"Emperor Shengming!" Wang Chengen kowtowed.

"But it is also blessed by the ancestors of the past dynasties, and blessed by the emperor!" Chongzhen walked to the door, made two long bows in the direction of the Taimiao, and said respectfully: "I hope Hong Chengchou will calm down the thieves as soon as possible, so as to solve my worries in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty!" ”

"The sincerity of the emperor, the ancestors of the past dynasties and the emperor God must also know that the northwest thieves should be within this year!"

"Wang Daban, I'm not as greedy as you!" Chongzhen laughed when he heard this: "Hong Chengchou can calm the northwest by next autumn, and I will be satisfied!" He was in a surprisingly good mood at this time, and made a gesture to signal Wang Chengen to get up: "In the future, this kind of Tang newspaper from the northwest will be reported at any time, and it must not be delayed!" ”

"Yes, Emperor!" Wang Chengen kowtowed again and said, "The old slave is stupid, thank you for your forgiveness!" ”

Chongzhen happily returned to the side of several cases, picked up the red pen and wrote a bright red word "Ke" on the list.

Perhaps because of the good news, Chongzhen's efficiency in reviewing and reading was much higher, and by noon, more than half of the documents on several cases were missing. At lunchtime, he came out of the warm pavilion, and specially announced that his favorite Tian Guifei came to the Qianqing Palace to dine with him, although Lile was still as dull as usual, but Chongzhen sounded a lot more ear-catching.

"Your Majesty, isn't there anything happy about your appearance today?" Tian Guifei saw Wang Chengen's eyes behind Chongzhen, and asked with a pretending of speculation.

"Oh? Why did the concubine say that? “

"The concubine saw that His Majesty's face was full of red light, and the seal hall was shining, so she guessed casually!"

"I see!" Chongzhen laughed: "Concubine Ai has good eyesight, just now Shaanxi sent a Tang newspaper, Hong Chengchou broke the thief and won a lot!" “

"Really?" Tian Guifei showed an ecstatic look on her face, and then got up and knelt down to pray, Chongzhen saw this and asked, "Aifei, what's wrong with you?" “

"Your Majesty. The concubine is grateful to the Buddha, the first two **** whims, made a wish to the Buddha, if there is a turn for the military to take a turn, he will personally copy a copy of the "Heart Sutra" to worship, I didn't expect to get a response so quickly. “

"Is there such a thing?" Chongzhen asked in surprise.

"How dare the concubine deceive Your Majesty!" Tian Guifei summoned the personal maid to give a few words, and the maid went out for a while and took a half-copied copy of the "Heart Sutra" in, Chongzhen opened it and saw that it was indeed Tian Guifei's handwriting, and couldn't help but sigh and said: "I see." also has a share of your credit for the concubine, but you don't have to work too hard, so as not to tire out your body and bones! “

"Your Majesty, you worry about state affairs every day, the concubine only hates that she can't share her worries for Your Majesty, you can do something, and the concubine is also indescribably happy, how can you be tired?" Speaking of this, Tian Guifei had already lowered her head.

While he was talking, a little eunuch came in from outside. Walking up to Wang Chengen's side and whispering a few words, Wang Chengen's brows immediately furrowed, and he hesitated for a moment, but still walked to Chongzhen's side. He whispered in his ear: "Emperor, yesterday evening Yang Sichang went to visit Yang He in the prison of the Criminal Department. “

"What?" Chongzhen's brows suddenly furrowed again, and the originally pale and thin face showed a trace of hideous lines, and Tian Guifei instinctively shivered back. It seems to be a little cold.

"What did you say?"

"Tell the emperor that Yang Sichang and Yang He are father and son, listen to what the jailers present said. just talked about the battle situation in Denglai, Liaodong, Yang He fell to the ground and wept when he learned about it, and there was nothing else to say. “

Chongzhen snorted coldly, did not speak, the look on his face looked a little better, he pondered for a while, and asked, "I remember that Yang Sichang had a song a few days ago, right?" ”

"Yes, the old slave remembers that he resigned in the recital and asked to die on his father's behalf!"

Chongzhen nodded, and after about half a sound, he sighed in a low voice: "I can't imagine that now the morale is decadent, this Yang Sichang is a pure filial piety person!" ”

"What the emperor said is that it seems that Yang Sichang is not a fake!" Wang Chengen nodded and said, it turned out that according to the unspoken political rules of the Ming Dynasty, like Yang Sichang and Yang He, who were officials in the same dynasty as father and son, once his father was imprisoned, no matter what the result of the trial of the last three law divisions was, Yang Sichang must make a gesture of resignation, and at the same time hand over his power and think about it behind closed doors, otherwise he would be impeached by the imperial historians of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. But since the Jiajing Wanli period, the discipline of the scholars and doctors of the Ming Dynasty has long been declining, which is only a superficial effort. And Yang Sichang not only wrote a letter to resign and die on his behalf, but also personally went to the prison of the Criminal Department to visit the guilty father, which is obviously not superficial, after all, this kind of thing can't be hidden from Jinyiwei, once it angers the Son of Heaven, it is possible to kill himself.

