Han ride

Chapter 396 Chongzhen's Intentions

"My lord, I heard that Yang Sichang offered a good strategy to His Majesty the Emperor in the Xinuang Pavilion, and I heard that it can solve the problem of the court's lack of food and pay." Cao Sanxi hurriedly told the news he heard from Wen Tiren.

After hearing this, Li Xin and Shi Yuanzhi looked at each other, and finally Li Xin nodded and said, "Brother Cao, thank you for the information you sent overnight, Li Xin is waiting for the Northern Army to thank you."

"Don't dare, dare not, this is what the subordinates should do." Cao Sanxi showed a trace of excitement on his face, and said: "It's getting late now, and the subordinates have to go back, otherwise the city gate will be closed, which will easily arouse others' suspicion."

"Okay, sir, please give it to me." Li Xin nodded and said to Shi Yuanzhi.

After Cao Sanxi thanked him, he went out of the big tent under the leadership of Shi Yuanzhi, and after a while, Shi Yuanzhi came back.

"Hmph, these high officials in the imperial court are really interesting, and they are fighting each other to such an extent." After hearing this, Li Xin showed a sneer, and said with a smile: "Yang Sichang is also unlucky. The emperor showed his face, but he is a young man who doesn't know how to hide his strength and bide his time, so this old fox Wen Tiren deserves to be tricked."

"Yang Sichang is bound to take revenge. He was captured alive by General Gao Meng on the school field today. Letting him go to the Xuanfu will be extremely disadvantageous to us. Even the seven great families of Shanxi merchants may find it difficult to help us, Zhangjiakou The Shanxi merchants in this area will also suffer heavy losses. It is a huge threat to our construction in the cloud, and even to our Northern Army. Presumably Wen Tiren is also aware of this, so he invited us to cooperate with him Cooperate and deal with Yang Sichang together." Shi Yuanzhi explained from the side.

"How to cooperate? This Wen Tiren is easy to talk about. He didn't contribute at all, so he let Li Xin charge forward? How can there be such benefits in this world by following behind to pick up the bargain?" Li Xin said disdainfully.He is willing to deal with Yang Sichang. No matter what, Yang Sichang is a threat to him. Once Zhangjiakou is blocked in the Xuanfu, Shanxi merchants will suffer huge losses. The reason why Li Xin's army is so powerful is that Li Xin's military expenditure is so high. Gao, relying on the continuous blood transfusions of Shanxi merchants. Once Zhangjiakou is blocked, the goods on the grassland cannot be delivered to Shanxi merchants, and some things from the Central Plains cannot be transported to the grassland, such as ironware, grain, tea, etc. Strategic materials cannot be sent to Li Xin, which is a fatal blow to Li Xin.

"My lord, why don't we send someone to kill this man named Yang Sichang?" Gao Meng said coldly.

"You know how to kill, this Yang Sichang is the favorite minister of Emperor Chongzhen, this time he was sent to the Xuanfu, on the one hand, to increase his political achievements, and on the other hand, let him train the soldiers of the Xuanfu, so that he can be reused in the future. Of course, there is another possibility that His Majesty the Emperor is afraid of me, Li Xin, so he is going to let Yang Sichang block Zhangjiakou to check and balance me." Several thoughts flashed through Li Xin's mind.There are so many important places in the world. If Emperor Chongzhen wants to experience Yang Sichang, he can send him to many places, and he doesn't necessarily have to go to Xuanfu. This time he was sent to Xuanfu, I am afraid that part of it is to guard against himself.

"This is really possible." Shi Yuanzhi, who has always been black-bellied, never paid much attention to business, but after Li Xin said this, his face changed drastically, and he lost his voice: "If it is really what Wen Tiren said, Yang Sichang He is a character who must be vengeful, and Emperor Chongzhen installed him in the Xuanfu, maybe it was really aimed at us. Shanxi merchants are a lifeline for me to conquer the Northern Army. If Zhangjiakou is blocked by Yang Sichang , Materials are not allowed in and out, our conscripting the Northern Army is equivalent to being strangled by someone, and it is difficult to even breathe."

