It didn't take long to arrive at the "Imperial Palace", which was said to be the "Imperial Palace", but in fact it was the original Nanning Mansion, which was temporarily used as the emperor's place of refuge.

The whole palace is divided into three before and after, the first entrance to the lobby is the temporary court hall of the upper court, the second is the emperor's living and office court, the third into a small garden is considered a harem, where the queen mother and the queen concubine and other female dependents live.

Emperor Yongli summoned Qu Shiyun and Lin Xiao in the inner court, and when Lin Xiao arrived, Li Yuanyin had been waiting for a long time, so he immediately exchanged pleasantries and introduced the two into the room.

"Aiqing, let's get even."

When Lin Xiao knelt down to salute, Yongli walked down from the dragon chair and walked directly to Lin Xiao's side, caressing Lin Xiao's back with one hand, and making a false support with the other, his eyes full of eagerness.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Lin Xiao got up and glanced at the last Han emperor in history out of the corner of his eye.

Judging from the appearance, Emperor Yongli is still very young, looks quite heroic, speaks very gently, and looks like a Ming Jun, which is a little different from the image of running away in case of trouble recorded in the history books.

"Good on the outside, I don't know what is going on the inside? Maybe it's just a little timid, but it's better not to be too stupid. Lin Xiao thought silently in his heart.

"Aiqing's deeds, I know all about it, Aiqing, an overseas minister, on the occasion of this national crisis, resolutely led the army back to China to serve, and repeatedly broke the main force of Jiannu, and made great contributions, and I am very relieved...... I have a loyal and brave person like Aiqing, it can be seen that the sky is endless. ”

Yongli's expression was slightly excited, and his eyes were full of hope to bottom out.

"The grace of the saint is vast, and the ministers dare not take credit, this is the shadow of the first emperor to protect my Ming Dynasty, and it is also the Jiannu Tartar who rebels against the way of heaven, and the sky does not tolerate it." Lin Xiao prepared a few polite words in advance.

"I heard that Aiqing's overseas rebels are highly disciplined, their firearms are very advanced, and they often use hundreds of people to defeat thousands of thieves.

"Obey the holy will."

"Qu Aiqing, now that the pseudo-Sanshun King has been broken and the situation has improved greatly, what are Aiqing's plans for the next battle?"

Yongli returned to the dragon chair and sat down, squinted his eyes and asked, this is the question he is most concerned about.

"Back to Your Majesty, although the offensive on the east and north of the Tartars has been wiped out, our army is too thin, and the taxes are seriously insufficient...... We should first stabilize the people's minds, resume agricultural work, and rest and recuperate. ”

Qu Shiyun groaned and said, "On the other hand, we should continue to recruit soldiers, train diligently, expand the strength of our army, and wait for more soldiers and enough food, then we can go out on the Northern Expedition and sweep away the prisoners." ”

"Aiqing is reasonable, but ...... At present, I am cramped in the southwest corner, the land is barren and the people are poor, and the trend of insufficient taxes may be difficult to change. Yongli's eyes were dark, and he said lightly, "What is Lin Aiqing's opinion?" ”

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that what the Governor said is very true, although our army is strong at present, but the strength is not enough, it is not enough to wipe out the thieves in one fell swoop, so Weichen also advocates expanding the army and training, and then the troops go out of Wuzhou, first expelling the thieves from Guangdong and Fujian, in order to connect with the Yanping Wang's department, and then choose the opportunity to go on the Northern Expedition, and the big thing can be accomplished."

“…… As for the taxation, Wechen had previously accepted part of the food and salary from Annan's tribute without authorization, and the minister was arranging for manpower to be urgently transferred to Xingdu, which could still save the urgent need in the short term, and it was expected to be enough to turn around when the relatively wealthy Minyue area was recovered. ”

Lin Xiao felt that Annan's affairs were done above board, and there was nothing to hide, and as for other ways to make money in the future, he didn't want to talk about it more, because at present, he was just painting cakes, and it was useless to talk about it.

"I know about it......"

Yongli's eyes flashed, but his face was still calm, "I have Qing and others to assist in seeking the country, why worry about not succeeding in big things?" …… I will live up to me, and I will live up to me. ”

"The ministers are willing to follow Your Majesty to the death, and they will die with all their might."

Hearing this, Qu Shiyun hurriedly knelt on the ground and answered loudly with tears.

"Aiqing is ready to calm down...... It's not too early, let's pass the meal. ”

Yongli said softly to the eunuch Hu Chengen who was standing aside,

"Qing and others have worked hard, but I have nothing to appreciate, so I will leave Qing and others to eat with me."

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty! Qu Shiyun fortunately hadn't gotten up yet, and hurriedly thanked him loudly.

"Qu Aiqing, hurry up."

……

After eating, Qu Shiyun took Lin Xiao out of the palace together.

This meal, Lin Xiao ate very badly, from the perspective of ingredients, the palace is indeed quite poor, except for the wine is Sun Kewang's tribute to Moutai or fine wine, there are only five or six dishes, or vegetarian dishes.

The cooking skills of the imperial chef are also very ordinary, not as delicious as the food in the Yongfu Inn last time, and even less comparable to Chef Fan on the "Lu Feng" ship, his fried steak can often make Lin Xiao unforgettable, and he swallows saliva when he thinks of it.

Lin Xiao, who was accustomed to eating high-nutrition food in the army in later generations, had no appetite, and moved a few chopsticks a little in response to the occasion, just to accompany Yongli and their monarchs and ministers to talk.

Li Yuanyin, who accompanied them, sent them out of the palace gate, chatted a few words in a hurry along the way, and learned that Ma Jixiang had been imprisoned, and the eighteen courtiers who were framed by him had also regained their freedom, Jiao Lian's good news and food had arrived, at least the courtiers were no longer hungry, but the treasury was empty, and there was almost no silver taels, and the emperor had to use this batch of grain to replace the salary to officials at all levels, and the rest was more or less taken out to relieve the refugees, and 10,000 stone of grain could not last long.

On the way back to the camp, he learned from Qu Shiyun that Zhu Youlang, the young emperor, was only twenty-eight years old, one year younger than Lin Xiao, but because he was born in the emperor's family, he had no choice but to embark on this road of running around.

At this time, the imperial court has been struggling, not to mention raising the army and helping the people, even if the palace pours everything it has, it can only put out dozens of meals at most, and today the emperor gives food, which can be regarded as chatting in the war to meet the situation, in order to show the emperor's grace.

Lin Xiao looked up and saw that the sky had not yet broken dark, and it could be seen that it was not really the meal just now, but Yongli did it intentionally.

It is conceivable that this young emperor, who is on the verge of collapse, as long as he encounters someone who has the strength to protect him, will be clung to it as a life-saving straw, even if it is to quench his thirst, he will not hesitate to do it like a moth to a fire.

Thinking of this, Lin Xiao's heart of compassion rose again, the dignified Ming fell to this point, mainly caused by the rotten system, and the responsibility cannot be put on the young emperor, as long as he is not a faint monarch, it is not impossible to assist him in restoring the country, right?

It's just that I don't know, if I help him soar in the future, will he turn his face faster than turning a book?

Almost all the kings in history can only share hardships with them and cannot share joys and sorrows, and in this regard, it is precisely their old Zhu family that has done the best.

"The most ruthless emperor's family! Perhaps, this road of cooperation is not easy to follow! ”

……