The stars are changing, and the years are like a shuttle.

Before you know it, middle age is approaching. As the first snowflakes fell in the empty Forbidden City, the fifteenth year of Yongli followed.

In a year of snow and abundance, the weather is too important for the agricultural era.

A good weather can ensure the harvest of crops, and after the harvest is good, there will be no problems with the grain reserves of the imperial court.

Therefore, this is a signal that Zhu Youlang is very happy.

The matter of the crown prince's selection of concubines is also proceeding in an orderly manner.

The Ministry of Rites submitted many candidates, but Zhu Youlang was not very satisfied.

According to the ancestral teachings of the Ming Dynasty, the crown princess is generally selected from a small family, and her parents are just some low-level officials of the empire.

Of course, this is to prevent foreign relatives from interfering in politics and disorderly power, after all, there are many examples of foreign relatives in previous dynasties and dynasties, which are shocking.

Zhu Yuanzhang also set up this ancestral precept in the hope that future generations can take it as a warning and firmly control the authority in their own hands, and the old Zhu family can also be passed on forever for thousands of generations.

Although Zhu Youlang is a traverser, he also admires Zhu Yuanzhang's ancestral teaching.

It can be said that this solved the problem fundamentally to some extent, and the existence of the cabinet ensured that the empire could function normally even if the emperor's personal ability was not strong.

Of course, Emperor Chongzhen's self-righteousness and ability are not good, and he must bow down to everything, and the scarcity of a good game of chess will accelerate the collapse of the empire.

Normally, as long as the emperor does not toss and the cabinet has capable ministers, no matter how bad it is, it will not be bad.

The Ming Dynasty's control over eunuchs was extremely strict, and it seemed that there were many great eunuchs with infinite beauty, but in fact, they were all spokesmen for the emperor.

The emperor wanted to kill them by hooking his fingers and writing a note.

The biggest danger comes from relatives, as long as this red line is kept, there should not be much of a problem.

The situation in the Yongli Dynasty was particularly complicated. If it is a peaceful and prosperous world, even if the relatives are strong, they will not dare to do anything.

But now it is a troubled time, and the various military leaders have not only power in their hands, but also the army.

Take Li Dingguo, Zheng Chenggong, Li Laiheng and others as examples, which one is not a first-class general? The strength of the army in their hands is not weaker than that of the Huben army under Zhu Youlang's command, and if the prince finds a warlord's daughter as a concubine, the consequences will be very serious.

Although Zheng Chenggong, Li Dingguo, Li Laiheng and others do not have any disobedience at present, it is difficult to ensure that their descendants also have no ideas.

If something goes wrong, it's a big problem, and the best way to prevent it from happening is to nip the risk in the cradle.

Although he can't choose the daughter of a powerful person to be the crown princess, Zhu Youlang doesn't want to be too wronged by his son.

After all, he is his eldest son, the dignified crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, and the crown princess has to be detached, dignified and stable in temperament.

And these portraits presented by the Ministry of Rites are either too shabby, or there is a problem with the proportions of the body, anyway, it is not in Zhu Youlang's aesthetics.

Zhu Youlang called back and asked them to re-select, but this primary election was not passed, do you expect him Zhu Youlang to pull out the general?

Zhu Youlang will not do anything bad to his own son.

Putting aside the matter of choosing a concubine for the crown prince, what Zhu Youlang values most at the moment is naturally the preparation for the Northern Expedition.

At present, the coordination between the household department and the military department is not bad, and there should be no problems with grain and grass.

After a period of rest, the soldiers also regained a lot of vitality, and they all wanted to do a big job.

However, Zhu Youlang was not in a hurry.

First, it is certain that the troops will not be sent until after spring plowing and sowing.

Second, he also has to wait for Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao's reactions.

The news that Jin Yiwei has already walked out, so let's see if Shang Kexi and Geng Jimao will take the bait.

If the two of them really have bad intentions and want to take advantage of this opportunity to yin Zhu Youlang once, Zhu Youlang will not hesitate to directly transfer troops south to pacify Fujian and Guangdong.

Generally speaking, the difficulty of fighting Fujian and Guangdong is lower than that of the Northern Expedition.

However, the income from taking the second place was no lower than that of the Northern Expedition.

Zhu Youlang now only needs one reason to send troops south.

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In the Pingnan Palace, Guangzhou, Shang Kexi sat in the pavilion in the garden and looked at the koi in the pond.

He has never worn too thick clothes since he became a vassal in Guangdong, not even a light robe in winter is enough.

Unlike when I was in Liaodong, I had to wrap myself in a thick felt coat, for fear that the cold would penetrate into the bone marrow.

The southern sun is warm and drowsy.

Of course, Shang Kexi is not in the mood to sleep now, he just wants to save Shang Zhixin.

Since Shang Zhixin was captured by the Ming army, Emperor Yongli took this as a threat and ordered Shang Kexi to pay money, grain and even firearms, and craftsmen to buy his son's safety.

Although Shang Kexi was very unhappy in his heart, he could only obey orders in order to save his son's life.

It's just that in this way, Emperor Yongli's appetite is getting bigger and bigger, and Shang Kexi gradually feels that he can't support it.

After all, he also has an army of 100,000 to feed, and if he continues like this, when will it be a head.

At this time, he received the news that the Ming army was about to go on a northern expedition.

The news was sent directly back by his henchmen who went to Nanjing to do detailed work, and it should be accurate.

——————

Shang Kexi couldn't help but feel a little moved.

It stands to reason that if the army is on the Northern Expedition, it will definitely not take Shang Zhixin with him.

Because Shang Zhixin has no value to the Qing army, it cannot play a role in coercion.

If Shang Kexi led his troops north at this time, it was very likely that his son would be rescued.

It's just that this needs to be grasped just right, not too early or too late, and it must wait until the moment when the main force of the Ming army has left the city.

Just when Shang Kexi was hesitating, Geng Jimao sent someone to send him a letter, instigating him to take advantage of the Ming Army's Northern Expedition to lead his troops north to make a fortune.

Shang Kexi couldn't help but secretly sigh in his heart, it turned out that Geng Jimao was also thinking about Nanjing.

Since the battle of Jiangxi, the two have not had much intersection since they parted ways.

This is the first time Geng Jimao has taken the initiative to write a letter to Shang Kexi.

The two are actually old acquaintances, but the relationship has been very weak over the years.

But I can't say that there is any deep hatred.

There is a way that there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests.

As long as Geng Jimao can help him succeed, there is no big problem with the small unhappiness before.

When he got the letter, Shang Kexi was really moved.

It was probably the best chance for him.

He is also old, and the question of heirs must be considered.

Shang Zhixin can't be imprisoned in Nanjing City as a proton for the rest of his life, right?

If you want to save Shang Zhixin, you have to gamble and fight!

Shang Kexi, who loved his son, finally decided to write a reply to Geng Jimao, agreeing to wait until the Ming Army's Northern Expedition to join forces and stab the Ming Dynasty.

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