"Alright, alright!" Cao Cao hurriedly came out to play a round: "Jing Xuan, you can't say a few words with your beak?" Self-contained, you also know that he has this temperament, don't be like him! Now that Hong Heng's Nine armies are about to arrive, we have to come up with a countermeasure! ”

Zhang Xianzhong snorted coldly, turned his head and sat down on the side. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info Li Zicheng sorted out his emotions: "Hong Heng has nine soldiers, we can't fight with them, it's better to go!" Cao Shuai, what do you think? ”

"Hmmm! Walk! Cao Cao nodded: "Zicheng, I plan to go back to Shaanxi through Wuguan, do you want to go with me?" ”

"I'd better forget it!" Li Zicheng shook his head: "If we take one road, Hong Hengjiu will definitely chase after us, and we will still divide into two roads, so that we can echo each other!" ”

Cao Cao glanced at Li Zicheng and suddenly laughed: "It's okay to be separated, the brothers have to start their own families and live their own lives, let alone us." However, if you encounter difficulties, don't be polite, you must open your mouth to my brother! ”

"Thank you Cao Shuai!" Li Zicheng was also a little moved in his heart, and secretly admired Song Xiance's accurate prediction.

Cao Cao snorted, turned his gaze to Zhang Xianzhong, and asked, "Jingxuan, how are you going to go?" Go back to Shaanxi with Lao Tzu? ”

"No!" Zhang Xianzhong's eyes flashed: "Lao Tzu wants to go to Sichuan to have a look!" ”

"Sichuan?" Cao Cao said with a smile: "If you don't enter Sichuan, you won't go out of Shu when you're old, Jing Xuan, you will go to Sichuan at a young age, be careful that the Sichuan girl there will soak your bones!" ”

"Cao Shuai said with a smile, Lao Tzu's bones are made of iron, and the officials and soldiers are not afraid of knives and axes, are they still afraid of a few Sichuan girls?" Zhang Xianzhong said with a smile: "I think it's good to say it on my own, let's divide it into three ways, and it is good to echo each other, so that Hong Hengjiu can't take care of his head!" ”

"Alright!" Cao Cao patted his thigh: "Hurry up and let people serve wine, a few of us will drink this parting wine, and we will go our separate ways!" ”

At this time, Li Zicheng was also a little sad in his heart, after all, the few of them were doing the business of killing officials and rebelling, and they didn't know if they would have a chance to meet again once they broke up this time. He raised his wine glass and said to Cao Cao and Zhang Xianzhong: "Cao Shuai, Jing Xuan, I, Li Zicheng, wish the two of you all the best!" ”

"Good!" Cao Cao said with a smile: "I also wish the two brothers good luck, the blessing of the gods, and the arrows will fly to the side on the battlefield!" ”

"Then I wish you two early meritorious deeds!" Zhang Xianzhong also raised his wine glass and drank all the wine in the cup. Cao Cao and Li Zicheng also drank the wine in the cup, and Cao and Zhang said goodbye to Li Zicheng and left. As soon as the two went out, Li Zicheng immediately ordered his subordinates to pack up and prepare to evacuate Nanyang, and at the same time sent his cronies to Li Guo at Luyang Pass, so that he could quickly retreat and go to Tang County to join him.

For Hong Chengchou, the taste of these days is very bitter. He hoped for an eventuality, but in the end, it came to naught. Although he sent Liu Guoneng to take the Fangcheng Road to attract the attention of the thieves, he was still intercepted by the enemy in front of Luyang Pass, and the steep terrain made it impossible for the officers and troops to advance. When he hesitantly passed through Luyang Pass and was about to rush to Nanyang to rescue, he met Liu Guoneng, who had been sent as a suspicious soldier, and brought the bad news that Nanyang City had fallen and King Tang did not know his life and death.

"General Liu, do you confirm that the news is true?" Although Hong Chengchou forced himself to suppress the horror in his heart, the slightly trembling corners of his sleeves still betrayed him: "Is it true that Nanyang has fallen?" ”

"Exactly!" Liu Guoneng bowed his head respectfully, his heart was also uneasy, lest Hong Chengchou take him as a scapegoat: "Your subordinates received your military order, one way to the south of Fangcheng Road, encountered a stream of thieves near Fangcheng, after a fierce battle, beheaded more than 200 levels, dozens of prisoners, and learned from the captives that Nanyang had fallen, and the life and death of the Tang King were unknown. The subordinates originally planned to expel the thieves from Nanyang first, but considering that the enemy was outnumbered and it was important to find the whereabouts of the relatives, they sent capable men to find the traces of the Tang King, and at the same time monitored the movements of the thieves, and asked the governor for forgiveness! ”

Hong Chengchou didn't speak, and the idea of taking Liu Guoneng down and punishing him flashed in his heart, but he soon changed his mind. As Liu Guoneng said, since Nanyang has fallen, then finding the Tang King is the top priority now, as long as the Tang King is still alive, there is still room for redemption, if the Tang King dies at the hands of thieves, with his current temperament, he can save his life is blessed by God.

