Seeing that Liu Cheng was like this, Shen Yikui had seven or eight points to believe that the other party really didn't want his bribe, carefully put the package aside, and said in a low voice: "A character like Lord Liu, it's the first time I've seen a villain in my life." ”

"Big leader, it's not that I don't like silver, but the army lord told me again and again before parting, I have great hopes for you, how dare this official take this hot silver?"

"Hopeful? The adults laughed. Shen Yikui was stunned when he heard this, and hurriedly lowered his head and replied.

"Do you think I'm joking?" Liu Cheng smiled slightly, pointed to Du Guoying on the side and asked, "Do you know this person?" “

Shen Yikui looked at Du Guoying for a while, and finally shook his head helplessly: "It's a little familiar, but I can't recognize it." “

"Then forget it!" Liu Cheng secretly thought that it would be good to save each other embarrassment.

"I just want to tell you, this Lord Du was also a thief before this, and now he is a five-rank military attache ordered by the imperial court, as long as you are good at living, your future future will never be lower than his."

Shen Yikui and Bu Mu glanced at each other, and saw the excitement in each other's eyes, Shen Yikui said in a low voice: "The villain is stupid, please mention it to the adults." ”

"I'll just get the matter out of the way, the army lord said before parting, after this battle is over, he doesn't plan to use troops in Shaanxi anymore, and the rest depends on the two of you." Liu Cheng stretched out his finger and nodded his head and did not stick to the mud: "Well done, there is always a garrison." ”

"Please tell me more!"

"Let's put it this way, the official army in Xichuanhe won the battle that day, but there are still a lot of small stocks in Shaanxi, not to mention seventy or eighty shares. This can't be suppressed by the official army, firstly, there is not so much money, and secondly, you all know the virtue of the official army, if you want to use this group of Qiu Eight Masters, even if the thieves are suppressed all the way, Shaanxi has become a blank land, who will pay grain and taxes to the imperial court? ”

Hearing this, Shen Yikui and Non-mud understood seven or eight points, and Shen Yikui replied cautiously: "Is that the master of the army trying to appease?" ”

"It can't be said to be appeased! The same rice raises a hundred kinds of people, what kind of people have when the forest is big, so many poles, who knows which one is willing to caress it, and which one has a backbone in the back of the head? How many men do you have on hand now? Liu Cheng asked suddenly.

"There are more than 1,200 cavalry, and more than 2,300 infantry."

"Okay, just do it according to your old methods, and if you are willing, you will caress him, and if you are unwilling, you will destroy him. The old and weak dispersed and returned to their hometowns, and the court pardoned the old sins and gave cattle seeds; What do you think of the courage to supplement the food and salary in the army? ”

"Everything is at your command."

Shaanxi Xingdu Si Zhuang Langwei.

It's already late spring in the fourth year of Chongzhen, but there is still no trace of spring in this vast land, there is still a rocky beach with bare rocks, a mountain covered with snow, and there is no sign of life except for the goshawks in the sky and the occasional wild wolf. A small group of men and horses meandered through the mountains, and from a distance, it looked like a thin black line.

"Uncle Zicheng, do you want to go west?" Li Guo asked with some cringe, since breaking up with Shen Yikui, this group of people has been walking west for almost a month, although the time has become late spring, and the green as far as the eye can see is getting less and less, but it seems to be back in winter.

Li Zicheng didn't speak, he drove his war horse up to a hill on the side of the road, looked around and said, "After the ridge in front, then turn southwest, and walk for two more days!" “

"Where's it?" Li Guo hit the horse and kept up with Li Zicheng, at this time they were already far away from their subordinates, and Li Guo's voice was much louder: "Uncle, you said you were going to Xifandi, but this is too far, the officers and soldiers can't catch up, but what are you eating?" “

"What are you afraid of, after that ridge is Huangshui, there are rivers and rivers over there, farming and grazing are good, I heard the old army passing by before say that even if you raise hundreds of thousands of people, you can raise them, and you are afraid that you can't afford to raise a thousand of us?" Li Zicheng's expression was very relaxed, compared to a few days ago, his expression was much more cheerful.

"Uncle, you know that there is Huangshui over there, but others don't know, the people below are panicking these days, and you don't care."

"I did it on purpose."

"Deliberately?" Li Guo's eyes widened in surprise.

