Fengqi crabapple

Chapter 188
The west wind ruffles the branches, and the autumn frost cools the lanterns.Once again, the grass outside the Great Wall is yellow, and the flowers are blooming at the border.

General Cheng Yu became a relative of the emperor. He was less than fifty, and he had no wives or concubines at home. Matchmakers in the capital were all eyeing this golden widower, and there was an endless stream of people coming to propose marriage to the old lady.

Cheng Yu originally obtained special approval from his in-laws, the emperor, to return to marry his daughter in August, and returned to Xuanfu Town by himself after his son married the princess in October.

Unexpectedly, the northern border, where the situation has been tense recently, is suddenly full of flames of war, and all the generals in Xiumu all return in the starry night.Cheng Yu didn't care about his son's wedding, so he rushed back to Xuanfu Pass overnight with Cheng Jiajun.

The incident happened suddenly. Cheng Haitang in the East Palace had not finished sewing the middle coat for his father when he heard from Xie Ruitang that his father had left the capital in a hurry.Prince Xie Ruitang is also busier. He leaves early every day and comes home late every day. They live in the same room. Sometimes the two of them can't even exchange a few words.

Haitang knew from Xie Ruitang's few words that the increasingly powerful Tatars were not only attacking this time to grab some food and grass for the winter, but also set their sights on the wealthy prefectures and counties in the northern border of the Celestial Dynasty. , taking them all for themselves.

The emperor now considers himself a "poor man", resolutely not going to court every day, and the officials are powerless to complain.Every day, Cao Baoli and Tian Jun, two courtiers, stood beside the empty dragon chair, with their nostrils upturned, receiving the ministers instead of the emperor.None of the ministers knew well that half of the court had already been ruled by the Supervisor of Ceremonies.

"Mr. Cao, we have nothing to say to you ministers who serve the emperor, handle internal affairs, and do your duties. But now everything is about military and national affairs. You two have never been on the battlefield and are not familiar with military affairs. How can you act on your behalf?" The emperor's decision?" Sun Yang, the censor of Zuodu, said unceremoniously: "We want to meet the emperor!"

Fan Yongcheng, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, also said: "Nine towns are in emergency, and reinforcements are urgently needed everywhere. If the emperor does not come out to dispatch troops and generals, if the northern border is broken by the Tatars, the capital will be without a gate. It will be difficult to defend the capital alone!"

With the Secretary of the Ministry of War speaking in the front, Feng Guangcai of the Fifth Army Camp, several chief generals of the Fifth Army, Feng Mingze of the Shenji Camp and other Beijing army generals standing in the back all stood up and asked to see the emperor and ask the emperor to come to court.After all, the momentum of the military generals cannot be compared with that of civilian officials. Cao Baoli felt that the roof of the hall was about to be knocked off by them.

Mr. Lu Ge also stood up and said: "Mr. Cao, military affairs are not water affairs. If you don't understand water affairs, the most you can do is make the people miserable and cause civil strife. If you miss the military situation, you will be the sinner who will destroy the nation and the country." Last summer, there were floods in the south. A few ministers did not know how to pretend to understand and gave random orders. In addition, the ministers exploited the disaster relief funds, which led to the disaster of the people in the disaster area, and the public resentment.

Cao Baoli became angry with embarrassment and said fiercely: "Okay. If you want to see the emperor, I will let you see him. No one of you will be late for the morning meeting tomorrow!" After that, he took Tian Jun and walked away.

The emperor is going to court early tomorrow!No matter what conspiracy the courtiers have, seeing the emperor, the ministers were all a little surprised, discussing in small groups while walking outside the palace.

The prince did not return to the East Palace, but went straight to the prince's residence after leaving the palace.

"You should take a look at the military intelligence report from the Nine Towns first." The prince took out a few pieces of paper and put them on the table. These were the copies he asked someone to copy.Living in the palace actually brings a lot of conveniences.Cheng Hanbai, Zhao Muche, and Feng Mingze all came over to take a look at it.

