Chongzhen Sunset Song

?one

"The minister thought that the peace negotiation is absolutely impossible!"

After the imperial court, Zhao Guangzhang, a doctor in the Ministry of War, led a group of courtiers and crowded the main hall of Wuying Hall.Chong Zhen sat on top of the main hall, frowning slightly, watching His Highness's angry scene coldly. Standing beside Chong Zhen, Xi Zhao was also inexplicably agitated by the crowd's voices.At the early court today, the emperor simply mentioned a statement in Yang Sichang's memorabilia, but unexpectedly, a single stone stirred up a thousand waves, which attracted such a large group of opponents rushing into the Hall of Martial Heroes, all of them holding high-sounding The idea of ​​trying to let the peace talks die in the soil before it sprouts.Facing this group of righteous and aggressive faces, the emotions that grew in Xizhao's heart were subtly the same as those of Wang Chengen, whom he had never been in touch with before——

This group of civil servants and officials is really annoying.

But the excited mood of all the ministers in the palace will not be weakened by Xi Zhao's boredom, only to see an official in a scarlet robe step forward and say righteously:

"Your Majesty, please think twice. The Jinlu's peace negotiation is just a delusion to take the territory, cities, money, gold and silk into his pocket without spending a single soldier. But how can I easily give up the holy land of the Ming Dynasty to the kingdom of the Tartars?" With all the good soldiers and good generals, how can we make peace without fighting! Since Huang Taiji threatened that Xia Qiu will take action, then I should prepare for the battle early, and this time I must teach the Jinlu to see the integrity of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Hmm..." After finishing speaking, Chongzhen still frowned, remained silent, his expression remained calm, and he just let out a faint sound in response.Despite the emperor's negative attitude, the officials who came prepared were not willing to give up.They exchanged glances with each other, and continued to step forward in turn to state how the peace talks had harmed the country and the people, and they were treasonous.But Chongzhen remained silent from beginning to end, not saying a word.

"Your Majesty." After several rounds of remonstrance, the middle-aged official standing at the front of the crowd finally spoke.This man is thin and thin, with thick eyebrows and short beard. He is the Zhao Guangzhang who led this group of officials here.I saw him with a serious face and a clear voice, and his words were not long, but they were full of weight: "I think that the Zhao and Song Dynasties were cowardly and cowardly, and they repeatedly negotiated peace with the Liao and Jin, so that half of the country surrendered to others, and finally the world was lost to foreign captives." The hand of my big man has enslaved my people for nearly a hundred years. Now the situation is not the same as that of the past, and the lessons learned from the past are here. How can the emperor move the heart of seeking peace again and embark on the road of repeating the same mistakes?"

The sentence of repeating the same mistakes made the hall suddenly silent.Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court has been deeply ashamed of the events of the two Songs. Now Zhao Guangyan has used his trump card, unabashedly comparing the events of the two Songs to admonish him. After all, Chongzhen can no longer remain silent. "I don't mean that." Chongzhen said in a low voice.But after a denial, in the expectant eyes of all the officials, Chongzhen's words stopped abruptly, and there was no more words.

The sun was getting higher and higher, and the sunlight on the blue brick floor of the main hall gradually receded to the door without a sound.The monarch and the ministers faced each other, and the hall was extremely quiet for a while.Xizhao could see that the emperor's heart was inclined towards peace.To fight against the outside world, we must first settle down inside, and Xi Zhao secretly felt that this seemed to be the only way out amidst the pincers of external and internal troubles.The word "integrity" sounds nice, but if Da Ming is gone, what's the use of integrity.The civil servants in the palace could sacrifice their lives for the sake of their own safety, but how could the emperor, who shouldered the entire country, let the great Ming jade shatter with his own will?Everyone in this hall is full of knowledge and knowledge, but why can't they even understand such a simple truth.Thinking of this, Xi Zhao became more and more disturbed, and when she calmed down and returned to the main hall, she suddenly found that the officials' remonstrance had changed at some point.

