Datong, drunk back to the building.

Jiannu was defeated, the thieves retreated to Shaanxi, and the defense of Datong ended victoriously.

Zhu Chuanqi, the acting king, took all the VIP seats on the third floor of the drunken building, and set up a banquet to invite Wang Pu, Zhang Zi'an, Wei Daben, Zhao Liujin, Chen Wei, Li Fu, Yang Lin, Zhao Yang and other civil and military generals of Datong Town.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Zhu Chuanqi shyly rubbed his fat belly, looked around at everyone, and said loudly, "In this Datong defense battle, General Soldier Wang was not afraid of danger, commanded Ruoding, and led the Datong army and people to repel Jiannu in one fell swoop, killing more than 70,000 enemies and capturing countless people, which is really the biggest victory since the Liao Affair of my Ming Dynasty. ”

Zhang Zi'an, Wei Daben, Zhao Liujin and others followed suit and stood up one after another, raising a glass to Wang Pu.

"Don't dare." Wang Pu raised his glass and got up, and said indifferently, "The battle to defend Datong can be won, not by me Wang Pu alone, but by the concerted efforts of the Datong army and the people to kill the enemy bravely. ”

"It's done."

"It's done."

Wang Pu and Zhu Chuanqi clinked glasses heavily, raised a circle and drank it all.

"Mr. Wang." Chen Wei, the guard of the high mountain guard, came to Wang Pu with a wine glass and said with a smile, "I salute you with a glass of wine, and after this glass of wine, I still have something to say about my humble position." ”

Wang Pu said indifferently: "If you have anything to say, you can say it first, and it's not too late to drink after you finish speaking." ”

"Okay, refreshed." Chen Wei took out his right hand and cocked his thumb, and said loudly, "General soldier Wang, the Ming Dynasty has set up guards in the thirteen provinces to protect the place, this is the regulation set by Hong Wuye, it has been almost three hundred years to this day, Wang Zongbing has neither the will of the Lord of Long Live nor the official document of the Ministry of War, how can the Weisho Fort City in Datong Town be cut down?" ”

"Extraordinary times should be used by extraordinary means." Wang Pu said indifferently, "As the chief soldier of Datong, this town is the highest general town, of course it has the right to do this!" ”

Chen Wei said: "What does General Bing mean is that he doesn't need the will of the Long Live Lord and the official documents of the Ministry of War?" ”

Wang Pu smiled and said coldly: "This town said that extraordinary means should be used in extraordinary times, and there is no need to follow the rules in everything. ”

Chen Wei said: "Then I have to ask, is this Datong your Wang Zongbing's, or Long Live Lord's?" ”

"Of course it's Banzai." Wang Pu said this, and suddenly asked rhetorically, "This town also wants to ask Chen Shoubei a rhetorical question, whose long live master is this?" ”

Chen Wei didn't think about it, and replied: "Of course, it belongs to all the people in the world." ”

"That's a good point." Wang Pu said, "Long live the Lord is the Long Live Lord of all the people in the world, Long Live Lord is the father of the monarch, how can you not cherish the people as a father?" Meng Shengren also said that the people are the most important, the community is secondary, and the monarch is light, so it can be seen that as long as it is beneficial to the people of Datong, the town can do it as much as possible, and Long live the Lord will also fully support it! ”

Wei Daben couldn't help but bow his head lightly when he heard this, although Wang Pu's approach was a bit overstepping, but the truth was indeed like this.

