October 15, night. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

The palace in the capital was quiet, Zhu Youzhu rested early after using the decoction, he had not read a single transcript in the past two days, nor had he met any minister.

Zhu Youji's spirit was not good, and the victory in the northwest did not bring any change to his illness, and he even complained to himself that this battle was completely to create a good environment for his son to succeed to the throne, but he did bad things with good intentions and was knocked in by the Tatars, which almost caused the Ming Dynasty to lose its territory for more than 100 years.

Zhu Youzhu was in a deep self-reproach, and in the Wenyuan Pavilion, Xie Qian and Li Dongyang were reviewing the recital overnight.

After the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites drew up a catalogue of rewards for meritorious heroes in the northwest, Xie Qian and Li Dongyang were waiting for Liu Daxia to send the merit book to the capital, so that they could ask for rewards for the soldiers who had just achieved a "great victory" in Ningxia Town.

Emperor Hongzhi specially told that the biggest hero of this battle was Liu Daxia, the secretary of the military department, and as for Zhu Hui, the former governor of Yansui and Baoguogong, he was not to blame in the past, but now the focus is to find Zhu Hui's whereabouts first.

If Zhu Hui is confirmed to have died in battle, he will be buried according to the standards of the national prince, unless there is conclusive evidence that he took refuge in the Tatars, otherwise Zhu Hui will be a member of the list of meritorious heroes.

The emperor didn't say anything about Shen Xi, Xie Qian didn't dare to mention it, and Li Dongyang didn't ask, so Shen Xi did not appear in the original merit book.

The reward for all merits should be based on the war merit book sent back to the capital from the northwest, and the capital was just drawn up in advance, so that the emperor knew it in his heart, and the court also knew it.

Seeing the second watch, Li Dongyang said: "Yu Qiao, you are also tired these days, it's rare that there is not much to do today, go back to rest first, remember to come over early tomorrow morning!" ”

Xie Qian glanced up at Li Dongyang, this was a rare initiative of Li Dongyang to come to the cabinet to be on duty at night, even if it was Li Dongyang's turn in the past, Li Dongyang would shirk it with various excuses.

But after the "overall situation of the war in the northwest has been decided", Li Dongyang's mental state is obviously much better, and he no longer asks for so many personal leaves, and Xie Qian's side is finally more relaxed.

"Then I...... Go back first! Xie Qian was so happy.

Although he also knew that Li Dongyang would definitely go to the side hospital to rest in less than half an hour, and he had to stay up until the second half of the night every time he was on duty, the two of them still had different attitudes towards official affairs, and Li Dongyang was no longer as enthusiastic about the affairs of the court as he was back then.

Xie Qian came out of Wenyuan Pavilion, and before he had gone far, he saw a familiar celebrant and eunuch hurriedly walking over from the palace gate, followed by a dusty messenger.

Entering the palace with a messenger in the middle of the night, something big must have happened.

The twists and turns brought by the messenger did not go to the political secretary and the cabinet, but directly went to the secretary of ceremonies, which made Xie Qian feel an inexplicable pressure in his heart, and secretly wondered: "Could it be the war in the northwest, and after the victory, he suffered defeat?" ”

But after thinking about it, it's not quite like it, "The Northwest War was finally completed after two months, and Liu Shiyong will definitely not falsely report his military exploits, but in the previous victory, I am afraid that there is a lot of water included, but even if it is played truthfully, why not even the cabinet?" ”

With a stomach full of questions, Xie Qian did not leave in a hurry, but wanted to stay in the palace to check the situation.

At night, the palace is strictly forbidden, and the palace gate only leaves a small exit in the direction of the main gate at noon, and anyone who wants to enter and exit the palace at night, or has an urgent official document to enter the palace, all take this small door.

Xie Qian had just left Zuoshun Gate, and there was still some distance from the noon gate, so he was not in a hurry to leave at this time, and turned back to Wenyuan Pavilion, and just entered the duty room, he saw Li Dongyang packing up his notebook, obviously preparing to rest in the side courtyard.

Li Dongyang was a little surprised when he saw Xie Qian coming back, and asked, "How did Yu Qiao go and return?" ”

Xie Qian said: "I was about to leave the palace before, and I saw that there was an urgent official document entering the palace gate, but I didn't come in the direction of Wenyuan Pavilion, but went directly to the Qianqing Palace, I think there might be some major incidents, and I want to stay and wait for news!" ”

Li Dongyang nodded and said, "Yu Qiao, you don't have to worry too much, if something happens, there will be news from the Qianqing Palace!" ”

Xie Qian sighed lightly: "I hope it won't be too tight!" ”

Because Xie Qian suddenly turned back, Li Dongyang was embarrassed to go to the side courtyard to rest immediately, and the two of them approved a few more official documents, just when Xie Qian was uneasy, there was a sudden sound of messy footsteps outside Wenyuan Pavilion, Xie Qian stood up and walked to the door of the duty room to take a look, only to see Xiao Jing, the eunuch of the master of ceremonies, who was in a hurry, and his face was full of panic.

"Two elders, it's not good!"

