The wax moon of Chongzhen's fifth year is colder than in previous years.

Due to the coldest Xiaoice period in history, the temperature is now estimated to be around minus 20 degrees, the large and small rivers outside the city have long been frozen for several feet, and in the cloudy and sunny sky, there are flying winds and sand from time to time, and the snow that the people are looking forward to has not arrived for a long time, and there is no vitality on the gray earth.

After noon, the majestic emperor's guard of honor returned to the Forbidden City in front of the Heart Palace, the pale Emperor Chongzhen got off the warm sedan chair, went straight into the main hall, returned to the warm imperial study and sat on the dragon chair covered with thick brocade cushions, leaned on the back of the chair weakly, and sighed faintly.

Several eunuchs of the inner court who wanted to go up to change clothes for the emperor were so frightened that they stood aside and didn't dare to move, and the eunuch Zhang Yixian quietly glanced at Cao Huachun, Cao Huachun nodded slightly, took two steps forward, and reported in a low voice:

"Long live the lord, the six new army generals under the command of General Zhu Daolin left the capital early this morning, rushed to Tianjin Port by land, and then returned to Weihai by boat, and the father and son of Chengguogong, Changxing Hou and Longping Hou were personally sent outside Chaoyang Gate."

Emperor Chongzhen slowly opened his eyes after hearing this, and asked with some surprise: "Did the Duke of Wei and the Duke of England go to see them off?" ”

"The two grandfathers didn't go, but the juniors in the family went to see them off." Cao Huachun replied cautiously.

"Alas!"

Emperor Chongzhen sighed faintly again: "Lao Cao, Wang Chengen, and Zhang Yixian, you say, I only awarded the title of guerrilla general of the new army who put down the rebellion and worked hard. ”

The five great eunuchs in the hall looked at each other and immediately lowered their heads, and no one dared to answer this heart-wrenching question.

Seeing Emperor Chongzhen looking over worriedly, Wang Chengen, the eunuch of Bingbi, could only step forward and reply: "The slave thinks." With General Zhu's character, he will definitely be dissatisfied! ”

Everyone was taken aback, and Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but sit up straight, with a trace of solemnity in his eyes: "Go on!" ”

The loyal Wang Chengen said boldly and bluntly: "The minions have never been able to see through General Zhu, and I don't know if he is as ill-intentioned and evil-doer as the ministers said. But I know that he is a man of promise......"

This time, General Zhu did not want a penny from the imperial court, personally led 18,000 new troops, traveled thousands of miles, and traveled north, and only a few days after arriving in Dengzhou, he worked together with the Jiangnan Navy Division under the command of Wei Guogong to exterminate tens of thousands of rebels in one fell swoop, killing and capturing dozens of rebel generals, and quelling a large-scale rebellion that lasted more than a year. It did fulfill the promise he made to Banzai a few months ago. ”

"However, because of the impeachment of local officials in Shandong and the obstruction and criticism of the Manchu courtiers, General Zhu did not receive any reward, and even the post of chief soldier of Dongjiang Town, which no one wants to do now, almost failed to pass the court ......."

The minions believed that General Zhu would be dissatisfied after learning the inside story. The minion was very worried that he would leave in a fit of rage. ”

Emperor Chongzhen was ashamed and annoyed after hearing this. But I don't know what to do.

Zhu Daolin is indeed both civil and military, and has outstanding merits, but he is too bold and has a wild personality, and he dares to kill the officials of Jimo County and Qianhu appointed by the imperial court, and it is not counted as the plundering of the Jimo Jiang family. If he hadn't quickly reported the inside story and attached conclusive evidence of local tyrants and officials who were corrupt and lawless, maybe Emperor Chongzhen would have treated the lawless Zhu Daolin as a chaotic minister and thief like the shocked and angry Manchu courtiers.

What worries Emperor Chongzhen the most is not Zhu Daolin's audacity. It is Zhu Daolin's extraordinary military talent and strong strength displayed in the Battle of Dengzhou.

The battle of Dengzhou has now spread all over the world.

Zhu Daolin's full of strategy and the strong combat power of the Jiangnan New Army shocked the government and the opposition.

The young Emperor Chongzhen's surprise when he received the good news was quickly replaced by panic, and he suddenly found that Zhu Daolin's strength was far stronger than he estimated, just as several cabinet ministers and confidant eunuchs around him were worried in private, Zhu Daolin could easily form a strong army with more than 10,000 people and well-equipped without a penny from the imperial court and local yamen at all levels, and it could recruit it, fight it, and win the battle, such a strong army did not belong to the emperor and the imperial court, how could not the young Chongzhen Emperor feel deeply jealous?

Even if there was no repeated impeachment of the Donglin Party ministers who were inseparable from Zhu Dao, and there were no private discussions from a few henchmen and eunuchs, Emperor Chongzhen would have been suspicious.

If Zhu Daolin is a loyal minister, it is fine, if he is really as "lawless and ill-intentioned" as the Chinese courtiers criticized, I am afraid that the harm in the future will be a hundred times greater than the rebellion of Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming who were cut off by him!

It was precisely because of such concerns that Emperor Chongzhen would openly violate the promise he made to Zhu Daolin, take advantage of the anger and opposition of the ministers, and skillfully play the strategy of "pushing the boat down the river", appointing Zhu Daolin as the chief military officer of Dongjiang Town, giving six military attachés who had distinguished themselves in the Battle of Dengzhou as guerrilla generals, and issuing an edict instructing Zhu Daolin to lead 18,000 soldiers under his command to Phi Dao and Guanglu Island within two months to take over the defense, but did not mention the promised Jinzhouwei, Weihaiwei and Qingdao Wei. There is not a single word about the governor of Daming Haiphong.

Chongzhen's purpose is to see how Zhu Daolin reacts, to see if Zhu Daolin is a loyal minister, or a chaotic minister and thief with ill intentions?

After the implementation of the series of suppression strategies, the young emperor suddenly realized that he seemed to have forgotten Yingzhou Island and Baoshanwei, which were building a large number of buildings!

Yingzhou Island, which is too far away, can be postponed, but it cannot be ignored the vital Baoshanwei.

In the future, if you want to replace the ills and difficult to return to with convenient shipping, you must firmly grasp the Baoshanwei at the mouth of the Yangtze River, and if you want to control Baoshanwei, you must first control Zhu Daolin, otherwise, once Zhu Daolin throws his hand away in annoyance, the large-scale Baoshan Port construction plan will immediately stop, and the sea transportation that the young emperor has placed high hopes on will come to naught.

The young Emperor Chongzhen was extremely entangled at this time, if he wanted Zhu Daolin to spend a huge amount of family property to build a port and make sea ships, he had to give Zhu Daolin enough benefits...... But he broke the promise he made to Zhu Daolin in person, how could he get Zhu Daolin's sincere repayment?

If Zhu Daolin really "shook his hands in anger and didn't do anything" as Wang Chengen said, wouldn't it be completely empty?

Emperor Chongzhen, who was full of anxiety, stood up suddenly, walked a few steps quickly, stopped again, pondered for a long time under the extremely worried gaze of the surrounding eunuchs, began to pace back and forth, and finally stopped in front of the low cabinet under the window, staring blankly at the lifelike model of the sailboat on the low cabinet, and did not move. (To be continued.) )