Zu Dashou fled in a hurry, and when he heard that Ji Qingwen was coming, he was first shocked, thinking that he was ordered to come and chase and kill him, and later heard that he only brought three or two followers, so he put his mind at ease, reined in the horses, and let Ji Qingwen and the others catch up calmly, and asked: "Lord Ji, what happened to Inspector Yuan?" ”

Ji Qingwen was not in a hurry to answer, and said: "General Zu, this is not the place to talk, you see, there is a ruined temple in front of us, why don't we go over there and talk about it in detail?" ”

Zu Dashou hesitated a little and said: "Lord Ji has great kindness to my brother-in-law and nephew, and the last general should not talk nonsense, but we have to go back to Liaodong now, and we are afraid that the imperial court will send troops to hunt us down." My lord, if you have anything to say, just say it as you go......"

While walking, Ji Qingwen thought: I want to persuade Zu Dashou to go back, if he can't even persuade him to stop and talk in the broken temple, how can I persuade him to go back?

So Ji Qingwen thought about it carefully and said, "General Zu is too worried, if the imperial court wants to hunt down and kill the general, how can it send me and these people over?" What's more, even if the imperial court wants to chase and kill, there will be no elite cavalry in my court, except for the Liaodong Iron Cavalry, who can catch up with you? Also, General Zu fled all the way, and the front was either the Shanhaiguan Pass tightly guarded by the Ming army, or the Xifengkou that was still in the hands of the Manchurians. ”

These words were taught to Ji Qingwen by Li Yan before leaving the city, and sure enough, Zu Dashou, a brave man, was convinced.

I only heard Zu Dashou sigh and said: "The last general is actually the six gods without a master, thinking about running out first." Lord Ji is a sincere person, and the last general can just ask the adults for a way out. ”

Ji Qingwen heard that Zu Dashou's tone had softened, so he nodded with a smile and said, "I came to General Zu for this matter, and I also brought letters from Teacher Sun and Inspector Yuan." ”

When Zu Dashou heard this, his eyes lit up and he said, "Why didn't Master Ji say it earlier?" Let's go to the ruined temple ahead. ”

Although Zu Dashou promised to stop for a while, he was not at ease after all, and ordered his sergeants to surround the ruined temple, so he felt a little relieved and walked in with Ji Qingwen.

When I entered the temple, I found that this was neither a Buddhist temple nor a Taoist temple, but a living shrine of Wei Zhongxian - although a statue placed on the main hall was dilapidated, only the stumps and broken arms remained, but the face was still very clear, and the faces of the nine statues with treasures found in the Baiyun Temple were really a little similar.

Seeing these statues, Ji Qingwen couldn't help but have a thought in his mind: The reason why the number of statues of Wei Zhongxian buried in Baiyun Temple is nine is because he claims to be nine thousand years old?

Ji Qingwen was thinking wildly, but Zu Dashou was busy urging in his ear: "Lord Ji, didn't you bring the letters of Old Inspector Sun and Inspector Yuan?" Where is it? Why don't you show me first? ”

Ji Qingwen said "oh", took out the letter from his arms and handed it to Zu Dashou.

Unexpectedly, Zu Dashou was blind, and Dou Da's character recognition was less than a liter, so he had to hand over the opened envelope to Wu Sangui, and then his nephew, a martial artist who knew a lot of writing, read it on his behalf.

The gist of Sun Chengzong's and Yuan Chonghuan's letters is actually similar, one is to criticize Zu Dashou for listening to slander and leaving his post without permission; the second asked him to wave his army back to Beijing and obey the command of the emperor and the imperial court; The third asked him to redouble his efforts to continue to fight against the Manchurian Tartars, and after making military achievements, he atone for Yuan Chonghuan.

Zu Dashou listened to Wu Sangui's two letters, his expression became extremely solemn, and he asked: "Lord Ji, read that the letter said that our Yuan Inspector has indeed committed a crime, but the crime is not to death." But Yuan Inspector clearly rushed to the edge of the canal after the Manchurian Four Banners who attacked Guangqu Gate were severely damaged, how do you think there is no merit, why did the emperor punish him? ”

Ji Qingwen hurriedly introduced the four sins that the emperor convicted Yuan Chonghuan to Zu Dashou and others:

The first is to open the river and say that it will be peaceful for five years; the second is to kill Mao Wenlong, the chief soldier of Phi Dao; the third is negligence and indulgence of the Manchurian Eight Banners to enter the customs south; Fourth, he disobeyed the holy decree and did not obey the order to return to Mangui - each of these five sins is a capital crime, and the emperor is now only holding Yuan Chonghuan and not immediately executing him, which is already a blessing.

