"Phew—"

"Sigh the law ......"

In the middle of Yanshan, when a sentry rider stopped in front of Lin Dan Khan, Lin Dan Khan also withdrew his gaze from the mountains around the river valley where he was, looked at the sentry and asked, "How?" ”

"Great Khan, no one has found that mountain road, but the other sentinels have returned, and there are traces of marching on the two mountain roads often taken by the Ming army in the north and south."

"Judging from the traces, they should have rushed towards Yanshan County, and we set off an hour ago, but most of them were foot soldiers, and there were also traces of artillery wagons of the Ming army."

Sentinel Qianhu replied to Lin Dan Khan, and after Lin Dan Khan heard this, he looked around, and then asked:

"Take that mountain road, can we reach Yanshan County before dawn in front of Emperor Daming?"

"This ...... I'm afraid not. Sentinel Qianhu hesitated to answer, but Lin Danhan did not dispel his thoughts when he heard this, but was sure that Zhu Youxiao's march would not be fast.

"Zhu Youxiao is no better than Zhu Youzhen, he can't march faster, even if we can't stop him before he arrives in Yanshan, we can stop him before he arrives in Anjiang Town."

"As long as we stop him and then make conditions to him, this reluctant Ming Emperor will always give us gold, silver and jewelry."

After that, Lin Dan Khan raised his horsewhip and ordered in the dark: "Set off according to the original route, and pay attention to avoiding the Ming army sentry cavalry." ”

"Yes!"

When the surrounding generals heard this, they commanded the army to rush towards the originally scheduled mountain road, and at the same time, after another two hours of retreat to the south, Wei Zhongxian and Wei Liangqing escorted Zhu Youxiao to Jiming Town, which was forty miles away from Dading Palace.

Zhu Youxiao, who had been riding a horse for more than 20 miles during the day, was already tired, and had driven 60 miles overnight, and was already hungry in his stomach.

Seeing this, Wei Zhongxian forcibly ordered the chief flag officer of Jiming Town to open the gate of the town fort, and entered the market town with five hundred brocade guards and more than a hundred cooks.

The supplies of the town's royal store were requisitioned, and the mayor who managed the town was also ordered to forcibly buy hundreds of poultry and hundreds of pigs and sheep in the town.

Because there were too many Yiluan guards, they were ordered to form a chariot formation outside the city, and Zhu Youxiao took Zhu Ciran into Jiming Town.

The mayor of the town, Zhang Shide, was a Zhengjipin official from Yanshan, and he decisively gave up the town government for the emperor's visit.

The Yamen, which covers an area of only 300 square meters, is very shabby, but at the moment, Zhu Youxiao just wants to sit down and eat a hot and full meal.

Jinyiwei took over the entire Jiming Town, and the soldiers and horses of the Yanshan battalion stationed here were responsible for assisting in defending the city.

After being busy for most of the day, when Zhu Youxiao's ass finally sat in the main seat of the Yamen Hall in the market town, it was already an ugly moment (1:15).

It was dark in the middle of the night, but fortunately, the night in Yanshan in April was not cold, so Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Ciran did not catch a cold.

Perhaps because they were too tired, Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Ciran's father and son took a nap while sitting.

Seeing this, Wei Zhongxian hurriedly asked people to clean up the backyard and put on a clean bedding, and then arranged for their father and son to rest.

As soon as the father and son lay on the bed, they fell asleep not long after, and Wei Zhongxian watched them fall asleep, so he closed the door lightly.

It's just that when he walked out of the backyard, his nephew Wei Liangqing said with an anxious face:

"Uncle, you should be in a hurry now, why don't you arrange a carriage for Banzai and His Highness to go south?"

"Anyway, after the road is built, the carriage is not uncomfortable to walk."

"Ridiculous!" Hearing his nephew's words, Wei Zhongxian said sharply:

"Long live so tired, how can you get on the road?"

"What's more, this place is only less than forty miles away from Yanshan County, and King Qin's soldiers and horses will arrive soon, so why let Banzai suffer this?"

"Okay, there's no need to discuss this matter anymore......" Wei Zhongxian waved his sleeves and turned to leave, obviously he was also very tired, and now he just wanted to find a place to sleep.

Seeing this, although Wei Liangqing was helpless, he could only respond.

In the north, the days are long and the nights are short, but in the summer the days are early.

Zhu Youxiao slept very lightly, and when he noticed that the room was a little gray, he forced his body to get up with a headache due to lack of sleep, and said to the door:

"Someone!"

"Hooray......

