Anqing, the Yangtze River is rolling eastward, the wind sets off gusts of waves, the smoke is misty, hundreds of boats collect their sails in the meantime, slowly approach the wharf, the shore is hunting with flags, people shouting horses neighing, there are constantly soldiers getting off the boat and boarding the wharf, and then marching to the military camp in the distance - Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi provinces are unprecedentedly united, the state capitals are based on the anger of the Nanjing court, all the most elite local militia are recruited to join the army, the strength in the hands of the old marshal quickly swelled to 20,000 people, simply move the camp from Jiujiang to Anqing.

A fleet sailed from downstream, the first ship arrived at the dock, several officers disembarked and galloped towards a high ground on the shore, under the big light, Du Wenhuan looked far away surrounded by a group of officers, and shouted when he saw the people coming from afar: "Daniel Zhang, Lin Feiyu, this commander has ordered the withdrawal of troops for several days, why are you only coming back now?" ”

"Old Shuai, Huang Degong injured more than 300 of my brothers, and everyone wants to fight another battle to report back, you shouldn't order the withdrawal of the army, we can still fight!" Young Daniel Zhang climbed the high ground and wiped his sweat and said.

"My navy didn't suffer a loss, and the Ming army didn't dare to fight, and a few more days of fighting will definitely destroy them." The stout Lin Feiyu was also complaining in a southern Mandarin.

Cao Bianjiao glared at them fiercely, and shouted in a stern tone: "If you are told to withdraw, where is the nonsense." ”

Du Wenhuan waved his hand and stepped forward, these are the two favorite generals he personally promoted, Daniel Zhang, a native of Shaanxi, once followed Li Guoqi into Henan to ask for thieves, was attacked by Li Zicheng and Luo Rucai in Mengjiazhuang, and defected to Zuo Liangyu after the defeat and dispersal, but because he did not belong to the Zuo army lineage, he was not reused, after Zuo Liangyu was finished, he was absorbed by the Datong Army, this guy has a brain that can fight, starting from a small captain, almost a battle and promoted to an officer, the old commander felt that this was a talent, and promoted him from the deputy battalion officer to the Jiujiang garrison with the rank of guerrilla; Lin Feiyu, a native of Guangdong, followed the sea at the age of sixteen Liu Xiang to the sea to rob, once selected for the Daming sea fishing book, after Liu Xiang was defeated, he pulled up a team to continue to do pirates, because of the robbery of business offended the Zheng family in Fujian, and went north to the Shen family, but Shen Shoulian was not interested in his counterparts in the south, and sent him to Wuchang to seek an errand.

"Are Huang Degong's soldiers very powerful?" The old man asked with a smile.

"It's not good, except for a few hundred families, everyone else is not as good as our militia." Daniel Zhang replied indifferently.

Lin Feiyu immediately added: "Their sailors are even worse, the boats are small and broken, there are a lot of looted fishing boats, and there are not many guns, so it's okay to beat them." ”

"The five towns and the twelve towns are coming from Henan, don't hurry and take your time, leave some old ground for the Ming army to meet the Qing army, we can't shed more blood." The old marshal nodded and waved his hand to signal Daniel Zhang and Lin Feiyu to go down and rest.

The old marshal continued to look at the river, and Du Hongyu, a soldier in the camp, came over and complained very dissatisfiedly: "Father, those two people are just husbands, you reuse them, why don't you let me lead the troops?" ”

"Shut up, don't go anywhere, just stay by my side," Du Wenhuan interrupted his son's words and said mockingly, "You don't know the Datong Army, you don't want to stand still without military merits, you can't lead the soldiers with those two times, go back and listen to your commentary." ”

