Zhou Zheng has been strengthening his control over the army all these years, and without Zhou Zheng's nod, the soldiers and horses in these three places, Chongzhen's holy decree will not work.

Yao Tong complied and said: "The imperial court is now replacing the ministers and the six Shangshu very quickly, Ma Shiying, Kou Huaiyi and others recommended them to take the position, and the two of them tried their best to resign, and even resigned to protect their lives. ”

Zhou Zheng was not surprised at all, and said with a chuckle: "Let them be, by the way, has the candidate for the new secretary of the military department come out?" ”

Yao Tongshun thought for a while and said, "There is a person who seems to be quite prominent, Li Banghua." ”

Zhou Zheng's eyes flashed slightly, and he nodded: "Well, it's not bad, it should be able to stabilize for a while." ”

Li Banghua, the original governor of Tianjin, was later transferred to the military department, and then Ding Wei was at home.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zheng looked at Yao Tongshun and said, "Continue to stop the recovery of Lu Xiangsheng, Yang Sichang and others, including Cao Wenzhao, Zhao Shujiao and others." ”

Yang Sichang did not die, not that the court did not want him to die, but that he committed suicide in prison and was rescued, and then it has been dragged on without trial.

Yao Tongshun had vaguely sensed that Zhou Zheng wanted to do something, and his expression remained unchanged, and then said: "Wei Gongzi has traveled far overseas, and I heard that there are haunts in Ryukyu, Taiwan, and Luzon, and there has been no news for more than half a year. ”

Zhou Zheng waved his hand and said, "Let him play." ”

Yao Tongshun didn't say much, and said: "There is no movement on Jianyu's side for the time being, only an occasional letter comes urging the adults to release Fan Wenchen." Jianyu acquiesced to the border, and the west and south of Phoenix City belonged to us, and Jianyu did not invade again. ”

Zhou Zhengcai ignored Huang Taiji, took another sip of tea, and said: "Well, Jianyu continues to stare at it, focusing on the imperial court and the northwest, I want to know the war situation in the northwest and the changes within the imperial court as soon as possible." ”

Yao Tongshun responded with a nervous expression, glanced outside, and said in a low voice: "My lord, the relationship in the palace is particularly critical at this time. ”

Zhou Zheng raised his eyebrows and glanced at him.

Yao Tongshun's face turned slightly pale, and he quickly stood up and said, "The villain is talkative." ”

Zhou Zheng waved his hand expressionlessly.

Yao Tongshun retreated in a panic.

Zhou Zheng sat on the chair, picked up the towel again to wipe his sweat, looked at the hot sunshine outside, and said to himself: "This ghost weather ......"

This year, it's been so hot.

The Yellow River and the Yangtze River burst their banks, flooded, flooded, and increased taxes.

The whole Ming Dynasty is quite a stable place, and I am afraid that there are only a few places such as Nanzhili and Shandong.

The current civil unrest is basically a monopoly, that is, Li Zicheng, the king of Chuang.

Li Zicheng occupied most of the place in the northwest, his generals and ministers were like rain, more and more officers and soldiers, and gentry defected to the past, and their power was constantly expanding, approaching the north and south.

In September, Liu Zongmin and Niu Jinxing defeated Gong Shaohuang, the governor of Henan, in Zhuxian Town, Henan, and captured 16 prefectures including Kaifeng.

At the end of September, the Gao Yi Power Army entered Shanxi and approached Taiyuan Mansion, and Xuanda and other people from all walks of life came to help and temporarily retreated.

In October, Li Zicheng led an army of 200,000 to attack Anqing again, and Shi Kefa, the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, led the army to resist.

Xiong Wencan brought Zuo Liangyu, Liu Liangzuo and other 50,000 people to help, but they were blocked by the flood and could not enter.

In mid-October, Li Zicheng could not break through Anqing and turned north.

At this moment, Luo Rucai and others, who had surrendered to Xiong Wencan and were not taken away by Zhou Zheng, suddenly rebelled in Sichuan, and defeated Wang Yiheng, the governor of Sichuan, and killed the king of Shu.

The imperial court was shocked, Sichuan was still stable, and it was expected that Qin Liangyu would be able to go out of Sichuan to attack Li Zicheng on both sides, and now Luo Rucai and others rebelled and restrained Qin Liangyu, so the imperial court would have to face Li Zicheng alone.

