It was very quiet inside the side hall. The emperor was looking down at the memorial on the imperial case. Yang Sichang, who followed the Zhongguan into the side hall, did not dare to neglect and quickly knelt down respectfully.

"Prince Shaobao, Grand Scholar of Wenhua Palace, and Minister of War Yang Sichang, pay homage to the Emperor."

Yang Sichang's voice was not loud, a bit deep, but still seemed abrupt in the quiet side hall.

"Wen Ruo is here. I will talk to you after reading this memorial. Just wait."

After Zhu Youjian finished speaking, he lowered his head and continued to read the memorial in his hand.

As the emperor, Zhu Youjian's diligence was in sharp contrast to the former emperor Zhu Youxiao. Zhu Youjian was a workaholic. He spent most of his time handling government affairs every day and worrying about large and small matters in the court.

, but I don’t know what’s going on. There are more and more things going on in the court. Even if Zhu Youjian is busy from morning to night, he can’t handle all the government affairs.

The late emperor Zhu Youxiao was different. He liked to do carpentry and rarely read memorials. Most matters in the court were handled by the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch Bingbi, the eunuch, and Zhu Youxiao particularly trusted Wei Zhongxian, which led to

Those ministers in the court who claimed to be Qingliu denounced Wei Zhongxian as an eunuch and resolutely fought against the eunuch.

Yang Sichang knew the emperor's habits. He lowered his head silently and even breathed cautiously, for fear of disturbing the emperor.

Yang Sichang didn't know that when he was standing politely with his head lowered, Zhu Youjian, who was sitting on the imperial chariot, would occasionally look at him out of the corner of his eye.

When a superior person faces a subordinate person, silence is the best weapon. If he does not speak for a long time, the subordinate person will feel uncomfortable and oppressed. The weaker momentum will not disappear for a long time.

Without a trace.

What's more, in front of the emperor, there are probably only a few people who can endure such silence.

Yang Sichang was not much better. In the silent environment, when he stood for a little longer, sweat began to appear on his forehead and his body trembled slightly.

Finally, Zhu Youjian put down the memorial in his hand and spoke with a smile.

"Wen Ruo, I have been a little busy during this period and have not had time to talk to you more. I have finally settled some things in the past two days, so I thought of asking you to come to the side hall so that you and I can talk."

Situations like this often occurred in the past. Although Yang Sichang behaved respectfully, he was still able to let go and have something to say, but today's situation is different.

Yang Sichang, who was a little frightened, started talking about the memorial.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty. I failed to report Lord Wu Zongrui's memorial and Dorgon's letter to the Emperor in time. This is all my fault. Please punish me..."

Zhu Youjian still had a smile on his face and waved his hand.

"We are weak. I know all about the memorial and the letter. These are all things in the past. I won't blame you. Don't mention it either. I don't want you to think about these things every day. You can't be too nervous.

A good agent in government affairs can't share my worries, don't you think so?"

The sweat on his forehead fell to the ground and disappeared silently.

Zhu Youjian's words made Yang Sichang even more nervous. He knew the emperor too well.

"Your Majesty, I will definitely work hard to share your worries for Your Majesty."

"That's right. I heard that the bandits are causing trouble again, and their momentum is getting bigger and bigger. I am weak. You are the Minister of the Ministry of War. You once gave me good suggestions and almost wiped out the bandits. If it weren't for the Tatars of the Later Jin Dynasty.

During the Guan rebellion, the bandits had been wiped out long ago. Now that the Jin Tatars have fled in a hurry, the court can concentrate its efforts on wiping out the bandits. I want to hear your suggestions..."

Yang Sichang felt dizzy. He had no troops and no food, and the Ministry of Revenue could not provide anything. Northern Zhili and Shanxi were plundered by the Tatars of the Later Jin Dynasty. Shaanxi and Henan were also hit by famine, and the people were on the verge of death.

He was struggling and urgently needed relief from the court. Under such circumstances, how to exterminate the bandits? Yang Sichang was not a god, and it was difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice.

"Your Majesty, I have also just received a report from Mr. Xiong Wencan, the governor of the five provinces, saying that in Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Huguang and other places, the rogue bandits have once again made trouble, and their momentum is getting bigger and bigger. Because the troops are tight, Mr. Xiong implores the imperial court to allocate military pay and food for use.

To exterminate the rogue bandits, I consulted the transfer department, but it was temporarily unable to allocate money and food, so I thought that I would order the governors of the four provinces to stick to the cities and fortresses to consolidate their own strength, and then find a way to completely annihilate the rogue bandits."

Yang Sichang's words are like he didn't say anything.

Zhu Youjian was not angry and remained calm.

"Wen Weixian, you know that the treasury can't come up with money and food for a while, but if you wait until the treasury is full before annihilating the bandits, anyone can come up with such a strategy."

The atmosphere became a little tense, and more drops of sweat appeared on Yang Sichang's forehead.

Everyone knows that troops and horses should go ahead with food and grass before they move. The emperor should know that when Hong Chengchou led the troops to exterminate the bandits, the emperor specially allocated hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to ensure expenses.

Yang Sichang didn't understand why the emperor said this.

Seeing that Yang Sichang did not speak, Zhu Youjian picked up a memorial from the table.

"Wen Ruo, this is a memorial written by Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi. I think it's pretty good. Please take a look."

