On the first day of the fourth year of the Lunar New Year, the Rehe Hall did not have much atmosphere for the New Year, but due to the war, it looked a little desolate and dilapidated everywhere.

On Chinese New Year's Eve, the ground was already covered with a layer of fine snowflakes, and now with the fierce northwest wind, the temperature in the entire north has dropped a lot, and the road surface is also covered with fine broken ice.

In the bitter cold wind, I saw a long procession marching in the wind and snow, but there was no end in sight, these people were wearing shabby cotton jackets, limping step by step, most of the people's faces were extremely pale, and even walking and walking had fallen to the ground, and there were fallen corpses on both sides of the procession, as well as the wounded who were abandoned.

In the queue, although there were still some horses, but these horses were scrawny, and most of them were not ridden, but directly pulled and marched, and the whole team was filled with a sense of defeat.

Zhenghongqi Mongolian Commander Boyan's face was extremely pale, his arm hung down directly, and there were red blood stains on it, which was the injury left on the Bali Bridge before, and the whole person was a little listless.

But if it was just an injury, it wouldn't make Boyan so painful, in fact, what really made him more painful was the memories of the Battle of Bali Bridge, which was really tragic......

The battle of Bali Bridge was only two days, but it became the pain of the Qing army, and the entire more than 110,000 elites of the Eight Banners who participated in the battle were completely destroyed by the Fu Han army, among which there were only less than 10,000 people who survived, and they went straight to Xifengkou to join the Eight Banners Army waiting there, and there were barely more than 40,000 people.

Among these more than 40,000 people, 30,000 of them are the Eight Banners New Army that has never participated in the war, and more than 12,000 people are the remaining Qing army horses, which can be regarded as the last family of the Qing Dynasty in Guannei.

In addition to these more than 40,000 people, there were 1,500 Russians, who escorted the Qing royal family and the families of some ministers, as well as the 890,000 bannermen in the capital, and embarked on a long trek from Xifengkou, where they would make a detour from Rehe and other places to Shengjing outside the Guan.

You must know that it is a long road from Xifengkou to Shengjing, which cannot be compared with the Liaodong Corridor at all, so these hundreds of thousands of people have walked down all the way, and many people have fallen on the road, disease, hunger and cold have become the causes of death, and many more people are on the verge of death.

Even Boyan, who is the Mongolian capital of the Red Banner, was confused about the future at this time, and after the Battle of Bali Bridge, not only the main force of the Qing Dynasty was defeated, but even the Yongzheng Emperor died in the battle, which made Boyan completely lose confidence in the future, and he didn't know where the future of the Qing Dynasty was.

Although theoretically speaking, this lone army still has a Shengjing to go to, and the fourth elder brother will also ascend the throne to become the new emperor, but even Yongzheng has no ability to save the overall situation, what can a young and ignorant prince do?

Furthermore, without the flowery land of the Central Plains, what can they do by relying on the hundreds of thousands of people at the moment, plus the two or three hundred thousand banner people outside the Guan?

The more he thought about it, the more desperate he became, he let out a long sigh and closed his eyes, at this time, a trace of coolness appeared on his face, and he couldn't help but open his eyes, but saw that snowflakes had begun to fall in the sky, and the weather seemed to be getting colder......

In the marching tent, the remnants of the Qing court's courtiers gathered together, and the leaders of them were several ministers of the original military aircraft department, led by Xu Yuanmeng, a university scholar, and Yunlu, Prince Zhuang, whose faces were stained with tears and their eyes were as red as rabbits.

Because Emperor Yongzheng died on the battlefield and couldn't even get the body back, he adopted the form of secret mourning, and waited until he returned to Shengjing to mourn, so everyone did not serve filial piety.

"At present, although the emperor has been in the sky, but the Qing Dynasty has not died, and we have more than 100,000 people to live.

In the big tent, Xu Yuanmeng's face was a little sad, and he sighed slightly and said: "I invite a few adults to come, just to hope that you can take ideas at this critical time." ”

Speaking of adults, in fact, the one who can really call the shots is Prince Zhuang Yunlu, he holds the military power in one hand, and even Xu Yuanmeng has to be polite to him, so everyone is also quite polite to Yunlu.

