Liu Zongmin said: "The ministers asked to leave the palace immediately, gallop back to the general's mansion, and call the generals above Guoyi in batches of each battalion overnight, and secretly order the troops to prepare. When our army will leave Beijing and go on the expedition, please let the emperor know at this moment, and decide tomorrow at the latest. ”

Li Zicheng thought about it, and his expression became even more serious: "The military advisor originally said that April 12 was already a day of great luck, and if it was absolutely necessary, the date of his accession to the throne would be changed, and the expedition would be set on April 12. Now that the use of troops at Shanhaiguan is urgent, the matter of the enthronement ceremony will not be mentioned for the time being, so it is decided to ascend the throne after the triumph of the army's eastward crusade. Strategist, what do you think?"

Song Xiance knew in his heart that if the emperor drove the expedition in person this time, if it was unfavorable for the Qing soldiers to take the opportunity to enter the army, the consequences would be very worrying. As a military advisor, it is really difficult for him to echo the public opinion. But it seems that dissuasion is no longer possible. In a moment, his mind was very embarrassed, and he unconsciously glanced at Li Yan, who was sitting on the right. It just so happened that Li Yan was also looking at him, and he clearly expected him to give him a bold bitter admonition.

He immediately stood up respectfully, excited, with tears in his eyes, his voice trembled slightly, and he generously addressed the emperor: "The minister was originally just a grass and wild cloth, wandering in the rivers and lakes, and he had no desire to soar. In the thirteenth year of Chongzhen, His Majesty led the division of benevolence and righteousness into western Henan, and the people rushed to greet you, seeing you as a savior. Offering a little bit of yin and yang mathematics in his life, he knew the destiny of heaven at this time, so he came to take refuge. Thanks to His Majesty's treatment of me as a confidant, he ordered me to be a military advisor, and all major military affairs were obeyed. ”

"Weichen is fortunate to be blessed by His Majesty's knowledge, and he swears to repay with death, and knows everything about everything. Today, when encountering this great plan for the Eastern Crusade, which is related to the safety of the country, the minister really does not dare not consider it carefully for His Majesty, in order to seek a perfect plan. The matter of crusading against Wu Sangui, can you ask Your Majesty to postpone it for a day before deciding? It is estimated that a new military intelligence agent will report to Beijing today. Wait until the ministers and deputy military divisions will enter the palace tonight according to the reports of all parties and make overall preparations, and face the humble opinions of Chen Chen and others, and then His Majesty will make a judgment from the bottom of his heart. ”

"Moreover, in this Eastern Crusade, our army's strength is still insufficient, and the enemy's army occupies a favorable geographical position, which is quite superior to our army. Even if the emperor must use troops, he should also seek to be thorough, and before sending troops, come up with one or two strange plans to win by outwitting, and not by desperately attacking fortifications. And if the onslaught is useless, what should be the next move? All this, Rong Chen and the deputy military division returned to the military division mansion to seriously discuss and enter the palace tonight. ”

Li Zicheng felt that Song Xiance's words were also reasonable, and his mood was very heavy, so he nodded and said, "I have already said that I will call the right person in the Wenhua Hall tonight." This time the troops were sent to fight the war, and it was really a last resort. If Wu Sangui openly claimed to raise troops against us in order to restore the Ming Dynasty and called for far and near, and Jifu and Shandong responded one after another, we would be one step too late to crusade. Or the Manchurians are ready, and the Eight Banners Iron Cavalry will go south to join forces with Wu Sangui to deal with our army, and by then it will be too late for us to send troops to fight. My plan for the crusade has been decided, and there is no need to discuss it again, and any further advice will be to obstruct the plan. ”

He saw Liu Zongmin nodding to him, and then said to Liu Zongmin: "Marquis Ru, you immediately go back to the General's Palace, call the generals of each battalion respectively, convey my intention to postpone my ascension to the throne and quickly march eastward, and order all battalions to prepare quickly and follow me to the east in the morning of the 12th. As for the order of the march and the disposition, you shall consult with the supplement and decide on my behalf. After I summon the chief and deputy military divisions tonight, they will help you in terms of strategy. Alright, let's get ready to go. ”

Starting from Liu Zongmin, everyone kowtowed in turn and withdrew solemnly.