Unexpectedly, Zu Dashou did not agree with any of these charges.

Five years of Pingliao - now the time has passed less than two years, when there are often Jedi counterattacks, defeat into victory, maybe there is no movement in the first four years, and in the fifth year, a decisive battle will annihilate all the eight banners of Manchuria!

Kill Mao Wenlong - that Mao Wenlong was already self-righteous, he was afraid that Phi Island was lonely overseas, and he didn't listen to the orders and orders of the king, and he came out in a good mood to sneak attack, and if he was in a bad mood, he didn't move his nest on the island, and some of the generals in Liaodong couldn't get used to him, but killing him was very happy!

Entering the customs - Yuan Chonghuan is the Jiliao Governor, not the secretary of the military department, not the first assistant of the cabinet, and it is enough to control the Manchurians if they do not break through the Guanning defense line, and they still care about the affairs of Xifengkou? It was clearly the incompetence of the guards over there that allowed the Manchurian Tartars to enter the customs easily.

refuses to return to help - that is Man Gui has no ability, he can't beat the opponent, so he will "knock out his teeth and swallow blood" Why let someone else wipe your buttocks, and dare to sue in front of the emperor, it is obviously shameless!

This ancestor Dashou is a rough man, although his reasons for rebuttal are simple and direct, they are actually reasonable, so that Ji Qingwen can't refute it.

At this moment, it was Chen Wenzhao who opened his mouth and said: "General Zu, my name is Chen Wenzhao, my name, you should have heard of it, right?" ”

Zu Dashou was stunned for a moment, thought about it, and said busily: "I've heard of it, I've heard of it, I used to be a guerrilla general in Zhejiang!" It's a shame to say that when General Chen was fighting with the Jurchen Tartars, my ancestor Dashou was still busy running for his life, and he was so scared that he pulled in his pants. ”

Chen Wenzhao frowned and said, "General Zu is too modest. Chen also knows some military affairs, so he has a few words and wants to ask General Zu. ”

"Excuse me." Zu Dashou said.

"Then may I ask General Zu, where are you going?"

"Back to Liaodong, of course, back to Liaodong." Zu Dashou said without thinking.

Chen Wenzhao asked again: "How to get back?" Is it to defeat the Manchurian Tartars through the Xifeng Pass, and then defeat the Mongol Tartars and then return to Liaodong? Or tear your face with the imperial court, break through the Shanhaiguan and then go out of the customs? ”

"This ......" Chen Wenzhao stopped Zu Dashou in one sentence, "There is always a way...... Our army will go north first, take one step at a time and see ......"

"Okay, General Zu is wise and martial, and the soldiers under his command have wings, even if they can fly through the Shanhaiguan. And what about after returning to Liaodong? And how? Chen Wenzhao asked again.

Zu Dashou thought for a while: "Liaodong is a vast area, and it is more than enough to feed these soldiers and horses under me......"

"And then?" Chen Wenzhao suddenly raised his voice, "Then General Zu will have to face the flanking attacks of Manchuria and Ming at the same time. At that time, General Zu was ready to fight against the imperial court and Manchuria at the same time? Or are you ready to take refuge in the Manchurian Tatars? ”

"I ...... How could I possibly take refuge in the Manchurian Tartars? General Chen, don't talk nonsense! Zu Dashou was frightened by Chen Wenzhao's last question, and hurriedly denied, "Even if my Zu Dashou has a broken head, it is impossible for him to take refuge in the Manchurian Tartars!" ”

At this point, the meaning is clear.

So Ji Qingwen concluded: "General Zu, you are not a stupid person, you know that if you leave the court now, there is only a dead end. The emperor has already been gracious, and the general's unauthorized departure from his post is just child's play. As long as the general reins in the precipice, he will return to the Beijing Division, and I, Ji Qingwen, can guarantee that the emperor will never embarrass the general. ”

Wu Xiang and Wu Sangui, father and son on the side, are much smarter and calmer than Zu Dashou, and they don't need Ji Qingwen to say those words just now, they have already understood the stakes and harms, and they hurriedly came up to help.

Finally, Zu Dashou regained his composure, and said with a serious expression: "Okay, then I will believe in Lord Ji once, and then return to the Beijing Division, and then fight with Huang Taiji, and strive to pardon Inspector Yuan!" ”

Hearing this, Ji Qingwen's heart that was hanging in the air finally landed, but he did not act alone, but together with Zu Dashou, he reorganized the soldiers and horses, and returned to Guangqu Gate along the original road.

In this way, the sun on November 20 in the second year of Chongzhen (the third year of Tiancong) finally reluctantly fell into the horizon, ending this magnificent and unpredictable day.