(PS: Dragon Boat Festival, I wish friends a happy Dragon Boat Festival, go home for the holiday, please forgive me for the less words.) The spring is cold, the falling snowflakes dye the brilliant Forbidden City into a silver white, the eaves are hung with icicles, one by one as sharp as a sword, the sky is gray, and it is gloomy like Suo Etu's mood at the moment.

Suo Etu, who had just turned forty, had already turned half of his braids under the zombie hat, walking on the road in the palace full of snowflakes with thick official documents, his steps and some staggering that could not be concealed by anything, the expression on his face was colder than the biting north wind, and his already somewhat cloudy eyes were full of confusion, dazed like a dying patient, like a walking corpse.

Entering the Cining Gate and coming to the front of the Cining Palace, Suo Etu saw a snowman piled up under the steps in a trance, and when he looked closely, he found that the bottom of the steps of Cining Palace was not a snowman, but a real person, but this person didn't know how much time he knelt in the wind and snow, and his whole body was covered with snowflakes and he didn't move, so he made Suo Etu have an illusion. Approaching again to take a closer look at the person's appearance, Suo Etu couldn't help but be shocked again, and exclaimed: "Yu Chenglong Yu, when did you enter Beijing?" ”

Kneeling outside the Cining Palace is Yu Jackie Chan, but it is not that he went south to Yunnan to assist Wang Xu in dealing with the dispute between Lu and Li, which is smaller than Jackie Chan, but is greater than Jackie Chan who was blown into the sky by the mites, and in the twelfth year of Kang Mazi, Lu Fatzi personally led the Wuchang Wu army to break through the defense line of the Yangtze River in the Qing Dynasty, and entered the Huangzhou Mansion, assisting Cai Yurong to guard the Yangtze River defense line, Yu Chenglong once planned to hang himself and commit suicide, but was found and rescued by the entourage in time. However, Kang Mazi naturally refused to kill Yu Chenglong, the flagpole of the Qing Han official, and punished Yu Cheng for a year and gave Yu Chenglong the official position of a political envoy in Shandong, and in less than a year, Yu Chenglong was transferred back to Zhili, and he was crowned the governor of Zhili, and Yu Chenglong has also been in the post of governor of Zhili until now.

Hearing Suo Etu's inquiry, Yu Chenglong, who was almost frozen all over, finally moved, and only replied in a hoarse voice after a while: "Back to Suo Zhongtang, the next official is Yanjing who returned from Baoding last night, and entered the palace to see His Majesty at the behest of the Empress Dowager." ”

"Then why haven't you entered Cining Palace yet? Still kneeling here? Seeing that Yu Chenglong, who was over sixty years old, was frozen so that his beard and eyebrows were covered with ice chips, Suo Etu couldn't help but be furious, and turned to the eunuch in front of the palace gate and shouted angrily: "What are you dog slaves doing to eat?" Do you know who this place is? How dare he kneel here for so long? Is it because Lord Yu didn't give you a doorman, and you deliberately didn't report him, right? ”

Several little eunuchs hurriedly knelt down, and Yu Chenglong took the initiative to explain: "Master Suo, you misunderstood, don't blame them, it's the lower officials themselves who are willing to kneel here." The lower officials just asked the little fathers-in-law to report, and the little father-in-law said that the empress dowager and her old man didn't sleep all night yesterday, and it was hard to fall asleep at dawn, and the lower officials were afraid of disturbing the rest of the ancestors, so they asked the little fathers-in-law not to report for the time being, and knelt here and waited. ”

Suddenly realized, Suo Etu was inevitably a little moved-just the current ghost appearance of the Qing court, there are really fewer and fewer loyal ministers like Yu Chengchan. At that moment, Suo Etu hurriedly picked up Yu Jackie Chan, and asked the little eunuch to go in to report while patting the snow for him, and after a while, Xiaozhuang's personal eunuch Li Yinzheng ran out quickly, ran to Yu Chengchan without saying a word, first pumped his two mouths, and forced several little eunuchs to kowtow and accuse, Yu Chenglong of course said that it didn't matter, Li Yinzheng joined forces with Suo Etu again, and together put Yu Chenglong into Cining Palace.

