Near Beijing's Qianmen, the flow of people is bleak, and the once downtown is now depressed. The epidemic is only one of the reasons, and the other reason starts from the changes in the second year of Chongzhen. Jiannu traveled thousands of miles several times, entered the customs and plundered, and the vicinity of Gyeonggi and even Shandong Gunzhou and Linqing were all seriously affected by the soldiers.

only said that Chongzhen was fifteen years, that is, last year's great plunder. Jiannu Dolgon led the army to slaughter all the way to Gunzhou, slaughtering 68 cities, plundering 600,000 people, and the dead are unknown. Many places were burned to the ground, and it was difficult to recover without twenty or thirty years of effort.

In addition, Linqing, a major canal town with a population of more than one million, was slaughtered, and the canal was almost cut off. As an important hub for north-south freight, it is naturally impossible to talk about business. Over the years, in the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, there was a plague not long after the beginning of spring, and now it has developed to the point that two or three hundred corpses are burned every day, and people are panicking, who still has the heart to walk around?

Li Banghua rode in a small sedan chair and stopped on the empty street. He got out of the sedan chair, his eyes flickered, and he hurriedly used his hands to shade the sun, and finally stood firm under the support of the attendants on the left and right.

The old man sighed: He is old.

He was a Jinshi in the thirty-second year of Wanli and is now sixty-nine years old. In this life, there have been ups and downs, and he has already seen through the red world, and he only hopes to return home next year and enjoy the joy of family. However, the fierce loyalty in his heart forced him to run outside to repair the crumbling imperial dynasty.

"Master, we're here." The long follower on the side said loudly.

Li Banghua looked up at the plaque of the restaurant, which read "Come again". This restaurant is a favorite place for young scholars and business travelers who come to Beijing, and generally the imperial history who has entered the official will not come here easily. Now the market is not good, the whole restaurant is deserted, and no one drinks or eats.

Xiao Er looked at the door for a long time, not sure whether these people were passing by or coming in to eat. It wasn't until he saw Li Banghua slowly walking towards him that he boldly greeted him: "Master Guest, do you want a private room?" ”

"Furong Pavilion, book a seat." Parent Li stepped forward to answer.

Xiao Er smiled all over his face and said, "It's a coincidence that the master came, the proprietor just went up." Lord, please raise your feet. ”

Chang Sui threw off the reward money, sent Xiao Er away, helped the master up the steps, and walked all the way to the private room on the second floor.

There was already a long-bearded man sitting in the private room, with gray hair, and his appearance was not young anymore. When Li Banghua's footsteps sounded, he stood at the door, bowed to the ground as soon as he saw him, and said, "The student has seen the general constitution." ”

The general constitution is the honorific title of the imperial history of the capital. Li Banghua replaced Liu Zongzhou last winter, transferred from the Nanjing Metropolitan Procuratorate to the Beijing Metropolitan Procuratorate, and took charge of the affairs of the academy with the imperial history of the left capital, and was a high-ranking official of the Ming Dynasty.

"If you are too vain, why be polite." Li Banghua nodded slightly, which was already a return gift.

The two compartments were divided, Li Banghua made the head, coughed lightly, and said: "It's too empty to ask the old man to come out this time, what is the matter?" ”

Taixu is Li Mingrui's expression. Li Mingrui and this general constitution are both from Jiangxi, because they have the friendship of fellow villagers. At the beginning, Li Mingrui was recommended by Li Banghua and was elected as the official of the East Palace and appointed to the position of Zuo Zhongyun. In the intertwined officialdom, it can be said that he is his own person.

"General Xian comforted Zuo Liangyu in March, it was really hard work." Li Mingrui saw that his benefactor's temples were snow-white, and his heart was full of unbearable.

"A courtier is indispensable." Li Banghua is getting old, but after a while, he is a little tired. He cheered up and said, "I'm old and my energy is low, so it's better to say it directly." ”

Li Mingrui lowered his head slightly, and was about to pour out the manuscript when he suddenly heard footsteps outside, and after a while, he heard someone pulling a chair and moving the table, shouting loudly, it was actually a table of guests next door. He chose to meet with the chief executive of the Metropolitan Procuratorate here, just because he didn't want to be known, but someone intervened, which made him smile bitterly.

