(Great Literature.) Emperor Ming Fengyunlu

Volume VIII Troubled Times

Chapter 5 The situation in the DPRK is turbulent and the troops are withdrawn

Section 6: Great Changes Are Coming (1)

In the sixth year of the Apocalypse (the tenth year of the Later Jin Mandate of Heaven), at the beginning of August, the capital, Wei Mansion.

"Qiqi factory father, Jiliao Governor sent someone to urge the grain and salary, saying that now the 300,000 troops in the four towns of Jiliao can no longer pay the military salary, please ask the factory to immediately allocate money and grain, and allocate the military salary that was still owed before; Otherwise, the Jiliao Inspector will have to fold the bullets and impeach the factory and the military department and the household department. ”

"Humph!" Wei Zhongxian snorted coldly and said: "Tell the people who came, the miscellaneous family has no money now, and if you want money to go to the household department and the military department, Ye Ge Lao won't give money, do you want the miscellaneous family to rob it?" Since you're not afraid of making things bigger, let's make a big fuss! ”

"Yes."

After the little eunuch left, Wei Zhongxian looked out the window with a frosty face, and his heart was full of anger. Since all the Han Wei troops withdrew to the west of the Liaohe River about two months ago, the ministers of the DPRK and China headed by Ye Xianggao have cut the money and food of the Han Wei army on the grounds that the treasury is empty and the war is over, and even the resettlement costs of the people who withdrew with the army to Liaodong are also being deducted; and also found out that Yuan Chonghuan contacted Nurhachi, and executed Yuan Chonghuan Lingchi, so as to attack the power of Liu Yunwei, the governor of Jiliao, and prevent the four towns of Jiliao from being uncontrollable after this victory.

"Maybe those bastard ministers think that His Majesty is going to return to heaven, and the power of the miscellaneous family is about to disappear, so they are ready to seize power? Hum! Arrogant! They think they can be lawless and do whatever they want? Even if the miscellaneous family loses its support, it may lose power in the future, but is Jiliao Governor easy to mess with? What a joke! ”

Thinking of this, Wei Zhongxian called his henchmen and eunuchs, dictated a letter, and explained in detail the movements of the middle of the dynasty to the Gao Yi Party, focusing on explaining the matter of deducting the money and food of the Han Wei army, not that he was deliberately deducting it, but that Ye Xiang Gao and the party maliciously did not send money and food; At the end of the letter, Wei Zhongxian also deliberately said: "When the big event is approaching, I also ask the superintendent to rush to Beijing to meet and discuss the big thing!" ”

After the letter was written, Wei Zhongxian sent his confidants to Shanhaiguan overnight.

"Now it depends on whether Inspector Jiliao is willing to join forces with the miscellaneous family! However, once His Majesty returns to heaven, the most likely successor to the throne should be King Xin, and the miscellaneous family should have already made plans! ”

Yefu.

Ye Xianggao and more than a dozen ministers of the six ministries gathered in the study, and everyone discussed the matter of rewarding the soldiers of the Hanwei Army.

Li Chunye, the secretary of the Ministry of War, said with some concern: "This Ningyuan victory is the most glorious victory of the dynasty since the Liao Incident, if the imperial court only knighted the commander of the Han Wei army, and the rest of the promotions and rewards will not be there, it is difficult to guarantee that it will not cause trouble!" ”

The rest of the ministers also talked about it one after another, and they all expressed their great concern about it.

