Compared with the Jiangnan, Northeast and Northwest that have been full of wolf smoke and even blood, the imperial capital, as the center of the world, still maintains a superficial peace on the occasion of the arrival of the New Year, except that the price of rice has risen again, except that the number of displaced people has become more numerous, except that the people's hearts are more panicked, and in addition to the increase in taxes, the rest seems to be no different from previous years.

In this spring, the Great Qi Imperial Court finally breathed a sigh of relief, the situation in Jiangnan, which was originally very critical after the defeat of Dongting Lake, finally stabilized after Xiaoge Lao went to Jiangnan, although it is not yet a counteroffensive to quell the rebellion, but there is no need to worry about the huge Jiangnan becoming someone else's thing in one day, after all, the situation will not be eroded to the point where it cannot be controlled.

At this time, after a major defeat of the Northeast Frontier Army, its offensive finally weakened, and Zhao Wouji, the governor of the left capital of the Chinese army stationed in Shanhai City, was ordered to return to the imperial capital during the truce and report to Her Royal Highness Xiao Zhinan.

Now that the Metropolitan Governor Wei Ban is deceased, the position of the Metropolitan Governor is vacant, although Zao Wou-Ki is not among the four handsomes of the year, but in terms of seniority, Zao Wou-Ki is undoubtedly the best candidate to succeed the Metropolitan Governor, so Zao Wou-Ki's return to Beijing this time, in the eyes of many people, is just a test of the imperial court, after all, now Zao Wou-Ki is heavy on the army, and the Northeast Mu clan is outside, which can be said to be a well-deserved pillar of the country. Jiangnan can't be a day without Xu Nangui, the northwest can't be a day without Zhang Sick, and Zhili can't be without Zhao Fuji for a day", just as Lan Yu called Qiuye, Wanyan Beiyue, and Xu Beiyou as the "Three Sages" on the Tianji list, and the government and the opposition also regarded Xu Beiyou, Zhang Wuji and Zhao Wuji as the pillars of the three major countries of the Great Qi Dynasty.

In fact, the princes of Miaotan also know that Xu Beiyou is the adopted son of Han Ge Lao and the emperor's son-in-law of Her Royal Highness the Princess, Zhang Wuxian is also a member of the Han Party, and it is natural to respect the two.

For such a pivotal figure to come to Beijing, the Manchu dynasty should have attached great importance to it. After all, in troubled times, civil ministers must be inferior to military generals, especially this kind of commander of an army with military power, and can even influence the situation of the whole world, and no matter how high and powerful the civil officials are, they are always a bird in a cage in the center, and they are often bound by various monarchs and ministers. But the generals who lead the troops outside will not be so easily tied to death, holding the capital of the army, there are precedents such as the yellow robe, and there are many concerns of the literati.

Of course, the imperial court is not completely without the power to resist, the imperial court balances these frontier armies fundamentally lies in the weight of grain and grass, hundreds of thousands of troops are not heavenly soldiers who do not eat or drink, if they are cut off from food and grass, they will have the worry of defeat without a fight, and the two sides are afraid of each other, and they will not be able to rebel easily without military forces until they are really a last resort.

When Zao Wou-Ki returned to Beijing this time, he did not move the crowd, but only brought about a dozen or so personal guards, and the court did not greet him with great fanfare, and even was surprisingly quiet, so that Zao Wou-Ki and his party passed through most of Zhili Prefecture, and none of the officials along the way were lucky enough to see one of the three pillars.

When Zao Wou-Ki arrived in the imperial capital, he did not go to see Han Xuan and Xiao Zhinan for the first time, but first went to see Wei Wuji, who was now in an embarrassing position in the imperial court.

The two met in the back house of Wei Wuji's mansion, and the two sat opposite each other in the lakeside pavilion, and then they were silent. Few people know now that the two have actually known each other for a while, as early as when Wei Wuji was still called Wei Xianji, Zao Wou-Ki had already met him, of course, at that time he had another name, Pranya.

As early as the end of the Great Zheng Dynasty, the White Lotus Sect swept the world again, Zhang Dingguo and Wei Xianji were the backbone of the sect, when Xiao Yu was outside the Northwest Pass and looked at the world, following the example of the Great Zheng Imperial Court to set up a secret guard mansion, and there were four secret guards directly belonging to him, namely the shadow, the evil tiger, The ghost and the pranya, of which the shadow is responsible for intelligence detection, the evil tiger and the ghost are responsible for the protection of Xiao Yu and Zhongdu respectively, only the identity of the pranya is the most mysterious, and his whereabouts are erratic, and then he was sent by Xiao Yu to Jiangnan, joined the White Lotus Sect as the pseudonym of Zao Wou-ki, and had a very close relationship with Zhang Dingguo and Wei Xianji, and later, Praruo single-handedly contributed to Zhang Dingguo and Wei Xianji to lead the troops to submit to Xiao Yu, and Xiao Yu followed the name of Zao Wou-ki, and gave the names Zhang Wuji and Wei Wuji respectively.

From this point of view, Zao Wou-Ki and Wei Wuji should have had a very close relationship, but it was precisely because of Zao Wou-ki's rebellion that Wei and Zhang always had a grudge against them, and even difficult to let go, so that over the years, the relationship between the three of them has been repeated, far and near, and it is far from being able to talk about advancing and retreating together.

Zao Wou-Ki pinched the teacup in his hand and took the lead in speaking: "I won't stay too long when I return to Beijing this time, the reason why I came to see you first is to hear your views on the current situation." ”

Wei Wuji's expression became solemn, "Is it a battle situation?"

Zhao Wou-Ki took a sip of tea, put down the teacup in his hand again, and said: "The dust has settled on the imperial capital, I have nothing to care about, on the northeast side, I also know it myself, I want to know what you think of the northwest and Jiangnan." ”

Wei Wuji thought for a moment and said softly: " In fact, the northwest side is not worried, only Zhang Wuzhi can be maintained, the reason is also very simple, the grassland army is not good at attacking, attacking but not overcome, relying on cavalry to defeat the enemy, but can not defend, gain and lose, as long as the court is not chaotic, to ensure that the northwest grain and grass continue, it seems that the menacing grassland army can not set off any wind and waves, so the key is still in the south of the Yangtze River, the prince of Wei led the army to go up the river, occupy Dongting, block the river, cut off the transport, and do not see how in a short time, but as the time is long, it is enough to make the court overstretched in the matter of money and grain。 Even if the river is not lost now, the entire Jiangnan has been divided, the river has become an isolated city, Yu Kuang can only retreat to the two Xiang, even if the old man of the small pavilion went to Jiangnan and repeatedly turned the tide, but looking at the entire situation in Jiangnan, it is still not fundamentally reversed, in my opinion, the next battle still has to be fought around Jiangnan. ”

Zao Wou-Ki smiled and said with emotion: "Supporting the building to fall and turning the tide to the top, this is what Xu Nangui has been doing, in fact, he has done half of it." If it weren't for him, Jiangdu would have fallen, and then the two would have lost, Jiangzhou and Huzhou would have fallen, and the situation in the entire south of the Yangtze River would have been eroded, and at the same time, Shuzhou would have become a lonely land, and the northwest states would have become a dangerous place. ”

Wei Wuji was silent for a moment, and said slowly: "This is a dilemma, but it is not a dead end, and now it is up to Xu Nangui how to break the situation." ”