When Xiao Jing said this, there was a touch of crying, which made Xie Qian's heart sink suddenly.

Li Dongyang was relatively calm, he came to the door of the duty room and asked, "Gonggong Xiao, what happened?" ”

Xiao Jing's tears flowed out, his face was full of sadness, and he choked up: "Northwest...... Something happened in the Northwest! ”

One sentence of ten thousand sentences, Xiao Jing was so anxious that he cried out loud, this matter must be not small, Xie Qian became more and more nervous, and asked: "What is the matter, Gonggong Xiao went inside to explain in detail!" ”

Xiao Jing calmed down a little and said, "Two elders, what are the specific things...... I won't talk about it yet, I can't say it clearly, I'll just say one sentence...... Xuanfu is lost! ”

Not only was Xie Qian stunned, but even Li Dongyang, who had always been calm and composed, almost couldn't stand, although the two of them were also old ministers, but after all, they were only in their fifties, and they already belonged to the "Young Zhuang faction" in today's court, and their bodies were not so bad, mainly because the news came too suddenly and shocking, which made the two stunned for a while.

After a long while, Li Dongyang reacted and asked eagerly: "Gonggong Xiao, you can make it clear, the war in the northwest is ...... Isn't it limited to the boundaries of Ningxia Town and Yansui Town, and why...... Why is it the loss of Xuanfu? ”

Xie Qian also hurriedly asked, "Xuanfu...... Could it be that Beikou really used the plan of 'repairing the plank road in the open and crossing the Chen Cang in secret'? ”

Relatively speaking, Li Dongyang couldn't accept this news the most, and he even felt that this news was forged by someone, and this person was Shen Xi, who was guilty.

In Li Dongyang's view, since Shen Xi had falsely reported that the main Tatar force had appeared in Xuanfu Town, it could be more "frustrated" and directly say that the main Tatar force had conquered Xuanfu, which was possible.

Xie Qian wouldn't have speculated about Shen Xi like this! He still understands Shen Xi, understands that Shen Xi does things unconventionally, and also knows that Shen Xi has the ability to predict changes in the battle situation, now that Xuanfu has lost, it should be the same as Shen Xi's previous prediction, the Tatars must have used the strategy of "hiding from the sky and crossing the sea", quietly killed the flank of Xuanfu Town, and now conquered Xuanfu, the most important granary on the nine sides of the Ming Dynasty.

Xiao Jing said eagerly: "...... I don't know why this is the case, this is the Xuanda Governor Yamen's urgent play, it is said that before the city was broken, hundreds of horsemen were sent in a row to report the bad news to the imperial court, but only two horsemen broke out of the siege, and went south from the Bauhinia Pass into the inner pass of the Great Wall, and the horses did not stop, and they were sent to the capital for a day and a night......"

On the night of the thirteenth day of the messenger's statement, the Xuanfu was lost, and all the grain, grass, baggage, weapons and equipment of the Xuanfu fell into the hands of the Tatars. Such as the army of Tatars and horses...... It is estimated that it is coming to Juyongguan! ”

"Two elders, tell me, how is this good?"

When he heard that it was the urgent report issued by the "Xuanda Governor Yamen" at the end, even Li Dongyang, who did not trust Shen Xi, had to put away the doubts in his heart.

However, the stakes are so important that even Li Dongyang, who is known as "Li Gongmou", has temporarily lost the ability to think.

Xie Qian thought about this question, was relatively calm, and asked, "Does Your Majesty know about this?" ”

Xiao Jing looked embarrassed: "It's the middle of the night now, Your Majesty is not in good health, and he just fell asleep...... I really don't dare to play! Besides, I said that Ningxia was a great victory before, but now there is such bad news in the blink of an eye, how can I mention it to Your Majesty? ”

Xie Qian's face was gloomy, and he shook his head and said: "It's not proper, the stakes are very high, and this matter must not be concealed from Your Majesty, otherwise it is likely that you will commit the crime of bullying the king!" It must be played to the Qianqing Palace immediately, and someone else will arrange to invite the six departments and Qiqing, as well as Young Master Liu, into the palace, and the British Duke will also come......"

At the critical time, Xie Qian behaved more calmly than Li Dongyang, although he did not have a formed plan in his heart, he still pondered in his heart the possibility that Shen Xi's performance was true. Now that the worried thing has become a reality, Xie Qian knows that it is very tricky, so he can only issue an order on behalf of the Son of Heaven to invite the six Shangshu and some dignitaries in the court into the palace to discuss the matter.

Although Xie Qian did not have the power to send an edict to the ministers to enter the palace, what was mentioned was more reasonable, Xiao Jing understood that the stakes were very high, and it was appropriate to invite these important ministers to the palace to wait for the emperor to summon them.

Xiao Jing hurriedly said: "Okay, there are two elders, I'll send someone to handle it, you two...... Do you want to go to Qianqing Palace first? ”

Xie Qian said: "Father-in-law Xiao can hurry up and handle it, and Scholar Li and I will go to the Qianqing Palace to wait for His Majesty to summon us, and Father-in-law Xiao will go back quickly!" (To be continued.) )