In the second year of Chongzhen, the third day of February, the capital.

Chongzhen sat in the study and quietly listened to the imperial doctor's report.

It's just that his nervousness can still be seen from the way he clenches his fists.

Today, Queen Zhou is going to give birth.

"Ahh ... Yes! ...”

Although Empress Zhou's dormitory was far away from here, Chongzhen could still hear Empress Zhou's cry.

His heart grew upset with the Queen's cry.

"Report! Good news! Good news! ”

At this moment, the official who reported the victory rushed in regardless of it.

Chongzhen, who was upset, was stunned for a moment, and then rejoiced.

"Say, say quickly, what a good news!"

"Wang Zezhi, the general army of Shanxi, defeated the Tumut Department in the Hetao area, recovered the lost land in the Hetao, captured the son of Shunyi King Bu Lost Rabbit Ombu alive, escorted him back to Beijing, and waited for the emperor's fate."

"Hahaha... Great victory, great victory, ancestors, have you seen it?

Someone came, passed on my will, and transferred the grain and salary originally set for Yuan Chonghuan in Liaodong, as well as the grain and salary for Chen Qiyu, the governor of the five provinces, to Wang Zezhi, so that he could completely destroy the enemy outside the Saiwai in one go.

I, I gave him five years, no, three years, three years is too long, two years, I gave him two years. ”

"Yes. But..."

Chongzhen saw that the herald was spitting, and said with displeasure on his face: "Say." ”

"Your Majesty, the treasury is empty, and only the emperor's private money can be used, and the amount of these silver is only known to Wang Chengen, and the king knows it, and the small ones don't know the specific amount, nor do they know whether it is enough to allocate it."

The herald said tremblingly.

Because these government affairs are not something that a petty official can discuss in vain.

Chongzhen listened to the words of the junior official, and his face turned angry.

"Your Majesty, you are born, and you are a white and fat prince."

At this moment, the eunuch who had been waiting for Xin'er at the queen's side ran in, and as soon as he came in, he knelt on the ground happily and made a loud announcement.

Chongzhen's face turned from anger to joy, he waved his sleeves at the herald, and said, "Go, go, call Wang Chengen back to the palace, and I will lift his ground."

I'm going to see my prince. ”

This is Chongzhen's first child, and he is a boy, according to the ancestral system, he is the prince.

The herald was ordered to send Wang Chengen to go.

Not long after, Wang Chengen entered the palace.

After Chongzhen saw the child and Queen Zhou, he reluctantly left the harem, and then returned to the study.

"Congratulations to the emperor, congratulations to the emperor, double happiness is coming."

Chongzhen gave birth to a son, and Wang Zezhi recovered the Hetao, not to mention how happy he was.

At this moment, he no longer minds Wang Chengen's corruption.

Chongzhen looked at Wang Chengen happily, how pleasing to the eye.

"It's indeed a double happiness, when will I miss it?"

At this moment, he forgot that he was bent on punishing Wang Zezhi and killing Wang Zezhi's majesty.

"The emperor's eyes are like torches."

Chongzhen was happy and in a good mood, Wang Chengen patted a sycophant, and he had a fluttering feeling.

"Wang Chengen, I ask you, how many taels of imperial silver do I have?"

"Your Majesty, there are still 8,328,473 taels in the minister's account a year ago, if the emperor doesn't touch this money, then this is the exact amount."

"Why is there only so much?"

"Your Majesty, you know that the military salaries in Liaodong, the military salaries for the suppression of bandits in the five provinces, and the silver for the disaster in the south of the Yangtze River have cost a lot, and this is still in..."

Wang Chengen said this, and he didn't dare to continue.

"In what?" Chongzhen frowned and asked puzzled.

"Your Majesty, the minister is guilty, this is still in the minister's embezzled silver to replenish the treasury, otherwise..."

"Shut up."

Wang Chengen said Chongzhen's sore spot in one sentence.

He is a dignified emperor of a country, and he is so poor that he wants to use the silver obtained by the corruption of his eunuchs to pay his military salary.

"You dog minion, you still have the face to say..."Little Peach Chinese

"Your Majesty, the minister has something to say."

Chongzhen was also about to reprimand Wang Chengen, but the imperial doctor who had diagnosed the queen's pulse came to the door and interrupted him.

"What's the matter?"

"Your Majesty, my mother is weak after giving birth, this... The fire of this kang is inevitably hot, and now it is difficult for the mother to fall asleep after tossing and turning, and I am afraid that it will fall into the root of the disease in the long run. ”

It is said that Chongzhen is really thrifty, the emperor of a country, and the hardships of shrinking clothes and dieting are incomparable.

