In Miyun County, the sky is cloudy, thick black like the bottom of a pot, perhaps the first snow of the year is brewing in the rolling clouds.

Although it was the first month of the new year, the weather in the northern border court was colder than that in Beijing, and both soldiers and civilians were huddled at home simmering on hot kangs, and those poor people who had to go out for their livelihood wore thick cotton jackets, wore pine needle-woven robes, stepped on spikes, shrunk their necks, and walked hobbly on the road.

But in the cold wind, there are a few horsemen and horses galloping towards Miyun County, people are like tigers, horses are like dragons, the long knife on the waist is better than snow, and the shotgun behind is bright, and at a glance it is the new army under the command of Grandpa Qi of Jizhen.

When the pedestrians on the side of the road saw it, they were all speechless: Mother, the weather is still galloping, and the soldiers led by Grandpa Qi are not iron?

As everyone knows, the knight who is the leader of this group of people is not burly in ordinary figures, and the appearance covered by the hat is also very ordinary, wearing an old robe with a patched collar, wearing iron armor, and wearing an iron helmet, the whole person is like a man cast in steel, it is Qi Jiguang, the chief military officer of Zuo Dudu, Shaobao, and Jizhen!

The horses galloped, and the biting cold wind blew on his face like a knife, but Qi Jiguang didn't care, "The north and south galloped to report the national situation, Jiang Huabian and the moon smiled in his life, three hundred and sixty days a year, all of them were Hengge horses", the poems he made had already revealed the sincerity of his fists.

At this moment, he is worried, not because of the hard work and bitter cold of the border training, but because he is worried that he will not be able to "enjoy" even this hard work and bitter cold, and will lose the opportunity to serve the country loyally!

Yes, bribery and gifts, low-voiced kowtows, and compromises...... Qi Jiguang's actions were all to keep his power.

But what kind of power is this? The power to suffer in the frontier, the power to command an army to kill the enemy and serve the country, the power to lead the brothers to fight the enemy with their own blood and heads!

Two days ago, when he learned that the Daoist official of the Jingshi Branch had launched an attack on Yang Zhao, the governor of Jiliao, Qi Jiguang instinctively sensed that something was wrong, and when he received an order summoned by the minister of the Qincha in Jizhen, he was even more worried: Could this matter be related to what the deputy Qincha Qin Lin said to himself in the cheap shop a few days ago? Could this be another partisan struggle in the imperial court?

"Uncle, uncle", Qi Jin shouted repeatedly, lest his distracted uncle fall off the horse.

Qi Jiguang finally came back to his senses and nodded at his nephew with a wry smile.

Even if he fought bloody battles with the Japanese and fought hard with the little prince of the barbarian tribe, when did Qi Jiguang not talk and laugh freely? But yesterday I received an order from the Qin Mission, and learned that Qin Lin was the Deputy Qin Mission, thinking of the words I had said to him, almost overnight, the face of this handsome man became haggard, his eyes were bloodshot, and his lips were chapped and bloody.

Qi Jin couldn't help but shout: "Uncle, let's act right and stand upright, even if we say something to the person surnamed Qin, there is no lie!" The embezzlement of food and wages surnamed Yang, some people in the DPRK want to take advantage of this to make waves, what does it have to do with us? ”

"The opportunity of border defense is not in the frontier, but in the imperial court; is not in the civil and military affairs, but in the discussion and constraints," Qi Jiguang answered his nephew's question, quite absent-minded.

Thinking of what happened to Hu Zongxian, Liu Xian, and Yu Dayou, Qi Jiguang's mood was really bad.

"Hmph, this guy surnamed Qin pretends to be a good person in front of him and uses us behind his back!" Qi Jin said indignantly and shook the horsewhip fiercely.

He didn't understand why his uncle and his brothers worked hard for the imperial court to defend the borders, fight the Japanese and the Tartars, and were born and died.

In the midst of Qin Mission, Qin Lin's mood was not very good.

