Chu Ying, who was beaten, was the oldest among his sons, but he was beaten the most, and the other sons also broke out in a cold sweat when they saw this, this thing Daddy's black pot turned out to be carried by his sons, and when he grew up, did he have to beat him every three days and two days? It's horrible.

So, one by one, the sons bowed their heads and were silent, not daring to look at Nurhachi's face.

Nurhachi, who knew the plan, beat Chu Ying and maintained his glorious image, and immediately ordered to turn around and return to Ningyuan, since they dared to attack, we would attack their lair.

That's right, Nurhachi calculated very accurately, Ningyuan City was air-defense, and it was a good time to invade.

It can't be said that the city air defense is empty, it should be that there is no one at all.

The Later Jin Army pursued the front army of the Ming army unsuccessfully, and when it turned around again, the middle army of the Ming army and the rear army had withdrawn from Ningyuan, leaving an empty city for Nurhachi.

The retreat of the large army on the battlefield is definitely an art, and it is not easy to retreat successfully without spending a single soldier.

But Chu Fan, who was safely withdrawn, did not publicize it, and did not publicize a Dunkirk retreat as a victory like the British did in World War II, after all, Chu Fan still wanted to be faced, quietly placed the troops in the training ground outside the capital, and quietly returned to the city.

Chu Fan, who returned to the capital, knew very well that something had happened, and he rushed back to the house as soon as possible and called Zhang Yutong and Shen Wei to talk.

"Tong'er, Wei'er, the situation is urgent now, according to Hong'er's understanding, the withdrawal of the army this time is mainly because of my personal affairs, I will go to face the saint tonight, I don't know what the situation is, in case I don't come back to see you, you will act at the opportunity, once there is a signal that my matter is relatively big, immediately follow Qiao Feng to the west, Hong'er, if you can protect yourself, you can deal with me near the capital, if you are also in danger, follow Qiao Feng together."

Zhang Yutong's first reaction was to cry, and tears flowed down his eyes and said, "Xianggong, what is the matter?" If you have three longs and two shorts, what is the meaning of my life? ”

Shen Wei also grabbed Chu Fan's hand tightly and said, "Xianggong, you are the root of the family, without you, what is the use of our family?" You can't go to death, you can't, let's run away now, at least the family will be together. ”

Chu Fan shook his head and said to the two women: "I am a minister of the imperial court, even if the imperial court treats me unfairly, it is impossible for me to bear the reputation of defection, you can rest assured, I will definitely be fine." "Xianggong, you lied to people, if you are okay, why did you send us away?" Shen Wei's brain was still much more flexible, and she soon discovered the loophole in Chu Fan's speech.

"Wei'er, if I am controlled, those who want to kill me on weekdays will move, but I am inside, anyway, there is Hong'er to respond, and the emperor to protect me, at least there is no worry about my life, and you orphans and widows are outside, but I can't protect you, if you have three longs and two shorts, how can I live?"

Chu Fan obviously figured out that this catastrophe was not directed at him by the emperor, but someone was instigating it behind the scenes, but he couldn't say who it was, but he was sure that the emperor would not kill him, after all, it was not yet time to unload the mill and kill the donkey

Qin Hong saw that Chu Fan couldn't resist the two women, and said: "Two sisters, this matter is operated by the East Factory, in fact, it is better, at least the strength of the West Factory is still higher than that of the East Factory, I can still mediate in the middle, it should not be so bad, you and listen to the arrangement of the Xianggong, you may not go far, at least hide first, don't expose yourself to the enemy, so that the Xianggong does not have to be distracted to take care of you and the children, so that you can concentrate on dealing with the enemy." ”

It is still a woman who understands women, and when it comes to delaying her husband, and when it comes to not being a burden to her husband, the women panic, for fear that they will affect her husband's affairs, so they quickly nodded and agreed. Hugging Shen Wei and Zhang Yutong again, Chu Fan comforted a few words, picked up Chu Pingping and Chu Tingting, kissed left and right, and coaxed the children to the backyard, Chu Fan resolutely put on court clothes and walked out of the door.

As soon as I walked out of the house, I heard a slight shaking of the leaves on the nearby trees.

Qin Hong, who was following behind Chu Fan, quietly pulled Chu Fan's sleeve and whispered, "There are spies nearby, there should be more than one." ”

Chu Fan smiled and said, "That's natural, at such a time, naturally there are many people staring at me." ”

I didn't care, and continued to walk towards the Forbidden City.

