For Emperor Chongzhen, the ten years of Chongzhen were really an embarrassing year. In April, he issued a new edict for his own crimes, and when the emperor confessed his mistakes to his subjects at every turn, it was like someone always saying, "I'm late," which made no sense except to appear to be fake.

However, Chongzhen is also a little accustomed to this kind of embarrassment, and after he ascended the throne, he didn't seem to feel much more comfortable except for the first year when he brought down Wei Zhongxian and made him high-spirited.

Looking at Yang Sichang kneeling in front of him, Chongzhen let out a long sigh.

"Is it really unusable?" He asked again, this was the third time he had asked Yang Sichang about this.

Yang Sichang responded: "Your Majesty doesn't have to worry, Xiong Wencan is a capable minister, Your Majesty has a good eye, since Xiong Wencan is used, there is no doubt about employing people, so he will do it." ”

Yang Sichang spoke very surely, especially the four words "discerning and knowing the English", and he deliberately aggravated the mistaken anger.

Chongzhen was still a little hesitant, but Yang Sichang's words still made him quite happy. The Manchu Dynasty is full of people who grab credit and blame, and Yang Sichang has the courage to take responsibility in this statement, at least much stronger than Zhang Fengyi, the previous secretary of the Ministry of War.

What's more, this person is still a filial son.

Chongzhen has an almost perverted sense of recentness for filial piety, and often says that "if you want to visit a loyal minister, you must be at the door of filial piety", Yang Sichang is willing to accept it on behalf of his father, in Chongzhen's view, he is a great filial son, and he is bound to be a great loyal minister. Chongzhen is a person, when he looks at a person who is pleasing to the eye, the shortcomings of this person are shining with golden light. On the contrary, if you look at a person who is not pleasing to the eye, the merits of this person are the same as if they do not exist.

It is precisely because of this that he looked at Yu Guozhen pleasing to the eye, so it was not that no one in the DPRK and China impeached Yu Guozhen, but these pieces were left by him, and those impeachers found an excuse for him to reprimand him.

Of course, what he didn't know was that the people around him had more or less accepted Yu Guozhen's benefits, so he would always say good things to Yu Guozhen intentionally or unintentionally. Even Princess Xiao Kunxing, who received the microscope sent by Fang Ziyi, was overjoyed, and was busy using it every day to look at the leaves and bark hair.

"I always feel that if Nanhai Bo is here, my heart will be more steady...... Dignified and bright, there is only one famous general, Nanhai Bo? ”

Chongzhen's self-talk made a trace of jealousy flash in Yang Sichang's drooping eyes, he is now extremely holy, but as the history books say, he and Wen Tiren are the same, jealous and jealous - although Wen Tiren was finally repelled in this year's huge dispute and rushed back to his hometown to recuperate, but now the first assistant Zhang Zhifa is still this kind of person.

"Your Majesty is very true, but if the country depends on one person, the country is in danger. Nanhai Bo is young and promising, and His Majesty should also be slightly restrained from the perspective of protecting the heroes, so as not to cause trouble due to the jealousy of the villain. ”

Yang Sichang said this as if he was very sincere, in order to protect Yu Guozhen, and Chongzhen also nodded thoughtfully: "What Qing said is very true, it is true, a few days ago, Yu Guozhen sent Shang Keg's first achievement, and someone in the court impeached him for capturing rebellious ministers and killing them without permission...... Why don't these ministers capture the rebellion? ”

Yang Sichang was even more jealous in his heart, and the capture and killing of Shang Ke was a gratifying thing, which could be described as a great sensation, and the imperial court had heard a little before, knowing that in February, a ship under the jurisdiction of Nanhai Bo had made great contributions in the defense of Phi Dao, and even Shang Kexi's ship was stranded for it, but Shang Kexi's whereabouts were said to have been captured, some said to have sunk into the sea, and some said that they were killed on the spot.

In June, Shang Kexi's first achievement was sent to Beijing, and it was confirmed that this guy was captured alive.

