Xia Li and Chu Han hurriedly hid to the side, and waited for these people to pass before the two of them continued to walk forward.

When the two of them came to the main street, they found that the street was bare, and there were few pedestrians, whether it was selling goods or buying goods.

With the stalls gone, there is naturally no harmony between the buyers, and only a few sporadic shops on the street are still doing business, but most of these people live in the shops.

How can it be so serious, Xia is puzzled, even if the northwest is broken through by Linguo, but it is still thousands of miles away from the capital, and I don't know how long it will take to fight here, do people panic like this?

Who made the capital so flustered, and it was so fast, she really couldn't think of anyone except that it was Linguo's meticulous work.

The master and servant walked forward along the street, the more they walked, the more deserted they became, those who carried bags, those who ran, those who hurriedly bought rice and grain, and how many of them were carrying children in their left hands and holding a backpack in their right hand and didn't know where to go? It seems that these people have not left Beijing yet, but I don't know if everyone will not leave tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Chu Han said worriedly as he walked: "Miss, is there really going to be a war in the capital?"

Xia Li shook his head, "No, it's impossible"

"Then why are these people like this?"

Xia Li couldn't explain clearly, what was going on, the things in the palace didn't come either, normally looking at the people like this, the emperor should send someone to appease him! But not a single soldier or officer was seen on the street for so long.

The emperor doesn't know about this, but it's impossible to think about it, the emperor doesn't know if those officials in the court won't say it, but if you want to say it, it's impossible for the emperor not to take action, the huge capital makes the people panic, it's no wonder they can sit still.

Xia Li slandered in her heart as she walked, but she didn't know that Chaozhong was in dire straits.

……

In the middle of the night, when the emperor was still asleep, he was woken up by a sudden emergency report.

The soldiers who came to deliver the letter were in a hurry and covered in mud.

The emperor knew that he was in a hurry, and he couldn't take care of it so much, so he hurriedly summoned him.

This person knelt down first and said, "Your Majesty, the northwest was attacked by barbarians in the middle of the night the day before yesterday."

"Sneak attack?" The emperor did not believe this, because since he succeeded to the throne, there has not been a war in the country, and he said: "How is the war, and then say"

The soldier who came to report was interrupted by the emperor before he finished speaking, and at this time, he hurriedly said after hearing what the emperor said:

"General Nanming was seriously wounded, and the deputy general Guo Zicheng was killed on the spot because of the city gate, and now the northwest has lost two cities in a row, and two of the remaining four cities are surrounded by 10,000 barbarian troops, and the general ordered his subordinates to rush back overnight to report the matter, and let him send reinforcements"

"What?" The emperor almost didn't vomit blood when he heard it, his northwest actually lost two cities in a row, and it was only one night apart, how could this be possible, since the succession to the throne for more than 20 years, the two countries have been safe and sound, how can a good barbarian fight over!

He said suspiciously: "Bring me the letter"

The soldier handed the urgent report in his hand to the eunuch beside the emperor, and only after this one took it did he pass it to the emperor.

The emperor took it with both hands and took a deep breath and opened it to take a closer look, only to find that what was written on it was the same as what the soldiers said, and the seal of General Nanming was underneath.

The emperor felt the fire in his chest surging rapidly, and he tasted a sweet smell in his throat and swallowed it again.

It took a long time before he continued: "What is the situation in the northwest now?" ”

The soldier said on his behalf: "The situation in the northwest is unstable, and there is a possibility that it will be attacked by the barbarians at any time, so General Nanming ordered his subordinates to risk death to come, and he was willing to ask the emperor to transfer troops to save the northwest from fire and water."

"What?" When the emperor heard this, he was furious and said: "There are nearly 300,000 soldiers in the northwest, and there are less than 100,000 people on the border where the barbarians are stationed. Why is this, you can explain it to me."

The emperor coughed out of anger, and felt the fishy breath in his throat and eyes coming up again, so he hurriedly held it back and swallowed it.

The soldier was also shocked when he heard this, because he didn't know that the data of the northwest troops in the DPRK was actually 300,000, and he was already in a hurry and his face was covered with mud.

