Chongzhen listened to the words of the household department, and his expression became difficult to see, has the finances of the household department deteriorated to such a point now? Thinking of this, Chongzhen looked at Hubu Shangshu and said, "Is there no other way than to embezzle the army's food?" "Circle

Hearing this, Hubu Shangshu's face changed, and he bowed his head and said, "Yes." ”

"Say it quickly."

Tobe Shangshu was silent for a moment and spit out two words: "Tax increase!" ”

"Tax increases?"

Hubu Shangshu said: "That's right, if you want to reduce or exempt Henan's taxes, then Henan's taxes will be apportioned to the heads of the people of other state capitals, but Your Majesty's life in other state capitals is also tight, if there is such a heavy tax for no reason, I am afraid that if Henan Li Zicheng has not been pacified, there will be Wang Zicheng and Zhao Zicheng in other places!" ”

Chongzhen listened to this and sat weakly on the dragon chair, it seemed that the method of soothing and using it was useless.

So what? circle

Chongzhen didn't know what to do, at this moment Zhou Yanru walked out of his position, and said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that the Ming Dynasty is now in the most dangerous time, and if you are not careful, you will never recover, and the minister thinks that Chen Shangshu's suppression and use is good, but it can't be used, and the Ming finance has reached the brink of collapse, and if you want to appease the people of Henan, you have to tear down the east wall and make up the west wall, and the people of Henan have appeased, but the people in other places have made trouble again, so we only have one way now, That is to exterminate Li Zicheng at any cost! ”

"As long as Li Zicheng, the biggest rogue in the world, is exterminated, then the other small rogues are just scabies, let's deal with it slowly, it's nothing."

Hearing this, the ministers nodded, Zhou Shoufu This is the words of Lao Cheng to seek the country.

Chongzhen also nodded and said, "What Elder Zhou Ge said is extremely true, so how should Henan deal with it?" ”

Zhou Yanru said: "Henan now has almost 100,000 large and small armies of the Ming Dynasty, but these 100,000 people are in their own way and have become a plate of loose sand, and the threat to Li Zicheng is limited, and what we should consider now is how to gather this plate of loose sand, and the old minister thinks that at present, there is only Sun Chuanting in Henan who has this ability, so the next battle in Henan will depend on Sun Chuanting." ”

Chongzhen nodded and said: "Sun Chuanting is indeed a good candidate, so I will order that Sun Chuanting be appointed as the governor of Henan, in charge of the war in Henan." ”

Hearing this, Zhou Yanru nodded and said, "This can protect the overall situation of Henan." "Circle

When all the ministers heard this, they all said in unison: "Your Majesty is Shengming." ”

Chongzhen listened to the compliments of the ministers, his brows furrowed, and he looked at Zhou Yanru and said, "Elder Zhou Ge, can you defeat Li Zicheng in this way?" ”

Chongzhen felt that Sun Chuanting alone was not enough to defeat Li Zicheng, after all, Yang Sichang and Sun Chuanting did not stop Li Zicheng from capturing Luoyang.

And Zhou Yanru was waiting for Chongzhen's words, hearing Chongzhen say this, Zhou Yanru pondered for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, such an arrangement can only ensure that the situation in Henan does not further collapse, but it is not enough to defeat Li Zicheng, Li Zicheng flooded Kaifeng, attacked Xuzhou, went down to Ruyang, and finally Keluo, the climate has been achieved, and it is not so easy to eliminate." ”

"Although Sun Chuanting is a good general, his two fists are hard to beat with four hands, so he needs to be given a helper."

After Zhou Yanru said this, Chongzhen said: "Who is the helper that Zhou Ge said?" ”

Sun Chuanting said at this time: "Tongguan Zuo Liangyu." "Circle

Silent!

Hearing this name, everyone was silent, Zuo Liangyu is a taboo topic in Daming, the reason is very simple, because Zuo Liangyu's role is to look at Lantian, if Zuo Liangyu moves, Lantian Menghu will have no power to balance, so when the court officials discuss the military, they will involuntarily avoid Lantian Li Chaosheng.

And Chongzhen was also quite jealous of Li Chaosheng, at this time after listening to Zhou Yanru's words, Chongzhen's brows furrowed, and he followed up and said: "Elder Zhou Ge, Zuo Liangyu can't move lightly, he is here to watch Lantian." ”

Chongzhen's words were very straightforward, Zhou Yanru didn't say much before, but today Zhou Yanru is determined to do something for Daming, at this time Zhou Yanru raised his head slightly, and his cloudy eyes looked at Chongzhen and said: "Your Majesty, do you really think that Zuo Liangyu can see Lantian?" ”

Hearing this, Chongzhen was stunned for a moment, and stared at Zhou Yanru: "What do you mean by this?" ”

