No one noticed the scorching light emanating from Yue Yang's eyes, and everyone's attention was drawn to his words.

Yue Yang looked at He Kegang with interest, and asked with a faint smile, "You are He Kegang?" Was he a veteran general under Inspector Yuan? ”

As soon as Yue Yang's words fell, the faces of He Kegang and the people around him couldn't help but change color slightly. Yuan Chonghuan's case is a case that has been characterized, and at this time, he has already become synonymous with a national thief in the hearts of most Ming people, but Yue Yang still uses the honorific title of Yuan Inspector, and if it is spread, I am afraid there will be a lot of trouble.

When Yue Yang's words fell, Wang Pu on the side also hurriedly took two steps forward and whispered in his ear: "General Yue, be cautious!" Yuan Chonghuan's case has already reached a conclusion, how can he be called by his old name. ”

"Uh...... And what's going on? As soon as Yue Yang heard this, a layer of white sweat broke out on his forehead. Damn, there are too many taboos these days, and even a title can make such a thing.

However, as a party to the case, He Kegang nodded without changing his face and said: "What Lord Yue said is good, this official used to be the old department under Inspector Yuan. ”

He Kegang's calm attitude made Yue Yang's good impression of him even stronger, and he laughed: "It's Yue who is abrupt, I have long heard that Lord He is strict in governing the army, brave and strategic, but this official has been admired for a long time." ”

"Don't dare to be!" He Kegang arched his hand, and still said without humility or arrogance: "The sharp whistle under the command of Lord Shicai Yue is indeed extraordinary, and eight people can be defeated by more than 20 people, which can be admired by Kegang." However, Ke Gang firmly believes that my Liaodong Iron Cavalry will not lose to Xuanda's soldiers and horses, and when he fights with the Tartars in the future, Ke Gang will inevitably lead the army to kill the enemy bravely, and then he will have to compete with Lord Yue to see who kills the most enemies! ”

"Okay......" After He Kegang finished speaking, a voice immediately followed, it turned out to be Wu Sangui who also walked out, only to see him looking at Yue Yang and saying loudly: "According to the night no visits, the Tartar army has divided more than 10,000 people to plunder around Gyeonggi. The remaining 90,000 men were now under the leadership of Azig, and together with the rest of Bel Abatai and Yanguli, they were attacking Gyeonggi. Most of us are useless, whether it is a mule or a horse, and we will see when we fight with the Tartar with real swords and real guns. ”

Wu Sangui's words also seemed to infect the Liaodong generals around him, and I saw more than a dozen Liaodong generals step forward one after another and said loudly: "General Wu is right, when it comes to the day of the decisive battle with the Tartars, we will let you see who killed the most Tartars!" ”

In the face of the Liaodong generals' statement, Lu Xiangsheng on the side could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb, he turned his head and glared at Wang Pu, and said to those Liaodong generals with a smile: "You have said it, everyone present is from Xuanda or Liaodong. They are all the pillars of my Ming Dynasty, and they can't have disputes over some trivial things, otherwise wouldn't it make people see a joke? Now that the Tartars are rushing towards Gyeonggi, it is precisely when you need to work together that you need to work together, how can you start infighting in your own house, so wouldn't it make the Tartars see a joke? Did you hear me? ”

"Obey the teachings of the governors!" Everyone agreed in unison......

After getting the information brought by Bai Kai and his entourage all night, Lu Xiangsheng and others also determined the time of the arrival of the Qing army, and with Lu Xiangsheng's order, the whole army began to act. Tens of thousands of troops began to reorganize for battle, and a team was sent out at night, and a messenger also shuttled back and forth between Yangxiang and Gyeonggi City.

In the study of the Warm Fragrance Pavilion in the southeast of the Forbidden City, Chongzhen sat on a chair. In front of him were more than a dozen important ministers of the court. Yang Sichang, who was the secretary of the Ministry of War, was standing in front of Chongzhen and said loudly: "Your Majesty, Lu Jiandou has sent someone to send a note to the Ministry of War, claiming that Dongnu has set off from Changping and will arrive in Beijing in two or three days. He will fight Dongnu under Gyeonggi City, but he suffers from the shortage of food and equipment, and hopes that the Ministry of Industry will allocate a part of the food and equipment to boost morale. How should this matter be handled? ”

Chongzhen stared at Yang Sichang with blazing eyes and said without thinking: "This still needs to be asked, Dongnu is still attacking Gyeonggi, so naturally we have to focus on state affairs, if Lu Xiangsheng has any requests, we will agree." ”

As soon as Chongzhen's words came out, everyone smiled bitterly and looked at the Hubu Shangshu Hou Sui on the side, Hou Sui had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "Your Majesty, it's not that the ministers are unwilling to pay, but the household department really has no silver. ”

Chongzhen was stunned for a moment, and then asked, "Is there really no silver at all?" ”

Hou Sui smiled bitterly: "Lu Jiandou's performance requires at least 200,000 taels of silver and 10,000 quintals of grain. But today's household treasury is only 32,236 taels of silver, which is still left by the ministers to prepare for emergency use, where is there still silver. ”

