Tomorrow will be the first day of the seventh year of the lunar month. The weather will be fine.
Ma Xiaoquan stood at the door of Ma's house, took a deep breath, straightened his collar, and prepared to go to the palace to attend the New Year Festival.
According to tradition, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, all the officials have to enter the palace to celebrate the New Year with the emperor. The location is usually the Temple of Heaven, and the time is usually before dawn. Of course, since Emperor Zhu Youxiao of Tianqi has been
I am sick and my condition is getting worse, so this year's New Year's Day has been slightly postponed. This is why Ma Xiaoquan can comfortably stand at the door of his house and take a deep breath.
A servant of the Ma family came out with a basin and was about to pour water. When he saw Ma Xiaoquan, he hurriedly saluted Ma Xiaoquan.
"Haha, morning~~" Ma Xiaoquan said hello to the servant.
"Good morning, sir~ Are you going to attend the New Year Festival?"
"Yeah~ By the way, when the ladies get up, you can inform me that I won't be back until tonight..."
"Yes~~"
...
This year's New Year Festival was much smaller than in previous years. The main reason was that the emperor was in poor health. Ma Xiaoquan said he would come back in the evening, but in fact the New Year Festival was over by noon.
It was a rare occasion to go out, and it was also rare to meet some official friends whom I didn't usually see. Together, we decided to go to a restaurant, have some drinks, and talk.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, there were very few restaurants open in Beijing, but there were still two local restaurants in Beijing that were open as usual.
Ma Xiaoquan and others walked into the restaurant, ordered some side dishes, and gathered around to eat and drink.
After drinking for three rounds, someone said: "Master Deacon, I don't understand why you have such a high official rank. Why do you have to go to guard the border? It's safer to stay in the capital. At least the Jurchens will fight here one day.
Sometimes, I can still resist for a while."
Ma Xiaoquan rolled his eyes and scolded with a smile: "Bullshit, the Jurchens are really going to attack the capital. How can you resist? Besides, my father, mother, brother and sister-in-law are all there. Grandma is already old, so there is no point in accompanying her."
,A man must have some ambition..."
"Tsk tsk tsk... I'm afraid that's not the case? I heard that Jurchen women have strong tempers and are difficult to tame. I'm afraid the deacon is going there mainly to catch Jurchen women for fun, right?"
Ma Xiaoquan was not angry, and laughed and said: "Actually, I went to the border several times before, including the Ningyuan defense battle. I also participated in it. After Huang Taiji's father Nurhaci died, I also went to mourn. I have seen Jurchen women.
Quite a few, to be honest, their appearance is really not that good... Not as handsome as Han women, haha... Of course, not all of them are ugly, there are still some good-looking ones.
Ha ha......"
"Haha..." Several officials laughed at the same time.
After another round of pushing cups and changing cups, several people gradually became silent. After a long time, an official suddenly sighed and said: "Master Deacon, you say... is there still hope for our Ming Dynasty?"
Ma Xiaoquan smiled slightly and asked, "What do you think?"
Asked about Ma Xiaoquan’s political envoy to Shaanxi, Hong Chengchou.
At this time, Hong Chengchou was not well-known. This New Year's Festival was held because he happened to come to the capital to visit an old friend, otherwise he would not have been able to come.
Ma Xiaoquan and Hong Chengchou were not close friends. To be precise, they came to have dinner and drinks together after being introduced by a friend of a friend.
Hong Chengchou shook his head and did not dare to continue.
"Haha~" Ma Xiaoquan patted Hong Chengchou on the shoulder and asked, "Master Hong, let me ask you this, if one day the Jurchens invade, will you surrender? Or not?"
Hong Chengchou was stunned and did not dare to answer.
Ma Xiaoquan took a sip of wine and said: "Actually, whether you surrender or not is your business, no one can control it, but I want to say one thing, you must do your best to help every day, as long as you don't forget your original intention.
Can."
"Don't you forget...the original intention..." Hong Chengchou murmured thoughtfully, recalling what Ma Xiaoquan said.
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I see that everyone is not talking much, so let me say a few words... Well, I just received a tip that Huang Taiji sent Amin to fight against North Korea."
Ma Xiaoquan said it in an understatement, but when others heard it, it was very shocking.
"Master Deacon, is this serious?"
"Of course, the emperor didn't know about this because he was ill."
"Humph, it must have been suppressed by that old castrated dog (referring to Wei Zhongxian)." An official said angrily.
"Let's not talk about whether they were suppressed... Let me ask you, the Jurchens have decided to go to fight North Korea. Do you think we still have the strength to save it now?"
"This..." Several officials present looked at each other, unable to answer.
"Isn't that enough? So what's the difference between telling the emperor and not telling the emperor? What's the difference..."
After seeing several people who were still silent, Ma Xiaoquan continued: "Therefore, the most effective way now is to go to the border. It's that simple! You said that all the Ma family members are at the border, leaving me alone. If I don't go, I will
It doesn’t make sense.”
