In September of the sixth year of the Apocalypse (1626 AD), Gu Bingqian, the first assistant of the cabinet and the chief strategist of Wei Zhongxian, asked for a scholar because of his old age and frailty, but Zhu Youxiao hesitated, because there was no suitable candidate, he did not approve Gu Bingqian's resignation for the time being.

That afternoon, Zhu Youxiao was going to make an extra-large shrine for the Jiaotai Palace, and he was so busy sweating profusely that he was still meticulous, and he didn't even have time to wipe the sweat beads on his face.

Wei Zhongxian handed over a cup of herbal tea in time: "Your Majesty, let's rest first!" Let the old slaves do some miscellaneous labor! ”

Zhu Youxiao took the herbal tea and smiled: "Zhongxian, I know that you are loyal, but this shrine is a delicate job, and you can't do it." ”

"It's all to blame for the old slave's clumsiness, how young and clever he is like His Majesty." Wei Zhongxian drooped his head, his face was annoyed, and he wanted to slap himself a few times.

"Zhongxian, don't be upset, in a few days, this shrine will be almost completed." Zhu Youxiao took a sip of herbal tea, "Didn't the fifth brother win the battle in Shaanxi?" How's it going? ”

"Back to His Majesty, the Ministry of Officials has already appointed Sun Chuanting as the political envoy of Shaanxi, and he will leave Beijing on the same day and go to Shaanxi to take up his post." Wei Zhongxian touched the shrine, and took out a piece of white silk to wipe Zhu Youxiao's sweat, and then said faintly: "Your Majesty, the ancient road of Taihang Mountain Jing has been in disrepair for a long time, and there has been a large-scale collapse, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to transport this military food to Shaanxi for a while......

"Nope." Zhu Youxiao was furious and smashed the cup in his hand, "Even if you use someone to carry it, you have to carry it to me." "My younger brother is bleeding and sweating for the Ming Dynasty in Shaanxi, and there are people in the court who are making a mistake, Zhu Youxiao doesn't believe that the good well suddenly collapsed, "Zhongxian, immediately pass on the order, the military rations are missed for one day, and all the relevant personnel will be killed immediately." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wei Zhongxian was shocked into a cold sweat, fortunately there was a back hand, and Jing Cheng was not completely destroyed, otherwise the emperor would be furious, in case he checked himself, and the Donglin Party fell into the ground, his mighty imperial grace may no longer be there.

Seeing that Wei Zhongxian had not meant to leave, Zhu Youxiao asked again: "Zhongxian, what else is going on?" ”

"Your Majesty, Lord Gu of the Cabinet has repeatedly asked for his resignation." Wei Zhongxian lowered his head and looked at his toes, restoring the docility of a Persian cat.

"Since Gu Aiqing must resign, then it's accurate!" Zhu Youxiao was very impatient, but the first assistant was the first important minister in the court, and he couldn't be sloppy, so he thought about it, "Let Huang Liji take over as the first assistant." Wait, Huang Aiqing was already the second assistant and the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, so he was promoted to a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion and crowned the crown prince, as for the Ministry of Rites...... For the time being, Huang Aiqing will concurrently serve as the concurrent. ”

"The old slave obeys." Wei Zhongxian's head hung lower, and the silver silk Buddha dust in his hand had already touched his chin, temporarily acting as his beard, "Your Majesty, the other auxiliary members of the cabinet are not young. ”

Zhu Youxiao had already prepared the post-production of the shrine, and he had no interest in the other auxiliary members of the cabinet, so he waved his hand at Wei Zhongxian: "You can do this matter!" I see. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wei Zhongxian's waist is bent to ninety degrees, thanks to his good body, a lot of age, the flexibility of the joints is still so good, "Your Majesty, this cabinet can't only have Huang Liji as an empty head and assistant, but also increase the number of people." Please instruct Your Majesty, and the old slave will do it. ”

Zhu Youzheng took the saw and sawed off a piece of wood that had grown on the shrine. Hearing this, he didn't reply: "You can't do such a trivial thing, Zhongxian, what's wrong with you today?" The soul is not guarded. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty. The old slave will do it, and the old slave will do it. Wei Zhongxian's little eyes flickered secretly, but they quickly disappeared, like lightning in the dark night, disappearing in an instant. He slowly withdrew from the Qianqing Palace, still excited in his heart, although he didn't take Zhu Youzhen in order, he harvested a big fish......

