After looking at it for a while, Zhu Yicheng suddenly exclaimed softly. Li Juan'er looked at him with inquiring eyes. Seeing Zhu Yicheng smiling and shook her head, she didn't care. After lunch together, Zhu Yicheng asked Li Juan'er to have a good rest, and then left first.

When he came to the side hall where he set up his office, Zhang Ran, the commander of the Jinyiwei, was waiting early. Zhang Ran was informed by Zhu Yicheng before leaving Li Juan'er. He came very quickly. It seemed that Zhang Ran had not forgotten his position even during the Chinese New Year.

"I'm kowtow to the emperor..." When I saw Zhu Yicheng, Zhang Ran hurriedly knelt down and bowed. In fact, there were not many court officials in the Ming Dynasty, unless it was an important occasion, ordinary court meetings and meetings. For example, when civil officials such as Liao Huanzhi and Wu Sidao met Zhu Yi, Chengdu was just a regular ritual, and Zhu Yicheng, as the emperor, had to return the ritual according to the rules. As for several important officials in the army, such as Dong Dashan, Ma Gongcheng, Wang Dong, etc., they performed military rituals. After all, Zhu Yicheng is still personally serving as the chief commander. Those who perform kneeling rituals are usually junior officials with relatively low status, eunuchs, palace maids, etc., but Zhang Ran is an exception. As the commander of the Jinyiwei, Zhang Ran's rank is not low, but as the commander of the Jinyiwei, Zhang Ran's identity is different from that of ordinary officials. Taking kneeling rituals with kneeling rituals actually proves Zhang Ran's attitude of thinking of a loyal dog.

"It's the New Year, the ground is cold, get up." Zhu Yicheng helped her, Zhang Ran kowtowed seriously and then stood up. Then he followed Zhu Yicheng to the warm pavilion. After Zhu Yicheng sat in the warm pavilion, Zhang Ran was sitting carefully on the round stool beside him.

"Have you read the military newspaper sent from Fujian?" Zhu Yicheng picked up a cup of freshly brewed tea to moisten his throat and asked.

"Go back to the emperor, I know it." Zhang Ran replied respectfully. As the Jinyiwei, his duty is intelligence and supervision. In addition to secret documents with special marks, all military newspapers and other information have another line to be registered at the Jinyiwei Office, so it is normal for Zhang Ran to know the content of the military newspaper sent by Ma Gongcheng.

Nodded slightly, Zhu Yicheng said: "Fujian is now determined. Although Ma Gongcheng has the idea of ​​continuing to advance south, according to my opinion, the front line is too long and the logistics supply is a bit overwhelmed. Furthermore, Fujian's people are tough and the land is poor. After the first return, we need to be pacified and stable. Therefore, I will issue an order to order Fujian to suspend its march and make plans after the beginning of spring."

Speaking of this, Zhu Yicheng continued to drink a sip of tea. Zhang Ran still sat respectfully and did not respond. Then Zhu Yicheng said: "Sometimes, the Jinyiwei reported that Gao Jin's troops had advanced west from Jiangxia, and the White Lotus troops in Sichuan were ready to move. What is the situation now?"

"Return to the emperor, according to inquiries, after Yuan Qi's death, the remnants of the former Yuan tribe were directly controlled by Gao Jin. After Gao Jin took over Yuan tribe, he contacted the White Lotus Sect in Sichuan. Not long ago, someone from Sichuan stayed in Jiangxia for a few days. It is unknown what they said specifically. However, judging from Gao Jin's behavior over the days and the reaction of Sichuan, they probably have reached an agreement. Now, some of Jiangxia's troops have begun to advance westward, and their navy is also moving to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. If Wei Chen guessed that, something big will happen in Sichuan soon, and as for this time, it is probably the last few days."

Zhang Ran replied in an orderly manner that since he was scolded by Zhu Yicheng before, Zhang Ran has stricter requirements for the work efficiency of the Jinyiwei and has indeed made many achievements.

"Where is Zhu Jiancai in Henan?" Zhu Yicheng asked again.

Immediately, Zhang Ran reported on the situation on Zhu Jiancai's side. Since the winter was already in the cold, the large-scale military operations naturally stopped, which gave Zhu Jiancai a lot of breathing opportunities. However, because the Zhu army faced the Qing army directly in the Central Plains, the small-scale battle between the two sides had not stopped. Zhu Jiancai carried out a major purge of his troops due to Yuan Qi's incident not long ago. Although the Zhu army suffered losses after the major purge, it was more intense overall. In addition, in the past year, many outstanding generals in the Zhu army have emerged. Judging from the current posture, it has formed a stalemate with the Qing army, but it is not clear what will happen after the spring.

"According to Weichen's analysis, Zhu Jiancai's department may not be optimistic in the future." After hesitating, Zhang Ran couldn't help but say.

"Oh, then tell me your reasons."

Seeing that Zhu Yicheng did not blame him, but instead asked this, Zhang Ran took a breath and calmed down, and then said: "My spies in Beijing found out that the Qing Dynasty's chief Xuanye had stopped the plan to build a garden a few years ago. Originally, Xuanye planned to build a garden in the northwest of Beijing last year, thinking that other gardens were used for summer vacations. For this reason, the Qing Dynasty also allocated one million taels for preparations. However, in the middle of last year, the plan was temporarily put on hold. Weichen thought that it was because of the excessive expenditure of funds, and the construction of this garden was completely stopped by the Qing Dynasty's chief Xuanye. This shows that the Qing Dynasty's financial pressure was extremely high and it was no longer possible to support this plan."