Du Hongyu was so angry that he stomped his feet away, the old man sighed and shook his head, the two sons were in the shadows of officials, they couldn't bear hardship and couldn't be offended, he worked hard outside the border, there were only Du Hongtai, Du Hongfang, Du Hongguo and a group of nephews around him, and his own son couldn't count on it - the eldest son Du Hongji served as the chief soldier of Ningxia, and the thieves in the northwest were in chaos, so he found an excuse to retire and return to his hometown, died of illness a few years ago, and the second son Du Hongyu also served as a border town officer, and later transferred to Nanzhili, and since then he has been messing around, especially obsessed with listening to commentaries, Last year, he was appointed by the Nanjing Imperial Court to train the Chikou General Army, but he still did not change his habits and did not do his job, and when the imperial court turned his face and wanted to settle accounts with the Du family, he ignored the life and death of the old family in Kunshan, and fled to Jiujiang alone with the storyteller Liu Jingting.

A gust of river wind interrupted the old man's train of thought, he tightened his grip, and said sharply to Cao Bianjiao: "Your thirteen towns must hurry up and practice, I suspect that the Nanjing Imperial Court will not last long." ”

"No, the Qing army is only tens of thousands, and the Ming army in Jiangbei has more than a million people, even a group of miscellaneous soldiers can fight for a year or two, we have plenty of time." Cao Bianjiao is now the commander of the thirteen towns and is also in charge of the military affairs of the governor of Jiangxi, and he is still relatively optimistic about the war situation.

"It's hard to say, let Lin Feiyu approach Chizhou, and closely monitor the movements of the Ming army in Taiping Mansion from now on." The old man shook his head and said.

Nanjing, the small imperial court has been established for almost a year, it has never been so silent as now, the Qing army invaded the south, the Datong army invaded the east, the two iron fists were about to be smashed, seeing that the building was about to fall, the courtiers were very conscious of keeping their mouths shut, and it was best to be a puppet at this time.

The hall was solemn, the emperor glanced at the ministers expressionlessly, these guys suddenly stopped making trouble, it was really a bit unaccustomed, he cleared his throat and said: "Dongyu and Wuchang thieves are menacing, do you Aiqing have a good way to retreat from the enemy?" ”

The ministers were still indifferent, but their eyes were aimed at the first assistant Ma Shiying, Ma Shiying sighed and bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, the minister has sent Ruan Dacheng, the secretary of the military department, to bring Huang Degong, Marquis of Jingnan, Liu Liangzuo, Guangchang Bo, and Chikou General Soldier to the river to block and suppress the enemy in Wuchang. ”

Yao Sixiao, the waiter of the Criminal Department, retorted: "The cardinal is false, Digang is a great victory, the Wuchang thief is a little slow, and the north is especially urgent. ”

"The ministers also seconded the proposal." Yu Shi Qiao Ke hired, Cheng Youqian echoed.

Zhang Jie, the secretary of the ministry, changed his face, pointed at Yao Sixiao and shouted: "The only person who knows the border affairs in the DPRK and the central government and has gone through the battle is Lord Shoufu, and the other three are just scholars. ”

"Jiangbei Governor Shi Kefa reported that the northern soldiers were forcing Xuzhou, fearing that Xu Huai would not defend it, this is a great enemy, and his people have asked His Majesty to meet and discuss outside Nanjing, why did the cardinal stop it?" Qian Qianyi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, continued to point the finger at Ma Shiying.

Yang Weiyuan was furious, and he went out to the emperor and said: "The minister impeached the governor of Jiangbei, and the imperial court ran out of money and grain to support the four towns, so that the treasury was empty and the people were full of grievances, and Liu Zeqing built a private house in Huai'an, luxurious and arrogant palace, and other Huang Degong, Gao Jie, Liu Liangzuo, etc. also rushed to follow suit, if it were not for his connivance and protection, how could he be so arrogant, Jiangbei A million soldiers did not recover an inch of their homeland, Gao Jie Henan also killed the thieves and retreated, how can such an incompetent person be entrusted with a heavy responsibility!" ”

mentioned Shi Kefa, Ma Shiying was also on fire, Liu Zeqing's troops and Gao Jie's remnants in the Xu Huai area still had six or seven hundred thousand people, this person did not plan to prevent the Eastern Capture, but went to Nanjing to cry and gave you all the soldiers, what should I do in the west? What to do in Nanjing? Will I be able to take your sin for you from now on?

