In the dispute over salaries, Xiao Mazi did not lose much money on the surface - the silver that he lost to Wu Sangui and Geng Jimao in terms of military salaries had already been recovered from Shang Kexi and Kong Sizhen, and there was still a little surplus. But in fact, Xiao Mazi lost a mess, if he didn't make up for such a small surplus, it could even be said that he had lost his prestige and lost face!

Some friends must ask, since Xiao Mazi didn't suffer a big loss in the allocation of military salaries, and made a little surplus, why did Xiao Mazi lose a mess? This has to start with Xiao Mazi's tactical purpose in the matter of salary.

As mentioned earlier, Xiao Mazi's strategy for dealing with the three feudatories is to break them individually, and among the three feudatories of Geng, Shang, and Wu, Geng Jimao and his son have to guard against Taiwan's Zheng Jing, the last army of the Ming Dynasty, and they can't move casually; Shang Kexi said that the compatriots in the seller country didn't even want pants, and Xiao Mazi was reluctant to move; Therefore, Xiao Mazi was selected horizontally and vertically, and naturally found that the bad seed named Wu Sangui was neither as important as Geng Jimao's father and son, nor as traitorous and shameless as Shang Kexi, the size and length of fat, short and tall and thin were just the most suitable, just him!

Of course, it is not so easy to pick up Wu Sangui, Xiao Mazi's father Shunzhi and the first Batu Lu Aobai of the Qing Dynasty did not dare to be Wu Sangui, so they could only use gentle means to appease Wu Sangui while using gentle means to promote Wu Sangui's disarmament and gradually weaken Wu Sangui's strength. After Xiao Mazi ascended the throne for six years, although he did not dare to directly use force against Wu Sangui due to various situations, he also strengthened the strength and action of weakening Wu Sangui. Then Xiao Mazi made up his mind to knock Wu Sangui again on the military salary expenditure, cut Wu Sangui's military salary and send it to the banner men as Lu rice, which not only weakened Wu Sangui's overall strength in disguise, but also curried favor with the Eight Banners masters on which Xiao Mazi relied on him, killing two birds with one stone.

Although Xiao Mazi's abacus played well, it was a pity that the sky did not fulfill people's wishes, and I didn't know what was wrong there, Xiao Mazi's most assured Guangxi army had a problem first, and rushed to be the first bird to block Wu Sangui's gun, and then Shang Kexi, who had been at odds with Wu Sangui all his life, also jumped out like a wrong medicine, helping Wu Sangui to compete with the imperial court, plus Geng Jimao's father and son, who were secretly allied with Wu Sangui, Wu Sangui suddenly reversed the situation, from a defensive position to an offensive, but forced Xiao Mazi to the corner of the wall.

There is no way, Xiao Mazi, who is difficult to ride a tiger, can only see the moves, and is ready to make appropriate concessions to cut some of Wu Sangui's military salary, not only to save his face but not to really force Wu Sangui to be anxious, so after finding out that Wu Sangui's military salary limit is about 3.5 million taels, Xiao Mazi also quickly adjusted his bottom limit, that is, to change the original salary cut of 1 million taels to 500,000 taels. And with the support of Kong Sizhen and the Shang family brothers who represented Shang Kexi's salary, Xiao Mazi's plan was almost about to succeed, but what Wu Yingxiong, who was ready to accept it when he saw it, didn't expect that Aobai, who had been swallowing his anger and supporting Xiao Mazi in consideration of the overall situation, suddenly took the wrong medicine again, and actually turned against the side of Pingxi Wangfu.

Ao Shaobao opened Chrysostom and changed his support to Wu Sangui's salary, which was naturally a fairy fart - extraordinary! The vast majority of civil and military officials echoed it together, and the extremely critical household department Shangshu Mar Saima also calculated a sum of military salary expenses that even Wu Yingxiong found incredible, thinking that if Wu Sangui was not given military salary, then the world would be in chaos, Yunnan and Guizhou starved all over the place, and the remnants of the Ming Dynasty resurged, and Ao Shaobao also directly opened the golden mouth, thinking that Wu Sangui had to be added to at least 3.6 million taels of military salary per year!

