In May of the first year of Zhengde, Zou Cheng, the salt envoy of the two Huai capitals, also received the will of the celebrant supervisor.

He was ordered to enter Beijing as soon as the arrangements were made.

Zou Cheng panicked when he received the will,

Recently, I suddenly talked about entering Beijing, and I didn't say why.

What's going on?

Zou Cheng was weak-hearted, so after listening to the proclamation, he began to worry all day long and was at a loss. I always feel that the emperor has his eyes on the salt class.

This time, if something really happens, how can it be done?

Therefore, this trip to the capital, he was unwilling, unwilling, so he immediately convened his subordinates to discuss whether he was sick or not.

His subordinates advised him, "Envoy Zou, if it were done at another time, it would be fine, but now the Holy Lord is the male lord, and if the celebrant does not have his approval, how can there be a will?" Therefore, since it is a holy decree, if you deliberately use the excuse not to go, there will be no three hundred taels of silver here, which will attract the attention of the saints. ”

Zou Cheng is a person who has been on the stage in Yangzhou, but when he encounters that he wants to go to Beijing, he is still panicked, so he walks back and forth in the room, highlighting a person who is difficult to sit still.

"But if the envoy goes, when he goes to the palace, Gu Liqing will say all those words, and His Majesty will ask me instead, how should I answer?"

Herein lies the problem.

In fact, if the lord of mediocrity is in power, many things can always save the country, for example, this is the master of ceremonies and the outer court fighting, then everyone shows their magic and fights each other, as the person below, he hugs the thighs of the court.

But the situation has become more and more different in the past two years.

Now this matter does not involve factional struggles in the court, and the emperor always extinguishes the signs of factional struggles in a timely manner, and what he advocates is a pragmatic-based officialdom atmosphere.

To put it bluntly, no matter who you are or who is behind you, what he cares about is the matter itself!

The matter is done, of course, it is hard, and the emperor sometimes protects the short. Things can't be done well, the emperor starts to trouble you, who do you say you can find in the Ming Dynasty?

But Zou Cheng's biggest weakness is the thing itself.

So he didn't want to go because he knew the emperor's style, and there was really no way!

Unless......

Unless it's to cheat!

really deceived the emperor, then there is no danger.

The subordinates said: "Don't worry too much about the envoy, Gu Liqing's time in Yangzhou is still short, what can he find out?" And as soon as he opened his mouth, he wanted to offend countless nobles, ministers and court officials, involving so many people, could His Majesty convict Zou Envoy based on his words? No, Your Majesty has always been thoughtful in dealing with anything. Therefore, the post concluded that Zou Envoy was in danger of going this time. ”

Although Han Wen had already reported the matter in the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Houzhao ordered all personnel not to disclose half a sentence, and in that small range, this order really worked.

Because everyone knows that once it is leaked, it is not so difficult to find out afterwards.

In this way, Zou Cheng and the others, who were far away in Yangzhou, naturally did not know that there had been such a change in the Beijing Division, not that they had no one in the Beijing Division, but that even if there were, they would not be able to hear about it.

In this way, the emperor's disposition in an emergency can also be called appropriate.

After listening to the words of his subordinates, Zou Cheng was quite encouraged in his heart, and said as if comforting himself: "Not bad! I don't know how many people will be involved in this case, no matter how much grace Gu Liqing has, it will not come to such a point. ”

In the evening, news finally came back and forth at the will of the celebrant.

That's great news.

After reading it, Zou Cheng congratulated each other with several subordinates, and was overjoyed, "The method of using the ministers worked before!" His Majesty really began to be suspicious of him! Gu Liqing is afraid that it will be difficult to protect herself this time! ”

When their lives and interests are at stake, they must have forgotten the oath they recited at the time of the imperial examination, 'the worries of the world first, and the joy of the world after the world'.

Anyway, in this way, Zou Cheng will dare to enter Beijing.

From Yangzhou to Beijing, you can go all the way north along the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, avoiding the bumps of the land carriage.

Gu Zuo was the 'attacker' in this incident, and he was not afraid to have more contact with local officials, so he also took the initiative to send a letter asking Zou Cheng to travel with him on the same boat.

Zou Cheng is not the same as before, and he is still a little proud when he receives Qincha's post: "It is difficult to distinguish black and white in officialdom, let's take a good look this time!" ”

On the sixth day of the fifth month,

The two packed up and rented a passenger boat to go north at Yangzhou Wharf.

The wharf is extremely lively, because the emperor is choosing a concubine, Yangzhou has been a romantic place since ancient times, so there are quite a lot of people who want to enter Beijing after the first round of primary elections.

In the crowd, Gu Zuo and Zou Cheng bowed hands to each other, and they were polite on the surface.

The Beijing-Hangzhou Canal is not wide, basically about 20 meters, take a boat to the north to see the scenery on both sides of the river at a glance, at this time it is spring again, the willows on both sides of the bank are still around, from time to time to see the peach blossoms in full bloom, it is a beautiful scenery in the world.

