The wind and frost of heaven and earth are exhausted, and the weather is harmonious. New years are added, and spring is full of old mountains and rivers.

The old year has gone, the new year is coming, and today is the first day of the new year of the thirteenth year of Ming orthodoxy.

According to the practice of the imperial court, early this morning, officials of all sizes in the capital had to go to the Forbidden City to pay New Year's greetings to the Son of Heaven. Of course, officials of the fifth rank and below can still only kowtow to the Son of Heaven outside the palace gate, and only if the grade is sufficient, can they really enter the palace and worship the ancestors of heaven and earth with the Son of Heaven, in order to look forward to a good year in the new year.

In the past, the officials of the court at this time were naturally happy, no matter how many grievances and entanglements there were in ordinary times, they always had to smile when they met at this time, and said a few auspicious words such as a good New Year. But the faces of the courtiers waiting outside the noon gate today did not have the slightest joy after saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, and many of them even had a slight sadness on their faces, just because they were afraid of being impeached for their disgrace before the monarchy, so they reluctantly brought a little smile to cover up the hesitation in their hearts.

Therefore, the reason why these DPRK and Chinese officials can be so nervous is of course because something big has happened, and it is a major military matter of the highest importance. Just a few years ago, there was suddenly shocking news from the north, the Mongolian people, who had not used their swords for a long time, actually chose to invade our Daming border this winter, and pointed the spearhead at Datong City.

Although North and Chinese officials have always used adjectives such as impregnable when talking about Taetong, they do not believe that a strong enemy in the north has the ability to pose any threat to it. But when the news really came, it still made people feel uneasy.

Because this is something that has not been encountered in the more than 100 years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Since Taizu founded the country and Taizong set the capital in Beijing, the Ming Dynasty has always been in the active position in the war with the Mongolians. In the following decades, although the Ming Dynasty did not take the initiative to attack as before, the Mongolian people did not dare to speak lightly to the south, and the two sides have always maintained a delicate balance.

But now, the balance has finally been broken. The fact that the Mongols really dared to raise troops to invade the south was really much unexpected by the Manchu monarchs and ministers. There is even a saying in private that the Mongolian people have already planned to go south, and it is a little difficult to say whether Datong can hold on this time.

With this statement, the officials and people in the capital were naturally a little panicked. Although there is no such thing as fleeing Beijing, this year is certainly not going to be good. Because everyone knows what Datong means to the city of Beijing, once it is really breached, the southbound Mongolian army can go straight to the city of Beijing without any obstacles.

So even on such an important festival as today, the expressions of the hundred officials when they saw the car were quite solemn. In fact, it's not just them, but even today's son Zhu Qizhen is also worried at the moment. Young and vigorous, he certainly wanted to repeat the glory of his ancestors, but when the news of Datong's attack came, the young son of heaven, who had not experienced any storms, was also a little panicked. This can be seen from the somewhat pale expression on his face at the moment.

However, after all, he is an emperor who has been guided by a series of etiquette of the Son of Heaven, although he is uneasy, his performance in front of the ministers at this moment is still steady, except for his face is slightly ugly, he can't find any fault.

When Zhu Qizhen brought his ministers to the Taimiao Temple to tell the ancestors and ancestors about the gains and losses of the past year, he finally silently recited two sentences: "I hope that the emperors of the Ming Dynasty can bless me in heaven, and this Mongolian invasion can be quickly quelled, and I will return peace to the world and bless the safety of my people!" After silently praying, he solemnly kowtowed to the tablet of his ancestors.

As for the courtiers behind him, there are many who have the same mind at this time. Even Wang Zhen, who knelt outside the temple, prayed in his heart, hoping that the Ming would win the battle, even if he was now in power.

Of course, he did this not only for the sake of the Ming Dynasty and the people, but also for his own plans. If this Datong fails, then his idea of wanting the Northern Expedition for many years and becoming another eunuch who can leave a name in history after Zheng He will be completely bankrupt. Only if I, the Ming Dynasty, won this battle, could he persuade the Son of Heaven and his ministers to go on another northern expedition.

By the time this tedious and solemn ritual was done, it was already too late.

Seeing that many courtiers, especially those who were old, were already showing fatigue, Zhu Qizhen did not let everyone return to the Taihe Palace with him to give lectures, but ordered people to send the wonton dumplings and other food that had been prepared a long time ago to everyone, and planned to let the ministers go home after they were used up.

