Next, Yang Sichang was in Shengjing for a few days, Liu Chengdu set up a banquet to accompany him, and the hospitality was very dedicated, and after each banquet, he gave generous gifts, or high-quality furs, or precious utensils, ginseng and deer antler velvet, which must have been obtained from the treasury of the Houjin Mansion. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info Yang Sichang saw it in his eyes, and couldn't help but be secretly frightened, he knew very well that these things were rare things in the mainland, and Liu Cheng was selling them into the customs, thinking that military funds were really a huge threat to the Ming Dynasty. As for the ordinary eyes, the refinement of the soldiers, the solidity of the armor, and the sharpness of the firearms are far better than the Ming army in the mainland, even the Guanning army, which is in the world, is quite inferior.

More than ten days have passed like this, the more Yang Sichang looks, the more anxiety in his heart, he is one of the few scholars in the late Ming Dynasty who is famous for knowing soldiers, he is an insider, although he has not seen much in Shengjing, but he can also see that the order is in order, obviously Liu Cheng integrated the remnants of the Jin forces very quickly, and it was not as depressed as Dolgon and Duoduo said, and the top and bottom were dissociated. Outside the city, there were still signs of a large construction project, and he knew that Liu Cheng had always been good at craftsmanship, construction, and economy, and these projects were obviously related to these. Yang Sichang compared the scene of Shengjing with the atmosphere of the Jingshi's Wen Tian Wuxi, who thought that the world was peaceful, and felt more and more anxious. On this day, Liu Cheng invited him to a banquet again, and after three rounds of wine, Yang Sichang got up to say goodbye, Liu Cheng was slightly stunned, and said with a smile: "Why don't you wait for a few days?" I wanted to have a good treat! ”

"It's really a state affair!" Yang Sichang saw that Liu Cheng had no intention of staying, and he was secretly happy in his heart, and hurriedly said: "When he has time to spare, he will definitely come to see the scenery of Liaodong again!" ”

Liu Cheng groaned for a while, and said with a smile: "It is difficult for a gentleman not to be strong, since this is the case, then it is not strong to stay, but today the grace minister must have a hard drink, how about it?" ”

"Of course!" Yang Sichang saw that Liu Cheng was relieved, and he was overjoyed, and hurriedly nodded again and again. Sure enough, Liu Cheng called people in exchange for the noble chiefs in Shengjing, and asked them to toast Yang Sichang one by one, but Yang Sichang couldn't refuse, but after twenty or thirty cups, his mind was blurred.

When Yang Sichang woke up the next day, he already had a splitting headache, his mouth was thirsty, and he couldn't help but get up and shout: "Tea, bring some tea!" ”

"Young Master! There is no tea, only buttermilk and water, and the tea will have to wait! ”

Yang Sichang woke up drunk, his temper was very short, and he pounded the bed hard and shouted: "Why is there no tea?" ”

"Young master, we are in the carriage, and we have to wait for a while to make tea!" Yang Qing carefully helped Yang Sichang up. Yang Sichang noticed that the bed under him was shaking slightly, and he couldn't help but be stunned, and asked, "Carriage?" Where are we going? ”

"On the way back to Jingshi!" Yang Qing said in a low voice: "You were drunk like mud last night, then Liu Chengcheng sent someone to tell the old slave that the young master is going back today, and he will let the young master help the young master on the road early in the morning." ”

"Liu Cheng let himself go so easily!" Yang Sichang was surprised and puzzled, he opened the curtain and looked outside, only to see that the carriage was indeed heading south, and on both sides were the white tasseled knights who were waiting outside the long pavilion on the day he entered Shengjing, obviously sent to escort him. He put down the curtains, his heart was full of mixed feelings, about half a sound of effort, Yang Sichang's mood calmed down, and asked in a deep voice: "Then what else did Liu Cheng say?" ”

Yang Qing dragged out a two-foot square wooden box from under the bed, gently uncovered it, and saw that it was full of all kinds of gems, white jade, and agate, and said in a low voice: "Young master, these are gifts from Liu Cheng, he said that although these can't repay the master's great kindness in case of emergency, he can only talk about the heart, and please accept it, young master." He also said that these things are easy to carry, and there is no need to worry about the impeachment of the imperial history! ”

"Why are you taking these things?" Yang Sichang regretted it as soon as he spoke, he knew in his heart that with his situation at this time and Liu Cheng's identity, if he wanted to give someone a gift, especially Yang Qing, an old servant, dared to refuse? Thinking of this, he waved his hand and sighed: "That's it, Uncle Yang, it's not your fault!" ”

"Young master, then Liu Cheng shouldn't be a trap for giving such a heavy gift, right?"

