"I have met your Majesty." Zhu Changwu came and still addressed himself as "I". When he saw Chongzhen, he didn't even kneel down, he just raised his hands.
Chongzhen did not blame Zhu Changwu for this habit. On the contrary, he seemed to be used to it. "Come, give Zhu Qing a seat quickly."
Wang Chengen ran over like a dog and placed a soft chair in front of Zhu Changwu.
Zhu Changwu was naturally not polite. He smiled and praised Wang Chengen, "Yes, Xiao Enzi is very nimble."
"Huh!" Wang Chengen turned around and left, returning to Chongzhen's side. Although he looked unhappy on the surface, in fact, he was very grateful to Zhu Changwu. If it weren't for this person, I'm afraid there would be grass growing in front of his and the emperor's graves now.
Ignoring the interaction between Zhu Changwu and Wang Chengen, Chongzhen said in a somewhat anxious tone, "Zhu Qing, can you tell me the story of the battle?"
"Of course there is no problem." Zhu Changwu came here just to talk about this matter.
Since we have won the battle, we must publicize it. Things like doing good deeds without leaving a name will not happen to him.
On the contrary, he wanted to use exaggerated statements to claim credit for the Ming soldiers. He wanted Chongzhen to know that the victory in this battle was the result of the life-saving efforts of all the 50,000 Ming soldiers.
He wanted to let Chongzhen know that the main credit for the Ming army's victory was that the soldiers were not afraid of life and death and dared to fight. It is not due to the strategizing of civil servants, the luck of the Ming Dynasty, or the great favor of the emperor.
If it is true that the emperor's favor can bathe everything, then where can the chaos of banditry come from?
Zhu Changwu started bragging!
No, Zhu Changwu started speaking. In the way of storytelling, the situation on the battlefield is described as very dangerous, and he also exaggerates the combat capabilities of the intruders. For example, one of the enemies is a ten-foot-tall man with eyes as big as gongs. A roar can shatter people's eardrums and so on.
The purpose of exaggerating the enemy is ultimately to highlight that our own people are more capable of conquering and fighting.
No matter how cunning, cruel, or desperate you are, in the end you are still not enough in front of my heroic righteous army of the Ming Dynasty. In the end, you were defeated by the Ming army who worked together.
Chongzhen listened very intently, and even he had a vague feeling that Zhu Changwu's words were exaggerated, but no matter what, the Dashun Army still had combat effectiveness. Otherwise, why would there be no Ming Army who could come all the way? Block its edge?
Along the way, Ming Dynasty abandoned its city and stronghold. No one can stop the intruders?
The intruder has the strength, and he also has the fighting ability. It's just that in comparison, the Ming army led by Zhu Changwu was more powerful.
"Your Majesty, have you ever heard of the saying that a sheep leading a group of lions cannot defeat a group of sheep led by a lion?"
"Oh, this is the first time I've heard this statement. But it shouldn't be right. If there are more lions, shouldn't they be more powerful?" It was indeed the first time that Chongzhen heard such a statement, and he didn't understand it for a while. .
"Your Majesty is wrong. It is said that one soldier is a raging enemy, and a general is raging in a nest. In fact, our Ming Dynasty has never lacked people who dare to fight, and there are even many ordinary soldiers. They are very bloody and are willing to sacrifice their lives for the Ming Dynasty. Hot-blooded, not afraid of life and death. And there are many such people, but they are unlucky and have not met a general who is truly willing to die for the Ming Dynasty."
"Your Majesty, you can imagine that the soldiers wanted to fight, but the general had too high a social status and too much wealth, and his worries increased. He didn't want to lose everything by dying, so he didn't want to fight anymore, so he ordered to retreat. , will the soldiers obey or resist?"
Zhu Changwu suddenly raised a question, and it was a question that Chongzhen thought was not a problem at all, so he naturally answered: "According to the military law of the Ming Dynasty, if the general orders a retreat, the soldiers must retreat. Otherwise, they can be whipped or even beheaded for not obeying the military order." Show to the public.”
"Isn't this the end? This is a sheep leading a group of lions. Because the sheep are afraid, the lions are defeated without even waiting to exert their strength."
"This... seems to be true." Chongzhen always felt something was wrong after hearing this, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.
Before Chongzhen could think too much, Zhu Changwu continued: "So this time, my requirement for the war is that all generals must charge forward. Only if they perform well will the soldiers below be inspired and will not Kill the enemy without any hesitation. In addition, we have new firearms and directly kill the general who broke into the thief at the beginning of the war, causing the enemy to lose the ability to command. With the soldiers sacrificing their lives, we can win in one fell swoop. We won again, and finally killed more than 70,000 intruders in a row, driving them out of the suburbs of Ming Dynasty and rushing to the front line of Taiyuan Prefecture."
"I see." Chongzhen nodded, as if he had understood. He finally knew the reason why the Ming army had been unable to win for a long time.
