The majestic Pingxi Wangfu stands high on the Wuhua Mountain on the outskirts of Kunming, this Pingxi Wangfu was originally the Forbidden City of the former Ming Yongli Emperor, after Wu Sangui took over Yungui, it became the thorn in the eye of the Qing court and the thorn in the flesh Pingxi Wangfu, and Wu Sangui also ran this Pingxi Wangfu to live up to the hopes of the Qing court, Pingxi Wangfu not only according to the six departments of the imperial court set up the Soldiers and Horses Division, the Qinguan Division, the Household Division, the Punishment Department, the Great Rites Division and the Civil Engineering Division, as well as the Salt Tea Division and the Foundry Hall and other simplified institutions set up according to the imperial court system - It's just like Wu Sangui was ready to use these institutions to replace the six departments of the Qing court after the rebellion. And in the middle of these simplified small six parts is Wu Sangui's Parliamentary Palace-that is, the Yin'an Palace, which looks like it is going to be renamed Jinluan Palace.

In addition to imitating the six departments of the imperial court, Wu Sangui's Pingxi Wangfu also has a distinctive feature - that is, the ratio of civil and military is extremely unbalanced, Wu Sangui was born in the army, and his generals are like clouds, and the first general Ma Bao has the courage to be unstoppable, and the Guanning Iron Cavalry under his command has been famous all over the world as early as the Shanhaiguan time; Han Daren, Du Hui, Tan Hong, Ma Xiongtu, Wang Hui, Hong Fu, Gao Dejie and Lin Xingzhu are all brave generals, fierce generals and generals who can fight well, Wu Sangui's second son Wu Yingqi, nephew Wu Yinggui, godson Wu Yingfu, godgrandson Wu Shizong, and four sons-in-law Hu Guozhu, Xia Guoxiang, Guo Zhuangtu and Wei Pu are also battle-hardened generals, and the fierce general lineup is not inferior to the Qing court - this does not count the ***, Daniel Zhang, Ma Ning and Zhao Liangdong generals who were transferred by Ao Bai to hollow out Wu Sangui's strength. However, compared to the lineup of generals who want quality and quantity, Wu Sangui's Wenchen is too far behind in terms of quantity and quality, in addition to the first and second strategists Liu Xuanchu and Wang Shirong, there is only one Liu Xin who is good at financial management, and there are no outstanding internal affairs talents from below, all of them are corrupt officials or mediocre and incompetent people. And Liu Xuanchu, Wu Sangui's most trusted person, was not in good health, and Wang Shirong's personal morality was at a loss, forcing Wu Sangui to use Xia Guoxiang, who was good at military affairs, as a civilian official, as the first assistant of civil officials, and the serious shortage of civilian officials under Wu Sangui can be seen.

On the third day of the ninth month of the eighth year of Kangxi, at the regular civil and military meeting of the Pingxi Palace, Xia Guoxiang, who was the first to speak, reported to Wu San Guiyu with a sad face: "Lord Qiyu, the county officials of Longling, Simao, Xingren, Pu'an and Weining in Yunnan and Guizhou have been vacant for a long time, and the prefects of Dading and Lijiang are corrupt and pervert the law, causing public resentment to boil, and they are also in urgent need of civil official replacement, but the son-in-law has not been able to draw a civil official to replace him, I don't know what to do, please show the prince." ”

"Lord Wang, there are three prefects and one prefect in Sichuan and Hunan provinces, these two provinces are very important to our Pingxi Palace, we have to send the western election officials to take over before the imperial court sends officials, but we can't let the officials of the imperial court rob them." Wang Shirong also reported to Wu Sanguiyu. Xia Guoxiang next to him was anxious, "Wang Shirong, you can't get along with me, don't you?" Yunnan and Guizhou provinces are in short supply of civil officials, do you still want to send the western election officials to help Kangxi govern the place? ”

"General Xia, Sichuan is located between Yunnan, Guizhou and Shaanxi, and the secret contact between the prince and *** must all pass through Sichuan, if it is not controlled by the Western Election Official, then wouldn't the contact between the prince and *** be easily cut off by Kangxi?" Wang Shirong fought back confidently: "There is also Hunan, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces cannot be self-sufficient in grain, and the prince must pass through Hunan to buy grain from the Central Plains. ”

