Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

In September of the fourth year of Chongzhen, the imperial edict was issued.Yang He, the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi, took care of the country and failed to suppress the bandits. He immediately demoted officials and sent Yuanzhou to him.For a long time, I don't know how many people in the court have supported Governor Yang's move to appease, but now that the emperor has conceded the crime, almost no one came forward to intercede for Yang He.It is natural to say that if the emperor lowered the crime to the word of soliciting, there is absolutely no room for maneuver. It just so happens that someone has covered all the charges. Those officials who wish to get rid of their responsibilities earlier, who will go to the pit of fire Jump in.

But there was only one person, who fought so hard that if he refused to be an official, he would sacrifice himself to take the blame for Yang He.This person is none other than Yang He's son, Yang Sichang.For state affairs, Chongzhen would naturally ignore such unreasonable requests, but Yang Sichang...Chongzhen secretly remembered this name in his heart.

The next day, Chongzhen and Wang Chengen discussed political affairs in the South Study Room as usual.

"Let's go to Yang He, and Hong Chengchou, who is capable of conscripting and fighting, will succeed the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi. The chaos in Qin should be more or less subdued." Wang Chengen said.

"Well... But I still have concerns," Chongzhen frowned slightly, and said hesitantly, "If Hong Chengchou's suppression is too urgent, and it is difficult to limit the disaster to Shaanxi, if the rioters spread, other places may be able to take over ?”

"With capable people guarding the Daming, Guangping, and Shunde areas, the capital should be safe. As for the other places, we need to think again." Wang Chengen said.

"Oh? Who is the capable person you speak of?"

"Does the emperor still remember Lu Xiangsheng?" Wang Chengen leaned forward and reminded.

"Oh... so it's him." Chongzhen frowned, then nodded.

"Exactly. Although this man is a civil servant, he is proficient in the art of war and is born with supernatural powers. He is especially good at riding and shooting. When Beijing was besieged, he temporarily recruited an army to serve the king and made contributions. Now this army has grown. The name is called Tianxiong Army, and Lu Xiangsheng led this army and was ordered to clean up the Daming area. Back then, the emperor himself praised him as a rare talent."

"Well, I remember. This person is indeed a talented person. You should be able to rest assured that he will intercept the east of Shaanxi. Other areas should also be carefully considered as soon as possible. If there is insufficient manpower, preparations need to be made early." Chongzhen ordered.

"Yes, slaves obey."

——Yang Sichang and Lu Xiangsheng, these two officials who are still unknown, appeared in Chongzhen's field of vision almost at the same time during this year.At this time, the two had nothing to do with each other, but they gradually approached each other on two different roads during the seven years, and finally they inevitably collided head-on in the 11th year of Chongzhen, which caused irreparable and tragic consequences.

Of course, this is something.At this very moment, neither Chongzhen nor Wang Chengen could even detect the clues of that collision.

two

Beside the Qianqing Palace, in front of the sunset house.

"Eunuch Zhang! Eunuch Zhang!"

Xi Zhao was about to enter the house when she suddenly heard someone calling her, she turned her head and saw a skinny man with a beard standing behind her, bowing respectfully.

"Eunuch Zhang, do you still remember me?"

Xizhao smiled and also bowed: "Master Zhou, the chief assistant of the cabinet, how can I forget this."

"Okay, okay..." Zhou Yanru nodded, smiling all over his face, "Eunuch Zhang, can I come in and talk?"

"Ah, please."

It has been ten days since I moved into Liang Yi's old house, and the furnishings in the house have not changed from what Liang Yi had before his death.In the beech wood bookcase carved with pictures of five sons praying for birthdays, stacks of medical books are neatly stacked; on the wide book case, there is a bright red Shoushan stone seal dotted in the four treasures of the study.The bed is surrounded by azure thin silk curtains, exuding the fragrance of medicinal herbs faintly; on the table beside the bed is a Suihan Sanyou suet jade screen, as translucent as white as a full moon.Xizhao intentionally kept the room as it was, but set up a new seat in the depths of the room.Xizhao invited Zhou Yanru to sit down, and then poured tea.Zhou Yanru sat down, glanced far and near, and looked around the exquisite and elegant furnishings in the house, before he opened his mouth and said:

"Eunuch Zhang is so favored by the emperor at such a young age, he must have a bright future in the future."

"Master Zhou, what can I say?" Xizhao poured good tea and brought it to Zhou Yanru, "Not to mention that the word "favor" cannot be obtained, even if you are favored, you are nothing more than a eunuch, the emperor's servant."

