In mid-May, Ma Shiying, the Qinghe military commander, led a group of ferocious Kaiyuan Zhenfu soldiers. They compared the names recorded in Wang Yushi's "Donglin Point General Records" and went to each door one by one, searching the capital to collect stolen goods and pay from the Donglin heroes.
In addition to Ye Xianggao, Hou Xun and other Donglin Party members who have defected to Ping Liaohou, less than half of the officials mentioned in "Dian Jiang Lu" have died, and some are not in the capital at this time. A few more are found. There are still thirty-two people left who are good officials who work for the people.
However, the eight million taels of salary prescribed by Ping Liaohou are still vacant for three million taels.
In the end, the three million taels naturally fell on these thirty-two unlucky guys.
When Ma Shiying discovered that most of the thirty-two people were censors, and all of them were extremely rich, he became angry.
Thinking of the fact that he worked conscientiously under Marquis Ping Liao, his annual salary was only a mere hundred taels, and the dividends from the trading company were only more than a thousand taels, and these "Emperor's Eyes and Ears" called Qingliu opened and closed their mouths, danced with words, and impeached one another. How could Ma Shiying be able to balance his mind when he dared to blackmail the impeached person for a thousand taels of silver after the memorial was issued.
Several censors did not know that the disaster was coming, and they had bad mouths and harsh words. They accused Ma Shiying of being a cruel official like Zhang Tang and Lai Junchen.
They soon received special attention from Ma Shiying. The specific methods were similar to Li Zicheng's attempt to rob the capital officials in history. After a lot of troubles, they confiscated 4 million taels of silver from the homes of 32 people, and recovered a total of 9 million taels of stolen goods, exceeding the target. The task given to him by Ping Liaohou.
At the same time, under the arrangement of Kang Yingqian, the nobles in the capital took the lead in donating food to reward the King Qin's troops stationed outside the city. In fact, most of them were refugees. Under their leadership, officials and wealthy businessmen in the capital donated food one after another, and soon they gathered together. Enough for five thousand stones of food and grass.
After that, the tens of thousands of refugees who came with the Jingnan army gradually dispersed, and order in Beijing began to return to normal.
On May 10th of the first year of Chongzhen, the Queen issued an edict: Summon King Xin to succeed him!
On the same day, the cabinet and Ping Liaohou issued the imperial edict of Emperor Daxing:
"If the husband is dead and alive, it is inevitable for people. But when the succession is successful, the society and the people depend on it, so I will accept it. Why should I regret it? The emperor's fifth brother believes in the king Youjian Chongmingfeng, is benevolent and filial to the city, and is devoted to the ancestral precepts." The writings of brother-in-law and brother-in-law, without Shaolun's preface, will lead to the throne of emperor."
Before King Xin arrived in the capital, Marquis Pingliao led several elders to submit three letters of encouragement to him.
King Xin responded to the first two letters of encouragement as follows:
1: After reading the notes, I can see that you are deeply concerned about the country, and I feel deeply sad for you. How can I bear to hear about the succession? The request is not allowed. "
2: Your Majesty, for the sake of your ancestors, speaks with sincerity and sincerity, and when you look at it, you feel even more sad. How can you bear to rise to the throne so suddenly? The request is not allowed. "
It was not until the third note was submitted that Zhu Youjian agreed to succeed:
"Your Majesty and I have expressed our sincerity over and over again, and we are all loyal. Your position is of great importance, and it is hard to be sincere for a long time. Your fate is with you, so I dare not be stubborn and reluctantly comply with your request."
On May 13th of the first year of Chongzhen, there was the Wengcheng camp at Zuo'anmen.
Kang Yingqian held in his hand the letter of approval he had just excerpted from the Xinwangfutang newspaper, and said mysteriously:
"Marquis Pingliao, did you see that?"
Liu Zhaosun looked out of the tent with regret. One after another carriages came out of the city from the corridor, distributing the loaded grain to the Ming army stationed outside the city. Liu Zhaosun noticed that as soon as the auxiliary soldiers moved the grain into the carriages, the Ming troops below robbed it all. .
