Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Last year's smallpox epidemic can be said to be his greatest masterpiece.

The original plan was to give Hongzhi a severe blow through the smallpox epidemic, and even directly wipe out the tyrant Hongzhi.

It's just that the court's response was too quick. Not only did it quickly control the spread of the epidemic in the capital, but it also traced the clues to Ma Wensheng and his gang.

Fortunately, the organization he founded was well-informed and finally managed to silence Ma Wensheng and others through the smallpox epidemic before the court, and even helped Cheng Minzheng and other members escape.

Now that old things are being brought up again, he naturally hopes that Cheng Minzheng will know the astonishing power of his organization, and that he even has his own informants around the emperor.

"You can really save my son?" Cheng Minzheng said as he grasped the last straw after realizing that the news that Wang Shouren and the other three people survived was true.

The current court does not have so many loopholes to exploit. It is impossible for Ma Wensheng's son to kill someone and still be safe and sound. Once the crime committed by his son is exposed, he will be irreversible.

Not to mention that the current Song Cheng, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, is an inexperienced fool, and it is impossible for Emperor Hongzhi behind him to show mercy outside the law.

If Wang Shouren and the other three men came back to testify against his son, the fate awaiting his son would be to be beheaded in Xishi, and he would have to hand over the black hat obediently.

With this thought in mind, he chose to pin the hope of his son's survival on Wang Zeng, and also wanted to protect his hard-won career through Wang Zeng.

Wang Zeng keenly felt the change in Cheng Minzheng's mentality, and nodded gently: "When did I deceive you? I can naturally save you!"

"How do you plan to save me?" Cheng Minzheng asked eagerly, feeling moved.

Wang Zeng took a sip of tea and shook his head: "Now you should not ask me how to save your son, but how you, father and son, can help me!"

"I am eager to save my son, but if I want to do something treacherous and unethical and harm the entire Cheng family, I won't have to say anything!" Cheng Minzheng maintained his rationality and immediately stated his attitude.

Although he knows that the organization in Jingcheng is very powerful, he has never been deeply involved in it and is still not a core member of this organization.

Although he now wants to save his son, he cannot risk the fate of the entire family. This is also the final bottom line he has always adhered to.

Because of this, he did not intend to go all out to save his son, but cooperated with Wang Zeng with reservations.

Wang Zeng held the tea lid and poured the hot tea lightly, as if everything was under his control: "I can't silence Cheng Si, but Cheng Si has to promise not to say a word of what he shouldn't say!" He paused. He paused and said very confidently: "As long as he persists for seven days, everything will be back on track, and the Ming Dynasty will also usher in a prosperous age!"

"Get back on track, what do you mean?" Cheng Minzheng thought of a very terrible thing in his mind, and immediately asked solemnly.

Wang Zeng took a slow sip of tea, and a fierce look flashed in his eyes: "If Cheng Siqing is free, you can go to Prince Xing's Mansion more. Is this straightforward enough?"

Gu...

Although Cheng Demin had already made some guesses, Wang Zeng said it so bluntly that he couldn't help but secretly swallow his saliva.

Although he is the minister of Taichang Temple, compared with the group of powerful people in the capital, he is simply not worth mentioning. No matter whether it is money, connections, or dead soldiers, they are far from being comparable to a powerful character like Wang Zeng who came from a powerful family in the capital.

Since Emperor Hongzhi came to the throne, he has violated the interests of too many people.

If the Salt Policy only reduced the filial piety that the powerful people in the capital received, then the subsequent financial rectification by the imperial court would kill them, directly causing the entire powerful people in the capital to lose their most profitable business.

Regicide is a treasonous act.

It's just that Emperor Hongzhi blocked everyone's way of making money, so it's really not an unbelievable thing, and even the development of things is actually natural.

Now that things have happened, the leader in front of him has finally taken this step, and King Xing will become the master of the revival of the Ming Dynasty, or the emperor who created a prosperous age.

Wang Zeng saw Cheng Dezheng's reaction and asked jokingly, holding the tea cup in his hand: "Are you afraid?"

"The robe head is joking! I don't know anything, so there is nothing to be afraid of! I hereby promise that Cheng Si will never say a word if you shouldn't say it!" Cheng Minzheng is a smart man, so he pretended to be confused. road.

No matter what treacherous and unethical things Wang Zeng did, Cheng Minzheng had no knowledge of it at all, and he would let his son continue to keep his mouth shut.

Even if Wang Shouren really testified against his son, as long as Emperor Hongzhi died, his son's crimes would have a lot of room for manipulation.

