On the eastern horizon, a flush has just emerged, and the refreshing breeze blows in through the half-hidden doors and windows, which makes people very comfortable. This is the Wuying Hall of the Forbidden City of the Ming Dynasty, lit a candle all night, only a small piece of wax oil is left to support the flickering flames, extinguished in the breeze, and the Son of Heaven of the Ming Dynasty is half leaning on the old rosewood chair.

It was another sleepless night, Zhu Youzhen raised his head and let out a faint sigh, this was the fifteenth year of his ascension to the throne. The former Zhu Youzhen can be regarded as a heroic young man, seventeen years, his face is engraved with vicissitudes, and on top of the several cases in front of him, the chapters sent the day before are piled up there, and they have been reviewed all night, but they are still not finished. Things are going on everywhere, Liaodong is lost, Kaifeng is in danger, the Central Plains is a mess of erosion, Zhu Youzhen has only one person, to support the Ming Empire of thousands of people, he is really tired, very tired!

Zhu Youzhen glanced at the door of the palace, raised his head slightly, and let out a heavy sigh, although Zhu Youzhen thought that since he was in power, he had always been conscientious and exhausted, and there was no day of slacking off, but the Ming Dynasty was already crumbling, the Central Plains was a huge "thief", there was a full-fledged Manchu Qing Dynasty in the northeast, and Beijing City had become their back garden. Trembling, he walked out.

"Your Majesty, it's time to go to court early!" Bingbi eunuch Wang Chengen also guarded the night, and when he saw the emperor open the palace door, he also greeted him, and helped Zhu Youzhen slowly walk down the steps.

"Don't worry, let's go later today!" Zhu Youzhen waved his hand helplessly, the mountains and rivers were broken and the wind was fluttering, the rain was silent on the night, he was like a willful and presumptuous time today, venting the depression in his chest, and he could only express his depression with this boring action.

"Your Majesty...... The Emperor ......"

At this time, Zhu Youzhen heard the shouting, and looked around, a person was running from Wuyingmen, it was Zhou Yanru, the first minister of the court, Zhou Yanru was fifty years old, but at this time, he was running like a child, his face was still full of excited smiles, Zhu Youzhen also hurriedly greeted him, I hope it is good news, in the past month, he has received bad news one after another, like a needle pricking his heart, making him support so painful.

First of all, Hong Chengchou's news, he was ready for Hong Chengchou's martyrdom, and he also ordered to reward him with posthumous honors, but he didn't expect Hong Chengchou to be cleared up, and let Zhu Youzhen slap himself in the face. There is also the defeat of Zhu Xianzhen, Kaifeng was besieged for several months, Zhu ordered Ding Qirui, the governor of Baoding, Yang Wenyue, together with the general soldier Zuo Liangyu, Hu Dawei, Yang Dezheng, Fang Guoan, etc., to aid Kaifeng, and joined Zhu Xianzhen, but was intercepted, and the formations of all the troops were in chaos, and they fell into the trench dug by Li Zicheng's army, trampled on each other, suffered heavy casualties, and lost countless horses, mules, ordnance and firearms.

"Your Majesty...... The Emperor ......"

Zhou Yanru ran in front of Zhu Youzhen, bowed to the ground, and said excitedly: "Your Majesty, Jiangbei is victorious!" Pingliao general Cao Bianjiao and the general soldiers Huang Degong and Liu Liangzuo attacked successively, first defeated the fifth battalion of the left in Hefei, surrendered to He Jin, the king of Zuojin, and killed He Yilong in Geliyan; After defeating Zhang Xianzhong, he was loyal to Qianshan and Tianzhu Mountain, surrendered Liu Wenxiu, the son of Zhang Yiyi, beheaded his adopted son Wang Xingguo and others, and subdued more than 40,000 of his subordinates...... Zhang Xianzhong led the remnants to flee into the mountains and forests, suffering heavy losses. ”

"Really?" Zhu Youzhen looked at Zhou Yanru in disbelief, took the battle report in his hand with trembling hands, his excitement was overflowing, he was so happy, he couldn't believe all this, he didn't expect that God was still not thin on him Zhu Youzhen, and it didn't make him completely desperate.

"This was sent by Cao Bianjiao, I just got it half an hour ago, and I immediately entered the palace to report it!"

Zhu Youzhen took the battle report, read it carefully, and made sure that he had not heard it wrong, so he closed it and cried with joy.

"Heaven will not die, I am a great Ming! Heaven will not die, I am bright! Prosecutor Zhu You howled, relieving the long-pent-up depression in his heart, this was the only good news he had received in the past year, and even the only good news in several years.

"Your Majesty, Cao Bianjiao also participated in the Nanjing Military Department's Shangshu Shi Kefa in the middle of the song, saying that he did not replenish the military supplies in time, resulting in a lot of losses, and the other is to request to settle the people on the spot, put away the strong and strong army, and the old and weak to settle the fields, so as to alleviate the urgency of the imperial army's military rations."

"I saw it, what do you think?" Zhu Youzhen also came back to his senses and overcame, but there will be no less follow-up things, and he has to make a decision.

"The minister thinks it is feasible, so many people, if they are allowed to return to their hometowns, I am afraid that they will repeat the things of the carriage gorge of the year, resettle on the spot, collect their strength, and serve the imperial court, it is not impossible, in addition, Cao Bianjiao has never mentioned the matter of military salaries in the song, it can be seen that Cao Bianjiao wants to solve the military needs with Tuntian, the current situation of the imperial court, the emperor also knows that the treasury is empty, and the annual taxes are not enough for military salaries, and the money needs to be levied, and the people are also unbearable to pay taxes. It's also a good idea! ”

Zhou Yanru has been immersed in officialdom for decades, and naturally knows the hidden dangers behind this, those who are soldiers do not need the imperial court to pay military salaries, so they are very likely to be too big to lose, but the most critical problem at the moment is that the imperial court has no money to pay them military salaries, and the treasury is already empty, Cao Bianjiao wants military salaries, and he can't send them, and the other thing is that Cao Bianjiao has just made a great contribution, if he doesn't agree to his request, what should he do when the time comes, and there are more and more generals who are not satisfied with the dispatch. Cao Bianjiao has at least been heartfelt so far, and there is no need to let him centrifuge for this.

"So be it!" Zhu Youzhen doesn't know these truths, as long as Cao Bianjiao is still willing to serve the country, then he can give everything he can, and there is no point in caring about other details now.

"Crowned the title of Prince Shao of Cao Bianjiao, the governor of Jiangbei military affairs, and cooperated with Sun Chuanting to exterminate Li Zicheng." After pondering for a long time, Zhu Youzhen still promoted Cao Bianjiao to an official, and handed over the military affairs of Nanzhili Jiangbei to him to ensure that the tax-paying land in Jiangnan can be safe and sound, which is the foundation of the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, now Zhang Xianzhong has been defeated, there is no chance to make a comeback in a short time, the most important thing is Li Zicheng, let Sun Chuanting and Cao Bianjiao attack in the east, both of them are famous generals who suppress bandits, they must be able to thwart Li Zicheng and sweep away the Central Plains!" Zhou Yanru also comforted Zhu Youzhen a few words, he actually didn't have much hope in his heart, because their troops were limited, Li Zicheng had hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, and there was a steady stream of displaced people as a supplement, such a huge team was not so easy to defeat, but he couldn't say it.

"I hope so!" Zhu Youzhen didn't know what to think, sighed, and let out such an emotion.