In the early morning of the eighth day of July in the fourteenth year of Ming orthodoxy, Beijing City.

Yesterday was the annual Qixi Qiqiao Festival, which was different from the traditional Valentine's Day that was fooled by those profiteers in later generations, and the Qixi Festival at this time still has its own characteristics - this is the day when young women show their ingenuity and pray to the Weaver Girl in the sky for all things to go well, and this day has nothing to do with any love at all.

In fact, as long as you think carefully about the relationship between the legendary Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, you can understand that the two of them are not lovers at all, but a real husband and wife, and even have children. In this way, the Queqiao meeting at this time of year is no longer a lover's tryst, but a warm time for a family reunion.

Well, it's a bit of a stretch...... This morning, the smell of incense still permeated the whole city of Beijing, which was the smell left by many young girls and girls who burned incense and prayed in their courtyards last night, which made several pedestrians who came to the city gate to wait for the opening of the city unconsciously frowned slightly.

When they arrived in front of the Desheng Gate, the time was just up, and the city gate official shouted: "Open the city gate!" Several soldiers had quickly stepped forward, and after removing the lock on the side, they vigorously stirred the turntable on the side, so that the latch of the huge city gate, which weighed hundreds of pounds, was slowly hoisted, and then someone stepped forward and pushed the heavy city gate open.

After all this was done, the people who were planning to leave the city were urged by the soldiers to take their own way to the station, lined up by the soldiers to inspect it, and at the same time paid a city gate tax before they were able to leave the capital. These are all rules left over from the early years, so the passers-by do not complain at all, and they all wait patiently for themselves to leave.

But before a few people could enter or leave, there were suddenly several fierce and fast horses' hooves outside the city, which made everyone unconsciously curious. Dare to gallop so much in the capital, even if you haven't entered the city now, it's still a very rare situation, could it be that some noble children are drunk to be so presumptuous?

There were even a few soldiers guarding the door who picked up the swords and guns at hand, and put on a posture of meeting them at any time. Their duty is to guard the city gates, if someone really dares to break into the gate at will, even if the status is noble, they can't indulge, otherwise the boss will naturally blame.

But immediately, the three people and horses have quickly come into everyone's eyes. And after seeing clearly the dress of these people and the appearance of the small flag planted on their backs, the soldiers who were going to step forward to stop the obstruction quickly made the opposite move, and immediately shouted: "Everyone disperse, get out of the way!" As he spoke, he pushed those who were stunned to the side.

As soon as they had done all this, the three horses rushed into the city gates. The knight on the horse was completely attached to the horse's back, his eyes were just staring at the road ahead, and he didn't even glance at the appearance of these guys around him, and just ran directly past the crowd. Only a large cloud of dust was left, which made the people at the city gate cough for a while.

"How can this be true, what kind of road did they dare to go straight to Beijing City like this?" A young man dressed as a scholar couldn't help but complain.

But after a person next to him explained softly, he didn't say anything anymore, but showed a look of panic: "You can say a few words, these are urgent scouts who are ordered to deliver military reports, they have a heavy responsibility, and all the states and counties in the world can be unimpeded." Not to mention that the city gate has been opened now, even at night, as long as the identity is revealed, the Beijing city gate must also be opened for them. Moreover, if someone stands in their way, they can always draw their swords and slash them, because everything depends on the urgency of the military situation! ”

This truth is completely common sense for people who walk outside all the year round, so there is no big reaction when this remark falls into the ears of others. The only thing they felt a little uneasy about was that the scouts looked a little embarrassed, and it didn't seem like they had come to deliver good news. And now in the entire Ming Dynasty, it seems that only the big battle in the north is worth their effort to pass on the military report, could it be that the Northern Expedition is wrong?

Everyone who thought of this became solemn, even the soldiers, and at this time their movements became faster, and some of them opened their eyes in the direction of the city again, as if they wanted to see what would happen there.

At this time, many people in the capital already knew about this situation, after all, the three knights were speeding across the long street at the fastest speed, and the noise they made was really not small. Some people even followed their footsteps to the yamen of the military department, wanting to see what was going on.

However, through the heavy guards and the tall and heavy gates, it is impossible for ordinary people to really know what kind of news they have brought.

In the main hall of the military department, Yu Qian was staring in disbelief at the scout in front of him who was obviously out of strength and couldn't even stand steadily: "You...... What did you say? As he spoke, he realized that his voice was a little dry and trembling.

