In the early morning, the sky was blue and cloudless, and it was a rare good weather.

The fort official Zhang Yuncheng inspected the north gate as usual, and Zhang Jing's men were scheduled to return today. Two days ago, since the defeat of Shangoyubao crossed the Bapanling mountain road and poured into the suburbs of Qinghe, the main general Zou Chuxian felt that it was in danger, anyway, the area in the north of Lingbei was no longer under the control of the Ming army, so he simply gave up to concentrate on protecting Qinghe City.

He sent Zhang Jing to lead his men and horses to the mountains to cut down wood and stones to block the roads, blocking several major mountain passes with wood and stones, and destroying and blocking all the passable paths as much as possible, so that although it still could not prevent the infiltration of small groups of enemy troops, at least it was difficult for the large group of men and horses to pass, which was the only thing he could do at present.

Looking at the foot of the mountain in the distance, Zhang Jing's troops were gathering the whole team, Zhang Yuncheng suddenly heard someone calling behind him, turned around and found that it was Yue Xiang, he was stunned, this guy has been at home since he came back, why did he come out by himself today.

"Ziyi, I thought you guys would be hiding at home from now on. Victory or defeat is a common thing in soldiers, and besides, you are not considered to have lost this battle, you can fight for more than 300 heads, and your subordinates can also turn a blind eye. ”

Yue Xiang smiled reluctantly, came to the front of the battlement, and looked into the distance. He is really scared now, and Huang Taiji has formed a big relationship, I don't know when the Eight Banners Army will really fight, Huang Taiji is definitely a person who will take revenge, even if he doesn't dare to tell his father what losses he has suffered, but he will definitely find a way to retaliate against him, maybe one day he will come to the city.

"Is there any news of the imperial court's reinforcements?"

"Hey...... There's a fart, but I heard that Li Fushuai was dismissed and asked to enter Beijing. "The Li Fushuai in his mouth is the former Liaodong governor Li Weihan, after Zhang Chengyin Fushun was defeated and killed, he couldn't get out of it as the chief military and political officer of Liaodong no matter what, so he could only think that he was unlucky and swallowed the bitter fruit." However, I heard that the newly transferred Jingliu Lord Yang is a person who knows the soldiers, and he also fought the barbarians and the Japanese in North Korea back then, so he is quite courageous. ”

Yang Ho...... Yue Xiang sneered. The major battles he commanded were almost all failures, the Ming army was several times larger than the Japanese army in the Battle of Ulsan, Yang Ho was so happy and timid as a mouse, he should not fight and retreat, he did not conquer the fortifications for more than ten consecutive days, and the advance and retreat were lost, and finally the Japanese reinforcements rushed to the inside and outside to flank the whole army and were defeated, with heavy casualties. Not to mention Sa Huxu, a classic defeat in history.

"How are your injuries? You are now the number one fierce general in our Qinghe, and everyone is counting on you. Zhang Yuncheng's tone was half joking and half serious.

"What's the use of me counting on me now as a bare-bones commander? I'm covered in iron, and how many nails can I grind? Yue Xiang smiled self-deprecatingly, "The most important thing is for the imperial court to send troops quickly...... Hey, but the opportunity is gone. I don't know what those old guys in the court are thinking! Grinding and delaying the fighter! ”

"What do you mean by that?"

"Jianyu plundered Fushun, plundered more than 300,000 people and animals, and countless goods, with his small Jianzhou can only swallow it in a short time, just like a person eats a fat man, there must always be time to digest. In fact, the most important thing during this period of time was to stabilize the interior, because most of the people and civilians who were plundered this time were our Han Chinese, and he wanted to win the hearts of the people who surrendered, and this matter was not in a hurry, so he could only take his time. If the imperial court can take this opportunity to gather a large army to fight for it, the blow to Jianyu may be an internal and external attack, and it may be able to be wiped out in one fell swoop. But now that there has been no movement for such a long time, it has given Jianyu time to digest and absorb these people's wealth and goods, and sit back and watch it expand its strength, I really don't know what to say! ”

