When Nan Zhijin came to the Qinzheng Palace, it was already dark, and there were a group of officials standing outside the hall, some people shouted loudly to defend the capital to the death, some people suggested a long-term plan around the corner, and some people swore that they had found someone to calculate, and the enemy army could not pass the city of Xiaozhou. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

In the hall, more than ten important ministers were surrounding the prime minister, throwing out one question after another, Zhuo Ruhe was overwhelmed, and when he saw Nan Zhijin, he immediately beckoned him to come over.

"Not much to say, when it comes to this kind of thing, it must be up to Your Majesty to decide, but Your Majesty is not here, and the Holy Decree will not arrive for a while, so we can only discuss a way to come out first. Nan Yushi knows His Majesty better, let him guess what His Majesty will do, let's just do it. ”

The ministers looked at Nan Zhijin, some people were more familiar with him, and some people only heard his name, but their expressions were the same, cold and stern, as if he was a prisoner who had been summoned to the hall to confess.

Nan Zhijin saluted everyone one by one, accurately calling out everyone's official position and surname, especially to his boss Qu Zixi, and bowed deeper.

Zhuo Ruhe waved his hand and said: "Time is pressing, be less polite, and say what Nanyu Shi has to say." ”

Even the prime minister didn't want to follow the "rules", Nan Zhijin pondered for a moment and said, "It is a felony to guess Your Majesty's thoughts......

Qu Zixi said: "Time has changed, this time you are not guilty." ”

Nan Zhijin bowed again, and then said, "If I guess, Your Majesty will never abandon the capital." ”

Zhuo Ruhe nodded, feeling a little confident in his heart.

"Your Majesty is quite thoughtful, and persevering, never give up easily, I don't understand military affairs, but I think that if Your Majesty is here, he will not only defend the capital, but also send troops to help Xiaozhou City, Mancang City and Yumen Pass, and every inch of land will be contested. His Majesty's idea is this: the brave wins when they meet on a narrow road, as long as the Chu army retreats, it is to grow the enemy's morale and destroy their own prestige, the enemy army will take advantage of the victory to expand greatly, and the Chu army will lose its fighting spirit and be defeated again and again. ”

"But the enemy army is obviously stronger than the Chu army, where can I mobilize enough troops for a while?" Cui Hong asked.

Nan Zhijin shook his head, "I don't know, I can only guess approximately, even if Your Majesty compromises, he will have to wait until the front line stabilizes his position before negotiating with the enemy army." ”

When it comes to military affairs, among the ministers, only Cui Hong is the most knowledgeable, he thought for a while, and shook his head, "There are not many defenders in the capital, and there is no way to divide troops to support the front, Xiao Zhoucheng has nearly 100,000 troops stationed at the moment, including tens of thousands of southern troops, it is naturally best to hold it, if you can't hold it, it is useless to send people again." The walls of the capital are high and thick, making it easier to defend, and the other line of defense is Hangu Pass, which is also a place where one person can block the pass......"

"It's the same as Kamio-pass." Zhuo Ruhe interjected, Shenxiong Pass was once considered impregnable, but in the end it was lost.

Cui Hong suppressed the anger in his heart and arched his hand: "Of course, Your Majesty is not here, everything is decided by the prime minister, if the prime minister feels that he should support Xiao Zhoucheng, I will immediately lead the troops to set off, the big deal is to go and not return, and be loyal to the country." ”

Zhuo Ruhe shook his head, "I didn't mean that, Taifu Cui should also go to guard Hangu Pass and escort the nobles in the palace." ”

Cui Hong snorted.

Zhuo Ruhe said: "Xiao Zhoucheng doesn't care about it first, guarding the capital, it's so decided, the top priority is to choose a general to defend the city, do you have any recommendations?" ”

Except for Cui Hong, the Qinzheng Palace is full of civil servants, who can make decisions, but they will not arrange troops, but most of the military department and the general's mansion were brought to Jincheng by the emperor, and there are not many generals left.

If in normal times, everyone will rush to recommend their own people, but at this time, no one spoke, Cui Hong recommended a few, he just returned to Beijing, I don't know the situation, and the recommended people are not there.

Nan Zhijin said: "I recommend two people, one Your Majesty will agree, you will not, and the other Your Majesty agrees, but Your Majesty may not." ”

"At this time, don't go around in circles." Zhuo Ruhe urged.

