weaving

Chapter 988 Zhang Cheng, is he loyal to me?
From the next day, Chuang Wang Li Zicheng ordered Zhang Nai's artillery battalion to hit the south gate, almost destroying the south gate building and smashing many battlements. There is a gap, but it is a pity that it is at the height of the urn wall.

And fierce as a tiger also commanded the defenders to fight back with cannons, and even sent several small groups of officers down to the city at night to constantly harass the bandits.

The two sides have been fighting fiercely inside and outside Nanyang City for three days, with mutual casualties. However, the defense of Nanyang City is still very strong, and there is no danger of being attacked by bandits.

On this day, news suddenly came that the brigade of officers and troops led by Superintendent Ding Qirui had set off from Suizhou and was rushing to rescue Nanyang City. They had already traveled to the north of the Tang River. also followed.

Chuang Wang Li Zicheng actually had the same idea as the slave chieftain Huang Taiji, that is to "surround the spot to fight for aid"!
He wholeheartedly wanted to encircle and eat the officers and troops of Ding Qirui, the governor of the Ming Dynasty, so after receiving the news, he immediately ordered only the infantry to continue to besiege Nanyang, and withdrew the main force of the cavalry from Nanyang City, and rushed to the southeast of Tang County Set up an ambush, intending to catch Ding Qirui, a big fish.

But he never thought that Ding Qirui had no intention of rescuing Nanyang. He just couldn't bear the urging of the court, and he was afraid that he would be charged with falling into the feudal vassal, so he brought Zuo Liangyu's army and horses to Suizhou. In fact, he was just pretending That's all.

Sure enough, after Ding Qirui led his troops to Hehedian at the foot of Tongbai Mountain, he only stayed here for a day, and then turned west to Lutoudian and headed for Zaoyang.

It was precisely because of Ding Qirui's blind avoidance of the battle that he did not march towards Tang County at all, which caused Li Zicheng's main cavalry to rush to nothing, and stayed empty in Tang County for three days before returning to attack Nanyang again.

It was the beginning of November at this time, and although Nanyang was under heavy artillery fire, both the bandits and the officers were fighting very hard, but the capital of the Ming Dynasty was full of lively and festive scenes.

…………

It has been two days since Daming Yongningbo Zhang Cheng returned to the capital, except for meeting various officials, gentry and merchants who came to congratulate him, he never went out, enjoying the refreshing spring feeling brought to him by the court lady Tang Chunru.

Although it was already a cold winter month, the touch of spring in the gentle countryside made him linger very much. In stark contrast to the howling cold wind outside, it was Tang Chunru's singing.

Tang Chunru only looks exactly like Zhang Cheng's first love in appearance, but in her heart she is indeed a real classic little beauty. She entered the palace since she was a child, and she has been taught by etiquette and dignity. Zhang Cheng brought another experience.

This is a very special sense of experience, different from Yingying Yanyan's sense of dust and dust before, and also different from Ji Xuanzhu's dignified lady, and even more different from Yang Liying's heroic demeanor.

The most special point is that Ji Xuanzhu and others cannot compare, that is Tang Chunru's identity, she is a woman who may become the emperor's woman!

How exciting is it to have the opportunity to possess and conquer the emperor's woman?
The perfect combination of sensory stimulation and psychological desire to conquer made Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng completely intoxicated by it, and later even the officials and gentry who came to visit him and congratulate him were too lazy to meet him.

But "everything has exceptions", Emperor Chongzhen would send a different eunuch every day to the "Yongningbo Mansion" to convey the words of the Holy Master, or to reward the imperial dining room in the palace with fine wine and delicacies, and other items .

Even the mattresses, censers, heaters, charcoal and other trivial things used in Yongningbo's mansion were all given by the emperor. Of course, the emperor could not give ordinary charcoal.

Silver frost charcoal, also known as silver bone charcoal, is a high-quality charcoal.

Xu Ke recorded such words in "Qing Barnyard Banknotes Items Silver Bone Charcoal" "Silver bone charcoal came out of the Xishan Kiln near Beijing. For imperial use. Choose the best ones and store them in pots full of reams, cover the gaps with ash grits, cover them with copper wire, and keep them full for a whole day and night. Entering this room, it is as warm as spring."

Although in the eyes of outsiders, Uncle Yongning's favor is more prosperous, and the inner eunuchs come and go every day, and the rewards are endless, even Tang Chunru, the concubine of the Earl's mansion, will be summoned into the palace by the empress every other day. .

However, all of this is seen by the eyes of the people outside, and all the inside and outsiders are unknown to outsiders, just like Zhang Cheng's mood at this time, and it is as mysterious as a girl's mind.

