Xu Zhenye returned to his hometown to mourn my mother Dingyou, and Ma Cheng also devoted himself to work again and began to work formally.

Ma Cheng's new office was located in his mansion. This was not because Ma Cheng saved money for the country, but because there was no small temple that could accommodate Ma Cheng, the big Buddha. Because with the end of the Nanjing War, Ma Cheng's temporary command was also revoked. Before the war, Ma Cheng was the admiral of the large colonel and later the guard of Nandu.

The admiral's yamen in the Grand Cyberspace was in the Grand Cyberspace outside the Nancheng City, but after this year's bloody battle, there was rubble outside the Nancheng City, and the Grand Cyberspace had long been a ruined burial post, burying tens of thousands of Qing troops.

The service yamen in Nandu was near Xi'an Gate in the imperial city. The former Nandu guards were working here, but the emperor is now in the palace. Ma Cheng and a group of personal soldiers like wolves and tigers were stationed in the imperial city. The emperor was really worried, so the emperor ordered the yamen to hand over the yamen to the new Nandu Admiral Lu Siye.

Fortunately, Ma Cheng is currently the Grand Governor of the Central Army and can also work at the General Administration Office. However, Ma Cheng went to the General Administration Office of the Five Army on Baihu Street. The houses here are narrow and the facilities are dilapidated, so it is impossible to accommodate Ma Cheng's subordinates. There is no way Ma Cheng had to open a few courtyards in his home to use them as temporary office locations. Fortunately, the Duke of Wei's mansion covers a large area and Ma Cheng's family has few family members, so Ma Cheng's thousands of subordinates can still be placed.

Ma Cheng is now the Marquis of Zhenguo and has the qualification to open a government office. At the same time, compared with the prince, the prince can have two guards. Therefore, Ma Cheng upgraded his personal soldier Gu Yong from Qianhu Company to eighth level and directly promoted him to commander of the Yiwei Department. Although the Yiwei Department is an etiquette unit, Ma Cheng did not want to treat Yiwei Department as a vase. The first thing he did when he took office was to let Gu Yong go to the Qing army prisoner camp and the private camp outside the city, and select strong people to serve as his guard.

According to the military system, Ma Cheng had a total of 11,200 guards. When Zhu Di reduced the power of the vassal kings, he reduced the three guards of the prince to 300. However, Ma Cheng ignored these and directly ordered Gu Yong to recruit the escorts of the two guards according to the imperial military system. At the same time, he also took out 5,600 guards as cavalry teams, using the best war horses to capture the Qing army.

Ma Cheng's expansion of the scale of the guards also has its drawbacks. These guards belong to Ma Cheng's private army, so the court naturally would not allocate money, so Ma Cheng had to take charge of the weapons and equipment of more than 10,000 people. Fortunately, Ma Cheng's sugar factory has made good results this year, and the Ministry of Works' Weapons Bureau has become Ma Cheng's private property, so Ma Cheng can still afford the cost of the guards.

In addition to forming his own guards, Ma Cheng also turned the prisoners of the Qing army outside the city into the twenty-twentieth battalion. After more than a month of clearance, 240,000 of the 400,000 Qing army became Ma Cheng's prisoners. According to subsequent statistics, 100,000 of the 400,000 Qing army died, most of which were killed in the last battle. In addition to these dead, tens of thousands of people ran into the mountains or used various means to escape to Jiangbei.

Ma Cheng selected 100,000 elite soldiers from the more than 200,000 Qing troops, divided them into 20 battalions, and began to train new recruits. However, Ma Cheng did not want to replenish all 100,000 into the new army. Ma Cheng's current strength is limited and he really cannot get the weapons and equipment of 100,000 people. So Ma Cheng had to select 40,000 of these 100,000 people to replenish them into the new army, and the others were used as reserves, that is, to accompany the army to strengthen the army.

