Zou Jianchen, a Shunqing examiner who was an official in the Ministry of Rites, felt a little confused about the "special subject" imperial examination suddenly held in Qingyang Palace in the Western Ming Dynasty.
The selection of talents through the imperial examination should be presided over by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. However, it is not too out of the ordinary for the Ministry of Rites to participate in this matter. Zou Jianchen knew that Xu Yixian, the current Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was one of the right-hand men of the King of Heaven and was busy with affairs, so perhaps that was why he decided to take the imperial examination
Share part of it with the etiquette department.
He handled this matter together with his good friend Jiang Dinghong, the Minister of Rites, and did not think about many other aspects.
The only thing Zou Jianchen was worried about was that he would waste a lot of time just to deal with the "Special Branch". He had already made an excuse and planned to use his father Ding You's opportunity to rush back to his hometown in Shunqing Mansion to contact heroes and take the opportunity to raise troops to meet Wang Yingxiong.
Guizhou troops entered Sichuan.
Now that I am tied up by the "Special Branch", I don't know when I will have time to go back to my hometown in Shunqing Mansion.
However, Jiang Dinghong felt that this was nothing. After all, Wang Yingxiong's march to restore Sichuan was not that fast according to the calculations of him and Gong Wanjing, the Minister of War.
On the one hand, there are still many troops of the Western Ming Dynasty gathered in Shu. They all think that it would be better to wait until Zhang Xianzhong personally supervises the army's Northern Expedition and when Sichuan's troops are empty before welcoming Wang Yingxiong into Shu;
On the other hand, Wang Yingxiong claimed to have gathered tens of thousands of troops and was about to launch an army into Sichuan. However, Jiang Dinghong and others knew the efficiency of the Ming Dynasty bureaucrats, so they were naturally full of doubts about the quality of Wang Yingxiong's army, and they all believed that Wang Du should be given more
It is best to wait until He Tengjiao has achieved some results in his campaign to suppress Huguang before raising troops to respond.
Jiang Dinghong persuaded Zou Jianchen: "A real man can't spare a blow, but he is a man who tolerates shame and humiliation. Why should we be in a hurry?"
Only then did Zou Jianchen feel at ease and handle the "special subject" imperial examination with peace of mind.
It is said that this imperial examination was personally requested by Dongwang Sun Kewang who had just returned to Chengdu. The purpose was to select talents, and the people were specially selected from various places.
In addition to ordinary talented students, Sun Kewang also proposed to take the opportunity of the "Special Science" imperial examination to summon the Western Ming princes from all over central Sichuan to the capital and award them with titles and titles in order to stabilize the people's hearts, which were slightly scattered after the defeat of Hanzhong.
As an official of the Ministry of Rites, Zou Jianchen saw the list of awards in advance. He and Jiang Dinghong said happily:
"Zeng Ying and Yang Zhan are both going to be promoted to Dukes? They will also be given the titles of General and Governor to increase their military strength."
Jiang Dinghong also smiled and said: "Although Yang Zhan's attitude is still unclear, Zeng Ying has decided to raise troops to respond to Wang Governor's invasion of Shu. I have already sent people to persuade Yang Zhan. I think after Zeng Ying raises his troops, if
If the situation is favorable to the Ming Dynasty, Yang Zhan will definitely raise troops to respond. This is a great situation."
Zou Jianchen also said: "Great. Lord Zeng and Yang Zhan are coming to Chengdu together. This will make it easier for us to mobilize them to raise troops!"
At this time, Zhang Xianzhong was worshiping the Heavenly Father in the extremely luxurious palace of the King of Shu every day, and had no time to take care of government affairs. Sun Kewang, the king of the east, issued an edict:
"Because there are no people in the two subjects, a 'special subject' has been opened to recruit scholars in order to recruit all-round talents in civil and military affairs. Therefore, scholars from all over Sichuan are mobilized to take the exam in Beijing. If one person fails to come for some reason and is skinned himself, the whole family will be killed, and the neighbors will be killed."
If you sit together, the local instructor will behead you."
Sun Kewang's arrogant and brutal behavior made Jiang Dinghong and Zou Jianchen sneer at him again. They believed that the Xiying group of thieves were still thieves after all, and they did not have the image of kings at all. After Wang Yingxiong led the Guizhou troops into Shu, it would not be long before they could recover it.
It’s Chengdu.
To the south of Qingyang Palace is Baihua Pond and Wuhou Temple, to the west is Du Fu Thatched Cottage, and to the east is Erxian Temple. It has excellent Feng Shui and is the largest and most influential Taoist temple in Sichuan.
Sun Kewang sent someone to show him a newly made yellow flag, which was one foot long and one foot wide. He personally wrote the four characters "Recruit talents" on the big flag. Because his calligraphy was not good, he also asked Jiang Dinghong, Zou Jianchen, and Gong Wanjing to
The others felt amused.
