After deciding to take refuge in Dahua, Hong Chengchou pondered, since ancient times, there has been a saying on the rivers and lakes, and the same is true of officialdom, if you want to take refuge in the new boss, how to make people believe in your sincerity, how to get the trust of the other party after taking refuge in others, this is all a science. []

Hong Chengchou has been up and down for nearly 20 years, he is naturally very clear about this, he pondered for several days, and finally he thought that it was not enough to dedicate Jiangsu and Anhui to the imperial court, in order to express his sincerity, he had to come to the capital in person, and he also had to bring Cao Huachun, a diehard member of Chongzhen.

Hong Chengchou didn't expect Pang Gang, the new emperor, to reuse himself at once, but at least he couldn't let Pang Gang have a bad feeling for himself, so that he could have a chance to get up again in the future. Now, I have done everything I can, and the result depends on the will of God.

Hong Chengchou, who was kneeling on the ground, looked at Pang Gang sitting on the chair, but Pang Gang stood still and quietly looked at Cao Huachun on the side. Pang Gang still has some sympathy for this "scholar" who was framed by later generations as the culprit who opened the city gate to welcome King Chuang into Beijing. Jin Daxia of later generations also made fun of this Cao Gong's public thief in his book more than once, and the fate of this Cao Gonggong is also comparable to Dou E, which is the reason why Pang Gang has compassion.

Cao Huachun's hands clenched and then let go, constantly changing, the expression on his face couldn't stop changing, and finally stared at Pang Gang and asked, "You really didn't deceive our family, Your Majesty's family is really in the Palace of Cultivating Hearts?" ”

Hearing Cao Huachun's words, Pang Gang and everyone couldn't help but cry and laugh, this Cao Huachun really cares about chaos, with Pang Gang's dignified ninety-five dignity now, he is guilty of deceiving him, a powerless eunuch.

In the end, Pang Gang could only wave his hand helplessly. Shaking his head, he said, "Okay." Believe it or not, I can't fool you, poor old man. Xiao Dezi, you will lead this Gonggong Cao to the Palace of Heart Cultivation later. Let him serve the Emperor and the Queen Mother, so that someone will always scold me behind my back. ”

"Slave obeys!"

The eunuch named Xiao Dezi respectfully agreed, lowered his hand and retreated behind him without saying a word.

After dealing with Cao Huachun. Pang Gang shifted his gaze to Hong Chengchou, who was still kneeling on the ground. Looking at Hong Chengchou, who was silent, Pang Gang reached out and gently tapped his head, and said with a headache: "Hong Chengchou, what do you say I should do with you?" Is it to continue to reuse you? Or do you want to go back to your hometown and eat by yourself? ”

Hong Chengchou knelt on the ground and said respectfully: "Thunder, rain and dew are all the grace of the king, how the emperor deals with the guilty ministers is the blessing of the criminal ministers, and the criminal ministers only need to obey the emperor's will." ”

As soon as Hong Chengchou said this, Xiao Dezi and Shi Bowen, who were standing behind Pang Gang, secretly gave a thumbs up, worthy of being the military department of the previous dynasty and the governor of Jiangnan. can let people know that he is slapping your ass, but it can make you not have any disgust, it seems that it is in the science of slapping sycophants. We still have to learn from others!

Pang Gang shook his head with a smile and said, "Hong Chengchou." I knew you would be an official, but I didn't expect that your flattering skills were also top-notch. No wonder he can be the governor of Jiangnan and the secretary of the military department. Well, so."

Pang Gang pondered for a while before he said: "The soldiers and horses in Jiangnan are still led by you, but I still have to replace all the governors and political envoys of Jiangsu and Anhui, in addition, I have given you a task, after returning to Jiangnan, you must be ready to recover Zhejiang and Fujian after returning to Jinling, I will give you a year, if you can recover Zhejiang and Fujian within a year, the position of the left servant of the military department, or the second assistant of the cabinet will be selected by you, if you can't recover the whole territory of Jiangnan within a year, I will not punish you, you will hand your resignation to me." Let's go home and farm by yourself! ”…,

"Thanksgiving!"

