weaving

Chapter 1339 Three Cups of Wine

"Please report to the Emperor that I, Zhang Cheng, have been deeply favored by His Majesty and will do my best to ensure that Li the thief will not get what he wants. As long as we have sufficient food, fodder, ammunition and weapons, we will surely defeat Li the thief at the gates of Kaifeng, dampen his spirit and blunt his military power. Then, we can wipe him out in Zhongzhou in one fell swoop."

"it is good."

"Hurrah!"

Two good words came one after another.

Angel Wang Chengen was the first to shout "good". He was happy for the Emperor in the imperial palace in the capital. If Li Zicheng's plot to capture Kaifeng could be thwarted as Zhang Cheng said, and he could be annihilated in Henan Province in one fell swoop, then the Ming Dynasty would be forever secure and the Emperor's dream of reviving the Ming Dynasty would have hope. How could he not be happy?

The other good thing was called out by King Zhou Zhu Gongyao. He did not think as much and as far-reachingly as Wang Chengen, but the words of Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng, "The thief Li will be defeated under the city of Kaifeng," made him feel at ease!

Ever since Li Chuang entered Henan, especially when Luoyang was broken and Fu Fan died, King Zhou Zhu Gongyao was greatly stimulated. It was precisely because he did not want to follow in Fu Fan's footsteps that Zhu Gongyao was willing to open the warehouse and provide gold and silver as well as food to fully support the defense of Kaifeng City.

At this moment, the first thing Yongning Earl did was to guarantee the safety of Kaifeng City. How could King Zhou not be happy?

"Lord Yongning, the imperial treasury is a little short of funds. The suppression of bandits in the Central Plains must not be delayed for too long, lest we fail to deliver food and fodder, which would delay the country's major events. Wouldn't that be bad?"

"Don't worry, Prince."

Yongning Bo smiled and said to Wang Chengen: "Zhang Cheng would never dare to nurture the enemy and miss the opportunity to fight."

He then said with a serious face: "However, Li the bandit is now more powerful and has more soldiers than before. Zhang Cheng dare not rashly fight with Li the bandit, and needs to wait for the right time."

"The battlefield situation changes rapidly, and opportunities are fleeting. Earl Yongning must keep a close eye on the battlefield changes to avoid missing the opportunity."

"Yes. Zhang Cheng followed the prince's instructions."

"These are not our words... These are the words that His Majesty asked us to pass on to Earl Yongning!"

"Yes. Zhang Cheng obeys the imperial edict."

…………

The most excited ones were the military officers in the hall. Even Henan General Chen Yongfu was very excited - he had made the right bet on this "treasure"!

However, after all, the angels from the court are still here, not to mention King Zhou, the governor, and all the high-ranking officials in Kaifeng, Henan are in the palace. Even if they are extremely ecstatic in their hearts, they still have to restrain themselves on the surface.

But even so, voices of congratulations and greetings continued to rise in the hall, and the focus of the crowd was naturally none other than Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng!

That night, King Zhou Zhu Gongyao held a banquet in the palace, both to welcome the angel Wang Chengen and to congratulate the new anti-bandit commander Zhang Cheng, Earl of Yongning.

As the army was stationed around Xinchengji, the generals did not dare to stay in Kaifeng for long, let alone drink too much. They followed the order of Zhang Cheng, the commander-in-chief of the anti-bandit movement, and took their leave and returned to the camp.

Those who stayed in the Zhou Palace were basically the officials in Kaifeng City, as well as the newly appointed anti-bandit commander, Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng, and several of his staff members...

There were four people sitting around an octagonal table in the inner hall. They were the angel Wang Chengen who came to deliver the imperial edict, Prince of Zhou Zhu Gongyao, the Earl of Yongning and the admiral who was in charge of suppressing bandits Zhang Cheng, and the governor of Henan Gao Mingheng who was in charge of allocating money and grain and assisting in suppressing the bandits.

The four of them are now the most honorable and powerful people in Henan. With the power they control, they can almost decide the life and death of anyone in Henan Province, and even decide the future fate of Henan and even the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, the real powerful person among these four people is actually only Zhang Cheng, Earl of Yongning!

