Daming wolf ride

Beijing, Forbidden City, East Nuan Pavilion of Qianqing Palace, late at night.

The 21-year-old young emperor stared blankly at the imperial case. There was a stack of pond newspapers piled up on the imperial case. The pond newspapers were all about civil unrest. Before that, there was trouble in the northwest, and now even Henan is also troubled. There was civil unrest, and it became more and more violent.

According to local reports, the rebel armies from all over the country seemed to have colluded. I heard that the rebel army had formed the so-called 36th Battalion.Under the leadership of King Gao Chuang, the thieves led Wang Ziyong, Lao Huihui, Huo Cao Cao, Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and other troops to cross the Yellow River eastward, gathering more than 20 refugees, and recently conquered Ningxiang, Shilou, Jishan, and Wenxi. , Hejian Zhuzhou counties.

Wherever the bandit army passed by, it was like locusts sweeping across, every house was dilapidated, and it was a mess.As of the day before yesterday, in Henan alone, there were more than 80 county and county officials who were lost to the bandit army. Hearing that the bandit army is now heading for Kaifeng, the governor of Henan has sent people for emergency several times!

But what is strange is that the young emperor's mind does not seem to be on the Tang newspaper in front of him, nor is he thinking about the situation in Henan. report. [

There is only one sentence in the urgent report, the army of Zhang Chun, the military guard and Taoist supervisor, has been wiped out in Xiaolinghe outside Jinzhou city.

Zhang Chun is defeated, can Zu Dashou still hold on?Can Jinzhou hold on again?

If Jinzhou is lost, Ningyuan will be in danger; if Ningyuan is lost again, wouldn't the Eastern Captives be knocked off the pass?

Two years ago, the painful memory of Donglu's entry into the customs deeply hurt the young emperor, and made his heart ache.

For several nights, he was lying on the bed alone, and when he closed his eyes, the scene of his people being taken captive by the Eastern Captives always appeared in his mind, and the tragedies of family ruin and death always appeared one after another.

He blamed himself, he was in pain, but there was nothing he could do.

Why didn't God send me a good general to support half the sky in Liaodong!

Why didn't the heavens send me a few good ministers, so that the court was full of filth and smoke!

Without God's help, he can only rely on himself, constantly encourage himself to be diligent, must not delay state affairs, and try to use his own diligence to turn the tide and rejuvenate Daming.

But two years later, the country's situation has not developed in the good direction as he thought, but has become worse.

Daming's enemy has changed from one Eastern prisoner to two, and what makes people sad is that the second enemy is his former subject.

Alas, what crime did I commit in my previous life, God, you want to torture me like this!

With a bang, Chongzhen accidentally knocked over the long-cold supper, and the crisp sound of cracking bowls alarmed the little eunuchs on duty outside, they came in in a panic, and stood there a little scared.

The emperor has been in a bad mood for the past few days. He heard that Liaodong was defeated again and suffered a great loss, so that some people in the court are discussing to abandon the pass and try to protect Shanhaiguan.The emperor disagrees, but he can't come up with a solution. Coupled with the constant emergency in various places, the civil unrest is getting worse and worse, and the two intersect. Can the emperor feel better?

The two young eunuchs looked at each other, lowered their heads, not daring to move lightly, lest they offend the emperor and vent their anger on themselves.

Chongzhen didn't go to see them, but still looked at the pile of pond newspapers. After a long time, he got up impatiently. He was too lazy to look through the memorials under the pond newspapers, because those memorials were all used words, and none of them could really serve them. He, the emperor, came up with a solution.After all, it's either asking for money or asking for soldiers.

God can learn from it, if I have money and soldiers, can I not give it to my subordinates!Can you watch the situation get worse day by day!Could it be that I am really a stingy and greedy miser, watching my country collapse day by day, but keeping a pile of silver and counting it for fun!

Ugh!

