h2> Zhu Ping'an was taken aback, he never thought that Chongzhen would come to the palace at this time, his first thought was to avoid it, but when he stood up, he was stopped by Wang Chengen, "It's okay, the saint said hello in advance, and I want to come to the palace to visit at night." Retreat into the inner chamber and listen to the word of the Holy One, which will also help you to plan for your future actions. ”

At that moment, Wang Chengen sat up from the bamboo couch and took Zhu Ping'an to the back of the screen, and he didn't know what mechanism was pressed on the wall, a door suddenly opened on the white wall, and Wang Chengen signaled Zhu Ping'an to hide in. After closing, the secret room was suddenly dark, but the air hole still showed a little light outside, and the sound from outside was clearly transmitted along the air hole.

About half a pillar of incense, noisy footsteps sounded in the courtyard, followed by Wang Chengen's grateful, "The Holy Father has every opportunity, and he even took advantage of his leisure time to visit the old slave, and the old slave is grateful!" ”

Chongzhen said in a low and slightly hoarse voice, "This is not in the palace, so there is no need to be polite." You've been away these days, and a lot of things have happened, and when I heard Huaide say that your body was ready, I came to the door, one for visiting, and the other for some things to arrange. ”

The footsteps of the two entered the room one after the other, and the rest of the people retreated to the courtyard gate one after another.

Zhu Ping'an held his breath, although his heart was nervous, he understood Wang Chengen's intentions in an instant. Emperor Chongzhen is not a dumb king, but his suspicious and fickle character is well known, the feudal officials, the six ministers few can fully figure out their intentions, and because of this, the ministers are trembling, do not seek no success, but seek no fault, which is also an important reason for the low administrative efficiency in this period. Wang Chengen, as Chongzhen's close minister, Chongzhen's ability to hand over the matter of moving south to him to take care of it shows his trust. But even so, it can be known from Wang Chengen's words that he is not sure that he can fully grasp Chongzhen's thoughts and deeds, so he hopes that Zhu Ping'an can listen to Chongzhen's words behind people, and use this as the basis for future actions.

"You already know about Tianjin, right?" Chongzhen asked, sipping tea.

"Yes!"

At first, I still wondered why there was such a large-scale mutiny in Tianjinwei, so that Zhao Liangdong, the chief soldier, lost his life. After receiving Zhu Ping'an's report, I suddenly realized that there was a traitor among them, and he actually used the name of the army to beat the idea to Cao Liang. ”

"Holy Mingjian. As early as when Zhu Ping'an entered Beijing for the first time, he told the slave maid about this matter......! ”

"Oh, why don't you report it?" There was a hint of dissatisfaction in Chongzhen's words.

"First, because there is no evidence; The second is because of the wide implication. Shanyou merchants have been operating in the area outside the mouth for decades, and the Jin merchants have begun to emerge since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, and when they arrived in the Renxuan Dynasty, there have been a large number of three Jin sons who have entered the court as officials, including even the six ministers and ministers at that time. Now, the children of the Jin merchants are all over the government and the opposition, and it is really impossible to completely identify whether they have any relationship with the Shanyou merchants. Therefore, when Zhu Ping'an informed the old slave of these things, the old slave chose to suppress the matter in order to have a future effect. ”

Chongzhen sighed, "What you said is reasonable, this is indeed a difficult thing to do. But now, I have to face it, the Tianjin general soldiers I selected dare to move, and even launched a mutiny, the power of these traitors cannot be underestimated, and if they sit idly by, the foundation of the country will be unstable. ”

"However, the old nest of the merchants on the right side of the mountain is in Zhangjiakou, which is located in a border town and is close to Mongolia, so I am afraid it will not be easy to get rid of it!" Chongzhen added.

Wang Chengen thought so. Immediately proposed to Chongzhen that he could hand over this mission to Jinyiwei. Although Jinyiwei is far inferior to the past, there are Jinyiwei guards in various places, and once the plan has been decided, it can simultaneously exterminate the branch strongholds of Shanyou merchants in various places. As for Zhangjiakou's lair, it is necessary to have an operator personally lead troops to exterminate it at the same time.

After that, Chongzhen fell into deep thought, and did not speak again for a long time. But as soon as he opened his mouth, he jumped directly to another topic. "The Battle of Jinzhou is imminent, but the battlefields of the Central Plains and Huguang are becoming more and more tight, Ding Qirui is unable to mobilize all kinds of governors, and Zhang Xianzhong's troops are becoming stronger and stronger. The trilateral governors Fu Zonglong and Sun Chuanting were also a little stretched to deal with Li Zicheng, and they all complained to the Beijing division and asked for reinforcements, what do you think of this matter? ”

Wang Chengen just replied, "Military affairs, the old slave is a eunuch, and he doesn't dare to say anything!" ”

"But now there are people in the court who have advised them to send Shandong soldiers and horses to support the three sides, and Zhu Ping'an has recruited volunteers and soldiers in Denglai in the past two years to form a new army, and I heard that the results are good. Even Zhou Yanru was a little moved, and Fu Zonglong even made a few concerts, requesting the transfer of Shandong soldiers and horses to support. You say it bluntly, I want to hear what I think! ”

Wang Chengen confessed his sins, and then he spoke. What he meant was that Shandong's soldiers and horses could be mobilized, but they could never be mobilized as the main force. Although there are tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Shandong, it is the only force with a certain combat effectiveness near Gyeonggi, once all of them are put into the battlefield of suppressing thieves, in case the Beijing division changes, it will be too late to rush to help. The carefully prepared plan to move south was also in vain. Zhao Liangdong is dead, and he can find someone to replace him, but once the soldiers and horses are withdrawn, it will not be so easy to transfer them back.

