Since Zhang Ke wrote to protect Cui Chengxiu, the situation in Beijing has changed three times a day, and there have been more and more twists and turns in the impeachment of Cui Chengxiu. And Chongzhen's suspicious nature was also exposed. He wanted to mobilize the Yizhou soldiers several times to exterminate the Liukou, but Zhang Ke blocked them back, and there was a knot between the two of them.

This time, Chongzhen is even more impeached, and the purpose of this hand is obvious.

The impeachment of the bullet flew like snowflakes, not only Cui Chengxiu, but even Zhang Ke didn't run away, Chongzhen thought about it again and again, after all, Zhang Ke still held great power, he personally sent officials to Tianjin to comfort Zhang Ke, of course, it was only Zhang Ke alone, as for Cui Chengxiu, you want to go yourself!

The night gradually thickened, and the tea was drunk, Cui Chengxiu became more and more anxious, and sweat broke out on his forehead.

The two were impeached at the same time, only comforting Zhang Ke, Chongzhen's meaning couldn't be clearer, that is, forcing Zhang Ke to lose his pawn and protect the handsome.

Although Zhang Ke promised to protect him, who knows if there will be changes! Once Zhang Ke relents, he, the remnant of the eunuch party, will be in a different place!

After waiting for a long time, Zhang Ke didn't say anything, but picked up the teacup casually, drank tea with his head bored, and the meaning of sending off the guest was very clear. Cui Chengxiu blushed, got up and walked two steps, suddenly turned around, hesitated, and bowed deeply at Zhang Ke.

"Brother Yongzhen, I've always had a doubt, I don't know if Brother Yongzhen can solve my doubts."

"Brother Cui, say it."

Cui Chengxiu took a deep breath, stared at Zhang Ke tightly, and said solemnly: "Brother Yongzhen, the power of the Yizhou soldiers has become stronger and stronger in recent years, and the strength of the force is the best in the world, and the capital is within reach. Why did Brother Yongzhen give up the near and far, first in the southeast, then in the northwest, and even hit the idea overseas, but he didn't take it for a long time? ”

The voice was not loud. But every word weighs like a thousand catties, after Cui Chengxiu passed through Liaodong, he became more and more clear about Zhang Ke's strength, and his first reaction was that this guy must have a heart of disobedience. But he didn't see Zhang Ke make any moves, but tossed left and right, which in his opinion were all useless.

Zhang Ke looked at Cui Chengxiu, who was puzzled, and smiled indifferently.

"Brother Cui, do you want to be a dragon hero?"

Cui Chengxiu's old face turned red and gritted his teeth. Bet!

If you want Zhang Ke to protect himself, you must let him see his own value.

"If it weren't for Brother Yongzhen's blessing, Cui would have died with Wei Zhongxian a long time ago, and my life would have been Brother Yongzhen's. Just ask Zhu Youzhen, who is sitting on the dragon chair in the capital, in addition to his surname Zhu, does he have any merit? Yongzhen's brother Wen Tao is strategic, and he has great achievements in the world, so he really shouldn't be subservient. ”

Saying that, Cui Chengxiu knelt on the ground and touched the ground with his head. He swore an oath: "Although the minister is not talented, he is willing to be the vanguard for Brother Yongzhen, and if the emperor does not accept his loyalty, he should be replaced by the capable." Throughout the ages, the heavens did not take it, but suffered from it! ”

After Cui Chengxiu finished speaking, the five bodies fell to the ground. Lying in front of Zhang Ke, the sweat on his body kept falling for a while. There was an extra watermark on the ground.

Every minute and second was an unprecedented torment, and when Zhang Ke said the words "get up", Cui Chengxiu fell on his stomach and got up after a while.

"Brother Cui, you can sit down and rest first."

"Wechen doesn't dare." Cui Chengxiu said respectfully.

"You're convinced that I'm going to be emperor." Zhang Ke chuckled and said, "Brother Cui, I won't hide it from you, Zhang does have this thought." ”

Cui Chengxiu's eyes widened suddenly, but the next words made him even more shocked.

"Actually, someone has already persuaded this king, but the time is not yet ripe."

"How so?" Cui Chengxiu blurted out and said, "Is it a lack of soldiers, or is it a lack of food?" I think the accumulation of Liaodong is enough, and it doesn't take much effort to lay down the Jingshi. ”

Zhang Ke smiled meaningfully, "Jingshi is not a problem, but what about those homeless people?" ”

"It's just a matter of distributing food and relief, isn't Liaodong doing very well?"

Zhang Ke shook his head: "Brother Cui, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the number of fields has increased by only fifty percent, and what about the household registration?" At least three times more! Even if there is no annexation and no exploitation by officials, these lands will not be able to support the people of the Ming Dynasty. Another round of rebellion is inevitable, and if you are not well prepared, even if you become emperor, you will be caught in endless wars until the surplus population is exhausted. ”

Cui Chengxiu had never thought about it like this, and when he heard it at this time, he couldn't help but tremble, and he was sweating more than just now.

"King, lord, what are you going to do?" Choi Chengxiu swallowed hard and spat.

