Capital.

Qianqing Palace, Hongde Palace.

Zhou Yanru lowered his head and stepped on the steps in a little panic, not long ago he received a message from the eunuch of the inner court that the Son of Heaven was going to summon him. Since he didn't know the reason why Chongzhen summoned him, his mood was a little disturbed, and during this time, Zhou Yanru had felt that the trust of the Son of Heaven in him was gradually decreasing, which was a bad omen for a cabinet minister, especially Shoufu. As the saying goes, "a companion is like a tiger", and it is also said that "the power of heaven is unpredictable", it is difficult to climb to the top of power, but it is even more difficult to get down safely from a high position, especially since he is not yet 40 years old this year, and he still has at least twenty or thirty years of political life, and how to keep himself in the core of power without being expelled is not an easy task.

Zhou Yanru was thinking about things in his mind, but he stepped on the front of his robe on his feet, if it weren't for the fact that he stretched out a hand behind him to help him under his armpit, and almost fell, the frightened Zhou Yanru looked back, but it was the Ministry of Rites Shangshu and Dongge University Shi Wen Tiren who entered the cabinet with him.

"Brother Jade Rope, be careful with your feet!"

"Thank you, Changqing!" Zhou Yanru smiled reluctantly, but a chill appeared in his heart, he was quite jealous of this colleague who was usually silent and always followed behind him silently. Compared with the young and handsome Zhou Yanru, Wen Tiren looks much more inconspicuous, born in 1573 A.D. (the first year of Wanli), he is twenty years older than Zhou Yanru, and at the age of twenty-six, he was admitted to the Jinshi, although it can be regarded as an early arrival, but compared to Zhou Yanru's twenty years of age, even the Zhonghui Yuan, the champion is not worth mentioning, and then along the usual promotion path of the Ming Dynasty Jinshi, first went to the Hanlin Academy to do Shu Jishi, in the next 30 years of political career, he is deep in the city, old and calculating, Many of the stronger, more talented, and more famous than him surpassed him and then fell from the pinnacle of power. fell to pieces, but he never fell, and finally climbed to the position of the secretary of the Ministry of Rites and the assistant manager of the affairs of the Zhan Mansion in the early years of Chongzhen, at this time he was only one step away from entering the cabinet to worship the prime minister. But this step away is likely to be the sky, since the beginning of the Wanli period, the court has been full of partisan disputes, the political elite of the Ming Dynasty is no longer fighting for right and wrong, but the life and death of friends and foes. It doesn't matter if it's right or wrong, what matters is whether you are a party comrade and want to step into the core of power. My talents, qualifications, and policies are no longer the first place, but the important thing is alliances, betrayals, and games.

As a latecomer, Zhou Yanru's career is much smoother. The most important thing is that Emperor Chongzhen, who had just ascended the throne and was bent on seeking governance, was very fond of this champion of Wanli for forty-one years, not only repeatedly promoted him to his official position, made exceptional appointments, but also recruited him into the palace from time to time to play alone, but compared to entering the cabinet, Zhou Yanru's qualifications are still shallow. Therefore, in the winter of the first year of Chongzhen (1628), the cabinet ministers were elected. Zhou Yanru was not on the list of courtiers. Wen Tiren keenly noticed the Son of Heaven's dissatisfaction with the absence of Zhou Yanru in the list and his worries about the privacy of the courtiers' cliques, and he risked being besieged by his colleagues and took the initiative to stand up and launch an impeachment against Qian Qianyi in the list, claiming that he presided over the Zhejiang examination in the second year of the Apocalypse. Accepting bribes, using the joint language "once on the rise" as a mark, admitting candidates Qian Qianqiu is not qualified to be elected at all. Wen Tiren's "betrayal" was immediately besieged by his colleagues. Some people accused Wen Tiren of not being an official, and according to the rules of the time, he had no right to impeach ministers; Some people also say that Wen Tiren will not be impeached sooner or later. The impeachment of Qian Qianyi at this juncture is clearly for his own entry into the cabinet. And Wen Tiren refuted that Qian Qianyi was just an ordinary official at the beginning, and that's fine, but now that he has been elected to the cabinet, how can I sit idly by? So many of you obviously know that he took bribes and bent the law, but you put him on the list of nominations, and it is clear that he is Qian Qianyi's friend. This sentence touched the most sensitive string in the heart of the Son of Heaven, and Chongzhen immediately ordered the removal of Qian Qianyi from his official position and redrafted the list of officials who were elected to the cabinet, and Zhou Yanru was also included in the list.

