Queen Zhou's lips trembled violently, but she couldn't say a word, and the two concubines Yuan and Tian behind her also hurriedly knelt down and begged for mercy, but Chongzhen just ignored it, and a pair of eyes just stared at his wife's face, showing anger, disappointment and incomprehension in her eyes. Suddenly, a feminine voice came from behind him: "Emperor, it was the slave who sent someone to tell Her Majesty the Queen!" “

Chongzhen turned around in disbelief, and when he saw Wang Chengen kneeling on the ground, he forcibly suppressed the anger in his chest and asked, "Why did you do this?" Don't you know that this is a crime of deception? “

Chongzhen's voice caused a wave of fear among the crowd, everyone knew that this was by no means an empty word, unlike Empress Zhou, the two concubines, and the ministers, although Wang Chengen had great power, he was theoretically just a servant of the emperor, no different from cats, dogs and other beasts. If Chongzhen wants to kill the queen, the concubine, and the minister, he must also make an order, and the trial goes through some formalities and is restricted by countless conventions and laws; And to kill Wang Chengen, it only takes one look, this big man who ranks less than a hundred in the Ming power sequence will be stripped of his robe, dragged down and beaten to death, and no one will cry out for him.

The slave knows, but the slave also knows that if he doesn't tell the queen, once he angers the emperor, he may cause some big trouble. The queen is the emperor's married couple, if something happens because of this, it will be bad for the queen, not good for the emperor, and not good for the Ming Dynasty. The slave is just a freak, and he thinks it's better to tell the queen first, don't let her collide with Your Majesty. “

"Princess! I, I-" Empress Zhou, who was kneeling on the ground, couldn't help but shed tears of emotion. Chongzhen snorted coldly, he looked at Queen Zhou and the two concubines on the ground, thinking of the newlywed years of the Xinwang Mansion and the children born by the other party for him, his heart couldn't help but soften, and said in a deep voice: "You go to Qixiang Palace to live first, if there is nothing else, don't leave the gate of Qixiang Palace!" “

When Queen Zhou heard this, she knew that Chongzhen meant to relegate herself to the cold palace, and her heart couldn't help but be full of sourness, so she hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Thanks, concubine!" “

Chongzhen nodded, turned to Wang Chengen, his eyes flickered a few times, and finally said: "As for Wang Chengen, go back to the palace first and then deal with it!" “

In April of the fourth year of Chongzhen (1631), Guyuan, northern Shaanxi, the trilateral governor's palace.

Zhao Wende sat at the table, reviewing a bunch of official documents, perhaps because he had resettled down, compared to a few months ago, his cheeks were a little plump, and his face was a lot less dusty, and the cyan robe was worn on his body, which looked more elegant and elegant. The original attack on him in the staff has long disappeared, and there are already rumors in the shogunate that when Yang He leaves office, he will take him to Beijing with him, and recommend it to the incumbent Ministry of Rites.

After all, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was the right way for scholars to take the Jinshi examination.

"Lord Zhao!" An officer came in, presented a post, and whispered, "It's Liu Dusi." “

"Oh, it's him!" Zhao Wende put the post aside: "You take him to the side hall, and I'll go later." “

"Yes!"

"Thank you!" In the side hall, Liu Cheng smiled and stuffed a tael of silver into the officer's hand, and then sat down, compared to when he just crossed, he became black and thin, the whole person seemed to be made of iron, lean and strong, the only thing that did not change was the pair of smart eyes and a smile on his face.

"Liu Dusi, I've kept you waiting!" Zhao Wende came in, Liu Cheng hurriedly stood up, and saluted: "The last general will see Lord Zhao!" “

"That's it!" Zhao Wende hurriedly helped Liu Cheng up, and said with a smile: "Liu Dusi, I haven't seen you for a long time, I heard that you helped him recruit thieves in the Shenyi Kui army, how can you have time to come to me." “

"Lord Zhao, the humble position is here for this matter!" Liu Cheng took out a few pieces of paper from his arms, presented them with both hands, and said, "My lord, please look!" “

Zhao Wende took the few pieces of paper, glanced at them, his eyes suddenly couldn't leave, he hastily browsed through the few pieces of paper, and asked in a low voice: "Liu Dusi, are all these true?" ”

"These are all counted by villains secretly, and each number has been carefully checked several times, even if there is a mistake, it is only one or two out of a hundred at most."

"And no one else has seen these numbers?" Zhao Wende asked in a low voice.

