[It's late to update, there have been too many things recently, forgive me]

In March, everything in Beijing recovered, and the city and outside the city gradually became lively again, and the business of the restaurant and tea shop was getting better and better.

This is half because the weather has warmed up, and the other half is because of the strong spending power of the lifters after the test.

Ten years of cold window, finally able to enter the department, the back of the palace examination ranking for most of the unintentional three tripod candidates have little meaning, the first three are Jinshi, after the end of the view of the government, let out a county is the minimum, how many scholars The end of the career is just the beginning of the Jinshi, how not to make people envious, not to mention that because of the additional benefits that the identity of a Jinshi can bring to the family, this banquet does not have to pay for itself, and there are businessmen and gentry from all walks of life to come to the door, if this one has not yet been married, it is the object of contention, The threshold of Yang's Mansion has almost been broken these days, but fortunately, Yang Wencong's relationship with the Ma family's sister was told in time, which saved him from embarrassment.

Recently, he has been drunk all day, in his words, as long as he doesn't miss the temple test after ten days, everything else is easy to say. Because of this identity, it is not easy now, today and Yuan Chonghuan chanted poetry, tomorrow I will go to about Ma Shiying to learn painting skills, anyway, the family who returned to his hometown to report the good news has already been on the road, it is estimated that when he returns to Guiyang, the archway of Dengke has been erected. After the exam, in addition to visiting the master, his daily life was only left with feasting and playing, and after the beginning of spring, there were many places to play in the suburbs of Beijing, which was in line with his spleen and stomach.

Today is the season when the city gate is about to be closed, he and Qi Biaojia, who went to the bookstore in the same lane, got into the carriage and prepared to go out of the city in a hurry.

As soon as the carriage passed the Chaoyang Gate, it met with another team of people and horses who entered the city, and there was a stalemate for a while, Yang Wencong was about to scold, but he saw a person coming down from the opposite car, it was Wang Xingping. He set off from Tianjin yesterday and rested in Xianghe County for one night, and only then could he rush back to the capital.

Yang Wencong was naturally happy when he saw him, but Wang Xingping ignored it and said to Qi Biaojia on the side: "Huzi, I just have something to ask you, is your father in the house?" ”

"He is on duty today, and he is not at home."

"Okay, you take me to the military department."

Qi Biaojia was stunned for a moment, but immediately turned around and led the way for Wang Xingping.

Leaving Yang Wencong alone was bored.

…………

The military department is in the south of East Chang'an Street, next to the left gate of Chang'an, which is also known as the Dragon Gate, not far away, although the distance from Chaoyang Gate is not long, but because civilians are forbidden to ride horses on Chang'an Street, it will take some time to come, as long as Qi Chengjiao is in the ministry on weekdays, Qi Biaojia will not come easily, after all, he still feels that the identity of Yu Shiren is a little inappropriate.

Qi Chengyi's public office is in an inconspicuous corner in the south of the ministry, and across a low wall is the Ministry of Industry.

Qi Chengjiao has been in the ministry for a whole day, and he will continue to stay up tonight, there has been no accurate news from the Liaodong front a few days ago, which makes him feel very worried, after all, the red flag of the military department actually comes from the emperor's will, and there is no room for slackness, and now the information brought by Wang Xingping has made his mood extremely bad.

"Where did you hear that?" After holding back from the left and right, he hurriedly asked in a low voice.

Wang Xingping didn't hide it, "It was brought by a North Korean general, and I just came back from Tianjin Wei." ”

"Where is this man? Is the information really reliable? ”

"A servant of mine of mine is a fellow villager with this person, and the news he got should not be false, saying that at the end of last month, the official army of the East Road was discovered by the Tartars as soon as they left Fushun Pass, and the old slave only left five hundred old and weak soldiers in the south to contain General Liu's headquarters, and the elite of the Eight Banners specialized in Juniper all the way."

"The news from Du's side has indeed been cut off for a few days." Qi Chengyi is not worry-free.

