After Zhang Shixing entered the palace, he saw Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen, and replied carefully about the trip, and Emperor Jianwen was furious when he heard it: "How dare King Yan? ”

He ordered someone to urgently summon Fang Xiaoru, a scholar of Hanlin, Huang Zicheng, a secretary of Taichang Temple, and Qi Tai, a scholar of the Ministry of War, to enter the palace to face the saint and discuss countermeasures.

After listening to Zhang Shixing's description, the three of them all frowned and their faces were gloomy.

Qi Tai, the secretary of the Ministry of War, couldn't hold back at first, and was the first to speak: "King Yan's move is really a great rebellion, he dares to lead troops into the court, tease the guards, and should be severely punished." I respectfully ask the emperor to decree that the two sons of King Yan will be beheaded for public display, and then send troops to Beiping Mansion to arrest King Yan and enter Beijing. ”

Fang Xiaoru shook his head and said: "As soon as the emperor ascends the throne, he will kill the emperor's uncle, which will chill the hearts of the people of the world and damage the name of His Majesty's benevolence and filial piety." The minister thought that what Hanlin was waiting for the edict to explain was very appropriate. ”

Emperor Jianwen said with a sigh: "Xie Jin, Xie Bachelor, Emperor Gao once said to him: 'You and I, named Junchen, are the same father and son, and Qing knows everything. Emperor Gao felt that he was a bit of a scholar, and he had to cultivate himself, so he ordered his father to take him home to study for ten years, and pondered it. ”

Fang Xiaoru looked a little embarrassed and said, "That hasn't arrived yet." The minister thinks that there is still merit in his plan, and His Majesty may wish to listen to it. ”

Emperor Jianwen nodded and said, "Teacher, please speak." ”

Fang Xiaoru said: "Xie Jin thinks that it is imperative to cut the domain, but there is no need to make a big move. Didn't King Yan want to enter Beijing to worship the mausoleum, then he would be allowed to invite. After he entered Beijing, His Majesty found a reason to move him to the mainland, such as Nanchang Mansion, which was a plan to divert the tiger from the mountain. If the king of Yan migrates to Nanchang, leaving its fundamental place, it will be like a tiger falling into Pingyang, and the dragon is trapped in the shallows, and there is nothing to do. Your Majesty will not hurt the friendship of relatives. ”

When Emperor Jianwen heard this, he couldn't help nodding and said: "Xie Jin is worthy of being the first talent in the world, and it is indeed a wonderful idea. ”

When Xie Jin wrote tens of thousands of words, he also criticized the Ministry of War for dereliction of duty, Qi Tai was serving in the Ministry of War at the time, and the two formed a grudge because of this, so Qi Tai was afraid that Xie Jin would be of great use, so he shook his head again and again: "This is a big fallacy." First, Emperor Gao's edict was clearly written, and the kings cried in the country, not to the capital. This edict was drafted by Mr. Fang. Moreover, His Majesty has just sent Jinyi Wei to intercept him halfway, and now he has allowed him to enter Beijing, isn't this a villain who has changed his orders and reversed his word, and His Majesty must not act unwise for this. ”

"Second, if King Yan is allowed to enter Beijing, then the rest of the vassal kings will also enter Beijing, how should they be handled? All the kings entered the capital together, each with 3,000 guards, more than a dozen vassal kings, that is, tens of thousands of troops, gathered in the capital, in case of change, how to deal with it? ”

"Third, King Yan migrated to Nanchang, if there is something in the north, who will lead it. If the generals can't resist it, and then ask King Yan to come back to preside over the overall situation, then it will only increase his prestige and be even more irrepressible. ”

Therefore, the minister thought that when the knife was quick to cut the mess, he should kill it, and he should let it go, otherwise it would be better to be still. The scholar's opinion cannot be adopted. At the beginning, Emperor Taizu Gao knew that he was a late bloomer, so he asked him to return to his hometown to study and sharpen his mind. Now that the ten-year period has not yet come, and his mother has not been buried, and his father is ninety years old, he should serve his side, and he should not give up his deeds. Now that he has returned to the Hanlin Academy, this miraculous plan is really drawing on fame. Your Majesty should be cautious. ”

Emperor Jianwen has always adhered to the purpose of governing the world with benevolence and filial piety, and when he heard Qi Tai say this, his good impression of Xie Jin was greatly reduced, so he said: "Qi Qing's words are reasonable, although this plan is good, it should be used carefully." ”