Wei Liangqing had been guarding the door, he didn't expect the emperor to get up after sleeping for less than two hours.

"What time is it?" Zhu Youxiao pinched his eyebrows and asked, and Wei Liangqing also responded through the door when he heard this: "Around seven o'clock (4:45)." ”

"Are meals ready?" Zhu Youxiao felt hungry in his belly, and thought of the matter of knocking on the pass in Beiyu, and always felt that he could not stay outside the pass for a long time, so he continued to hurry after eating.

"It's ready, just wait for Banzai to pass the meal." Wei Liangqing responded, and Zhu Youxiao also got up and said, "Let's pass the meal." ”

Anyway, he didn't care that his image was a little messy, but walked to the door and opened the door, and instructed Wei Liangqing, who lowered his head:

"Tell the prince to get up for dinner, and you must return to the capital today."

"Minister...... Command! Wei Liangqing hurriedly responded, and then ordered someone to wake up Zhu Ciran and Wei Zhongxian, and then asked someone to pass the dining hall.

After that, Wei Liangqing led Zhu Youxiao back to the hall, and the table in the hall was also set up with food.

Five-flavor steamed chicken, mutton bones in yuan sauce, spicy vinegar kidneys, steamed fresh fish, mutton crystal dumplings, silk goose powder soup, three fresh soups, mung bean chess noodles, bean soup, tea......

Looking at the combination of five meats, two soups and one staple food, Zhu Youxiao didn't say anything simple, but began to move quickly after sitting down.

At this time, he didn't care about etiquette, and just wanted to retreat to the capital as soon as he was done.

But when he was eating, Zhu Ciran was also woken up, and came to the hall in a daze, eating mechanically.

As for Wei Zhongxian, he didn't show up for a long time, and he didn't come late until Zhu Youxiao finished his meal.

"Alright, let's go."

After eating, he wiped his mouth, Zhu Youxiao didn't care about Wei Zhongxian, who hadn't eaten a bite of food, so he took Zhu Ciran's hand and left under Wei Liangqing's escort.

Wei Zhongxian hadn't slept well, and when he saw that the emperor was leaving without waiting for him to eat, his mouth immediately became bitter.

I wanted to eat some leftovers on the table, but I found that the two fathers and sons had eaten all the food, leaving only a little vegetable soup.

"Gonggong, this is the meal that Commander Wei asked you to leave."

Wei Zhongxian was bitter in his heart, but fortunately, a Jingjun next to him brought a simple three dishes and one soup.

"This kid has a heart, and he still remembers our family's ......"

couldn't help but praise Wei Liangqing, Wei Zhongxian didn't care about this simple meal, and buried his head in eating nonsense.

By the time he wiped his mouth and walked out of Jiming Town, Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Ciran had already taken the carriage found by Wei Liangqing and walked three miles to the south.

Seeing this, Wei Zhongxian had to lead the rest of the people to chase after him on horseback.

It was Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Ciran, although they barely raised the strength to eat and get into the car, but as the carriage drove on the road, the sound of horses' hooves continued to hypnotize them, and the two still leaned on the car and fell asleep.

As the sky got brighter and brighter, the two of them slept deeper and deeper until they ......

"Phew—"

Suddenly, the carriage stopped, Zhu Youxiao was awakened, Zhu Ciran opened his eyes in a daze, but he only turned over, and he continued to fall asleep.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at him, then opened the window of the car, and asked Wei Liangqing, who was talking to thousands of households under his command not far from the carriage, "Why did you stop?" How far have you got? ”

Wei Liangqing saw that Zhu Youxiao was awake, and hurriedly rode to the carriage to make a gesture: "After traveling thirty miles, only twelve miles arrived at Dading Palace." ”

"However, the Tang cavalry in front said that they had seen the cavalry of the Gongwei battalion, but there was no cavalry of the Gongwei battalion in Yanshan County, so the minister asked the army to stop and wait for the men and horses in front to continue to hurry."

"Hmm......" Zhu Youxiao nodded slightly when he heard this, and then closed the window.

After about a quarter of an hour, the sound of horses' hooves was heard in the distance, and Wei Liangqing was also on guard with the cavalry of Yiluan.

Hundreds of cavalry rushed out from the corner of the flat river valley, waving the banner of the Miyun Battalion.

Seeing this, Wei Liangqing breathed a sigh of relief, and these hundreds of cavalry also stopped in front of the army, and then a general dressed in a general's armor came to the front of the formation, and Wei Liangqing also rode his horse and leaned up.

"Jin Qi, the general of the Miyun Battalion, dare to ask Commander Wei, long live the dragon body saint Anhu?"