"But Yunnan and Guizhou provinces are not well governed, and no matter how much grain the prince buys from the Central Plains at a high price, isn't he greedy for ink by those silverfish when he arrives at the local level?" Xia Guoxiang remembered that there were mountains of civil complaints with three big heads, and he wished that he and Liu Xuanchu and Liu Xin had doppelganger skills, and each county sent a capable official to govern. And Wang Shirong was more anxious than Xia Guoxiang, and muttered: "Yunnan and Guizhou are all poor places, no matter how well they are governed, how much can they enter?" If it were not for the western election officials from other provinces to secretly transport grain, horses, and cotton to Yunnan and Guizhou, and to resell Yunnan-Guizhou specialties, the financial and civil affairs of Yunnan and Guizhou would have collapsed long ago. ”

"General Xia, Lord Wang, don't quarrel, I haven't complained yet." Liu Xin, who was also in charge of the Household Division and the Salt and Tea Division, also came out to join in the fun, and said with a handful of snot and tears: "In the summer, I spent 50,000 taels of silver to buy a batch of cinchona, and I wanted to sell it to the people at a low price to cure the common malaria plague in Yunnan and Guizhou, but those magistrates raised the price by thirty-five times, and the people couldn't afford it, and hundreds of strong men died of illness. ”

"Therefore, the civil affairs of Yungui must be done well, and their own territory is not well managed, so what are you talking about dominating the world?"

"The Western Election Officials must continue to send abroad, otherwise the jade and pearls we bought from Myanmar will all be smashed in our hands, and those things cannot be eaten or worn, so what's the use of holding them?"

"Lord Wang, those Western election officials under your command have to be in charge, every pound of grain they transport to Yungui, they have to eat at least three catties of kickbacks from the middle!"

"Stop arguing." Wu Sangui stopped the quarrel between the few henchmen and civil officials under him, turned to Liu Xuanchu, who was the only one who had a seat in the Yin'an Hall except for Wu Sangui himself, and asked, "Mr. Xuanchu, what do you think should be done?" Liu Xuanchu coughed and replied very simply: "Lord Wang, it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, there are not enough literati to choose from, and I have no choice." Wu Sangui also knew that asking was also a vain question, so he sighed and said: "I hate that Wang Xu, I would rather die than be used by this king, otherwise with his ability, this king can have an extra help." ”

"Tell me, do you have any capable literati under your command? It is better to be able and not greedy for money, recommend a few to come out, and this king will appoint them with official positions. Wu Sangui turned to the generals who had been watching the excitement and asked. Wu Sangui's generals, look at me, I look at you, all of them are speechless, only Wu Sangui's number one henchman Ma Bao replied: "Lord Wang, there is really no more, all the relatives in my family who can read a few words have been called out by me to be officials for you, and my masters have also been sent out, there is really no more, so I have to ask Mr. Xuanchu for help to write a letter now." Ma Bao opened his mouth, and the other generals echoed him, and they all complained bitterly, saying that he didn't even have a useful master to help act on official affairs, let alone recommend civil officials again.

"It's really interesting, the literati under Kangxi are trying to be officials, and the king's subordinates can't even find people who know a few words, and the literati in Yungui begged them to be officials, but no one went to be officials, who would believe it?" Wu Sangui was angry and funny, shook his head and sighed, and gritted his teeth and said: "If you post a recruitment list again, as long as you are willing to serve this king, each of you will be rewarded with a hundred taels of silver!" But Xia Guoxiang immediately replied: "Lord Wang, the recruitment list has been posted countless times, and last time you had increased the reward to one hundred and fifty taels, but only two private school gentlemen were recruited - they were immediately robbed by Lord Liu Xin to take care of the tea purchase." ”

"And this?" Wu Sangui's nose was almost crooked, and he said in his heart that my Wu Sangui's reputation really stinks to this point, and I don't come to ask those literati to be officials? At this time, a doorman rushed to outside the door, knelt in front of Wu Sangui and held up a letter with both hands, and reported: "Lord Suo, Lord Suo Etu has sent a secret letter from Beijing six hundred miles in an urgent manner, and I ask the prince to read it in person. ”

"Suo Etu's secret letter? Pick it up. Wu Sangui asked the captain of the guard, Huangfu Baozhu, to take the secret letter and open the fire seal to take a closer look. After reading it, Wu Sangui quietly handed the letter to Liu Xuanchu, "Mr. Xuanchu, you can also take a look." Liu Xuanchu also looked at it carefully, and then said in a deep voice: "Lord Wang, according to Liu Xuanchu, the main purpose of the prince to Jiangnan is to recruit talents for the prince and ask him to come back immediately. As for the matter of the northern transportation of taxes and silver in Jiangnan, although this news is very important and important, we can't reach it, so we can only let him go. ”