Huang Zicheng said: "Qi Shangshu is extremely worried. At the beginning, Emperor Gao set up the kings to guard the border, just to screen the royal family. King Yan has made great contributions to the country, and now there is no big mistake, and he is suddenly punished, first, to chill the kings, to damage the holy virtue, and secondly, to the north of the border suddenly lost the barrier, and the country is uneasy. The ministers thought that the kings of Zhou, Qi, Hunan, Dai, and Min, when they were the first emperors, there were still many lawlessness, and they were famous. If you want to ask about the crime today, it is advisable to start with King Zhou. King Zhou, the half-brother of King Yan, cut Zhou is the siblings of Yan Scissor. This is a plan to knock on the mountain and shake the tiger, if the king of Yan is reined in, and it will always be a screen domain, then the blessing of the country is also. If it is not angry, there will be changes, then the teacher is famous, and it is not too late to cut it. ”

Emperor Jianwen was overjoyed when he heard this, and praised: "This plan is very appropriate, Huang Qing is really an old man seeking the country." Who do you think was sent to the Zhou State to cut the domain? ”

Huang Zicheng glanced at Zhang Shixing and said, "The minister thinks that Jinyi Wei Zhang is okay." ”

When Zhang Shixing heard this, he waved his hand again and again and said: "Such a big thing, how can I do a small four-grade matter, or ask another minister to preside over it, and the minister will assist from the side." ”

Huang Zicheng thought for a while and said: "The minister recommended one person to take on this position. ”

Emperor Jianwen asked, "Who is Qingju?" ”

Huang Zicheng said: "Cao Guogong Li Jinglong." ”

Emperor Jianwen was pleasantly surprised: "It's my cousin, why didn't I expect it, it's really a suitable person." Then he ordered the little eunuch to urgently summon Li Jinglong into the palace.

Li Jinglong, whose name is Jiujiang, is the son of Li Wenzhong, the nephew of Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. Li Wenzhong is brave and good at fighting, and is the head of all generals. Zhu Yuanzhang was very fond of him, and often sent him as a supervisor and went out with the generals. In the seventeenth year of Hongwu (1384 AD), Li Wenzhong died of illness, and Li Jinglong became the lord. Li Jinglong likes to read military books since he was a child, and his jade face is long, his eyebrows are sparse, and he looks forward to Weiran. Whenever the court meeting, the demeanor of advancing and retreating is graceful and generous, which has attracted the attention of Taizu several times and is full of admiration.

Li Jinglong entered the palace, bowed to the end, and stood quietly aside, like an abyss stopping Yuezhi, with a calm bearing.

Seeing this, Emperor Jianwen couldn't help but praise: "My cousin really deserves to be called a general." ”

Li Jinglong smiled slightly and said, "Your Majesty has an overreputation." I don't know what happened when I was summoned to the palace? ”

Emperor Jianwen said: "Zhu Hu, the king of Zhou, has a lot of lawlessness, I ordered you to go to Kaifeng and preside over the matter of cutting the domain, what do you think?" ”

Li Jinglong thought for a while and said, "Your Majesty has sent something, and Jinglong dares not to obey the order?" However, the king of Zhou is His Majesty's closest relative, and when Jinglong goes to cut the domain, he must be accompanied by Jinyi Wei, so that he can act cheaply. ”

Emperor Jianwen pointed at Zhang Shixing and said: "That's natural, I sent Jinyi Wei to command Zhang Shixing to go with him and obey the dispatch." However, this trip must be carried out in secret, and it must not be alarmed. What do you think about my cousin? ”

Li Jinglong thought for a while and said: "The minister followed the plan of Han Gaozu to capture Han Xin, pretended to inspect the fortress, passed by Kaifeng, captured the king of Zhou in one fell swoop, and escorted him to Beijing. ”

Huang Zicheng interjected: "Cao Guogong also has to collect evidence of King Zhou's illegality, and he wants to convince the vassal kings. ”

Li Jinglong glanced at Zhang Shixing and said, "This matter will have to be done by Zhang Yiwei, who is a Jinyi guard." ”

Zhang Shixing had no choice but to bow down and salute: "Humble duty is subject to Cao Guogong's orders." ”

The plan was decided, and Li Jinglong, the Duke of Cao Guo, ordered an army of 30,000, claiming that he was ordered to go north to patrol the border, cross the Yangtze River, and march towards Henan. Zhang Shixing led a thousand Jinyi lieutenants to accompany him, and Niu Er was also among them. After Niu Er whistleblower that day, Zhang Shixing was imprisoned, and no one knew about Jiang Huan's death. After Zhang Shixing was released from prison, the official was reinstated, and he was promoted to a servant, Niu Er stammered in every way, Zhang Shixing was loyal to the person, and he did not notice his schemes, so he relied on him as his heart.

