On the sixth day of the fifth month of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, the Taiji Hall of the Forbidden City of Jinggi in the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen was held in the early dynasty on the main hall.

At the very beginning of the early dynasty, Yang Sichang, who was the chief assistant of the current dynasty, made a clear-cut proposal to send more troops, not only to Hong Chengchou in Sichuan, but also to Sun Chuanting in Henan and Lu Xiangsheng in Hubei, in an effort to wipe out the rogue bandits in Sichuan, Hubei, Henan, and Shaanxi in the hinterland of the Central Plains this year.

But as soon as Yang Sichang's plan was proposed, it was opposed by many people, and the first person to question him was Zhou Tingru, who was the second assistant, and the reasons for opposition were also very sufficient.

"Yang Shoufu, you said that you want to send more troops to suppress bandits, this idea is naturally good, but where does the money come from? Where did the additional soldiers come from? Zhou Tingru said lightly: "Although the imperial court is better than in previous years, there is not enough silver to allow us to squander it wantonly. Could it be that you want the emperor to open the money again! ”

As soon as he heard Zhou Tingru's words, Chongzhen, who was originally sitting on the dragon chair with great interest, looked at the two cabinet bigwigs, and his face immediately changed slightly, and his eyes became unkind. Comrade Xiao Zhu, who was accustomed to living a hard life, finally saved some money with his cheap son-in-law, and now if anyone wants to fight the idea of this money, he will never agree.

Yang Sichang chuckled as if he didn't hear the sarcastic tone in Zhou Tingru's words: "Lord Zhou's words are serious, how can this official let the emperor open the house, there is no silver in the court, but someone has it, as long as he agrees, it will not be a problem." ”

"Hmmm......"

Now even the most dull person understands what Yang Sichang means, Zhou Tingru looked at him deeply and sneered: "Lord Yang is really a good idea, you are talking about Marquis Yue, right?" It's just that this matter also requires the willingness of the marquis of the family, after all, no one's silver is blown by the wind. ”

Yang Sichang stroked his beard and smiled: "It's up to people...... As long as it is for the sake of Daming, I think Marquis Yue will understand. ”

As soon as Yang Sichang's words came out, many people were secretly complaining. This old guy really doesn't have a backache when he talks standing and talking, so I'll try it for you. It's just that although he muttered in his heart, now Yang Sichang keeps saying that for the sake of Daming, everyone can't say anything.

It's just that Yang Sichang didn't say Chongzhen but couldn't help but speak, after all, Yue Yang was not only his courtier but also his cheap son-in-law, and he couldn't bear to be so dead, so he said a fair word: "This matter should not be rushed, after all, now the Marquis of Zhongyong is fighting with the Tartars outside the pass, and I don't know what the battle situation is, so I think I have to think of another idea." I don't understand that. The Marquis of Zhongyong only brought 100,000 soldiers and horses to recover Liaodong outside the border this time, and now Hong Chengchou also has 50,000 troops in his hands, but even Zhang Xianzhong can't calm down, I don't know whether to say that he is incompetent or too powerful, I don't know why Yang Qing taught me. ”

To say that Chongzhen is probably not in a good mood today, as soon as these words came out, Yang Sichang felt hot for a while. You must know that Yang Sichang, as the first assistant of the cabinet, is also the secretary of the Ministry of War, and the mobilization of soldiers and horses in the world to suppress bandits is naturally under his control, and it can be said that the Qing army and Liao salary outside the customs have dragged back. So that Da Ming has no way to devote all his experience to the great cause of suppressing bandits in the Guannei, but now Yue Yang has solved this problem for them, but for so long Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai, these rogues are still alive, you can't command the army to exterminate these rogues. Now I still want Yue Yang to send food, money and troops to suppress the bandits for you, how cheeky do you have to be to say this.

Seeing that Yang Sichang's face was blue and red for a while, Zhou Tingru on the side was secretly happy. You must know that Zhou Tingru is not an ordinary person, it turns out that he has been the first assistant of the inner court. Although he was ousted from power later, this thing is thinking about recovering all the time, and now he is really unhappy to see Yang Sichang being squeezed by Chongzhen. When it comes to the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty, they may not be proficient in governing the country. But when it comes to the Yin people digging pits, all of them are at the expert level, and when he heard this, he did not hesitate to add a fire, and said without being salty: "Yang Shoufu, don't forget, now that Marquis Yue is still fighting with Jiannu outside the gate, it doesn't matter if our court doesn't support a single soldier, but he still calculates his net worth, which is too unkind, right?" ”

Zhou Tingru's words were no longer a slap in the face, but almost pointing at his nose and scolding him for framing Zhongliang.