Hong Chengchou respectfully kowtowed three more times, then stood up, bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, the minister still has a reluctant request!" ”

Pang Gang raised his eyebrows, "Oh? Still conditional? Let's hear it and see if I can satisfy you. []”

Hong Chengchou arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, now there are less than 50,000 people and horses in Jiangnan, and because they are all soldiers and horses of the former Ming Dynasty, the army is not aligned. ”

Listening to Hong Chengchou's words, Pang Gang gradually smiled, and muttered: "Fujian Zheng Zhilong"

"It's Zheng Zhilong's family." Hong Chengchou's expression also began to become solemn, "Although Zheng Zhilong's father and son have not been famous in recent years, this does not mean that they have no strength, as far as the minister knows, the scale of the Zheng family's naval division at this time is still not small, with more than 100 large war ships, more than 200 medium warships, more than 400 small warships, more than 600 merchant ships, and the coast of Fujian is still all under the world of the Zheng family. Their merchant ships travel back and forth between Nanyang and Fujian every month, bringing a lot of wealth to the Zheng family, although the old minister has the heart to recover Fujian for His Majesty, but he also knows that he is not Zheng Zhilong's opponent, Your Majesty, if you want to recover Fujian, you have to send a large number of sailors, together with the land, the two roads can be sent together. ”

"Hmm!" Pang Gang glanced at Hong Chengchou approvingly and praised: "You can think like this, which proves that you are not dizzy, and your mind is quite clear." In this way, I promised you, after the Chinese New Year, I will send a naval division from the Qingzhou Naval Division to cooperate with you, and I will send a regiment from Shandong to your command, in addition, if there is any need for food and equipment, even if you give me a discount, I will let the household department do it for you, if there is more, I can still get one or two million taels, in short, I will not let the soldiers on the front line go to the battlefield hungry. ”

"Thank you, Lord Ron!"

Hong Chengchou was so excited that his eyes were red, his nose was sore, and he was about to kneel down to thank him. At this moment, he finally realized what it means to be wealthy, in the past, when he followed Chongzhen, it was already a great thing that the household could allocate hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, like the new boss now, one mouth is to say that although he mentioned it to me, there is still one or two million taels of silver if there is more silver. Listen, what is called big money, this is called big money!

Before that, Hong Chengchou also planned to ask for silver, but he was only ready to ask for four or five hundred thousand taels of silver. But Pang Gang waved his hand so big. One or two million taels of silver was promised like this, alas, this person is really incomparable!

However, while Hong Chengchou was grateful, he also made up his mind in his heart. The emperor is interesting enough, and we can't ignore it, so he promised to give us one or two million. Let's just ask for a million taels, otherwise how can we show our Lao Hong's ability.

Seeing Hong Chengchou's excited appearance, Pang Gang smiled slightly, for Pang Gang, weapons and armor are not a problem, with the endless supply of tungsten ore in Jiangxi, how many of these things he wants, although he agreed to give Hong Chengchou so much silver, but if Hong Chengchou really has to spend millions of taels of silver to pacify Zuo Liangyu and Zheng Zhilong. Then he is too incompetent, and the score in Pang Gang's heart will naturally drop by a notch in the future, of course, these things can only be understood and not spoken. It's good that the person concerned understands.

Seeing that everything is done. Pang Gang stood up with a smile and said, "Okay." Now that the matter is over, Xiao Dezi, you can lead Gonggong Cao to meet the Emperor Taishang. Hong Chengchou, it's rare for you to come to the capital, how can I not fulfill the friendship of the landlord, go, today I am the east, the drunken immortal building is a seat, I invite you to drink! ”

After speaking, Pang Gang took the lead and walked outside, followed by the excited Hong Chengchou and Shi Bowen...,

The Forbidden City's Heart Nourishing Palace

After Chongzhen's family had dinner, they habitually came to the pavilion to take a collective walk. Empress Zhou and Concubine Yuan habitually tested the homework of Zhu Cihong and Zhu Yujiao and others, Chongzhen walked in the corridor with his hands behind his back, and Wang Chengen followed closely behind him.