Before leaving, Song Zhong avoided everyone and warned Zhang Shixing seriously: "Shixing, you are loyal and chivalrous, so it is not suitable to stay in Jinyiwei. But if this is already the case, it is providential. You have to remember that we are the emperor's eagle and dog ministers, and we will pounce on whoever the emperor wants us to pounce, regardless of right or wrong, otherwise your life will not be guaranteed. ”

Zhang Shixing hugged his fists and said: "Thank you Uncle Shi for your teachings, Shixing has written it down." Uncle Shi also has to take care of himself, the fate of the previous Jinyi Guard commanders is miserable, I think our uncle and nephew should retreat early and bravely, don't stay in this place of right and wrong. ”

Song Zhong smiled bitterly and said, "As soon as I entered the public gate, I couldn't help myself. The cunning rabbit dies, and the lackeys cook. Besides, we are doing things that are hated. When the whole country scolds, the emperor will definitely get rid of us in order to calm down the people's grievances, which I have already thought. ”

Zhang Shixing said: "Then uncle, let's resign early, I really want to see the ancestor?" ”

Song Zhong said: "Uncle Shi, I have achieved this position, it is already unbearable in a high place, and it is difficult to ride a tiger." When I have time in the future, I will take you to Yin County, Ningbo Prefecture to meet Master. His old man must be very happy to see you, a disciple. ”

The two of them said something more, and said goodbye with tears. Zhang Shixing followed Li Jinglong's army all the way to the north, and finally came to Kaifeng City on this day.

That Kaifeng is known as the ancient capital of the seven dynasties, the thoroughfare of eight provinces, although the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, suffered heavy losses, but after more than 30 years of recuperation in the Ming Dynasty, it has recovered to the prosperity of the Song and Jin dynasties, with a population of 300,000, comparable to the Beijing Division. Kaifeng Prefecture is the seat of the political envoy of Henan, with four prefectures and 30 counties under its jurisdiction, with a population of one million.

In the fourteenth year of Hongwu (1381 AD), Ming Taizu ordered Zhu Hu, the king of Zhou, to open the feudal domain, and take the hometown of the Song Palace as his palace. The layout of Kaifeng Mansion City can be divided into the outer city, the inner city, the palace Xiao Wall and the Forbidden City four city walls, quite similar to the system of the outer city, the inner city, the imperial city and the palace city of Jingshi Ying Tianfu.

The outer city of Kaifeng Mansion comes from the outer city of Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty. The outer city of the Northern Song Dynasty was destroyed in the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and by the time of the Ming Dynasty, the outer city was the only remaining base site, and the gate was not repaired, and it was filled with soil, which became a levee to prevent the flooding of the Yellow River.

The inner city is a brick city, it is built on the basis of the inner city of Bianjing in the Jin Dynasty, the city wall is all wrapped with blue bricks, filled with rammed earth, tall and solid. The circumference is twenty miles, three zhang and five feet high, there is a moat outside the city, one zhang deep, five zhang wide. The palace of the king of Zhou is located in the north of Kaifeng City, with two walls of Xiao Wall and Forbidden City, and the south of Xiao Wall is the residence of ordinary people. At this time, the country and the people are safe, the city of Kaifeng is full of all directions, and the prosperity is better than the time of the Song and Jin Dynasties.

Zhou Wangfu is built on the basis of the imperial palace of the Northern Song Dynasty, sits in the north and faces south, surrounds the Xiao wall for more than ten miles, is two zhang Xu high, suppresses with centipede wood, covers the green glazed tiles, Xiao wall is the noon gate in the south, Donghua gate in the east, Xihua gate in the west, and thick load gate in the north. Xiao wall is the Forbidden City, the city is five zhang high, there are flower battlements, there is a horse wall inside, the south is the Duanli Gate, the north is the Chengzhi Gate, the east is the Liren Gate, the west is the Zunyi Gate, there is a moat outside the Duanli Gate, surrounds the Forbidden City, and communicates with the big lake in the city.