Chongzhen heard that a sad mood came to his heart, and he choked sadly: "I didn't expect that my dignified Ming would be so poor, and I am ashamed of my ancestors!" ”

Seeing Chongzhen crying, everyone knelt down and persuaded in unison: "The emperor takes care of the dragon body, and the ministers deserve death." ”

"Sin deserves ten thousand deaths, you will only say that sin deserves ten thousand deaths, if you die and can get silver for the court, I don't mind letting you die ten thousand times, but do you have silver? Is there any silver? Chongzhen, who had been troubled by financial matters for many years, finally became angry, he stood up, grabbed the paperweight on the table and threw it in front of everyone. The bronze paperweight fell to the ground and made a heavy impact sound, although it did not hit anyone, but it was also frightened that the people kneeling on the ground broke out in a cold sweat, this thing is not light, if it hits someone, don't say kill on the spot, but at least a head is inevitably bleeding, the most terrible thing is that even if you are stoned to death, you haven't reasoned yet, the emperor personally smashed you that is worthy of you, what do you still want?

Chongzhen lost his temper for a while, then sat down breathlessly and asked weakly: "Okay, don't kneel, get up." Now that the war is imminent, Dongnu is about to arrive in the capital, it is the time to employ people, we can't let the soldiers outside the city feel cold, we have to do something. Everyone said what should be done about this matter, right? Wen Tiren, as the head of the imperial court, tell me your opinion. ”

Wen Tiren smiled bitterly in his heart, there is no silver in the court, but you let me say, can I conjure silver from my mouth? But since the emperor had spoken, he naturally couldn't help but answer, so he stood up and said: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the only way to do this is to let the household department allocate a thousand loads of grain out of the city to reward the soldiers of the three armies, as for the silver taels, ......" Wen Tiren thought for a while before saying: "Then let the household department allocate 20,000 taels of silver to Lu Jiandou, and tell him to endure it first, and wait until the autumn harvest to replenish it, so what do you think?" ”

Chongzhen didn't speak, Wen Tiren's method is a method that has no choice. If it was in the past, the imperial court could still delay until the autumn harvest and then solve it, but now that the Qing army has reached the doorstep, if it continues to drag on, in case it causes a mutiny among the officers and men in the army, and people don't do it, wouldn't it be bad.

He hesitated for a moment and then muttered, "This ...... Okay? A mere 20,000 taels of silver and 1,000 loads of grain can only be a drop in the bucket. ”

"That's all we can do." Wen Tiren said: "Now that the imperial court is in difficulty, the imperial court really can't meet Lu Jiandou's requirements, so it can only give so much. ”

"But what if there is a mutiny in the army?" Yang Sichang's head shook like a rattle, "The big war is coming, stabilizing the morale of the army is the most important thing, Lu Jiandou understands this person, if he is not forced to do so, he will not ask for so much grain, grass and silver." He asked for 200,000 taels of silver, and we only gave 20,000 and 10,000 taels of grain, and we only gave 1,000 loads. ”

"So what do you say you should do?" Chongzhen on the side was angry when he heard this, and said loudly: "Otherwise, if you see that this palace is still worth a few dollars, you can simply take it out and sell it!" ”

"Don't dare!" Seeing Chongzhen angry, Yang Sichang knelt down.

At this time, a person stood up and said loudly: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the matter is so urgent now, but the treasury has taken out silver, grain and grass, but so many rich families in the capital have silver, we can think from them." ”

Chongzhen and the ministers were stunned for a moment, and then they looked at it, it turned out to be Chen Xinjia, the left attendant of the military department, everyone is not stupid, as soon as Chen Xinjia's words came out, a word immediately appeared in their minds, Chongzhen said slowly: "You mean apportionment?" ”

"Exactly!" Chen Xinjia said categorically: "Now that my Ming Dynasty has reached the time of life and death, those rich gentry in the city should also do their part for the imperial court, and it should not be a problem to raise 200,000 taels of silver and 10,000 loads of grain with the size of the capital, right?" ”

Wen Tiren's eyes narrowed slightly: "Then who does Lord Chen think is more appropriate to send to carry out this matter?" ”

Chen Xinjia immediately said: "Chen Bao raised one person, this person is brave and decisive, it is the most appropriate time to do this, this person is the general of Shanxi North Road, the general of Zhenguo Yue Yang!" ”

"Hiss......"

Everyone couldn't help but gasp, this Chen Xinjia is too vicious!

As we all know, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, the relationship network is the most complicated, and maybe an old man on the street who is enjoying the shade is the father of a certain head in the yamen. Not to mention those rich households, who can be called rich households in Beijing City have an inextricable relationship with the powerful from time to time, if you ask Yue Yang to raise funds with these rich households, isn't that making him an enemy of the powerful people in the whole Beijing City? This is the rhythm that forces people to death!

Not to mention the ministers, even Chongzhen was silent, he was silent for a long time, and then said slowly: "Tartar is about to arrive outside the capital in the next few days, is it too late?" ”

After listening to Chongzhen's words, Chen Xinjia was immediately overjoyed in his heart, and Chongzhen did not immediately refuse, which proved that he had already recognized his mention in his heart...... (To be continued......)