Approaching the hot summer, located in the south of Zhaoqing City, people have put on light clothes, the branches and leaves on the canopy are more and more dense, the green shade lovers, the flowers and plants are fragrant, bringing a strong sense of vitality to this ancient city, the pedestrians shuttling back and forth on the street are like weaving, the shops on both sides are lined up, the voices of people are boiling, the stone road is not very spacious, the crowds are crowded, the faces of the people are peaceful, the expression is serene, bow to each other, the scene of the peaceful and prosperous era is as stable as the hundred-year-old plane tree on the head of the South Gate City.

The chaotic situation, there seems to be no feeling here, except for the fact that there are a lot more listless beggars in the corners of the city, everything is the same as before, how many years has Zhaoqing not been at war, when was the last time he experienced a military disaster, even the oldest people in the city, can not remember.

The horse's hooves suddenly sounded, and a horse came in from the city gate like a fly, and the soldiers of the forbidden army guarding the gate were holding spears and wanted to step forward to stop them, but they saw the knight from a distance with three small yellow flags on his back, and hurriedly moved away from the horse and let him enter the city.

The knight went on and on, and the crowd of people in the streets hastened out of the way, as if they had seen a troop of soldiers coming, and the knight ran through the alley, which seemed to be suddenly avoided by an axe in a sea of people, and disappeared around the corner of the street.

The crowd was glued together again, and the lively scene of the sea of people was restored, and some people looked in the direction in which the knight had disappeared, chatted for a few words, and then disregarded it again, and walked around their street with a smile.

After all, in the recent period, this kind of eight-hundred-mile urgent imperial court messenger has appeared many times, and everyone is used to it.

At the end of the long street, at the intersection of several streets, there is the largest restaurant in the city, called Qingyun Building, the building is three floors high, extremely magnificent, the owner is a person with a background, do a huge scene, there are delicious delicacies in the building, there are singing girls, if the silver is enough or the face is big enough, in the private room above the second floor, you can also prostitute it, of course, the women here are not as high as the quality of the Qinhuai River, but how much can still be done.

At a window facing the street on the third floor of Qingyun Building, the person who was alarmed by the sound of horses' hooves looked down, and then closed the window.

"It's another eight hundred miles to rush into the city, I don't know where the news is." In the middle of the matter, Meng Zhengfa closed the window tightly, shut all the noise outside, and the room became quiet.

He returned to the round table and sat down, on the small round table, there were more than ten dishes, a white porcelain wine jug, and those sitting around the table, plus Meng Zhengfa, were exactly five people.

Sitting on the top of the thin old man, when the head of the court shop Qu Shiyun, he is wearing a Confucian shirt at the moment, the breeze is bone, quite reserved of the superior, his left and right sides, respectively, sit in the Jinbao in the matter of Like, Yuan Pengnian, the left deputy capital of the imperial history Liu Xiangke, plus Meng Zhengfa, when the backbone of the Chu party, all here.

The five famous tigers of the Yongli Dynasty in the Southern Ming Dynasty, except for the Ding Chushu who was replaced by Qu Shiyun, were all on the table.

Yuan Pengnian played with the wine glass in his hand, looked at the closed window, and said absent-mindedly and casually: "The military situation in various places is urgent, of course there are many people who report the news." ”

Liu Xiangke's face was a little red, he was not good at drinking, but he drank a few glasses at this time, he was a little drunk, he supported the table with one hand, and said with red eyes: "Military situation? Hehe, in my opinion, I'm afraid there are many defeats, then Li Chengdong was defeated in Xinfeng, He Tengjiao lost in Huguang and his pants were gone, the current situation is like this, where can it be called a military situation? ”

He snorted a few times, and said again with a sense of wine: "Li Chengdong, this guy, showing off his might, can't be a lifetime, don't look at me with a straight eye, I really have a lot of ability to think of him, but he is a waste like a wine bag and a rice bag!" ”

Jin Bao glared at him, handed over a bowl of soup, and said: "Brother Ruixing, don't talk nonsense, although Li Chengdong is domineering, but he is waiting for foreign aid from us, once he loses power, we will wait for the DPRK without strong foreign aid, it will be difficult, Zhu Tianlin's gang of vain ministers will inevitably take the opportunity to make trouble, I am afraid that I am not afraid, but it is quite troublesome to deal with." ”

Liu Xiangke snorted again, Meng Zhengfa frowned, and sighed: "Think about that Li Chengdong, galloping under Dongyu's hands, destroying the withering and decaying like a demon god, why is he so can't help fighting now?" There are 100,000 people under his command, at least 40,000 or 50,000 are real numbers, and there are soldiers who can fight, and the total number of Qing soldiers is only more than 30,000, and most of them are Han troops, how can they be defeated? It's incomprehensible! ”

"Martial arts is this virtue, once he gains power, his tail will rise to the sky! As the so-called arrogant soldiers will be defeated, as far as the arrogant appearance of Huiguo Gong is concerned, not only the arrogant soldiers, but also the uncle soldiers! Liu Xiangke shouted with a big tongue.

