Qian Jin and Bao'er went back to the courtyard to catch lunch, and before they entered the door, they heard Li Liang shouting excitedly.

"Little Lizi, you don't have to be so happy for the New Year!" Qian Jin shouted as he walked, his eyes glanced at his hand at the same time, and he saw a pigeon lying meekly in his hand, but the feathers on his body were already a little messy, as if he had lost a lot of weight: "Is a pigeon so screaming?" ”

"Brother, this is our pigeon." Li Liang shouted excitedly.

"Our pigeons?" Qian Jin came back to his senses, looked carefully at the pigeon's leg, and sure enough, he was holding a small copper pipe: "Is there a letter in it?" ”

Li Liang felt for a while in the copper pipe on the pigeon's leg, took out a piece of bamboo rice paper about one inch wide and two inches long, and took a closer look, on which were written "The iron mill has been collected" four small letters.

"Didn't Jin Taiming take down Wang Youcai's blacksmith workshop? Or was Wang Youcai's blacksmith confiscated? Qian Jinqi said, turned his head and asked Li Liang: "Is there only one pigeon back?" Your Mr. Kim brought a pair of pigeons with him. ”

"That's why I just found this pigeon wandering around the yard, and maybe another one will fly over later." Li Liang glanced around the sky, but did not find the shadow of the bird he was hoping for.

"Feed him something to eat first, and then find a warm place for him to rest." Qian Jin commanded. From the capital to Guanhai City, at least 2,000 kilometers, this pigeon flew back to the courtyard according to the guidance of the geomagnetism, and had to find food on its own halfway, which was extremely physically exhausting.

However, the fact that this pigeon was able to fly back to the courtyard safely has proved that Qian Jin's previous idea of domesticating carrier pigeons was correct. When Jin Taiming left, he only brought a pair of pigeons, and there was still a pair left in the courtyard, and two young birds had been hatched. The fly in the ointment is that the carrier pigeon carries a limited amount of information and the meaning expressed is incomplete. If you can match the codebook, you can transmit some urgent military information.

After the two entered the courtyard, Qian Jin instructed Bao'er to invite Emily to the study.

Today is Chinese New Year's Eve, so naturally guests visiting the door to pay their respects are indispensable. Qian Jin, Lao Qian, and Bao'er all went outside, leaving only Wen and Emily at home. Before heading out, he handed over the matter of opening the door to Emily, after all, she was still very good at the reception when the Inhuman Mission visited.

After Emily entered the house, Qian Jin shushed and asked for warmth. Emily had not been alone with him, and she was pretending to be pretending to be preoccupied, and after sitting for a long time, she became a little embarrassed, and her face was full of red clouds. Bao'er quietly withdrew after bringing two bowls of tea, and squeezed her eyes at Qian Jin as she left.

Qian Jin couldn't help but feel a big headache. He coughed a few times and opened his mouth to ask, "Did any officials come to the courtyard this morning?" ”

Emily thought back for a moment and said, "There are no officials, but there are many servants with posts." As she spoke, a slight hint of disappointment flashed across her face.

After hearing this, Qian Jin was a little puzzled, although he didn't run much in the officialdom, he had a good relationship with the current Shoufu, and he knew several Shangshu officials, and now he was promoted to a guerrilla general. Whether it is hypocrisy or hypocrisy, there will always be some officials who will come and get to know each other. But if you think about it, it will be clear: the imperial court bans the party, and on Chinese New Year's Eve, who will walk the streets and alleys in official robes; In order to avoid suspicion, most of them sent their own servants to worship each other with their own driving stickers.

When he went out, Qian Jin had already instructed: gifts cannot be accepted, but the names of the officials who came to give gifts should be remembered clearly. As an official in Beijing, this position is the first priority, and if you don't stand in line, even if you have the ability to penetrate the heavens and the earth, you may be overturned in one day. Since people can come to the door, this is a release of goodwill, at least remember the feelings of others.

"Have you taken all those driving stickers?" Qian Jin asked.