"Hey~" Zhou Yanru waved his hand, "Eunuch Zhang is too modest. Ability has nothing to do with status. As long as you can say a word by the emperor's side, you will be envious of many government officials."

"Hehe." Xi Zhao smiled politely and changed the subject, "Master Zhou is here, is there something wrong?"

"Exactly, exactly." Zhou Yanru paused for a while, took a sip of tea, and sighed, "Hey, Eunuch Zhang probably also knows that this official's life is not easy...but I have served as the master of the trial once. He was impeached overwhelmingly. I just wanted to try my best to select useful talents for Daming. I had no other intentions, but people with ulterior motives described it as a fraudulent act. In addition to various other misunderstandings, half a year later, all parties Impeachment has not decreased but increased. Hey..." He sighed again and shook his head, "In desperation, I can only ask Eunuch Zhang for help."

Saying that, Zhou Yanru took out a thin piece of paper from his sleeve, pressed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Xizhao.

Xizhao looked down, and said calmly, "What does Master Zhou want me to do?"

"It's not difficult, it's not difficult." Zhou Yanru put away the bitterness just now, and a sly smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "I have already taken care of it in the Supervisor of Rituals to ensure that the impeachment papers are placed under other memorials. Your Majesty There are so many affairs to be dealt with every day, and there is always too much to approve so many memorials, so Eunuch Zhang only needs to remind the emperor to take a break during the day, and remind the emperor to go to bed earlier at night..."

"So that's how it is." Xi Zhao suddenly realized something, pondered for a while, and said, "It's not difficult to do this, but it's hard to say whether the emperor can follow his instructions."

"As long as the father-in-law acts like this, the emperor will obey the fate. Of course, if there is a chance, I would ask Eunuch Zhang to speak kindly in front of the emperor." Zhou Yanru bowed his hands to Xizhao, his eyes were very earnest .

Xi Zhao also hurriedly clapped his hands in response, the two looked at each other and smiled knowingly, and Zhou Yanru got up and said goodbye.Xizhao sent Zhou Yanru out of the room, turned around and walked to the table, picked up the thin paper—the bank note left by Mr. Zhou, and looked at it.

400 taels of silver.Compared with the little eunuch who swept the floor back then, the current situation is completely different, 40 taels and 400 taels, in a short period of time, my worth has increased tenfold.With a twitch at the corner of Xi Zhao's mouth, she folded the bank notes and carefully stored them in the interlayer of the small cabinet.

If you say obey the destiny, then God treats Zhou Yanru well.In recent days, every time Xizhao suggested that Chongzhen take a rest, Chongzhen would agree out of ten. When going to bed at night, there were indeed more memorials left on the table than usual.Seeing this, Xi Zhao felt a little relieved.Although no matter how the emperor reacts, he has fulfilled his obligation, but after all, he is collecting money to do things, so he still hopes to achieve some results.Besides, Xizhao knew that the impeachment of this group of critics was mostly instigated by Cifu Wen Tiren, not because Zhou Yanru was such a treacherous and evil person.Since it's a meaningless partisan dispute, even if he collects some money and does something harmless and unreasonable, there will be no moral pressure in Xi Zhao's heart.

What's more, he didn't realize it, and he didn't think that this incident was a violation of any teaching his predecessors had given him.

three

The autumn wind is rustling, blowing yellow leaves all over the ground.In a blink of an eye, it was halfway through October.

"Why is there no battle report at the Daling River recently?" Chongzhen said to Wang Chengen who had just assembled the memorial.

"Returning to the emperor, I'm afraid that Huang Taiji's siege is too tight, and it is difficult to send out the battle report." Wang Chengen thought for a while and replied.

"Hey...the siege of the city has been going on for more than two months, and there is not much food and grass in the city. If they don't break through, how can they sustain it." Chongzhen closed his eyes, rubbed the center of his brows, and couldn't hide his anxiety, "Have the reinforcements been assembled? "

"This... Your Majesty, the rebellion is rampant now, and this side alone is not enough to suppress the troops. If you want to squeeze out troops to save Dalinghe... I'm afraid it will be difficult..." Wang Chengen said helplessly with his head down.

"Hey..." Chongzhen also said nothing, and the two were silent for a moment.

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly sounded.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

"Who is so flustered?" Chongzhen opened his eyes and looked towards the door, only to see Gao Qiqian hurried into the hall, holding a letter in his hand.