Although Chu Fan was an official residence in the Sanpin Military Department, he was not granted the privilege of riding a horse in the palace, so in addition to registering and applying to enter the Forbidden City, he still had to walk for a long time to reach the emperor's study.

After entering the end gate, I didn't take a few steps, but I was stopped by Gao Huai halfway.

"Lord Chu, please speak to the side."

Chu Fan waved his hand, signaling Qin Hong not to follow, and followed Gao Huai to the side.

Gao Huai usually received a lot of benefits from Chu Fan, and he was grateful to Chu Fan, and Chu Fan has always been more friendly to Gao Huai, unlike those who lift people and jinshi, are arrogant and arrogant, and never treat eunuchs as people, so Gao Huai has always been very close to Chu Fan.

To the side, Gao Huai quietly said to Chu Fan: "Lord Chu, something happened, Zhu Yiling was sent back from North Korea, and he has been crazy since he came back, and he just scolded you every day, and was quietly raised in the house by Ran Xing, Dongchang has been paying attention to this matter, a few days ago, the emperor sent someone to check on Zhu Yiling's situation, only to find that Ran Xing let this guy quietly kill the prince, the emperor was in a hurry, so he asked Dongchang to arrest Ran Xingrang for questioning, tortured and tortured, Ran Xingrang confessed to the negotiation of the second wave of countries, said that you agreed to the conditions at will to cause the negotiation to break down, and the emperor was furious and sent 400,000 troops to the expedition, and the emperor was furious, so he asked you to return to Beijing.

"That's it?" Chu Fan touched his head, it shouldn't be.

Chu Fan didn't say too many details to Wanli about the negotiation of the second wave country, and Wanli didn't ask in detail, but Wanli has always had speculations about the outcome of this matter, but Chu Fan didn't admit it, and Ran Xingrang didn't talk nonsense, so Wanli has not studied it deeply, but the general situation of the matter, Wanli has a number in his heart, and he also knows that Chu Fan must be a little foolish about the people of the second wave country, and he Wanli himself has a certain responsibility for this matter, before you negotiated with the envoy of the second wave country, you did not discuss with Chu Fan, came up and sent people away with a word, and didn't even give them a chance to bargain.

Therefore, if Chu Fan gave up Ning Yuan just for this matter and brought the troops back to see him, it should not be.

"Father-in-law Gao, a little heart, you accept it, my brother's future is uncertain, in case I can't honor your old man in the future, I will give you a goodbye gift." As he spoke, Chu Fan handed an envelope to Gao Huai.

Gao Huai hurriedly shirked and said: "How do you say this, our brothers are all respectful of each other, thanks to the fact that adults can afford Gao, those who can help must help their brothers." ”

"Father-in-law Gao, this is urgent, you can accept it." With that, he walked away without looking back.

Don't be too high, Chu Fan walked to the imperial study, and couldn't help but feel worried in his heart, if it was just a matter of Zhu Yiling negotiating with Cibo Kingdom, Wanli would definitely not pull him back from the front line, and even the troops would be pulled back.

And Gao Huai, as the closest eunuch to Wanli, must know general things, if even Gao Huai doesn't know, this matter is definitely not trivial.

The little eunuch in front of the door knocked lightly on the door of the study and whispered, "Your Majesty, Lord Chu is here." ”

"Hmm."

Chu Fan gently pushed open the door, only to see Wanli sitting in front of the bookcase, correcting the notes.

"Your Majesty, Minister Chufan ......"

"Get on your knees." Before Chu Fan could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Wanli.

"Are you guilty?"

"Minister, confess the crime, the minister's ten major sins have always been hung in the account books."

Wanli picked his eyes, glanced at Chu Fan and said, "Don't say this again, how many things do you still have to hide from me?" ”

Chu Fan was used to not being very serious with Wanli, Wanli suddenly stopped joking, knowing that the situation was not good, and quickly knelt down and returned: "Your Majesty, if the minister forgets to report something, the minister is guilty, if the minister deliberately conceals something, please ask the emperor to commit a serious crime."

"Hmph, come out and take him down."

As he was talking, two people suddenly burst out of the study, wearing Dongchang uniforms, and couldn't help but say, set up Chu Fan, put on shackles, and dragged him out.

"Your Majesty!" Chu Fan just shouted, but saw Wanli waving his hand, without raising his head, with a look of disdain.

