"If I don't come, I'm afraid King Qi will not be able to feel at ease."

Chen Yue suddenly showed a wry smile on his face when he heard this, Wu Mengming spoke too directly, so he didn't know how to answer.

"King Qi, I see that your army is only more than 20,000, but the Zhejiang rebels have more than 100,000, and the King of Qi is worthy of being the first general of my Ming Dynasty.

Wu Mengming's words flew towards Chen Yue like a knife, making Chen Yue smile bitterly.

"Uncle Wu, everyone is their own family, and you know the rebel matter in your heart, so there is no need to ridicule the little nephew." Chen Yue said with a wry smile.

Qian Fenglin had already told Chen Yue the result of the negotiation with Wu Mengming, so Chen Yue knew that Wu Mengming was sarcastic because he was not angry in his heart and did not resentful of his disagreement with Chongzhen. If Wu Mengming's anger can't be smoothed down, I'm afraid that everyone will have a problem in their hearts in the future, and it will be difficult for the relationship to return to the past.

"Sarcasm? How dare Ben Hou! You are the first living king with a different surname since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and it is very likely that you are the founding king of the founding dynasty. Wu Mengming sneered.

Chen Yue said: "Uncle Wu, do you really treat me as a chaotic minister and thief?" ”

Wu Mengming sneered: "I don't dare, but I only know that Ling Zun sacrificed his life in Jiujiang for His Majesty, and was personally named the Duke of Zhongguo by His Majesty." I heard that the Duke of Zhongguo had asked you to be loyal to His Majesty and to the Ming Dynasty before his death. But how do you do it? You support the army and respect yourself, and secretly instigate Qian Fenglin to control the rebels to make rebellion, attack the city and poison the place, and coerce the court to try to rebel, do you dare to say that these things were not instructed by you? ”

Chen Yue lowered his head and was silent for a moment, then raised his head to look at Wu Mengming and said, "Uncle Wu, your accusation against the little nephew does not dare to justify, indeed, Qian Fenglin is my subordinate, and his behavior can be regarded as my instigation." ”

"What counts? Didn't Qian Fenglin act on your orders? ”

Chen Yue said: "I commanded the army in the north to fight against Manchu, and I handed over my power in the south to Premier Qian Fenglin, so it is not wrong for you to say that Qian Fenglin was ordered by me." In short, I will take full responsibility for this matter. But Uncle Wu, I don't think what Qian Fenglin did was wrong in this matter!

Uncle Wu, don't worry, listen to me first. Uncle Wu, you have been by His Majesty's side all these years, and I know that you have deep feelings for Your Majesty and are loyal to Your Majesty. But over the years, you have also seen, what is the state of the Ming Dynasty? How many times have you been on the verge of extinction?

Even if I save Your Majesty to the south, will Daming's situation be better? Manchu invaded the south, the 200,000-strong army Xingyang was defeated, and the western thieves followed the thieves out of Sichuan and marched eastward, again and again, the Ming Dynasty was on the verge of extinction.

I'm not taking credit for myself, I'm trying to say that Daming has reached this situation because there is a huge problem inside, like a patient who is terminally ill. Even if I win one victory after another, if I don't treat it fundamentally, it will be tantamount to cutting off the flesh and mending the sores, and it can only be saved for a while.

Uncle Wu, you have followed Your Majesty for the longest time and know everything about Your Majesty. Tell me, how much responsibility does Daming have so far come from His Majesty? Your Majesty, does he have the power to turn everything around, to make changes? ”

Wu Mengming could hear Chen Yue's words from the bottom of his heart, thinking about Chongzhen's actions in the past ten years, and the situation of the Daming River under Chongzhen's governance, he also had to sigh.

However, "If a courtier is a servant and loyal, Your Majesty will have a thousand times of disobedience, and it is not an excuse for your disobedience!" King Qi, since you have the ability to quell the rebellion of foreign captives and internal rebellions, why can't you assist Your Majesty to carry out reforms and get rid of the stubborn diseases of the Ming Dynasty? And not to persecute Your Majesty by such extreme means as rebels? ”

Chen Yue sighed: "With Your Majesty's character, it is not easy to persuade him. Your Majesty decreed that the north of the Great Wall should be given to me as a vassal state, so he didn't have the intention of letting me return to the imperial court, so how can you let me persuade him? In Your Majesty's heart, I have become a warlord who cannot be defeated, and Your Majesty can't find a way to check and balance and eradicate it, so how can you listen to me?

So, I had to do it as a last resort. ”

Wu Mengming thought carefully about what had happened in the imperial court recently, and couldn't help but sigh again. Chen Yue was right, after Chongzhen recovered from his illness, he first forcibly regained power from Princess Kunxing, and then gave the Great Wall to Chen Yue, the king of Qi, and issued a holy decree to confer the title of marquis of Chen Yue's generals, and tried to transfer Chen Yue's generals from Chen Yue's side, which was obviously a move to cut off Chen Yue's wings.

