【Chapter 619】No money, no food, no soldiers
Lin Xiaoniang obviously did not dare to touch Xu Xingxia's gaze, as if there was something wrong. She lowered her head and stammered: "I...she...I..."
The beautiful young man beside her walked up, bent down slightly, saluted Xu Xingxia, and then said with a smile: "I guess this is Mr. Xu, who is famous all over the world, right? He is indeed a wise and powerful man. If our little lady can meet Mr. Xu, I really don't know the blessings that Dan has cultivated in her life. My little lady, aren't you thinking about Mr. Xu every day? Why are you at a loss when you suddenly see me? What's shy about Mr. Xu?"
The people around Xu Xingxia couldn't help but frowned. This beautiful young man is a bit arrogant. She actually called Xu Xingxia by name directly. She didn't call him Chairman Xu Xingxia. It seems that no one has called Xu Xingxia this way for a long time. I don't know whether she did this on purpose or did not understand the rules at all. However, she looks like a very smart woman, how could she not even know such a trick?
What’s even more strange is that this beautiful young man didn’t feel any stage fright in front of Xu Xingxia. How natural it was when you listen to her tone, there was no panic at all. Due to Xu Xingxia’s special identity, she was usually a little nervous in front of Xu Xingxia. Especially after Xu Xingxia dealt with Mo Rigen and Lin Danhan, this was even more so. The greater the power and the higher the prestige of Xu Xingxia, the greater the pressure on people. However, this beautiful young man could not feel any nervousness at all.
If you listen carefully, you can still feel that the tone of her speaking has a vague condescending tone. This is not the condescending tone of seniors but the difference in status and status. It seems that her status is higher than Xu Xingxia. Or her previous status is higher than Xu Xingxia. This is a ridiculous thing. On the ground controlled by the White Army, who is still higher than Xu Xingxia?
Xu Xingxia did not notice the various abnormalities of the beautiful young man. He did not feel the hostility of this woman, and believed that she was not harmful to him, so he naturally didn't have to be vigilant.
He nodded casually and said kindly: "Yes, I am Xu Xingxia. Are you the relative of Xiaoniang? I don't know you are..."
Lin Xiaoniang said nervously: "She is mine..."
The beautiful young man said with a smile: "I am my distant aunt. Mr. Xu, if you are not polite, you can call me aunt. In the past, our family and my family were too few to walk around. If there are some sorry places, please forgive me. This time, I greeted us at our house, and I was very attentive and thoughtful."
After she said this, Xu Xingxia couldn't say anything. Originally, when he heard Lin Xiaoniang say that she had no relatives, he was naturally not very intimate about this so-called distant aunt who suddenly appeared. You didn't recognize Xiaoniang as a relative before, why should I recognize you now? But since she was talking, Xu Xingxia couldn't have any grudges. It was common for people to be warm and cold in the world to be cold. You can't ask everyone to be so loving and show true feelings in danger. It's great to know the mistakes and be able to correct them.
However, Lin Xiaoniang was very strange when she was told by Meiliu. Her face was blue and white, as if she was in a fierce ideological struggle inside. She seemed to want to say something to Xu Xingxia, but she didn't have the courage to say it. Because, when Meiliu talked, a ray of light in her eyes always fell on her. As a result, every time she touched such a gaze, she immediately became obedient, lowered her head, and never dared to speak again.
Unfortunately, Xu Xingxia was careless and did not notice the strange eyes of the beautiful young man. He thought that Lin Xiaoniang was indeed shy. Originally, Lin Xiaoniang was a gentle, understanding girl, hardworking and obedient girl, and she was the most popular among his mother. As a result, during the period when Lin Xiaoniang was not at home, his mother Wang was seriously unaccustomed to it and often talked about when Xiaoniang was about to be aware of her. Now, Lin Xiaoniang's behavior is reasonable. Well, after returning this time, she might as well just fulfill her family so that her mother would not be lingering in her heart.
