The cold wind whistled outside the window, blowing the window paper rattling, but in the Qianqing Palace, there was a dead silence. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Looking at Yang Sichang and Xiong Wencan, who were kneeling on the ground in their eyes, Chongzhen suddenly felt that he felt an indescribable tiredness and weakness.

Li Xiao, Li Xiao, why did I appreciate you so much before, cared for you, and wanted to be a model of harmony with you through the ages, but now, why do I want to get into a situation where swords are rattling with each other.

Am I really wrong?

Or are you now, gradually turning against you because of the change of shape?

Chongzhen suddenly felt like a mess in his heart, as if something was blocked in his heart, he wanted to shout, wanted to scream, but couldn't say anything.

In the end, Chongzhen waved his hand weakly, letting Yang Sichang and Xiong Wencan retreat first.

When Yang Sichang withdrew from the hall, his throat surged, and he seemed to have something to say to Chongzhen, but Chongzhen waved his hand, signaling that he didn't have to say much, and Yang Sichang sighed and stepped back.

Emperor Chongzhen sat in the Qianqing Palace for a long time like a puppet, and finally sent an order to Cao Huachun, who was standing aside, and passed Liu Yuliang, the first assistant, to enter the palace to meet him.

Liu Yuliang, the first assistant who was working in Wenyuan Pavilion, heard the emperor's urgent summons, hurriedly entered the palace, and immediately knelt down.

"Minister Liu Yuliang, knock to see Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live long live."

"Aiqing is flat."

Liu Yuliang stood up, he quickly saw the worried face of Emperor Chongzhen on the dragon chair, and in his heart, he had already guessed what the emperor was worried about.

Liu Yuliang blinked, arched his hand and whispered: "Your Majesty summoned Weichen to come, but I want to ask Weichen, what do you think of Li Xiao, the Marquis of the East China Sea?" “

Chongzhen smiled bitterly: "Yes." Ji Long, as the first assistant, I summoned you today to hear your opinion. ”

Liu Yuliang's heart moved, but he still cautiously asked first: "Weichen's shallow and ugly views are afraid that there will be dirty saints." But I don't know if Your Majesty has ever consulted the Yang Pavilion and the Ministry of War, Xiong Shangshu? ”

Chongzhen waved his hand irritably, with a resentful expression: "Alas, of course I have asked them!" It's a pity that the two of them are all on Li Xiao's side and help him speak to excuse him, so I don't feel very worried, so I invite Aiqing to come and want to hear what you think. ”

After Chongzhen finished speaking, he briefly described the views and disposition of Yang Sichang and Xiong Wencan on Li Xiao just now.

What Chongzhen didn't expect was that after listening to Chongzhen's brief description, Liu Yuliang pounced and knelt on the ground again.

"Your Majesty, what Yang Gebu and Xiong Shangshu said, in the eyes of Weichen, is just a temporary move by Gou An, and in the long run, it is tantamount to raising a tiger." Liu Yuliang sighed and replied.

Liu Yuliang's words made Chongzhen's heart tremble, and he hurriedly said: "Why did Aiqing say this? ”

"Your Majesty, do you remember what Wechen said to Your Majesty before? No matter how worn out the hat is, it must be worn on the head, and no matter how gorgeous the shoes are, they should be worn under the feet. That Li Xiao, who was born only in a broken Orion in Liaodong, is fortunate to have His Majesty's insight and talent, and vigorously promoted, this person has to have today's high-ranking officials. It's a pity that this Li Xiao, so deeply blessed by the Holy Grace, is very honored, he doesn't want to repay the service, he turns his heart on the opposite side, he is bent on personal gain, and he is dissatisfied with the emperor and the court. “

A cold light of resentment flashed from Chongzhen's eyes.

Liu Yuliang paused and replied: "There is a way, under the whole world, it is not the king's land, and the shore of the land is not the king's minister." Li Xiao was young and became the Marquis of the East China Sea, which can be described as extremely honorable. Unexpectedly, after this person made his career, he was rampant and rebellious, and he was very domineering. First, in disregard of the ban of the imperial court, he sent troops to Sakhalin Island on his own to provoke the war. Later, he strictly refused to send officials from the imperial court to receive orders from Taiwan, and monopolized the land of Taiwan for personal gain. There are all kinds of shapes, which one is not the most paradoxical! If such a rebellious minister, the emperor will not punish him severely, but as Yang Gebu and others discussed, blindly conniving, closing his eyes and listening, Weichen dares to assert that in two years, after this Li Xiao's power becomes stronger and stronger, he will definitely become the second Kong Youde who will raise troops and make trouble! “

After Liu Yuliang finished speaking, Chongzhen's face was already miserable.