"Long live the dragon body is still safe, dare to ask General Jin, where are the remaining soldiers and horses in the Miyun Battalion? What is the status of Yanshan County? The palace will return to Beijing next? ”

Jin Qi and Wei Liangqing exchanged information with each other after a dozen steps, and Jin Qi was relieved to hear that the emperor had nothing to do, and then said:

"Under the palace and the emperor's heirs, all the mothers and mothers are returning to Beijing by train, Yanshan County is currently defending less than 100 people, and there are only 500 brocade guards in Dading Palace.

"Please wait a while, and the official will send someone to spread the word."

Wei Liangqing responded, and then sent thousands of households around him to pass it on.

Qianhu passed the news back to Zhu Youxiao, and Zhu Youxiao naturally would not refuse to meet Jin Xuan, because he remembered that Jin Qi was Jin Xuan's younger brother.

Kim Hyun is a direct minister, so even if his only younger brother Jin Ji is not a direct minister, it is unlikely that he will be a minister, because Kim Hyun has a good family style.

Under Zhu Youxiao's nod, Jin Qi and Wei Liangqing quickly rode to the carriage, and then the two turned over and dismounted and walked to the side of the carriage.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Jin Xuan, and had to say that he looked similar to his brother Jin Xuan, with a wide nose and a wide face, thick eyebrows and long eyes, and a loyal minister.

"Chen Miyun will knock on the Jin Jin to see long live, please long live the horse and gallop to Anjiang Town, the minister will stay in Yanshan County, and at the same time respond to the various departments, organize the soldiers and horses of all departments to resist the enemy after the long live break."

It's not a family, it's not a door.

The first thing Jin Qi did after seeing Zhu Youxiao was to kneel down and salute, and the second thing was to bluntly give Zhu Youxiao's advice to withdraw south.

There was no problem with what he said at other times, but at the moment, Zhu Youxiao was not sure whether the Shangzhi Gongwei Battalion could be as loyal as him, so he hesitated.

Seeing Zhu Youxiao's hesitation, Wei Zhongxian, who had not slept well, was furious, pointed at Jin Qi and scolded:

"How can you know how to retreat south, you are a little general? Before Commander Wei could speak, you were talking nonsense here. ”

"If you dare to speak of the heart of the cholera army, I will give you thirty lashes first, so that you can know how to punish the crime of transgression."

As soon as Wei Zhongxian opened his mouth, he helped Zhu Youxiao solve the question of how to answer Jin Zheng, and when Zhu Youxiao saw this, he also pretended to be angry and scolded Wei Zhongxian:

】

"General Jin Shen spoke out for the sake of my safety, how can you dare to speak insulting?"

"Slave and maid are guilty of death!" Hearing Zhu Youxiao scolding himself, Wei Zhongxian hurriedly pretended to be afraid, and Zhu Youxiao didn't care about him, but smiled at Jin Qi and comforted:

"What General Jin said is very right, but the current situation is unclear, and there are Gongwei battalions coming to support each mountain road."

"If I withdraw to the capital in ashes, I'm afraid it's not appropriate, why don't I wait for the middle palace to return to Beijing and send the imperial city Flying Bear, Dragon and Tiger two guards and horses to respond, and then go south?"

Zhu Youxiao has his own considerations, why doesn't he know that he should break through quickly now? But the problem is that he doesn't believe in the upright Gongwei camp at the moment.

Zhang Yan had already returned to the capital with several of his children, and if they returned to Beijing safely and took control of the situation, then Zhu Youxiao could also be sure that there was no danger in retreating south to Beijing, so he retreated south under the guards of the Gongwei battalion.

If Zhang Yan and the others can't control the situation after returning to Beijing, and someone in the capital controls them, then Zhu Youxiao can't retreat south, but should stay in Yanshan County obediently, and at the same time summon Zhu Youzhen to return to Beijing.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao immediately said to Wei Zhongxian: "Send eight hundred miles to expedite and send King Qi to Dading Palace to escort him." ”

"In addition, an urgent order was sent to the capital, ordering Wang An and Cao Huachun to bring the two guards and horses of Feixiong and Dragon and Tiger to rescue them."

"Then order all Gong guard battalions to guard the mountain road and guard against the northern captives, and the soldiers and horses other than the three guards of the imperial city and the Miyun battalion are not allowed to approach Yanshan County for thirty miles."

Zhu Youxiao said this, Wei Zhongxian immediately stood up and responded, and then went to handle his instructions.

