weaving

Chapter 87
The 11th year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty, October 22nd, afternoon.

Beijing, the Forbidden City, within the East Nuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Chongzhen took a sip of tea before he said unhurriedly, "You are Zhang Cheng from Xuanzhen, right?"

Zhang Cheng didn't dare to get up, he still lay down on the ground, and replied loudly: "Back to the emperor, Zhang Cheng will be the last general."

The voice just now came again: "Zhang Cheng, get up and answer."

Zhang Cheng fell on the ground, and replied in a very respectful tone: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

After thanking him, he really wanted to stand up all at once, but the new suit of armor was pressing on his body, making it very difficult for him to stand up for a while. Seeing this, Emperor Chongzhen gently waved to Wang Dehua who was standing beside him. With a wave of his hand, Wang Dehua hurriedly greeted the two young eunuchs, who came to help Zhang Cheng up.

He stood up, glanced secretly at the situation in the warm pavilion, and saw a young man in a bright yellow dragon robe, sitting on a coiled dragon throne behind the imperial case, and there were eunuchs standing on both sides of the throne.

It turned out that Emperor Chongzhen had taken off his crimson gauze robe and put on a dragon robe, and was sitting on the dragon chair behind the imperial case, observing Zhang Cheng.

In the sneak glance just now, he also saw Chongzhen's face, and he couldn't help being secretly surprised.

He saw that Emperor Chongzhen, who was still young, had gray temples at this time.

Zhang Cheng vaguely remembered that Chongzhen ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor at the age of 17, and he should be less than 30 years old now, but he was so old unexpectedly.

In particular, although his face was full of red light, there was a tiredness emanating from his heart in his expression, he was just trying to support himself.

I can't help thinking, is it really like the historical records? Although Chongzhen is not a qualified Ming emperor, he did not bring the Ming Empire out of the decline, and he was not the master of ZTE. toward dry.

Even if he is not a wise king, he must be regarded as a hardworking king, a king who loves to make troubles, and a king who is eager for success!
Chongzhen was also looking at Zhang Cheng carefully, and he said: "Zhang Cheng, you are so loyal and brave. You have fought fiercely against the captive cavalry and even captured Jialazhangjing. It is really Zhang Ming's military might. The slaves dare not underestimate me. , I am very relieved."

Zhang Cheng bowed and replied: "This is all thanks to the great blessings of the sage, and the governors and ministers have taught you dutifully. The last general only knows to be loyal to the emperor and serve the country, fight fiercely against the Tartars, and protect the capital. It is really his duty. How dare Zhang Cheng speak of his merits .”

Hearing what Zhang Cheng said, Emperor Chongzhen was very satisfied.

He really didn't expect that Zhang Cheng was born in a military family, and now he is only a thousand households, but he is so polite and sensible.

Chongzhen looked at Zhang Cheng carefully, and then said to him: "This is Mr. Yang from the Cabinet Department, the new Governor of Xuanda, Chen Xinjia, you haven't met him yet, right?"

Zhang Cheng hastily turned around and bowed to pay homage: "The last general, Zhang Cheng, pays homage to Elder Yang Ge, Chen Duchen."

Only then did he take a closer look at the two of them. The cabinet minister Yang Sichang was wearing a bright red python robe, a beam crown on his head, a jade belt around his waist, a jet-black beard, eyes full of energy, and a shrewd and capable expression.

Chen Xinjia, the governor of Xuanda, was a little more refined, but his facial features were correct, and his official appearance and behavior were outstanding.

The cabinet minister Yang Sichang sat on the slum, waved his hands lightly, and said: "Zhang Cheng, you know that you are loyal to the king, and you are brave enough to fight against the cavalry. You are indeed a leader in the army. I hope you will continue to be brave and make new achievements. Live up to the grace of the Holy Grace.”

Before Zhang Cheng could answer, Emperor Chongzhen said again: "Chen Aiqing owes much to you for having such a loyal and brave man in Xuanzhen."

What Chongzhen said was correct. Chen Xinjia was the former governor of Xuanzhen, and Zhang Cheng could indeed be regarded as a general under his rule.

Seeing the emperor's praise of Zhang Cheng so much, and even being rewarded for it, Chen Xinjia was also happy in his heart, and he couldn't help but feel a little more love in the eyes of Zhang Cheng.

