Dasu's letter is very vague about how Jidu died in battle, but one thing is certain, that is, the army led by Jidu into Guangdong called the Taiping army annihilated in Huizhou!

More than 20,000 troops, more than 1,000 Manchurian disciples, nearly 6,000 Mongolian soldiers, more than 5,000 Han troops, and nearly 10,000 soldiers of the Zhili Green Battalion and Henan Green Battalion were wiped out, and none of them escaped back? !

One prince, one Baylor, two Ezhen, four commanders, staff leaders, assistant leaders, admirals, general soldiers, adjutant generals, and hundreds of generals, all of them are over?!

Yue Le didn't believe it, and he didn't believe it when he was killed, but Da Su's letter was clearly written, the Jidu army was really finished, he desperately led his troops to attack Chaozhou, and he desperately had to rescue Prince Jian despite heavy casualties, but he was still one step too late!

Da Su said that the strength of the Taiping army was even stronger than previously estimated, not only Prince Jian's army was completely annihilated by them, but his Fujian soldiers were also severely damaged, which will make people panic in Fujian, and everyone is worried that the Taiping army will take advantage of the situation and join forces with the Zheng clan of Jinxia to go down to Fujian first, and then go down to Zhejiang, and take Jiangning directly!

Yue Le was so shocked that he felt that his back was extremely cold, he knew that it was impossible for Da Su to make a false report, such a big matter, he would not dare to make a false report if he gave this slave ten dares!

Jidu is really dead, and the army in Guangdong is really over! The southeast is also in a hurry!

"Come, prepare the horse, this king wants to enter the palace, quickly!"

Such a big thing, Da Su dares to delay, Yue Le doesn't dare, he can help Da Su cover up one or two things, but the prince died in battle for such a big thing, he can help the slave cover up!

At present, all the heavy troops that the Qing Dynasty can mobilize are in the southwest to attack Li Dingguo, if the Taiping army really kills from Guangdong and joins forces with Zheng to attack Zhejiang and Fujian. Attacking Jiangning, the Qing garrison in the southeast could not resist it at all. The loss of the southeast is not such a simple matter as the southwest army being cut off from money and food. But the whole world is going to shake!

How did things come to this? How did it come to this!

Yue Le hurriedly entered the palace, but the emperor was not in the palace, and the guards said that the emperor had gone to Xishan to find Tang Ruowang. Yue Le was in a hurry, so he quickly whipped his horse and went straight to Xishan, but when he arrived at Xishan, he found that the emperor had not come. Unable to find the emperor, Yue Le was anxious and hurriedly sent someone to find him. Even if you turn over the city of Beijing, you have to find the emperor!

At this time, Shunzhi didn't know that Yue Le was going crazy when he was looking for him, and he leisurely watched those Han people juggling in front of Baoguo Temple on Xuanwu Street. Shunzhi originally wanted to take a break in Xishan. But after leaving the palace, he changed his mind and asked Wu Liangfu to find the clothes of the flag man and the little officer to change for him, and then led a dozen or so imperial guards to Xuanwu Street to watch the excitement. In the past, he often disguised himself to go outside the palace to play, but to the queen mother and courtiers, he said that he was a private visit to Weifu. Be sensitive to the people's feelings.

Baoguo Temple is famous. The bustling and lively market in front of the door can be compared with the Daxiangguo Temple in Kaifeng and the Confucius Temple in Nanjing. In front of the temple, there are fortune tellers, monkey cockfighters, dog skin plasters, rock sugar gourds, miscellaneous gadgets and everything else. There are also temple fairs during the New Year's holidays.

The monks of Baoguo Temple are very happy to see the excitement in front of the temple, because in this way they can collect rent money from those traders every day, and most of those tourists will also go to the temple to put incense on the pillar and offer some incense money, so that the monks will naturally have a better life, and all they pay is to send some small monks to clean outside the temple every day. The outsider is gone. I can't live anymore!

More than a dozen royal guards in civilian clothes followed behind Shunzhi, vigilantly looking at the pedestrians around them. Although they did not wear swords, they had bulging waists, and it was evident that their weapons were hidden in them.

Shunzhi was wearing a blue cloth sweatshirt, a mink hat, black leather riding boots, and a folding fan in his hand. The makeup is a little uncivilized and nondescript, looking at the eight images full of people, and the second like Han people, such a costume can be described as very eye-catching, attracting pedestrians and traders on the roadside to glance at him from time to time. For the reaction of the people, Shunzhi didn't mind at all, on the contrary, he was very happy, and when he saw that there was a sugar gourd that had just come out of the pot, he asked Wu Liangfu to take out a copper plate and buy it, looking at the bright color, and biting it when his mouth was greedy.

