The Ming Dynasty had too many enemies.

In addition to Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, the Tusi in the southwest were also causing chaos, as were the Jiannu in Liaodong and the Mongols in the north...

If Zheng Zhilong were added, Chongzhen would not be sure of victory.

Zheng Zhilong, in particular, not only had hundreds of thousands of elite naval forces, but he also built cities with the Dongfan immigrants.

(Taiwan was called Daliuqiu in the early Ming Dynasty and Dongfan after the middle Ming Dynasty)

If the imperial court and Zheng Zhilong fell out and a formal war broke out, Zheng Zhilong could retreat to the East and establish his own regime even if he was defeated.

But Zheng Zhilong’s affair has been exposed, and we can’t pretend not to see it.

Chongzhen thought for a while and asked Fan Jingwen: "What does Minister Fan think?"

Fan Jingwen sighed first, then frowned and said: "I think... Zheng Zhilong cannot be touched before Li Zicheng is wiped out."

Chongzhen nodded: "I mean the same thing."

"So..." Fan Jingwen sighed again, "So Huang Daozhou should be excused for this matter."

Chongzhen nodded and said, "Draft an edict. Huang Daozhou has slandered Zheng Zhilong for having an affair with the Jiannu. He will be dismissed from his post and will never be employed again."

"This..." Fan Jingwen tried to intercede for Huang Daozhou: "Isn't your Majesty's treatment a bit too severe? I think demotion and salary reduction are enough."

"Oh," Chongzhen also sighed.

Although I felt helpless, this was the only option I could take.

It is possible to take action against Zheng Zhilong, but there are two prerequisites.

One was that Li Zicheng was wiped out, and the other was that the navy led by Huang Fei was fully trained and capable of fighting.

Now that both things have not been settled, Zheng Zhilong cannot be touched no matter what.

"I will do it later," Fan Jingwen bowed to Chongzhen, "Your Majesty, please read the second document."

After reading it, Chongzhen found that it was an official document sent by Qin Liangyu and Lu Daqi.

They were about to launch an attack, and before the attack they requested the court to quickly replenish the food, cannons and matching gunpowder bullets needed for fighting on the front line.

Lu Daqi is fine, he has no shortage of food, only artillery and ammunition.

His food and fodder have always been provided by the Nanjing court. With sufficient silver, the Nanjing court can prepare food and fodder very quickly.

Directly arrange for local government offices to purchase grain locally, and if that is not enough, purchase from surrounding prefectures and counties.

Qin Liangyu was short of both food and artillery ammunition.

Especially the food and fodder. Her food and fodder came from Sichuan, and were previously transported by Li Dingguo.

Now Li Dingguo has been transferred away, along with 10,000 Sichuan troops.

When Zhang Xianzhong had not yet been wiped out, although civilians could be conscripted to transport grain, troops needed to be sent to protect the grain routes.

Chongzhen put down the document and asked, "Hasn't the iron model artillery from the Ministry of Works been delivered yet?"

"Your Majesty, they have been transported to Tongguan and Wuguan. According to the time calculation, they will be shipped in the next few days."

"Where are the food and fodder?" Chongzhen asked.

"The grain and grass collected from Shandong arrived in Xuzhou half a month ago and have been loaded onto ships and transported to the Tongguan area by water."

Chongzhen blinked his eyes and said, "Since everything has been done, why are you showing me these?"

"I just want to tell your Majesty...the war that concerns the fate of the Ming Dynasty is about to begin!" Fan Jingwen's eyes were deep and unfathomable as he spoke.

Chongzhen paced back and forth in the Qianqing Palace with his hands behind his back.

He was wondering what he could do to help Qin Liangyu?

After walking back and forth for a few steps, he suddenly stopped and said to Fan Jingwen: "The cabinet should immediately draft an order to transfer 10,000 soldiers from Miyun to Xuanfu to attack Datong together with Tang Tong and Yan Yingyuan."

"I want to make Li Chuang thief be attacked from both sides, and he will not be able to take care of both ends."

"As you wish!"

After Fan Jingwen left, Chongzhen whispered to Wang Chengen: "I dismissed Huang Daozhou openly out of helplessness, but secretly sent someone to give him some silver."

Wang Chengen wrote it down and asked, "Your Majesty, in whose name should it be sent?"

"Send it in the name of the prince. He is more kind than I am."

......

Tongguan.

The Tongguan City in the Ming Dynasty was expanded on the basis of the Tongguan City in the Tang Dynasty.

Expansion began in the ninth year of Hongwu. After completion, the lowest part of the Tongguan city wall was about five meters high, and the highest part was the south city wall and the southeast corner area. The city wall here was built against the mountain and was nine meters high!

The walls surrounding the Ming Tongguan City are 22 miles long and have six city gates.

There are various defensive facilities on the city, such as watchtowers and artillery batteries.

The terrain in the Tongguan area is complex, and it is impossible to defend the Tongguan city alone because there are three large ditches running north and south.

The three ditches from east to west are Yuangou, Jingou and Tonggou.

There is water in all three ditches, which flows down from the Qinling Mountains through the ditches and into the Yellow River.

Among them, the water in Jin Canal is the shallowest and the road is relatively smooth, which can accommodate small groups of lightly equipped troops.

In order to prevent the enemy from outflanking, the Ming Dynasty court built more than ten castles along the Forbidden Ditch, known as the Twelve Connected Cities.

These large and small cities and castles constitute Tongguan’s tight defense system.

Zhu Yuanzhang originally wanted to move the capital to Guanzhong, so he built the city of Tongguan to be as impregnable as a fortress.

The fifth day of the fifth month in the nineteenth year of Chongzhen.

The Dragon Boat Festival is originally a day for eating rice dumplings, but the Shun army in Tongguan was lucky to have a full meal, let alone rice dumplings.

Guanzhong had already suffered from a rare severe drought, which had led to a serious reduction in grain production. There were too many people and too little food to eat, so they started a rebellion.

Now the Shun army has been driven back to Guanzhong with no way to retreat and no source of food.

If they had not stored up a large amount of food and fodder in Xi'an, they would have starved long ago.

"Report!" The scouts rushed into Tongguan City and reported to Liu Zongmin: "A 100,000-strong Ming army has arrived at Lingbao City, and the Lingbao defenders surrendered without a fight. After taking Lingbao, Qin Liangyu did not rest, but led her troops to Tongguan."

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