"Not really!" Yang Sichang sighed: "This person is extremely ambitious, but he won't play these little tricks, he sent these to me just to repay his father's kindness!" ”

"So this guy isn't a bad guy anymore!" Yang Qing nodded: "At least I know that I know that I have won more than many people in the world!"

"Hey!" Yang Sichang sighed: "How can people like Liu Cheng be judged by the simple word good or bad?" ”

Shengjing, Phoenix Building.

"So Yang Wenqiao is gone?" Liu Cheng put down the teacup and asked.

"Yes, according to the instructions of the adults, he went on the road at sunrise, and before he woke up, the box of jewels was handed over to his old servant Yang Qing. He also drew two hundred horsemen from the fire to escort him. Zhao Wende cautiously said, speaking of which, he hesitated for a moment, and asked cautiously: "Dare to ask my lord, since you let Yang Wenqiao know so much, why did you let him go so easily?" ”

"What if you don't let him go? Can you still detain him? He is the first assistant of the imperial court! ”

"Then you don't need to let him know so much!" Zhao Wende asked: "This person is not those rotten Confucians in the court, he can know a lot of things based on the things he sees!" ”

"What if you know?" Liu Cheng smiled.

"He's the first assistant of the imperial court!" Zhao Wende was anxious when he heard this: "Can't he be a saint-"

"Jiansheng!" Liu Cheng showed a playful smile on his face: "Yang Wenqiao is not so stupid, you said that with the character of today's saint and the virtue of all the bigwigs in the court, if Yang Wenwan is a saint who sees and hears, what will be the consequences?" ”

Zhao Wende's face changed slightly, he was also a smart person, and after a little thought, he understood what Liu Cheng meant. If Yang Sichang will tell what he saw and heard in Shengjing, the first unlucky person is himself, after all, it is under his support and protection that Liu Cheng, a careerist, has risen from a general soldier to a behemoth with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of miles, and the title of Duke of Liu Chengyue is the biggest ironclad evidence of Yang Sichang's crimes. As for Liu Cheng's previous exploits in pacifying Mongolia and sweeping away the Eastern Captives, at this time it will only be attributed to the wise leadership of the saints, the heroic struggle of the frontier soldiers, and the strategic work of the bigwigs in the DPRK and China. As long as Yang Sichang is not stupid to a certain point, he will not do such a self-digging thing.

"My lord, Yang Sichang will not tell the court! But since he knows so much, he will definitely be on guard, which is also not good for adults! ”

"Well, armament, huh?" Liu Cheng smiled: "Have you forgotten what I said at that time?" Da Ming's lifespan has come to an end, it's okay if he Yang Wenwan doesn't do anything, the more he does, the faster he will die, and even his own life will be put into it! ”

"What do you mean by that?"

"Let me ask you, he saw my armor here in Shenyang, how many soldiers and horses do you think it will take to destroy me?"

"This-" Zhao Wende hesitated for a moment and replied: "My lord, the soldiers and generals under your command are all in a hundred battles, and such elite soldiers are definitely not something that can be trained for a while. If you have to say, there is no hope of victory without more than twice the number of troops! ”

"Well, I now have one hundred and twenty-seven zasaks in the Mongol tribes, and according to one zasak and one thousand accounts, one-third of the mobilization is three hundred horsemen, and the total is nearly forty thousand horsemen; Although the Jurchen Eight Banners have gone through civil war and attrition, it is still no problem to draw 3,000 people per banner, which is 20,000 thousand, and my own cowardly Xue pro-army, immortal squad, and Baturu also have 30,000 people, as well as beggars and other mercenaries, and there are no less than 100,000 people in these alone. If Yang Wenqiao wants to deal with such an army, what do you say he will do in the first step? ”

"Tax increase!" Zhao Wende's mind suddenly had a flash of inspiration and grasped Liu Cheng's train of thought.

"Not bad!" Liu Cheng sneered: "But we all know the rule of the Ming Dynasty, and we finally scraped a little money from the people, but it may not be able to spend it on Qiu Ba's head, and the result is to provoke a popular uprising, and the soldiers who have been trained with great difficulty have no time to deal with us, so they have to deal with the rogues." If you are old, you are old, and if you are damned, you should let him die, and he will be in the world for a long time, not good for others, and even worse for himself! ”

"Then will Yang Sichang attack Chaoyi?"

"Maybe, so I've ordered Liu Zongmin to move the steel and arsenal over there here, mainly people, equipment and boats, and then change it into a camel team when they arrive in Guihua City, it should be here before the snow. The coal, iron, timber, and water power of Shengjing are better than those of Chaoyi, and there are many craftsmen of all kinds, and this is our future! ”

"What about velvet and weaving?"