Xu Wenchang fought at night, and audited the food and salary sent by the Jiliao Governor's Mansion in and out of the account books, and with his old and spicy vision and rich experience, he failed to find any flaws in the accounts.

The old madman's eyes were red, his hair was scratched like a chicken nest, and his face was full of some kind of morbid excitement, and he suddenly slapped the table hard: "Lose your mother, Liu Liangfu is a second or five boys, and the truth is closed!" ”

Xu Wenchang can speak more than a dozen dialects across the country, so he is not in a hurry, and he scolds Liu Liangfu for making fake accounts in Cantonese.

Qin Lin laughed out loud and patted the old madman on the shoulder: "Mr. Xu, this is called chess when the opponent will meet a good material, but I am more optimistic about you!" ”

Xu Wenchang smiled proudly, the corners of his mouth were like convulsions, but fortunately, everyone had long been used to it, so they didn't think it was strange.

Lu Yuanzhi and Niu Dali walked in from the outside dejectedly, and the fat man complained one after another: "My Qin chief, whether it is the common people or the sergeants outside, when they hear that the two of us are outside, they all hide far away, and their mouths are so tightly closed!" ”

"There's nothing strange everywhere, it's just that I saw a smell of incense burning incense at the altar, hey, there are a lot of believers!" Niu Dali added.

The last time I saw the Wenxiangmen preaching at Chen Minghao's house, Qin Lin checked it when he went back, Wenxiangmen is an ordinary folk Taoist sect that the government allows to spread, and there is a clear gap between the teachings and the White Lotus Sect.

Qin Lin touched his chin and muttered, "It seems that there is no other clue at present, wait for Qi Jiguang to come, see if you can open a breakthrough from him." ”

"Difficult, difficult, difficult!"

Xu Wenchang said three difficult words in a row.

Qi Jiguang is sleek, long-sleeved and good at dancing, and he is cautious and cautious in officialdom, and he will make compromises at every turn, and it may not be easy for him to take the initiative to stand up and accuse Yang Zhao.

After another stick of incense, Zeng Xingwu sent someone to inform Qi Jiguang that he had been ordered to come to Qincha Xingyuan, and Yang Zhao also came, and met in the hall of the hotel.

"This Qi Shuai, there must be some estrangement in his heart!" Qin Lin scratched his scalp helplessly.

Qi Jiguang and he met in the Prime Minister's Mansion, and the two sides went to the cheap shop to drink and talk, and if they were impeached for such a big thing, they would usually send someone to Qin to find out the news in advance, Qi Jiguang didn't send someone to ask first, and the estrangement was very obvious.

However, who told Qin Lin to "betray" him first, and caused such a big turmoil, and Qi Dashuai is not stupid.

In the hall, Zeng Xingwu, the minister of the Qin Mission, sat in the middle, Qin Lin, the deputy Qin Mission, and Zhang Xiaoyang, the envoy of the Central Mission, sat on the left and right, and the military department led by Zeng Xingwu was a Fang Langzhong and a Guo director, and Xu Wenchang, the master of Qin Lin, sat at the bottom.

Yang Zhao, the governor of Jiliao, and Qi Jiguang, the chief military officer of Jizhen, walked in one after the other, followed by Zhao Shichen, Liu Liangfu and Qi Jin.

Yang Zhao gave a deep bow to the three Qincha, and the three of them also stood up and bowed back, and when it was Qi Jiguang's turn, the handsome man pushed the golden mountain and poured the jade pillar and bowed: "Mark the small Qi Jiguang, and knock to see the three Qincha masters!" ”

Received a salute from this anti-Japanese hero, Qin Lin was uncomfortable, but there was no way, during the Wanli period, the marshal of the border court saw the military department Shangshu and the squire is to bow down, not to mention that Zeng Xingwu is not only the squire of the military department, but also the minister of the Qincha?

