On the eighth day of the first lunar month in the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, in the East Nuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace in the Imperial City of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Chongzhen looked at the memorial sent from Kaifeng on the imperial case and did not dare to open it for a long time.
After a long time, he finally braved the courage to open the secret note of Henan patrol officer Gao Mingheng. He only glanced at the content of the "reason" and his face was already full of shock.
He seemed to be in disbelief. After reading it again, a long-lost smile flashed across his lips. By the time he excitedly finished reading the entire text, his face had regained its color and rosiness, and he felt as if he was full of spring breeze.
Due to the excitement in his heart, Emperor Chongzhen's fingers trembled even more fiercely. A beautiful palace maid with fair and delicate skin was lowering her head to add incense to the Xuande incense burner. She did not dare to look up at Emperor Chongzhen, but saw that his fingers were trembling fiercely, for fear that he would He used her to vent his anger, which made her heart tighten, her face turned pale, her calves were trembling, and bursts of cold sweat broke out on her back.
Chongzhen didn't pay attention to her. He hurriedly opened the memorial of Zhou Wang Zhu Gongzhen with excitement and read it hastily. The smile on his face became even brighter.
Only then did he realize that the palace maid Tang Chunru had finished adding incense and was retracting her white and tender hands from the incense burner, preparing to retreat slowly.
Emperor Chongzhen was in a good mood and felt that the maid in front of him was slender and graceful. She was wearing a light red Luo Yi with a velvet rose on her temple. Her hair was dark and her neck was pink.
Emperor Chongzhen, who was very happy about the victory of Kaifeng, suddenly took Tang Chunru into his arms, picked her up and put her on his lap, lowered his head and kissed her neck, and then kissed her on the cheek. After a while, he said loudly: "Okay! Kaifeng is fine!"
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Emperor Chongzhen held the young and pretty Tang Chunru in his arms, looking at her white teeth and bright eyes as if filled with autumn water. Suddenly he saw his own look reflected in her eyes, and he suddenly remembered that there were some sentences in the memorial of Zhou Wang Zhu Gongzhen that he had not read clearly.
He pushed Tang Chunru away from his arms without mercy, picked up the memorial again and read it carefully. After a while, he put down the memorial, picked up the ink pen and wrote the edict:
"Henan Governor Li Xianfeng, Bingbei Dao Wang Yinchang, General Soldier Wang Shaoyu and others are about to be arrested in Beijing for questioning. The patrol censor Gao Mingheng has made meritorious service in defending the city and is promoted to Henan Governor; Deputy General Chen Yongfu is promoted to Henan General Soldier, and his son guard Chen De is promoted to guerrilla General Wang Xie, the magistrate of Xiangfu County, was promoted to censor, and the other meritorious personnel were identified separately and their merits were listed and rewarded."
He then lowered his head and drew circles in Gao Mingheng's memorial with a red pen. In particular, he wrote in the memorial how Li Zicheng failed in his surprise attack, how Zhang Cheng and Chen Jiugao defeated the bandit Kou Dun in the north of the city in one battle to break the siege, and how Chen Yongfu and his son They attacked the bandit camp at night and shot down the rebels. In the end, Zhang Cheng and Chen De chased the bandits for more than a hundred miles, killing and wounding tens of thousands of them.
The more Emperor Chongzhen watched, the more excited he became, as if he was already in the Kaifeng city tower pointing out the country. The red circles were like his battle axes. He then wrote on his eyebrows: "Kaifeng civil and military ministers, military and civilian officials, and common people , Your loyalty and bravery are commendable.”
Emperor Chongzhen, who was holding a red pen in his hand, shouted louder: "Hello Zhang Cheng, you have lived up to my expectations! Chen Jiugao has not embarrassed me either! Chen De is a thief in general!"
Emperor Chongzhen was so happy that he walked back and forth and suddenly stood in front of the imperial case. He grabbed the ink pen and started writing: "The deputy general of Xuanzhen, Zhang Chengsui, brought peace to the people and saved the crown prince of the Fu clan. He has accomplished the feat of restoring Luoyang, and now he has defeated the ferocious flames of the rebel army at the foot of Kaifeng City, winning consecutive battles. He should be a model for all armies, to demonstrate his merit and encourage the latter.
Promote Zhang Cheng..."
He picked up the pen and meditated. After a while, he put down the ink pen in his hand on the pen holder and said softly to the young eunuch beside him: "The cabinet ministers Fan Fucui, Chen Yan and other cabinet ministers and the Minister of War Chen Xinjia have come to the palace."
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Gu Bi, the young palace maid who had been adding fragrance to his red sleeves just now, whom he had hugged into his arms and kissed twice in a moment of joy, was still standing beside him, but he had completely forgotten about her.
There are about thousands of maids in the Ming Dynasty Palace, and most of them are rough maids who can serve the emperor, empress, and imperial concubines, and also have the opportunity to be seen by the emperor.
And these relatively lucky palace maids all hope to get the emperor's favor accidentally by chance, and fortunately they will have a "day of success" in the palace.
But Tang Chunru was still young and had only been in the palace for two years. She was unprepared for this sudden thing. When she was held in the emperor's arms, she was very panicked and shy, and her heart was beating wildly, but she did not dare to struggle. Her mood He was so nervous that he almost stopped breathing.
When she was pushed away by Emperor Chongzhen, she staggered two steps before she could stand upright. She was confused for a moment, not knowing whether to walk away or stay.
After a while, she realized that the emperor was concentrating on military affairs and no longer wanted her, so she thought she should leave. She timidly retreated to the door, raised the curtain, and hurried away.
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The afternoon sun shines into the Nuan Pavilion from the carved windows. Although it is not very dazzling, it adds a lot of warmth. Emperor Chongzhen stood in front of the window, bathing in the warm sunshine.
He even daydreamed about whether the spring of Ming Dynasty had arrived at this time!
After Li Zicheng's rebellion, the situation in Henan should be relieved for a while. Although the Sichuan war suffered a setback at Huangling City, there has been no warning from Zhang Xianzhong after he left Sichuan. It seems that there is no serious danger in Huguang. .
Emperor Chongzhen thought that it seemed that he had to take action to save the crisis outside the pass.
He understood that Zu Dashou was besieged by Dongnu in Jinzhou, which was related to the overall situation of the Ningjin defense line in Liaodong. Jinzhou had been besieged for a long time, and food and grass were extremely difficult. If Zu Dashou could not hold on any longer, he would offer the city of Jinzhou to Dongnu. If they surrender, the defense line outside the customs that the imperial court has worked so hard to build will be unimaginable.
A burst of soft footsteps came from far away, but Emperor Chongzhen still stood in the light and shadow of the warm sun, unmoved at all, enjoying the spring of the Ming Dynasty in his heart.
Wang Dehua, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony and the admiral of Dongchang, was also among the crowd at this time. He took a few steps forward and called softly: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, all the ministers are here."
Emperor Chongzhen opened his eyes in the light and shadow at this time. He walked back to the imperial palace with some reluctance. He sat on the dragon chair and ordered: "Give some of my beloved ladies a seat."
Fan Fucui and other cabinet ministers felt much relieved when they saw the long-lost smile on Chongzhen's face. They had been hiding for days, and no one dared to enter the palace to ask for trouble without being summoned.
They hurriedly bowed and then sat down on the chairs brought by the young eunuch. They all looked dignified and respectfully waiting for Emperor Chongzhen to speak.