Counting the Hongzhi period, the imperial court and ministers have been seriously governing the country for nearly 20 years, and there are countless fertile fields along the canal, which is also shocking.

"The Holy Son of Heaven is in the court, the world is ripe, the top is poor, this situation and this scene, congratulations!"

Gu Zuo thought to himself, it's useless for you to shoot the emperor's horses again, and the emperor is like Emperor Taizu, either don't do it, or do it absolutely. Since the matter of the salt law has been mentioned, it has a beginning and an end, and it will definitely not be anticlimactic.

"Ambassador Zou, do you know, why did the imperial court suddenly announce our entry into Beijing at this time?"

On the deck, Zou Cheng's face changed slightly, but he already knew about the affairs in the palace, so he just had some doubts in an instant, and immediately became a bamboo in his chest, and said: "The saint has always been thoughtful, and the qualifications of the lower officials are mediocre, except for being willing to serve the king, he doesn't think about anything else." ”

Gu Zuo knew the details of this guy, he was obviously greedy, but he could speak so correctly on the surface, and his thick skin was really shocking to this extent.

Jingshi, in the palace.

The situation of the chief eunuch and palace maid that Zhu Houzhao encountered earlier has been sent over.

The chief eunuch was named Zheng Zhou, thirty-four years old, and had been in the palace for twenty years. Shang Shan was in charge of the emperor's and court meals and banquets, and was basically a marginal role.

But it can't explain anything, according to what this person said at the time, he had a relative in Yangzhou who asked him for help, and people outside the palace didn't care what position you held in it, but they only felt that they could also get in touch with the emperor for so many years.

And You Zhi's movements are also fast,

Checking people starts with the people around him, and places like Shangshan Jian involve some procurement matters, Zheng Zhou's people basically still have the problems of deduction, embezzlement, and greed for ink on weekdays, and after so many years, the amount should not be small.

Since he loves money, Zhu Houzhao can't rule out the possibility of someone setting up a bureau.

So he made up his mind and had already instructed Jinyiwei to take Gu Zuo down after he entered Beijing.

Although I still don't understand why Han Wen suddenly played this, but the salt law does involve too many people, he sacrificed a Wang Hua for the eucalyptus of Zhejiang, and now Gu Zuo has to protect it.

And Hangeul is already in his seventies,

First, he is highly respected and has a deeper foundation than Gu Zuo, and secondly, the strong man is in his twilight years, and he is too old to give way.

At the same time, in the northern border of the Ming Dynasty.

The soldiers of Datong have been completely immersed in the desert.

The overall situation is that the forward Ma Rong Department led 3,000 cavalry as the vanguard, and the rear followed by Zhou Shangwen led 20,000 troops, and the distance between them was about five days when they first entered the desert, and now it has been shortened to three days, so it can be said that the deeper it goes, the closer it is.

After all, although spring is the season for grazing on the steppe, Dayan Khan is not a weak lord, and even if he encounters one of his subordinates, it will be a vicious battle.

Of Zhou Shangwen's 20,000 soldiers, 19,000 were cavalry, and the remaining 1,000 were grain transport teams.

This time, the silver given by the imperial court is sufficient, so in addition to pickles, there will be some salted meat, although it is unpalatable, but it is already a great happiness to have meat to eat on the march on the grassland.

Ma Rongbu has to work harder, dry food, wild vegetables, and water along the way, this is their food for more than ten days, basically birds are about to come out of their mouths.

The troops grabbed two yellow sheep that had been raised, and many soldiers wondered if they could kill the Fighting Tooth Sacrifice, but no one dared to say.

Ma Rong looked at the four people under him, his eldest brother was not suitable, impulsive and unstable, so he said to the slightly older Qianhu, "Liu Qianhu, you take the three of you back the same way, go and report the situation here to General Zhou, and ask them to speed up the march a little." ”

"Order!"

On the grassland, there may be enemies on all sides.

Which direction to go is completely up to fate.

Ma Rong looked at the guide, the guide's surname was Lu, his name was Zuyun, and he was squatting on the grass at this time to check.

"If there is no mistake, it should be the Yongshebu tribe," the guide wiped off the poop-like thing from his hand with a straw handle, "and he is the enemy of the little prince, one of the three lords of the Mongol right wing. ”

Dayan Khan, known to the Ming people as the Little Prince, had three main enemies at this point in history, or the right-wing Mongols, namely the Yongshebu Division, the Ordos Division, and the Tumut Division.

"How can you be sure that this is the people of the Yongshebu tribe in this area?"

The guide said an answer that Ma Rong couldn't question, "I've been." ”

Been to ......

In this way, if you want to find it, you can touch it now.

But it's not that simple.

