After the rout of Zhu Xianzhen, Ding Qirui, Yang Wenyue, and You Shilu all went to Beijing to explain the process and reasons for the rout.

It's just incomplete, although there are words to plead guilty, but try to put the blame on others, and invariably exaggerate the number of Li Zicheng's horses.

After careful study, Ding Qirui and Yang Wenyue are both civilian officials, and when it comes to the reasons for the rout, they cover each other up a little, and the spearhead is unanimously aimed at You Shilu.

The real reason for the rout was really caused by You Shilu and his subordinates.

However, due to the perennial secret music with mixed truth and falsehood, Chongzhen lost his judgment.

He ordered Ding Qirui to be arrested, Yang Wenyue was suspended for questioning, and You Shilu was given a lenient sentence, hoping that he would stick to Xiangyang and not let the soldiers fight for fall into the hands of thieves.

This time, You Shilu was able to escape questioning, firstly because of Chongzhen's own misjudgment, and secondly, You Shilu was already fledgling.

Chongzhen was discouraged and disappointed, but couldn't help but miss Yang Sichang. He sighed that after Yang Sichang's death, all that remained was mediocre, and there was not even a person who stabilized the overall situation.

The only thing that made the emperor feel relieved was that Zhou Yanru was appointed by him and returned to the cabinet as the first assistant.

Since expelling Zhou Yanru from the imperial court, a large number of auxiliary ministers such as Wen Tiren have been used, and they seem to be less skilled than Zhou Yanru, and they are worthy of being the "champion prime minister".

This time, Chongzhen also adopted Zhou Yanru's opinion on the differential treatment of Ding Qirui, Yang Wenyue, and Zuo Liangyu.

Subsequently, Hou Sui, one of the leaders of the Donglin Party, was appointed as the supervisor, which was also Zhou Yanru's idea.

Now, Chongzhen received a secret recital about Shenyang, and naturally summoned Zhou Yanru, the first assistant, to Wenhua Hall to summon him alone.

Zhou Yanru walked into the Wenhua Hall with a former imperial eunuch.

After waiting for Zhou Yanru to salute and give the seat, Chongzhen said, "Yang Cheng should assembly assemble the leaders of the Mongolian tribes in Shenyang to determine their rule. Now that thieves are rampant, the court needs to make great efforts to exterminate them. If Yang Cheng should rebel, what should he do?"

Zhou Yanru stood up and replied, "Your Majesty doesn't have to worry, if he has the heart to rebel, he won't wait until today. If you move too much, it will irritate him. It's better to pretend to ignore it as before."

Chongzhen sighed: "Covering your ears and stealing the bell is probably not a long-term method."

"If Your Majesty is not at ease, you can send someone to Shenyang to knock on the side to find out the heart of King Zhou."

"Who will you send? Hong Chengchou? No, he has a lot to do with Yang Chengying. Yang Sichang, the only soldier he can borrow, is gone."

"Your Majesty, the minister heard that Yuan Yingtai, the former Liaodong Jingluo, is still here, and he can be sent there. Yuan Yingtai once gave him three hundred tiger brigades, which is a great favor."

Chongzhen thought for a moment and shook his head: "It's not appropriate, if he goes to Liaodong, it will be tantamount to telling the other party that I am tempting."

At this time, Zhou Yanru tried to dagger: "The minister Baoju can send him to Liaodong."

"Who?" Chongzhen hurriedly asked.

"This person's name is Chen Mingxia, the word Baishi, and the name Shiyun Jushi. He has studied in Shandong, Hebei and other places, and is famous all over the world.

The most important thing is that he is a good friend of Huang Zongxi, the teacher of Zhou Wang Shizi, and it is reasonable to go to Liaodong to visit relatives and friends. And Huang Zongxi has been staying in the palace all the year round, so he must know something."

"Huang Zongxi......" Chongzhen remembered who it was, and said, "Okay! Quickly send Chen Mingxia to Shenyang to visit Huang Zongxi, and by the way, inquire about Yang Chengying's situation."

"Obey."

Zhou Yanru bowed down and exited the Wenhua Hall and turned to leave.

