golden scales

Wu Zhen was the middle of the top three in the Kuichou family in the 41st year of Wanli.If you take a closer look at the directory of this subject, it is the backbone of the Chongzhen Dynasty.Among them, Zhou Yanru, the number one scholar, entered the cabinet twice as prime minister, and Liu Hongxun, the second-ranked scholar, presided over the liquidation of eunuchs and rebellious cases in the seventh year of the apocalypse.Wang Yingxiong, the top three, was also an important minister who joined the cabinet in the sixth year of Chongzhen, and was dismissed for corruption and bribery.

Zhang Fengyi, Jiang Fengyuan, and Fan Jingwen among the same subjects are also senior ministers.

There is also Miao Changqi who raped his colleague Feng Quan, and Feng Quan who was raped by his colleague Miao Changqi.

However, it is Wang Xinyi who is at the bottom of the list who will directly benefit future generations.He went to the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Punishment, and was appointed as the Minister. After he became an official, he bought a garden in his hometown and named it "Gui Tian Yuan Ju", which later became the Humble Administrator's Garden.This garden has been providing a steady stream of ticket income for the imperial court so far.

"When I came here, I casually looked through Mr.'s resume, and found that Mr. has quite a lot of talents in the same year." Zhu Cihong sat outside the cell door and said to Wu Sheng with a smile.

Wu Tong had already been granted a seat to meet the East Palace. He was covered in rags and filth, sitting on the brocade pouf, forced a smile and let out a "hehe".

Zhu Cihong looked at Ge Fu, who had passed his fate, nearly a month of prison torture made him lose the vigor of the past, but his spirit was not bad compared to other prisoners.The prince passed by Hou Xun's cell just now, and that gentleman has lost the spirit to look at people.

"Before Gu came to Zhen Fusi, the emperor had an order."

"The guilty minister accepts the order." Wu Tong tried his best to get up, and knelt down on the ground.

"The emperor ordered: Wu Zhen, I treated you as a cabinet assistant, but you owed me a lot. Now that you are tortured in prison, do you have any regrets?"

"The sinful minister is deeply favored by the emperor, how can he have the heart to disappoint His Majesty? It is really a humble minister who cannot be driven, but uses a false name to cover up, deceive the holy inspector, so that he is ungrateful and rebellious. Now he is strictly taught by the sage. Knowing the fallacies of the past, it is almost a disaster for the country. Every time I think about it, I feel terrified, and I deeply hate what I did in the past..." Wu Chen made a deep self-criticism, and the more he spoke, the more smooth he was, and gradually he began to cry, and finally fell to the ground and cried bitterly.

Before Zhu Cihong came, he did enter the palace to ask for an order, but Chongzhen didn't have any troubles.On that day, he ordered Jin Yiwei to arrest Wu Tong, mainly because of the anger of Zhou Yanru's case. The resentment against Wu Tong who had been evading and refusing to go to Huguang Superviser broke out in an instant.The so-called verbal order was just a step, as long as Wu Zhen said a few decent words of repentance, and then expressed his determination, he would be released naturally.

Wu Tong was indeed well-informed, and he didn't play the trick of being tough. He expressed his repentance and pleaded guilty with emotion, hoping to be dealt with leniently.In fact, Chongzhen didn't intend to kill him at first, but just wanted to send him to Yunnan.Since the crown prince wants to recruit this person into his command, it is also a good time to use the waste to see the effect.

Even Zhu Cihong was a little surprised by Chongzhen's tolerance this time.

"I am alone in order to support the army in the west, and I am short of an experienced country seeker to assist me, sir, would you like to go with me?" Zhu Cihong asked.

Wu Xuan looked up at the prince unexpectedly, and his hands on the ground could not help but tremble.His lips twitched, and finally he lowered his head, a strand of hair hanging down slightly, pointing to the muddy ground scattered with straw stalks.

In the prison cell, there were only two pine torches crackling and peeling.

This situation is not so much a standoff, as it is a confrontation of hearts.Only people with unstable surnames will take the initiative to speak, while the other party can become more calm in this situation and strike later.Zhu Cihong was not short of patience, he had the upper hand both mentally and physically, and he could wait until Wu Sheng knelt until his knees hurt and finally surrendered.

Li Banghua's understanding of Wu Tong is indeed profound, and Wu Tong really lived up to the name of "stubborn", and confronted Zhu Cihong for nearly a quarter of an hour-about half an hour of the hour, before he said: "On that day, the emperor ordered the minister to be the supervisor. In Huguang, I thought that [-] elite soldiers were necessary to march west from Nanjing. Today, I still think that this strategy is not the best strategy, but it is a last resort."

The reason why Wu Zhen would leave Chongzhen with so much resentment that he was implicated by Zhou Yanru and suffered from this black prison was precisely because of his stubbornness.To the emperor, this kind of refusal to accept the task was like being slapped in the face in public, how could he not mind it?That is to say, Chongzhen, the Wenqing Emperor, is still a bit of a city-government mind, and he didn't attack immediately. If it was in the hands of Taizu, Chengzu, or Wuzong, Sejong, how could Wu Zhen live to this day?

"Qin Governor Sun Chuanting vowed to leave the customs in August, and now Luoyang has been recovered." Zhu Cihong said tentatively.

In an instant, Wu Tong had already drawn a topographic map from Xi'an to Tongguan and then to Luoyang in his mind.He once patrolled Shaanxi and Henan, and served as the governor of Shanxi. The terrain and terrain in this area have been seen and walked by himself.Looking back at this moment, every grass and tree is in front of me, far from being comparable to those civil servants who look at the map to judge the situation.

"The general trend is over!" Wu Xuan burst into tears suddenly, raised his head heavily, and shook his long messy hair, two streams of clear water welled up in his eyes.

