In the twilight of summer, although I knew that I was still singing hard, there was already a cool breeze blowing at night, taking away the heat accumulated in the capital for a day.

Liu Ru was wearing plain clothes, holding a food box in both hands and walking towards the study in the backyard, and was about to give Qian Qianyi a bowl of rock sugar lotus seed lily soup that he had made himself, so as to go to the fire for him.

In the past two days, Qian Qianyi, who has been very well maintained, doesn't know what's going on, and even the corners of his mouth have blisters, which seems to be due to the excessive fire in his heart. Although Qian Qianyi is older, he is extremely fond of her, and Liu Ru naturally wants to feel distressed.

However, when she walked to the door of the study, she heard Qian Qianyi's angry curse, this was the first time she saw the always gentle Qian Qianyi getting so angry, so she couldn't help but stop and hesitate, thinking about whether she should come back later.

But the entourage standing on the steps, seeing Liu Ruye's arrival, seemed to see a savior, and hurriedly ran over to take the food box in her hand and said: "Please also ask Mr. Liu to go in and persuade you, after the master returned home, he lost his temper until now, and now no one dares to go in and touch the mold." ”

Liu Ruyi, who was still a little reluctant, was bold at the moment, she glanced at Qian Qianyi's most trusted entourage, and couldn't help but say gently: "What can I persuade as a woman, I don't know what happened to the master outside, how can I persuade like this?" ”

The entourage said without hesitation: "It's not because of the things that Mr. Xia did in Henan Mansion that affected the master, now those scholars outside are pointing the finger at the master, and the master is not arranging the master in the newspaper and teahouse, doesn't this make the master angry..."

After listening to what this retinue said one after another, Liu Ru finally had some favorable ideas in his heart, so he said to this entourage: "Okay, I'll go in and try it and see if I can make the master relax." ”

Thanks to the kindness of this personal entourage, Liu Ru, who walked to the door of the study, retrieved the food box from him, and then pushed the door and walked in.

"Who, didn't I say that? I don't need anyone to wait here, get out of here. Qian Qianyi, who pressed his hands on the desk, didn't even reply to his head, so he scolded the person who walked into the room aggressively.

"The lord is really a great official, but this is not the Wenhua Palace, is the lord so angry with us?"

A cold and soft woman's voice came into Qian Qianyi's ears, which immediately made Qian Qianyi turn around in shock, looked at the woman behind him and said, "If so, why are you here?" ”

Liu Ru walked quickly to the side of the coffee table, put the food box on the coffee table, and then lowered her head and said aggrievedly: "The concubine saw that the master was very angry in the past two days, so she specially boiled a bowl of sweet soup today to reduce the anger of the master." But it seems that the master is not angry, but he dislikes the concubine body and disturbs your purity, and the concubine body is self-inflicted. The master doesn't have to be angry, wait for the concubine to put down the sweet soup and leave..."

Qian Qianyi hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed Liu Rushi, who turned around and wanted to leave, and compensated her for a long time before coaxing this charming little lady to be happy.

Liu Ru sat on Qian Qianyi's lap, fed Qian Qianyi with his own hands and drank the sweet soup, watching the atmosphere gradually become harmonious, and then asked him casually: "Why is the master so angry in the past two days?" Could it be that someone in the cabinet is at odds with the master? ”

Qian Qianyi did not doubt it, and casually confided the troubles in his heart, "That's not it, it's all because of that Xia Yunyi, what he did in Henan Mansion caused dissatisfaction among the gentry, and he wrote to the court every day to accuse him."

But with His Majesty behind him, what can I do with him? I only defended him in accordance with His Majesty's instructions, but unexpectedly the gentry and scholars pointed the finger at me. Say that I am a sanctimonious hypocrite, a wicked villain who deceives the saints. Some people also compare me to Li Linfu who has a honey-bellied sword, saying that if you have a penny, you will be in the dark..."