"In addition, in the past few years, Liaodi has suffered disasters year after year. Since the year before last, we have been flooded in Liaodong. I heard that the situation on the ground in Jianzhou is particularly serious. Although Jianyu has accumulated savings for many years, it is unbearable for successive disasters, and many people starve to death every year. I heard that Nurhachi had no choice but to order the residents of the headquarters to go to North Korea to eat. Last year, the establishment of the state was even more miserable, there was a shortage of grain throughout the whole territory, and in the event of a major famine, it was feared that there would be a disaster of death if troops were not sent to grab grain. It's a pity that our Ming calmers don't know how to take precautions and wait for others to rob them. is so unscrupulous, who will rob if people don't rob you? ”

After listening to Yue Xiang's complaining words, Zhang Yuncheng also smiled bitterly: "What Ziyi said...... Alas, there are few people in this officialdom who have such a vision now, those bosses live in Liaoyang, Guangning and other big inland cities, and some people have never even seen what the Jurchens look like, and they don't even know where Hetuala is, where can we Qinghe, Fushun and other border cities deal with Jianyu every day to understand the inside story of Jianzhou. However, our officials are lowly and lowly, and most of them will not pay attention to you after telling them, and they think that you are alarmist and trying to provoke and invite merit, and these people all have the mind of thanking God as long as there is no big mess in their own office, and they have no intention of thinking about the court for the sake of the people. ”

Yue Xiang shrugged in agreement, his expression disgusted. Zhang Yuncheng sighed and continued: "In fact, since the thirty-sixth year of Wanli, this Nurhachi has planned to stand on his own mountain, and made an oath with the border generals to guard the border, and promise to guard the border with the emperor of my heavenly dynasty, erect stones and monuments, stop paying tribute, and threaten to rob the border and horse markets. At that time, Lord Xiong patrolled Liaodong, and he said that this Nurhachi had the ambition to march into Liaozuo today, and it would become a huge disaster in the northeast in the future, and advocated taking high-pressure measures against him. It's a pity that after the expiration of Lord Xiong's term of office, the next few governors are all stupid and incompetent, and in 41 years, Jianyu borrowed the cultivated fields of Chaihe, Sancha'er, and Fu'an to make trouble, pretending that the proton Yu Chao expressed his deference to the imperial court, and took advantage of the imperial court's negligence to send troops to attack Ye He, burned the nineteen cities of Beiguan, and changed the name of the country to Jin. It's a pity that the bosses of those courts are still covering their ears and stealing the bell, thinking that appeasement can appease Jianyu, and sit back and watch it become bigger. Now the tiger is finally raised. ”

"Lord Bear? But did Lord Xiong Tingbi, who patrolled Liaodong back then, not succeed? Did he already see that this Jianyu had two hearts for the imperial court? Yue Xiang finally turned the topic around Xiong Tingbi, and Zhang Yuncheng said that Xiong Tingbi also had a rare good look on his face.

"Exactly, if you want to say that Lord Xiong is a rare capable chief, speaking of which, our Qinghe City was rebuilt by his order. There is also the 700-mile border wall of Liaodong The Great Wall was also ordered to be repaired by him, and he was still training troops in various places in Tuntian, during his time in Liaodong, although Jianyu said that he would lead troops to Liaoyang to find someone to reason, but he did not dare to really come. However, in the thirty-seventh year, the Jurchen and Mongolia colluded, and Lord Xiong ordered the Jurchen Gong City to be stopped for two years, and as a result, the ginseng of Jianyu was rotten by more than 300,000 catties, and he was almost used as pants. ”

"I see, that's ......" Yue Xiang was even more surprised by the power of the imperial history, a patrol has the right to order the cessation of the tribute market and the construction of border defenses, which is not a small power. As for his attitude towards the Jurchens, he was not surprised, and with his talent, he could naturally see what kind of thing Nurhachi had changed. He asked again, "When did Lord Xiong come to our Liaodong to take office?" ”

"It should be the thirty-sixth year of Wanli, if I remember correctly, it is Liaodong in the thirty-sixth year."

The time is right, Xiong Tingbi is Liaodong in the thirty-sixth year of Wanli, but when he came to Gaohuai, he suddenly fell from the peak of power to the bottom in the same year. Is this also a coincidence? Coupled with the fact that he had secretly hunted down Xiao Wan afterwards, Yue Xiang gradually felt that this guy really had some special mission on his side. If so, who does he stand for? You must know that these eunuchs who went out to supervise the mining tax have the background of various schools of the White Lotus Sect behind them, and the Hongyang Sect represented by Gao Huai is the most powerful, could it be that Xiong Tingbi is also one of them?

