"Bi Weng, it is precisely because the situation is so bad that it is all the more important to eliminate the Dongyu as soon as possible, and then to abolish the Liao salary to feed the people? If you don't increase your salary, how to train the troops, if you don't train the troops, the eastern captives drive the troops south, and after Yanshan, they will go straight to the city of Jingshi, wouldn't the situation be worse at that time? ”

"Hey!" Hearing Yang Sichang's rebuttal, Bi Ziyan sighed and did not speak, and after a long time, he said in a low voice: "Lord Yang, I also know that what you say is reasonable, so although many people have asked me to write a letter to impeach you these days, I just closed the door and thanked the guests, that is, I did not say that you were right or wrong. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoBi Mou has no ability in his life, and the only thing he can do is to regulate money and food, and the big thing of governing the country is not successful. The current situation is that raising taxes is death, and not raising taxes is death, and I can only hide at home and pretend to be sick. ”

"Why does Bion say this, it should be said that not raising taxes is death, and there is still a glimmer of life in raising taxes! As long as you defeat the Dongyu and recover Liaodong, the world can enjoy peace, and the Ming Dynasty can also prosper! ”

"Yang Wen is weak, Yang Wen is weak!" Bi Ziyan shook his head and sighed: "Everyone in the world says that you are shrewd and capable, but I don't see it." Let me ask you, even if you raise taxes and defeat Dongyu and recover Liaodong, how will you deal with the more than 100,000 tiger and wolf troops who rely on the people's fat and people's anointment to survive? These people are used to eating meat, so do they obediently go back to graze as soon as you pass the edict? At that time, their elite soldiers gathered in one place, and they were only a few days away from the capital division, and who in the world could stop them? ”

"This-" Yang Sichang was dumbfounded for a moment, the beads of sweat on his forehead were like raindrops, Bi Ziyan asked the question of the sword of Damocles that had been hanging above the heads of the Son of Heaven and civil officials for hundreds of years - if a strongman who had mastered the armed forces of the imperial court raised his troops and asked Que how to resist? At that time, whether it was moral articles or speech and argumentation, he seemed so pale and powerless in front of thousands of iron hooves, and all he could do was to repay the king with death.

"It can be divided and conquered!" After thinking about it for a while, Yang Sichang finally came up with an answer: "You can separate the two towns of Liaoxi and Xuanda, and each be led by one person. ”

Bi Ziyan's eyes lit up when he heard this, and then he sighed again: "This is also a solution, but don't you think this is too much Meng Lang?" The Ming Dynasty's Jiangshan Sheji only maintains the mutual containment of the two, what if one of them dies suddenly? What if a town is defeated? What if these two men collude? Nine times out of ten, if things are unsatisfactory in the world, how can you, as the chief assistant of the imperial court, act like this? ”

Yang Sichang stood up, took a step forward and knelt down in front of Bi Ziyan and said, "I also know that this is too much Meng Lang. But now there are thieves outside, thieves inside, internal worries and external troubles are intertwined, and the Ming Dynasty is already in danger. If you can't fight hard, you won't be able to fight your way, and the situation will only get worse if you drag on like this! Bi Weng, you are a Jinshi in the twentieth year of Wanli, by Emperor Xian, Emperor Guangzong, Emperor Xizong and the present Shang, in the position of the head of the household, how can you sit back and watch the Ming Dynasty go on like this? If this is the case, what kind of face will you have to meet my two ancestors of the Ming Dynasty under the Nine Springs in the future? ”

Yang Sichang's words were already choked up and he couldn't cry. Bi Ziyan looked at it in his eyes, and couldn't help but see the image of his father Yang He, although he and Yang He were ministers in the same hall, but in fact, the friendship was only general, but Yang He also knew a lot about the inside story of Yang He's death in prison, and Yang Sichang's rebuke sounded in his ears as if it came from the mouth of a colleague who was loyal to the state but was convicted and died in prison. Yang Sichang can ignore his father's injustice, be loyal to the country, and receive great grace himself, how can he just try to protect himself? Thinking of this, he stood up and helped Yang Sichang up, and sighed: "Stop, stop, stop!" What are you talking about, what do you learn when you read the books of the sages? At the big joint, I actually suffered from gains and losses, thinking about my own selfish interests, and I lost half my life to read books! I will enter the palace tomorrow to meet the saints and discuss the matter of taxation and military training! ”

When Yang Sichang heard Bi Ziyan say this, he couldn't help but be surprised and delighted: "Thank you Bi Weng!" ”