"Yes, there are many literati in Jiangnan, if Ying Xiong can recruit a group of useful literati for this king, it can solve the urgent need of this king, so there is no need to ask Ying Xiong to come back immediately." Wu Sangui also agreed with Liu Xuanchu's proposition, but Wang Shirong, Wu Yingqi and others didn't think so after reading Suo Etu's secret letter, Wu Yingqi proposed: "Father, that little pockmark of Kangxi has blockaded our Yungui with money and grain, causing the price of grain in Yunnan and Guizhou to soar, and our armament war is struggling and the progress is slow. And Kangxi's transfer of rice tax and silver to the north is to prepare for war training, why don't we retaliate with a tooth for a tooth, and also rob Kangxi's tax and silver grain truck? As long as the supply of money and grain to the north is cut off, Kangxi's situation will inevitably be more difficult than ours! Our army also has enough time to prepare for war. ”

"The truth is this, but our strength in Jiangnan is weak, and it is not enough to stop the grain ships and trucks protected by heavy troops in any case." Wu Sangui shook his head and said. Wu Yingqi gave Wang Shirong a look, Wang Shirong understood, and immediately took a step forward and said: "Prince, since the prince is in Jiangnan, why doesn't the prince let the prince find a way to stop the Jiangnan silver car?" Destroy Kangxi's Xiao Mazi's plan to transport money and grain to the north? ”

"Nonsense!" Liu Xuanchu was furious, coughing and shouting: "Jiangnan Yinche is the lifeblood of the Tartars, how well protected is it?" Doesn't letting the prince intercept the silver car and sending the prince to death in vain? ”

"I originally wanted him to die for nothing!" Wu Yingqi and Wang Shirong said in their hearts at the same time. Wang Shirong said again: "Liu Junshi doesn't have to worry, Wang just suggested that the prince should find a way, not that the prince let the prince must succeed in stopping the robbery, the external situation is changing rapidly, how can we know that the prince has no chance to do this in Jiangnan?" If the prince really does this, it will be of great benefit to the great cause of the prince. ”

"No, I know the temper of the prince, he is competitive, if the prince really gives this order, he will definitely do it regardless of the danger!" Liu Xuanchu was still resolutely opposed - but Wu Yingqi, who was afraid that Wu Yuanming would come back to grab the position, hoped that his eldest brother would die outside, so Wu Yingqi also helped: "Liu Junshi, in my opinion, Deputy Military Division Wang's plan is feasible, maybe the eldest brother will really have a chance to do this in Jiangnan." However, for the sake of caution, the father can repeatedly tell the eldest brother to pay attention to his own safety. ”

"Don't make any noise, let Gu think about it again." Wu Sangui stopped the quarrel between Wu Yingqi and Liu Xuanchu and others, Wu Sangui, who was old in the accident, of course understood the second son's caution, but Wang Shirong's proposal really made Wu Sangui very moved - destroyed Kangxi's Jiangnan money and grain transfer plan, then Kangxi's rear north of the Yellow River will soar in grain prices, and the people will not be able to make a living. At worst, it can delay Kangxi's preparations and buy more time for Yungui to prepare. However, Wu Sangui had to worry about the safety of his eldest son, so he didn't dare to make a decision.

"Lord Wang, the prince sent a messenger to deliver a letter!" When Wu Sangui was hesitating about whether to instruct his eldest son to try to stop the Jiangnan silver car, another doorman rushed into the Yin'an Palace to report to Wu Sangui. Wu Sangui was overjoyed and said with a smile: "Yunnan ground evil, Ying Xiong hasn't sent a letter for almost two months, but I didn't expect that as soon as I talked about him, his messenger arrived." What are you doing? Send the messenger in. The doorman rushed down, and after a while, a messenger sent by Wu Yuanming from Zhenjiang came in with a package on his back, kowtowed, and said, "The villain sees the prince." ”

"You? It seems to be the personal soldier of Li Xiongfei, the deputy general of Xia Guoxiang, right? Wu Sangui had the ability to recognize the origin of this messenger at a glance. Li Xiongfei's personal soldier replied movingly: "Back to the prince, the villain is General Li Xiongfei's personal soldier Chang Er, thanks to the prince remembering the villain, the villain is very honored." Wu Sangui smiled proudly and asked again: "Since Ying Xiong sent you to deliver the letter, then Xiongfei and Ying Xiong have already met in Jiangnan, so Gu is also relieved." Ying Xiong's letter is there, bring it quickly. ”