In desperation, Xiao Mazi was afraid that Ao Bai would make a fuss in public and rush to the dragon case to grab the royal pen to write the holy decree - the last time he killed Sunahai, Ao Shaobao did this once, and he had to agree to the conditions of 3.4 million taels of military salary with tears in his eyes, and Wu Yingxiong, who didn't know about it, was also frightened by Aobai's sudden defection, afraid that Ao Bai would not have any good intentions, so he quickly agreed to this military salary figure on the donkey, and completed the task assigned by his father by three-quarters of the exceedance. The Jingnan Palace, which was very close to the Pingxi Palace, followed up with a little light, adding an extra 100,000 taels of silver every year, which was regarded as adding a little pocket money to Geng Jimao and his son.

Some people are lucky, and some people are naturally unlucky, and the Dingnan Wangfu and Pingnan Wangfu, which have been unable to get through the Pingxi Palace, have been unlucky, and the disarmament salary reduction plan that was proposed before said that they could not take it back, and they could only knock out their teeth and swallow blood, and they were joined by Xiao Mazi and Ao Shaobao to find a balance, and the Shang brothers were cut 600,000 taels of military salaries, Kong Sizhen's Guangxi was cut 450,000 taels, and by the way, they also had to disarm 4,000.

One out and one in, aside from the 200,000 taels allocated to Fujian to build warships, Xiao Mazi actually reduced the military salary expenditure of the three feudatories by 500,000 taels per year, and it seems that he will definitely not suffer a loss on the surface. But what made Xiao Mazi thunderous was that the plan to suppress and weaken Wu Sangui was completely ruined, and the most loyal and reliable lackeys Shang Kexi and Kong Sizhen were really cut in military salaries, but it was the most unreliable and powerful Wu Sangui who got the benefits.

What would others think of this? Will you feel loyal to Xiao Mazi as a lackey and suffer and be fooled? Do you think that only by being like Wu Sangui, who supports the army and does not listen to Xiao Mazi's words, can you take advantage of the advantages and reap the benefits? This precedent is a real cause for endless troubles!

There is another point that makes Xiao Mazi angry, that is, Aobai's position suddenly changed, originally for the sake of sitting in the same boat, the contradiction with Xiao Mazi is sharp, this time he still abandoned his previous suspicion and Xiao Mazi stood on the same front, Xiao Mazi was also very emotional and appreciative, and was ready to use this to ease the contradiction with Aobai, first appease this old thing and then slowly kill him. But what Xiao Mazi never dreamed of was that during the negotiation period, it was only a short time to rest, and Ao Bai changed his position as if he had taken the wrong medicine, and stood on Wu Sangui's side, which not only completely reversed the situation that was slightly favorable to Xiao Mazi, but also made Xiao Mazi alert to the point he was most afraid of - Wu Sangui and Ao Bai joined forces, colluded inside and outside, echoed between the north and the south, and it was easy to overthrow his brutal rule!

"Your Majesty, it's two o'clock, do you want to pass the meal?" In the Palace of Nourishing the Heart, Zhang Wanqiang, the chief eunuch, came to the little pockmark who was sitting on the dragon chair with his feet, and said cautiously: "Your Majesty, you haven't eaten a bite since the morning, and you just sit and sulk when you come back from the scattered dynasty, it's important to take care of the dragon body." Why don't you ask the Imperial Diet to bring you some of your favorite duck tongue soup or dragon whisker soup, and you can eat some of them? ”

"Don't eat, don't be hungry." Xiao Mazi snorted sullenly.

"Your Majesty, you haven't eaten for a day, how can you not be hungry?" Zhang Wanqiang said kindly.

