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

When Chongzhen saw this, his eyebrows curved with joy.

Empress Zhou, who was standing nearby, naturally knew the importance of this matter to the Ming Dynasty, but as a woman, she could not interfere in politics.

Moreover, she knew that after Chongzhen finished reading the letter, he would immediately discuss the matter with the cabinet and would not have time to spend with her anymore.

Empress Zhou quickly stood up and said to Emperor Chongzhen:

"Your Majesty, I will not interfere in your important matters. You may go about your business. I am tired and will go back to rest."

Her voice was soft and graceful, displaying the demeanor of an empress.

Emperor Chongzhen, upon hearing this, didn't say much, but simply smiled and said:

"Your Majesty, if you are tired, you should go back first. I will come to keep you company after I finish my business."

After saying this, Chongzhen hurriedly put the memorial he hadn't finished reading into his pocket, and then strode straight to the Grand Secretariat.

Although Emperor Chongzhen knew that the cabinet might already know about this important matter, he still needed to discuss it with the cabinet ministers again.

Moreover, he also felt that Hong Chengchou was right, and that the Ming Dynasty should take action at this time!

Even if we can't engage in a full-scale war, at the very least we should have Zu Dashou harass the Jurchens so they can't focus on their internal affairs and buy more time and opportunities for the Ming Dynasty!
Emperor Chongzhen arrived at the location of the Grand Secretariat in a great hurry.

By this time, several cabinet ministers had already grown impatient waiting in the somewhat oppressive room.

The air in the room seemed to freeze, filled with a heavy atmosphere, and their eyes were full of anxiety and anticipation.

"Your Majesty is here!"

A sharp and loud shout, like lightning piercing the night sky, instantly broke the silence in the room.

The cabinet ministers' eyes lit up, and their previously listless spirits were instantly lifted.

The emperor has finally arrived!

Immediately afterwards, they saw Chongzhen stride in, his steps light and powerful, each step seemingly carrying endless joy, and his face radiating undisguised delight.

Upon seeing this, the cabinet ministers quickly bowed and then said in unison:
"Your Majesty, we pay our respects! Long live the Emperor!"

Upon seeing this, Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said:

"My beloved ministers, please rise. I am in a good mood today, so there is no need for such formalities."

As he spoke, Chongzhen burst into laughter again, his hearty and unrestrained laughter echoing freely throughout the room.

There was no way around it; he was just too happy. After all, Huang Taiji was dead, which was indeed fantastic news!
For Emperor Chongzhen, Huang Taiji and Li Zicheng were like two sharp swords hanging over his head, constantly threatening the Ming Dynasty's rule.

Even though he had already won the Battle of Songjin, as long as Huang Taiji was still alive, Chongzhen could never find peace of mind.

Now that one of the two swords hanging over his head has suddenly broken, how could he not be overjoyed?
After taking his seat in the main seat, Chongzhen slightly adjusted his robes before speaking:
"Gentlemen, it seems you all know that Huang Taiji is dead, right?"

"This is truly a tremendous good thing for our Great Ming Dynasty!"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. They did indeed know the news, but apart from Xue Guoguan, none of the others had seen the memorial. Even Xue Guoguan had only read the beginning.

In the end, Xue Guoguan still gritted his teeth and said:

"Your Majesty, I hadn't even finished reading the memorial when Eunuch Wang snatched it away. The other cabinet ministers haven't seen it either. May I ask Your Majesty if I and the other cabinet ministers could take another look?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen, who was standing to the side, felt a little embarrassed. His face flushed slightly, and his eyes revealed a hint of guilt.

Because he had indeed snatched the memorial from Xue Guoguan's hands.

However, he was in a hurry at the time, thinking he should present the memorial to the emperor as soon as possible, but he did not expect to cause such an embarrassing situation.

But Emperor Chongzhen didn't care about such a trivial matter, and he immediately smiled and said:

"In that case, let's go take another look."

After saying this, Chongzhen handed the memorial in his hand to Wang Chengen, who carefully took the memorial and then handed it to Xue Guoguan.

Upon receiving the memorial again, Xue Guoguan was overjoyed. He took a deep breath before carefully examining it.

After reading it completely, he handed the memorial to the minister beside him.

