In August, the autumn is high and cool, the sun shines through the morning light, shining on the vermilion wall and blue tiles of the Forbidden City, the golden light is shining, more and more magnificent, the scenery is magnificent and magnificent, just like the fairyland on earth. 【】

In it, there is a gentle morning breeze, which brings a burst of coolness, which is refreshing and refreshing.

However, in the square in front of the Taihe Palace, the courtiers waiting for the court were not in a good mood, and they all had deep eyebrows and sad faces. Even if there are a few vigorous ones, their seemingly determined expressions will reveal a trace of confusion from time to time.

Of course, it's more anxiety.

In the second year of Zhengde, there was only one person who could make the Manchu Dynasty officials so worried, and that was the champion Hou of Liaodong.

It has been nearly a month since I received the news from Liaodong Flying Pigeon, and the excitement of hearing the good news has passed, replaced by worry.

Because since that day, there has been no news in Liaodong, and there are some rumors in private, but no matter which side, no official document has been issued, as if everything is as usual in Liaodong and nothing has happened.

If it weren't for the fact that the messenger sent by the Governor also arrived in the capital within a few days after the pigeon passed the book, the courtiers would really wonder if the book was real or if there was some trap in it.

However, there is no flaw in the letter and the messenger's retelling, Liaodong is facing a once-in-a-century natural disaster, which is also undoubted, and then Liaodong's situation seems to be logical, and the courtiers are waiting for Chen Shiliang's good news and Xie Hong's cry...... But here, there is no follow-up, how can people not be depressed?

This feeling is similar to reading a serialized novel and meeting the author, and the depression it brings can be imagined. What's more, the former is much more serious than the latter, and the novel will only make readers unhappy, but the strange situation in front of them is chilling.

There is a conspiracy? Or is it an accident? Or is it something else? As time passed, the suspicion became thicker, lingering in the hearts of everyone, making people suffer a lot.

Of course, if there is no news to send, then collect it yourself, just no news is not a problem, but the remoteness of Liaodong will not be transferred because of people's will, even if it is a fast horse, it will take nearly ten days on the road, and the back and forth is nearly a month, and it is really unaffordable.

The first messenger sent was half a month ago, even if there was no accident, it was unlikely that he would rush back, not to mention, looking at the current strange situation, the possibility of the messenger having an accident was also quite high.

In addition to the messengers, they also sent a supervising imperial history to Shanhaiguan, the purpose of which was mainly to seal the customs when necessary, this kind of major event could not rely on martial arts, in addition, this imperial history also shouldered the responsibility of exploring the situation in Liaodong.

The early departure of the imperial history, the early also came back some news, and confirmed that the disaster in western Liaoxi, it was indeed a catastrophe, even if you don't look at the scene in the field, you know, because from the customs to Qiantun within dozens of miles, there is even no one to live.

The victims obviously fled the famine, and the direction of the escape was still in the hinterland of Liaodong, which was a good thing, but before getting the exact news, the courtiers were still very uneasy, because the opponent was the demon.

And the further news only arrived a few days ago, that imperial history is also a brave person, knowing the important surname of intelligence, so, he spent a lot of money to recruit a few warriors, went deeper into Liaoxi, and collected some information.

Although it is an escape from the famine, it is not so complete after all, and when it comes to the area of Quang Ninh, there are still some people, so these warriors were able to complete the task, but the information they brought was even more strange, whether it was the imperial history or the minister of the court, after receiving the letter, they were a little confused.

Just five or six days after the hailstorm in western Liaoning, smoke suddenly erupted all over eastern Liaoning, which was clearly visible hundreds of miles away, isn't this weird?

"Common sense ......"

Zhang Sheng's frowning is the tightest, retirement is imminent, his biggest hope is to be able to add icing on the cake on his resume, leaving a clear name in the world, not only for the name of history, but also for the shadow of the descendants, but he prefers to do a lot of things, the most important news has not been delayed, which really makes the old man haggard.

"Zhang Gong, what other common sense, as long as you have something to do with that annihilator, every time things get weird, it's really ...... The next hailstorm, how did it turn into a beacon fire everywhere? ”

Yan Zhongyu was also very worried, the beacon fire is a warning signal, according to the law in the army, when he sees the beacon fire, he should send reinforcements, but the current situation is unclear, how can he act rashly? What if it's Xie Hong's trick again?

Besides, the news of Shanhaiguan is not very detailed, after those spies heard the news, they immediately returned, and when the superintendent summoned people again, there was no one to recruit, and I don't know what they were afraid of?

That's right, according to common sense, it is likely that the victims are rioting, so all the guards set off beacon smoke to warn, but this time is not right. Although Liaodong is a border town, the people who live there are the Chinese people after all, who have always been known for their diligence and patience.

There must be no food and clothing, starvation everywhere, and the relief of the imperial court has been delayed, so that some people will take risks, before this, even if there is trouble, it can only be an individual phenomenon, how can it provoke Liaodong to be on fire everywhere?

