Zhu Shijing has been in power for many years, supporting several forces respectively, and through light and dark control and balance, he thinks he can level a bowl of water, but he didn't expect that as long as Zhang Hongyi, the head of the two dynasties, is in the court, the dispute between the party and friends will be difficult to extinguish, and after all, he still needs to make his own choice.

As a human monarch, it is both fortunate and unfortunate that there is an auxiliary minister in the court who has the talent of the heavens and the earth.

Fortunately, it is the luck of the country's society, Zhu Shijing has good ministers to accompany him, and he will never make too many mistakes, and everything is checked by Zhang Hongyi.

Unfortunately, when the emperor was still in his prime, he gave Zhang Hongyi a teacher's ceremony, and Zhang Taishi taught all subjects such as classics and history, and imperial etiquette.

Due to the early death of the first emperor, Zhu Shijing was restricted by Zhang Taishi since he ascended the throne at the age of six, and spent most of his day studying with Zhang Hongyi.

Zhang Hongyi not only personally compiled the sermons as a textbook for the little emperor, but also taught them personally most of the time, as for the several attendants and lecturers appointed by Zhang Hongyi, they only had the opportunity to teach themselves when Zhang Taishi was busy with court affairs.

It is also this teacher-student relationship with Zhang Hongyi that makes the emperor need to inform the first assistant to make decisions about everything before he takes office, and he has to ask Zhang Hongyi for any requirements and opinions, and he is controlled by this master everywhere.

However, the Taibao, who is supposed to assist in teaching himself, is in a position of power and is in vain.

Even after being pro-government, the emperor felt that there was no majesty as a human lord everywhere, because Zhang Hongyi was still the regent who was trusted by the empress dowager Ning Xi after the death of the first emperor.

At the age of 11, Zhu Shijing was obsessed with music and calligraphy, devoted himself to studying calligraphy, painting and piano skills, and even invited his mother and princes and ministers to set up a banquet in the Wenhua Hall to play the qin.

But after the pragmatic Zhang Hongyi learned about this, the next day he started the emperor's admonition:

His Majesty's piano skills have been remarkable, and it is no longer appropriate to spend too much energy on them, because for His Majesty, calligraphy and painting are always minor skills.

Since ancient times, the holy monarchs and lords have ruled the world with virtue, and whether the art is superb or not, it is not beneficial to the people of Li.

Emperors such as Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Houzhu of Chen, Emperor Yang of Sui, Emperor Gray of the Song Dynasty, and Emperor Ningzong of the Song Dynasty were all great musicians, painters, poets, and lyricists, just because they were addicted to art, so that the government did not repair, the orders were not clear, and some even suffered the tragedy of the death of the country.

Zhu Shijing knew that Zhang Taishi himself was a master of calligraphy and painting, not only proficient in ancient music, but also proficient in Western musical instruments.

However, Taishi Zhang did not let himself delve into it, Zhu Shijing was naturally unhappy and very reluctant, but out of awe of Zhang Hongyi, Zhu Shijing could only listen to Zhang Hongyi's loyal advice, although some dissatisfaction in his heart was certain.

As a result, the emperor's daily classes abolished music and even calligraphy, leaving only classics, history, literature and natural sciences.

Zhang Taishi also has a very strict control over the palace in the use of material and financial rights, according to the centuries-old tradition of the Celestial Empire, every first lunar month on the fifteenth day of the Yuan Festival, each palace and each courtyard has Aoshan fireworks and new palace lanterns, the decoration is brilliant, the night is the same as the day.

However, at the suggestion of Zhang Hongyi, this extravagant and wasteful project was abolished in this dynasty.

Zhu Shijing once wanted to renovate the dormitory for his mother, the Empress Dowager Ning Xi, and decorate all kinds of rare palace treasures to show filial piety.

Zhang Hongyi said that the official courts were magnificent enough, and everything was perfect, and there was no need to embellish them.

When Zhu Shijing was a teenager, he began to care about the women in the palace and liked to be curious about rare and foreign objects.

Zhang Hongyi then pointed out:

Those who are masters should focus on whether their subjects have enough food and clothing, and whether the world is safe, rather than being intoxicated with women. And the pearl and jade treasures play, hungry can not eat, cold can not clothing, not worthy of the emperor's personal attention, the emperor should abstain from self-control and spend more time on military affairs.

There are countless examples like this, so even though the emperor knew that Zhang Hongyi's suggestions and arrangements were correct, Zhu Shijing still couldn't help but have a deep grudge against Zhang Hongyi since he was a child.