It can't be, it's too. Xiong Tingbi is who, a dignified scholar, who reads the Four Books and Five Classics, worships the Confucian Saint, and is a disciple of the saint. What ability does the Hongyang Sect have to recruit him to his disciples? Just by their treasure scrolls full of limericks? That is, it can deceive the ignorant people, and if someone like Xiong Tingbi is replaced, he is afraid that he will not look at it with his eyes.

But in this case, he has no reason to know the secret of Gao Huai's hidden gold, he is obviously here to recover the stolen goods. The representative behind him...... Could it be Wanli himself? If that's the case, then this Wanli is really not simple, and it is not really kept in the dark.

He is the nominal ultimate owner of the money, as if he remembers that during his reign, several eunuchs sent elsewhere were accused of corruption, and as a result, millions of money and goods were copied from his house, which was about ten times the amount of taxes paid. There are about the same number of local underworld forces that are accomplices, and no matter how stupid Wanli is, he should be suspicious. If he really wanted to find out the little power of the Hongyang Sect, he wouldn't be able to hide it at all.

So Xiong Tingbi is Wanli's real henchman? Such a confidential matter is also entrusted to him.

The more Yue Xiang thought about it, the more nervous he felt, and it seemed that he had to hurry up. At present, there are more and more eyes paying attention to this Gao Huai Tibetan Gold, and I don't know if Xiao Wan's identity has been spread. He asked Xiao Wan to look at the survivors of the Weining Camp one by one, but none of them were the senior in the sect she knew.

The dead have all been buried, and it may not be possible to recognize whether there are any of them if they are removed now; It's better to be dead, what I'm afraid of is being captured alive, so Xiaowan's identity is hanging. When the time comes, he may have to face Nurhazhi himself, and he can't even handle his son, let alone the veteran himself.

"Huh? Ziyi, your face is a little bad, huh? Is the injury not healed yet? ”

"Ah, it's time for me to go back and change my dressing. Farewell Farewell ......"

Inside Yue's house, Yue Xiang kept turning around in the house, babbling in his mouth. Xiao Wan stared at the paper on the table in a daze, what did these words mean, she really couldn't think of it, it seemed like a limerick, and it seemed like some code words. But without any hints, Yue Xiang read these sentences horizontally and vertically, read diagonally and disassembled, and read them out of order, just not knowing the meaning. When I asked Xiaowan again, she said that there were no other hints.

This damn eunuch...... Fuck you can say it if you want to, why do you have to be so mysterious, be a eunuch and be a eunuch, what kind of article do you have to drag if you have nothing to do? What is the pretending to be cultured? If you are really educated, why do you want to be a eunuch? Why don't you take the top prize!? What kind of bullshit is written? I don't understand it at all.

Ma Sandao and Li Shoucai are both insiders, maybe these nonsense words are the incision code words of Bai Lian, and it may be helpful to look for them. But Yue Xiang really didn't want to share this secret with others.

was thinking about it, Li Liang came. He has been really sad all night, he hasn't slept well for a few days, and his eyes are bloodshot. As a steward of money and grain, he controls the money and food of the entire Yue family, and he has to worry about business, and he can't wait to split it in half by himself.

Now that the whole city is under martial law, the horse market is closed, and business has basically come to a halt. In addition, Yue Xiang got so many people, hundreds of people have to spend a lot of money just to eat a day, plus Yue Xiang has to buy military armor equipment, the silver in the account room is like running water to spend out, and his daily work is to desperately find a way to save expenses.

Now it's okay, I originally thought that those people were all dead and finally this expense could be reduced, but I didn't expect Yue Xiang to give each deceased a pension of two hundred taels of silver, you must know that more than three hundred people died, each of them is this amount of more than 60,000 taels of silver, the family's cash has long been spent, and now even part of the real estate has been sold, and this family is about to be ruined by Yue Xiang.

So today he made a special trip to report this matter to Yue Xiang to see if he had any plans for the next step, otherwise the Yue family would definitely collapse.

"Second master, it's terrible to go on like this, we are almost out of money on our books......"

"Out of money? How can there be no money? Where did all the money go? I still want to go to Liaoyang to buy a batch of guys back, isn't this a delay? Yue Xiang felt impatient, and his tone was very impulsive when he was in a bad mood.

