Hearing the news of Wang Lanping's rebellion, Zhu Yousong was greatly surprised, he couldn't imagine that Dingnanhou, who had received a lot of imperial favor, could do such an ungrateful thing, Zhu Yousong also expected him to take care of the family and the hospital for his own happy life, who else can trust now, and the six gods are not in shock.

I heard that Wang Lanping only bypassed the cabinet and privately reorganized the Beijing garrison, and did not lead the army to attack Nanjing, so I breathed a sigh of relief, so it seems that it is not a rebellion, and Wang Lanping has already held great power, and you are Dingnanhou, he has no reason to take risks, what can he do with the 50,000 people who have just adapted the people's hearts, but Zhu Yousong can't stand Ma Shiying's intimidation and coaxing, and his mind is a mess.

Ma Shiying hurriedly said his plan of 'protecting the master', first immediately issued a secret order to transfer the armies of Gao Jie and Liu Zeqing in the four towns of Jiangbei to the periphery of Nanjing to assemble to prevent Wang Lanping's rebels, and immediately sent Zuo Maodi, the governor of Yingtian, to go north to negotiate peace with Manchu, so that when the two towns of Jiangbei withdrew from the defense area, they would not take the opportunity to invade Ming in the south, and after the army of the two towns arrived, they would send someone to transfer Wang Lanping into Nanjing, and take the opportunity to kill him when he entered the city, and immediately select one person to take over the post of Nanjing garrison commander, then the major event could be decided. The candidate is the current deputy general of Nanjing City Defense Ma Ming, that is, the son of Ma Shiying.

As soon as he heard this, Zhu Yousong understood that even if Wang Lanping really rebelled, after getting rid of it, the emperor would completely fall into the control of the Ma family, but at this time Zhu Yousong had no choice, Ma Ming controlled the Nanjing City Defense and Inner Garden, and his life and death were just Ma Shiying's words.

The next day, Zuo Maodi was reluctant to take Ma Shiying's peace negotiation conditions and 300,000 taels of silver under the supervision of Ma Shiying's escort, and entered the canal from Nanjing Ferry to the north, and went to Beijing to find Dolgon to negotiate peace.

In addition, the decree on the construction of the new palace has also begun to be implemented, and the superintendent is naturally arranged by Ma Shiying, with a construction fund of 20 million taels, how can he fake others if he is so fat, anyway, under the banner of the emperor, no matter how much he uses power for personal gain, it is also the emperor's back.

When the military department Shangshu Shi Kefa heard all this, he was furious, not to mention whether the new palace can be built within a year, the cost of 20 million taels alone is unbelievable, according to the current budget of the household department, the annual financial income of the imperial court is only 8 million taels, this money has to pay the annual military expenses of the four towns in Jiangbei 6 million taels, the large and small Beijing officials, as well as the relief of disasters that occur from time to time in various places, as well as the huge expenses for providing the inner garden of the palace, this is already a deficit finance, where does the money to build the new palace come from?

Shi Kefa played a few tricks in a row, but a few days later, the matter sank into the sea, and what was even more infuriating was that he couldn't even see the emperor's face now, and the major affairs of the court were completely controlled by the cabinet.

In order to completely control the cabinet, Ma Shiying vigorously used the eunuchs who lost power after the fall of Wei Zhongxian, the most famous of which was Ruan Dacheng, who had already joined the cabinet as the secretary of the military department at this time.

The Donglin party elements in the cabinet and the officials who did not want to be in the same stream with Ma Shiying were replaced one by one, Shi Kefa was transferred to Yangzhou to sit in the town, and supervised the four towns of Jiangbei, Shi Kefa knew that the general trend had gone, and he was overwhelmed with grief and indignation, and on the night when he was about to leave Beijing the next day, suddenly a group of Donglin party officials who had been suppressed by Ma Shiying came up to Shi Zhai, led by Qian Qianyi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites.