When Xu Xingxia thought of this, she said gently: "Xiao Madam, go back with me! I am living in the Qin Palace now. Either, you go back with me now. Or, you come to the Qin Palace to find me later. I have sent someone to take my mother, Niu Niu, Da Nan, Xiao Nan, Dongzi and others over. We are in Xi'an Palace for the New Year. My mother misses you very much!"
Lin Xiaoniang lowered her head tightly, without any response, as if she had not heard Xu Xingxia's words. However, her body trembled violently, and she didn't know whether it was because of movement or fear. Anyway, Xu Xingxia subconsciously felt that it was the former. He felt that Lin Xiaoniang had lived in the Xu family for so long, and she should have some feelings. Every time she saw her and Wang family together, she seemed very happy!
The beautiful young man said a little apologetically: "Mr. Xu, I'll send my mother to the palace in person later. We have something to do at home, and I need my mother to help me deal with it. Mr. Xu, you have also seen that my mother's life experience is not very good. Her parents have passed away for so long and have never had the chance to go back to their hometown to visit her. She feels sad inside, so she doesn't know what to say. You are a man, but don't blame her for this."
Xu Xingxia nodded and said casually: "Of course not. How could I blame such filial matters? Xiao Niang is very filial. Haha, then I'll trouble my aunt to arrange it. If you need help, you can come to me."
Mei Zai Shaofu said, "It's time for Mr. Xu. My mother, let's go."
As he said that, he gently pulled Lin Xiaoniang, who was at a loss, and passed by Xu Xingxia.
Lin Xiaoniang's body was obviously a little stiff, and she was almost dragged away by the beautiful young man.
The basket she was holding was obviously tilted, and the things inside almost fell out. Fortunately, the beautiful young man was not slow, so he hurriedly took the basket over and held it himself. The other hand dragged Lin Xiaoniang forward.
Xu Xingxia looked back at the two of them, disappeared at the bend of the road and slowly withdrew her gaze. When she unexpectedly met Lin Xiaoniang here, Xu Xingxia felt that her luck was really good. Unexpectedly, the little lady was beautiful and her aunt was also beautiful. I wonder what her aunt's identity is? Her reaction just now was generous and decent, and she didn't seem to be from a small family. Perhaps, she was a wealthy family in Xi'an Prefecture?
Suddenly, he vaguely felt that the voice of the beautiful young man seemed a little familiar, and seemed to have heard it somewhere. He was sure that he must have had a close conversation with the beautiful young man. At that time, his impression should still be very profound. Her voice was a little different from that of ordinary women, and the difference was still very obvious.
"That's right, it must be like this!" Xu Xingxia became more and more sure the more she thought about it. He had definitely had a conversation with this beautiful young man before. But what's so bad is that he couldn't remember the details for a while. In desperation, he had to give up. Next time he had the chance, he would ask in person. Since she was Lin Xiaoniang's relative, she would naturally have to contact each other in the future.
Northern Zhili, capital, Forbidden City, and Ganqing Palace.
As a formal place for emperors and court officials to discuss matters, the Ganqing Palace should have been one of the most lively buildings in the Forbidden City. The general court meetings in the Ming Dynasty were once every three days. Each court meeting was basically one morning. If there were a lot of things, it might even last until the afternoon. Or the court meeting was held for two consecutive days. The Ming Dynasty’s Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang and Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian were the two major activists who held the court meeting.
Generally speaking, at least fifty ministers attended each court meeting, including the Grand Secretary of each hall, the Six Ministers, the Nine Ministers, the Governor's Office of the Five Army, the Censors of each section, the Censors of the Censorate, etc. If you encounter important things, you need to expand the meeting and stand 200 ministers at the same time in the Qing Palace. The ministers were striking the battle, citing the scriptures, fists and spitting everywhere, and they couldn't do it without being lively.
However, since Emperor Yongle, there has been no emperor in the Ming Dynasty as active as their ancestors. The court meeting once every three days is often changed to five days, ten days only, or even half a month, or once a month. By the time of Emperor Zhengde, the court meeting was not fixed at all. No one knows when the court meeting will be held. Emperor Zhengde was playful and basically had no choice but to hold the court meeting helplessly. This ridiculous emperor had no intention of handling political affairs, so even if the court meeting was held, it would be a hasty end.