Zhu Cilang looked at Wu Tong, and judged from his expression whether it was real crying or acting.Since the spread of Wang Yangming's theory of mind, there has been an atmosphere among literati and bureaucrats advocating the truth and sincerity, flaunting the "unity of knowledge and action", not sticking to popular customs, laughing when you want to laugh, and crying when you want to cry.It is not known how many of them have obtained the way of saints, but the ability to cry, cry and laugh has been mastered by many people.

"The general trend is over!" Wu Yan fell heavily on the ground, his voice hoarse, and he suppressed the urge to cry, his right hand was clenched into a fist, and he was pounding the mud.

"Wait!"

Zhu Cihong was about to speak, but was startled by Wu Tong's sudden roar, and swallowed the words back on his lips.

"And Shanxi!" Wu Tong wiped away the tears on his face, and two black marks immediately appeared.He ignored it and said, "Your Highness! To save the crisis now, the only way is to send elite soldiers and strong generals to gather Qin Governor's defeated troops, defend Taiyuan and Datong, and stick to Ningwuguan! Shanxi General Soldier Zhou Yuji is a capable general, and he may be able to keep Gyeonggi. Not lost."

Zhu Cihong didn't speak immediately.

Wu Tong's answer is almost the same as Zhu Cihong's own answer.It was only based on the historical process known to later generations, as well as various current newspapers and pond newspapers, that he was able to make the judgment of "abandoning Shaanxi and stabilizing Shanxi". conclusion?

What about the intermediate reasoning process?

Only the answer is not enough to get full marks.

"How do you know that Governor Qin will be defeated?" Zhu Cihong asked.

"After Sun Chuanting arrived in Shaanxi, he cleared up the acres of land and strictly pursued tax arrears. Only then did he have the capital to train soldiers." Wu Tong calmed down, his voice low and firm.He thought that the prince wanted to convey it to His Majesty the Emperor, so he laid out every link in his thoughts and said, "How can the local gentry tolerate him? It has piled up into a mountain. Once the army moves, the food, grass and beans needed are more than three to five times that of training. Pensions and rewards must be distributed to the soldiers immediately, otherwise who will use their lives? In this way, Sun Chuanting will inevitably offend a lot of people batch of people."

Zhu Cihong secretly said: This is the person who really did things.There are many filial sons in Daming, but few are loyal ministers.For the benefit of a family, it is too normal to ignore the interests of the court and the country.

"If Sun Chuanting hadn't captured Luoyang, he could still support his retreat to Tongguan." Wu Tong said again: "However, Sun Chuanting is already afraid of being imprisoned, so he must capture Luoyang to strengthen himself, so as not to be humiliated by the swordsmen again. In this way, the abandoned The precipitous location of Tongguan is advantageous, but the open and flat land of Luoyang is beneficial to the enemy and harmful to oneself. The soldiers of the Qin Dynasty were in a great war, and everyone was homesick, but they could not return to the foreign land for a long time. It's between ten and a month."

"The battle of Luoyang may not be a big battle." Zhu Cihong recalled Sun Chuanting's passionate memorial, and said softly.

Wu Tong was taken aback for a moment, then quickly said: "That's the trick of the bandits and soldiers to lure the enemy! There have been natural disasters in Henan for many years, and [***] continued. When the Qin soldiers came, various apportionments and salary increases fell on the people's heads, and the people became better and better. If Sun Chuanting loses the support of the people, Luoyang will not be able to stand. If he advances lightly, he will be defeated by Jia County. But this time, it is the robbers who set up an ambush."

After listening to Wu Tong's analysis, Zhu Cihong nodded lightly and said, "It was a failure to urge the Qin soldiers to leave the customs at the beginning. Even if they fought and won consecutive victories, there is no way to reverse the disadvantage."

This is defeat in the temple. Even if the frontline soldiers use their lives, they can only drink hatred in the end.

"The minister refused to go unless there were [-] elite soldiers, because the vassals did not follow orders. The minister also insisted on traveling westward from Jinling in order to avoid the long-weary place in Henan Province. It's a pity..." Wu Xuan was annoyed.

"Qin Governor's defeat is already a sign of strength," Zhu Cihong said, "I have already asked my soldier Feng Yuanbiao to send an official letter to Qin Governor, and stationed in Luoyang, waiting for reinforcements. When I lead the army to arrive, I will retreat to Tongguan, and wait and see. Can you keep the land inside the pass?"

Wu Tong asked, "How many soldiers and horses did Governor Qin lead out of the customs?"

"Qin has one hundred thousand soldiers." Zhu Cihong said.

Wu Xuan shook his head and said, "One hundred thousand troops...the hearts of the people in Qin have been lost, and they cannot be defended."

Zhu Cihong frowned slightly, and said, "Do you think you should consolidate Shanxi as soon as possible?"

"If there are [-] to [-] elite soldiers, we can still defend Shanxi for a while." Wu Sheng said: "At that time, the intruders can only station troops in Henan. Once they go north to the capital or go south to Jinling, they will be copied by our officers and soldiers. How can there be food in Henan to feed the thieves? The thieves can only take Huguang from the south to eat. Let alone the gap between the thieves and the thieves, as long as they go south to Huguang, they will be flanked by the Jin army and the Jiangnan defenders. Step by step retreating into Sichuan, Guangdong, Yunnan and Guizhou, losing its foundation."

"Sir, what you say is meant to fool the children." Zhu Cihong suddenly smiled lightly, stepped forward slowly, and looked down at Wu Zhen.

Wu Tong raised his head and looked at Zhu Cihong.There was only astonishment in his eyes, without any doubts, as if to say: "Hey, how did you see through it?" (To be continued.)