The fact that Hou Sui was stagnant in Yangwu County and did not dare to cross the Yellow River soon spread to the Beijing Division, and the first assistant Zhou Yanru and Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, all pretended to be deaf and dumb, as if they were all right, but when Zhu Youzhen got the information, he was furious, and Chen Xinjia, who recommended Hou Xian, was scolded for a while.

Scolding does not solve the problem, and the siege of Kaifeng has not yet been lifted.

Zhu Youzhen decided to send a prison guard.

In order to avoid giving the officials tongues, the prison army sent by Zhu Youzhen this time was not eunuchs, but three imperial histories: Su Jing supervised the army in Shaanxi, Wang Han supervised the army in Huguang, and Wang Xie supervised the army in Shandong.

The emperor and the cabinet jointly issued an edict urging Sun Chuanting, Zuo Liangyu, and Liu Zeqing to quickly relieve the siege and Kaifeng, and not to use any reason to shirk.

The three imperial historians didn't have time to clean up, and each left Beijing immediately with the sword of Shang Fang Tianzi, and Zhu You's prosecutor breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhu Youzhen was about to disperse, and the attendant eunuch Wang Chengen leaned close to his ear and whispered: "Your Majesty, today is the day to worship Inspector Hong......"

Zhu Youzhen then remembered that he wanted to sacrifice Hong Chengchou, and took advantage of the opportunity that the major event was over and the court meeting was not dispersed, and took the civil and military officials to the altar to pay tribute to Hong Chengchou, he lit a pillar of incense with his own hands, bowed twice to the altar, and then inserted the green smoke incense into the altar, faced the altar, closed his eyes, and was silent for a long time.

The ministers also pretended to be solemn, and many people followed Zhu Youzhen's example, but they also closed their eyes and thought about their own thoughts......

Suddenly, a little eunuch came over, and when he saw the solemn scene, he walked around.

Zhou Yanru caught a glimpse and beckoned to him.

The little eunuch approached and whispered: "Lord Shoufu, the military department is in a hurry, and the person who comes will ...... outside the palace."

The important ministers of the court are all accompanying the emperor to worship Hong Chengchou, but the urgent matter cannot be delayed, so Zhou Yanru said: "After checking his identity, bring him in!" ”

The little eunuch left quietly, and after a while, he came over with the officials of the military department, and was about to bow down, but was stopped by Zhou Yanru, "What's the urgency?" ”

The official took out a document and whispered: "Urgent news from Liaodong, Lord Hong, the former governor of Jiliao, has taken refuge in the Tartar ......"

"What ......" Zhou Yanru suddenly looked like a cat with his tail stepped on, almost barked, and quickly covered his mouth and tongue with his hands, but he was thinking in his heart, the emperor was sacrificing Hong Chengchou, and at this time, the news of Hong Chengchou's surrender to the Tartars came in, wouldn't the emperor be angry with thunder?

If you tell the emperor in person, the emperor's anger will burn on you if you don't do it well......

What to do?

Zhou Yanru was about to take the hand of the paperwork, but he unconsciously retracted it, put his hands behind his back, and whispered: "Is the message accurate?" ”

"This is a message from the Liaodong front, it should be exact!"

Zhou Yanru's eyes rolled, beckoned the officer, whispered a few words, the officer hesitated, and finally nodded, ran to the side and rear, handed the message to Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the military department, didn't say anything, saluted, turned around and left.

Chen Xinjia just saw the clerk and Zhou Yanru talking to each other, but he didn't know what was going on, after taking the paperwork, he tore open the seal, just read a few lines, his face was pale, and when he finished reading it all, he was already sweating profusely.

This hot potato......

The official who delivered the message just now had already left the palace with the little eunuch at this time, and it was impossible to go back.

He turned his gaze to Zhou Yanru, but Zhou Yanru at this time closed his eyes, just like an old monk in his morning class.

Such a big thing, you can't hide it, there will always be leaks in the future, he is the crime of bullying the king, if you send it now, it will be light to be scolded by the emperor......

Chen Xinjia was holding the paperwork, as if he was holding a boulder of a thousand catties, his hands were trembling, but in his heart, he greeted the eighteen generations of Zhou Yanru's ancestors.