Wang Xingping frowned, "What was said later in that matter was just a rumor, he said that the Tartar army had broken through the official army of the East Road, and the 30,000 army under General Du had been wiped out. ”

The meeting just now only roughly talked about the defeat of the Ming army Salhu, but now that Wang Xingping said that 30,000 people were annihilated, Qi Chengjiao began to be a little nervous.

"What about Juniper?" Maybe it's because the news is too sensational, and at this moment he even forgot to verify it, and the news of such a big defeat as an official of the military department has only learned from a kid who ran back from Tianjin, which is a bit unreasonable.

"This ...... The man said that now it is rumored outside the gate that Du Taishi has been defeated and died, and Jiang Hongli, the marshal of the five provinces of North Korea who aided Liao, was besieged in battle, and many of this news are said by the North Korean rout soldiers who fled back to the south of the Yalu River, but I think it is not excluded that there are Tartars who deliberately spread it, but most of the defeat is true, and my uncle has to plan early. ”

Neither Wang Xingping nor Gu Ziming felt that six or seven days was enough time to spread the news of the defeat of the official army to Salhu so far, and the possibility of Hou Jin spies spreading rumors everywhere was not small, but since Yang Hao had divided the troops as expected, the course of history seemed inevitable. What's more, the total army of tens of thousands of people was wiped out, and the mobile forces of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong were swept away, and with the formation of this vacuum, the huge whirlpool generated around it will also bring earth-shaking shocks to the center of this empire, and the rest is just a minutiae.

He only needs to tell Qi Chengyi a seemingly accurate news, and the rest is Qi Langzhong's own business, all he wants is a favor, after all, Gu Ziming didn't urge him to return to Beijing to report to the Ministry of War. Besides, the defeat of Liaodong, no matter how Yang Hao covered it up, the news could not be concealed for a few days, at most, after the four-way army was broken by Nurhachi, Yang Shaosima, who could no longer see hope, could only take the blame.

At this moment, Wang Xingping had disappeared into the night of the capital under the leadership of Qi Chengyi's cronies.

…………

Early the next morning, in a study outside the Zhengyang Gate, the lifters gathered again to gather for a literary meeting, just like the daily routine of these days, but this time the atmosphere was very different from the past, less poetry echoed, but faintly revealed a trace of haze.

After the trial, the Wenhui is often not very carefully divided, and the local lifters are no longer limited to the division of the township, just today, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and even Hebei's new Kegongshi and the unsuccessful candidates who are still in Beijing are also considered to be together, and it is the study to take the initiative to invite, which can be regarded as their own business promotion. But the scholars are a little absent-minded today, and they are still inquiring about each other's news.

"I heard that there was an urgent military intelligence sent to the military headquarters last night, and the front line in Liaodong doesn't seem to be doing well." Those who do good deeds have already begun to play.

"It doesn't seem to be good, I heard that Fang Ge Lao entered the palace overnight last night."

"Who did you listen to?" One asked.

But I heard the people next to me help solve my doubts, "Do you still need to hear about this?" When I woke up in the morning, the chessboard was spread all over the street. ”

Yuan Chonghuan and the others were also making noise, and suddenly saw an acquaintance walking into the study with a small servant.

"Brother Shen, it's early today."

The person who came was Shen Defu, he failed the test, but he was happy to relax, so he simply stayed in the capital and continued to visit relatives and friends, and waited for the palace test to go home with his fellow villager Xiang Mengyuan, who won the second place in the test. He had seen and heard the most of the scholars in Beijing this time, and there were many old elders in the family who were officials, so as soon as he appeared, everyone in the study was a little anxious to see if they could hear some definite news.

Shen Defu really didn't disappoint everyone, "What you heard is true, tens of thousands of horses and horses in Liaodong were wiped out, and Du Madman and Liu Dadao both died in the chaos. ”

"What?"

"Tens of thousands of troops are gone so quickly?"

