Chen Xi stayed at Jitou Pass for ten days. During this period, he integrated his troops and investigated the situation of the Great Wall defense line of Xuanda.

On the 20th day of the winter, Chenxi led his troops south and arrived in Baodezhou four days later. When he entered the city's official post to rest, he learned that Zhu Houzhao, the capital, issued an order to dismiss Han Wen.

Although he was marching all the way, the situation in the court continued to spread to Chen Xishou. He predicted the situation.

During his stay at the Bevel, Ma Jiu returned to Chen Xi and continued to serve as the model commander... After careful consideration, Chen Xi finally decided to let his family stay in the capital for the winter. As for when to let Xie Yuner and his wife and concubines go to the northwest to reunite with him, and then make a decision after the spring of the next year.

Even if the court wants to detain the family of the generals of the army outside as hostages, Chen Xi can keep his father and mother in the capital, and his wives, concubines and children can apply to take him with him. After all, there is no time limit for his position in the northwest, and he may not be able to return for a few years. The court must understand the hard work of the generals outside fighting.

"...Sir, after Han Shangshu was dismissed, Mr. Xie said he could not go out of his illness. The civil officials in the court were exhausted from the pressure of the powerful eunuch step by step and fell into a passive position everywhere. There is doubt about how to deal with it next. Although there is a lot of information in the capital now, the journey between the northwest is not so smooth, and the news is relatively lagging..."

Baodezhou was shrouded in a storm. In the inn, Chen Xi was eating in the guest room while flipping through the desks. Yun Liu reported the situation in the capital in detail.

Chen Xi can basically estimate the fact that Yunliu reported, only a small part is different from history. For example, in history, Li Dongyang was left in the court, Liu Jian and Xie Qian retired, but now Xie Qian stayed in the cabinet as the chief minister.

As for the conflicts between the monarch and the ministers in history, it is roughly the same as the current situation, but there are also subtle differences. For example, before the conflicts between the monarch and the ministers broke out in history, Ma Wensheng and Liu Daxia both retired, and then Liu Daxia was even imprisoned and almost died. However, the conflicts between the monarch and the ministers broke out around October of the first year of Zhengde, but now it is a year ahead of schedule, which makes many things deviate from history.

"...Sir, I wonder what arrangements you have made for the capital?" Finally, Yun Liu asked Chen Xi for instructions.

Chen Xi looked up at Yun Liu, shook his head and said, "Arrangement? No need. Even if I have the intention to plan, it will be useless. Your Majesty is determined to take power. Even if I do something private, it will have no practical significance. In the current situation, I will first keep my official position and slowly work with those eunuchs."

Yunliu was surprised when she heard Chen Xi's words. She hesitated for a moment and plucked up the courage to ask: "Sir, do you really choose to stand by and watch the matter in the capital?"

Chen Xi sighed, "Maybe you think I am a civil servant. Many ministers in the court were treated rudely by His Majesty and ordered to resign. I should advance and retreat with them. But now I am a little slight, and I can't bear many things. Now, things in the northwest make me anxious."

Yun Liu was a little surprised: "I heard that as the news of your appointment as the governor of the three sides spread throughout the nine sides, the situation in the northwest was instantly pacified, and the Tatar soldiers retreated very quickly. It has been more than ten days since there has been no action to offend the border."

Chen Xi smiled and said, "If it were just this, it would be easy to say, but the finances in the northwest have always been muddy. After Liu Jin came to power, he would definitely start from the money side and let the governor of the Nine Borders be loyal to him. If anyone violated it, he would definitely be impeached. Even the governor of the Nine Borders might be changed or even imprisoned for punishment, and even I am no exception."

Yun Liu said: "Sir, the matters on the Nine Borders involve the foundation of the country. I think Eunuch Liu dare not do this, right?"

"If it were an ordinary person, could Liu Jin beat Liu Shaofu and Li Shaobao? Because of his favor, the cabinet masters and ministry Liu Jin in the capital were not taken seriously, let alone foreign ministers like me? After Liu Jin took power, he would inevitably retaliate against my suppression of him. Even if he had no intention at first, as his ambitions expand, he would choose to attack me in order to establish his authority..."

Speaking of this, Chen Xi shook his head, "Liu Jin is a petty villain... Although the civil servants in the capital are in trouble, as long as they deal with it carefully, they should not have any handles in Liu Jin's hands, especially if they don't resign on their own initiative, they can still protect themselves. I am in the northwest and cannot take the initiative to jump out as a target. Only by stabilizing the three sides first can we affect the overall situation of the capital."

Yunliu nodded: "Since lord has made arrangements, I will not mention the humble position anymore."

