Shi Heng led 2,000 men and horses to escort more than 200 Mongolian captives to Beijing, but when he arrived in the capital, there were only five people available around him, including his nephew Shi Biao, who was strong in his spirits and endured diarrhea before accompanying him to continue north.

When this situation was quickly reported to the capital by the people of Jinyiwei, it really made the Manchu officials greatly relieved. At the same time, many people began to play Shi Heng's idea again, once he lost the protection of the border army, the officials naturally had to settle the accounts with him one by one.

However, these impeachment of Shi Heng's various lawless deeds are still sent to the palace like a mud cow into the sea without reaction, the Son of Heaven is sick in bed at this time because of the death of the prince, and even the early dynasty has been broken for several days, how can it be possible to react to these impeachments, which makes the ministers can only endure for the time being.

When Lu Zhen accompanied Shi Heng to the capital, this was the situation in the court, and when Shi Hou Ye ran to the military department to hand over the order, he secretly heard a lot of people's criticism, which made him more and more unhappy in his heart. But in such a situation, he could only hold it down for the time being and endure all kinds of ridicule and ridicule.

Soon after, a decree came out in the palace, announcing that Shi Heng would enter the palace to meet the Son of Heaven, which surprised many officials, and was full of expectations for the next thing - to mention that since the death of the crown prince, the Son of Heaven's condition has not improved, and he almost never sees foreign ministers, and he will announce his audience as soon as Shi Heng arrives in the capital, which shows that his status in the emperor's heart is really unusual. However, in the eyes of many people, maybe Shi Heng will be directly removed from office because of his previous mistakes, so that there will be a hidden danger for the imperial court.

Not only did the courtiers think so, but Shi Heng himself was also full of worries about this, so when he entered the palace, his face was full of worry and panic, and when he came to the Son of Heaven, he knelt directly on the ground, but he didn't even dare to raise his head: "The criminal minister Shi Heng knocked on Your Majesty, may my emperor live long live, long live!" ”

Zhu Qiyu, who was sitting behind the imperial case with a strong spirit, looked at Shi Heng kneeling in front of him with complicated eyes, and his heart was mixed. When those news came from outside the palace, especially when he knew that Shi Heng dared to lead the border army to Beijing in a vain attempt to intimidate the court with soldiers and horses, he really wanted to kill this person to calm the world.

However, when Shi Heng really came to him and put on such a docile and docile appearance, the emperor hesitated in his heart. Especially when he saw that Shi Heng's hair was also gray, he thought of all the dangers and hardships he had worked in the border pass over the years, so that the Son of Heaven didn't know whether to ask him about his crimes, or to comfort this border guard first.

In fact, in the final analysis, it was because the emperor had a lot of trust in Shi Heng, so it was extremely difficult to make a decision.

After kneeling for a long time, the emperor didn't speak and question, which made Shi Heng's nervous mood ease a little, and he knew that he still had a chance to redeem it, so he quickly made a certain decision. And at this moment, the emperor had already spoken: "Shi Qing, you get up and talk first, you came from afar, and you were kneeling hard." ”

Sure enough, the attitude of the Son of Heaven is not resolute! Shi Heng, who understood this, was even more energetic, and after thanking him, he deliberately slowly got up from the ground, as if it was very hard. Sure enough, as soon as the emperor saw his movements, he asked with concern, "Shi Qing, why are you moving so slowly?" Do you remember how neat you were back then? ”

"Your Majesty forgives the sin, the minister is no longer what he was back then. It is very cold in the north, and it is often necessary to bring troops out to fight, and it is inevitable that the root cause of the disease will fall after a few years. In fact, if he hadn't felt anything a few years earlier, he was nearly fifty years old, and his body was not as big as before, so he ...... His Majesty was disappointed. Shi Heng hurriedly explained with a face full of shame.

When the emperor heard this, his face added a little embarrassment and emotion: "I see, so I am tired of Shi Qing." ”

"Your Majesty, you don't dare to be a minister, as a courtier of Your Majesty, even if it is a horse leather shroud, it is a matter of course, let alone just bring such a small pain. As long as you can guard the frontier for Your Majesty and for my Ming Dynasty, and keep a place of peace, what is the matter if the old bones of the minister are all thrown away in Datong? ”

"Shi Qing is really a pillar of optimus in the northern Xinjiang of my Ming Dynasty!" The Emperor was moved again and praised him. For a moment, he forgot what his real purpose was in bringing Shi Heng into the palace: "In this way, in the past few years, the Mongolian people in the north still refuse to stop, and there are times when they break the border?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty's words, it is exactly like this, in less than half a year this year alone, there have been no less than five wars of Tartars on the border. Fortunately, all my Daming border towns have been guarded against, and they have been blessed by His Majesty, so not only did they not suffer much damage after a few battles, but also won a few small victories, and the number of prisoners alone was nearly 500. This time, the minister was ordered to go to Beijing to report on his work, so he escorted some of them over, so as to raise the prestige of our border army and let the officials and people in the capital know that we did not have a vegetarian meal. Shi Heng took the opportunity to flaunt his credit.