"General Liu, do you have any news about the whereabouts of King Tang now?"

"Tell your lordship, there is no definite news from your subordinates, but King Tang should still be alive and have escaped from the city!"

"Oh? Why? ”

Liu Guoneng kowtowed: "My lord, my subordinates learned from the mouth of the thief captives that after the thieves broke the city, they hung the heads of the prefect Li Xianfeng and the deputy general at the gate of the city, and also posted a notice next to it, writing their corruption and bribery on it one by one, affirming their crimes." The Tang throne is above these two people, if it has fallen into the hands of thieves, I am afraid it will also be hung at the city gate! And the thieves have been breaking the city for more than ten days, if King Tang is in the city, he is afraid that he has fallen into the hands of the thieves, so his subordinates speculate that he should no longer be in the city! ”

"What a thief!" After Hong Chengchou heard Liu Guoneng mention that the heads of the prefect and the deputy general were hung at the gate of the city, and a notice was posted on the side to declare his guilt, Hong Chengchou's face changed greatly and he shouted: "Which group of thieves did this? ”

Liu Guoneng didn't know why Hong Chengchou was suddenly so excited, and hurriedly whispered: "My subordinates don't know!" ”

"Pass the order down and find out who did this!" Hong Chengchou shouted: "You must not let go of this person, hypocrisy of benevolence and righteousness, and solicit people's hearts, if you can't get rid of him as soon as possible, you will become a problem for the court!" ”

"Yes, yes!" Liu Guoneng was taken aback by Hong Chengchou's excitement and hurriedly lowered his head. He heard a creaking sound, which was made by Hong Chengchou subconsciously pulling the seat when he was angry, and after a while, he heard Hong Chengchou say in a gentle tone: "General Liu, you get up!" ”

"Thank you, sir!" Liu Guoneng kowtowed and stood up, Hong Chengchou's face had returned to his usual appearance at this time, and even with a smile: "General Liu, you did a good job this time, and this official will ask the court for credit for you!" Next, you have to hurry up to find the whereabouts of King Tang, and you must ensure his safety! ”

Beijing.

Xuanwu Gate had just played the fourth watch drum, Chongzhen was already sitting in front of the bookcase, reviewing the sent notes, in a courtyard less than three hundred meters away from him in a straight line, more than 20 carefully selected officials were busy working under the supervision of the new first assistant Yang Sichang, and the documents they had processed would be packed in a small sealed wooden box, and then sent to the warm pavilion of Chongzhen's Qianqing Palace through a double road for his approval, and then sent back for execution.

There are many voices of criticism in the government and the opposition for this new thing, which is called the Military Aircraft Department. The reason is very simple, the appearance of the Military Aircraft Department has virtually hollowed out the power of the cabinet, the six ministries and other institutions, making it actually reduced to a pure executive body, Yang Sichang did not choose the members of the Military Aircraft Department from those noble Jinshi masters, but selected from the six departments to work in the middle for more than ten or even twenty years of old officials and unambitious old bureaucrats, these officials have rich administrative experience, for the six departments of the various shortcomings are more clear, but according to the past political practice, Those who are not from a strong background can only sink into subordinates in this life. Yang Sichang transferred him to the military aircraft, which was tantamount to a step to the sky politically. Thanks to the tears, they work very hard, and they are clear about the various skills of the past colleagues of the six departments, they can even directly bypass Shangshu and Shilang, and directly go to the departments below, and their work efficiency is greatly improved.

The one who has the most personal experience of this is Chongzhen himself, in the past, those inexplicable, incomprehensible recitals have become organized, the content is clear, and the response speed and execution efficiency of each department are much faster. Therefore, he didn't even bother to look at the impeachment of Yang Sichang for "blinding Shengcong", "isolating China and foreign countries", and "forming a party to privacy", so he directly threw it aside, and then put it in a wooden box and sent it to Yang Sichang's house. There was even a strange pleasure in his heart--didn't you crows speak ill of Yang Sichang? I want to trust him in my life, and I will be angry with you to death!

