As the crisp bell rings sounded in the palace, dozens of civil and military ministers representing the central organization of the Ming Dynasty walked into the hall very neatly in court uniforms...

As Emperor Chongzhen walked into the hall with a proud look on his face, and sat on the imperial throne. The sound of shouting "Long Live" sounded like thunder, and it sounded in the hall...

"My dear friends, just keep calm..." After carefully scanning the civil and military ministers of the court who were kneeling in front of him, Emperor Chongzhen was in a bad mood, and shouted loudly in his voice as low as possible...

Then dozens of civil and military ministers stood up from the ground, both fast and slow, and stood in their own position.

At this time, Wang Chengen, the eunuch standing beside Emperor Chongzhen, slowly walked forward two steps, shouting loudly in his unique duck voice: "Sir, report early if you have something to do, and leave the court if you have nothing to do..."

As soon as Wang Chengen finished speaking, a minister stood up and said to Chongzhen.

"Your Majesty, the Minister of Works, Zhong Kuitian, participated in the former governor of Shanxi and Shaanxi, commanding Wei Zheng, who deceived the emperor and deceived the barbarian court, and made a ill-intentioned plan... Please ask Your Majesty to issue an order immediately, dismiss him from his post and ask him to question him, and hand him over to the Xing army for interrogation..."

As soon as the words were finished, several officials followed and stood out from the list.

As for their purpose, it was not surprising that they were all participants in Wei Zheng, who had regained the rule of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces.

Emperor Chongzhen, who had already been holding his resentment in his heart, saw that there were so many ministers in the hall and his opinion, and he quickly showed a satisfied smile from the bottom of his heart.

However, as the emperor, he did not make a decision immediately. Instead, he smiled and asked, "So many good friends participated in Wei Zheng, which shows that Wei Zheng really had the intention of making plans and ill-treacherous... You all good friends may not know that the reason why Lord Sun Aiqing returned to Beijing so anxiously was to report to the court. Why did Wei Zheng plot against ill-treacherously in the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi?"

"Sun Aiqing, tell me what did Wei Zheng do in the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi?"

At this time, Sun Chengzong, who was standing in the hall, was already sure that Emperor Chongzhen in front of him had already decided to take Wei Zheng out of his anger and retaliate against Wei Zheng's actions...

At this time, as long as you tell us what Wei Zheng did in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, it would be a fuel to the fire...

However, the imperial edict cannot be violated. As long as you are a minister of the Ming Dynasty for one day, you must follow the edict.

After taking a deep breath, Sun Chengzong, with a helpless face, had to answer: "Sir, this is the situation..."

Under Sun Chengzong's explanation and analysis, the facial expressions of the court officials have gradually changed from the initial expectation to the subsequent shock, and then from shock to the final fear and worry.

In order to make these court officials give up the idea of ​​besieging Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, except that most of the situations are true, Sun Chengzong, who was scheming, deliberately exaggerated the military strength of the Tiger and Leopard Army by 30%. He hoped that these court officials could retreat in front of the powerful Tiger and Leopard Army for the sake of the Ming Dynasty.

However, what Sun Chengzong did not expect was that these court officials did not shock the increasingly powerful combat effectiveness of the Tiger and Leopard Army, but shocked the huge wealth of the Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces and the huge taxes of the Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces.

So, as soon as Sun Chengzong finished speaking, those civil and military officials who were jealous of the huge wealth of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces jumped out.

It was like he was injected with chicken blood, and he directly ignored the powerful military strength that Wei Zheng had in his hands and shouted at Emperor Chongzhen.

Zhong Tiankui, the Minister of Works, who was the first to speak, was still the first to stand up and say.

"Your Majesty, Wei Zheng is so deceiving the court and deceiving the emperor and being ruthless. He even ignored the court's laws and regulations in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, and ignored the people's hearts and ignored the court... From these things, I can be sure that Wei Zheng must have the intention of making plans, and even waited for the time to rebel directly against the court..."

"I think that the court should not only not show mercy for such a traitor, but also kill the chicken to warn the monkey..."

"Your Majesty should immediately issue an order to announce to all the people of the Ming Dynasty that the Tiger Leopard Army, commanded by Wei Zheng and Wei Zheng, were rebels of the Ming Dynasty, and they would mobilize all forces to spread the news that Wei Zheng was about to rebel against the court to the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi."

"Ordinary people in the Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, who have received the favor of Wei Zheng, may rebel with Wei Zheng. However, in addition to the people, there are also a large number of officials, gentry and landlords in the Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, and a large number of civil and military officials who are still sincere in the court."

"I believe that as long as we spread the news to the Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces and encourage civil and military officials and gentry landlords who are still sincere in the court to rebel against Wei Zheng, even if these people cannot bring destructive blows to Wei Zheng's rule in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, they will have a very great impact and add some trouble to Wei Zheng and the Tiger and Leopard Army."

