Within half a month, Emperor Chongzhen, in accordance with the consultation with Fang Yuan, announced to the ministers that the imperial silver would pay for the transfer of the army.

Since there was no need for the Ministry of Household to contribute money, and the defense of Gyeonggi could be strengthened, Zhou Yanru and others in the cabinet had no reason to object, and the draft edict arrived in front of Chongzhen within five days.

Chongzhen's efficiency is also extremely high, and it will be approved and implemented on the same day.

At this point, it was a foregone conclusion that the 12 or 30,000 sergeants of the Shaanxi Sun Chuanting Division would be stationed in Gyeonggi.

The next thing is to select the candidate who went to Shaanxi to read the holy decree and supervise Sun Chuanting's transfer, because of the importance of the matter, Chongzhen and Fang Yuan discussed for three days, and finally decided to appoint Fang Yuan as the supervisor of the army, and led one hundred brocade guards and three hundred divine machine battalions to Shaanxi to supervise Sun Chuanting's transfer.

130,000 people were to move from Shaanxi to Gyeonggi, and a long-distance march would require at least 100,000 stone of grain and grass.

Due to the severe drought in Shaanxi, where Sun Chuanting's department is located, this year there is no surplus grain and grass, and the transportation of grain from Gyeonggi to Shaanxi has to pass through the Taihang Bashan, which is not easy to march, and the grain and grass consumed along the way are too huge.

This part of the lack of grain and grass can only be transferred from Shanxi, and the only one in Shanxi who has the ability to raise and transport such a huge scale of grain is the eight major Jin merchants who have a gap with Fang Yuan.

After Chongzhen discussed with the cabinet, it was decided that the imperial court was responsible for the silver, and the eight Jin merchants were responsible for raising grain and grass in Shanxi, as well as transporting grain and grass to Shaanxi.

After Fang Yuan received the appointment edict from the supervising army, he immediately discussed with his confidant Qin Zhan and decided to leave in five days, the first stop was to escort 400,000 taels of silver to Zhangjiakou, Shanxi, which was the base of the eight Jin merchants. After trading silver for grain and grass with the Jin merchants, he went to Shaanxi with the grain and grass transportation team to meet Sun Chuanting.

The Francophone Chamber of Commerce sent someone to spread the word that 10 12-pound medium guns had arrived, and taking advantage of the gap of a few days, Fang Yuan went to the Francophone Chamber of Commerce to complete the arms deal of 50 bottles of perfume for 10 medium guns.

Fang Yuan sent Jinyi Wei to contact Jing Jie and his party in Xiangyang Village, Datong Township, and then transferred 200 three-eyed guns, 50 five-thunder god machines, 10 small artillery, as well as thousands of catties of gunpowder and 500 artillery lead bullets from the Arsenal Department of the Ministry of War.

Fang Yuan paid for the shipping of 20 bottles of perfume, and ordered the Franco Machinery Chamber of Commerce to secretly transport 10 medium-sized guns, 200 thunderbolts, 500 catties of gunpowder, and 200 artillery lead bullets to Datong in the name of trading arms with the Manchus outside the Guanwai, and agreed that the two sides would deliver them in the bazaar at the town border fort.

Two days before departure, Fang Yuan suddenly received a message from Wang Chengen, and Chongzhen asked Fang Yuan to go to the Qianqing Palace to meet him immediately.

Fang Yuan arrived at the Xinuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, but found that not only Chongzhen was there, but also two women in the Xinuan Pavilion.

One is the queen of Chongzhen, the queen of Zhou, who is known as a virtuous name; One is Princess Kunxing who fell out with Fang Yuan a few days ago.

According to the etiquette system, although Fang Yuan was a minister, the queens, concubines, and princesses of the Ming Dynasty's harem could not meet at will. At present, such a formation made Fang Yuan uneasy, it seems that he entered the harem privately to meet Tian Guifei.

It was difficult for Empress Zhou to choose this pass, because she was aiming at Fang Yuan.

After Fang Yuan entered the Xinuan Pavilion, he was secretly looking at Queen Zhou and Princess Kunxing from the corner of his eye.

Queen Zhou's face is fair and beautiful, although she is more than 30 years old, her face is delicate but still like a girl, and Princess Kunxing is six or seven points similar, but a little more dignified and mature, less pure and willful.

Fang Yuan secretly sighed, Queen Zhou and Tian Guifei are all first-class beauties, the queens and concubines of the Ming Dynasty are all beautiful, it is indeed not a waste of fame, where will they be like the queens of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the harem concubines, basically all of them are political marriages, all of them are cold-looking, and they can make horror movies without makeup.