Chu Fan didn't struggle anymore, and let the two of them drag him out.

When he arrived at the Dongchang prison, Chu Fan was pushed into the cell, the door was locked, and there was no one.

This cell is not as good as the five-star cell in Ganzhou, and there are people waiting to take care of it, and ordinary people here can't get in at all.

Dongchang is not a police station, nor is it the commander of Jiumen, regardless of public security, only the people the emperor wants to arrest, only the people who Dongchang wants to do, the guards are strict, except for the gang, no one else will generally be imprisoned.

Inside the cell, there was only a handful of hay, no bedding and no water, and because it had been vacant for a long time, it smelled of mustiness.

This night, Chu Fan curled up in the corner, his nose and face were swollen, and he was swinging vigorously.

Although the East Factory is very mysterious, Gao Huai quickly brought out the news that Chu Fan was arrested by the East Factory.

Qiao Feng took Zhang Yutong, Shen Wei, and the two daughters of the Chu family to go out to the west gate for the first time, and disappeared into the night without looking back.

On the second day, just after dawn, a eunuch with a huge belly shook into the prison with square steps, followed by four or five figures dressed as samurai.

Chu Fan was taken out of the cell and placed on the torture table for questioning.

"Chu Fan, if you cooperate, you will suffer less flesh and skin, if you resist and delay my errand, then don't blame me for not being able to live it."

Chu Fan was very uncomfortable on the torture table.

According to Chu Fan's height, his arms are obviously higher than the torture table, but when his two hands are chained to the ends of the torture platform, he can't support his body and can only squat half-squat.

Seeing the design of this torture table, Chu Fan knew that the story of the Ming Dynasty Dongchang was not fake, how could it be uncomfortable, and he couldn't eat the loss in front of him, so he should ask anything.

"Father-in-law, Chu is not guilty of killing his head, if there is anything that cannot be admitted, you ask, I will answer."

The fat eunuch's eyes widened, and he drank: "There is no sin of killing the head?" Are you playing this with me Lis? Are you getting impatient? ”

"Father-in-law Li, let's discuss something, even if I am guilty of killing my head, as long as you have evidence, I will admit it, let's not use the punishment, okay? You untie it for me first, we have something to say, and we will cooperate with you, and the rest, as long as you have words, the small ones will fall. ”

Li Si squinted, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and he said in his heart, "This kid is quite on the road." ”

This is true, Chu Fan is indeed very on the road.

The most fundamental purpose of Dongchang's arrest is to handle cases and iron cases.

Eunuchs are not all perverted, they are not abusive and playful in the East Factory, as long as you confess your guilt as soon as possible according to the meaning of the East Factory, close the case, and the East Factory has handed over the business, everything will be discussed.

The latter sentence is even clearer, as long as there is no punishment, the benefits are great, Li Si has been a eunuch in Dongchang for half his life, and it is impossible not to understand the meaning.

If you don't say a word as soon as you come in, you start to scold the eunuch to death and wronged the loyal minister, how to do it, then I estimate that you will die worse than a pig.

This kind of result is preferred by everyone, and it can be regarded as a great joy for all.

"Okay, then put Master Chu down."

Xu Yiyi, the title has changed, the treatment has naturally changed, the seat has been arranged, and a cup of tea has been poured.

"Master Chu, then let's start asking."

"Hmm"

The little eunuchs on both sides of Li Si raised their brushes and began to record.

"How many troops are there in Datong Mansion, do you know?"

Chu Fan thought for a while and said: "Now Taiyuan Mansion has 6,000 original defenders, 10,000 Tibetan soldiers, and 3,000 Ganzhou guards, a total of 19,000 people. ”

"Well, Lord Shilang really knows, so why didn't Ningyuan transfer these 20,000 people to Ningyuan to assist in the defense during the Great War, but left them in Datong?"

Chu Fan smiled and said, "Father-in-law, is Datong close to the capital or would you rather stay away from the capital?" ”

"That's naturally closer."

"So, father-in-law, if you, don't you put some troops in Datong to prevent the enemy army from bypassing Ning Yuan and heading straight to the capital?"

"Well, what's this...... Okay, then I'll ask you again, you only have 30,000 people in Ningyuan, how can you resist the 1 million troops of the Japanese and Jurchen (the Japanese-Jin coalition army claims to be 1 million)"

"Father-in-law, the troops are all claimed to be tens of thousands, but there are not even a million."

