Alum Lou is basically in a state of semi-suspension, due to the grand opening of the Alum Tower in Qiantang County, Hangzhou, most of the people in the Beijing Alum Tower have been transferred to the past, there are not many people left in the Alum Tower, only the Chunhua Building is still in business, the entire atrium is deserted, there is no former Yingying Yanyan, the beauty is like a cloud, only a dozen bartenders are busy, the Alum Tower has become an ordinary restaurant.

Li Yanqing walked up to the second floor and came to a room, he knocked on the door, and someone inside responded, "Please come in!" ”

The voice was a little younger, not very familiar, Li Yanqing pushed the door in, and saw a tea prostitute in the room ordering tea, and a man in armor was sitting next to him, about thirty years old, with a pale face, puffy eyes, a sloppy gaze, a little over-drinking, and a good mountain pattern armor on him also looked nondescript, Li Yanqing certainly knew this person, Gao Yanei, the son of Gao Yu.

"It turns out that Yanai is still in the capital, I thought I had gone south."

Li Yanqing smiled and arched his hand, he had nothing to do with Gao Yanei, and there were still some personal grievances in the past few years, but as his status grew, those personal grievances that could not be on the stage have long since disappeared, but this does not mean that he and Gao Yanei have a common language, basically he still respects Gao Yanei.

Gao Yanei got up and saluted and said with a smile: "He Dutong will leave Beijing after saying a few words, and I will be ready to wear this armor." ”

"Please be seated!" Gao Yanei politely invited Li Yanqing to sit down.

Li Yanqing was not polite, sat down opposite Gao Yanei, the tea prostitute ordered a cup of tea and handed it to Li Yanqing, Li Yanqing received the tea cup and asked with a smile: "Is Mrs. Sun still there?" ”

"Back to the officials, the big shopkeeper has gone to Hangzhou."

"And how many of you have here?"

"It's not much, there are only three tea prostitutes, and there are only about 20 bartenders, officials, are you going to fight?" The tea prostitute asked worriedly.

"You don't have to be afraid, the capital is so tall and strong, the Jin people can't attack it."

"Ah Hui, you step back first, Li and I have something to say."

The tea prostitute got up and saluted, got up and retreated.

Gao Yanei said to Li Yanqing at this time: "I received a letter from my father!" ”

"Where is the Captain now?"

"Father and Emperor Taishang are both in Jiangning now."

"They didn't go to Hangzhou?" Li Yanqing asked puzzled.

"For some reason, my father said in the letter that it seems that the emperor has changed his mind again, and after arriving in Jiangning, he stopped and didn't want to go to Hangzhou again."

Li Yanqing was disdainful in his heart, needless to say that he also wanted it, Zhao Ji abdicated in a hurry, and regretted it after Jiangning, power is a drug, it is difficult to get rid of it, not to mention the imperial power at the peak of power, Zhao Ji's hasty abdication does not mean that he is willing to give up the imperial power, he stopped in Jiangning to look back, not that he cares about the capital, but that he can't let go of the imperial power.

Gao Yanei glanced at Li Yanqing who was contemplative, and said cautiously: "My father also asked me to bring a few words to Du Tong in the letter. ”

"Please!"

Li Yanqing immediately sobered up from his contemplative state, put Zhao Ji's mind aside for the time being, and looked at Gao Yanei with a smile on the corner of his mouth.

Gao Yanei hesitated for a moment and said: "It stands to reason that you shouldn't say this, but since my father has ordered it, it's not good if I don't say it, so I just listen to it, don't take it too seriously." ”

Li Yanqing said with a smile: "You say it in vain, I listen to it!" ”

"Okay!" Gao Yanei nodded, and then lowered his voice and said: "My father said that Dutong secretly hid 30,000 Jingzhao troops, and he has offended the Son of Heaven, and this matter must be resolved, otherwise there will be disasters in the future." ”

Li Yanqing smiled faintly and asked, "I don't know which one your father is referring to when he says the Son of Heaven?" ”

"Of course it's the current one!"

Li Yanqing nodded, "I appreciate your father's kindness, please tell your father that he will get together again in the future, and we must have a good drink." ”

"That's all I say, then I wish Li Dutong a bright future and farewell!"

"I also wish Yanai a smooth journey!"

Gao Yanei got up and saluted, and hurried away.

Li Yanqing stood in front of the window with his hands in his hands, looking out of the window for a long time and was silent, if it was the advice given to him by Old Man Cao, he would remember it, but Gao Yu gave him such advice, which was obviously a bit of a simple word.

Of course, Li Yanqing did not rule out that this was Zhao Ji's instruction to provoke Zhao Huan to distrust him, but Li Yanqing's heart is like a mirror, if he pins his future and destiny on a certain emperor, then he is the second Seed Master Dao, even worse than the Seed Master Dao, only by firmly grasping what belongs to him, can he grasp the direction of his own destiny.

.........

Preparations for war are still in full swing, but the clouds of war have quietly come, December 17, 150,000 Jin troops arrived on the north bank of the Yellow River, December 18, Jin Iron Cavalry broke through Renqiu County, the city was full of charcoal, the Jin soldiers set fire to the city, the raging fire burned all night, the whole sky was red.