The only thing to blame for this incident is that Emperor Hongzhi didn't know how to advance or retreat. He was obviously the biggest beneficiary of the feudal dynasty, but in the end he wanted to help the poor people and destroy everyone's jobs.

Hongzhi's defeat was actually doomed when he stood on the side of the common people.

Wang Zeng got the promise he wanted, and said with a slightly raised corner of his mouth: "That's great!"

Although the quickest way to solve Cheng Si's trouble is to silence him, the Shuntian Yamen controlled by Song Cheng is no longer easy to penetrate. It is not easy to get rid of Cheng Si on death row in Shuntian Yamen.

On the contrary, it is better to give Cheng Si and his son hope so that they can get through this difficulty together.

Throughout the ages, many successful people have survived in danger. Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, even risked his life to participate in the Hongmen Banquet and became the final winner.

As long as the plan goes smoothly, the self-righteous emperor will definitely be eliminated before he is exposed.

February was coming to an end, but the smell of conspiracy became stronger, and Zhu Youtang even thought of the word "beauty" mentioned by Dongfang Dao in an uneasy mood.

Just as the undercurrent in the capital was surging, the war in the Northeast was about to break out.

The Ming Dynasty has no intention of occupying the Haixi Jurchens. Now it is mainly attacking the Alechuka tribe that is pushing forward to achieve the effect of killing chickens and warning monkeys. Therefore, the Ming army does not necessarily need to personally conquer.

From an economic point of view, the Ming Dynasty's conquest of the Alchukha tribe located north of the Haixi Jurchens required long-distance operations, so it required huge investment in food transportation costs.

If Mongolia were to carry out the conquest instead of the Ming Dynasty, things would become simpler.

Mongolia not only borders the Alchuka tribe, but they have always used war to support war, so they do not necessarily suffer economically.

The Ming Dynasty now provides arms and supplies to Mongolia. For the Mongolian cavalry who are good at supporting war with war, it can be said to be a sure-profit deal.

Beiyuan's 15,000 fine cavalry went all the way east, and in the blink of an eye they arrived at the territory of the Haixi Jurchens, and their troops pointed directly at the small Alchukha tribe.

Haixi Jurchen, this is a collective name for the Jurchens who live at the Great Inflection of Songhua River and the Ash River Basin east of present-day Harbin. They were named because the Great Inflection of Songhua River was called Haixi in the Yuan Dynasty.

Influenced by the farming of the Ming Dynasty, the Jurchen tribes in Haixi have a tendency to move south, and more and more tribes are engaged in agriculture, and they also have iron processing technology.

The Alchuka tribe is located in the northern part of the Haixi Jurchen region and is mainly nomadic and hunting.

Affected by the extreme cold weather and lack of food, the tribe's numbers were at a disadvantage among the seven major tribes, but their folk customs were very strong and their battles looked heroic.

Since no military outposts were set up, the Alchuka tribe did not even know that the Mongolian cavalry was invading.

They found a group of estrous yellow sheep today and returned with a full load. While they were singing and dancing around the campfire, a silver arrow broke the tranquility here.

call out! call out! call out!

When a dozen herdsmen were still immersed in the joy of harvest, a Mongolian cavalry appeared on the western hillside, and then arrows from the sky fell towards their camp.

The Mongolian cavalry's war against the Alchuka tribe started seemingly without warning.

puff! puff! puff!

The arrows fell on these herdsmen without any armor, and their bodies were immediately penetrated, and the blood dyed the land red in the blink of an eye.

"Mongolian cavalry, what's going on?"

"Didn't we only offend the Ming Dynasty? Why are the Mongolian cavalry here?"

"Don't be stunned. It doesn't matter if it's the Ming Dynasty or Mongolia. I'll kill them all!"

…

There were hundreds of people in this small gathering area. I don't know if they didn't know that the Mongolian cavalry was coming in force this time, or they were always tough. Many Jurchens fought back immediately.

"Brothers, kill me!"

The leader, Tara, reacted the fastest. When he saw the Mongolian cavalry sneak attack on his camp, he immediately led dozens of people to fight up the hillside.

The Haixi Jurchens are all good hunters. When they got close to the hillside, they had already fought back against the Mongolian cavalry on the hillside and even shot and killed several Mongolian cavalry.

how come?

Tara had just reached the bottom of the hillside on horseback when she was suddenly horrified to find a sharp arrow that seemed to be particularly sharp, as if it had arrived in front of her in the blink of an eye.

puff!

