"Qingyang, this city wall is much more magnificent than Nanjing City, and it deserves to be the capital."

Yang Tingshu looked at the city wall and was very emotional, but Zheng Xunrui, who was beside him, didn't react much.

It is already the fifteenth day of the first month of the fourth year of Chongzhen.

Time passed quickly, when the moon was over, Zheng Xunrui went to Suzhou again, this time it was a day to stay, and he ate a lunch in Wenfu and left, without staying, now that I think about it, the only impression is that I saw Wen Zhenmeng's wife Qi, Qi's face has always been smiling, and it looks very kind.

Zheng Xunrui still didn't see Wen Manshan, the future lady.

Yang Tingshu arrived in Nanjing on the second day of the first lunar month, which made Zheng Xunrui wonder if Yang Tingshu was also running on the road in the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, and the two of them set off from Nanjing City on the fourth day of the first lunar month and went to the capital.

Yang Tingshu's side is still Yang Zhong followed, Zheng Xunrui's side is Zheng Jinhong, Hong Xintao, Hong Xingui and Hong Xinyu four people followed, such an entourage posture, is already very pompous, Zheng Xunrui has really seen Hong Xintao and others' skills, when training in the nursing home, more than a dozen people are difficult to approach with their bare hands, from the level of kung fu, Hong Xintao and other three brothers can be described as real masters, and after a year of training, their gestures are all out of a kind of momentum.

Returning to the purity is really the highest level of kung fu, that is to say, a person looks babbling, as if he is very brave, big and muscular, such a person is not the most powerful, the real master is to look very calm, almost nothing abnormal, the moment of the outbreak is like a tiger descending the mountain, instantly subduing the opponent, this is the real master.

Hong Xintao and the others showed this kind of momentum, and with the discipline of soldiers, it can be said that they are the most qualified soldiers, with three people guarding them, and there is no need to worry about safety.

Starting on the fourth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first month arrived in the capital, thirteen days, this speed is not very fast.

The group set off from Nanjing, passed through Chuzhou, Fengyang and Xuzhou, entered Henan, and then entered Beizhili via Shandong.

This is also the route chosen by all Nanzhili people.

Zheng Xunrui has not been in a hurry, Nanjing to Beijing is a full 2,400 miles, it takes about ten days to whip up the horse, and it is necessary to ensure that the weather is good, and in case of heavy rain or heavy snow, it will definitely delay time.

The first month is the coldest season, to Zheng Xunrui's feeling, that is, the climate is very cold now, the cold is a little unbearable, he is wearing a mink cotton coat, a thick cotton robe outside, when riding a horse is still cold, the closer to the north, the drier and colder the climate.

The situation he saw along the way made Zheng Xunrui's heart chill.

Leave Nanzhili, after entering Henan, the prosperous situation completely disappears, although it is the Spring Festival, but the people seen along the way, the situation of not covering the body is very common, the cold winter, can actually see the children who do not wear shoes, Shandong is a relatively wealthy place in the Ming Dynasty, the situation is not better there, often can see the homeless.

During the Spring Festival, there were displaced people, this is an unimaginable thing, Yang Tingshu, who was extremely shocked, asked these displaced people, most of them are from Dengzhou and Laizhou and other places, Yang Tingshu is puzzled, Dengzhou and Laizhou are the key places for the imperial court to guard, these places are concentrated in many of the Ming army, cabinet auxiliary minister Xu Guangqi and Denglai governor Sun Yuanhua, are training the new army of the Ming Dynasty here, how can there be displaced people in these places.

Zheng Xunrui knows the reason, Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua trained the recruits, most of them are the original Mao Wenlong's subordinates, these Liaodong Han people, fierce by nature, dare to fight hard, but the fatal flaw is that there is no restraint of military discipline, you must know that Mao Wenlong's subordinates, many of them are pirates and prisoners, their personal qualities are low, they have no cultivation, and they have no sense of morality, Xu Guangqi and Sun Yuanhua are both literati, they don't understand the characteristics of the army, they pay attention to the equipment of firearms, Failure to pay attention to the selection of officers and the restraint of military discipline left a huge hidden danger, and the sergeants often harassed and plundered the common people.

According to the development of history, Dengzhou and Laizhou are about to undergo great changes, and Zheng Xunrui, who knows this qiē, has no choice but to watch this qiē for the time being, and he has no strength to change this qiē.

Entering Beizhili, the situation they saw made Yang Tingshu and Zheng Xunrui even more chilling.

In the vicinity of Baoding Mansion, they saw the ruins of the broken walls, saw countless new graves, and saw the farmers with blank expressions, all of which represented that the Houjin Tartars had plundered here, and they didn't know how many young and strong people were looted to Liaodong, and they didn't know how many women were insulted, and they didn't know how many old and weak women and children were killed.

