Normally, this kind of eunuch who is in charge of the inner court generally does not leave the palace easily, let alone the capital, just like the great eunuch Chen Ju, in the entire Chengde Dynasty, Chen Ju almost never left the capital.

After all, the affairs of the eight eunuchs in the inner court have to be resisted by them on their shoulders.

Although the current eight eunuchs of the inner court are somewhat unconvinced by Xiao Zheng, a young man, but he, the only young eunuch in the inner court, can be regarded as a high authority in the palace, no matter what, he doesn't need to do the work of passing the decree.

In the eight prisons, there is also a yamen dedicated to conveying the holy will.

But Xiao Zheng just came.

Li Xin and Ye Ming glanced at each other, and they both had some doubts in their hearts.

Now there are two possibilities, one is that this young Gonggong Xiao offended His Majesty, lost his holy family, and was demoted to the yamen responsible for announcing the holy decree.

The second possibility is that the imperial court, or His Majesty, has important matters, and it must be conveyed by Xiao Zheng, the great eunuch, in person.

Ye Ming smiled at Xiao Zheng and said, "Grandpa Xiao is not serving by His Majesty's side, why did he go to the southwest in person?" ”

Xiao Zheng rubbed his waist, then bowed his head to Ye Ming, and said respectfully: "General Hui, Your Majesty has a holy will, and you want the slave and maid to come to the southwest to convey it, and the slave and maid are not noble people, Your Majesty wants the slave and maid to come, and the slave and maid will naturally come." ”

Li Xin stood behind Ye Ming and did not speak.

Ye Ming asked tentatively, "Does Your Majesty know about the southwest?" ”

Xiao Zheng lowered his head and said with a smile: "Your Majesty received the news from the southwest seven days ago, Longyan Dayue, not to mention the ministers of the Weiyang Palace banquet, and also exempted the southwest from taxes for three years, saying that it was for the southwest to recuperate. ”

This is actually a normal operation, after the southwest has experienced this incident, the situation is already unstable, if the imperial court takes over and taxes immediately, I am afraid that there will be chaos again, and the Taikang Dynasty inherited the inheritance of the Chengde Dynasty, the treasury is not poor, and the tax exemption in the southwest for three years will not affect anything.

What's more, the important tax area of the imperial court is not in the southwest.

Ye Ming, as the general manager of the Western Expedition, bent over Xiao Zheng slightly when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty cares about the people of Li, and the people of Shu County are grateful for Your Majesty's kindness." ”

Xiao Zheng waved his hand again and again, shook his head and said: "After returning to Beijing, the general said to His Majesty, how can a slave and a servant dare to accept the general's courtesy?" ”

Ye Ming smiled and didn't say anything.

Xiao Zheng secretly glanced at Li Xin behind Ye Ming, and then continued to Ye Ming: "General, Your Majesty sent a slave maid to ask the general some words, the following is a slave maid on behalf of His Majesty, if you are offended, General Haihan." ”

When Ye Ming and Li Xin heard this, they had to kneel down.

The acting emperor asked, that is to say, the current Xiao Zheng is the son of Taikang, and both of them should give him some necessary respect.

Xiao Zheng hurriedly waved his hand and said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty has ordered, both of you have made great contributions to the court, just stand and listen." ”

When they heard this, they stood up and lowered their hands to listen to the Hadith.

Xiao Zheng coughed, and the whole person became serious.

"Your Majesty asked General Ye, has the southwest been completely pacified now?"

Hearing this, Ye Ming frowned slightly, and then turned his head to look at Li Xin.

Li Xin nodded slightly.

Ye Shaobao said in a deep voice: "The minister replied to Your Majesty, after more than a year of fighting and conquest between the minister and the Marquis of Jing'an, the southwest has now been pacified, and there are more than 130,000 people in the Pingnan army. More than 110,000 were killed by the forbidden army and the rebels, and more than 15,000 were captured. ”

The Pingnan army is far more than 130,000 people, and at least 150,000 or 60,000 people, which Ye Ming and Li Xin both know, but after all, they didn't kill so many people, and it is easy to make loopholes if they falsely report too many heads, so after Ye Ming discussed with Li Xin, he decided to say less.