"Second master, you spend money like running water, and now that the family's business has stopped, where did the money come from to make you toss so much? Do you suppose this silver grows out of the ground? Even if it grows in the ground, it can't stand you from tossing like this! Li Liang's tone was even worse, he was about to die of sorrow, and he was so angry when he heard Yue Xiang say this kind of thing.

"You ......" Yue Xiang is not an unreasonable person, and he also knows the value of this Li Liang to himself. I don't care, anyway, you have to find me the money, aren't you a steward of money and grain? It's up to you to make up your own mind. ”

"I don't have an idea right now! Now that the family has no money, what can I do if I have no capital to restart the business? Second master, if you think I'm not suitable, just take me out as soon as possible. I'd rather starve to death outside than watch the eldest young master's hard-earned family business let you toss it like this! ”

"What are you talking about?! You're against you!? Yue Xiang's face turned red, and he glared angrily.

"I, Li Liang, have followed the eldest young master to be a cow and a horse for the Yue family for so many years, the Yue family is the same as my family, I can't bear to watch it end like this, if you look at me unpleasantly, drive me away as soon as possible! Have you ever earned a penny for your family in addition to dancing and playing with guns and sticks every day? Do you know how many people's hard work and sweat are in the silver you have sprinkled lavishly?! ”

Li Liang also seemed to be out of the way, shouting at Yue Xiang, like crazy. Xiaowan hurriedly came up to persuade her, this Li Liang is an important person in the family, Yue Xiang definitely can use him, and it is worth the loss to turn his face at this time.

Unexpectedly, Yue Xiang was stunned by Li Liang's roar, he was not an unreasonable person. He sat down slowly, lowered his head and muttered for a while and said slowly: "Lao Li, it's not that I spend too much money, it's just that you...... There are some things that you won't understand, you have so much money to call the pigtail soldiers in the future, and you don't give them away, what's the use of having more tun? ”

Li Liang also sat down with a snort, and he also said in a low voice: "It's not that I don't know the ambition of the second master, but I should have a degree of spending money, no matter how much I spend it today, what will I do in the future?" Can't you drink the northwest wind? If you don't know how to manage money, the second master, you can pull up more people and eventually disperse, and the leader must not only be able to command, but also know how to operate. ”

Yue Xiang looked up at Li Liang when he heard this, but he didn't expect this guy to support him. Li Liang smiled faintly and said: "Second master, don't misunderstand, my allegiance is to the Yue family, and now that the Yue family is speaking to you, I will naturally plan for you." One day, the eldest young master will come back, and I will still follow him. ”

Being able to say this in front of Yue Xiang just shows that he has no shame in his heart. Yue Xiang also smiled and said, "I know, don't worry, I'm also thinking of a way." As long as I can get this vote, I will have money soon. ”

"What is the second master's good plan?" Li Liang suddenly became interested.

Yue Xiang suddenly had a thought of wanting him to see those strange sentences, anyway, he is an irrelevant person, and he may not be able to understand the true meaning of it if he looks at it, there is a saying that the authorities are confused and the bystanders are clear, Li Liang has no preconceived notions, and may be able to interpret the meaning of this sentence from another different angle.

"One moment of joy and one moment of sorrow, remembering a thousand things wrong. If you want to get a thousand things, you can relieve your worries and relieve your sorrows. What is this? Is it slippery? Li Liang looked at these four sentences and felt inexplicable, Yue Xiang only let him read the first four sentences, and it was no big deal.

"Can you see what that means?"

"This ...... What's so special about it? It looks like a riddle. Li Liang touched his chin and muttered to himself, Yue Xiang and Xiaowan's eyes suddenly lit up, riddles? They hadn't thought of that.

"Self-relief comes from self-relief...... This is a lantern riddle, right? The riddle is four sentences, what is the answer to this riddle? Li Liang looked at Yue Xiang and Xiao Wan, but saw that they were also at a loss. You don't know what a mystery is. What's the answer to this mystery? ”

"I don't even know it's a riddle, how do I know what it's about?" Yue Xiang smiled bitterly.

"You don't know it's a riddle...... Well? Li Liang looked at the two of them very strangely, Xiao Wan's eyes suddenly lit up, and she stood up and thought about it. Yue Xiang looked at her, but saw that her face gradually stretched, and she suddenly realized.

"Oh...... Wait, this riddle...... I see, I see, the mystery itself is a mystery! ”