Chen Wei said coldly: "General Wang Bing, according to your wishes, the abolition of the guard is for the sake of the people of Datong, then the humble post is to ask a rhetorical question, you have abolished the guard army, in case of horse thieves or homeless people making trouble, or the Mongols and Jiannu are destroyed and imprisoned, who will protect the people of Datong?" Are you thinking about the people of Datong? ”

"Hmph, protect the people?" Wang Pu said coldly, "Just because the fragile rabble under your command is also worthy of protecting the people?" In the first battle of the sea, more than 10,000 people against 3,000 Mongolian cavalry, as a result, you will all collapse with a charge, not long ago, let you escort the forage, it is also more than 10,000 people, and let 4,000 Jiannu collapse in one rush, such a tofu scum army is also worthy of talking about protecting the people? What will you do but burn, kill, plunder, and plague the people? In addition to bullying military households, what else will you do to wantonly exploit them? You scum, scum, even thieves, and you have the face to shout in front of this town, are you tired of living? ”

"Smack!"

Zhao Liujin stood up suddenly, threw the wine glass in his hand on the ground, and shouted: "Someone! ”

In the sound of hurried footsteps, a group of officers and soldiers rushed up to the third floor, quickly blocking the doors, windows, and staircase exits, and surrounding everyone present.

"Hahaha." Chen Wei looked up to the sky and laughed three times, and when he lowered his head again, his eyes were already full of murderous intent, and he looked at Wang Pu and said word by word, "Wang Pu, it's not the humble position that is tired of living, but you!" Do you know? Today's banquet is the Hongmen banquet set by the prince, Wang Pu, you are dead! ”

"Lord Wang." Wang Pu turned his gaze to Zhu Chuanqi and asked coldly, "Is that so?" ”

"Ahem......" Zhu Chuanqi stood up with a dry cough twice, and said to Wang Pu, "General soldier Wang, you have neither a will nor an official document from the Ministry of War, so you arbitrarily dismantle the local guards, which is indeed inconsistent with the regulations of the imperial court, although this king is not allowed to interfere in local military and political affairs, but he also has the responsibility to maintain the dignity of the royal family, and he will definitely not sit idly by and ignore the matter of despising the Lord of Long Live, but you don't have to worry, this king will not kill you, this king just wants to send you to the capital and hand it over to the Lord of Long Live." ”

"Uh...... This! Wei Daben stood up with a shocked face on his face and asked, "Lord Wang, what's going on?" ”

Zhang Zi'an was also kept in the dark, got up and said sneeringly: "Lord, I'm afraid it's a little inappropriate to do this, right?" ”

"What's wrong?" Chen Wei said sharply, "Wang Pu is lawless and despises Tianwei, even if he kills him, it is not too much to kill him!" ”

"Yes, kill him!"

"Kill him!"

"Kill him!"

Yang He guarded Li Fu, Tiancheng guarded Yang Lin, and Andong Zhongtun guarded Zhao Yang followed suit.

Chen Wei's eyes turned to Zhao Liujin, and he said sharply: "Deputy President Zhao, what are you waiting for?" Do it! ”

Zhao Liujin's eyes sharpened, and he shouted: "Come on!" ”

"In!"

Dozens of officers and soldiers in a circle stepped forward at the same time and responded violently.

"Take down the four traitors Chen Wei, Li Fu, Yang Lin and Zhao Yang!"

"Yes!"

Dozens of officers and soldiers suddenly agreed, and quickly rushed forward to press Chen Wei and the four of them to the ground, this slap was ruthless enough, Chen Wei, Li Fu, Yang Lin and Zhao Yang were directly stunned, Zhu Chuanqi was also dumbfounded, looked at Zhao Liujin in disbelief, and said in a loud voice: "Deputy Chief Zhao, what are you...... You're ......."

"Deputy Chief Zhao, don't you want to live anymore!?" Wang Zhanshi, who was sitting next to Zhu Chuanqi, got up and shouted, "You dare to betray the prince? Don't forget that there are still 300 dead soldiers in ambush under the restaurant, as long as the prince gives an order, you and Wang Pu will not survive! ”

"Hey, hey." Zhao Liujin laughed evilly, stretched out his hand to point at Wang Zhanshi, and shouted again, "Come on, take this dog's head too!" ”

"Yes!"

