~~~~~~

As the old saying goes: "One emperor and one courtier."

However, no matter how profound the words are, they are always a little light.

When it comes to reality, it's like "when a person drinks water, he knows whether it's cold or warm." Only when you experience it yourself can you feel how deep the knife penetrates the flesh.

As a member of the eunuch party and half of the core backbone, Xue Guoguan escaped the first purge in the first year of Chongzhen through his ingenious strategy of "catching the fish between the eyes and the pearl".

After that, he repeated his old tricks many times to divert the attention of the emperor and the court, and repeatedly got through.

But after all, paper cannot cover fire.

At this time, Xue Guoguan's new backer, Wen Tiren, who had just been promoted to the cabinet chief minister, was still trying his best to protect him, but Xiong Mingyu, Xiao Jingao, and Qiao Yunsheng of Donglin were really tormented by him.

It's too awful.

Wives and children were separated, and even the family was destroyed.

How could these people let him go if they were old disciples?

Countless "black cases" and countless impeachments made even Wen Tiren a little unable to hold back at this time. If he wanted to "abandon the car to protect the commander-in-chief," Xue Guoguan could only fend for himself.

But Xue Guoguan was only in his early forties at this time. How could he be willing to spend decades studying hard in a cold window and have all his hard work go to waste?

There is a saying, 'The bird is frightened'.

At this time, although Xue Guoguan carefully hid in Shanhaiguan to recover from his injuries, news came from Beijing a few days ago, and the situation has become increasingly critical.

Even Wen Tiren personally advised Xue Guoguan to "end it on his own" to avoid damaging his harmony.

After all, as long as Wen Tiren is still there, Xue Guoguan will always have a chance to make a comeback.

But how could a person like Xue Guoguan sit still and wait for the judgment of fate?

At this time, although Li Yuanqing's words were a little light, Xue Guoguan soon caught a trace of 'zhenqi' in them and said with a smile: "Uncle, to be honest, I am already an ant on the hot pot -

---If you can't protect yourself, how can you dare to interfere in local affairs? Uncle, there are people, some people want to die, but~~, but I don't want to die yet. Please~, please save me!"

With that said, Xue Guoguan made a 'plop' sound and fell to his knees on the ground again, tears streaming down his face, and he looked at Li Yuanqing eagerly.

Li Yuanqing took a sip of his cigar leisurely and said with a faint smile: "Master Xue, you~~~, this makes Yuan Qing very embarrassed. It's not like you don't know that Yuan Qing is also at the forefront of the storm at this time."

How shrewd is Xue Guoguan?

In an instant, he caught the core idea of ​​Li Yuanqing. He hurriedly kowtowed to Li Yuanqing and said: "Uncle, I already have the same spirit as my uncle! I have nothing to ask for, I just want to be born with my uncle."

We will die together and we will help each other in the same boat!"

Xue Guoguan's words were extremely decisive, almost categorical.

After finishing speaking, he kowtowed to Li Yuanqing vigorously and said no more words.

Li Yuanqing couldn't help but look at Xue Guoguan with admiration.

There is an old saying: "It is difficult to conquer a country, but even harder to defend it."

In other words, to put it more bluntly, it is difficult to get up, and it is even harder to get back up again if you fall to the bottom after a setback!

In the splendid history of China, the former has been able to accomplish so many things.

Some people are lucky, some have good ideas, some work hard and work hard. When the opportunity is right, many people can reach the commanding heights they want in life through hard work or even luck.

But~~, after reaching the commanding heights, once there is a setback, if you get up again, you will be alone.

As Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu famously said, "Fight after battle, defeat after battle, defeat after battle!"

It’s no wonder that Xue Guoguan, after being immersed in the great storm of the eunuch party for ten years, was still able to make a comeback, and even reached the position of chief minister of the cabinet.

This guy, let’s not put aside his political ability, but his political sensitivity, or ability to stand up for a team, I’m afraid he is definitely one of the best among people.

Li Yuanqing was sizing up Xue Guoguan at this time, but Xue Guoguan was also sizing up Li Yuanqing carefully.

At this point, Xue Guoguan had not considered the consequences of seeking refuge with Li Yuanqing.

Even at the beginning of the Battle of Pinggu, Xue Guoguan had already considered this matter, but he was still unable to make up his mind.

As the saying goes, "Success is Xiaohe, failure is Xiaohe."

With the precedent of Eunuch Wei, Xue Guoguan has experienced firsthand the price that needs to be paid for taking shortcuts.

But in the battle of Pinggu, Li Yuanqing simply swept away thousands of troops, making the sun and moon lose their luster. Especially the control and mastery displayed by Li Yuanqing, even Xue Guoguan couldn't help but applaud in admiration.

During these days, Xue Guoguan studied Li Yuanqing's life hundreds of times!

A hero like Li Yuanqing would be fine if he didn't succeed. Once he succeeds, who in the world would dare to take advantage of him?

At this time, the political ideology of Ming Dynasty has developed to the present, and everyone actually knows many things well.