Through this adventure, Wen Tiren was richly rewarded: he not only became an ally of Zhou Yanru, but also established the image of a lonely minister in the heart of the Son of Heaven. In Chongzhen's view, Wen Tiren's actions are undoubtedly irrefutable loyalty to himself, even at the expense of offending his colleagues, which was verified in the next - many of Qian Qianyi's comrades impeached Wen Tiren for his privacy and accepting bribes, which actually made Qian Qianyi "no party", and the next year he entered the cabinet and became Zhou Yanru's colleague and second assistant.

If you look at common sense, Zhou Yanru should have a good impression of this colleague who has great favor, but the behavior of people competing in the political arena can never be guessed by common sense, after reaching the pinnacle of power, Wen Tiren became Zhou Yanru's chief assistant, and also became his most dangerous enemy. Although he never argued with Zhou Yanru in the cabinet on weekdays, his words and deeds posed an invisible threat to Zhou Yanru - Chongzhen may have higher hopes for Zhou Yanru, and if the hope is disappointed, it will turn into disappointment and anger, and at that time, Wen Tiren, who is quite trusted by Chongzhen, is likely to replace him, and Zhou Yanru can't help but shudder a little with Wen Tiren's previous spiciness towards political opponents.

Zhou Yanru walked into the Hongde Hall with such a nervous mood, Chongzhen, who was sitting on the throne of the coiling dragon, waited until the two of them bowed down, and then ordered to "give the seat", and without waiting for the two to sit firmly, he picked up the two notes on the table and asked the two: "These two notes have different opinions, how to deal with them, and ask the two gentlemen to teach me?" ”

Zhou Yanru took the recital and looked at it carefully, it turned out that the two recitals were from the trilateral governor Hong Chengchou and the Hedong Patrol Salt Imperial History Li Dongguo, the former was to impeach Li Dongguo for exceeding his authority and mobilizing the army that originally belonged to Yansui Town to Pingyang, destroying his strategy of leveling thieves and asking the court to deal with the other party; The latter is much simpler, just narrating that because of the mutiny of the Shaanxi guest soldiers, the thieves captured Pingyang Mansion, he fled to Chaoyi, borrowed troops from the local garrison to drive away the thieves, and recaptured Pingyang Mansion. Zhou Yanru looked at Chongzhen's face, speculated on the other party's thoughts for a while, and finally replied cautiously: "Your Majesty, as the minister has seen, although Li Yushi's actions are a bit overstepping, there is no way, Pingyang Mansion is the main road from southern Jin to northern Henan, and it is close to Yanchi. If it falls into the hands of thieves, the consequences are unimaginable. However, what Lord Hong said also makes sense, it is better to be fined for half a year! “

"Hmm!" Chongzhen nodded noncommittally, and turned his gaze to Wen Tiren: "Mr. Wen, what do you think should be done?" ”

"Your Majesty, don't ask the ministers about this matter!" Wen Tiren's voice was low, and Chongzhen on the throne almost thought that he had heard it wrong, and hurriedly asked, "Don't ask you?" “

"Your Majesty, that Li Dongguo is the main examiner in the examination, and the minister is the one who is the one who is in the melon field, and it is wrong for the minister to open his mouth in this matter. Please forgive your majesty! ”

"Hmm!" Chongzhen nodded, but there was a look of relief on his face, in his opinion, Wen Tiren's answer was obviously a manifestation of loyalty to himself, he coughed twice in a low voice, and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhou, as far as the widow can see, this Li Yushi should not only not be guilty, but should be rewarded." He is not the prefect of Pingyang, and he has no responsibility to defend the land. When the city fell, he escaped by luck, not only did he not flee for his life, but he forcibly transferred troops from the court to defeat the thieves regardless of his own life. Retake Binh Duong. Mr. Wen, you are doing a great job as a student! ”

"What Your Majesty said is true, but Lord Hong is an important minister in the northwest, and he is on the stage. Let's give him some face! Out of a subtle psychology, Zhou Yanru rarely expressed opinions that were different from those of the Son of Heaven. Chongzhen frowned, and replied unhappily: "Doesn't Hong Chengchou just think that Shanxi is not in his defense area?" Then he was appointed as the squire of the military department, the governor of Shaanxi, Jin, and Henan provinces. Now he won't complain about others sabotaging his thief strategy, right? “

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Zhou Yanru, who touched the nail in Chongzhen's place, had a somewhat ugly face, so he had to bow his head to accept the order, and he glanced at Wen Tiren on the side out of the corner of his eye, only to see that the other party still had that expression of honor and disgrace, and he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

