Chapter Seven: The Unexpected Turn of Events

  The next day, when the sun was high in the sky, Zhong Jinwei finally woke up. He wondered what time they had gone to bed the night before. He didn't know if Aqi was up yet, so he shouted out loud: "Aqi, Aqi, are you up?"

  The door opened with a creak, and Ah Qi came in from outside, saying to Zhong Jingwei: "Young master, it's time to get up. I'll go prepare your toiletries."

  Zhong Jinwei said: "Ah, you're up early. You really don't know how to enjoy life, do you know what the two greatest pleasures in life are?" Aqi heard this and was a bit curious, asking in response: "What are the two great pleasures? I thought I heard it was three great pleasures."

  After a night of chatting, Archie no longer had the awe he had for Zhong Jinwei yesterday.

  Zhong Jinwei smiled and said, "You don't understand, do you? I've told you before, the two greatest pleasures in life are: first, sleeping until you wake up naturally; second, counting money until your hands cramp."

  "Aqi blinked: "The first slave can be understood, the second one, counting money until his hand cramped up with happiness, how stupid is that? Who counts copper coins to get cramps? Directly silver, and if not, then gold. How could anyone count until their hands cramp up?"

  Aqi was attracted by Zhong Jinwei's topic and the relationship between the two people has become much closer, so he also dared to raise questions.

  Zhong Jinwei heard it and said "Ah yeah, I forgot, there were no banknotes at that time." He thought for a moment and said vaguely: "Count the silver tickets."

  After finishing, I won't drag on. Hurry up and get out of bed, lest next time because of the difference in era, you'll be questioned by a young beauty. It seems that the first thing to do is to start from reality, and understand the current situation first, so as not to make mistakes. There's a great man who once said "Everything starts from reality!"

  Some people are happy, some people worry. Zhong Jinwei is on the side of sleeping until he wakes up naturally and feeling refreshed. On the other hand, Emperor Chongzhen had just finished reviewing a morning's memorials when he received some bad news.

  After Wang Cheng'en showed him the memorial, Emperor Chongzhen directly threw the memorial to the ground and furiously shouted: "Yuan Chonghuan has disappointed my intention, how dare he be so presumptuous? Does he still have me in his eyes? Tell me, does he still have me in his eyes?"

  When Wang Chengen received this memorial, he had already anticipated the violent anger of Emperor Chongzhen. He couldn't just follow Emperor Chongzhen's meaning and say: Yes, Yuan Chonghuan is extremely arrogant and doesn't put Your Majesty in his eyes at all.

  Just as Wang Chengen was about to speak up and persuade him, Emperor Chongzhen ignored him and continued to vent his anger: "Even if Mao Wenyong had countless faults and was guilty of ten evils, he could have been captured and brought back to the capital for punishment. My Left Commander-in-Chief, wearing the general's seal and holding the Shangfang sword, a first-rank military officer, was privately killed by him. After killing him, he came to me saying it wasn't right to kill him privately and asking for punishment. Is this asking for forgiveness? It's simply a blatant threat to me! He thinks I don't dare to punish him because of his imperial favor?"

  Wang Chengen also did not dare to speak out, lowering his head to look at the ground, planning to let Emperor Chongzhen vent first before speaking.

  After a while, Emperor Chongzhen calmed down and sat on the throne, muttering to himself: "I really don't dare to do anything to him!" Then, he sighed helplessly. Wang Chengen saw that the time was ripe and stepped forward, saying in a low voice: "Your Majesty, why not summon Mr. Zhong to come and ask for his advice?"

  The Emperor Chongzhen's head suddenly lifted, staring at Wang Chengen, saying: "Not bad, if it weren't for the Grand Companion reminding me, I would have been infuriated. Hurry up and prepare, no, set up the imperial carriage immediately, I will go there in person."

  Based on the inconvenience mentioned last night, Zhong Jinwei told Aqi to find someone to make two things after dinner: one is a large wooden board, if there is no large wooden board, several wooden boards can be spliced together, and one side must be very smooth. After making it, apply ink to it, and dye the smooth side into full black color, which is called a blackboard; another is chalk, that is, take some lime powder, add water, and form into finger-shaped sticks after solidification.

  As soon as the order was given, Emperor Chongzhen arrived in a hurry with Wang Chengen. Zhong Jingwei heard the intention and thought that something had indeed happened.

  "Your Majesty," Zhong Jinwei said after a moment's thought, "the matter has already occurred, so getting angry or anxious is useless. Let's first analyze the consequences brought about by this incident, and then discuss how to resolve it."

  Chongzhen Emperor saw Zhong Xiang that he was neither hurried nor slow, neither panicked nor chaotic, and his heart immediately calmed down, listening to Zhong's suggestion.

  "Your Majesty, please look at the map of China. In the past, the Jurchen Tartars' main force only attacked Jinzhou or tried to bypass it and attack Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan, but they had to worry about being harassed by Mao Wenyong from behind. Unless they left enough troops in the rear, their main force could not pose a threat to Shanhaiguan, Ningyuan, or even Jinzhou. The Jurchen Tartars were too few in number to threaten these places. As long as their main force was out for a long time, Mao Wenyong would inevitably discover that the Jurchen Tartars' rear was empty. Therefore, the Jurchen Tartars' main force could not leave their old nest for too long or too far. This is the constraining effect of Mao Wenyong's troops, which is an advantage at the strategic level. But now..."

  Wang Chengen looked at the side and added: "Dongjiang Town."