Shi Kefa knew their intentions, and ordered his family to close the door of the mansion and not allow anyone to disturb him, and he led everyone to a small house in the innermost part of the Shi Mansion.

More than a dozen people sat around the table in the hut, but no one spoke, and the room was so quiet that you could hear the sound of the candle flame crackling and burning, and from time to time the sigh came from someone's mouth, and everyone's faces showed almost the same expression, and they were deeply sad.

Seeing that the eunuch party was gaining power again, the Donglin party was expelled from the court one after another, which made them not feel bitter, and now even Shi Kefa, the only one who could speak for them, was demoted out of Beijing, and the hope of the Donglin party to take power again became more and more slim.

Although Shi Kefa disdains party disputes, he is a student of Zuo Guangdou, the leader of the Donglin Party of the Apocalypse Dynasty, and it is unlikely that he wants to stay away from this kind of party disputes.

The current Donglin Party is headed by Qian Qianyi, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, who took the lead in breaking the silence.

Qian Qianyi is over sixty years old, but his family is wealthy, and he is as good as he is in his early fifties, he coughed lightly and said, "Let's talk about it, if you don't talk about it, you won't have a chance in the future."

Everyone looked at each other, and Tian Fang suddenly became excited, only to see him slap the table, and said indignantly, "Two pavilion elders, colleagues, you have also seen it, we should have insisted on letting King Gui supervise the country at the beginning, and we would not have ended up so passive today, what is King Fu called, counterattack, revenge for his father."

In order to prevent the Wanli Emperor from setting up Zhu Yousong's father Lao Fu Wang as the crown prince, the Donglin Party fought with the Wanli Emperor for 20 years and finally won, so in the matter of who was the emperor after Chongzhen's death, the Donglin Party was afraid that once Xiaofu King ascended the throne, he might avenge the revenge of the year, so they preferred to give up the near and far, and insisted on letting King Gui, who had taken refuge in Guangxi, supervise the country, not to mention that Guangxi was far away from Nanjing, he was still Chongzhen's uncle, 'nephew and uncle' is too ridiculous, but the Donglin Party leaders don't care.

And there are officials in Nanjing City who unanimously insist on establishing King Fu, the reason is that King Fu is close to Huai'an, and is the cousin of Emperor Chongzhen, close in blood, 'brother and brother succession' is always good to hear of 'nephew and uncle successor', the two sides are in trouble, and finally everyone turned their attention to the head of the hundred officials at that time, Shi Kefa, Shi Ge Department in order to calm the turmoil, even did not help, do not come out with a new cut to change the King of Lu, but at this time, Ma Shiying led the three towns into Nanjing, the final word, King Fu, the Donglin Party lost power, Shi Kefa's 'two-faced' sat on the cold bench.

Seeing that the more Tian Fang said, the more outrageous it became, Shi Kefa knocked on the table, "Lord Tian, be cautious, no matter how you say that King Fu has ascended the throne, how can you slander the monarch behind your back as a courtier?"

Qian Qianyi said, "The monarch's father is not virtuous, and the courtiers should be more loyal and persuasive, now, Lord Shi, you look at the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, where is there a foothold of our Donglin Party, the emperor only listens to Ma Shiying's gang of eunuchs and their lackeys Ruan Dacheng, Liu Zeqing and the like, this is partial listening, the sages have clouds, and listening to them is clear, if we don't fight back, Nanjing will soon repeat the mistakes of Beijing"

Shi Kefa said, "Lord Qian, don't always be so alarmist, I said a long time ago, don't engage in any party disputes, whether it's the Donglin Party or the Eunuch Party, they are all the emperor's courtiers, you and I just need to do our part and do our best for the country and the people."

Everyone heard the rumors and talked about it, and since ancient times, the party struggle in the court has never been broken, and how to realize personal political ambitions without fighting for a monopoly of power.

Qian said suspiciously, "Duty? What is the duty? Who is not the pillar of the Ming Dynasty, and now, he doesn't even have the opportunity to be loyal, so what is his duty?"