But it has to be said that it was the decades when Zhang Hongyi, who retired to civilian service after the war, served as the regent, that the northern tsar no longer sent troops to harass the Celestial Empire, and the rebellion of the subject countries in the southeast has also disappeared.

With such peace for a long time, the national treasury is naturally becoming more and more abundant.

These achievements beyond expectations are naturally due to the Chief Cabinet Scholar Zhang Hongyi.

It is no wonder that the emperor's mother, Empress Dowager Ning Xi, is also obedient to Taishi Zhang.

Empress Dowager Ning Xi was a devout woman who believed in God and Buddha, and she was ready to use her private savings to build a Bodhisattva temple on the outskirts of Beijing, but later followed the advice of Taishi Zhang and used the money to repair the railway outside the capital.

Zhu Shijing once suffered from lung disease, coughed nonstop, and even coughed up blood, and the Empress Dowager Ning Xi prayed to God and worship God several times, from the Buddha to the immeasurable Heavenly Venerable, and even the God of the Western religion begged.

Later, I don't know if it was because the worship of God worked, or if it was too good for medicine, Zhu Shijing finally recovered.

Empress Dowager Ning Xi originally planned to set up an altar in the palace to thank the gods for their blessings, but the matter was also abandoned due to Zhang Hongyi's opposition.

In addition, there were several times when the Empress Dowager Ning Xi spent a lot of money to build a luxurious palace so that she could live in the following year when she traveled to the south of the Yangtze River, but Zhang Hongyi insisted that it was impossible, and the Empress Dowager gave up this intention.

In these cases, Zhang Taishi's claims are undoubtedly reasonable, but these fair and strict arrangements and selfless attitude are not without a price to pay in the future.

As the emperor, no one in Zhu Shijing's world is equal to him, except for the empress dowager, there are only two people he needs to respect, one is Zhang Hongyi, the chief scholar of the cabinet, and the other is the "big companion" who has been with him longer than Zhang Hongyi and has spent his entire childhood with him - Gao Gong, the eunuch who was the master of ceremonies at that time.

However, Gao Gong has been eliminated by Zhang Hongyi for the crime of abusing power and harming the court, and the various government divisions of Jinyiwei who are directly responsible to Gao Gong have been merged and brought under his command, and Jinyiwei has been set up as a commander, until he has been in power for more than 20 years, Jinyiwei was abolished.

After Zhu Shijing became pro-government, in order to get rid of this kind of government and life that was shrouded by Zhang Hongyi's name, he vigorously cultivated and appointed his own trusted ministers, and allowed them to establish their own power in the court, which could somewhat weaken Zhang Hongyi's power to cover the sky.

Today, after the weakening of his own Xu Tu, coupled with the gradual death of Zhang Hongyi's former cronies in the DPRK, Zhang Hongyi himself is also dying.

On the other hand, he was in the prime of life, and there were many parties in the court, so he was finally able to regain control of the court.

But Zhang Hongyi's question today has put him in a dilemma, if he should step down to Zhang Hongyi, let him take charge of foreign affairs again, and release his military power, wouldn't he want to lose his power again?

But if not, at present, the great enemy is present, the military intelligence in various places is urgent, and the only person who can handle the heavy task in the DPRK and China and has fought with foreigners is Zhang Taishi.

If it is really allowed to retreat to the fields, it can really be said that the country has lost its pillars and the family has broken its beams.

And judging from the military situation in various places, it seems that the Sacred Sun Empire of the Nayi people is indeed as Zhang Taishi said, and its military strength is much stronger than a few decades ago.

Liu Wenbo saw that His Majesty was in deep thought at this moment, and secretly exclaimed that it was not good.

So he immediately knelt down in the temple, as he had done the last time, and cried out:

"Your Majesty, Taishi Zhang is intent on seizing power, and the ministers are afraid that he will be disloyal! If Taishi Zhang is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he will only disregard the safety of the country and the life and death of the people! He will only fight with foreigners for the sake of his own fame and great cause, regardless of the society!

His bad intentions are clearly revealed! Your Majesty must not be confused by Master Zhang! Your Majesty orders him to take charge of the troops today! The old minister will die on this pillar!"

Zhang Hongyi scoffed at Mrs. Liu's move, straightened up his bowed body, raised his head and said indifferently to Zhu Shijing:

"Hmph! If I don't want to fight with the foreigners, the enemy has come to the door of the house, do you want my army and people to be like Mrs. Liu and only shrink in the palace?

