The weapon on the battlefield is the sword, and the weapon in the court is the mouth.

Wu Sangui thought that others would also impeach him, and he was ready for a debate with the scholars.

What I didn’t expect was that…these were the only people who impeached him.

The others stood there, their eyes calm and no emotion visible.

Even the emperor, who was sitting high up in the seat, had a calm expression, showing no emotion.

He suddenly felt something was wrong.

From the moment he entered the Huangji Palace, his eyes were always wandering around.

The situation in the court had already been passed on by his spies in the capital, so he was not surprised by the faces in the court.

Li Banghua, Fang Yuegong, Fan Jingwen...

The cabinet was complete! The rest came from the Censorate, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Personnel, the Military Affairs Department, and the Five Military Commands.

These people gathered together, obviously looking for trouble.

Who asked them to find fault?

Who else could it be except the emperor who sits high up in the sky?

But if they are looking for trouble, why don’t others take any action?

Wu Sangui's brain was suddenly a little insufficient, but he still refuted according to the countermeasures that his adviser Fang Guangchen had told him in advance.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty and I admit my guilt!"

Everyone present was surprised and thought that Wu Sangui had given up resistance.

Just when everyone thought he had confessed his crime, Wu Sangui continued, "But the crime I am talking about is different from the crime Shi Da said. I ask Your Majesty to listen to my explanation."

Chongzhen nodded calmly: "I am listening."

Wu Sangui was delighted, and kneeling on the ground, he said slowly: "Since I received the imperial edict, I wanted to immediately organize troops to travel thousands of miles to defend the king."

"But the Jiannu are watching covetously from the sidelines. Once I lead my elite troops into the pass, the remaining Ningyuan defenders will not be able to stop the Jiannu. If the Jiannu invade at this time, the people of Ningyuan will suffer a devastating disaster!"

Loyal to the court?

Chongzhen narrowed his eyes and had a new understanding of Wu Sangui: the counselors behind this man were by no means ordinary people.

Wu Sangui continued, "Although the Guanning Army is brave and loyal to the court, the people of Ningyuan are their close friends and relatives. If we ignore the people, even if I lead the troops to defend the king, the Guanning Army will not be willing to fight and will collapse at the first blow."

"That's why I moved all the people from Ningyuan to the pass! I hope Your Majesty will forgive me!"

After saying this, Wu Sangui glanced around.

The old foxes in the cabinet were still the same, with stern faces and no attitude, which made Wu Sangui so angry that he cursed in his heart: "Bastards, a bunch of old foxes, bah!"

Several commanders of the Five Military Commanderies were all military men, and judging by their expressions they seemed to agree with what he said.

Wu Sangui didn't care about the attitudes of other people at all.

What he cares about is the emperor.

In the Ming Dynasty, the emperor has the final say, and others can only express their opinions.

As long as the emperor says he is not guilty, then he is not guilty.

Because the steps were too high, he had to crawl on the ground and could not see Chongzhen's face at all.

For a moment, he was so anxious that he scratched his ears and cheeks, feeling very uncomfortable.

Chongzhen sat on the dragon throne, as steady as a rock.

Should Wu Sangui die?

Damn it!

Can I kill him now?

No, otherwise the consequences will be serious.

You know, although Wu Sangui himself was in the capital, his main infantry was stationed in Shanhaiguan.

In the second year of Chongzhen, Yuan Chonghuan killed Mao Wenlong without authorization. Although there was no mutiny at that time, a few years later, Mao Wenlong's subordinates Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming and Shang Kexi rebelled and surrendered to the Jiannu.

The reason was that Yuan Chonghuan's unauthorized killing of Mao Wenlong made these old subordinates dissatisfied, and a mutiny broke out when the opportunity arose.

Same reason.

After arresting Yuan Chonghuan in the second year of Chongzhen, Zu Dashou fled. He publicly withdrew his army of more than 15,000 people to Liaodong, refused to carry out the orders of Emperor Chongzhen, and "destroyed Shanhaiguan and caused great shock far and wide."

Although Sun Chengzong finally sent someone to recall him, Zu Dashou never left the military camp easily after that, for fear of being secretly arrested by the East Factory.

Based on the reactions of these people, especially Zu Dashou's performance, one can already guess the reaction of the Guanning Army after the arrest of Wu Sangui.

Shanhaiguan is the only barrier to the east of the capital. Once it is lost, the north will fall sooner or later.

After hearing Wu Sangui's explanation, Zuodu Yushi Shi Bangyao asked back: "Excuse me, Lord Pingxi, you arrived at Shanhaiguan on March 16. After entering the pass, you only need to send infantry to defend the pass, and the rest of the cavalry can be sent to the capital to relieve the siege. And as far as I know, the troops sent to the capital this time are all cavalry. Why did it take 13 days to travel a six-day journey?"

Wu Sangui burst into tears: "Your Excellency the Censor, you don't know! It's not that I came late, it's that the food and grass can't keep up!"

He pointed to several governors of the Five Military Governors' Office and said, "You are all soldiers. You should know that without logistics, the cavalry can only carry six days of rations (rice for men and beans for horses) at most."

Several governors nodded at the same time.

This is a matter of common sense and it is not false.

Seeing several governors nod, Wu Sangui immediately became energetic. He knelt on the ground and straightened his upper body: "According to the plan, we need to carry six days of rations when we go to Beijing to defend the king. However, the Guanning Army relies on firearms, and the war horses have limited transportation capacity. We have to give up most of the food and grass in order to transport firearms."

"We ran out of food and grass halfway through the journey, so we had to stop and make some preparations. The imperial court was seriously in arrears, so the money to buy food and grass was all put together on the spur of the moment. Moreover, the Guanning Army was the imperial court's army, an official army! They couldn't burn, kill, and plunder like bandits, so it took a long time to prepare food and grass."

"Under the circumstances at the time, I discussed with the Governor-General Wang Yongji and decided to first give him the food and fodder, and have him lead 6,000 cavalry to the capital first. After we have prepared enough food and fodder, I will set off immediately with the rest of the people."

"After rushing all the way, we finally arrived in the capital this morning!"

"But no matter what the reason, I am still late in coming to the king's service. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

After Wu Sangui's explanation, the court returned to silence.

After the civil officials and military generals looked at each other, they were at a loss for a moment.

Zuodu Yushi Shi Bangyao wanted to say something, but after carefully considering Wu Sangui's words, he realized that these words seemed flawless on the surface.

Shanhaiguan is less than 700 miles away from the capital. Each cavalryman of the Guanning Army has only one war horse. If they want to maintain the combat effectiveness of the war horse, they can only march more than 100 miles a day.

As the saying goes, food and fodder must be prepared before troops move out. If the food and fodder you carry is not enough, you can only raise food nearby.

There are two ways to raise food: buy and rob!

The imperial court owed him money, and he had no money to buy it! Wu Sangui was a government soldier, and he didn't want to steal food.

Both reasons are plausible and tenable.

Chongzhen smiled faintly: "Pingxibo, since you have admitted your guilt, then follow the rules."