"The life of the humble post was saved by the Lord of the Army, and Lord Zhao is the most trusted of the Lord of the Army, I will come here directly as soon as I am sorted out!"

"Good, good, good!" Zhao Wende said three good words in a row: "You are a person with a heart, and the Governor will never forget today's events." After saying that, he was about to turn around and leave, Liu Cheng hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop Zhao Wen and asked, "Lord Zhao is going to see Lord Junjun?" ”

"That's natural, such an important matter naturally has to be the first to tell Lord Yang!"

"From the humble point of view, don't be in such a hurry!" Liu Cheng replied with a smile, and then he explained in a low voice. It turned out that his papers recorded the number of peasant armies that had been defeated or recruited every day in the past few months, and they were made into tables according to the young and strong, the old and weak, starving, scattered, and the money and food consumed every day, which seemed to be clear at a glance. According to the data, although the spring ploughing season has passed, the growth rate of the young and strong population in Shenyikui has not decreased, and the money and food spent are also increasing, which is not a good sign.

"I know what you said, but how can such a thing be delayed?" Zhao Wende frowned and said, obviously he was quite dissatisfied with Liu Cheng for preventing him from going to see Yang He immediately, if it wasn't for the news that Liu Cheng had brought it, he was afraid that he would have already had a seizure.

"Lord Zhao, you are the most important staff member of the army, if Lord Yang asks you how you should respond, how do you answer?"

"Naturally, we want to increase money and grain-" As soon as Zhao Wende's words came out, he knew that he was wrong, not to mention whether Yang He had so much money and grain on hand, even if there was any money and grain, it was to be used to support the existing Northwest Ming Army, not to support the peasant army that had been recruited.

"Lord Zhao, you are different from me, I am a military general, as long as I can report what I find, and then follow the orders of the adults above. And you are a civilian official, if you can't give Lord Yang an answer, I'm afraid that you will give a bad impression to Lord Jun. “

Zhao Wende didn't speak, he knew that what Liu Cheng said was right, according to the system of the Ming Dynasty to control the military with literature, the military attache was considered a brainless muscular half-orc, and the things that used his brain were basically handed over to the civil officials, even if Liu Cheng couldn't come up with this detailed form, as long as he ran over and said a few vague words, as long as it was proved afterwards that what he said was right, it was meritorious; And if you can't come up with a way, even if you don't have it, your status in the eyes of your boss will decline. He looked at Liu Cheng with a confident look, and asked in a low voice, "Liu Dusi, do you have any clever ideas?" ”

"Don't dare to be a clever idea." Liu Cheng smiled and said the draft that had already been typed: "Lord Zhao, as the villain can see, there are several reasons why not many people return to their hometowns after the spring ploughing season: first, some people are already ambitious and unwilling to return to their hometowns to do farm work, and there are not many of them; Second, when some people left their hometowns, they had already eaten up their farming tools, seeds and livestock, and they could not farm when they returned to their hometowns; Third, there are also some people whose fields have been annexed by large households and are unwilling to return to their hometowns to become tenants. The first one doesn't have to be counted, the latter two have to be given to them with fields, seeds, and farming tools, otherwise no one can keep them going. ”

"Yes, what do you say can be done?"

"Clean up the tuntian and make up for the military households!"

Liu Cheng's voice was not loud, but in Zhao Wende's ears, it was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, he took two steps back, pointed at Liu Cheng and shouted: "You are so bold, isn't this going to kill Lord Yang?" ”

In the face of Zhao Wende's reprimand, Liu Cheng only smiled slightly: "Lord Zhao said that he laughed, if you say that the villain is going to put the army to death, it seems that the strategy you came out with before is similar, why favor one over the other?" ”

"How is that the same?" Zhao Wende shook his head again and again: "The salt introduction is just a temporary matter, and the ones who offend are only a few businessmen in Shanxi, and the ministers of the cabinet and the Son of Heaven can still distinguish the importance." This cleaning up the military cantonment is another matter, the military cantonment of this dynasty for more than 200 years has long been in chaos, after several sales, how to say clearly that it belongs, you can not get any benefits except for attracting the local gentry to attack it, you can't do it, you can't do it, you can't do it! ”