Chen Xi looked at Yunliu with a smile: "It's time to mention it, but someone is by my side to remind me. I feel that my thinking is much clearer and it is not unhelpful to decision-making."

"When I cross the river and go to Fugu tomorrow, the remaining roads will be much easier to walk, because they are basically marching on the territory under my jurisdiction. After arriving at the Yulin Guard, I did what I should do, and the errands were completed smoothly. As for how to fight with Liu Jin at present, it has nothing to do with me. Perhaps when I leave Yansui Town a few years later, Liu Jin is gone in the capital..."

Yun Liu thought to himself: "Where is the confidence that sir? I think Liu Jin can be defeated by others? But since sir, he must have his own reason..."

...

...

After crossing the Yellow River, Chenxi led his troops to rest in Fugu County for a night, and then continued westward. There were basically barren mountains and wilderness along the way.

After years of border war, the areas near the border were basically no longer inhabited by the people on all sides, and most of the people moved to the mainland. Even the once rich Guanzhong area is now much deserted.

The Great Walls on the three sides and one line are basically divided into two layers, one is the outer Great Wall and the other is the inner Great Wall. The distance between the two walls is only a dozen to dozens of miles. This is the main area of ​​the activities of the Ming army. Due to the 16th year of Hongzhi, the front-line city blockages on the border were destroyed by the Tatars. The restoration work of the Great Wall led by Zhu Hui has not been completed. With the arrival of winter, the project can only be delayed until the beginning of the spring of the next year.

It’s not that the officers and soldiers and civilians don’t want to do anything, because the weather is cold and the construction cannot be done. In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the climate of the Little Ice Age was deeply affected by the Little Ice Age. Basically, in winter, water splashed into ice in the northwest. Not to mention that people are unwilling to work, even if they can mobilize people’s enthusiasm, the construction materials will be frozen. You can’t boil water to build the city wall, right?

When Chenxi arrived at the three sides, that is, the border under his control, he saw the desolate scene, and compared it with the situation in the 13th year of Hongzhi, he suddenly felt that it was not as good as before.

At that time, the northwest was still a little angry, but now it was like a pool of stagnant water. Many fortresses that had once been stationed were abandoned at this time. New fortresses and fortresses had not been built. The officers and soldiers could only retreat to the inner Great Wall and hide in some undamaged city blocks and levels.

As a result, these places became refuges, and a city block or checkpoint might be gathered with people who had originally planned to be stationed twice or three times.

The personal guards led by Chen Xi, a thousand Huguang soldiers and a thousand civilians seemed particularly annoying to walk on this road. Chen Xi felt that he was exposed to the attack range of the Tatar cavalry at any time, and his heart was full of worries.

However, the soldiers under Chen Xi were fearless and were all clamoring to fight head-on with the Tatars and cut these remnants of the Mongol Yuan as vegetables.

But in Shen Xi's view, these people are fearless.

There was no way, Chen Xi could only change his idea of ​​carefully checking the city walls along the way, and temporarily lead the troops to those relatively safe places on the south line of the Inner Great Wall. At the same time, he accelerated the journey and prepared to arrive at Yulin Cangcheng as soon as possible, where he finally stationed his troops and ruled the three northwest sides.

As the twelfth lunar month approaches, the northwest is surprisingly cold, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as the snow that has been frozen thousands of miles away. Fortunately, Shen Xi is used to the weather in the north, and even so, he is still covered with a heavy cloak. When he sees the officers and soldiers under his hands complaining, he feels uncomfortable.

Reality was very helpless. He led the Huguang soldiers to be cold-resistant. Even if it still snows heavily every year in Huguang area these days, it will be cold to the point where the earth is frozen. However, it will never be so cold as to the point where water drips into ice in the northwest. These soldiers experienced heavy snow when they first arrived, and their march was seriously hindered.

Especially after the camping was dark, the sky and earth were covered with grayness, and goose feather-like snowflakes fell down. Every officer and soldier were trying to warm their bodies, either climbing to the bonfire in the tent, hiding in the thick thatched grass he had collected, or holding an iron pot filled with hot water and refused to let go.

Chen Xi had many people who knew what to do. He taught the key points of wintering in the north one by one. Chen Xi himself hid in the central army's tent and surrounded the brazier to keep warm. Even so, his hands were frozen stiff and he could not do anything at all.

"Sir, it will take another two days to reach Yulinwei. However, the mountains are closed with heavy snow, so the road is difficult to walk! As for the rivers along the way, they are all frozen, so there will be no major problems crossing the river." Yun Liu came over to report.

"Okay."
Chapter completed!