After hesitating for a moment, he saw that the emperor had opened his eyes, and the sacrifice seemed to be about to end, so Chen Xinjia had no choice but to step forward, lower his head, and hand over the message.

Zhu Youzhen thought it was some kind of emergency military situation, so he hurriedly opened it to take a look, but his face was like earth, staring at Chen Xinjia's heart, and said in a deep voice: "Is the information accurate?" ”

"I don't know," Chen Xinjia didn't dare to raise his head, but said in a trembling voice: "Since the news of thousands of miles should be true, the information is uncertain, they won't have such a big courage......"

"Bastard, rubbish!" Zhu Youzhen didn't wait for Chen Xinjia to finish speaking, he had already kicked over, hit Chen Xinjia's right crotch, almost kicked him down, and tore the message to pieces, still puzzled, looked left and right, just saw the altar in front of him, flew up with a kick, kicked the altar a few feet away, the altar fell to the ground, and with a "snap", it cracked into countless pieces!

Zhu Youzhen was slapped in the face!

He set up a special altar for Hong Chengchou in the altar of the earth, one altar for seven days, originally to sacrifice sixteen altars, and on the beginning of each altar, he was personally sacrificed, but he didn't expect Hong Chengchou to surrender to the Tartars.

If you surrender, even if you surrender to Liukou, surrender Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, Tatars are uncivilized people outside the Guan, and they are savages......

Hong Chengchou, why can't you be loyal to the country?

Zhu Youzhen's heart was like eating a fly, disgusting, deceived, humiliated, and cold...... If it weren't for the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who carried the Ming Dynasty on his shoulders, he would have the heart to die!

The ministers were all taken aback, when Chen Xinjia handed over the documents just now, they all saw it, the emperor was so angry, could it be that there was unfavorable news from the battlefield?

Only Zhou Yanru still closed his eyes slightly, looking unaware.

Zhu Youzhen didn't speak, and hurriedly left the altar of the earth, the ministers were at a loss, and after a long time, under the reminder of the little eunuch on duty, they left the palace one by one......

Chen Xinjia was kicked by Zhu Youzhen, angry and annoyed, returned to the house, scolded Zhou Yanru again, came to the study alone, picked up the tea cup, drank a warm water, and calmed down a little anger in his heart.

Someone sent a letter, Chen Xinjia remembered the document just now, he didn't get angry, he didn't look at it carefully, and his hand was still on the desk.

After Chen Xinjia left the study, the boy who cleaned the study saw that the message had not yet been opened, thinking that it was an innocuous Tang newspaper.

Chen Xinjia is still working in the military department, and a storm is already brewing among the court officials.

Fang Shiliang first impeached Chen Xinjia for negotiating peace with the Tartars outside the Guan, and at the same time attached a manuscript of the secret peace conditions sent back by Ma Shaoyu from outside the Guan.

Zhu Youzhen was very angry, but he knew about Chen Xinjia's peace with the Tartars, and he secretly acquiesced, so he left Fang Shiliang's recital and did not send it, but issued a holy decree, severely criticized Chen Xinjia, and asked him to explain himself.

After Chen Xinjia returned to the house, he beat the boy and drove him out of the Chen mansion, but he was helpless about Zhu Youzhen's holy decree, the evidence was conclusive, and it had fallen into the hands of the official, how could he explain it?

In the holy decree, he first reprimanded harshly, and then let himself explain, the emperor made it clear that he pretended to be deaf and dumb, and let himself bear the responsibility, what is the use of explaining, will the emperor admit his acquiescence? Will the officials stop impeachment?

He thought of the last duel between Yang Sichang and Huang Daozhou, Yang Sichang had the emperor's clear support, and he couldn't shake the officials, so what could he do?

After thinking about it, Chen Xinjia still went to the emperor.

In the recital, he explained that the secret peace talks with the Tartars were entirely for the sake of the country, not out of selfishness, and that if the Ming and the Tartars reached a peace agreement temporarily, the imperial court could concentrate its efforts on exterminating the Liukou...... If it weren't for the obstruction of the officials, he would have reached a peace agreement with the Tartars earlier, and he would not have lost the Battle of Songjin, and he would not have misled the country, but contributed to the country......

When Zhu Youjian received the rhythm, he was not only furious, this Chen Xinjia was simply a fool!