He didn't listen to what Kang Yingqian said at all. He looked at the chaotic situation in front of him and murmured:
"As soon as I entered the customs, problems started to arise."
Kang Yingqian shook his head and said:
"Marquis Ping Liao, it's okay to be prepared for danger in times of peace, but don't be too tense. The matter of entering the customs has already been turned over. There are bigger things now. I just came from the Ministry of War. I heard from Shilang Hou that at the latest Tomorrow, King Xin will enter the capital to inherit the throne, and you will have to study more when the time comes."
"Ah? What to study?"
Liu Zhaosun looked back at Kang Yingqian, feeling a little confused.
Kang Yingqian put down the letter in his hand and said angrily:
"What are you talking about learning? Of course it's all the rules and regulations for enthroning. Soon, Marquis Pingliao will use them. Wouldn't it be better if you learn them earlier so that you can be familiar with them by then?"
Hearing what Kang Yingqian said, Liu Zhaosun forced a smile on his indifferent face and said to himself secretly: It turns out that being an emperor still requires rehearsals.
Kang Yingqian saw Marquis Pingliao frowning and knew that he was still thinking about Jin Yuji.
After the Battle of Jingnan began, the cavalry battalion and two Guards troops were sent to Tangma in the direction of Dengzhou. The Intelligence Bureau also sent people to inquire there. Finally, based on the intelligence from all parties, it was learned that Pei Dahu, Shen Lian, led two hundred soldiers. Many people escorted General Anyuan and his daughter out of Wendeng County and headed for Weihaiwei. They suffered heavy casualties along the way. Finally, they boarded the ship at Yingzui Port and were never heard from again.
Zeng Qixiao, Song Yingsheng, Wu Xiang, and Yang Qilong, the four chief culprits, saw that Yuan Chonghuan and Qiao Yiqi were unstoppable in southern Liaoning and were about to land in Shandong. After they returned from Weihaiwei, they did not dare to return to the capital. It is said that they led thousands of remaining soldiers south along the canal. , has disappeared.
After Ping Liaohou learned about these things, he blamed himself more and became more depressed. He usually got along well with the generals outside, but became taciturn when facing Kang Yinggan and others in private.
Several times, Kang Yingqian saw Marquis Pingliao alone in a daze.
Although Kang Jianjun didn't understand the existence of depression or bipolar disorder, he could feel that the young lord was devastated. Whenever he had free time these days, Kang Yingqian took the initiative to talk to Liu Zhaosun.
"Marquis Ping Liao, we should focus on the overall situation at the moment. When King Xin's enthronement ceremony is over, I will give you an official title. Then take more pictures and go to Tianjin Wei, Weihai Wei, and Liaonan to search carefully. Found clues."
"Let's deduce what we will do when King Xin enters the city tomorrow. I have sent people to inquire about it. They all say that Zhu Youjian is not an ordinary person. At a young age, he has courage and courage. He also knows how to hide one's strength and bide his time, and wants to control it well. We need to think more about him."
Liu Zhaosun nodded to Kang Yingqian, and his eyes immediately returned to a sharp look. Just talking about business kept him focused.
Various memories about Zhu Youjian came to mind. Regardless of his identity as the last king, Zhu Youjian's own experience was enough to be regarded as a tragedy.
Zhu Youjian and Zhu Youxiao are half-brothers. They grew up together in their father's uterus. They are only five years apart.
Zhu Youjian's concubine Liu was a lady when she first entered the palace (the status of a lady was lower than that of a talented person, and she was chosen as an attendant). Zhu Youjian was born in the 38th year of Wanli, but she soon fell out of favor and was sent away, and died of depression.
At that time, Zhu Youjian was only five years old, and his father Zhu Changluo (Emperor Taichang) entrusted him to be raised by Li Shi (Dong Li), the chosen servant.
Dongli (Concubine Zhuang) was kind and treated her like a mother. She trained Zhu Youjian's character in many ways, and Zhu Youjian developed an overly strong character, which paved the way for his tragic fate in the future.
"I heard that King Xin was raised by Concubine Zhuang. Kang will supervise the army. We can start from here in the future."