"Taiyuan, Datong, Xuanfu and Jizhou, one of these four towns must be the Tatar breakthrough." The prince said in a deep voice: "It depends on which direction their main force will gather first."

"Now there are only 40 to [-] troops in several pass towns. The [-] Tatar army can be said to be in full force. Even if they divide their troops into two groups, it is not impossible to seize two passes at the same time. I can do it The best thing is to allocate some guns and artillery to these towns." Feng Mingze said with some worry.Xie Ruitang had discussed with Cheng Hanbai. General Lu of Zhili had twice proposed to retire and return home. Zhao Muche was willing to go, but Mr. Zhao never let go. Xie Ruitang wanted Cheng Hanbai to take over as the commander of the North Zhili Guards. .I originally wanted to wait until after his wedding, but unexpectedly the war came before the wedding.

Cheng Hanbai slapped the military intelligence report on the table and stood up: "Prince, I am going to pick up the Zhili Guards now. Those barbarians dare to cross the border and go straight to the capital. I will be the first to rush forward and fight them!" "

The prince thought for a while and said: "This is also a way. The border is in a hurry, and the surrounding guards may have to send people for reinforcements. If you go to Beizhili at this time, you can also directly lead troops to join the battle. I will go find Master Shen and Fan Let’s discuss it, adults, and see how the emergency operation is most beneficial.”

There are 30 people in the North Zhili Guard Army. This time it is very likely that some of them will be transferred to the front line to march and fight. General Lu is too old to take on the important task of marching and fighting.If Cheng Hanbai leads the troops instead of him, it will be the best chance for Cheng Hanbai to win over people's hearts.Afterwards, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel quickly approved the prince's proposal.

Sun Yanxi and Yan Shiyi happened to meet outside the door, and they came in from the outside together.Yan Shiyi's face was full of depression.

Since Yan Shisan became Zhai Kun, in order to compete with Xichang and Jinyiwei, he was young and had a weak foundation, so he had to curry favor with the emperor's inner courtiers in order to gain the emperor's trust.It was a stopgap measure, but he got deeper and deeper into it.

Yan Shiyi advised: "You can just make peace with them in front of the emperor, why bother to participate in their fight? Every good guy in that gang of servants, the tasks assigned to Dongchang now are all about killing Zhongliang. Isn't this what you said? Are you working for a tiger?"

Zhai Kun sneered repeatedly: "Look down on the chamberlains? Yan Shiyi, don't forget, take off your clothes, I will be the chamberlains like them! You can still have your own home and children, what about me? I will There is only the palace and the emperor!"

"Well, even if you want to be loyal to the emperor, you don't have to be tied to them. Can't Dongchang exist independently without those few ministers and chamberlains?" Yan Shiyi was also a little angry. At that time, Shisan was castrated After all, becoming a eunuch is to protect yourself.

"Independent?" Zhai Kun suddenly became furious. He hated Yan Shiyi for being inconsiderate of him: "Do you think I don't want to be as independent as when Wang Man was here? Do you think the flattery of those eunuchs in the Supervisory Office are so good? ?I was forced too! Without their support, I would not have the emperor’s trust. Without the emperor’s support, it doesn’t matter if I fall. What will happen to the brothers in Dongchang?”

As he spoke, he slammed the tureen in his hand on the ground, making a harsh "pop!" sound.It was quiet all around, and the veins on Zhai Kun's temples slowly healed. He said calmly: "We don't agree with each other. Since you are unwilling to help me, there is no point in staying here."

Yan Shiyi was silent. He slowly took out the Dongchang token from his arms, along with the Dongchang sword in his hand, threw them in front of Zhai Kun, and turned to leave.

Zhai Kun suddenly said coldly from behind: "After you leave the gate of Dongchang, you should no longer use the last name 'Yan'."

"Why?" Yan Shixi dropped three words and left without looking back.

(End of this chapter)