could suppress Wang Huazhen in this way, get rid of Wang Huazhen with the help of the court, and then become a true governor of Liaodong? But is this possible in reality?
Xiong Tingbi was indeed quite capable in military affairs and his judgment of the situation in Liaodong was correct, but he was too naive in politics. Even if he did not withdraw to Shanhaiguan immediately, but set up defense lines in Ningyuan and Qiantun to fight the Later Jin troops, and if he could not stop them, he would withdraw to Shanhaiguan, at least he did what he should do.

But what about now? The Ningyuan and Qiantun defense lines were not defended at all, and Xiong Tingbi had no intention of retaking Guangning. He led his men to retreat directly to Shanhaiguan without even seeing the shadow of the Later Jin cavalry. He said that he did it to preserve his strength and the Liaodong military and civilians, but in fact he did it to make fun of Wang Huazhen, to show his temper, to tell the court about his previous grievances, and to let the court know that his judgment in Liaodong was correct. Didn't you all support Wang Huazhen? Now look at the consequences of supporting Wang Huazhen? Do you regret it after such a result?
(End of this chapter)