Although Zhu Shijing said that he accepted Zhang Hongyi's invitation and appointed him as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, when he heard the words "Hongwutang", he really regretted it at this moment.

Hongwutang is an extraordinary institution established by Zhang Hongyi at an extraordinary time.

Sixty years ago, when the army of the Holy Sun Empire was pressing, Zhang Hongyi was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in charge of all Western affairs, military affairs, and finances, in charge of the overall deployment of all manpower, and had the right to establish all relevant organizations and institutions.

At that time, although there were still unparalleled immortal Yin real people in the court, the number of real people (congenital magic users) in the empire since ancient times was more than that of the Celestial Empire.

Although the power of its real immortal arts and immortal magic is far inferior to the number of people in the Yin Dynasty, it cannot withstand the empire, and more than a dozen real people led the army and ships equipped with new guns and cannons to attack from multiple directions.

Therefore, in order to deal with the real people of the imperial army, Zhang Hongyi proposed and established the Hongwutang to recruit and cultivate martial arts wizards or cultivators with deep internal strength.

Hongwutang was established by the imperial court, but it was used to recruit unofficial talents.

Hongwutang does not select talents from among the ranks of the army, but widely goes to the sea, and directly recruits talented people from the entire Celestial Empire and all over the world.

The recruitment conditions are meritocracy, and those who come do not refuse.

No matter whether you are noble or low, no matter your background, whether you are a famous and decent family, or a left-handed person, or a thief and robber, a ringing horse and a green forest;

As long as it is a person with extraordinary abilities and strong skills, as long as he is willing to defend his family and country, he is willing to kill thieves and razors. then they can participate in the selection - Hongwu General Election.

Hongwu election to compete in the martial arts to select talents, there is no martial arts examination of the bow horse riding and archery link, although this selection method is cliché and retro, but the victory is simple and quick-acting, the audience is strong, the dissemination is wide, and the efficiency is outstanding.

Those who have outstanding ability through the general election will be incorporated into the Hongwu Hall, and will be rewarded with a thousand gold earls, and those who are fortunate enough to win the first place in the general election or who have made meritorious contributions on the battlefield in the future can be given the title of marquis.

There are many talents in Kyushu, and the vassal countries of the four seas are also capable people and different people, so the construction of Hongwutang can indeed receive the miraculous effect that the conventional law does not have, and it can indeed recruit heroes from all over the world.

Although this law is a clever measure, there is also a huge drawback that cannot be ignored, and it is precisely because of the existence of this drawback that many ministers in the DPRK and China have used it to criticize Zhang Hongyi and his subordinates.

The disadvantage of this is that although it can be used to deal with the real people of the empire, in order to maximize the ability of Hongwutang, it must first be able to accept the Jianghu sects, and even the generation of chickens and dogs, and these gangs and green forests, most of their organizational existence is prohibited and illegal, and their personal bodies are also somewhat contaminated with human lives and bloodshed, so this move is tantamount to an amnesty to the world.

In this way, it is inevitable that some people will participate in the Hongwu election in order to escape responsibility, which means that there will be countless people who abuse the number.

And in the counties of the world, the participants in the general election gathered from neighboring countries can be described as a mixture of dragons and snakes, and cattle and chickens are the same.

In this way, the talents selected under the mud and sand are naturally mixed.

Extremely vicious people, people who are infected with five poisons and commit murder, people who are strong in cultivation and do evil, people who are born in famous families and arrogant, and there are all kinds of religions and nine streams.

Therefore, from the level of management and overall planning, this is fundamentally a huge loophole and a huge problem.

The previous master of Hongwu Hall was Zhang Hongyi himself, and all the members of the hall were directly responsible to Zhang Hongyi.

Zhang Hongyi also used a series of ruthless means and arranged a strict system of rewards and punishments, which slowly subdued most of the unruly and above-the-top Biao guests in Hongwu Hall, and finally completely suppressed all the people from all over the world in Hongwu Hall.

