The Rise of Ming Dynasty 1646

Chapter 156 Turning Point
A sergeant with a capable appearance walked quickly to the home of the magistrate of Yongfu County, where the queen and the prince were taking a break, when Su Guansheng came out from the inside, he quickly turned sideways and bowed his head in salute.

When he entered the post house, he went to look for Pang Tianshou, only whispered something in the latter's ear, and then left.

Pang Tianshou went into the inner room again and reported to Empress Zeng what the sergeant had just said, "The servants who were sent to Datian according to the Queen's order have returned. It is true that none of the bandits were captured by the Suge Department. In addition, the servants also questioned in the army. However, no one saw the Su Ge Department on the battlefield on the day Datian met Fu."

"According to you?"

Pang Tianshou said in a low voice: "Master Su may have escaped in fear of the enemy that day..."

Empress Zeng frowned when she heard the words, and remembered that Su Guansheng had always claimed to be a hero in saving the crisis in recent days, and just now he even went to recommend Minister Gu Ming, she couldn't help shaking her head slightly, "What a scholar Su."

Pang Tianshou continued: "My servant also heard from Huang Ge's department that King Chen once mentioned that Mr. Su was cowardly fighting in Fuzhou, which led to the defeat of the brigade."

Empress Zeng sighed softly, "It's still the wise and wise sage of the late emperor, who was not selected early in the morning. I almost..."

"There are some things that slaves shouldn't say." Pang Tianshou lowered his head and hesitated, and said again, "Although Mr. Su... is not very forthright, but he is a scholar of the Dongge University and a servant of the Ministry of Rites. Hold this person."

"Of course I can save it."

……

"What?! Fleeing out of fear of the enemy? The late emperor didn't choose me early in the morning? Still need to win over?" Su Guansheng's forehead was covered with cold sweat, he grabbed Liang Chaozhong's shirt, and asked anxiously, "Where did you hear the news? Is it reliable?"

This Liang Chaozhong is Su Guansheng's old friend in Guangdong, this time he came to Fujian as his confidant and aide.

"As my lord ordered, I sent the thousand-year-old ginseng to the empress to the county magistrate's home," Liang Chaozhong said, "the eunuch who led the way forgot to take the charcoal, and asked me to wait for him at the same place. It happened that the wing room used as the imperial pharmacy was next to it." On the other side, it sounded like the voice of Bai Daqi next to the queen in the room, so I listened carefully.

"That Bai Daqi was decocting medicine with a maid, and he mentioned that Pang Tianshou had a conversation with the queen in the morning, and he joked a lot with the lord."

It was only because that place was where the queen stayed temporarily, the courtyard was small, and the imperial guards were inexperienced, so Liang Chaozhong had the opportunity to listen to the corner.

Hearing this, Su Guansheng loosened his clothes slowly, and slumped down on the chair. Originally he was complacent in the morning, thinking that Minister Gu Ming would not be able to escape to have his own seat, but unexpectedly, after only half a day, the city was already in the mirror.

He suddenly understood why the queen just kept praising her in the morning, and even said that such a pillar of the country would be appointed as the Minister of Gu Ming, but she never agreed to use him. It turned out that she had never fully trusted him.

"Forget it," Su Guansheng sighed, and waved his hand to signal Liang Chaozhong to leave, "Minister Gu Ming? Oh, it seems that I have no fate with a certain..."

"My lord," Liang Chaozhong still stood on the spot, "I'm afraid that the late emperor has already made a conclusion about this Minister of Gu Ming, and it will be difficult for you to fight for it no matter how much you fight for it."

Su Guansheng thought of what he said just now that the empress had said, "The first emperor didn't choose him early in the morning", and then nodded, "What Wei Young said is reasonable. If I had known this, I should have saved this effort."

"No, my lord's energy is not in vain."

"Oh?"

"After all, my lord has figured out that it is difficult to have a chance in the queen."