Hearing this, Zhu Yicheng was a little surprised. He had been to Beijing a few years ago, but of course it was Beijing in the 21st century. When he was traveling in Beijing, he also visited the famous Summer Palace. When it comes to the Summer Palace, he cannot ignore the ruined Summer Palace. This royal garden, known as the Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens, brings not only glory, but more shame. When he heard Zhang Ran say that Kangxi originally planned to build a garden in northwest of Beijing, Zhu Yicheng immediately thought of it. He did not know that the original construction of the Summer Palace in real history was from the 48th year of Kangxi, which is now the first year of Yongye.

Could it be that the garden that Kangxi was preparing to stop building was the famous Old Summer Palace? If so, the garden was indeed huge. It is said that the Old Summer Palace spent countless money and took decades to build it. No wonder the Qing court has stopped this project now. Due to the current financial situation of the Qing court, it is indeed impossible to support such a huge and long-term investment.

As the Southeast fell into the hands of the Ming Dynasty, the Qing court suffered several defeats in a row. In addition, Yuan Qi, who is now Gao Jin's troops are now in Jiangxi, Zhu Jiancai showed off his power in Henan. Depending on the situation, Sichuan would soon become unstable. The Qing court could be said to be in a state of turmoil, and from a financial perspective, it was even more unbearable.

In fact, since the 40th year of Kangxi, the central finance of the Qing court had already begun to become unstable. As Kangxi began to be very happy with merits and wasted, the Qing court had gradually lost its initial vitality. In addition, after the trend of borrowing from the Ministry of Revenue by the Qing court, the emptiness of the national treasury was even more normal. Originally, if Zhu Yicheng had not emerged, the Qing court could barely move. In addition, the Fourth Prince was ordered to clean up the Ministry of Revenue and carry out drastic reforms, and finally reversed this situation.

But now it is different. The Qing court has lost an important source of financial resources in the southeast. In addition, it is turbulent everywhere, and it takes more money to use troops. Kangxi has even asked Shangshu to start increasing taxes on the people, filling the fiscal vacancy in this way, and as time goes by, this situation will become more and more serious.

"What do you mean is that the Qing court is now in financial difficulties, so for stable rule, they will inevitably solve the Zhu Jiancai Ministry first after the beginning of spring?" Zhu Yicheng asked.

"The emperor clearly sees that this is how I judged it." Zhang Ran nodded with admiration: "In addition, Shanxi came to report that the Eight Mongolian Banners outside the Great Wall have already shown signs of being transferred. In my opinion, the Qing Dynasty will definitely launch a large-scale military strike on Zhu Jiancai after the beginning of spring. In the view of the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Qi has been destroyed and Gao Jin is in danger in Jiangxia. The only confidant in the Central Plains is Zhu Jiancai. If Zhu Jiancai can be quickly resolved, then after the Central Plains is pacified, the Qing Dynasty can concentrate all its troops against our Ming Dynasty."

"Hahaha! It's really a good plan!" At this time, Zhu Yicheng couldn't help laughing. Not to mention that this strategy seems to be good, there is a possibility of implementation from the perspective of the plan, but there is a prerequisite for doing this, that is, Zhu Yicheng simply ignores the life and death of Gao Jin and Zhu Jiancai, or Zhu Yicheng just wants his wife to live a peaceful life in Nanjing and live a life of ease.

Whether it is the former or the latter, this is impossible. Zhu Yicheng has never relaxed the situation in the world. One of his eyes is firmly staring at the south, while the other is staring at the Central Plains and the north.

The great revolutionaries once said that they should win over all those who can win over, fight for all the objects they can fight for, and concentrate their efforts to attack the primary enemy. Zhu Yicheng has always done this. Some people also said that the outside world must first settle the inner world, and Zhu Yicheng even more agrees with what the great revolutionaries said. It has also been confirmed in history that this is the true truth.

In the past, the reason why Zhu Yicheng told him in front of Zhang Ran that he was going to let Ma Gongcheng from Fujian temporarily stop and make a decision after the beginning of spring is also the same. After the beginning of spring, the Qing army in the north will inevitably have actions, and Zhu Yicheng will never let them play their own way. At that time, appropriate support for Zhu Jiancai, Gao Jin and others, and then cause some trouble to the Qing court. This is the most correct choice.

Seeing Zhu Yicheng laughing so happily, Zhang Ran naturally guessed Zhu Yicheng's plan and also smiled.

"Whether it is the Qing court, Zhu Jiancai, Gao Jin or Sichuan Central, closely monitor it, and report it as soon as possible."

"I received the order!" Zhang Ran knew the importance of the matter, so he quickly stood up and replied.

Afterwards, Zhu Yicheng suddenly changed his mind and ordered him: "Send a few reliable people to Xiamen right away."

Zhang Ran quickly agreed and waited for Zhu Yicheng's next order. At this time, he heard Zhu Yicheng say again: "You have read Ma Gongcheng's military newspaper. There is someone in Xiamen who is very interested. Just bring him and bring him to me. Remember to pay attention, don't be abrupt, and be polite and modest. Do you understand?"

Zhang Ran suddenly realized, said yes repeatedly, and then kowtowed and said goodbye.
Chapter completed!