When it was Jiajing and Wanli, the court meeting almost disappeared. These two emperors were even more resistant to the court meeting than Zhengde. Because of all the reasons, they were just fighting against the civil and military officials. Every court meeting was a game between the emperor and the civil and military officials. The outnumbered emperor naturally could not defeat the civil and military officials with a large number of powers. In desperation, he had to hide in the deep palace and completely cancel the court meeting. Therefore, the Ganqing Palace, which was supposed to be the most lively, became the most deserted building in the Forbidden City, and was almost forgotten.
Fortunately, in the last few days of the 45th year of Wanli, the Ganqing Palace was lively again. Because Xu Xingxia led his army to Xi'an Prefecture, it was a hot topic and it was a trend of splitting the world. Emperor Wanli, who was hiding in the deep palace, had to be caught out, hold court meetings, and discuss countermeasures. Those who attended the court meetings were basically real-time officials of the fifth rank or above. In addition to a few important officials, there were many new ministers.
Emperor Wanli had a very bad face. He sat on the dragon throne and felt like he was sleeping in a daze. If it weren't for the eunuch Wang An who was secretly taking care of him, he would have fallen asleep on the spot. His health was getting worse and worse and could not last for too long. However, his poor health was not for busy political affairs, but for elixirs.
Like Emperor Jiajing in his later years, Emperor Wanli was increasingly caring about his life.
He also fantasized about immortality and continued to control power. How can he live forever? Taoism said that there was an immortal pill. So Emperor Wanli kept eating immortal pills. However, there was no immortal pill in the world? It was just a trick of Taoism to cheat money. However, after eating a lot of things like mercury, it was stagnant in the stomach, and the body could not even think about it.
After the eunuch Wang Tigan announced the start of the court meeting, Luo Sigong, the commander of the Jinyiwei, stood up and began to describe the emergency information sent by Shaanxi without expression: "Eight hundred miles in a hurry... Xu marched towards Xi'an Prefecture... The defenders of Xi'an Prefecture have collapsed..."
The Beijing officials present basically knew about this news. In the late Ming Dynasty, there was a strange phenomenon, that the news from the people was often faster than the official news. Luo Sigong only mentioned here that Xi'an Prefecture was attacked, but the result was not known yet. However, the news from the people had already reached the capital, saying that the White-Clothed Army had taken over Xi'an City. Now, the entire Shaanxi Province, except for Hanzhong Prefecture, has fallen into the clutches of the White-Clothed Army.
Of course, this situation is impossible. Dongchang and Jinyiwei are not people who have a good meal after all. The way they can deliver messages is much faster than that of the people. The reason why private news is faster is of course because the government's news blockade. Many things have been known by the senior management for a long time, but they just hide them and don't let the people below know. Until they can't hide them anymore, a little bit of news will come out. No matter which dynasty or dynasty, it is the case.
After Luo Sigong finished describing, the entire Ganqing Palace was silent. They all knew that
The purpose of this court meeting was to discuss how to deal with Xu Xingxia and how to deal with the end of Shaanxi. No matter what, the court could not watch helplessly that a thief would take the entire northwest of the empire into his own pocket. If such a traitor would not be severely punished, he would be afraid that other military towns would be in chaos.
However, every official present also understood that the destruction of the Northwest was difficult to deal with. Xu Xingxia was quite difficult to deal with. If he spoke rashly, he might become a leader and be attacked by others. Now that the government has fallen into chaos, who knows what the final result will be? Self-protection is the most important thing. If you throw away your official hat due to the rebellion in the Northwest, it would be too unfair.
Seeing that no one was saying a word, the court meeting was about to be in a mess, the Prime Minister Fang Congzhe had to say bluntly: "What are the good strategies for the current situation in Shaanxi?"
Zhou Jiaqian said indifferently: "No money, no food, no soldiers, what good plans can the Ministry of War have? If it really doesn't work, I have to go into battle myself.
Chapter completed!