After walking for a while, Chongzhen suddenly asked, "Companion, I heard that many of my Zhu family disciples are going to enter the palace to see me today, is that so?" ”

Wang Chengen lowered his head and replied, "Your Majesty, yes, but they were all stopped by slaves and maids." ”

Chongzhen's brows moved innorantly, and he asked, "What do they want to see me?" ”

Wang Chengen wanted to speak and stopped, and said hesitantly: "This is not a big deal, Your Majesty does not need to worry." ”

"Hmm!"

Chongzhen stopped, turned around and looked directly at Wang Chengen, and said dissatisfiedly: "What happened to you, you tell me the truth!" ”

Although Chongzhen has already taken the throne, the emperor for many years is still majestic, and he is angry at this moment, and it is not something that Wang Chengen can resist.

"Poof!" With a sound, Wang Chengen knelt on the ground and said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, the slave said." A few days ago, the new emperor issued a decree to nationalize the imperial village of the descendants of the Zhu family, there are a lot of fertile fields in these imperial villages, there are more than 3 million acres in the capital alone, the descendants of the Zhu family are not satisfied, and the collective kowtow outside the noon gate to shout grievances, but they were driven out by the palace guards, they saw that there was no way, so they cried to find His Majesty, but the slave maid thought that since His Majesty had abdicated, these mundane things should not be ignored, so he dared to block them back, Your Majesty, the slave is wrong, you dispose of the slave and the maid! ”

After speaking, Wang Chengen knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

Chongzhen closed his eyes and was silent after hearing this, and only after a long time did he roar angrily: "Bastards are bastards!" ”

Chongzhen's voice was very loud, and the Queen Zhou and Concubine Yuan and others not far away were alarmed, they followed the sound in a panic one by one, and saw Chongzhen standing on the ground with angry eyes, and Wang Chengen knelt on the ground and kowtowed, I don't know what was going on, Queen Zhou asked: "Your Majesty, what is going on, what is causing you to be so angry?" ”

Chongzhen's chest, who had an angry face, couldn't help but rise and fall, and it took a long time to point at Wang Chengen and say, "Big companion, you get up and tell the queen about the matter." ”

Wang Chengen, who was kneeling on the ground, quickly stood up, lowered his eyebrows and told Queen Zhou the truth of the matter.

Seeing the silent crowd, Chongzhen couldn't help but burst into tears, and shouted sadly: "These unscrupulous descendants of the Zhu family, do they really want to be angry to death before they are willing?" ”

Zhu Cihong, the former crown prince on the side, saw that his father was angry like this, and walked up to Chongzhen with some puzzlement, pulled his arm, and asked in a low voice: "Father, the sons don't understand, those imperial villages originally belonged to our Zhu family, and now that the emperor has taken away the imperial village, what do the descendants of our Zhu family eat?" Wouldn't the new emperor do this to starve the descendants of our Zhu family to death? ”

"Stupid!"

Chongzhen was so angry that he wanted to give Zhu Cihong a burst, but he saw Zhu Cihong's still childish face. Only then did he put down his raised hand. Said angrily: "Zitong, you come and tell Ci Hong." ”

Empress Zhou walked up to Zhu Cihong and stretched out her hand to hug him. He said in a kind voice: "Child, you are still young, and there are some things you still don't understand. Things in this world are not so simple, and sometimes they are very complicated. ”

Zhu Cihong protested unconvinced: "Queen Mother, what's complicated, Huangzhuang was originally the property left to the Zhu family by the ancestors of our Zhu family, and it was originally what we deserved, why did the emperor take it away without even saying a word, he was too bullying." ”…,

"Cijiong, shut up!" This time it was Queen Zhou's turn to get angry, and she shouted in a low voice: "The ancestors of the Zhu family have left a lot of imperial villages for the children of the Zhu family. It stands to reason that it should be our Zhu family's industry, but things can't be seen that way. For example, if the emperor of the Zhao family of the Great Song Dynasty left millions of acres of imperial farms to his descendants. Do you say that we also have to admit that those imperial villages belong to the Zhao family. Leave the rules to the descendants of the Zhao family? ”

"This"

This time it was Zhu Cijiong's turn to be dumb, although he was young. But he is not stupid, if he becomes the emperor, the Zhao family of the former Song Dynasty really left millions of acres of imperial villages, will he recognize the Zhao family's ownership of these imperial estates in a proper manner? Thinking of the end, Zhu Cihong found that he really couldn't admit it, after all, such a large piece of fertile land, who would not be red-eyed, why did a remnant of the previous dynasty have so much land. Thinking of this, Zhu Cijiong was speechless for a while.