Although Tara looked up and saw the arrow, she was unable to dodge at this time. The silver arrow grazed her chin and pierced her throat.

"Haha...it is indeed a good bow!"

When Dayan Khan saw Tara, who had been shot by him, fall to the ground, he immediately felt the power of the bow in his hand, and he seemed to be unable to put it down.

Time flies, and he is no longer the little kid who was stuffed in a basket by Manduhai to fight in all directions, but has become a seventeen-year-old boy.

Although he is not tall, he is very strong, with dark skin and bright eyes. He is already a qualified young man in Mongolia.

Since Manduhai had just finished giving birth, he still led the army in person this time and was fully responsible for the war against the Alchuka tribe.

"The Great Khan is really good at archery, he can really shoot through the poplar with a hundred steps!" Chaolu, a Mongolian who is proficient in Chinese culture, immediately gave a thumbs up and praised.

Dayan Khan was not complacent about this, but instead estimated the distance between himself and Tara and said: "It's not that I'm great, but this bright bow is really extraordinary. It can shoot at such a long distance!"

"A sword must be matched with a hero, and a bow must be matched with a capable person. The Tu Qing Gong of the Ming Dynasty is indeed extraordinary. This time, the Ming Dynasty spent a lot of money to let us, Dayuan, fight for them!" Chaolu saw the light in Dayan Khan's eyes. , which is also a way of echoing.

Dayan Khan looked at the strange-looking Tu Qing Bow in his hand, then turned to look at the accompanying officer beside him and said: "Tie Yushi, can you fulfill your agreement now and inform Governor Xuanda to send the second batch of supplies out of the customs?"

Although Daming and Beiyuan have become closer through marriage, and Daming has repeatedly taken the initiative to help Beiyuan through the winter, the relationship between the two parties can be said to be in a honeymoon period.

However, this time Ming Dynasty also took precautions and divided the promised arms and supplies into three batches for payment.

The first batch was when the Mongolian cavalry went out to fight, the second batch was when the Mongolian cavalry arrived at Alchuka to start the battle, and the third batch was when the battle ended.

Datong Yushi Tie was a young official, wearing the official uniform of the seventh rank of the Ming Dynasty. Since it was his first time to see a real battlefield, he was both nervous and excited.

He had a special status on this trip. As an accompanying officer sent by the Ming Dynasty, he came with the Mongolian army. His main responsibility was to monitor the movements of the Mongolian cavalry and report to Datong.

"kill!"

The forwards of the Mongolian cavalry were like tigers descending the mountain. After a round of powerful shots, they immediately drew their swords and rushed forward when facing the Jurchens who had survived or fled.

puff! puff! puff!

Although the Alchuka tribe tried to resist, the Mongolian cavalry had the advantage in numbers, and the combat effectiveness of the Mongolian cavalry was very terrifying. Wherever the sharp edge passed, streams of blood spattered.

This will be a war without any suspense. Facing the invasion of Mongolia's sophisticated cavalry, this gathering place of several hundred people under the command of the Alchukha tribe is like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

According to the current killing rate, this gathering place where people were singing and dancing just now will become a dead place in less than a cup of tea.

When Tie Zhi saw that the war had started and that this small gathering place would soon be cleared, he immediately took out the pen and ink he carried to write down the latest military information here, and then took out the carrier pigeon to pass the message.

In order to ensure that there were no accidents along the way, he chose to let three carrier pigeons fly together this time. At least one carrier pigeon must be able to bring the latest military information back to Datong.

Once Datong knew that the war here had begun, they also followed their earlier agreement and allocated the second batch of ordnance and supplies to Beiyuan.

"Khan, please give me instructions!" Chaolu saw the three homing pigeons being released, and turned to look at Dayan Khan and said with his hands.

After all, Dayan Khan is a seventeen-year-old boy. Even if he is from the Golden Family, his IQ cannot be known at birth. Fortunately, with Chaolu's assistance, he slowly took control of the entire army, and was even more ready to truly dominate the entire prairie.

Dayan Khan also saw three homing pigeons flying in the direction of Datong. The corners of his mouth could not help but raise slightly, and then he nodded lightly to Chaolu.

what happened?

Tie Zhi suddenly felt that something was wrong in the atmosphere, and vaguely felt that he had done a huge mistake. He immediately turned his head to look at Dayan Khan and Chaolu in horror.

Chaolu patted his horse and passed by Tie Zhi, first smiled at Tie Zhi, and then walked towards the messenger.

Woo...

A horn sounded on the hillside, the sound loud and long. (End of chapter)