Chapter Eight Worries

  This matter cannot be delayed, after leaving the Zhong Jinwei's place, Emperor Chongzhen immediately went to the Wenhua Hall, and after consulting with the cabinet, he forced the cabinet to issue a reply to Yuan Chonghuan in the name of the cabinet, saying: Wen Long is arrogant and disobedient, ordering Chonghuan to be at ease and handle his duties, and also praising him; and issued a proclamation to the various islands of Dongjiang, all to follow leniency.

  After the Chongzhen Emperor finished dealing with this matter, he continued to handle other memorials until his stomach was hungry and thought of having a meal. After finishing the meal, as usual, there was a period of rest time, but today the Chongzhen Emperor couldn't rest well, his mind couldn't calm down, thinking about today's affairs, it really made people feel suffocated.

  Suddenly, Wang Chengen came in to report that the news of the inquiry at Sun Chongzong's place had been sent back. Emperor Chongzhen sat up from his couch and ordered: "Report it to me quickly."

  The eunuch by the door was summoned to come in and explain, and after entering and knocking his head on the ground, he replied: "Your Majesty, Sun Chenzong sent a trusted house servant who rushed overnight to the capital, saying that Yuan Chonghuan, in the third year of Tianqi (1623), when serving as Ningqian Road, verified that Deputy General Du Yingkui of Liaodong had embezzled military pay and executed him without authorization."

  The Chongzhen Emperor listened, half a beat without speaking, and Wang Chengen let the little eunuch quietly retreat. The Chongzhen Emperor raised his head to face Wang Chengen: "Indeed, Mr. Zhong guessed it, I'm a bit worried that what Mr. Zhong said about building a nest and attacking the capital will become a reality."

  Wang Chengen is speechless now, and the response to Yuan Chonghuan has already been sent out. Moreover, it was also analyzed before that Yuan Chonghuan can't be moved!

  Before long, Emperor Chongzhen thought of something and asked Wang Chengen: "Grand Preceptor, has the matter of warning Zhu Yihai been taken care of?" Wang Chengen bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, a fast horseman has already been dispatched to deliver the order."

  The Chongzhen Emperor, having made arrangements, said no more. He actually knew that the border army was already unable to withstand a battle, and he hoped that Jianyu would not take a detour to come over. Even if Jianyu really wanted to take a detour to invade, I had already warned him in advance, hoping to hold on until the troops from various places gathered to destroy Jianyu at Zunhua, or at least repel them.

  Chongzhen Emperor still felt a bit stifled, things were not under control, and he pinned his hopes on Wang Chengen. He really couldn't let people feel at ease. So, he said to Wang Chengen: "I'll just take a walk around, you can accompany me, no need to disturb others." Wang Chengen thought that it should be fine in the palace, so he replied: "Yes!"

  At this time, Zhong Jinwei got the blackboard and chalk, which had just been delivered. Zhong Jinwei asked someone to put it in the center of the side hall, wrote a few words with chalk, thought it was okay, and could do.

  He saw Archie on one side blinking his curious eyes, and said: "Archie, what I told you yesterday about going to heaven and entering the earth is not mysterious. Let me explain it to you."

  Archie listened and nodded hastily, this is quite interesting.

  Then, Zhong Jinwei drew a plane with chalk on the blackboard and then drew a subway on the other side, although it was ugly, but still looked like one.

  After finishing the drawing, he said to Archie: "This is my heavenly tool, it's an airplane, can seat many people and fly up into the sky; this is a subway, also can seat many people, running underground, just like flying. When the plane flies up into the sky, you can see the clouds above, just like cotton candy, filling the entire sky."

  At this time, the door creaked and two guards fell in. After falling in, the two guards were very embarrassed and blamed each other for pushing him.

  Zhong Jinwei smiled and said, "You also want to hear the heavens and the earth? Then come together and listen." The two guards stopped blaming each other, looked at each other, and then looked at Zhong Jinwei.

  Zhong Jinwei beckoned to them and the two guards no longer hesitated, hurrying over. Zhong Jinwei asked: "What are your names?"

  At this time, two guards had already changed shifts with yesterday's, although they were still two of the four guards from yesterday, but Zhong Jinwei did not recognize them.

  The two guards hastily introduced themselves. The fatter one was named Hu Tao and the other was Meng Jianzhao, both from the capital city.

  "Aqi and the other two had just finished introducing themselves, when he hastily interrupted them and directly asked Zhong Jinwei: "Young master, does this flying chicken have any magical powers? How is it raised?"

  Zhong Jinwei was taken aback, "Airplane feeding?" But soon understood and explained: "It's an airplane, not a flying chicken." Then he wrote the two words "airplane" on the blackboard: "I'll tell you about the principles of airplanes." So, he began to talk incessantly about jet propulsion, was interrupted, talked about buoyancy, was interrupted again, talked about gravity...

  Chongzhen Emperor walked and walked, unknowingly arriving at Zhong Xian's place again.

  Wang Chengen saw from afar that the palace gate was open behind Emperor Chongzhen, and there were no two guards in sight. He thought to himself: "It's all over."

  The Chongzhen Emperor didn't realize until he approached that Zhong Xiang had run away and hastily entered the palace to look for him.

  After Emperor Chongzhen entered the hall, he found that Zhong Jinwei was speaking with flying saliva and occasionally drawing something on a black wooden board and writing some words with missing arms and legs. Two guards and a palace maid were surrounding him, listening intently. Emperor Chongzhen was a little curious: what is Zhong Jinwei talking about?

  He was about to go up and listen when he was discovered by Zhong Wengwei, who stood behind Emperor Chongzhen and hastily greeted him: "Your Majesty, you've arrived."

  Several listeners were initially stunned, and when they came to their senses, they were so frightened that they hastily knelt down on the ground. Especially the two guards, whose legs were still slightly trembling.