"If I obey all the commands of His Majesty, the monarch and the minister will naturally be able to get along. But Your Majesty, he will definitely pass the throne to the clan vassal king, and my wings will be eradicated, and I myself will be driven beyond the Great Wall, then the Ming Dynasty will inevitably return to the old way before. In this way, what is the point of all my previous deeds and so many battles I have fought?

Those who are courtiers should be loyal to themselves. But above the king, there are still rivers and mountains, and there are hundreds of millions of people. Compared with Jiangshan Sheji and hundreds of millions of Li Min, it is not advisable to be foolish and loyal to His Majesty.

Uncle Wu, all my Chen Yue's actions are not for my own selfishness, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty, for the sake of the people of the world, and for the sake of making me stand on top of the world!

Uncle Wu, are you willing to believe me? ”

Chen Yue's eyes looked directly at Wu Mengming, his tone was full of sincerity, and Wu Mengming had to be moved when he heard it. Recalling all the things Chen Yue had done for Daming over the years, and thinking about Chongzhen's suspicion as soon as he woke up, Wu Mengming couldn't help but feel ashamed. Chen Yue's actions are certainly disobedient, and Chongzhen's actions cannot be said to be above board. The fighting between monarchs and ministers seems to be innocent.

Thinking of this, Wu Mengming sighed: "Now I can't tell the right from the wrong. Chen Yue, I just want to ask you, if you go to Nanjing and grasp the military and political power, how will you treat Your Majesty, will you usurp the society of the Ming Dynasty? ”

It is said that this kind of thing is not suitable to ask directly at all, but Wu Mengming wanted to ask Chen Yue directly, he didn't want to intrigue, and he didn't want to play conspiracy anymore.

Chen Yue was furious when he heard this: "Uncle Wu, what do you think of me?" Could it be that in your heart, I am really a rebellious minister and thief who plots to usurp the throne? ”

Wu Mengming was unmoved, and continued to force: "Chen Yue, please answer my question just now." ”

Chen Yue said: "No! I can swear to the sky: as long as Your Majesty lives, he will be the only emperor of my Ming Dynasty, and I, Chen Yue, will never be the emperor in this life, and will never seek to seize the society of the Ming Dynasty! ”

Wu Mengming sighed: "In this way, I understand." "Yes, Wu Mengming knows in his heart that there is no need for Chen Yue to seek to usurp the throne. As long as he arrives in Nanjing, he will be able to control the power of the imperial court, so what does it make if he is not an emperor? Moreover, the throne of the Ming Dynasty was eventually passed to Chen Yue's son, so what was the need for him to usurp the throne?

Clearly, listening to Chen Yue's personal promise, Wu Mengming completely relieved his heart.

Seeing that Wu Mengming was finally relieved, Chen Yue also breathed a sigh of relief. It's really Wu Mengming's position that is too important.

Wu Mengming can now be said to be Chongzhen's most trusted person, and he is also the governor of Jiangbei and the official of the frontier. Not to mention the 50,000 or 60,000 troops under his command, which is the position of the governor of Jiangbei, with his surrender, it will be of great help to the great cause in the future. The governor of Jiangbei controls the three prefectures of Fengyang, Yangzhou, and Huai'an, and with Wu Mengming's Guishun Chen, he can be connected with Shandong, and the entire Jiangbei is his own from now on. It is really important to carry out the next step of the plan.

Wu Mengming came in person, and Chen Yue did not hesitate and immediately led the army to Yangzhou.

Relying on Huaiyan and Caoyun, Yangzhou's wealth is the world's richest, after entering the customs, Caoyun is cut off, and Yangzhou is somewhat declining. Now that the north has recovered, it is necessary to transport a large amount of food and materials from the south, and Yangzhou is an important canal town, and there are more sailboats in the canal outside the city again, and there is a situation when it has returned to its former heyday.

Chen Yue, as the governor of Jiangbei, spent a whole year in Yangzhou. Within a year, he purged the salt merchants and reformed the salt administration, which doubled the annual salt tax, and the imperial court is still benefiting. Also in Yangzhou, Chen Yue defeated Duoduo's 100,000 army with 50,000 new troops, and resorted to a water attack strategy, digging the embankment of Hongze Lake, drowning Duoduo's 100,000 army, reversing the unfavorable situation of the Ming Dynasty, and becoming a hero who saved Yangzhou and saved the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, although he left Yangzhou for several years, Chen Yue's prestige in the hearts of the people of Yangzhou is still very high, hearing that he led the army to arrive, the people of Yangzhou have gone out of the city to greet each other, and for a time there are tens of thousands of people who went out of the city to greet them, and the canal outside the city gate is densely packed with heads.

Seeing this situation, even Wu Mengming was shocked. Chen Yue only stayed in Yangzhou for one year, but his prestige was even higher than that of himself, the governor of Jiangbei who had been in office for three years. If he really chooses to raise troops to fight against Chen Yue, who is still unknown to the military and civilian gang in Yangzhou?

With Wu Mengming here, the food supply of the army naturally does not have to worry. Wu Mengming requisitioned a large number of ships and used the fleet to transport the army to Guazhou.