Therefore, this information is of no use, not only does not solve the problem, but only deepens the original doubt.

Alas! The military situation is unknown, the disaster situation is unknown, everything is unknown, and the other side is looking like a good time, how can he not worry?

"It's just that Liaodong is weird, and the capital is also weird, which makes people wonder through, this is really ...... Alas! ”

Yan Zhongyu's words expressed everyone's hearts, with everyone's city, just Liaodong is a little weird, but it will not make them unable to hold their breath, and they still have the patience to wait and see. can see the response of the capital's side, and they can't help but be suspicious.

Since the day of the last court meeting, the people of the capital have been like crazy, and the Xiangnan Town Fusi who are carrying them on their shoulders have flocked to the town, carrying all the grain!

You know, it was their own rations, and even if they sent a tax collector to collect it with a whip, they would not hand it over easily. At this moment, the energy of these humble and extremely small people burst out, so that the high-ranking scholars and doctors had to look sideways.

At the beginning, it was limited to the capital, but in the back, around Gyeonggi, there were even people who rushed from places like Xuanfu and Hejian Mansion all the way over, in order to donate their own rations to Liaodong and the emperor, isn't this crazy?

Although the commander of Nanzhen Fu is secretive, there is no way to spy and there is no way to get detailed figures, but based on the observations of various spies, since these days, Nanzhen Fusi has not obtained 500,000 grains, but also 300,000 stones!

This number really surprised the scholars, but what surprised them even more was yet to come.

"Righteous people? Hum! Hong Zhong snorted coldly and said mockingly:

"Tang Yin and that annihilation are in the same vein, their thoughts are so weird, people can't figure it out, this official thought that they would take this opportunity to continue to buy people's hearts and throw money around? Isn't that their usual style? But who would have thought that such a wooden sign would be issued, what is this? Do you know that next year's spending is tight and save money in advance? ”

Jiangnan's reply had arrived, and the letter detailed the countermeasures that everyone had discussed, and the tough attitude was quite tempered by him, so the anxiety in his heart was not so strong, so he was also one of the few people who still had the leisure to make mockery.

"It's hard to say, if the use is tight, the emperor shouldn't let out the news to expand the guards, now not only the children of military families, but even many generals and even nobles are moved by the wind. If the emperor does not take back his fate, this expansion alone, I am afraid that tens of thousands of people will apply, and maybe even more, this is the biggest expense! ”

Yang Tinghe shook his head, and it was difficult to hide the worry on his face, raising soldiers, especially raising soldiers like Zhengde, the cost is huge. The silver coins spent on the more than 3,000 guards alone were enough to supply ten times as many troops as they did on the frontier army.

If you maintain this model and expand the scale by ten times or more, what kind of huge consumption will it be? Just thinking about it, Yang Tinghe's eyes were already dark.

"Jiefu is right, in addition to the Guards, the Ivy Academy is also expanding in size, the original Royal Park is no longer enough, and now the people of Jumbo Zhai are asking around, trying to buy all the surrounding buildings for expansion, where is there a little bit of cost savings?"

Xu Jin agreed with Yang Tinghe's opinion, and Zhenbao Zhai inquired in advance, showing that in addition to a strong pro-people tendency, it is unlikely to sell and buy.

But the land in the capital is expensive, and the location of the royal park is a prosperous area in the inner city, not much, as long as the scale is doubled, three or four million taels of silver may not be able to stop, and look at the scale and scope of the investigation of Zhenbao Zhai, I am afraid it is more than that...... Moreover, after the demolition, it will be built, and the silver required for this is probably an astronomical amount, compared with these consumptions, even if the price of grain is high, the grain payment of hundreds of thousands of stones is only a drop in the bucket, is it necessary to save expenses?

"Then where did the annihilator get so much money? Could it be true, as he said, is there really a sea of gold and silver overseas? Otherwise, where did he get this confidence? ”

When Yang and Xu said this, everyone was amazed, but they also had questions, and their questioning eyes swept around those colleagues from Jiangnan.

Silver will not be born out of thin air, even if there is no natural disaster, but no matter how Liaodong is developed, it is impossible to have this effect, then the answer is obvious, Xie Hong's eight achievements are sea trade.

Although they know that the sea trade is profitable, but the sea can be banned for a hundred years, most mainland officials do not know much about the specific situation, and many people think that the profits of the sea trade are similar to the border trade, and the profits are also great.

What's more, Jiangnan is already rich, even if there is no sea trade, it is also a prosperous place of the Ming Dynasty, and no one has studied too deeply.

When Xie Hong preached the benefits of sea trade before, they were also dismissive, there is a mountain of gold? Then why haven't I seen Zheng He or anyone else move back? It's just that the annihilator is demagogic and uses it to build momentum.

But now that I look at it, it's terrible, just the cost of the Huangzhuang next year is probably more than 10 million taels. Xie Hong's cunning is well known to everyone, and when he is embattled, he doesn't have enough confidence, he dares to play like this?

Whoever believes me, I don't believe it!

(To be continued)