Yunlu glanced around at everyone and said in a low voice: "Right now, we have to go to the direction of Shengjing, the distance is really long, even if there is no cavalry pursuit of Chu Yi, but if you want to reach Shengjing safely, it is even more difficult, and the key is one more point, if the Fu Han army attacks my Shengjing, what should we do?" ”

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but fall silent, in fact, most of them had thought about this problem, but no one dared to expose it - after all, no matter what, there is still a Shengjing to go to, if Liansheng Kyoto can't go, then what should I do?

No one knew the answer, and there was not even a mature suggestion at this time, so Shengjing became the only dream to count on.

On the contrary, it was Prince Zhuang Yunlu, who was more straightforward, and paused slightly, "I have already lost once in the Qing Dynasty, and I can't act blindly anymore, at least after finding out the situation in the direction of Shengjing, I will decide whether to go there or not." ”

Xu Yuanmeng nodded slightly, and asked, "What if there are already thieves from the Fu Han Army in the direction of Shengjing?" ”

In fact, in everyone's hearts, it is almost tacitly accepted that there is an army of the Fu Han Army in the direction of Shengjing, after all, there is already a Praetorian Guard Division of the Fu Han Army in Ningjin, if it is a direct attack on Shengjing, I am afraid that the fourth elder brother in the direction of Shengjing will be difficult to resist!

"If Shengjing is in danger, how about going to the Mongolian tribes?" Someone made a suggestion softly, and when he put forward this suggestion, he was glared at by Xu Yuanmeng and Prince Zhuang.

The reason is also very simple, the love and hatred between the Qing Dynasty and Mongolia cannot be written in a book, and the relationship between the two sides is complicated and not as simple as it seems, so to take refuge in Mongolia, there are actually a large number of opposition voices within the Qing court, not only the Manchurian Eight Banners opposed, but even the Mongolian Eight Banners will oppose it.

Mongolia is not a complete collective, more of a regional concept, just like the Mongolian tribes south of the desert called Mongol South Mongolia, which is divided into Korqin, Zarat, Durbot, Bahrain, Zalut, Ulate, Karaqin, Uzhumuqin, Chahar, Tumut, Ordos and other departments, known as Shengjing, Heilongjiang in the east, Ili East Road in the west, the Great Wall in the south, and the desert in the north, extending more than 10,000 miles.

In addition to the huge southern Mongolia, the north of the desert is called Mobei Mongolia, also known as Khalkha Mongolia, which is mainly divided into three parts: Chechen Khan, Tushetu Khan, and Zasaktu Khan, and the west of the desert is called Moxi Mongolia, that is, Oirat Mongolia, like the Junggar Department, the Heshuo Special Department, and the Turghut Department belong to the Western Desert Mongolia.

Since the Yuan Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty has been deeply afraid of the unification of Mongolia, so they have tried every means to split the Mongolian tribes, so it has also caused the division of hundreds of tribes, large and small, among which there is naturally a large number of antagonisms, so when someone proposes to go to the Mongolian tribes, it will cause Xu Yuanmeng and Prince Zhuang to look at each other. Nuancai Literature Network

It can be said that neither Xu Yuanmeng nor Prince Zhuang will consider going to Mongolia until the last resort.

Just thinking of this, everyone was a little worried, and the atmosphere in the tent seemed more and more dull.

"Why don't we ask the Russians what they're going to do?"

I don't know how long it took, and finally another voice sounded, it was Jiang Tingxi, the minister of the Military Aircraft Department and the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, his face was a little worried, after all, this time is different from the past, he is a Han after all, and he must act in a low-key manner, otherwise he doesn't know when he will die for an inexplicable reason.

"Russians?"

Xu Yuanmeng's eyes lit up slightly, this is a good idea....... Nowadays, everyone is unreliable, but the Russians can rely on one or two, because others only want to beat the water dogs, and the Russians only want to protect their own interests in negotiations, they must keep the Qing Dynasty, otherwise those signatures will not be in vain?

"Master Jiang also has some truth in what he said, so you can continue to contact the Russians first, on the other hand, let's quickly send someone to Shengjing to inquire about the situation, if the situation is good, then go directly to Shengjing!"

Seeing that Xu Yuanmeng had made up his mind, Prince Zhuang Yunlu also nodded, the current Qing Dynasty could no longer tolerate the slightest civil strife, so several ministers would try their best to choose harmony when discussing matters.

........

When Xu Yuanmeng and others went to the direction of Shengjing to inquire about the news, the direction of Shengjing first got the news of the defeat of Bali Bridge, and the sentinel who passed the message went through a lot of hardships, bypassed the interception checkpoint set by the Fu Han army in the direction of Ningjin, and finally delivered the emergency to the new governor of Shengjing, Ma Qi.