"Not bad." Li Zicheng's expression became serious: "I've been thinking a lot these days, let me ask you, there are tens of thousands of rebels this time, why are they still beaten so badly by the official army?" “

"Everyone is not aligned, and there are spies of the officials and soldiers."

"Yes, in the final analysis, everyone can't use their hearts in one place, and they can't use their strength in one place. When the fight started, the wolf and the dog could not get up, and some people stabbed knives in the back. I figured it out this time, we must train an iron army that can't be defeated and can't run away. On the way, we watched with wide eyes, who was an iron-beaten man, who was a man with a shiny mouth and soft feet, all of them appeared. When I arrived in Xifandi, on the iron man, under the sparse goods, I, Li Zicheng, would not engage in that kind of thing with the mud. ”

"Uncle Zicheng, you didn't say it earlier!" Understanding his uncle's intentions, Li Guo's mood suddenly improved.

"It's not too late to say, make up for your mouth is not tight, if you let you know first, you will definitely show traces." Li Zicheng laughed: "I just don't let them know, see who is the broken copper and iron, and who is the refined steel!" ”

Late spring in Beijing is not a good season, the northwest wind blowing from the Mongolian plateau carries fine loess and sand over the Yanshan Mountains to the heart of the empire, blowing the sky dark, and when the wind stops, there is an extra layer of sand on the bodies of houses, livestock, and pedestrians.

"Get up the window!" With the loud and melodious command of a eunuch, the turquoise screen windows on the four sides of the Yangxin Hall of the Qianqing Palace were opened, and the sunlight outside shone in, and the room suddenly brightened up a lot. Emperor Chongzhen frowned slightly, he was used to the dim candlelight in the room, and he felt a little dazzling.

"Emperor, let's rest!" Wang Chengen, who was standing behind Chongzhen, said in a low voice, he saw Chongzhen nodding slightly, and hurriedly glanced at the little eunuch on the side, and the little eunuch cleverly served a bowl of ginseng tea. Wang Chengen saw that Chongzhen's face was good, so he said in a low voice: "Emperor, Her Majesty the Queen asked the servants to pass the word, saying that there were a few white cranes in Xiyuan a few days ago, and the plum blossoms have also bloomed a lot. If the weather is good tomorrow, why don't you go with a few concubines to enjoy it? “

"Oh!" Chongzhen put the tea bowl back on a few cases, the little eunuch carefully took the tea bowl away, Chongzhen picked up the fold that he had just seen half of it and browsed it, Wang Chengen, who was standing behind him, didn't know what Chongzhen meant, so he could only accompany him with a half-hunched body. After about half a sound, Chongzhen suddenly asked, "Can anyone from the queen's family visit the palace these days?" ”

Wang Chengen's forehead immediately oozed a layer of cold sweat, he gritted his teeth, and replied in a low voice: "Tell the emperor, three days ago was the birthday of the queen's mother, and it was to enter the palace, and her majesty also gave a banquet, and according to the old practice, he was rewarded with a thousand taels of silver, three hundred Su Juan, and a few pieces of jade." “

Emperor Chongzhen replied without raising his head: "Well, Wang Ban'er, you tell the queen that I have agreed!" “

"Slaves obey!" Wang Chengen responded, retreated out of the hall, and a long-awaited eunuch greeted him, and said with a smile: "What, has the emperor allowed it?" “

Wang Chengen nodded: "Gonggong Wen, you sent a message to the queen mother for me, Your Majesty just asked me if her family could visit the palace in the past few days, and I told the truth." “

The eunuch's face changed slightly, and he hurriedly bowed down and said, "The villain must bring the words, and I have thanked you for the queen mother first." “

"I don't deserve it!" Wang Chengen hurriedly stopped the other party's words: "We are the servants of the heavenly family, just like the cats and dogs in the palace, don't talk nonsense, exceed your duty!" “

"My husband's ancestor taught me a lesson!" The eunuch surnamed Wen bowed and turned to leave. Wang Chengen watched the other party's back disappear into the corner of the corridor, and then returned to Chongzhen's back, waiting for Chongzhen to correct the recital. About half an hour later, Chongzhen put the fold in his hand back on the case, and sighed: "The ministers of the court and the central government, only talk about the enemy and me, whether it is right or wrong, I don't want the disaster of the Tang and Song Dynasty friends, now today!" ”

Wang Chengen was slightly stunned, he didn't know how to answer, so he could only deal with one sentence: "Emperor Shengming!" ”