"I said I wasn't hungry, but I wasn't hungry!" Xiao Mazi finally had a seizure, jumped up and grabbed the four treasures of the study on the dragon case and smashed and smashed them, shouting with red eyes while smashing, "I said that if I am not hungry, I am not hungry, I don't count when I talk in the court, no one listens, I returned to the dormitory, and no one listens to what I say?" ”

"Minions should die, minions should die!" Zhang Wanqiang was so frightened that he quickly knelt down on his knees and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Damn! You should have died a long time ago! Xiao Mazi finally found a person to vent to, jumped up and kicked Zhang Wanqiang, and roared with red eyes: "Don't think I really don't know, yesterday at the New Year's ceremony, you, the dog slave, deliberately reminded me that Shangzhi's filial piety wanted to dedicate Dong Qichang's true works, you told me, who asked you to do this?" Isn't it worshipping that bastard old thing? Do you want to help him mess up my first New Year's ceremony, so that I can't get off the stage and lose my face?! ”

Because of the lack of information, the suspicious Xiao Mazi naturally pointed the suspicion of disrupting the New Year's ceremony to the head of Aobai, who had actual actions. And Zhang Wanqiang's soul was scattered, and he hurriedly kowtowed desperately and replied: "The emperor is sage, the slave should die, the slave deliberately reminded the emperor that he was indeed instructed by someone, but it was not Ao Zhongtang who instructed the slave, but Kong Sizhen and Kong Sigege." ”

"Kong Sizhen?!" Xiao Mazi was stunned for a moment, and then overturned the dragon case again, and roared wildly: "It turns out that Kong Sizhen is also in collusion with Aobai, do I still have anyone to trust?" Is there anyone else you can trust? ”

"Bow down! Bow down! Bow down! Xiao Mazi is also a person who likes to jump his surname thinking, and suddenly pointed the finger at the culprit Ao Shaobao, and frantically kicked the punching bag Zhang Wanqiang and roared, "I won't kill you, I won't be a man!" Swear not to be a man! ”

"The Empress Dowager has arrived!" Zhang Wanqiang's savior finally came, with a long shout from the eunuch in front of the palace, Xiao Mazi's biggest backer, Xiaozhuang, walked into the heart cultivation hall unhurriedly with the support of Su Malagu and Li Yin, the chief eunuch of Cining Palace. Seeing Xiaozhuang's arrival, Xiao Mazi finally let go of Zhang Wanqiang, ran quickly to Xiaozhuang, opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but the tears rolled down without fighting, and he could only choke and shout: "Grandmother ......." ”

"Good grandson, don't cry." Xiaozhuang lovingly hugged Xiao Mazi into his arms, patted the back of Xiao Mazi's head, and said softly: "Good grandson, grandmother knows, you suffered a big loss today." It doesn't matter, we love the Xinjue Luo family and have never been afraid of losses, stand up there when we fall, and return the grievances and losses we have suffered to the enemy, don't be afraid, it doesn't matter, you are still young, and there is still time. ”

"Uh-huh." Xiao Mazi choked up and agreed, but he still couldn't stop crying - I have to pity Kangxi here, after all, he is still a half-old child who has just turned fourteen years old, although he is born with deceitful and vicious, but his mind has never been fully mature.

"Silly boy, don't cry like this." Xiaozhuang comforted again: "Anyway, you didn't lose too badly in today's salary, and you saved 500,000 taels of silver for the treasury, which is also a great achievement." ”

"Grandson ......, grandson just doesn't want to cheap Wu Sangui's old thing." Xiao Mazi wiped his tears and choked up like a complaint: "There is also that Aobai, originally Sun Er had forced Wu Yingxiong to have no way out, and Wu Yingxiong was also ready to agree to the 2.6 million taels of military salary that Sun Er gave him, but that old thing suddenly fell to Wu Sangui's side, and forced Wu Sangui to pay Wu Sangui ...... with the Manchu Dynasty's civil and military forces. Grandmother, you say, Ao worships this old thing, will he have reached some secret agreement with Wu Sangui? ”

"Sit down and talk." Xiaozhuang waved his hand, pulled Xiao Mazi to the chair next to him and sat down side by side, and wiped away Xiao Mazi's tears with a handkerchief, and then said: "Grandson, the reason why grandmother didn't come over to comfort you immediately just now is that she heard about Aobai's sudden defection, and felt very strange, so she sent someone to check the situation, and then came to see you." ”

"Grandmother, did you find anything?" Xiao Mazi knew that Xiaozhuang also had an intelligence team, although it was far less powerful than his own intelligence force, but it was better than secret, which made it impossible to guard against it.