As early as before the Battle of Baliqiao began, Ma Qi, the governor of Shengjing, Mar Sai, the governor of the five departments of Shengjing, and Yin Zhang Tingyu of Fengtian Mansion had quietly bypassed the Ningjin area from outside the pass, arrived in Shengjing safely, and began to take over all the defense and government affairs of Shengjing.

Of course, when they were busy with the affairs of Shengjing, one eye was always on the capital and on the decisive battle, so when the news of the Battle of Bali Bridge came in the starry night, everyone got the news as soon as possible, and they also knew that Emperor Yongzheng died on the battlefield.......

"Your Majesty! The minion's heart hurts....."

"Your Majesty, the old slave hates to kill Chu Shun to avenge his father's revenge!"

"Your Majesty, the rivers and mountains of the Qing Dynasty can't be without the emperor........"

For a while, there was a cry from the yamen of the governor of Shengjing, whether it was true or false, at least in the current environment, it can be said that everyone is crying bitterly.

Ma Qi, the governor of Shengjing, is an old minister, after all, he is also the one who experienced the death of Kangxi that year, so although he also cried, he immediately understood that the current succession was important, so he immediately sent someone to block the news, and then went to the Shengjing Palace with Marseille and Zhang Tingyu to meet the queen Wulanala and the fourth elder brother Hongli.

When everyone arrived at the palace, Ma Qi had already sent someone to pass the news to the Empress Wulanara, she had already come to Shengjing before, so she was the highest representative of the current royal family, and she took several other concubines of Yongzheng, like Concubine Xi, Concubine Qi, Concubine Ning and others, who were already crying at this time.

"The minions and others knocked on the queen mother Chitose, and now the emperor died on the battlefield, but the country can't be without a king for a day, and I can't be without an owner for a day!" Ma Qi and the others knelt on the ground, and their faces were also full of sadness.

Queen Wulanala was born in Manchuria Zhenghuangqi, originally the daughter of the Minister of the Interior Fei Yanggu, when Yongzheng was still the prince, he was canonized by Kangxi as a concubine, and once gave birth to a son Honghui, but unfortunately died at the age of eight, because of his docile and kind personality, he also had a good relationship with other concubines since he was in charge of the harem, so he was also very popular with the inside and outside.

Originally, the relationship between the emperor and the queen was very harmonious, so after the queen Wulanala learned the news of Yongzheng's death, she cried several times in a row, but she also knew in her heart that the current state affairs were important, and she couldn't tolerate being too sad, so she held back her tears.

"Ma Qi, the palace has sent someone to summon the fourth elder brother Hongli, the fifth elder brother Hongday, and the eighth elder brother Hongsheng, and will directly issue the edict here."

The Ulanala clan is loyal, and understands the importance of succession, so he directly sent people to bring the princes immediately, so as to determine the position as soon as possible and prevent the matter of seizing the heir again.

Yongzheng's heirs are not vigorous, and many of the children born have died young, so there were only three elder brothers Hongshi, fourth elder brother Hongli and fifth elder brother Hongli who lived to the prelude, but Hongshi died violently in the capital before, and now there are only two people left, like the eighth elder brother Hongsheng is only three years old, and he has not yet reached the age of the prelude.

Everyone understands in their hearts that there is only one person who can inherit the unification at the moment, that is, the fourth elder brother Hongli, so there will be no suspense at all, but the inheritance of the unification will have to go through a process after all in order to convince the public.

After a while, I only heard a burst of crying outside, but it was a few young brothers and princesses who had arrived, but they had not yet entered the palace, and they had already begun to cry loudly.

After everyone entered the hall, Hongli, Hongday and others followed the queen and others and began to cry again, Ma Qi knew that it was not time to talk about business at this time, so he knelt on the ground and waited for everyone to finish crying, but the more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he became, and he couldn't help but his eyes began to turn red again.

After a long time, the fourth elder brother Hongli saw extraordinary knowledge after all, he took the lead in stopping his crying, looking at the few elderly ministers kneeling below, and his face couldn't help showing a little confused.

In Hongli's heart, the person he admires most in the world is his Ama Yongzheng Emperor, but now when Emperor Yongzheng is killed in battle, it makes Hongli more afraid in addition to sadness, if even Yongzheng can't save the overall situation, what can he do as a yellow-haired child?