"Just stay over there, anyway, I have already sold most of my shares to the local gentry, if Yang Sichang does something to him, let's fight with the gentry in the northwest first!"

Hearing that Liu Cheng had already made arrangements, Zhao Wende breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "My lord has seen thousands of miles, but his subordinates are too worried!" ”

"I can't say it when I see it!" Liu Cheng smiled: "It's just a little pity for Yang He's father and son, the two of them really want to be good for Daming, and they are also kind to me, and I really don't want them to end up." It's a pity that everyone has their own way these days, and they barely come! ”

"Yes!" Zhao Wende remembered the story of Yang He and himself planning to add salt to raise money to appease the Shaanxi Liukou, wasn't he also the same as the Yang family's father and son, thinking about Zhongxing Daming? If he hadn't met Liu Cheng, he would probably have worked as hard as the current Yang Sichang but achieved nothing, and he couldn't help but feel a burst of pity in his heart.

Jingshi, Wenfu.

"Tax increases?" Wen Tiren's eyes widened: "Yang Wenweak, are you crazy?" This is self-defeating! ”

"Gong Wen!" Yang Sichang said in a deep voice: "It's not okay if you don't raise taxes, my trip to Shengjing this time is an eye-opener." If Dongyu was a wolf at the beginning, then he was a tiger, if he didn't practice martial arts in the whole army, sooner or later we would give him a bite to eat! ”

"That's not a tax hike either!" Wen Tiren said loudly: "I don't know if Liu Cheng wants to eat people, but the tax increase will definitely kill people, think about it, first Liaojiao, and then Jinyu, finally leveled the Liukou and destroyed the Dongyu, you now have to raise taxes and train the army, and go to fight Liu Cheng." But he is still my Ming Yue Guogong! You think this can be passed? ”

"Then you can't just do it here, watch him Liu Cheng prepare on Shengjing's side, right? He has been the chief soldier of Yansui Town and Xuanda Town, and he is very familiar with the road situation of my Daming, and the Mongols have long obeyed him. ”

"Isn't it still about Ning Jun? Lu Xiangsheng also has tens of thousands of people who can fight, and the Northwest Frontier Army also has a few capable of fighting. If you do this, Liu Cheng hasn't called yet, and the saint and the corporal doctor won't be able to spare you first! Don't do anything stupid! ”

"Gong Wen!" Yang Sichang sighed: "Daming has reached this point today, that is, there are too many smart people, if there are a few more people who are willing to do stupid things, how can they end up in today's field?" Gong Wen, would you like to help me? ”

Feeling Yang Sichang's burning eyes, Wen Tiren couldn't help but lower his head, he also knew that what Yang Sichang said was good, but basic reason reminded him that it was futile, and after about half a sound, he sighed and said in a low voice: "Wen is weak, this matter is difficult to obey!" ”

Yang Sichang nodded, his face turned pale, he stood up, tidied up his crown clothes, and bowed deeply to Wen Tiren: "Gong Wen, I don't blame you for this matter, it's just that if something happens to Yang, it will be entrusted in the future!" ”

Wen Tiren's lips trembled a few times, and he stood up and accepted Yang Wenweak's bow: "Wen Weak, don't worry, Wen will not be defeated!" ”

Time flies quickly, and autumn has entered in a blink of an eye. This is the most beautiful season in Beijing, the autumn is crisp, neither hot nor cold, and there is no spring wind and sand blowing from the north. In addition, the Dongyu, which had been raging in Liaodong for nearly twenty years, had also been pacified. People in the capital have gone out of the city to see the red leaves of Xiangshan and the beautiful scenery of Luqiao, and enjoy this rare peaceful day.

However, among those who were well-informed, there was an astonishing news that Yang Sichang, the first assistant, not only did not intend to stop collecting salaries, but also planned to levy new taxes, for the purpose of training a new army. On this issue, everyone is rarely on the same side, and even enemies who originally hated each other have found common ground in opposing the tax hike.

"Why the new tax? Isn't Dongyu pacified? ”

"That is, after all these years of tossing, the people have already exhausted their wealth, and they have to toss, this Yang Wenqiao is really crazy!"

Meng Xianziyun: "Animals and horses ride, don't notice chickens and dolphins; The house of ice felling does not raise cattle and sheep; The home of a hundred times, the minister who does not gather animals. Rather than having ministers of aggregation, it is better to have thieves. This means that the state does not take profit for profit, but also for righteousness. Those who grow up the country and use money will be small. He is good, the villain is the country, and disasters are coming, although there are good people, there is nothing like it. This means that the state does not take profit for profit, but also for righteousness. Yang Wen is weak, but he is really a minister of accumulation! ”