Your Majesty, the old minister will not do the act of grabbing land with his head like Mrs. Liu, and coerce him with life and death.

The minister will only say and do things clearly, and prove by example that whoever is loyal and who is traitorous, and who is vying for power, please ask Your Majesty to find out for yourself. ”

Kneeling in the hall, Liu Wenbo was ashamed and indignant again when he heard this, gritted his teeth with hatred, and constantly scolded Zhang Hongyi in his heart for being the first man and the old thief with a long beard.

"Rong Zhen...... Rong Zhen thought about it. ”

As the emperor, Zhu Shijing actually carried the ministers on his back at this moment, walked up the jade steps, put his right elbow on the back of his left hand in a daze, and used his fingers to flick his chin with more than two inches of beard.

"Your Majesty, it's too late to worry about it! If it is delayed for a long time! When that foreigner breaks through my city pass, I can't regret it!"

Zhang Hongyi's seemingly rude remark made Zhu Shijing's heart shocked, and he gradually thought about some things clearly.

Zeng Guoqing saw that the emperor seemed to want to respond to Zhang Hongyi, and said busily:

"Taishi, don't think too highly of yourself! There are countless people in my Heavenly Dynasty, it's not that without Taishi, no one can resist the enemy!"

"I ...... Whew—"

Zhu Shijing thought about it for a long time, and finally made up his mind, he breathed a long sigh of relief, seemed to calm down, and then said with a firm face:

"I would like to accept the invitation of Master Zhang, appoint Zhang Hongyi as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, hold the seal of the Governor of the Five Armies, take command of the Beiyang, and protect my peace in the country!"

Zhu Shijing knew that although Zhang Hongyi had dominated the dynasty for decades, he had always grown up in the shadow of his fame.

However, Zhu Shijing believed that at least Zhang Hongyi was loyal to the Celestial Empire, and if he wanted to betray himself and usurp the throne, he could replace him after the Great War sixty years ago, when the first emperor died.

At that time, he was orphaned and widowed, isolated in the court, on the other hand, the Manchu Dynasty civil and military, all of them were Zhang Hongyi's protégés. And Zhang Hongyi was in the prime of life at that time, and he never had a different heart at that time, not to mention that now there are four in eighty?

If you don't believe in a person who is about to fall into the ground, you can really tarnish your name for the rest of your life. Therefore, although he has been under Zhang Hongyi's control and has accumulated grievances for many years, he at least believes that this teacher who has been teaching him for many years is a person who really wants to do things for the imperial court, and he does have the ability to turn things around.

Chen Dezhong saw that the situation was not good, and he also hurriedly admonished:

"Your Majesty, your Majesty! Although Taishi Zhang is wise and brave, after all, he is old, and Taishi Zhang has worked hard and made great achievements! For the sake of his body, it is still not suitable to take command of the expedition, and he can only plan thousands of miles in the court!"

"I have made up my mind, don't say anything more, I believe that Taishi Zhang and Zhong Aiqing are loyal ministers and pillars of the imperial court! ”

Liu Wenbo saw that the general trend had gone, so he had to say:

"Your Majesty is not in a hurry to agree, and listen to what Taishi Zhang has to break the enemy, if his strategy is feasible, then the minister has nothing to say, if his strategy does not work, then please find another virtuous, Mo Ren Taishi is the Minister of Foreign Affairs. ”

Zhu Shijing thought that this was reasonable, nodded and said:

"Then I will ask the old lady to explain to me in detail how to break the enemy. ”

"Obey. ”

Zhang Hongyi then bowed down again and said:

"Although the thieves are powerful, but they are not uncontrollable, thanks to the wind and the real people, I have built the Xuanjing Great Wall along the coast of the North Sea and the East China Sea, and its unbreakable self-defense.

However, His Majesty had heard Taifu Liu's words before sending people to build watchtowers and forts along the coast, but the minister thought that it was useless, and this move was just a waste of money and food. ”

"Oh, why do you say that?"

"According to war reports from various places, the heavy gunboats of the Fanyi people are equipped with a new type of super-large caliber main gun, which has an extremely long range and is incomparably powerful.

Although its cannons cannot destroy the walls made of bassar, ordinary walls, even those made of mixed diamonds or corundum, are vulnerable to its naval guns.

The range of its naval guns made it difficult for the gunners of our defenders facing the North Sea and the East China Sea to find their ships.

The range of our Xuanwu cannon and the Golden Dragon cannon of the Shenji Battalion should be enough to shell the enemy ship.