"There are still 10,000 of my Jiangbei army in Zhenjiang, King Qi, do you need me to follow me to Zhenjiang?" Before leaving Yangzhou, Wu Mengming asked.

"The army needs food to go on the march, and Jiangdong is broken, and I am afraid that it will not be able to support it. Uncle Wu, you should still sit in Yangzhou and do a good job of logistics for the army, and leave the matter of the battlefield to the little nephew. Chen Yue said with a smile. Wu Mengming's official position is the governor of Jiangbei, not younger than Chen Yue, if he follows the army, it will be difficult to deal with the relationship between the two at that time, the two main generals in the army, who will the army listen to at that time?

Wu Mengming nodded: "I'll write a warrant, and all the 10,000 troops in Zhenjiang will be under your command." ”

Chen Yue thanked him with a smile. The rebels are all their own people, and they don't need to fight any battles at all, and it doesn't matter if there are 20,000 people with or without Wu Mengming.

The army left Yangzhou and marched along the canal by land and water, and arrived in Guazhou in one day. On the opposite side of Guazhou is Zhenjiang, which is guarded by Wu Mengming's 10,000 troops.

During this time, the rebels attacked in a big way, and the Ming troops in the four prefectures of Jiangdong were defeated and retreated, losing cities and land one after another. The Nanjing court debated all day long, but could not raise money, so that the Beijing battalion soldiers were unable to send troops to quell the rebellion.

Qian Qianyi and others also counted on Wu Mengming in Yangzhou to send troops to Jiangnan to help them deal with the rebels, who would have expected that even if Chongzhen issued a holy decree, Wu Mengming only sent 10,000 troops to occupy Zhenjiang, and after arriving in Zhenjiang, the Jiangbei Army refused to leave Zhenjiang again, and Wu Mengming had no intention of increasing troops.

Qian Qianyi and other Donglin party members also sent people to Yangzhou to persuade and promise all kinds of benefits, but Wu Mengming has been perfunctory. And the Donglin Party also has no way to take Wu Mengming. To impeach Wu Mengming, the people have sent troops to Jiangnan in accordance with the holy decree. The impeachment of others is not good, Wu Mengming said that the rebels are powerful and need to be done carefully.

Therefore, until Chen Yue returned south with his troops, the Jiangbei Army remained in Zhenjiang.

After arriving in Guazhou and understanding the situation on the other side, Chen Yue ordered the army to cross the Yangtze River. Hundreds of river boats traveled between the Zhenjiang River in Guazhou, and 20,000 troops were transported to the south of the Yangtze River in half a day.

Chen Yue set up a handsome tent in the city, and began to gather generals, and easily collected 10,000 Jiangbei troops.

However, Chen Yue did not rush to the troops, but waited. The current situation is not a matter of fighting or not fighting at all, but purely a political game. And Chen Yue has an absolute advantage, and he is not panicked at all.

On the second day after arriving in Zhenjiang, Qian Fenglin, the de facto leader of the rebels, came to meet Chen Yue in person.

Chen Yue praised Qian Fenglin for his ability to grasp the opportunity, decisively stop the rebels in the name of Ai Nengqi, and took the opportunity to eliminate the power of the Zheng family, making great contributions to the domination of the sea by the King of Qi and his navy.

"The Ming Dynasty has experienced turmoil and needs to recuperate, and most of the provinces will reduce taxes. In the future, the income of the imperial court will depend more on salt administration and commercial taxes, and the income from sea trade will be the majority. Fenglin, you can immediately destroy the Zheng family and make a great contribution! Although he has not yet become a man who has become the empress, Chen Yue has already entered the state of being in power, and Qian Fenglin was able to destroy the Zheng family, which is what Chen Yue is most satisfied with. The elimination of the Zheng family meant that the benefits of sea trade would be owned by the imperial court in the future.

"The subordinates acted in a good way, acted without the consent of the prince, and did a lot of outrageous things, and they are willing to be dealt with by the prince!" Qian Fenglin didn't dare to take credit, but sincerely pleaded guilty. He knew in his own heart that everything he had done during this period of time had been very out of line, and it was beyond the authority given to him by Chen Yue.

"Outside, the king's order is still unacceptable. This king led his troops far away in the north, more than 3,000 miles away from Fujian, and if he had to ask for instructions on everything, everything would be delayed. So, some things are out of line, and it's not your fault. And this king only looks at the result, regardless of the process. As for some of the problems that arise when you do things, since this king is here, this king will bear it himself! Chen Yue said cheerfully.

Although Qian Fenglin caused some trouble, the result of the matter was the most favorable to Chen Yue, so even if something went wrong, Chen Yue would not be harsh.

"Thank you, Lord Wang!" Qian Fenglin hurriedly thanked him, but there was a slight bitterness in his heart, because he heard from Chen Yue's words that Chen Yue was a little dissatisfied with some of the things he had done.

"Lord Wang, my subordinates were in Fuzhou at the time, and I heard news from the imperial court that His Majesty forcibly regained power from the princess after waking up......" Next, Qian Fenglin told Chen Yue in detail about his arrangements in the past few days.