Yanzhou Fucheng, above the original main hall of Prince Lu's Mansion.

Shi Kefa led the civil and military officials who gathered in Yanzhou to kowtow to Zhu Cixiang, the prince of Fujun who had just arrived with his troops. Zhu Cixiang then smiled and said: "Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu, Qian Qianyi, Gao Jie, Liu Liangzuo, and Liu Zeqing are staying.

I have something to tell you, so everyone else should leave."

Seeing that the officials were dejected and left, leaving only the six people whose names were called, Zhu Cihong smiled again and ordered: "Give me a seat, give me a seat, sit down and talk. This is called sitting and talking!"

Zhu Cixiang acted separately from the imperial court this time, so there were no palace maids or eunuchs around to serve him, only the guards from the East Palace Guard Battalion. After hearing Zhu Cixiang's instructions, the newly appointed East Palace foreman guard Feng Sizhong immediately called a few big and powerful guards to move.

A few chairs for the six high officials in the palace.

By the way, Zhu Cihong's leading guards are changing like a revolving lantern. First it was Zhu Chunjie, then Wang Qi, then Chen Yidao, and now it is Feng Sizhong, the former East Palace guard who came from the Tianshou Mountain garrison (Lingwei) system.

And every foreman guard has been put to great use after leaving office without exception. Zhu Chunjie became the commander of the Jinyi Guards, Wang Qi and Chen Yidao are now brigade commanders. And Feng Sizhong, who comes from the Lingwei family, will soon also

Being entrusted with important tasks!

"Gao Shangshu, in the twelfth year of Chongzhen, the Tatars invaded Shandong and once attacked Jiaozhou. At that time, you were living idle in your hometown, but you still did not forget your loyalty. You sold your property to raise funds to recruit volunteers to fight against the Tatars. You also assisted the governor Guo Wenxiang to climb the city and hold on.

No matter how long it takes to protect the city day and night, is this possible?"

Zhu Cixiang had no intention of asking for guilt, and immediately asked about Gao Hongtu's defense of Jiaozhou against the Qing Dynasty. He seemed not to know what Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu and the others wanted to do by gathering the army and ministers in Yanzhou.

"I did help defend the city in Jiaozhou," Gao Hongtu said with a frown, "but the reason why we were able to protect the city was not only the efforts of Jiaozhou's military and civilians, but also because Jiaozhou was too far away from Liaodong and the Tatars had penetrated too deeply, and they were at the end of their tether."

Zhu Cixiang nodded and said: "In the past, when the Tatars did not capture Beizhili, they even took a detour to Shandong to plunder. Now the Tatars' troops have arrived in Dezhou, and they will soon march into Shandong to destroy Confucius Forest and demolish the Confucius Temple.

, sweeping away thousands of years of Chinese etiquette, ethics, poetry and books in one fell swoop. Can Gao Shangshu, Shi Shangshu dare to stand up to protect the famous religion and defend Confucius?"

Shi Kefa and Gao Hongtu turned blue after hearing this.

The prince is forcing them to express their support for the defense of Confucius!

Defending Confucius is the banner held high by Zhu Cixiang. If Shi Kefa and Gao Hongtu support it, then the issue of restoring Chongzhen's power will have to be temporarily put aside.

"Your Highness, Qian Qianyi is willing to stand up and fight the bandits to the end to protect the famous religion and defend Confucius!"

The two ministers did not express their opinions, but Qian Qianyi stood up first and called for a fight loudly. His face was so thin that he looked tense and iron-blooded. He didn't look like the water was too cold or his scalp was itchy at all.

Zhu Cixiang also had a sullen face and nodded heavily: "Mr. Qian is truly worthy of being the leader of Donglin and the leader of the scholar forest. I admire him! When the court arrives, I will immediately issue an order to rehabilitate Mr. Qian and ask him to be a lecturer.

Become a cabinet minister!"

"Your Majesty Qian Qianyi thanks His Royal Highness the Prince of Fujun for his kindness."

"Please get up, please get up. Mr. Qian will soon be the official of this palace. There is no need to kowtow frequently."

This is such an act of loyalty and kindness! It made Shi Kefa and Gao Hongtu break out in cold sweat.

"Old ministers are also willing to come forward." Gao Hongtu, the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing, was too shy to sit still, so he had no choice but to stand up.

"Okay, Gao Shang Shuzhen is a Confucian sage and a pillar of the country! Shi Budang, what about you? Are you afraid of the Tatars?"

"No, no, I am not afraid of the Tatars. If the Tatars dare to enter Yanzhou, even though I am a scholar, I will fight them to the end!"

Shi Kefa couldn't hold back anymore. He was the Minister of War in Nanjing and led a hundred thousand troops north to King Qin. How dare he say he was afraid of the Tatars?