"The head of the Pingnan army, as well as His Royal Highness the King of Qin who has fallen here inexplicably, and the ministers have all been captured, and they will be escorted into Beijing in a few days and handed over to Your Majesty for disposal!"

Here, Ye Ming spoke very skillfully, he did not directly say Li Shen, but said the leader of the Pingnan army.

Because Li Shen is actually "dead" in the capital.

His funeral, Jing'an Hou Li Xin also went there.

When Ye Ming said this, he paused and then continued: "At this time, the ministers are sorting out the specific casualties of this Western Expedition, as well as the number of enemies killed, and after the ministers and others finish counting, they will be sent to the capital immediately." ”

There is a distinction between primary and secondary on the battlefield, and Ye Ming is the chief manager of this westward expedition, so when Emperor Xiao Zheng asks questions, all should be answered by Ye Ming, the main general, in this process, Li Xin, Marquis of Jing'an, stood behind Ye Ming with his hands down, without saying a word.

Xiao Zheng took a deep breath and took one last look at Ye Ming.

"General, are you sure that everything is going on in the southwest?"

Ye Shaobao said in a deep voice: "Back to Your Majesty, there is nothing to do in the southwest!" ”

"That's good."

Xiao Zheng's face was solemn, he turned his head to look in the direction of Li Xin, and said in a deep voice: "Jing'an Hou Li Xin listens to the order. ”

Li Xin took a step forward, bowed his head and said, "Minister Li Xin listens to the order." ”

Xiao Zheng said solemnly: "Jing'an Hou Li Xin, the western expedition is great, I am very relieved, the southwest has been pacified, Qing does not have to stay here for a long time, I have been worried about the King of Qin for several years, and the feelings of brotherhood are becoming more and more serious, that is, I ordered Qing to immediately escort the eldest brother and the Pingnan army... The thief returned to Beijing. ”

Speaking of this, Xiao Zheng took a deep breath and smiled flatteringly at Li Xin: "Master Hou, Your Majesty said this. ”

Li Xin first frowned slightly, then smiled at this Xiao Gonggong, and said, "Your Majesty means, let me immediately take His Royal Highness King Qin and that... The head of the Pingnan army and the thief, go back to the capital? ”

"Exactly."

Xiao Zheng accompanied the smiling face, bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty said, if there is no major incident in the southwest, the aftermath will be handed over to General Ye to deal with, and let the Hou Ye leave for Beijing immediately." ”

This Gonggong Xiao accompanied him with a smiling face: "It has been almost a year and a half since Hou Ye left Beijing, and His Majesty is very worried about Hou Ye." ”

Li Xin didn't speak immediately, but glanced back at Ye Ming.

General Ye stepped forward and frowned: "Gonggong Xiao, Marquis Jing'an has contributed the most in this war, and he still needs to help deal with many things here, and even if Your Majesty has no will, in another month or two, after the imperial court sends officials over, I should also return to the court, why bother at this moment?" ”

Xiao Zheng smiled bitterly and said: "The general is embarrassed by the slave and the maid, the slave and the slave, where do you know these family and country affairs, the slave and the maid are just ordered to come to the southwest to ask and pass on the decree, if the general has any opinions, he will write a book and hand it to the slave and maid, and the slave and the maid will help you bring it back to the capital and hand it over to Your Majesty." ”

Li Xin reached out and patted Ye Ming's shoulder gently, and then bowed to Xiao Zheng.

"Gonggong Xiao, can you wait another day, after all, the forbidden army here is all the subordinates of the right battalion of my forbidden army, many things are inconvenient for General Ye to say, I will explain some things to them here."

The Marquis of Jing'an squinted his eyes and smiled: "Besides, Gonggong Xiao has also worked hard along the way, just now I saw that Gonggong Xiao couldn't stand steadily, so why should I rest in Jincheng for a day before going on the road." ”

Xiao Zheng gave up his hand again and again.

"Hou Ye is busy, the slave is waiting here, and he will return to Beijing with Hou Ye."

Speaking of this, this Xiao Gonggong rubbed his waist and added: "It's just that the Hou Ye should not delay for too long, otherwise the slave and maid will be punished by His Majesty when they return to the capital." ”