Soon, thousands of local scholars were transferred to Beijing one after another. However, after checking the directory, Zou Jianchen felt strange and asked:
"Brother Jiang, are the scholars and Tongsheng who come to Chengdu almost all from Shunqing and Chongqing?"
Jiang Dinghong did not pay special attention to this point. He felt that this probably just meant that the Ximing regime was not able to control the states and counties in Sichuan. So he casually explained it to Zou Jianchen and said nothing more.
Another day later, Yang Zhan and Zeng Ying came to Beijing from other places. They took only about a hundred personal guards and rushed to Chengdu boldly to receive the title. They probably thought that since Sun Kewang said that he would reward their dukes and high-ranking officials lavishly, then naturally
There is no reason to be strictly vigilant.
What's more, the anti-Western faction's conspiracy has not yet been put in place, and even Yang Zhan has not yet made up his mind to oppose Zhang Xianzhong. Zeng Ying's own military strength alone cannot be the opponent of the Western Ming Army, so they naturally decided to accept Sun Kewang first.
After receiving the reward, I happened to go to Chengdu to contact the conspirators in the imperial city.
This time Zhang Xianzhong was not absent at last. The old king left the "Tianwang Mansion" where he had lived for a long time, and personally took the cabinet ministers, the six ministers, the fourth prince, the fifth governor and other high-ranking officials of the Western Ming regime to Chengdu.
Welcome Yang Zhan in the suburbs and Zeng Ying enter the capital.
Zou Jianchen finally got to see the face of the old Heavenly King again. Zhang Xianzhong looked much more cheerful than when he first entered Sichuan half a year ago. The Heavenly King's beard had grown much longer, and he looked like the portrait of Chengzu, and he actually looked a bit immortal.
Wind bone.
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Emperor Zhu Youlang was still under house arrest and did not appear on such occasions. Zou Jianchen sighed in his heart. After the imperial soldiers regained Chengdu, Zhu Youlang, who had abandoned his ancestors and was willing to become a thief, should be imprisoned in Fengyang Gao.
Wall?
Zhang Xianzhong greeted Yang Zhan and Zeng Ying with a smile. He stroked his beard and said:
"I heard that Zicheng died in the north...! Do you know this? Li Zicheng was my biggest rival in my life, and he was also a great hero that I can't help but admire. It's a pity that he died at the hands of the dog Tatars
superior.
Alas! Fuck that damn dog, Tartar!”
For some reason, cold sweat fell down Yang Zhan's forehead. He said cautiously: "Li Zicheng has been running rampant in the world for a long time. He was killed by the Dongbing soldiers today. He was to eliminate a big bandit for our country..."
When Zhang Xianzhong heard this, he immediately opened his eyes, blew his beard, and shouted:
"Bah! Fuck you bastard, what kind of Eastern soldiers? Those are dog Tatars! What did General Xiao Yang say? Li Zicheng started a rebellion. It is nothing more than the excessive persecution of the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, I will not eat when I have nothing to do.
Do you want to eat this bowl of rebel rice?"
After Zhang Xianzhong finished speaking, he remembered that he had converted to Catholicism. According to the teachings of Heavenly Father, he should be kind to others and should not be so bad-tempered anymore.
And now that I am the king of the Ming Dynasty, how can I say that I am not a member of the imperial court?
After Zhang Xianzhong slapped him twice, he invited Yang Zhan and Zeng Ying into the city:
"It's better if Li Zicheng dies, it won't save a hero like him from dying in my hands, right?"
What a pity! After a while, when I... wait for Gu Gu to collect his troops and prepare for the Northern Expedition, I will have to compete with the Tatars."
After Zeng Ying and Yang Zhan entered the city with fear, they no longer dared to contact the conspirators who were plotting against the West with great fanfare. They both decided to wait until the Qingyang Palace Teke and the new rewards were over, and then return to their bases.
Make calculations.
Zhang Xianzhong returned to the palace with the fourth prince. On the way back to the palace, Li Dingguo asked:
"What does the adoptive father think of the obedient envoy?"
Zhang Xianzhong seemed to be a little tired and dozed off. He yawned and said:
"Ah...hey, are you talking about Lin Cheng? He is an old acquaintance of Lugu. When he was in the fifth camp of Gezuo, he was still a junior and minor role, but he didn't want to think about the prestigious He Jin of the fifth camp of Gezuo now.
, He Yilong, and Ma Shouying all lost their lives. Fan Lin grew up in this small role and prospered, and actually became the confidant of the newly rising Li Laiheng.
This thing is really unexpected.”
Sun Kewang narrowed his eyes and said with great interest to Li Laiheng:
"When I was in Baoning, I sent many people to Huguang disguised as refugees to spy on Li Laiheng's policies. The people of Chu called him Mr. Li, saying that he promoted benevolent and righteous soldiers and saved the people from fire and water. His reputation was indeed very good.