When Ma Cheng saw that Zhu Lunkui agreed to his request, he stopped crying, stood up and sat on the embroidery pier again.

Today, Zhu Lunkui asked Ma Chenglai to reward him, and one more thing is to decide the future military direction. Although the Manchus have retreated to the north of the Yangtze River, the two provinces of Huguang and Jiangxi in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River are still in the hands of the Manchus. In addition to Ying Tianfu, most of the other twelve mansions in Nanzhili are still in the hands of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, so the main problem at present is what to do next.

"Ma Qing, now that the prefectures and counties around the southern capital have been recovered, but the north of the river and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River are still in the hands of the Beiyu, Ma Qing, do you think you should take there first?"

This question Ma Cheng thought about when he returned to the city yesterday, Nanjing is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, although there is a natural risk of the Yangtze River, but because Nanjing is on the bank of the Yangtze River, there is no strategic buffer space, so the Southern Song Dynasty chose the capital in Hangzhou, further south.

If you follow Ma Cheng's wishes, you can also learn from Zhao Gou to move the capital to Hangzhou or Guangzhou further south, but after more than a year of officialdom, Ma Cheng knows that as soon as he proposes to move the capital, he will be scolded to death by those Donglin stirring sticks in the court.

Since the relocation of the capital can only expand Nanjing's buffer defense circle, fortunately, there is a precedent in the history of China for thousands of years. During the Three Kingdoms period, the Soochow regime built its capital in Nanjing, and in order to defend the capital, the Soochow regime expanded the defense circle to Yangzhou in the Huai River valley and Wuchang in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Coupled with the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Southern Dynasties, and the Southern Tang Dynasty of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, if these secessionist regimes wanted to ensure the security of Nanjing, they had to occupy two key nodes, one was Yangzhou, that is, the Huai River Valley. The second is Wuchang, that is, Jingzhou during the Three Kingdoms period.

However, now Nanjing is still separated from Wuchang by two provinces, and it is basically unrealistic to quickly occupy the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, but Yangzhou is on the north bank of the Yangtze River, less than two days away from Nanjing, and occupying Yangzhou has become the most urgent goal in front of Ma Cheng.

Ma Cheng heard the emperor ask himself, and quickly stood up and replied: "Your Majesty, the ancients said that guarding the river must guard the Huai, the Huai River valley has always been a place where soldiers must fight, and Yangzhou is also the barrier of the south capital in the north of the river, so the minister thought that he could send the main force all the way north to take the opportunity to occupy Yangzhou, and then ordered a partial general to garrison the Taiping Mansion to prevent the upstream and northern captives from going south!" Nanzhili here has always been rich, but also the Taizu Longxing land, as long as the minister is given a year, you can train 100,000 elite soldiers, when the time comes to set off from Yangzhou to the north to the Central Plains, the other way from the Taiping West into the recovery of Jiangxi, Huguang, Sichuan and other places, Your Majesty's great cause can be accomplished! ”

What Ma Cheng said was basically Zhu Yuanzhang's routine back then, but it is also true, the north is in chaos with Sichuan and Huguang, and now the only peaceful grain-producing area in the whole of China is in Nanzhili. As long as this rich land is protected, plus Ma Cheng is given time, it is very likely to replicate the process of Zhu Yuanzhang's victory back then.

Zhu Lunkui's blood boiled when he heard what Ma Cheng said, and he praised: "Ma Qing is really the minister of Qingtian given to me by Emperor Taizu, and I have decided to do what Ma Qing said!" Ma Qing, do you think Yangzhou and Taiping Mansion sent that general? ”

Ma Cheng thought for a while and said: "The chief soldier Zhang Guozhu has a calm temperament, and he can be sent to Yangzhou!" The chief soldier Ma Bao fought bravely and could be sent to Taiping Mansion! ”

Zhu Lunkui nodded: "Okay, I have written down the name that Ma Qing said, and I will submit it to the cabinet for consideration tomorrow morning!" ”

Ma Cheng

Hearing that Zhu Lunkui agreed to his request, he was also very happy, and Ma Cheng didn't want to stay longer if he had nothing to do, so he got up and left.