Su Guansheng smiled wryly and said: "So what, the crown prince will inherit the throne, if there is no chance here, where else can he go?" He suddenly jumped up, pointed at Liang Chaozhong and said angrily, "You want to persuade me to surrender?! I, Su, have always been a bright minister, loyal and unwavering, even if my official career is cut off, I will never act like serving a thief to seek glory!"

"Your Excellency misunderstood." Liang Chaozhong said hastily, "The meaning of this subordinate is not to surrender. Actually, Your Excellency still has another option."

"Another way?"

"Have you forgotten, my lord, that the Tianxing Mansion still has the Tang King overseeing the country at this time?"

"King Tang?"

Su Guansheng seemed to have caught something, and sat back on the chair again, his mind racing.In the current situation, although the crown prince has a righteous reputation, he is still young and has no foundation in the court.Right now, Ming Dynasty is under the watchful eye of a powerful enemy, and the king of Tang is the younger brother of the first emperor. He was in his prime and supervised the country for a long time, so maybe he can't go further.

He hesitated: "This, is it too risky?"

"My lord, if you can keep the king of Tang on the throne, you will be a dragon. At that time, what kind of minister will you be worth?" Seeing that Su Guansheng still had concerns, he continued, "My lord is now the empress. I don't like it, if you just return to Tianxing Mansion like this, and the position is stable after the crown prince succeeds, I'm afraid your lord will not even be able to hold the current position..."

Su Guansheng nodded silently. Even though he was still a cabinet scholar after the new emperor ascended the throne, the center of power at that time had shifted to Minister Gu Ming.

And if he supports the king of Tang, it is not only a contribution from the dragon, but also a great contribution from the first.Taking a step back, even if King Tang had no plans to compete for the throne, his situation would not be worse than it is now.

He said in a deep voice, "It's time to try!"

The next day, Su Guansheng thought that Tianxing Mansion had no troops to guard it, fearing that the place would be in trouble, he asked himself to rush back to Tianxing Mansion to set up city defenses.Empress Zeng saw that she was close to Tianxing Mansion, and she thought what she said was reasonable, so she granted her request and asked him to lead the Xinwei army first.

But she didn't know that this mistake of her own thought caused a turmoil in the Ming court.

……

Wang Yinghua, the left servant of the Ministry of Rites, held the newly issued mansion newspaper and trotted all the way, before entering the study, he said loudly: "Your Highness, the main force of Boluo has left Jianning, and the forward has arrived in Nanping."

Hearing the words, Zhu Yu'ao stood up, said "Excuse me", then took the mansion newspaper and read it carefully, his voice trembling slightly, "Forty thousand, forty thousand captives are coming..."

He walked anxiously around the room twice with his hands behind his back, and threw the mansion newspaper heavily on the desk, "Your driver has arrived in Ganzhou, so it's time to head west! However, so far, the Holy Majesty has not sent any orders." , is this asking me to wait to die... trapped in an isolated city?"

The mansion newspaper was thrown violently, knocking down a mountain of memorials, and Zhu Yu'ao knew that those were the resignations submitted by officials of Tianxing Mansion.As the captive army approached, the entire Tianxing Mansion was in turmoil, and people's hearts were fluctuating. Officials at all levels were all focused on leaving the capital of Ming Dynasty.

Wang Yinghua cupped his hands cautiously at the side and said: "Your Highness, there is no military defense in the city now, for His Highness's safety, whether it is appropriate to leave Tianxing Mansion temporarily."

Zhu Yu'ao frowned and said: "This king is ordered to supervise the country, and now he has left without the consent of the Holy Majesty. There will be no leader in the court, I'm afraid..."

Wang Yinghua said: "It is for the stability of the court that His Highness should leave the dangerous place."

He thought for a while, then took a few steps closer, bowed his head and said, "Since the sage left Nanping, there has been no news. If so... If there is any other situation, His Highness should protect the body of ten thousand gold, and use it to support the country." .”

(End of this chapter)