Seeing Zhu Cijiong, who was silent, Chongzhen spoke: "What, you can't say it, right?" How cruel is the struggle for the change of dynasties in the past dynasties, which new dynasty does not try his best to kill the royal family of the previous dynasty so as not to leave future troubles, Pang Gang can promise me to leave a way to live for the Zhu family, it is already very generous. But those idiots still want to leave such a large piece of Huangzhuang, can they keep it? If you really want to stay, stay in the future, even if Pang Jiannian will not be held accountable for the sake of your father and your sister, but what about those courtiers in Dahua, will they be willing? ”

Because he said too quickly, Chongzhen took a deep breath, calmed down his mood, and then said: "Our Zhu family has been sitting in the country for nearly three hundred years, leaving behind tens of thousands of descendants, and encroaching on countless fields and properties. Besides, some people have gone too far, I heard that the Liangtian Huangzhuang that our Zhu family has occupied for generations is nearly 30 million acres of fertile land, 30 million acres! Think about it, how much fertile land there is in the whole world, and how much has our Zhu family encroached upon? With such a huge amount of land, can they keep it? ”

Hearing this, Zhu Cihong has been scared out of a cold sweat, he is fifteen or sixteen years old this year, but he was trained as a prince before, and he is not blind to the situation in the world, it turns out that the entire arable land in the Ming Dynasty is only one to two hundred million mu, and the descendants of the Zhu family account for one to two percent, and they are all the best fertile land, isn't this a child holding a gold brick through the downtown and looking for death?

"Father, the child is wrong."

Zhu Cijiong wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, at this moment he knew that Wang Chengen, the eldest companion of his father, did not let those descendants of the Zhu family see that his father was protecting them, if they let them make trouble again, let alone those Huangzhuang fields, I am afraid that even their lives will have to be lost.

Seeing Zhu Cihong, whose face had turned pale, Chongzhen sighed, patted him on the shoulder and said softly: "Emperor, now the world is now the world of our Zhu family from time to time, you must realize this, otherwise you will cause a big disaster sooner or later in the future, do you understand?" ”

Zhu Cihong nodded: "Yes, father, the child remembers." ”

"Well, just remember."

Chongzhen looked at Zhu Cihong, with a smile of relief on his face, and was about to say something, but found a young eunuch hurrying from the side, this eunuch Chongzhen recognized that he was Xiao Dezi, the personal eunuch next to Pang Gang.

"Hey, what is he doing here?"

Just when a suspicion arose in Chongzhen's heart, Xiao Dezi had already come to their side, knelt down and kowtowed to Chongzhen: "Slave maid Xiao Dezi has seen His Majesty the Emperor Taishang, His Royal Highness the Empress Dowager, and His Royal Highness!" ”

"Excuse me." Chongzhen raised his hand to let Xiao Dezi get up, and then asked, "Xiao Dezi, what are you doing here when you don't follow the emperor?" ”

Xiao Dezi grinned and replied obediently: "Emperor Taishang, don't be a slave and maid, today the slave and slave maid sent a person to the Emperor Taishang at the behest of the emperor, this person is too bold, even the emperor has been scolded by him today, and the emperor has no choice, so the slave and the maid sent him to you." ”

"Even the emperor dares to scold? Who is so bold? Zhu Yujiao on the side covered her mouth and let out an exclamation, she had never imagined that someone would dare to insult the current emperor.

Xiao Dezi smiled bitterly: "Your Royal Highness Princess, the emperor said that he can't control this person, so the emperor asked the slave to send him to the emperor, you see, he has come." After speaking, Xiao Dezi's hand pointed back.

Everyone looked behind with Xiao Dezi's gaze, and for a moment, everyone almost seemed to have been hit by the fixation technique, and they all collectively froze

"Cao Huachun, it turned out to be him"