Zhou Yanru arched his hand and said: "Your Majesty, the strength of Lantian over the years, Your Majesty should be clear, Lantian has a total of four main legions, each legion of more than 10,000 people, after Li Chaosheng and Zhang Xianzhong started a war, only one legion was sent to let Zhang Xianzhong, and suffered heavy losses, and in recent years, in the northwest region, no matter what happened Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng or other forces, seeing Lantian have to retreat three points, Lantian's strength has far exceeded our imagination." ”

"Your Majesty, the minister has been understanding Lantian all these years, the more he understands, the more frightened the old minister is, although Lantian now has only four main legions on the surface, but there are 300,000 people under his command, called it: militia, there is an old incident a few years ago, Zuo Liangyu should not have reported to His Majesty, Lantian once clashed with Zuo Liangyu's son Zuo Mengeng, Lantian militia regiment, brought hundreds of people to fight with Zuo Menggeng's army, although the battle was finally stopped by the high-level of both sides, but that battle, In the case that Zuo Mengeng still had an advantage in numbers, Zuo Mengeng was defeated. "Circle

"Your Majesty, Zuo Liangyu's army is only 15,000 people in total, but there are 300,000 militias like this in Lantian, Your Majesty, if Lantian really wants to get out of Tongguan, can Zuo Liangyu stop it?"

Zhou Yanru looked at Chongzhen and asked, Chongzhen was stunned by the data Zhou Yanru said, 300,000? How many troops can the Ming Dynasty fight now, is there 300,000?

Moreover, these 300,000 militiamen are all able to fight against Zuo Liangyu's elite, Li Chaosheng actually raised such a huge number of soldiers and horses with the strength of Shaanxi, how did he do it.

And I sit on the world, but I can't afford to raise hundreds of thousands of horses in the world, why, why is the gap so big?

At this moment, Chongzhen felt a deep frustration, and Zhou Yanru arched his hand at this time and said: "Your Majesty, to say a big disrespectful word, if Li Chaosheng really wants to rebel, Zuo Liangyu's soldiers and horses are not enough for him to eat, you put Zuo Liangyu in Tongguan, in fact, it is just for show, and his role is not big at all." ”

Chongzhen calmed down for a long time after hearing this, and finally exhaled a breath and said: "Okay, even if it is as the elder said, Lantian soldiers are strong and strong, and Zuo Liangyu is a piece of meat in Lantian's mouth, but why didn't Lantian come out of Tongguan and eat Zuo Liangyu's piece of meat?" ”

After listening to Chongzhen's question, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty also had this doubt, yes, since Li Chaosheng has the strength to sweep the world, why is he still willing to live in the southwest corner? Isn't that reasonable? circle

Zhou Yanru arched his hand at this time and said, "Your Majesty has ever heard such a sentence? ”

"What?"

Chongzhen looked at Zhou Yanru, his expression could not see joy and anger, Zhou Yanru looked at Chongzhen at this time and said: "There is such a saying in the world, Chongzhen is not dead, Lantian is not opposed!" ”

"Bold, Zhou Yanru, you actually said such a rebellious thing to Your Majesty, what crime should you be guilty of!"

As soon as Zhou Yanru finished saying this, there was a royal history below that immediately exploded, pointed at Zhou Yanru and scolded, and then said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, Zhou Yanru is arrogant and domineering, and he actually cursed His Majesty on the main hall, please treat him for a big crime of disrespect!" ”

Zhou Yanru glanced at Yushi indifferently at this time, as if he was looking at a clown who jumped off the beam, and looked at Chongzhen with a calm expression, Chongzhen waved his hand at this time and said: "Wang Yushi, you step down." ”

"Your Majesty." circle

"Stand down!"

Chongzhen shouted angrily, Wang Yushi immediately retreated, and then Chongzhen stood up and looked at Zhou Yanru and said: "What does Zhou Ge Lao mean by this, could it be that this sentence came from Lantian?" ”

Zhou Yanru sighed and said, "It was Li Chaosheng who said it himself. ”

Chongzhen's face changed when he heard this: "Then what does he mean by this?" ”

Zhou Yanru said: "I didn't know much about it before, until I found out later, Li Chaosheng said to people more than once that he admired His Majesty, because he admired His Majesty's personality, so he was unwilling to oppose His Majesty, I think what he meant by this was to give Lantian another forbidden spell, so that Lantian people would dispel the idea of rebelling against Your Majesty!" ”

"Li Chaosheng admires me, hahaha......" Chongzhen laughed when he heard this, and there were tears in his eyes when he smiled, Chongzhen looked at the Wu Qunchen under the stage and said: "He Li Chaosheng admires me, hahaha, admires me what, admires me for governing the Ming Dynasty as well as him Lantian, admires me for deliberately deploying troops outside Lantian, and finally becomes a joke in Lantian, hahaha......"