Entering Cining Palace, Yu Chenglong and Suo Etu soon saw the old witch of Xiaozhuang who had just gotten up from the bed, Suo Etu didn't feel much when he met the old witch of Xiaozhuang every day, but Yu Chenglong, who rarely entered Beijing in Baoding, was surprised, and he hadn't seen him for three or four months, the old witch of Xiaozhuang was like ten years old, and the original gray temples could hardly find a single white hair, and the wrinkles on his face were obviously much more, knock to see the ancestor of the Empress Dowager. ”

"Lord Yu is exempt, please get up quickly." Xiaozhuang waved his hand and commanded: "Little Lizi, quickly pick up Lord Yu and bring him to the charcoal stove to watch and sit." ”

Yu Chenglong thanked him, Li quoted evidence and acted according to the order, and put Yu Chenglong to the copper furnace with a vigorous charcoal fire and sat down, and the old witch of Xiaozhuang said apologetically: "Don't blame Lord Yu, the mourning family thought about the matter all night last night, and fell asleep at dawn, and I don't want to forget the big event that summoned you." ”

"Wechen doesn't dare." Yu Chenglong choked up, "It's the Queen Mother, you can't work so hard, Wechen hasn't seen you for four months, and you have almost lost weight again, and Wechen is a little afraid to admit it." ”

"The mourning family knows, so do you, take care." The old witch of Xiaozhuang, who obviously had dark circles on her cloudy old eyes, smiled reluctantly, and changed the topic again: "Yu Aiqing, you warm up your body first, and then talk about summoning you later, Xiao Lizi, bring a bowl of ginseng soup to Lord Yu." ”

Li Yinzheng agreed, and quickly ordered the little eunuch to serve ginseng soup, and the old witch of Xiaozhuang turned to Suo Etu and said: "Master Suo, enter the palace so early to see you, what is the important thing to report?" Is it Lu Yifeng's rebellion against the thieves' Northern Expedition, where did he go? ”

Suo Etu hesitated, and immediately answered, but the old witch of Xiaozhuang sighed and said: "Say it, the sky can't fall, no matter what kind of bad news, just say it." ”

"Cover." Suo Etu agreed, and said cautiously: "I just received the excerpt, Henan Governor Tong Fengcai 600 miles urgently: On the eleventh day of the first month of the first year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, the puppet generals Han Daren and Gao Dejie under the command of Lu Yifeng, the puppet king of Zhou and Puppet Yue, fought with Tong Guogang, the general of Anbei in the Qing Dynasty, in Henan Guide, the Qing army was wiped out, and only less than 1,500 people fled back to Kaifeng Mansion, Tong Guogang and Fei Yanggu all sacrificed their lives for the country. Tong Fengcai closed the city and defended it, and asked the imperial court to send reinforcements quickly. ”

"Bang, bang" twice, the teacup in the hand of the old witch of Xiaozhuang and the soup bowl in Yu Chengchan's hand fell to the ground one after another, and they were smashed together, and then Yu Chengchan quickly knelt down to ask for guilt, but the old witch of Xiaozhuang seemed to be unheard, staring at the fold in Suo Etu's hand for a long time, Suo Etu also lowered his head, and he didn't even dare to take a mouthful of the atmosphere, and the slight popping sound of the coals burning in the Cining Palace was so quiet that he could hear it.

After a long time, Xiaozhuang finally spoke and said slowly: "Little Lizi, pick up Lord Yu and serve a bowl of ginseng soup again." ”

"Empress Dowager Xie, Ancestor." Yu Chenglong kowtowed like rain in tears, choked up and said: "Ancestor, let's discuss the matter of sending reinforcements to Tong Zhongcheng first, Weichen has recruited and formed more than 3,000 township brave volunteers in Baoding Mansion, which can be dispatched by the ancestors." ”

"No need." The old witch of Xiaozhuang smiled reluctantly, and said lightly: "You organize those volunteers, or stay in the territory of Zhili to guard the place, didn't your excerpt a few days ago say that in Xiongxian and Bazhou, there are Diao people to encourage the people to make rebellion?" It is close to Jingshi, and it must be pacified as soon as possible, otherwise it will easily cause turmoil. ”

"Wechen obeys the order, please rest assured that the Empress Dowager has returned to Baoding and has been personally leading the army to pacify these bandits." Yu Chenglong kowtowed and agreed, and asked carefully: "The rebel soldiers committed Kaifeng Town, how does the Empress Dowager's ancestors plan to deal with it?" ”

The old witch of Xiaozhuang smiled bitterly, Suo Etu smiled even more bitterly, and said together how to deal with it? What else can we do with it? Now that the treasury, inner treasury and treasury of the Qing Dynasty are empty, and the main army is dead, what else do we use to reinforce Kaifeng Mansion?

