At the end of August, news of Li Chuang's army in Beijing attacking Shanhaiguan had reached Nanjing. Nanjing has also become boiling, Shanhaiguan is already the only stronghold of the Ming Dynasty in the north, and the fact that Wu Sangui is alone in the defense also has a good reputation among the people and the court. This time, more than 100,000 troops of the Dashun army pressed towards Shanhaiguan, which added a touch of tragic feelings to the people of Nanjing.

The Donglin Party lost no time in promoting the Northern Expedition among the people, and also won the support of a large number of scholars and ordinary people. Although Zhu Cihong advocated it, there were few courtiers who supported it.

Several major generals of the Yixing Dynasty, Zhu Ping'an, who returned to Shandong, was very active, and had already stated that once the imperial court decided to go on a northern expedition, the Shandong army would immediately launch an offensive to the west. However, his seal was kept by Zhu Cihong, and there was no response.

The rest of the people, although Zheng Zhilong also echoed the above table, but his people are far away in Fujian, and the water far away does not quench their thirst; Liu Liangzuo and Huang Degong are now cautious and dare not act recklessly because of the matter of assisting King Fu to ascend the throne; Zuo Liangyu returned to Wuchang to stay ill, and his thoughts were unknown to outsiders.

In this chaos, the people who originally participated in King Fu's ascension to the throne were excluded from sight. After Emperor Yixing ascended the throne, some of the courtiers built yì, the new dynasty was established, and it should be lenient. Now that the court and the central government have been established, it will not benefit the emperor himself to create more evils because of this. What's more, Jiang Yueguang, Zhang Shenyan, Gao Hongtu and others are all old ministers in charge of Nanjing, and they have made many achievements in the country and society, and they were executed because of this matter, but it seems that Emperor Yixing has no tolerance for people.

Therefore, Zhu Cihong specially issued an edict to pardon Jiang Yueguang, Zhang Shenyan, Gao Hongtu and others, and sent them to Guangxi, Yungui and other places to be magistrates. However, for Ma Shiying, Liu Kongzhao, Ruan Dacheng and other important people, they were still detained in the Jinyi Wei Edict Prison in Nanjing, and there was no sense of leniency. Fu Wang Zhu Yousong is still imprisoned in the Zongren Mansion, after all, he is Zhu Cihong's uncle, although there is no danger of his life, but in this life, he doesn't want to see the light of day again.

Today, the commander of Nanjing's Jinyi Guard is Wu Bangfu, the son of Wu Mengming, the commander of the East Sifang who was in charge of the Jinyi Guard during the Chongzhen Dynasty. After the fall of Zhou Yanru, Luo Yangxing was immediately dismissed, and it was Wu Mengming who replaced him. When the Jingshi fell, Wu Mengming guarded the inner city under Wang Chengen and died in the chaos. Zhu Cihong remembered his loyalty, so he took his son Wu Bangfu as the successor commander of the Jinyi Guard.

The current Wu Bangfu does not have the pride of a new official at all, and some are just endless headaches.

Unlike Emperor Chongzhen, Emperor Yixing Zhu Cihong obviously also absorbed some of the shortcomings of his father's reign, and deliberately strengthened the control of the court situation with Jinyiwei and Dongchang. However, he didn't think about it, how can today's factory guards be compared with the past? Knowing that he can't do it, isn't this roasting Jinyiwei and Wu Bangfu on the fire?

Nanjing has always been under the control of the nobles and ministers, and the Jinyi Guard Yamen is just a false appearance, and has always been controlled by the Jingshi Jinyi Guard, and has not done much. Suddenly, the burden was pressed down, and the results were immediately obtained, so it is no wonder that Wu Bang's auxiliary strength was inadequate.

What's even more frustrating is that there are still several "big Buddhas" in the so-called Jinyiwei's edict, and the palace has not said anything about how to deal with these people, but it can only be backlogged here in Wu Bangfu.

Ma Shiying, Ruan Dacheng, and Liu Kongzhao are all characters in Nanjing City who cover the sky with one hand, and when their footsteps sink, the entire Nanjing City will be shaken, and now although they are in prison, can the so-called edict of Jinyiwei, which has a name, really be able to hold them?

These people have no scruples by now, but Wu Bangfu has no courage to burn jade with them. In the past few days since entering the Imperial Prison, many people have come to visit Ma Shiying and others through open and secret channels, and Wu Bangfu clearly knows that the things that these people are plotting are not something that he, the unworthy commander of the Jinyi Guard, can control.

It wasn't early in the morning, Ma Shiying's son, Ma Luan, came to the door early. Joining the Fu King Zhu Yousong successfully ascended the throne, the horse boy in front of him is now the commander of the Jinyi Guard. The Ma family has deep roots in the south of the Yangtze River, not to mention anything else, but in this Jinyi Wei Yamen, their influence is not comparable to Wu Bangfu, an outsider from Beijing.

Ma Luan's attitude was quite respectful, seeing that Wu Bangfu was seated in the official hall, he did not go directly to the edict in the backyard, but politely invited him to see him, said a few words of gossip that were not salty or light, and then put a gift list on Wu Bangfu's official case, and then Shi Shiran said goodbye and went to the edict.

