Chapter 29 fourth quarter

Ma Kuo drove into Xiongzhou without stopping for a moment, settled down Wang Jieru and his party, and went to the Xuanfu Department to find Tong Guan for his order. The Xuanfu Department is in chaos. The gate control of the yamen is useless, and the grandeur of the past has now been swept away.Many irrelevant and unrelevant people, either out of curiosity or with ulterior motives, can come and go at will, and no one cares about them-they may be relatives of a certain official in the Propaganda Department, friends of friends, and gatekeepers. Too lazy to ask. Many rooms were closed with cross seals.But the reason why the seal can function as a seal is that its authority lies in the long square of the seal printed on it.This kind of vermilion nine-fold seal characters has always been invincible, but now that Xuan Fushi himself has been swept away, it can't play the role of "close" and "defense", and the seal has become a piece of waste paper.People turned a blind eye to the sealed door, and some simply tore it off, and entered and exited freely without fear.

Hastily wrapped in straw mats, packed in wooden boxes, official documents tied up with hemp rope, and private luggage and parcels carefully labeled in conspicuous places are all piled up in the aisle and in empty rooms, They are piled up into hills, and when there are free vehicles, they will be loaded and sent to the rear.They seem to be ready to withdraw this institution to Zhongshan Mansion, Hejian Mansion, Zhending Mansion, and Kaifeng Mansion if necessary. The Xuanfu Division is a special agency, and the military personnel of the Xuanfu Division are special soldiers who need to be quoted in quotation marks.They always keep two kinds of priority: if they win a battle, they keep the priority of rewarding meritorious service because their hands are long; if they lose a battle, they keep the priority of running because their feet are long.Of course, in addition to this, they also retain various other priorities.

The staff of the Xuanfu Division used to regard Ma Kuo as an unruly horse, so everyone severely condemned him.Now that they have been defeated, their common view is that the imperial court will punish Tong Guan, and Tong Guan may or may not be able to keep his position as Xuanfu envoy, so each of them has become an unruly horse.The bridles, bit rings, reins, and stirrups were all thrown far away, and all restraints were thrown off. They no longer paid attention to decency, respect, and a whole set of rules and regulations for coming to work in the yamen.They did what they liked, and some of them ran around outside, taking advantage of the commotion and stuffing everything they could get their hands into their pockets.More people huddled together, creating rumors with each other, brewing an atmosphere, and oppressing Tong Guan to withdraw this institution.They have a lot of news, and there are many alarms within an hour. The strange thing is that in the end they themselves believed in these rumors they created, and they told each other and spread them widely.

In a word, the victory of Yelu Dashi completely suppressed the personal arrogance of Tong Guan, the promulgator who supported the order of this institution. When Ma Kuo found the envoy himself, whose arrogance had been greatly reduced, and reported to him the passage of the envoy, this group of "unruly horses" also came in, sat around Tong Guan, talking and laughing loudly, hoping to hear Something out of character to attack Marcus, to prove that they had been, and still were, his sworn enemies.They originally recommended Ma Kuo as an envoy, and they had already predicted that he would never return.Now that Ma Kuo came back alive and showed up here openly, this fact made them unbearable.

During Ma Kuo's report, they kept inserting words and interrupting Ma Kuo's speech, which made Ma Kuo vigilant and had to carefully keep some of the most confidential words. When he talked about Empress Xiao's proposal to surrender in Yaoguang Palace, the subordinates immediately booed and made comments one after another: "Ma Xuanzan came back with such great achievements, but it's a pity that he was one step too late. He suffered a defeat on the front line, and all his achievements were wiped out." "There are so many strange things. If you want to blame the old man for not living up to expectations, if he wins a battle, Ma Xuanzan will be a great hero when he comes back with Empress Xiao's condescension."

