The vassal king is messing around in his own vassal country, and everything can be ignored, but he can train private soldiers but must not be indulged.

Zhou Yanru received Zhang Jimeng's secret report, and was a little suspicious, but after thinking about it, he decided to privately inform Wang Dehua, the eunuch of the ceremonial eunuch and the governor of Dongchang, and asked him to secretly send Dongchang to Shu.

When Wang Dehua heard this, he was immediately taken aback. However, when the East Factory was sent to Shudi, Wang Dehua insisted that it was impossible. The vassal king is different from the feudal minister, it is the royal bloodline. The emperor didn't know and didn't express his position, and Dongchang secretly visited the vassal king, and if he didn't get it right, it was a crime of "separating relatives".

Wang Dehua refused to take responsibility, and Zhou Yanru, as the first assistant, had to report to the emperor by himself. Just when the forecast was not reported, he received a joint performance from Liao Daheng and Liu Zhibo, and knew what happened:

The war in northern Sichuan is urgent, and Sichuan has neither soldiers to send nor food to support. The two stations and the three divisions had nothing to do, so they had to ask the Shu Wangfu and the gentry in Sichuan to donate silver and salaries, and recruit their children and slaves Zhuang Ding to fight the thieves. The Shu Wangfu was forced by the situation, and even more forced by the government, so he had no choice but to transfer some of the left guards and Wang Zhuang Zhuangding, and the servants of the gentry's house to form a righteous army and go to northern Sichuan to defend.

I see!

The truth was revealed, and Zhou Yanru was completely relieved. In addition to being relieved, he completely lost trust in Zhang Jimeng, a fellow party member of Donglin. But Zhang Jimeng is not only Donglin, but also an important force to contain Liao Daheng, so he must use it, and he must reuse it.

During this time, Zhou Yanru's vigilance against Zhu Pingjin only stopped at instructing his subordinate officials to report to Shu Di seriously, and if there was anything unusual, he would report it at any time, and he could not talk about military countermeasures. From the bottom of his heart, he didn't believe that the Shu Wangfu would rebel at all.

The Shu Wangfu is known as a virtuous name in the world's palaces, how could it rebel?

Shu officials and troops gathered, there are main armies and guest troops, and there is only one left guard in the Shu Wangfu who has been evacuated by the government, so why rebel?

Even if the son of Shu is really the reincarnation of a fortune boy, but he has a lot of money, how can he make the world rebel?

How capable can a fifteen-year-old doll who has not been aware of the world have? Zhou Yanru is known as a prodigy in the land of Jiangnan literature. But if he had come up with a way to rebel at the age of fifteen, he would never have been able to.

Besides, the Shu government is very beautiful to the Shu Wangfu, saying that the Shu Wangfu took the lead in fundraising and helping the righteous army; Be sympathetic to the people's feelings and reduce or exempt the rent. Even after the emperor received the report of Huang Jin and Li Cunliang from Qincha, he also praised the palace of the king of Shu again and again:

THE IMPERIAL COURT USED TO SPEND THE DAY (JIAN), THE CLAN ZONGLU WAS IN SHORT SUPPLY, AND THE SHU CHINESE BURIAL DID NOT USE TAICANG SILVER AND INTERNAL MONEY, BUT DONATED THOUSANDS OF SILVER TO THE IMPERIAL COURT, WHICH IS REALLY RARE FOR THIS LOYALTY!

The emperor's family is still there, why bother with the Shu Domain?

Zhou Yanru thought about his heart and couldn't help but be distracted. There were words coming from inside the hall, and he didn't notice it at all.

Before Xie Sheng, the second assistant beside Zhou Yanru, could remind him, a young eunuch had already walked to him with a whisk in his hand, and he came to his senses.