"Yes." That Chang Er took out Wu Yuanming's autograph letter and handed it over with both hands, Wu Sangui personally went down the steps to take it, and after reading it in detail, Wu Sangui was even more overjoyed, and laughed: "It turns out that the person who won more with less in Luoma Lake and defeated the Tartar army three times turned out to be Ying Xiong!" Lone has always been worried that Ying Xiong is not familiar with military affairs, and he will not be able to take over Lone's command of the army in the future, but now it seems that Lone is too much heart. That Chang Er also smirked and said: "Yes, the villain of the Battle of Luoma Lake participated in the whole process, and the prince is really like a god with soldiers, and he has won more with less in three consecutive battles, which is worthy of being a general." ”

"The one who defeated the Tartar army at Llama Lake is the prince?" Liu Xuanchu was also surprised and delighted, and hurriedly asked Wu Sangui for Wu Yuanming's letter to read carefully. And other people in the Yin'an Palace have also heard about the Qing army's tragic defeat at Luoma Lake, and after learning that the commander turned out to be the son of Wu Sangui, the Yin'an Palace immediately became sycophants and sycophants, praising that there must be a son if there is a father, and only the son of the king of Pingxi can do this in the world. Only Wang Shirong remained silent, and Wu Yingqi's face was gloomy. And Liu Xuanchu also quickly finished reading Wu Sangui's letter, and laughed loudly: "Jiangmen Huzi!" Door Huzi! Yao Gong really taught well, and he was able to make the son of the world who had never been on the battlefield so powerful! ”

"Yes, Ying Xiong can make so much progress, and Yao Qisheng's teachings from the old man Huazi are also indispensable. Ying Xiong worshiped this godfather, not in vain. Wu Sangui laughed - not only Wu Yingqi's face changed color, but Wang Shirong's face also became gloomy - Liu Xuanchu's health has not been good, maybe he will stretch his legs that day, at that time Wang Shirong was the number one military advisor of Wu Sangui's army, but now a more powerful Yao Qisheng has emerged......

"It's a pity that Gu Yanwu and Huang Zongxi's gang are so stubborn that the prince took the risk to rescue them from the heavily guarded Yangzhou prison, and they still refused to serve the prince." Liu Xuanchu shook his head and sighed again, greatly regretful. However, Wu Sangui was used to being spurned by literati, so he didn't care much about it, but smiled: "But Ying Xiong also has an advantage to doing this, at least Chen Jinnan is embarrassed to take unfavorable actions against Lone's Western Election Officer, and when Lone contacts Zheng Jing in the future, he can also get his help." ”

"Lord Wang, the prince also asked the villain to bring a pack of pill pack propellant, the prince said that this kind of thing can speed up the rate of fire of the red-coated cannon, after using this thing instead of bulk gunpowder, the usual time to fire a cannonball can fire more than three, so the prince hopes that the prince will order imitation." Na Chang Er unwrapped the package on his back and opened it, took out the gunpowder bag and presented it to Wu Sangui with both hands, Wu Sangui was born in the Ming Dynasty army, and he was also quite familiar with the use of artillery, and soon understood the principle of the powder bag type to launch the gun to increase the speed of the gun, and couldn't help but be even more ecstatic. And Liu Xuanchu was even more excited, and praised Wu Yuanming, "He is worthy of being the prince of Pingxi, he thinks about the prince everywhere, the prince has this tiger, and the successor is worry-free." If it weren't for Wu Yuanming wanting to surprise Wu Sangui and not mentioning Dai Zi and the continuous musket in the letter, I was afraid that Wu Sangui and Liu Xuanchu would faint on the spot.

"Chang Er, it's hard work, go down and receive the reward, tell the lord of the army, this king will give you a double reward." Wu Sangui, who was in a good mood, laughed for a long time, and then remembered to let the messenger Chang Er go to receive the reward. But Chang Er didn't follow the words, but took out a letter from his body that was tightly sealed with fire paint, "Lord Wang, Master Yao, the father-in-law of the prince, also asked the villain to bring you a secret letter, Master Yao has repeatedly explained, this letter can only be shown to the prince and Liu Xuanchu, and after reading it, please destroy it immediately." ”

"Burned after reading it? That old name is Hanako, what kind of fame is he doing? Wu Sangui curiously took Yao Qisheng's secret letter and opened it, and read it with Liu Xuanchu, who came over, and after Wu Sangui and Liu Xuanchu read Yao Qisheng's secret letter repeatedly, Liu Xuanchu was immediately so excited that his face turned red, and he bent down and coughed violently. And Wu Sangui's face changed brightly, and it took a long time before he smiled, then the smile turned into a laugh, and finally a crazy laugh, "Yao Qisheng, you are really a lonely savior!" Your letter is worthy of 100,000 soldiers! ”

"Yao Gongzhi's ability, I can't do it!" Liu Xuanchu coughed and said a convincing sentence. The people in the Yin'an Palace were all confused, and they said in their hearts what Yao Qisheng said in the letter, so that the prince could be happy like this? Let the clever Liu Xuanchu military master admire like this? Only Wang Shirong's face was even more gloomy, knowing that he was probably getting farther and farther away from the position of the chief military advisor of Wu Sangui's army.