As soon as Qian Butang finished speaking, someone immediately jumped out and agreed, "That's right, today's saint Shaode, traitors in the court and the middle of the country are in power, and we are loyal and good but have no way to serve the country, can't we be idle when no one is there in the middle of the night?" ”

Shi Kefa patted the table and stood up and said, "Everyone, if you discuss the government and politics, Shi will accompany you, if you gather here to slander the monarch's father, forgive me for being rude, please"

Everyone saw that Shi Kefa was angry, so they had to slowly quiet down unhappily.

Qian Qianyi said, "Don't be angry, Shi Lao, I am waiting here today, I also want to come up with a plan for the current predicament, Shi Lao, you will leave Beijing tomorrow to go to Yangzhou to take up your post, what should you instruct, should you help me and others guide me up and down?"

Shi Kefa sighed, the government is so far, what can he do, the Donglin Party has lost all its power and cannot be reversed by personal ability, in this troubled world, the military generals control all the right to speak.

Shi Kefa said, "I still say that, don't fight, be broad-minded, you are all indispensable talents of Zhongxing Daming, and you should have the tolerance of all rivers, Ma Shiying's power is not a good thing, who among you can control the four towns of Jiangbei?" In him, the four towns of Jiangbei still have some taboos and dare not make more troubles, and look at people's hearts for a long time, as long as everyone abides by the duties of courtiers and does not forget the integrity of scholars, I believe that the court will definitely reuse everyone again"

This is a piece of soup like a wheel, saying that it is equivalent to not saying, this can be Shi Kefa is really powerless, he understands the truth of the party's struggle for the country, especially now when the national strength of the Ming Dynasty is in decline, the court really can't be chaotic, officials at all levels should contribute their own strength to the Ming Dynasty, scholars take the world as their own responsibility, as long as they do not lose this heart, then even if they are a nine-grade small official, they are worthy of reading a lifetime of sage books.

Qian Qianyi said, "Blindly retreating will only fuel the arrogance of the eunuchs, Shi Lao, when the Lingshi died tragically in the edict, this is a sin made by the eunuchs, you won't forget it."

Shi Kefa really didn't want to talk to them about these topics again, he could see in everyone's eyes a kind of ominous, cunning, insidious, vicious, and other expressions that could not be connected with the readers, this feeling made Shi Khan afraid, and the weak Ming Dynasty could no longer withstand any toss.

Seeing that Shi Kefa didn't speak, Qian Qianyi said again, "Old Shi, I heard that you have a good relationship with the new Nanjing Commander Ding Nanhou?" ”

Speaking of Wang Lanping, Shi Kefa's eyes flashed with a trace of love, that day in the court to listen to Wang Lanping plan the court, set the war situation thousands of miles away, as big as the judgment of the current situation, as small as the details of the war, he seems to be able to say three points, and now it seems that all of Wang Lanping's strategies have been fulfilled one by one, which makes Shi Kefa, the secretary of the military department, unconscious, there are a few more such people in the Ming Dynasty, why worry about the peace of the family and the country, why worry about the unrest of the people.

Shi Kefa said, "I don't have any personal relationships"

Qian Qian smiled and asked, "What about Shi Laoguan?" ”

Shi Kefa showed a hint of approval on his face, nodded and said, "Be brave and strategic, be able to write and martial arts, and in time you will become a generation of handsome talents."

Qian Qianyi clapped his hands and laughed, "The hero sees the same thing, and Qian also feels that this talent is of great use, and he is a rare talent."

Speaking of this, Qian Qianyi's tone changed, and he said in a suppressed voice, "There is a plan to cut off Ma Shiying's power in one fell swoop, and this is also something that I and all my colleagues here discussed together, Old Shi, do you want to hear it?" ”

Shi Kefa was displeased, but out of face, he said, "If you have something to say, just say it"

Qian Qianyi stood up, circled thoughtfully around the table in front of everyone, and said in a low voice, "I heard that Wang Lanping bypassed the cabinet and the military department, and combined the original 15th battalion of the Beijing camp into the champion army, and even Li Zhi, a veteran who has been honored for generations, he dares to kill, if Qian is right, the champion army at this time has been dominated by Wang Lanping, this is good news for us, imagine it, if we secretly contact Dingnanhou and ask him to lead the army into Beijing, and we will do internal response for him in the court, we will be able to eradicate Ma Shiying in one fell swoop, And then we will promote Shi Lao as the first assistant of the cabinet."