Sure enough, hearing this, Chongzhen also frowned and said word by word: "Yang Aiqing, as the first assistant of the imperial court, is there no other way than to fight the autumn breeze to the Marquis of Zhongyong?" ”

There was silence in the hall, and it was rare for an emperor to say the word autumn wind on the spot, which could be said to be ridiculed by the emperor, but it could also be said that the emperor was vaguely expressing his dissatisfaction.

Yang Sichang secretly complained in his heart, in fact, if there was any other way, he would not propose the construction just now. Now everyone knows that today's Yueyang is not only the first general of the dynasty, but also the emperor's son-in-law, and now is the time when the saint is thick, and beating someone's small report is actually the stupidest thing, but he can't do it if he doesn't fight. Seeing that Yueyang is about to be leveled outside the gate, Yueyang's prestige will reach an unparalleled height at that time. These days, there are already rumors that the emperor is going to transfer Yue Yang back to the capital to give him the title of a scholar, and then he will be transferred to the cabinet, and he knows with his ass that if Yue Yang is allowed to enter the cabinet, how can he still have his own position? It was because Yang Sichang thought about it again and again, and then he decided to start dividing the power in Yue Yang's hands, but now that he has just started to say it, so many people have jumped out to oppose it, how can he live this day.

The ministers in the hall saw Yang Sichang's encounter very clearly, or the eyes of the masses were bright, and Chongzhen's attitude towards Yang Sichang was not very good since the beginning of this year. Yang Sichang's sworn friend Cheng Guoxiang, the secretary of the Ministry of Households, and Jiang Fengyuan, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, were successively taken down by Chongzhen for a reason, and were replaced by Li Zhiwen and Lin Yuji.

When Yang Sichang was racking his brains to defend himself, a figure came quickly outside the hall, this person ran very fast, and when he ran to the steps, his toes were touched by the steps and fell to the ground with a muffled sound, and the person who came lay on the ground and shouted.

The ministers couldn't help but be shocked. They all looked down. Who is so bold to dare to be so presumptuous in the solemn Taiji Palace, after seeing this person, the faces of the ministers also became very exciting, this person is none other than Cao Huachun, the great eunuch who is now in charge of the celebrant and also the governor of Dongchang.

Cao Huachun's appearance Chongzhen naturally saw it, his face turned black at that time, and he said angrily: "You old killer, you don't look at what kind of place this is, you dare to run wild in the main hall and don't know the rules and abide by the etiquette law, come here...... Put this old sand ......"

"Eh...... The emperor was furious. After the slave and maid Rong finished speaking, it is not too late for you to dispose of the slave maid! Cao Huachun, who was so broken that he gritted his teeth, didn't care about the pain in his body, and hurriedly waved his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the slave and maid really have something important to report to you!" ”

Looking at Cao Huachun, who was lying on the ground and trying to stand up but was a little struggling, Chongzhen softened in his heart and shouted: "Say...... If you can't tell me how to clean you up! ”

"Yes!" Cao Huachun struggled to stand up and made a gesture to Chongzhen, and then said with a happy face: "The emperor is very happy...... The emperor was overjoyed...... There is news outside the gate that Marquis Zhongyong has finally recovered Shengjing! ”

"What ......"

As soon as Cao Huachun's words fell, Chongzhen immediately stood up and trembled: "Is what you said true?" ”

"It's true, Your Majesty!" Cao Huachun was also excited, "This is the battle report sent by the Zhongyong Marquis Gang, and it is clearly stated. Marquis Zhongyong led a large army into Shengjing, and the thief chief Dolgon burned himself to death in the Shengjing Imperial Palace, and most of the other Tartar princes and ministers were killed in battle. At present, the Marquis of Zhongyong is leading his troops to clear the remnants of Jiannu. ”

"Boom ......"

Before Cao Huachun finished speaking, there was a sensation in the hall, and the news was really shocking.

Chongzhen's face turned reddish-purple like a pig's liver in an instant, and he pointed at Cao Huachun almost in disbelief and asked, "You...... Are you telling the truth? You must know that if you dare to lie, it is a crime of deception! ”

"Even if a slave or maid has a hundred guts, they don't dare to bully the king! After receiving the report of the 800-mile urgent battle outside the pass, the slave and maid hurriedly came. There is no half-stop! Cao Huachun hurriedly shouted, trotted forward two steps, took out a battle report from his sleeve, and raised his hands high above his head.