After seeing that Chongzhen recognized his statement, Zhu Changwu began to put forward conditions, "So we can win this time because the generals and soldiers are very brave. We win because our Ming army is a righteous army and the orthodoxy of the world. What’s even better is that all generals dare to take the lead, which can inspire the morale of the army, so shouldn’t Your Majesty give generous rewards to generals who have meritorious service?”
Finally, the matter of reward was mentioned. When Chongzhen looked at Zhu Changwu, for some reason, his eyes were a little dodgey, and he did not answer the words.
"Your Majesty, what's wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable?" Seeing that Chongzhen stopped talking and lowered his head, as if he didn't want to look at himself, Zhu Changwu was very unhappy.
What's wrong with this Chongzhen? He doesn't say anything when it comes to rewards. Is he trying to default on his debt?
He had promised all the official positions. If Chongzhen didn't agree, how could he explain it to others?
Without enough official attractiveness, how could the people below be willing to sacrifice their lives for the Ming Dynasty?
Just when Zhu Changwu was still thinking about what he would do if Chongzhen refused to admit it, whether he would turn against him and scare him, Chongzhen on the dragon throne finally spoke, "Zhu Qing, I know that you have made great contributions in this battle." It's so great, no matter how much I reward you, I can't reward you too much. But you have to know that you are now the Crown Prince and Young Master. If you are promoted, you will be the Crown Prince and Tutor. In the future, you will be unable to be promoted. How can you let me promote you when the time comes? Well, are you saying that I want to give you this dragon chair?"
"Huh? Your Majesty, what are you talking about? Who wants to sit on your throne? Let me tell you, I am a straightforward person. If you have anything to say, I will say it clearly. I can't stand this kind of twists and turns." Zhu Changwu's obvious feelings There was something wrong with the atmosphere, especially when he noticed that even Wang Chengen, who had been staring at him and always wanting to yell at him and tell him not to be presumptuous, lowered his head for a moment and did not dare to look directly at him. He knew that it must be There was something wrong that I didn't expect.
"This... I'm not going to beat around the bush with you, I just want to say that if you want a reward this time, I can give it to you, but Tutor is the highest position, and I really can't give it to you if it's too much. If it doesn't happen next time , if you make great contributions again, I won’t give you a reward, so don’t be angry.”
What Chongzhen said was not a discussion at all, but a semi-pleading tone.
In fact, in the Ming Dynasty now, there is no one who can fight. Finally, Zhu Changwu emerged, so he must hold on tightly.
Otherwise, if Zhu Changwu is angered or pissed off, he will turn around and pat his butt and walk away. I am afraid that the next intruder will kill the capital immediately. At that time, Daming will really be hopeless.
You cannot offend Zhu Changwu, so some things must be explained clearly in advance. Otherwise, if you say these words in the future when there is no reward, it will cause big problems.
Zhu Changwu is an absolutely smart man. He just thought too much and thought that during the two days he was out, someone came to tell Chongzhen about his shortcomings and that people would have opinions about him.
Now it seems that he is too smart and thinks too much. In fact, this is not the case at all. It is that Chongzhen listened to his words of asking for credit and thought that he wanted to be promoted to an official. However, he thought that he was now from the first rank. The prince's young master was afraid that he would not be rewarded in the future, so he vaccinated himself in advance.
Knowing that he had misunderstood Chongzhen, Zhu Changwu did not explain it, but felt happy.
Before, I was worried that Chongzhen would not agree to vigorously promote Liang Jun, Zhang Yi and others. But now it seems that it doesn't matter if the other party disagrees.
You Chongzhen feel guilty, right?
Okay, just feel guilty. Taking this opportunity, he can put forward more conditions and demands.
With a plan in mind, Zhu Changwu pulled his face and said very unhappy: "Your Majesty, what do you mean? No matter how much credit I make in the future, even if I kill the intruders and wipe out all the All the bandits have been wiped out, and even the slaves have been driven away, but at most I can only be a young master, no! At most I can be a master?"
"Ah? This...the theory is like this. After all, according to the Ming Dynasty's official system, the Taifu is already a first-class official and has no title." Chongzhen said truthfully. It's not that he doesn't want to say anything else, but that he doesn't want to lie to Zhu Changwu, or that he can't lie.
Although this boy is young, he is not from this era at all. When it comes to knowledge, no one in the world can be his opponent. If this is the case, can you deceive the other person?
Don't really make people anxious and quit, then Ming Dynasty will become dangerous again. This is definitely not what Chongzhen wants to see.
Therefore, at this moment, Chongzhen knew that Zhu Changwu might not be happy after saying something, but he still wanted to say it.
If you don't say it now, it will become a landmine in the future, which may explode at any time and form a bad blood between the two.
Zhu Changwu's current importance is self-evident. The revival of the Ming Dynasty rests on him. It is no exaggeration to say that none of the officials in the dynasty are as important as him.
ps: Thanks to Ji Ping'an for the reward to the God of Killing.