"It's very simple, it's what I asked Brother Cui to do." Zhang Ke suddenly smiled and said: "Open up overseas territories, Tuntian foreign lands, and vigorously immigrate overseas, only in this way can we solve the problem of more people and less land, and avoid the general war in the late Han Dynasty and the late Tang Dynasty." ”

"What if the people relocate and are unwilling to relocate?"

"Isn't there a rogue! With them making trouble everywhere, even if the people don't want to leave, there is no way! ”

Understood, thoroughly understood!

Cui Chengxiu struggled to digest Zhang Ke's plan, it was obvious that he no longer took the Ming Dynasty seriously, what he wanted to do was to change the dynasty at the lowest cost.

Thinking of this, he suddenly realized that his overseas governor was not an ordinary arrangement, on the contrary, he was still an extremely important one!

Blood rushed to his head in an instant, Cui Chengxiu's face flushed, and his mouth was a little stumbling with excitement.

"Thank you for the prince's attention, the minister will definitely live up to the trust, but ......" His face fell again, and he smiled bitterly: "It's just that Chongzhen Xiao'er doesn't agree, you see?" ”

Zhang Ke smiled slightly: "Brother Cui, you just have to figure out the situation in Nanyang, as for the imperial court, I have a way to settle it." ”

……

Toast and don't eat and drink, Zhang Ke originally wanted to beat the drum with Chongzhen to buy candy, do a line of work, who knew that Chongzhen would be disobedient so soon, and he would have to do things at his pace, Zhang Ke thought of it, and the air was filled with the smell of conspiracy.

Since Zhang Ke patrolled the border, from Jizhen to Xuanda, all of them have vigorously reduced soldiers, and He Shixian has also laid off manpower in Beijing.

As a result, a large number of unemployed soldiers either fell into the grass or joined the homeless army and became the backbone of the army. This makes the exile force countless times stronger than in history. And from time to time, they can also receive help from arms merchants, including knives, guns, armor, and even a lot of arquebuses.

These weapons are amazing, they are even better than those used by the Ming army, and the rogues who are like tigers are becoming more and more fierce. Except for a few places such as Taiyuan that can hold on, most of the other areas have fallen.

However, Chongzhen is not exactly a rice bucket, he appointed Hong Chengchou as the governor of the five provinces, specifically responsible for suppressing bandits.

Not to mention, Hong Chengchou is a talent, and after taking office, he immediately rectified the people. Purchase knives and guns, and send more people to find out the movements of the rogues. With a few sharp killing moves, they defeated the rogue one after another and saved the situation.

The Liukou could not gain a foothold in Shanxi, so they retreated to Henan, and the leaders of the Liukou gathered in Xingyang to discuss the next step. As a rising star in the rebel army, Li Zicheng proposed: "Divide the troops and orient them. The strategy of "four-way attack" was unanimously praised.

After the end of the alliance, Gao Yingxiang, Li Zicheng, and Zhang Xianzhong immediately led the Liukou southward and invaded Nanzhili from Henan. Because it is a surprise soldier stands out. The defenders were unable to cope with the situation, and they were defeated in successive battles and were unable to form an army.

When the displaced people along the way heard that the rebels were coming, they rebelled one after another. Helping the old and the young, joining the ranks of the rogues, Li Zicheng's power became more and more huge.

Towards the end of the year. Liukou has finally killed Fengyang!

This is neither a strategic point nor a rich paradise, but it is because more than two hundred years ago, there was a great figure here, and it became extremely important, and that person was Zhu Yuanzhang, the Hongwu Emperor!

In the Ming Dynasty, Fengyang also had a name, called Zhongdu. Gao Yingxiang and Li Zicheng led the army and pounced on Fengyang. Fengyang guard general Zhu Guoxiang led his troops to meet the battle.

But he didn't know that long before the arrival of the rogues, a group of homeless people had already mixed into the city. Just when Zhu Guoxiang and Gao Yingxiang and others were fighting to the death. The homeless people in the city set fire everywhere, killed people everywhere, and in a moment there was chaos in the rear, and under the two attacks, Zhu Guoxiang soon couldn't hold it and died in battle.

Gao Yingxiang's army rushed into Fengyang, excavated the ancestral tomb of the Zhu family, burned the Huangjue Temple where Zhu Yuanzhang was a monk in the past, and then killed the eunuchs and looted the rare treasures.

Gao Yingxiang, who was ecstatic, didn't know how much trouble they had caused, just three days after the capture of Fengyang, the news reached the capital, and Chongzhen, who was dealing with the twists and turns, heard that the Zhu pen fell to the ground, and he didn't notice it for a long time, as if he was stunned.

Suddenly, he howled in pain, and his voice was even more terrible than that of the cuckoo crying blood, and everyone in the palace was terrified.

The next morning, as soon as the sky was dawning, Chongzhen ran to the Taimiao, and cried bitterly and fainted several times in front of the spiritual position of the ancestors and ancestors of the Ming Dynasty. Fortunately, all the scholars in the cabinet arrived in time, otherwise Chongzhen might have cried to death.