After Ma Cheng went out, Zhu Lunkui's smiling demeanor slowly became cold, and after a long time, Zhu Lunkui asked Lu Jiude beside him: "Lu Daban, what do you think of Ma Cheng?" ”

Lu Jiude did not directly speak ill of Ma Cheng this time, but said in a low voice: "Master, Guiyang Hou has the ability, but the old slave is afraid that he will become Chen Baxian in the future!" ”

Chen Baxian was originally a petty official under Xiao Yan, the martial emperor of Southern Liang, because he was very capable of fighting, he slowly became an important minister of Southern Liang, and after Xiao Yan's death, no one could control this general, and usurpation became inevitable.

Now Ma Cheng and Chen Baxian are almost the same, they are both young and very capable of fighting, both have solved the siege of Nanjing, and they have both ascended to high positions at a young age. But there is another difference between Ma Cheng and Chen Baxian, that is, Xiao Yan, Emperor Wu of Liang, could still control Chen Baxian, and Chen Baxian's usurpation would not dare to be carried out until Xiao Yan's death.

But the current Ma Cheng is not like this, Zhu Lunkui was originally a weak monarch, or Ma Cheng led the troops to support him, if Ma Cheng's strength swells, he can change to a new emperor in minutes.

Lu Jiude saw that the emperor didn't speak, and was about to add fire: "Master, just now Ma Cheng entered the palace from Xi'an Gate and learned that His Majesty gave him a horse to ride in the Forbidden City, and he didn't get off the horse and thank Jun'en, but swaggered and rode directly into the palace!" And the demeanor of receiving the order in the palace just now, the master must be on guard! ”

Zhu Lunkui gritted his teeth angrily when he thought of Ma Cheng's indifferent demeanor just now, in order to reward Ma Cheng, the title of Marquis of Zhenguo moved out, this Ma Cheng is not satisfied, does he really have to be crowned king to be satisfied?

Although Zhu Lunkui was angry to death, Zhu Lunkui and Lu Jiude had different identities, Lu Jiude was just a eunuch and was attached to the emperor to live. And Zhu Lunkui is indeed the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and he has to think about the entire Ming Dynasty. Although Ma Cheng is unruly and has no one in his eyes, there is no one in the court and the central government who can lead the army, you must know that the Ming Dynasty is not even partial to peace now. If Zhu Lunkui wants to restore the Ming Dynasty and continue the foundation of his ancestors, he must rely on Ma Cheng at present.

Zhu Lunkui suppressed his anger and asked after a long time: "I can't deal with Ma Cheng yet, but is there any good strategy to contain Ma Cheng and prevent him from developing into a tail?" ”

Lu Jiude heard Zhu Lunkui say this, and knew that his words were in vain today, but Lu Jiude was not discouraged, although this time it did not mean that there was no hope, as long as the emperor was wary of Ma Cheng in his heart, there would be a chance to kill Ma Cheng in the future.

"Master, since this is the case, the old slave thinks that loyal generals should be cultivated in the army, Ma Cheng's new army can fight, but the number is too small, and there are still a large number of generals in the army who are loyal to the master! There is also the reduction of Ma Shiying's rights, such a two-pronged approach will definitely weaken the power of the Ma family's father and son, how to deal with it at that time Isn't it just a word from the master? ”

Zhu Lunkui nodded again and again when he heard Lu Jiude say this, fortunately, the court is not monolithic now, although Ma Shiying can dominate the government, but the Donglin Party is not completely powerless, if you add the support of the emperor, then the Donglin Party and Ma Shiying will become evenly matched, so that Zhu Lunkui, as the emperor, can be balanced in the middle.

Zhu Lunkui listened to Lu Jiude and said in a low voice: "Okay, Lu Da accompanies you to invite Qian Qianyi, just."

