Since Kangxi ascended the throne, the Empress Dowager knew that there was no good thing as long as she heard that several auxiliary ministers came to her together, but for most of the half a year after Prince Kang and Ji Bilong left Beijing, the three auxiliary ministers left behind did not bother her together.

Today, the Empress Dowager was drinking tea and eating snacks, while chatting happily with other Manchurian ladies, including Princess Jianning, the daughter-in-law of the prince of Pingxi - Princess Jianning enveloped Wu Yingxiong very well, and her husband privately expressed many times that he did not want to go to the southwest to inherit the vassal state. However, after Ao Bai heard about this from the mouth of the Empress Dowager, he hurriedly said that this matter could not be helped, and after Wu Sangui died, even if Wu Yingxiong was unwilling to leave prosperous Beijing and go to the remote southwest, he had to let him lead the vassal state from afar, so as to save Wu Sangui's people from having any bad intentions -- this Ao Bai was always very good to the Han vassal king, but he always wanted to enforce strict military laws against the Manchurians, which caused many people in the Eight Banners to not want to see him.

While everyone was talking and laughing, a ghostly eunuch approached the Empress Dowager and whispered, "Sonny, Aobai, and Sukh Saha are here, waiting outside to see Lafayette." ”

Since Gao Mingzhan sent the four-colored jade and called the Empress Dowager Lafayette, people inside and outside the palace have also jokingly called the Empress Dowager Lafayette, but they have never known whose handwriting the congratulatory message came from.

This report made Lafayette freeze suddenly, and his hand holding a piece of dim sum stopped in mid-air, his mouth was open, but the dim sum could not be delivered for a long time. Seeing the performance of the Empress Dowager, the room suddenly became cold, and a moment ago it was full of laughter, but it became silent in the blink of an eye.

"Hmm." After the Empress Dowager eased up, she wanted to put down the snack, but after a little hesitation, she pretended to be calm and gently put it into her mouth, chewed it slowly, and then greeted the ladies in the room as if nothing happened: "A few ministers don't know what to quarrel about, and the mourning family will come back to take a look, you can sit by yourself for a while." ”

Since the Empress Dowager was silent, of course everyone was with her, Princess Jianning was the first to stand up and said with a smile: "It's really a bunch of useless things, and I don't know how to save the emperor's worries." ”

Everyone also complained to the Auxiliary Ministers, and everyone had a smile on their faces, as if they were convinced that there was nothing big about it.

After entering the study, the Empress Dowager saw that the little emperor was already sitting on the dragon chair, the three auxiliary ministers looked serious, and the whole room was filled with an anxious atmosphere.

"Get up." The Empress Dowager knew that the three of them had cultivated very deeply, and even if the sky fell, they might not change color. Now that there is a look of panic, it must be a very difficult matter. This expression was deliberately made for himself, intending to pretend to be pitiful before he spoke.

The Empress Dowager sat down on the chair, her hands tightly grasping the armrests, and after making sure that she would not jump up and hit people or smash the three bastards in front of her with an inkstone, she took a long breath: "Say, what's wrong?" ”

"This year's luck is about to start again." Sonny said: "Zhang Changgeng, the governor of Huguang, said that Deng Ming came out of Jingzhou again, as if he was going to Yangzhou. ”

After the Cao Yun was cut off last year, some people in Beijing even advocated giving up Gansu, Ningxia and half of Shaanxi to Vitra Mongolia, shrinking their forces to ensure Jiangnan; It was even suggested that these lands should be used to buy off the Vitra Mongols, so that they could send troops to help in the war and cooperate with the Qing Dynasty in attacking Sichuan. However, this matter is too big, and if the northwest is abandoned in one go, those Han officials and scholars who have passed the imperial examination are estimated to break with the Qing court. Besides, it is difficult to predict what the consequences will be if Vitra Mongolia is placed on the edge of Xi'an, and if Vitra does not join forces with the Qing Dynasty but with Deng Ming, the situation will only get worse.

"Are you going to give up west of Xi'an?" The Empress Dowager's first reaction was to think of this, and only such an earth-shattering event could make the three auxiliary ministers deliberately look pitiful in front of her.

"The minion still thinks it's not feasible," Ao Bai immediately kowtowed. Sukh Saha is neutral on this issue, and the Han officials may be reluctant to let go of that land, but the Manchus have nothing that they can't let go. But both Sonny and Ao Bai were resolutely opposed, and since the two auxiliary ministers had unified their voices, the idea of abandoning the northwest would of course become an empty word: "It stands to reason that Deng Ming will also regard Qin as his territory, so many people think that Vitra Mongols and Deng Thief will definitely fight." But this Deng Ming can't use common sense to speculate, who can know Deng Ming's thoughts......"