Fengyang is the land of the Ming Dynasty, and it has suffered such a catastrophe, is it because God is disgusted with the Ming Dynasty!

Everything comes to me, and I am the one who bears it.

Don't implicate your ancestors!

Coming back from the countertop, for three whole days, Chongzhen sat in the Qianqing Palace, motionless, if it wasn't for the rolling of his eyes, people would mistake him for a sculpture.

After three days of hard thinking, Chongzhen's first order was to call Yang Sichang.

Yang Sichang is not an ordinary person, born in a scholarly family, his father Yang He once served as an official to the governor of the three sides, and both father and son are known for knowing soldiers, and they can be regarded as one of the few military talents above the imperial court, at least in Chongzhen's mind.

After the monarch and the minister met, Chongzhen bit his lip and asked bluntly, "Does Aiqing have a strategy to eliminate the thieves?" ”

"Yes!"

Yang Sichang replied very affirmatively, perhaps he had expected this day, so he spoke generously without hesitation at all. After a long speech, he actually said that the demoralized Chongzhen was in spirit, and in the end, his eyes even lit up and his fists were clenched tightly.

"The strategy of the ministers is summed up as the four positive and six corners, with Shaanxi, Henan, Huguang, and Jiangbei as the four positives, and the four governors are divided into suppression, and the special defense of Yansui, Shanxi, Shandong, Jiangnan, Jiangxi, and Sichuan is the six corners, and the six governors are divided into defense and assist in suppression, which is called a ten-sided net, and the governor and the prime minister follow the thief's direction and specialize in the discussion. In this way, even if the rogue has the ability to reach the sky, he will not escape death. According to the minister's expectations, within three years, the stars will definitely fall and the world will return to peace. ”

The whole strategy is nine words, generous! Big Vertical! And big consumption!

If Zhang Ke refused without hesitation, he would even severely punish the person who made the suggestion, what kind of joke, turn the ten provinces into battlefields, even if it is a million army, it will not be able to encircle and intercept it, and stop the rogue. It's simply big and inappropriate, and it's nonsense on paper.

Fortunately, Yang Sichang was facing Chongzhen, and he had an unusual appreciation for this plan.

"Aiqing really has great talents, I am very relieved, listen to the order, I add Fengqing as the secretary of the military department, the governor to suppress bandits, and appoint Xiong Wencan as the right capital of the imperial history, the prime minister of the provincial military affairs, assist Aiqing, and sweep away the liukou."

Yang Sichang was just a jinshi in the thirty-eighth year of Wanli, and in the past twenty years, he rushed to the top of the ministry and was in charge of the military and political power of the provinces.

But after taking office, Yang Sichang faced the biggest difficulty.

According to his plan, it was necessary to increase the number of troops by 140,000 and increase the amount of food and salary by 2.8 million taels.

It's a good idea, but there's nowhere to get money. Chongzhen gritted his teeth and scraped together 200,000 taels from the interior to give Yang Sichang, and the rest of the silver had to be taken from the household department, but the household department was already empty.

Before the huge plan began, it ran aground, and both Chongzhen and Yang Sichang fell into unprecedented embarrassment.

There is no way, you can only increase the land endowment, and suffer the people, as long as the rogue is exterminated, the world will be peaceful, Chongzhen can only be so self-hypnotic.

Just when he was about to make the holy decree, suddenly an unexpected thing happened, at this time, the blow to the Ming court even exceeded the fall of Zhongdu, and the ancestral tomb was dug up!

Nanzhili, mainly Songjiang Mansion, and Suzhou Mansion, plus Zhejiang, Fujian, are all the wealth of the Ming Dynasty, 10,000 gentry jointly played, asking the imperial court to reduce the amount of grain, if you do not recuperate with the people, the southeast will be chaotic.

Compared with the distant Fengyang, the grain is related to the stomach of the people in the capital, and the importance is self-evident, and all of a sudden the civil and military officials in the capital were stupid.

"How so, how can this be?" Chongzhen circled back and forth in the imperial study, and kept shaking his head: "The southeast is the land of fish and rice, and the land is rich in wealth, how can there be no food, it's just a deception, investigate, I must send someone to investigate, find out the stolen officials, and severely punish them!" ”

Wang Chengen's face was sad on the side, and he couldn't help but say: "Emperor, the old slave has something to say, I have to say it." ”

"Speak."

"Yes, since the opening of Longqing, especially the Songjiang switch, the trade between the southeast and the West has become more and more prosperous. The common people are vying to change the rice fields into mulberry fields, and instead of growing grain and cotton, the farmland has dropped by more than half. In recent years, the amount of grain has increased day by day, from more than 2 million stones, to 8 million stones in one go, and even if there are gold and silver mountains in the southeast, they have all been emptied. ”

Chongzhen never imagined that such a result would occur, he sat on the dragon chair in a gloomy manner, and his spirit seemed to be drained. There is only one southeast left in the world, and if everything is chaotic here, the Ming Dynasty will really be hopeless. looked at Chongzhen sitting there stupidly, without saying a word.

Wang Chengen secretly approached and whispered: "Emperor, the old slave thinks that maybe he can make an order and ask King Anton!" (To be continued......)