Father-in-law Ma saw the expressionless Pang Gang out of the corner of his eyes, and he hated it in his heart, but he couldn't do anything about it, if he annoyed this master, everyone couldn't eat and walked around.

"That's it, people are swords, I'm fish and meat, let's listen to the other party's meaning first."

Gonggong Ma gritted his teeth and said with a forced smile: "Huge people, when our family went out of Beijing, the emperor said that there are not many loyal ministers who are loyal to the country like a huge person in our Ming Dynasty, no matter what kind of reward you are given, as long as it is what you want, the court will not wronged you." ”

"Sneer, you coax the ghost, buddy wants to be the emperor, will Chongzhen give it?"

Pang Gang admired Ma Gonggong's ability to open his eyes and tell nonsense, he didn't believe that Yi Chongzhen's surname would say such a thing, if he was in front of him now, he would definitely be eager to cut himself into eighteen pieces.

Pang Gang still stared at the teacup in his hand with a facial expression, as if he didn't see a flower to swear not to give up.

Such a look made Ma Gonggong anxious and angry, and he said that he was on this, what else did he want? I couldn't help but ask, "Huge man, you have something to say." ”

"Big Man, Big Man"

"Huh?" Pang Gang raised his head as if he had just woken up, with a look of ignorance flashing in his eyes, "I'm sorry, the official just fell asleep, eh, the weather is too hot, Ma Gonggong, what did you just say?" ”

Seeing that Pang Gang was still pretending to be crazy and stupid, Ma Gonggong was so angry that he couldn't help but ask angrily: "Huge man, you give our family a word, how can you rescue Hubei?" ”

"Rescue Hubei?" Pang Gang asked in astonishment: "Father-in-law Ma, what are you kidding again, Pang Mou is even struggling to defend Shandong now, how can he have the strength to rescue Hubei." ”

"You" Ma Gonggong was angry for a while, he knew that if he didn't show his hole cards, this guy who didn't see the rabbit and didn't scatter the eagle would not agree, and only after stomping his feet did he say: "Huge man, before our family came to Shandong, the emperor also gave our family a will, now please kneel down and listen to the order!" ”

"Yo, the soft ones can't come to the hard ones, and the last thing my brother is afraid of is the hard ones." Pang Gang thought that Chongzhen finally couldn't help but use the court and the name to press himself, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up, if this was the case, Chongzhen had mistaken his wishful thinking, Pang Gang was about to have a seizure, but he saw Wen Renjun and Hua Yanzheng, who had been silent, winceing at him, meaning to listen to what the will said first, and then make plans.

Okay, anyway, this is Qingzhou, are you afraid that a eunuch and two little brocade guards can turn the sky upside down, Pang Gang slowly stood up, ordered his subordinates to put on the incense case, and then went back to the house to change into a set of official clothes, and then led several of his daughters-in-law out, plus dozens of maids in the backyard, everyone knelt densely in front of the incense case, Kong Ruolan was too heavy, and there were originally two maids to kneel down to listen to the order. But Ma Gonggong looked at Kong Ruolan's pot-bellied and difficult appearance, and was worried that if she did something because of listening to the order, the master in front of him would not tear herself apart, so he hurriedly smiled and asked the two maids to help her stand and listen to the order.

Seeing Pang Gang leading a large group of people to kneel, Ma Gonggong was in a better mood just now when Pang Gang was so angry that his liver trembled, and then he untied the yellow satin burden behind him and took out a vermilion lacquer painted gold plate dragon box; opened the box, took out a yellow silk dark dragon envelope, and took out the edict from the envelope, and read it out loud.

"Fengtian carrier, the emperor edict said, thieves and thieves disaster country, ten years in Z, ten thousand surnames are charred, and the mausoleum is shocked (referring to Chongzhen's eight years of Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng and others broke Fengyang and burned the emperor's mausoleum). Whoever is my courtier, who does not cut his teeth! Wandering around is disgusted, and there is a turnaround. The culprit is huge, and he is two with each other, or the first to be awarded in Guanzhong (referring to Gao Yingxiang and others in Shaanxi), or one after another. Ge, Zuo and other wait-and-see wanderers in Huaidian, and Lao Hui Hui and other Yu Yu are cramped in southern Henan, which are all prisoners to be killed, which is not a big trouble for the imperial court. However, the thief Li Zicheng, although he has been defeated repeatedly, the fierce flame has not been defeated; Running alone, still thinking about it. There is a skill in enveloping, and the dead party is consolidated but not dispersed; Small favors confuse people, and foolish people are willing to be their eyes and ears. The month before was a soldier in Henan, so that the lives were ruined, if not a drum is flattened, then the disaster of the country's heart, rather have a bottom!