"...During the period of Mr. Yang and Ding You, he seized love and entered the cabinet. It was a great unfilial piety for his descendants. He was unfilial to his parents, so how could he be expected to be loyal to the country? This time he advocated a peace negotiation. Suspected of betraying the country and seeking glory, the emperor must not listen to this person's words, and miss the country and the country!"

"That's right, he cherishes his own life, how can he bring down the whole imperial court and despise the world!"

"Please listen to the opinions of the emperor, don't trust his words..."

"Okay." The topic went off track, and Chongzhen's patience finally ran out.With a tense face, he waved his hands, "I know what the gentlemen are saying, and I need to think about this matter. Today, the gentlemen will step down."

"..." Being cut off by Chongzhen's words, all the ministers of His Royal Highness looked at each other, hesitating to speak, all of them looked unwilling.But the emperor spoke, all the ministers had no choice but to swallow their words, saluted each other, and withdrew from the Hall of Martial Arts one after another.

two

In the depths of Ji'an Hutong, in front of an inconspicuous small gate, a sedan chair landed steadily.This familiar little door is the entrance to the high-rise Qianwai house.The sedan chair curtain was lifted, and a man about fifty years old stepped out of the sedan chair.He looked around, gestured for the bearer to leave, then pushed open the small door that was concealed, stepped aside, and entered the door.

"Master Yang is indeed on time! Come, please come inside." Gao Qiqian heard the movement in the inner hall, and hurried out to greet him.I saw the person with square face, thick eyebrows and white hair on the temples. It was the cabinet minister Yang Sichang who had been pushed to the cusp of the peace talks in recent days.Although he did not serve as the chief assistant after entering the cabinet, since the tactics of suppressing bandits in the four corners of the first day of the new year were effective, his status in front of the emperor can be said to be in full swing, and his voice even surpassed that of the newly promoted chief assistant Liu Yuliang, so much so that he As soon as the memorial that agreed with the peace agreement was mentioned by Chongzhen, it was like a thunderbolt, which severely broke the nerves of the main fighters in the DPRK and China.

"Your Majesty Yang, don't be as knowledgeable as Zhao Guangzhang and his ilk. There is no matter big or small in the government that is not opposed by the officials. The peace talks are imperative, and the emperor knows it well. According to miscellaneous experts, we just wait for the imperial decree." " Gao Qiqian looked relaxed, and took a sip of tea leisurely.

"Hmm..." Yang Sichang was not as leisurely as Gao Qiqian, his brows were tightly furrowed, and the tea in his hand did not move. "It's just the emperor's thoughts. It's hard to guess... Has the person sent by Eunuch Gao to the Qing army camp replied?"

"There is a reply, but it just said that they treated each other very politely. It seems that there is sincerity in seeking peace, but the emperor has not made a clear order, and the specific matters of the peace talks have not been able to progress." Gao Qiqian flicked the porcelain cup, With a ding, he said slowly.

"I'm afraid that Ye Chang has many dreams... hey..." Yang Sichang sighed, and he didn't know where to look out of the window.

"That's right, the miscellaneous family came back to Beijing from the army this time because they were afraid of having long nights and dreams. If Master Yang's internal response in the palace is not appropriate, others will take advantage of it. By the way, Master Yang." Gao Qiqian leaned forward, With a raised brow, he suddenly asked, "Wang Chengen, have you gone to say hello?"

"I've been there, and he seems to be in favor of peace talks." Yang Sichang said.

"That's good, even if he doesn't dare to spoil me this time." Gao Qiqian sneered, and said again, "But you need to be careful, this old boy is capricious and hates me to the bone. I don't know when my mind moves, I go to the emperor's ears and blow the wind, deliberately tripping us up. The name of Zajia staying in the capital is to recuperate. It is no better than him being able to see the emperor face to face every day. If he has a bad intention, then It's really tricky."