Listening to Qian Qianyi complaining to himself like a child, Liu Ru didn't laugh at him, just hugged his neck and listened quietly, so that he could understand Qian Qianyi's troubles and worries.

Liu Ru rolled her smart eyes and thought for a while, and couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh. Qian Qianyi, who was complaining, suddenly became a little unhappy, "Madame laughed at me." ”

Liu Ru shook her head and said: "The concubine is not laughing at the master, but she is thinking that the master may have fallen for His Majesty." ”

Qian Qianyi thought for a long time, but still said blankly: "Is there one?" I don't feel it at all. ”

Liu Ru got out of Qian Qianyi's arms lightly, stood aside and paced with his hands behind his back and said, "Have you forgotten that the Daming Times you brought back a few months ago has not only the article you defended Mr. Xia, but also a short article written by His Majesty.

I still remember that the old man still showed off to the concubine, saying that Your Majesty compared you to a warrior, and those rotten people to flies and mosquitoes. The article says this:

When a warrior dies in battle, the first thing the flies see is his shortcomings and scars, and they sigh and the camp screams, thinking that they are proud, that they are more heroic than the dead warriors. But the warriors have died in battle and no longer come and wave them. So the flies cried even more in their camps, thinking themselves immortal, because their perfection was far above that of the warriors.

Indeed, no one has ever seen the shortcomings and traumas of the flies.

However, a warrior with flaws is a warrior after all, and a perfect fly is nothing but a fly after all.

Go, flies! Although they have wings, they can still camp, and they will never surpass the warriors. You worms!

Now that I think about it, Your Majesty is declaring war on those rotten Confucians on behalf of the master. In addition, the cabinet later issued regulations on the management of newspapers and books, which naturally made the lord even more hated by those scholars.

Mr. Xia's implementation of the apportionment of the land into the mu and the integrated payment of grain by the gentry in Henan Prefecture is also a further step to follow the law of Juntian and uniform service implemented by Lord Xu Jianwu in Nanzhili. Although the gentry hated it, the small people benefited from it, so this matter was not a one-sided criticism.

However, the regulations on the management of newspapers, periodicals and books that the lord asked the cabinet to pass offended the people of the world. Although most of these scholars are idle people, this generation does not see themselves in this way. In today's Ming Dynasty, it is advantageous to be famous, even if it cannot be ranked first, but once it is famous all over the world, it can also travel all over the world, and it is looked at differently by gentry and wealthy businessmen from all over the world.

How a scholar is famous in the world is nothing more than being talented and learning, or being favored by celebrities and prostitutes, or making shocking words. Compared to the first two, the latter is obviously easier to do. Sir, this management regulation you issued, isn't it the way for people to move forward, if they don't scold you, who should they scold? ”

Under Liu Ruyi's suggestion, Qian Qianyi nodded subconsciously, but he soon said with some suspicion: "But just like that, isn't it too much to say that Your Majesty is digging a pit for me?" How could Your Majesty have expected that these rotten people would turn the finger at me? ”

Liu Ru stopped and looked at the night outside the window, she looked at the blurred night scene and said: "The term of office of the first assistant of the master's cabinet is almost over, it seems that Your Majesty wants to see how many people you have saved up in the past five years, so as to decide whether to let you succeed to the position of first assistant." ”

Qian Qianyi's eyebrows jumped suddenly, he quickly reached out and pressed his brows, and after a while, he pretended to be calm and said, "According to Madame's opinion, does Your Majesty want me to continue to sit in this seat?" ”

Liu Ru still didn't look back, and after a while, he said calmly: "Your Majesty's thoughts, how can I guess a woman." However, the lord only needs to let His Majesty see that except for the lord, no one else in the court may be willing to block the words and swords of the corporal in this world for His Majesty, and His Majesty will naturally let the lord continue to stand in front of him..."

