Kunming, Grand Secretary Guo Zhiqi was so angry that he wanted to kill the two traitors with a knife.●⌒,.

After Guo Zhiqi returned to Kunming from Guangdong at the risk of his life, he recovered Guangzhou. The general of Manchu, Hahamu, was wiped out. The King of Pingnan of Qing Dynasty, Shang Kexi, together with his son Shang Zhixin, was killed. The King of Jingnan, Geng Jimao, was reported to Yongli one by one. He asked Geng Jimao to be named King Guiyi according to the system, and to be the prince of Zhou Shixiang of Jin, to control the army in Guangdong, and to promote troops to enter the King of Guangxi.

Unexpectedly, the chief assistant Ma Jixiang tried his best to stop this because Zhou Shixiang had never bribed him and had never given any tribute to the court. He said to Yongli: "The title of the prince's country should not be easily granted. Jin and Shu returned to Yunnan and Guizhou in the past, and then obtained the title of the king with the merit of serving the king. Now the prime minister stopped resting in Guangdong Province. If he rewarded the prince, what should he reward him in the future?"

The great contributions made by Zhou Shixiang were no longer inferior to the two kings of Jin and Shu. With the strength of one army, he beheaded one king and another king, and more than 2,000 soldiers under the generals of Manzhou, killed hundreds of officials under the governor, and captured countless officials under the generals. He actually recovered a provincial meeting. This contribution was much greater than the two famous kings of Jin that year. In terms of merit, the Prince of Jin was a matter of course, but Yongli did not want to be named Zhou Shixiang as the prince, because he really couldn't bear to be named the king, but Guo Zhiqi could not understand his emperor's heart. He tried his best to ask for the title of Zhou Xiucai, and what he said was reasonable. What's more important is that if Guo Zhiqi said, Zhou Shixiang could immediately reorganize his troops into Guangxi and Yunnan to serve the king, which undoubtedly added a guarantee of the safety of the court.

Since Sun Kewang surrendered to the Qing Dynasty and the Qing army invaded Guizhou in large numbers, Yongli was worried day and night that the Qing army would suddenly come to Kunming City one day. Therefore, his desire for the army to serve the king was like a long drought and awaiting rain. He hoped that the Ming army from all over the country would come to Yunnan to serve the king and ensure that the emperor had nothing to do. However, the army of the army to serve the prince had to be given a title, which made Yongli very unhappy. If everyone came to serve the king and everyone wanted the title of the prince, wouldn't this prince be too worthless?

On the one hand, he was reluctant to give up the title of the prince, but on the other hand, he wanted to let others come to serve the king. The key is that the contributions he has made now are enough to be named Prince, so in the face of Guo Zhiqi's reassurance, Yongli was really hesitant. He almost couldn't help but say that he would be named. When he was in a dilemma, Ma Jixiang's words made Yongli put away any idea of ​​being named Prince. Yes, Zhou Shixiang is still young and has only been restored to Guangzhou, so I want to be named Prince. If he regained a province or two in the future, what would I give him? Will he teach the regent like a Manzhou Huyi? He is so powerful that he shocked the Lord. Sun Kewang's lesson from this king is not far away.

"I cannot do anything about the title of a prince by a scholar."

"The Lord thinks twice!"

Seeing that the emperor refused to grant Zhou Shixiang the title of Prince after hearing Ma Jixiang's words, Guo Zhiqi was very anxious and was about to persuade him again, but he did not expect that Wang Kun, the chief of the Sili, came up and slandered him and said, "The chief of the scholar suddenly achieved great achievements, was arrogant and arrogant. On that day, Fu Xiangshan relied on his merits to take the title of the court. Therefore, the old slave thought that the prince's affairs should be slowed down, so he avoided the court's responsibility to avoid the court's fear of him, or begged him, but he lost his duty as a minister."

Wang Kun originally didn't want to sing a counter-topic with Guo Zhiqi. Although he was incompetent and feared death, he also knew that the rise of a strong army in Guangdong would have many benefits for the Ming Dynasty. If a prince was granted, he would be granted. As long as Zhou Shixiang could lead his army to serve the king, he would go. But Ma Jixiang couldn't help but wink at him and signaled that he also opposed the matter. Nianma's assistant also made a lot of money for himself, and both inside and outside knew that he and Ma Jixiang were accomplices, so Wang Kun was short of people and was soft-hearted, so he had to say it against his will.

Wang Kun said something more ruthless than Ma Jixiang. He didn't say that Zhou Shi had a stalemate and wanted an official in the court, but he became even more angry when he said that Yongli was.

Last time he returned to Guangdong to report his victory, Yongli was overjoyed and wanted to be appointed as the Duke of Zhou Shixiang, but the result was that he was reduced to two levels and was only given Xingping Bo. This matter was originally indifferent. Yongli felt a little guilty after thinking about it, and felt that he still owed some money to Zhou Shixiang. After all, he made great contributions to the court in Guangdong and gave only an earl, which made him too stingy as an emperor.

But Yongli was a stubborn person by nature, and he could not even drag down a hundred cows after he had decided. A stubborn person is actually not a bad thing, but the bad thing is that the thoughts that Yongli always thinks are very unfavorable to the country and himself, and is the most inferior choice. He abandoned the city several times before the Qing army arrived. He let those loyal ministers give advice and dissuasion, Yongli was unwilling to listen, and finally ended up becoming a puppet of Sun Kewang. Yongli never admitted his fault, at least he never told his fault in public in front of his ministers that he was wrong as an emperor. Even if he felt guilty, he would not be able to let others mention it. What did the minister do wrong? He could remember it for a long time until he forgot or deliberately did not think about it. But if someone mentioned it, it would happen again in an instant.