"Lord Zhao, if it were ordinary, it would naturally not be possible, but now it is different from the past!" Liu Cheng looked at no one on the left and right, lowered his voice and said to Zhao Wende: "The gentlemen dare to refuse to count it is nothing more than to check the pulse of the local officials, even if they don't give money and food, they can't take them, they can't use officers and soldiers to raid their homes, anyway, they will leave after one or two terms at most." But now it's different, Shen Yikui has tens of thousands of young men with knives and guns in his hands, if they don't give it, the situation in Shaanxi will be chaotic, and the first to die is the local gentry, and the knife is on their necks, so they can't help but spit out the tuntian that they have embezzled in previous years. ”

After Zhao Wende heard Liu Cheng's words, a layer of fine beads of sweat had already appeared on his forehead, and he shook his head again and again: "I can't do it, I can't do it." Are you using thieves to coerce the gentry, whether it succeeds or not, the gentry in Shaanxi still don't hate Lord Yang and me? At that time, I am afraid that even returning to the hometown to cultivate the acres of land will be a luxury. “

"Lord Zhao, do you think that Lord Jun will be able to retreat safely after moving the trade of those Shanxi salt merchants?" Liu Cheng asked rhetorically: "You should know that those salt merchants are all related to the sky, if the army master can enter the cabinet to pay homage to the prime minister, if the rebellion in the northwest resumes, then I am afraid that the new accounts and old accounts will be counted together, can you still get out safely?" ”

Zhao Wende was dumbfounded for a moment, he knew very well that what Liu Cheng said was the truth, if the Northwest War recurred and Yang He fell, then the old accounts that he suggested selling salt without permission would definitely be turned over. No one will think that it was his suggestion that allowed the Ming army to defeat Shen Yikui at the Xichuan River. With the logic of party struggle at the end of the Ming Dynasty, if the side you are standing on is finished, then everything you have done in the past is wrong, and he is not like those officials who have been admitted to the Jinshi and have the same year and the seat of the teacher, just a mere person, his only reliance is Yang He, his career is definitely all the way to the end, and there is no possibility of a resurgence.

"That's it!" Zhao Wende smiled bitterly and picked up the pieces of paper into his arms, and said to Liu Cheng: "Liu Cheng, Liu Cheng, I really regret seeing you today." ”

"Hehe, Lord Zhao, he will thank me when you enter the cabinet to pay respects to the prime minister, and when you are covered in gold and purple!"

In the signing room, Yang He looked at the manuscript forwarded by Zhao Wende, with a complicated look on his face, Zhao Wende stood aside, standing with his hands down. After about a cup of tea, Yang He gently put down the manuscript, looked at Zhao Wende and sighed: "Jiansheng, you are a dangerous chess!" ”

"My lord, it's not that I'm going to take a risky move, it's the situation that forces me!" Zhao Wende replied.

"Is it really this the case?" Yang He asked rhetorically: "You should know that for more than two hundred years in the dynasty, it is not for nothing that the military cantonment has been cleaned up, but nine times out of ten it has ended miserably, and it is those one or two who have done something, and then also-" Speaking of this, Yang He's words stopped, but his attitude was very obvious, and he was unwilling to clean up the military cantonment as Zhao Wende suggested.

"Your Excellency, please look!" Zhao Wende took out a few pieces of paper from his arms, it was the change in the data that Liu Cheng dedicated to him about Shen Yikui to appease the homeless, Yang He couldn't see it at first, but he was able to go from a scholar to a second-grade master, and there was absolutely no problem with his IQ, and after a little explanation from Zhao Wende, he quickly entered the doorway, and his face immediately became serious.

"Jiansheng, where did you get these things? Has anyone else seen it? Yang He lowered his voice, obviously he didn't want a third party to hear it.

"It was Liu Cheng and Liu Dusi who sent it to me, the person who was sent to Shen Yikui to monitor his appeasement, I have already asked, he sent these things directly to me, and after I saw it, I came directly to you, my lord."

"Is that him?" Yang He's face became a little better: "Where is the other person?" “

"Let him wait outside the gate when I just came in!"

"Let him in!" Yang He said, and then he changed his words again: "Don't spread the word, you go out in person and bring him in through the small door in the back, remember, change your clothes, don't let others see it!" ”

"Yes, sir!"

Looking at the back of Zhao Wende's departure, Yang Hehuo stood up and paced back and forth in the room anxiously, as a senior civil official who has been rolling in the officialdom for nearly 30 years, his experience and position make him more able to see the power of Liu Cheng's thin pieces of paper than Zhao Wende, and he can even roughly infer from these data how long it will take for his appeasement policy to collapse, which also means the end of his own political career, and may even implicate his son Yang Sichang's promising career. This is absolutely impossible for him to accept.