communicated with Qian Fenglin and reached a tacit understanding, Shan Minglei was in a particularly good mood, humming a little song out of Qian Fenglin's room.

In the Pingnan Army, the most ambitious is none other than Shan Minglei.

He was only born in a show, according to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, it may be possible for a showman to be a petty official, but he can't be a member of the court at all.

Non-Jinshi cannot hold a regular position, and non-Hanlin cannot enter the cabinet, which is the unspoken rule of Ming officialdom.

No matter how much credit Shan Minglei makes behind Chen Yue, he will never think of becoming a minister or even entering the cabinet in this life. But Shan Minglei is not willing to be unconvinced, he also has his own ideals and ambitions.

Under the Ming system, it is difficult to achieve his ideals, so break away from the Ming system! That's why he often bewitched Chen Yue, and only then did he try to persuade Qian Fenglin.

Now he has reached a tacit understanding with another Qian Fenglin, who is very dissatisfied with Daming, and Shan Minglei is in a particularly good mood.

Walking from Qian Fenglin's duty room to the duty room of his own pacification department, when passing through a moon gate, Shan Minglei happened to see Wei Yang, the director of the enemy intelligence department, approaching him.

"Master Wei, are you going to see Master Hou?" Shan Minglei greeted with a smile.

Wei Yang nodded: "I just went to see Hou Ye, but I had a closed door, Hou Ye had no intention of chatting about things, and asked me if I was in a hurry, I said I was not in a hurry, so I sent me out....."

"Hehe, Master Hou may not be in a good mood. Come, come to my room for a cup of tea, let's have a good chat. Shan Minglei invited with a smile.

Wei Yang thought that there was nothing to do, so he followed Shan Minglei to the duty room of the Zhenfu Division.

"The best Tieguanyin, please do the chief of Wei." Shan Minglei made someone make tea and invited with a smile.

"I don't know what happened to Master Wei going to see Master Hou, can you tell me." After drinking a cup of tea, Shan Minglei inquired tentatively.

"It's not a big deal, it's just that the people sent to Shandong by the Enemy Intelligence Department have sent back the news, and I'll go back to the Hou Ye." Weiyang Road.

"News from Shandong? Is it a thief or a man? Shan Minglei asked.

Wei Yang thought about it, and it was not a major matter that needed to be kept secret, so he replied, "No, it is one of my subordinates, and I found a person in Linqing, who should be the current prince." ”

"Is it the crown prince or the king of Yongding?" Shan Minglei was shocked and hurriedly asked.

The current emperor Chongzhen left Beijing too hastily, and the three princes all fell into the hands of thieves, and if one of the princes escaped, it would be a great event.

"It should be King Yong, he stayed incognito in Linqing." Wei Yang said, "I'm going to ask Master Hou just now, whether he should go to the court, or let us take King Yong over." ”

At present, Chongzhen has no children by his side, if he takes King Yong to Nanjing, he is likely to be the next emperor, and Shan Minglei can naturally figure out this truth.

But!

"Master Wei, are you loyal to the Hou Ye?" Shan Minglei asked suddenly.

"I was originally a poor military household, but I was appreciative of the Hou Ye and recruited into the Xishan Army, and I actually did a job along the way. I am naturally loyal to Lord Hou and swear to the death! ”

Wei Yang swore angrily.

"Since you are loyal to the Hou Ye, you must think about the Hou Ye wholeheartedly, don't tell the Hou Ye the news of the Yongwang King, just treat it as if you don't know." Shan Minglei instructed.

"Why is that?" Wei Yang asked in surprise, finding King Yong is a great achievement, King Yong is very likely to be the next emperor, and if he can rescue him, he will make a contribution, which is an excellent thing for the Hou Ye to the Xishan Army!

"Let me ask you, if you rescue King Yong, will he be the next emperor?" Shan Minglei asked.

"yes, probably." Wei Yang replied that it was because he was the next emperor that he had to be rescued.

"What if there is no eternal king? Who will be the next emperor? Shan Minglei asked suddenly.

"Maybe, maybe set up a clan." Wei Yang thought for a moment and replied. If the emperor has no children, he will naturally choose a successor from the clans that are close to him, which has a precedent in the early Ming Dynasty.