However, the wind knew that the grass country was chaotic and showed loyal ministers, fortunately there was the right governor of Nanjing, the general of Dingguo, and the general of Shandong, Pang Gang, who was loyal and brave to the country, and resolutely sent troops to Henan, annihilating 100,000 thieves, and I was very relieved. The minister is loyal to the country, then I will live up to the Qing, hereby add Pang Gang as the champion Hou, award the iron scroll, and add the title of hussar general, eat Lu Qianshi, hang the seal of the general, Henan, Hebei, Shaanxi provinces are all the general's place to conquest, forget Qing to live up to my love, loyal and brave to serve the country, Qin this! ”

When the last sentence was read, Ma Gonggong's voice dragged on for a long time, like a rooster stuck in the neck, but no one noticed this, and everyone including Pang Gang was already standing on the spot.

"Crazy, Chongzhen is crazy, he's crazy!"

This is the voice of all the people in Pang Gang's camp at the same time, is this still the Chongzhen who has a tough attitude and claims to be killed and does not admit his mistakes? He actually began to be knighted again, not to mention others, even Pang Gang fell into a crash in his mind for a while.

It should be mentioned here that the knighthood of the Ming Dynasty is divided into two types: clan and meritorious relatives, and the title of the clan is divided into two types: prince and county king.

The title of the meritorious relatives is different from the previous feudal society divided into five kinds of titles, the title of the Ming Dynasty is only divided into the duke, the marquis, the uncle, etc., the son, the male is not placed, and the person who receives the iron coupon is hereditary, that is to say, it can be passed on to the son forever, as long as the Ming Dynasty does not die, you can pass it on from generation to generation. If you don't have an iron scroll, you will be a liujue, which means that as long as you die, the court will take back your title.

But since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the successive emperors of the Ming Dynasty seem to have a tacit understanding collectively, and they have not given people knighthoods for more than a hundred years, let alone knighthoods. It's okay now, not to mention the crazy title, but also named the people as hussar generals, added the seal of the general, and said that Pang Gang, the land of Shaanxi, Henan, and Hebei, can conquer the rogues at will.

This means that from now on, Pang Gang's soldiers and horses can gallop freely in these three provinces, and it is legal to do anything.

"What's going on here?"

Pang Gang, who felt a little dizzy, forgot about Wen Renjun and Hua Yan with his eyes, and found that these two people had not yet woken up.

Seeing that everyone was stunned, Ma Gonggong coughed lightly and said, "Huge man, don't you hurry up and thank you!" ”

"Well, Chen Pang just received the decree and thanked him!"

Pang Gang took the decree in a daze, and opened it with some anxiety, well, the materials of this decree look very elegant, all of them are seven-color silk brocade fabrics made of fine silk, the patterns are mostly auspicious clouds and cranes, very magnificent, and there are flying silver dragons at both ends of the decree as anti-counterfeiting signs. The holy decree is indeed written with these words that Ma Gonggong read just now, and it is also covered with a bright red "Treasure of the Decree" seal.

Looking at the holy decree in his hand, Pang Gang thought maliciously: "This is a good thing, if this thing is passed down as a family heirloom, how can it be worth tens of millions in four or five hundred years, right?" ”

Seeing that Pang Gang was still in a daze with the holy decree in his hand, Ma Gonggong said with a smile on his face: "Congratulations to the Hou Ye, congratulations to the Hou Ye, you are now the first Hou Ye of our Ming Dynasty in more than a hundred years, and in the future, Lord Shoufu will have to salute when he sees you!" ”

Pang Gang hadn't woken up from the shock yet, and said casually: "Well, happy and happy!" ”

Seeing that Pang Gang didn't react, Gonggong Ma couldn't help coughing lightly and said: "Master Hou, you see that the emperor didn't say anything about your grace, this is an honor that I haven't had in the Ming Dynasty for more than a hundred years, and you can't live up to the emperor's trust in you!" I wonder when you will send troops to Hubei? ”

"Well, what? Send troops to Hubei? ”

Pang Gang, who was looking at the holy decree with joy, heard Gonggong Ma's words at first glance, and his face changed, "Gonggong Ma, when did this official say that he was going to send troops to Hubei?" ”

"Huge man, the emperor has just conferred your title, can you not admit it!"