Wei Zhongxian's hands and feet were so fast, he quickly drafted the holy decree according to Zhu Youxiao's intentions, covered it with a jade seal, and announced the information of the cabinet reshuffle.

Gu Bingqian, the first assistant of the cabinet, got his wish and returned to the field; Huang Liji, the second assistant of the cabinet, took over as the first assistant, and at the same time added the scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion and the crown prince Taibao, and continued to be in charge of the Ministry of Rites; The other auxiliary members of the cabinet, also because of their old age, accompanied Gu Bingqian to the soldiers.

However, the cabinet could not be vacant, and according to the emperor's dictation, Shi Fenglai, Zhang Ruitu, Li Guopu, and Lai Zongdao were added to the cabinet.

The five auxiliary members of the new cabinet are all from Wei Biao's party, and the cabinet can no longer voice the Donglin party.

When the Donglin Party saw this holy decree, they all scolded Wei Zhongxian for being autocratic and misleading the country, and the new cabinet was "the inner hall of the Wei family".

The leaders of the Eastern Forestry Party in the imperial court gathered together, drooping their heads one by one, and no one had the confidence to fight against the eunuchs, and no one had the strength to fight against the eunuchs.

Since it was the emperor's holy decree, no one could oppose it, and the Donglin party could only watch the eunuchs become more and more arrogant. They can only spit on the eunuch members behind their backs to show their disdain, and scold them to vent their dissatisfaction.

All kinds of high-end taverns, tea shops and Qinglou in Jingshi, every evening, there are a few more diners, and after eating, they get drunk and go crazy, and they scold the eunuchs and Wei Zhongxian.

When Wei Zhongxian heard the secret protection, he couldn't help but be furious: "This is the holy decree of His Majesty, who dares to chew the root of his tongue behind his back?" What does Tian Ergeng do and eat? Sue him, keep an eye on these places for our family, if anyone drinks and talks nonsense and slanders the emperor, whoever stays in the Qinglou overnight will be sent to Jinyiwei's purgatory immediately. ”

Jingshi has set off an invisible bloody storm again.

At the moment of "committing crimes", groups of Donglin party members were hit by Jinyiwei one after another, and even Li Qiyuan, the head of the household department, was also blocked in the Qinglou, but fortunately, his good friend sacrificed himself to save him and hid him in the closet, so he escaped.

Purgatory was lively again, and the sound of the leather whips of the brocade guards and the shouts and curses of the prisoners continued all night.

A nameless corpse filled the belly of the stray dog, so that the mass grave in the southern suburbs of Beijing was guarded by a large number of stray dogs like wolves every day.

There are more and more vacancies in the court, and those who want to move their seats also shuttle through the streets and alleys of the capital division under the cover of night, but they didn't expect to meet in the same place.

Wei Zhongxian looked at the white silver, and the crow's feet at the corners of his eyes wrinkled even deeper: "I didn't expect a bad thing to become a good thing when it came to our family's hands, hehe." ”

Zhu Youzhen, who was far away in Shaanxi, could not hear Wei Zhongxian's laughter. He left the Fenwu battalion Jiang Zhengcai's troops to garrison Luochuan, and after the government soldiers in Shaanxi took over the defense, he joined Feng Chang's department of the martial arts training battalion stationed in Tongzhou to receive grain and grass, and then chased the army north.

The roads in northern Shaanxi were rugged and difficult to navigate, and it took Zhu Youzhen four days before the army arrived in Yan'an. The terrain of Yan'an is dominated by mountains and rivers, with ravines and ravines, barren land, and sparse population.

Information from the bandits in northern Shaanxi soon gathered in Yan'an.

In northern Shaanxi, there are four different branches of bandits.