He hurriedly replied: "To do one's duty for the country is actually the duty of a subject. How dare you be praised by the emperor. The only thing to do is to be loyal and diligent in the king's work to repay the grace of the emperor."

Emperor Chongzhen was in high spirits today, nodded in satisfaction, and continued, "Zhang Cheng, tell me how you captured Najia Lazhangjing."

Zhang Cheng then shared the details of the Battle of Stone Bridge with the emperor. Emperor Chongzhen was really interested, and he listened very carefully, interrupting Zhang Cheng from time to time to ask what he was asking.

Especially when Zhang Cheng talked about how to capture Jia Lazhangjing, Emperor Chongzhen listened to it so much that he slapped the imperial case with his palm, which startled Yang Sichang and Chen Xinjia.

Zhang Cheng had finished speaking, but Chongzhen was still unsatisfied. The excitement of presenting prisoners at the Meridian Gate had not faded away, and listening to Zhang Cheng's narration of such a thrilling battle process pushed Chongzhen to the peak of excitement.

He said happily: "Mr. Yang, you and the Ministry of War have a quick discussion on awarding rewards. You should respect Zhang Cheng, set it as a model, and encourage all generals to follow suit."

After finishing speaking, as if his intentions were still unfinished, Chongzhen got up and walked around the Nuan Pavilion for a few times. After standing still, he said, "I hope that Zhang Cheng can be a guerrilla, and he will be awarded honorary honors. You will discuss with the Ministry of War."

Yang Sichang hurriedly got up to accept the order, he felt that it was really inappropriate to grant Zhang Cheng the post of guerrilla army now that the Tartars were invading, but the emperor was in a state of excitement at this time, so he couldn't explain it, so he had to obey.

Zhang Cheng was really excited, he quickly knelt down and kowtowed and said: "The emperor loves you so much, even if Zhang Cheng is heartbroken, it is not enough to repay His Majesty's kindness."

Emperor Chongzhen was in a very happy mood today, and he said again: "Mr. Yang, I intend to hold a banquet in the imperial garden, thinking that Zhang Cheng is celebrating his achievements, and you and Chen Xinjia should join together."

This is a rare honor, the emperor's special favor, Zhang Cheng knelt on the ground, before he got up, he kowtowed again and again in a hurry, and said in a choked tone: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

It was the first time for Zhang Cheng to meet the king. This generation of kings who could be the lord of hundreds of millions of people had his own majesty, which made him at a loss for a while, and he didn't expect that there would be a banquet, so he was very excited.

The same was true for Chen Xinjia, he hurriedly knelt down to thank him, but Yang Sichang was calmer, although he was also thanking him, but he often accompanied the king, and he must have given banquets more than once, so he was much calmer.

…………

At the moment, Emperor Chongzhen was driving in Xiyuan Cuihua Garden. While walking, he was talking softly with his cabinet minister Yang Sichang, while Zhang Cheng respectfully followed behind Chen Xinjia.

Like Zhang Cheng, Chen Xinjia just followed silently, except for Emperor Chongzhen's occasional question or two, he couldn't intervene at all.

Emperor Chongzhen didn't walk fast, suddenly a gust of cold wind blew, and Chongzhen's dragon robe was blown up in the wind, Zhang Cheng seemed to vaguely see the inner lining of Emperor Chongzhen's dragon robe, there seemed to be a patch.

Zhang Cheng has also read some historical materials before. According to records, Emperor Chongzhen's clothes were worn out on weekdays, and he let Empress Zhou sew and mend them by herself.
Especially in the last few years of the Ming Dynasty, in order to raise military pay, he even asked the inner eunuch to pawn off the silver chamber pot he used.

Such a person, think about the ending of Emperor Chongzhen in history, and think about Li Zicheng who stole tens of millions of taels of silver from rich officials and rich households in the capital after he entered Beijing. Silver, also in one hundred thousand, two hundred thousand taels.

Zhang Cheng sighed deeply in his heart, what a pity!

Soon, they arrived at the Huayuan Pavilion in Cuihua Garden, where Emperor Chongzhen gave Zhang Cheng and the other three people food and drink.

It's just the usual four side dishes, a bowl of brown rice, and a pot of wine.

The dishes are all vegetarian, and none of them are meat, and it's the same when you look at the royal case on Chongzhen's side.

(End of this chapter)