Chongzhen stood up, paced up hurriedly in front of a few cases, walked a few laps, and suddenly said angrily: "Anyway, Yang He has finally pacified the chaos in the northwest, whether it is to fight or fight, it is good to spend less money." But some people in the court just grabbed him all day long. I don't understand how difficult the current state affairs are, and I don't have the slightest sense of public loyalty to the country. “

In the face of Chongzhen's words, Wang Chengen knew that he could no longer use words such as "Emperor Shengming" to deal with the past, and he had to say something. Although he came from a poor background (otherwise he would not have been a eunuch) and was not a scholar who had undergone the imperial examination, he was not the kind of low-ranking eunuch who had been responsible for miscellaneous labor since he was a child. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was very vigilant about eunuchs interfering in politics, and did not allow eunuchs to interfere in politics or even literacy, but then Chengzu contributed a lot to the eunuchs in the process of seizing the throne, so the status of eunuchs in the central politics of the Ming Dynasty improved a lot from the beginning of Chengzu, and then in the Xuanzong period, even opened a primary school in the Ming court, and the young Hanlin in the Hanlin Academy gave lectures to specially selected young eunuchs, and cultivated the talents needed for the inner court departments such as the ceremonial eunuchs, and Wang Chengen was one of these elites. He knew very well that the current partisan politics was the real reason for the chaos of political affairs in the late Ming Dynasty and the weakness of the imperial court, but in a sense, this was also the inevitable result of Jiajing, Wanli, and Tianqi's laissez-faire and even intentional promotion of the government; After all, although he is a father-in-law, the education he received and the people he befriended are no different from the elite of a scholar class, the only difference is that he does not need the imperial examination to be an official. Therefore, whether it is from the facts or from personal subjective feelings, Wang Chengen is unwilling to echo Emperor Chongzhen's accusations against the foreign court, but as a slave of the Son of Heaven, it is impossible for him to speak out. Therefore, he hesitated for a moment, and then smiled: "What the emperor said is naturally sage, but the villain heard a case of Shuntianfu at home a few days ago, which is very interesting." ”

"Oh? Tell me about it? ”

"The old slave obeys!" Wang Chengen made a gesture, and then said with a smile: "This case is like this, the owner of a merchant suddenly fell ill and died, leaving a piece of furniture, the two sons fought for property, and left the coffin at home, so he sued the Taoist hall, the elder brother said that the younger brother was not filial, and the younger brother said that the elder brother was not friendly, which was really ugly. The master of the hall has a lawsuit, and the daughter-in-law and relatives of the two sons under the hall are also twisted, and the crowd of people watching the excitement is almost blocking the street at the entrance of Shuntianfu-"

"That Shuntianfu Yin actually doesn't care, it's really incompetent!" Chongzhen couldn't help but widen his eyes: "My father died and was not buried, so my brothers fought for property, both of them were unfilial, first reprimanded and then said, and then let them go back to handle the funeral first, and then talk about the family property." “

"That's what the emperor said!" Wang Chengen gave a thumbs up and said with a smile: "Actually, this country is home, and home is country." It was not uncommon for ministers to quarrel with each other, as long as they got their errands done. Besides, if there is no enemy party, there is only one voice in the court, like Mr. Zhang Jiangling Zhang, I'm afraid it won't be a good thing for those old gentlemen in the cabinet, right? ”

Chongzhen didn't speak, just nodded, Zhang Jiangling in Wang Chengen's mouth was the first assistant Zhang Juzheng when the Wanli Emperor was the emperor, this person won the trust and respect of the Empress Dowager Li, the biological mother of the Son of Heaven at that time, and made friends with Feng Bao, the eunuch who held the power of the inner court, and became the most powerful minister since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. However, due to his too much power and too many enemies, he was gradually jealous of Wanli, and soon after his death, he was attacked by a group of people, and was subjected to the tragic end of robbing his family. Because the Emperor of the Apocalypse has never had a prince, so although Zhu Youzhen is a vassal king, he is actually regarded as a prince to cultivate, and he did not leave Beijing to go out to a certain age according to the usual political rules of the Ming Dynasty.

"Princess, what do you say should be done with this fold?" When Chongzhen said this, a relaxed smile appeared on his face, which was always reserved and dangerous on weekdays: "You don't have to say anything about the ancestral rules, after all, sooner or later, you will have to go through this celebrant eunuch, I always want to see if you have this ability." ”