The reality is like this, the commander of the brocade guard is just a good-looking ornament. Wu Bangfu knows his position, thinking about the money he has earned these days, Wu Bangfu secretly made up his mind, anyway, the world is in chaos now, and after a few days, he will go straight to the crown and go to the Shandong Trade Zone to find some business to do, which is both stable and comfortable, so why bother to be these two angry officials in Nanjing?

The edict of Jinyiwei is far less magnificent than the Yamen of Jingshi Zhenfusi, but it is just a row of brick houses behind the Yamen of Jinyiwei in Nanjing. Ma Shiying and the three were imprisoned in it, although they were Qin prisoners, but they occupied the best three rooms, in order to avoid contact with the outside world, the Jinyi Guard Yamen also built a courtyard wall, the three people's rooms were firmly sealed in it. In this way, the three of them have an independent space.

There are people waiting in the edict prison all day, but these brocade guards who were born and raised in Nanjing are all exquisite characters, all of whom were fed with silver by Ma Shiying and others, so they are useless, Wu Bangfu is also powerless about this, and he also received a lot of silver from Ma Luan, so he turned a blind eye. Anyway, if the emperor wants to kill them, he only needs an edict, but now he is being imprisoned here so painlessly, God knows what he means, so Wu Bangfu is happy not to care about those idle things.

Throwing out two silver ingots, Ma Luan strolled into the courtyard amid the compliments of several guards and jailers. Ma Shiying and the other three were all dressed in white, the weather was gradually getting cooler, but they were all covered with a thin warm coat, and when they saw Ma Luan coming in, Ma Shiying turned around and walked back to his cell. Ruan Dacheng and Liu Kongzhao also comprehended and followed one after the other.

"What's the news in the court?" Without waiting for Ma Luan to salute, Ma Shiying asked.

"Back to my father's words, the day before yesterday, the court discussed, but the saint mentioned the matter of the Northern Expedition again, and also rewarded Sun Chuanting, promised the position of the governor of the five provinces, and let him control the soldiers and horses of all roads, and take charge of the Northern Expedition."

"Temperance of the Paths?" Ma Shiying was very curious, "Zuo Liangyu is also among them?" ”

Ma Luan nodded, "Exactly!" At present, the powerful towns are among them, including Zhu Ping'an in Shandong and Zheng Zhilong in Fujian! ”

Ma Shiying couldn't help but shake his head, "It's young after all!" The military power is concentrated in one person, and this person is still a relative, isn't this a great disapproval of the world? ”

"Father said it exactly! What good ideas can Li Shichun come up with with those rotten Confucians! I just want to make a contribution, but I don't want to think about it at all, is this Zhongxing Daming so easy? My father has been planning for so many years and has laid such a good foundation in Jiangnan, but he still dare not say that he has done it in one battle, let alone them! ”

"What's the reaction of the townsmen?" Ma Shiying asked.

Zhu Ping'an responded positively, but the saint didn't give him a good look, Zuo Liangyu said that he couldn't get sick, and he hasn't responded to it so far! Liu Liangzuo and Huang Degong sent a message, saying that now the knife is on the neck, and it is all up to their father, and they only have their father's head in sight! ”

Ma Shiying bowed slightly, but didn't say anything. Liu Kongzhao on the side was anxious. "Yao Gong, you can't hesitate any longer. Today's saint can ascend the throne, but with the support of tens of thousands of heroes in the hands of Zhu Ping'an in Shandong, as well as Lianghuai and other places. But now that he ascended the throne, he deliberately stayed away from Zhu Ping'an, Lu Zhenfei and others, which was tantamount to self-destruction of the Great Wall. Let's make a decision immediately, and strike first! Now Sun Chuanting only has 20,000 horses in his hands, and Liu Liangzuo alone can suppress him lightly. If we hesitate any longer, it will change later! ”

Liu Kongzhao's words, Ma Shiying didn't hear it, but Ruan Dacheng on the side knew his old friend very well. Ruan Dacheng and Liu Kongzhao are both types who don't care about fame and only pay attention to benefits, and their reputations in the government and the opposition have been extremely bad, but Ma Shiying is different, if he really wants to overturn the court again, the consequences and notoriety to be borne are really immeasurable.

Ruan Dacheng, who had experienced many ups and downs of Donglin and the eunuch party, thought for a moment and said slowly: "Has Yao Gong forgotten the Wang Zhiming case that day? ”

This sentence made Ma Shiying's body tremble violently. Wang Zhiming's case is not complicated, that is, when the plan to support King Fu had been decided, a young man suddenly came to Nanjing, claiming that he was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and had been exiled from Beijing to Nanjing.

Because the matter of supporting King Fu had been determined at that time, Ma Shiying secretly imprisoned the young man who called himself "Wang Zhiming" in order to avoid side troubles. In order to distinguish the authenticity, he also secretly summoned a group of courtiers and internal officials who had served in the Beijing division to come to identify, but everyone had different opinions, and there was no accurate idea.

In order to ensure that King Fu ascended the throne and his own decision, Ma Shiying and King Fu gritted their teeth and sent someone to secretly kill the young man to prevent future troubles.

At this time, Ruan Dacheng brought up this matter again, the purpose was to remind Ma Shiying. On that day, he didn't know the authenticity of Wang Zhiming's identity, so he killed the killer. What is done is not the truth, but purely for the sake of vital interests.

The same is true now, in order to be able to survive and return to the pinnacle of power, there are some things that have to be done! R1152