After smiling bitterly, the old witch of Xiaozhuang barely cheered up, and said to Yu Chengchan in a calm tone: "The matter of reinforcing Kaifeng Mansion, the mourning family has its own opinions, and it will be decided after discussing with the household department and the military department." Let's talk about summoning you, the mourning family summoned you to Beijing this time, which is also related to the current situation, there is one thing, the mourning family must explain to you in person. ”

"Please ask the Empress Dowager to instruct Weichen to go to the soup and fight the fire, at any cost." Yu Chengchan replied respectfully.

"The mourning family doesn't want you to go to the soup, the mourning family is just ......." The old witch of Xiaozhuang hesitated for a moment, but finally made up her mind, and said in a surprising voice: "The mourning family just wants to borrow some silver and food from you." ”

"The Empress Dowager borrowed money and grain from Weichen?" Yu Chenglong suspected that he had misheard.

"Not bad." Xiaozhuang nodded, and said with a serious expression: "Lu Yifeng rebelled against the thieves and went north on two roads, and the soldiers had entered Shandong and Henan, and the imperial court urgently needed troops to quell the rebellion, but the situation of the Qing army, you have also seen it with your own eyes, Zhili, Shandong, Shanxi and Liaodong have no soldiers to send, and the Gyeonggi region, including Fengtai, Miyun and Shanpu Camp, has only 10,000 troops in total, and nearly half of them were urgently recruited from the banners after the death of the emperor. If you want to recruit a new army to resist Lu Yifeng's traitors, the mourning family can only borrow money and food from you. ”

"But Weichen doesn't." Yu Chenglong almost didn't cry, and said tremblingly: "The Empress Dowager borrowed money and grain from Wechen, and Wechen gave it with both hands, but all of Wechen's family property together, I'm afraid I can't make up fifty taels of silver, which is really a drop in the bucket." ”

"The mourners know you don't." The old witch of Xiaozhuang sighed and said: "But the mourning family knows that although you don't have it in your hand, you have a way to get this life-saving money and food for the mourning family, so the mourning family can only open up to you." ”

"Can Weichen get this money and food for the Empress Dowager?" Yu Chenglong was stunned, and said suspiciously: "Where is Weichen going to get it?" How to do it? ”

"You can." The old witch of Xiaozhuang stared at Jackie Chan and said slowly: "In the fourteenth year of Kangxi, the year of Zhili is not too good, but it is not too bad, not long after the autumn harvest, some people and gentry should still have some grain in their hands, and the mourning family wants to ask you to come forward and borrow 500,000 stone grain for the mourning family." Also, the mourning family has secretly ordered the internal affairs government to rush to print six million taels of silver military coins, and when you go back, take them to Baoding, and within a month and a half, exchange them for cash for the mourning family. ”

After the old witch of Xiaozhuang finished speaking, don't say that Yu Chengchan was dumbfounded, even Suo Etu was stunned, saying that he didn't expect that the old witch of Xiaozhuang would have to lend money to the people when the previous debts were not paid, and even have to send more grain to the people.

"Yu Aiqing, the mourning family knows that it is difficult for you, but it is even more difficult for the mourning family." The voice of the old witch of Xiaozhuang was also choked, "The first emperor unfortunately died, leaving only half of the stormy country to the mourning family, a great-grandson who has just turned four years old, and a lot of messes and a bunch of debts, Lu Yifeng's dog thieves came to take advantage of the fire to rob again, and the mourning family really doesn't know what to do?" ”