"Master, take it easy, be careful of the burning."

Wu Liangfu was worried that his master would be hot, so he hurriedly reminded him that he was a eunuch with insufficient energy, and his voice was quite sharp, which made people feel very awkward to hear, but fortunately, people nearby paid attention to his master, not him, a minion.

"I... I see, one more mouth cut your tongue. ”

Shunzhi glared at Wu Liangfu, and took a bite carefully, it was sweet, sour, crisp and fragrant, and he couldn't help but think that the things of the Han people were really delicious

There is a secluded place not far from the place where Shunzhi is, here is a bookstore, there are both stalls selling books, there are also selling antiques, calligraphy and painting on long tables, as well as selling glasses, cigarette holders, tea and some daily sundries, it can be said that it is quiet in the middle of the noise, and there is a unique scenery. Naturally, most of the people who frequented it were scholars.

A few readers walked over slowly. One of them has a face like a crown of jade, and he is Xu Yuanwen, a genius from Kunshan. The slightly taller one on Xu Yuanwen's left is Xiong Cixu, a friend he met in Beijing, but the one on his right is Cheng Hanbin, an old Confucian student from Huguang.

The three of them entered Beijing at the same time last year to prepare for the exam, and they also lived in the hall south of Xuanwumen. Today, the three of them came to visit the bookstore outside the Baoguo Temple.

"I didn't expect that in this bustling street market, there is also this Fang Jingshi, you smell it, this calligraphy and painting smell very fragrant!"

Xu Yuanwen said and walked towards a bookstore, where most of the products sold were calligraphy and paintings, inscriptions, and gold and stone inscriptions.

"Let's go, let's buy the four treasures of the study today, let's go to the front and have a look, I can't afford the things here."

Cheng Hanbin didn't have the money to buy those calligraphy and paintings, so he smiled and pulled Xu Yuanwen forward. Xu Yuanwen was a little reluctant.

"Wait a minute, Yuanwen, take a look, is this Zhao Ziang's real handiwork?" Xiong Cilu suddenly grabbed Xu Yuanwen's sleeve from behind and pointed to a picture of eight horses hanging. The horse was drawn with his head held high and neighing, and he was very energetic.

"You two are pulling back and forth, I can't stand this robe!"

Xu Yuanwen smiled and pushed away Cheng Hanbin's hand. whispered to Xiong Cixu: "These horses are also handsome, but if you look closely, they are deficient, I am afraid they are fakes." ”

Seeing these few scholars muttering quietly, the shopkeeper greeted him with a smile: "A few people are extraordinary, they must be connoisseurs, although the store is not big, but there are a lot of good things." If you really want to buy it, you have to take a closer look, come, come. Inside, please! ”

"Thank you, let's just take a look at it, and don't delay your business!"

Xu Yuanwen clenched his hands into fists and apologized to the shopkeeper, but inadvertently found a Xuande furnace that had been wiped shiny. couldn't help but light up in his eyes: "Boss." What is the price of this Xuande furnace? If the price is right, I'll buy it. ”

"This..."

The white and chubby shopkeeper laughed twice, and said embarrassedly: "Xianggong is really discerning, and he fell in love with this Ding furnace at a glance." It's just that you're a step late, and now that this stove has a buyer, we won't sell it even if you give it a sky-high price. You have to talk about credibility when you do business, first come, first come, sorry to offend you. ”

"I can't see it. You're a businessman. If this friend of mine is willing to pay several times more than your old buyer, you won't do it? Hehe, everyone says that there is no business and no treachery. That doesn't work here. Xiong Cilu was playing haha on the side.

The shopkeeper smiled: "A few of them seem to be Jiangnan scribes, and they are reasonable and well-educated, so don't embarrass me." ”

Everyone said so, Xu Yuanwen didn't want to say anything, shook his head and left here, and walked to the shop in front of him that sold the four treasures of the study.

"Brother Xiong, will you take the test for next year's Spring Festival?" Cheng Hanbin turned around and asked Xiong Cixu.

