Although the Manchus blocked the news that Azig was killed in battle, 25,000 iron cavalry were annihilated, and the Nanyang Basin was occupied by the Ming army, after all, the paper could not contain the fire, and as time went by, the news still spread from Henan to Shandong, and then to Beizhili, and then spread to the entire city of Beijing like wings.

Azig is the brother of the regent Dolgon, and the shock of the Qing court can be described as violent, the prestige of the Manchu court, sweeping the ground, if it were not for Dolgon's foresight and reconciliation with Daishan, which strengthened the strength of the Manchurians, and let Daishan's two red flags enter Gyeonggi, I am afraid that the rebels will swarm again.

Although there is a deterrent from the Eight Banners, there has been no change in the locality, but a sense of uneasiness that the building is about to collapse has spread in the city of Beijing, and the price of grain in Beijing, which has been brought by Dai Shan, has immediately soared back to 30 taels, and is still soaring, attracting people in the city to rush to buy food, and other materials have also risen wildly.

Food is the hearts of the people, Beijing is full of panic and uneasiness, even Fan Wencheng bought a batch of grain from Haoge, but he failed to push the price of grain back to below 20 taels, and Daishan's plan to conquer Moxi Mongolia could only be advanced.

In Chengnan City, Beijing, Wang Xu, the owner of the Heishui Hall of the Heaven and Earth Society, alias Zhao Shijie, has been running a paper shop here for four years.

After the fall of Jiangnan, Beijing was very short of all kinds of materials, and rice paper, inkstones and other items were also affected, but the supply of this store was rarely cut off.

With the soaring price of grain in Beijing, many people have no silver to buy, and recently the paper shop has another task, which is to recycle high-quality calligraphy and painting, jade, inkstone and other elegant things, and the price is also very fair, so it is very lively every day.

At 10 o'clock in the afternoon, business was booming in the store, and the guys were greeting a few customers, some of whom were holding calligraphy and paintings to exchange money, and some of whom came in to buy paper.

At this time, an old man in a long robe entered the door with a scroll of calligraphy and paintings, he looked twice, glanced at the shopkeeper, nodded slightly, and the shopkeeper immediately gave a color to a guy, and the guy hurriedly smiled and greeted him, "Mr. Liu, why do you want to sell calligraphy and paintings?" ”

The old man's surname is Liu, his name is Dodge, and on the surface, he is the west seat on which Zhan Ba leans down, enlightening Zhan Ba's young son, but in fact, he is the liaison between Zhan Ba and Wang Xu, and many news within the Qing court are passed on by him.

It is very common for literati to use and buy paper, and it will not arouse the suspicion of others.

"The price of food has risen so much that the old man can only cut his love." After Liu Daoqi came in, he said scoundrelly: "This painting is the authentic work of Fan Kuan and Fan Zhongzheng in the Northern Song Dynasty. ”

Several customers in the store sighed when they heard the old man's words, obviously aware of the soaring food prices.

"Sir, wait a minute, the little one will call the owner for you!" The man saluted him, and hurriedly turned around and went up to the second floor, and after a while, he ran down again and said, "Sir, the owner invites you to go upstairs to talk!" ”

Seeing this, Liu Daoqi followed the guy upstairs with calligraphy and paintings, and when he reached the second floor, the old man said in a low voice: "Don't let people come up." The man nodded, and ran again.

The layout of the second floor is very elegant, a yellow rosewood screen, placed at the entrance of the building, the old man turned the screen, and saw Wang Xu standing in front of the window with his hand, the old man immediately stepped forward, put the painting on the table, and then saluted, "See the hall master!" ”

Wang Xu listened to the voice, turned around, his face was a little anxious, and he asked directly: "It has been a month since the New Year's holiday, why hasn't there been any news from Master Zhan?" ”

In the past month, Dai Shan entered Beijing, and the grain from Shaanxi was transported to Beijing, since the Heaven and Earth Society did not know in advance, this made Wang Xu very shocked, if it weren't for the fact that there was no news from several lines, he even suspected that he had been exposed, and began to prepare to evacuate.

"Hall Master, the Manchurians don't believe in Han people at all now, Bachelor Zhan originally took care of military affairs for Dolgon, and Dolgon often consulted with Scholar Zhan, but in the past month, Bachelor Zhan has not entered the Qinzheng Palace." The old man said gloomily: "I came here this time to tell the hall master that the activities at the sticky pole have been very frequent recently, and Dolgon has rewarded many Hanchen with a group of house slaves, obviously with the intention of surveillance, and the Bachelor's Mansion is no exception, and his subordinates may not be able to come over for a long time." ”

Wang Xu listened and frowned, "Safety is indeed the number one, if you can't come, you won't come, but there is something I have to tell Master Zhan!" ”

"The hall master commands!" The old man hugged his fists.

"Since Haoge established an account in Xi'an, he and the Qing court are incompatible, but this time the Manchu grain shortage, Dolgon actually bought rice grain from Haoge, and asked Master Zhan to find out whether there was any compromise between the Manchus and Jin, and whether there was a plan for the Ming Dynasty!"

If the Ming Dynasty has been helped by heaven in the past two years, a big reason is that the Manchu Qing Dynasty itself has cracked, which has greatly reduced the pressure on the west side of the Ming Dynasty, so that it can anger Dolgon in the east.

"The subordinates will immediately tell Master Zhan."

Wang Xu nodded, and then waved his hand: "You should not stay here for a long time, leave the painting, and then withdraw three hundred taels of silver at the counter, and go back immediately!" ”

Liu Daoqi bowed, turned around and went downstairs, and after a while, he took the silver and went out directly.

Wang Xu sat down on the second floor for a while, then called someone to put away the calligraphy and paintings, and told his subordinates to be careful recently, and then got up and entered the room.

Leaving the store, Liu Daoqi carried three hundred taels of silver home first, in order to avoid people's eyes, he bought himself a daughter-in-law, and when he got home, he handed over the silver to his daughter-in-law, let her keep it, and told her to take twenty taels to buy rice, and did the trick, but the stupid daughter-in-law said, "There is still rice in the house, what rice to buy." Liu Daoqi reprimanded a feudal clan, saying that in troubled times, more rice should be tuned, and the price of rice would rise again, so the woman hurriedly went out.

After a while, Liu Daoqi went out in the afternoon as usual, went to Zhan Ba's mansion to teach his youngest son the "Three Character Classic".

He entered the bachelor's mansion and walked all the way to the study, Zhan Ba's four-year-old son gave him a salute in a decent manner, so he picked up the book and taught it slowly.

After half an hour, Zhan Ba suddenly came to the window, and Liu Daoqi hurriedly greeted him, "Master Zhan!" ”

"See anyone?" Zhan Ba smiled, looked at the young son, but whispered to Liu Daoqi.

"See!" Liu Daoqi looked left and right and nodded, "The hall master asked me to tell the bachelor a task." ”

Zhan Ba's face showed a bitter look, "What, you say!" ”

Liu Daoqi's expression was solemn, "The hall master asks the bachelor to find out the relationship between the Manchu Qing and Jin, and find out whether the two parties will have a plan to fight against the Ming Dynasty." ”

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