"Ahh Yang Qing couldn't blame his subordinates for not being educated, and hurriedly shouted: "Hurry up and prepare the incense case, and also, bring the master's official robe!" ”

Yang Sichang was very calm, changed into a robe with the help of Yang Qing, and came to the main hall, only to see Wang Chengen standing in the hall, a small eunuch on both sides carrying a brocade box, looking quite heavy. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Yang Sichang takes the order!" Wang Chengen's voice was quite sharp, Yang Sichang hurriedly knelt down, the content of the holy decree was very simple, just to reward Yang Sichang, and then gave him a batch of utensils used in the imperial banquet. Confirming that the Son of Heaven was not angered by his suggestion, Yang Sichang breathed a sigh of relief, he kowtowed according to the etiquette and thanked him, shouted long live, and then took the brocade box and handed it to the old servant Yang Qing on the side. Wang Chengen stepped forward and whispered in a voice that only two people could hear: "Sir's loyal saint understands in his heart, the emperor said that you are a loyal minister, and Lord Yang has raised a good son, and I also ask you to enter the palace tomorrow evening to discuss state affairs!" ”

Yang Sichang suddenly felt a warm current surging into his heart, the Son of Heaven understood his hard work, the previous worries disappeared, and he had to meet the master, what could be more gratifying than this? He threw himself on his knees, bowing and weeping, but he couldn't say a word in a choked voice.

In the evening of the next day, Yang Sichang entered the palace again. Compared with yesterday's time, the etiquette this time is much simpler, it can almost be said that it is light and simple, and of course, the most important thing is that Yang Sichang's mood is completely different. If the first attack he was still anxious and ready to dismiss and go home, then the second time he was full of excitement and hope, Chongzhen's evaluation of himself, especially the implicit admission to himself that his father was wronged, which was already the greatest kindness that Chongzhen, as the Son of Heaven, could show under the political rules of the time. Although Yang Sichang thinks that his father's crime is indeed a grievance, but he has no resentment against Chongzhen in his heart, in the discourse system of the ancient **** monarch, the emperor is the Son of Heaven is absolutely correct, the so-called thunder and rain are all Jun's grace, whether it is to add an official to the knight or a cup of poisonous wine, for the courtiers are only kowtow to thank him, and there is absolutely no room for rebellion.

Compared with the last time, Chongzhen's voice was much lighter, and Yang Sichang had not finished saluting, so he said to Wang Chengen: "Wang Companion, give Mr. Yang a seat!" ”

"The old slave obeys!" Because there were only Chongzhen, Wang Chengen, and Yang Sichang in the house, Wang Chengen had to personally move a Mazha and put it in front of Yang Sichang, but Yang Sichang just wanted to thank him but heard Chongzhen's voice: "Closer, closer, Mr. Yang is talking about important things, sit closer and talk!" Wang Chengen hurriedly moved Mazha four or five steps closer to the throne, Chongzhen was not satisfied, and asked him to move a few steps forward, only four or five steps away from the imperial case before he was satisfied: "The king does not lose his country, and the doctor does not lose his home." There are too many people involved in what I want to talk about today, and if you leak one or two, I'm afraid that you, the first assistant, won't be able to do it! ”

Yang Sichang was stunned when he heard this, and he was immediately overjoyed, he naturally knew that the walls in this palace were all ears, and he didn't know how many people's official positions and jobs would be ruined by what he was going to do. He hurriedly got up and kowtowed to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty has such preparations, and the ministers are very relieved!" To put it in my heart, whether the minister does it or not is a small matter, but the matter of Pingliao must not change at all. ”

"Hmm!" Chongzhen nodded: "Yes, there must be no mistakes in the matter of Pingliao, Mr. Yang, you can tell your strategy in detail now!" ”

"Obey the order!" Yang Sichang had been prepared before he came, took out a map from his bosom, and told him in detail about the plan of Houjin to attack Houjin from the south, west, and north at the same time. Chongzhen listened to Yang Sichang on the map while comparing and explaining, as if hundreds of thousands of troops were attacking Houjin on three sides, a scene of shame for decades, he was a young man in his early twenties, and he was a very serious character, and he listened to the blood boiling, and finally waited until Yang Sichang finished speaking, and hurriedly asked: "Mr. Yang, is there less than sixteen battalions?" I remember that at the beginning, Sun Chengzong and Lord Sun were in Liaodong alone, and there were twelve car camps alone, and the other firearms, water camps, infantry camps, and cavalry camps were not counted in them! ”