The scout's body was also trembling, but he didn't know if it was because he was tired from galloping down for days, or because he was panicked. But he still tried his best and said, "Lord Squire, don't you dare to lie about such a big thing...... The army was indeed fully ...... in the confrontation with the Tartars Annihilated...... This is a military newspaper written by the commander-in-chief himself. As he spoke, he untied one of the small burdens he had with him, got down on one knee, and lifted it high above his head.

Yu Qian sat there, his face was cloudy for a long time, and he didn't seem to have the courage to reach out and take this military report. He couldn't believe it, and he couldn't accept that it would be like this!

How is this possible? Nearly 500,000 troops, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty, and the Son of Heaven personally marched, as well as veteran generals like Zhang Fu, how could they be defeated by the Mongols, and it was an unbelievable fiasco of the annihilation of the whole army!

But the facts are in front of him, and there is no room for him not to believe it. After being silent for a long time, Yu Qian finally gritted his teeth, slowly got up, came to the scout, and took the battle report from him. At the same time, he said with concern: "What about Your Majesty?" Is he okay? ”

"Your Majesty...... Your Majesty, he has lost his trace in the chaos of the army......"

"What?" Yu Qian only felt that a thunderbolt hit the top of his head and heart fiercely, which shocked his eyes black, his body shook for a while, and he almost fell down.

Fortunately, the scout was still quick-eyed, and when he saw him like this, he quickly got up and helped him, so that he did not fall directly to the ground. Rao is a person like Yu Qian, who has experienced countless storms and waves, was also completely stunned after suddenly hearing such a terrifying news.

After a long time, he suddenly came back to his senses, and after making sure that there was no damage to the fire paint on the battle report, he picked it open with his knife, opened the envelope with a somewhat trembling hand, and took out the paperwork inside.

Before reading this battle report, Yu Qian still had a bit of luck, feeling that this might be the scout who remembered the words of the above. However, after carefully reading the military newspaper and imprinting every word in his eyes, he realized that the matter was even more tragic and serious than what the other party reported-

Not only was the army completely defeated, and the whereabouts of the Son of Heaven were unknown, but also those courtiers who accompanied him, regardless of the military nobility and lowliness, were unable to return to Xuanfu. Although he was not ahead, Yu Qian had already given birth to an extremely bad idea, and I am afraid that these courtiers would not be spared.

Thinking that those colleagues who were once familiar with him were actually buried in this big defeat, Yu Qian only felt that his heart was like a knife, his eyes were red, and his breathing was even more disordered. After a long time, he roared in a low voice: "Wang Zhen is in trouble, misleading the country and the king!" ”

As early as when Wang Zhen encouraged the Son of Heaven to go to Datong, he felt faintly uneasy. And then, they didn't send troops from Datong, but suddenly returned to Shixuanfu, which made Yu Qian see the danger even more. Sure enough, it can be seen from this military report that it was precisely because the army was outside and there was no precaution that the Mongolian people were given an opportunity to take advantage of, which led to this unimaginable defeat.

I am afraid that after this battle, the advantage over the Mongolian people that the Ming Dynasty has worked hard for a hundred years will be wiped out, and even more terrifying is that maybe the Mongolian people will take advantage of this great victory and continue to send troops south. At that time, will the defeated border army still be able to withstand their offensive?

And the Son of Heaven...... Where is he, and has he been able to get out of it by relying on the protection of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty and God? If even he ...... Yu Qian didn't even dare to think about it.

This time the matter is too big, and it is not something that he can deal with as a soldier in the army. So after taking a few deep breaths and quickly stabilizing his mind, Yu Qian finally walked out, and at the same time said to the scout who was still in place: "Thank you for your hard work, you should rest in the yamen first, maybe someone will ask you to explain the situation at that time." ”

The scout was also full of sadness, and when he heard this, he hurriedly agreed, and then dragged his tired body and followed Yu Qian out of the door.

In order not to cause a big panic, Yu Qian did not announce the matter, but just asked someone to prepare the sedan chair with a solemn face, and then hurriedly left the yamen of the military department.

Half an hour later, he had come to the palace, handed over his waist card, and asked to see His Royal Highness.

At this time, Zhu Qiyu, the king of servants, was discussing with Hu Hui about the disaster relief of the previous Yellow River flood - the Son of Heaven left the entire country and took the ministers to fight, and the major affairs in the country naturally had to be paid more attention to by those who stayed behind.

Hearing that Yu Qian had something important to report, Zhu Qiyu did not hesitate, so he ordered someone to summon him in.

It was only after seeing Yu Shilang's serious face, even with a hesitant and sad look, that the two of them showed doubts: "Yu Shilang, what's going on?" Why do you look so uneasy? ”