Both Wang Chaodong and Zhang Hong moved very quickly, and their hands and feet were neat and tidy. After the robbery, they immediately withdrew to Qinghe. The gold, silver and jewelry on the ship were quickly replaced by the escorting carriage, and the transport ships gave them away along the way.

Water bandits in Hongze Lake.

In a few days, when the army enters Hongze Lake to suppress the bandits for Chongzhen's southern hunt, these ships will become real pirate ships.

After they had basically dealt with these matters, Lu Zhenfei escorted Chongzhen's chariot into Huai'an Mansion. The vassal kings who had killed several eunuchs and guards cried when they heard the news that the holy chariot had entered the city.

Shouting to face the Holy Spirit and seek justice.

But with Zhou Shixian in front of them, their demands changed several times, and then changed from "asking Chongzhen to make the decision for them, severely punish the rebels, and recover their property" to "asking Chongzhen to punish the reckless guards on their behalf and withdraw the picket order.

We also have to help them find their lost belongings.”

Of course, Chongzhen was not stupid. Zhou Shixian pretended to be a good person in the front and no one could be offended. He also pretended to be a fool in the back. Not only did he not get angry because of it, he also immediately issued a decree to appease these penniless vassal kings.

Each person was rewarded with one hundred taels of silver to show his magnanimity.

The investigation must be carried out, and the punishment must be severe. The decree has been issued, and the emperor's attitude is very clear, but there is no specific person assigned to do this.

When Zhou Shixian took a look at it, he knew what was going on. Naturally, he truthfully reported the seized "thief capital". When Emperor Chongzhen was in the capital, he was deeply troubled by the lack of money and food and the difficulty of the army to fight. Now he saw that his

The son-in-law is so capable, and he is not greedy in private, so he naturally acquiesces to this matter - the wealth does not go to other people's fields, and it is still his own if he robs it.

Anyway, if something goes wrong in the end, the blame for Chongzhen can be thrown to Zhou Shixian, and he can also take advantage of the situation to hit the only son-in-law he can rely on now, but who he cannot fully trust.

For a person who has no strength and countless resources, no matter how reasonable his appeal is or how unreasonable his experience is, he will inevitably become a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered. Chongzhen planned to simply "drag" the matter and drag it out.

If it can't be delayed, national affairs will become tense and we will discuss it later.

The worst thing is, send them all to Fengyang to guard the imperial mausoleum of their ancestors. Chongzhen has long wanted to punish these guys who have great wealth but watch the country fall.

At noon that day, Shi Kefa finally led the Beijing camp to Huai'an to greet him. From then on, Zhou Shixian had another army of troops that could intimidate other military leaders.

In the original history, Baoying County south of Huai'an City was the place where Zhang Huangyan led his troops to the north to King Qin and cried filial piety after learning the sad news of the death of the empress.

Tianchang County, between Baoying and Nanjing, was the place where Shi Kefa cried filial piety on his way to King Qin with the capital camp north.

I don’t care about Shi Kefa’s abilities, but in terms of morality and integrity, there is nothing to say. He is also a pawn that Zhou Shixian can use to suppress the Donglin Party members and balance the forces of all parties.

Such people are the easiest to handle and the best to use.

And since Shi Kefa came, after meeting the saint, he naturally investigated the so-called "rebels" with Lu Zhenfei. He was the official in charge of Nanjing, and his deterrence to the various military leaders was much greater than that of Lu Zhenfei.

The effect is better.

Although Zhou Shixian did not plan to rely on these people as the main force to resist the Qing army in the future, in the short term, they were still needed to support the scene and maintain the long front.

In wartime, they serve as flank cover or even auxiliary troops. Therefore, you must establish your prestige now, otherwise it will be difficult to command and kill people in the future.

Of course, in addition to investigating and dealing with the rebels, Shi Kefa's more important task was to contact various factions in Nanjing and come to meet King Qin.

At the same time, he was also responsible for discussing with the ministers, drafting an imperial edict, and officially announcing to the world that Emperor Chongzhen had arrived in Nanjing, and that the Ming Dynasty was expected to revive.

"Prince-in-law, in terms of distance alone, it will take the officials in Nanjing about five days to arrive in Huai'an. I have already asked Mr. Lu Zhenfei. The materials in Huai'an are sufficient, and they will be able to do it within five days.

Prepare to let the Holy Spirit receive the officials in all their splendor." Shi Kefa bowed his waist slightly, cupped his hands and closed his sleeves.

"In addition, the minister has also sent an order to Nanjing to speed up the repairs of the Holy Emperor's palace. Within ten days, a palace will be sorted out so that the Holy Emperor and the empress can stay comfortably. Other places..."

"Don't worry about other places for the time being. The most important thing now is to reorganize the army and resist the rogue bandits and the Tatars who are about to enter the customs. There are too many places to spend money. The palace can be repaired in the future." Zhou Shixian said immediately, this is also

Chongzhen means.

"Don't worry, Prince Consort, the palace in Nanjing is well preserved. It only needs to be cleaned and repaired before you can move in immediately. Although Nanjing has been the capital for the past two hundred years, every department has been loyal to their duties and repaired and maintained the palace.

It didn’t fall behind at all.”

Emperor Chongzhen's heartfelt words had already brought tears to Shi Kefa's eyes. He was about to swear a poisonous oath to express his determination to be loyal to the death. How could he let Chongzhen live in a rotten house now?

Naturally, I tried my best to repair it as quickly as possible.

"Um."

Zhou Shixian pretended to be very satisfied and nodded, but he didn't know that the Nanjing ministers were idle every day, doing nothing, repairing the palace, which was a lucrative job of more than 100,000 taels of silver every year. Naturally, these ministers would not let it go, otherwise in two hundred years

, I don’t know how rotten those palaces are.