"I, I, I do have the intention to punish Li Xiao, but Wen Lian also said that if Li Xiao is lightly moved, I am afraid that he will rebel, and at that time, won't it be out of control?" Chongzhen muttered.

"Your Majesty, if you bluntly deprive Li Xiao of his military power and punish him for a serious crime, then Li Xiao can't guarantee that he won't jump off the wall in a hurry. But the minister thought that His Majesty could completely bend his intentions to cover his ears and eyes. When Liu Yuliang said this, a trace of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes: "From the minister's point of view, Li Xiao's army is maintained by one person, and if Li Xiao is eliminated, his army will naturally collapse." Therefore, as long as His Majesty uses a little trick and earns Li Xiao, Li Xiao will have no worries about the opposite. “

"Oh, what kind of plan do you want me to do, Ji Long, please elaborate."

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that Your Majesty can completely plan the plan, take advantage of the current rumors in the market, and summon that Li Xiao as the prince of the country, and then call him to the Beijing division to confer the knighthood, as long as Li Xiao enters the Beijing division, it is the dragon trapped in the shallows, and the tiger is away from the mountains and forests. At that time, His Majesty will send him to prison again, and at the same time send another person to Shandong to receive Li Xiao's inheritance, wouldn't it be a good plan? Liu Yuliang laughed darkly.

Chongzhen nodded slightly with a gloomy face, and then asked: "This plan is not bad, but if Li Xiao is weak-hearted and refuses to go to Beijing to receive the knighthood, what should he do?" ”

"Your Majesty, if he refuses to go to Beijing, his counter-argument will become more and more obvious. His Majesty may call him upon him to be transferred to another office. And in order to dispel his vigilance, the titles and official positions he transferred to the local area were the same as those of Dashan, so as to paralyze his heart. In the end, if he secretly decomposes his momentum and disintegrates his army, Li Xiaoshi will be alone and can be captured. ”

Chongzhen nodded, he brushed his beard and groaned for a while, and then said in a low voice: "Ji Long, if Li Xiao refuses to go to Beijing or make another adjustment, what should he do?" ”

Liu Yuliang snorted coldly and said in a deep voice: "If Li Xiaozhen is so rebellious and even refuses the Heavenly Order, then his anti-state is already a certainty." Then, if Li Xiao wants to completely tear his face with the imperial court like this, the imperial court can only immediately send troops to eliminate the traitor Li Xiao, so as to set an example, and make no more troubles. ”

"Oh, if that's the case, in your opinion, do I need to gather my forces and attack Dengzhou in Shandong with all my might?" Chongzhen frowned.

Liu Yuliang shook his head: "Definitely." In the opinion of the minister, it is a safe plan to sweep its branches and leaves first, and then draw its trunk. Doesn't Li Xiao still have more troops scattered in other places, but he can eradicate them first. “

Chongzhen sighed again and said hesitantly: "That being said, it's just that Li Xiao has sent a lot of troops to Huguang, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Datong to assist the officials and troops in various places to suppress bandits. ”

Liu Yuliang hurriedly said: "If Your Majesty is benevolent and lenient, he will not try to suppress bandits. But Li Xiao had a boundary, separated from his headquarters, and the emperor happened to take it down to establish his authority. ”

"Oh, where is it?"

"Xuanfu Town North Road, Jintang City." Liu Yuliang said word by word in a deep voice.

"Oh." Chongzhen nodded and stroked his beard, and after a long time, a ruthless color flashed in his eyes: "Okay, according to Qing's opinion, I will summon Li Xiao!" ”

The fifth day of the second month of the twelfth year of Chongzhen.

Li Xiao led a group of civil and military officials and generals in the Dengzhou official mansion to kneel down to listen to the edict sent by the imperial court, and the eunuch Wang's heart came to pass on the edict.

