Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

Ji'an Hutong.

Carried by two bearers, a dusty coarse-cloth sedan chair turned into a narrow alley and stopped in front of an inconspicuous small door.The first bearer lifted the curtain of the sedan chair respectfully, only to see a middle-aged man in plain clothes walking out of it.He looked around for no one, whispered a few words to the bearer, and walked through the small door in a blink of an eye.Seeing the man go in, the bearer lifted the sedan chair, trotted, and disappeared into the depths of the alley.

This middle-aged man is none other than the chief minister of the cabinet, Mr. Zhou Yanru, who had stabbed Xizhao several times and advocated heavy punishment for Yuan Chonghuan's crime.And this inconspicuous little door is the back door of Gao Qiqian, who was beaten in front of Wang Chengen during the theft of the jade pen container.

"Master Zhou, Master Zhou. Our family has been waiting for a long time. Come, please come inside." As soon as he entered the main room, Gao Qiqian greeted him.I saw that this person had thin cheeks and pale eyebrows. At first glance, he seemed sick, but when he looked closely, his face was red and happy.He cupped his hands, and moved Zhou Yanru sideways to the back room.

"Eunuch Gao, I'm so happy to congratulate you." Zhou Yanru also smiled and greeted him politely.

"Happy together."

The two greeted and congratulated each other in this way, and brought them into the inner room together.

In the inner room, a beautiful woman and several maidservants were placing various dishes on the table.

"Who is this?" Zhou Yanru asked, seeing that the woman behaved well.

"This is my vegetable householder, Mr. Liu. Come, I have met Mr. Zhou."

Mrs. Liu said Wanfu to Zhou Yanru, said a few words of politeness, and then led the maid and walked away.Only Zhou Yanru and Gao Qiqian are left in the room.The two sat down, Zhou Yanru didn't see them, first poured wine for Gao Qiqian, raised his glass to thank him.

"This time Yuan Chonghuan's death will make this great event come true. It all depends on Eunuch Gao's secret help. Come, I will give Eunuch Gao a cup!"

"Where is there, the seizure of the memorial is a matter of little effort. Master Zhou does not need to be polite, but our family wants to thank Master Zhou for venting bad breath on our behalf." Gao Qiqian also raised his wine glass, and humbly kissed Zhou Yanru, and the two Each drank it all.

After drinking for three rounds, Zhou Yanru asked Gao Qiqian leisurely: "Every time I come and go in a hurry, I have never had a deep discussion with Gao Gonggong. I don't know why Gao Gonggong wants to get rid of Yuan Chonghuan?"

"Hey, if you want to say that I have no grievances or enmity with this Governor Yuan, I just blame him for earning money from Wang Chengen to protect him." Gao Qiqian was obviously weak from alcohol, but after three drinks, his cheeks flushed, "Master Zhou wants to get rid of the guard, so there is no reason for our family not to help."

Zhou Yanru's expression froze for a moment, then he smiled again, and raised his wine glass: "I heard that Eunuch Gao and Eunuch Wang are at odds. I thought it was a rumor, but it turned out to be true. Come, Eunuch Gao, please."

"Master Zhou, please." Gao Qiqian frowned, raised his neck to drink, and blushed again, "It's an old grudge with Wang Chengen. The emperor favors him, so he won't allow the emperor to favor others. , stumbling people everywhere, and whispering in the emperor's ears all day long. In this palace, apart from his henchmen, even his old enemies, it is thanks to him that he can be popular in front of the emperor until now." Talking about all kinds of right and wrong about Wang Chengen, Zhou Yanru in this room secretly regretted that his step had missed his wishful thinking.I thought it was simply taking money to do things, but whoever thought that one foot stepped into the personal grievances of these two people.Although Gao Qiqian is considered to be highly trusted, but who knows that Wang Chengen is the number one person in front of the emperor, if he really offends him, it may cause a lot of trouble out of thin air.Zhou Yanru twisted the wine glass, frowned, the power of eunuchs should not be underestimated, he should find an opportunity to make peace with Wang Chengen as soon as possible, and don't let them bring himself into it when they fight back and forth.