"The Tianjia's southern hunt is of great importance. It must be carefully arranged and carefully considered. If something goes wrong, the consequences will be disastrous and it will also cause great damage to the majesty of the Tianjia. Such a thing must not happen."

This was the result of discussions between Zhou Shixian and a group of ministers, and he had already obtained the consent of Emperor Chongzhen.

The imperial convoy fled all the way south. Although it was difficult to say how embarrassed it was under Zhou Shixian's careful arrangements, it had already reached Nanzhili and Huai'an. The military leaders from all sides had also come to accept Zhong, so there was no rush to rush there.

Nanjing, let others laugh.

You must know that not only the military generals need to show their power, but also the Donglin Party officials and nobles in Nanjing City need to be beaten hard. Those who should be hung should be hung up, and those who should be painted are painted.

The division and appeasement must also continue.

Otherwise, there will be people who are self-respecting and will not listen to orders.

In other words, both Chongzhen and Zhou Shixian were trying their best to re-establish the absolute authority of the imperial power to ensure that when the country was in danger again, party disputes and military orders were avoided.

In order to show his strength, Emperor Chongzhen listened to Zhou Shixian's suggestion and promoted Zhu Maozhen, Xue Changfu, Wang Chaodong, Zhang Hong, Wu Xingye, Li Daxi, Sun Hu, Weng Dajie and others to high positions.

Xue Laoer was directly promoted to the commander of the Jinyi Guards, although his subordinates were still about a hundred people, while Zhang Hong officially became the chief military officer of the Beijing camp and commanded the entire army of the Beijing camp.

Zhou Shixian's right-hand men have all risen to the top within their respective systems. Wang Chaodong, Wu Xingye, and Sun Hu were promoted several levels in a row and became admirals of the Cavalry Battalion, Sentinel Cavalry Battalion, and Musket Battalion respectively.

Of course, the reorganization of the army organization accompanying the official positions has not yet begun, and these official titles mixed with the old and new Beijing camp establishments are just for bluffing people.

But Zhou Shixian has fulfilled his original promise, and even far exceeded the expectations of these subordinates. After all, as long as the Ming Dynasty is still there, their official positions will come true sooner or later, instead of being the polished commander they are now.

Now the power in Zhou Shixian's hands is too complex. Nearly 20,000 trackers have been moved to Qinghe for resettlement. The original nearly 3,000 soldiers and horses, as well as the surrender of more than 2,000 Lu Jiude and Ma Huabao's troops, all need to be reorganized and trained.

Only then can we form combat effectiveness.

Now he had to make preparations for Chongzhen to shoot wild ducks in Hongze Lake and meet with hundreds of officials. He didn't have the land or the will yet, so he could only send Wang Chaodong, Zhang Huangyan, Li Daxi and others to temporarily manage the surrendering troops and trackers.

Others will stay in Huai'an to protect him.

"Don't worry, Prince Consort, with Xianguan and Lord Lu here, this matter will be done in a lively manner without losing the majesty of the Tian family." Shi Kefa vowed.

"Let everyone in the world know that the Ming Dynasty has not fallen and the emperor is still here."

"Okay, with these words from Mr. Shi, I can rest assured."

Zhou Shixian smiled and said, "Master Shi stabilized the situation in Nanjing when the country was in crisis and led hundreds of officials. Now he has led the Beijing camp to greet him. His achievements are outstanding. I am afraid that in a few days, I will be respectfully called Master Shi."

It’s the Ministry of Cabinet.”

After Shi Kefa heard this, although he was already happy in his heart, the shirk on his face did not diminish at all. He quickly bowed his head and explained: "I dare not, but I am willing to devote myself to your majesty and die for fame and fortune."

, don’t dare to covet.”

"Hahaha, Master Shi's loyalty is well known to the world. This is earned by your ability."

After Zhou Shixian said this, his expression suddenly darkened and he sighed: "In the current situation, as long as the court needs it and the Holy Emperor needs it, not to mention Mr. Shi, I, too, have to go to war when I should."

Shi Kefa looked at Zhou Shixian's appearance and admired this prince-in-law in troubled times even more. He immediately encouraged him: "Don't worry, prince-in-law. There are still 200,000 strong soldiers in the capital camp and in the various tribes in the north of the Yangtze River. As long as the traitors and Tatars dare to come, we will attack you."

Let them never come back."

Zhou Shixian looked at Shi Kefa's serious look and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. It seemed that this loyal minister really didn't know how to fight!

"Does the Nanjing camp really have 60,000 soldiers capable of fighting now?" Zhou Shixian said straight to the point. He must wake up Master Shi. When he rebuilds the military camp in the future, he will still need to deal with all forces, and the support of this important Nanjing minister is indispensable.

.

"Consort..."

Shi Kefa looked a little anxious, and he didn't know that the Nanjing camp only had seven or eight thousand soldiers and horses that could still fight, and the real elite was less than three thousand. But in order to appease Chongzhen and strengthen the opponent's determination to resist, he put the numbers in the book

I reported it to him, but now I can't change my words in front of the prince-in-law.

"Master Shi, you have to understand that my consort was able to escape from the capital with his Majesty and thousands of people, and arrived in Huai'an safely, and his team expanded to tens of thousands. It was definitely not luck."

Zhou Shixian's eyes became sharp, and he stared into Shi Kefa's eyes and said: "The situation of the Shun thieves, the situation of the Mantars, the capital camp, Liu Zeqing, and Lu Jiude, none of them can escape.
Chapter completed!