The Tartars withdrew, the pressure of Beijing suddenly disappeared, the people in the city seemed to have regained their former vitality, there were more pedestrians on the streets, Li Xin's ears were full of the sound of creaking snow, and from time to time there were pedestrians hurrying in dark clothes on the long streets, and the tranquility of this winter almost gave Li Xin the illusion that there had never been a war. But the sound of horses' hooves quickly pulled Li Xin back to reality, and a team of knights in armor and dust galloped past Li Xin and turned onto Andingmen Street.

The snow flakes from the horse's hooves splashing on the ground fell on Li Xin's face and turned into a piece of coldness, this should be the soldier who reported the news from the front, right? The war is over, I just don't know how much respite the Ming Dynasty will win, and how long will this rare respite last? Seeing that the emperor's intention seemed to entrust him with a heavy responsibility, Li Xin guessed wildly while hurrying away, maybe the emperor would leave him by his side as a general of the Beijing camp, of course, the deputy general would be better.

After a while, Li Xin rushed back to the small courtyard of Taiji Factory, pushed open the courtyard door, and saw that the courtyard was clean and tidy, and even the residual snow from last night had been cleaned up and tidy. Entering the main room, the charcoal in the copper basin in the middle of the house is burning, the copper kettle is sitting on it is steaming, smoking all over the room, the house is calm as if there was no tragedy last night, the ground is clean and tidy, the bedding is still new, revealing the fragrance of new cotton, and the broken windows are also repaired as yesterday, and there is no trace of repair.

Li Xin couldn't help but admire the ability of the little brother Huang, although it was a simple thing, not anyone could do it so seamlessly. As soon as he sat down, he heard footsteps in the courtyard, followed by a shrill shout.

"General Li, is General Li here?"

The voice has been familiar in the past few days, it is the leader eunuch Gao Keng, Li Xin pushed open the door and let Gao Keng in, and invited him to sit down at the table of the eight immortals.

Gao Keng couldn't sit down and couldn't wait to say: "The spies from Dongchang went to check the house in Nami Lane. ”

"How?" Li Xin lifted the copper kettle and poured a large bowl of hot water, and pushed down Gao Keng's table, "Gao Gong first drink hot water to warm up." ”

I saw Gao Keng said mysteriously: "Didn't General Li provoke something unclean?" ”

Li Xin was surprised.

"Why did Gao Gong say this?"

"To tell you the truth, there is not even half a figure in that house, and the dust in the house is thick, and it has been vacant for a long time."

"No way, Li Xin went there last night."

"Our family is also strange, there are many vacant houses on Mi Lane, and the house that the general said is vacant for three or four in a row. Our family went to check the deed, and guess what? ”

"Gao Gong, don't sell Guanzi, Li Xinye is in a hurry!"

"The owner of the deed passed away two years ago, and now there is no one to inherit him, and then I have inquired about the old families in the vicinity and there is no information about the people described by the general."

Li Xin was very surprised, this was impossible, he could clearly confirm that he was not dreaming, how did the corpses and bloodstains in this house disappear? The wounds on my hands from last night's fight are still there, so how can I explain them if I was dreaming?

This is ridiculous!

Gao Keng saw that Li Xin was silent, thinking that he was muttering in his heart, so he stepped forward and said, "It's better for our family to find a Taoist priest to do things, and then change places of residence......"

Seeing Gao Keng like this, Li Xin knew that he had misunderstood, so he said nonsense.

"The son is silent, and the strange power is confused!" Then he seemed to mumble to himself: "This little brother Huang is really a strange person, but I don't know how to do it." ”

When these words fell into Gao Keng's ears, he naturally figured out the meaning, obviously General Li did not believe in his investigation results, and a trace of contempt came to his heart, and he made up his mind that he would definitely send someone to investigate it thoroughly.

Li Xin was just about to ask Gao Keng about the scenery of the capital, but who knew that a sharp duck voice sounded in the courtyard again.

"Li Xin, where is Li Xin?"

Gao Keng was suddenly a little annoyed, someone was spreading wild under his nose, and he was stunned when he pushed the door open.

"Gao, Gao Gong?"

It is the eunuch Gao Shiming, who is the master of ceremonies, although this person is also surnamed Gao, but he is not the same as him.

"Hey, isn't this a little Gaozi? What are you doing here? Then Li Xinke is in the house, quickly call him out to listen! ”

Li Xin followed behind Gao Keng, and hurriedly saluted Gao Shiming, these eunuchs are masters who can't be provoked, if you are not respectful, you can put a few small shoes on him in front of the emperor at any time. Gao Shiming didn't even look at Li Xin.

"Long live the dictatorship."

Gao Keng secretly stabbed Li Xin beside him, Li Xin came back to his senses, and hurriedly knelt down in front of Gao Shiming, saying in his heart that these eunuchs who are fake and mighty are probably not less affected by the knees of those ministers and generals on weekdays.

"Immediately order Li Xin to enter the palace without delay!" Then he hung his voice and said, "Get up, don't seep through!" ”

didn't wait for Li Xin to get up, but Gao Keng took a step forward and came to Gao Shiming with a smile:

"Gao Gong stays, can there be a big event in the palace?"

Gao Shiming glanced at Gao Keng, "It's okay in the palace, but something happened in the north." ”

Hearing Gao Shiming say this, Li Xin sighed for a moment, "North? Tartar? ”

"But no, something is wrong, the Tanma who came from the north just now said that Shanhaiguan had fallen into the hands of the Tartars."