"Those people didn't look good when they saw me, and they all looked at me with a pair of eyes, and I drove them away!" Emily replied timidly.

Qian Jin smiled bitterly: "There are still a few people in the capital who have seen strangers, and of course they will be curious when they see you." ”

"How's that for good?" Although Emily has lived in Chen Guo for a few years, she is still a stranger in her bones, and she still has not fully understood Chen Guo's sophistication. She was worried about the mistake of Qian Jin, and she was so anxious that tears rolled in her eyes.

Qian Jin signaled her not to worry, and asked her to go to the stove room to help Wen and Bao'er prepare the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner. He himself made a list, wrote down the names of those officials who had been kind to him, and when Ding Wei came back, he asked him to explain the New Year festival. The gift doesn't have to be precious, just the heart.

After making preparations, he asked Lao Cao Tou to go to the pancake stall outside the courtyard to buy more than a dozen sets of pancakes and come back. It's the holidays, and the owner of the vendor is still doing business. Qian Jin used to fund silver money, but the boss also had backbone. Qian couldn't get in, so he had to come to take care of the business from time to time, and at the same time use this to contact Li Bin and Mu Qing. Whenever Lao Cao Tou went out to buy pancakes, Li Bin and the others knew that the money was coming in for them.

When the two of them entered the door, Qian Jin took a look at the dirty torn cotton jackets on their bodies, and said with a smile: "You two are dedicated, right?" I actually put on all the clothes called Hanako on the street. ”

"General Hui, since the man in black attacked the courtyard at night, the two of us have felt deeply derelict in our duties; Since then, the two of us have been pretending to be beggars on the main road of the courtyard, and this outfit was also bought from a beggar for ten cents. Li Bin said.

Qian Jin's face was unbearable, and after a while, he asked: "Today is Chinese New Year's Eve, can you prepare the New Year?" ”

"Back to the general, my hometown is in Shaanxi, and in the capital, the whole family is not hungry, and it is useless to have New Year's goods or not." Mu Qing replied with a smile.

Qian Jin asked some trivial things again. Li Bin and Mu Qing also answered what they asked, and their expressions were a little unnatural. At first, Qian Jin thought that the two of them were missing their hometown, but after thinking about it, they understood the key.

Since he was included in the compilation of a thousand households, Ge Yun, a hundred households, came from behind, and led three hundred brocade guards to fight with the Tartar cavalry in the mountain behind the winery, needless to say, he made meritorious contributions. Li Bin and Mu Qing were the first to follow Qian Jin, and now they are doing the work of guarding the hospital every day, and they will have some thoughts in their hearts after a long time.

Qian Jin understood and said with a smile: "Why, I couldn't fight with the Tartar soldiers with real knives and guns, and my hands are itchy?" ”

"Don't dare! However, the two of us are not weak, if we fight with the Tartar soldiers, at least they will not be worse than him Ge Yun! Mu Qing was straightforward and finally said what was in his heart.

"Hehe, it seems that Mu Baihu still likes to fight and kill. It's okay, the Queen Mother gave me a quota of 500 people for this thousand households. After the New Year, you and Ge Yun will each lead 200 people, and then go to the south with me!" Qian Jin said with a smile.

"General Qian...... Is there another hundred for me? Li Bin asked anxiously. This year, the crying child really has milk to eat, but he is just a little more forbearant than Mu Qing, and his mouth is half a beat slower, and as a result, a good errand ran to Mu Qing's bowl.

Qian Jin did not answer.

Mu Qing got Qian Jin's promise, and he couldn't help but be a little overjoyed at the moment, seeing that Qian Jin had nothing else to say, he wanted to pull Li Bin out. Li Qing stood there with a straight face, as if he wanted to wait for Qian Jin to say something. Mu Qing had no choice but to go out of the yard alone.

There was a moment of silence in the study.

After a while, Li Bin clenched his fists and asked, "General, dare to ask if there is anything else to show me?" ”

"If you continue to guard the courtyard, will Li Baihu hate me?" Qian Jin asked with a smile.