Xiong Cixu nodded and said: "I definitely have to take the exam, but now I am going to Beijing with Brother Xu and Brother Cheng to take the exam, I am afraid that Brother Fool will fall behind the two of you." However, as long as it is not famous, there is nothing to worry about. ”

"Brother Xiong is too humble. My generation of scholars just obeys the will of heaven, Ding You Shuntian, the two cases in Jiangnan, the court enforces the law like a mountain, and the intention of seeking talents is quite sincere, my generation is destined to serve the court together, what is the order? Alas, time is running out, and sometimes I really feel sorry for the years wasted. ”

Cheng Hanbin felt that he should have entered Beijing to participate in the examination ten years ago, but he always thought that Zhu Ming was still there, and if the Manchurians could not do the world, he would not be shooting himself in the foot when he participated in the Qing Dynasty's examination. As a result, as soon as it was delayed, it was ten years, although he was only forty years old, but he had gray hair, which really made him a jinshi, and he could be an official for a few years, and he could only be a local official, and he would not dare to think of entering the cabinet to worship the prime minister in this life.

"Now that the imperial army has invaded Guizhou, Zhu Ming in the southwest will definitely not be able to hold on, and the unification of the world will be a matter of this year and next year. I thought that the emperor would definitely open Enke for the unification of the world next year, and we could be regarded as the time to operate, even if the spring was not in the middle, we could also take Enke again. Since ancient times, Enke is not degraded, we are lucky to always be admitted, and since then we have been a virtuous minister of the peaceful and prosperous era wholeheartedly, benefiting the common people, and this life is not in vain. Xiong Cixu also sighed with emotion.

Xu Yuanwen is young, and he doesn't feel as emotionally as the two of them, but the big names in Beijing all say that next year's champion must be him Kunshan Xu Yuanwen, which makes him a little proud in his heart.

The three of them said that they unconsciously came to the door of a restaurant, and after shopping for a long time, they happened to be hungry, so they looked at each other and smiled, and raised their feet to go in.

"Three kilometers please!"

Running the hall wore a white handkerchief on his shoulder, which looked neat and neat, and enthusiastically let the three of them to a table near the window, and was busy pouring tea and water. The teapot and tea set of Zisha exuded a faint local atmosphere, and Xu Yuanwen and the three of them tasted tea silently, speechless for a while.

"Master, what are you eating?"

The runner greeted the guests at the table next to him again, but it was Shunzhi and his party who were tired of shopping. Shunzhi was looking at the furnishings in the restaurant with interest, and did not answer the question of the shopkeeper.

"This master, I listened to you talk about authentic Beijing films, and I don't know if the dishes in Longsheng Xuan, which are all southern flavors, are suitable for your appetite. In this way, if you want to eat the hanging oven duck of Tianfulou, the smoked chicken and smoked belly slices of Baohuachun, and the cream cake of the fragrant dumpling shop, you just have to pay the order, and the small one will go out to buy it for you immediately. The face of the runner was full of smiles, and he could see that the group of people at this table was headed by Shunzhi, who was pretending to be a small officer of the flag man.

Shunzhi glanced back at Runtang and grinned, "I haven't opened my mouth yet." You've said a lot. If I want to eat the roast duck from Fulou that day, why should I run here? ”

"It's... What the master said is reasonable. The running hall grinned, "Wait a moment." The little ones will bring you the best food and drinks from our store right away! ”

"Wait, little two, how do you know what I like to eat?" Shunzhi deliberately embarrassed this runaway.

"Hey, hey! The little one is at the behest of the master. ”

"Tell me, what does the one hanging there mean?"

Shunzhi pointed with his hand, and the shopkeeper read it casually: "'Ten buckets of wine will be punished according to the golden valley, and a plate of spring boiled jade will be fertilized. 'Master, this is taken from the Yuanren Sa Yanmen concentrated language to praise the store's famous sugar steamed yam. Why don't I give you a plate to try first? ”

"Hmm. I can't see that you still know a little bit of writing and ink. ”

"Where, let me see it."

“”

Here, Shunzhi is idle and has nothing to do to run the hall. Next to him, Xu Yuanwen said to Cheng Hanbin and Xiong Ci: "I'll be the east today, you two can order food." ”

Xu Yuanwen's family is well-off, and his conditions are much better than Xiong and Cheng. Xiong Cixu was born in a scholarly family, and although his family is not poor, he is not rich. Zhang Xianzhong entered Huguang that year. More than a dozen members of Xiong Cixu's family were killed by the rebels. Only he and his mother survived, and since then, the family has declined, and mother and son depend on each other. Xu Yuanwen, who was born in a big family in Kunshan, naturally knew Xiong Ci's poor and high life dilemma, and he was almost the boss of every small gathering. Xiong Cixu knew Xu Yuanwen's kindness very well, and he was accustomed to coming and going.