But at this moment, the Earl of Yongning was sitting in the second seat of the guest table. The first seat was the angel Wang Chengen who represented the emperor, while the Prince of Zhou Zhu Gongyao and the governor Gao Mingheng were sitting in the first and second seats of the chairman respectively to accompany the guests. As for the other officials from Henan and Kaifeng, they were seated in the main hall, and the staff of the Earl of Yongning, such as Sun Shixiang, Liu Chengzu, Hu Yiwen and others, were all present. This shows the importance of the four words "supervisor of suppressing bandits".

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"Zhang Cheng, before I left the palace, His Majesty told me to toast Earl Yongning with three glasses of wine on his behalf!"

As soon as Wang Chengen finished speaking, Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng suddenly stood up from his seat. Just as he was about to kneel down to express his gratitude, he saw the angel Wang Chengen reach out his hand to support him and said, "Your Majesty said, 'A toast is not a gift of wine. There is no need for those red tapes and no need to express gratitude.' Yongning Earl should go back to his seat."

Although he heard Wang Chengen say this, Zhang Cheng still insisted on thanking the emperor for his grace, and then returned to his seat.

"Lord Yongning, this is the first cup of wine. On behalf of the emperor, I toast to you for 'saving Kaifeng from danger and stabilizing the situation in the Central Plains'!"

Wang Chengen sat there without moving, just bowed slightly and raised the wine cup in his hand, but Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng stood up hurriedly, holding the wine cup in both hands and raised it to his chest.

"Zhang Cheng, thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!"

Under the gaze of King Zhou and Gao Mingheng, they both drank it all in one gulp, and the palace maids serving beside them hurriedly refilled their wine cups.

"Lord Yongning, this is the second glass of wine. On behalf of the emperor, I toast you for 'defeating two famous kings, defeating the Jiannu under the city of Jinzhou, and severely crushing the arrogance of the enemy'!"

Zhang Cheng stood up and thanked the grace and drank the same way as last time.

"Lord Yongning, this third glass of wine is for you on behalf of the Emperor, 'You led the army with honors, suppressed the bandits and brought peace to Zhongzhou, supported the collapsing empire, and saved the country from peril'!"

Zhang Cheng was shocked when he heard this. He suddenly felt a "thump" in his heart and didn't know how to drink this glass of wine...

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The first two things were already facts and were his previous achievements. Zhang Cheng drank the wine without any pressure and was grateful in his heart that the king still remembered some of his past contributions.

But this third glass of wine is completely different!

It was said that he "commanded the army with meritorious officials and nobles." This one sentence alone pushed him to the opposite side of the civil servants and scholars in the court. Fortunately, there were still meritorious officials and nobles who could unite the army, so he did not care too much about it.

The following words are truly destructive...

"Suppress the bandits and pacify Zhongzhou, support the collapsing empire, and save the country from danger." This statement is certainly not wrong, and it is also the expectation of the current Emperor Chongzhen for Zhang Cheng.

But there is one thing Zhang Cheng is very clear about, that is - the higher you praise someone, the harder they will fall in the future!

This is just like the great commander Yuan Chonghuan back then. Didn’t he end up being “cut into pieces” just because of his boast of “pacifying Liaoning in five years”?

Although there are many other factors involved, the phrase "pacify Liao in five years" is also one of the important reasons.

But at this moment Wang Chengen was toasting on behalf of the emperor, and Zhang Cheng had already drunk the first two glasses of wine, so how could he refuse the last one?

…………

Yongning Earl knelt down beside Wang Chengen with a plop. Facing the direction of the capital of the Ming Dynasty, he raised the wine cup in his hand above his head and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, I, Zhang Cheng, kowtow to thank you for your grace."

After thanking the emperor, Yongning Boyou continued to bow and said, "I have been ordered to lead the suppression of bandits. I will do my utmost to lead the troops and strive to eliminate the bandits and stabilize the people of the Central Plains. If I cannot achieve this wish, I will repay the emperor's great grace with my death!"