"Humph!" Ji Qingwen sneered, "These imperial historians, what is General Zhao doing with them?" You fight your battles, and they play their recitals, and they have nothing to do with each other, so why bother with them? When you win the battle, Guan Bao tells these people to shut up! ”

Zhao Shujiao shook his head again and sighed: "Although Lord Ji's words are happy, things are not as simple as words...... Don't tell you that all these titles on my head were added by Wei Zhongxian when he was in power. Now that the Donglin Party is in charge of government affairs, in the eyes of these righteous gentlemen, I am a eunuch and a traitor, if it weren't for the fact that there is no suitable person in the court to supervise Shanhaiguan for me, otherwise I would have been taken down long ago......"

Ji Qingwen listened to Zhao Shujiao's tone was a little miserable, and couldn't help gritting his teeth and said, "When is this!" The Jurchen Emperor Taiji has come to the door, and he is still thinking about the trivial matter of party fighting! Although General Zhao is relieved to do it boldly, this time I entered Beijing, I should have to meet the saint, and naturally I will speak for the general in front of the saint. ”

Zhao Shujiao arched his hand and said: "I understand Lord Ji's kindness. I know that the adult is the senior apprentice of the old Inspector Sun Chengzong, and I hope that the adult can follow the teachings of the old Inspector Sun, and don't take the detour that I am waiting for! ”

Zhao Shujiao was about to leave, but he heard Li Yan say: "General Zhao, the students have a plan, and the general may be able to adopt ......."

Li Yan saw that Zhao Shujiao did not refuse, so he continued: "When General Zhao arrives in Zunhua, he can send a small group of sergeants to contact the Jurchens first, and if there is an opportunity, he can harass and test it, and as for the main force, he can naturally enter the city to rest." In this way, it not only blocked the mouth of the imperial historian, but also did not have to take the risk of so many elite soldiers. It seems like the best of both worlds......"

When Zhao Shujiao heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately arched his hand and said: "Thank you Mr. for your advice, Zhao has written it down!" ”

After that, Zhao led the sect to join forces with everyone, and then turned over and rode on his horse, leading the four or five thousand tired divisions under his command to continue to gallop westward.

Ji Qingwen ordered the whole army to gather their formation, watched the army leave, and finally sighed: "This General Zhao is also a rare general. It's a pity that I don't seem to have enough confidence to go here, and if I don't do it, I'm going to go back defeated......"

Chen Wenzhao continued: "General Zhao has extremely rich combat experience in Liaodong, and the soldiers of Shanhaiguan have been in battle for a long time, so they are not incompetent, so I don't think they will necessarily lose. ”

Several people discussed for a while, and they all felt that instead of discussing the success or failure of Zhao Shujiao's sect here, it was better to go to Beijing to pay the decree earlier, and then go to Dagukou to receive the grain, grass and chariots delivered by Zheng Zhilong.

So Ji Qingwen and his entourage reorganized their team and set off for the capital again.

When they came to the bottom of the city wall of Jingshi, it was already evening, and there were hundreds of thousands of troops from all over the country who came to King Qin by order or spontaneously, and they were stationed in their own enclosures, causing chaos at the feet of the Son of Heaven.

In the imperial court, from the cabinet, to the military department, the household department, and then to Ying Tianfu, they didn't know what they were busy with, and no one came out to take the lead in gathering and organizing these Qinwang soldiers to play their greatest role.

As for food and military salaries, there was no supply, forcing these soldiers who went to Beijing with enthusiasm to serve the country could only raise their own grain and grass on the spot. Among them, those who are more thoughtful can naturally buy from the rich with silver taels; Those who did not bring silver taels either returned to their hometowns in frustration, or simply robbed the people nearby, but became thieves.

When Ji Qingwen saw this situation, he didn't have time to personally lead the army to Dagukou After handing over the grain and grass, he changed his mind - let Chen Wenzhao lead the army to Dagukou for a trip, and he took Huang Degong, Xiaoduozi and a few other people with Li Yan and Li Yuanyin, and went to Beijing to see Emperor Chongzhen first.

At the moment of the great enemy, the Jingshi Pass is extremely strictly guarded, and no one is allowed to enter and exit without authorization.

Because Ji Qingwen carried the will of Emperor Chongzhen, and Li Yuanyin, the brocade guard, commanded the guards, and bribed the officers who guarded the door, he reluctantly entered Beijing.

It is much safer inside the city than outside.