The problem is that Shang Kexi's first achievement was well preserved when it was sent to Jingshi, which has the credit of Lime, but it also proves one thing, Shang Kexi was captured alive. And the Nanhai Ministry captured Shang Kexi alive, and did not send his life to the Jingshi Ming Punishment Canon, but it was a private suicide, is there another reason for this?

However, Yang Sichang is very good at figuring out Chongzhen's meaning, although he is also jealous of Yu Guozhen's merits, but he avoids this question and does not attack Yu Guozhen. Instead, he skillfully changed the topic: "Your Majesty Shengming, Nanhai Bo has nothing to say about His Majesty's loyalty...... This time, I wanted to increase the number of troops and salaries, and I heard that Nanhai Bo sacrificed 100,000 taels into the inner treasury, which was really for His Majesty's worries. The minister didn't dare to say that there was no such famous general as Nanhaibo in the government and the opposition, but he dared to say that there was no one like Nanhaibo who was proficient in the way of Tao Zhu. Nanhai Bo started from scratch, and so far he has a net worth of millions, and he is well-managed. ”

Chongzhen didn't hear the deep meaning behind this, he paused, and sneered: "It's Nanhai Bo who is more loyal than others...... The princes of the court, the family is openly and secretly colluded with the maritime merchants, do I really know nothing? One by one, they say that I collect some taxes to compete with the people for profit, but in fact, I am afraid that I will compete with them for profit! ”

The 100,000 taels of silver offered by Yu Guozhen was, to a certain extent, actually to obtain Xinxiang's trading rights in the entire territory of the Ming Dynasty. If there is no 100,000 taels of silver, the officials of the Ming Dynasty will try their best to make trouble for Xinxiang's goods, so as to obtain its patent rights, for example, so that Xinxiang can only sell these "Hoi An goods" at a low price to their designated contractors, and then sell them to the people of the Ming Dynasty at a high price, in this process, all the profits are made by the contractors and the officials behind them, Yu Guozhen, the producer, can not make money, the Ming court can not collect taxes, and Chongzhen can not interject in this, because a plug is a big hat of "competing with the people".

Now it's different, Yu Guozhen made it clear that it was the tax he earned from operating Hoi An seafood, which was a tax, so Chongzhen could intervene in a grand manner, and whoever dared to obstruct the sale of Hoi An seafood would mean that he couldn't go with Chongzhen's money bag - this is not a competition with the people, but a competition with the emperor, and ordinary officials have to think twice.

Seeing that Chongzhen did not have any other thoughts because of Yu Guozhen's wealth, Yang Sichang was about to change the topic again. Suddenly, there was a sound of hurried footsteps outside, and after a while, Cao Huachun's fat body appeared at the door of the imperial study again.

"What's wrong?" Chongzhen knew that nothing good would happen, and sighed: "Yang Qing is not an outsider, but it doesn't hurt to say it." ”

"Huguang is in a hurry!" Cao Huachun's expression was a little strange: "The thief has crossed the river!" ”

"Bring it!"

Nowadays, Zhang Xianzhong is the most rampant, and his news is also the focus of Chongzhen's attention. He left Yang Sichang to deal with it, which is why.

The ...... that was sent It turned out to be a good news?

Chongzhen, who had already seen the worst news, looked at the report in his hand in disbelief. He even rubbed his eyes in a gaffe, realizing that what he was seeing was indeed true.

"Your Majesty?"

Yang Sichang was also very curious about the report, the content of this report was very important, he glanced at Cao Huachun, but Cao Huachun was expressionless.

"Great victory, what was sent is a great victory, blessed by the ancestors and ancestors, the most cunning and rampant thief chief 'Cao Ying' Luo Rucai was captured alive and is on his way to the capital!" Chongzhen pushed the fold to Yang Sichang.