Unexpectedly, he reminded the emperor of this, and his originally happy face suddenly became a little gloomy: "Shi Qing, this time the court ordered you to go back to Beijing to report on your work, why did you dare to come with two thousand military horses regardless of the rules, is it really as others said, do you have the heart of disobedience?" As he spoke, he fixed his eyes on the other man's face.

Shi Heng's heart tightened, and he immediately knelt down again, kowtowed, and said, "Your Majesty, the minister is wronged!" Even if the minister is crazy, he will never dare to be disobedient to His Majesty and to my Ming Dynasty. Your Majesty has a high mountain and deep grace to your minister, and the minister has already made an oath to keep the border safe for His Majesty in this life, how can he have such a rebellious idea? ”

"Really? Then why did you bring these 2,000 people to Beijing? In the past, unless the court called it, there had never been a border general who dared to break the rules like this! Although the emperor's heart has softened a little, he still has to ask clearly.

"Your Majesty, one of the reasons why the ministers have arranged this way is to ensure the safety of coming to the capital. After all, this time the minister escorted more than 200 Tartar captives, and it was difficult to guarantee that they would not cause trouble in the middle of the road, and with these two thousand men and horses watching, they could naturally be safe. In addition, the minister's actions are actually for the sake of the defenders of the capital......"

"What do you mean by that?" The Emperor asked, somewhat puzzled.

Shi Heng didn't feel certain in his heart, as long as the emperor was willing to follow his own train of thought and ask, he would have a lot to do: "In fact, over the years, although the minister is in the borderland, he has always been paying attention to the situation of the officers and troops of my Daming Guard in various parts of the Central Plains. As a result, I found that a few years of peace had already made my Ming army abandoned, and both combat strength and military discipline were worrisome. It is the three major battalions of the Beijing Division, and now it is not as good as before.

"The minister has seen with his own eyes the dangerous scene outside the capital of the Tartar army Chen Bing a few years ago, and he is worried that if this continues, once there is a mistake in the border pass, so that the Tartars will suddenly kill the Great Wall, then my Ming country will be dangerous. Although the minister will definitely do his best to ensure that the border is not lost, but the world is always unpredictable, what if there is a case?

"So the minister thought of changing the laziness of the officers and soldiers of the other guards, especially the garrison of the capital, which is related to the safety and survival of my Ming Dynasty and the safety of His Majesty, so I can't relax somewhat. Therefore, the minister thought of bringing these two thousand soldiers and horses to give the soldiers of the Beijing camp a model and let them know that they were inferior to the border army. ”

The emperor was stunned by what he said, and he couldn't imagine that Shi Heng was worried about the military affairs of the imperial court, so he would rush to Beijing with these many horses and horses in disregard of the rules. But then, he had a trace of doubt, looked at the other party and said, "Are you serious?" This is just to give a model to the soldiers of the Beijing camp? ”

Shi Heng hesitated slightly, and then kowtowed again: "Your Majesty forgives the sin, the minister does have a little more selfishness in it, because I am afraid that those adults in the court who have always looked at the ministers will be unfavorable to the ministers this time, and the ministers will ...... However, the minister can guarantee that the previous two reasons are the key, and I hope that His Majesty will know it. ”

As soon as he admitted this, it was easier to win the emperor's trust, Zhu Qiyu sighed, and then said: "You get up first, since your health is not good, don't kneel and kowtow at every turn, if you are really guilty, I will not spare you because you kowtow." ”

"Obey." Only then did Shi Heng get up with a little difficulty, waiting for the emperor's fall.

And the emperor also said after some contemplation: "Even if what you say is true, this matter is indeed a bit absurd, I still have to punish you severely, otherwise it will not be enough to see the truth straight, and it is also for the sake of the followers, so that other generals will not dare to do the same thing in the future." ”

"The minister understands that it was the minister's confusion that led to such a result, and the minister is willing to be punished." At this time, even if he was reluctant in his heart, Shi Heng could only admit it.

Just when the emperor opened his mouth to say the punishment he had thought of, he suddenly remembered something again, so he changed his face and changed the subject: "By the way, you didn't mention me and forgot about the previous incident. Do you know why the imperial court summoned you to Beijing at this time? ”

"This ......" Shi Heng chuckled in his heart, knowing that he couldn't hide after all, so he replied after hesitation: "If the minister remembers correctly, it should have something to do with the fraud case that happened in the capital a few months ago, right?" ”

"Not bad. The case itself was a conspiracy by several people to try to frame Lu Jin, the commander of the Jinyi Guard, but later it was found out that there were actually people under your account involved, how do you explain this matter? The Emperor asked, squinting his eyes.

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