Yang Sichang said with a smile: "In fact, there are only twelve battalions to be newly trained, and General Liu has four infantry battalions in Ningxia General Soldier, and the minister is ready to let him be transferred to Xuanda Town, and some capable generals around him can also turn Xuanda Town into an elite soldier like Ningxia Town one day earlier." ”

"Sixteen battalions is really enough?" Chongzhen still couldn't believe it: "Mr. Yang, I remember that you also said yesterday that the Emperor Taiji of the Captive Chieftain has brought the Monan tribes under his command, plus the Eight Banners and the Han Army in his headquarters, I am afraid that there are no less than 100,000 soldiers in battle, right?" And sixteen battalions are only thirty or forty thousand? ”

"Your Majesty! There are not many soldiers! When the minister inspected the soldiers and horses of each town, he had already found that although the number of soldiers in each town was large, the soldiers who could fight were few, and many armor battles were incomplete. If it is the effect of training one soldier to get one soldier, the sixteenth battalion is enough. Besides, this time to the east, Liaodong is a regular soldier, Xuanda is just playing a role in leading the system, if the chieftain is a soldier who overthrows the country, the country is naturally empty, what is there to fear? ”

Chongzhen nodded, and did not continue to ask, but judging from his face, this great tomorrow did not trust his explanation of the military department Shangshu too much, after all, he was very clear about the gap between the combat effectiveness of the Ming army and the Houjin army over the years, and many of the things that were said on paper were another matter when they fell into reality, but Yang Sichang had just won a big victory in Shanxi, which added a bit of convincing power to his explanation, so that Chongzhen would not refute it in person.

"What about the amount of money and the amount of money needed?"

Yang Sichang knew that it had reached a critical time, so he took a deep breath and said: "It will take a few days for the salary number to be reported, as for the first battle, the minister plans to no longer fight from the military department, but from the custom!" ”

"Custom-made from the people? What is this system? Chongzhen almost couldn't believe his ears, it was normal for the salary to take some time, after all, in addition to the newly compiled sixteen foot battalions, there were also rewards from Mongolian volunteers, as well as whether they were distributed in folded color or true color, salt, cloth, grass beans used by horses, and many other expenses, and Yang Sichang actually said that the armor of these tens of thousands of troops was not issued from the arsenal or the Staff Bureau in South Beijing, but from a place called Hongyang, this is not a joke, right?

Although he had prepared in advance, but in the face of the anger of the Son of Heaven, Yang Sichang still felt a tightness in his chest, almost out of breath, he forced himself to suppress the fear in his heart, and said in a low voice: "Exactly, the minister intends to buy from a business called Hongyang, compared to the armor battle made by the Ministry of War, this business is much better-made, this time can defeat Dongyu, this firm's staff is also helpful!" ”

"No way!" Chongzhen said sharply: "A battle firearms are the order of the country, how can there be a reason for them to be made by private merchants?" As the secretary of the military department, it is your duty to have an arsenal and a staff division, so why don't you strictly supervise it and let it fight a good armor battle? Is there a reason to leave it to the people? ”

"Your Majesty, the affairs of the military department are difficult to return, and it is not a day's work, and the war with the Dongyu cannot be delayed, the minister thinks-" Yang Sichang was just halfway through the explanation, but Chongzhen shouted: "I said no, it is not good, Mr. Yang, you go back and write a note as soon as possible about the military aircraft department and the salaries and generals required for the training of the new army, and you will come here today." ”

Seeing this, Yang Sichang knew that it was useless to say more, so he had to kneel down and say in a deep voice: "The minister obeys the order!" ”

Seeing Yang Sichang's figure disappear at the door, Chongzhen said hatefully: "This Yang Wenqiang is really more and more unspeakable, and even armor weapons have to be ordered from the people, is he so short of money?" Wang Companion! ”

"The old slave is here!" Wang Chengen responded.

"You asked Beizhen Fusi to check what Hongyang has to do with Yang Wenqiao?"

"Yes!" Wang Chengen answered, but did not immediately carry out the will, Chongzhen looked at him sensitively, and asked, "What?" Do you have anything to say? ”

"Emperor, the old slave once heard a ridiculous saying called Jingshi Ten in the past, I don't know if you have heard it?"