Chongzhen laughed, followed by sitting on the dragon chair and crying: "Li Chaosheng, Li Chaosheng, if you really admire me, the king of the Ming Dynasty, you should give up Lantian to help me govern the Ming Dynasty, I can give you the right to be the head of the cabinet, I can let you be Zhang Juzheng of the Chongzhen Dynasty, so you don't want to, you still say that you admire me, what do you admire me?" "Circle

Chongzhen cried and laughed for a while, and the ministers below were all stunned after seeing it, Your Majesty, what's wrong, is it crazy?

The ministers looked at each other speechless for a while, and Chongzhen recovered for a long time, looked at Zhou Yanru and said: "Old Zhou Ge, you said this, just to tell me that Zuo Liangyu has no role in Tongguan, so it is better to be sent to the Henan battlefield to cooperate with Sun Chuanting to exterminate Li Zicheng, right?" ”

Zhou Yanru said: "Yes." ”

Chongzhen nodded and said: "I understand what you mean by this, but Zhou Ge Lao, I am not at ease with Lantian, Lantian has now become the biggest disaster in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty, do you have any way to check and balance?" ”

Zhou Yanru thought for a while when he heard this: "Your Majesty, don't say it's useless to use force to restrain Lantian now, even if it is useful, we can't use enough force, so it is the most undesirable and useless to use force against Lantian." ”

"Now can restrain Lantian, only Li Chaosheng's heart, Li Chaosheng said that His Majesty in one day, he will not rebel, indicating that he still has the idea of being loyal to the scholar in his heart, just like Cao Cao in the Three Kingdoms period, although he has the power to replace the Han Dynasty, but he has not done anything on behalf of the Han Dynasty in his life, the reason is that he eats the Han family, if he is self-reliant on behalf of the Han Dynasty, he is a traitor of the Han Dynasty, and he will bear the infamy of eternity."

"So Cao Cao has never been a representative of the Han Dynasty, and Li Chaosheng After so many years of observation, this person is also a person with an excellent reputation, and he has never done anything unfavorable to his reputation over the years, so the minister thinks that Li Chaosheng does not want to oppose the Ming Dynasty when His Majesty is alive, that is, he does not want to bear the infamy, or he wants to wait for the Liukou to destroy the Ming Dynasty, and then occupy the Ming Dynasty, or wait until his son succeeds to the throne, and then come to oppose the Ming Dynasty, so that he will not be infamy, but whether it is these two or that, it is good for us." circle

"That is to say, as soon as Your Majesty is alive, Li Chaosheng will definitely not turn his face with Daming and make His Majesty rebel, and His Majesty can just take advantage of this time to reorganize the old mountains and rivers and make great efforts, he Lantian is the power of a province in the final analysis, and how many provinces we have in Daming, as long as we wake up, he Lantian is not our opponent after all, so now we should not be hostile to Lantian, but should be favored, enveloped by it, let us go through the most dangerous period now, and wait until the future Daming Zhongxing, a corner of the southwest, We will definitely recover what we lost, so Your Majesty, you must learn from Gou Jian and try your courage in order to plan for the future! ”

Zhou Yanru analyzed Chongzhen for a while, Chongzhen listened to it, and felt that what Zhou Yanru said was very reasonable, otherwise he would not be able to explain these behaviors of Lantian, and at this moment Chongzhen was moved.

Chongzhen pondered for a moment, looked at Zhou Yanru and said, "What does Zhou Ge Lao mean?" ”

Zhou Yanru said: "Zuo Liangyu left Tongguan and entered Henan to quell the chaos. ”

"What about Lantian? In what form? ”

Zhou Yanru said: "The old minister said earlier that he should contain Lantian with kindness. ”

"Then with what kind of kindness, Qian Lantian is richer than me, and his soldiers and horses are stronger than me, so I have to make him king?" circle

Chongzhen frowned, not very happy.

Zhou Yanru said: "Your Majesty, you have already named Li Chaosheng as a waiter, but he has nothing to say, which shows that he doesn't care about the title, so it is not a good way to tie Li Chaosheng with the title." ”

"And what do you mean?"

Chongzhen looked at Zhou Yanru and asked, Zhou Yanru heard this and said in a deep voice: "The eldest princess seems to have reached the age of marriage. ”

"What?"

Chongzhen was shocked by Zhou Yanru's words, and looked at Zhou Yanru with confirmation: "What did you just say?" ”

Zhou Yanru calmed down his heart, and then arched his hand: "The minister said that the eldest princess seems to have reached the age of marriage!" "Circle

Chongzhen's expression instantly became ugly when he heard this: "You, thief, actually hit my daughter with your idea, you should be damned!" ”

Zhou Yanru was said so viciously by Chongzhen, but his expression did not change at all, and he still said calmly: "Since ancient times, the relationship between in-laws has been a strong relationship, if Your Majesty marries the eldest princess to Li Chaosheng, then Li Chaosheng is Your Majesty's son-in-law, if he still dares to rebel, that is really a person without a king and a father, and will be spurned by the people of the world, for the sake of the people of the world, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, please allow the princess to marry Lantian!" ”