Chongzhen saw Fang Yuan enter the Xinuan Pavilion, and said with a gloomy face, "Fang Yuan, you did a good thing!" ”

Fang Yuan looked at Chongzhen in a daze and said, "What is the crime of the minister?" Your Majesty, please! ”

Chongzhen was displeased and said, "A few days ago, you ordered Kunxing to pretend to be a brocade guard and take her out of the palace?" ”

Fang Yuan was also very aggrieved, he obviously didn't want to deal with Kun Xing, the little princess, it was Kun Xing who had been pestering him to ask for this and that, but now it was his bad intentions, "The minister is indeed acting absurdly, but this is the princess forcing the minister to take her out of the palace, and the minister is also in a dilemma!" ”

Chongzhen looked at Princess Kunxing, who lowered her head and didn't dare to look directly, and said, "Kunxing, did you force Fang Yuan to take you out of the palace?" ”

Princess Kunxing said hesitantly, "This, father, yes, I ......"

Chongzhen slapped the dragon case heavily, and shouted angrily, "Isn't it? ”

Princess Kunxing trembled with fright, and hurriedly lowered her head and said, "I, yes, yes." ”

Chongzhen glared at Queen Zhou and Princess Kunxing and said, "Then you still have the face to sue in front of me?" The dignified princess, without the slightest princess's etiquette reserve, does not stay in the harem all day long, but comes to pester the brocade guards of the Qianqing Palace; The mother of the dignified harem, even a daughter can't be disciplined well, how can she manage the harem? Lose face! Lost one! ”

Princess Kunxing was scolded by Chongzhen repeatedly, and she was so angry that she shed tears.

Empress Zhou was not shocked, and said unhurriedly, "Your Majesty, why don't you ask, what words did Kun Xing use to threaten Fang Yuan, so that he disregarded the duties of Jinyi Wei and took the princess out of the palace privately?" ”

Fang Yuan was taken aback, it seemed that Princess Kunxing had really revealed to Queen Zhou that she had secretly entered the harem.

He hated Princess Kunxing so much, but it was also a burst of relief, since Queen Zhou and Princess Kunxing took the initiative to uncover the hole cards and tear their faces, they also saved themselves from worrying about it in the future, and they were threatened every day.

Chongzhen looked at Fang Yuan in amazement, and then fell on Queen Zhou, and asked curiously, "What did Kun Xing say?" ”

Queen Zhou said slowly, "Kun Xing's words are actually only four words, defile the harem." ”

As soon as she said this, Chongzhen and Wang Chengen's faces changed greatly, and Princess Kunxing said anxiously, "Queen Mother, you promised me not to ......"

"Shut up!"

Empress Zhou interrupted her words and said in a deep voice, "Fang Yuan once entered the Yonghe Palace without His Majesty and had a private meeting with Tian Guifei, but he was unexpectedly discovered by Kun Xing. ”

Fornicating with the concubine and messing with the harem, this is a big crime executed by Ling Chi!

Wang Chengen was so frightened that his face was bloodless, knowing that Fang Yuan was more than lucky today.

Chongzhen stood up suddenly, pointed at Princess Kunxing and said, "Kunxing, you tell your father honestly, did you see Fang Yuan go to Yonghe Palace." ”

Princess Kunxing's face was pale, she looked at Fang Yuan, who bowed her head and was silent, and said hesitantly, "I, I, I've only met once." ”

Chongzhen stared at Fang Yuan, who was buried in his head and didn't speak, and said sharply, "Fang Yuan, it turns out that you are conspiring with Concubine Tian to calculate me!" ”

The reason why Fang Yuan didn't speak was just because he was pondering, what kind of woman was this Queen Zhou, and whether she was a generation of virtuous queens.

The of her and Tian Guifei's harem competition for favor, Fang Yuan is not Chongzhen himself, and he doesn't know who is right and who is wrong, so he won't mention it for the time being.

But in the relevant historical records, Zhou Kui, the father of the Empress of Zhou, was friendly with Zhou Yanru's son, and often gambled together, and won money every time. This is Zhou Yanru's son deliberately losing money, just to obtain information about Chongzhen's preferences from the inner court, and when the court is discussing, he can often do what he likes, and he becomes the first assistant of the cabinet in a short period of time after his recovery.

Who is the person who sent the news to Zhou Kui from the inner court, and then to Zhou Yanru? Since she is the most suspicious queen of Zhou.

Zhou Yanru celebrated his fiftieth birthday, and Queen Zhou assigned Zhou Kui to hold a birthday feast to celebrate Zhou Yanru's birthday, which shows that the close relationship between the Zhou family and Zhou Yanru is extraordinary.

Since the relationship between the two families is so close, Empress Zhou, who almost does not interfere in politics, suddenly said in front of Chongzhen that Zhou Yanru's character is not good, and after Chongzhen asked the source, he pushed it to Empress Yi'an Zhang Yan, whose intention was not to slander Zhou Yanru, but to give Empress Yi'an Zhang Yan a reputation for harem politics.