"Ten ridiculous?" Chongzhen was stunned for a moment and asked, "It's a little familiar, but the details are not clear." ”

These ten ridiculous things are ten ridiculous things that are not worthy of the name in the Beijing Division, including the tea soup of Guanglu Temple, the prescription of the Tai Hospital, the optimistic prayer of God, the sword and gun of the Arsenal, the camp and the workshop, the clothing and food of the Nursing Academy, the mother-in-law of the Teaching Workshop, the Constitution of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Guozi Supervision School, and the articles of the Hanlin Academy. The Arsenal Division was among them, when the defeat of Sarhu, Juniper Ya set its head, Pan Zongyan Ya hit its back, was the governor overseer, there was no fine armor, and the soldiers died? ”

Listening to Wang Chengen's words, Chongzhen's face suddenly became gloomy, Wang Chengen's last sentence was quoted from the battle of Salson in the forty-seventh year of Wanli, the future cabinet scholar Xu Guangqi's twists and turns, Juniper is a famous general in the Wanli period, nicknamed "Du Heizi", known for his courage and good fighting, and commanded the left wing of the middle during the battle of Salhu; Pan Zongyan was a Wenchen who was famous for his knowledge of soldiers at that time, and served as the supervisor of Ma Lin, the commander of the North Road, both of whom died in the Battle of Salhu, and Juniper was killed by shooting through his helmet; And Pan Zongyan was killed by an arrow in the back. After an investigation, it was discovered that the armor of these two men had serious quality problems, and Juniper's helmet was even more rotten, and only a layer of varnish was applied to the surface and the military department was sent down as new, and as a result, he died inexplicably under the arrow. Xu Guangqi's article was very famous at the time, and Chongzhen naturally read it, but it was recited by Wang Chengen here, and his face was not very good-looking.

"I naturally know that there are some problems with the armor of the arsenal, but he Yang Wenqiao himself is the secretary of the military department, can he know that his subordinates have problems and ignore them, but they go outside to order them?"

"Your Majesty, although Mr. Yang is the secretary of the military department, such things are difficult to return, and they can never be changed by punishing one or two people. From the Staff Bureau to the Treasury Division, from top to bottom, from officials to officials, all of them are involved, and then there are too many involved, and there is no way to change it unless it is lifted up. But Mr. Yang can't arrest all these people at once, right? ”

Chongzhen snorted coldly and did not speak, Wang Chengen had already said it thoroughly, for the bureaucracy, there is a wise saying from ancient times to the present - the law does not hold the people accountable. Institutions like the Arsenal Division of the Scepter Bureau have been intertwined with various forces for hundreds of years, and it is difficult to return, and I don't know how many hands are in it to reap benefits, let alone where these hands have finally gone. In the past three hundred years, the Ming Dynasty has caused countless disasters because of the quality of the armor battle, even if the civil and military officials like Juniper and Pan Zongyan were shot because of the armor problem, which directly affected the decisive battle related to the national fortune. With the current situation, even if Yang Sichang goes to investigate thoroughly, at best, he will catch a few outsiders and cut off the heads of a few officials, at most it will be a few months, and there will not be much change in whether to give a rusty knife or a rusty knife to a rusty knife after the time passes.

Wang Chengen secretly looked at Chongzhen's face, guessed the other party's thoughts, and said carefully: "Emperor, it's better to let the old slave go to the bottom of the Hongyang first to see how their armor battle is." ”

"Hmm!" Chongzhen nodded slightly.

Three days later.

Chongzhen had breakfast and set off from the Qianqing Palace, unlike in the past, he did not take a sedan chair, but rode a horse and a sword, and the front of the road was a dozen eunuchs holding yellow umbrellas and honor guards, and on both sides of the horse were twenty eunuchs in arrow robes, carrying bows and swords. A group of people out of the Donghua Gate, and then along the east bank of the moat to the west, along the way there is a locust tree planted, at this time it is already early spring, the locust trees on both sides send out tender buds, the branches appear a kind of tender yellow, swaying in the wind. Chongzhen saw it in his eyes, and couldn't help but feel happy, and sighed secretly in his heart: "Although I am the king of a country, I am busy with state affairs on weekdays, so how can I have leisure to enjoy such beautiful scenery?" ”

The group turned along the Jade River and turned north from the northeast corner of the Forbidden City, and there was a hill in front of them. During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, Chengzu Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing and built a large-scale city, palace and garden. According to the saying of "Canglong, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Xuanwu, and the Four Spirits of Heaven, with the Four Directions", the north of the Forbidden City is the location of Xuanwu, and when there are mountains, the soil from the excavation of the Forbidden City's Tube River and Taiye and the South China Sea is piled up in the "green mountain" to form five peaks, which become the "town mountain" of the Great Inner City, called "Long Live Mountain". Because coal has been piled up under the mountain, it is also called "coal mountain". Fruit trees are planted all over the mountain, commonly known as "Hundred Fruit Orchard" (also known as North Orchard). The Guande Hall in the northeast of the park was originally the "place of archery" of the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. (To be continued.) )