"Old Zhou Ge is worried about state affairs, our family really admires it!" The young eunuch praised Zhou Yanru with a deep smile, and then shouted at He Fengsheng: "The emperor knows that He Ge Lao is deaf, so he specially ordered our family to come close, Xuan Zhou Ge Lao, Xie Ge Lao, and He Ge Lao enter the palace!" ”

"Ah, Princess. Thank you very much! ”

Zhou Yanru hurriedly thanked him. was about to lead the two secondary assistants to the hall, but when he saw He Fengsheng, a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, immediately came to the ground with a five-body body, he choked up and shouted:

"Your Majesty Longen, it's hard to repay your ministers!"

He Fengsheng is a native of Jiangxia, and Xiong Tingbi, a famous minister in Liaodong who died unjustly in prison, is a classmate of the same village.

When he was young, his family was poor, he had a high fever and had no medicine to eat, and as a result, he burned his ears, so he was called a deaf man. Later, he was still poor, so he had to take a servant to Yingcheng to teach and make a living, leaving his wife Wei at home to serve his parents.

In the last years of Wanli, He Fengsheng, who had been repeatedly defeated in the field, finally came to operate, won the top spot, and was awarded Hanlin for editing.

In the eunuch field where sewage flows, He Fengsheng is upright, not a powerful person, diligent and thrifty, honest and cautious. Last year, Zhou Yanru went to Beijing to take up his post, and there were dozens of boats of small servants in the family, and there was an endless stream of people delivering letters and gifts. At the same time, He Fengsheng Qingzhou Yiye, followed him several miles away, and no one knew that it was He Xianggong.

He Fengsheng's gratitude to the emperor was not deliberate, but from the heart. Zhou Yanru knew it, but he still didn't like it.

You show your loyalty at the Zhengdan ceremony, isn't it lining our disloyalty?

It's just that the young eunuch Wang Chengen in front of him is the emperor's close attendant, and he can't have a seizure, so he has to watch He Fengsheng's performance with a smile, and wait patiently for him to get up by himself.

At this time, Xie Sheng, who had not spoken, spoke loudly in a long voice with a thick Shandong accent: "Elder He Ge, let's go!" The emperor is still waiting for us! ”

Xie Sheng, a native of Dezhou, Shandong, has just turned 70 this year, with a long silver-white beard on his slender chin. He was cautious all his life, just did things, never intervened in party disputes, and after decades of career, he finally became a very popular minister. Zhou Yanru heard that Xie Sheng was interested in Zhishi, but the emperor recently had some opinions on those officials who were eager to become officials, so Xie Sheng was forced to stay in the position of auxiliary minister.

Xie Sheng, who was highly respected, said strange things, and was finally heard by He Deaf. He Fengsheng got up from the ground with a grunt, wiped his sleeves, brushed away the tears in his eyes, and followed Wang Chengen and Zhou Yanru into the majestic and grand Imperial Palace.

The three of them entered, leaving a row of distant figures on a gloomy face.

This person is the second assistant of the cabinet, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites and a scholar of Dongge University, and Chen Yan, the richest man in Jingyan who is in the cotton business with the Weaving Bureau of the Shu Wangfu (Note 1).

……

The original name of the Huangji Hall is Fengtian Palace, commonly known as the Jinluan Palace, which is a large hall with a yellow glazed tile heavy eaves and a top hall with a width of eleven rooms.

This glorious hall has been burned and built again and again, and it is no longer what it was originally like.

In Zhu Pingjin's previous life, the Huangji Hall was changed to the Taihe Hall by the Braided Emperor, and the subsequent Zhongji Hall and the Jianji Hall were also changed to the Zhonghe Hall and the Baohe Hall accordingly.

Some people have excavated endless deep meanings from the renaming of the Huangji Hall to the Taihe Palace, such as "reflecting the core values of 'harmony' in traditional Chinese culture", "seeking the innate basis of 'harmony' from the foundation of heaven and earth of 'the unity of heaven and man'", etc., which are disgusting to read and disgusting to think.

