East Palace

From the main hall of the East Palace, Zhu Cihong's roaring voice was deafening, "Fang Yuan is simply so bold and reckless, he dared to spread the news that the queen mother sent someone to poison him in the south of the Yangtze River; He also dared to send the people sent by the queen mother back to the capital to provoke, he, this is trying to rebel! ”

Empress Zhou closed her eyes slightly, letting the palace maid gently tap and massage her shoulders.

Hong Chengchou stood silently on one side, and in the past few months, the political situation in Daming has changed again. Wei Zaode and Chen Yan, a first assistant and a second assistant, were detained by Zhu Cihong for negotiating with the rogues and harming the national system, and they were all exiled to Shu.

Today's cabinet chief assistant was replaced by Zhang Guowei, the secretary of the military department of the Donglin Party, which can be regarded as appeasing the ministers of the Donglin Party. Zhu Cihong and Zhang Guowei had an exchange condition behind their backs, and Zhang Guowei, the first assistant, nominated Hong Chengchou to join the cabinet and was promoted to the second assistant.

Although some of the cabinet and ministers opposed Hong Chengchou, a traitor who surrendered to the Manchu Dynasty, to enter the cabinet, the first assistant Zhang Guowei ignored the public opinion and made a vote, and then after being approved by the master of ceremonies and the heart of the king, it was forcibly effective. In addition, the high-ranking officials of the imperial court hated Fang Yuan's new policy to the core, and they wished that a vanguard who could oppose Fang Yuan came out, and the opposition was not too resolute, and the fuss dispersed after a few days.

Today, Hong Chengchou is the second assistant of the cabinet and the chief think tank of Zhu Cihong.

Zhu Cihong was still shouting in the main hall, "Queen Mother, teacher, Fang Yuan, the white-eyed wolf who can't be fed, the court has relied on him and made a palace maid the county lord, but I didn't expect to be bitten by him in a blink of an eye." An order should be issued immediately to Jiangnan, so that Fang Yuan can enter the capital and face the saint! ”

Hong Chengchou said unhurriedly, "Prince, as soon as this edict arrives in Jiangnan, will Fang Yuan come to the capital in accordance with the order?" It was almost foreseeable that Fang Yuan would either not be able to delay, or he would immediately hang up the anti-flag. If Fang Yuan does not delay, it will damage the prestige and face of the imperial court; If Fang Yuan directly hung up the anti-flag, how should the prince respond? ”

Zhu Cihong shouted loudly, "Fang Yuan dares to resist the decree and does not come, this palace personally led Sun Chuanting and Zhou Yuji 200,000 soldiers and horses to conquer Fang Yuan!" ”

"Bang!"

Empress Zhou flipped the small table beside her to the ground, interrupting Zhu Cihong's bold words, "Prince, shut up!" Listen to what Mr. Hong has to say! ”

Zhu Cihong didn't dare to contradict the queen mother in front of him, so he could only obediently shut up.

Hong Chengchou continued, "The prince's courage is the luck of the Ming Dynasty and the luck of the society. However, Sun Tzu Youyun went up to the army to plot, then to attack the enemy, then to attack the army, and then to attack the city. The world is the world of the Ming Dynasty, and with the stubbornness of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, they dare not hang up the banner of anti-Ming. The crown prince supervised the country, as the prince of the country, and was the co-lord of the world, and he often personally cut down the troops, but he fell behind. ”

"The prince is in charge of the expedition, the victory is not martial, and the defeat is humiliating, don't you see the precedent of King Zhou's attack on Zheng?"

The so-called King of Zhou's attack on Zheng is an allusion to the failure of Prince Huan of Zhou's expedition to Zheng and the collapse of the status of the co-owner of the Zhou royal family.

Empress Zhou praised, "Mr. Hong is really a golden and jade good word!" ”

Zhu Cihong hurriedly and humbly asked him for advice, "Please ask the teacher for advice, how to deal with Fang Yuan's provocation?" ”

Hong Chengchou twisted his beard and said slowly, "The queen mother, the prince, if the imperial court wants to solve Fang Yuan, it must have an upright plan." Some intrigues and tricks are useless, and they give people a handle and make people laugh. Fang Yuan borrowed his strength to push the boat down the river and hit the prestige of the imperial court, this move was really amazing! ”

Empress Zhou said with a guilty face, "What Mr. Hong taught me is that I was too knowledgeable in this palace before, so I gave people a handle. Now it has been a big mistake, and it is too late to regret it. ”

She claimed to be shallow, but Hong Chengchou realized that she was speechless, and said in fear, "The old minister does not choose what to say, and the queen mother atones for her sins!" ”

Empress Zhou hurriedly ordered the eunuch who served to help him up, and said, "Mr. Hong, let's talk about solving Fang Yuan's plan!" ”

Hong Chengchou got up and continued, "The plan of the Five Roads to crusade against Fang Yuan is just a test of Fang Yuan by the old ministers, it seems that Fang Yuan's forces are quite strong, and the governors and soldiers of the Southern Zhili Prefecture are afraid of him like a tiger. If Fang originally wanted to expand externally, at the latest two or three months, Nanzhili would inevitably be lost. Now to curb Fang Yuan's expansion, Lao Chen only has three strategies. ”

"First, the imperial court can find a eunuch who is a celebrant and make him confess, and kill him together with the palace maids and eunuchs sent back to calm down this poisoning storm and save the face of the court. and issued an edict ordering Ma Shiying to reconcile with Fang Yuan, each playing fifty boards, Fang Yuan was released back to the officials of the three prefectures, and Ma Shiying compensated for the silver lost on the battlefield, making Fang Yuan's division unknown. ”