"Let's have a plate of 'Jiang Tofu'? There is a saying that 'Jiangjia tofu Yijia noodles, one person will leave the feast is not unusual.' ’”

"Brother Cilu, you are already thin enough, how can you do it by just eating tofu? Anyway, it's Brother Yuanwen who is the east. Let's have some cravings, too. That's right, another plate of 'Pan Fish' and a plate of 'Hu Duck'. ”

"It's very emotional. Many of the famous dishes of this restaurant are named after the officials and scholars who came to eat here. One day, I wonder if there will be a dish named after you and my brothers? ”

"Haha, Brother Yuanwen Xian, your ambition is not small! What's your favorite thing to eat? Let me think about it," Cheng Hanbin laughed, "By the way, you love crabs the most, right?" Rest assured, one day you will enter the cabinet to pay respects, and there will be another delicious 'Xu crab' in this Longsheng Xuan. ”

"Nonsense, could it be that someone loves to eat soft-shelled turtles, so there are dishes named Chen Turtle and Song Wangba?" Xu Yuanwen was also amused by Cheng Wenbin's words.

"The three sons are so happy! Listening to the accent, you are from the south, and you came to Beijing to take the exam? ”

Shunzhi listened to the three people at the next table talking interestingly, so he walked over with a smile, and there happened to be an empty seat, he asked casually, "Can I sit down and talk?" ”

"Please!"

Xu Yuanwen looked the Manchurian officer up and down, he looked like he was only in his twenties, but his tone and demeanor had a majesty and demeanor, which didn't seem to match his age. In any case, the people who came were very elegant, generous, not slick or arrogant, and more humble than the Manchurian nobles who were commonly seen on weekdays. At the moment, I also acquiesced to this uninvited guest.

"My surname is Huang"

Shunzhi introduced himself to himself in a matter-of-fact manner, and the Beijing film was mixed with some Shanxi dialects, and it was indecent, and Wu Liangfu and the guards on the side just covered their mouths when they listened to it.

"Okay, let's talk while we eat, and bring all the dishes on that table, right? Otherwise, it won't taste good if it's cold. ”

Xu Yuanwen and the others did not say anything, Shunzhi had already beckoned, and after a while, the shopkeeper served a table of dishes.

"Is there a good bamboo leaf green? I drank the wine of my hometown to go down. Oh, I wonder how the three scribes got used to drinking? Most of you Jiangnan people drink lightly rice wine and rice wine, too, if your mind is dizzy, what else can you do? Xiao Er, bring a few more jars of rice wine! ”

Seeing that the visitors kept calling themselves scribes, Xu Yuanwen glanced at Xiong Cixu, leaned over and said, "This Huang..." Seeing that he was younger than himself, Xu Yuanwen hesitated: "Lord Huang, I am just a Confucian student, and the three of us met to enter Beijing to take the exam, as for whether I can become a scribe on the gold list, it is not necessarily." ”

Shunzhi said: "Don't call me Lord Huang, I'm younger than you, so call me Brother Huang." ”

"What? Emperor? The chopsticks in Xiong Cilu's hand shook, a little surprised.

"My real surname is Huang, and I'm younger than you, isn't it appropriate to call me a junior brother? Ladies and gentlemen. Let's have two toasts first! Shunzhi was amused in his heart, and thought it would be fun to call these Han nerds brothers.

"In Xiahu Guangxiong, the first to do it is respectful!"

"Okay, refreshed!"

"In Lower Kunshan, Xu Yuanwen is overwhelmed with alcohol. Tea instead of bars. ”

"In the next Cheng Wenbin..."

Shunzhi nodded to Xiong Cheng and the others, raised his glass frequently, but his eyes were fixed on Xu Yuanwen, and suddenly remembered something, so he asked him: "Brother Xu is from Kunshan, but I don't know if you know Gu Tinglin in Kunshan?" ”

Xu Yuanwen was stunned, and his face was a little unhappy. My uncle's name is like thunder, can you call him by his name?

"Brother Huang, Gongzi Xu is Mr. Gu's nephew!" Xiong Cixu likes to drink, but he can't drink too much. At this time, he was already a little drunk, and he talked a lot.

Shunzhi was stunned, didn't Gu Yanwu not allow people to go out of the Qing Dynasty, why did his nephew enter Beijing for reference?

"Did your uncle, Mr. Tinglin, promise you to come out of the Qing Dynasty?"