Yang Sichang was stunned for a moment before taking over the recital. He also couldn't believe his ears, because he knew Xiong Wencan, Xiong Wencan only knew how to appease, which was not in line with his strategic deployment, only because Chongzhen intended to pull it out, so Yang Sichang would support it. And since Xiong Wencan took office as prime minister, his performance has indeed been incompetent, except for chasing Zhang Xianzhong's buttocks and sticking a notice behind his buttocks, asking Liukou to accept the appeasement, he has almost nothing to do in military strategy.

Yang Sichang was already thinking about replacing Xiong Wencan as long as he was allowed to hold on for another year and a half, but now, he came up with a report of a great victory!

When I opened the report, it roughly said that under the command of Xiong Wencan, the governor of Huguang, Fang Kongzhi, supervised the troops on the bank of the Hudu River north of Gong'ancheng, fought fiercely with the thieves who crossed the river, broke the thieves, and captured the thief chief "Cao Ying" Luo Rucai, who is now being sent to Beijing. However, at the end of the recital, there is a small paragraph: thieves are rampant, and although they have won this great victory, the officers and soldiers have suffered heavy losses, and they begged the military department to allocate more troops and pay them.

Seeing this, Yang Sichang knew that there was something untrue in this report: since it was a great victory, especially after capturing Luo Rucai, how could there be heavy losses?

But no matter how smart he is, he can't guess that this is the brilliant pen of several masters in Xiong Wencan's curtain, putting together a fiasco and a big victory, and the heavy color is on the big victory, and the fiasco is a passing one.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty, you really used people properly!"

Closing the report, Yang Sichang remained silent and congratulated Chongzhen. Although he guessed that there was still something strange in it, now was not the time to get to the bottom of it.

Chongzhen also nodded again and again: "It is also Qing's recommendation to win people, and Qing's recommendation is always a lot." ”

"However, although Luo Rucai was captured, the thief was not eliminated in the end, and Xiong Wencan said that the officers and soldiers in this battle also suffered heavy losses, although he advocated appeasement, but he also had soldiers in his hands to force the thief to surrender." Yang Sichang said again.

This is the last board to make up for Xiong Wencan, Yang Sichang judged that only this sentence is what Xiong Wencan really wants to say. Chongzhen nodded again and again, he didn't care about how many soldiers he had lost, what he cared about was when he would be able to do his best: "According to Qing's opinion, where can you still squeeze out troops?" ”

"Chen Hongfan, deputy commander-in-chief of Denglai, is under the account of Shi Kefa, which is closer to Huguang, and Chen Hongfan can be transferred."

"Qing Yan is extremely true, Denglai soldiers are good at fighting, and Chen Hongfan has also made many meritorious contributions on Phi Island, and he is it." Chongzhen nodded without hesitation.

While they were happily excited about the so-called victory, at the public security, Fang Kongzhi finally showed his first smile in three days.

"Jimin, you are here, very good, very good!"

"Originally, I was going to take Ziyi to save my relatives, but Ziyi is pregnant, so it is not suitable to run around." When Yu Guozhen said this, he looked at Fang Kongzhi and smiled: "So it was replaced by the little nephew." ”

"Fine, okay."

The two mentioned that Yu Guozhen left the fiefdom without permission, and since Yu Guozhen was named Nanhai Bo, whether he wanted it or not, it stands to reason that he should not move at will in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, especially without receiving the imperial decree from the DPRK and China, let alone lead troops at will. Last year, when the capture of Kou Jinggi, the king of Tang led his troops to King Qin, but was reprimanded by Chongzhen, and then he was simply detained in the Feng'yang circle. And Yu Guozhen's actions will inevitably usher in a voice of impeachment.

Fang Kongzhi said "It's okay", that is, he told Yu Guozhen that he would take care of this matter.

"How is the battle going, I heard in the middle of the road that Xiong Wencan was defeated, and there are almost no more soldiers left between Jiang and Han?" Yu Guozhen asked.

He didn't want to die for Daming, but the purpose of opening up the Yangtze River trade route and gaining more people this time was to be achieved.

(To be continued)