These people who were eager to wash the floor for the Braided Emperor knew the endless deep meaning, but the Braided Emperor didn't know.

When the Huangji Hall was renamed by the Braided Emperor, the Han people in the south and Sichuan were putting up desperate resistance and waging a desperate struggle. The Braided Emperor urgently needed a political statement to deceive the Ming relics.

The Han nation may not be able to change the historical fate of being ruled and enslaved, but the Han nation is still practicing the true core values of a great nation with its own life and blood.

That is, "it is better to be broken than to be complete"!

……

"Three elders, you don't have to pay homage to Your Majesty, please stand eastward!"

Wang Chengen smiled and led Zhou Yanru and the other three to the position where they should stand, which was under the treasure platform, on the left side of the main hall. When they enter the Hajj, they stand on the left side, while the military attachés and the nobles of the Lord of the Warriors stand on the right side.

Zi said: "If a gentleman lives on the left, he will be on the right, and if he uses soldiers, he will be on the right; Good things are still left, and evil things are still right. ”

Standing on the left side of the temple is no problem. It's just that when they enter the palace, they naturally have to face the emperor, how can they give the emperor a cold shoulder to watch? Besides, when you see Your Majesty, how can you stand up and not bow down?

What kind of etiquette is this?

Zhou Yanru pretended not to know, but Xie Sheng and He Fengsheng really didn't know. The three of them stood with real and fake, suspicious and surprised eyes, and saw the emperor smiling and holding the pale prince, walking down from the throne and standing in front of them.

The emperor smiled, and said solemnly:

"The ancient Holy Emperors and Ming Kings all admired the Tao of their teachers. Wait, my teacher. Zongshe is peaceful, but Mr. Zhu is Lai! ”

After the emperor finished speaking, he actually took a deep look at the three of them! And the young crown prince Zhu Cihong even knelt and bowed.

It turned out to be an apprenticeship!

Now all three of them understood.

The emperor is publicly announcing to the world: the emperor has pinned his hopes for saving the country on the three of them!

National security, the three of them have a powerful role in turning the tide.

The country is destroyed, and the three of them bear the brunt of becoming scapegoats!

……

Since Fu Zonglong's death in Xiangcheng in September last year, the situation in Henan and Huguang has continued to deteriorate.

Shangshui, Fugou, Weichuan (EI, now Weichuan Town, Weishi County), Xuzhou, Changge, and Yexian were lost successively, and Liu Guoneng committed suicide.

At the beginning of November, Nanyang, an important town in southern Henan, fell, and the Tang king Zhu Yuyi (MO) was captured and executed, and the general soldiers were as fierce as a tiger and Liu Guangzuo were killed in battle.

Subsequently, Dengzhou, Xiangcheng, Zhenping, Xinye, Tangxian, Miyang, Wuyang, Ruzhou, Xuzhou, Yuzhou, Xinzheng, Yanling, Weishi, Tongxu, Chenliu and other prefectures and counties were lost one after another.

Yuzhou was lost, and King Hui died. This is already the fourth relative to die at the hands of the thieves. At that time, when the cabinet saw the Tang newspaper, they knew that Kaifeng City was going to experience a second catastrophe. Sure enough, a few days ago, Henan Feiqi rushed to Beijing, and Kaifeng Mansion was surrounded by thieves again!

The emperor pinned his hopes on the three of them. But can the three of them tell the emperor that they have no ability to save the country at all!

At present, there are constant wars in various places, and there are 13 provinces directly under the north and south of the country, which province does not have bandits and thieves? Which province has not had a catastrophe? Which province does not have dying displaced people?

Soldiers are being asked for everywhere, salaries are being cut everywhere, but the silver and grain that can be transported into the capital are a drop in the bucket!

To break the siege of Feng, the generals who want soldiers and salaries and dare to lead the troops into battle are not afraid of death, but they don't have the same. The last bit of elite and the last bit of reserve of the country were all buried by Hong Chengchou in Songshan.

