Within one day, Zhu Xu was in a very good mood by tying all the royal family and Shanxi merchants.

So he happily listened to the opera in the Pingwang Mansion until after lunch.

After drinking and eating, the two of them started playing Go in the side room.

King Ping was extremely proficient in poetry, songs and essays, and as he played, he became a guiding chess.

"Xu'er, you should play chess. You should look at three steps in one step. Don't stare at your own chess, you should look at your opponent's."

"There are some fixed patterns that will cause headaches for your opponent if you use them well."

"Virtual moves are sometimes necessary."

King Ping smiled at Zhu Xu while he was down.

After all, Zhu Xu is just a rookie and is confused. He understands the truth, but he is still a mess when he is down.

Zhu Xu quickly found a way to change the embarrassment, glanced at Wang Chengen, who had been respectful and respectful on the side, and said, "Eunuch Wang, what do you think of this business?"

Wang Chengen bowed, looked up at Zhu Xu and King Ping after hearing this, and said respectfully: "Thank you Your Highness to fulfill your wishes, Your Highness King Xin should be satisfied."

Zhu Xu also looked satisfied and continued to fight with Ping Wang on the chessboard.

"Your Highness, Your Highness."

Suddenly, Cao Wenzhao hurried over from outside.

Zhu Xu was stunned, holding the chess piece in his hand, and turned his head and said, "What happened? I'm so panicked?"

Cao Wenzhao glanced at the few people and said in a vague manner, "Your Highness, the thief chief Nurhaci led an army of 130,000 to attack Ningyuan. I heard that this time it is coming with great force, and he is stance to break through Shanhaiguan!"

"What did you say!"

Before Zhu Xu could react, King Ping sat upright and stared at Cao Wenzhao with a look of shock.

Cao Huachun, Wang Chengen and others were also uneasy. Shanhaiguan was the last barrier to the capital. If Shanhaiguan was lost, the cavalry of the Later Jin Dynasty would be flat and could attack the capital in a few hours!

Zhu Xu looked calm, as expected.

It was during this battle that Nurhaci was hit by Yuan Chonghuan's artillery and died of poison and cursed not long after.

King Ping looked at Zhu Xu's expression and stared at the chessboard in a daze. He moved his hands and said, "Xu'er, aren't you worried? This thief chief is coming fiercely, I'm afraid that even Liaodong will not be able to defend it."

"There is nothing to worry about." Zhu Xu held the chess piece in his hand and said half sighing and half mockingly: "The one Nurhaci fears the most is Sun Ge Lao. Now that Sun Ge Lao has been transferred back to the capital, Gao Di is also a mediocre official, and he only wants to guard Shanhaiguan. This million fertile soil in Liaodong is equivalent to giving it away for free. If I were Nurhaci, I wouldn't be polite."

King Ping listened to Zhu Xu's words and said in a daze: "You mean, you expected it long ago?"

Historically, Nurhaci did send troops in the first lunar month and retreated within a few days, which is the so-called "Ningyuan Victory". This battle was of great importance to the Ming Dynasty, and at least it was still strategically active. If Nurhaci had survived and attacked Shanhaiguan, I was afraid that the Ming Dynasty would have a few short lives.

Zhu Xu naturally had no way to say this, and said lightly, "I can't imagine that the adults in the court all wanted to defend Shanhaiguan. Jiannu naturally knew that it was not surprising that the troops were at the city this time, it was just a matter of time."

King Ping thought about it and immediately smiled and said, "Xu'er, you are right. Those adults and the emperor are worried about these things. Let's still play chess, chess, haha."

Seeing that Zhu Xu didn't care much, Cao Wenzhao was puzzled. This was not the way His Highness used to behave, so hesitated and said, "Your Highness, should we do something?"

"No." Zhu Xu waved his hand.

This battle is bound to be won, not to mention that because he had confiscated six divisions of dirty silver before, Liaodong had sufficient military pay. In addition, without Wei Zhongxian's destruction, the situation was much better than the original history and there was no reason to lose.

Seeing that Zhu Xu was calm, Cao Wenzhao quietly let go of his worries.