"Erji Donglin, especially from the mouth of the river, want to indulge in Wuchang thieves? If the northern soldiers arrive, it is especially negotiable, if the Wuchang thief arrives, you are a high-ranking official, and my monarch and ministers are dead," Ma Shi pointed at Yao Sixiao and shouted angrily for a while, and then said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, the minister has transferred Liu Liangzuo's troops across the south of the Yangtze River, and he would rather die in the north than die in rebellion." ”

"Your Majesty, the minister impeached Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng, these two people were authoritarian and misguided the country, selling officials and fattening themselves, Ma Shiying also used his son Ma Luan as the general soldier of the Beijing camp, and recruited Guizhou soldiers as a private army, Ruan Dacheng also guarded his private room day and night, and secretly heartfelt armor in the wing room and study, this sincerity and loyalty were false." Qian Qianyi also dragged Ruan Dacheng in.

Ma Shiying was furious, and shouted to Qian Qianyi: "Datong supports the establishment of a pseudo-king, and forces back to steal Zhengshuo, you only fight for the party, but you don't want to sacrifice the prince and mourn the king of Yong, mourn the king, if the Wuchang thief gains power, who in Nanjing is not a rebel?" ”

Ma Shiying's words did not frighten the courtiers, and looked at him with a smile - the Nanjing court was eager to establish the imperial system, and in July last year, it was hurriedly announced that the three sons of Emperor Chongzhen were all dead, and posthumously crowned as the prince of dedication and mourning for the king of Yong, the king of mourning, once Datong gained power, the courtiers did have the crime of rebellion, but Ma Shiying supported King Lifu first, and the first to be stabbed must be him.

The quarrel is still party contention and infighting, the emperor waved his hand very dissatisfied: "Okay, let's do it for the time being, if the upstream is urgent, then go upstream, the enemy is urgent, then the enemy is in a hurry, Guangchangbo should not be in a hurry to cross the river, and the people and horses in Jiangbei should not be too far away from the flood land." ”

Ma Shiying retreated to the side in some annoyance, and the emperor immediately spoke to him kindly; "Ma Aiqing can give the Jiangbei Governor a decree: the northern soldiers are going south, and the Qing will return to cook quickly, and there is no need to enter the court."

As soon as the hall was quiet, the scholar Wang Duo spoke again: "Your Majesty, there was a report yesterday that the Wuchang thieves forced Chizhou, and the ministers asked the troops to see the upper reaches of the division to curb the heavy troops of Wuchang, and the Jinshan area reached Longtan in the west, and the soldiers were less than seven hundred, and the cardinal decorated them with hundreds of thousands. Time can not last, Wuchang heavy troops down the river, I have no class, now the emperor to the military department to seal the ministers, the ministers reluctantly to the west, in order to be its momentum, in order to report to the court. ”

The old guy wanted to take the opportunity to meddle in the military affairs, and he had ill intentions, Ma Shiying shouted confidently: "The Wuchang thief is not weaker than the Dongyu, and the four towns are arrogant and lazy. ”

"I died in the country, and I died as I deserved, it was like being suspected of being defeated by a Wuchang thief." Wang Duo replied coldly.

Ma Shiying's history is not innocent, and he is most afraid that someone will say that he has a personal relationship with Datong, Wang Duo's words insinuate that he poked at the sore spot, and roared angrily: "Nonsense, Wuchang wants to 'kill Ma Ruan', but you say that I am suspected of collaborating with the enemy, what is your intention?" ”

"That's it, that's it, that's all for today." The emperor got up from the dragon chair and walked out of the main hall, and the courtiers immediately dispersed when they saw this.

