When Li Gong saw the city gate building of Xibianmen, mixed in the crowd and led the horse slowly in, the time was already October 15 of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen.

Rushing to Weinan, it took him four days, and when he returned, he was much more calm, but also because he was too tired to rush before, and his body couldn't support it, so he could only go slowly, and he would rest after walking for a few hours a day, and on the evening of the fifteenth, he could only enter the capital before the city gate was closed.

After entering the city, it was too late to calculate the time to enter the palace, and the surname Suo kept going east, and only stopped near the Dongchenggen of Xuanwu Gate.

Although it was already dark, the Jingshi was still densely populated and very lively.

When he arrived here, he felt a little home, and Li Gong couldn't help but sigh.

Thousands of miles away, full of wind and frost, hearing this familiar country sound, flowing slowly like a stream of water, washing away the exhaustion. Even if it is the shouting of those signboards and hawkers along the street, I usually feel that it is too noisy, but now I listen to it, but it is also very affectionate.

It's just walking into the city, and there is an indescribable awkwardness between the lines.

His home is not far from Dongchenggen, look at the time, the family has already had dinner, did not go home to quarrel with the family up and down, immediately found a wine to bolt the horse, saw the guy come out, then ordered: "Wash the horse first, and then feed the good concentrate...... Add a few more eggs, and you'll get the money when you look back. ”

"Holo...... An old guest, hurry up and greet! ”

Inside, there are not many diners, only there is a table of five or six people by the window, short brown and gray clothes and shoes, I don't know how to come to this kind of decent tavern, although it is curious, but this group of people turned their backs to him, Li Gong did not care, sat down by himself, and ordered: "Cut two catties of mutton face meat, beat the four corners of wine, and then have a bowl of noodles, and spread the eggs...... So be it, be quick! ”

"Okay, wait a minute!"

asked for wine and food, Li Gong had nothing to do, looked at it casually, and only felt that it was very different from usual.

In the past, the hotel here in Dongchenggen was full of Confucian guests with square scarves and long yarns, Si Swenwen, looking inconspicuous, maybe it was the official of which department, or the imperial history of the Imperial Procuratorate, calm and elegant, three or five friends changed into casual clothes, and went to this tavern to have a few drinks.

After all, it is more convenient for a big official who has not achieved the first or second grade, a large mansion and a group of servants to serve, and friends get together.

Today is very different from usual, looking around, there are very few guests in long robes, most of the wine tables are empty, even if there are occasionally one or two people sitting at the table, most of them are one or two, relatively stuffy, not looking like having fun, but like borrowing wine to drown sorrow.

"The situation in Beijing seems to be extremely depressing."

As soon as he thought of this, Li Gong couldn't sit still. His return journey was slow, but the Tang newspaper was very fast, the Daming Army reported that the fastest was the 600-mile expedited by the Ministry of War, and the road from Shaanxi to Beijing was not cut off, and it took more than half of his return trip to spread the latest news to the Beijing Division.

"Alas, it's a pity that you can't go to the palace, otherwise, there must be definite news." Just when Li Gong was worried, a person came in the store, Li Gong was overjoyed, took two steps forward, crossed his hands and saluted, and only said: "It's a filial piety and a virtuous brother, a gift for my brother." ”

"Huo, it's Brother Li!"

The person who came was dressed in a green sermon robe, and he didn't even tie a scarf on his head, so he tied a belt, and on a cold day, he looked at the spirit, but this bald head ran and held a Xiangfei bamboo fan in his hand, and this outfit was as strange as it was.

And that's not all. This life is handsome and abundant, looking forward to it, the abundance is like jade, especially in the eyes, full of brilliance, at a glance, you can see that it is a Confucian who reads poetry and books, but when he speaks and acts, it is very crisp, the two just said hello, Li Gong's wine and food came up, this person laughed and said: "Eat, thank your feet, I said that I drank some stuffy wine, just right, caught up, didn't I?" ”

"It's a clever thing," Li Gong said with a smile: "I usually can't invite you." ”

"It's so busy! Poetry and couplet writing...... I still have to go to the yamen to do things, write books to the brothers of the Restoration Society, talk about current affairs, talk about articles, and write entertainment texts for the bigwigs...... Usually said that the busy feet do not touch the ground, and the female insect in my house is not easy to get along with...... It's not Najo, it's really not available......"

"Haha, that's what Xiaosheng found yourself, and you can't complain about others. You Gu Hengbo, poetry, calligraphy and painting, what else do you want? And you chose it yourself from the Qinhuai River, and now it's too late to talk about it. ”

These two people can get acquainted, but it is indeed fate. In Dongchenggen, most of the people who live here are court officials and scribes, but Li Gong is a family in Beijing for more than 200 years, and he was lucky to keep the old mansion and did not let people squeeze it out.

There are all scribes around, sour and rotten, fortunately, although this Gong Dingxin is a civil official, and his name moves Jiangnan, and later generations are even more famous with Qian Qianyi and Wu Weiye, known as Jiang Zuosan's family, there is nothing to say about learning, but fortunately, there is no turban, he is generous, straightforward and atmospheric, and he lives next to Li Gong, and in a few years, he is also a brother.

