On the first day of the second lunar month, the day of the Great Pilgrimage Meeting.

Originally, the great court meeting in February during the Hongwu period was the day when the second dragon raised its head in February, but after Yun Xi ascended the throne, this day was set as a holiday and a day off for hundreds of officials, so the great court meeting was moved back to the first day of the new year.

On the day of the Great Dynasty Meeting, all officials in the capital, even if they are only the lowest officials from the ninth rank, can also enter the palace to participate in the court meeting. Of course, it is okay for low-level officials to ask for leave and not come, but for people who are likely not to be middle-level officials for the rest of their lives, it is absolutely unwilling to miss the opportunity to enter the palace once a month to brag to the hillbillies in their hometown, so most people are willing to participate in the court; On the contrary, many middle-class officials from the fourth to the seventh rank were reluctant to participate in this court meeting, which basically did not say anything.

Since all the officials in Beijing can participate, then the envoys of Fanguo who are still staying in the capital will naturally also participate, after all, all the officials of Fanguo who are nominally ministers to the Ming Dynasty are also the courtiers of His Majesty the Ming Emperor.

It was not yet dawn that day, and there was still half an hour before the start of the court meeting, but countless people wearing eight or nine official uniforms had already arrived outside the Chengtian Gate, and some of them looked around in the cold wind, as if they wanted to remember all the scenes in the imperial city.

Others looked at them with a hint of sarcasm, and thought to themselves: 'A group of old hats who were only promoted to rank in the rank of official last year. He completely ignored the same behavior as them when he was just a junior official.

However, one person did not ridicule these people, and Li Yihai, a policeman from Yingtianfu, recalled the scene when he entered the palace for the first time after being appointed as the 'police station officer' from Jiupin, and did not think of other words.

He was thinking with his eyes closed, when he suddenly heard someone say, "Lao Li, what are you doing with your eyes closed?" ”

He immediately turned his head to look in the direction where the voice came from, and saw that it was his acquaintance, Liu Fengyu, the first patrol team of the Zhongcheng Patrol Police Branch, from the team of Jiupin, and said: "Don't you come here on weekdays when you are the same as the officials of the fifth and sixth grades, why did you come so early today?" ”

"Somehow, I couldn't sleep after tossing and turning, so I got up early to go to court." Liu Fengyu said.

"What, you still have a time when you can't sleep?" Li Yihai said with a smile: "You slept like a dead pig in the barracks back then, and you couldn't wake up." ”

"Old, no." Liu Fengyu said with a smile.

The two of them chatted for a few words, and Liu Fengyu said again: "Speaking of which, this year's court meeting is a little unusual. ”

"In previous years, His Majesty had already forced the envoys of Fanguo to leave the capital before the last day of the first lunar month, but this year he still let them stay in the capital." Liu Fengyu served as the head of the patrol team, and it happened that Fanguan was also in his patrol area, so he knew this very well.

As soon as Li Yihai was about to speak, he heard the sound of a whip and said casually: "Maybe Your Majesty wants them to see more of the strength of the Ming Dynasty." Then he followed the army to the main hall.

Liu Fengyu shook his head lightly, but didn't say anything, and followed most people in.

……

……

In the hall, Annan was making Hu Yuancheng a little uneasy. From the moment he walked into the palace today, he felt as if something big was going to happen; But when he thought about it carefully, he felt that nothing related to Annan could happen.

Maybe I've had too many things to worry about during this time in Daming, so I'm a little suspicious. When you return to Xijing, you must rest for a few days. Hu Yuancheng thought.

After a while, there was a sound of "woo", Hu Yuancheng understood that this was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty who was about to appear, and hurriedly stood up straight, and all the other officials present also stood up straight.

Then Yun Xi walked out from behind the curtain, and all the officials present knelt down and shouted three long live, and Yun Xi asked the waiter to shout flat.

After all the ceremonies were over, because no one was doing anything, the ministers thought that today's court meeting would end soon and were about to disperse, Yun Xi suddenly said: "Hu Yuancheng, the envoy of Annan. ”

"The minister is here." Hu Yuancheng stepped forward and said.

"Since you are an envoy of Annan, then of course all the Chen clansmen in Annan will know you." Yun Xi said.

Hu Yuancheng's heart jumped a few times, and he was very puzzled why Yun Xi asked this sentence. However, he did not pause, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, the young Chen clan relatives and ministers may not recognize it, but all the adult ministers do. ”

"That's good," Yun Xi said with a faint smile on his face, "Do you recognize this person?" As his words fell, one of the attendants beside him took off his hat, raised his chin, and said loudly to Hu Yuancheng: "Li Hancheng, do you still recognize me!" ”

Hu Yuancheng's heart seemed to be tightly grasped for a moment, but he still said very calmly on the surface: "Your Majesty, who is this person?" Why do you call your ministers Li Hancheng? Although the minister looked at him a little familiar, he didn't recognize him. ”

Yun Xi did not speak. Hu Yan, a member of the Zhongshu House, came out and said: "Lord Hu, although you don't want to admit that you recognize this person, the rest of the envoys of Annan behind you have already recognized this person. ”

Hu Yuancheng looked back at the other three Annan envoys who were qualified to go to the court behind him, their faces were still shocked, and one of them was even full of shame.