"Your Majesty!" Wang Chengen looked at the water leak on the side and said in a low voice: "It's almost time to go to court!" ”

"Today's morning is exempt!" Chongzhen replied without raising his head.

"Excused? Morning? Wang Chengen was stunned when he heard this, he almost couldn't believe his ears, the emperor in front of him was not the two emperors of Wanli and Tianqi, who stayed in the palace all year round and ignored political affairs, what happened today?

"Not bad!" Chongzhen finished reading the fold in his hand and put it in the pile on his right: "I thought about it yesterday, anyway, it will take more than an hour to go back here from changing clothes in the morning dynasty, but what can I handle?" Anyway, those officials in the court are just kowtowing nonsense, and if you have time to listen to their nonsense, it is better to watch a few more recitals. I plan to change it to a five-day day in the future, anyway, important military information from all over the world has come to me around the clock through Mr. Yang's military aircraft department, and other things are not so urgent! ”

"This-" Wang Chengen was stunned, although he couldn't say anything, he still instinctively felt that there was something wrong with what Chongzhen said, but his long-term habit made him dare not refute Chongzhen, he thought about it for a while, and said in a low voice: "Emperor, if this is the case, I am afraid that the gentlemen in the court will object!" ”

"Gentlemen?" Chongzhen said with a smile: "Mr. Yang will definitely not object, after all, he also knows why I didn't go to court, and he is busy reviewing the documents of his military aircraft department." As for the other gentlemen, I said something a little excessive, Wang Bandang, do you remember the last time I went to the military aircraft department? Twenty or thirty people, sitting in a neat row, what to do, everyone is busy with their feet not touching the ground, even eating and sleeping in the next room, twelve hours a day, three shifts, without stopping for a moment. An urgent military message will be sent to the military aircraft, at most two quarters of an hour will be sent to me, and after I have reviewed it, it will be sent out to them in an hour at most, this is what it looks like to do things solidly, if the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty can be like those people in the military aircraft department, why should I worry about the Ming Dynasty not being prosperous? Speaking of this, Chongzhen was a little choked: "Wang Bandang, if there is a chance, I plan to let the civil and military capitals of the Manchu Dynasty come to the military aircraft to see how people do it!" ”

In the face of Chongzhen's gushing words, Wang Chengen did not answer, compared to Chongzhen, he naturally knew the real reason for the courtiers' opposition. This is a struggle for power, there is no reason to talk about it, but these words can't be said in front of Chongzhen, the Son of Heaven is still young, and some things still don't understand. Thinking of this, he had to lower his head: "Emperor Shengming!" ”

Outside the gate, officials were gossiping in twos and threes, waiting for the drums of the court. Most of the people had sleepiness on their faces, and a few of them were still playing with Hache, but it was no wonder that they, according to the rules set by Ming Taizu, the court officials had to get up at three or four o'clock in the morning to wash up and go to the court, in a sense, the political elites of these empires worked harder than the landlords' long-term workers.

The second assistant Wen Tiren leaned over and stood aside, and since he recovered from his injuries, the whole person became more and more silent. During the period when he was recuperating from his injuries at home, the first assistant Yang Sichang and his military aircraft department had also eaten up all the power, and when he came back from his injuries, he didn't even leave any rice stars. If others were afraid that they would have fallen out with Yang Sichang a long time ago, Wen Tiren didn't seem to care at all, sitting and eating every day, looking like only Yang Sichang was looking at the horse. Several young and vigorous imperial historians simply gave him the nickname - "Papier-mâché Pavilion Elder, Clay Sculpture Xianggong", and he didn't seem to hear it at all. As time passed, other officials in the DPRK and China looked down on him more and more, and even when they waited outside the gate, they stayed far away, leaving him alone.

With the first drum sound from Wufeng Tower, the civil and military officials quickly lined up according to the size of the official rank, and entered the end gate in order, and they would wait in the court room outside the noon gate. But unlike in the past, standing at the end of the door is not the eunuch who guides on weekdays, but Wang Chengen, the celebrant supervisor, on both sides of the two rows of brocade captains, all the officials recognize the red man around Chongzhen, and the few in front hurriedly bow to him: "Princess, be well!" ”

"Princess, what is the will of the Holy Lord?"

Wang Chengen did not return the salute as respectfully as usual, but straightened his back and shouted in a sharp voice: "Holy Command!" ”

The officials hurriedly knelt down to receive the order, and there was some chaos outside the gate, and it took a while to calm down, and then everyone heard Wang Chengen's sharp voice: "The dynasty is canceled this morning!" (To be continued.) )