The Yue family is a well-known wealthy family in Qinghe City, and the Yue family's mansion is located in Beiguan Liushufang, covering an area of several acres.

The layout of the whole house is vertical and horizontal, and the hall, patio and courtyard are connected to each other. There are about more than 100 large and small rooms, with white walls and tiles, and they are scattered. From the outside, the courtyard wall is as high as more than one zhang, the wall base is made of strip stone, lime whitewash, and the wall is veneered with clear water grinding bricks, which is both simple and elegant and shows the solidity of the owner.

The main gate faces east, the gate is very imposing, the gatehouse is as high as one zhang five, it is a stone workshop with two pillars and a single door. There are four willow trees on the left and right in front of the door, and there is a row of stakes for tethered horses, and the gatehouse is carved with colorful paintings, and there is a door plaque in the middle: Yue House.

Directly opposite the gate is a shadow wall, on which is painted a green lotus pond, in which lotus flowers bloom and fish play. Bypassing the shadow wall, there is the foyer. In the yard, there are not only high acacia ancient willows, but also forest ancient cypresses, and all kinds of flowers and trees are dotted among them.

Yue Xiang's residence was in a separate courtyard. At this moment, he and Dong Mingchuan were drinking and talking in the courtyard with a table, and the table was full of fresh and tender beef and mutton, as well as four plates of cold dishes, charcoal grills, and spiced condiments.

"Ziyi, I really admire you more and more, and now you can still eat and drink, it's really amazing. Brother Ziren is trapped in Fushun, and his life and death are unknown, so you don't want to find a way to investigate? Dong Mingchuan originally had no intention of drinking, but he was pulled by Yue Xiang.

"Inquiry? Who would dare to go? At this moment, the Fushun area has become the world of the barbarians of Jianzhou, and the officers and soldiers have been wiped out. Isn't sending someone into the mouth of a tiger? Besides, life and death are fateful, if my brother is auspicious, he will return safely. If you are unfortunate enough to have died under the sword of Jianyu, it is useless to go. If he is captured alive, he will send someone back to report the news. What the Jianzhou barbarians are trying to do is nothing more than goods, and then give him more money and food to redeem him. ”

Yue Xiang was calm and unhurried, and took a sip of wine.

"Now that the barbarians in Jianzhou are in turmoil, and the army is pressing the border at any time, do you have any good plan to settle down and save your life so calmly?" Dong Mingchuan didn't seem to have a good appetite, so he put down the wine glass after only taking a sip and said tentatively to Yue Xiang.

"The best way to save one's life is to have no ......" Yue Xiang latte is grilled on the charcoal fire with a meat skewer, and the swishing oil drips onto the charcoal fire, exuding an enticing fragrance. He chewed a few mouthfuls and swallowed and wiped his mouth: "Now only the soldiers are coming to block it, and the water is flooding." Sooner or later, the Jianzhou barbarians will attack Qinghe, sooner or later. ”

"And what else can you eat? Really hit the Qinghe, do you think that with our Zou Junmen and these people in the city, can they hold it? Dong Mingchuan's face was full of worry.

"Didn't you beat your chest when you were in the government just now? Why is it wilting again? ”

"When was that? Besides, at that time, I thought that the imperial army was going to enter and suppress it soon, who knew that the edict from the imperial court did not say a word about this kind of thing at all, who was not panicking? ”

"Smart, want to hear what I have to say. Then let me tell you, sooner or later, Qinghe will fall into the hands of the barbarians. Our officers and soldiers in Qinghe have not fought for many years, and there are only a few thousand of them, and the rebel domain in Jianzhou is more than ten times more than ours, and they are still experienced in a hundred battles. The chance of being able to hold on to it is probably no more than 20%. I'm going to say more. ”

"Less than two percent, isn't that a steady loss?!" Dong Mingchuan's eyes suddenly widened.

"Not necessarily, during the Anshi Rebellion, Li Guangbi had 5,000 Hebei soldiers to defend Taiyuan, and Shi Siming's 100,000 elite rebels besieged it for many years, and finally it was broken under the city of Taiyuan with less victories and more victories; Wei Xiaokuan defended the jade wall alone, Gao Huan's 300,000 army could not be pulled out after half a year, and his own army lost more than 70,000 teachers; Stereotyped and dean-guarded, nine attacks and nine refusals to deal with infinite ......"