At that moment, the two of them greeted each other and let each other sit down, Li Gong poured wine with a pot, and then raised it high, and drank a glass with Gong Dingxi, and then asked: "Why is the virtuous brother here, usually there are always three or five friends who come out together, and now I can leave the order!" Also, when I came to this place in the city, I felt that the situation was quite wrong, I don't know if I was too careful? ”

He and Gong Dingxin are close friends and have a good relationship with each other, although they are now on a different path, they do not avoid signs when they speak, and they ask directly.

"It's true that something big has happened in the capital." Gong Dingxin still looked at ease, took the food into his mouth, and sent it down with a sip of wine, and then said to Li Gong with a comfortable face: "Big brother has gone out this time?" ”

"Yes, I've been out for about ten days, and I just came back...... Don't talk about this, let's talk about the news. ”

Gong Dingxin smiled and said: "Fortunately, the eldest brother is my neighbor for a few years, knowing that you are just a military attache in Beijing...... I don't know, I'm afraid I still think that my brother is the pillar of the country, and the general of the court. ”

"Hugh has to make fun of it, Hyo-seung...... I recently said that the situation is quite different from the past, and I will talk to you again when I am free. ”

"Okay, I'll ask for advice later." Gong Dingxin and Li Gong are familiar with informality, and after making fun of him, he plans to get down to business. As for the other party's statement that the situation has changed, he didn't pay attention to it.

After all, the identity is too far away!

He is a dignified minister, the minister of the country, from the age of twelve or thirteen can write eight shares, the name of the township, and then the jinshi and the first, for the county official, the court elected as the matter, but also joined the Fushe, become the cadre of Donglin and the Fushe!

With such a background, it is very easy to be promoted in Daming, especially since he has always been known for his rebuke and courage to speak out, he has impeached Zhou Yanru, Chen Yan, the current first assistant, and he also dared to speak out bluntly in the chapter, Chongzhen admires him very much, and his friends in the restoration society are even more famous for him in the government and the opposition...... Gong Dingxin is almost certain that he will not dare to ensure that he will enter the cabinet in the future, but he should be the governor of the ministry.

But I don't know why, the officials of the past two years just can't raise their energy, so they let go of the wreckage and entertain themselves with the concubine Gu Meishi. And the recent news has confirmed what Gong Dingxin has always thought: Daming is already in danger.

He looked at Li Gong, his expression was much more solemn, and he only said slowly: "Two days ago, the news came that Xi'an had fallen. ”

"So fast?"

Li Gong was shocked when he heard this, and his face also showed a look of disbelief.

He came back from the front, and of course he knew that hundreds of thousands of troops entered the pass, and it was inevitable that Xi'an would not be able to hold it. But Xi'an was rebuilt at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, tall and thick, covered with slurry bricks, the good students who repaired were neat and beautiful, the female wall, the horse, the moat, the horse face fort, all available, even if there were not many soldiers, but the heavy reward and selection of strong men, it was not surprising to guard for a few months, but this has fallen.

Calculating the time, that is, within two or three days after he left, he was in time for Li Zicheng to rush to the city of Xi'an.

"The army arrived on the same day, and the city was broken on the same day. There were no soldiers and no pay in the city, and the governor Feng Shikong asked the king of Qin to take the internal money to pay him, and the king of Qin deduced that there was no money and grain in the treasury, and only gave a chair in the Hongwu period...... Isn't that a big joke? The adjutant general Wang Yongnian was immediately annoyed, and agreed to sacrifice the city that day, and the army arrived in the morning, and spent the night in the city in the evening......"

Speaking of such a ridiculous thing, Gong Ding's expression was only faint, even Li Gong, and he only showed a wry smile.

King Fu's family is millions, unwilling to pay a penny to labor the army, Xiangwang's family is millions, and Zhang Xianzhong was given in vain, large and small relatives, no matter how poor they are, they have accumulated wealth for more than 200 years.

"As soon as Xi'an is lost, Li Chuang will definitely cross the Yellow River at the end of the year or the next year and attack Taiyuan, and at that time, the Jingshi will be in danger. That's probably why you're talking about the air in the air isn't right. ”

"I see, with this kind of news, about this year's New Year's sad."

"Isn't it?" Gong Dingxian said with a smile: "I'm afraid that there are already many people who are ready to leave Beijing temporarily, anyway, it won't be a big problem if they take a leave of absence for half a year or a year." ”

Only then did Li Gong realize that the obvious atmosphere he felt when he entered the city was wrong, and this was the case. In previous years, this will be the time when the tenants of Zhuangtou enter the city to pay the annual rent, and the squire merchants near the capital will also enter the city to buy New Year's goods, and buy new goods that cannot be bought in the countryside, as for the merchants who come from the south to the north, there are more, the camel team and the horse team are in and out, and the camel bell keeps beating the Desheng Gate to come in, passing through the streets and alleys, bringing the joy of many years ago to the people of the capital.

At this moment, there are not a few caravans entering the city, and neither have the Zhuangtou teams that came in through the front door...... It was still early, but when you look at the caravans that used to be all out of the city, you can see that it is different from the usual situation.

In addition, looking at the countless displaced people in the past, shivering in the cold, as soon as a few heavy snowfalls passed, they had to carry hundreds of dead bodies outside the city...... Recalling the epidemic in the spring of this year, the entire Jingshi is like a ghost town, isn't it because there are too many displaced people, plus those stinky garbage in the Jingshi Minggou?

Isn't this kind of situation a scene of the end times that needs not be said, and how can such a situation be pleasing to the eye......