The two officers and soldiers agreed, and pounced like a tiger and wolf and pushed Wang Zhanshi to the ground, Wang Zhanshi struggled, looked at Zhu Chuanqi sharply, and said in a wailing voice: "Lord, Lord, ......"

"Someone, come on!" Zhu Chuanqi hurriedly opened his throat and shouted, "Come on, someone......"

"No need to shout, lord." Wang Puzi drained the glass of wine, got up and said coldly, "The three hundred dead soldiers in your house have now gone to the Lord of Yama to drink, and they won't hear you even if you shout through the sky." ”

"Huh?" Zhu Chuanqi said miserably, "You ......"

Zhao Liujin took a step forward and asked, "General, what to do with these dog heads?" ”

Wang Pu asked lightly: "What do you say should be done with the following crimes, murdering the general town of one party?" ”

"Humble duty understood." Zhao Liujin turned around and shouted, "Come on, drag these dogs' heads down and cut them down on the street!" ”

"Yes."

Dozens of officers and soldiers responded violently, dragging Chen Wei, Wang Zhanshi and others away, Wang Zhanshi suddenly howled like a pig: "Lord, help, help......"

Zhu Chuanqi just wanted to drink it, but as soon as he touched Wang Pu's cold gaze, he immediately swallowed the words back into his stomach, this time he really believed it, this Wang Pu is really a lord who is not afraid of heaven and earth, oh no, he is a master who dares to poke the sky into a hole, if this guy plays a trick, it is not impossible to slaughter him Zhu Chuanqi.

People say that they are stunned and afraid of being horizontal, and they are afraid of dying, Zhu Chuanqi is the king of the domain, and he usually walks sideways in Datong, but this time he met a bold person like Wang Pu, and he was really scared, in front of Wang Pu, Prince Zhu Chuanqi's majesty was not shaken at all.

"Lord Wang, you have gathered Chen Wei and Li Fu and a group of rebellious plots to kill this town, and you have violated the law that the vassal king must not interfere in the local military and political affairs!" Wang Puyin smiled, turned his gaze to Zhang Zi'an, and asked, "Gonggong Zhang, if the vassal king violates the law that he must not interfere in local military affairs, how should he be punished?" ”

"If it is light, it will be secluded, and if it is heavy, it will be cut down ...... domain," Zhang Zi'an said this, and hurriedly explained, "But this has to be reported to the Jingshi, and the Zongren Mansion will adjudicate, and then the Banzai Lord will issue an order." ”

"Now that the army is in chaos, there is no need to report to the Beijing Division." Wang Pu said coldly, "Zhao Liujin, you will take someone to invite the prince back to the palace, and then the front door, back door and side door of the palace will be built to death, and troops will be sent to guard it strictly, and no one will be allowed to enter or leave. ”

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

Wei Daben and Zhao Liujin should be in unison, and Zhao Liujin finished and said to Zhu Chuanqi: "Lord Wang, please." ”

Zhao Liujin can see it, although Wang Pu has not blatantly pulled the flag to rebel, but the things he did are no different from rebellion, Wang Pu is now the emperor of Datong, he has money and guns in his hands, and a strong army that is brave and good at fighting, invincible, and against him is to find death!

After Zhao Liujin escorted Zhu Chuanqi away, Zhang Zi'an said to Wang Pu: "Master Ma, I'm afraid it's a little inappropriate for you to do this, right?" ”

"This town has already said that extraordinary measures should be used in extraordinary times, which are all for the sake of the people of Datong, and also for the sake of guarding Datong for the long live lord." Wang Pu breathed a sigh of relief, and suddenly said something inconsequential, "Of course, you can truthfully report this matter to the palace, if you blame the lord, you will have your own town to blame." ”

Zhang Zi'an rolled his eyes and had nothing to say.

Wei Daben is still a good official, but he is also a sleek person, Wang Pudu has already talked about this, what else does he have to say? Besides, even Zhu Chuanqi was imprisoned, Zhang Zi'an's words didn't work, even if he had the heart to intervene, could he intervene?