"Alright, alright." The Empress Dowager impatiently interrupted the cliché of Aobai. Ao Bai and Sonny always said that Vitra Mongolia should never be lured into the Great Wall unless absolutely necessary. In addition to the reasons Ao Bai just mentioned, they were also worried that many Han Chinese might see the Qing Dynasty as a Mongol horse bandit who snatched it and left, rather than a new dynasty that wanted to unify Haiyu. The Ganshan Green Battalion in the northwest was the most effective Green Battalion unit in the Qing court, and it was really worth the loss to give them to the enemy in order to save some silver: "Then what are you going to do to fight Deng Ming again in Yangzhou?" Do you have a boat? ”

"No boat." Sonny replied with a snort.

"And how do you want to fight?" Seeing that the three of them had been spitting and spitting, and only by asking a question could they squeeze out an answer, the Empress Dowager was even more irritable.

"Maybe you don't have to fight." After Sukh Saha finished speaking, he tried to shrink back, trying to make himself more inconspicuous.

"If you don't fight, then let this year's luck not come again?" The Empress Dowager's voice became higher and higher, and she raised her arm, intending to point at one of the three people, and seeing this, Sonny and Ao Bai also shrank together.

"Sony!" The Empress Dowager's arm fell heavily, and finally pointed at the head of the Chief Auxiliary Minister: "What the hell is going on, you reply honestly." ”

Sonny glanced at Ao Bai and Suke Saha, who were hiding behind him, and cheered up and said to the Empress Dowager: "Zhang Changgeng reported that he bribed one of Deng Ming's henchmen, this person is deeply trusted by Deng Ming, and Deng Ming is also obedient to him......"

"Isn't that Mu Tan?" The Empress Dowager didn't give Sony a chance to delay time, and asked, "What bad idea did Zhang Changgeng come up with again?" ”

Zhang Changgeng said that Mu Tan said that if Cao Yun was handed over to him to carry it, he would have a way to persuade Deng Ming not to send troops. As long as he is allowed to transport grain every year in the future, even if Deng Ming sends troops, he can also ensure that Cao Yun will not be cut off. Sony tried his best to find a more euphemistic way to explain the matter to the Queen Mother, but he couldn't find it, and the content still sounded so terrifying.

"What?" After the Empress Dowager forced Sonny to repeat it again, she shouted: "Let the Sichuan thieves give me the Great Qing Grain?" ”

"No, it's Mu Tan, it's not Deng Ming." Sony hurriedly corrected.

"Isn't Mu Tan a Sichuan thief?!" The Empress Dowager asked angrily.

"Well, this Mu Tan, strictly speaking, he should be a Fujian thief who wandered to Sichuan, and he is not the same heart as Deng Ming in the final analysis, so he is crazy about being greedy and taking bribes. However, having such a person by Deng Ming's side is really a blessing for the emperor and the empress dowager. Sonny continued to ponder his rhetoric while rambling around: "Well, what Mu Tan means is that as long as he pays him fifty percent of the benefit fee, he will be responsible for sending the grain and silver from the provinces to Tianjin. ”

"Can the Sichuan thief's ship sail to the mouth of Dagu?" The Empress Dowager was shocked.

"It's not Mu Tan's boat, he knows the Fujian thieves in Zhoushan, and the Empress Dowager also knows that after Zheng Shun died, the Fujian thieves split up, and one of them fled to Zhoushan. Mu Tan said that some of them were his old friends, and he was willing to transport my grain from the Qing Dynasty to Tianjin. Sonny told the Empress Dowager that Mu Tan asked the imperial court to ensure the safety of the people transporting the goods, and that the grain and silver would be sent one by one, and the first batch would leave safely and the next batch would come back, but even so, the luck would be much faster than in previous years. In previous years, the shipment began in July, and he could not arrive in Beijing until at least the end of November or early December, and Mu Tan promised that he would be able to send all of them to Tianjin in November.

"The Sichuan thieves gave me the grain of the Qing Dynasty, and also hired the Fujian thieves to transport it, and my governor of the Qing Dynasty handed over the silver grain to them, and then they returned it to the imperial court-" The Empress Dowager jumped up: "Sony, you think about it yourself, are you talking about human words?" ”

In the eyes of the Empress Dowager, this matter is not feasible at all, and if the silver grain falls into the hands of thieves, they will definitely not send it to Tianjin honestly.