In the following time, the table seemed quite calm, Chongzhen ate his lunch without knowing the taste, and returned to the warm pavilion to start reviewing and reading again. Suddenly, he sighed in surprise and put down the red pen in his hand.

"Emperor?" Wang Chengen, who was behind him, thought something was wrong and stepped forward to ask.

"Yang Sichang actually came up again." Chongzhen estimated the time slightly: "It should be an excerpt that was rushed overnight after going back!" “

"Is there anything wrong? Could it be for Yang He's case? ”

"Not really!" Chongzhen shook his head, and there was a hint of emotion on his face: "He asked to leave Beijing and go to Yongping and Shanhaiguan to rectify the military affairs of various places!" “

"Request to leave Beijing and rectify the military affairs of various places!" Wang Chengen couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this, he was a little confused by this series of things for a while, according to the political rules of the time, Yang Sichang is tantamount to giving people a handle, although his background and the teacher are quite powerful, but his father caused too much trouble, and the enemies are too much, but otherwise, those Qingliu Yushi masters who are ******** thinking about finding a chance to become famous in the Imperial Court will never let him go, and just a charge of unfilial piety can make him unable to turn over!

"Not bad!" Chongzhen stood up, his face was already full of joy and admiration: "Serving the lord with loyalty and dedication to national affairs, this is filial piety, the real great filial piety." Although Yang He failed to be appeased in the northwest, he gave birth to a good son. Yang Sichang doesn't cherish feathers, doesn't care about his own gains and losses, only thinks about his father, good, good, good! “

Hearing Chongzhen say three "good" words in a row, Wang Chengen's face also showed a little joy, he was like an old dog looking at the young master walking back and forth in the warm pavilion with admiration. After a while, Chongzhen suddenly stopped: "Since Yang Sichang doesn't care about personal gains and losses, and is bent on doing errands for the widow, the widow naturally can't let his father end up in a bad end, Wang Daban, in two days, you go to inform the criminal department Shangshu, let him loosen up on Yang He's case." “

"The old slave obeys!" Wang Chengen hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed. At this moment, there was a sudden rush of footsteps outside, and a eunuch who was the master of ceremonies bent down and hurried to the door with small steps, kneeling on the ground. He kowtowed twice and said, "Your Majesty!" ”

"What's the matter?" Chongzhen asked with a frown.

"Yang He committed suicide in the prison of the Criminal Department!"

"What!"

Chongzhen sat on the chair, looking dumbfounded, he never thought that he had just planned to forgive Yang He, remove him from his official position and let him return to his hometown, but the other party suddenly committed suicide in prison. Could it be that Yang Sichang said something in a conversation with his father last night that he didn't know? Thinking of this, his mood became more and more irritable, and he shouted to the eunuch who brought this bad news: "What's going on, why did Yang He die?" “

Like most of the messengers who brought bad news, the eunuch looked trembling. If Chongzhen still has to maintain the dignity of a virtuous monarch for the civil and military ministers, then the treatment of these eunuchs will even more expose the mean and unkind nature of the Zhu family's sons, whether it is sticks, leather whips and other punishments falling on them, it is a matter of course. No one will say a good word for them. He kowtowed twice, took out a piece of white cloth from his arms, and offered it with both hands: "Yang He lives alone on weekdays, and he said that he was a little sleepy after breakfast in the morning. Take a break, don't be disturbed. The man on duty agreed, but did not want him to have torn the sheets to shreds. Tie a cloth rope and hang yourself on the window railing, leaving only this bloody book! “

Wang Chengen stepped forward to take the blood book and handed it to Chongzhen, who shouted impatiently: "Hurry up!" “

Wang Chengen picked up the blood book, and Lang Lang read it. Listening to this, the corners of Chongzhen's eyes couldn't help but gradually moisten, and he forcibly suppressed his emotions and said, "Read the first few sentences again!" “

Wang Chengen said: "The minister is in a daze, entrusted by His Majesty, there is always something in the northwest, and its thief atmosphere is clear, and the sun shines in Jingwei." It is expected that the fight will flourish in Liaodong, and the Dongjiang River will advocate chaos in Denglai. The appeasement is not ......"