Ma Shiying returned to the cabinet and locked himself in the study and was furious - since the end of last year, Nanjing has been very abnormal, and three major cases suddenly broke out: first, there was a monk with the legal name "Great Compassion" who claimed to be the prince who fled, first said that he was the king of Qi, and then changed his words to be the king of Wu, obviously a liar, but he claimed that "King Lu is kind to the people, everyone obeys him, and he should sit on the right seat with him" has a lot of origins, but unfortunately he was hurriedly tried and beheaded by Jiuqing Kedao, and there was no chance to find out the mastermind behind it; Second, a woman surnamed Henan claimed to be the step-concubine of King Dechang (Xiaofu Wang), this woman behaved frivolously, without the demeanor of a noblewoman, and talked nonsense about the affairs of King Fu's mansion, the emperor resolutely denied that this was his wife, and the ministers also thought it was fake; Third, a young man named Wang Zhiming rushed to Nanjing, claiming to be the prince of the first emperor to swagger and deceive, the market was in an uproar, the emperor announced that he was summoned to the palace for inspection, Wang Duo had been teaching the East Palace for three years, and immediately recognized that this person was a fake prince.

The three major cases are very simple, but the traitors took risks to deceive the wealth, but some people made a big fuss about it, spread rumors and slandered the emperor in the wrong way, it was he Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng who found someone to pretend to be King Xiaofu, this is simply a lie, King Fu and King Lu and several other vassal kings lived in Huai'an together, and there were eunuchs and palace maids waiting for them, how could outsiders pretend? What's more, at that time, King Xiaofu was poor and destitute, and he had to worry about the next meal, so a fool would pretend to be the king of the fallen domain-Donglin-Fushe, a gang of thieves who were so hateful, not only did they do everything right, but also sprayed feces and spread rumors.

Ma Shiying scolded the courtiers, and scolded Shi Kefa for selling his reputation and reputation, useless, only between the four towns and the mud, the people of the time gave him the nickname "old matchmaker", stretched out his hand to go to the money and food innumerable, but raised a group of arrogant soldiers and lazy generals, Gao Jie was a thief, and his people should take advantage of the chaos to dismember their backbones, incorporate their elites, and dismiss their subordinates, since then the court has been less of a disaster, but he ran to Xuzhou to be a good man, and set up Gao Jie's widow as the son of Xingping, Gao Jie's nephew Li Benshen as the commander, and other Gao Jie's cronies Hu Maozhen as the Chinese army, Li Chengdong as the general soldier of Xuzhou, When it is broken, it will be a trouble, wait and see, those wolf-hearted guys will definitely bite back.

Ma Shiying was scolding vigorously, and a ghost shadow suddenly flashed into the study, startling him, and exclaimed: "Jizhi, didn't you go to the Taiping Mansion to supervise the teacher, why did you come back suddenly?" ”

"I'm not going, what should I do if I leave Nanjing and be plotted, I came back after a circle outside the city," Ruan Dacheng waved his hand and said to Ma Shiying seriously, "Yaocao, those people are against us everywhere, and their arrogance is becoming more and more arrogant, I still want to hurry up and handle the case." ”

Ruan Dacheng was bent on making a stink of Donglin-Fushe overturning the case for the eunuch party, and when he became the secretary of the military department, he ignored the affairs of the military department, but he soaked in the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Criminal Department to supervise the Shun case all day long, and also prompted the imperial court to promulgate the "Beijing is guilty of thieves and ministers", and there are many members of the Fushe who are changeable officials, and many people are among them, but the case is lively, and only three backbones of the Fushe have died before and after - Zhou Zhong took refuge in Li Zicheng, and once scolded Emperor Chongzhen for "giving the head to the head of the only husband and returning to the hearts of all the people", after the Shun army was defeated from the Beijing Division, he fled back to his hometown in Jintan for refuge, which fell back into the legal net and was beheaded, His cousins Zhou Bi and Lei Yanzuo were also implicated in him because of their support for King Lu and were given to die.