However, due to the backwardness of the observation system, even if the firing range is sufficient, if it is difficult to observe the enemy's shadow, what can be done?

Therefore, the minister proposed that the Lord of Nanhuaiyi, who was born in France, lead his observatory to develop a new type of rangefinder in order to fight back.

Otherwise, we will have to be beaten blindly on the border, and if the enemy does not come closer, we will never be able to inflict any damage on him. ”

"Yes, I understand, and I will stop the construction of watchtowers and their fortifications and turrets along the coast.

The Observatory was also instructed to develop a new type of rangefinder.

Nan Huaiyi, the squire of the Ministry of Works, listened to the order, and the development and development of the rangefinder for the fort was handed over to you, and the matter was subject to the arrangement of the Taishi Mansion. ”

"Commandment. ”

The brown-haired and blue-eyed Ministry of Works, Nan Huaiyi, said.

Zhang Hongyi glanced at Nan Huaiyi, nodded lightly to him, and then continued:

"As for the defense of the South Seas, there is Jiang Mo's water-covered array, so there is no need to worry.

Earlier, I had discussed training a new army of sailors in Guangdong, and taking advantage of the enemy's surprise, I would go out on the water and join forces with the Tsar to defeat him by land.

Now it seems that it is too late and the opportunity is missed. Moreover, the gap between the combat strength of our naval division and the naval division of the Yi army is too large, so it is no longer appropriate to compete with the thieves on the water, and it is only necessary to wait for the rangefinder to complete the coastal defense.

Then we should focus on the land route, and there are two ways for the thieves to invade our land route:

One of them is southern Tibet, and the thieves came out of the old Tianzhu - hundreds of thousands of Indian and Duju armies, and they came in vastness.

However, although this road is strong, in fact, there is no need to be afraid, only to send a large army to suppress northern Tibet, and then send a few battalions of soldiers to southern Tibet to fight with the army of thieves to obstruct it, so that the enemy does not know the reality of our army, and it is difficult to advance half a step.

The land of southern Tibet was bitterly cold and barren, and the battle lines were long, and it was very difficult for both armies to resupply, so they only had to send troops to confront the enemy, rather than actively attacking them.

If this is delayed for a long time, the thieves will fall into a situation where they will lose their ground, and in the long run, the enemy army will retreat. ”

Zhu Shijing was overjoyed when he heard this, and exclaimed:

"Wonderful, Taishi Zhang is worthy of being an auxiliary minister, although he has not been in battle for a long time, he still knows the things on the battlefield in his chest, and he really deserves the ability to assist the country!

"Your Majesty has an overreputation, this is a matter within the old ministers, as the head of the ministers, if you can't keep your mind in mind and strategize outside, you will only bark in the court and maliciously slander others, then it is no different from a puppet?"

"Ahem, ahem...... Ai Qing said it. ”

Zhu Shijing looked at Liu Wenbo and the others who he had supported, all of them were pale at the moment, their eyes were angry, and they couldn't help but laugh.

"Aiqing continued, how to break the enemy on this last land route?"

When Zhang Hongyi heard Zhu Shijing mention this last road, he finally cheered up, his eyes were shining, and he said solemnly:

"This last road is the only chance for our dynasty to turn around, or even to turn it into a victory.

If our army wants to win, it will only rely on the well-being and immortal things left by real people, and sooner or later it will sit and eat empty, which is tantamount to killing chickens and taking eggs, and fishing for all its resources, and cannot change the fundamental situation.

Our DPRK must recognize the gap, and we must take the initiative to attack and send troops to aid the Northern Federation!

And the greatest obstacle to our dynasty lies in the enemy's current obscure and unknown combat power of the Demonic Crusaders.

Although it is not yet known from which route the troops will come from, the minister estimates that if our dynasty sends troops to Mongolia in a big way, it will be the main force that will come to stop our army! If so, our dynasty will need to have sufficient equal forces to deal with the crusaders. ”

"What does Aiqing mean by this?"

"The minister has one move, if this move can be implemented, not to mention that it can completely resist the thief demon army, but it may be able to compete with it to some extent, I hope Your Majesty will agree!"

"What's the matter? But it doesn't hurt to say it. ”

Zhang Hongyi paused, then straightened up and said solemnly:

"Hongwutang. ”

"Hongwutang!?"

"Hongwutang?? this! Your Majesty must not. ”

As soon as Zhang Hongyi's words came out, all the ministers were shocked, and Zhu Shijing also fell into contemplation again......