"Yang Ho should be killed." Everyone was still in shock, and they didn't know who scolded first, and then gradually scolded.

Different people reacted differently when they heard this, but they were shocked when they heard the news.

Only Wang Xingping, who was tired, still didn't say much, just like Fang Cai sat on the official hat chair with half-squinted eyes and listened to everyone, after all, he personally stayed in the Xu Mansion last night until the second half of the night, and watched the chamberlain come to invite Xu Guangqi into the palace. Although the chamberlain who came to summon him at that time did not say the reason, he summoned the important ministers into the palace late at night, which has not happened for many years, and the reason is unknown.

"I didn't expect to be really right by you." A Confucian student walked up to Wang Xingping, who was sitting in the corner, and sighed.

Wang Xingping looked up, but laughed, "Brother Song, is this promise?" ”

Song Yingxing originally planned to be invited to Guizhou if he didn't get the middle school, but he hesitated after falling off the list, and it wasn't until he heard early this morning that the defeat report of Liaodong was not much different from Wang Xingping's speculation at the beginning, so he made up his mind to find it. Wang Xingping was naturally happy when he heard his words, but he still forcibly hid his joy.

The news of Salhu spread in the streets and alleys of the Beijing division like wings for most of the day, and the general administration department finally came down after the military department copied and forwarded the palace newspaper to the various yamen, unlike the previous Tang newspaper only presented to the cabinet and the imperial front, such a level of defeat must be explained to the government and the opposition, although the official document after careful consideration of words and sentences is still a little cover-up, but the few words of 'the general army Juniper and other divisions out of Fushun Pass and fell' are still enough to show the seriousness of the situation.

I believe that in two days, the governors of the provinces will follow up one after another after reading the Di report, Wang Xingping also feels that only the more severe the criticism, these local officials can take the initiative in the follow-up possible additions, and the officials always have their own motives behind their actions.

Just like Wang Xingping, when everyone was talking, he had already exchanged for something that was beneficial to him.

Xu Guangqi felt that a new army was needed to be trained in order to gradually recover the lost territory in Liaodong and assess the Jiannu, and he thought that Wang Xingping was a feasible candidate for implementation, and Qi Chengjiao, the source of the new soldiers, had also promised to help him select him from the Liaodong rout, in order to make meritorious contributions after becoming an army.

Of course, Wang Xingping felt that such an army directly pulling it to Liaodong was tantamount to sending sheep into the tiger's mouth, so it was better to go back to the southwest with him to experience it, and he still had some confidence that he could persuade a few familiar masters to help speak in the court.

In the impeachment of the Manchu Dynasty, there was also a rational voice that boldly suggested, and did not blindly blame Yang Hao, who lost his teacher and land, but took the lead in proposing to use Xiong Tingbi, who had been idle for many years, to replace Liaodong Jingluo. Xiong Tingbi once patrolled Liaodong ten years ago, and he had a very insightful view of eastern affairs, and he was also a talented man in civil and military affairs and had a reputation for being good at governing the army. In fact, as long as you ease the taste a little, there should be many courtiers who can think of this suitable candidate, but it has a different meaning that someone recommended it the day after the official spread of the defeat report.

Soon, someone inquired about who mentioned this recommendation, it was Wang Zunde, the young secretary of Taifu Temple, who had just been in office for a year.

[Note 1: Du Taishi was the honorific title of Juniper by various ethnic groups outside the Guanxi at that time]

[References]

1, "Daming Huidian"

2, "Records of Emperor Mingshen Zongxian"

3, "History of the Late Ming Dynasty" Fan Shuzhi

4, "Wanli Ye Ed" Shen Defu

5, "Huangming Tribute Examination" Zhang Chaorui

6. "Analysis of Tang Newspaper and Its Characteristics in the Ming Dynasty" Gao Ge

7. "On the Role of the General Political Division in Public Opinion in the Ming Dynasty" by Wu Xiaolu

8, "On the Battle of Salhu" Li Hongbin