The Bukhara Khanate was a semi-nomadic, semi-settled kingdom, and although Imam Kuri was one of the few outstanding monarchs of the Khanate, his 28 years in power was a rare period of stable development for the Bukhara. However, this did not change the situation in which the Bukhara Khanate's complex administrative system and the weak and inadequate bureaucracy of the central power made the local tribal chiefs too powerful.

Today, when Imam Kuri is old and decrepit, the power of the khanate has basically been divided among the princes. Underneath the princes were Diwan Burgi, who was in charge of the country's finances, Kukdash, who gathered intelligence and managed the Khan's hunting troops, and Kush Burgi, the prime minister in charge of related affairs.

Therefore, when Bukhara Khan rejected Yarkand Khan's request, Nadir Muhammad, the royal brother who advocated war against Yarkand, did not leave Bukhara immediately with his army, but first dealt with the arrangements for his absence in Bukhara, in case other princes took advantage of his absence to start a rebellion.

The Ferghana Basin between Kashgar and Bukhara was a multi-ethnic settlement area at this time, and most of the inhabitants of the basin lived on farming and trade, and nomadic tribes no longer dominated the majority.

At this time, there were four major cities in the basin, one was called Andijan, and it was 500 miles southeast to Kashgar. From Andijan to the west is the city of Margalang, and to the west is the city of Namugan, and to the west is the city of Kokand. The four cities are all near the Nalin River, but Namugan is in the north. The tributaries of the mountain springs in the north and south meet, and between the cities of the belt, the soil is fertile, and the people are prosperous.

The largest ethnic group in the basin is the Uzbeks, who originated from the Gullam Turkic slave soldiers of the Persian garrison in the Middle River, Khorezm, and Khorasan regions. They are a people consisting of the Qarluqs, the Chachi, the Oghuns, the Karaji, the Erkhun, the Imeks, the Khamlis, the Bakhtiyars, the Kipchaks, etc. This is very similar to the Jianzhou Jurchens, and in the constant wars, captives from various tribes eventually formed a new nation.

Unlike the Bukhara Khanate, the Yarkand Khan ** team, which had rebuilt its administrative and military institutions with the help of the Ming state, crossed the Alai Mountains in 50 days, easily seized the unguarded Uzgen region, and established an advance base. However, this unit was soon counterattacked by the Andijan troops, and more than 300 forward troops were almost completely wiped out by more than 100 Andijan troops, and only more than 10 people fled back.

When Shahbaz Berk heard that the Andijan army was no more than 2,000, he decided to meet the enemy with 4,000 horsemen and infantry, while the horses were to wait in the camp for the next 3,000 men. His side almost doubled the number of troops, so Ma Shouying didn't think much about it and agreed to this suggestion.

But a day later, the Yarkand army, which had gone to meet the enemy, broke up and returned, and even Shahbaz Berk was beheaded by the Andijanians. Coupled with these defeated soldiers who fled back, there were only less than 2,000 in the camp, and the Yarkand soldiers guarding the camp were terrified and persuaded Ma Shouying to evacuate.

At this time, Ma Shouying was very calm, and he said to these frightened Yarkand soldiers: "Those Andijanites are mostly cavalry, and there are still more than 100 miles from the camp to the Alai Mountain, do you think you can outrun the four-legged cattle?" I'm afraid that before you reach Mount Alai, you have already become a ghost under the knife of the Andijan people.

The Andijanians fought two battles with us, do you see that they allowed anyone to surrender? Left and right is a death, and there are still fences in the camp to resist the onslaught of the cavalry, and they can fight desperately. Why run out and slash others for nothing? Besides, the follow-up troops will arrive in these two days, and when they do, the Andijanians will inevitably retreat, so as not to be caught between us inside and outside. Wouldn't it be safer for us to stay or leave then? ”

Under the strong command of Ma Shouying, the Yarkand soldiers in the battalion finally settled down and decided to follow him to stick to the camp and wait for the arrival of the rear army.