Early in the morning, it was the time when the government offices opened their offices, and Ma Xiangyang's figure appeared in front of the yamen of Guanglu Temple. Looking at the two knife-wielding guards standing at the door, Ma Xiangyang's legs and stomach trembled, and he stood on the corner of the street and kept cheering himself up.

The old colleagues who rushed to the yamen of Guanglu Temple saw Ma Xiangyang standing on the corner of the street at first glance, and couldn't help but step forward to greet him: "Yo, isn't this Lord Ma?" I heard that Master Ma is now a doctor of Taixue? ”

Ma Xiangyang turned around and saw that he was the deputy envoy of the Guanglu Temple Wine Department, so he nodded awkwardly.

After all, he was an old colleague, and the deputy envoy didn't have any other thoughts about Ma Xiangyang's intention to appear at the gate of Guanglu Temple early in the morning, so he asked with a smile: "Is Master Ma coming to Guanglu Temple today?" ”

Ma Xiangyang suddenly responded: "Oh, this official left in a hurry that day, and remembered that there were still some things in Guanglu Temple that he had time to take away. I came here today to move to Guozijian together. ”

The deputy envoy enthusiastically asked, "Is it?" Is there a lot of stuff? Do you want to ask someone to help? ”

Ma Xiangyang waved his hand again and again, and said, "Just a few old books and some reading notes, the official moved away with a bag." It's really no hassle. ”

When the deputy envoy heard this, he gave up.

So Ma Xiangyang followed the deputy envoy, chatting and gossiping all the way, and walked to the yamen of Guanglu Temple. When approaching the gate of Guanglu Temple, Ma Xiangyang couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat on his back, and he was always worried that the guards at the door would stop him for interrogation.

Fortunately, the imaginary bad shape did not appear, and the guards saw Ma Xiangyang enter the yamen, just glanced at it lightly, and let him go.

Until Ma Xiangyang entered the yamen of Guanglu Temple. Ma Xiangyang breathed a sigh of relief and waved goodbye to the enthusiastic deputy envoy of the Wine Department. Ma Xiangyang calmed down his excitement and slowly walked towards his original office room.

The furnishings in the office room are still according to Ma Xiangyang's original appearance. No one has used it. Ma Xiangyang stayed in the house for a while, hastily took a few ancient books, wrapped them in old cloth, and slowly walked out of the house, standing under the verandah to observe the situation in the entire Guanglu Temple, and saw that the temple was quiet, and the sound of talking and laughing faintly came from the office of several ambassadors.

At this time, Xu Liang, who was the secretary of Guanglu and other ministers, should still be waiting for Emperor Chongzhen to announce the dissolution of the dynasty in the Jinluan Palace.

Ma Xiangyang pretended to be casual. While looking at the scenery inside Guangrokuji Temple, I walked in the direction of the silver store.

A passing Guanglu Temple official passed by Ma Xiangyang, saw Ma Xiangyang, and said, "Master Ma." ”

Ma Xiangyang was shocked in his heart, and hurriedly bowed his hand, and when the official passed, he walked more carefully in the direction of the silver treasury.

All the way to the silver vault of Guanglu Temple, Ma Xiangyang listened quietly in front of the door for a while to confirm that there was no one in the house. He gently pushed the door open, turned and walked in.

A heart was pounding, and Ma Xiangyang remembered the words of Cabinet Minister Cao Yubian in his mind: Whether Xu Liang is greedy for ink or deducts silver, he can't get around the accounts of the silver treasury. As long as you take the accounts of the treasury, with the experience of Tobe Langzhong and Zhou Langzhong, you will definitely be able to find the tricky things in them.

Ji Zhong's silver vault. Ma Xiangyang, as a temple leader, has been to the place where the account books are stored several times. Ma Xiangyang is also very clear. Familiarly arrived at the desk room, Ma Xiangyang opened the drawer. Seeing that a thick account book was quietly placed inside, Ma Xiangyang was overjoyed, took it out and looked at it a few times, and confirmed that it was the account book of Guanglu Temple in recent months, so he carefully put it into his arms.