Helpless, when he worshipped, Qin Lin gave Zhang Xiaoyang a look, Zhang Gonggong understood, and helped Qi Jiguang up with a smile on his face: "Our family has heard of Brother Qi's prestige in the palace, and he was called a majestic man when he fought the Japanese Kou, he is really a member of my Ming Dynasty!" ”

Qi Jiguang's heart suddenly changed: It turned out that Father-in-law Zhang was also from Qin Lin's gang, but I don't know what kind of heart they had when they came?

Qin Lin was pretentious, just to reassure Qi Jiguang, but he didn't expect that this handsome eunuch had been up and down for decades, and he had already been afraid of the party struggle between the courts, and the vigilance was extremely heavy, and it was not something that could be resolved by lifting Zhang Xiaoyang out of the horse at all.

There is no way, waiting for the guests and hosts to sit down, Qin Lin didn't speak first, and waited for Zhengqin to send Zeng Xingwu to speak.

Zeng Xingwu held a bowl of tea and said unhurriedly: "Qi Shuai, there are some officials in the court, who somehow impeached Governor Yang for deducting the food and salary of the soldiers of the border court to fill his own pockets, Ben Qin did not know about it in Beijing, as the commander of the border court, do you know the truth?" Report it truthfully, don't hide it! ”

Yang Zhao smiled on his face, and didn't care at all, the master Zhao Shichen and Liu Liangfu he brought were talking and laughing with Fang Langzhong and Guo, who were under Zeng Shengwu, and the two sides seemed extremely familiar, and they were not moved by Zeng Shengwu's words at all.

When Qi Jiguang heard this, he stood up suddenly, and hugged his fists upwards with a solemn expression: "If you go back to Qincha, there will be no such thing!" Qi trained troops in the frontier, thanks to Governor Yang's allocation of food and salary, the purchase of armaments, and the supply of horses, all relying on his old man's command and strategy, our officers and generals can fight and win a decisive battle with the enemy, and now some people rashly accuse Governor Yang of destroying the Great Wall of our Ming Dynasty, which really makes us and other border court soldiers feel sad! ”

After speaking, Qi Jiguang made a look of indignation, as if he was about to fight for Yang Zhao.

Yang Zhao had already made up his mind, and nodded with satisfaction at this time, Qi Jiguang's reaction had long been expected by him.

Zeng Xingwu nodded, smiled at Yang Zhao and said, "It seems that Governor Yang is diligent in royal affairs and does his best in the border court, which can be described as a deep expectation!" ”

Yang Zhao smiled more and more determinedly, the minister of the Qin mission made it clear that the Jiangling party was sent to cooperate with him to do a scene, what else is there to worry about? As for Qin Lin, hmph, I'm afraid he's going to get out soon...... Qi Jiguang's heart sank suddenly, he was nine points afraid of the arrival of the minister, but he also had one point of hope: what if it was really to find out Yang Zhao's corruption crimes and make the border soldiers raise their eyebrows?

But Zeng Xingwu's attitude was simply clear, Qi Jiguang's only hope was suddenly shattered, and his heart was bitter, fortunately he didn't tell the truth rashly just now, otherwise he would fall out with Governor Yang, Zeng Shilang and even Zhang Juzheng, the first auxiliary emperor, and he, the great hero of the anti-Japanese army, would probably follow in the footsteps of Hu Zongxian...... Qin Lin had no choice but to try to provoke: "Qi Shuai, you are at the border gate, have you heard any rumors?" Grandpa Zhang, when you left the palace, what did Grandpa Feng say? ”

Yes? Zhang Xiaoyang was stunned, and then said: "Gonggong Feng said, we must find out the facts of the case, consolidate the border defense, and ensure the safety of our Ming Jinggi." ”

Qin Lin gestured to Qi Jiguang.

Hum! Yang Zhao's face was gloomy, and he said in his heart, Qin someone, how long can you bounce? Count the time, the emperor's first assistant's decree will be sent from the Beijing Division!

(To be continued)