When Wang Xian returned to the Earl's Mansion after a long absence, it was already dark, and he could only see a beautiful silhouette in front of the dining room window, which was Gu Xiaolian waiting for his return.
"Sorry, I'm late." Wang Xian walked in and gently held her hand.
Gu Xiaolian shook her head and said softly: "I'm willing to wait." Although she couldn't see anything yet, a happy smile gradually appeared on her face.
The maid quickly brought a basin for Wang Xian. By the time Wang Xian finished washing his hands, the maid had already served the rice.
After Wang Xian sat down, he naturally picked up the bowl and wanted to feed Gu Xiaolian.
"I can do it by myself." Gu Xiaolian looked away shyly.
"Let's wait until your eyesight has recovered." Wang Xian shook his head and smiled. He insisted on bringing a spoonful of rice to her delicate lips and coaxed a child: "Be good."
Gu Xiaolian could only open her mouth shyly and chew carefully.
The dinner was very peaceful, just like those **** nights under the supervision of Dongchang in the past.
After dinner, the maid cleared the dishes, and Wang Xian helped Gu Xiaolian walk in the courtyard, telling her that the lotus flowers in the pond were in full bloom, and there were frogs lying on the lotus leaves and croaking.
"I can hear this." Gu Xiaolian smiled happily, and the two of them remained silent, watching the moonlight over the lotus pond in summer.
"Even if I never see anything, I will never be dissatisfied." Gu Xiaolian leaned on Wang Xian's shoulder and murmured: "Because I am already extremely happy and satisfied."
"How could it be? You are recovering every day, and it won't take long before you will be completely fine." Wang Xian shook his head, with the faint fragrance of lotus lingering on his nose, and the natural cold plum fragrance on Gu Xiaolian's body, which made him forget the fragrance.
worry.
"Actually, the Nu family doesn't want to recover..." Gu Xiaolian shook her head lightly and whispered: "In the past few months, I can hear every word the officials said to me. Because
I can feel everything I do. Only then did the Nu family realize that they are really important in the hearts of the officials." Afterwards, her voice became softer and softer, but her affection was so strong that she couldn't let it go."
The slave family never imagined that an official would treat me like this..."
"I owed you too much before..." Wang Xian said, sighing secretly in his heart. Not only did he owe too much to Xiaolian, but he also owed too much to Qing'er and Baoyin. "I will still accompany you in the future.
your."
"That's not possible," Gu Xiaolian hurriedly shook her head and said, "It was a special situation before, but now that it has passed, the official must reunite with Sister Qing'er as soon as possible."
"Yes." Wang Xian nodded, hugged Gu Xiaolian tightly in his arms, and whispered: "Our family will reunite and never be separated."
"Yeah." Gu Xiaolian nodded vigorously...
Although King Zhao was hesitant, he had always planned carefully. He had already prepared to lead his army to retreat to Tongzhou if things in the capital were not harmonious. Tongzhou was both the southern gate of the capital and the water transport gateway. The imperial court had several warehouses to store military supplies.
, for national use. Occupying Tongzhou can not only threaten Beijing, but also cut off water transportation and cut off the capital's food and grass. It can also gain the court's years of accumulation, enough to sustain it for many years!
It can also consume the enemies in Beijing City to death!
After King Zhao retreated to Tongzhou, he acted step by step. First, he claimed that Zhu Zhanji and Wang Xian had colluded to kill the emperor, and that he would recruit rebels to avenge Emperor Daxing! After raising the banner of rebellion, King Zhao gathered the guards on the left and right sides of Changshan.
, Yanshan Left Guard, Xingzhou Houtun Army and Tongzhou Right Guard, as well as some of the Jinwu Left Guard officers and soldiers who followed him out of the capital, boasting a hundred thousand troops, are eagerly threatening the city of Beijing!
Tongzhou is now occupied by King Zhao, and people in Beijing are naturally panic-stricken. The people in the capital, who thought the martial law was over and would finally have a few good days, suddenly fell into greater panic. The city gates were filled with an endless stream of refugees.
People. Contrary to the usual people who fled into the city, the people who fled this time all fled outside the city. At least hundreds of thousands of people fled Beijing in one day.
His Highness Taisun stood on the city tower and looked at the fleeing people carrying old and young people on the street, carrying bedding, baggage, and iron pots of food. He was very sad in his heart. Wang Xian, Yang Shiqi, and others who were standing by sighed and said: "The people are actually like this."
If you don’t like it, I’ll wait..."
The three bachelors, Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, and Jin Youzi, were immediately rescued from the imperial edict. Because the three confessed very happily, they did not suffer the disaster of death, but only suffered some skin injuries. Now they are in peace, and their official posts have been restored.
, and has become a hero of His Highness Taisun, and his spirit is naturally very strong.
After hearing what Taisun said, Jin Youzi immediately said: "Your Highness is wrong. It's not that the people don't think favorably of us, they just want to stay away from Beijing." After a pause, he said: "Now Zhao Ni has tens of thousands of troops in Tongzhou, and Beijing is watching.
It will become a battlefield. If Zhao Ni cuts off the water transportation, if the war is delayed even a little, a famine will occur in the capital."
"Yes, the people don't care who wins or loses. What they worry about is the life and death of their whole family." Yang Rong nodded and said with regret: "This battle must be fought quickly, otherwise the people will not be able to bear it, and neither will the court."
Get up!"
"Yes..." The ministers were convinced. If nothing else, just a food shortage could kill more than a million people in Beijing.
