Borrow the day to change the day

() The garden in the back hall of the Yamen of the Daming Mansion in Beizhili is a bit different. It is arranged like a martial arts hall, with eighteen kinds of weapons such as knives, guns, swords and halberds displayed on both sides. One is practicing martial arts.

Just look at the man in the middle, he has a good figure, broad shoulders and long arms, a hulking waist, wearing a bunt in the cold winter, and holding a full-body iron moon knife. His movements are vigorous and powerful, and the knife protects his whole body as fast as lightning.All the family members were dazzled and their hearts were shaken.

Suddenly, a yamen servant came quickly to the door, and said to the swordsman: "Master Futai, a group of people outside the door are asking to see you."

The man who practiced the sword turned out to be a magistrate, not a civil servant, but no matter how he looked at it, he looked like a general.

I saw him suddenly stop his movements, not panting at all, and calmly, he asked the yamen servant: "Do you know what happened?"

"Here comes the plaque, write to Lu Qingtian, my lord."

Prefect Lu threw the Yanyue knife in his hand to the servant next to him, and said, "Go, go to the door."

"Do you want to change your clothes, sir?" The yamen servant hesitated.

"It's okay, it's not official business, it's just an ordinary relationship, lead the way." The magistrate said as he walked.

The servant who received the knife staggered and caught the knife. A companion beside him laughed and said, "It's really useless to receive the knife like this." The servant who received the knife was defending: "Come and try, see if you can handle a 140-jin knife?"

When the people at the gate of the magistrate's yamen saw the magistrate coming out, they all bowed to the ground and presented plaques.Lu Zhifu cupped his hands and said to the common people: "The former daming magistrate corrupted the law, cooperated with the local tyrants to bully the weak, bought and sold by force, and endangered the village. This government station only did what it was supposed to do, and the reputation of Qingtian is ashamed." , the two sides began to polite up.

At the moment of the stalemate, a fast horse came from a distance, and shouted from a distance: "Jianlu invaded the capital, the emperor issued an order to the king of Qin."

As soon as Prefect Lu heard this, he no longer struggled with the question of whether to answer or not. He took the plaque and sent the people back politely, and then quickly arrested the person to ask about the situation.

After asking about the situation, he immediately ordered the county magistrates and deputy military envoys to come to discuss the matter of King Qin.

At this time, the servant on one side persuaded: "My lord, you are just the deputy envoy of Shandong's procuratorate and the magistrate of the Daming Mansion. You are in charge of the mansion, and you are in charge of criminal cases. King Qin is a general's business..."

He didn't let the family member finish his sentence at all, and interrupted directly: "I, Lu Xiangsheng, have been greatly favored by the emperor. Now that the emperor is in trouble, how can it be because of the difference between civil and military affairs, and not the national crisis. No need to say more, hurry up and send an order."

On November [-]th of the second year of Chongzhen, it was already dark, and no matter how hardworking people were, they all went home to eat and rest.But in the Wenhua Palace of the Imperial City, the lights were still brightly lit, and the servants outside were all standing upright, motionless, as if they were not affected by the "huhu" north wind at all.From the window paper of the main hall, there were many figures faintly reflected, but there was only one voice in the hall, and it seemed a little lonely in the silence.

"I see that you are usually full of knowledge, and your ability to recite poems and make right is better than the other. When encountering things, you will only talk about it. What Jianlu will not detour, and what Zunhua is safe, which one is right? "

Emperor Chongzhen stood behind the imperial table, leaning forward, and his angry voice echoed in the hall: "Look, now the face is being slapped, Jianlu sneaked across Jizhou, Lianke Sanhe, Xianghe, Shunyi, these places are even decent. There is no resistance at all, and there are even officials who take refuge in Jianlu!"

The chief assistant of the cabinet, Han Yu, knew that Emperor Chongzhen was talking about him. Although he was old and thick-skinned, he couldn't stand up to all the piles, and they were all hit in the face, so he had to kneel down: "The minister is guilty!"

The other cabinet ministers and the six ministers knelt down together when they saw that Shoufu had already knelt down.

Emperor Chongzhen knelt down as if he didn't see them all, and continued to vent his anger and helplessness: "What do the troops I raise for food? They all raise pigs, and let Jianlu chop them down one by one. Won't you just stick to it for such a short time?"

Those kneeling below, no one dared to argue, for fear of getting burned.

"Also, here are a few memorials to the imperial censor's impeachment of the Minister of War: Jianlu detoured to attack Zunhua, sneaked across Jizhou, and now even conquered several places in the west of Beijing. Difficult, what is the opinion of the cabinet?"

The few cabinet ministers below raised their heads, looked at each other, and finally all stared at Han Yu, then lowered their heads and did not speak.Looking at them, Han Yu knew that he was let out, who made him the chief assistant.

"Your Majesty, what the cabinet means is that you should commit a crime of deliberation." Han Yu said.

"Quasi-playing!" Emperor Chongzhen simply agreed, which was really incompetent.

After a while, among the kneeling people, there was one less.This is also expected. When the captives invaded the bandits and the capital was in crisis, the Secretary of the Ministry of War must be responsible for leadership.

Emperor Chongzhen sang the one-man show alone for so long, feeling a bit boring, and his anger decreased a bit after venting.I stopped talking, and flipped through the other memorials on the imperial table. It was fine if I didn’t flip through, but once I flipped through it, I was angry again: "Also, I don’t want to lose face, and I ordered King Qin, but come here What kind of people are they! Every Qin Wang army is crying for poverty, and almost all of them came all the way to grab my people, how is this different from Jianlu?"