"Minister of State, Shi Rong, Liu Xin, didn't you just say that there is a lack of civil officials under your subordinates?" Wu Sangui laughed and turned to the inexplicable Xia Guoxiang and the others and said: "Go and tell those people, let them wait, at most in another three months, Lone can send them a bunch of capable officials who are as clear as water and as bright as a mirror to be their parents!" If those officials can't be clear, give them a replacement! Swap until they're satisfied! Hahahaha......! ”

"Is the prince insane? As far as the reputation of our Pingxi Mansion is concerned, will those honest and capable literati work for the Pingxi Palace? "The civil and military forces of the Pingxi Wangfu of the Manyin Andian are all talking about knives in their hearts. Liu Xuanchu didn't care so much, he personally took out the flint fire knife and burned Yao Qisheng's letter, and after Yao Qisheng's letter turned to ashes, Liu Xuanchu, who calmed down, suggested to Wu Sangui: "Lord, after acting according to Mr. Yao's plan, the prince is only afraid that there will be danger, and Li Xiongfei alone may not be able to protect the prince, and the prince has to send reinforcements to protect the prince." ”

"That's right, fortunately, it's only the third day of September today, and it's still in time." Wu Sangui nodded in agreement, pondered for a moment, and then turned to Huangfu Baozhu and ordered: "Baozhu, you go and prepare immediately, and select fifty skilled guards to standby." ”

"The last will obey." Huangfu Baozhu agreed angrily, turned around and went down to arrange. Liu Xuanchu's eyes rolled and he drank Huangfu Baozhu, and then turned to Wu Sangui and suggested: "Lord Wang, although Baozhu's martial arts are high, Jiangnan is quite far away from here, I am afraid that the strength is still insufficient, Xuanchu suggested that General Gao Dejie and General Baozhu also go to protect the prince." ”

Wu Sangui's eyes turned, first looked at Liu Xuanchu, and then squinted at his second son Wu Yingqi, who was not good-looking, and immediately understood Liu Xuanchu's true intentions, so he nodded and said: "Very good, let Gao Dejie and Baozhu go to pick up Ying Xiong together." Wu Sangui looked back at Gao Dejie (Note 1), who had already been listed, and ordered: "Gao Dejie, you also select fifty good players from the headquarters, and rush to Jiangnan with Huangfu Baozhu to pick up the prince." Gao Dejie agreed loudly, and Wu Sangui added, "You also heard Wang Shirong's suggestion just now, and by the way, tell Ying Xiong that if you have the opportunity, you can use the anti-Qing forces in Jiangnan to sabotage Kangxi's silver grain transfer plan - but you must pay attention to his own safety!" ”

……

At the same time, in Jiangning, the capital of Jiangsu Province, Ma Leji, the governor of Liangjiang, Zhu Guozhi, the governor of Jiangsu, and Mu Tianyan, the political envoy, and the officials of the same size, such as the envoy, Xuezheng, Huaiyang Road, Grain Road, and River Gongdao, welcomed Wei Dongting and his party on the wharf, and Wu Ciyou, who was the emperor, was also in the greeting team, Wei Dongting and Wu Ciyou were old friends, and they were naturally very affectionate when they met. I am giving you an immortal miracle - an immortal miracle that wiped out the anti-Qing literati in Jiangnan! ”

Note 1: Liu Xuanchu suggested that the army general should take over Wu Yingxiong, which was actually to facilitate Wu Yingxiong to entrap Gao Dejie and help Wu Yingxiong establish a loyal force in the army. Moreover, in the rebellion of the three feudatories in history, Wu Sangui's army and the Qing army fought a total of six decisive battles, and Wu Sangui's army won four wins and two losses, of which two of the four major victories of Wu Sangui's army were personally commanded by Gao Dejie, and his ability was extraordinary. However, Gao Dejie was also a short-lived fellow, and unfortunately died before the fourth Armageddon.