After Zhang Cheng returned to Beijing after winning the victory, apart from kneeling outside the Meridian Gate to receive the imperial decree of Chongzhen's meritorious service and the imperial gifts, he was never summoned by Emperor Chongzhen again.

Although the original "General Zhaoyong's Mansion" has now become the "Yongning Bo Mansion", all the servants and maids in this huge mansion were arranged by Wang Chengen, the eunuch next to Emperor Chongzhen.

According to Zhang Cheng's understanding of him, the Ming Dynasty was the best at this matter, and used the gift of the house or the name of taking care of the Beijing officials to place the spies of Jinyiwei and Dongchang next to the court officials.

If you just look at it from the surface, these people will not show their flaws at all, because they have been trained to do these things since they were young, but they will secretly report all the information they know about the Patriarch to Jin Yiwei and Dongchang. .

Since the time of crossing, although Zhang Cheng has been in danger many times, it is because of wealth and wealth, and he has to do it as a last resort.

If you don’t believe me, the first thing he did when he first came out of Xuanbei Township was to replace all the people in the mansion, all the old people from the Xuan mansion were arranged to serve in the mansion, and no one outside was used.

But the situation is different now, the servant girls and servants in the Earl's Mansion, although Wang Chengen arranges them, but he represents the will of Emperor Chongzhen hidden behind him.

Although Zhang Cheng looked at the people waiting up and down in the earl's mansion, there were few who could really reassure him, but he was helpless, so he stayed at home for several days, only knowing that he and his new love Tang Chunru were in love with each other. Drunk and dreaming.

His deeds were naturally as he wished, and they were passed on to the palace in every detail. After all, the little eunuch who came to pass orders or give gifts and rewards every day did not come for nothing!

What Zhang Cheng did in Yongningbo's mansion was unreservedly spread to the palace, and became the after-dinner talk of the current emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Yongningbo Zhang Cheng, the famous general of the Ming Dynasty who was able to run the army well and was good at fighting, was actually a greedy and lustful gangster?

In the eyes of Emperor Chongzhen, this is indeed the case. This is his true opinion based on the rumors in the market and Zhang Cheng's consistent performance after returning from victory.

It was only at this time that he was truly relieved of Zhang Cheng, and finally issued an order to summon Zhang Cheng to the palace at noon tomorrow.

…………

The 14nd day of the winter moon in the 22th year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty is the day of the winter solstice.

The winter solstice was regarded as an auspicious day in ancient my country. For example, it is said in the "Hanshu": "The winter solstice is full of yang, and the emperor will grow, so congratulations."

In addition, as an important node in the 24 solar terms in my country, the winter solstice is also the day with the shortest day and the longest night.

After the winter solstice, the climate in all parts of our country will enter the coldest stage, which is what people often call "Jin Jiu" and "Nine Cold Days".

The so-called "counting to nine" means counting from the winter solstice, counting as "nine" every nine days, and so on; exhausted.

As for "counting nine", there is a folk song like this: "Nine nine, two nine do not shoot, three nine, forty nine walk on the ice, five nine, six nine look at willows along the river, seven nine the river opens, eight nine swallows Come on, ninety-nine plus one-nine farm cattle go everywhere."

Counting from "Nine Nine" to "Nine Nine", the cold winter is over, and the next step is the warmth of spring and the blooming of flowers!
The sun had already risen early this morning, hanging in the distant eastern sky, although it was not so dazzling, it still made people dare not look directly at it.

When it was almost time, Zhang Cheng woke up sleepily under Tang Chunru's gentle urging. He simply had breakfast, and then washed and dressed under the service of a group of maids and women.

On the other hand, Tang Chunru packed up early and waited for Zhang Cheng to change his clothes. He has obtained the imperial decree from the current empress and will enter the palace with Zhang Cheng.

However, Zhang Cheng was going to see the current emperor, while Tang Chunru was going to see the current empress. The reason for this was to show that the court and the emperor attached great importance to Zhang Cheng, and the second was to raise Tang Chunru's status in Yongning Bo's mansion. status.

After all, Tang Chunru is still loyal to Emperor Chongzhen at this moment. To be precise, Tang Chunru is a beautiful woman bestowed by the emperor in order to win over Zhang Cheng.

But looking at it from another angle, Tang Chunru is also very likely to be a little spy placed by the emperor beside Zhang Cheng.

Uncle Yongning Zhang Cheng and his concubine Tang Chunru were entering the palace at noon to have an audience, and they did not come out from the Meridian Gate until the end of the day, which made Zhang Chengfang and Zhang Mingyuan who came with them very anxious.