Seeing such a scene, Hu Yuancheng already understood that the matter could not be hidden, knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, the minister was also forced to send the Ming Dynasty. ”

"Nonsense, as Li Jichen's nephew, where is the last resort! You ......," Chen Tianping said loudly.

Yun Xi stopped what he was about to say, ordered someone to bring Chen Tianping and several envoys from Annan Kingdom down, let people announce the end of the court meeting, and turned around and left the palace.

……

……

After Li Yihai walked into the main hall, he found a place that was not easy to be seen by the Imperial History of Jiaoyi, closed his eyes and recuperated. Not to mention that such a big court meeting generally won't say anything important, even if there are any important things that have nothing to do with them, it will be worth going down the court later, so it's better to rest for a while.

On the contrary to him, although he knew that the things at the court meeting had nothing to do with him, Liu Fengyu looked at the front with great interest every time and listened to what was being discussed.

Not long after Li Yihai closed his eyes, Liu Fengyu patted him vigorously and said softly: "Look at it!" ”

Li Yihai opened his eyes and looked forward suspiciously, and saw a waiter beside the emperor suddenly saying something loudly, and a person who had already been out of the queue knelt on the ground and said something. Looking at his clothes, he should be an envoy of the Kingdom of Annam.

Liu Fengyu said in a very low but very excited voice: "I know the man who was dressed in a waiter's uniform, and one day the Han generals who guarded the periphery of the palace escorted him to a mansion and took care of him. It turns out that he has something to do with Annan? Could it be that the current monarch of Annan really killed the previous monarch, this person is the son of the former monarch and came to Daming to ask His Majesty to uphold justice? Liu Fengyu usually pays close attention to the Di Bao, so he probably knows about Annan, and guesses from the content of the Di Bao.

Li Yihai also raised his spirit and said: "If it's really like you think, it's fun, I don't know what Your Majesty will do." ”

"Most likely I will support this person to be the king of Annan. The Ming Dynasty was supposed to maintain order in the vassal states. However, the current monarch of Annan may not give up the throne easily, and perhaps the Ming Dynasty will have to fight a battle to support this person as the king. Liu Fengyu said.

Hearing Liu Fengyu's words, Li Yihai, who had been watching the excitement, suddenly changed his face: "I wonder if there will be soldiers from the Beijing Guard to fight on the front line?" ”

"Most likely, if Your Majesty wants to maintain the combat strength of Jingwei, he will have to send them to fight." Liu Fengyu said.

"What if the left guard of the feather forest is sent out to fight?" Li Yihai said worriedly.

Liu Fengyu was stunned for a moment, and also remembered that his son was also in the left guard of Yulin, and if he was sent out to fight, his life would be in danger.

At this time, the court meeting had ended, and everyone walked outside the palace. The two of them also left the palace with the flow of people, but they walked without thinking.

After a while, Liu Fengyu said: "If Your Majesty wants to send out the Yulin Left Guard, we have no choice but to go home and talk to our son about this matter, and make preparations in advance." ”

"That's all it can be." Li Yihai said.

……

……

Yun Xi took Chen Tianping, Hu Yuancheng and other Annan envoys to the Jinshen Palace, and said to Hu Yuancheng: "Who is the monarch of Annan now, I want to listen to you tell you the whole story." ”

"Your Majesty, the current monarch of Annan, is the second son of Li Jichen, not a relative of the Chen family. But his name did not deceive His Majesty, Li Jichen changed the name of his second son to Hu Huan, pretending to be a member of the Chen clan in order to deceive His Majesty. ……”

"Your Majesty, it is not the minister's wish to deceive Your Majesty. Even if he was a member of Li Jichen's clan, he was oppressed, and if he did not obey his orders to send an envoy to the Ming Dynasty, he would kill the minister. The minister is also involuntarily, and begs His Majesty to forgive the minister's sins. Hu Yuancheng knelt down and said.

Yun Xi didn't pay attention to his words, but asked curiously: "Since you are a relative of Li Jichen, why are you surnamed Hu instead of Li?" Could it be that he deliberately claimed to be surnamed Li in front of me? The surname Li is the surname of Annan, even if you claim to be surnamed Li Zhen, you will not think of Li Jichen. ”

"Your Majesty, before Li Jichen officially enthroned Hu Hao last year, in order to let the scholars of Annan accept them as monarchs, he claimed to be the descendants of Emperor Shun. Because one of the branches after Emperor Shun changed their surname to Hu, the surname of the whole clan was changed to Hu. Not only that, but because Emperor Shun was the monarch of Yu back then, he changed the name of the country to Dayu. Hu Yuancheng said.