Chongzhen heard clearly, recalled the twists and turns that Yang He wrote to him before the implementation of the appeasement policy, and remembered that he could not continue to give him money and food support due to the chaos in Liaodong and Denglai, which finally led to the failure of the appeasement policy. Originally, when Yang He was alive, Chongzhen was able not to think about these and attribute the blame to Yang He's incompetence, but now Yang He has committed suicide and died, and in the letter, he also took all the responsibility on himself, saying that he had the trust of His Majesty, and only died to repay the great favor of his father. The guilt and emotion hidden in Chongzhen's heart all surged up at once, impacting the young monarch's heart.

"I have a negative Yang Qing, a negative Yang Qing!" Chongzhen sighed, his eyes already full of tears.

"Your Majesty!" Seeing this, Wang Chengen hurriedly knelt on the ground: "Take care of the dragon's body!" “

Chongzhen stood up, perhaps because he was too excited, his steps staggered a little, Wang Chengen hurriedly stepped forward to support the other party, and persuaded him: "Emperor, people can't be resurrected after death, if Lord Yang knows that His Majesty has injured his body for his death, he will be uneasy if he knows about it, and although Lord Yang is dead, Mr. Yang Sichang Yang is still there!" “

Hearing Wang Chengen's reminder, Chongzhen shook his head and nodded: "Yes, yes, although Mr. Yang goes, there is still Mr. Xiao Yang, and he can't treat the loyal ministers badly!" ”

"Emperor Shengming!" Wang Chengen carefully helped Chongzhen to sit down behind the case, and presented the blood book with both hands, Chongzhen solemnly accepted the blood book, folded it and put it in his arms.

Juzhou, Mafu

There was a festive atmosphere in front of the door, more than a dozen archers and officials were all dressed in new clothes, standing at the door with their chests folded, these usually fierce and vicious characters were now smiling and doing the act of welcoming guests. It turned out that the local parent official Lu Zhizhou Lu had been promoted to the same state military preparation road, and he was about to leave his post in a few days, and the Ma family, as the head of the Jinzhou gentry, held a feast in the mansion to congratulate his parents on their promotion.

Since it is the parents of the city who want to be promoted, or to be the semi-top boss of the Tongzhou Military Preparation Road, and with figures like Ma Ziyi taking the lead, the officials and gentry in Dunzhou will naturally not slack off. Although the city was broken by thieves a few days ago, but the promotion made many sharp-tongued villains gossip behind their backs, but the gentlemen in Yanzhou are still mostly benevolent, and although everyone has no friendship with classmates, they have been hungry and starved together in the thieves' cells, and their feelings are also very different, so they naturally want to come to cheer.

As a result, there was already a lot of bustling in front of the Mafu Gate, and the streets three or four feet wide had been tightly blocked by the carriages and sedan chairs of the visitors, and Qi Jiu, who had just been promoted to the head of the family, was almost about to fly.

"Lord Liu, the general of the left battalion of Yansui Town, has arrived!" With a long voice, Qi Jiu hurriedly dropped the matter in his hand, and quickly greeted him, not forgetting to kick the little guy next to him: "Go and tell the master and Master Ma, Lord Liu has arrived!" “

"Hey!" The little guy answered, and ran through the door. Qi Jiu ran to the horse and knelt down and kowtowed twice, and said with a smile: "Lord Liu, you are here!" ”

"Lord Lu is an old friend of the general and a future boss, so he is naturally coming!" Liu Cheng jumped off the horse with a smile, he didn't expect things to go so smoothly, Hong Chengchou's excerpt went up less than a month after Lu Boqi's order came down, which was simply fast in the Ming Dynasty, as the person in charge of planning all this behind the scenes, he naturally wanted to come here, of course, he had another more important thing to do today.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way, don't get in the way of Lord Liu!" Qi Jiu scolded the coachmen and sedan chairs on both sides, forcing them to make way for Liu Cheng and his attachés, while leading the way with a smile: "My lord and Lord Lu have been looking forward to the arrival of the adults for a long time, if Lord Liu informed them in advance, they would definitely greet each other at the entrance of the alley!" “

"Qi Jiu, what you said is bad, Mr. Ma is an elder, and Master Lu is the general's superior, how can there be a reason for them to greet each other at the entrance of the alley!" Liu Cheng smiled and stretched out his arm to Min Min who was on the horse next to him, but the other party avoided his arm with a smile and jumped off the horse with agility.

"Lord Liu (General Liu)"

At this time, Lu Boqi and Ma Ziyi had already come out, and the two of them rushed over as fast as their age could allow, panting and saying, "Why don't you send someone to inform you first, and this official (me) is also at the city gate to greet you!" (To be continued.) )