"Don't dare! Since the lower officials have made up their minds to follow the general, they naturally will not pick and choose fat and thin on errands. If he didn't have this forbearance, he wouldn't be a banner envoy in Hongmenda. ”

"Good! What I value is your forbearance! I deliberately didn't give you an answer just now, but I actually wanted to test you. There is indeed a position nowadays that suits you perfectly! ”

"But there is a sending, and there is no resignation!"

Qian Jin called Li Bin to him and said in a low voice: "This raid on the wine shop by the Tartar soldiers was actually led by Princess Jing's people. ”

Li Bin was so shocked that his mouth grew, he never expected that after the man in black attacked the courtyard at night, Princess Jing would have such a powerful trick left. He settled down and asked, "General, but you want to go down to deal with the chess pieces laid by Princess Jing?" ”

"Yes, it's a pleasure to talk to someone who understands!" Qian Jin laughed, but only halfway through the laughter, the chest injury was pulled, and the pain made him grin. When he regained his strength, he said hatefully: "I don't have a deep grudge against Princess Jing, it's just that King Ming rebelled and was jealous of my grandfather." She wants my life again and again, and if I sit back and wait for death, I am afraid that I will be passive everywhere in the future. ”

After a pause, he continued: "Although the purge of the capital has removed a lot of nails that Princess Jing has planted in the officials, she can be shrewd, but I am afraid that there are still a lot of shadows left. As for how to do it, you don't need to be taught how to do it! After a few months of watching, you must have a lot of experience in the spy industry! ”

Li Bin had already heard the meaning of Qian Jin, which was to ask him to form a team of people to deal with the back move left by Princess Jing. Jinyiwei was originally an official spy, he stayed in Jinyiwei for two years, and he already knew his way by heart.

"Fortunately, I didn't leave with Mu Qing just now, otherwise the general would just be afraid that he would not be at ease and handed over this errand to me." Li Bin thought so. He straightened the torn cotton jacket on his body, and said with a straight face: "General Meng values it, and the lower officials will naturally do this errand well!" It's just that, where do the hands and silver come from? ”

"I might as well give you an account, I can only give you five thousand taels of silver for this errand, and the rest depends on you to go to Zhang Luo. As for the people, there are many places to eat and live in the capital, so you will not be disappointed if you look for it! Qian Jin said with a smile.

"General, is this asking me to go to the food to find people?"

"What's wrong with the food? Ding shopkeeper, they are all from the food background. Qian Jin touched his nose and said with a smile: "You Shi could have found a livelihood in the capital, let's give him another identity as a brocade guard, presumably they are willing." It's just that you have to go through all the hands, and don't do those who come from unknown sources; Of course, you also have to ensure your own safety, and all spies must be contacted in a single line to prevent being caught by others. ”

"Yes! The next official will go to the whole charter to come out! ”

"Hmmm! This spy organization is called Dark Night, and I want it to be up and running as soon as spring begins. ”

"The subordinate officer receives the order!"

After Li Bin left, Qian Jin pondered alone in the study. When he left Guanhaiwei, he instructed his father's old subordinate Liu Hu to set up an intelligence organization, the main purpose of which was to detect the movements of the Japanese invaders. I never thought that the island country was now infighting, and I had no time to take care of the coastal area of Chen State. This organization doesn't seem to be playing much.

However, Qian Jin didn't care too much, his main purpose was to cultivate a batch of seeds for the "dark night". Now that more than a year has passed, there will be some gains!

Lao Qian, Ding Wei and Ge Yun did not return until late at night in order to distribute the bereavement pensions of the dead soldiers and craftsmen. Li Liang lit firecrackers in the yard for the first time, and coincidentally, firecrackers were also lit in other yards. A room full of people around the stove eating wine and food, so comfortable!

Qian Jin was unable to drink alcohol because of his injuries.

He stood alone in the courtyard and looked up at the dark sky, as if to glimpse a future from it. Hearing the sound of firecrackers in all directions, he couldn't help but sigh: The new year has begun!