"At that time, in the face of these ubiquitous civil strife, the people of Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces will definitely become panicked. The tens of thousands of tiger and leopard troops who are sincere in Wei Zheng will also be in chaos because of this..."

"Under this situation, as long as the court dispatches heavy troops, it will suddenly launch an attack on the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi..."

"Then, facing the high morale royal army and the chaotic Tiger and Leopard Army, no matter how strong the combat power is, it will not be able to stop the court's attack..."

Faced with this seemingly perfect idea, Chongzhen's face showed a heart-warming expression.

Seeing this, Zhong Wenkui, the Minister of Works, who had just spoken, followed closely with a treacherous smile from the bottom of his heart.

Yes, it's just a treacherous smile...

As the Minister of Works of the Ming Dynasty, if he was in the early and mid-term period of the Ming Dynasty, he would definitely make a lot of money from this official position. Because at that time, the Ming Dynasty was very rich and had a lot of infrastructure for construction.

However, Zhong Wenkui was born at the wrong time. As the Minister of Works, he happened to catch up with the silver-free court in the late Ming Dynasty.

Even the military pay of the border soldiers cannot be paid, let alone use the money to build some unnecessary infrastructure.

Therefore, during his several years of career as a minister of the Ministry of Works, although he had a high status in the court, he did not have much power because the Ministry of Works did not have much money and was not looked down upon by civil and military officials of the court.

However, when he learned that the Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces actually had more than 10 million mu of military farms, and the number of military farms was still increasing further, he had already decided to retire as Minister of Works, and once again expressed his desire for power and gold and silver.

According to the division of the functions of the six ministries of the court, as long as the court regains its dominance over the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi, the military farms in Shanxi and Shaanxi will definitely be assigned to the Ministry of Works. At that time, even if one person gets a cent of silver from one acre of military farming, all so much military farming will be more than one million taels...

Faced with such a huge temptation, as the six ministries, second only to the Ministry of Rites, he had basically no power. He jumped out first and encouraged Emperor Chongzhen, who was sitting on the imperial throne, to immediately send troops to recover the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi.

After a trace of unaware smirk, the Minister of Works continued to talk to Emperor Chongzhen on paper with unsatisfactory intention to use his interests to further tempt Emperor Chongzhen.

"Your Majesty, once we take down the two provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi, we will recover all the taxes in Shanxi and Shaanxi. According to Master Sun, the court can get at least 30 million taels of silver every year..."

"Thirty million taels, as long as you have this silver, I will definitely be revived again in your hands... At that time, Your Majesty, you will be the sage king of eternity and will be praised by others forever..."

After hearing this, especially after hearing the four words "Saint Lord of the Eternals", Chongzhen's face was covered with a stronger smile.

At the same time, Chongzhen had already agreed to the proposal of the Minister of Works to send troops to Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces in his heart.

Before he could speak, he held dozens of civil and military officials who had the same idea as the Minister of Works, as if he had been injected with chicken blood. He stood out one after another and agreed loudly: "I'm asking..."

"I'm going to discuss..."

In the blink of an eye, there were more than twenty civil and military officials who were only interested in interests.

He knelt in front of Chongzhen and instigated Chongzhen to send troops to Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces.

At this time, the remaining dozen ministers in the court, although rationally told him that once the court did this, it would not only not be able to gain control of the Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, but also cause the newly settled Ming Dynasty to fall into turmoil again...

However, when they saw the smile on Chongzhen's face, they realized that the emperor, who already had an absolute position in the court, had made the decision to send troops from the bottom of his heart and opposed it in time, which would not have any effect.

As veterans in the officialdom, of course they would not do such things that are not beneficial to them at all and cannot change the situation.

So, the remaining dozen ministers in the hall fell to the ground and replied loudly as if they had agreed.

"I and others agree...."

At this time, Sun Chengzong was the only one left in the huge hall, standing there motionless.

While watching dozens of eyes, although Sun Chengzong did not move on the surface, his heart had become dead.

Faced with the situation in the court, Sun Chengzong knew that the thing he was most worried about had become a fact. At this moment, even if he fought his life, he could not change this situation.

However, if things really develop according to this situation, Sun Chengzong, who is powerful in the Tiger and Leopard Army, dare not imagine what a tragic ending would be in the court under the counterattack of the Tiger and Leopard Army...

If the Tiger and Leopard Army can end when it is better, the court may still end up with a good end at the cost of losing some soldiers and generals.

However, if the Tiger and Leopard Army intend to fight to the end with the court, Sun Chengzong could say with certainty that the court that had just settled down would definitely fall into endless turmoil again.
Chapter completed!