"Of course I know this, but no matter how little it is, it is more than ten times as many as you, how can you hold the city without hurting a single soldier? But they deliberately lost to you? ”

"Father-in-law, what do you think? Who will put on a show with more than 100,000 heads? You can casually ask the soldiers of the Qi family, and they all saw that they left more than 100,000 corpses and fled. ”

Then, why did you let the Qi family army take the initiative to abandon Liaoyang and Shenyang and retreat to Ningyuan?

"This strategy is known to the emperor, and I let them in, and it was arranged later."

"Then you took the initiative to apply to go to Ningyuan to supervise the battle in person, what do you want?"

"Well, naturally, I'm going to go to Ningyuan to meet my old acquaintances in person, what is Chief Konishi, Konishi Fei, Li Rubai?"

When Li Si heard this, he couldn't help but look left and right, and said in a slight shock: "Yo, I took the initiative to explain, then, the rebel general Li Rubai was once your lieutenant?" ”

"Li Rubai?" Chu Fan suddenly stood up from his chair.

"He did serve as a deputy chief soldier under me."

Liston breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's right, look at this letter." ”

As he spoke, Li Si took out a letter from his cuff and wrote on the envelope: General Soldier Chu personally opened.

Unfold the stationery and read as follows:

Lord General Soldier, according to your deployment, the Jin Wei army will be defeated in Ningyuan, and then it is agreed that on the 22nd day of the lunar month, the first part of the Japanese army will bypass Ningyuan and attack Shanhaiguan, and you will send Ningyuan's whole army to assist in the defense of Shanhaiguan, and we will take the main force of the two armies of the Japanese and Jinjin to go straight to Datong, meet the Tibetan soldiers in Datong, and go straight to Beijing.

Subordinate: Li Rubai.

The letter is weird and clever.

First of all, I talked about the envelope, called Chu Zongbing, which was Chu Fan's old position, and it was the position when he worked with Li Rubai.

not only explained the relationship between them, but also reflected Chu Fan's former position in the Liaodong Iron Cavalry.

This is very ruthless.

As we all know, the Jin soldiers entered Liaodong because Li Rubai rebelled and surrendered the land fort, and Nurhachi saw the hope of invading the Ming Dynasty.

After Li Rubai rebelled, not only did he join Houjin, but the remnants of the Liaodong Iron Cavalry under his jurisdiction were also brought by him to join Houjin's camp.

At this time, the former chief soldier of the Liaodong Iron Cavalry, Li Rubai's former boss, although Chu Fan had already left the Liaodong Iron Cavalry, he was forced to be involved by this title alone.

The latter part is even more bizarre.

It was very clever to turn Chu Fan's defensive arrangement into a flawless offensive plan after interpretation.

Thinking about it from another perspective, if I were Wanli, the current situation for me is: Datong has 13,000 Tibetan soldiers and Ganzhou Wei troops, 400,000 Cibo troops, 300,000 Houjin troops, and only 30,000 troops that really belong to Ningyuan and 20,000 in Beijing.

Ningyuan City is not important, but Ningyuan's 30,000 people are a nail in Liaodong, no matter which side these troops attack the capital from, they must be afraid that Ningyuan's 30,000 people will make small moves behind them.

Now, this letter explains the battle situation clearly, as long as the gate of Datong City is opened, and 30,000 people in Ningyuan are transferred away from the mountain, the capital is simply a fish on the chopping block.

Who else and who doesn't think about it?

The ingenious content of this letter, the ruthlessness of the intentions, it is really commendable, not to mention the ordinary eunuch, it is a scheming official, I am afraid that it is not easy to write such an ingeniously designed article that perfectly combines with the real situation, it can be seen that Chu Fan's opponent this time is definitely not an idle person.

Moreover, this letter was found in Chu Fan's mansion, but Chu Fan himself didn't know it yet.

"Father-in-law, where did you get this letter?" Chu Fan realized that this was a very lethal letter, and his voice became serious.

"Chu Fan, let's cooperate well and don't pretend to be confused."

Chu Fan arched his hand and said to Li Si: "Chu has indeed never seen this letter, father-in-law, I Chu Fan promised to cooperate well, and I will definitely cooperate well, but it's really not mine, I can't make up a story for you, right?" ”

"Chu Fan, this thing was found in your study, are you still quibbling?"

"My lord, it's really not mine, I haven't seen it."