After Ling Chi made the decision to execute Yuan Chonghuan, Chongzhen would coldly ask himself for a long time, "Should Yuan Chonghuan really be killed?" It was only at the beginning of the "Spring Talk" that Chongzhen temporarily gave up asking himself.

Chongzhen has never been a prince, and he has no opportunity to go out of the pavilion to study like the prince, so Chongzhen attaches great importance to the "spring talk", and often gives wine and rice during the period, and rewards money and silver. The "Spring Lecture" lasted for nearly three months and did not end until early June.

Obviously, as soon as the "Spring Talk" ended, Chongzhen's self-questioning came up again, and it became more and more intense.

On this day, Chongzhen raised his voice and said: "I know, the thoughts of the courtiers are not clean, you are my family, and you will not harm me at any time, you say, should Yuan Chonghuan really be killed?" ”

Chongzhen's words were rushed to Zhou Hou, Tian Fei, and Yuan Fei, Tian Fei and Yuan Fei didn't know why he suddenly asked, and they didn't know how to answer for a while, but Zhou Hou knew that he was extremely embarrassed, and pondered: "When the concubine was free, she read a few idle books, and there was a saying on it......"

Chongzhen interrupted her, but urged: "The queen hurry up." ”

Zhou Hou said: "The monarch and the ministers are harmonious, and the society will be prosperous." The concubines didn't know much about Yuan Chonghuan, but the concubines heard that the crimes committed by Yuan Chonghuan were all trumped-up crimes, so why did the emperor have to kill him? ”

Chongzhen said: "Unnecessary, yes, unnecessary, but this Yuan Chonghuan is too ignorant of self-love, so that the impeachment of his ministers accounts for eight or nine out of ten." ”

Zhou Hou said: "According to the understanding of ordinary people, most of those who are besieged by others are treacherous and evil people, but according to the idle book, those who are loyal and sincere are often easy to be besieged by others, and especially worse, the emperor should think twice." ”

Chongzhen really pondered, and after a while, Fang Shi said: "What the queen said is not unreasonable, but she ignores one point, that is, why should the courtiers be loyal to me, the emperor? ”

As he spoke, he turned to the three, and when he saw that the three of them shook their heads and said nothing, he continued: "That's because I can give them power, let them be profitable. In this way, the question arises again, why are they loyal to me, the emperor, and not others? Because they were courtiers of the Ming Dynasty, they had to revere the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty.

In other words, it is precisely because of the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty that they are willing to recognize this emperor. If it weren't for the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty, I, and you, no one would care.

And what about this Yuan Chonghuan? What I can't tolerate the most is that I dare to defy the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, even if he has great merit, I cannot tolerate him. ”

After speaking, he gritted his teeth and looked hideous.

Zhou Hou, Concubine Tian, and Concubine Yuan lowered their heads one after another, and they didn't dare to gasp loudly, but a eunuch hurried in and said, "Congratulations to the emperor, congratulations to the emperor." ”

Chongzhen was stunned for a moment, his face turned a little pale, and said, "Long-winded, say it quickly." ”

The eunuch calmed down a little and said: "In May, Sun Chengzong, the new secretary of the military department and a scholar, seized the opportunity of more than 5,000 troops led by Tongnu Dabeile Amin and Beile Shuotuo to enter the customs and change guards with Abatai, and ordered Ma Shilong, the chief soldier of Shanxi, Zu Dashou, the chief soldier of Jinzhou, and Yang Shaoji, the general soldier of Shandong, to besiege Luanzhou.

When Amin learned that Luanzhou was besieged in Yongping, he sent the general Baduli to lead hundreds of troops to help, and shortened the battle line to withdraw the Qian'an Tongnu garrison to Yongping. After our army annihilated the reinforcements led by Baduli, they bombarded Luanzhou City with Hongyi cannons and destroyed the city tower.

Although the general Namutai of Tongnu resisted stubbornly, he was defeated by the offensive of our army, and abandoned the city on the night of the 12th and rushed to Yongping, on the way to be intercepted by our army Ma Shilong, and lost more than 400 soldiers. Amin suffered successive setbacks and was forced to retreat on all fronts and return to Shengjing. Our army recovered Luanzhou, Yongping, Qian'an, Zunhua and other four cities. ”

When Chongzhen heard this, he said loudly: "Okay, it's really worth congratulating." ”

After speaking, he was still insufficient, and said: "I don't care about the gains and losses of the four cities, but more importantly, this battle has lifted the threat of Tongnu to the Gyeonggi region from time to time with the four cities of Zunyong as an offensive foothold.