When he returned to the mansion, he sent someone to summon Chen Mingxia to the mansion.

The two were talking in the study, and Zhou Yanru told him about sending Chen Mingxia to Liaodong to investigate.

Chen Mingxia was surprised: "Although the student and Huang Zongxi are both members of the Fushe Society, Huang Zongxi is far away in Liaodong and has not been in contact for many years."

Zhou Yanru said while opening the broken dust with the tea lid:

"You are members of the Restoration Society, and you won't feel embarrassed to meet again. Through him, it is not difficult to get close to Yang Chengying."

"That's just as well." Chen Mingxia said, "Speaking of this, the student remembered that Yang Chengying had asked Huang Zongxi to write a letter inviting Mr. Tianru to meet in Liaodong, but because Mr. was not in good health, the most

It didn't work out."

Mr. Tianru refers to Zhang Pu, who was the first person of the Restoration Society at that time.

Zhou Yanru was able to "make a comeback", all thanks to the strong recommendation of Zhang Pu and others.

Hearing Zhang Pu's name, a trace of fierceness flashed in Zhou Yanru's eyes, and he disappeared immediately.

He took a sip of his tea and asked nonchalantly, "What happened next?"

"Later, Huang Zongxi wrote to Mr. Nam Guo, Chung Ching and others again, but they all failed to make the trip due to their own reasons."

The Mr. Nan Guo in Chen Mingxia's mouth refers to Zhang Cai, who is as famous as Zhang Pu, and "Zhongqing" is Gu Yanwu's expression before he changed his name.

Zhou Yanru secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "I came to you because I had a confidential matter to discuss. Don't talk about it to outsiders, it will cause the disaster of raiding the family and exterminating the family."

Chen Mingxia said: "Rest assured, students will never reveal half a word to the public."

"Seeing thieves everywhere, the smoke is everywhere. But the imperial court lost its troops and lost its generals, and it didn't even keep Kaifeng, which is not a good sign."

Zhou Yanru is still tentative.

Chen Mingxia is such a smart person, he smells a different smell all of a sudden.

He said, "At present, the country is troubled, and in addition to the thieves, there are domestic slaves in Jiangnan who rebel. When you think about the rise and fall of dynasties in history, you can't help but be suspicious."

The word "suspicious" was used beautifully, which made Zhou Yanru quite satisfied.

He is a sensible person.

Zhou Yanru said: "I want to make the world calm quickly and return peace to the people. It is unreliable to rely on the imperial court, Zhang Pu's ideas are too naïve. The only way to find another way is to lure the Liaodong army into the customs."

Chen Mingxia was stunned for a moment, and then exclaimed: "What the Lord means is to let the Liaodong Army enter the customs and change ......

He didn't dare to say the rest of the story.

"That's a big rebellion." Chen Mingxia whispered.

"What do you mean by 'great rebellion? Since the Song Dynasty, how many wealthy families in Jiangnan and Jiangbei, they have invested in gold, then Yuan, and then Ming, and they deserve death. The result? Everyone who has lived to this day is a rich party."

Zhou Yanru said lightly.

"Your Excellency's words are indeed bold, but when you think about it, they make sense."

"If you think about it again, your talent is no less than Zhang Pu, but because he is the leader, he has not come out for a long time. If we become the ministers of the dragon, I am afraid that there will be no place to show it?"

"But...... The students heard that there is no imperial examination outside the Guan, and there is nowhere for scholars in the world to apply what they have learned in their lives."

"Is this something you should worry about?"

Zhou Yanru asked rhetorically and stopped Chen Mingxia.

Indeed, they are all "ministers of the dragon", do they still need to work hard to participate in the imperial examination? Splashing wealth is just waiting to be enjoyed.

It was only at this time that Chen Mingxia finally understood Shoufu's intention of sending him to Liaodong.

It was not to inquire about intelligence at all, but to be a lobbyist, lobbying Yang Chengying to lead the army into the customs and change the dynasty.

"Why are you doing this, my lord?" Chen Mingxia finally confirmed.

"You haven't seen it yet? Daming is coming to an end!"