"Okay, okay, okay, what's the use of all this. These are all things from the previous dynasty, and now in addition to the founding princes who followed Emperor Taizu to fight the world, how many famous generals can be like Li Taiwei now? Do you think we look like Zou Junmen? I think it's better to put oil under the soles of my feet, so let's slip away. ”

"Slip? Where to slip away? Yue Xiang tilted his head to look at him.

"Shenyang, Liaoyang is also fine, if not, go to Guangning. No matter how powerful the Jianzhou barbarians are, they can't beat Guangning. ”

"You want to move?" Yue Xiang put down the wine glass.

"That's the plan." Dong Mingchuan's face was heavy, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

"Then your family's business on this side of Qinghe, don't you want anything from your ancestral business?" Yue Xiang frowned.

"I can't take care of these things this year, my life is at stake, anyway, if it's really okay, I can come back."

"You're back a fart!" Yue Xiang suddenly raised his voice, "Think about it yourself, now that the news of the rebellion of the barbarians in Jianzhou has spread, if your family leaves at this juncture, other families will definitely follow." Once the people's hearts are scattered, this city will definitely not be able to hold it, and when the time comes, the rebels will definitely destroy the city, and when you come back, it will be in ruins, what are you doing when you come back? ”

"Take a step back and really hold on, you don't have a place in this city when you come back. Think about it, everyone else is fighting to the death, but your family is fleeing first, who wants to deal with you? Who can afford you? ”

"Besides, the foundation of our Qinghe people is in Qinghe, and we rashly run to other places to break into the world, whether we can mix it up or not. Even if you can mix it up, you have to start all over again. What kind of place is it in Shenyang, Liaoyang, Guangning, the governor and the high-ranking officials gathered, and the officials there can find out any one of them, probably the officials are much bigger than Zou Junmen, the bigger the officials, the bigger the appetite, how much money do you have to take care of people? That's a bottomless pit! ”

Dong Mingchuan, who Yue Xiang said, was silent.

After a long pause, he sighed: "Brother Ziyi's knowledge is better than me after all, if there is a way, who wants to leave home?" It's just that this sword disaster can't help but make people frightened, that is, a hero like Ziyi can not be afraid of danger. When this Jianzhou barbarian didn't make trouble, no one took him seriously, who knew that everyone felt frightened when he made a fuss now, and only then did he know that he could make such a big move. ”

"Human nature, you say I'm not afraid? I'm also afraid, at the moment, it's just a strong self-calm. Anyway, the court already has an edict, so just act according to it. ”

"I always feel that there is something strange in this imperial court's edict, as if it is not that smell, since the opening of the Ming Dynasty, I have never heard of allowing various localities to form their own righteous armies. Do you think this edict is true or false? ”

"You mean someone is making a false message? Or is someone ready to take advantage of the chaos? ”

"I didn't say that, but when the Yellow Turban Rebellion at the end of the Han Dynasty was in the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Han court made such a will, and each state and county recruited troops to organize volunteer brigades to suppress bandits, and as a result, the rebellion was quelled, and finally their own court was destroyed."

"Then do you think the current situation in Liaodong is similar to that of the late Eastern Han Dynasty?" Yue Xiang stuffed a large skewer of barbecue meat into his mouth again, and seemed to focus his attention on the meat, and said this vaguely.

"What do you mean by that?" Dong Mingchuan looked at Yue Xiang and didn't know what he meant.

"To put it bluntly, the current Liaodong has long been unstable. Originally, Ning Yuanbo guarded Liaodong, although he acted arrogantly and arbitrarily. However, the exploitation of the military and civilians is not very strong, and the common people can still live tightly. But since Wanli's faint king and eight calves sent Gao Huai's pickled dog to Liaodong to loot, wash and plunder, and make Liaodong hungry all over the place. The foundation of Liaodong has begun to end, and the hearts of the people have begun to disperse. ”

In the end, Gao Huai's anger and resentment finally provoked a mutiny, and as a result, he patted his ass and left, leaving a mess that no one cleaned up. Now after a few years, it seems that there has been a change, but in fact, people's hearts have changed. The old power structure is collapsing, new forces are rising, or in a few years, I think Liaodong will change. ”

Yue Xiang's words can be called earth-shattering, and there is simply no greater rebellious performance than this. openly scolding the son of a faint king and a bastard when he is heard by others, he can directly correct the Fa on the spot.