"Grandmother found out that during the break from the pilgrimage, Ao Bai met with his brother Mulima." Xiaozhuang said slowly: "Grandson, have you paid attention?" Before the court meeting rested, Aobai's position was absolutely inclined to you and gave you great support, but after the court meeting rested, Aobai completely changed his position and took the initiative to ask for Wu Sangui's salary - all this is enough to prove that the reason for Aobai's change of position is the meeting between him and Mulima. ”

"And what did they talk about?" Xiao Mazi asked nervously.

"Mulima entered the palace from the Xihua Gate, and it was there that he met Ao." Xiaozhuang shook his head and said: "The guards of Xihuamen are controlled by the people of Aobai, and my eyeliner does not dare to get too close, I only know that they have spoken there for nearly a pillar of incense, and I have not heard anything specific." ”

"If you don't know the content of the conversation, then there's no way to know why Ao Bai turned against him." Xiao Mazi was disappointed.

"Don't rush." Xiaozhuang said gloomily: "In addition, I also have an eyeliner outside the palace, and I also sent an important piece of information. My eyeliner was a teahouse, and most of the officials who went to the palace liked to go to that teahouse to stop and chat, and he took the opportunity to gather a lot of important information for me - it also happened that just after the meeting began this morning, Mulima and a white and fat young man entered his teahouse, asked for a private room, drove away the guests in the rooms on both sides, and talked in that private room for half an hour! ”

"A chubby young man for nothing?" Xiao Mazi's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Grandmother, has this young man's identity been found out?" ”

"This young man is going to that teahouse for the first time, whether the officials don't know." Xiaozhuang said unhurriedly: "The only thing I know is that this white fat young man has an authentic Yunnan accent. ”

"Yunnan accent!" Xiao Mazi jumped up and exclaimed, "Could it be that he is Wu Sangui's messenger?" Persuade Aobai to be on his side through Murimah? ”

"Ten are the best, and there is only this explanation." Hyo-joong nodded.

"We must find this chubby white young man!" Xiao Mazi yelled, "Come on, pass the decree, Xuankong Sizhen and Suo Etu quickly enter the palace!" ”

"Cover." Zhang Wanqiang, who was beaten by Xiao Mazi and had a blue nose and swollen face, agreed, and was about to rush out to deliver the decree. Outside the hall, a small eunuch rushed in, attached to Zhang Wanqiang's ear and muttered a few words, Zhang Wanqiang hurriedly ran back and played: "Your Majesty, Lord Suo Etuso led Lu Yifeng of Qujing Zhi County, Yunnan into the palace, and asked the emperor to receive him, saying that there are 100,000 urgent important things to be played to the emperor." Lord Suo Etu also specially requested, hoping that the emperor would not let others know about their entry into the palace. ”

"Lu Yifeng!" Xiao Mazi and Xiaozhuang exclaimed at the same time, and then they suddenly remembered that the young man who was white and fat and full of authentic Yunnan accents, didn't he say who Lu Yifeng and Lu Sanhao were?

"Quick, quick!" Xiao Mazi immediately made a decision and shouted: "Use the old method, let them change into eunuch clothes and bring them in, and don't let others know." ”

……………………

When Xiao Mazi, who saw a glimmer of light, promulgated this will, the home of Heshuo attached to Shang Zhili was also a gloomy fog, and the two brothers Shang Zhixiao, Shang Zhili and Kong Sizhen stayed alone in the same room for a few hours, and they were all dressed completely, and they did not have a frank and in-depth understanding as usual. Not only that, but with such a delicate beauty as Kong Sizhen sitting next to her sighing and frowning, the lustful Shang Zhixiao and the pretentious Shang Zhili did not go up to comfort and comfort her, and gave full play to the virtue of pity and cherishing jade, but lamented louder than Kong Sizhen, and her face was longer than Kong Sizhen.