Every time they see the opening of the Meridian Gate, they are looking forward to it, but they never see the figure of their adoptive father, so why not hurry?
In the hearts of these adopted sons, Zhang Cheng has long been regarded as the biological father who gave birth to him, and even more so, he is regarded as the only true god who can end the troubled times.

Children like Zhang Chengfang have lived a hard life since they were young, but they have long been accustomed to it. If there were no slaves and thieves in Chongzhen for 11 years, I am afraid they would have been eating in the soil for a lifetime.

After experiencing both the death of their parents and being robbed by slaves, it was Zhang Cheng who rescued them like a god descending. Since then, there have been thousands of changes in their hearts.

Because on the way to Xuanfu to escape, they listened to the words of gratitude from the adults, and after arriving in Xuanfu Town, they learned how to read and write, and each of them also had the ambition to make a career.

Just like Zhang Cheng, leading thousands of troops and leading tens of thousands of horses, galloping on the battlefield, killing all the slaves and rogues, and restoring the world to peace, so that there will be no more scourges in this world. May there be no more tragic deaths for parents in the world. There are no more orphans in the world.

Of course, the nine sons of the dragon are different, and these children are also different. There are many people who envy Zhang Cheng's scolding Fang Qiu in their hearts, and even envy Zhang Cheng's extravagant life of big fish, meat and wine.

However, at least in the hearts of Zhang Chengfang and Zhang Mingyuan, they didn't have such thoughts. Now they only thought that their adoptive father would return safely and continue to lead them to kill all the slaves and thieves and pacify the bandits.

Now that the Meridian Gate is open, a man and a woman in gorgeous clothes come out from the crack of the door, isn't it just my adoptive father, who else?

But this is not an ordinary place. Although it was hard to hide the excitement in their hearts, the two of them still restrained their steps and just waited for Zhang Cheng's arrival.

"Quick, help me!" Zhang Cheng stood still four or five steps away from Zhang Chengfang, his lips trembling slightly, and said these words hastily.

Zhang Chengfang was the first to react. He walked up quickly and grabbed Zhang Cheng by the arm, which prevented Zhang Cheng from being embarrassed in front of the eunuchs upstairs in the Meridian Gate.

At this time, Zhang Mingyuan also ran up quickly, and supported Zhang Cheng on the left and right with Zhang Chengfang, and walked quickly outwards. They all wanted to leave here as soon as possible.

Suddenly, Zhang Cheng fought hard, and said to the two of them, "Stop...stop."

Both of them were taken aback for a moment, although they didn't know what to do, they stopped according to Zhang Cheng's words.

Seeing that Zhang Cheng gently pushed them to both sides, he suddenly turned around towards the Meridian Gate, knelt down, and after a while, Zhang Cheng knelt down on the ground and sang loudly: "...my lord, thank you, my emperor, for your kindness!" ... I wish my emperor long live, long live, long live..."

After thanking him, he still knelt down on the ground, did not get up directly, and lowered his head so low that his face was almost touching the ground. That posture looked extremely weird.

If Zhang Cheng could see himself like this at this moment, he would probably die from laughter!
After a long time, Zhang Cheng struggled tremblingly to get up, but failed several times in succession. In the end, Zhang Chengfang and Zhang Mingyuan stepped forward and helped him up.

Zhang Cheng, the once majestic Yongning Bo of the Ming Dynasty, with the support of his two adopted sons, left the palace with his concubine Tang Chunru. He didn't go anywhere else, but went straight back to his Yongning Bo mansion.

Don't look at Zhang Cheng's unbearable behavior in front of the Meridian Gate, but as soon as he returned to his Earl's mansion, he immediately returned to his original nature of a tiger and wolf, picked up his concubine Tang Chunru by the waist, and went straight to the bedroom...

…………

Emperor Chongzhen stood with his hands behind his back outside the Nuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, his head slightly raised towards the west, letting the west slanting sunlight shine on his face, savoring that rare warmth.

But in his mouth, he seemed to ask Wang Chengen casually: "Wang Banban, look at this piece of sincerity, is it loyal to me?"

Wang Chengen didn't dare to answer this question lightly, he was also afraid of a bad one, so he put his own life in it, and after thinking for a while, he said: "Your Majesty, the appearance of Yongningbo in front of the Meridian Gate does not seem to be good. It's like a fake."

He did not continue when he said this, but glanced sideways at Emperor Chongzhen's expression, seeing that he was also nodding slightly in agreement, and then continued: "What I saw in Liaodong, Yongning Bo is indeed a loyal and diligent king. , fought bloody battles with slaves before the battle, and was wounded several times, but still has no fear of slaves, which shows that he is still loyal to the emperor."

(End of this chapter)