"What? Give up Suzhou?" Ma Cheng was shocked when he heard Xu Zhenye say this. He didn't expect that these intellectuals, Xiao Laojiu, would be so shameless, would actually give up Suzhou.

Xu Zhenye, regardless of the shocked Ma Cheng, nodded and said, "Yes, in addition to Suzhou, we must also give up Zhenjiang Prefecture, Songjiang Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture, Guangdezhou, and Taiping Prefecture, and Ningguo Prefecture must all give up!"

Since the Qing army retreated to Jiangbei more than a month ago, the support of the Qing army was lost in various parts of the south of the Yangtze River. Gentlemen from all over the country raised troops and eradicated the local bureaucrats who surrendered to the Qing army. Therefore, in less than a month, the Ming army reoccupied most of the Southern Zhili. In addition to the farther Chizhou Prefecture and Huizhou Prefecture, all prefectures south of the Yangtze River were recovered by the Ming army.

Now Xu Zhenye proposed to let Ma Cheng hand over the territory. Ma Cheng was very reluctant. Ma Cheng hesitated for a moment and asked: "Mr. Xu, although the Northern Barbarians are newly defeated, there are still 70,000 to 80,000 troops in Yangzhou, Jiangbei. If Zhenjiang is given away, what if the Northern Barbarians take the opportunity to cross the river?"

When Xu Zhenye heard Ma Cheng say this, he quickly advised: "Marquis, the Northern Barbarians are troubles of the elbows, and the court and the emperor are the Marquis's confidants!"

Xu Zhenye said this and had committed the crime of treason. Ma Cheng didn't know what Xu Zhenye really thought, so he could only pretend to curse: "Xu Zhenye, are you crazy? This marquis is loyal to the Ming Dynasty and the emperor, and will never do anything to sorry to the emperor!"

Xu Zhenye saw Ma Cheng pretending to behave and laughed: "Mr. Marquis, your acting skills are really higher than actors. But it's okay to deceive the pedantic ministers in the court, but I can't deceive me!"

When Ma Cheng heard Xu Zhenye say this, he asked back: "Xu Zhenye, what evidence do you have to slander this marquis?"

"Mr. Marquis, you have cultivated your personal power in the army. Those hundreds of households and thousands of households must recite words loyal to you before going to bed every day, and what does the Military Information Department do? In addition to the heavy artillery and fire guns of the Weapon Bureau, I can't tell you that I'm really blind! "

Ma Cheng was shocked after hearing this. Did he do something too much? He was discovered by the ministers in the court?

"Xu Zhenye, how did you discover the arrangement of this marquis? Who else in the court knows?"

After Ma Cheng planned to ask the Military Information Department, he ordered Xu Zhenye to be arrested, and then interrogated him very much, and who did the old guy tell this matter?

Xu Zhenye has been ups and downs in the officialdom for many years. When he saw Ma Cheng's murderous intent, he knew what Ma Cheng was thinking. However, Xu Zhenye was not afraid, but said leisurely: "Don't worry, Marquis, I have never talked about this matter with anyone! I was only a seventh-rank magistrate a year ago, and I was respected by Marquis before I was promoted to the second-rank position. But I also knew that if there were no accidents in this life, I would end up going from the second-rank!"

Xu Zhenye was right. He was a juren. He was elected as a county magistrate in the army of Duke of Wei, Xu Hongji, and now he can become a second-rank official. It is already the ancestral tomb that is smoking. If he still wants to enter the cabinet, then he must have the ancestral tomb set on fire.

Although Xu Zhenye is considered a party of Ma Shiying, he cannot rank no matter his qualifications and official positions. Not to mention Li Zhan, Zhang Jie and others, they are all Jinshis during the Wanli period. What is your origin in Xu Zhenye? And his relationship with Ma Shiying is not good either. Ruan Dacheng was Ma Shiying's benefactor and classmate back then. Where is your Xu Zhenye? He is just a small bureaucrat who relies on Ma Shiying's son.

At the same time, Xu Zhenye is already in his forties this year. If he follows the tradition of the Ming Dynasty officialdom, Xu Zhenye will be the second-ranked one. When he is 60 years old, the court will give Xu Zhenye a genuine second-rank retirement benefit, and then go home to retire, and this life will be completed.

But Xu Zhenye is not a stable person. You, Li Zhan, Zhang Jie and others, can become the Secretary of the Shang Dynasty, Tian Yang, a slander, can become the governor, and Ruan Dacheng is so bad that he has sores on his head and pus flows into the bottom of his feet. Then why can't I, Xu Zhenye, have thick eyebrows and big eyes?

With this idea, Xu Zhenye began to plan. He looked at the officials in the court and found that he had no way out at all. The only way to join the cabinet in his lifetime was to continue to rely on Ma Cheng.

When Xu Zhenye carefully observed Ma Cheng, he found that Ma Cheng had developed to this level this year. The army was full of Ma Cheng's eyeliners, and commanders at all levels were either from Guizhou or Ma Cheng's personal soldiers. At the same time, Xu Zhenye took advantage of the reason for his charge of the Weapon Bureau and checked the production of the Weapon Bureau in detail. Since the end of the Nanjing Defense War, the Weapon Bureau did not reduce or stop production, but was still working in three shifts to produce weapons.

With these records in history, Xu Zhenye quickly discovered that Ma Cheng's purpose was not simple, not to be a minister of revival. Sima Yi and Cao Cao were Ma Cheng's ultimate goal.