Suddenly, in the corner of the drawer at the bottom, there was also an account book, Ma Xiangyang also took it out and looked at it, and saw that it was an ordinary account book, and the record was only the daily purchase of Guanglu Temple, and several pages of it recorded the purchase of honeycomb coal, Ma Xiangyang looked at it for a while, and then put it back without interest.

Honeycomb coal has been popular in the whole city of Beijing recently, and Ma Xiangyang has also heard of it. It is said to be a more economical fuel than charcoal.

Outside the house, there was the voice of Shen Congliang, the young secretary of Guanglu Temple, and Wang Qinian, the king of the temple. Ma Xiangyang was shocked, hurriedly closed the drawer, quietly went out of the house, closed the door, turned around and walked out.

The honeycomb coal known to Ma Xiangyang is indeed very popular and has spread to the inner courtyard of the palace. In the imperial dining room of the imperial palace, Xu Liang was watching a shopkeeper of the Xishan Coal Mine demonstrate to the chefs of the imperial dining room how to use this special pottery coal stove to make a fire, make tea, warm wine, and boil medicine.

Wang Chengen, the eunuch of the celebrant and the eunuch Bingbi, also stood beside Xu Liang and watched, and saw that the shopkeeper successfully burned the coal stoves one by one, which caused several palace chefs to exclaim in surprise, and walked out with Xu Liang.

"Lord Xu is so convenient and easy to use when he introduces honeycomb coal to the palace, it seems that in the future, we don't have to buy charcoal in the palace." Wang Chengen said with a smile.

Xu Liang shook his head with a smile and said, "My father-in-law's words are wrong. Although honeycomb coal is better than charcoal in most cases, it also has a drawback that is difficult to overcome. ”

Wang Chengen asked in surprise: "What, honeycomb coal still has shortcomings?" ”

Xu Liang nodded slowly and said, "Although I don't want to admit it, honeycomb coal really can't provide strong heat. For the imperial dining room where the fire needs to be used and stir-fried, honeycomb coal is not as effective as charcoal. ”

Wang Chengen thought for a while, and then said, "It seems that what Lord Xu said is true. However, the advantages of using honeycomb coal are obvious. After a while, our family will advise His Majesty that this honeycomb coal is vigorously used in the palace. ”

Xu Liang arched his hand and said: "Then the lower official will thank the prince for the Xia shopkeeper of Xishan Coal Mine." Wang Chengen chuckled and said, "Lord Xu is polite." Helping others is helping. ”

Wang Gonggong said, winking at Xu Liang, obviously, Wang Gonggong is also very clear about the details of Xishan Coal Mine.

The two of them went out of the imperial dining room one after the other, and saw the little eunuch named Xiao Duzi running over at a trot, and said to Wang Chengen anxiously: "Father-in-law, Your Majesty is looking for you in the Palace of Nourishing Hearts." ”

Wang Chengen asked, "What's going on?" ”

Xiao Duzi said: "There is a big mess in the northwest again, Yang He, the governor of the three sides, and Gao Yingxiang and others of the people's army lost the battle near Gongchang Mansion, losing nearly 10,000 soldiers, and Your Majesty is angry there." ”

Wang Chengen stomped his feet and scolded: "It's really not worry-free." He hurriedly bowed his hand towards Xu Liang and hurriedly went to the direction of the Heart Cultivation Palace.

Xu Liang was left alone. Shi Shiran walked in the direction of the outside of the palace.

When Wang Chengen arrived in the Palace of Heart Cultivation, Liang Tingdong, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and several cabinet ministers were walking out in disgrace. Wang Chengen cautiously walked up to Emperor Chongzhen, who was sulking on the dragon chair. Carefully poured a cup of tea for Emperor Chongzhen.

"Your Majesty, have a cup of tea and be quiet." Wang Chengen said.