Yang Sichang's heart skipped a beat. There was a real feud between him and Sun Chuanting. Sun Chuanting had assisted Xiong Wencan in exterminating the bandits and had made some contributions to the establishment. However, Sun Chuanting complained in front of Xiong Wencan several times, saying that some adults in the court did not know.

The actual situation of suppressing rogue bandits is that he likes to issue many orders, so that the following people don't know what to do at all.

Of course Yang Sichang knew Sun Chuanting's complaints.

Sun Chuanting also liked to write secret notes to the emperor, analyze the situation of the northern bandits, make suggestions, and even talked about many matters at the Yansui Border Pass. The reason was that the Yansui Border Gate was close to Shaanxi. If there were problems at the Yansui Border Gate, Shaanxi would also have to deal with it.

Suffer disaster.

Sun Chuanting's suggestions made Yang Sichang angry. This clearly implied that he, the Minister of War, was giving blind orders and did not know the actual situation below. If the emperor believed these words, he should not think about continuing to be a cabinet minister and Minister of War.

After the Jin Tatars entered the customs, Yang Sichang mobilized the army under Xiong Wencan to go to the capital for reinforcements. Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, followed him to the capital. By that time, Xiong Wencan had already discovered some clues and planned to reconcile the relationship between Yang Sichang and Sun Chuanting. After all, Sun Chuanting was also the Ming Dynasty.

It is a pity that Sun Chuanting, a powerful general of the imperial court, actually came into contact with Lu Xiangsheng. After Lu Xiangsheng met with the emperor, he agreed to fight against the Tatars of the Later Jin Dynasty with all his strength and could never negotiate peace with the Tatars of the Later Jin Dynasty.

This made Xiong Wencan's painstaking efforts to ease the relationship go to waste.

After that, Yang Sichang mobilized all the so-called Qin soldiers in Shaanxi to the front line, categorically rejected Sun Chuanting's request that the Qin soldiers should return to Shaanxi to exterminate the bandits and should not stay in the capital, and read a copy of Sun Chuanting's book with the emperor.

The subsequent result was very clear. In the Battle of Tongzhou, the Qin army was almost wiped out.

The feud between the two has been completely forged. Regardless of position or power, Sun Chuanting is no match for Yang Sichang. If Yang Sichang is determined, he can even make Sun Chuanting lose all his official positions.

If it weren't for Xiong Wencan's painstaking persuasion, Yang Sichang would really not let Sun Chuanting go.

When Sun Chuanting returned to Shaanxi, he almost became the commander-in-chief. Xiong Wencan knew about the conflict between Yang Sichang and Sun Chuanting. After returning to Henan, he also paid attention to it and somewhat alienated Sun Chuanting.

The conflict between Yang Sichang and Sun Chuanting directly affected the battle to exterminate the bandits. Xiong Wencan, who returned to Henan, suffered defeat in several small-scale battles.

Sun Chuanting is indeed very capable, he fights bravely, and is brave and resourceful. It can be said that he is no weaker than Lu Xiangsheng. However, Sun Chuanting has one biggest problem, that is, he cannot control his mouth. To put it nicely, he is straightforward, but to say it is not.

To put it more nicely, it means working hard without complaining. You always feel that your abilities are good, you have made a lot of contributions, and you have made a lot of achievements. If you are treated even slightly unfairly, you will complain.

No one warned Sun Chuanting that this problem of his would bring disaster.

...

When receiving the memorial, Yang Sichang felt much calmer.

Sun Chuanting's memorial was written in great detail. Its core meaning is that the imperial court gave the governor the power to recruit sergeants, farm fields, and raise money and grain. While feeding the army, he also wiped out bandits.

This is no longer "news". Sun Chuanting became the governor of Shaanxi and the Qin soldiers formed had this trend. The Qin soldiers were recruited from the Three Qin areas. In the battle to exterminate the main force of the rogue bandits, the Qin soldiers played a decisive role.

.

In his heart, Yang Sichang agreed with this approach, which could reduce the burden on the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Household Affairs. Everyone would not have to worry about allocating money and food, nor would they worry about the army harassing the place.

However, Sun Chuanting suggested that the memorial could be submitted to the Ministry of War and presented to the emperor in a secret form. What does this mean? Is it because he is afraid that others will swallow up the credit?

Yang Sichang made another serious note about Sun Chuanting in his heart.

Yang Sichang already understood the emperor's thoughts.

"Your Majesty, all ministers are stupid and have not thought of such a good way to deal with it. The local governor recruits sergeants, so he can be familiar with the sergeants under his command, which is convenient for commanding operations. The local governor raises his own food and grass, which can reduce the burden on the court. I think Lord Sun's proposal is very good.

Okay, I suggest that Mr. Sun assist Mr. Xiong Wencan, the governor of the five provinces, to take charge of exterminating the bandits."

Zhu Youjian was silent again and looked at Yang Sichang.

Yang Sichang raised his head just now and lowered it again.

A smile appeared on Zhu Youjian's face.

"Okay, Wen Ruo said it well. I think so too. I think the cabinet can draft an imperial edict. Wen Ruo, you go discuss it with Liu Aiqing and the cabinet can draft the edict as soon as possible."

...

After walking out of the side hall, Yang Sichang looked at the sky and let out a gentle breath.
Chapter completed!