What's more, take the worst-case scenario as an example, once the Jingshi falls and the royal family retreats to Jiangnan, with no soldiers in their hands, how can they order all the governors.

Wang Chengen considered it very carefully from Chongzhen's point of view, which made Emperor Chongzhen very pleased. "The courtiers are all in the first place, only you can put yourself in my shoes, it's really rare!"

"That's it!" Emperor Chongzhen made up his mind in an instant, "Let Zhu Ping'an lead 10,000 soldiers and horses to help Fu Zonglong, so that he can deal with the courtiers." At that time, he will preside over the raid on Zhangjiakou, which can be regarded as killing two birds with one stone. ”

Speaking of this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but be a little annoyed and frustrated, "I have already let Luo Yangxing keep an eye on Liu Zhongshu and He Youling, these two traitors are eating my Ming Dynasty's money, and they have actually done a traitorous deed, and not killing them is not enough to calm my anger." At the same time as Zhu Ping'an invaded Zhangjiakou, I wanted to see the heads of the two of them. ”

"Yes, the old slave commands!"

Wang Chengen actually understood Chongzhen's thoughts, and he also understood in his heart that the situation in the north of the Ming Dynasty was already difficult to reverse. From Chongzhen's heart, he really hopes to take the crown prince in Nanjing, or simply move south, and take half of the south of the Yangtze River as the foundation and start all over again. But he was faced with a civilian-bureaucratic group that had been in operation for more than 200 years, and pedantic, good name, party strife, and so on were the distinctive marks of this group, and he could not compete with this deep-rooted group on his own. Once the construction of the southward move is proposed, it will inevitably be attacked by the courtiers, and if there is something, they can hide and surrender, but for their reputation, the Ming royal family must defend the Beijing division, and they can't even mention the word "leaving".

"Otomo!" Chongzhen's eyes were slightly red, "I'm not a dumb king, but I'm really afraid to be the king of the dead country." The fall of Zhongdu, the burning of the mausoleum, the killing of King Fu and King Xiang and other clans by thieves, all of which made me have no face to see my ancestors and ancestors. ”

"Thinking about it, as long as I can stay in Nanjing, the bloodline prison country in the future, I will stay in this capital and never go anywhere! Chengzu Youyun 'The Son of Heaven guards the country, and the king dies', Zhongxing Daming I can't do it, but this can still be done! ”

Wang Chengen was also sad suddenly, and just wanted to comfort him, but Emperor Chongzhen waved his hand, "Companion, the prince is still young, this is the only point I can't rest assured." In case he can go to Nanjing, you can also follow him, and give more guidance from the side, so that he finally has his own people by his side. ”

Wang Chengen wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and knelt straight in front of Chongzhen, "There is no need to say anything about the saint, the prince has his own auxiliary ministers by his side." Starting from the Hidden Mansion, the old slave has followed the saint for sixteen years, and this body has been entrusted to the saint, why did the saint send the old slave far away! Regardless of the wind and frost sword in front of him, the old slave must follow the saint left and right! ”

Chongzhen was also inexplicably moved, and personally helped Wang Chengen up, "Okay, okay, in this case, I won't say it in the future." Wang Pin is trained outside, and Huaide is also calm and humble, both of which are adjusted by you, and I will entrust both of them to the prince, and achieve a good story of monarchs and ministers in the future. ”

Chongzhen let out a sigh of relief, and finally found a solution to the problem in his heart. But suddenly something came to mind.

"When the day comes, remember to remind me. After all, Zhu Ping'an is a clan, and holding military power for a long time is by no means a good thing for the crown prince. When the time comes, when the crown prince leaves Beijing, you will help me draw up an edict and hand it over to the prince. When the overall situation of Nanjing has been decided, he announced the identity of Zhu Ping'an's clan in the world, restored Zhu Yujian's title of Tang king, and established Zhu Ping'an as the son. He has merit, but he can no longer be in charge of the army, and in the future, he will be a rich and free prince, and he will be given all glory and wealth. ”

"If he has a different idea, this edict can make the ministers and military attaches in the world rise up and attack him, and it can also be regarded as a guarantee for the prince, so as not to cause trouble and recreate the changes of the year!"

"Yes, the old slave obeys!" Wang Chengen replied calmly.

And Zhu Ping'an, who was in the secret room, was dripping with cold sweat. Chongzhen's mind is really elusive, on the one hand, he is trying his best to win over, but on the other hand, he is secretly killing tricks, is this the emperor's mental technique?

This step by step is to ensure that Zhu Cihong can arrive in Nanjing smoothly and ascend to the throne. turned his head, but he mercilessly put himself in a place of no return.

It seems that Wang Chengen wants to hide in this secret room today and eavesdrop on his own, and this is the point!

Zhu Ping'an quietly took a deep breath, trying to calm his breathing and heartbeat, and slowly released infinite killing intent in his eyes.

Chongzhen made a lot of calculations, but he still didn't calculate what the situation would be like in the future. The vassal kings of all walks of life rose one after another, ignoring the great cause of the Northern Expedition for the sake of an imperial position. Wenchen and military generals attacked each other for their own selfish interests, and squandered the good situation.

Whether Zhu Cihong can inherit this Ming dynasty peacefully is still unknown! R1152