"Lingyan Pavilion has the most meritorious deeds, isn't it counted by Cao Yu back then?" A Jiecai immediately recited two lines of poems, and added "It's a pity, a pity!" "There are so many strange things. If you want to blame Ma Xuanzan for missing a few mustaches, he didn't know that he was fooled by Empress Xiao, but it made us suffer a lot." Some people began to attack Ma Kuo personally. "It's one thing to lose a battle, and another to discuss surrender in Yaoguang Palace. The surrender comes first, and the defeat comes later. Ma Xuanzan must have gained a lot from this trip." Li Zongzhen seemed to be helping Ma Kuo to speak, but his focus was on the word "get". He deliberately said this word in a very mysterious way, with a long voice, with twists and turns, and then nodded to everyone, "Ma Xuanzan You should show it later to open everyone's eyes. This Empress Xiao has a lot of money, and her gift must be very impressive!"

Ma Kuo ignored these nonsense and continued talking with Tong Guan. When he analyzed the general situation and categorically advocated reviving the situation, holding the ground, withstood the attack of the Liao army, and resolutely opposed the proposal of withdrawing troops into the city, the staff members clamored enthusiastically. "Since Ma Xuanzan is such a young hero, he should single-handedly go to the front line to stand against Yelu Dashi, why come here and wag his tongue!" Wang Lin said the sharpest words, and he took a breath through his nose tube, " Humph! This is called 'ant-topped stone mortar—'”

"It's a thankless effort." Jia Ping, one of the two partners, hastily added his allusion, adding, "I'm afraid that if Ma Xuanzan is crushed to powder, the old man's life will not be saved." "The decision to withdraw troops has already been settled," someone yelled indignantly, "how could he be allowed to wag his lips and tongue, bewitch people's hearts, and miss a big deal!" Ma Kuo couldn't bear it any longer, stood up suddenly, pointed at the tip of Wang Lin's nose who had bumped into a handful of dust from nowhere—because the snort he just uttered from there was the most noticeable, and shouted sharply:

"Ma is here to report to the Xuanfu. He has nothing to do with others. If you want to hear it, you can sit down and listen quietly. Don't be restless. If you don't want to hear it, please go out. This is a secret room, how can you allow it?" You've got a bluebottle camp, and you're making noise here!" Then he asked Tong Guandao bluntly, "After our army was defeated, did the national and French military discipline also disappear? Xuanfu was sent by the imperial court to set an example for the three armies. , to allow someone to harass loudly in Xuanfu's confidential room!"

Everyone looked at Tong Guan's color together.Although Tong Guan's prestige has been greatly reduced, after all, the imperial court has not issued a decree, and the Great Seal is still in his hands, so there is still room for prestige.His face darkened, and he waved his hand outside the door. The staff members swarmed out of the secret room, and then crowded outside the door to discuss in threes and fours. "Let such a young boy participate in the final discussion, how can the world's affairs not go bad?" "It's all the fault of the princes. Everyone recommended that kid to be envoy to the Liao court. I strongly opposed it at the beginning, but it's hard for him to do it alone?"