Sonny glanced at Ao Bai and Sukh Saha, both of whom had their heads down, and Sonny had to bite the bullet and continue to answer.

The minions didn't believe it at first. However, Zhang Changgeng said that in order to ensure that the imperial court would not be lost, he would not deliver the goods first, and wait until Mu Tan sent a part of the tax to Tianjin, and then Zhang Changgeng would deliver the goods, and then transport the next part, and use 800 miles to expedite the delivery of the news in the middle. ”

The Empress Dowager looked at Sony coldly, her face couldn't tell whether she was happy or angry, and after a while, she said slowly: "From the point of view of the mourning family, it is most likely that Zhang Changgeng jumped off the wall in a hurry. Probably because Deng Ming wanted to surround Wuchang, even if he could hold it, he couldn't complete the Cao Yun, so he bribed Mu Tan, and also said alarmistly that the Sichuan thieves wanted to go down to Yangzhou again. ”

"That's what the minions thought at first. However, Zhang Changgeng's recital was also signed by Jiang Guozhu, the governor of Liangjiang, Zhao Guozuo, the governor of Zhejiang, and Lin Qilong, the governor of Caoyun. They said that they had joined forces to bribe Mu Tan, and Mu Tan wanted to take over the fortune of the whole Qing Dynasty. Sonny handed the piece over as he spoke.

The Empress Dowager took the piece and looked at it carefully, and then Sonny added fuel to the fire: "Zu Zepu, the governor of Shandong, said that Deng Ming has always been true to his word, and Mu Tan must also be a righteous man and a gentleman when he gets his words and deeds, which is a clever plan to ensure the safety of Caoyun." ”

The Empress Dowager suddenly jumped up from her chair and pounced in front of Sonny like a leopard, picking up a stick in her hand at some point.

"Faithful to your word, a righteous gentleman, is this used to talk about anti-thieves? Zu Zepu also dared to say that it was a clever plan! The Empress Dowager shouted while hitting Sonny with a stick without a head: "Kill you, kill you dog minion!" ”

Sonny vigorously called himself damned, he was born in a martial arts, although he was old, his body was still very tough, and it wouldn't be a big deal to take a few sticks.

After beating Sonny for a while, the Empress Dowager, who was still angry, looked at Ao Bai again, pointed at his nose and scolded: "And you dog, didn't the dealer in Huzhou just write a book, what's the big deal?" You have to force people to rebel, now it's okay, sweep the two provinces, take advantage of your intentions, right? ”

Although the Ming history case was supported by other auxiliary ministers, it had always been hosted by Aobai, and the empress dowager felt that it was just some Han landlords, and she didn't bother to ask about such trivial matters. If everything is done according to the meaning of Aobai, the Han people are shocked, and their family property is confiscated and entered the government, then the empress dowager will probably not ask about this matter, no matter how many people die, they are Han people instead of Manchus, what does it have to do with her?

But now that Zhuang Yuncheng's matter is making a big fuss, affecting Zhejiang's taxes and fortunes, the Empress Dowager ordered the following servants to report the cause and effect of the matter, and as a result, she hated Aobai's incompetence: "It's a good idea, and I want to enrich the treasury, and I want to let those Han people be honest, but after a year, I didn't even understand whether the other party was a bandit leader like Yu Qi or a scholar, and I wanted to send a few arresters to take them quickly!" Now, I heard that the dealer dug out all the silver and bought the strong bow and crossbow of the Sichuan thief, not only did we have to work hard to exterminate it, but even the silver you pondered all day was put into Deng Ming's pocket. ”

If this was all there was, the Empress Dowager might not have been so angry, and what made her even more angry was that in the previous report of Zhejiang, it was said that the Jingnan army had spent 100,000 taels of silver to buy ten red-clothed cannons, and those cannons were stolen from Ningyuan -- the Sichuan side had no intention of helping Aobai to conceal this matter, so Zhao Guozuo inquired from the Sichuan people and told the governor of Zhejiang the ins and outs of obtaining the cannons.