Ma Shiying sat down and shook his head: "The emperor is lenient and does not want to be in prison, even the book of "Three Dynasties Classics" you found is placed in the pavilion and refuses to be printed in the world, I think, don't turn over the old accounts from decades ago." ”

"It's them who turn over old accounts, no, this evil breath must come out," Ruan Dacheng shook his head vigorously, and said to Ma Shiying mysteriously: "There is one more important matter, Yaocao, to be honest, do you still have any contact with Datong?" ”

"No, really not," Ma Shiying jumped up in a hurry, but quickly sat down again and whispered, "They sent someone to look for me, but I didn't see any." ”

"You are stupid, we can't afford to provoke Datong or Beijing, the fall of the Nanjing Imperial Court is only in the middle of now, and now everyone is thinking about the way back, you don't want the opportunity to send it to the door, you don't want to do anything, immediately find a way to restore contact with Datong."

"Forget it, good horses don't eat back grass, they all shouted 'Kill Ma Ruan', how can I contact them?"

"'Kill Ma Ruan' is just a slogan, it's not a big deal, just do it, I'm going to see the emperor now, and none of those people can be spared." Ruan Dacheng finished speaking and hurried away.

Ma Shiying looked at Ruan Dacheng's back and sighed, thinking that this person was talented, suave, and born in an official family, and was regarded as a leader in the same year, but unexpectedly ill-fated, because of a little old feud with Donglin has been suppressed for nearly 20 years, almost sixty years old, and he is still struggling to revenge the enemy, and this knot seems to be untied.

After the emperor retired from the court, he immediately rushed into the theater in the palace, this theater was still Ruan Dacheng to help Zhang Luo, the singing of the troupe, casting, orchestration and even the modification of the drama was also handled by him, today's first opera is worthy of its name, and the more the palace troupe sings, the better it is - the emperor has no other hobbies, he likes to listen to the opera, and he has to drink wine while listening, and occasionally improvise a few words, he likes this feeling of listening to the opera in a daze, and can forget all the things that go wrong in the world.

The emperor opened his drunken eyes and saw Ruan Dacheng coming, and happily beckoned and shouted: "Ruan Aiqing, you have come just in time, sit down and watch the play with me." ”

"Your Majesty, I heard that those courtiers are making trouble again, it's really annoying, the old minister must vent his anger for His Majesty......" Ruan Dacheng said as soon as he sat down.

The emperor was already seven or eight minutes drunk, interrupted Ruan Dacheng and said: "They are so hateful, they scold me for not wanting a wife, sleeping with virgins every night, and also say that I am a fake prince of Fuwang, and even my stepmother Empress Dowager Zou is also a fake, I have never been out of the palace since I was a child, and I have little knowledge and knowledge, so I can't be the emperor, but I can't be so insulting." ”

Troubles came to his heart, and the emperor drank one cup after another, Ruan Dacheng took the opportunity to say: "The minister inquired clearly, it was all the rumors made by the Donglin-Fushe group, and these chaotic ministers and thieves must be dealt with strictly......

"I don't listen, I don't listen, there are too many bad people here, I can't afford to mess with them, so I won't do it," the emperor waved his hand, stared at Ruan Dacheng with drunken eyes and shouted, "You are also bad people, I just want to find a decent place to live, I don't have to worry about food and clothing every day, you forced me to be the emperor, Nanjing is not a place for me to stay, I want to go home, I want to go home!" ”

The emperor staggered to his feet, tearing open his throat with tears and singing loudly: "If my spirit should not be revealed after I die, how can I see that I am angry at this time, I don't want half a star of red blood and red dust to splash, sprinkle blood between Bai Lian, look around the flagpole and everyone can see it, and I want you to snow all over the steps in June, this Chuzhou wants it to be a three-year drought, and then I know that I am wronged!" ”