Ma Gonggong saw that Pang Gang was about to admit it after eating, so he was in a hurry, and hurriedly shouted: "Master Hou, now the situation in Hubei is critical, and it is already in danger, you can't see death without help!" ”

Seeing Gonggong Ma's anxious appearance, Pang Gang shook the holy decree in his hand and said: "In this way, Gonggong Ma, this matter is a big matter, and the official can only make a decision after consulting with the generals. ”

"Master Hou, but the military situation in Hubei is urgent, and it is really urgent!"

"Hmm"

Ma Gonggong wanted to say something more, but was glared at by Pang Gang's sharp gaze, and he couldn't speak anymore, at this time, a maid came over, and whispered to Ma Gonggong and the others: "Father-in-law, please, your lords, please go to the guest room with the slave maid to rest." ”

Ma Gonggong had no choice but to go to the front yard with two brocade guards under the leadership of a maid.

Seeing Ma Gonggong and a few people walking, Wei Manyao and the daughters walked to Pang Gang's side, and the fast-handed Li Xuezhu took the holy decree in Pang Gang's hand, snuggled up to Pang Gang's back and looked at it happily, and said with a smile: "I didn't expect my husband to be a marquis, so wouldn't I be Mrs. Hou?" ”

"Ahem"

Seeing Li Xuezhu who got carried away, Wei Manyao next to her coughed lightly.

Li Xuezhu remembered that there were other people next to her, and she blushed her little face, so she quickly stood up straight, stretched out her little tongue, and ran into the house with the holy decree.

Knowing that Pang Gang still had important matters to discuss with Wen Renjun and Hua Yan, Kong Ruolan said very obediently: "General, the concubine has returned to the house with the sisters first." ”

"Well, you guys go back first, go slowly."

Pang Gang nodded, watched Kong Ruolan being helped by the two maids and slowly walked back to the house, then turned to the two subordinates and said, "Okay, you all discuss, this emperor is a marquis and a general, what kind of intention is this." ”

Wen Renjun said without thinking: "What other intentions can there be, it's nothing more than using a false name to let you go to work for him, it's best to lose both, and then he will clean you up." ”

Pang Gang turned his gaze to Hua Yan, and Hua Yan also nodded and said: "My lord, the lower officials also think so, don't look at this holy decree and make you a marquis and a general, but this is all false, the actual meaning is not at all, did he allow you to mobilize the money and food of the places along the way?" Did he give you the sword of Shang Fang to control the magistrate's mansion? There is nothing here, which means that if you want to put down the rebellion, you can only rely on our Qingzhou to do it by yourself, and you don't want to get the slightest help from the local government. ”

"I know!"

Pang Gang, who had recovered from Shicai's surprise, nodded, Chongzhen's method is not clever, if he meets a person who is loyal to him, it is better to say, if Lu Xiangsheng did not die in battle, if he received such a holy decree, you let him climb the knife mountain, he would not blink.

"However, Chongzhen's strategy was also used in the wrong place." Pang Gang sneered: "If the official's estimate is good, he is looking forward to dragging Qingzhou and even Shandong into the water, and then let us fight with the thieves to lose both, and finally he will come out to clean up the mess, hehe, I didn't expect him to be really smart." ”

Speaking of this, Pang Gang let out a long breath, a trace of resentment flashed in his eyes, this Chongzhen is really a good calculation, in his opinion, when he exterminates Li Zicheng, he must have almost consumed his strength, and then he will send Hong Chengchou or Guanning Iron Cavalry to the east in one fell swoop and take Shandong into his hands.

"Hehe, Chongzhen, Chongzhen, you can't become the Empress Dowager Cixi, and this official is not Zeng Guofan, you miscalculated!"

Looking at Pang Gang who was muttering to himself, Wen Renjun and Hua Yan looked at each other, who was the Empress Dowager Cixi, what kind of person was Zeng Guofan, why didn't he hear about it.

However, both of them knew that Pang Gang had made up his mind, and Wen Renjun asked: "My lord, how are we going to reply to Grandpa Ma?" ”

Pang Gang replied with his nostrils: "Hmph, let's just say that we have just returned from Henan, and we have suffered heavy losses in soldiers and horses, and besides, we have limited financial resources, and we are temporarily unable to pacify Hubei, so we need to wait for another half a year." ”

"Well, that's fine." Hua Yan nodded and said, "Let's hang them for a few days first." ”

With the discussion of several people, the fate of Hubei was decided, and Chongzhen, who was far away in Yanjing, still did not know about it.