Yun Xi asked a few more questions, and Hu Yuancheng and the other Annan envoys answered them one by one.

After asking questions, Yun Xi asked Chen Tianping, Hu Yuancheng and others to be taken down, turned to the ministers behind him and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the matter is clear, what Chen Tianping said is the truth. What do you think should be done about this? ”

"Your Majesty, Li Jichen not only stood on behalf of the Chen family, but also killed the Chen clan, in a vain attempt to deceive Your Majesty, deceive the monarch and rebel against human ethics, which is intolerable to ghosts and gods. His Majesty should send a large army to cleanse Annan and establish Chen Tianping as the monarch of Annan. Guo Zhen immediately came out and said. He had already prepared for the truth in advance what Chen Tianping said, so he said this paragraph immediately after Yun Xi asked.

"Your Majesty! Although Li Jichen's actions are serious, but he cannot be punished without teaching, he should send an envoy to Annan to rebuke Li Jichen and Hu Huan, if Li Jichen and Hu Huan's father and son can change their past wrongs, and do not need to use swords and soldiers to support Chen Tianping as the monarch, wouldn't it be better? If Li Jichen and Hu Huan's father and son die without repentance, it will not be too late for His Majesty to send troops at that time. Chen Xingshan said.

First, he was unwilling to fight, and second, it was really not etiquette to fight directly, so he said so. However, he will not say that Hu Yi should steal the throne and His Majesty will not have to worry about such words, because this is not in line with etiquette.

Yun Xi didn't speak, and even his expression didn't change much, and he continued to look at these officials, as if waiting for others to speak. Seeing this situation, everyone spoke out one after another to express their opinions.

Generally speaking, most civil officials supported Chen Xingshan's opinion, most military generals supported Guo Zhen's opinion, and some put forward other opinions, but none of them were mainstream, and few people supported them.

After everyone spoke up, Yun Xi said, "I think Chen Qing's opinion is the most appropriate. ”

"Therefore, I decided to leave Chen Tianping to live in the capital for the time being, and treat him with the courtesy of the king of the county; Sent envoys to rebuke Li Jichen and Hu Huan's father and son. If they are not willing to change their ways, I will do other things. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Everyone bowed and said. There is nothing wrong with Yun Xi's approach, and it is even perfectly in line with the Zhou rites recorded in the "Book of Rites", and everyone has nothing else to say.

Yun Xi said a few more words to them and told them to step down.

However, Yun Xi did not leave this palace. After a while, Yang Zai, the most professional diplomat of the Ming Dynasty with the rank of pedestrian Si Sizheng and the Ministry of Rites, and Wang Shuyun, a pedestrian, walked in and saw Yun Xi bowing and saluting: "Minister Yang Zai (Wang Shuyun) has seen Your Majesty. ”

After the prelude, Yun Xi said to the two of them, "I have asked the two of you to come here today because I have something to explain to you. There was turmoil in Annam,......, I had already determined that what Chen Tianping said was true, so I ....... However, Zhou Li said that he could not be punished without teaching, so I sent you as an envoy to Annan to rebuke the monarch of Annan and his father Li Jichen. ”

"If you can make Li Jichen, Hu Huan's father and son change their minds, it's not natural; If they are not willing to change their past mistakes, then the Ming Dynasty will also be famous. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Yang Zai and Wang Shuyun said.

Yun Xi ordered the two of them a few more words and let them go down.

But Yang Zai deliberately lagged a few steps behind Wang Shuyun, and after he walked out of this palace, he turned around and said to Yun Xi: "Your Majesty, do you want to reprimand Li Jichen and Hu Hao with fierce words, so that they can change their ways?" ”

Yang Zai was actually asking: Do the lives of these envoys should be saved? If the words against Li Jichen and Hu Huan were too harsh, it was hard to guarantee that they would not order them to be executed in anger. Judging from Yun Xi's performance after succeeding to the throne, he still attaches more importance to the lives of his envoys, rather than just looking at the face of the Ming Dynasty, so Yang Zai dares to ask like this.

Yun Xi showed a smile on his face, and said: "Don't be too fierce in your words, but don't worry about angering the Annan people with fierce words, they won't kill the envoys of the Ming Dynasty." Because, in short, you and Wang Shuyun don't have to worry, you will definitely be able to come back from Annan safely. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Yang Zai said. Then he exited the palace where Yun Xi was.

But as he walked back to the Yamen, he kept wondering what Yun Xi's unfinished words were behind the 'because', and that strange expression.

But he didn't know what it meant, so he could only put it down and concentrate on preparing for the two-day mission.