"That's why I'm very nervous." Li Xin walked back and forth in the big tent with a livid face, and said, "Perhaps His Majesty the Emperor is planning to weaken us, or he is targeting the seven families of Shanxi merchants. After all, I am recruiting the Northern Army. It developed with the help of these Shanxi merchants. His Chongzhen is jealous of Benhou."

"The emperor has no money, so he thinks of some ways to get money. The lord has a lot of soldiers and horses, and the salary of each soldier can be twice or even more than that of the soldiers in the court. All of this shows that the lord has money. Money, or the Shanxi merchants have money, the emperor's move is aimed at the Jin merchants and the lord. If the lord has no money, even if the lord wants to rebel, he can't support so many troops. On the contrary, if the court seizes The seven great families of Shanxi merchants can easily get tens of millions of taels of silver." Shi Yuanzhi's eyes flashed fiercely, and the most likely reason for Chongzhen's move was to take all the century-old income of Shanxi merchants into his pockets. Not only for Shanxi merchants, but more importantly, Li Xin couldn't afford it.

"What can you do, sir?" Li Xin said with some dissatisfaction.Chongzhen's move was too ruthless, although he would not make trouble for him on the surface, but once he wanted to deal with the Seven Great Aristocratic Families, it would cost his life.Unless he really rebelled and quickly occupied the Xuanfu, even if Yang Sichang became the magistrate of the Xuanfu, there was nothing he could do.

"My lord, are you ready now?" Shi Yuanzhi said quietly.

"The current world is still the Ming Dynasty's world, and His Majesty the Emperor is still the co-lord of the world." Li Xin shook his head bluntly. His prestige is not that high, if he rebels, he will really become a rebel, and all the scholars in the world will oppose him.So Li Xin simply admitted that he was not ready yet.

"That's it. The prestige of the lord is not enough to convince the people of the world. So the subordinates think that this time we can only be patient." Shi Yuanzhi said in a low voice.

"Then what should Shanxi merchants do?" Li Xin asked again: "These guys are obviously following me, Li Xin, but as long as someone offers a higher price, they will not follow my Li Xin."

"My lord is wrong." Shi Yuanzhi shook his head, and said seriously: "My lord, to this day, we need Jin merchants to conquer the Northern Army, but don't Jin merchants also need our existence? The reason why Jin merchants Being able to make the world rich depends on their mastery of the main communication routes between the Central Plains and the grassland. My lord, whose hands are the grasslands in now? Isn’t it in the hands of the lord? As long as the lord controls the grassland, these Shanxi merchants will You have to listen to us. Since Zhangjiakou can’t do it, let’s change to another place. The land on the nine sides extends in all directions, and it’s very easy to find a traffic artery.”

"Well, since that's the case, let's leave immediately, and then gather the seven great families in the cloud and let them leave Zhangjiakou. I think Yang Sichang is also a pickpocket. Let Shanxi merchants stay there, I'm afraid these people will suffer." Li Xin said without hesitation.

In the darkness, the palace door that had been locked according to the ancestral system slowly opened, and several eunuchs carried a small sedan chair, and led by one eunuch, into the palace.Then the palace door was closed again.

Because of saving money, throughout the Chongzhen era, the palace was not resplendent and resplendent, unless it was a major festival to enjoy with the people.It can be said that Emperor Chongzhen was the hardest emperor in the history of the Ming Dynasty.In the palace at the moment, there were also no candles lit, only a little eunuch walking in front with a lantern.The palace in the dark was silent, the big Han generals stood aside, and teams of imperial guards patrolled the side.It's just that the little eunuch had the token in his hand, leading the sedan chair to move freely in the palace.

"Master Yang, we're here." When he reached a building, he saw the sedan chair fall down, and Yang Sichang, who was dressed in a plain white Taoist robe, lifted his legs and walked out, only to find that he had come to Xinuang Pavilion again, not far from the sedan chair. , it is the confidant of Emperor Chongzhen, Wang Chengen, the great eunuch of the Forbidden City.

