Section 2: Snow on the side

The moon sets and the sun rises, and it's another year.

The red sun accompanied the morning glow hung on the eaves of the gold inlay, under the eaves Luan drove the guard of honor to wait, the hall was full of people, the court clothes were neatly dressed, neat and tidy. When Fang arrived, the Qintian supervisor said loudly: "The auspicious time has arrived, play music!" The sound of golden bells, jade chimes, Qin Zheng, and flutes sounded; hundreds of officials knelt down to worship, Luan Wei shook the whip; the emperor took the seat, the queen and the royal guests, the whole world celebrated, and the joy shook the earth!

Every household put up lanterns and hung up to congratulate them, and the city of Beijing fell into the hustle and bustle of firecrackers in an instant, beaming with joy. People have picked up the pen barrel and written down the word "Fu" one by one, and the "Book of Shang" interprets "Fu", saying longevity, wealth, Kangning, virtue, and good death. I saw the yellow hair smiling, drooping and running, I saw the fireworks rushing into the sky, the lotus fragrance was full of road, and I saw the drink and the blessing was ethereal.

What is the difference between cities, how are people different?

Jiliao border city, wind and snow chaos.

People wrapped themselves in cold clothes and gathered around the dry grass and fire to keep warm. The snow in the New Year was heavier, thicker and colder than usual. The old man's thin and shriveled face was full of sorrow: "What are you going to take to feed your stomach tonight?"

Yang Ling lightly swept the snow skull and exhaled a long breath. He was dressed in a white coat, and his horse was white, almost the same color as the wind and snow. "It's still the third day of the first lunar month, but the border people can't feel the joy of the New Year at all. He tightened the reins slightly, looked at the men, women and children here, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "People who are hundreds of miles away from here have fine clothes and food, and they don't have to worry about food and clothing." And they can only drink snow to satisfy their hunger, and sleep by fire. Although separated by a hundred miles, there are two heavens of joy and sorrow. ”

Ten thousand people are sparse, and the cold mountains are fluttering with snow. The old man fell to the snow on crutches, and his trembling hands picked up the snow, stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it. Several people stepped forward to help him up, relatively silent. Yang Ling couldn't stand it anymore, turned over and dismounted, walked in front of them and said, "There are still some dry food here, please take it first." ”

Seeing that he had more than a dozen pieces of bread in his bag, everyone rushed forward to fight for it. There are more than 20 people, some of whom have a piece, and the vast majority of them have less than half a piece. They chewed so hard that they had no water slurry, so they fed with snow. Yang Ling let out a long sigh, he stepped on the white horse, and was about to move forward, when he suddenly saw a horse galloping in front of him, shouting: "The golden soldiers have arrived!

When the border people heard this, they immediately made a mess, collided left and right, and did not look good. The knight pointed his horsewhip and said, "Everyone, retreat in the direction of Ningyuan City!" He tugged at the reins left and right, as if the war horse also felt the danger of the future of the soldiers, and wanted to run back to the city. "Hurry up, don't pick it up, there's food in the city. The knight was a little impatient, he looked back, he was stunned for a moment, and shouted: "Hey, who is that! Come back, the golden soldier is over there!!"

Yang Ling said in his heart: "There are mostly old and weak people in that group, how can they outrun the golden iron cavalry? I have to lure them away!" He galloped for several miles on his white horse, and saw a group of golden soldiers killing the old and weak women and children. They laughed wildly, and poked the child out of the hole with their spears, and the child was still dead, whining and crying. His mother cried and went to rob her, but how could she? Jin Bing ran around with the child in his hands, leading her to chase, cry, and fall to the ground. Then two horsemen galloped over and trampled the Han woman to death. Ignoring the cold, Jin Bing peeled off the clothes of other women with a lewd smile, beat horses to surround and tease, and the Han men resisted one after another, but they were also stabbed to death, and even babies were thrown around as toys, not knowing whether they were alive or dead.

A golden soldier grabbed the woman's head, tied her hands to the saddle, and then galloped wildly, dragging the woman behind the horse, while laughing and saying something to his comrades. As if it was just a game, a game to be taken for granted.

Suddenly, their smiles froze as the head of the companion in front of them flew out, like a ball of flesh, rolling on the ground. The stump was pinned to the saddle, and blood spurted from its neck and sprinkled it on the woman behind the horse.

I saw a white horse walking slowly, a white knight holding a short sword in his hand, cutting the rope that bound the women, the blood on the sword was still dripping little by little, and a blood line slowly emerged from the snow. The goldens shouted and rushed at him with spears and knives. The white knight's eyes were like fire, and with a swing of his short sword, he cut off a spear and killed a golden soldier by the way. He looked at this group of wolf-like soldiers killing his compatriots, and his eyes were already split, and he made up his mind in his heart to kill all the more than 20 people here!