Seeing this, Wang Chengen on the side walked down the steps and took the battle report from his hand and handed it to Chongzhen, Chongzhen grabbed the battle report and read it at a glance, and then looked up to the sky and laughed. Chongzhen laughed so happily that he laughed until tears came out without knowing it.

Looking at Chongzhen's crazy appearance, the important ministers were surprisingly silent. Even the most trouble-finding officials did not accuse the emperor of his gaffes, because they all understood how bitterly Chongzhen had been pressed by the nomads outside the gate who numbered no more than one million over the years.

From Nurhachi to Huang Taiji, in these decades the Ming Dynasty died under the Manchu knife countless souls, there were originally more than 5 million Han people in Liaodong in Nurhachi and Huang Taiji under the bloody slaughter of the two fathers and sons, now there are less than one million, this is not counting the killings caused by the Qing soldiers entering the customs before, it is not an exaggeration to say that the Ming and the Manchu Qing are as deep as the sea and do not share the sky. Now that the Manchu Qing has finally been destroyed, Shengjing ...... That is, Shenyang has finally returned to the hands of the Ming Dynasty, which is enough to leave a heavy mark in the history books of the Ming Dynasty.

The hall was stunned for a while, and after a while, I don't know who shouted: "Congratulations to the emperor...... Congratulations to the Emperor, our Ming Dynasty has finally destroyed the pseudo-Qing Dynasty, this is the blessing of the Ming Dynasty, the blessing of the emperor! ”

"Congratulations to the emperor...... He Xi ...... the emperor, "The ministers in the main hall also came back to their senses after hearing this, and bowed down to Chongzhen together.

Looking at the ministers who knelt on the ground, Chongzhen's voice began to tremble when he spoke with joy: "I ...... I want to go to the Taimiao immediately to tell the ancestors and the ancestors that I have won the victory, and I want to announce it to the world...... I want amnesty for the world! ”

Looking at Chongzhen, who had become a little incoherent, everyone seemed to understand very well, after all, it was a major event that destroyed a country, and it was indeed necessary to go to the Taimiao Temple to pray to the ancestors.

In this way, Chongzhen led a group of ministers of civil and military affairs to the Taimiao Temple and began to offer incense to report the good news to the ancestors and ancestors, and prayed for the blessing of the ancestors and the ancestors to destroy the Liukou in the Ming Dynasty, so as to return the Ming Dynasty to a bright future.

This carnival lasted for three days, and it was not until three days later that Chongzhen slowly calmed down from the surprise. At this time, an imminent question was put on the agenda by the ministers, that is, Shenyang is recovered, but there are many things to do next, first of all, whether Shenyang wants to garrison and who to send to garrison, and Liaodong After decades of war, there are few people, and it is not a day's work to recover at least a large number of immigrants from the Guannei, but if you want to immigrate, you must always give the people seeds, farm tools and living materials in advance, and a qiē and a qiē all need silver, where to get it? Over this issue, the DPRK and China have set off another upsurge of controversy......

Yue Yang didn't care about the argument between the court and the middle, because no matter how much the court argued, he couldn't leave him alone, after all, at present, the Ming Dynasty couldn't do without him, to be precise, without his army and his silver.

Sometimes Yue Yang also wonders, is it really good to do this by himself? After all, he is still there, and he also has a strong strength in his hands, if Chongzhen is not there one day, will his descendants or the next emperor allow people and forces like himself to exist? The answer is yes, never, no emperor would tolerate the existence of such a force, as long as they have the opportunity to destroy themselves without hesitation, there is no doubt about it.

"It looks like it's time to think about the way back." At this time, Yue Yang was standing on the city wall full of ruins and ruins, muttering to himself.

"Master Hou...... The Horqin tribe came, and it was the leader of Zhaisang and his son Wu Keshan, as well as the two Fujin of the former Emperor Taiji. ”

"Hmm!" Yue Yang's expression suddenly froze, but he said dumbly: "Their movements are quite fast, it seems that it must be that Da Yu'er's idea." All right...... Bring them to my house, and there I will meet them. ”

…………

Half an hour later, a convoy slowly drove into Shenyang City. Although they had long expected that there would be changes after Shenyang was occupied by the Ming army, when they saw this scene with their own eyes, Zhai Sang, Wu Keshan, Da Yu'er and other people who were riding on horses still couldn't believe their eyes. (To be continued......)