"I've seen the prince." Yang Sichang didn't dare to neglect, and hurried forward to salute.Although Yang Sichang is a bit of a vengeful man, although he is a bit arrogant, he still has to look at people, like Wang Chengen, who is a close minister of Chongzhen, Yang Sichang really dare not neglect!
"My lord Yang, the emperor has been waiting for a long time, please come with me." Wang Chengen's face was gloomy, and when he saw Yang Sichang salute, he just nodded lightly.The seriousness on his face made Yang Sichang even more nervous.When he had time, he kept his mouth shut, and followed Wang Chengen into the Xinuang Pavilion.

"Minister Yang Sichang pays homage to His Majesty. Long live my emperor." After entering the Xinuang Pavilion, Yang Sichang did not dare to neglect, and knelt down with his head bowed. In front of him, he felt his arms tighten, and he felt a force pulling him up.

"Get up and talk." Chongzhen's gentle voice reached Yang Sichang's ears.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Yang Sichang retreated to the side, but he was thinking about what Chongzhen called him into the palace at night.

"Yang Qing knows that I violated the ancestral system late at night and called you into the palace for what?" Chongzhen's voice came again.

"The humble minister is stupid, please let the emperor express it." Yang Sichang really didn't know what Chongzhen asked him to do late at night, and he didn't even pack his official robes.

"The Marquis of Zhengbei made a calculation for me. His army has 10,000+ people, and the salary of those ordinary soldiers is more than three times that of the imperial court. Including other supplies and so on, the monthly salary of Li Xin It's almost a huge number, Li Xin has money, but he has no money, his money is earned by businessmen, does Ai Qing know what I mean?" Emperor Chongzhen said softly.

"Businessman?" Yang Sichang was taken aback when he heard the words, but soon understood what Emperor Chongzhen meant. Chongzhen sent him to Xuanfu not only to train himself and train his troops, but more importantly, to deal with Li Xin.But he couldn't deal with Li Xin openly, so he had to start with the seven great families of Shanxi merchants.

"That's right, it's a businessman. Li Xin is today, on the one hand, because he plundered a lot of gold and silver treasures. Lin Danhan's hundreds of years of accumulation made him conquer the North Army, but at the same time, the seven families of Shanxi merchants helped him earn Many, Shanxi merchants obtained a large amount of precious items such as furs from the grasslands, and Shanxi merchants also sent items from the Central Plains to the grasslands, which also earned a lot of things. These gold and silver helped Li Xinneng conquer the Northern Army to build a A powerful army. The core of Li Xin is the Shanxi merchants. As long as Zhangjiakou is closed, the Shanxi merchants will lose a lot. With the reduction of money, Li Xin's soldiers and horses will have no military pay. In the end, they can only be the same as the soldiers of the imperial court. Yang Aiqing, Do you understand?" Emperor Chongzhen said lightly.

"I'm just a magistrate, I'm afraid I can't control Xuanfu's soldiers and horses." Yang Sichang thought for a while, with a look of embarrassment on his face. Although he wanted to help Emperor Chongzhen, he knew better that he had no advantage in Xuanfu.I heard that in the Xuanfu, the Hou family and his son had a very good relationship with Li Xin. Even Li Xin's army entered and exited the pass, as if entering and exiting a land without people. He did not have military power in his hands. Imperial decree, he cannot command these armies.

"Then I grant you full power to control the soldiers and horses of the Xuanfu." Emperor Chongzhen said without thinking, "It's fine if Hou Shilu supports you, but if you don't, I will naturally decree to deprive Hou Shilu of his official position and let you Do things cheaply in Xuanfu. Remember, I only need the result, nothing else."

"I obey the order." After hearing this, Yang Sichang was extremely excited.This is a good opportunity, the best opportunity to weaken Li Xin. You must know that Yang Sichang is from Hunan. He is different from other officials from Shanxi in the imperial court. These officials have more or less connections with Shanxi merchants, and they are even The official agent of Shanxi merchants, but Yang Sichang is different. He is from Hunan, and he doesn't care about the life and death of Shanxi merchants at all.

"My imperial decree will be issued tomorrow. If you leave tomorrow, I will hold Li Xin back for you. As long as Li Xin has not returned to the grassland, it will be fine. In this way, your actions will be much more convenient." Emperor Chongzhen said to Yang Sichang That's good, this is helping Yang Sichang by any means.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." After hearing this, Yang Sichang was very moved, and quickly thanked him, "I'm going to prepare now, and I will set off tomorrow morning. I must arrive at the Xuan Mansion before Li Xin and settle this matter." Yang Sichang met Emperor Chongzhen He was naturally grateful for helping him in this way, and quickly patted his chest to assure him.