This kind of official and unofficial institutions provided Zhang Hongyi with a large number of talents, and he also cultivated a large number of forces through this, from which Taishi's private army was born.

As a result, the development of Hongwutang in the later period made Zhang Taishi arbitrary and powerful both inside and outside the court.

The quality of the talents attracted by Hongwutang is naturally mostly warm and cold, but it is often among these strange personalities and strange people from the folk rivers and lakes that a small number of extremely brilliant talents can appear, and they can enter the eyes of Zhang Hongyi, and successfully gallop on the battlefield, shine and even establish immortal feats.

Even Zhang Hongyi's previous adjutant, a half-step real person - Hongye.

It was from Hongwutang that he won the first place in the world election and won the crown, and since then he has been concerned by Zhang Hongyi.

In addition, Hongye himself has both martial arts and virtues, and his talent and appearance are unique, and he has been favored by Zhang Hongyi since then.

Hongye was able to accompany Zhang Hongyi, who was the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses and the general army of Kyushu, and made many meritorious achievements, promoted all the way, and finally received the title of hussar general as his daughter.

However, after becoming famous, Hongye did not choose to accept the grant of land and marquis, but continued to be content with the position of adjutant in the army and continued to follow Zhang Hongyi.

It was precisely because she did not succeed and retreated, and chose to accompany Zhang Hongyi often, so that when she followed Zhang Hongyi to recover the lost territory of the subject country overseas, the two were finally plotted. Broke away from the team and was besieged and intercepted - this is an assassination headhunt with the participation of nearly ten real people!

Although Hongye is a half-step real person and has a deep cultivation, after all, she is not a real person who has completely refined her internal force into the power of immortal law, so she had to sacrifice herself and burn her soul to die with the real person of the empire, so that she could protect Zhang Hongyi from escaping.

Hongye also died in this battle, a pity, a generation of women and beauties, after all, they were famous, and they died early when they were in their prime......

During the Second Empire's invasion of the Celestial Empire's trade war, there was a time when the artillery fire of the enemy's warships hit the Zhilijin land on the right side of the Jingshi.

In order to protect the safety of the imperial family, Zhang Hongyi advised the first emperor to take the queen mother and the royal family of the clan to flee south, but the first emperor did not obey, and vowed to live and die with the palace and never leave the city of Zijin for half a step.

Who knew that Zhang Hongyi directly ordered the Hongwu people to pull hard, resist the hugging and move, and forcibly took the royal family members to Shandong for refuge.

Even the royal dragon guards and the Shenji battalion were disarmed and wounded by the Hongwu Hall.

As for the first emperor, it was personally carried on the shoulders by Zhang Hongyi, who was in the prime of life at the time, and resisted all the way to the royal car.

Until the door of the Jinluan carriage was nailed shut, the first emperor was still scolding Zhang Hongyi for being a thief and a rebel.

Afterwards, although Zhang Hongyi led the army to retreat from the enemy, the first emperor was still angry, and Zhang Hongyi was bound to excuse himself and knelt outside the Taihe Palace.

The first emperor had the intention to punish Zhang Hongyi, but after all, he was the protector of the lord, and Zhang Hongyi's power in the court was deep-rooted, so he took the liberty of making a move, I am afraid it would only cause turmoil.

So the first emperor sent Gao Gong, who was the eunuch at the time, to personally loosen the tie for him, and sent an edict to Zhang Hongyi to offset his merits and demerits, and there was neither a reward nor a demotion to the knighthood, and the matter was over.

But it is precisely because of this that the first emperor has been more defensive since then, and gradually began to alienate Zhang Hongyi. He saw Zhang Hongyi's authority and power clearly, and if he was against him, the throne would change hands immediately.

It is precisely because of the above mentioned that Hongwutang has such great benefits and disadvantages that the Celestial Empire has never re-established this institution in the decades since the so-called Second Trade War of the Empire.

Even at that time, the first emperor tried his best to find a reason and opportunity, and disbanded Hongwutang shortly after the war, but it is not until today, decades later, that the power of Taishi born from Hongwutang is considered to have declined slightly.