The remaining more than 100,000 Qing army captives were simple. Anyway, the Wei Dukes had land, so Ma Cheng waved his pen

These more than 100,000 Qing troops became their own tenants, responsible for cultivating tens of thousands of acres of land for Ma Cheng.

As time goes by, Ma Cheng's work has come on track, training for recruits is in full swing, and the wastelands around Nanjing are also being reclaimed in an orderly manner, but there are more and more news about the court's unfavorableness to Ma Cheng.

In fact, it is very simple. Ma Cheng expanded his guards to more than 10,000, and there have been legal restrictions. In addition, the mistake of the Lin Party of the North Korean Middle East was looking for Ma Cheng with a magnifying glass, so after they got the news, they immediately came to Ma Cheng to participate in the book.

However, the Donglin Party forgot that Ma Cheng had another supporter. With the help of Ma Shiying, the emperor had no objection to Ma Cheng. After all, Ma Cheng had just been named Marquis of Zhenguo at this time, and the enthusiasm was still there.

However, as time went by, Emperor Zhu Lunkui became increasingly dissatisfied with Ma Cheng. After Ma Cheng took more than 100,000 Qing army captives as his tenants, Zhu Lunkui's tolerance finally came to an end. This is not a fault for the emperor's scruples. No emperor could watch his subordinates have more than 100,000 tenants. Now these people are tenants. If you have any small thoughts, these more than 100,000 people are time bombs outside Nanjing. You should know that the army in Nanjing only has only 80,000 people, and the combat effectiveness may not be as strong as your tenants.

On the seventh day of the sixth month of the second year of Shaowu, the emperor's patience finally reached its limit. He ordered people to tell Ma Cheng to enter the palace and asked him to explain why he secretly captured the Qing army as a tenant.

Ma Cheng received the imperial edict at home. Wang Xian, the chief of the Marquis’ Mansion of Zhenguo, quickly said: "Mr. Marquis, this imperial edict is not simple. Please be careful when it comes to dealing with it!"

After Ma Cheng had the right to open a government, he immediately transferred Wang Xian to the palace as his chief secretary, and his official position changed from a second-rank deputy general to a fifth-rank chief secretary. Although his rank was reduced, Wang Xian was also moved to death. Where can a military general be compared with a fifth-rank civil servant? Wang Xian was just a scholar's fame. According to the past, Wang Xian could not become a fifth-rank civil servant even if he studied until he died.

Ma Cheng looked at the imperial edict and said with a smile: "Mr. Wang, don't worry, the emperor is just a little afraid of this marquis, and he won't kill the donkey!"

Wang Xian's current fortune and life are all about Ma Cheng. When Ma Cheng didn't care, he quickly reminded him: "Marty, if you don't transfer Gu Yong outside the city to the city, what if...

Ma Cheng's guardians were too many, so they could not stay in the city, so Gu Yong was usually stationed outside the city. Now Wang Xian wanted to transfer Gu Yong into the city, just to rebel if things were not going well. Although Ma Cheng's guardians had only more than 10,000 and the Ming army in the city had 80,000, Ma Cheng's guardians were all selected elite soldiers, and the grassroots officers were all veterans who had fought bloody battles with the Qing army. If they really fought, the guards in the city were naturally no match, let alone there were new troops outside the city who were loyal to Ma Cheng.

Hearing that Wang Xian was so careful, Ma Cheng smiled and shook his hand and said, "No need, Mr. Wang, don't worry, this marquis is definitely fine!" After Ma Cheng said that, he went out to get on the horse and only brought ten personal soldiers to the palace.

At this time, the commander of the Imperial Guard in the palace had been replaced by Mei Chun, and this guy was extremely loyal to the emperor. However, Ma Cheng was famous after all, and Mei Chun was Ma Cheng's subordinate before, so when he saw Ma Cheng coming, Mei Chun quickly came to the city gate to welcome him.

"The last general will welcome the Marquis of Zhenguo!"