"Really?"

Li Xin was suddenly shocked, how important Shanhaiguan was, and if it fell into the hands of the Tartars, the consequences would be unimaginable. If this is true, the direction of history has completely deviated from the original trajectory, and it has slid into a darker path with the Great Ming.

Entering the Forbidden City in one day, when Li Xin passed by the Donghua Gate, the guards saluted politely, Li Xin returned the salute one by one, but Gao Keng next to him reminded him, "Your identity is not as good as before, the soldiers salute, but don't go back to the past, there is no reason for the general to return the salute to the soldiers, remember, don't let people see jokes!" ”

This is naturally a good intention, how can Li Xin not know?

Li Xin came to the Wenhua Hall for the second time today, not only were the ministers and civil officials in the morning, but even Fang Zhenghua, the governor of the Beijing camp, and Cao Huachun, who had just returned to the palace, were among the palaces.

Yang Sichang's voice echoed in the hall, sounding a little out of tune.

"For today's plan, the Jingshi will be under martial law again, so that Hongsun and Shaanxi's soldiers will advance quickly!"

Someone immediately retorted, "Hong Sun Daoyuan, how can you quench your thirst?" Shanhaiguan is the last gateway of the Beijing Division, the Tartars can enter the customs from Liaoxi all the way, and they can gallop to the Beijing Division in one day. ”

Li Xin only stopped at the entrance of the hall, far away, the light was dim, and he couldn't see who was talking, but he heard Yang Sichang say again: "Don't be alarmist, Sun Ge Lao's report has not yet arrived, whether this news is really still in the air." Take 10,000 steps back, even if it is true, will it be irreparably eroded? Definitely! Lord Zhang can know that there are many fortresses outside Shanhaiguan, Songshan, Ningyuan, Jinzhou and other castles are still firmly in the hands of my Ming border army, and the Tartars must first step on these many fortresses if they want to enter the customs, otherwise even if they suddenly attack the hands of Shanhaiguan, it is just a lonely city. ”

Li Xin nodded secretly, don't say it, Yang Sichang showed the concentration and bearing that a cabinet minister should have at this time, the formation cannot be chaotic at the critical moment, the people's hearts cannot be self-destructive, and the formation can be suppressed at a critical juncture, if it is not for the small amount of energy, maybe it is really a generation of celebrities who have made a difference.

Zhu Youzhen was obviously satisfied with Yang Sichang's expression, and asked.

"Does Yang Qing have a good plan?"

Yang Sichang pondered for a while, as if he had made up his mind, and said heavily: "Now that the matter is now, instead of soldiers coming to the city, it is better to talk to Jiannu first!" ”

Li Xin couldn't help but laugh out loud when he heard this! Like cold water dripping into a pot of boiling water, the ministers immediately searched for this person who dared to openly ridicule the scholars during the deliberations, and finally found Li Xin in the corner.

Zhu Youzhen had always been worried that the Shanhaiguan military had not seen Li Xin enter the palace, and when he saw Li Xin's disapproving attitude, he immediately rejoiced and asked:

"General Li came forward to discuss the matter and said, is there a good plan?"

Li Xin accompanied a group of old men to quarrel, he was impatient for a long time, and when he heard the emperor's summons, he strode to the front of Danqi, and only got up after three bows and nine knocks solemnly and unfamiliarly, turned to Yang Sichang and asked, "How to talk?" Land reparations, and another alliance of the abyss? ”

Li Xin's big hat is not small, Yang Sichang never thought that he would be questioned in public by a lucky Qiu Ba, and he was suddenly angry.

"Even if you talk, you have to achieve enough victories before you can sit down and talk slowly, not to mention how can I, Huanghuang Daming, bow my head to the Manchu Tartars?"

Li Xin knows that when the battle is at this point, how can he talk about it? If you want to go back to Shanhaiguan, you have to exchange real money and a lot of land, which is tantamount to drinking water to quench your thirst. In fact, Yang Sichang also said just now that the first-line fortress of Songning Jin outside the gate is in the hands of the Ming border army, and the Ming Dynasty may not have the strength to fight. It's just that Yang Sichang blindly looked for trouble with Li Xin, and Li Xin simply offended him completely this time, isn't he the main peace faction, then he firmly stands on the side of the main battle faction.

Yang Sichang suddenly sneered: "The mountain village husband is untrustworthy, let me ask you, how do you fight, and what do you use to fight?" How can temple affairs be child's play? ”

"Everyone, everyone, don't quarrel, please listen to the old man!"

Zhang Sizhi, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, was today's teacher and walked out tremblingly.

"Long live, the old minister has an idea that is not an idea, say it and listen to it, if you say it well, it will be good, if you don't say it, don't complain that the old man is useless!"

Zhang Sizhi is famous for relying on the old and selling the old, and has the support of the emperor, who has offended countless people in the past ten years, but has always stood in the court without falling.

"Master Zhang, but it's just talking!"

Zhu Youjian probed slightly, and stretched out his hand to support the imperial case.

Zhang Sizhi suddenly knelt on the ground and said loudly: "At this time of life and death, please ask Your Majesty to respond to Tianfu, and the prince will stay in Beijing to supervise the country!" ”

This remark came out at a glance, like a stone stirring up a thousand layers of Lang.