Choked up here, the old witch of Xiaozhuang cried directly, and said with a sob: "The mourning family also knows that although you are very popular in the local area, the debts owed by the emperor have not been repaid, and the mourning family forces you to borrow money and food from the people, which is very embarrassing for you." However, if the mourning family doesn't do this, it's no longer possible, Lu Yifeng's dog thieves have already entered Shandong, and the Tong Guogang reinforcements transferred back from Tongguan have been wiped out in Guide, Kaifeng is in an emergency, and the mourning family can't even send a single reinforcement, if the mourning family doesn't want to get a sum of money and food, organize a new army to resist Lu Yifeng's dog thief's Northern Expedition army, and the Jiangshan Sheji of the Qing Dynasty will end here. ”

The old witch of Xiaozhuang cried, Yu Chenglong also cried, Suo Etu also wiped her tears for fun, and there was a sad voice in Cining Palace, and the old witch of Xiaozhuang sobbed and said: "Yu Aiqing, do you know? In fact, as early as the end of October last year, when the autumn harvest ended, some courtiers played, asking the mourning family to give you an order, so that you can increase taxes and grain on the people of Zhili, and use the money and grain collected to form a new army, but the mourning family refused, the mourning family knew that you were difficult, and knew that with your love for the people like a son, and incorruptibility like water, you must not bear to burden the people again, and the mourning family could not bear to ....... ”

"But now, the mourning family has no choice." The old witch of Xiaozhuang sobbed and changed her words, "Yu Aiqing, do you know that the safety of the society in the Qing Dynasty is actually tied to you alone, Zhili is so poor, there is so little money and food, no matter who the mourning family sends, no matter how they kowtow and beg, they can't draw money and food." Only Yu Aiqing ......, only Yu Aiqing can do it, what you say to the people, the people can believe it, you borrow money and food from the people, the people can lend it to you, and other people, even if the mourning family goes in person, what you say will not be useful to you. ”

Yu Chengchan cried even more, but the old witch of Xiaozhuang suddenly got up, walked in front of Yu Chengchan, choked up and made a gesture to kneel, and cried: "Yu Aiqing, only you can save the Qing Dynasty, Yu Aiqing, mourning family, for the ancestors of the Qing Dynasty, please ......." ”

Crying, the old witch of Xiaozhuang really knelt down on Yu Jackie Chan's knees, scared that Yu Jackie Chan was gone, and quickly kowtowed wildly, crying and said: "The Queen Mother, you must not kill Weichen!" Wechen do our best, Wechen try our best to do it! Empress Dowager, Wechen begs you to hurry up, Wechen will do his best. ”

"Yu Aiqing, the mourning family doesn't want you to do your best, but you must do it." The old witch of Xiaozhuang cried and said: "Caoyun has been broken for two years, Jingcang bottomed out in August last year, and the garrisons of Fengtai, Miyun and Rehe have not been paid for three months, if you can't do it, you don't need Lu Yifeng to do it, we will collapse in the Qing Dynasty!" ”

"Wechen will do it with all his might, Wechen will definitely do it!" Yu Chenglong turned his heart sideways, kowtowed and cried and said: "Please rest assured, the ancestor of the Empress Dowager, within a month and a half, no matter how Wei Chen thinks of it, he will definitely exchange six million taels of military coins for cash, and also send 500,000 stone military rations to Beijing for use!" ”

"Yu Aiqing, it's hard for you!" The old witch of Xiaozhuang cried, picked up Yu Chenglong, who had already knocked blood out of his forehead, and cried opposite Yu Chenglong............ Crying and tossing for nearly an hour, accepting the mission of requisition of food and wages, Yu Chenglong finally wiped his tears and kowtowed to kneel, and went to the Internal Affairs Office under the guidance of Li Yinzheng to receive the military coins printed by the old witch of Xiaozhuang. As soon as Yu Chengchan left on the front foot, Suo Etu, who had been silent before, immediately spoke, and asked the old witch of Xiaozhuang very nervously: "Ancestor, the military coins we owed before have not been repaid, and asked Yu Chenglong to issue six million taels of silver military coins, is it too exhaustive?" Zhili is not as good as Jiangnan, and is often plagued by food shortages, even if it is a so-called large gentry, it is not as good as a medium gentry in Jiangnan. ”

The old witch of Xiaozhuang didn't answer, slowly wiped the tears on her face, and said slowly after a while: "In addition to fishing with all his might, the mourning family has no choice, with Jackie Chan's official reputation and ability, the mourning family asked him for money and food, he can get at least six or seven percent." ”