It was Queen Zhou who was still weaving cloth in the palace two months before giving birth and selling it for money, in exchange for some silver to subsidize the palace expenses.

Chongzhen listened to the words of the imperial doctor, and the corners of his eyes twitched.

He was reluctant to spend money on charcoal, even in the middle of winter, he relied on a quilt to keep warm.

There is an iron stove in Queen Zhou's room, which is supported by the briquettes sent by Wang Zezhi.

Even so, Queen Zhou is also economitic, and she can't even use three briquettes a day.

At this moment, she must not be cold when she just gave birth, so the palace people burned firewood and burned the ground kang.

Who knows, the body of the queen who has just given birth is too sensitive, and she can't stand being roasted as soon as the kang is hot.

The weak Queen Zhou had no strength just after giving birth, and she knew that Chongzhen was thrifty, so she could only lie on the bed and moan weakly.

"I know, you go down first."

"Yes."

After the imperial doctor left, Chongzhen immediately helped Wang Chengen up.

"I remember that the iron stove and briquettes were offered by Wang Zezhi, right?"

"Exactly."

"Wang Chengen obeys the order."

"The minister takes the order."

"Passing the decree, the general soldier of Shanxi, Wang Zezhi, recovering Hetao and serving the country is an immortal achievement, and I am very relieved.

I named him the general of the Hussar of the second rank and the commander of the capital of the Erdu Division, and the second product of the second rank, and ordered his governor of Shanxi and the military affairs of the Erdu Division.

In addition, I rewarded the general soldier of Shanxi, Wang Zezhi, with 6 million taels of military salaries and 3 million stone of military rations.

I hope that he will live up to the emperor's grace and must wipe out the barbarians outside the Saiwai and recover Liaodong in two years.

Oh, by the way, have you found out the number of soldiers and horses under Wang Zezhi's command? ”

Chongzhen was halfway through speaking, and suddenly remembered something, and he asked Wang Chengen modestly.

"Your Majesty, according to the secret report of Jinyi Wei a few years ago, the soldiers and horses under the command of Wang Zezhi, the chief soldier of Shanxi, have reached more than 30,000 people."

"Wang Zezhi really has a lot of soldiers, what is he going to do? Does he want to rebel? ”

"Your Majesty, the minister guarantees his life, and the king of Shanxi's chief soldier has no such intention, your Majesty, think about it carefully, he has so many soldiers and horses, if he merges with those thieves in Shaanxi, how much disaster will it cause?

But he didn't do that, he carried out the emperor's will wholeheartedly.

Your Majesty, look, you asked him to recover the Hetao, and he tried his best to recover the Hetao. ”

Wang Chengen knew that Chongzhen's suspicions were repeated, and if he wanted to dispel his doubts, he could only follow his heart to make him understand.

Otherwise, it will backfire, and Chongzhen is afraid that he will be angry and angry at Wang Ze.

"The last time he left, he just asked for some firearms and armor, so I will reward him with another 1,000 Lumi guns, gunpowder and projectiles, and 3,000 Kaiyuan bows, as for the other armor and weapons, you can watch the reward.

There is no silver in my treasury, but there is so much of it that it rusts. ”

"Yes, the minister will make a list later, and after the emperor sees it, he will go to make an order."

"Okay, the people in this palace are the most worry-free. Cough... Hmm..."

"Recently, the minister has suffered some cold, and there is a shortage of briquettes at home, and the minister will personally ask Wang Zongbing for some."

"Ahem... Well... So much better. ”

Wang Chengen knew that Chongzhen couldn't pull his face to ask Wang Zezhi for briquettes, so as soon as Chongzhen coughed, Wang Chengen knew what he was going to say.

Wang Chengen took the order and went down to make a list.

Although Chongzhen said that the armor and weapons were rewarded, Wang Chengen was a eunuch, and he did not dare to make the decision for the emperor and give the armor and weapons to Wang Zezhi.

If he really watched the reward, when he returned, I am afraid it would be his time of death.

So, he had to make a list first.

However, this list is not easy to list, if the fine grain weapons in the arsenal of the War Bureau are rewarded to Wang Zezhi, Chongzhen will definitely be suspicious, if he finds some bad ones, Chongzhen can see at a glance that this is done deliberately by Wang Chengen.

Looking at the reward, three words, it looks simple, but it is not easy to really do.

Wang Chengen sighed in his heart and began to carefully list the list of armor and weapons.