"Everyone has their own aspirations. In recent years, the Qing Dynasty has risen like the rising sun. If I, the Han people, are bent on Zhu Ming again, it will be too stupid. My generation has studied the Four Books and Five Classics since childhood, which can be described as full of economy, and the Qing Dynasty will be able to recover Yungui in a few days, level the sea, and dominate the world. If it comes to curing sores and calming the world, it must be Confucius, Mengcheng and Zhu Shengdao. So"

"Okay, that's great!"

didn't wait for Xu Yuanwen to finish speaking. Shunzhi excitedly grabbed his hand and shook it, and said happily: "The world rises and falls." It is the responsibility of the husband, and in the future, the affairs of governing the country and the world will depend on you Han people. He said this from the bottom of his heart, and he was really happy, even Gu Yanwu's nephew was willing to participate in the imperial examination of the Qing Dynasty and become an official of the Qing Dynasty, but imagine how the mentality of the Han people Confucian has changed. When the southwest and Guangdong are pacified, I am afraid that there will be no Han scholars in the world who still hold on to Zhu Ming's orthodoxy.

Shunzhi's joy confused Xu Yuanwen and Xiong Cixu, you are just a small officer with a full man, how can you tone like the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Cheng Wenbin's eyes fell on Wu Liangfu and the guards who were staring at the other table, and he was faintly excited in his heart, could it be that the young man in front of him was really the emperor?

Shunzhi was really happy, and he raised his glass to salute the three of them, but there was a commotion outside the restaurant, and countless people rushed in. Wu Liangfu and the guards were startled and stood up one after another, but they saw that all the guards who came in the palace, the first-class guard Fei Yanggu at the head.

Seeing Wu Liangfu and them at a glance, Fei Yanggu immediately breathed a sigh of relief, strode forward and knelt in front of Shunzhi, and said, "Your Majesty, the slave has finally found you!" ”

"Feyangu, what are you looking for me?"

Shunzhi was very unhappy, and it was rare to drink with three Han scholars who were dedicated to serving the Qing Dynasty, and they chatted speculatively, but Feiyangu recklessly broke into trouble. After these three Han people know the identity of his emperor, can they still call him a brother and sister like just now?

"It's hard for me to get out of the palace to relax, you minions are really troublesome, what can't wait for me to return to the palace to say, I have to find here!"

Shunzhi put down the wine glass and found that Xu Yuanwen and the others had already knelt on the ground in fright, and couldn't help sighing.

Fei Yanggu said: "Your Majesty, something is wrong, Prince An asks the emperor to return to the palace quickly!" ”

Shunzhi frowned and asked Fei Yanggu: "What's wrong, what is Yue Le anxious to do with me?" ”

"This"

Fei Yanggu looked at Xu Yuanwen and the others with some embarrassment.

"These three are the ones who went to Beijing to take the exam, I admire them very much, if you have anything to say, don't worry."

These three people have decided to join the Qing Dynasty, and Shunzhi also takes a fancy to them, of course he will not ask them to go out, this is not a means to attract people's hearts. Sure enough, hearing that the emperor admired them very much, Xu Yuanwen and the three of them immediately became excited.

Fei Yanggu had no choice but to say: "Your Majesty, Guangdong War Report, Prince Jane he"

"What's wrong with Jidu?"

"Prince Jane is gone!"

"Dead? When did you die? Shunzhi was taken aback and couldn't believe it, "Jidu's body is stronger than me, and he is only two years older than me, how can he say that he is dead when he dies?" What kind of acute illness did he have, and why was it so bad? You slave said! ”

Feiyangu gritted his teeth and said: "Your Majesty, Lord Wang, he died in battle!" ”

"Killed in battle?" Shunzhi was taken aback: "How can you die in battle?" He led an army of more than 20,000 people, how could he die in battle! ”

Suddenly, Shunzhi realized something, his whole body trembled, and he yelled at Fei Yanggu: "You slave is saying that the more than 20,000 troops I sent to Guangdong were not only defeated, but also the prince was lost!" ”

"Your Majesty!"

Feiyangu slammed his head down with a "plop", although he didn't say anything, but he made Shunzhi understand everything.

"Impossible, impossible, impossible!"

Shunji couldn't believe it, and he couldn't accept it, and he roared angrily, causing the guards to fall to their knees. Because he was too angry, Shunzhi accidentally crushed the wine glass in his hand, and the blood flowed down his wrist.

"The emperor is angry!" (To be continued.) )