"Hmph, whether or not to establish a clan depends on our Pingnan Army, and whether the Hou Ye agrees!" Shan Minglei sneered.

"How do you say that?" Wei Yang was surprised.

"What's so difficult to understand, you also know about Hou Ye and Princess Kunxing. As soon as Princess Kunxing passes the filial piety period, she will marry Hou Ye. In the future, the son born to the princess and the princess will naturally be the royal bloodline, and if the emperor has no queen, the son of the princess and the princess will naturally be eligible to inherit the throne. Shan Minglei said.

"You, you mean?" Wei Yang was suddenly shocked.

"We are Hou Ye's subordinates, since we are loyal to Hou Ye, we must devote ourselves to Hou Ye and Hou Ye's heirs, so the news of King Yong must not leak out." Shan Minglei said coldly.

"But, such a big thing, it should be reported to Master Hou!" Wei Yang's mind was messy, and he suddenly didn't know what to do. He was originally from a rough military background, how could he have such a complicated idea in his heart, Shan Minglei's words seemed to open a window, allowing him to see a completely unfamiliar world, and he was suddenly at a loss.

"Let's be subordinates, we have to think about everything for Hou Ye in front, and we have to take the initiative to do some dirty things, and try not to let Hou Ye get his hands dirty." Shan Minglei was kind and seductive.

"So what the hell to do? Don't you think you've heard about it? Wei Yang asked blankly.

"Kill him!" Shan Minglei wanted to say this, but he didn't dare to say it. After all, it was a prince, if the news leaked out, it was too big, and Chen Yue didn't know at all that at this time, if he made the decision without telling him, once Chen Yue knew, the consequences would be unpredictable.

But if he told Chen Yue that with Chen Yue's feelings for Princess Kunxing, he would definitely send someone to rescue King Yong, which Shan Minglei did not want to see.

"Send someone to keep an eye on him, and it's better to move him to a remote place, put him under house arrest, and block all news." Shan Minglei thought about it and said.

......

Linqingzhou, a village ten miles away from the canal, Yongwang Zhu Cijiong lived in seclusion in a remote courtyard, and now he has changed his name to Wang Shiyuan.

At the beginning, he and the three brothers of the prince and the king were coerced by thieves, and when they were defeated by the Mantars at the Shanhai Pass, the prince and the king were not in the chaos. Zhu Cijiong escaped from the chaotic army by luck and fled all the way south.

When he fled to Linqing, because he had no experience, he told a gentry surnamed Wang about his life experience, but fortunately, Wang Shiyuan was a person with a heart for the Ming Dynasty, so he hid him in his own home and renamed him Wang Shiyuan.

At this moment, Zhu Cijiong didn't know the news that Chongzhen was still alive, because the ancient news was transmitted slowly, and the news of Chongzhen's arrival in Nanjing did not reach this remote village.

The father and emperor died, the queen mother and all the brothers and sisters died, Beijing fell, and the Ming Dynasty was dead! Zhu Cijiong, who is ignorant of the world, is discouraged, and just wants to live peacefully in this troubled world.

As for cheering up his spirits and restoring the foundation of his ancestors, Zhu Cijiong never thought about it, the tragic situation in front of the two armies had already frightened his courage.

He stayed in the yard every day, afraid to go out, afraid of being seen.

But on this day, several biao-shaped men came to Wang's house and found Zhu Cijiong, claiming to be a Ming sergeant, to protect Zhu Cijiong to a safe place.

Although the gentry Wang was longing for the Ming Dynasty, he didn't want this hot potato to be in his home all the time, so he readily agreed.

So Zhu Cijiong left the Wang family with the comers, crossed the mountains all the way, entered the Yimeng Mountain, and lived in an extremely remote village. There are only two or three mountain people in this village, and the mountain people have no idea about the outside world, or even who the current emperor is.

In such a village, Zhu Cijiong lived with peace of mind, although it was hard here, he no longer had to worry about someone knowing his identity and arresting him.

One night a few days later, a fire broke out in the Linqing Wang's house, and the Wang Shigentry's family was caught in the fire, and no one survived......