"Xie Cun, the son of Zanhou, although he is young, he has participated in the battle of Jincheng and the battle of Yunmengze, and His Majesty has patrolled several times, and he has followed him left and right, and he is quite appreciated, this time because he was sick and stayed in the capital."

Some of the ministers recognized Xie Cun, "He is only twenty years old, and he is only a small general in the Su Guard." ”

"When employing people, age and position are not important." Nan Zhijin doesn't pay attention to the rules anymore.

"Who is the other one you recommend?" Zhuo Ruhe asked, feeling that Xie Cun was not suitable.

"The former Junyang Hou Huabin, who once led soldiers, was quite appreciated by Emperor Wu."

The ministers were even more speechless, Hua Bin had committed the crime of rebellion, and now he was still under house arrest at home, and it was already the emperor's grace to survive, and he really couldn't explain it to the emperor if he reactivated.

Zhongsi Lin Liu Jie hurriedly walked in and handed over the Empress Dowager's decree to Zhuo Ruhe, "The palace is almost ready, when will the palace be moved?" ”

Zhuo Ruhe looked at Cui Hong, and Cui Hong said: "On the fourth watch tonight, try not to leak the news, so as not to disturb the people in the city." ”

Liu Jie stepped back.

Everyone continued to discuss the candidates for the generals who defended the city, and they all felt that Xie Cun and Hua Bin had their own problems and were embarrassed by the big responsibility, but they couldn't find a more suitable candidate for a while.

Seeing that the night was getting darker, Cui Hong retired first, and he had to prepare for departure.

Zhuo Ruhe called in a few more ministers, which only made the argument more intense.

Nan Zhijin was forgotten aside, no one asked his opinion again, and no one asked him to leave, Nan Zhijin silently observed, quietly approached Zuocha Yushi Qu Zixi, and nodded to him through several people.

Qu Zixi had just spoken, his mouth was dry, and when he saw Nan Zhijin nodding, he couldn't help but be slightly stunned, and soon came to his senses, he was stunned again, and then he thought about it, but he felt that this was the only natural choice, and it was strange that he hadn't thought of it.

"I would like to recommend one more person, who is older than Xie Cun, and more trustworthy than Hua Bin." Qu Zixi said loudly.

The ministers stopped and looked at it.

Qu Zixi took a step forward, "It's me." ”

The ministers were all stunned, and Zhuo Ruhe frowned and said, "Lord Qu understands military affairs? ”

"I've read some books, and it's not so difficult to defend the city, and aren't there still many generals in the city? It's just that the position is not high enough, and with their help, it should be fine. ”

Nan Zhijin on the periphery whispered: "Xie and Hua can also be used together." ”

"yes, let these two come and help me."

Qu Zixi glanced around, the ministers did not say agree, nor did they say oppose, they all had a contemplative expression, Qu Zixi said angrily: "The enemy army has entered, the capital is in danger, even if you don't think about the people of the city, you should also think about yourself, who else is willing to come out to be in charge of the real city, stand up, I let Xian, if not, make a decision as soon as possible." ”

Zhuo Ruhe said: "Okay, Master Qu will take the responsibility of guarding the city." ”

When the prime minister spoke, others naturally would not object, and immediately appointed Zuocha Yushi Qu Zixi as the governor of Guanzhong in the name of the prime minister, and also led the military department to serve as the squire, and set up a shogunate in the military department outside the south gate to command all the Chu troops in the Guanzhong area.

Qu Zixi arched his hand to Zhuo Ruhe and said: "I will be responsible for defending the city, and the prime minister will handle other things, don't interfere with me." ”

Zhuo Ruhe led the ministers to personally send Qu Zixi out of the Qinzheng Palace.

The big thing has been decided, the prime minister's trouble has just begun, and several ministers have come to persuade the prime minister to move the court to Luoyang, "Lord Qu guards the city, and our group of ministers will only make a mistake if they stay." ”

Zhuo Ruhe was categorical, "No one can go, the reason why the capital is the capital is because the imperial court is here, if the imperial court abandons the city, it will show weakness to the enemy, the tilt of Great Chu has started from here, who can take this responsibility?" ”

Several ministers entered the Qinzheng Hall without being summoned, and Uncle Wang was also mixed in, and then said loudly: "If you want to stay, you can stay, why can the household department and the ritual department go?" ”

"The two parts of the book and the ritual instrument are the foundation for the resurgence of the Great Chu Mountain, and they cannot be left in danger." Zhuo Ruhe's decision was not opposed by the minister, and they all understood the importance of these two things.