  Zhong Jinwei smiled awkwardly at Wang Chengen and continued, "It's just that this Dongjiang Town was founded by Mao Wenlong himself, with great prestige and influence. Just like that, he died suddenly. Even if Yuan Chonghuan had eyes and ears everywhere, it would be impossible to restore the restrictive function of Dongjiang Town in a short period of time. Especially, his ability to arrange for someone to replace Mao Wenlong is another test. According to my historical records at that time, Dongjiang Town was finished. Not only did it lose its restrictive role, but also produced several Han traitors, those three I mentioned earlier. Although they were traitors, they had abilities and could only be subdued by Mao Wenlong. The people who came later couldn't suppress them."

  Zhong Jingwei said, stopping for a moment to look at Emperor Chongzhen who was listening intently and referring to the map. He continued: "During this period when Dongjiang Town was resting, Huang Taiji had enough time to mobilize his main force to launch a major campaign. According to historical records, he bypassed the Ningjin defense line, roughly from Zunhua, and attacked the capital."

  Wang Chengen had doubts at this time and asked involuntarily: "How did the slave leader know that he could break in from Zunhua? Isn't he afraid that after detouring for thousands of miles, he will find that Zunhua is also a piece of iron plate, and it can't be broken through. At this time, the Ming dynasty's iron cavalry pursued and killed all the way, how many people and horses could return?"

  Zhong Jinwei couldn't help but scratch his head and said, "This, I don't know either. In my history, he just came over like that. Could it be that this history and my history still have some differences?"

  Chongzhen Emperor also dared not confirm that Jianyu would take a big risk to attack Yunzhou, thinking for a moment, he asked Zhong Jiwei: "What strategy should I adopt in the current situation?"

  Zhong Jingwei thought for a moment: "Summon Sun Chengzong to replace Yuan Chonghuan. Yuan Chonghuan has no regard for the law, privately killing high-ranking generals, and must be held accountable, in order to prevent others from following his example and disregarding the imperial court. Also, summon Lu Xiangsheng to take over Dongjiang Town."

  The Chongzhen Emperor listened and remained silent for a long time.

  Zhong Jingwei looked at Emperor Chongzhen, and after a while, Emperor Chongzhen said: "Yuan Chonghuan holds the most elite troops of the imperial court in his hands. If I were to punish him, there is a risk that he would defect to the enemy, and the Shanhai Pass defense line would be breached. The enemy could then march directly to the capital. Moreover, Sun Chengzong was Yuan Chonghuan's mentor and had promoted him to his current position. He had also covered up for Yuan Chonghuan's mistakes in the past, so it is unlikely that he would accept punishing Yuan Chonghuan."

  Zhong Jinwei listened and waved his hand, saying: "Sun Chengzong, this old man, Your Majesty can rest assured. From a historical perspective, Sun's stance on major issues has been firm, and he died heroically in the end, which is admirable."

  Chongzhen Emperor listened silently, after a while, he asked Wang Chengen: "What do you think, Da Ban?" Since knowing that Wang Chengen would accompany him on the road, he had also increased the number of times he asked Wang Chengen about things.

  Wang Cheng'en thought for a moment and did not directly answer Chongzhen Emperor's question: "Your Majesty, Mao Wenyong is already dead and cannot be revived."

  The Chongzhen Emperor nodded slightly, on one hand was a possible history with some unconvincing parts; on the other hand was an extremely likely situation. The Chongzhen Emperor let out a slight sigh in his heart, I dare not take risks!

  Zhong Jinwei looked at Chongzhen Emperor and Wang Chengen's appearance, guessing that his suggestion might not be adopted, and couldn't help but feel a bit down. However, there was one thing that was quite strange: Did Hong Taiji really have such confidence to detour thousands of miles, and after the people and horses were tired, still have the strength to defeat the Ming army who had won every battle? Hadn't they suffered losses from Qi Jiguang's troops and the White Stick Troops before? Weren't those tough opponents? Didn't they fear that there might be such an army in the capital as well?

  The Chongzhen Emperor stood up, ready to leave. Before he left, he said to Zhong Xing: "Mr. Zhong, I also have unspoken difficulties. I must weigh the pros and cons before making a decision. The Lu Xiangsheng you mentioned, is he a talented person? I will let the Grand Companion investigate. If there are any other problems or needs, please speak up, and I will let the Grand Companion handle them for you. I have many memorials to deal with, so I won't disturb you further."

  At this point, Zhong Jinwei didn't know what to say, but suddenly thought of something and quickly said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, although history may be biased, it's always better to be safe than sorry. Why not send someone to warn the side of Yunhe?"

  The Chongzhen Emperor nodded and then said to Wang Chengen, "Mr. Zhong's proposal is very good, you arrange this matter." Wang Chengen bowed his head and said, "Yes!"

  As Emperor Chongzhen turned and walked to the door, Zhong Jingwei suddenly remembered a proposal he had seen online before. He hastily said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, there's something else."

  The Chongzhen Emperor turned around and looked at Zhong Xue with a puzzled expression: "What's going on?"

  Zhong Jingwei said: "If Your Majesty still wants to let Yuan Chonghuan go, not pursue his guilt, and even praise him, it's better to do so in the name of the Ministry of War or the Grand Council, so that there will be a way out in the future, and it will also be easier to explain to the East Jiang Town side."

  The Chongzhen Emperor listened, raised his eyebrows and said: "I understand." Then he turned around and left. When Wang Chengen followed the Chongzhen Emperor out of the door, he gave another comment to Zhong Jiwei in his heart: Indeed an old cunning villain.