A few days ago, after hearing that Ning Yuan had an accident, that is, the Empress Dowager still cared about asking a few words, but none of the minions in front of her took it to heart, and they all said that there was no big movement in that place...... Facts have proved that the Empress Dowager's worries are right, the Ming army actually went to Liaodong to move things, but these auxiliary ministers are still in the dark, and even need Zhejiang to remind them that something has happened in the land of Longxing in the Qing Dynasty - since Mao Wenlong's death, only the Qing Dynasty has gone to other people's homes to move things in the past few decades, when have the things in their own homes been moved? Even some old old cannons, that's not going to work!

Thinking of her anger, the Empress Dowager slapped her head and face with a stick: "Aren't you worried about Zhuang Yuncheng's silver?" As a result, it was all earned by Deng Ming, and it was still the emperor's cannon. Knowing this, why didn't you go and sell the cannon to Zhuang Yuncheng yourself, wouldn't the silver be in hand? ”

After playing Sonny and Aobai, the Queen Mother walked back to her seat and gasped for breath for a while. She also knew that Sony had no choice, that the fortune had been cut off for a year, and that the deficit in the treasury was still continuing. If there is any accident in this year's Caoyun, it will be even more difficult. And now Beijing knows that most of the southeastern governors have made a lot of private deals with Deng Ming, and in order to keep their heads and official positions, they are probably uniting to deceive the imperial court. But the important thing is that they are willing to pay taxes to Beijing. Through this point, Sony analyzed that most of the officials in the southeast have not yet wanted to surrender to the enemy, and they are still optimistic about Beijing in the Ming and Qing wars, so they will work hard to complete the tax work assigned by Beijing. Even if there are some private transactions with Deng Ming now, it must be false and wrongful. So Sony felt it might as well pretend not to see it. Since Beijing has no way to exterminate Deng Ming but wants to negotiate peace with him, it is not good to be too harsh on the governor of the southeast.

Sony even cites an allusion from the Three Kingdoms period of the Han Chinese, that is, Cao Cao burned all the correspondence between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's officials after the Battle of Guandu - since these southeastern officials were still inclined to the Qing Dynasty, and some private actions were most likely forced to do so, it was better to avoid driving them all to the Nanming side.

The Empress Dowager agrees with Sony's analysis, not only because it makes sense, but also because these words make her feel at ease, and they are words she is willing to believe.

Sonny observed the words and felt that the Empress Dowager seemed to have lost some of her anger, so she began to persuade again: "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager, since we entered the customs, we have sacrificed so many children to take the southeast, isn't it just to take silver and grain from there?" The soldiers of the Eight Banners shed blood and sweat, didn't they just want their children to live a better life and have no worries about food and clothing? Can you not want these silver grains for the sake of face? ”

"Who said no," the Empress Dowager glared coldly at Sony, the Empress Dowager, like Sonny and Aobai, as a person who came from the Nurhachi period, positioned the Manchurian group as a large gang of thieves who robbed money and grain. That is, in the past ten years, the sycophant recitals have been seen too much, and the empress dowager has gradually begun to pay attention to her face: "But you can't let the mourning family lose face." ”

"As long as the people they came to deliver the silver did not enter the Haihe River and did not play the banner of Fujian thieves, the common people would not know who sent the water to us. Mu Tan saw that the money was open, and the imperial court could use this greedy thief to ensure that the money and grain from the southeast could be safely transported to Beijing. Sony had another good word of persuasion.

"Well, but-" The Empress Dowager nodded first, looking like she had basically been convinced, but she pointed to a sentence in the music and commented hatefully: "The other party wants fifty percent of the loss, although it is less than the drift of Cao Yun, but this is also how much silver, it has been fished away by Mu Tan, a person who should be cut with a thousand knives!" Hmph, when the canal is safe in the future, the mourning family will definitely tell Deng Ming the good deeds he has done, so that this thief who betrays his master and steals will die without a place to be buried. Even if the two younger sisters of this guy are favored again (they have become two), Deng Ming heard about so much silver, and the mourning family didn't believe that he would not be moved! ”

"The Empress Dowager Shengming." Sonny echoed, and he pondered the sour taste in the Empress Dowager's tone: "Or, the slave will go to explore Zheng Xi's way?" Ask them if they are willing to take 30% of the cost to help us transport the luck? ”

The Empress Dowager pondered for a moment, the expression on her face changed, and suddenly she jumped like thunder again, and whipped Sonny with a wooden stick for the second time: "You dog minion, you actually let the mourning family go to discuss with Zheng Wei? The mourning family wants silver, but it can't be shameless! Are you still talking about human words? ”――

Author's note: The weekend is indeed a bit busy, today at the last minute to get it, tomorrow will be more daring to guarantee.