But Xue Guoguan firmly believed that even if Li Yuanqing made any fatal mistakes, he would be able to help Li Yuanqing avert danger, and thus "rise from the clouds and follow the dragon".

In today's conversation with Li Yuanqing, Xue Guoguan abandoned the words he had prepared for a long time.

Because he found that Li Yuanqing was more stable than he thought, and he also wanted to try to see what Li Yuanqing's acceptance, tolerance, and control were!

Anyway, he is already like this now. If Li Yuanqing is the master, he will definitely be able to pull him out of the fire and water. On the contrary, he has nothing to lose.

The air in the room seemed stagnant.

Only in Li Yuanqing's hand, the faintly burning smoke of the cigar still drifted toward the top of the tent with inertia.

After a long while, Li Yuanqing suddenly smiled and threw the two battle reports on the table in front of Xue Guoguan.

"Well?"

Xue Guoguan couldn't help but be stunned. After a moment, he realized what he was doing and hurriedly picked up the battle report to check it.

However, he was very cautious at first, but after a while, his hands began to tremble uncontrollably. In the end, his tears were like springs, and he knelt down on the ground, crying loudly for a long time.

Be willing to get up.

At this time, Li Yuanqing came to Xue Guoguan with a smile, personally reached out to help Xue Guoguan up, and helped Xue Guoguan sit on a chair nearby, "Master Xue, do you know what I, Li Yuanqing, admire most about Master Xue?"

"Well...."

Xue Guoguan hurriedly raised his head and looked at Li Yuanqing. After a moment, he subconsciously said: "Uncle, I will go down to the official position, I will go down to the official position..."

Li Yuanqing smiled and waved his hand, "I appreciate Mr. Xue's frankness towards me, Li Yuanqing. I hope~ that this kind of frankness can be maintained forever and be honored by future generations!"

"Uncle..."

How could Xue Guoguan not understand the profound meaning of Li Yuanqing? He couldn't help but be overjoyed. He knelt down and kowtowed to Li Yuanqing, "My uncle's support and support to me will never be forgotten by me. Serving for my uncle is my greatest honor."

pleasure!"

…………

The dinner was very grand.

Generals from Changsheng Camp and above, generals from Chen Zhongbu and above, as well as generals from other towns such as Jin Shiqi and Yao Yu, were all present.

Li Yuanqing even personally introduced Xue Guoguan's identity as an imperial envoy, which gave Xue Guoguan enough face.

At a dinner party, the guests and hosts had a great time, and Li Yuanqing drank a lot of wine.

However, after the banquet ended, Chen Zhong felt a little unhappy. He came to Li Yuanqing's tent and whispered: "Yuanqing, Xue Guoguan is a speculator. You, if you treat him so favorably, I'm afraid,

I’m afraid something might change.”

Li Yuanqing smiled and threw a cigar to Chen Zhong, "Brother, oranges grow in Huainan for oranges, and oranges grow in Huaibei for oranges! Everything has two sides. At this time, we need Xue Guoguan as a chess piece. Besides, I know Xue Guoguan.

Whatever you want. Things are not as difficult as you think.”

Although Chen Zhong still didn't quite understand what Li Yuanqing meant, since Li Yuanqing was so confident, Chen Zhong felt relieved.

Xue Guoguan is just a literary reptile. If this guy really dares to do anything dirty, just kill him with one knife!

As Li Yuanqing's brother, what he needs to do is to help Li Yuanqing remove the impurities and meanings that are difficult for Li Yuanqing to do!

…………

At this time, unlike the soldiers in the Ming army camp who were still enjoying the carnival, at this time in Haizhou City, the 100,000 main force of the Hou Jin Army fell into a deathly silence.

Two big defeats in two days.

The two flags combined injured nearly 20,000 slaves.

Although Hou Jin had already established his country at this time and had been rooted in Liaoning for many years, he could not afford such a blow.

In the Haizhou official hall, smoke was lingering, and the top already resembled a sea of ​​clouds. Jierhalang was better and sat on a chair nearby, but Yue Tuoke was not so comfortable. He knelt on the ground, his nails wanting to scratch the bluestone under the carpet.

The floor was pinched.

Like Jierhalang, Yue Tuo was also 'severely' beaten by Huang Taiji.

Although the board was not heavy and Yue Tuo's body was not in too much pain, the pain in his heart almost burned his body and mind to pieces.

Especially when looking at the top, Huang Taiji was holding cigars one after another, almost without interruption. Yue Tuo simply wished he could kill himself in front of Huang Taiji.

After a long time, Yue Tuo finally summoned up the courage, broke the silence, and whispered: "Great Khan, this matter, this matter is all wrong, and it is all the fault of the slave. I beg the Great Khan to behead the slave as a warning to the public.

Follow your example! To stabilize the hearts of my golden army!"

If someone else had said such words, Huang Taiji would definitely think that someone was threatening him and wanted to retreat in order to advance.
To be continued...