At the same time, Jin Qi and Wei Liangqing also reacted, not because Jin Qi's suggestion was not good, but because the emperor did not trust the Shangzhi Gong Guard Camp at the moment.

Even if it was Jin Xuan, if it weren't for Jin Xuan's relationship, I am afraid that Zhu Youxiao would have let him lead his troops to be stationed far away.

For Zhu Youxiao, two thousand Yiluan guards and three thousand Miyun battalions are more than enough to guard Dading Palace, even if the northern captives raise 100,000 troops to come, Dading Palace can hold on for ten days and half a month.

This little time was enough for him to see the situation in Beizhili and Guanwai clearly.

Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao also closed the car window, and Wei Liangqing and Jin Qi saw this, so they could only helplessly escort Zhu Youxiao south.

Finally, at the seventh quarter of the hour (6:45), Zhu Youxiao and the others arrived at the Dading Palace.

But when he got out of the car, Jin Jin still stubbornly suggested: "Long live, the city wall of Dading Palace is low and not easy to defend, why don't you go to Yanshan County under the mountain?" ”

"Huh...... Qing loves and protects me, I know it, but the north is more than 400 miles from here, and it is more than one move to move Yanshan......"

Zhu Youxiao smiled and appeased Jin Qi, but Jin Qi knew that the emperor was still not at ease, so he was reluctant to enter Yanshan County.

To put it bluntly, except for the county governor of Yanshan County, who is a member of the Donglin Party, the other officials up and down are all Yanshan faction officials, and Zhu Youxiao does not know who wants to harm him, and when the Yanshan faction officials are the most suspicious, it is naturally impossible to go to the city managed by the Yanshan faction officials.

Although the city wall of Dading Palace is not high, unless Lin Dan Khan's cavalry can fly across the four hundred miles of river valley, the two zhang city wall is enough.

Therefore, Zhu Youxiao entered Dading Palace with a smile and went to his Qingquan Palace to rest.

As for Zhu Ciran, he was also confused because of the fatigue and anxiety along the way, and after coming to Dading Palace, he returned to his Chunhe Palace to rest.

Seeing this, Wei Liangqing and Jin Qi were also helpless, and only scored a defensive area.

Jin Qi led Miyun to guard the outer court of Dading Palace, and Wei Liangqing led 2,000 cavalry of Yiluan to guard the inner court.

Fortunately, now that the concubines are gone, except for dozens of palace maids, there are no other female scrolls in the inner court, so there are not too many problems with the garrison of soldiers and horses.

But even so, Jin Qian still asked Yanshan County for 10,000 catties of gunpowder and 5,000 stone bullets.

There were 200 pieces of artillery in Dading Palace, plus the stock of gunpowder and stone shells, which was enough to fight for four hours.

In four hours, if the emperor ordered, then the guards would climb to Dading Palace.

After making these arrangements, Jin Jin was really relieved.

Since he didn't rest all night, after handing over the defense in a hurry, he went to the ear room at the gate of Zhu Youzhen's Changchun Palace to rest.

Not only him, but Wei Liangqing, Wei Zhongxian and others also rested one after another, and the five thousand soldiers and horses in the entire Dading Palace were also very tired, so they could only take turns to rest.

However, when they were resting, with the sound of the train's whistle, the train taken by Zhang Yan and others also arrived at the railway station of Beijing North Railway Station at the time of the hour.

Without entering the station, Zhang Yan saw through the glass the hundreds of civil and military officials on the platform, and when the car stopped, Zhang Yan did not get off in a hurry, but asked Yiluanwei to summon thirteen major officials including the cabinet, the six ministries, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate to enter the train.

Yi Luanwei got out of the car and made room for everyone's deliberations, Gu Bingqian and other thirteen people walked up, but they didn't see Zhang Yan.

After a quarter of an hour, Zhang Yan appeared in the carriage with Zhu Ciji and Zhu Cijiong with the same appearance as usual.

"His Royal Highness Chitose ......"

Seeing the three of them appear, Gu Bingqian and the others got up and saluted, Zhang Yan also bowed slightly when she saw this, sat down in a position in the carriage calmly, and asked Gu Bingqian and the others:

"After the news of the Beiyu Knock Pass arrives, do you have any arrangements for Gu Ge Lao and you?"

"The minister has sent Feixiong Wei and the Huairou battalion, the Changping battalion, and the Jizhou battalion to support, and sent a message to inform His Royal Highness the King of Qi."

As soon as Gu Bingqian spoke, he snatched the credit, but no one was bothering with him at the moment, but they were all waiting for Zhang Yan's reaction.

