Emperor Zhu Youzhen wanted to retire from the court in advance to think about how to deal with the wave of impeachment of Yang Hongzhang by the courtiers headed by Yang Sichang, and he knew that those who supported Yang Hongzhang now had nothing to do, and it would take time.

Sure enough, everyone was about to retreat, and a little eunuch quietly came to Sun Chengzong's side, muttered a few words, and then the two of them went in the direction of Dongnuan Pavilion. In the East Warm Pavilion, the young emperor and the elderly Shoufu looked at each other, and the two sighed at the same time.

"Elder Ge, Yang Hongzhang can't just fall, Datong needs him, Daming needs him, you have to think of a way." Zhu Youzhen was the first to break the silence and said anxiously.

"Your Majesty, this son didn't do things so perversely before, and he was spoiled by the emperor, Your Majesty, after this incident, you need to carefully consider Yang Hongzhang's promotion and use, it's easy to get carried away when you are young and in a high position, it's not a good thing."

"Elder Ge. Do you know that when Yang Hongzhang was in prison, he told me about the dangers of Shanxi merchants, and he also said conclusively that Dolgon and Yue Tuo led troops to invade from Qiangziling and Qingshan Pass, and it was Shanxi merchants who gave my Ming defense map to Jiannu. So in his eyes, those Shanxi businessmen who sell goods to outside the country are traitorous spies, so should they be polite to spies? ”

Sun Chengzong sighed again, this young emperor actually did things similar to Yang Hongzhang, so he persuaded: "Your Majesty, officials don't compete with the people for profit, even if they really write that the merchant betrayed the information to Jiannu, then he can't detain all the goods he wants, and he also got out a deposit for bail pending trial, isn't this the truth?" ”

"Ge Lao, according to what you say, then Yang Hongzhang is not saved? Don't forget that the Mongol Tatars have just ravaged Datong, and if he leaves, maybe Jiannu will also go south from Datong this winter. Zhu Youzhen was also anxious when he saw Sun Chengzong's tone.

"Your Majesty, Rong Laochen thinks about it, if it really doesn't work, just change places or downgrade, Shanxi businessmen have something to do with so many people in the court, you can't let Yang Hongzhang roast on the volcano."

"Elder Ge, do you know about this too? I said that it was strange, no one said anything about the matter of Juyong Pass for so long, because it only involved the imperial court and the guards of Juyong Pass. Now Yang Hongzhang wants to move Shanxi businessmen and move their interests, so he can't sit still, which shows that Yang Hongzhang is doing the right thing. ”

"Having said that, how can Yang Hongzhang block the mouths of the people without dealing with it? If the commanders of the border towns or the governors and governors follow suit in the future, won't the court be chaotic? Thinking about it, Yang Hongzhang is not a person who is greedy for money, these money will either be returned to others, and if it has been used, the court promises to compensate, and it will be okay to think about these businessmen. As for the border checkpoints, it's okay to make a show, if you really want to cut off trade, Daming will also be affected. ”

After listening, Zhu Youzhen fell into deep thought, in Yang Hongzhang's plan, restricting Shanxi merchants and encircling Mongolia are two very important links, coupled with the geographical location of Datong, he is really not at ease when this Datong general army is replaced by others. It's just that the young Yang Hongzhang is indeed not as stable as Hong Chengchou, Lu Xiangsheng and others, but I think that if Yang Hongzhang, who is in his early twenties, is as stable as the forty-year-old Lu Xiangsheng, isn't it a monster?

originally expected Sun Chengzong to protect Yang Hongzhang, but this old man obviously just didn't want to beat Yang Hongzhang to death with a stick, but he also advocated teaching him a lesson.

After thinking about it, Zhu Youzhen found Yang Hongzhang's two secret folds and handed them to Sun Chengzong, Sun Chengzong frowned at first, but when he saw that it was Yang Hongzhang's note, he suddenly felt strange, because as the first assistant, he had never seen these two secret folds, especially Yang Hongzhang had been sacking Juyong Pass for so long, it was impossible for him to miss such an important note, could it be that he was really old.

After reading the contents of the secret fold, it was Sun Chengzong's turn to fall into deep thought, and Zhu Youzhen broke the silence again: "Many things are actually my responsibility, I told Yang Hongzhang that it is not easy to be the general soldier of Datong, and some things can be decided on the spot." In fact, so far Yang Hongzhang, the general soldier of Datong, has done quite well, it is said that Yanggao County has been completely repaired, and the next thing is to repair Datong City, which is completed without even the prefect of Datong taking office. ”

Sun Chengzong fell silent, he could understand the reason why the young emperor valued Yang Hongzhang, such a capable minister in his early twenties who was both civil and military was indeed rare, the key was that her record against the Manchu cavalry was too proud, which helped to boost the morale of the entire Ming army, but it was precisely because of this that Yang Hongzhang's arrogance was caused.

After a long time, Sun Chengzong got up to say goodbye, and Zhu Youzhen returned to the harem sullenly, and Queen Zhou smiled when she saw it: "Your Majesty, which unsightly courtier has annoyed our emperor?" ”

"Yang Hongzhang, that bastard!" Zhu Youzhen replied.

Hearing this, Queen Zhou was stunned for a moment, and then smiled: "What's wrong with the emperor, the concubines often hear the emperor praise Yang Hongzhang, what's wrong today?" Besides, isn't Yang Hongzhang in Datong? Could it be that he has returned to Beijing? ”

Zhu Youzhen sat down on the recliner prepared by Empress Zhou in advance, glanced at Empress Zhou, and then said, "Empress, are you talking about whether this Yang Hongzhang is a bastard......