"That's it, it's actually me who should say thank you!" Bi Ziyan sighed: "To be honest, I've been hiding at home and pretending to be sick these days, although seven points are because I feel that the policy of raising taxes and training troops will cause endless troubles, and three points are because I think about my reputation." I have been an official for decades, and I have spent my mind on money and food, and it is not easy to accumulate a good reputation in Shilin, if I speak out to support you, this reputation will definitely stink home! Ay! Zi said, 'A gentleman has three fears: fear of the destiny of heaven, fear of adults, and fear of the words of saints! 'The Mandate of Heaven is illusory, I don't care too much, but I am a little afraid of the latter two things. Thinking about it today, I am still not as good as you, if it is beneficial to the country, why don't you dare to say it? “

"Bion's words are serious!" Yang Sichang said with a smile: "Today is a promising king, if Bi Weng supports, great things will be done, even if there is criticism in the world for a while, after the matter is completed, it will naturally be fair and comfortable in the hearts of the people." He is young in history, and there must be a stroke of Bion! ”

"I don't dare to think about this!" Bi Ziyan sighed: "A hundred years later, you and I are lucky not to be in the legend of the traitor!" Lord Yang, let's discuss the details of your tax training strategy first! ”

"Good, good!" Yang Sichang was overjoyed when he heard this, he knew that Bi Ziyan was the leading financial expert in the Ming Dynasty at that time, although his own tax training strategy was spent a lot of effort by himself and a few staff, but it was certainly not as good as the old man in front of him, a few days ago he came to Bifu to ask the other party, but Bi Ziyan heard that he was going to levy a new tax to train the army to crusade against the Dongyu, so he immediately talked about him left and right, let his clever words ridicule but did not mention the matter of finance and taxation, that day Yang Sichang stayed in Bifu for two or three hours, but did not even get any useful informationIn the end, he had no choice but to say goodbye and prepare to come the next day to grind his hard suit. But what he didn't expect was that early the next morning, he heard that Bi Ziyan suddenly became seriously ill last night, lying in bed unconscious, and all the foreign guests were gone. He knew that the other party was deliberately pretending to be sick to refuse his questioning, so he had to give up and put the draft on Chongzhen. But he didn't expect that he was besieged on the street today, but because of a blessing in disguise, he pulled Bi Ziyan to his side, which was really a blessing in disguise.

Bi Ziyan suddenly asked, "Yang Wenweak, do you know why I changed my mind today?" ”

"Why?" Yang Sichang asked puzzled.

"When you encounter such a thing on the street today, you almost died, but you didn't mention your safety in half a word, and all your thoughts were on the Ming Dynasty. Even though I am hard-hearted, how can I not be moved by you? Speaking of this, Bi Ziyan sighed: "Meritocracy, you can convince people!" ”

Perhaps because of the wind and sand brought by the north wind blowing from Mobei, the Qianqing Palace was darker than usual, and the palace lights were lit early. Wang Chengen walked to Chongzhen's side and asked him in a low voice if he wanted to eat, he looked at the upper half of the imperial case and said, "What's the hurry, it's not too late to eat after I finish reading these reviews!" Wang Chengen looked at the recital on the imperial case, and then looked at the water leak on the side, and was thinking about how to persuade Chongzhen to focus on the country, cherish the royal body, and eat first, but saw Cao Huachun hurriedly coming in from the outside, as the great eunuch who mastered the brocade guard, he had to enter the palace every day before dusk as usual, and sometimes came in the morning, and secretly heard what Chongzhen wanted to know; If Chongzhen didn't ask for it, he would tell Chongzhen the privacy of the subjects of the Jingshi reported by the detective, and he was also very interested in these Chongzhen, and sometimes he even used this information to deliberately ask the minister, in order to test whether the other party was honest with him. The scholars and ministers at that time hated this kind of spy agency to monitor their subjects, and many famous ministers wrote to ask for it to be abolished, but Chongzhen just ignored it, but trusted it even more. In order to ensure the punctuality of the news, even after the palace was confined at night and isolated from the inside and outside, Cao Huachun could write down the emergency information he received in a note, put it through the gap in the Donghua Gate, and then immediately send it to the Qianqing Palace.

"Is there anything going on in the Jingshi today?" Chongzhen put down the pen in his hand and asked casually, these days the revelations of attacking Yang Sichang everywhere in Beijing have been constantly renovated, and the inside has developed from the beginning of the attack on him as a traitor to the next three roads, the content of which is quite imaginative and entertaining, Chongzhen has also changed from anger at the beginning to angry and funny, which can almost be said to be a rare embellishment in his daily boring life.