As for the peachy news of Zhou Yanru and Tian Guifei's fornication, the shadow of Queen Zhou is naturally indispensable.

It seems that this generation of White Lotus virtuous queens written by the Donglin Party is really a bit watery! The Donglin Party can believe the statement, and the sow can also go up the tree.

Of course, Fang Yuan has no qualifications and interests to judge whether this Empress Zhou is virtuous or not, at least she can take care of the harem smoothly for more than ten years, and there is no disaster like Zheng Guifei and Hak's for the harem. And she knows the general situation, in addition to competing with Tian Guifei for favor and a little scheming, she can get along harmoniously with other concubines, and she can also be thrifty in the harem, and practice it herself, she must have a commendable contribution.

If someone with a temperament like Concubine Tian comes to be the queen, it is estimated that she is the second Concubine Zheng, and I don't know what the harem will become.

Fang Yuan's only thought now is to stay away from the mother and daughter of Queen Zhou and Kun Xing, and it is best that the river water does not interfere with the well water.

Hearing Chongzhen's reprimand, he hurriedly raised his head and said, "Your Majesty, I did enter Yonghe Palace in private, but I didn't go alone, and there was an old person that Your Majesty also knew. ”

Chongzhen was still lingering, and said coldly, "What old man? ”

Fang Yuan said truthfully, "It's Cao Huachun, the former chief of ceremonies, and Cao Gonggong." ”

Chongzhen and Cao Huachun were acquaintances from the old relationship, and suddenly heard the name of the old man Cao Huachun, and hurriedly asked, "Fang Yuan, why are you with Gonggong Cao?" What about Gongren Cao? ”

Fang Yuan said how he met Cao Huachun and how he controlled his tuberculosis for him, and looked at Chongzhen and said, "I entered Yonghe Palace with Gonggong Cao, one of which was to communicate with the concubine Niangniang in person because of Tian Hongyu's frame-up; The second is to treat the noble concubine. Due to the urgency of the matter, he did not inform His Majesty and the Queen Mother in advance, and the minister was willing to be punished. ”

"This Gonggong Cao returned to the capital and didn't come to see me."

The anger on Chongzhen's face gradually disappeared, and he said with concern, "Fang Yuan, can you still cure tuberculosis?" Is the concubine's illness still cured? ”

Fang Yuan sighed secretly, if the Taobao system can treat terminal diseases, then there is no need to open the hospital.

He slowly shook his head and said, "The concubine Niangniang's life is over, and the minister is really powerless." But please be enlightened by Your Majesty, even in Yonghe Palace, the noble concubine Niangniang did not meet the ministers face to face, but through the curtain, and there was no rudeness. If Your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can go to Yonghe Palace to ask the concubine Niangniang for personal verification. ”

He opened his mouth and closed his mouth to say that Tian Guifei was good, and he also instigated Chongzhen to go to Yonghe Palace to see Tian Guifei, which was a silent counterattack to Queen Zhou.

Chongzhen's face was no longer angry, full of concern and worry, sat back on the dragon chair, rubbed his hands and said, "Speaking of which, I haven't seen the concubine for some days, Wang Chengen, prepare immediately, I will go to Yonghe Palace immediately." ”

Wang Chengen saw that Chongzhen had already rained and the sky was clear, so he hurriedly responded.

Queen Zhou's face became more and more gloomy, she wanted to seize the reason why Fang Yuan entered the harem privately, and took the opportunity to knock Fang Yuan on behalf of her father Zhou Kui, as well as the Donglin Party, and Tian Guifei, but she never thought that stealing chickens would not make it a loss of rice, but it aroused Chongzhen's love and pity for Tian Guifei.

She couldn't help but speak, "Your Majesty, Fang Yuan and he entered Yonghe Palace privately, and this matter is over?" ”

Chongzhen looked at Fang Yuan, looked at her again, and said angrily, "Fang Yuan entered Yonghe Palace privately, there is a reason for it, it's just that, it's over." Also, if there is really a scandal in the harem, your queen's face will not be glorious, and it will be your queen's dereliction of duty. ”

Chongzhen stood up, and said to Queen Zhou, "Instead of caring about the affairs of Yonghe Palace, you should spend more effort to discipline Kunxing well, the dignified princess actually had a private meeting and entangled the Jinyi Guard of the Qianqing Palace, you don't have a face, I still have a face!" ”

Queen Zhou was reprimanded by Chongzhen again and again, so she could only bow down and pull Princess Kunxing to retreat.

Fang Yuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, the tight spell on his head of the filthy harem was finally gone, and he was uncontrollable with ease.