Because many wealthy families heard the news of the Jurchen's entry into the city, they did not choose to go south, but chose to take refuge in the city, so the city of Beijing seems to be more prosperous than usual. The restaurants, inns, and theaters in the city are still open, but everyone is absent-minded, as if they are always shrouded in some kind of tense atmosphere.

Ji Qingwen didn't have time to delay his patrol, led everyone straight to the Forbidden City, and after reporting the situation to the guards and eunuchs guarding the gate, he entered the core of the rule of the Great Tomorrow quite smoothly - naturally, only Ji Qingwen and Li Yuanyin, the Jinyi Guard, could enter here, and the rest of the people could only wait outside.

The eunuchs in the palace led all the way, walked through the huge Forbidden City for a long time, and finally led Ji Qingwen and Li Yuanyin to the front of the Qianqing Palace.

Ji Qingwen had been to the Qianqing Palace once before, trying to recall the situation when he came over last time, ran to the palace gate, knelt down on his knees, and said loudly: "The commander of Suzhou weaving, the minister Ji Qingwen is ordered, come to meet the saint." Long live my emperor, long live, long live......"

Before he could say the last word "year", he heard someone in the palace reply: "Okay, excuse me, you dog just came in to speak." ”

It was the voice of Emperor Chongzhen.

Ji Qingwen hurriedly thanked him, then got up and tidied up his clothes, got up and walked towards Qianqing Palace.

Because the emperor did not send Li Yuanyin in, this brocade guard commanded the affairs, so he could only kneel obediently in front of the palace gate, not daring to move a bit.

Ji Qingwen pushed the door and entered, only to see how many lights and candles were lit up and down, left and right, in the Qianqing Palace, illuminating this magnificent palace as bright as day. Among them, Emperor Chongzhen sat in the center, and there were nearly 20 civil and military officials standing on both sides - looking at the robes and crowns of these people, most of them were first- and second-grade officials, and they should be the most elite figures standing at the top of the pyramid in the ruling group of the Ming Dynasty.

Ji Qingwen hurriedly glanced at it, among this group of people, except for Xu Guangqi, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, the rest of the people were all fresh faces, not to mention that they knew each other, but they had never seen each other.

He was a little distracted for a while, but he heard Emperor Chongzhen say: "You dog, you have been a weaving admiral for a few years, have you forgotten the etiquette?" I don't know how to salute me! ”

Ji Qingwen listened, and then hurriedly bowed three times and bowed nine times, but when he looked up, he saw that Emperor Chongzhen was two years old, and the originally thin and sparse beard on his lips had been quite thick, and he looked a lot older, but under this old age, there was a clear and recognizable exhaustion and anxiety.

I only heard Chongzhen smile and said to the full hall of civil and military: "All Aiqing have recognized it, this is Ji Qingwen, the commander of Suzhou weaving." He has always been troublesome and bold, not to mention anything else, the person who dares to stare at me like this, I'm afraid there will be no second person besides him, right? ”

Ji Qingwen was stunned when he heard this, and suddenly remembered that there is such a paragraph in "Officialdom Fight" by cross talk master Liu Baorui, saying that courtiers can't look up at the emperor's appearance when they see the emperor, otherwise it will be a crime of rebellion.

Frightened, he hurriedly said: "I haven't seen the minister for two years, and I miss the emperor very much, so I forgot the etiquette for a while." However, the emperor seems to have lost some weight in the past two years, and it is good for the emperor to be diligent in government affairs, but he must also pay attention to thrift! ”

Although he didn't say much, this sycophant was just right, which made Chongzhen smile, and immediately made Ji Qingwen stand upright, and then turned his head and asked a person next to him: "Jade rope, Ji Qingwen said that I lost weight, what do you think?" ”

An official in his thirties on the side immediately stepped forward half a step, bowed down and replied: "No, the emperor is prosperous in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the dragon spirit and tiger are fierce, and it is the time to show his ambitions, how can he become thinner?" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw an official who was fifty years old and said, "The saint, the ministers are with you every day, and you can't see the changes in the dragon body of the saint. Now after Lord Ji reminded me like this, I really saw that the emperor had lost a lot of weight. Holy! It is a good thing to work hard and be diligent in government affairs, but you should also pay attention to rest, your dragon body, but the foundation of my tomorrow! ”

While listening to this, Ji Qingwen admired this official from the bottom of his heart - this person's kung fu can be said to be the pinnacle, with such a ability, even if he can't get along in the Ming Dynasty, he can run to the Jurchens, run to Li Zicheng's side, even if he travels backwards to the 21st century, he can still eat with a mouth.