My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 330 Li Zicheng Wants to Enter Sichuan? Not So Easy!
Immediately afterward, Chongzhen, too lazy to waste any more words, handed the urgent letter from Shaanxi to Wang Chengen, who was standing beside him, and said:

"This is an urgent message sent from Shaanxi this morning. Please take a look."

Wang Chengen carefully took the memorial and then handed it to Xue Guoguan, the Grand Secretary who was standing at the front of the crowd.

Xue Guoguan took the document and glanced at it. His face lit up with joy as he saw that the peasant army had broken out in internal strife, which was undoubtedly good news for the imperial court.

But he soon stopped laughing, and his expression gradually became serious, because the memorial later mentioned that 100,000 wounded civilians had surrendered to the Ming Dynasty, and that Tongguan was facing a food shortage.

After reading it, the memorial was passed on to other ministers.

After reading it, everyone's reaction was similar to Xue Guoguan's, with worried and solemn expressions on their faces.

After everyone had finished reading, Chongzhen asked:

"Tell me, what are your thoughts on this matter, my esteemed ministers?"

As Chongzhen spoke, his gaze swept across the faces of everyone present.

Although he had already made up his mind, he still wanted to hear what these people had to say!
Immediately afterwards, Xue Guoguan spoke first:

"Your Majesty, I think there's not much to say about this matter. Just allocate grain, cotton, and medicine to Shaanxi as soon as possible."

"Now that these 100,000 people have surrendered to the court, they are no longer peasant rebels or traitors, but citizens of the Great Ming Dynasty."

“Since they are the people of our Great Ming, they should be properly resettled. We cannot stand by and watch them starve and freeze to death. Otherwise, where is the dignity of the court? Where is the benevolence of the emperor?”

As Xue Guoguan spoke, he slightly raised his head, his eyes revealing a strange determination.

The other ministers present echoed this sentiment:

"Your Majesty, I also believe this is the proper way!"

"Your subject agrees!"

"Your subject agrees!"

For a moment, the voices of several ministers rose and fell, echoing in the warm pavilion.

It should be understood that, since ancient times, providing relief to disaster victims has always been a matter of great importance to the nation.

Even if the imperial court sometimes lacks funds, no one dares to refuse to do such things. Moreover, the current imperial court has both money and grain, so such matters naturally cannot be delayed.

If this is delayed, it will not only lose the hearts of the people in the Northwest, but also cause turmoil throughout the country.

They all understood this principle, so no one dared to utter a single word of dissent!
Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen looked directly at Ni Yuanlu, the Minister of Revenue, and asked:

"Minister Ni, how much grain does the Ministry of Revenue currently have?"

Upon hearing this, Ni Yuanlu quickly replied:
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Revenue currently has more than seven million shi of grain in storage."

Emperor Chongzhen nodded and continued:
"In that case, allocate 500,000 shi of grain and 1 million taels of silver. You can decide on the cotton and medicine. In short, you must ensure that the people can get through this winter smoothly!"

"As for other things, we'll talk about them after this winter!"

Upon hearing this, Ni Yuanlu quickly clasped his hands in agreement.

"I obey!"

The reason they agreed so readily, without even haggling, was simply because the amount of grain and silver was no problem for the Ministry of Revenue at that time.

And just like that, the matter was settled very easily.

After discussing the matter, the ministers took their leave and prepared to attend to other matters.

They knew that time was of the essence, and that every minute and every second was a matter of life and death for those people.

Although transporting grain is difficult at this time of year in winter, with potential obstacles such as snow-covered roads and cold weather, it is still worth doing. After all, we can't just watch these people starve to death.
Now that the matter was settled, Zhu Cilang naturally planned to return to the Eastern Palace to continue his winter hibernation.

Just as Zhu Cilang arrived at the palace gate in his sedan chair, he suddenly heard a shout coming from afar.

"Your Highness, please take a look at the urgent memorial from Shaanxi!"

what?
Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang, who was inside the sedan chair, immediately lifted the curtain in surprise, his face filled with shock.