He doesn't need these defenses, but a reason to shut up the speaker!

It just so happened that Shen Xun came to see Shen Xun in another military department and handed over his own recital with his own hands, Zhu Youzhen was angry when he saw the official, he asked the little eunuch to take the recital and throw it on the imperial case at will, but he stared at Shen Xun's eyes, "If you are asked to be the secretary of the military department, can you do better than Chen Xinjia?" ”

Shen Xun was stunned for a moment, and suddenly stopped, "Your Majesty ......"

"Thieves are ravaging Henan and Huguang, and have even occupied Gansu and Sichuan, how do you send troops to quell the thieves? Even if you can't stop the thieves, what can you do to stop the thieves from spreading elsewhere? The more Zhu Youzhen spoke, the more angry he became, his eyes stared round unconsciously, "There are still external Tartars, the Songjin defense line is gone, what can you do to restore Songjin?" Even if you can't restore Songjin, what can you do to keep Ningyuan and Gongweishan Customs safe? ”

Shen Xun was reprimanded and questioned by Zhu Youzhen, he didn't dare to speak for a while, he hurriedly bowed and apologized, and when he saw Zhu Youzhen nodding, he didn't even want to play the chapter, and escaped from the Qianqing Palace with a smoke.

The officials seized such an opportunity, and they would definitely not give up, Liu Zongzhou, the imperial history of the left capital, took the lead, Ma Jiazhi in the bureau, Cao Liangzhi in the criminal department, and a large number of imperial historians, who had to go up to impeach Chen Xinjia, Zhu Youzhen had no choice, so he had to order Chen Xinjia to be arrested and imprisoned, and he was not interrogated by the criminal department, and directly announced that he would be beheaded.

Chen Xinjia was frightened at this time, and he was dismissed from prison and asked to resign from the post of secretary of the Ministry of War, in order to escape the punishment of the imperial court.

Zhu Youzhen didn't allow it, he has already given you a chance to explain!

Chen Xinjia asked people everywhere to intercede, Zhou Yanru, a scholar of Jianji Temple, the first assistant of the cabinet, and Chen Yan, a scholar of Wuyingdian University, also interceded for Chen Xinjia.

Zhou Yanru almost pulled the emperor's sleeve and chased him to the Qianqing Palace, "Your Majesty, Chen Xinjia made peace with the Tartars without authorization, although he is guilty, he is not guilty to death!" ”

Zhu Youzhen shook off Zhou Yanru and stepped into the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, "Isn't it a big crime to make peace with the enemy without authorization?" Thinking that Hong Chengchou had taken refuge in the Tartars, he had infinite hatred for Hong Chengchou and the Tartars, and this hatred could only be borne by Chen Xinjia.

"The emperor thinks twice!" Zhou Yanru knelt on the ground, knocked on the ground with his forehead, and almost knocked blood, "According to the law of the country, if the enemy soldiers do not fight down the city, they should not kill the secretary of the military department......"

Zhu Youzhen didn't let Zhou Yanru get up, but he rolled his eyes and said: "Since Chen Xinjia became the secretary of the military department, aren't the seven princes of mine killed and humiliated more serious than the enemy soldiers hitting the city?" ”

Zhou Yanru knew that Zhu Youzhen had made up his mind, and he couldn't persuade him, thinking of the cabinet ministers and Shangshu who were killed in Chongzhen's time, he couldn't help but feel cold in his heart, and he was silent for a long time, before he said slowly: "Chen Xinjia is gone, who will succeed him as the secretary of the military department?" ”

Zhu Youzhen asked Zhou Yanru to get up and said, "You are the first assistant of the cabinet, this candidate is proposed by you!" ”

In Zhou Yanru's heart, there is no suitable candidate, the Tartars outside the gate show off their might, the thieves in Henan and Huguang have been ruled for a long time, there is no strongman like Yang Sichang, and his own first assistant is also suffering, Chen Xinjia is not outstanding, but there is no big thing, he sighed secretly, and said: "Your Majesty, Zhang Guowei, the right attendant of the Ministry of War, is the first choice to succeed the Secretary of the Ministry of War!" ”

Zhu Youzhen pondered for a moment and bowed slightly, "Just according to Zhou Aiqing!" ”