Empress Zhou said, "Okay, immediately order the celebrant to do it." ”

Hong Chengchou said, "Second, Fang Yuan is building a fleet and artillery, and the number of iron ore, copper ore, and saltpeter needed is measured in days. The main iron ore of our Ming Dynasty is produced in Beizhili, Guangdong and Fujian provinces, while copper ore and saltpeter are mainly produced in Sichuan and Yunnan. The imperial court should immediately order the political secretary of Guangdong, the king of Shu in Sichuan, and the king of Mu in Yunnan to increase the price of iron ore, copper ore, and saltpeter by five times, disrupt the progress of Fang Yuan's armament casting, and increase the cost of waging war. ”

Empress Zhou nodded and said, "This law is feasible, the cabinet will immediately vote for it, and the celebrant will approve and implement it." But, just these, I'm afraid that far water can't quench the thirst of the near! ”

Hong Chengchou continued, "Third, the only one in Jiangnan who can fight Fang Yuan is the Fujian Zheng clan. We must instigate the Zheng clan to confront Fang Yuan, and we must not give Fang Yuan a chance to breathe and develop. ”

Empress Zhou said, "But the information sent by Jiangnan shows that the Zheng family and Fang Yuan have negotiated peace and dismissed the army, and the fleet has also returned to Fujian. ”

Hong Chengchou said with a smile, "The Zheng clan and Fang Yuan have both the territorial dispute in Zhejiang and the maritime trade dispute. The so-called one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers, and the two sides are in a desperate situation, where can peace talks stop the army? The minister's plan to sacrifice two tigers for the queen mother and the prince will inevitably provoke the two sides to go to war again! ”

Zhu Cihong hurriedly asked, "Teacher, tell me quickly, what is the strategy of the two tigers competing for food?" ”

Hong Chengchou said, "The minister's friend, Qian Qianyi, a famous Donglin guest, is now also a staff member in the Zheng family, and he is also the mentor of Zheng Sen, the son of Zheng Zhilong. According to Qian Qianyi, in the previous crusade against Fang Yuan, Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Zhibao were the main peace faction, while Zheng Sen and Zheng Zhifeng were the resolute main battle faction. Niangniang and the prince can canonize Zheng Zhilong as the governor of Fujian, Zheng Sen as the general soldier of Zhejiang, and then reward the Zheng family with the sword of Shang Fang, which can be cut first and then played. With Zheng Sen's temperament, he will definitely go north to compete with Fang Yuan for a day in Zhejiang. ”

Empress Zhou asked in a deep voice, "But the reason why the Zheng family negotiated peace before was because they were afraid that the Xuanjia Army's land combat power was too strong, and the Zheng family went north to Zhejiang to compete with Fang Yuan on land, if the army was defeated, Jiangnan would be Fang Yuan's bag." ”

Hong Chengchou suddenly knelt on the ground, kowtowed heavily to Queen Zhou and the crown prince, and said, "The old minister still has a word of death, I can't help but say it, first ask the mother and the prince to clear the left and right, and then forgive the old minister for the death penalty!" ”

Seeing that he was solemn, Queen Zhou hurriedly dismissed the palace maids and eunuchs who served, leaving only Hong Chengchou and the three of them, "Mr. Hong, please get up, it's okay to be blunt, this palace will pardon you." ”

Only then did Hong Chengchou get up in tears, and said in a low voice, "Qian Qianyi once said that Zheng Sen's mother is the Japanese daughter of the Japanese country, Tian Chuan, who also grew up in the Japanese country since she was a child, and was also received by Tokugawa Iemitsu, the shogunate of the Japanese country. The Zheng family also has a lot of trade contacts with the Wa State all the year round, if Zheng Sen can borrow troops from the Wa State to participate in the war and attack Nanzhili, how many chances can Fang Yuan have? ”

The Ming Dynasty was harassed for decades, killing, burning, looting and plundering, and the people of Zhejiang and Fujian suffered greatly. During the Wanli period, the Ming Dynasty even fought a bloody war against the Wa Kingdom in Korea.

At present, Hong Chengchou wants to use the power of the Japanese State to crusade against Fang Yuan, which is really a heinous crime against the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty. But there is one word that spreads, and I am afraid that it will immediately set off an irrepressible uproar.

Queen Zhou was so shocked that her face was pale, she took a few deep breaths, shook her head again and again, and said, "Mr. Hong, this must not be!" Led the Japanese State to invade Nanzhili, what face do I have to see Your Majesty, to see the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty? Never! ”

Hong Chengchou knelt down deeply and kowtowed and said, "The old minister is willing to be a sinner for the ages, and there is no need for the court to issue any edict, and the old minister will send a message to Qian Qianyi, implying that Zheng Sen can borrow troops from the Japanese state, and the court will not be guilty afterwards." If it happens, it will be the work of the mother and the prince; If the matter fails, the blame lies with the old minister, and the mother and the prince can behead the old minister to calm the anger. ”

Empress Zhou was stunned and asked, "Mr. Hong is so loyal to Daming?" ”

Hong Chengchou wept and said, "Lao Chen, a traitor, thought that it was a great fortune to be able to return to his homeland. I never thought that the mother and the prince would still reuse it regardless of their previous suspicions. Niangniang and the prince treat the old minister as a national soldier, and although the old minister dies, he can't repay the grace of the mother and the prince. ”

Empress Zhou glanced at the crown prince Zhu Cihong, and Zhu Cihong hurriedly rushed to Hong Chengchou and knelt down, "The teacher is really a pillar of the Ming Dynasty!" ”