Now Zhang Hongyi is trying to rebuild the old system, which is not only a restart of the law to deal with foreigners, but also represents the restoration of Zhang Hongyi's powerful dynasty.

Therefore, Zhu Shijing was naturally hesitant, even if he had struggled in his heart just now, and finally chose to believe Zhang Hongyi, and had already authorized him to be the Minister of Foreign Affairs. But when it comes to Hongwutang, it is still difficult for me to make up my mind.

After thinking for a long time to no avail, Zhu Shijing looked at Zhang Hongyi, who had long hair like a waterfall under the jade steps, it was difficult to find a wisp of green silk on his head, and only his temples were still gray, and he looked at the eighty-four-year-old man carefully for a while.

Although his face was still heroic, the corners of his eyes and between his eyebrows were full of deep wrinkles.

Zhang Hongyi's god is majestic, his posture is dignified, and his eyes are still as deep as a pool, and he has not explored it thoroughly for decades.

Looking back at this moment, what can we perceive?

Zhu Shijing was silent for a long time, finally closed his eyes, shook his head slowly, and said:

"Alas, everything is according to what the master said, and the master wishes, the master ...... Sir, you can do it. ”

Zhang Hongyi heard the word Mr. again after a long absence, and for a while, his whole body trembled slightly, the corners of his eyes were slightly wet, and the corners of his mouth trembled slightly:

"Old minister...... Yes, thank you!"

Seeing this, Taifu Liu Wenbo knew that he was no longer able to return to the sky, so he did not continue to admonish, but sighed secretly:

"Zhang Hongyi is in charge of the dynasty, the people's livelihood that I have raised for decades will be ruined, my dynasty will be ruined, and the people will suffer again......"

Two days later, in the forty-first year of the Qianxi Dynasty of the Celestial Empire, the twelfth day of August in the year of Jiayin (October 1, 1914 in the imperial calendar), the palace of the Han Dynasty, the lobby

"Why bother with the Taishi, this king heard that the Taishi was above the court, and his words were quite encouraging, which made His Majesty and all the ministers very embarrassed, this king only said that it was a rumor, and he didn't dare to believe it until he confirmed it in person, this is really not like the trip of the Taishi. ”

The speaker was a middle-aged man with a heroic face, a majestic spirit, and an elegant and calm look.

He has an extraordinary appearance, wearing a five-clawed and nine-python robe that is a special gift from the emperor even among the princes and county kings, and he is the younger brother of Zhu Shijing, the younger brother of Emperor Zhu Shijing, the prince of Han, Zhu Shikai.

"Other than that...... We have no other choice but to retreat and advance, forcing Your Majesty to make a choice, for the sake of the country, the old man has to do this. ”

Zhang Hongyi, the Taishi who was sitting opposite, took a leisurely sip of tea and said slowly.

"But the Taishi is not afraid of a slight mistake, and all the painstaking and hard-won business I have waited for for many years will be in vain. ”

"It doesn't matter, after this toss, the old man feels that he and His Majesty have become more sympathetic, and they are more real and transparent to each other, and they don't have to hide it anymore, the monarch and the minister are sincere, which is good.

Besides...... The old man has always only looked at the results, not the process. Besides, even if it'......"

As for this, Zhang Hongyi paused and put the lid of the teacup on the cup to cover the leaking fragrance of tea, and then his eyes suddenly became sharp, and said:

"Besides, even if Your Majesty and the ministers oppose it in the end, our plan will still be implemented, whether in the dark or in the light, for the sake of the society, what should be done still has to be done. It's just that after all, it's not as good as it is now, it's good for everyone, at least in the end, it's a mess of harmony on the surface. ”

"That's what the master said. Zhu Shikai said with a smile.

"Shikai, I think about it, this Hongwutang master, I still can't do it, although the old man has led the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but His Majesty and the ministers are jealous and suspicious of me after all.