Zhu Xu was not worried, but the well-informed people in the capital were already like ants on a hot pan, restless.

Zhu Youxiao, who was in the imperial study, walked around with a crutch, his face was solemn and his eyes were anxious.

Not long after, an eunuch hurriedly reported: "The emperor, Gu Ge Lao, Sun Ge Lao, Lord Yang and others were waiting for the order outside the palace."

"Send it quickly!" Zhu Youxiao turned around suddenly and said in a deep voice.

"Abide by the order." The eunuch hurried out again.

Not long after, the cabinet chief Gu Bingqian, the second assistant Sun Chengzong, the Minister of War Wang Yongguang, and the British Duke Zhang Weixian quickly walked into the imperial study room in turn.

Zhu Youxiao didn't wait for them to receive the ceremony and opened his mouth, "The thief chief is approaching Shanhaiguan, what are your solutions?"

Gu Bingqian was the chief assistant. He looked brave enough to take responsibility and raised his hand, saying, "When I go back to the emperor, the old minister believes that all soldiers outside the pass should be withdrawn from Shanhaiguan and defend Shanhaiguan with all their strength. Now the troops are scattered and they are easily defeated one by one. Once Shanhaiguan is not protected, the capital will be in danger!"

"No!"

Sun Chengzong stepped forward and shouted: "Emperor, if you lose Ningyuan and Jinzhou, Shanhaiguan will have no buffering place. Shanhaiguan will inevitably be in danger, which will truly endanger the capital, shake the morale of the army, and hurt the foundation of the country!"

Gu Bingqian relied on being the chief assistant and was not afraid of the relationship between Sun Chengzong and Zhu Youxiao. He turned around and shouted loudly, "No, can you defend Ningyuan and Shanhaiguan in this way?"

Sun Chengzong knew that Gu Bingqian was just a villain who had no military knowledge at all. He faced Zhu Youxiao and said more and more decisively, "Emperor, for the sake of this, he should order Yuan Chonghuan to control all the troops outside the pass and defend Ningyuan with all his strength. If Ningyuan is lost, Shanhaiguan is not far away, and the capital is not even far away!"

"Rareless!" Gu Bingqian was furious and shouted: "Mr. Sun, do you think that my Ming Dynasty is about to destroy the country! Alert..."

"Enough!"

Zhu Youxiao had a gloomy face, and cut off the two of them. His eyes turned to Wang Yongguang and said with a dark face: "What does the Ministry of War think?"

Wang Yongguang was originally a neutral and Qingliu. He wanted to resign from his post to avoid party disputes, but he couldn't escape. He was forced to be the Minister of War. After hearing this, he pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I think Shanhaiguan must not be in trouble."

Wang Yongguang's words sounded reasonable, but in fact they meant that they didn't say anything. They had no position on the two people above, and they were completely nonsense.

Zhu Youxiao's chest was ups and downs, and his anger was hard to contain. But he was all second-rank officials and could not scold him at will. His eyes turned to Zhang Weixian in a dim manner and said, "Duke of Britain, how about the defense of the capital?"

The British Duke was hereditary, in charge of the Central Army Protectorate, controlled the guards and guards, and was responsible for the defense of the capital. Zhang Weixian seemed heroic and took a step forward and said loudly: "Report to the emperor, I have ordered all the battalions to be on standby, and at any time, martial law and curfew to prevent Jiannu from raiding the capital."

After hearing Zhang Weixian's words, Zhu Youxiao felt better. He looked at Gu Bingqian, Sun Chengzong, and Wang Yongguang again. His face turned pale and frowned and said, "Eight hundred miles to hurry up, and the order is issued to Gaodi, Shanhaiguan cannot be misunderstood!"

Sun Chengzong's face turned dark when he listened to Zhu Youxiao's words. In fact, Gao Di tried hard to defend Shanhaiguan. He could understand that Shanhaiguan was the last barrier in the capital. If this barrier was gone, the Ming Dynasty would really be unable to sleep or eat.

However, there is only one Shanhaiguan left, and the Ming Dynasty will no longer have the power to attack the Later Jin Dynasty in the future. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!