The memorial circulated among the cabinet ministers, and after everyone had read it, they could no longer hide their smiles.

The above content is basically the same as what Xue Guoguan said before. The first part is about the news of Fulin's succession after Huang Taiji's death, followed by Hong Chengchou's views on the matter.

Moreover, most cabinet ministers agreed with Hong Chengchou's views.

After everyone had finished reading, Chongzhen spoke again:
"Gentlemen, Huang Taiji is dead, and the Jurchens have a young emperor on the throne. Their internal situation must be unstable. In my opinion, shouldn't we have Hong Chengchou and Zu Dashou take advantage of the Jurchens' internal instability to launch an attack?"

When Chongzhen said this, his eyes gleamed with excitement, as if he could already see the Ming army triumphantly advancing on the Liaodong battlefield.

Everyone nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

There's a saying that goes, "Strike while the iron is hot." Although we can't kill the Jurchens this time, we can still inflict a few wounds on them.

However, at this time, Xue Guoguan seemed to have a different idea.

He hesitated for a moment, a hint of struggle and worry in his eyes, before slowly saying:

"Your Majesty, Lord Hong said in his letter that he also wrote another memorial and sent it to Hanzhong. It is estimated that it will reach His Highness the Crown Prince soon."

"Therefore, I am thinking, should we wait until His Highness the Crown Prince has finished reading it before making a decision?"

Xue Guoguan shouldn't have said that at this point, since the emperor had already made a decision, and his suggestion might have displeased the emperor.

Besides, how can the emperor wait for the crown prince to make the decision?

Isn’t this rebellion against Tiangang?
However, through his experiences over this period, Xue Guoguan had already realized that Chongzhen no longer wanted to interfere in politics, and that the current framework for handling all matters was based on the arrangements made before Zhu Cilang left.

And since he handled everything quite well, he couldn't help but say it aloud.

At the same time, Emperor Chongzhen was stunned upon hearing this. His eyes widened, and his face was filled with astonishment. He truly knew nothing about this!
However, this is not entirely Chongzhen's fault, because he never finished reading the entire memorial. The part about Hong Chengchou informing Zhu Cilang about this matter was written at the end, so he didn't see it at all.

The next second, Chongzhen hurriedly told Wang Chengen to bring the memorial back. Wang Chengen ran over and quickly handed the memorial to Chongzhen.

Emperor Chongzhen took the memorial, then flipped directly to the last page, his eyes fixed on the last few lines.

Sure enough, at the very end, Chongzhen saw Hong Chengchou's statement that he had also sent this memorial to Hanzhong.

For a moment, his mouth opened slightly, but he didn't know what to say, and a look of helplessness and embarrassment appeared on his face.

Originally, Emperor Chongzhen thought that if Zhu Cilang hadn't been informed of this matter, he would have discussed it with the cabinet ministers and made a decision on his own. But now that the memorial had been sent to Zhu Cilang, things were different.

What if Zhu Cilang makes a different decision than they do?
He didn't want to disrupt Zhu Cilang's plans against the Jurchens!

Um.
Now even the emperor has to listen to the crown prince!

Thinking of this, Chongzhen immediately spoke somewhat awkwardly:
"Well, I suddenly feel that there's no need to rush this matter. Let's wait for the Crown Prince's reply."

"After all, the Crown Prince is quite knowledgeable about the situation in Liaodong, so it is most appropriate to entrust this matter to him."

Upon hearing this, the ministers exchanged bewildered glances, their faces filled with surprise and confusion.

Although they had known for a long time that Chongzhen had already relinquished power to Zhu Cilang, they never expected that the power would be relinquished so thoroughly.

It seems that Emperor Chongzhen is indeed not far from abdicating.

At the same time, Xue Guoguan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, he had made the right bet!
The next second, he immediately spoke:
"In that case, this old minister obeys!"

Seeing this, the other cabinet ministers immediately realized what was happening and quickly added:

"I obey!"

And so, a decision was finally made on this matter: it would be entirely up to Zhu Cilang to decide, and he could do whatever he wanted!
Immediately afterwards, Chongzhen felt somewhat bored and prepared to leave.

But at that moment, Xue Guoguan suddenly spoke up:
"Your Majesty, since you've come all this way, please don't leave yet. There are some matters concerning the garrisoning of several Mongol tribes that we need your attention."

However, upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand impatiently, a hint of displeasure appearing on his face, and said:

"Didn't the Crown Prince already make a decision on this matter? Just do as the Crown Prince says and don't bother me anymore."

After saying this, Chongzhen left without looking back.

As Emperor Chongzhen departed, the ministers were all speechless.

This emperor is getting more and more outrageous.
The scene returns to Hanzhong, where Zhu Cilang is still unaware that Huang Taiji has died.

After all, Liaodong is too far from Hanzhong; even with the fastest express courier service, it wouldn't be able to get there quickly.

Meanwhile, after a night of rest, the casualty data for each unit was finally fully tallied.

The peasant army suffered over 85,000 casualties, including 70,000 deaths and 15,000 injuries.

On the other hand, the Ming army suffered only 800 deaths and about 1,000 wounded.

To be honest, the entire army was shocked when they saw the result.

However, what shocked them was not the casualties of the peasant army, but the losses suffered by the Ming army!
Facing a peasant army of nearly 200,000 and inflicting 85,000 casualties, the Ming army's own casualties were less than 2,000, which was nothing short of a miracle!
It's important to understand that the Ming army had fought against peasant armies before, and each time both sides suffered heavy casualties. But now, the casualty ratio is so low that it's unbelievable.

Clearly, all of this is probably thanks to the flintlock musket.

After all, this new type of firearm was simply too powerful. It had a fast firing speed, a long range, and enormous power. On the battlefield, it was like a reaper, ruthlessly reaping the lives of the enemy.

Faced with such advanced firearms, the peasant army was completely powerless to fight back!
However, Zhu Cilang was not very happy about this, because the peasant army suffered too many casualties.

In addition, to prevent the corpses from causing a plague after they decompose, the army has been busy burning the corpses for the past two days.

If it's just a small number of corpses, they can actually be buried directly in a pit.

But now they are facing nearly 80,000 corpses, a number that is simply too large to be realistically buried. The only option is to burn them completely to prevent future problems.

This has resulted in thick smoke billowing over Hanzhong for the past two days, with the pungent and unpleasant smell of burning corpses permeating the air, making people want to vomit.

In addition, at Zhu Cilang's instruction, the bodies of Li Zicheng and Li Guo were properly disposed of.

Zhu Cilang even went to see it for himself.

The location chosen was quite good, and it served as Li Zicheng's final resting place.

Although it is a pity that the rebel leader Li Zicheng met such an end, it should be noted that in the original history, Li Zicheng died an even more ignominious death; he was beaten to death with a hoe!

Rather than that, suicide would have been more dignified; at least in the moment of his death, he would still be everyone's 'King of Rebels'!

After dealing with these matters, a rather thorny problem was placed before Zhu Cilang.

That is, the number of peasant soldiers who surrendered was huge, and the original army in Hanzhong also needed to eat, so the food that had been prepared was somewhat insufficient!
Moreover, these peasant soldiers, having been starved for so long, ate like they didn't care about their lives. Even the simplest porridge and white rice, they could eat several bowls in one meal.

Some suggested that Zhu Cilang restrict the food supply to these farmers, just enough to keep them alive, not to feed them too much.

But Zhu Cilang refused outright!

If he couldn't even feed the peasant army with plain porridge and rice, wouldn't he be a complete failure?
So Zhu Cilang secretly bought a large amount of grain from the system while issuing the order.

That means that the tax revenue from Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Guizhou in the first half of this year will no longer need to be sent directly to the capital as usual, but will instead be transported to Hanzhong.

In this way, the cumbersome and costly process of transporting grain from the capital to Hanzhong was eliminated, cleverly solving the immediate food problem.

As for the peasant armies that surrendered, Zhu Cilang already had a well-thought-out plan in mind.

Most of the peasant soldiers were sent to Liaodong to guard the border and farm, as originally planned.

Even though nearly 500,000 people had already been transported to Liaodong, Liaodong was simply too vast, and these 500,000 people were far from enough to fill the gap.

That vast and desolate land still desperately needs manpower to cultivate and protect it. The arrival of these peasant soldiers will surely bring new life to that land. (End of Chapter)