"Should we close the city gates and prevent the people from leaving the city?" Jian Yi looked at the long snake-like procession of people leaving the city, feeling filled with panic, as if the world had been lost and only the lonely city of Beijing remained.
"No need," Yang Shiqi said flatly: "The people are free to go wherever they want. If we don't allow them to leave the city, aren't we just like Zhao Ni?"
"That makes sense..." All the ministers agreed one after another, understanding Yang Shiqi's voiceover. The more people who leave the city, the less pressure there is on food and grass in the capital, and the longer they can persist.
Zhu Zhanji acquiesced to Yang Shiqi's suggestion, looked at the vast distance, and asked solemnly: "Is it necessary for local troops to enter the capital to serve the king?"
"Zhao Ni's army is claimed to be one hundred thousand, but in fact, it is only thirty or forty thousand. The imperial army in the capital is two hundred thousand, which should be enough." Cheng Guogong Zhu Yong and Xue Lu looked at each other and said. As the nobles who control the imperial army,
Of course, we don’t want to see the local army come to Beijing to intervene.
"But do you know which forbidden troops are reliable?" Chai Che, the left minister of the Ministry of War, suddenly said: "The army was in chaos the night before, but there were many forbidden troops who were behind it. Even those who stood still were often in cahoots with Zhao Ni. Before the suspicion was cleared,
Expecting them to resist Zhao Ni is probably the same as seeking the skin of a tiger."
"Yes..." This statement attracted the agreement of all the civil servants. "Zhao Ni hasn't had time to get involved with the local army. Let them enter the capital. Firstly, the rebellion can be quickly put down. Secondly, it can also scare Xiaoxiao!"
"Nonsense!" Zhu Xue Lu blew his beard and glared: "Don't you even believe me?"
"Old Marquis, please calm down. How can we dare to doubt a few of you? How can I guarantee that my subordinates have not colluded with Prince Zhao?" Chai Che and the others were not impatient, but refused to give in.
"This..." Xue Lu, Zhu Yong and others did not dare to utter wild words, because in the hands of the Jin Yiwei, there was ironclad evidence that a large number of Forbidden Army generals had surrendered to King Zhao. If you want to avoid being slapped in the face, you must not cooperate unless the Jin Yiwei is willing to cooperate.
All their eyes turned to Wang Xian, hoping that he would endorse them.
However, Wang Xian seemed to be distracted, looking at the people fleeing outside the city, wondering what he was thinking, and paying no attention to those nobles.
The nobles immediately froze there. The atmosphere at the top of the city also became awkward. Zhu Zhanji's face became increasingly ugly. Just when he was about to make up his mind and veto King Qin's matter, Wang Xian seemed to have just come back to his senses.
Asked: "Should we ask His Highness the Crown Prince for instructions first on such a big matter?"
"..." One sentence left Zhu Zhanji speechless and he could only hold it in there.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is far away. I'm afraid it's too late to ask for instructions." Seeing that the grandson was embarrassed, Li Xian, the Marquis of Fengcheng, immediately jumped out to refute Wang Xian.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is in Shandong, so he is not far away." Wang Xian said calmly: "Even if Zhao Ni occupied Tongzhou, Jin Yiwei is still capable of delivering the message within two days, and it will take another two days to send it back to His Highness.
Will."
"This..." Wang Xiandu said this. If everyone wants to oppose him, they will have trouble with him and the prince.
"Okay, let's ask His Highness the Crown Prince for instructions first..." Zhu Zhanji glanced at Wang Xian with a gloomy expression and hastily ended the inspection...
In Tongzhou City, King Zhao and a group of generals were all dressed in Tsing Yi with filial piety, and their expressions were extremely dignified.
"Your Majesty," Tongzhou Youwei Town Governor Chen Kai came out to report: "The granary in Tongzhou is empty. Only the one hundred ships of grain that have just been delivered to the shore can be used for military supplies!"
"What? How is it possible?!" King Zhao was shocked: "I have inspected before and found that there are more than millions of grains and grass in the warehouse?"
"The general interrogated the Cangchang Minister and said that they were all borrowed from Tongzhou's giant merchants in order to cope with the prince's inspection!" Chen Kai said with a bitter face: "As soon as the prince left, they were returned..."
"Where are those merchants? Just borrow the grain back!" Gao Zheng, the commander of Yanshan Left Guard on the side, shouted loudly: "If you can't borrow it, you will lead your troops to rob it. Are you afraid that a few merchants can't do it?!"
"The problem is that those merchants have fled with their families..." Chen Kai said helplessly: "All their food and grass have also been shipped south..."
"Can they predict the future?" Ma Shu, the commander of Changshan's left guard, was surprised and asked: "Is there an expert in Tongzhou City?"
"There is such a bad guy!" Liu Qiang, the commander of the Xingzhou Houtun Army, was a sensible man and said bitterly: "They are not going north or west. They are all heading south. They must have defected to the prince!"
"Hiss..." The generals gasped after hearing this. The prince has arrived in Jinan. This is known to everyone. Those merchants are fleeing south with food. It is really possible that they will go to the prince!
Those present were all those who led troops to fight. Naturally, they knew that in these famine years, the importance of military rations cannot be overstated! The Ming Dynasty had many soldiers, but no one could move them without food and grass. With the food and grass provided by those merchants,
The prince can gather tens of thousands of troops in Shandong and march north with high morale!
The more the generals thought about it, the more terrifying they felt, and finally realized that they were not hunters at all, but the prey of others!
"Wang Xian..." Zhu Gaosui gritted his teeth. What he regretted most was not that he did not launch a coup earlier, but that he kept Wang Xian, which completely ruined his own affairs!