Hearing this, the crowd was excited, and it seemed that they had seen the dawn of victory over the eunuchs.

Only Shi Kefa shook his head with a wry smile, "Lord Qian, why do you think that Wang Lanping can listen to you, maybe he doesn't know much about politics, but you must understand that he is a martial champion, and he is far above you and me in the art of war, as long as the four towns in Jiangbei are still there, it is impossible for him Wang Lanping to be an enemy of Ma Shiying, and it is simply whimsical for you to do this."

Qian Qianyi did not give up, and said, "The matter is man-made, how to know if you don't try, whether this thing is successful or not, please ask Shi Lao to help, please introduce it on your behalf, we will do the rest, and then you will go to Yangzhou to take office."

Shi Kefa didn't speak again, he knew these people too well, and he was afraid that the world would not be chaotic.

Qian Qianyi saw that he didn't speak, knowing that things were hopeless, but he still had a plan.

Qian Qianyi said, "Shi Lao, the lord of the successive dynasties of the continuous rejuvenation of the country, all of them are people of great talent, and look at my lord of the Hongguang Dynasty, hehe, the emperor is not eloquent, you know, maybe Qian is not clear, according to the old man's humble opinion, if you want to revive the Ming Dynasty, it seems that there is still a lack of the heroism of Emperor Taizu Gao in today's saints."

Shi Kefa couldn't hear this kind of thing the most, and stood up again and said angrily, "Lord Qian, I said that it is not your turn to be a saint or a sage, and I will comment, since he is the emperor, then we courtiers must do our best to assist, what do you mean by this?" ”

Qian Qianyi looked at everyone and smiled, and said, "Shi Lao is not afraid to see a person"

Not long after, an official came out of the Shi family's house, brought in a person from the outside, entered the house, took off the cloak on his head, Shi Kefa looked up and down, it was a young offspring, about sixteen or seventeen years old, and he was born quite heroic, smiling, and full of aura, like a prince and grandson who came out of a high-gate compound.

Shi Kefa pointed to the visitor and asked, "Lord Qian, what does this mean?" ”

Qian Qianyi stroked his beard and said with a smile, "On that day, the city of Beijing was broken, the first emperor was martyred, fortunately God blessed me with the Ming Dynasty, the prince escaped from danger, and came all the way to Nanjing City."

Shi Ke** was stunned, the prince came to Nanjing? Didn't you say that you were detained by Li Zicheng? Where did the prince come from to go south, could it be that he said the young man in front of him? He has never seen the prince, no one has ever seen the prince, the prince is raised in the deep palace, and a few people can see it.

Thinking of this, Shi Kefa was shocked, and he hurriedly threw off his robe, and was about to kneel down, "Minister Shi Kefa see Tai ......" When he knelt halfway, he suddenly stopped.

Shi Kefa is a person who understands the general situation, the prince came out at this time, whether it is true or not, it will do all kinds of harm to the current Ming Dynasty and no benefit, Qian Qianyi and this gang of Donglin Party have brought out the prince, this intention is self-evident, it is nothing more than to replace the current Hongguang Emperor, and as long as the identity of the so-called 'prince' is revealed, the Hongguang Dynasty, which has just been decided by the people, will immediately spread rumors, and the people's hearts will be in turmoil.

Shi Kefa straightened his waist and didn't look at the so-called prince, but just cast a disdainful look at everyone, snorted, and shook his hand away.

"Old Shi, you, do you say something, do you agree with this?" The military department chased after him and shouted.