From this performance, it can be seen that Zhu Qizhen is indeed a benevolent king. Compared with the majesty of the emperor and the solemnity of the palace, he was more concerned about the bodies of the ministers. But in this way, the scenery of the palace is a little weird at the moment, there are red-robed officials standing on the spot everywhere, and even sitting on the ground, and they are also serving a small soup bowl and eating snacks there. There was also a faint, alluring fragrance wafting through the air......

After using the food, the ministers who had been freezing for a long time finally felt warmer, and then after sincerely thanking the Son of Heaven, they lined up in a neat line and slowly retreated towards the palace gate.

But when they came to the palace gate, they found that the low-level officials waiting outside the palace were all red and happy, as if they were eating better outside than the high-ranking officials inside.

Of course, this is impossible, these officials outside the palace gate can only wait in place for most of the day, let alone have food, and they don't even dare to walk around. After all, at this moment, there are still many seven-grade officials standing beside them, as long as there is a slight mistake in the act, or the wrong thing, tomorrow they will be handed to the General Administration.

But even so, they were still full of excitement one by one, which made the officials who came out of the palace unconsciously surprised, and couldn't help but turn their inquiring eyes to them, as if they wanted to see something from their expressions.

Fortunately, this question did not last long, and when he saw the ministers come out, he immediately took a few steps forward with a smile on his face, approached his own Shangshu Lord Kuang Yu, and reported it in a low voice.

As one of the six Shangshu of the DPRK, Kuang Yu is naturally quite extraordinary in terms of ability and insight, even if he can't do it without changing his face when Mount Tai collapses in front of him, he is also calm enough. But after hearing the news, his face quickly had a look of surprise, and he couldn't help but look at the subordinates in front of him and said urgently: "Is this true?" This voice was really not small, and it quickly attracted the attention of other officials.

"How dare the lower officials talk nonsense on this matter? The sergeant who came to report the victory had just come to the noon gate, but it was only because of today's unusual court meeting and solemn sacrifice that he did not dare to let him enter the palace to report the good news. ”

After a long sigh ......of relief, Kuang Yu's face was suddenly full of smiles: "God bless me!" ”

"Good news? Did Kuang Shangshu come from the north? ”

"Is it because the war between Datong and the Mongolian people has finally come to an end?" ……

Although the words of the chief minister were not heard by others, the word good news still came to everyone's ears clearly. As a result, many officials were anxious to ask, and even the elders of the DPRK and China all pricked up their ears and looked at them.

Kuang Yu no longer concealed it, immediately nodded, and said in a loud voice: "Your Excellency, you are right, just now a Datong soldier sent a good news in an expedited way of eight hundred miles, and the Mongolian army that invaded my Datong before has been completely defeated, and thousands of heads have been left!" ”

As soon as these words came out, the ministers were in an uproar. There are those who are happy, and there are many doubters, even Yu Qian, the squire of the military department, did not feel frowning at the moment, feeling that his boss seemed to be talking about things too quickly, would there be any problems in this.

Other officials may not be able to say anything, but as the second-in-command of the military department, Yu Qian has made an in-depth study of the situation in the north. He is very clear about the comparison between the military strength of the Ming border army and the Mongolian people in the grassland, as well as what are their advantages and disadvantages.

If the good news only said that Da Ming repelled the incoming enemy and beheaded a thousand or something, Yu Qian had no doubt about its authenticity. Because this is within the scope of the ability of the Ming defenders, with the height and depth of Datong City, plus the lives of the three armies, and various city defense equipment, it is not too difficult to do this.

But killing thousands of enemies is a little unrealistic. Because with the Mongolian people's consistent combat strategy, it is impossible for them to continue to attack the city at any cost when they know that they cannot defeat it and suffer a lot of losses. After all, they should also know that even if Datong is defeated, the threat to the Central Plains is not too great, and Daming still has millions of troops stationed in Datong.

What a lot of hatred this must have, and it is necessary to attack the city with all its strength to achieve such a result. Thinking of this, Yu Qian's heart was naturally full of doubts. However, when the ministers were cheering, he did not stand up and point out the problems, but just thought quietly, preparing to quickly see the content of this good news as soon as he returned to the yamen.

However, most people did not think so far-reaching, and after cheering, they quickly thought that this was a great event, and immediately many officials turned back again to ask the forbidden army guarding the palace gate to see the Son of Heaven, and to play this great joy to the emperor.

In this regard, the forbidden army guarding the palace gate naturally did not come to spoil this good thing, so soon, the ministers entered the palace again, and presented this good news to the Son of Heaven who was full of doubts, and even said that this was the holy virtue of the Son of Heaven, so that this result was achieved, and it was passed back on the first day of the new year......