Emperor Chongzhen listened. Glancing at Wang Chengen, he weakly pointed to the outside of the Heart Cultivation Hall with one hand, and said angrily: "Chengen, if you haven't entered the palace with a pure body, I have to make you a cabinet scholar." Look at the people I used! As he spoke, his anger swelled up, and he said angrily: "That three-sided governor Yang He told me well when he took office. Within two years, the chaos in the northwest will certainly be calmed down. But look at it now, the silver has spent more than 100,000 taels, and the northwest is still a mess! Now he still has the face to reach out to me for silver! ”

Wang Chengen was silent for a while, and said softly: "Your Majesty, in fact, some of Governor Yang's practices in the northwest, although the old slave does not understand military affairs, he also disagrees with it in his heart. ”

"Huh? Tell me about it. Emperor Chongzhen had a lot of trust in the loyal eunuch in front of him, so he raised his eyebrows and asked.

Wang Cheng thought about it. Then he said softly: "The old slave remembers that Shaanxi was originally guarded by tens of thousands of Liang troops, although there were some rebellions in the first two years, but it was not to this point. It's just that last year, Governor Yang cut tens of thousands of elite Liang troops...... Once this people's army started an incident, it was in a hurry. It was no longer possible to muster available troops to suppress it, which led to the current situation. ”

Emperor Chongzhen listened and pondered. After a while. Nodding slowly, "Even I have to admit it now." It was a mistake to use Yang He in the first place. With that, Emperor Chongzhen stroked his forehead with one hand. Said: "Fang Caizhen discussed with several scholars and wanted to remove Yang He, the governor of the three sides. It was only Liang Tingdong, the secretary of the Ministry of War, who insisted that this matter be stopped. Alas, the chaos in the northwest has come to this point, and it is indeed inappropriate to change generals on the spot. Moreover, now that the treasury is empty, it is indeed dwarfed to deal with the two-sided war in the northwest and northeast. As for the money, to put it mildly, the treasury is still short of money. ”

Wang Chengen lowered his head, his eyes rolled for a while, he looked up at Emperor Chongzhen, and arched his hand: "Your Majesty, about the emptiness of the treasury, the old slave has a sentence in his heart, and I don't know whether to say it or not. ”

Emperor Chongzhen glanced at Wang Chengen and said generously: "Chengen, do you still need those false politeness between you and me?" To put it bluntly, even if you say it wrong, I will forgive you for your innocence. ”

Wang Chengen's heart was hot when he heard this, and he knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Your Majesty's trust in the old slave, the old slave can't repay it." Emperor Chongzhen said: "Get up quickly, there are no outsiders here, don't kneel down at every turn." ”

Wang Chengen looked moved, stood up, and respectfully bowed his hand to Emperor Chongzhen: "The old slave once heard Lord Shoufu say that the way to enrich the country is nothing more than the four words of open source and throttling, and the old slave does not understand the matter of open source, but the matter of throttling, the old slave recently heard Lord Xu of Guanglu Temple say that there is a fuel called honeycomb coal in the city of Beijing, which is cheap, and it is very convenient to make a fire, make rice, heat and warm the kang. Today, the old slave ordered someone to take some to the imperial dining room to try, and the effect was very good. The old slave wanted to use this honeycomb coal on a large scale in the palace. ”

Emperor Chongzhen looked at Wang Chengen and said, "This honeycomb coal burns, does it really have such an effect?" ”

Wang Chengen nodded and said, "You can't be wrong, Your Majesty." I tried it in the imperial dining room, but the honeycomb coal of the same price can burn the effect equivalent to double the charcoal. If all of our palace uses this kind of honeycomb coal, just one year's charcoal money, the internal affairs government can save nearly thirty or forty thousand taels of silver. ”

Emperor Chongzhen sighed: "Chengen, you have a heart." Then he thought that this was recommended by Xu Liang, so he asked: "Xu Aiqing, what do you think of Chengen?" ”

Wang Chengen arched his hand and said: "The matter involves the court Jiuqing, and the old slave does not dare to speak falsely." ”

Emperor Chongzhen scolded with a smile: "It's okay to say it directly. ”