Houjin Tartar has become the dream of the people of Beizhili, whether it is a scholar, or a common person and a farmer, when they encounter Houjin Tartar, they are all empty of people and money, and the family is ruined.

The harsh reality seen along the road, so that Zheng Xunrui's sense of urgency increased, after more than two years, he still has nothing to do, once thought that he plagiarized some poems, became Ying Tianfu Xiao Sanyuan, Nanzhili Township tried to solve Yuanlang and proud, but in the face of the harsh reality, these so-called pride disappeared without a trace, if he indulged in the atmosphere of self-satisfaction, can not quickly think of a way, open up a road of development, then more than ten years later, he also suffered from these post-Jin Tartar robbed scholars, The common people, like the peasant households, have become a piece of loess.

The Eight Hundred Guardians can protect the safety of the Zheng family and his personal safety, but what role can they do in the face of thousands of rebellious peasants and the fierce and powerful Houjin Tartars.

In the face of an increasingly grim situation, only by being self-reliant can we find a real way out.

"Qingyang, what do you think, have you ever been to the capital?"

"It's the first time I've come to the capital, and the city wall is really tall, but this tall city wall can really resist a qiē, oh, it's funny, I just thought of a qiē I saw on the road, and I sighed."

"Actually, I also thought that it is precisely because of this that you and I need to work harder, and strive to achieve good results in the general examination and the palace examination, so that we can propose to build a court for the imperial court."

Zheng Xunrui looked at Yang Tingshu and nodded slightly, but there was no expression on his face.

What's the use of staying in the capital, it's almost the same as waiting for death, even if it's the champion, that is, entering the Hanlin Academy, becoming the editor of the six products, dealing with ancient books every day, absorbing the so-called concept of governing the country from the middle, occasionally being able to give the emperor a proposal, if you're lucky, you can talk to the emperor, arouse the emperor's attention, and lay a solid foundation for him to enter the cabinet in the future.

In times of peace, this is the best way to climb the peak, and in times of turmoil, this is the best way to self-destruct.

In the turbulent era, not only were there many things below, but there was also no peace in the court, party strife, foolish loyalty, court admonition, impeachment, and so on, one after another, killing time and destroying the will, and finally making the vast majority of civil and military ministers become grass on the wall, and the ability to pursue advantages and avoid disadvantages was brought into full play.

And being an official in the imperial court, there is also a question of seniority and age, which is something that no one can avoid, Zheng Xunrui is just seventeen years old, at such an age, even if he becomes the champion, that is, it has caused many people to be surprised, thinking that your knowledge is very good, but if you really want to speak effectively, or grasp the actual power, then you need to boil slowly, and you will spend ten years in the Hanlin Academy, and at the age of twenty-seven, it is very good to be able to be enabled.

What is the situation of the Ming Dynasty ten years later, it will be the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, Li Zicheng's power is so strong that Cheng Dù, Houjin Tatar has all the arrangements for entering the Central Plains, and it has begun to be implemented step by step, and by that time, even if he has the ability to reach the sky, Zheng Xunrui has not been able to turn the tide.

Zheng Xunrui sneered at the so-called cabinet assistants, what role can they have, in addition to fighting for power and profit in the cabinet, what else can they do, once they encounter many things, the situation is turbulent, the cabinet ministers must first stand up and take responsibility, and the cabinet ministers must always pay attention to the attacks and impeachments around them, they need to have their own small circles, and they need to have enough strength to rely on, such as the Donglin Party or something, such a waste of time, there is no meaning.

What Zheng Xunrui needs is to develop locally.

It's easy to think like this, but it's not easy to really do it, unless you are a fellow jinshi of the top three, then the ministry may let you go somewhere to be a magistrate, as for the first and second first, most of them are entering the Hanlin Academy, the champion canonized the Hanlin Cultivation, the Bangyan and Tanhua canonized the Hanlin Seventh Grade Hanlin Editing, and the rest became the Hanlin Academy.

Zheng Xunrui can only comfort himself, there must be a road before the car reaches the mountain, and he can always think of a way.

When he slowly approached the Yongding Gate of the capital, Zheng Xunrui suddenly felt a kind of majesty and responsibility, this is a situation that has never appeared before, he looked around, there are still a lot of people in and out of the south gate, the sergeant guarding the city gate, standing very straight, probably because this is the capital, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, if the table is not good, it is likely to lose the errand.

Yang Tingshu beside him was full of expectations.

What Zheng Xunrui didn't expect was that Yang Tingshu was also the first time to come to the capital, it is said that the third generation of officials like Yang Tingshu has a lot of opportunities to go to the capital, but unfortunately he still thinks wrong, those so-called second generation of officials and third generations of officials, except for the people who are gentlemen, the rest of the people study very hard, county exams, government exams, hospital exams and township exams, layers of exams, it takes a lot of time, even if it is a trip is nearby, who will come to the capital without incident.