Not
Didn't we already receive an urgent memorial from Shaanxi? Why is another one arriving now?
Could it be that Sun Chuanting was worried about something going wrong on the way, so he sent two groups of people to deliver this memorial?
Just as Zhu Cilang was lost in thought, he saw several burly generals leading a soldier in cotton armor who looked haggard to his sedan chair.

Just as the soldier was about to salute, Zhu Cilang stopped him and asked:
"This morning I received an urgent memorial from Shaanxi. Is the urgent memorial you brought about the same matter as the previous one?"

Upon hearing this, the soldier quickly shook his head and said:
"Your Highness, these two memorials are not about the same thing. The previous memorial concerned a rebellion within the rebel army, while this memorial concerns the rebels' entry into Sichuan!"

what?
Did the rebel leader Li Zicheng enter Sichuan?

Is Li Zicheng going to Sichuan?
Not
What the hell is all this nonsense?

Zhu Cilang was utterly bewildered by these words, as he had no idea what was going on.

Just then, the soldier handed over the secret box he was carrying.

"Please take a look, Your Highness!"

Subsequently, the secret box was delivered to Zhu Cilang.

Zhu Cilang was anxious, so he sat in the sedan chair, opened the box, and eagerly took out the memorial to read.

With just one glance, his expression changed instantly.

Sure enough, this memorial was completely different from the previous one. The previous one was about saving the people and providing food, but this second memorial was about Li Zicheng's imminent entry into Sichuan.

It must be said that Li Zicheng's move was completely unexpected.

I thought that Li Zicheng would be more well-behaved in winter, at least he would stay in the Henan area for the rest of the winter, but I never expected that he would now be heading to Sichuan!
Plans really do change faster than expected!
The next second, Zhu Cilang did not hesitate at all, directly closing the heavy memorial in his hand, and then gave the order:
"Don't go back. Go to the warm pavilion again. Also, immediately send someone to call back all the ministers who just left. Tell them there are urgent military matters that need to be discussed together."

Upon hearing the order, the guards beside him quickly bowed and accepted it, then hurriedly ran outside.

Before long, Zhu Cilang stepped into the warm pavilion again.

Not long after, Emperor Chongzhen, who had just returned to Kunning Palace and wanted to rest for a while, was summoned back by someone sent by Zhu Cilang.

At this moment, Chongzhen was filled with confusion and bewilderment, because he had no idea what had happened. They had just finished discussing the grain allocation, so why was Zhu Cilang calling him back now?
Has something new happened?
Filled with doubt, Chongzhen hurriedly returned to the warm pavilion.

Upon entering, he saw Zhu Cilang standing there, his brow furrowed, seemingly deep in thought. Chongzhen approached, a hint of bewilderment on his face, and asked:
"Why are you so anxious?"

Zhu Cilang sighed softly, and then said:

"Father, I was just about to return to the East Palace, but before I even left the palace gates, I received another urgent message from Shaanxi."

"Another incident has occurred in Shaanxi, and it's urgent. To put it simply, Li Zicheng is about to enter Sichuan."

As Zhu Cilang spoke, he took out the memorial from his sleeve and handed it to Chongzhen.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he was slightly taken aback, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

He then hurriedly took the memorial and began to read it word by word.

After reading it, Chongzhen's face turned extremely pale, and his already somewhat pale complexion became even more frosty.

Because he hadn't expected that Li Zicheng would choose to enter Sichuan at this time, which was completely out of their plans.

Immediately afterwards, Emperor Chongzhen, with a gloomy old face, asked in a low voice:

"What should we do about this? If Li Zicheng really enters Sichuan, it will affect our future plans."

According to the original plan, Zhu Cilang would concentrate all available troops into Henan in the spring of the following year, and then engage in a decisive battle with Li Zicheng to eliminate this major threat in one fell swoop.

But if Li Zicheng really manages to enter Sichuan, then this matter will become very troublesome.

After all, Sichuan has always been a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Once Li Zicheng has established a foothold there, it will be much more difficult to completely wipe him out.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cilang rubbed his forehead in exasperation, as he couldn't immediately figure out how to resolve the matter.

In the end, all he could say was:

"Father, rest assured. Although this matter is somewhat unexpected, it will not be so easy for Li Zicheng to enter Sichuan."