He stabbed with his short sword, and killed another person, and the golden soldier was very brave, and stabbed the spear with all his might, and the white knight caught it in his left hand, and the short sword immediately cut off his right arm. The man screamed and fell off his horse, but desperately clinging to the white knight's horse. The horse was frightened, and ran up on all fours, kicking him to death, and at the same time lifting the young man in white from the horse.

The young man in white rolled up, the short sword opened a long knife, leaned over and kicked the horseman off, but he didn't know that there was a spear behind him, he turned sideways, and split the head of the future in half with a move "Dapeng spreads its wings". Then there were two more moves, "White Crane Bright Wings" and "Swinging Sword Back to Feng", stabbing three people to death. Under the anger of the young man in white, he recruited killers, and in less than a moment, there were only two golden soldiers left in this team.

The two hesitated and hesitated, they never thought that they would face such a scene, they were the only ones who killed others, but no one else came to kill them, but the young man in white in front of him and the sword in his hand were obviously coming for their lives.

The young man in white turned around, the blood had already added a red butterfly to his white clothes, and he walked over step by step, and the snow under his steps also turned red, like a pool of blood. One of them couldn't stand it, and the horse rushed over, and the horse swept past the young man in white, and his eyes were wide open, yes, it was unbelievable, but it was true, and he fell, dead. The other turned his horse's head and ran. However, a spear flew "whoosh", faster than a horse and colder than snow, and pierced his chest at once. "Peng", the corpse fell to the ground, and no one immediately ran alone.

The wind and snow are blowing, with the smell of blood.

Yang Ling let out a long sigh, he had never killed so many people under negative qi. He looked at the Han woman and shook his head. He flicked his sleeve and gently wiped the blood stains from the fish intestine sword, and put it in his arms. At this moment, another group of soldiers and horses came from the rear, and Yang Ling looked up, but it was the army of the Ming Dynasty.

The first one was a general, with a bearded tiger beard, a helmet and armor, and a bar-opening axe, which was majestic. He glanced at it and asked, "Did you kill all these tartars?" Yang Ling nodded. The general gave a thumbs up and praised: "Good ability!" He waved his hand and ordered his subordinates to bury the corpse, and then said: "I am the general Zu Dashou under the command of Yuan Zhaocha, dare to ask what the little brother is called?"

"Huguang Yangling. Yang Ling returned the salute, and suddenly his heart moved, and asked: "The general is the envoy of the general, could it be Yuan Chonghuan Yuan?" Zu Dashouguaner: "Yes!"

Zu Dashou invited: "This place is not far from Ningyuan City, the little brother may wish to go back with Zu to meet Lord Yuan, when he sees a hero like you, he is guaranteed to be very happy!" Yang Ling said in his heart: "Xu Liang recommended this person to me, and he wants to see him, so good!" On the way, Yang Ling learned that Zu Dashou was ordered by Yuan Chonghuan to go out of the city to rescue the people, and he had a good impression of this Lord Yuan.

Entering the city, entering the marshal's mansion, the servants were introduced into the hall. Zu and Yang were stunned when they saw a middle-aged man facing the couplet hanging in the hall. Yang Ling looked at it carefully, and unconsciously groaned: "Holding the Milky Way with bare hands, the public is famous in the universe; Zu Dashou said: "This is Lord Yuan." Lord Yuan, this is Yang Shaoxia. ”

The middle-aged man turned his head, smiled at him, and nodded. Yang Ling was stunned for a moment, only to see that the person was of medium height, with a white complexion, thin eyebrows and eyes, three strands of beard hanging around his neck, and his whole body was full of solemn righteousness, and at first glance, it was suddenly another person.

"Yang Shaoxia, hello. General Zu has told me about your deeds, the young man is benevolent and righteous, Yuan sincerely admires, please sit down. "The middle-aged man has a kind voice, but there is a magic that cannot be refused. Yang Ling arched his hand and sat down with Zu Dashou.

Yuan Chonghuan twisted his beard and said: "I just listened to the recitation of the young man, I must know who this couplet is?" Yang Ling said: "This couplet was made by the Confucian King Yangming when he visited the Zhongsu Temple in Hangzhou West Lake, borrowing Du Fu's sentence of hanging Zhuge Liang 'the great name of the universe'; "That Wang Yangming is not only an outstanding Confucian, but also a military strategist, a poet, and a peerless master in the martial arts of the previous generation.