"Li Chengdong was still very good at fighting a few years ago, but in the past two years, somehow, he has lacked strength, if it weren't for the fact that there are people under this person who has horses and no one in the middle of the court, we won't help him." Yuan Pengnian looked at Liu Xiangke: "Ruixing is drunk, drink a bowl of soup and wake up the bar." ”

He knew that Liu Xiangke was full of wits on weekdays, and he was a figure like a think tank among the Five Tigers, but he was out of shape at the moment, firstly, because he was angry with Li Chengdong's defeat, angry with him, and poured his sorrows with wine; Second, at the beginning, the Five Tigers instigated Li Chengdong anyway, Liu Xiangke was the pillar of it, and it was his strong persuasion that Li Chengdong made up his mind to return to the Ming anyway, at this moment Li Chengdong was defeated, leaving them with a mess, and the next storm in the DPRK and China will definitely not be poured on the head of Li Chengdong, who is far away in Xinfeng, and only a few of them can bear it.

Thinking of this, Yuan Pengnian also felt that his head was big, and he couldn't help rubbing his temples, glanced at Qu Shiyun, who didn't speak, and muttered: "If we could have dug Wang Huan from Wang Yingxiong's hand at the beginning, we wouldn't be so anxious today." ”

Qu Shiyun's slightly squinted eyes opened, and his face was full of gloom: "That Wang Huan, I have probed his bottom through Wang Yingxiong, this son is smooth sailing in the northwest, revitalizing the dead, in terms of ability, there is no one in the court, it is indeed a pity that he was not dug up at the beginning, however, Wang Yingxiong also did not grasp him, the old man looked at it, Wang Yingxiong is just the link between him and the court, to say that the real power, this son is firmly in his hands." ”

"In this way, isn't it another Zuo Liangyu?" Yuan Pengnian frowned and said: "Li Chengdong will more or less share the same breath with us, advance and retreat together, but Wang Huan is alone in the court, the court is close to him, and he is almost out of control, neither can he control his military power, nor can he collect his taxes, even the large amount of silver mines, the court has not received a cent, this son is not equal to a country within a country?" ”

Qu Shiyun was expressionless, shook his head and said: "When he started, he relied on Qin Liangyu, and the imperial court didn't give him a penny of silver and half a soldier, and now he is firmly self-styled, and he can't help him." ”

Jinbao Yanguan was born, known for his straightforwardness, known for his courage to speak, and he got up when he heard the words, and said angrily: "This son monopolizes the silver mine and cuts off the tax, which is really a big rebellion, I heard that the southwest and northwest have been in good weather in recent years, and the industry and commerce are prosperous. Wang Huan wants his own selfish interests and refuses to hand it over, is he really not afraid of Wang Fa and morality? ”

Qu Shiyun said indifferently: "I heard that Wang Huan was born recklessly, an orphan in Yangzhou, of course he doesn't know the etiquette law, he hasn't read the book, he naturally doesn't know Confucius and Mencius, to put it bluntly, he is a white ding, you tell him about the king's law and morality, he won't pay attention to it." ”

Jin Bao stiffened his neck: "Isn't there anything you can do about him?" ”

"The people we sent to woo couldn't even see anyone, and when they got to Wang Yingxiong, they were blocked and couldn't talk." Yuan Pengnian sighed and said: "When he came to Zhaoqing to face the saint, he was almost assassinated by Li Chengdong's son, and afterwards Li Chengdong also made a big move to hunt him down, and the court also sent a document to ask for it, so it's strange that he has a good impression of the court." ”

"Now he is in Shanxi to rescue Jiang Xuan, once the matter is completed, the Kuizhou army can point to Hebei, peep into Jingpu, cut off the road to the north of the East Capture, these days of frequent messengers, is the news reported from all over the country, the East Capture is transferring the Eight Banners to the north. Speaking of which, the situation on our side has not continued to deteriorate, and we have to thank him. ”

After Yuan Pengnian finished saying these words, the banquet suddenly fell silent, and everyone was thinking about it with their heads down.

At the end, Qu Shiyun calmed his face and said slowly: "Yesterday, the emperor was angry in the palace, and even the table was lifted, I have to prepare for these days, once Zhu Tianlin's gang goes crazy, there will be a war of words." ”

Yuan Pengnian slapped his wine glass and sneered: "He Tengjiao is also a fiasco in Huguang, Zhu Tianlin dares to start a war against us, and we are not afraid of him!" ”

Qu Shiyun nodded, suddenly remembered something, and asked: "By the way, over there in Fujian, that Zheng family boy, I heard that I have won a few battles, Brother Jiemei can pay attention to it, he and Li Chengdong are not in agreement, at this moment, the Li family is newly defeated, and it is a good move to win over a new general." ”

Yuan Pengnian thought for a moment and arched his hand: "Obey." ”

Qu Shiyun stood up and waved his sleeves: "Disperse, you can't have both fish and bear's paws, when we had no choice but to choose Li Chengdong, we had to help him all the way to the dark, if he falls, we will not die well!" ”

(End of chapter)