"Master Gao, you know that Ma Sanbao, the supervisor of Zhidian, and Zhao Gui, the supervisor of Yuma, all hate him to the bone." Gao Qiqian raised his head, swallowed again, smacked his lips, with an angry expression on his face. "In this palace, that is, Eunuch Liang Yi Liang, he dare not move, and there are few other eunuchs that he has not provoked."

Speaking of Liang Yi, Zhou Yanru suddenly thought of a person, and one party didn't want to get deeper into the eunuch's grievances, so he took the opportunity to change the subject.

"Recently, there is a new face beside the emperor. I wonder if Eunuch Gao has seen it before?" Zhou Yanru poured wine for Gao Qiqian again.

"A new face?" Gao Qiqian's drunken eyes dimmed slightly.

"The last few times I went to meet the emperor, I saw him standing next to the emperor, but Liang Yi was rarely seen." Zhou Yanru tentatively said, "The name seems to be Zhang Dexiu. Can Eunuch Gao know what background this person has?"

"Zhang Dexiu...?" Gao Qiqian seriously recalled, "Recently, I heard that the emperor hand-picked a person to be transferred to Duzhi Prison, but I don't know his name. Master Zhou is talking about this person?"

"Handpicked by the emperor?" Zhou Yanru narrowed his eyes.

"Why, is this person obstructing Mr. Zhou's eyes?" Gao Qiqian asked with a drunken smile.

"Ah, no, just ask casually." Zhou Yanru quickly picked up his wine glass and covered his words, "Come, please, Eunuch Gao."

"Please."

two

After that day, Chongzhen never mentioned Yuan Chonghuan again.In front of Chongzhen, Wang Chengen and other officials were also cautious, avoiding the word Yuan Chonghuan in everything.This name seemed to have never existed, and seemed to have died together with his body. For a long time after the execution day, it never sounded in Xi Zhao's ears again.But even though he never mentioned it, the deliberate evasion in his words always made the shadow in Chongzhen's heart more and more clear, and he couldn't hide it even if he wanted to.

"Your Majesty, please rebuild Dalinghe and Youtun cities by Sun Chengzong, Liaodong Economic Strategist. The two cities are strategically important places in Liaodong, and the defense needs to be stepped up to prevent the Jin army from going south again and threatening the capital." After the early dynasty, Nanshufang, Wang Chengen As usual, he came to report to Chongzhen the important matters in the official letter.

"Sure." Chongzhen leaned on the dragon case, holding a scroll in his hand, lowered his eyelids, half covered his eyes, and agreed without much thought.

"The candidate for rebuilding the Daling River, Sun Jinglue recommended Dashou, the commander-in-chief..." Wang Chengen slightly raised his eyes, hesitant to speak.

"Yes. Yes." Chongzhen was absent-minded, ignoring the meaning of Wang Chengen's words.

Seeing that the emperor didn't understand, Wang Chengen swallowed, and said bravely: "Zu Dashou is... the former former minister, with such a heavy responsibility, I think this person is not suitable..."

"It doesn't matter." Chongzhen frowned slightly, unwilling to discuss this matter too much, "From now on, Sun Chengzong can decide on appointments by himself, and there is no need to report everything."

"Yes." Wang Chengen lowered his brows and tactfully stopped talking.

Seeing that Wang Chengen was silent for a long time, Chongzhen coughed lightly and asked:

"Are the rebellious bandits in the Northwest still rampant recently? The strategy of recruiting has been implemented for a long time, is there any new progress to report?"

"Returning to the emperor, since the surrender of Wang Zuogua and his subordinates in June, there has been no significant progress. The day before yesterday, the governor Yang He also issued a statement saying that if the disaster is not relieved, the rebels will not return. Therefore, the imperial court is requested to distribute money and food to relieve the disaster. Your Majesty No reply yet." Wang Chengen replied respectfully.

"How much does he want?"

"Although the specific amount was not mentioned in the memorial, the drought in Shaanxi has been going on for four consecutive years, so it must be a lot of money and food."

"Hey." Chongzhen sighed, put down the scroll, closed his eyes, and leaned back on the back of his chair, "Take 10 taels of silver from the treasury and teach someone to take it to Shaanxi."