As long as Wang Pu does not rebel, as long as Wang Pu does not get along with the people of Datong, Wei Daben does not want to go against Wang Pu at all.

Wang Pu's gaze suddenly turned to Wei Daben and said with a smile: "Lord Wei." ”

Wei Daben hurriedly clenched his fists and said, "The lower official is here." ”

Wang Pu said: "The measurement and distribution of the dry land and water land to which each guard fort belongs will bother you. ”

Wei Daben said: "This is a matter within the duties of the lower officials, and the lower officials should do their best." ”

"Haha." Wang Pu laughed twice and sat down again, and said, "Kill those who should be killed, and catch those who should be caught, but this banquet can't be wasted, come, Gonggong Zhang, Master Wei, let's continue drinking." ”

■■■

Yanjing, the Forbidden City.

There is a gate between the Jianji Hall and the Qianqing Palace, called Yuntai Gate, this is the famous platform, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty has always had the system of summoning the ministers on the platform, Emperor Chongzhen once summoned Yuan Chonghuan here twice, Yuan Chonghuan "five years can level Liao" The big words were released here.

At that time, Emperor Chongzhen had just ascended the throne, and he was only an eighteen-year-old young man, and after hearing these big words, he was really enthusiastic, and at that time he appointed Yuan Chonghuan as the Jiliao Governor and the title of the military department, and then gave Shang Fang the sword, and the local officials under his rule had the power to kill and kill.

It is a pity that Yuan Chonghuan, a scholar, did not finally settle Liao within five years, but took it upon himself to kill Mao Wenlong, the chief soldier of Dongjiang Town, and Jiannu broke through the pass in the following year after having no worries, and Yuan Chonghuan, who lacked military command ability, made a series of military command mistakes, causing the Jiannu army to go straight to Gyeonggi, which caused a great shock to the young Chongzhen Emperor and the people of Beijing, and finally caused himself to be killed.

Speaking from the heart, Yuan Chonghuan is a feudal Confucian who is deeply influenced by Confucianism, and the idea of loyalty to the monarch has long been ingrained in his mind, he can't let go of a good Ming courtier, but he took the initiative to take refuge in Jiannu as a slave, Yuan Chonghuan is not a warlord who supports the army and respects himself, if Yuan Chonghuan really wants to be a warlord who supports the army and respects himself, it is not so easy for Emperor Chongzhen to kill him, and he will not persuade Zu Dashou to return to save the capital in prison.

Yuan Chonghuan can be regarded as a brave and knowledgeable loyal minister, his sorrow lies in the fact that he only has the ability to carry a hundred catties, but he does not have the strength to carry a thousand catties of burden, and finally was crushed, the reason why he was praised by some so-called "historians" as a national hero of great benevolence, great wisdom, great courage, and great integrity, in fact, is because his fate was too miserable, and he is the most worthy of sympathy, nothing more.

Emperor Chongzhen is going to summon ministers on the platform again, this time it is Sun Chuanting.

Emperor Chongzhen looked at Sun Chuanting sitting in front of him, his mood was complicated, on the one hand, he hoped that Sun Chuanting could turn the tide and repel the Jiannu outside Yanjing City, but on the other hand, if Sun Chuanting really repelled Jiannu, then Emperor Chongzhen was wrong to support Yang Sichang but put Sun Chuanting in prison?