But Ye Xianggao disagreed with everyone's opinions, and Zhengse said: "Now Your Majesty's life is hanging by a thread, and in order to keep the power in his hands, the eunuchs may wash the court in blood at any time, what will the court use to reward those martial artists?" Knighting those martial artists is already a blessing from heaven! Could it be that those martial artists only have yellow and white things in their eyes, and there is no half of loyalty and shame! ”

As soon as these words came out, no one spoke in the study anymore, and everyone's faces were very strange. Ye Xianggao looked around, and saw that everyone's reaction was very satisfied, so he said: "Okay, this matter is settled, let's send someone to announce the decree." ”

After discussing the matter of rewarding Han Weijun, the Ministry of Rites Shangshu cautiously asked, "Pavilion Elder, I don't know what is the situation of Your Majesty now?" Once Your Majesty returns to heaven, most of the time will be inherited by King Xin, are we in advance of the relationship with King Xin? If you can win the trust of King Xin, it will be twice the result with half the effort to suppress the eunuch party in the future! ”

Ye Xianggao nodded and said, "This is reasonable!" In this way, the old man will go to King Xin's Mansion tonight and talk to His Royal Highness King Xin. ”

That night, the letter of the king's mansion.

Zhu Youzhen, the fifteen-year-old king of letters, sat on a mahogany chair in civilian clothes, looked at Wei Zhongxian standing in the hall with a smile on his face, and asked very politely: "I don't know what happened when the factory came late at night?" ”

Wei Zhongxian smiled faintly and said: "Your Highness Qiqi, now that the state affairs are difficult, Your Majesty is sick again, and the miscellaneous family thinks that there are some things that need to be said to His Royal Highness King Xin in advance. The miscellaneous family is bothered late at night, and I hope that His Royal Highness Haihan. ”

Zhu Youzhen's face changed slightly, he got up and clenched his fists and said, "It's okay to ask the factory to speak out." ”

"In fact, His Royal Highness also knows that to say a big disrespectful word, once His Majesty returns to heaven, this Ming throne will be His Royal Highness, and how His Royal Highness will govern in the future is a major event related to the Ming Dynasty for thousands of generations. The miscellaneous family came here tonight just to make a statement to His Royal Highness, and they must enter the virtuous ministers and villains! ”

As soon as the words fell, a trace of anger flashed between Zhu Youzhen's eyebrows, but it was fleeting, and then said with a smile: "The words of the factory master, Xiao Wang remembered." If the royal brother really trusts Xiao Wang, then Xiao Wang will definitely do his best and do his best with the factory father! ”

Half an hour later, Wei Zhongxian left satisfied, and Zhu Youzhen personally sent Wei Zhongxian out. After Wei Zhongxian's carriage and horse walked away, Zhu Youzhen looked at the night with a frosty face, not knowing what he was thinking in his heart, but his eyebrows were full of anger and did not dissipate for a long time.

At this moment, Zhu Youzhen saw a carriage and horse appear in the dark street, and came straight to the palace of the king. Zhu Youzhen recognized that this carriage was Ye Xianggao, so he put on a smile and stood outside the door to greet Ye Xianggao's frame.

After Ye Xianggao got out of the car, he saw King Xin coming to greet him in person, so he hurriedly stepped forward to greet him and said, "How can the old minister ask King Xin to greet him?" Sins, sins, sins! ”

"Haha, Xiao Wang has nothing to do tonight, and when he saw that the night was ethereal, he came out for a walk, but he didn't expect to meet Ge Lao! Come, come, the elder of the pavilion invites the house to speak. ”

After the two came to the outer hall, Zhu Youzhen asked with a smile: "I don't know what advice the elder Ge has for visiting late at night?" ”

Ye Xianggao saw that Zhu Youzhen had no shelf, so he didn't beat around the bush anymore, and directly reprimanded Wei Zhongxian and his party in front of Zhu Youzhen, and finally said: "Your Highness, the eunuch party is rampant and the people are in hardship, and Wei Zhongxian's collection of commercial taxes in Jiangnan has caused the heavens to be angry and resentful, and the ancestral precept set by Taizu not to compete with the people for profit is gone!" In the future, after His Royal Highness inherits the unification, he must eliminate the traitors and return the court to a prosperous future! ”

After listening to Ye Xianggao's words, Zhu Youzhen couldn't maintain his previous smile anymore, and instead slowly became angry, and said, "Elder Ge, the top priority of the imperial court now is to cure the imperial brother's illness. Even if it is 10,000 steps back, if Xiao Wang can really sit in that position, he will definitely eliminate the eunuchs and make great efforts, and he will not disappoint the people of the world! ”

Ye Xianggao was overjoyed when he heard this, and talked to Zhu Youzhen for a while, and did not leave the Xinwang Mansion until the second half of the night.