Hearing this, Wang Cheng'en did not answer right away, he pondered for a while, and then said in a murmur, "Your Majesty...the Ministry of Households has a new report today, and the national treasury is in a hurry. I'm afraid we won't be able to spend so much money..."

"What?" Chongzhen was very surprised. He opened his eyes suddenly and pointed directly at Wang Chengen. "No matter how empty the national treasury is, why can't we get 10 taels? Where do the taxes from various state capitals go?"

Wang Chengen didn't dare to raise his eyes, and replied cautiously with his head lowered: "Droughts have occurred frequently, and the taxes and taxes of many state capitals have been difficult to collect. There is not much silver in the treasury, and most of them have already been filled to the Liaodong side...so ..."

Chongzhen closed his gaze, then lowered his eyes halfway.Wang Chengen stopped speaking halfway, and stopped talking.

Silence for a while.

After a while, Chongzhen said in a low voice: "Understood. I will send an order to the Ministry of Households, and take as much as I can."

three

I don't know what kind of heart I need to have in order to be able to afford the position of emperor.These days, Xizhao often thinks this way.There are worries of rebellion inside, and outside there are troubles of gold captives. The peasant army is compared with Huang Taiji, and I will appear on the stage after you sing.Every morning after the court, zhezi poured into the south study like a tide, and there was no peace for a day.In the whole country, big and small matters, everything must be decided by the emperor.And no matter whether it was decided or not, whether it was right or wrong, there was always a pile of memorials like a hill, containing thousands of reasons, clamoring in the ears of the emperor that it was necessary.If the emperor's heart hadn't been struck with diamond iron, how could he have withstood such torture.If it were Xizhao herself, she would collapse in less than a day.

The emperor's job is really not easy to do.

After dawn this morning, Xizhao walked and thought, and came to the West Nuan Pavilion of Qianqing Palace.Chongzhen was changing clothes under the service of the maid.

"Greetings to the emperor." Xi Zhao knelt down and bowed.

"Hmm. Hmm?" Sensing that it was Xizhao, Chongzhen turned his head and asked, "Is Liang Yi on duty today? Why didn't he come?"

"Back to the emperor, Eunuch Liang is not feeling well today, so he asked the villain to serve the emperor on his behalf."

"Oh." Chongzhen nodded and stood upright again.The court lady straightened Chongzhen's clothes, lowered her eyebrows, and stepped back out of the room with small steps.Chongzhen shook his sleeves and walked out of the Xinuang Pavilion with his hands behind his back. Xi Zhao hurried to catch up and followed behind the emperor.

"Liang Yi is sick?" Chongzhen walked in front, turned his head slightly, and asked with concern.

"Going back to the emperor, it's not a serious illness. Eunuch Liang said it's just a cold, and it should be fine in a few days."

"That's good. Go back and tell Liang Yi, tell him to rest and recuperate, and don't miss my side."

"Yes."

In the south study room, sandalwood is fragrant.Chongzhen flicked up his clothes, sat behind the dragon table, and reached out to take a memorial.This was originally the most common thing to do every day, but today Chongzhen held the memorial in his hand for a long time, and he opened it after a long time, but he just flipped through it, not like he was reading it.

"It's fine if you come." Chongzhen tapped the table a few times, pondered for a moment, then pulled out a thin piece of paper from the corner of the table. "There is one thing that I wanted to leave to Liang Yi to do. Since he is not in good health, I will leave it to you." Saying this, he pushed the tissue paper in front of Xi Zhao. "Take my handbook and go to the Inner Prison first, and take out a box of first-grade ginseng from the 38th year of Wanli, and then go to the Supervisor of Ceremonies to get a token to leave the palace."

"The emperor wants the villain to go out of the palace?" Xi Zhao asked in puzzlement after receiving the letter.

"Yeah. I brought ginseng..."

He didn't say a word, but there was no text.Xi Zhao looked at the thoughtful side face of the emperor, and suddenly felt that something was unusual, but she didn't dare to urge her, she just waited quietly.

"Bring ginseng, find a trustworthy shop...

Chongzhen paused.

"Try to sell it for a good price."