readx; Compared with other ministers, Zhu Youzhen has always looked at the three old ministers Sun Chengzong, Wang Zaijin and Yuan Keli differently. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info this is not only because the three of them have an old relationship with Zhu Youzhen, but also because they have undertaken a lot of transactional work as officials, households, and military officials. Since the resurgence, the three of them have worked hard and deliberately avoided fighting for power with the Donglin Party, which made Zhu Youzhen very moved.

For example, Wang Zaijin, as the head of the household department, has a total of more than 3 million taels of silver in the country's normal annual income, and the vast majority of military salaries and official titles are accounted for, plus the arrears in the past, the expenditure has exceeded the income. From last year to this spring, there has been a general drought throughout the country, especially in Shaanxi, Henan and other places, and even more thieves are rampant, and the annual income is even less. In this kind of situation where "it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice", if it were not for Wang Zaijin and Bi Ziyan, the head of the household department, and others who worked hard and made careful calculations, I am afraid that it would be difficult for the imperial court to even maintain normal operation.

Another example is Yuan Keli, as the secretary of the military department, he is in charge of the country's millions of official troops, which sounds majestic at first glance, but in fact it is more difficult than the household department. The soldiers of this era have a joking name called "Qiu Ba", which is a satire on the soldiers' lack of understanding of writing and ink, and mistakenly taking the word "Bing" for the vertical row of the word "Qiu Ba", and its quality can be imagined.

These people are not like scholars who talk about etiquette, righteousness and shame, when they fight, they run faster than the other, and when they ask for pay, they jump high one by one, and if they don't give them, they will make trouble or even mutiny. Bandits are raging in the Central Plains, and many of them used to be officials and soldiers, but now they are beaten up when they can't get paid. And the officials and soldiers who did not mutiny were not much better, and they did a lot of work such as eating empty salaries, killing good people and risking merit, and raising their own respect, and the court had to find ways to coax them.

Fortunately, Yuan Keli is highly respected, his protégés are all over the world, and civil officials and military generals from all over the world still sell him some face. Since Zhu Youzhen ascended the throne for half a year, the officers and troops of the guards in various places have finally not made any major troubles, which has already made Zhu Youzhen burn high incense.

This time, Zhu Youzhen summoned the two old ministers, but there was something else important. He first passed in Yuan Keli, and after giving the seat, he asked, "Lord Shangshu, has Liu Xingzuo arrived in Beijing?" ”

Yuan Keli hurriedly said: "The ministers are under the secret order of His Majesty, and send reliable people to Dengzhou overnight to deliver the decree, Liu Xingzuo and his party will do the decree, and they just arrived in Beijing last night and temporarily live in the minister's mansion." ”

Zhu Youzhen bowed his head slightly after hearing this, and immediately sent Yan Ling to Yuan's mansion to secretly announce Liu Xingzuo into the palace.

Speaking of this Liu Xingzuo, that is, Liu Aita in the past, he has really experienced ups and downs. He was originally a Han Chinese, and was taken into slavery by the Jurchens at a very young age, and later won Nurhachi's appreciation for his talents, and even became the son-in-law of the old slave. But he has always been committed to Daming, and with Yuan Keli's unremitting efforts, he finally resolutely returned, and deceived the seriously ill Nurhachi to Jinzhou. Mao Wenlong succeeded in a cross-sea raid and beheaded Nurhachi, who had died of fright, which was the "Golden State Victory".

It stands to reason that with such a big credit, Liu Xingzuo must be given a general soldier no matter what. But at that time, Yuan Keli was excluded from his post by the eunuch party, and Mao Wenlong wanted to take the credit for the victory in Jinzhou for himself, and after Liu Xingzuo arrived in Dengzhou by boat, he was in a very difficult situation and was never able to gain the trust of the imperial court, let alone hold a formal official position. His wife and children were also killed in the Battle of Golden State, and he was only followed by dozens of loyal soldiers, and his state of mind was very miserable.

Therefore, Liu Xingzuo can be summoned by the emperor today, and his excitement can be imagined. As soon as he entered the Palace of Nourishing Hearts, Liu Xingzuo knelt down and kowtowed seven or eight times, and cried bitterly: "The criminal minister Liu Xingzuo knocked to see Your Majesty, long live my emperor!" ”

Yuan Keli hurriedly scolded in a deep voice: "Liu Xingzuo, Jun is right, how can you lose your honor?" ”

Zhu Youzhen got down from the throne, picked up Liu Xingzuo with his own hands and said with a smile: "What is General Liu's crime, you are a great hero of the old thief's award." Speaking of which, you and I are also friends of life and death. ”

Liu Xingzuo hurriedly knelt down again and said: "If it weren't for Your Majesty's sacrifice to save him that day, the minister would have let Mao Wenlong kill him..."

"What, this past, don't mention it in the future." Zhu Youzhen smiled embarrassedly, thinking that he secretly went to Dengzhou for Qi Meifeng at that time, and then a lot of things happened by accident, although there was no danger in the end, after all, he left the domain without permission, and it was not easy to explain it.

Liu Xingzuo naturally understood this, and hurriedly changed the topic and said: "Your Majesty summoned the ministers to come today, I don't know what your will is?" ”

That's to the point. Zhu Youping retreated, and only he, Liu Xingzuo and Yuan Keli were left in the Heart Cultivation Palace, and then he said to Liu Xingzuo with a slight apology: "I have a difficult task to give you to do, but I am too wronged by you, I am afraid that you will not will..."

Liu Xingzuo immediately knelt down and kowtowed, blood stains appeared on his forehead, and he choked and said: "Your Majesty has the grace of reinvention to the minister, no matter what Your Majesty wants the minister to do, the minister will never refuse!" Even if His Majesty wants his ministers to be on the head..."

Zhu Youzhen hurriedly stopped him and said, "It's not that serious, how can I kill meritorious people." However, you came from the Tartars, and many officials did not trust you, thinking that you were suspected of collaborating with the enemy. ”

Liu Xingzuo was anxious when he heard this, and just wanted to test Zhu You's heart to Zhu You, Yuan Keli stared at him majestically and said, "Don't be impatient, and listen to the Holy Sect!" ”

Liu Xingzuo had no choice but to hold back, and Zhu Youzhen smiled slightly: "I naturally believe in you, you can rest assured of this." However, Lord Shangshu should have told you that recently, Jingshi cracked a major espionage case, and there were traitors who secretly passed confidential information to the spies sent by the Tartars. Jinyiwei has arrested some people, but there must be hidden spies, if we don't have any clues to investigate directly, it is tantamount to looking for a needle in a haystack. ”

Liu Xingzuo seemed to have an understanding and said: "Your Majesty means..."

Zhu Youzhen said with a wicked smile: "This incident has given me an inspiration: since there are spies in the Tartars, why can't we come to 'give back'?" If we also have spies in Shenyang, Liaoyang, Guangning, and other places, it will be of great benefit to the Pinghua if we report every move of the Tartars back to Beijing in time.

"But there is a difficulty here: the Tartars sent here are all Han Chinese, and they can't be found if they are thrown into the pile; However, if the spies we sent to Liaodong were not familiar with the geographical environment and customs there, they might be exposed immediately, and not only would they not be able to complete their mission, but they would also be killed.

"So, after I consulted with Lord Shangshu, I thought of you." Zhu Youzhen stared at Liu Xingzuo's eyes and said, "We talk about 'benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom and faith', and we are extremely contemptuous of those who rebel and surrender; But the Mongols and Jurchens are nomadic people, and it is normal for them to abandon the weak and become strong. If you rebel again, maybe Huang Taiji will still be a treasure! ”