"Fengtian carrier, the emperor edict said: Li Xiao, the marquis of the East China Sea, has expanded the waves for thousands of miles, recovered the old domain of Kuwu, raised the prestige of the country in foreign countries, and accepted the people from afar as children. Li Xiao worked hard to seek governance, and he relied on the ministers of the humerus; Worship Chen Mo with his hands, and he will rely on the pillar of the court. help the chaos and fight the chaos, and list the high merits and who is what; Drive for the king, and sing the glory of the country. Hereby to evaluate the performance, read the performance but not praise it for the favor? I should follow the will of the emperor and reward him for his meritorious service, and I am specially promoted to Li Xiao and the Duke of Tang Guo, and awarded the title of Guanglu Doctor, and even gave him the honor of Shangzhu Kingdom, and then his eldest son is the son of the world, and his title will be passed down from generation to generation, and he will be replaced forever. His department has meritorious soldiers, and they all have preferential discussions. I Xi's fate is in the play, and the body and the country are flattened. I hope that Li Xiao, the general of the city, Wei Zhenyidi, deeply admires the Jun Lie of Yuan Rong, and Xuanhua Huaxia, and smokes it with Zhaolu cloth. Temporarily Xi Wu Ben, Jia Nai Pi Ji, entered Beijing to be sealed, in order to negotiate the will. Chin this. ”

When he heard that the emperor had really crowned himself as the title of the prince of the country, and it was hereditary replacement, Li Xiao's heart was quite shocked.

The officials and generals kneeling on the side were also greatly moved.

Li Xiao, who had read a little history of the Ming Dynasty in his previous life, still had a certain understanding of the dignity of this prince.

The Ming Dynasty was founded for more than 200 years, and only ten national princes were sealed in total, and there are still those who still exist, including Wei, Ding, Guizhou, Cheng and Ying. Now that Li Xiaojin was crowned the Duke of the country, and he was awarded the title of Doctor Guanglu and the Honor of the Pillar State, at least on the surface, the emperor was extremely honored and favored him, and there was no one in the dynasty.

In particular, the emperor also gave Li Xiao a title of Shangzhu, although it is said that Shangzhu is only a rank, but this rank is as scarce as a rarity.

Because, in the Ming Dynasty, plus the title of Zhu Guo, it is even more rare than being named a national duke, in the Ming Dynasty for more than 200 years, ten national dukes were sealed, and those who could be added to the Zhu State were only added to the Zhu State in the official history, and even a generation of famous ministers Zhang Juzheng were posthumously gifted to the Shangzhu State. Even the founding marshal Xu Da, when he reached the peak of his personal honor, was only in the Zuozhu country. It is precisely because the honorary title of Shangzhu State is so rare that even Yan Song, who was powerful all over the world back then, did not dare to accept the title of Shangzhu State given by Emperor Jiajing.

Of course, in the Southern Ming Dynasty, the emperor in order to win over the military leaders from all over the country, led to the abuse of celebrities, and eventually became as many as dogs, and the princes were all over the place.

It's just that Li Xiao quickly thought in his heart that the emperor could still give himself the title of Duke of the Kingdom so generously after he was very faceless and strictly refused to arrange for officials to intervene in Taiwan, and he was deeply suspicious.

There is a way that there must be a demon when things go wrong, and the court seals itself like this, I'm afraid it's not that simple.

The heart of the eunuch Wang, who was as fat as a pig, took a few breaths after reading this long holy decree, and then preached loudly: "Tang Guogong Li Xiao, take the decree." ”

"Minister, Li Xiao, take the order and thank you."

Li Xiao, who had a solemn face, slowly received the holy decree from Wang Xinxin's hand.

Wang Zhixin smiled and helped Li Xiao up: "Tang Guogong, congratulations to our family, Tang Guogong is so young, but he is in a high position of Guogong, which really makes our family envious and admired." ”

Li Xiao said with a smile: "My father-in-law praised it falsely, how can Li have any virtues, how can he make the emperor so trusted, and I am really ashamed in my heart." But I don't know that this father-in-law, his surname? ”

After Wang Zhixin reported to his family, Li Xiao realized that this person was Wang Zhixin, a famous eunuch who was known as a notoriety in the history of the Ming Dynasty and greedy for money and goods.