"The wood is already in the boat, and there is no way to get it back, so let's leave it at that." After a long time, Kong Sizhen finally spoke: "Anyway, the amount of military salary for this year has been set, and we can't add it no matter how much we sigh, instead of worrying here, it's better to think about how to explain it when we go back." ”

"Easy to say." Shang Zhixiao wiped the corners of his eyes, and said with a slight choked voice: "Sigege, you only need to explain to your husband when you go back, and your husband is so afraid of you, of course you don't have to worry." But I'm miserable, what kind of temper my father has, don't you know? When I go back this time, the big ear slap means that I can't run away from anything, and the little power in my hand will definitely be taken away by my father. ”

"What can be done then?" Kong Sizhen glanced at Shang Zhixiao and snorted: "Who told you that you want to be the prince of Pingnan, in order to please the emperor, take the initiative to contact Tuhai to ask for a salary reduction?" ”

"You still have the face to blame me?" Shang Zhixiao was completely angry, jumped up and shouted: "Last night, I was already planning to stop, and I was ready to join forces with Wu Yingxiong to ask for money!" You stinky bitch came here again, took the initiative to strip naked and got into my bed, licking and sucking, patting his chest and promising that as long as I sell Wu Yingxiong today, the emperor will not be able to treat me badly! Today, I sold Wu Yingxiong and offended to death, but what about my military salary? Why do you want to cut me 600,000 taels?! ”

"Can you blame me then?" Kong Sizhen was a little weak-hearted, and hurriedly shouted loudly to change the topic, "Who would have thought that Ao Zhongtang would help Wu Sangui, that old thing, the emperor was caught off guard, what can I do?" You have the ability, go to Ao Zhongtang now to settle accounts, I don't know the way, I'll get it for you! ”

"Damn it, you don't push on others!" Shang Zhixiao's nose was almost crooked, and he roared with his teeth and claws: "Lao Tzu only asks you, where did you go for the military salary you promised me?" It's not like if you sleep with Lao Tzu for one night, you have to charge 600,000 taels of silver for the night, right? Is it gold or diamond-encrusted underneath you? ”

"your grandfather!" Kong Sizhen was also angry, and the surname Suo said: "You said that the old lady promised you, then good, you find out the human and material evidence, take it out, the old lady will fight back to be beaten by Sun Yanling, and I will also give you 600,000 taels of military salary from Guangxi!" Take it, take it. ”

"your grandma." Shang Zhixiao almost went crazy out of anger, came over and grabbed Kong Sizhen's collar, and roared: "When you promised Lao Tzu yesterday, you and Lao Tzu were in the bed, and now you are here to ask Lao Tzu to take human and physical evidence, where can Lao Tzu go to find it?" ”

"Well, you said that the old lady talked to you in the bed last night." Kong Sizhen did not show weakness, and in turn grabbed Shang Zhixiao's collar and left, and said: "Let's go to Shuntianfu, go to the Criminal Department and go to Dali Temple, if those adults who judge the case think that I, the current dynasty, will drill your bed, then the old lady will pay you money and kowtow to you!" If they don't admit it, the old lady will sue you for slander when the dynasty is Gege, and it is wise to die, please ask the emperor and the empress dowager to return my innocence! ”

The good man is afraid of Lai Han, Kong Sizhen is so liar, Shang Zhixiao really can't do anything about her, one is that there is no evidence, and the other is that the evidence that he and Kong Sizhen are annihilated shakes out, Kong Sizhen is thick-skinned and has Xiao Mazi and Xiaozhuang as backers, but he doesn't care, Shang Zhixiao himself is going to be unlucky-at least, Sun Yanling has to fight with him! So Shang Zhixiao was furious, so he had to raise his hand to slap Kong Sizhen, Kong Sizhen was slapped, and he launched a frenzy like a tigress, pulling Shang Zhixiao to pinch and beat and bite, and Shang Zhixiao scuffled on the spot. Shang Zhili's lips trembled over there, and he didn't dare to pull it, but he just persuaded him in a whisper.