"Offer advice, Li Yan," Li Zicheng shouted to the two military advisors, "I still have something to say!"

Song Xiance and Li Yan hurriedly turned around and stood up, waiting for the order. "You have returned to the military advisor's mansion and offered advice to make a fortune for my expedition. ”

Song Xiance said: "The ancients said: Bu is to decide, not to doubt He. Now that His Majesty has decided to go east, there is no need to make any more decisions. ”

Li Zicheng said: "Of course, for more than 10 years, I have experienced a hundred battles, and I often fight when I encounter officials and soldiers, and I will fight when I see an opportunity, and I will leave if I can't win, and it is not up to divination to decide. However, this time the division is different from the past, so you might as well make a fortune before the expedition. You can make a fortune tonight. ”

"Yes, the minister will follow the holy decree tonight. On weekdays, for the sake of convenience, the ministers always use three copper coins for divination, and tonight they will wash their hands and burn incense, and follow the old system of King Wen, and use yarrow to divinate the hexagram. ”

Li Zicheng smiled: "Okay, Qing divination is effective on weekdays, and I will wait for you to divinate an auspicious hexagram tonight." ”

When Li Yan was in Xi'an, he discouraged Li Zicheng from rushing to the northern expedition to Youyan, and strongly advocated spending two years to devote all his efforts to running Henan, Huguang, Shaanxi, and Shandong. Li Zicheng not only rejected his suggestion, but was also quite unhappy in his heart, and originally intended to appoint him as the secretary of the military department of the new dynasty, so he stopped mentioning it. Since that incident, he has listened to Song Xiance's private advice, and in the future, he should not mention the opinions that should be raised in front of Li Zicheng, so as not to invite trouble for a long time.

So at today's imperial meeting, Li Yan and Song Xiance had exactly the same opinion, but in his heart, he wished that Song Xiance would advise him to stop the Eastern Crusade, but he himself did not speak. After leaving the palace before leaving the palace, he had been in a heavy mood, thinking about how to redeem the dangerous decision of the emperor and Liu Zongmin.

But he knew that he was powerless to dissuade him, and Song Xiance's request for the emperor to be summoned alone tonight might not be able to divert the emperor's and Liu Zongmin's established policy. On the way from Donghua Gate to the Military Division's Mansion, although he exchanged glances with Song Xiance on the horse, he didn't say a word because there were many guards and soldiers on the left and right, but he sighed secretly in his heart.

They rode back to the military division's mansion, rested for a while, and then had dinner with a group of civil and military officials who were always around. Everyone saw the serious faces of the chief and deputy military divisions, and guessed that the discussion of major state affairs in the palace must be related to Wu Sangui's blatant refusal to surrender in the letter, but no one dared to ask. In the Military Division's Mansion under the supervision of Song Xiance and Li Yan, not only is it very efficient, which is very different from the situation of the six governments, but it is absolutely not allowed to inquire about important secrets of military affairs.

Every time the two military advisors came back from the imperial council, if they did not tell the left and right subordinates about what was discussed, they were not allowed to ask a word. In Li Yan's words, he and Song Xiance's serious attitude towards state affairs is what the ancients praised as the minister who went out of the palace without saying anything about the greenhouse tree. Tonight, due to the extremely grim expressions of the chief and deputy military divisions, they did not talk about how the imperial court would deal with Wu Sangui's refusal to surrender, and the atmosphere around the main and deputy military divisions became very different from usual.

After dinner, Song Xiance took Li Yan's hand and walked into a large room in his separate office, commonly known as the signing room. He instructed the Chinese army not to allow the person who presented the official document to enter the small courtyard, and not to allow the person who served to stand outside the window.

Then he and Li Yan sat opposite each other on the two Taishi chairs across the Eight Immortals table, picked up a cup of fragrant tea and rinsed their mouths, swallowed their stomachs, and whispered: "You and I are deeply aware of the emperor, and we are entrusted with the important task of the main and deputy military divisions. There is no one else in the room, how can Brother Li Yan teach me?"