Pang Gang's text that he was named the champion Hou by the emperor soon spread all over the Ming Dynasty in less than a month with the fast horse, and even the Jurchens who were far away in Liaodong knew the news.

At this time, in the Shengjing Chongzheng Palace, Huang Taiji was discussing state affairs with all the civil and military ministers, and suddenly the news that Pang Gang was named the champion marquis, this news surprised the entire high-level of the Qing Dynasty.

The current Huang Taiji is fatter than half a year ago, and his small eyes are often squinted, but the cold light that shoots out of these eyes is even sharper.

In the past six months, a lot of things have happened in the Qing Dynasty, first of all, Yue Tuo died of illness two months ago, and his eldest son Luo Luohun inherited his title and became Baylor.

The two white flags in charge of the two brothers, Dorgon and Duoduo, were also silently licking their wounds due to the damage of their strength in this southern invasion, but the two yellow flags and the positive blue flags directly under Huang Taiji were safe and sound, so for now, Huang Taiji's power has been more consolidated.

In view of the excessive loss of strength of the Jurchens in this southern invasion, Huang Taiji expanded the Han army flag, which originally had only two flags on the left and right, to four flags, with more than 8,000 people per flag, so that the number of Han army flags expanded from more than 10,000 to more than 30,000 at once, and Kong Youde, the obedient king who was familiar with firearms, was also appointed by Huang Taiji as the banner master of the Han army banner Zhongzheng Blue Banner, and there were more than 8,000 soldiers under his command.

At this moment, the spring breeze is proud, and the red flag owner is reporting his training results to Huang Taiji.

"Your Majesty, the more than 8,000 soldiers under the command of the minions have completed their preliminary training, and these soldiers have been initially skilled in the use of firearms in combat, as long as the emperor gives an order, the minions will immediately lead them to gallop on the battlefield for the emperor."

Huang Taiji's fat face trembled, "Oh, King Gongshun is really good, he has trained a firearms team so quickly, it seems that I am going to give you a credit." ”

Kong Youde hurriedly knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "This is all thanks to the emperor's blessings, and the servants dare not take credit." ”

Looking at Kong Youde, who was smug in his face, someone next to him was unhappy, and only heard a strange voice of yin and yang and asked: "Since King Gongshun is so confident, why don't you lead the "elite" under your command to the south next month, and grab some more money and food for me in the Qing Dynasty?" ”

"This"

Kong Youde was choked by this sentence and was stabbed in the face, and asked him to take less than 10,000 soldiers and horses south to rob, isn't that to death? You really think that Wu Sangui and Hong Chengchou of Xuanda are eating dry rice!

Huang Taiji still couldn't stand it, and shouted above: "Enough, Duoduo, you don't have to say a few words, since you want to go south again, why don't I send you and King Gongshun together?" ”

"Brother knows his mistake!"

Seeing that Huang Taiji was angry, Duoduo quickly stood back in his original seat and remained silent.

After Huang Taiji drank Duoduo, his sharp eyes kept looking at everyone, and he said slowly: "Everyone, our Great Qing Dynasty has suffered frequent misfortunes this year, and nearly 100,000 troops have been killed so far, so that their strength has been greatly damaged, and this is all about a person, and I don't need to say who this person is. I thought about it and decided to make peace with Mingguo. ”

"What's peace?"

Everyone couldn't help but look at each other, if they made peace with Mingguo, how could they go south in the future.

Du Du, the owner of the Red Flag Banner, couldn't help but stand up and said: "Your Majesty, if you talk to Mingguo about peace, where will we go to fight the grass valley in the future?" ”

Huang Taiji didn't answer, his eyes swept over everyone's faces, he also knew what everyone was thinking, shook his head and sighed: "Do you think that if we don't make peace with the Ming Kingdom, we can go south wantonly as usual?" Or are the lessons of these two trips to the south not deep enough, and the losses not big enough? ”

As soon as Huang Taiji's words came out, everyone was silent, these two southern invasions, their losses added up to more than 100,000, although most of the people here were Mengbaqi and those miscellaneous soldiers, but the Jurchens' losses were not less than 50,000, which was enough to make the Qing Kingdom tremble.

(To be continued)