On December 20, after a day's rest, the main force of the Jin soldiers finally arrived at the northern military camp that had been razed to the ground, and rebuilt the large camp on the basis of the northern military camp, which was about ten miles away from the capital, but extended more than twenty miles in the east-west direction.

Although the powerful officials and eunuchs in the city and the wealthy men in the city have almost run away, many slightly wealthy middle-class families have also moved south, and a large number of people have moved south after a few months of migration, but there are still nearly 800,000 people in the capital, and a large amount of grain, grass, meat, melons, fruits and vegetables are consumed every day, and most of these basic living materials are transported from outside, feeding tens of thousands of employees.

However, the killing of the Jin soldiers caused all kinds of logistics in the capital to come to a rapid halt, prices soared, and there were people grabbing shopping materials everywhere, and the price of rice had risen to 500 wen for doumi, and the government could not stop it, so it could only use relief to help the poor, and many poor families who could not afford to buy food could not rely on the government's porridge to survive, but fortunately, the rent of the government had been reduced or reduced, and many large merchant families who moved south were also used to settle the refugees and people outside the city, so as not to live on the streets in the cold weather.

But gruel can't be eaten enough after all, if you want your family to have a full meal, you either spend a lot of money to buy rice, or you can apply to be a people's husband, each person can earn 300 yuan a day, and the family can live in a free house provided by the government, which is equivalent to buying half a bucket of rice every day, and there is a little extra money to buy vegetables, basically you can eat enough.

It is precisely because of the favorable conditions that the people of the capital participated in the people's very enthusiastic, and 80,000 people were recruited within a few days, and together with the 30,000 Xiang army, they formed a powerful logistics support team for the defenders of the capital.

At present, there are 100,000 troops responsible for guarding the capital, including 30,000 Jingzhao Army, 30,000 New Taipei Army and 30,000 Xiang Army, and 10,000 Dianqian Forbidden Army, but the Xiang Army's combat ability is weak, and they are responsible for operating giant trebuchets.

In addition to the 100,000 regular army, there is also a special army, that is, 1,000 female soldiers, they are responsible for rescuing the wounded, the contribution of female soldiers has long been recognized in the Battle of Taiyuan, it is because of their existence, the mortality rate of the wounded soldiers has dropped by eighty percent, and they have won the general trust of the army officers and soldiers with their great contributions that everyone can see.

The special workshop of the Beijing Gunpowder Bureau is located in the northwest of the city, which was originally an empty vegetable field, and there is an abandoned City God Temple, which has been converted into a special firearms workshop made by the Firearms Bureau to produce earth-shaking thunder and iron fire thunder, which is very empty, even if the earth-shaking thunder explodes, it will not affect the surrounding residents.

In the evening, thousands of Yulin troops escorted the Son of Heaven Zhao Huan to the firearms bureau workshop of the Chenghuang Temple, at present, the firearms bureau does not belong to the military supervision jurisdiction, but is directly under the jurisdiction of the military and political hall, specifically by the logistics director Zong Ze is in charge, Li Yanqing also accompanied Zhao Huan to visit the firearms workshop.

Due to the arrival of the Son of Heaven, the firearms workshop has temporarily stopped working, hundreds of craftsmen have stood aside, Zhao Huan walked into the hall surrounded by dozens of ministers, and He Fang, the former young superintendent of the ordnance superintendent, hurriedly stepped forward and saluted, "Weichen see Your Majesty!" ”

Zong Ze introduced with a smile: "Young Eunuch He was originally in charge of firearms manufacturing in the Ordnance Prison, and now he has been transferred to take full charge of the Firearms Bureau. ”

Zhao Huan nodded and asked, "How many earth-shattering thunders have been created?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, as of noon today, three thousand four hundred heaven-shaking thunderbolts have been created, and six thousand iron fire thunderbolts have been created."

Zhao Huan was overjoyed, "Young Eunuch He has worked hard, if I can defeat Jin Bing this time, I will definitely give Young Eunuch He a great credit!" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your compliment!"

Zhao Huan looked around again and asked with a smile, "Are all the craftsmen who make firearms here?" ”

Zong Ze shook his head, "This is only a part, there are also craftsmen who make gunpowder and blacksmiths who make shells are not here, there are a total of 1,200 people responsible for making firearms. ”

"Firearms are our magic weapon for victory, and the reason why the Taiyuan City Defense Battle was won was largely due to the power of the earth-shaking thunder, and I hope this time is no exception."

Zhao Huan was very interested, turned around and asked Li Yanqing with a smile: "Li Dutong, I am right!" ”

Li Yanqing smiled slightly, "Your Majesty is right, if the morale of the three armies can be mobilized, I believe this battle of defending the city will be even more exciting." ”

Zhao Huan laughed, "Li Dutong wants me to go to the city for a walk, right!" ”

"If Your Majesty is willing to inspect the three armies, it will be an honor for the brothers!"

"Good! I'm going to go to the city to comfort the three armies! ”

.........