And Chongzhen was even more angry, the clan was killed, and the people recruited by Xiong Wencan surrendered and rebelled and held the military power, which was repaid, and immediately sent an order by Li Banghua to suppress the bandits on behalf of Xiong Wencan, and arrested Xiong Wencan.

At the end of October, Xiong Wencan abandoned the city.

At this time, Zhou was at Shanhaiguan, inspecting the 15,000 cavalry trained by Cao Bianjiao.

Cao Bianjiao looked excited, and beside Zhou Zheng, he pointed to the cavalry trained by Bentu, and said: "My lord, you see, you already have a certain combat power, as long as you fight a few battles seriously, you will definitely be able to train an iron horse!" ”

Zhou Zheng stood on the city tower, holding a telescope, smiled and nodded, and said, "Not bad." ”

This is Cao Bianjiao's hard training in the past few years, and when he heard Zhou Zheng's praise, he was even more happy, and said: "If it weren't for the limited number of soldiers, the last general would want to train another 5,000 ......."

Zhou Zheng looked at Cao Bianjiao excitedly, and after a while, he said quietly: "I heard that Li Shangshu wants to transfer you to Henan to suppress bandits?" ”

Cao Bianjiao's smile suddenly retracted, and said: "The last general will be controlled by adults, so he will naturally listen to adults." ”

Zhou Zheng smiled and said: "The court has scruples about me, and refuses to transfer me to the northwest and transfer you, I'm afraid I have other plans." ”

Cao Bianjiao stopped talking, bowed down, and looked solemn.

As a person who has followed Zhou Zheng for many years, with the delicate relationship between the imperial court and Zhou Zheng, he also senses that Zhou is taking precautions.

Whether it is from the heart or the intimate relationship, Cao Bianjiao has no reason to stand on the side of the court to deal with Zhou Zheng.

Zhou Zheng looked at his expression, waved his hand, and said, "Don't be so nervous, the court won't move me for the time being, and it won't affect you or anyone else." As in the past, there is something ahead of me. ”

Cao Bianjiao has followed Zhou Zheng for more than ten years, and has experienced countless things, big and small, which time is not Zhou Zheng in front to ensure that they are thorough?

Cao Bianjiao knelt on one knee with a sonorous sound, and said in a deep voice: "The last general swears to follow the lord to the death!" ”

Zhou Zheng stretched out his hand to help him up, looked in the direction of the capital, sighed lightly, and said, "Don't talk about this." The defeat in the northwest has been decided, and I think that the imperial court is afraid of me, and I have to be transferred to quell the chaos, you have to be prepared. ”

Cao Bianjiao stood beside Zhou Zheng and said, "Yes, the last general will obey the dispatch of the adults!" ”

Zhou Zheng nodded with satisfaction.

At the same time, Li Banghua, the new secretary of the military department, was mobilizing people from all walks of life to constantly engage in fierce battles with Li Zicheng, and the battlefield ranged from Huguang, Jiangxi, Henan, Shanxi, to the vast area of Beizhili, and I don't know how many armies were suppressing bandits.

With the passage of time, Li Zicheng's digestion of the control territory, with the support of Li Yan, Song Xiance, Niu Jinxing and others, is constantly collecting the hearts of the people and expanding the army, and in just over a year, it has actually swelled to a million army!

Although scattered everywhere, they did belong to Li Zicheng, and in the entire northwest, he fought with the official army everywhere, attacking the city and plundering the land, so that the official army was tired of coping with it, and he should not be able to take care of it.

The lack of money and food for the officers and soldiers, the lack of unified scheduling, and the situation of fighting separately have not been resolved, which makes the officers and troops lose more and more defeats, and the lost territory is getting bigger and bigger, and there are many officials and gentry who surrendered to Li Zicheng.

When Zhou Zheng arrived in Tianjin Wei, Liu Liuzhen was already waiting.

The two of them retired from the guards, strolled along the canal, and talked.

Liu Liuzhen said in a low voice: "Second Young Master, the news that should be given has been given to that Gao Jie." ”

Zhou Zheng hummed expressionlessly, put his hands behind his back, stepped on the snow, and quietly looked ahead.

He had been preparing for more than ten years, and at this moment, he was a little nervous.

Liu Liuzhe looked at Zhou Zheng's side face and said: "Gao Jie sent news that Li Zicheng plans to build the capital next year and be called the emperor, and the country name is Dashun." ”

Zhou Zheng suddenly sneered and said, "A bandit and robber, I can't wait to be the emperor!" ”