"Back to the emperor's words!" Cao Huachun kowtowed, and his face became very serious: "Around noon today, Yang Shoufu encountered an accident on the road. ”

"Accident?" Chongzhen was stunned for a moment: "Didn't I send twenty brocade guards to accompany him?" How could there be any accidents? ”

"That's right!" Cao Huachun gritted his teeth and told in detail about Yang Sichang's encounter with a mob on the road, breaking out of the siege under the escort of Chen Baihu, and escaping into Bi Ziyan's mansion. Chongzhen was furious when he heard this, slapped the imperial case suddenly, and scolded: "It's ridiculous, my first assistant minister was besieged by a mob in the capital division, and he had to rely on Jinyi Wei to break out of the siege on horseback and flee to the Hubu Shangshu Mansion to survive. There is such a thing in the world, damn it, damn it! ”

Cao Huachun was so frightened by Chongzhen's anger that his face turned pale, and he kowtowed again and again: "The emperor is angry, it's all the incompetence of the slaves, please cure the crimes of the slaves!" ”

"What does this have to do with you!" Chongzhen scolded hatefully: "This Shuntianfu Yin is really incompetent, he actually made such a thing, first Shoufu was injured by a madman with a stick on the way to the court, and now he is besieged by someone, so isn't he going to enter this Forbidden City next, and even take my life?" Cao Daban, this matter will be handed over to you, you must strictly investigate, find out the people behind the mastermind one by one, and deal with them strictly! ”

"Yes, yes, the old slave obeys!" Cao Huachun kowtowed twice, bowed his back and walked out of the palace gate. Chongzhen snorted angrily and threw aside half of the music, Wang Chengen hurriedly ordered to send dinner, even when eating, Chongzhen was also thinking about how to deal with the main messenger behind the scenes, he secretly made up his mind not only to put the main envoy to death, but also to execute the people of Zhulian, thinking that the latecomers would be killed. Even if it will leave a bad reputation in the history books of later generations, it is necessary to defeat this unhealthy trend. Chongzhen was thinking about it, when a little eunuch outside crept in and whispered a few words in Wang Chengen's ear. Wang Chengen hesitated for a moment, and whispered to Chongzhen: "Emperor, Yang Shoufu is asking to see him outside the palace!" ”

"Yang Wen is weak?" Chongzhen was stunned when he heard this, originally according to the rules at the time, even if the ministers were not summoned by the Son of Heaven at this time, they could not enter the palace, but what Cao Huachun had just told made Chongzhen feel that it was better to see his cronies, he didn't speak, just nodded slightly. Wang Chengen, who knew well, whispered a few words to the little eunuch, and the little eunuch quickly withdrew from the hall. After about half a meal, I saw Yang Sichang enter the palace under the guidance of the little eunuch just now, and just two steps in, Yang Sichang knelt down and kowtowed twice, and said: "Weichen see Your Majesty!" ”

"Mr. Yang, get up, talk closer!" Seeing that his first assistant minister was safe and sound, Chongzhen couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and he instructed Wang Chengen on the side: "Wang Daban, get a brocade mat for Mr. Yang, this Qianqing Palace is cold, and kneeling for a long time is not good for your knees!" ”

"The old slave obeys!" Wang Chengen responded, took a brocade mat from the side, and asked Yang Sichang to kneel on it. It turned out that according to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, unless the Son of Heaven specifically allowed it, the courtiers had to kneel on the ground when talking to the Son of Heaven, otherwise it would be disrespectful. If it was an ordinary official, it wouldn't matter, anyway, unless it was a big court meeting, the emperor and he couldn't say a few words, and they couldn't kneel for long; But important ministers like Yang Sichang and Zhou Yanru are different, they often talk to the emperor for a long time, even for an hour or two, and they are not young, if they kneel on the stone slab of the Qianqing Palace for a long time in winter, they really can't hold it, and it is already a rare encounter to let Yang Sichang kneel on the brocade mat like this.

"I heard from Cao Daban that you were besieged on the street today, is this really the case?"

"Enlightened Saint, this is indeed the case!" Yang Sichang kowtowed and said, "The minister has the courage to see the saint tonight, and that is for this matter!" ”

"Damn it!" Chongzhen scolded in a low voice, and softened Yang Sichang's expression a lot: "Mr. Yang, rest assured, I have already issued an order to Cao Huachun, let the factory guards strictly inspect it, and we must find the people behind the scenes and deal with them strictly!" ”

"Your Majesty, Weichen is here this time to implore Your Majesty not to pursue this matter!"

"Don't be held accountable?" Chongzhen's brows furrowed: "Why did Mr. Yang say that?" Could it be that there is something hidden in it? ”

Seeing Chongzhen like this, Yang Sichang knew that the other party's suspicion was committed again, and if he didn't deal with it properly, he was afraid that the Son of Heaven would suspect that he was involved in this matter, and maybe something would cause trouble. He kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty, today's events, the madmen are in all directions, shouting from east to west, suddenly from north to south, bricks and stones are flying, everyone is gnashing their teeth, if there is no Chen Baihu desperately to break out of the encirclement, the minister has died on the spot!" Ministers are also flesh and blood, how can there be reason not to hate them? However, if Your Majesty gives the power of thunder, the world is ignorant, and I am afraid that it will hurt my reputation! ”

(To be continued.) )