Chongzhen sighed deeply, and outsiders said that all the silver he obtained by copying Wei Zhongxian's family was put into the internal treasury, and he refused to give it to the national treasury.However, the amount of silver confiscated from Wei's family was only tens of thousands of taels, so small that even he was surprised by it. [

Unlike his elder brother who stayed in the palace for many years, when Chongzhen was the king of Xin, he knew the situation of the courtiers. He knew that most of the officials in the court had a net worth of tens of thousands of taels. Once, he also thought that Wei Yan had deceived the emperor's brother After so many years, the greed must have been huge. He originally thought of raiding his house and using money to enrich the national treasury. How did he know that the money in Wei Xie's mansion was not as much as that of a fourth-rank official.

If I knew this earlier, why didn't I listen to the emperor's brother, except Wei Zhongxian.With Lao Wei around, how come there is no money!

"In today's world, only the big crotch and the queen are trustworthy, and they are the only two who can help you."

The last words of the emperor's brother are still in my ears, but now, everything is wrong.

There is no medicine for regret in the world, and now, we can only take one step at a time.

I hope Qiu Hejia can live up to my expectations and keep Jinzhou, otherwise, I have no choice but to abandon Ningyuan and close Tubao.

Chongzhen, who had no choice but to get up and walk in the warm pavilion, suddenly remembered that the prince Cihong had not been seen for many days. The last time he saw him, he could stand for a while. , with a cute and naive look, very gratifying.

I haven't seen you these days, I'm afraid I'll be staggering and walking?

As close relatives of flesh and blood, thinking of the emperor's son, Chongzhen's brows gradually relaxed, and his mood became a little better. He glanced at the two little eunuchs, then lifted his legs and went out.

Seeing this, Lu An, the eunuch who came over to watch the night, quickly followed behind with a cloak, stepped forward to put it on for him, and asked carefully: "Where is the Lord Long Live going? The slave girl should report first, so as not to Their disgrace spoiled the interest of the Long Live Lord."

"No need, I don't blame it."

Chongzhen turned left and went straight north to Kunning Palace. He wanted to see Cilang immediately, so he walked very fast. Several guards followed from a distance in the shadows around him. Lu An took the lantern from the maid beside him and led the way .

The whole Forbidden City was quiet, the East and West Streets were less noisy during the day, and the eunuchs and maids, except those on duty, hid in their rooms and slept soundly.When approaching the Rijing Gate, a row of blushing light spots floated in front of him. Chongzhen knew that they were the maids who shouted for the night. They held palace lanterns and golden bells every night, walked from the Qianqing Palace Gate to the Rijing Gate and Yuehua Gate, singing loudly. "The world is peaceful—" The wind and rain are obstructed, and the cold and heat do not stop.

The court ladies met the emperor suddenly, and they all let Lu Yingying kneel to pay his respects. Chongzhen ignored it and stepped into the Kunning Gate.

Not long after, Empress Zhou rushed to the door and knelt down to greet her. Chongzhen pulled her up and asked with concern: "How is the emperor? Are you asleep? I haven't seen you for a while, and I'm thinking very much."

Empress Zhou smiled and said: "The emperor is anxious, and the concubines dare not teach others to ask for it. Cihong can already call her daddy." She took her husband's hand and walked slowly into the palace.

Hearing that the emperor would call Daddy, Chongzhen couldn't help but smile a little, and asked: "But is it true? It is said that children call mother first, and you must have taught me the word Daddy."

"Cihong is extremely intelligent, the concubine taught him a few times before he memorized it." Queen Zhou giggled, with a hint of motherly pride on her face.

"Come here and call me!" Chongzhen smiled even more, and couldn't wait to see his son and hear him call Daddy.

Empress Zhou was stunned when she heard this, a little confused: "Your Majesty, you don't even know what time it is as a father, the child has already been coaxed to sleep by the nurse, how could you shout in your dream?"

As soon as the words came out, seeing her husband's slightly haggard face, she couldn't help feeling sour in her heart, and said with a smile: "The concubine has long wanted to hold the baby, and the Pope will have a look at it, to make the Emperor laugh, and I am afraid that the Emperor is busy these days and disturbs the Emperor's business. It's a matter. I heard that the war outside the pass is unfavorable, the emperor must take care, don't worry about breaking your body." [

Empress Zhou said so much, why did Chongzhen not know that the emperor must be asleep, and felt a little disappointed. Seeing that Empress Zhou was worried about herself, he comforted her and said, "Qiu Hejia, governor of the Liao Dynasty, is very knowledgeable about military affairs, and has Sun Chengzong in charge. Closing the door, I guess it won’t be too corrupt.”