"Hey, Li Xin is actually a good general even though he is a bit arrogant and domineering, but I did this for protection. A general only needs to know how to march and fight. Let's solve it." Emperor Chongzhen sighed after thinking about it.

"What the emperor said is true." Yang Sichang lowered his head and said, but there was a sneer in his heart. On the battlefield, it is life and death, and it is the same in the officialdom. The 10,000+ army has been in the hands of the imperial court since then. Whether Li Xin can be the Marquis of Zhengbei depends on the imperial court's face. Thinking that Li Xin is such an arrogant and domineering person, once he gets this news, how can he spare himself.The two are already life-and-death enemies, and they have reached the point where you will die and I will die. How can you stay behind? Yang Sichang has already decided that in order to survive in the Xuanfu, he will concoct the Seven Great Families. The name of rebellion is confirmed, and then an iron case is made. If you Li Xin does not rebel, I will force you to rebel, so that you will be cast aside by the world.

Emperor Chongzhen didn't know that his confidant ministers were thinking about small calculations in their hearts. He was thinking about how to use the money of the seven great families to help him obtain more gold and silver treasures after he conquered the seven great families.Then build a stronger army by yourself, and then pacify the world, rejuvenate the Ming Dynasty, and so on.

"Yang Aiqing, do you still need help?" Emperor Chongzhen suddenly thought about it, and said, "If the Hou family father and son don't obey orders, what will you do?"

Yang Sichang thought for a while, and finally said: "I have heard that Cao Wenzhao, the general soldier, is loyal to the king's affairs, and I want to transfer him to the Xuanfu." He has heard of Cao Wenzhao, although he is from Shanxi, but in fact, But he is loyal to the imperial court. This person is also a mighty general. Let him control the troops of the Xuan Mansion. Even if Li Xin raises his troops to rebel and storms the Xuan Mansion, there will be people to resist him.So he wanted Cao Wenzhao.

"Yes." Chongzhen thought for a while and said: "Cao Wenzhao can be used by you. But you can't use it for too long. Cao Wenzhao is a fierce general. He should gallop on the battlefield. He will still go out in the future, but It's not guarding Xuanfu."

"I will solve the matter of the Xuanfu as soon as possible." Yang Sichang also understood the meaning, and quickly promised.

After Emperor Chongzhen listened, he nodded and told Yang Sichang one or two, and studied with him how to deal with the Seven Great Aristocratic Families, how to guard against Li Xin's backlash, etc. In the end, the two felt that there was no problem Only then did Yang Sichang leave the palace.

And outside the city of Beijing, a soldier and horse was slowly walking. Although it was an army of tens of thousands, Li Xin's army had strict military discipline and packed it up very quickly. In addition, it was already ready in the afternoon, but it took only two or three hours. , the army began to set off.

However, Li Xin, the general of the first army, wrote letters on the horse. One was for the Seven Great Aristocratic Families, asking them to collect their silver. In the hands of the father and son, as Li Xin's staunch ally, Yang Sichang came to the Xuanfu, and it would be very difficult for the Hou family father and son to seize military power.This is also to be prepared.The last letter went to Yunzhong, ordering Song Xiance, who stayed behind in Yunzhong, to hurry up and search for gold and silver mines. No matter what, he decided to mint his own coins and use money to infiltrate the Ming Dynasty.

"My lord, it's really hard to imagine what it will be like when Emperor Chongzhen knows that my army has left tomorrow." Shi Yuanzhi said with a smile after Li Xin sent the letter.

"If I were Chongzhen, I should have stayed in Beijing this afternoon so that we would not have time to prepare. Unfortunately, it is too late for him to think about it now." Li Xin said nonchalantly: "Sir, let's go Let’s go! There’s another Zunhua in front! I’m going to sit in Zunhua.” Li Xin’s expression was cold, and he glanced behind him. In the distance was Hong Chengchou’s camp, but it was a shame that he was also a coward.

(End of this chapter)