Wang Chengen said: "That old slave is brave. The old slave thought that Xu Liang, although he was young and from a good background, was extremely practical in doing things for others. Counting the performance of Lord Xu since he entered Beijing, Lord Xu cooperated with Hong Chengchou, the governor of Yansui, to guard Yutian City, captured Houjin Xiaobeile alive, cleaned up the atmosphere of the Yamen of Guanglu Temple, and persuaded his fellow villagers to donate 20,000 taels of silver to the court...... In this way, the old slave thought that Xu Liang was a capable minister. He is a human being, and he has some similarities with Sun Ge Lao, who guards Liaodong. ”

Emperor Chongzhen listened, but was silent for a long time. Wang Chengen mentioned Sun Ge Lao, is Sun Chengzong, originally Emperor Chongzhen was very appreciative of Sun Chengzong, but recently due to the war in Liaodong and Northwest, Emperor Chongzhen and Sun Chengzong, who insisted on seeing it, had a very unpleasant quarrel, which led to the new military department Shangshu Liang Tingdong.

A few days later, at the court meeting, after several ministers played some things, the cabinet minister Cao Yubian suddenly made a report: "Your Majesty, the old minister has a book. ”

"Speak."

Cao Ge Lao glanced at Xu Liang, the secretary of Guanglu Temple, who was standing idly in the middle of the Jinluan Palace, smiled gloomily, and said: "Your Majesty, the minister has a copy of the matter of Ma Xiangyang, the doctor of Taixue, the prince of the country, impeaching Xu Liang of Guanglu Temple, by sacrificing the Taimiao, deducting two pieces of silver, and filling his own pockets, and the minister asks His Majesty to issue an order to strictly investigate the corruption of Xu Liang, the secretary of Guanglu Temple!" ”

Xu Liang was originally half-squinting and waiting for the end of the court meeting, but when he heard Cao Yubian actually say that Ma Xiangyang was going to impeach him, he was so shocked that he almost jumped. hurriedly came out of the ranks, bowed down to Emperor Chongzhen and said, "Your Majesty, the minister is wronged!" ”

Cao Ge Lao smiled coldly and said: "Lord Xu, the merits are straight, there are three legal divisions to verify, at this time, you shout injustice, will it be too early?" ”

Xu Liang couldn't help but glare at him angrily.

Emperor Chongzhen was silent on the dragon chair for a long time. To be honest, Emperor Chongzhen has been worried about the war in the northwest and Liaodong recently, and he very much does not want anyone to provoke other things to distract him. He flipped through the folds presented by Cao Yubian, then glanced at Cao Yubian with dissatisfaction, and said slowly: "Elder Cao Ge, Xu Aiqing is one of the nine Qings, and he is a third-grade important minister. A little doctor of Taixue, impeachment of the three grades, can there be conclusive evidence? ”

Cao Ge Lao Zhenzhen said eloquently: "Your Majesty, that Taixue Doctor Ma Xiangyang was originally the Cheng of Guanglu Temple, and he is very clear about the situation in Guanglu Temple. However, when Ma Xiangyang left Beijing for a month and returned to the capital again, he found many unusual places in Guanglu Temple. The old minister is willing to ask His Majesty to order the three law divisions to investigate thoroughly! ”

The three law divisions of Cao Ge Laokou are the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Dali Temple and the Criminal Department. The imperial history of the left capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate is Cao Ge Lao himself, and the secretary of the criminal department is Qiao Yunsheng. These two people have never had a good impression of Xu Liangke. If the three law divisions investigate the case, Xu Liang is worried that even if he does a good job of accounting, he will be put up some unfavorable evidence by these two people.

So, while Emperor Chongzhen was still hesitating, Xu Liang kowtowed again and shouted: "The minister is wronged!" Dr. Taixue Ma Xiangyang's impeachment of the minister is purely revenge for personal gain! The minister is willing to ask His Majesty to issue an order, order Jinyiwei to investigate the matter thoroughly, and return the innocence of the minister and Guanglu Temple! (To be continued.) )