Uncle Wang is still dissatisfied, "What about the Ministry of Shangshu Yuan Jiuding?" I heard that he had already taken his family out of town, who let him go. ”

"Yuan Jiuding leaving the city without permission is a big crime."

"No, I heard that the prime minister asked Yuan Jiuding to leave, and his servant sent a letter to the prime minister in the afternoon, and there are a large number of officials queuing up for the prime minister to let him go, anyway, there are no outsiders here, the prime minister might as well make a price."

"Presumptuous!" Zhuo Ruhe couldn't bear it anymore, took a few steps back, took out the letter from his sleeve, and said loudly: "The letter written by Yuan Jiuding is here, Zhuo is not talented, but he will not fake public affairs when the city is in danger, have any of your colleagues seen me give anyone an order to leave the city?" ”

No one answered, and Uncle Wang shut up.

Zhuo Ruhe has been depressed for a long time, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he didn't want to hide it anymore, "Yuan Jiuding claimed that my wife interfered in the government and divided the family relationship between His Majesty and the Queen Mother, I have nothing to say, even your family members, presumably not all of them are innocent." ”

Zhuo Ruhe tore up the letter a few times, "The city is ruined and people are dying, and the name behind me is commented on by the people behind me, if I am lucky enough to keep the capital, I will ask Your Majesty to plead guilty, and no one will have to take this matter to the next generation!" ”

As soon as these words came out, no one dared to speak.

Zhuo Ruhe's heart was happy, and suddenly it really didn't matter, "Tomorrow the palace will be moved, the minister's house can follow up to two people, men over the age of fifteen, are not allowed to leave Beijing, Zhuo's two sons, the youngest one is sixteen this year, all stay in the capital!" ”

The ministers were shocked, but there were also people who supported the prime minister, and Liu Zeqin, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, stepped forward, "The Ministry of Rites wants to escort the gift vessels out of Beijing, but the Ministry of Rites does not have to escort them in person, I will stay." ”

Zhuo Ruhe was a little surprised that Liu Zeqin was not a member of his faction, and his relationship with the emperor was not harmonious, so he stood up to express his support at such a critical moment.

Hubu Shangshu had no choice, and he also stood up and volunteered to stay in Beijing.

Zhuo Ruhe said slowly: "Everyone, we are the imperial court, everyone has more or less fought with His Majesty, for what?" It is to prove that the court is right, now, what proves right and wrong is not what has been said, but what to do, you and I are both Chu Chen, I have said a lot, it is time to do something practical today. ”

The ministers bowed together, only Uncle Wang was perfunctory, turned around and ran out, wanting to plead with the Queen Mother herself.

In the yamen of the military department, Qu Zixi began to take over the army in the capital, and ordered people to call Xie Cun and Hua Bin.

Xie Cun's illness was not yet cured, his face was pale, and he spoke in a nasal voice, and after seeing Qu Zixi, he immediately said: "The roads and bridges outside the city, is Lord Qu guarding or abandoning?" ”

"Should I keep it or should I abandon it?"

"Send someone to guard first, if the situation is not right, wait for the opportunity to destroy it."

"You go and come up with a plan."

Even if Hua Bin had an accident in his heart, he didn't show it on his face, and spoke more directly, "Did Lord Qu send someone to burn down Mancang City?" ”

"Nope."

"If a warehouse full of grain falls into the hands of the enemy, the capital will fall."

Qu Zixi reacted at this time, and immediately called the generals of the Su Guard Army, and dispatched a thousand troops to Mancang City quickly, as long as he heard that Xiao Zhou City was lost, he immediately burned down the granary in the city, and before that, he transferred the grain and grass to the capital as much as possible.

It wasn't until the second half of the night that Qu Zixi finally figured out the general idea, and said to Nan Zhijin beside him: "There is still something to do, remind me." ”

"The imperial court only wants to defend the capital, and is unwilling to support Xiao Zhou City, but I know that Your Majesty will definitely retreat by advancing, so please allow me to recruit the righteous army and go to Xiao Zhou City."

Nan Zhijin paused, "This time I'm on His Majesty's side." (To be continued.) )