  The Chongzhen Emperor was already in a bad mood, and now that he had discovered two guards deserting their posts, he became even more enraged. Just as he was about to explode, Zhong Xue spoke up: "Your Majesty, I was bored with nothing to do, so I brought them here to listen to my lecture, and I'm just explaining how to ascend to heaven and descend into the earth."

  Chongzhen Emperor listened and said, "How can you ascend to heaven and enter the earth? What's going on?" He immediately shifted his gaze and curiously asked, "Ascend to heaven and enter the earth?" Wang Chengen quietly walked in with two guards and softly said, "Hurry up and retreat."

  The two guards quickly disappeared, and Emperor Chongzhen was now very interested in what Zhong Jinwei had to say about ascending to heaven and entering the earth. Although he saw the two guards retreat, he didn't mind and just wanted to hear what Zhong Jinwei had to say.

  So the audience turned into Chongzhen Emperor, Wang Chengen and Aqi (Aqi is now Zhong Jinwei's secretary and should be serving by his side). After listening for a long time, Chongzhen Emperor slowly understood what was going on with the heavenly ascension. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, it seemed that he himself could no longer ascend to heaven.

  At this time, Zhong Jingwei was also a bit tired of talking and asked Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, what brings you here?"

  The Chongzhen Emperor heard this and felt a bit embarrassed, saying: "It's nothing, just taking a stroll and coming to see you, sir. Is there anything I can do for you?"

  "Your Majesty, this is a blackboard and these are chalks, used for teaching. It's great for lecturing, you can promote it. Look, you can write on it, erase it, oh, forgot the eraser, you can even use your hand to wipe it clean."

  The Chongzhen Emperor was not very interested in this matter, and casually instructed Wang Chengen to remember it. After hesitating for a moment, the Chongzhen Emperor said to Zhong Jiwei: "I have just received news from Sun Chengzong, what you said is true."

  Zhong Jinwei stopped introducing the blackboard and chalk after hearing this, and another historical event was fulfilled. He thought for a moment and asked Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, how do you plan to respond? Are you prepared to take any measures?"

  The Chongzhen Emperor fell silent for a moment before speaking: "I have already ordered the garrison at Zhuozhou to be on high alert. If Jianyu really intends to attack by circling around, as long as Zhuozhou holds firm, my relief troops will arrive and annihilate Jianyu beneath the city walls. If Jianyu flees back to Liaodong, I will dispatch troops to pursue and attack him, inflicting maximum casualties. At the same time, I will order the Guanning Iron Cavalry to take advantage of Jianyu's main force being away and launch a surprise attack on his lair, striking him with a crushing blow. Even if Jianyu manages to escape, he will surely be severely wounded." The Chongzhen Emperor grew more confident as he spoke, his tone rising unconsciously.

  Zhong Jingwei initially thought it was not bad, but after thinking about it carefully, he frowned and summarized the situation to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, your plan needs to meet several conditions; first, Zhuozhou can hold out until the relief army arrives; second, Li Zicheng must not avoid Zhuozhou and attack weaker points instead; third, the relief army has the ability to engage in a field battle with Li Zicheng and defeat him. Can these conditions be met?"

  Chongzhen Emperor was stunned upon hearing this, "This...this doesn't seem enough."

  Zhong Jingwei saw that Emperor Chongzhen was not speaking, so he continued: "Your Majesty, you can arrange the ambush in advance and prepare the troops. Maybe it will work. Summon all the capable troops nationwide to come over and lie in wait. Once the bandits appear, immediately surround and kill them."

  "My troops can fight, but which army can engage in a field battle with the bandits? Besides the Ningxia Iron Cavalry, it seems... it seems like there isn't any other. The thought sent sweat beading on Emperor Chongzhen's forehead."

  Zhong Jinwei suggested on the side: "Your Majesty, I heard that the White Stick Army in Sichuan is a strong army and has been able to contend with Jian Yu's hard power in history. Can we transfer them over? Also, what about the current combat effectiveness of the Imperial Guards, can they also be used?"

  The Chongzhen Emperor fell silent for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said to Zhong Xue: "I won't hide it from you, sir. If I were to deploy troops from thousands of miles away to the capital for an uncertain situation, I wouldn't have enough money. The Imperial Guards are also unable to train due to lack of funds, and now they can't even defeat the bandits, let alone the enemy. This is also one of the reasons why I dare not punish Yuan Chonghuan."

  Zhong Jinwei was speechless, he remembered that in his previous life, many netizens had debated that the Ming Dynasty was destroyed by wealth, the country had no money, and ultimately everything went wrong, leading to its downfall.

  Zhong Jinwei thought for a moment, remembering that many crossers had made money with golden fingers, so it should be relatively easy. He then said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, I might have some methods to help you earn some money." As soon as he finished speaking, he was immediately grabbed by the shoulder by Emperor Chongzhen, who asked excitedly: "Really?"

  Zhong Jinwei nodded: "Your Majesty, it should be no problem, but to really solve your financial problems, the key is still to reform and innovate the system, however, it takes time."

  Chongzhen Emperor nodded and said, "I know, not being in charge doesn't understand the preciousness of firewood, rice, oil, and salt. I've been worried about this money issue every day since becoming the emperor. Ah, you said you want to be my Shang Yang, right?!"

  Zhong Jinwei smiled and nodded vigorously, saying: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I'll think of a way out as soon as possible, first to alleviate the urgent situation, and then for the long-term." He seemed to have spoken too confidently, so he added: "We'll discuss it together and make money together."

  "A Qi watched from head to toe, and couldn't help but admire Zhong Jinwei in his heart: "The young master is indeed clever, he came up with a solution at once, and even made the emperor lose his composure."