Dong Mingchuan's frightened face changed. Hurriedly signaled him to shut up, looked left and right and saw that no one could whisper: "Ziyi, this kind of rebellious words can't be said, you have to lose your head!" I think you've drunk a little too much, so I've never heard that, so I'll stop today. "As he spoke, he stood up and was leaving.

"Come back! What are you afraid of?! I have something to discuss with you! Yue Xiang grabbed Dong Mingchuan. This is Liaodong, and there are no factory guards from the imperial court around, who can listen to it? ”

"But...... You ......" Dong Mingchuan looked at Yue Xiang nervously, not knowing what this guy was going to say next.

"Sit down! You see you're scared like that? I'm scolding Wanli's faint king. What if I scold? Now that Jianyu is eyeing him, who cares if he is an emperor or not, if I have the opportunity, I will scold his ancestors for eighteen generations in front of this faint monarch! ”

"Do you think he's a faint king?! For more than 20 years, he has not been in the court, so that no one is in charge of the yamen in the world, so that now that Fushun has fallen, the court can't even find a person in charge, and the soldiers, horses, and salaries can't be adjusted until now. ”

"The treasury is empty, and it cannot be paid. He had hundreds of millions of gold and silver in the treasury of the palace, but he was unwilling to pay for his military salary. Aren't we protecting his country?! Sending dog eunuchs and mine tax supervisors to disrupt the world, oppress and loot the army and civilians, deduct food and wages, make the people flee and scatter, and completely empty the vitality of our Liaodong. ”

"Our Liaodong soldiers and horses are elite and strong, and they were originally the crown of all armies in the world, but how many generals are left now? Look at what kind of virtue it is to be trampled on by harsh government? Look at the soldiers in our city, their clothes and armor are tattered, their swords and guns are rusty, and they all have yellow faces and thin muscles, is this our Ming Dynasty general? How is it different from the beggars and homeless people on the street? Look at how many people are left in the barracks? What are the old, weak, sick and disabled? Liaodong is already like rotten wood! As long as someone strikes him sharply, he will be destroyed! ”

Dong Mingchuan listened stunned, and it took a long time to understand something, and he stammered, "You...... Are you saying that we are in Liaodong now...... Not...... Didn't ......."

"Exactly, our Liaodong is out of soldiers now! The court has no money! Otherwise, Zhang Junmen only brought more than 10,000 people with him when he sent troops to Fushun, just because there are so many soldiers in Liaodong who can fight, and we can't find soldiers and horses anywhere else. The imperial court transferred these famous generals out of the customs, but there was no movement for a long time, just because there were generals and no soldiers, no food and no salary. I had no choice but to ask us to organize the family Ding Yi Brigade to deal with it first and buy time for the imperial court. If the soldiers are well fed and everything is ready, and the army has already been dispatched on the spot to build a nest of thieves, why should we be tempted by the knighthood? ”

Dong Mingchuan's face was like earth, and cold sweat rolled down his forehead. Standing up suddenly, he turned back and forth a few times like ants on the hot pan, turned around and asked, "What about ...... Then now if the Jianzhou rebel clan takes the opportunity to attack elsewhere......"

