After seeing off the commander-in-chief of the Runing Army who reported victory, Emperor Chongzhen was filled with sadness.
When Na Baozong went to the capital to report his victory, he never thought that he would admire Tianyan. So after he was announced to the Jinluan Palace, he shrank and kowtowed his head so loudly that the emperor Chongzhen politely asked about the battle.
He also stuttered when speaking.
But as he talked, his true feelings were revealed. Although he had never seen any big scenes and his words were very simple, the words were full of emotions, but they touched people's hearts.
When Na Bao always talked about brutal strangulation before the war; when he talked about fierce fighting in the bloody mountains; when he talked about being bombarded by artillery, when he talked about hand-to-hand fighting in the heavy rain, Na Bao always choked up several times.
I am speechless...
Until the general exited the hall, the people in the hall were still immersed in the fierce war scene, and their moods were agitated. At this time, no one suspected that the Runing Army had falsely claimed military merit. They were all moved by the bravery and tenacity of the Runing Army.
.
"Hey——! Reward!" After a long sigh, Emperor Chongzhen first told Wang Cheng'en to give generous rewards to the generals who reported victory. Then Emperor Chongzhen sighed: "Wu Changjing also suffered heavy losses!"
In the report just now, the boss would definitely not hide anything, so he truthfully told the casualties of the Runing Army. But now Emperor Chongzhen said such a sentence, which made the ministers in the palace hear it all at once.
It smells bad.
Those ministers were all very mature political figures. They all clearly distinguished between emotions and politics. Immediately, a minister came out and reported: "Although Wu Runing served the country loyally and bravely, he has nothing to do with the Tatars."
It's just a fight in which both sides suffer, so it can only be said that it is a futile effort."
Emperor Chongzhen's dislike of Wu Shigong was well known to everyone. The minister thought that Emperor Chongzhen was unwilling to reward Wu Shigong, so he took the initiative to "relieve the emperor's worries"!
Unexpectedly, Emperor Chongzhen smiled slightly and said kindly: "My dear, there is no need to be harsh. After all, Wu Changjing was willing to fight hard and did not fall into the power of our celestial dynasty. He is still meritorious. He deserves a generous reward. However, the Tatar army has not been expelled yet, so Liu Yuliang asked Liu Yuliang to step up.
Just some! All the merits and demerits will be discussed later."
As soon as he said this, the ears of the ministers in the palace stood up. Emperor Chongzhen clearly revealed two meanings: first, he was dissatisfied with his chief assistant Liu Yuliang; second, he was prepared to wait for the Qing army to leave the border, and to deal with some
The responsible ministers settled their accounts after the fall. Soon, the court will face a major reshuffle. Those ministers immediately began to calculate what benefits they could gain from this major reshuffle. Relatively speaking, whether to reward Wu Shigong or not is
It was a trivial matter. So after some formal responses, the court meeting ended in a hurry.
There was an undercurrent surging in the court, but the people in the capital were as if they were celebrating the New Year. When the good news of Runing's army spread everywhere, not to mention the joyful atmosphere, there was also an endless stream of people visiting Yangwuhou Mansion and Gongshunhou Mansion.
.And a few days later, when news came from the palace that Emperor Chongzhen even wanted to confer a knighthood on Wu Shigong, this visit reached its climax.
In such an atmosphere, only Xue Lian's mind was very clear. One night he said calmly to Mrs. Zhang and Xue Yufei: "It seems that Chang Jing is going back to Beijing."
Of course Mrs. Zhang and Xue Yufei were happy for Wu Shigong's return to Beijing, but Xue Lian knew that this was a clear rise and fall.
According to Wu Shigong's merits, the standard reward should be to add the title of general. However, if he is awarded the title, Wu Shigong will resign from the general rank and return to Beijing to serve in the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion. In other words, he will no longer be able to lead troops.
.And Wu Shigong still has troubles to express, after all, he has become the most noble nobleman in the Ming Dynasty.
Yangzhou.
"Second Master Lu! I heard that your Lu family has been evacuated and they have all gone to Runing?" Guo Zeng'an asked Lu Jianchen in a low voice.
"The same goes for your Guo family? Why should you laugh at a hundred steps at fifty steps?" Lu Jianchen shot back without showing any signs of weakness.
Today, these two people happened to meet on the street, so they met to have breakfast together. After Wu Shigong went to war, and after the Runing Army lost contact, the Lu and Guo families simply kept their tails between their legs in Yangzhou City, which made everyone at home even more nervous.
The disciples fled to Runing with their riches. They all understood that when the news of the defeat of the Runing army came, the Lu and Guo families would be destroyed.
"Then why doesn't Mr. Lu leave?" Guo Zeng'an asked again with a smile.
"Better than you! I have a big brother." Lu Jianchen responded with a smile.
The two looked at each other for a while, and then burst out laughing tacitly. At this point, the Lu family had an advantage. The head of the Lu family, Lu Jianchen's eldest brother, had left Yangzhou. Guo Zeng'an was single.
There was no way to avoid it. Like Lu Jianchen, even if the family was destroyed, they would still have to stay in Yangzhou to preside over the cleanup.
However, such laughter was just fun in the midst of suffering. After laughing for a few times, Lu Jianchen asked: "I wonder if they will take the friendship of their colleagues into consideration and not come to kill them all."
Of course, Guo Zeng'an knew that the "they" Lu Jianchen was referring to were his colleagues in the salt industry in Yangzhou City. However, when this topic was brought up, Guo Zeng'an was also quite discouraged: "It's time to lift the cup. I can only take a look."
It's big or small. As long as we understand each other and lose those external things, there should be no worries about our lives!"
"Hey——!" Lu Jianchen also knew what Guo Zeng'an said, but he still vented: "Anyway, it won't be cheap for those bastards to give it away anyway. But those things have been hard work for generations of our Lu family.
, I’m really reluctant to part with it!”
"I'm willing to admit defeat!" Guo Zeng'an advised, "I got the news that they have gone to the salt transport envoy and the prefect's Yamen several times. Alas -! Your Lu family is fine, at least it has been more prosperous for a few more years.
But what about my Guo family? Hey—!"
"What? Do you, Lao Guo, regret it?" Lu Jianchen asked again.
"I also understand the rules of buying and leaving. Don't you regret buying the medicine?" Guo Zeng'an said with a bitter smile, "Fortunately, my old house of the Guo family has not been sold. After this is over, my old Guo plans to return to his hometown to retire."
From the beginning to the end, neither Lu Jianchen nor Guo Zeng'an thought about the possibility of the Runing army winning. The best outcome they expected was that Wu Shigong would be defeated slightly and be able to escape back to Runing. But such an outcome would also be detrimental to Lu.
The future of the Guo family will not be helped, because they have already received the news. As long as Wu Shigong is defeated, the Nanjing garrison eunuch Lu Jiude will immediately march into Runing together with the officers and soldiers from Fengyang and Huguang to return to Germany and take over.