After discovering Ma Cheng's purpose, Xu Zhenye thought for a long time. If he reported this matter to the court, he would not say whether he could succeed. Even if he succeeded, he would not get any benefits. At most, he would be promoted to the second level and become a second-rank official. However, it would be impossible to enter the cabinet. But it would be different to help Ma Cheng. Although Ma Cheng is the son of Ma Shiying and Ma Shiying has a lot of civil servants and counselors, there are no ones who can really help Ma Cheng. If Ma Cheng really succeeds, then Xu Zhenye, as the chief adviser of Ma Cheng, would be a foregone conclusion in the entry into the cabinet. If he might as well be able to be the chief assistant, he would be like Yang Tinghe and Zhang Juzheng.

At this time, Xu Zhenye received a message from his home that his mother was dead and he was going home for three years. Xu Zhenye is 47 years old this year, and he will be fifty after returning to the court in three years. He should be ready to retire according to normal procedures. What else do you want to enter the cabinet? So Xu Zhenye thought about it at home and then made up his mind to come back to his hometown to find Ma Cheng and talk to Ma Cheng openly.

Ma Cheng slowly felt relieved when he heard Xu Zhenye say this. He likes officials like Xu Zhenye the most. It is easy to control with pursuit. Don’t you want to be a Mingchen? OK! Follow me and let you be the chief assistant when I succeed!

After Ma Cheng made up his mind, he held Xu Zhenye's hand and cried bitterly: "Mr. Xu, this marquis got Mr. Xu as Liu Xuande got Zhuge Liang!"

Xu Zhenye knew that Ma Cheng was pretending, but intellectuals only took this trick. Xu Zhenye also said excitedly: "Marquis Zhenguo, although Xu is not as famous as those famous scholars, Xu will definitely devote his entire work to Marquis Zhenguo until his death!"

Ma Cheng was also very moved when he heard Xu Zhenye say this. He held Xu Zhenye's hand and said, "Please rest assured Mr. Xu. As long as Ma Cheng's major event is successful, Mr. Xu will be the leader of Ma Cheng's assistant!"

Xu Zhenye was waiting for Ma Cheng's words, so he quickly got up and knelt down on his knees and said to him. Of course, Ma Cheng didn't know that his impulsive words would cause great trouble in the court in the future.

After the two sat down again, Ma Cheng asked

: "Mr. Xu, you just said that you gave up Suzhou and other places? Why is that?"

Xu Zhenye heard Ma Cheng's tone change, and changed from Lord Xu to Mr. Xu, and even called you. Xu Zhenye said with satisfaction: "Lord, you only see that the northern empires are threatening, but the most threatening to the emperor is not the northern empires in the north, but the King of Lu and King Lu who are close to each other! If the lord wants to regain military power as soon as possible, only by letting the emperor feel that his throne is threatened, so that the emperor can let the lord come out again!"

Xu Zhenye is different from Ma Cheng. Ma Cheng comes from later generations and knows that the Qing Dynasty finally became a climate. It was because of its inability to unite within itself that the Qing Dynasty was picked by the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, after defeating the Qing army, Ma Cheng strongly advocated going north to occupy Yangzhou and regarded the Qing Dynasty as the main opponent of the war.

But Xu Zhenye is different. Xu Zhenye is an intellectual of this era. He knows that the most terrible enemy does not come from outside, but people around him. Emperor Zhu Lunkui was originally very distant from his blood. Now Zhu Chang, who is closer to his blood, is the biggest threat to Zhu Lunkui. In order to deal with the Qing Dynasty, Ma Cheng was preparing to throw all the main forces to the battlefield in Jiangbei. Zhu Lunkui was naturally not satisfied, so he gave Ma Cheng a holiday and asked him to go home to cultivate.

After listening to Xu Zhenye's analysis, Ma Cheng knew where he was wrong. Ma Cheng asked: "Where does it according to Mr. Xu's wishes? Will the emperor ask the boy to lead the troops?"

Xu Zhenye chased his beard and said, "This is not enough. He still has to act like he can't beat Lu Wang, so Xu asked his lord to give up other prefectures, so that the emperor can feel the pressure!"

Ma Cheng nodded repeatedly and asked again: "What should we do next after the emperor handed over the power of the emperor to the boy?"

"This is simple, but the lord must make the right to make a decision at the moment!"

In the Ming Dynasty, the power to make decisions in the last minute was generally the right to supervise the army. For example, when Ma Shiying was in Fengyang, he had the right to make decisions in the last minute. In the seven prefectures of Jiangbei and Henan Province in the southern Zhili, Ma Shiying, an official below the fifth rank, could be appointed freely.

However, this right has always been exclusive to civil servants, and military generals do not have this right. Even as a marquis of Guiyang and guarding the Nandu, Ma Cheng did not have the right to make decisions in the face of the opportunity during the Battle of Nanjing. Therefore, Ma Cheng had to deal with those nobles and went to the palace to ask the emperor for instructions. Only with the imperial edict could he deal with those nobles.

If Ma Cheng had the right to make decisions on the spot and had the military power in hand, he could appoint local officials as he wanted, then Ma Cheng would have become a warlord, a warlord who was even more domineering than the four towns in Jiangbei back then.

Ma Cheng has been upset about future development these days. Now, he has stood up happily in the cabin to draw circles when he heard the plan given by Xu Zhenye. Ma Cheng said happily: "Mr. Xu is such a talent. Unfortunately, the boy is not strong enough now and cannot seize love for Mr. Xu! But please rest assured. When the boy has the strength, he will definitely invite Mr. Xu back as soon as possible and give advice to the boy!"

Xu Zhenye was waiting for this sentence. With this sentence, even if Xu Zhenye left Ma Cheng, his first contribution in the future will definitely be Xu Zhenye's.

Xu Zhenye stood up and said, "Lord, Xu has done something, Xu has said goodbye!"
Chapter completed!