"So be it!" Chongzhen picked up a few cases on the note, Zhou Yanru and Wen Tiren saw this, and hurriedly got up and kowtowed to retire. After the two of them exited the hall, Chongzhen put down the recital and said to himself: "Why do I think Mr. Wen is more fair than Mr. Zhou?" But after Chongzhen finished speaking, Wang Chengen behind him didn't seem to hear anything, just bowed his head and stood. Chongzhen looked back at him and asked, "Wang Banban, what do you think?" ”

"This is a state affair, and non-old slaves dare to say it!" Wang Chengen paused: "Whether it is Mr. Zhou or Mr. Wen, they are both members of the imperial court, and please act cautiously!" ”

"Hmm!" Chongzhen nodded, looked at the music again, and suddenly asked: "Hey, Wang Banban, the commander of the army borrowed by Li Yushi is called Du Ruhu, why is this name so familiar, isn't it a widow who has seen it before?" ”

Wang Chengen looked at Song Shu and replied: "Emperor, if the old slave is not mistaken, it seems that Mr. Lu Boqi Lu has a meritorious military general named Du Ruhu in the document of the great victory in Yinzhou, I don't know if it is him." ”

"Oh!" This sentence aroused Chongzhen's interest, he immediately ordered the little eunuch to take the file for inquiry, and after getting a definite answer, Chongzhen smiled: "Sure enough, there are no weak soldiers under the strong general, Mr. Lu went to Ningxia, and left a soldier to guard the court, I didn't expect it to come in handy here." According to the widow, Mr. Lu also has to take credit this time! ”

"Emperor Shengming!" Wang Chengen said with a smile: "But according to the old slave, Mr. Lu is not the only one who has merit!" ”

"Oh? Who else? ”

"Liu Cheng Liu Zongbing!" Wang Chengen said with a smile: "Emperor, if the old slave is not mistaken, Mr. Lu's two big victories over the troops were all this General Liu Cheng, and this Du Ruhu was also his general before!" ”

"And such a thing?" Chongzhen looked at the file found by the little eunuch with surprise and joy, and sure enough, he found Liu Cheng's name on it: "Good, good!" Mr. Lu knows that he will be in the army, and he is really a talent! It's a pity that there are a lot of affairs in Ningxia, and he can't be separated from him, otherwise the widow will definitely transfer him to Beijing, and sooner or later he will benefit! ”

"Emperor, Mr. Lu can't see him for a while, but it's not difficult for General Soldier Liu, he was promoted to Chief Soldier of Ningxia, and he should come to Beijing in a few months to resign!"

"Good, good! At that time, Wang Daban must remind the widow, I want to see what this tiger general who captured and killed Erdan Yu looks like! Chongzhen's voice was full of yearning.

Fort Santiago, Manila, December 1632.

The steel sheets of the soles of the tall military boots struck the stone floor of the hallway, making a rhythmic sound. Major Silva unbuttoned his cloak and walked into the fencing hall, his stature was not tall, but he was very strong, his years of non-stop sports and war life had squeezed every inch of fat out of his body, only bones, tendons and well-developed muscles, the face of a typical Castilian aristocrat was tanned by the scorching sun of Southeast Asia, high raised cheekbones, broad forehead, hooked nose, hard chin, and a pair of deep sunken eyes that shone with anger and pain.

"Sando! Tell the guards to bring the native chief here, and bring his weapon. Silva threw his cloak to a boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old next to him: "I'm going to duel him!" ”

"But Mr. Major!" Sando hung his cloak on the hanger next to the door and asked in surprise, "I heard that the native chief was very powerful, and he killed six soldiers before he was captured, and Mr. Casillas also died at his hands!" ”

"Sando!" Silva unsheathed the sword from his belt and said to the boy in a gentle but firm voice: "All flesh is like grass, and his glory is like a flower on the grass, and the grass withers and the flower withers, but the word of the Lord endures forever." We believers will be able to overcome these devilish believers! “

"Yes, Mr. Silva!" Sandor bowed his head respectfully and walked out quickly, Silva turned and walked to the cross, knelt down on his knees, bowed his head and prayed: "Lord of hosts, fill the breasts of your servants with courage and strength, and avenge my friend, the warriors of the infidels, Amen!" ”

After a while, there was a clanging sound outside the corridor, Silva stood up from the ground, and saw Sandor with two guards pressing a burly indigenous man into the hall, the indigenous man was wearing heavy shackles on his hands and feet, the upper half of his **** body was scarred, his messy hair was scattered on his shoulders, his cheeks were covered with tattoos, and he stared at Silva with a pair of ringed eyes.

"Unshackle him!" Silva ordered the guards.

"Mr. Major, this is an extremely dangerous fellow—" As soon as the guard tried to retort, Silva made an irresistible gesture: "I am responsible for all the consequences, I order you to unshackle him!" (To be continued.) )