Ma Rong dismounted and said to his general: "Big brother, Luo Qianhu, Xiong Qianhu, the Mongolian right wing and the left wing are not in harmony, and there are also battles between each other. According to General Zhou's explanation, if we encounter a right-wing tribe, we must first find out the situation, and then choose whether to attack or not. The main thing is to see if there is a possibility of union. ”

Ma Sheng was a little impatient, he looked for so many days, and finally met a person, but he didn't charge, and he couldn't accept it in his heart, "It's all Mongolians, what's the difference?" Kill them all! ”

"It's definitely not okay to slash and kill them all, this is General Zhou's military order, does the eldest brother want to disobey?"

The guide surnamed Lu came over at this time and said: "General, in fact, there is a matter recently in the right-wing Yongxieb Department that the general will be willing to know. ”

"What is it?" Ma Rong turned around and asked.

"At the beginning of this year, Dayan Khan sent his second son, Urusborot, to the right wing to serve as Jinong."

Jinun, equivalent to the deputy khan, was an assistant to the Great Khan, whose duty was to administer the affairs of the Mongolian right-wing in accordance with the will of the Great Khan.

To put it bluntly, it is to send a common ruler to the three right-wing Wanyong Shebu, Ordos and Tumut to exercise power on behalf of the Han Dynasty, and Jinong is generally the eldest son of the Han Dynasty (Dayan Khan's eldest son died early), which is equivalent to a prince among the Han people.

Therefore, Dayan Khan sent such a person to actually absorb all the 30,000 households of the right wing.

Ma Rong instantly captured the key point, "Although the 30,000 households on the right wing are openly respected by Dayan Khan as the co-master, they have not been subdued, and sending Jinong at this time is probably not so simple." ”

Then he quickly thought, "If this Urusborot dies on the right flank, then Dayan Khan will be furious, even if he is a temporary hero and has a big heart, but these people of Yongshebu will be afraid of it." ”

Although Lu Zuyun is just a guide, the person who eats his bowl of rice must have a bright brain, so he originally wanted to make this suggestion, which was instructed by the owner before he followed the Ming army on the expedition.

It's just that as soon as the words came out, Guan Zi hadn't had time to sell it, and the young general in front of him had already noticed it.

Ma Sheng was excited when he heard this, "The son of the little prince, that must be a big official!" Let's go get him!" Last time we ran through the fire sieve, we gave a joke! ”

This is talking about the dispute between Yang Shangyi and Zhou Shangwen at that time, Yang Shangyi led the cavalry that the emperor had worked hard to accumulate, but he couldn't catch up with a fire sieve.

On the side, Luo Qianhu said: "No one has ever seen this Urusborot, even if we win, how do we know if we have caught it right?" ”

The guide could only shake his head at this time, "The villain has never seen such a big official in the tribe." ”

Ma Rong frowned at first, and then the corners of his mouth curled, "Actually, you don't have to." I guess that the three thousand households on the right must have wanted to kill Dayan Khan's second son, but they were afraid of Dayan Khan's might so dare. ”

"You have to talk to them beforehand."

"No, they will be strange if we come so far to breathe suddenly, and they will not be surprised if they suddenly appear to beat them. Besides, if these people really intended to kill Urusborot, as long as the Ming army appeared, they themselves would come to the door. After all, Dayan Khan is in front, we are behind, what choice can they have? ”

Two days later, Zhou Shangwen arrived at the horse.

To Ma Sheng's surprise, he thought that his second brother, who had been oversteady, suggested that General Zhou send troops to attack Yongxiebu's department!

Zhou Shangwen didn't understand, "You said you want to fight the right-wing tribes?" ”

"The last general thought that there was no problem with the imperial court's decision to unite the right wing, but if the Mongols didn't fight, they would not be willing to unite with the Ming army."

"But how can you unite after a fight?"

"If the leader doesn't kill him, just catch it and let it go. As long as Dayan Khan's second son can be killed, the leader who is put back is Dayan Khan's trouble, because he will definitely go and lobby the other two tribes to oppose Dayan Khan with him. ”

Just like when the Mongols put Emperor Yingzong back, the result was that the Ming court was neither left nor right, and it was uncomfortable to die. In fact, the imperial court is indeed in turmoil because of this, this trick is amazing.

Zhou Shangwen was a little hesitant.

Ma Rong continued to persuade: "General Zhou Bing, at this time there is the second son of Dayan Khan on the right wing, and the leaders of the 30,000 households on the right wing will definitely not easily unite with the Ming army in front of him, they have not been heart-to-heart with us to this extent, in the final analysis, they are all Mongols, and we are foreigners, so a simple boycott of the army cannot shake hands and make peace." ”

"Good!" The martial artist didn't have so much hesitation and entanglement, "Then let's fight!" The soldiers divided into two ways and attacked the Yongshebu division from both sides! ”

Ma Rong's fist clenched instantly,

…… In this battle, he is sure!

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