"Your Majesty, there are 300,000 soldiers in the Northwest Army! Just this year, counting the soldiers who fled and suffered from the plague, there were not even 200,000, and it must be said that counting the old, weak, sick and disabled, in the past few years, the barbarian soldiers have been strong and strong, our army has not fought for a long time, and there is still little training in peacetime, so on the first day of the battle, it was defeated in less than half an hour."

The emperor was so dizzy at this time that he didn't even have the strength to scold, thinking that it was General Li who was guarding the northwest back then, and he followed his father all the way to fight for the country, but after his father died and he ascended the throne, some courtiers played, saying that he was afraid that General Li would cover the master because of his merits, and he was not easy to control, so he recommended General Han Ming, the young general next to General Li, to replace.

At that time, he did not agree, but later, under the constant lobbying of the courtiers, he had no choice but to assassinate General Li and put Han Ming into the position of general.

This person also won two battles at the beginning, looking at the combat experience, and later because the war between the dynasty and the barbarians subsided, there has been no war over the years, and the name of General Nanming is also famous because of the battles at that time, so in the emperor's heart, he also thought that General Nanming was an invincible real general, but who would have thought that in such a small battle, Nanming would let the northwest lose his hand, which really shouldn't be.

The emperor was heartbroken, but he couldn't say it, after all, General Nanming was brought up by him, and finally had to let the soldiers go to rest, and let the eunuchs around him hurriedly notify the courtiers to come and discuss the matter.

The important ministers arrived first, and when they arrived at the palace, it was still very dark, and they didn't know what happened to the emperor in the middle of the night.

When the emperor saw that the important ministers of the court were coming, he told him about the urgent report from the northwest.

Only then did the people know that such a great thing had happened.

Who would have thought that the northwest, which has no war every year, would be invaded and occupied by two cities, and a deputy general would be lost!

The emperor saw that everyone had not woken up from the shock of this incident for a long time, and said angrily:

"Don't figure it out yet, when is it, there's still time for this"

Ministers, you look at me, I look at you, and in the end, it was still Xia Xiangdao: "Your Majesty, the ministers think that they must send troops to support at present, and now that the Northwest Mountain is obviously in the midst of fire and water, they must first send troops to ask for talent to make the soldiers turn." ”

The emperor said there: "I know this, but I have to send a profitable person to go, how can this person choose important ministers to decide!" ”

Now the remaining people in the court have tended to be old, all of them are old ministers who have followed the emperor for decades, although there are some newly promoted students in the scientific examination in recent years, but all the courtiers recommend the release of the outside, not in Beijing, and the selection of this personnel has become a problem for a while.

The courtiers who came in the middle of the night were all weighty, and several of them had proposed a few people in front of the emperor, but either because they were too young to lead troops, or because they were not capable and had no experience in fighting in the northwest, they couldn't help much.

As a result, these people discussed it until the early dynasty and did not elect anyone.

And when the Wang Privy Envoy arrived, he also raised a question, that is, the garrison of the capital is only 50,000, which cannot be moved, and the northwest is also garrisoned by the middle city from the capital, where there are less than 150,000 men and horses, which is the second line of defense in the capital, and the garrison will not be used at all in the northwest campaign, because the Northwest Army will add all the soldiers together There are 300,000, and 300,000 are stationed in the northwest in two batches.

Now no one thought that the northwest would not only transfer its own garrison, but also need to transfer troops elsewhere, and to move the second line of defense in the capital, and then there is something to count on the garrison in the south, but the south is much farther away than the northwest, and whether there is an urgent matter or not to wait for the garrison is a problem, so the king does not advocate moving the second line of defense in the capital, if he wants to transfer troops, he advocates transferring directly from the south.

Everyone was gossiping, and some couldn't say that the road was too far, and they might have already fallen when the troops were transferred to the northwest.

Some people also said that 50,000 people would be transferred from the second line of defense to support first, and then they would talk about it when the situation was not good.

The envoy continued there: "Your Majesty, as far as the minister knows, the northwest is full of troops, and the barbarians are already small, even if their forces are all added together, the northwest army can compete with them, why did they lose two cities so easily, the minister feels that this matter needs to be discussed." If this is to put it bluntly, he just doesn't believe it, why is the northwest with such a good army easily broken! How is this possible.