"The picture is here!" Just as Kong Sizhen and the monk were scuffling, there was a sudden long cheer from the servants of the Shang Mansion outside the door, and then, the door was pushed open, and Tuhai, a scholar of the Hongwen Academy and the capital of Zhenghuang Qi, came in from outside the door with his hands behind his back, "Si Gege, I guessed that you must be here, so I came here directly to find you, and I guessed ...... correctly." Hey, Sigege, Second Prince, what are you doing? ”

"Tuzhongtang, you're just in time!" Shang Zhili hurriedly pounced on him and saluted as if he saw a savior: "Tu Zhongtang, you are a military general, quickly open my second brother and Sige, they are fighting, fighting." ”

"Tuzhongtang, you're just in time!" Shang Zhixiao also roared, holding down Kong Sizhen's claws scratching on his face, and roared with red eyes: "How did you promise me in the first place? As long as I take the initiative to make concessions on military salaries and reconcile with this stinky bitch, you will ensure that I am the second prince of Pingnan! Now that my military salary has been cut by 600,000 yuan, and this stinky bitch is in debt, how can you explain it to me? How do you explain it to me? ”

"Who's going to pay the bill?" Kong Sizhen insidiously used his knee to push Shang Zhixiao's lower body, and at the same time used his elbow to beat Shang Zhixiao's arm, and said with a cloak: "You come up with evidence!" Prove it! ”

"Lao Tzu doesn't have your evidence, but Lao Tzu has evidence in the picture!" Shang Zhixiao yelled, "Tu Zhongtang, I have carefully kept the letters you gave me in the past, if you don't give me an explanation today, it's a big deal, we will die together!" Anyway, when I go back to Guangdong this time, I'm going to die, and it's good to pull a cushion! ”

"Enough!" Tu Hai roared, like a loud bell, and suddenly shook the filial piety of Kong Sizhen and the monk, "Look for yourself, what do you look like now?" You are still the prince of Pingnan Wangfu and the Gege of Dingnan Wangfu, which is no different from a scoundrel fighting on the street! ”

"Picture in the hall." Kong Sizhen's eyes were red, and she wanted to be coquettish to her old lover.

"Shut up! Hear me out! Tu Hai shouted again, "Let me go, stand up, change your clothes, and follow me into the palace!" ”

"Coming into the palace with you? Why? "The filial piety of Kong Sizhen and the monk is all the same.

"Of course, it's to find out the real annihilation, the real internal annihilation!" Tu Haiyin said: "You two fools, you are played like a monkey by the fat man named Lu Yifeng, and in the end he sells it and has to help him count the money, here the dog eats the dog, it's really stupid!" ”

"Lu Yifeng!" Kong Sizhen and the filial piety of the monk all screamed.

Tu Hai nodded, and said in a yin voice: "Not long ago, I planted an inside line in Mu Lima's house to report - Mu Lima's personal soldiers revealed that this morning, Mu Lima and Lu Yifeng entered a teahouse, drove away the guests and subordinates, and talked secretly for a long time alone!" After leaving the teahouse, Mu Lima immediately went to Xihuamen, and had a secret conversation with Ao Bai there for a while, and then Ao Bai changed his position and supported Wu Sangui's salary increase! Don't you all understand what this means? ”

"And here's the thing!" Kong Sizhen was dumbfounded, and only after a while did she jump up, dancing and shouting: "Fat Lu, the old lady has finally found out the real evidence that you betrayed the emperor and deceived the king!" This time, the old lady looks at how you, a dead fat man, die without a place to be buried! ”

Do you want to know how Fat Lu died without a place to be buried? Please see the next chapter, "Cocooning and Binding Yourself"!

(To be continued)