Li Yan lowered his head and was silent for a moment: "According to your expectations, what is the success or failure of the Eastern Crusade?"

"We've talked about it before, and it's very worrying. ”

"Brother Pingsheng is good at numeracy, divination is like a god, why not follow the order?"

"Brother Ren is knowledgeable, brother admires, and he doesn't know about divination? When my brother encounters trouble on weekdays, the emphasis is on judging by common sense, not relying on divination. Sometimes divination, fortunately, people compete for legends. Sometimes it doesn't hit, but people don't talk about it. I analyze the stakes from a military point of view, and I know it in my heart, so I don't have to beg for divination. ”

"Even so, my brother still has to make a decision, otherwise what will he say to the emperor tonight?"

Song Xiance thought about it for a while, and had no choice but to say: "Yes, the king's order cannot be violated, so I will take a hexagram." ”

He then called out to the Chinese army standing under the eaves, ordered the servants to bring warm water, washed their hands, burned incense, and then took out forty-nine yarrow stalks from the brocade bag and placed them on the table of the Eight Immortals, which had been wiped clean. At this time, he and Li Yan were very nervous, for fear of getting an unlucky hexagram.

Seeing that Song Xiance was a little hesitant, Li Yan glanced at him, guessed his worries, and whispered: "Please don't hesitate, maybe you will get an auspicious hexagram, change your way of thinking, and don't have to hinder the Eastern Crusade, wouldn't it be great?"

Song Xiance said: "Brother is very true. The mystery of Yili is endless, and it may be auspicious. Since it is difficult to disobey the edict, I have to ignore the good and evil, and see what the divination result is!"

In order to show his piety, he changed his usual habit of divination, bowed to the yarrow on the table, and then divided the forty-nine yarrow rods into two parts, and then according to the traditional method of three thousand years since the Western Zhou Dynasty, the yarrow was at the mercy of a while, and suddenly he was shocked and whispered: "Li Yan, look, get a fierce hexagram!"

Li Yan was shocked and asked, "What kind of hexagram?"

"This is the upper nine in the dry hexagram, Kang Long has regrets, isn't it in response to the things that should not be done today?"

Li Yan also read "Zhou Yi" when he was a teenager, and said unconsciously: "It's really a murderous hexagram!"

Song Xiance sat down dejectedly, sighed and said, "Li Yan, although "Zhou Yi" has endless changes, after all, it only talks about yin and yang. One, three, five, seven, and nine are all yang numbers, to the upper nine, the yang has reached the extreme, it is impossible to move forward again, and then to move forward will be frustrated, so the hexagram is Kanglong has regrets. Do you remember the "Dictionaries" of this hexagram?"

Li Yan said: "When my younger brother was young, he read the Book of Changes, and recited the Book of Changes made by Confucius repeatedly, and I still don't forget it. "Dictionaries" cloud: Kangzhi is also words, knowing and then not knowing to retreat, knowing survival but not dying, knowing but not knowing mourning. Please think about it, my Dashun Dynasty has been acting recently, isn't it Kanglong?"

Song Xiance hurriedly made a gesture and asked Li Yan to keep his voice as low as possible, so that no one outside would hear it. Li Yan shook his head, and then said: "Confucius said in a very emotional tone in these few sentences of the 'Dictionaries': Those who know how to advance and retreat without losing their righteousness are only saints! Today, you and I are in the positions of Zhang Liang and Chen Ping, and we cannot dissuade the emperor's proposal to suspend the army to the east, and once we are frustrated under the strong city walls, the Manchu Qing Dynasty will take the opportunity to attack by the Central Association or the Western Association and cut off our emperor's way back to Beijing. All over Shandong, chaos is surging, the whole country is in turmoil, and the overall situation is collapsing.

Song Xiance nodded lightly and asked in a low voice: "The matter is urgent, the emperor's intention to go east has been decided, tonight is the right call, what words do we use to advise?"

Li Yan replied: "The emperor personally led 60,000 soldiers to march east alone......