"Your Majesty! Daling River battle report!"

"Oh?" Chongzhen came to his senses, "How is the battle going?"

"Uh..." Seeing the emperor's expectant expression, Gao Qiqian opened his mouth halfway, and suddenly lost his words.But since I have come to report the letter, there is no reason not to say it.So he broke his heart and said bravely: "Da Linghe has been guarding for more than two months, the food and grass are exhausted, the day before yesterday the chief soldier Zu Dashou killed the deputy general He Kegang..." Gao Qiqian swallowed, and secretly glanced at the emperor.

"How?" Gao Wang and his wife were at odds with each other, but their hesitant expressions were exactly the same.Chongzhen heard it impatiently, and brought it up in one breath, wrinkling his brows suddenly.

"Kill He Kegang, the deputy general who opposed Kaesong... Offer the city to surrender..." Gao Qiqian uttered these four words in a voice so small that he could hardly hear them, but in the unusually quiet South Study Room, it was as piercing as a thunderbolt from the blue sky .

"What! Say it again!" Chongzhen couldn't believe his ears.

"Zu Dashou offered the city to drop gold, and the Daling River has fallen..."

This time Gao Qiqian spoke clearly and plainly, no matter how hard he got it wrong.Chongzhen sat blankly behind the dragon case, unable to speak for a long time, and after a while, he waved to Wang Chengen, Gao Qiqian and the others.

"You go back."

The two looked at each other, and they froze in front of the dragon case, neither of them willing to leave first.

"I told you to step down." Chongzhen's voice was a little louder.

Seeing that Chongzhen was in a bad mood and it was not the time to fight, Wang Chengen glanced sideways at Gao Qiqian, bowed and retreated.Gao Qiqian saw that Wang Chengen was gone, so he left the South Study Room tactfully.

Dalinghe is lost.Although Chongzhen was already mentally prepared for this, but now that the battle report was spread out in black and white, the gloomy mood could not be restrained, and quickly blocked every corner of his heart.Xiancheng surrendered... It turned out that Zu Dashou was really so unreliable as the officials said.Did he have two intentions, or did I kill his supervisor and force him to turn against him, or... no, no, how can I think this way.The food and grass in the city can only last for a few days, and now it is a miracle that it lasts for more than two months.But... hey... Chongzhen sighed, and thumped his head hard.The city has been lost, the people have surrendered, and the matter has come to an end, what's the use of thinking about it.Chongzhen picked up the battle report again, read it hastily, then folded it up irritably, and hid it in the deepest part of a pile of documents.

But this time, God didn't let Chongzhen be gloomy for too long.Three days later, a secret letter was delivered to Chongzhen.It was late at night, and Chongzhen was about to go to bed. When he saw an urgent secret letter arrived, he quickly closed his clothes, took the secret letter, held a dim yellow gauze lantern, and sat on the side of the Luohan bed to open it and read it.

As soon as he opened the letter, the first sentence that came into view made Chongzhen's heart tense.

Your Majesty's birthday, I wish Your Majesty the peace...

Zu Dashou...!

Chongzhen collected himself and hurriedly read on.

Your Majesty's birthday, I respectfully wish you peace:

From the beginning of February, the minister was ordered to lead the army to the Daling River to repair the city and consolidate the defense.It should have been completed as soon as possible, firmly guarding the ground, resisting foreign captives, and repaying the grace of God.Unexpectedly, the city was besieged by the Jin army, unable to break through, and was trapped in the city together with [-] soldiers and [-] craftsmen.The siege of the Jin army was very tight, Dalinghe City was isolated and helpless, the food and grass were exhausted, the horses were killed, and in the end they were still starving and dying everywhere, which was terrible.Soldiers have no choice but to take human flesh to satisfy their hunger.After being trapped for two months, everyone in the city eats each other, and there are very few soldiers and residents left.If this continues, the entire army of [-] soldiers will be annihilated, and Dalinghe City will also be destroyed by itself.As a last resort, he had to feign surrender to Kaesong and save the lives of the surviving soldiers and civilians in the city.The minister's ineffectiveness in defending the city resulted in the loss of the defense line to the minister's hands.I am willing to bear all the crimes and responsibilities on my shoulders. However, I am sincere and loyal and there is no falsehood.

Don't be suspicious...

A few strands of messy hair fell down his cheeks, Chongzhen put down the letter, lowered his eyes, slowly leaned on the bedside of the arhat bed, and exhaled lightly.