Wang Kun served Yongli when he was in the residence of King Gui, so he naturally knew the emperor's character, so he did not consider opposing Prince Zhou Shixiang from the future, and only mentioned the things he did to make the emperor unhappy, and could achieve better results than Ma Jixiang said. Sure enough, Yongli was unhappy and refused to make Zhou Shixiang the prince.

"Your Majesty, the state is difficult now. Hundreds of thousands of Qing troops are about to enter Yunnan. The imperial court has few soldiers and generals. It is probably too dangerous to rely on the power of the King of Jin alone. At this time, it is good to have more power. There are tens of thousands of soldiers and generals under the command of Zhou Shixiang in Guangdong, and it is a strong army to defeat the soldiers in Manzhou. If he commands the king and works with the King of Jin, the situation in Yunnan will not collapse too quickly." Guo Zhiqi insisted on persuading each other for the overall consideration.

Ma Jixiang smiled coldly and said, "As soon as Mr. Guo came back from Guangdong, he wanted to ask Zhou Shixiang to be the prince, but he didn't know that there were many benefits to Guangdong?"

Upon hearing this, Guo Zhiqi was immediately blushed with anger, pointing at Ma Jixiang and scolding angrily: "I requested the title of king for Xingping Bo, all out of public intention, for the emperor, and for the grand plans of the court, how dare you slander me!"

No matter how confused Yongli was, he knew that Guo Zhiqi was definitely not a villain. However, Ma Jixiang was a person who was the emperor very well, so he was a little unhappy and glared at Ma Jixiang fiercely. If it weren't for what he said was just right, he would have to scold him.

Ma Jixiang also realized that his attack direction was wrong, so he coughed lightly and said to Yongli: "Your Majesty, it is not my opinion that the matter of Prince Xingping Bo Jin. Regarding the merits, Xingping Bo is enough for Prince Jin. However, I heard that the Qing court had sent a large army to Guangdong to fight Xingping. The situation of the war was not clear at this time. If Xingping was defeated, the court had already appointed him as the prince. What was reported in the future was that my Prince Ming was defeated by the Qing people, which had a great influence on our dynasty."

Yongli was stunned and then realized what Ma Jixiang meant. If he had appointed Zhou Shixiang as the prince at this time, if he could not defeat Prince Jian Jidu of the Qing court, the ignorant people would say that the prince of the Ming Dynasty could not defeat the prince of the Qing Dynasty, which would definitely be unfavorable to the Ming Dynasty.

Wang Kun's eyes rolled, but said, "If Xingping was granted the prince, the old slave would not know what the King of Jin, who was leading the army, would think of this matter."

"this"

Yongli was shocked. He knew that King Li Dingguo of Jin was quite suspicious of Liu Wenxiu, the King of Shu, who was also the prince. If he asked him to know that the court had given another prince, he would definitely be dissatisfied. However, the court had to rely on King Jin, but not on Zhou Shixiang from Guangdong. He had to worry about the priority, which is more important.

Thinking of King Li Dingguo of Jin leading the army to fight against Wu Sangui, and thinking of the few words the other party said to him when he visited King Shu, Guo Zhiqi couldn't help but remain silent, knowing that Zhou Shi was awarded a prince would not have been completed. After much concern, he decided to take a step back and said, "Emperor, even if he does not grant Xingping as the prince, he will be the prince of Jin, so why not reward him if he does not make any contributions!"

Ma Jixiang said, "Don't wait for Guangdong to lose again to get good news, and you will be rewarded together?"

"Wait until then?"

Yongli said this to seek Guo Zhiqi's opinion, but his eyes were looking at Ma Jixiang. Guo Zhiqi knew that it was difficult to achieve the title of Zhou Shixiang. The emperor now thought about waiting for the victory or defeat in the Guangdong battle. To put it bluntly, he was to see if Zhou Shixiang survived and then consider his reward. This emperor was too heartbroken.

"I'm going to leave!"

Guo Zhiqi retreated from the hall in disappointment and sighed all the way. To be honest, he actually did not believe in Zhou Shixiang, but the situation was like this, but he had to hope that the Taiping Army could enter Guangxi to conquer the King of Kings. Otherwise, relying solely on Yunnan Province and Jin King Li Dingguo alone, how could he stop hundreds of thousands of Qing troops who had entered Guizhou?

But I don’t know what the situation in the battle in Guangdong is already May. Calculate the time, I am afraid that the Taiping Army and the Qing Army will have a chance to decide. If the Taiping Army wins, I will not successfully ask for a king for Zhou Shixiang. What should I do? Then I think, if the Taiping Army is defeated, the Qing army will definitely have occupied Guangzhou again, and the situation in Guangdong will be unstoppable.

Whether it is success or failure, Grand Secretary Guo was worried. He really didn't know how he got here step by step from the hall. Suddenly, a crisp female voice called him.

"Sir Guo, please stay!"

"you?"

Guo Zhiqi stopped and turned around to look, but saw that he was a palace maid whom he didn't know.

The palace maid stepped forward to salute Guo Zhiqi, and then said, "I am the one who serves Princess Changle. The princess knows that Mr. Guo has returned from Guangdong, so I asked me to wait here. If the master comes out of the emperor, I will ask the master to come over."

Thinking of the Princess Changle who saved her life, Guo Zhiqi had a rare smile on his face. He thought to himself that the Princess was anxious. Fortunately, I found out who the scholar in the bandit's nest was for her. If she knew who the scholar was, she would be surprised.
Chapter completed!