However, Zhu Youzhen did not sleep at all after sending Ye Xianggao away, and sat alone in the study until dawn. The visit of Wei Zhongxian and Ye Xianggao made Zhu Youzhen, who was only 15 years old, feel a deep fear, and Zhu Youzhen clearly knew that the two huge forces of the DPRK and China were already eager to try, and they were ready to use themselves to eliminate the other party. Zhu Youzhen can fully imagine that once the emperor's brother Long Yu returns to heaven, Wei Zhongxian will definitely control himself as soon as possible, and then coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes to achieve the goal of eradicating all political enemies.

"If this is the case, then isn't my life controlled by the eunuchs? The matter of the eunuchs killing the emperors at will at the end of the Tang Dynasty is hard to guarantee that it will not be staged on me! ”

When Zhu Youzhen thought of this, he only felt that he was full of cold, so he wanted to seek foreign aid in order to ensure his safety and freedom. However, Zhu Youzhen also knew very well in his heart that although Ye Xianggao was bent on defeating Wei Zhongxian, Ye Xianggao and his party were just some civil servants and had no strength, and they could not protect themselves by themselves.

"However, who else can protect me besides Ye Ge Lao?"

Just when Zhu Youzhen was thinking about it, a Tang newspaper on the bookcase caught Zhu Youzhen's attention: "Ning Yuan's great victory: Jiliao Governor broke Jiannu, killed the two banner owners of Jiannu, and killed and injured the slave chief Nurhachi ......"

"That's right! Jiliao Inspector Liu Yunwei! ”

As if he had grasped a life-saving straw, Zhu Youzhen immediately wrote a handwritten letter, and then called a confidant to accompany him, ordering him to send the letter to the Jiliao Governor's Mansion in Shanhaiguan, and he must hand it over to Jiliao Governor Liu Yunwei in person!

After the letter was sent, the stone in Zhu Youzhen's heart fell, and he secretly said in his heart: "Jiliao Inspector has been fighting for the country, and he is a loyal minister and good general who is loyal and brave to serve the country. As long as the Han Wei army enters the capital, then I don't have to be afraid of Wei Zhongxian anymore! ”

The scorching sun in the capital in summer, the aftermath of the explosion of Wang Gongchang has not yet ended, the people in the capital are still panicked, and the same is true above the court, the civil and military officials all feel the oppression of the mountain rain and the wind full of buildings, I don't know what will happen in the middle of the court once His Majesty returns to the sky!

Six days later, Shanhaiguan Jiliao Governor's Mansion.

Liu Yunwei looked at the letter sent by Zhu Youzhen, the king of letters, asking for help, and there was a letter sent by Wei Zhongxian at hand, but the content of these two letters startled Liu Yunwei. Although Liu Yunwei knew that the forces of the court had reached the point of tension, he never expected that the situation in the capital had reached such a point, and the dignified vassal king and the heir to the throne of the Ming Dynasty were so frightened that they asked for help from the generals of other towns! Could it be that the Ming Dynasty is going to go through another calamity?

In the hall, Yuan Mingxuan, Sun Yuanhua and other governors, as well as Lu Ying, Wen Poyu, Wu Xing and other generals have not yet woken up from the shock, they are all silent and frowning secretly.

After a while, Liu Yunwei asked in a deep voice: "Let's talk about it, how should we deal with this handwritten letter from King Xin?" ”

As soon as the words fell, everyone began to discuss, and there was an instant bang in the hall, and everyone directly broke out into a fierce quarrel.

Great Literature .