Say I have something to say to him! ”

Lu Jiude got the emperor's order and went out of the Qianqing Palace to invite Qian Qianyi into the palace.

Ma Cheng didn't realize at this time that his meaningless move had provoked the emperor to deal with him. Ma Cheng rode back to Xi'an Gate to join his own soldiers, this time Ma Cheng wanted to go home and clean up Ma Xi.

The heavy losses of the new army this time can be said to be completely Ma Xi's responsibility, plus Ma Cheng didn't like Ma Xi in the first place, so this time Ma Cheng really killed Ma Xi.

Ma Cheng returned to the Ma Mansion in Chaotian Palace, and when the guards saw Ma Cheng coming back, they stepped forward one by one to pat the horses and loudly praised Ma Cheng's exploits. Ma Cheng had the heart to take care of these guys, asked his younger brother Ma Xi if he was at home, handed over the reins to the family, and walked into the house with his own soldiers with a horsewhip.

Ma Xi is not married now, and he still lives in the former courtyard, Ma Cheng did not call the door when he came to the courtyard, kicked the courtyard door open, and then swaggered in.

Ma Xi has been really frightened these days, he is afraid that his second brother will come to find trouble, so he has been hiding at home and not daring to go out. After a few days, Ma Xi found that no one cared about him, and thought that Ma Cheng had forgotten about him, so he thought that the disaster came to the door this afternoon, and Ma Cheng personally brought people here.

Ma Xi heard the movement outside the house, quickly pushed open the door to watch, and saw the menacing Ma Cheng walking in, Ma Xi knelt down in fright and shouted: "Second brother, second brother, listen to me!" At that time, the younger brother really had no choice, the city wall had been broken, and the younger brother's soldiers were also in chaos, the younger brother did not run away, but was ready to retreat to the northern city to organize his men to continue to resist! ”

Ma Xi said that the sky is falling, where can Ma Cheng believe him? Ma Cheng said to the soldiers behind him: "Arrest this guy!" ”

Ma Cheng's personal soldiers are all comrades-in-arms who follow Ma Cheng to fight to the death, and they are most disgusted with Ma Xi's death-fearing ghost who escapes from the battle, and when he heard Ma Cheng say this, he stepped forward to grab Ma Xi, and then pressed and knelt in front of Ma Cheng.

Ma Cheng got angry when he saw this bastard brother, waved the whip in his hand and flew up and down, beating Ma Xi to crawl all over the ground like a dead dog. After venting, Ma Cheng pulled out his waist knife and prepared to correct this bastard brother on the spot at home.

Ma Xi originally thought that he would definitely have to suffer some flesh and skin, but he didn't expect Ma Cheng to kill himself, Ma Xi was frightened and shouted: "Dad! Eldest brother! Ma Cheng wants to kill me, come and save me! ”

Seeing Ma Xi's appearance, Ma Cheng scolded angrily: "You bastard, do you know how many brothers you deliberately killed in vain? An Zhenxi and Xue Gui both died in the hands of the Tartars, how can you deal with your dead brother if you don't kill you today? ”

Ma Cheng was about to do it after speaking, and at this time, a majestic voice outside the far gate shouted: "Ma Cheng, are you crazy?" Why do you have to use knives and guns at home? ”

Ma Cheng turned around and saw that it was his own son Ma Shiying, Ma Cheng said angrily: "Dad, don't worry about this matter, if it weren't for Ma Xi, a bastard, who escaped, would so many people have died in the Battle of Dongcheng?" Today, my son is going to clean up the portal for the Ma family and kill this bastard! ”

Although Ma Xi is Ma Shiying's concubine, he is also his own son after all, as a father, where can Ma Shiying watch his brothers fight in the same room? So Ma Shiying walked quickly in front of Ma Cheng, blocked Ma Xi with his body, and then scolded: "Ma Cheng, he is your younger brother, why do you dare to kill your own brother in front of your father?" ”