After finishing speaking, he looked at Empress Zhou's slightly plump body, and suddenly teased: "Before you entered the palace, you said you were thin and slender, not like a blessed person, but now you have become a concubine."

Empress Zhou didn't know that he still had such thoughts, she couldn't help but blushed, she glanced at the door, the little eunuch and those court ladies had long since disappeared, and asked shyly, "Does the emperor dislike your concubines because they are bloated?"

Chongzhen didn't speak, just dragged her into his arms, smelled a faint scent of frankincense, inhaled lightly, and said intoxicated: "Huan is fat, swallows are thin, why bother to divide Xuan Jin? I think Hong'er must be white and fat?"

Empress Zhou said: "The supervisor of rites found two good pacifiers, both of which were the firstborns of Nongzhang Zhixi, and the concubine had a lot of milk, so I fed him some every day. Fat? Your Majesty, don't worry, Lang'er is one of the few eldest sons I have had since the establishment of the Ming dynasty, how dare my concubines treat him badly?"

"Then I will rest here tonight and listen to you talk about me." Chongzhen lowered his head and whispered at her temples, his hands inadvertently touched Queen Zhou's chest, and rubbed it gently.

Empress Zhou's pretty face blushed, and she said shamelessly: "After being disturbed for a long time by Xiao'er, the concubine is a little tired, and the concubine is getting heavy again, the emperor should go to Yongning Palace or Yikun Palace! Otherwise, the two of them will know in the future I'm going to chew my tongue again."

"Ok?"

Only then did Chongzhen see that her abdomen was slightly bulging, and couldn't help being overjoyed again, reaching out to touch it.

Empress Zhou shook off his hand lightly, but grabbed it again and placed it on her abdomen, coquettishly said: "Your Majesty, you are going to scare the child, he is kicking inside!"

Chongzhen said with a smile: "It's your stomach fighting for anger, why are they chewing their tongues?"

"Say the emperor is biased, and call the concubines greedy! They are both desperate, looking forward to the emperor's sending a son to Guanyin!"

"I think if I have a baby, I will forget about me!"

Empress Zhou smiled and went out to Chongzhen, saying: "The concubine is a good man of the Pope, but he was criticized by the Emperor."

"I know you have the beauty of not being jealous."

Thinking of Concubine Tian's soft and charming eyes, Chongzhen's heart fluttered, and without any delay, he left the Kunning Gate, turned eastward along the dark and long Yongxiang, and was about to reach the Hanging Flower Gate of Yongning Palace, but there was a burst of panic behind him. footsteps.

Lu An turned around and held up the lamp, yelling at the person who came, "Whoever runs around, don't be afraid to startle the holy car!"

"Lu, Eunuch Lu, I have urgent matters to see Lord Long Live!"

The person who came was Zhao Quan, the former imperial eunuch. Hearing Lu An's scolding, he didn't dare to argue back. He stood with his hands down, kept looking at Lu An with his eyes, panting heavily, and looked very flustered.

Lu An felt sorry for the emperor, so he reprimanded: "What time is it, Long Live Lord is going to rest, is there anything that we can't talk about tomorrow?"

Chongzhen waved his hands indifferently, turned around and glanced at Zhao Quan, and asked him, "What's the matter? I want to see you so urgently."

Zhao Quan hurriedly said: "Long Live Lord, it is Eunuch Cao who asks you to return to Nuan Pavilion as soon as possible."

"What does Long Live Lord ask you?" Lu An angrily glared at Zhao Quan.

Zhao Quan came to his senses, scolded himself for his incoherent language, and hurriedly said: "Just now Liaodong sent a military report, saying, that Jinzhou had just repelled the attack of the eastern captives, and now it has sent a report. Eunuch Cao I am waiting in the warm pavilion, please come back quickly, Your Majesty!"