Wang Zhixin is a eunuch at the end of the Ming Dynasty, where the hometown is no longer examinable, this person from Chongzhen four years ago, because of climbing Cao Huachun's thick legs and made a career, since September of that year as the supervisor of the army in the association. Later, he led the Dongchang factory, arrested the wrongs, and used torture to extort a large amount of money, so as to make a fortune, and with his own power, he got a hundred households of his younger brother and nephew.

According to historical records, among the eunuch families in the late Ming Dynasty, Wang Zhixin's family was the most luxurious, but this person was a miser and extremely stingy.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Li Zicheng invaded Beijing, because of the lack of military equipment in Beijing, Chongzhen issued a donation order: "All officials who donate salaries will be added to the official ranks." Wang Zhixin hesitated for many days, and was forced by Cao Huachun to reluctantly scrape together 10,000 yuan, in the words of the history books, that is, "This silver is handed over, like ten thousand cone piercing the heart." ”

After Li Zicheng entered Beijing, he began to vigorously pursue stolen goods and forced wages, and the heart of the rich and famous Wang was imprisoned and tortured, and he was required to donate money vigorously to redeem himself. At the same time, Li Zicheng set a share for him, asking him to make up at least 300,000 taels of silver before he could let him go home. But at this time, Wang Zhixin, because the Dashun army had looted its mansion after breaking the city, he really couldn't make up the 300,000 taels of silver, and was finally killed alive by the angry Liu Zongmin, and his brain and blood flowed all over the ground.

However, Li Xiao quickly recovered from the reverie of history, and said to Wang Zhixin with a smile: "My father-in-law came from afar to announce the decree, and the road was hard. ”

When Wang Zhixin heard this, the smile on his face suddenly became more and more brilliant: "Tang Guogong has a heart, and his affection is sincere, if our family does not accept it, it will be disrespectful." ”

Li Xiao laughed, and then ordered someone to send 500 taels of snowflake pattern silver to Wang Zhixin to accept. The rest of the retinue also had their own rewards according to their ranks, so everyone was pleased.

Wang Zhixin, who was greedy for money and good goods, was extremely happy after receiving Li Xiao's 500 taels of silver and dazzling snowflakes of silver. He said to Li Xiao with a smile: "Tang Guogong, the emperor said that he wants our family to take Tang Guogong back to Beijing, and then the emperor will personally confer the title of Guogong in front of Zongmiao, which is a proper courtesy." Please ask Tang Guogong to get ready and return to the capital with our family as soon as possible. ”

Wang Zhixin didn't notice it, but in Li Xiao's eyes, a cold light flashed.

However, on the surface, he did not show any abnormality, but smiled and bowed to Wang Zhixin: "This matter is not urgent, and let Bengong make preparations, and it is not too late to make a decision." ”

Li Xiao's words made Wang Zhixin a little confused, but he didn't think so much at this time, and then under Li Xiao's arrangement, he went to the pavilion for the time being.

After Wang Zhixin and the others left, Li Xiao and his two henchmen, Chen Zilong and Jiang Yueguang, entered the secret room to discuss together.

"Tang Guogong, please forgive me for speaking bluntly, the students think that Guogong will go to the capital, I am afraid that there will be many disadvantages." Chen Zilong said with a worried face: "The Duke of the Kingdom previously violated the will of the imperial court and strictly refused the imperial court to get involved in my Taiwan, but now, instead of holding him accountable, the imperial court has given him the title of the Duke of the Nation. ”

The same is true below. There is a way that if you want to take it, you must give it first. I am afraid that the imperial court is just using the title of duke of this country as a bait to lure Lord Li to the capital. My lord is going, in the next view, it is really like a tiger leaving the mountains and forests, and the dragon is leaving the sea, but I am afraid that it will be more auspicious and less auspicious. Jiang Yueguang stroked his beard with a worried look.

Li Xiao looked around at the two of them, a light smile crossed his lips, and he sighed lightly: "The worries of the two of you, my father's heart, I think it is true. The ancients counted on the Yangtze River incense bait to be stable, who knew that the fishing hook in the secret was not deceived by me. ”