Emperor Chongzhen asked: "Sun Aiqing, 300,000 Jiannu are gathered in Yanjing City, the situation is as dangerous as eggs, I don't know what good strategy Aiqing can have to defeat Jiannu?" ”

Sun Chuanting said confidently: "Long live, although Jiannu claims to be 300,000, the minister thinks that it is no more than 100,000, if Jiannu is like the first two times of destroying the customs and entering the Kou, he just wants to plunder in the Central Plains, the minister may not have to get them, but if Jiannu wants to attack Yanjing with all his strength, the minister is very sure that he will return!" ”

Ni Yuanlu, the left attendant of the military department, asked, "How can Lord Sun be sure that the maximum number of slaves is only 100,000?" ”

Sun Chuanting said: "Jiannu is just a savage tribe in eastern Liaodong, with a population of only more than 200,000, plus years of conquest, the strongest men in the clan are at most 50,000 or 60,000, plus the so-called Han Army Eight Banners and Mongolian Eight Banners are at most 1560,000 people, Datong Battle, Wang Zongbing beheaded more than 40,000 levels, from which it can be concluded that the Jiannu outside Yanjing City is at most about 100,000. ”

The ministers nodded again and again when they heard this, and Sun Chuanting's words were reasonable and well-founded, at least they sounded like a thing.

Emperor Chongzhen said: "Even if there are only 100,000 Jiannu, it is not trivial, Aiqing has not said a strategy to retreat from the enemy." ”

Sun Chuanting said: "The minister's strategy of retreating from the enemy is very simple, all the people, livestock, and grain in all the prefectures and counties of the capital division will be withdrawn into the city, and the deep ditches and high bases will not fight!" When the weather warms up and the grain and grass are exhausted, they can retreat without a fight. ”

Chen Xinjia said: "What if Jiannu attacks? ”

Sun Chuanting said: "If Jiannu dares to attack it, he is looking for death, and the two hundred Hongyi cannons at the head of Yanjing City are not vegetarians." ”

Zhou Yanru said: "What should Jiannu do if he follows the battle of Datong and digs up the ground and bombs the city? ”

Sun Chuanting said: "Jiannu can blow up the Datong city wall because the Datong garrison lacks defense, and we can prepare in advance for the defense of Yanjing, how can we let Jiannu succeed?" Taking a step back, even if Jiannu really blew up the city wall, as long as there are Hongyi cannons guarding it, Jiannu still can't enter the city! ”

After Sun Chuanting's analysis, Emperor Chongzhen and a group of ministers finally put their minds at ease.

Emperor Chongzhen's mind quickly turned to the long-term national policy after Jiannu retired from the army, and then asked: "Sun Aiqing, what should I do after Jiannu retires?" ”

Sun Chuanting sorted out the thoughts in his mind, and said solemnly: "Long live, the minister thinks that the top priority is to restore the Wanli New Deal, only when the Wanli New Deal is restored will the treasury be full, and only when the treasury is full, can there be enough money and food to train the new army, and it is possible to pacify the Liao affairs and exterminate the thieves." ”

The so-called Wanli New Deal refers to a change led by Zhang Juzheng, the first assistant of the cabinet during the Wanli period, which included the reform of the rule of officials, the implementation of the examination law, the clearing of land, the clean-up of the princes and nobles, the Zhuang Tian concealed by Shilin Haoqiang, and the implementation of a whip law for the taxation of silver per mu.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor's relatives do not need to pay field tax, and the scholars who have been talented in the country, whether they have been promoted or not, whether they have been officials or not, their fields do not have to pay field tax to the state, and there are more than 200,000 imperial relatives and nearly one million scholars in the Ming Dynasty during the Chongzhen period.

A simple calculation can be made, if the average of each royal relative owns a grange of 1,000 acres, more than 200,000 imperial relatives own 200 million acres of grange; If on average, each Shilin Zhusheng owns 100 acres of granges, and millions of Shilin Zhusheng own 100 million acres of granges, and the sum of the two is 300 million acres of granges, and the land of the whole country in the Ming Dynasty is only more than 800 million mu.

These two huge privileged groups have occupied a large amount of land in the country, resulting in a large loss of tax money in the national treasury!

After Wanli, the Ming Dynasty natural disasters continued, the military disasters were linked, so that the treasury was empty, and the income could not make ends meet, the imperial court had to use troops against the slaves, but also to suppress the thieves, and had no choice but to increase the taxes, of course, the extra taxes could only be added to the heads of ordinary people, at this time the most absurd thing appeared, the people in many places worked hard for a year and were not enough to pay taxes, they actually had to lose money to farm!