Yang Sichang narrowed his eyes and frowned even deeper. "This is a major national event, related to the fate of the Ming Dynasty. No matter what happens to Wang Chengen, he won't get in the way because of personal grievances, right?"

"Hmph, Mr. Yang still doesn't understand him." A chill flashed in Gao Qiqian's eyes, but it quickly disappeared, and he put on a face full of smiles, "Hey, I don't mention him, it's disappointing. Yang My lord hasn't eaten lunch yet, how about we Xingdelou serve Sixi meatballs to win the prize?"

"Thank you, Eunuch Gao, for your kindness. It's just that the matter of the peace talks has been pending. I'm upset and I really have no appetite." Yang Sichang waved his hands and declined.

"Hey, Mr. Yang, why is he so serious? State affairs are important, and eating is generally important." After speaking, Gao Qiqian grabbed Yang Sichang's arm and walked towards the door, "If you don't fill your stomach, how can you fight with those officials. Let's go, let's treat guests to the miscellaneous family, Lord Yang, don't refuse any more!"

three

Forbidden City, Hall of Martial Arts.

"This zodiac week is not over yet!"

The night had already fallen, Xizhao was a little tired, and was quietly covering her mouth and yawning, when she suddenly heard Chongzhen curse.Xi Zhao hurriedly focused his attention, leaned forward and asked, "Master Huang is on the paper again? Is it Master Yang's business?"

"Three days in a row, three exams, he doesn't bother me, I do!" Chongzhen stood up, left the dragon case, and moved his legs and feet in the room, "You can see for yourself."

"This……"

The memorial in black and white was unfolded, and it was placed squarely in the middle of the dragon case. The rows of orderly small letters seemed to exude an indescribable deterrent force, which made Xi Zhao panic and couldn't move her feet no matter what.

"How does this make... the memorial is a state secret, how dare the villain read it..."

"If I tell you to watch it, you can watch it." Chongzhen was upset, so he didn't have much patience, and cut off Xizhao's hesitation with one sentence.Xi Zhao had no choice but to obey the order, holding up the memorial with both hands, and began to read it respectfully.

"Obviously he is opposed to the idea of ​​peace talks, but he doesn't say it clearly. He keeps accusing Yang Qing of seizing love and joining the cabinet. He also says that Yang Qing is an unfilial person, not a talent, not good enough to formulate policies and take on great responsibilities, and even compares him to a pig dog. , Ren Xiao!” Chongzhen’s face was full of anger, his eyes narrowed into slits, “Yang Qing entered the cabinet a few months ago, why didn’t he mention seduction at that time? Why didn’t he mention staying in office! If you object, you just oppose it, but you insist on beating around the bush and covering it up with a noble face, it’s really disgusting. It’s also against the peace talks, but it’s not as open and aboveboard as Zhao Guangyan’s direct remonstrance!"

Xizhao bowed her head to read carefully, and there was an eloquent piece of text in the memorial, and the lines between the lines really revealed her gnashing of teeth for the peace negotiation. "Your Majesty, calm down. Lord Huang is very angry at the moment, and sometimes he speaks unscrupulously." In the past few days, the Emperor has always had a lot of resentment against this kind of open and secret opposition to the peace talks.Xizhao comforted the emperor in his mouth, and looked at the figure of the emperor before the dragon case in his eyes, and suddenly his mind moved.So he put the memorial together, put it back to the original place, thought for a moment, and asked tentatively: "Forgive me for speaking bluntly, if the villain's guess is right... Is the emperor already determined to negotiate?"

"..." Chongzhen heard the words, his shoulders trembled slightly, but he didn't answer immediately.Xizhao couldn't wait for Chongzhen's answer, and was hesitating whether to ask again, when Chongzhen turned around and coughed unnaturally. "It's not too late to discuss the peace negotiation." After speaking, Chongzhen walked back to the Long's case, lifted his clothes, sat down, and then said in another tone, "Whether the peace agreement can be discussed again, but if Huang Daozhou's unhealthy winds of wanton and raveous talk must not be indulged any longer!"