Ma Cheng came to Mei Chun and smiled and said, "Mei Chun, now too."

Admiral, congratulations!"

Mei Chun quickly bowed and said, "The last general's contributions are all thanks to the Marquis!"

Ma Cheng nodded, left his personal soldiers at the door, and rode his horse and followed the young eunuch who led the way into the imperial city. When he arrived at the Ganqing Gate, Ma Cheng dismounted, and then a young eunuch went in to report. After a while, the decree came from the Ganqing Palace to let Ma Cheng meet.

The weather was very hot in June. Ma Cheng stood at the door and saw Zhu Lunkui in the Ganqing Palace. Ma Cheng knelt at the door and shouted: "My Ma Cheng, pay homage to Your Majesty, long live Your Majesty!"

Zhu Lunkui smiled and said, "My dear, please get up quickly and come in!"

When Ma Cheng walked into the hall, he realized that he was not a minister in the hall, but the entire cabinet team was here.

As soon as Ma Cheng entered the hall, he heard Qian Qianyi's sharp voice shouting: "Your Majesty, I impeached Ma Cheng, the Marquis of Zhenguo, and privately expanded the scale of the Yiwei Department. I organized prisoners without asking for permission, and organized more than 100,000 prisoners into their own tenants without asking for permission. What are you doing? So I think Ma Cheng has the intention of being unjust, so I ask Your Majesty to issue an order to kill Ma Cheng!"

After hearing Qian Qianyi's words, Ma Cheng looked at my son Ma Shiying next to him. Ma Shiying's face turned pale. He probably had already argued with Qian Qianyi just now. Ruan Dacheng behind Ma Shiying closed his eyes and said nothing, pretending to be dead.

After hearing Qian Qianyi's words, Zhu Lunkui asked with a smile: "Ma Aiqing, what Qian Qianyi said is the truth?" Zhu Lunkui asked relaxedly, but his words contained murderous intent. If you, Ma Cheng, take off your hat to rebel immediately, and you will lose your skin even if you don't die.

Zhu Lunkui originally thought Ma Cheng wanted to defend himself, but he knew that Ma Cheng said directly: "Yes, what Qian Qianyi said is true!"

Ma Shiying didn't expect Ma Cheng to admit it directly, and was stunned and didn't know what to do next. Even Ruan Dacheng, who was pretending to be dead, opened his eyes and looked at Ma Cheng with an incredible look on his face.

Qian Qianyi was overjoyed when he heard Ma Cheng's confession and quickly said, "Since the Marquis of Zhenguo pleaded guilty, please ask Your Majesty to give Ma Cheng a trial for the Three Courts!"

Qian Qianyi was in charge of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Rites and the Censorate. The Three Laws were his backyard. Can Ma Cheng escape if he fell into his hands? Qian Qianyi had already made up his mind at this time. When Ma Cheng fell into his hands, he would first hit a hundred killing sticks, then a tiger bench as an appetizer, and finally put on a stick to make him dying of ecstasy.

At this moment, Ma Cheng asked, "Mr. Qian, you said you would hand Ma Cheng over to the Three Courts for trial. What crime did Ma Cheng commit?"

Qian Qianyi sneered: "Ma Cheng, the Ming Dynasty Law stipulates that the Yiwei Department cannot exceed 300 people, but what about you? It has reached 11,200 people, which is not illegal? Also, you have formed an army privately and organized prisoners of war into your household slaves and tenants. Isn't this illegal?"

When Ma Cheng heard Qian Qianyi say this, he quickly shouted: "Your Majesty, all the elders, Ma Cheng's actions are not illegal, they all come according to the ancestral system!"

Qian Qianyi cursed: "Ma Cheng, what are you talking about? What ancestral system? Since Emperor Shizu, he has begun to reduce the guards and escorts. By the time of Emperor Wuzong, the court issued a letter to expressly stipulate that the Yiwei Department must not exceed 300 people. Isn't this illegal?"
Chapter completed!