Shi Kefa didn't reply, and threw down a sentence, "The erector is not enough and conspiracy, villains, a group of villains, disasters to the country and the people, housekeepers, send-offs"

The next day, the news that 'Prince Zhu Cihong' went south to Nanjing spread, along with what other obscure secrets about Emperor Hongguang spread throughout the city, such as "Emperor Hongguang had sex at night and killed two virgins", "Every time Emperor Hongguang drank fine wine, he must be fed by a wonderful girl" and other obscure secrets about Emperor Hongguang spread throughout the city, and they became more and more out of shape.

－－－－－－－－－－－

On the street opposite the Confucius Temple, there is a not very conspicuous inn, the window on the second floor of the inn is wide open, a young woman is looking at the surging pedestrians on the street from the window, only to see her brows tightly locked, the face of the unfatted powder is full of gloom, but it is difficult to hide the beauty of its national color and fragrance, a few wisps of green silk drifting on the forehead, adding a bit of sadness, a young man in her sight was surrounded by everyone along the street to the Yingtianfu Ya not far away.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open, and an equally young woman rushed in in a hurry, closed the door with her backhand, and said hurriedly, "Princess, princess, prince, grandpa is here"

Princess Zhaoren, who was leaning against the window, did not look back, lightly opened her red lips, and said lightly, "Ruxue, didn't I tell you, don't call me princess, that person is not a prince, that's a fake"

Ruxue hurriedly ran to the window, looked down, it turned out that the line of sight was better from here, she pursed her mouth and whispered, "Oh, Ruxue was far away from below just now, I just heard what people said, I made a mistake again"

Princess Zhaoren still looks like an ice beauty, since she escaped from Beijing, she has not smiled, "Father, prince, mother, hehe, it's all gone, it's gone" while saying, a line of tears rolled over the cheeks, which really made people feel pity for the fragrance and cherish the jade.

Ruxue took out a handkerchief and wiped it for her, "Miss, don't think about it, it's all over"

Princess Zhaoren suddenly looked at Ruxue, "No, I hate, I hate Li Zicheng who forced my father to death, and I hate those captives who occupied the Forbidden City."

Ruxue hurriedly covered Princess Zhaoren's mouth with her hand, "Miss, don't talk nonsense, be careful of being heard" Seeing that the princess's expression slowly eased, she let go, and then said, "Miss, don't think too much, Long live the revenge of the Lord will definitely be avenged, Ruxue heard that there are many, many Ming troops in Jiangnan, they will definitely help Miss get what she wants"

Zhaoren Xing's eyes widened, "I hate them even more, selfish, seeing the fall of the capital, but shrinking in the south of the Yangtze River to see death and not help, they are not worthy of being my Ming officials"

Ruxue wanted to amuse the princess as much as possible, and said with a smile, "Princess, Ruxue heard that there was a martial champion hand-picked by the Lord of Long Live in Nanjing recently, and now everyone in the city is talking about him, saying that he is not brave and strong in martial arts, and he also looks like a talent, and he has won the Hongguang Emperor, oh no, he has won the trust of King Fu, and he has a lot of soldiers under him, Ruxue thinks, he will definitely take the Ming army back to Beijing in the future."

Zhaoren took a deep breath, "I have already sworn that no matter who it is, as long as he kills Li Zicheng for me and kills all the people, I will marry her, be a concubine and a maidservant, and serve him anonymously for a lifetime."

Ruxue covered her mouth and giggled, meaningful, and said very playfully, "Then Miss Do you want to meet this Wu Zhuangyuan, ask him when he will return to Beijing, and by the way, Ruxue will help Miss again and ask him if he is already married, ah, hehe!" ”

Zhaoren's face turned red, "Dead girl, when did you become so poor, go"

"Haha, Miss, you smiled, you still blushed, come on, Ruxue, I'm going to find someone to find out if there is a Mrs. Hou in Nanhou's Mansion"

"Dead girl, you still say, I'll sell you if you say it"