Li Banghua nodded to the attendant on the side. The attendant understood and went to guard the door.

Only then did Li Mingrui lower his voice and said: "General Constitution, there are now rumors in the DPRK that they have moved south......

Li Banghua raised his eyes, and his eyes were already cloudy. He stared at Li Mingrui for a while, and said bluntly: "Do you want to move south?" ”

Li Mingrui smiled bitterly: "The general constitution is clear-sighted. ”

Li Banghua sighed and said in a low voice: "I'm afraid it's difficult." ”

"How can we, our courtiers, shrink in fear?" Li Mingrui's face was awe-inspiring: "Now that the Jingshi has been cheating for a long time, the Son of Heaven is just sitting in trouble and it is useless, so it is better to jump out of here." Once you arrive in Nanjing, hundreds of thousands of righteous soldiers will naturally follow, so why worry about the thieves and thieves! ”

"Hundreds of thousands of rebels?" Li Banghua sighed: "Taixu, why did the old man go to appease Zuo Liangyu in March?" Speaking of which, the indiscriminate use of thieves and robbers is not the Qinwang Army at the time of the change of his own power? "Without food, what difference can there be between a faithful and righteous soldier and a rebel! He just said it secretly in his heart, but he didn't say it, so as not to hurt Li Mingrui's enthusiasm.

Li Banghua went to Zuo Liangyu's army in March, and it was precisely because of the arrears of wages in the left that thousands of warships went down the east of the river, claiming that they were going to Nanjing to get food. And now among Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Huihui and other people, many of them are also Qinwang's army at the time of the change, because there is no food to return to their hometowns, they simply fall into the grass and rebel.

Li Mingrui was broken by Li Banghua, knowing that he was a little cowardly, and he expressed his scholarly opinions, and he was ashamed and hated those generals who refused to give their lives. He said: "Zuo Liangyu still has the face to ask for food!" Now that he is stationed in Huai, the court can't adjust it, and he can't scold it, whether this is the Zuo family's private army or the public weapon of the imperial court! ”

"Okay," Li Banghua sighed helplessly, "It's good that he can hold Huaishang, and he will only make trouble this time after two years of no pay, don't force another mountain king." ”

"Doesn't the general constitution listen to the people? A thief is like a comb, and a soldier is like a grate! Zuo Liangyu's soldiers are worse than thieves! Li Mingrui said hatefully.

Li Banghua shook his head and said, "What's the use of talking about this at this time?" You are looking for the old man today, just to ask the old man to move the capital. However, the old man can also tell you clearly that the discussion of moving south is not mentioned. ”

"Can be ...... the general constitution"

"But it's a good thing to do." Li Banghua interrupted Li Mingrui's words and said slowly: "Invite Bixia to go to Nanjing, or ask the prince to go to Nanjing to supervise the country." ”

"Pro-Zheng......" Li Mingrui savored the rush brought by these two words, and finally shook his head. Since Emperor Yingzong rashly conquered in person, he was captured by Wara, not to mention, more than 60 high-ranking officials such as the military department and the household department were killed on the battlefield. This has become a nightmare for the Ming Dynasty. Even later emperors were full of vigilance and fear of the changes in Tumubao.

"With the civil fort in front, who would dare to persuade Bixia to take it personally? And it is not appropriate to let the crown prince take care of Nanjing. The prince is less and more important, the order is not authoritative, and the special order is disrespectful, so it is not as convenient as the emperor's personal behavior. Li Mingrui said.

"As a subordinate official of the East Palace, don't you know that the prince is about to leave the palace to raise the army?" Li Banghua said softly.

"What! The prince wants to go out of the palace to raise the army! Li Mingrui shouted: "Isn't this nonsense!" The prince is indeed a genius, he can be said to be unforgettable, drawing inferences from one another, and his handwriting is good, but after all, he is a child, how can he predict military affairs! ”

Li Banghua was silent, and the surroundings fell silent for a while.

Li Mingrui realized that he had lost his words and immediately shut up, but he felt that the surroundings were a little quiet, and there was no sound in the private room next door.

After a while, there was an argument outside the door, and before the sound could be heard, I saw that Li Banghua's long entourage had been pushed into the door, and a strong man with a height of eight feet blocked the door of the private room tightly.

"You were talking about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince just now?" The strong man shouted angrily.

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