Speaking of this, Emperor Chongzhen directly threw those memorials in front of everyone: "Look, these are memorials from counties along the way, accusing his soldiers of being like bandits, and the places they pass are restless. The chief soldiers of each department defended themselves It’s because the salary hasn’t been paid for several months, and it’s said that if the imperial court doesn’t pay the salary, the team will collapse. What does the Ministry of Households say?”

Bi Ziyan, Minister of the Household Department, named Jingzeng, named Baiyang, walked over on his knees, picked up the memorial and flipped it over, and then replied to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, most of them have been paid, because the Household Department really has no money. So only half of it was distributed, only Gansu, Shaanxi and other places did not distribute it.”

"It's very autumn now, and the army is coming here again, can you repay the owed salary?"

"Your Majesty, there is no money to send unless you are unwilling. Last month, one hundred thousand silver was allocated to Liaodong, and one hundred thousand taels of artillery was paid for Macau and Portugal. The remaining silver is not enough to pay for the food and grass of the King Qin's army all over the country. There are still a few The undisbursed funds are yet to be taxed in the two capitals and thirteen provinces at the end of the year."

"Then what is the solution to the urgent situation?"

Bi Ziyan remained silent.

"The cabinet and the household department will go back and discuss it again. In any case, part of the salary of King Qin's army must be settled."

Emperor Chongzhen saw that there was no objection, so he agreed.So, he said: "Everyone, you are all flat."

Everyone thought that this was the end of the day, and they breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone stood up and prepared to go home. Fortunately, Wang Qia was the only one who was unlucky today.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Chongzhen's voice sounded again: "Who do you think can take up the post of minister of the Ministry of War?"

No one spoke. In the current situation, the position of minister of the Ministry of War is being roasted on the stove, and few people can sit firmly, so no one dares to recommend it, for fear of being jointly and severally responsible.

Emperor Chongzhen did not speak, and was waiting for everyone to speak, and the hall fell into silence.

After a while, still no one spoke, and all the courtiers below were like clay bodhisattvas in the temple, watching their noses with their eyes and their hearts with their noses.The hall fell into an embarrassing situation.

At this moment, footsteps came from outside the hall, which could be heard very clearly in the silence.After a while, a servant came in and said, "Sun Chengzong, the former Liaodong governor, asked to see me."

Come to see me at such a late hour, is this old man Sun singing that play?Almost everyone present had this idea, but they were relieved because of this. Thanks to Old Man Sun, the embarrassing atmosphere in the hall ended.

Emperor Chongzhen changed his angry expression just now, and quickly ordered: "Quickly pass it on."

After a while, there was a sound of steady footsteps from far to near, and then a thin old man with white beard, wearing common clothes, stepped into the main hall, glanced at the important officials standing on the main hall and the Emperor Chongzhen above, and walked steadily Walking up, he knelt down in front of Emperor Chongzhen, and said in a full-fledged manner: "Long live the grass people, long live, long live, long live."

Emperor Chongzhen had met him a long time ago when Sun Chengzong was teaching Emperor Tianqi. Now it has been many years, and he is much older than he remembered. I can't help but feel a little disappointed. The person recommended by Zhong Jinwei, whom I want to reuse, is already so old.

After being stunned for a while, he remembered that Sun Chengzong was still kneeling, and hurriedly said, "Pingshen."

After Sun Chengzong stood up, Emperor Chongzhen said in a normal voice: "Someone recommended Master Sun to me. This is what I hope, so I sent someone to pass the edict to Master Sun."

The people below and Sun Chengzong were all stunned. Whoever recommended it didn't hear a word.

"I don't know who recommended the grassroots, and why?" Sun Chengzong's voice was so loud that the servants outside the palace could hear it clearly without having to eavesdrop.

"Who recommends it, Master Sun will know himself in the future." Emperor Chongzhen paused and then said: "Now Master Sun has heard about the invasion of Jianlu?"

"The grassroots have heard about it, but the details are yet to be understood."

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen asked Han Yu, the chief assistant of the cabinet, to explain to Sun Chengzong what had happened in the past few days.Sun Chengzong also understood why Emperor Chongzhen allowed him to meet him as soon as he arrived in the capital.

Sun Chengzong turned to Emperor Chongzhen and asked, "Your Majesty is recruiting, what do you want the grassroots to do?"

Emperor Chongzhen looked at Sun Chengzong's white beard and was a little worried. He asked, "Master Sun, I remember you are sixty-seven this year? How is your health?"

When Sun Chengzong heard this, he replied in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, the country is in troubled times. If the grassroots stay at home, they will not be able to eat."

Emperor Chongzhen heard the meaning of Sun Chengzong's words, and couldn't help being happy. A person who dares to take responsibility will not give a bad impression first.

"I know that Master Sun is familiar with Liao affairs. I recall that when Master Sun was in charge of Liao affairs, Jianlu did not do anything to Master Sun. Now that Jianlu invaded the capital, can you help me share my worries?"

"The grassroots are so devastated that they will die!" The sonorous and powerful voice echoed in the Wenhua Hall.

"Okay, I'm very relieved." Emperor Chongzhen was very happy, walked around the imperial table, walked down the imperial steps, came to Sun Chengzong and said: "I ordered you to be a scholar of Zhongji Temple and Minister of the Ministry of War to coordinate and dispatch the defense of the capital. .”

"Minister obeys the order!" Sun Chengzong seemed to be completely unaware of the hotness of the position of Minister of the Ministry of War and the dangers of defending Jianlu, so he agreed immediately.

Emperor Chongzhen finally found someone who could do things.The cabinet and various ministers also exempted Emperor Chongzhen from asking for payment.Now everyone is happy, so everyone goes to their own homes.

Just after sending this group of people back, Wang Chengen ran over there in a hurry: "The slave just received a report that Mr. Zhong can swallow food by himself."

"What, Mr. Zhong is awake?" Emperor Chongzhen was overjoyed when he heard that.