"It's not a lonely army, it's a hanging army. ”

"Yes, it's a hanging crusade, and it's a desperate gamble. Since you and I are ministers of the Shun Dynasty and receive the grace of the emperor, we must be dutiful and loyal, and know everything about the pros and cons of military affairs, so as to live up to the way of the king. ”

"How can you fulfill your duties and know everything?" Song Xiance asked, cutting off the candle flowers and looking at Li Yan.

Li Yan lowered his head and pondered for a moment, raised his head again, and said in a firm tone: "According to my brother's foolish opinion, until now, I have no choice but to hide tonight's hexagram and play the emperor in front of him." Usually His Majesty attaches great importance to the divination of the benevolent brother, if tonight after hearing the hexagram, really moved, you and I can take the opportunity to repeatedly analyze, risking death and bitter advice, thinking that His Majesty may adopt the bitter advice, change his mind, and rein in the precipice. ”

According to my opinion, it is very difficult to discourage the Eastern Crusade at this time, and on the contrary, it may provoke the anger of the emperor and bury the future calamity of you and me. ”

"My brother knew everything about the emperor in the past, why is he so worried tonight?"

"In the past," Song Xiance said with emotion: "When the emperor was in the midst of hardships and hardships, relying on the assistance of all civil and military personnel, being humble and cautious, following advice, brainstorming, and knowing people well, he could defeat the enemy, avoid setbacks, and seize the country." Since the break of Xi'an, the emperor and the generals of Shaanxi thought that the great cause would be accomplished, and they were full of ambition and arrogance, and many new ministers sang praises of virtue. ”

"Not long after arriving in Xi'an, Shanxi and Shandong are undecided, Henan is not stable, not to mention that the world has been decided, the emperor is anxious to return to his hometown to worship his ancestors, and the party fathers and elders of the township are feasting, and he is more anxious than the Han Gaozu has returned to his hometown. From Xi'an to Mizhi, 800 miles along the way, roads and bridges were built, and the palace was rebuilt outside the north gate of Mizhi County. Li Buzhi led 10,000 horses to escort the car, and the officials and gentry and ordinary people along the way took over. It was such a waste of financial resources and people's resources, not only did you and I dare not say a word to discourage it, but even the prime minister was also criticized and praised Shengde. ”

"Why is there such a gap between the monarch and the minister? That is, the emperor and the civil ministers and military generals on the left and right all think that the great cause has been accomplished, and the generals of Shaanxi have been made marquis and uncles one after another, and the emperor cannot but listen to their opinions. Therefore, the situation has changed, and the emperor's advice to me and the prime minister is sometimes not as obedient as in the past. The emperor is now in Beijing, in the Forbidden City, which is even more different from when he was in Xi'an. ”

"Even if my brother doesn't escape the emperor's blame tonight, and admonishes him to stop the Eastern Crusade, I'm afraid it will be useless. If the emperor must drive the expedition in person, the younger brother is powerless to admonish him, and he must try his best to offer a remedy strategy, or he may be able to defeat the strong enemy with a strange plan. Even if we can't win, we don't make the situation out of control. ”

Li Yan didn't feel surprised, and quickly asked, "Brother Ren, what kind of trick does he have to break the enemy?"

Song Xiance was about to say his strange plan, when suddenly the Chinese army came in and asked the main and deputy military divisions to go to the front yard to receive the order. Song and Li quickly stood up, dressed slightly, hurriedly walked to the front yard, and knelt north. The propagandist from the palace walked up the steps proudly, stood facing south, with a thick Guanzhong accent and a serious tone, Lang Lang said: "There is a decree in the sage! Song Xiance, the main military division, and Li Yan, the deputy military division, quickly entered the palace. The Holy One is waiting for the call in the Wenhua Hall!"

After the Chinese army sent the propaganda officer away, Song Xiance and Li Yan did not dare to slack off because the emperor was waiting in the Wenhua Palace, and could not talk about anything else, so they immediately took more than 20 people, including civil and military retinues, personal soldiers, and slaves, and walked out of the gate and got on the horse, and galloped towards the Donghua Gate.