Kang Yingqian stroked his beard in admiration and praised loudly:
"Marquis Ping Liao really understands people's hearts and hits the point with just one word. I admire him very much!"
Liu Zhaosun suddenly remembered what Zhu Youxiao said to his brother on his deathbed in history.
"Come, my brother shall be Yao and Shun."
He recited it silently in his mind, raised his head and said to Kang Yingqian:
"As long as we follow the path of Kaiyuan and continue walking, my emperor will be regarded as Yao and Shun."
Kang Yingqian nodded repeatedly after hearing this.
He rolled his eyes, narrowed his eyes and said:
"Marquis Pingliao, you stayed in the imperial city that night, did you see me?"
Liu Zhaosun was stunned again.
"What did you see?"
On weekdays, Liu Zhaosun lived with the sergeants in Zuo'anmen Wengcheng. Only on the night when Emperor Chongzhen was burned to death by the Donglin rebels, in order to prevent chaos in the imperial city, he led his troops to garrison around the Qianqing Palace to guard the palace.
It was also that night that he stayed up all night and patrolled around with his guards.
It is said that during his patrol that night, Marquis Ping Liao also visited Cining Palace and Kunning Palace where the queens and concubines lived.
Of course, these are just rumors.
But since that day, every time Kang Yingqian met Ping Liaohou, he would ask him, "Did you see it?"
"What's there to see? I'm not Dong Zhuo. I'm not as crazy as him. I can't sleep on a dragon bed at night..."
Before Liu Zhaosun finished speaking, the tent door was suddenly opened from the outside. Qiao Yiqi ignored the guards and rushed in, grinning:
"came back!"
"What?"
When Liu Zhaosun saw the ecstasy on Qiao Dazui's face, his heart began to beat violently.
"Jin Yuji, Mrs. Jin, and Pei Dahu..."
Liu Zhaosun was stunned on the spot, his dim and dull eyes suddenly burst into starlight.
"Qiao Mouth! Say it again."
In desperation, he even called Qiao Yiqi by his nickname.
Qiao Dazui didn't care at all. He grabbed the coconut scoop and drank some water. He took a breath and continued to add:
"Just now, the sentry horse came to report that General Anyuan, Pei Dahu, Shen Lian, Wu Xiao, Lin Yu, and someone named Wei have passed through Tongzhou. By the way, there are also Yang... Yang Jinglue and a red-haired man. Yi, and..."
Liu Zhaosun looked at Kang Yingqian and grinned: "Kang Supervisor, am I in a dream?"
When Kang Yingqian heard that Yang Hao was also here, he frowned slightly, but only for a moment, and said coldly to Liu Zhaosun:
"Zhuang Zhou Xiaomeng, Marquis Ping Liao is not Zhuang Zhou, Marquis Ping Liao, let's hurry up and make plans for King Xin..."
Liu Zhaosun didn't wait for him to finish, then took off the fish scale armor hanging on the wall and strode outside the tent.
Kang Yingqian stretched out his hand to stop him. Marquis Pingliao had already walked out a long way, and the surrounding guards immediately followed him like tails.
There were only two supervisors left in the tent. They looked at each other and smiled. Qiao Yiqi looked outside the tent, stroked his beard and said with a smile:
"I love the country and also the beauty, just like when I was young."
Kang Yingqian snorted, suddenly feeling depressed in his heart, and poured cold water on his old partner:
"I don't know what happened to General Anyuan, but Yang Hao must have been unable to survive in Tianjin Wei, so he came to join us in Kaiyuan. Have you forgotten what happened in Sarhu? Yang Jinglue is not Wang Huazhen, the king in Jin It's so easy to get rid of. His daughter is Mrs. Gaoming, and Marquis Pingliao is his son-in-law! Qiao Jianjun, our good days are coming to an end soon!"
Qiao Yiqi was never interested in these intrigues, but he had already remembered what Lao Kang had just said. He walked out of the big tent with a smile and walked straight towards Sun Chuanting's tent, ready to continue chatting with Mr. Sun.
Lewen