"It's always my fault that we didn't educate him as an adult, but today he is supercilious, not knowing how high the sky is and how thick the earth is!" This seemed to be the tone of an old senior, as if he had been teaching earnestly.Those who hope to make them adults cannot be taught?But he spoke too softly, and Jia Ping immediately used the most violent words to offset his influence. "I don't know how much this kid has been bribed by the rebellious wife Xiao (to give people of various identities clear titles, which is also the formal logic of the staff). If we want to drown us here, it will be her plan to catch them all." He initiated a proposal and said, "I'm going to make a motion here, everyone signs the title, announces the prime minister publicly, and kills this kid who has evidence of collusion with the enemy and confuses the army, so that the old people can recognize him." The means I'm waiting for." "Search the boy's luggage first to see how much he has been bribed by the rebellious wife Xiao. I'm afraid he has already tampered with it when he passed the front line." At this time, Tong Guan saw Ma Kuo's angry face in the room, so he smiled and comforted him: "These rats have eaten up the granary here, and where do they want to go to look for food? They are retreating, lest they can't get away." Although Tong Guan usually trusts them in every possible way, he is very clear about their personal thoughts. of.Knowing that it is impossible for them to become his filial sons and grandsons and perish together with him, but he can't let them go.As long as he sits in the position of appeasement envoy for a day, these mice will continue to drill into his granary.This principle is the same as how officials treat him, Wang Fu, Cai You, and Gao Qiu, and everyone understands it in their hearts.At that moment he comforted Ma Kuo and said, "Zi Chongxiu has the same knowledge as them, let's talk about important matters." Tong Guan's complexion became more and more gentle, completely different from his usual domineering and domineering attitude, and he actually had the air of humbly asking for advice.He first praised Ma Kuo's achievements as an envoy, but it was a pity that the success failed.Then Wei Wei said that Zhong Shi was stubborn and disobedient, and ordered Yang Keshi to cross the river to challenge him, which made Yelu Dashi angry, causing the entire line to be defeated.What he said was a lie, but after the defeat, he had repeated this lie more than a dozen times, and under undisguised circumstances, he had reported it to the court, and he himself believed it to be true. "According to what Ma has heard, Yelu Dashi's cover-up attack has been planned for a long time. Could it be our army's provocation?" "Let's not talk about this for the time being," Tong Guan waved his hand quickly to stop, "Let's talk about the aftermath first, Xuan Zan will see how to deal with the overall situation?" Then he followed to the core issue of the current overall situation that both Cai Xuanfu and Staff Officer Liu strongly advocated the withdrawal of troops, and the officials of the Xuanfu Division also supported them for their own safety.Only Zhao Longtu disagreed and opposed the withdrawal of troops.So he asked: "Although Zhao Longtu opposes the withdrawal of troops, he can't say a reason. Let's praise it and say what are the advantages and disadvantages?" Ma Kuo briefly repeated some of his thoughts, and also added some confidential words that were inconvenient to express in front of everyone just now.He noticed that Tong Guan listened very carefully, and was especially interested in Li Chuwen's section.Ma Kuo asked bluntly: "Those who advocate the withdrawal of troops are only planning for themselves, regardless of the overall situation of the country. What do Ma and Xuanfu agree?" "I'm still skeptical." Tong Guan said a rare honesty, "Such a big event, can it be that if we lose the first battle, we can just leave it at that? Now that Xuan Zan said, there is still something to do. After hearing this, I felt at ease. Xuanzan quickly went to Staff Officer Liu, as long as he could be persuaded, I would still advocate the idea of ​​advancing troops, and wait for the opportunity to counterattack. As for Xuanzan's deep thinking about being attacked when he retreated, this statement is also very much in line with my opinion When Xuan Zan finds Staff Officer Liu, he must explain this meaning to him." "Ma can understand all these things." Ma Kuo persuaded Tong Guan with his words, and made him enthusiastic about the idea of ​​entering the army, and he felt more at ease. "Ma went to Staff Officer Liu, and said that he was ordered by Xuanfu to talk to him. After the talk, he would reply to Xuanfu. Xuanfu must make up his mind and not be confused by floating opinions. It's easy to handle. Besides, Wang Jieru and his party are currently settled in the hotel, and someone needs to entertain them for a few days. It is necessary to strictly prevent them from revealing military information, and to pretend to be false. After the military is stable, we can negotiate with him. Yelu Dashi proposed to jointly defend The policy of gold is related to the overall situation, and must be determined by the court. According to Ma, it is a long-term plan, and this case is not the beginning. "The people in the department have already turned their hearts like arrows. They wish to fly high and leave this place of right and wrong early. How can they stay here to undertake business? Besides, it is difficult for me to express my thoughts to them. This reception Liao envoy I can't say anything about it, so I have no choice but to bother Xuan Zan. Xuan Zan quickly went to Staff Liu to talk to me."