"First, the troops around Henan will definitely try to stop Li Zicheng. Although the effect may not be great, it will certainly delay Li Zicheng's advance and buy us some time."

"In addition, there are also a lot of troops in Hanzhong and Sichuan. They can also block Li Zicheng and prevent him from entering Sichuan so easily."

"Furthermore, it is currently winter, and heavy snow has blocked the mountains, making the mountain roads even steeper and more difficult to traverse. It will take Li Zicheng at least three months to reach Sichuan. During this period, we can mobilize our forces to block Li Zicheng from entering Sichuan."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen could only nod silently, though it was clear he was still very worried.

Not long after, the ministers who had just been planning to return came back again.

At this moment, they were all completely bewildered, having no idea what had happened.

They had just finished discussing everything and were preparing to go back when they were suddenly called back, which puzzled them greatly.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Chongzhen was too lazy to say anything more and simply had Wang Chengen bring over the new memorial for them to see.

After reading the contents of the memorial, everyone was quite surprised.

Clearly, they had not expected to receive two urgent messages from Shaanxi in one day, nor had they expected Li Zicheng to choose to enter Sichuan at this time, which completely disrupted the court's previous plans and arrangements.

Immediately afterward, before Chongzhen could say anything, Li Banghua, the Minister of War, stepped forward.

He looked serious and said in a loud voice:
"Your Majesty, I believe that we should immediately mobilize troops to stop Li Zicheng and must not allow him to enter Sichuan."

"You should know that most of the troops in Sichuan have been transferred to the capital and Xuanfu to protect the safety of the capital. There are not many troops in Sichuan that can fight."

"If Li Zicheng is allowed to enter Sichuan, things will become very complicated, and it will be even more difficult to completely eliminate him."

The other ministers also expressed their agreement upon hearing this.

Actually, no one wants to fight in winter.

Because fighting in winter not only consumes money and food, but also lives.

After all, it was freezing cold, and the soldiers' movements were inevitably inconvenient in the heavy cotton-padded clothes. In addition, the battle site was likely in the mountains and forests of Shaanxi and Sichuan, where the terrain was complex, the climate was harsh, and the mortality rate in battle was extremely high.

Even so, this battle still cannot be avoided.

Because everyone knows that if Li Zicheng were allowed to enter Sichuan, things would become very complicated.

Emperor Chongzhen nodded upon hearing this.

His eyes revealed determination and resolve, and he then said:

"This battle must be fought, but how to fight it requires all of you to come up with a plan. This matter is urgent and cannot be delayed for a moment."

"Let's discuss this right here. We must come up with a plan before sunset today!"

Upon hearing this, the ministers all expressed their agreement.

They all knew the importance of this matter, and immediately began to discuss it, with even Zhu Cilang participating.

Because the battle might take place in Shaanxi or Sichuan, and because Li Zicheng dispersed hundreds of thousands of civilians when he set out, some of the previously deployed troops were unable to participate in the battle, so the troops had to be drawn from other places this time.

That is, funds were drawn from the four provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Hunan.

Although these four provinces were not very stable at the end of the Ming Dynasty, with some small-scale rebellions and disturbances in various places, they were still under the control of the Ming Dynasty in general.

A small number of troops can still be mobilized.

The plan was simple: first, these four provinces would send 60,000 troops, plus the original 20,000 troops in Sichuan, to form a total of 80,000 troops to block Li Zicheng from entering Sichuan.

Eighty thousand against three hundred thousand—although the disparity in strength seems significant, this battle was completely different from a real war.

Because Li Zicheng only had two or three routes to take to enter Sichuan from Tongguan.

As long as we guard these roads and deploy troops and dig traps along the way, we can stop Li Zicheng from entering Sichuan!

Then, the provinces surrounding Henan would gather troops to pursue Li Zicheng from behind, thus trapping him in the mountains by attacking him from both sides.

Simply put, this battle may not actually take place; the main objective is a siege.

As long as Li Zicheng is besieged in the mountains and his food supply is cut off, the Ming Dynasty will win without a fight when he runs out of ammunition and food!

(End of this chapter)