"The deacon's family is really a heroic family. Compared with the generals of the Yang family in the Song Dynasty, I don't want to give in more."
Ma Xiaoquan waved his hand: "No, no, no, compared to the Yang family generals, our Ma family is not good enough. Besides, the Ma family is not framed like the Yang family generals. If nothing else, at least Wei Zhongxian is at the border.
If there was no nonsense, if the Jurchens hit the door, the first one would probably be to sneak him out and spank him..."
"Then North Korea can't resist?" Some officials said angrily, "Why do they ask us for so much money every year?"
"Ha...you mean North Korea? North Korea is just a small country. They obey whoever forces them and gives them money. Whether it's the Ming Dynasty or the Jurchens, I think North Korea will be conquered in less than a month.
Take it down! Can't Yuan Chonghuan just go out and save North Korea?" Hong Chengchou said.
Ma Xiaoquan nodded and said: "Yuan Chonghuan wants to do it too, but I guess he is beyond his reach. After all, after the last defense battle of Ningyuan, the city wall was basically destroyed. At this time, what Yuan Chonghuan wants to do first is to repair the city wall.
"
"Well, yes, North Korea is a foreign country after all. If it is lost, it has to be lost. Anyway, if it is lost, we will have one less person who opens his mouth and reaches out to ask for money every year..."
"Then the deacon is going to serve Yuan Chonghuan?"
Ma Xiaoquan smacked his lips and said: "That's not true. I went to guard the border as an imperial envoy with the emperor's personal approval. It has nothing to do with Yuan Chonghuan. To put it bluntly, it was the emperor who had some doubts about Yuan Chonghuan and asked me to monitor his work.
of."
"Didn't your Excellency fight with Yuan Chonghuan in the Ningyuan Defense Battle? What? Doesn't the Emperor still believe this?"
Ma Xiaoquan sighed deliberately and muttered in a low voice: "Being with a king is like being with a tiger. It's not like I don't understand..."
Several people looked at each other, nodded and stopped talking.
In fact, Ma Xiaoquan was going to work for Yuan Chonghuan, but he could not tell the truth in front of these officials.
Although the relationship between these people and him is not bad, officialdom is officialdom, and walls have ears.
...
Ma Xiaoquan and the others spent the entire afternoon having a meal and wine, and it was already evening when they returned home.
The Hua Yue girls had known that the New Year Festival was over, but Ma Xiaoquan had not come back for a long time. When they saw their husband, they smelled the smell of alcohol on his body. The women felt distressed and angry, thinking that Ma Xiaoquan had gone to drink flower wine.
Beiming Shuangxue muttered: "There are so many beautiful girls at home, and you still go out to drink flower wine..."
Ma Xiaoquan didn't drink much, but he still felt a little dizzy. He smiled and said: "Drink flower wine? I don't have the leisure time. I went to have dinner with some official friends. Fangfang, prepare a sober ginger."
Soup, I want to drink it!"
"Oh~" Fangfang nodded, turned around and went to work.
After a while, Fangfang came up with a bowl of hot ginger soup, and Ma Xiaoquan took the next sip and drank it all.
After drinking the ginger soup, Ma Xiaoquan put down the bowl and asked Hua Yue: "How are the preparations going?"
Hua Yue nodded: "That's almost it. When will we leave?"
Ma Xiaoquan looked at Hua Yue's swollen belly and asked, "When is the due date?"
"The due date?" Hua Yue was stunned for a moment and looked at Ma Xiaoquan.
"Oh~~" Ma Xiaoquan slapped his forehead and realized that this era was the Ming Dynasty, "I mean, when will the baby be born?"
"Xiao Mei took my pulse. If nothing happens, it should be four months later."
"Four months... Well, then, Yue'er, are you going to come with me, or are you going to be escorted by your tribe back to your parents' home to recuperate first?"
Hua Yue shook her head: "I want to go with my husband~ Also, I am now a member of the Ma family, not the Hua family."
"Well, okay~" Ma Xiaoquan scratched his scalp awkwardly and looked at Beiming Shuangxue again.
"Look what I did, of course I left with my husband, and so did Lisa and Fangfang~"
"Yeah~" Lisa and Fangfang nodded simultaneously.
"Then how many servants will follow?"
Hua Yue smiled bitterly and said: "I vowed to follow you before, but so far only three people are willing, and the others have changed their minds."
"Haha, I have guessed it a long time ago. This is also human nature. After all, the border is not peaceful. Going there is like licking blood from the knife edge. It's not just the servants of the Ma family, the Vulcan Sect and a group of followers will follow me.
Let’s go together.”
"Well, then there will be no people in the Vulcan Cult, and will the Vulcan Cult cease to exist?"
"No, at least in the capital, there will no longer be a Vulcan Cult."
"Okay~~When do we leave?"
"The initial plan is to leave on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. At least this year will be completed for everyone."