After listening to Zhu Youzhen's description, Empress Zhou was silent.

Zhu Youzhen asked: "Queen, you should tell me, now that Yang Sichang and others are staring at him closely, what should I do?" ”

Empress Zhou shook her head and smiled: "The concubine is a woman, how do you know the battles of your men's previous dynasty." ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at Queen Zhou, who was smart and sensible, and always paid attention to proportion, and said: "It's okay, just tell me, this Yang Hongzhang is different from ordinary people, I am really a contradiction." ”

Empress Zhou glanced at her tired husband and said: "Your Majesty, the concubine heard that the emperor used to talk about this Yang Hongzhang, it seems that he is not a reckless man, he used to be a showman, and the emperor also gave him a Jinshi background because of his governing strategy." Now these three things are not like what Yang Hongzhang did that the concubine heard about before, I think there must be a reason for it, why don't the emperor wait, or send someone to ask and see how he defends himself? ”

Hearing this, Zhu Youzhen's eyes lit up, the emperor pretended to be sick and dragged some hesitant things and it was not invented by him Zhu Youzhen, and it was not the first time for him himself, he had used it on Yang Hongzhang's issue, so he laughed loudly: "It's still the queen's method, I want to see how this bastard defends himself." ”

Emperor Zhu Youzhen said that he had dropped out of the dynasty due to illness in people's expectations, but this made those imperial historians even more excited, which showed that the emperor was at a loss, and they would definitely win with one blow just when they returned to the court.

Two days passed in anticipation from all sides, and on the third day, the emperor finally went to court, and as soon as the ministers stood still, there was a royal history who jumped out and prepared to continue the unfinished battle of the previous two days.

Just without waiting for him to speak, Zhu Youzhen stood up from behind the dragon case with a smile, and then took out a book of recitals on the dragon case and handed it to Wang Chengen: "Show it to all the scholars." ”

Wang Chengen also ran down with a smile on his face and handed the chapter to Sun Chengzong, who was standing in the first row. Sun Chengzong opened the chapter with a puzzled expression, not understanding what good way the young emperor had found in the past two years of pretending to be sick.

However, when he opened the chapter and looked at it a few times, he was also surprised, and then his face showed the same smile as Zhu Youzhen, and from time to time he used his eyes to look at the emperor above and glanced at Yang Sichang behind him, which made Yang Sichang inexplicably uneasy.

Seeing this, the others also knew that something big must have happened, and this matter made the emperor and Shoufu feel happy, but it was estimated that it would make Yang Sichang unhappy, and soon Yang Sichang got the answer, because Sun Chengzong handed it to him after reading it.

Yang Sichang unfolded the chapter in doubt, and quickly glanced at it It was Yang Hongzhang's self-defense, this guy is getting longer and longer, and the chapter is not going through the cabinet, Yang Sichang thought in his heart whether this matter would wait for the next dynasty to talk to Sun Chengzong, even if he protects Yang Hongzhang again, this kind of behavior of directly bypassing the cabinet to write a chapter for the emperor is ignoring the cabinet.

But soon he was not in that mood, because Yang Hongzhang said in the chapter that because the Datong border army successfully cut off the food supply lines of the Mongolian Tatars and Jiannu, the young and yellow Mongols chose to raid Yanggao regardless of the time it took to graze the horses to raise fat. This is a direct testament to the traitorous behavior of those unscrupulous merchants and the impact of the crackdown on Mongolia and the Great Invitation.

The result of the Mongol raid was to destroy three checkpoints, and the border town of Datong suffered more than 1,500 casualties, which was expected by Yang Sichang, more than 10,000 Mongolian cavalry went south, and the people at the checkpoint would definitely not survive, but behind it was more than 3,000 Mongol deaths, and the Datong army harvested more than 700 war horses.

Yang Sichang has no time to look at the specific battle process behind, just the Mongolian cavalry died 3,000, this great credit can allow Yang Hongzhang to escape this catastrophe.

So Yang Sichang quickly handed the concert to Chen Xinjia behind him with an ugly face, Chen Xinjia saw the reaction of the two scholars, and guessed that it was probably related to Yang Hongzhang, but when he really saw the concert, he was relieved, looking at the confessions of those Shanxi businessmen attached to the back of the concert, Chen secretly slandered in his heart, this is the Yang Hongzhang he knows.

With these confessions, coupled with the timing of the Mongols' southward journey, it is feared that no one will believe them if there are no Mongol spies present among these merchants.

So the question goes back to the charges of Yang Hongzhang discussed a few days ago, Yang Hongzhang decisively and promptly cut off the channels for spies to send grain and other strategic materials to the outside world, and detained some suspected illegal businessmen. As the two commanders, the General Military Office convened a defense meeting, and they shirked on the grounds that they could not leave their posts without permission, but now they want to openly provoke the officials for the accounts of these illegal businessmen who are suspected of being spies, and they have forgotten the express order that the military cannot leave their posts without permission.

Then it is logical for Yang Hongzhang, as the commander-in-chief, to detain two commanders who left their posts without permission, provoked superiors, and accepted bribes.

The only problem is that Yang Hongzhang sacked the strategic materials of Juyongguan, but in front of the great merit of killing 3,000 Mongolian Tatars, I am afraid that this page will be over.