Gao Yingxiang's department was the strongest, with a total strength of more than 60,000, occupying Yansui Military Town and Shenmu and Fugu counties in the northernmost part of Shaanxi, and the front was directed at Datong in Shanxi.

Wang Jiayin's department and Wang Daliang's department, which ranked after Gao Yingxiang, each had more than 25,000 troops, Wang Jiayin was entrenched in the northwest Huaiyuanbao and Jingbianbao, while Wang Daliang was entrenched in Suidezhou and Mizhi County.

Wang Zuohang's strength was the weakest, with only more than 10,000 troops, and they were stationed in Anzhai and Zichang counties.

Zhu Youzhen carefully examined the march map and, according to the distribution of the bandits, preliminarily formulated an operational policy of moving from the south to the north, first the weak and then the strong, and breaking through each of them.

"Yuan Chonghuan went out on the left side and attacked Anzhai; Zu Dashou went out on the right side and attacked the son. Yan'an Prefecture is used as a transit base for grain and grass. ”

"Your Highness, what about me? If you are always idle, you will be afraid that you will get sick in the end. Man Gui opened his big mouth and seemed to be able to swallow a whole Mongolian sheep.

"General Man, this is a siege at this time, and the cavalry commanded by General Man may not be needed for the time being." Zhu Youzhen was not intimidated by Man Gui's momentum, and still talked and laughed.

"Your Highness, what if the bandits in the city leave the city? It was a good opportunity to take advantage of the cavalry. "Man Gui is unrelenting, the battle has been fought until now, and the credit has basically been snatched away by Zu Dashou and Yuan Chonghuan, the three generals of Liaodong, only he still has no merit until now, just running behind other people's butts.

Zhu Youzhen closed his eyes and pondered for a while, "That's it, General Man, you take a cavalry guard and go straight between Anzhai and Zichang to cut off the connection between the two counties." Remember, your cavalry can only be used as an aid to the infantry, and you must not be greedy and disturb the bandits in the city. Zhu Youzhen said to Liu Yuzhuan again: "Yushuan, you can go with General Man!" ”

"Yes, Your Highness." Man Gui and Liu Yuxuan all went proudly.

"Your Highness, with the character of a general, you will definitely not be willing to be left behind the infantry." Special operations captain Wang Mujiu kindly reminded Zhu Youzhen.

"These two people are hungry and resentful, they want to be auxiliaries for the infantry, and the water of the Yangtze River is afraid that it will flow backwards." Zhu Youzhen didn't care, just smiled faintly.

In Anzhai City, the bandits did not know that Wang Er had died in battle, and in the face of Yuan Chonghuan's army of more than 10,000 people, Wang Zuohang was terrified.

"General, the officers and soldiers have always been scattered, although there are nearly 10,000 officers and troops outside the city now, but in the eyes of the last general, they are all local chickens and dogs, as long as the general can give the last general 3,000 men and horses, they will definitely be killed." Wang Zuohang's subordinate fierce general Li Bei, who turned out to be a hereditary hundred households of the border army, although he was illiterate, he was extremely brave in battle, and he had been tired to the Anzhai guard. Because of his military background, he is very clear about the combat effectiveness of the officers and soldiers.

"Can General Li really retreat from the enemy?" Wang Zuohang did not have Li Bei's self-confidence, and he knew that his army, except for a few border troops who had taken refuge, the vast majority were peasants who had just taken up arms.

"The general can rest assured, the last general will definitely take the heads of the officers and soldiers to receive credit from the general." Since he took refuge in Wang Zuohang, Li Bei has never been defeated by the official army on the battlefield, and this time, he also hopes to use the heads of the official army to make contributions to Wang Zuohang.

"Okay, then give General Li 3,000 elites, and hope that General Li will make new contributions." Wang Zuohang had already calculated, once Li Bei was defeated, he immediately fled from the north gate and defected to Wang Jiayin. Maybe Li Bei relied on his personal bravery to defeat the official army.

Yuan Chonghuan's Xianwu battalion was in formation, with infantry in the center and cavalry guarding on both sides.

The south gate of Anzhai was slowly opening, and Li Bei took the lead and killed the Chinese army in the Xianwu camp.