However, Zhang Yan was not shocked when she heard this, and pretended to be calm and said: "This time, let's talk about it when Banzai comes back." ”

"The ministers and other ministers are ......" Gu Bingqian and the others returned the salute when they heard this, and Zhang Yan saw that the cabinet, the six ministries, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate were all so obedient, and they immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and then said:

"Let the hundred officials disperse, and later I will go to Andingmen and Xuanwu Gate with the two highnesses to enter the inner court."

"The ministers are retiring......" Gu Bingqian, who heard the words, didn't say anything, but led people out of the carriage.

After that, they dismissed the hundred officials, and when the hundred officials heard that the two princes had returned to Beijing, they immediately felt most of the peace of mind, and they left with a sigh of relief.

As for Zhang Yan, she followed what she said, took people to Andingmen, and returned to Kunning Palace after entering Xuanwu Gate.

She thought that something would happen to the inner court, but things didn't develop so badly, even if the Hakka clan who were domineering on weekdays were a lot more low-key.

However, after returning to the palace, Zhang Yan was still a little uneasy, so she left Zhu Ciyan and Zhu Cijiong in her Kunning Palace, and ordered someone to go to the Qi Palace, summoning Yuan Xi, the concubine of the Qi Palace.

"Let me enter the palace?"

In the palace of King Qi, when Concubine Yuan Xi heard that the queen had passed her into the palace, she immediately felt a little uneasy in her heart.

After all, she is the princess of Qi, and someone told her about the Beiyu knock on the customs as soon as possible, but the left-behind generals in the palace all asked the palace maids to send messages to appease her, saying that the Qi palace was safer than the palace, and asked her not to go out of the palace.

She is not a fool, the twenty Shangzhi Gong Guard Battalion of Kaiping Mansion put the northern captives into Kaiping Mansion, and even threatened the emperor's safety, in this case, the subordinate officials of the Qi Mansion are the most suspicious.

At this time, the first thing the queen did when she came back was to pass herself into the palace, could it be that this matter was related to her own prince?

"It shouldn't be ......"

Yuan Xifei thought of her prince's appearance that he was not keen on power and the throne on weekdays, and her heart couldn't help but settle down.

However, at the thought of entering the palace, she was still a little uneasy, so Cao Huachun and Wang Chengen were called, and after the two arrived, she immediately said straight to the point:

"The middle palace passed me into the palace, what do you think?"

Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun glanced at each other when they heard this, and then Cao Huachun took a step forward and said: "Niangniang can enter the palace with confidence, and the middle palace should not embarrass Niangniang." ”

Cao Huachun knew very well in his heart that no matter whether the matter had anything to do with His Royal Highness or not, Zhang Yan was not qualified to punish Yuan Xifei.

Not to mention that there are still Daxing Battalion and Wanping Battalion stationed in the capital, Huanglong, who has just arrived in Tianjin today and has more than 20,000 soldiers and horses by his side, is not easy to get along.

If Concubine Yuan Xi suffers the anger she shouldn't have, I'm afraid that with Huanglong's violent temper, he will immediately give it to the cabinet and ask the cabinet how to manage the capital.

In Cao Huachun's opinion, Zhang Yan put it bluntly, she didn't trust the inner court to protect her, Zhu Ciyan and others, so she let Yuan Xi Concubine enter the palace to accompany her.

After all, Yuan Xi Concubine is the concubine of her Royal Highness, whether it is the Governor of the Five Armies or the Yanshan faction, or a civil official, in short, no matter who wants to harm Zhang Yan and the imperial heir, but if Yuan Xi Concubine is there, they will all throw a mouse taboo, so Zhang Yan let Yuan Xi Concubine enter the palace, just to ask for a "talisman".

Therefore, Cao Huachun was not worried about the safety of Yuan Xi's concubine, but explained to her:

"The middle palace may have been frightened and wanted to let the mother enter the palace to accompany him."

"That's good......" Seeing Cao Huachun say this, Concubine Yuan Xi breathed a sigh of relief, and then arranged for someone to send her into the palace.

As Cao Huachun expected, after Yuan Xi's concubine entered Kunning Palace, Zhang Yan immediately walked out of the side hall to greet her, and took her hand and said miserably:

"Although it is safe in this palace, this time things are a little dangerous, and I can't sleep when I come back, so I ask my sister for comfort."

"Sister rest assured......" Seeing that Zhang Yan came to her for this, Yuan Xifei also breathed a sigh of relief.

The two entered the side hall together, and then comforted each other in the deserted palace......