Yuan Chonghuan stroked his palm and said: "It's as you say." This couplet was originally written by Mr. Li Zhuowu, who was the disciple of Wang Gen, a disciple of Yangming. He paused, and then groaned: "Chisel through the chaos to get Ujin, and hide the deepest meaning of the yang and the meaning." The bonfire burns to rejuvenate the vast spring, and the furnace shines through the night. Ding Yi Yuan relies on generating power, and the iron and stone still exist after death. I hope that the people will be full of warmth and work hard to get out of the mountains and forests. ”

Yang Ling read the poems and texts, and knew that this poem "Song of Coal" was written by Yu Qian, using coal as a metaphor for himself, and supporting things to be ambitious, but Yuan Chonghuan was hanging on Yu Qian at this time, and why didn't he use Yu Qian to encourage himself? He hugged his fists and sighed: "Lord Yuan is for the country and the people, and he is worthy of being the pillar of my dynasty." ”

Yuan Chonghuan grabbed his hand and said, "I really don't dare to do it." The Elemental Year is no longer confused, but it is the first time to lead the troops, the northern Tatars have been raging for decades and are powerless to drive them away, and they have no ambition to serve the country, and they really have no talent to serve the country, which is really ashamed. ”

Yang Ling was even more suspicious at the moment, and said solemnly: "Lord Yuan doesn't have to be modest. Please forgive the villain for being uncomplaining and going straight to the point. I got a secret letter by chance, which said that Jin Nurhaci was about to invade the south, and asked my lord to take precautions. Then he took out the original letter and the translation from his bosom.

Yuan Chonghuan hurriedly took it, looked at it carefully, and suddenly asked, "Has Yang Shaoxia ever presented this letter to the Liaodong Jingluo Gaodi?"

Yang Ling replied, "Yes." I came from the tall man's mansion a few days before the next day. Pity...... Master Gao didn't believe it, and he didn't care about military affairs at all. Yuan Chonghuan said: "It's not that Lord Gao doesn't believe it, but he doesn't want to accept the news. Thinking about it, he already had a bottom in his heart, and firmly believed that the Houjin army would come, but it was not sooner or later, but it was this time. ”

Yang Ling was puzzled: "Then why didn't he take precautions?" Yuan Chonghuan said: "How shrewd is Gao Di? Not long ago, he ordered me to withdraw all the defenders of Jinzhou, Youtun, and Dalinghe, move the equipment, guns, ammunition, and grain to the Guannei, and give up the land of 400 li outside the Guan. I refused to withdraw my troops on the grounds that the above places were the forward fortresses of our Liaodong Army, and if we hastily withdrew our defenses, we would definitely abandon the fortified fortresses. ”

Yang Ling was puzzled: "Gao Daren belongs to the Liaodong Economic Strategy, why did he destroy the Great Wall?"

Yuan Chonghuan sighed before he said: "In this place of officialdom, there are many articles and many rights and wrongs, and the more you know, the more you are afraid of." The main battle faction is dominated by Shi Xian, the general of Zhenshuo, and the Donglin party, while Wei Zhongxian of Dongchang and Cui Chengxiu, the secretary of the military department, are the main peace. Thinking that Gao Jingluo was unwilling to disobey the intention of Dongchang, so he showed goodwill with Houjin, intending to make peace. When he said this, he interjected: "The Ming officialdom is connected layer by layer, just like a dense spider web with intricate side branches, and when it touches it, it moves the whole body, and it is often a last resort." ”

"I disagree with the economic strategy, although the army cannot be withdrawn, the city can not be abandoned, the people can not be moved, the field can not be wasted, and the judgment of Jin Qiliang "Submission" to tell the three cities of Jingluojin, right and Dalinghe are all forwards, if abandoned, once the Houjin attack, it will be driven straight into, and my Daming country will no longer be owned. In the end, he didn't listen, and if he insisted on doing so, Yuan was helpless. Yuan Chonghuan sat down dejectedly.

"Gao Di is afraid of war, is he afraid of offending Wei Zhongxian?" Yang Ling said slowly. It's not that he can't guess, but he doesn't want to guess such an outcome. He lingered in Gaofu for a long time before he was appreciated, and he thought that this court would be taken seriously, but after reading the letter, Gao Di did not say a word, and only let him go down to rest. He was puzzled, stayed for a few days, but still did not hear from him, and then asked to see Gao Di many times, but Gao Di was infected with the disease, and in desperation, he had to go northwest alone. Now, he finally understands why Gaudi is gone, and how unbearable the reason is.

Yuan and Yang were relatively speechless. After a long time, Yuan Chonghuan said: "The one who Jingluo is really afraid of is probably the tiger and wolf soldiers of Houjin." If you can defeat the Tartars in one fell swoop, who wouldn't want to accomplish this great feat?"

At this time, there was a report outside the hall, Yuan Chonghuan called in, the man was faltering, Zu Dashou stepped forward to support him, and the man gasped: "Press, press the inspector, after a slight order, order you to immediately withdraw the military defense of Ningyuan Qiandao, and immigrate to Shanhaiguan, there must be no mistake!"

"What!!"