"But even so, even if Jackie Chan gets this money and food for the imperial court." Suo Etu was even more puzzled and asked, "But can the new army we temporarily formed stop Lu Yifeng's Northern Expedition army?" ”

"Who said that the mourning family is going to use this money and grain to form a new army?" The old witch of Xiaozhuang glanced at Suo Etu, and said coldly: "Yue Le said before the southern expedition that the new army, which has not undergone strict training and actual combat training, meets the team of Lu Yifeng's dog thieves who have been battled and armed to the teeth, and they are a group of lambs to be slaughtered. ”

Suo Etu opened his mouth wide, and asked in surprise for a while: "Ancestor, since this is the case, then you asked Yu Chenglong to prepare this money and food, and what did you use it for?" ”

"Outside the border is a wild land, vast and sparsely populated." The old witch of Xiaozhuang said lightly: "The Eight Banners of the Great Qing Dynasty have withdrawn outside the customs and are now going to reclaim wasteland to plant crops, how can it be in time?" If the mourning family does not prepare a sufficient amount of money and food for the Guanwai, what will the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty eat and use outside the Guan? ”

"Old Ancestor, do you plan to lead the Eight Banners of the Great Qing Dynasty to withdraw outside the Guanwai?" Suo Etu was so shocked that his voice trembled.

"There's only one way to go." The old witch of Xiaozhuang said lightly: "The Wu dog civil war has started, Geng Jingzhong was defeated by Lu Yifeng's dog thieves and retreated, and he was about to lose Zhejiang in a blink of an eye, with Lu Yifeng's dog thief's extermination, at this time he will definitely not get involved in the Wu dog civil war, but will only attack our Qing court first, drive us out of the pass, get enough manpower in the north, and wait for the Wu dog civil war to lose both, and then go out to pick up the cheap and clean up the mess, and at the same time do not give us the opportunity to watch the fire from the other side." If the mourning family does not prepare to withdraw to the customs in advance, it will be too late to prepare when Lu Yifeng's dog thieves have a full-scale northern expedition. ”

"The ancestors are far-sighted, and the slaves admire it." Suo Etu hurriedly flattered, and asked cautiously: "But Ancestor, judging from the strength of Wu Gou's Northern Expedition, it seems that the possible surname of directly hitting Yanjing City is not big, and at this time it is too early to start preparing to withdraw to Guanwai?" ”

"It's coming, it's coming." The old witch of Xiaozhuang said coldly: "The reason why Lu Yifeng's dog thief did not immediately launch the Northern Expedition is because Geng Jingzhong is still in Zhejiang, and because the autumn harvest has just ended in the north, and the people still have some food in their hands, and the time for his Northern Expedition is not yet ripe. When Geng Jingzhong succumbs, and when the north is green and yellow and starving all over the wilderness, the main force of Lu Yifeng's dog thieves can rest assured that they will go north. ”

Speaking of this, the old witch of Xiaozhuang paused, and the wrinkled old face showed a trace of extremely vicious smile, and muttered: "The mourning family let Yu Chenglong come forward to fish with all his might, which is also a way to deal with Lu Yifeng's dog thief's northern expedition, Lu Yifeng's dog thief hit Yanjing, and he will find that Yanjing is completely an empty city, and the money and food are all supported by Cao Yun, in order to buy the hearts of the people, he will inevitably have to invest a lot of money and grain in the starving Shandong Province." When he solves these problems, we will be able to stand firm outside the customs. ”

"Old Ancestor, do you want to use money and food logistics to drag Lu Yifeng's dog thief back, so that he can't immediately chase and kill outside the gate?" Suo Etu finally understood the intentions of the old witch of Xiaozhuang.

The old witch of Xiaozhuang nodded slowly, and said in a yin voice: "From now on, we will start to implement the reservation plan to withdraw from the Guanwai, first secretly transport the treasures in the Forbidden City to Shengjing, and then formulate a plan for Shanxi Governor Mursai to collect grain and silver, as much as possible to scrape Shanxi, send all the money and grain to Shengjing, and throw the mess to Lu Yifeng dog thief!" ”

(To be continued)