"Hit somewhere else? Most of the imperial court can't help it. All the elites in Liaodong have been buried under the city of Fushun, there are no soldiers outside the pass, and the emperor does not pay food. Even if this army wants to be dispatched, it can only be transferred from the provinces in the Guannai, and it will take a month to prepare food, horses, armor, equipment, and ammunition and artillery. Now Jianyu is just watching the movements of the imperial court, so he did not act rashly, if the time comes, the imperial court still does not fight, Jianyu will go out again to attack and plunder, and our Qinghe Fort will bear the brunt. ”

"Will Jianyu still come out? It's not enough for them to rob Fushun? It's too daring. Isn't he afraid of really provoking the court? Do they really think that the court is easy to bully? ”

"What do you think? This kind of person beats you and sees that you don't react, so they naturally think that you are weak and can be bullied, and you must be inched in. They don't know what contentment means. Do you think the purpose of the captives is only to loot? I think their ambitions go far beyond that. After Nurhachi founded the country, Jin, who called himself Khan, already regarded himself as an equal to our Ming Dynasty. What is Houjin? In that year, the puppet state established by the Jurchen Wanyan Aguda in the Song Dynasty called the pseudo name Jin, and went south to attack the Song Dynasty, and the Song family crossed to the south of the Yangtze River, occupied the Central Plains of North China, and dominated for a while. If Nurhachi doesn't have such ambitions, how can he dare to be called Houjin? ”

"You said they wanted to learn from the Jin Kingdom of the Song Dynasty, and they wanted to change the sky?! Want to devour my Ming? Dong Mingchuan felt as if he had heard something particularly incredible, and his face was full of disbelief.

Can snakes swallow elephants?

"Why not? Back then, Wanyan Jurchen was also developed by hundreds of people and dozens of horses at the beginning, and their ancestors could do it, so why did Nurhachi think that he couldn't do it? Back then, his small Jianzhou Weicai was a big place, not as big as a county in Daming, he took a hundred and ten people, with thirteen armor to raise troops, and every battle was a small fight. Now except for the North Pass, which is still in Ye He's hands, the rest of the places have been leveled by him. Such brilliant achievements are comparable to Wanyan Aguda back then, and there are already rumors that he is the reincarnation of Wanyan Aguda. ”

“…… Can this imperial army assemble and set off on time? Dong Mingchuan's face was even worse, his heart was in turmoil at the moment, and he unconsciously put Yue Xiang's opinion first, in fact, Yue Xiang's analysis was reasonable and responsible, and it was indeed convincing.

"How do I know that? Fushun is far away from the border, and in the eyes of the ministers of the imperial court, it is just a wild place on the border, and the lives of the border people are not valuable. As long as it can be delayed, how many people will he care if you die? In addition, there is a shortage of officials in the various ministries and departments of the DPRK and China, and the rest of the people are busy with party disputes, which will inevitably delay time. ”

Yue Xiang sighed and looked south, raised his glass and drank it all, and then said.

"Besides, since the Tumubao change of the Yingzong Dynasty, the attitude of the imperial court towards these barbarian troubles has long lost the sharpness of the beginning of the founding of the country. Now it has become a big climate, with strong soldiers and strong horses, and 100,000 armor. I estimate that the court has no idea whether it can win the battle, and it will not send troops to fight hard until it is absolutely necessary, plus there are seven hates, and those factions that are fighting for the party may have someone to suppress and someone to take care of, and then quarrel for a while and delay it, and the emperor will have fun with Concubine Zheng in the palace again, and the ghost knows when the army can set off! ”

"This ...... It's also too ...... Ziyi, what you said is too alarmist. Although our Liaodong is located in the north of the eastern part of the country, this is also the city land of the Ming Dynasty, and it doesn't matter if the court is occupied by the barbarians? Then one day the barbarians will hit the city of Beijing, and the court should not be able to see it? ”

"You have also read the imperial court's edict Yu Di report, but there is a word that mentions the matter of the army's suppression?"

"This court that has suffered a thousand cuts, no wonder someone has made you oppose! They are all corrupt officials and corrupt officials, corrupting state affairs! Dong Mingchuan's face changed several times, and finally he scolded as if the balloon had inflated to the limit, and the scolding was extremely loud. But after scolding, he had nothing to say, so he sat down helplessly. He said with a sad face: "Since the court can't count on it, what can we do?" How's that for good? Ziyi, what do you say? ”

"Hehe, now that the world is chaotic, we can't count on the imperial court. As the saying goes, heroes come out of troubled times. It just so happened that the imperial court issued an order, it is the day when our brothers come out, why not push the boat down the river, follow the example of the heroes of the late Han Dynasty, and make a career. ”