In the past, the old method of levying taxes was always able to snatch a little food from the hands of the people who were on the verge of starvation. But the old way doesn't work anymore. Raising taxes will have no practical effect other than to get more people to join the rebel army!

The emperor bowed down and forced these three people into a corner. They were ashamed and ashamed, and their faces were flushed.

What to do? All three of them were thinking about rhetoric.

But that's not all. The emperor stared at Zhou Yanru, who was in the lead, and it was another series to the end:

"I listen to Mr. in the world!"

……

Everything that happened in the main hall could not be seen or heard by the middle and low-level officials under Danbi.

But the emperor was afraid that these Beijing officials, who were not very capable and had no big voices, could not see or hear.

The emperor specially arranged for the eunuch to sing and salute, and broadcast his words and deeds with the three ministers to the ministers in the square of the Imperial Palace.

The emperor's move made the Beijing officials quietly turn to each other: today's great tomorrow, the emperor has handed over the authority to govern the world to the first assistant Zhou Yanru. If Zhou Yanru can really save the country like Yu Shaobao, he will be the hero of Tianzi No. 1; If the Ming Dynasty is destroyed in his hands, he will also become a traitor who will forever be recorded in history!

In the team of the four officials, Yu Jie carefully remembered every word sung by Gao Gonggong in his heart. He was determined to wait for the ceremony to be over, and immediately went to a small money shop on Yongnei (Yongdingmennei) Street.

This money shop has just opened. The location is poor, the façade is small, and it belongs to the category that has no future. I'm afraid that only Yu Jie in the Beijing official knows the origin of this shop. Because the shopkeeper of the shop, Xiao Qiu, came to Jingshi with him all the way, and did a lot of confidential things along the way.

But after listening to Gao Qiqian's last sentence, Yu Jie changed his mind in his heart: Liao Daheng must be interested in this news. Liao Daheng is in Sichuan, although he is the shopkeeper who works for the owner of Shu Shizi, he is an important minister of the imperial court after all. Even if Shu Shizi kicked Liao Daheng away, he had to consider the corresponding consequences. It is important to form a good owner, and it is also important to form a good shopkeeper.

Today, I will go to inform the shopkeeper Qiu first, and then go to the Sichuan Hall. The Sichuan guild hall is inhabited by errand officials who deliver the concerta. The messenger handed over the chapter on the orders of Liao Daheng, and he would have been living there until he received a reply from the imperial court. There are many Beijing officials who want to curry favor with the locality, and most of their benefits depend on the local government. As soon as the court meeting is over, there will be an endless stream of Beijing officials who go to various local guild halls to deliver news. Instead of fighting with them and embarrassing everyone, it is better to stagger the peak and go quietly.

Thinking of Shu Shizi, thinking of soap, and then thinking of the dead people that could be seen everywhere on the road to the court, Yu Jie began to think about it again.

There will certainly be another plague this spring and summer. Wait for the spring to start in three months, and that is the time for soap to be shipped one after another. There were more than 10,000 catties of soap transported to Jingshi, and the prince gave himself a thousand catties. How to use this thousand catties of good goods in place is something he has been thinking about on the way back to Beijing from Sichuan. Doing some in the palace, selling some by yourself, and keeping some for your own use is the basic idea. But whoever is given it in the palace, it will be famous. If you send it well, you can soar, and if you don't send it well, you can "make friends with the waiter"!

Yu Jie had a headache thinking about it, and finally he decided not to want to.

It was freezing cold, and the emperor and Zhou Yanru's old bastards were endless. When I go home today, I have to ask my subordinates to boil a few buckets of hot water, take a good bath with soap, and get rid of the dirt on my body!

Note 1: It is unlikely that Chen Yan commanded the suppression of thieves in Shandong at this time. Please forgive me for not being able to carefully examine the evidence.