Moreover, in front of Qian Qianyi, Qian Qianyi is the leader of Donglin and controls the direction of public opinion in Jiangnan. When the time comes to criticize Shi Kefa for being afraid of the Tatars, it will not be a matter of not having officials to do it.

It will be infamy for eternity!

"Okay! Okay!" Zhu Cixiang clapped his hands, "Shibu Tang, Gaobu Tang, I really did not misjudge you. You are all Confucian sages and pillars of the country! Confucius relies on you to protect him!"

What? Rely on us? What about Qian Qianyi? He screamed the loudest, why didn’t he go to the front line to defend Confucius’ tomb?

Shi Kefa and Gao Hongtu both turned to look at Qian Qianyi, their eyes full of anger!

They already understood that Qian Qianyi had taken refuge with Zhu Cihong a long time ago! No wonder he started to make noises to protect the famous religion. It turned out that Wei Konglin was only responsible for making noises, not for defending!

Zhu Cixiang seized the opportunity, and of course he would not let Shi Kefa and Gao Hongtu go. Without clearing them out, Nanzhili would not be able to fully control it!

And he can't kill them now, because there are still a bunch of nobles in charge of soldiers in Nandu! If he kills them now, those nobles will be afraid and won't dare to rebel! Although Prince Zhu has Jinyi guards who can check those people

It's a crime, but after all, it's not as good as catching them all, so now I have to act a little softer.

"Shibu Tang, you are the Minister of the Ministry of War, and you must be proficient in military strategy." Zhu Cihong said, "So the military affairs of the seven provinces of Shandong, Henan, Hebei (North Zhili), Shaanxi, Shanxi, Huguang, and Sichuan must be held by the Ministry of Military Affairs.

!

I will also give you the title of Minister of the Ministry of War, and establish the post of Associate Academician, which will also be held by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of History is the Ministry of Supervision and Administration, and is responsible for the military affairs of the seven provinces!"

Shi Kefa stood there in a daze, his head buzzing. How could he be the governor of the military affairs of the seven provinces? What should he do to the governor? They were both rogue bandits and Donglu, how could they fight them?

"Your Highness, Your Majesty," Shi Kefa certainly has to decline. How can I take on this job?

"You can't be the governor of the seven provinces?" Zhu Cixi said it before him, "I know! But your governor of the seven provinces is different from the previous five and seven provinces. In name, you are the governor of the seven provinces.

, but in fact there is only one city where you need to be the governor! It’s Qufu City!”

Well, nominally he is the governor of seven provinces, and he is in charge of half of China. In fact, he is in charge of the small city of Qufu.

"Can you defend Qufu City?" Zhu Cixiang lowered his voice.

"This" Shi Kefa has the idea of ​​​​dropping the pick and leaving.

But Qian Qianyi said angrily next to him: "Shibutang sent 100,000 troops north to fight against King Qin, why didn't he dare to defend the entire city of Qufu?"

Shi Kefa took a deep breath: "As long as there are sufficient food and wages, and a good army, I can definitely defend Qufu!"

"It's not easy to defend Qufu!" Zhu Cixiang said in a deep tone, looking at Shi Kefa, "Shibu Tang, don't think that just because you are the Minister of the Ministry of War, you are really good at fighting! I don't let you command the military affairs of the seven provinces, just because I know your

Ability. Guarding Qufu is your limit!

We will provide you with enough food, grass, pay and money, enough for you to hold on to Qufu for more than two years. You can find the best soldiers yourself and choose 5,000 from King Qin's army you brought. The rest will be given to Gao Shangshu, and I will help you to disperse the rest.

In addition, Kong Yinzhi will also defend the city with you. With his name, the strong men in Qufu area can always recruit 5,000 more people. It is quite feasible for 10,000 people to defend a small Qufu city.

Shi Kefa, do you dare to go now?"

Shi Kefa had no choice but to say: "I dare to go!"

Zhu Cixiang nodded and looked at Shi Dacannon fodder with approval and encouragement.

Then he looked at Gao Hongtu and said, "Gao Butang is from Shandong. In these extraordinary times, there is no need to avoid your place of origin. You can be the governor of Shandong!"

But you, the governor of Shandong, will definitely not be able to defend the entire province of Shandong, not even the provincial capital, so I only need you to guard the mountains of Taiyi! As long as there is a governor's office of Shandong on Mount Tai, the Manchu Tatars cannot be said to have pacified Shandong.

The whole province.

The mountains in Taiyi stretch for hundreds of miles, with countless peaks and peaks. It is a promising place. I have sent envoys to recruit the thieves in Antaiyi, and they are all under the control of the Ministry. Later, I will allocate 100,000 taels of silver to Gao Gao.

Bu Tang recruits soldiers to build forts, and also mobilizes a batch of grain to send to the mountains. Gao Bu Tang can also recruit troops and recruit powerful people on his own. He hopes that Bu Tang can join forces with Shi Bu Tang to resist the captives in Shandong.
Chapter completed!