I plan to ask Your Majesty to play tomorrow morning, and confer you as the master of Hongwu Hall, and lead the Minister of Foreign Affairs with me.

Only by arranging His Majesty's doubts in this way can the doubts be weakened, and it will be more appropriate to look inside and out, so that we will have a way out.

After all, Your Majesty doesn't know the relationship between you and me, and you don't know that Ji Yun, the former commander of the Jinyi Guard, is a retainer in your mansion. ”

Zhu Shikai nodded with a chuckle when he heard this, took a sip of medium-temperature tea, and said:

"Hmm~ That's right, this is a little like Taishi Zhang's style!"

......

In this way, the next day, at the strong request of Zhang Hongyi, Zhu Shijing's younger brother Zhu Shikai became the master of Hongwutang and led the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Zhu Shijing was really much more relaxed, and the whole person resumed talking and laughing in the court, and his eyes when he looked at Zhang Hongyi were mixed with a bit of satisfaction and gratitude.

In the following month, Zhang Hongyi personally wrote a hero's post and assisted Zhu Shikai in organizing the Hongwu election, while sending a large army to reinforce southern Tibet to hold the enemy.

He instructed the generals who went to southern Tibet not to engage the imperial army, but only to hold on, coupled with guerrilla harassment, and the enemy would be defeated and retreated if the supply was insufficient for a long time.

As Zhang Hongyi expected, the army gathered in India by the various states of the empire could not be supported in half a month.

First of all, southern Tibet has many snowy mountains and rivers, and the roads are rugged, making it extremely difficult to supply and transport grain; moreover, even the capital has already entered autumn, and the southern Tibet is even more cold and biting.

Most of these hundreds of thousands of miscellaneous armies from various imperial vassal countries and states still wore summer clothes when they marched. Now that hunger and cold are suffering, they naturally begin to retreat.

In view of this, Zhang Hongyi explained to the garrison in southern Tibet, sent more scouts, observed the enemy's situation, and determined that the enemy really had to retreat, pull out a large army to cover and kill, at this time the enemy was hungry and tired, and he would inevitably have little combat strength.

But don't chase deeply, take it when you see it, don't be lured by the enemy, and be careful of the enemy's design of ambushes.

......

As soon as Zhang Taishi's heroic post was issued, it naturally caused shocks in the world, not to mention the utilitarian temptation of Hongwutang, a single pardon of guilt was enough to make countless outlaws in the world cheer and excited.

Moreover, many people grew up listening to the legend of Zhang Hongyi, and now I heard that he is still alive, and he has the opportunity to follow Zhang Hongyi and Zhu Shikai through the selection, plus as long as he can be elected to Hongwutang, he can be rewarded with a thousand gold collar earls, and in the future, he can worship the marquis and lead ten thousand households.

At this time, it is natural that they are all like chicken blood, and they are all rushing to it, so heroes from all over the world are rushing to the place of the general election - Jindi Mansion in Zhili Province, Xiaozhan Town, Jinnan District.

As a result, as the day of the general election approached, the post houses in several prefectures, counties, and even towns and villages in Zhili Province near the small station town of Jindi Province were overcrowded with participants from various states, counties, and even states.

During the day, these admiring Jianghu Biao and the children of the sect gathered in the inns and taverns, sharing and inquiring about news, receiving and spreading rumors.

At night, it is surrounded by bright lights and snow.

The closer we get to the general election, the more intense and excited people's spirits become, and everyone wants to come out on top, and it is precisely because of this state and emotion that people's desires become strong at such moments.

In order to vent and break out, these days, there is no shortage of people who are swords and swords because of a few words, or a look, a rubbing shoulder, and the head is broken and bleeding abounds, and even some people have fallen forever on the road to chasing fame and fortune before they can participate in the Hongwu election.

In the same way, in order to appease this high level of tension and desire, some of them are not good at fighting, so they have to fill their stomachs with wine and meat, and get drunk and gentle in the country.

After a long wait and suffering, under the expectation of everyone, the day of the Hongwu election, which is extremely impressive, has finally come!