The large number of land-owning people were overwhelmed, so they had to sell their land to privileged groups that did not have to pay land taxes, and then work as tenant farmers for them, because the share paid to the landlords was much lower than the share paid to the state.

This formed a kind of vicious cycle, the privileged group more and more land, but the common people less and less land, the result was a further reduction in the treasury revenue, resulting in the further deterioration of the financial situation of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court had no choice but to continue to increase the tax, the people could only continue to sell land in order to pay taxes......

So the cycle began, to the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, more than half of the country's land has fallen into the name of the two privileged groups, the Ming Dynasty's tax source has been reduced by nearly three-quarters compared with the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, with such a bad financial situation, but to maintain a huge bureaucratic operation, to support nearly 200,000 imperial relatives, but also to build slaves, thieves with troops, Chongzhen Emperor or not bankrupt that is really a hell.

Sun Chuanting is not the only one who sees the crux of the problem, but no one has been willing to bring it up.

Emperor Chongzhen didn't think about restoring the Wanli New Deal, but almost no one supported him, why didn't the ministers support Emperor Chongzhen? The reason is very simple, because these ministers are also from the Shilin, to paraphrase a modern term, these people are all self-interested, how can they change their own lives?

Therefore, when Sun Chuanting proposed to restore the Wanli New Deal, although Emperor Chongzhen was expressionless on the surface, he was still very excited in his heart, Emperor Chongzhen has always wanted to restore the Wanli New Deal, but no one is available, and now Sun Chuanting has proposed it, and Emperor Chongzhen finally has someone available.

But soon, Emperor Chongzhen and Sun Chuanting were poured a basin of cold water on their heads.

"Long live, Wanli's new policy is definitely not feasible, otherwise the world will be in chaos."

"Long live, Wanli's new policy levies silver according to the mu, and it is insulting to treat the emperor's relatives, Shilin gentry and the people of the market Shengdou as the same."

"Long live, throughout the dynasties, Shilin has never paid food, if my Ming Dynasty set this precedent, wouldn't it make the world's scholars cold?"

The ministers led by Zhou Yanru rose up to oppose and resolutely resisted the "counteroffensive and reversal" of Wanli's new policy.

The New Deal reform during the Longqing-Wanli period was able to be implemented because there were a group of far-sighted and insightful ministers such as Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and Hai Rui, but who was there in the Chongzhen Dynasty? Except for Sun Chuanting, who is really willing to think about the court and share the worries of Emperor Chongzhen?

The so-called public anger is difficult to commit, Emperor Chongzhen can only retreat to the second, promote Sun Chuanting as the prince and young master, add the rank of squire of the military department, enter the imperial history of the left capital, and the military affairs of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Beijing, Shandong, and Henan provinces, as for the implementation of reforms, but can only wait until Jiannu retires from the army and then find a way.

■■■

Shaanxi, rice fat.

Liu Zongmin was drinking in the tent with the two women he had snatched, and Liu Cheng, his righteous son and number one henchman, suddenly entered the tent and said, "Father-in-law, Li Yan is gone." ”

Liu Zongmin's face changed, he pushed away the woman in his arms, and asked in a deep voice, "Are you really gone?" ”

Liu Cheng said: "It's really gone." ”

Liu Zongmin said: "How many people have you taken away?" ”

Liu Cheng said: "I only took away five hundred cavalry, but ......"

"But how?"

"But Li Hu, Li Xuan, and Jing Mao Chengdu followed Li Yan."

"It's good that these guys are gone." Liu Zongmin said, "Anyway, it's not the same heart with us, and staying is in the way, but this Li Yan said to go, more than 20,000 elite soldiers and 8,000 cavalry, he didn't feel distressed at all, this bearing, this courage, I didn't say it, I Lao Liu admired him." ”

(To be continued)