Also, this battle also shows that the army of the Ming Dynasty is invincible, hmph, my face is bigger than the sky. ”

Speaking of this, he suddenly remembered that the eunuch seemed to have mentioned Zu Dashou, and asked, "You mean that Zu Dashou also participated in the battle?" ”

The eunuch nodded and said, "Well, according to Sun Chengzong, not only participated, but also played the most critical role, these Guan Ning troops are stable and ruthless." ”

got an affirmative answer, but Chongzhen suddenly felt lost, turned around and waved his hand at Zhou Hou.

After Zhou Hou, he turned around and retreated into the inner palace.

Chongzhen waited for them to leave, and then began to think again: "It seems that Zu Dashou is indeed a general, and he can still fight without Yuan Chonghuan, and the reason why he didn't listen to orders before must have been bewitched by Yuan Chonghuan." Hmph, it seems that my imperial power is better than Yuan Chonghuan's small favor.

In this case, if I get rid of Yuan Chonghuan, he must be loyal to me wholeheartedly. Will it be like that? Why not? Don't look at Yuan Chonghuan's letter, which is written in a righteous and awe-inspiring manner, imperial power is supreme after all.

By the way, I'll hold on to this ancestor Dashou. However, in order to hold this ancestor Dashou, not only must Yuan Chonghuan be eliminated, but everything that is connected with Yuan Chonghuan must be eliminated together, just like I eliminated Ke Wei, and eliminate all evil. ”

After making up his mind, Chongzhen pretended to say casually: "Have they all come to congratulate me?" Don't keep them waiting, let them in. ”

The eunuch was busy preaching the decree, and they were waiting anxiously, and when they heard the rumor, they all came in together, and their mouths were like honey, so that they could be obedient and keep talking.

Chongzhen didn't interrupt them either, until they felt that they had nothing to say, then they glanced at Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren, and asked, "Everyone, Aiqing, don't you have anything else to say except congratulations to me?" ”

The reason why Chongzhen was able to finally make up his mind to get rid of Yuan Chonghuan was because Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren kept nagging in Chongzhen's ears. Although Chongzhen made up his mind, he felt that if no one spoke, it would be a little inappropriate for him to rashly propose it, so he said this.

Can Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren understand? But Zhou Yanru is already the first assistant, and he must gather people from all walks of life, and he doesn't want to take the initiative to offend people. Therefore, let Wen Tiren repeatedly show his eyes, but he refused to speak.

Wen Tiren was helpless, and said: "The recovery of the four cities of Zunyong has completely eliminated the threat of Tongnu to Gyeonggi, and the hundred officials and the people of Gyeonggi can finally settle down and examine their losses.

After learning from the pain, they all thought that it was all because of Yuan Chonghuan's indulgence in enemy looting, and the call for killing Yuan was getting louder and louder, and if the emperor did not make a decision as soon as possible, he was afraid that it would damage the majesty of the imperial court. ”

What Wen Tiren said is also true, but his instigation and demagogy are also indispensable.

Although the courtiers knew it, they suffered from the lack of evidence, and for a while, they were speechless.

Chongzhen couldn't wait for this, cleared his throat, and said coldly: "Yuan Chonghuan's matter has been determined last time, so there is no need to discuss it again."

Wang Qia, the former secretary of the Ministry of War, and Zhang Fengxiang, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, have been dismissed, but these two have a lot of collusion with Yuan Chonghuan, and they must be put in prison to prevent them from causing chaos.

Han Yi, Qian Longxi, Cheng Jiming, Li Biao, etc., assisted the government to no avail, but they protected and connived at Yuan Chonghuan everywhere, and ordered Han Yi, Cheng Jiming, and Li Biao to go to work, and Qian Longxi to go to work and exile. ”

These people have been eliminated, where will anyone stand up and speak out?

Chongzhen smiled secretly, not wanting anyone to be verbose, and then asked, "How is Yang He's over there?" ”

This is a good opportunity to hold Yang He, Zhou Yanruyan can let it go, and immediately stepped forward and said: "Yang He happened to have a report that the strategy of suppressing and appeasing had taken effect, and the thieves in Shaanxi had been dispersed. ”

When Chongzhen heard this, he was happy in his heart and said, "This Yang He really has some doorways. Well, since his strategy has worked, then continue to follow his strategy, and focus on those thieves. ”

Saying that, Chongzhen got up, but glanced at Wen Tiren again, saw him with his head down, sullen, and said secretly, "Hmph, don't think I don't know what you think." He sat down again and said, "After Li Biao and others went to work, the cabinet was vacant, and Wen Tiren was ordered to enter the cabinet." ”

After speaking, he secretly glanced at Wen Tiren again, saw that his eyes flashed, and deliberately pretended to leave.

Sure enough, Wen Tiren hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the minister still has this music." ”