In the midst of the heavy rain, the quaint buildings of the Annam Governor's Mansion have become hazy, and the water on the brick floor has begun to flow in all directions. Chen Xianzhen, who was holding a green umbrella, was already soaking wet with his shoes.

Chen Xianzhen looked at the gate in front of him and couldn't help but stand in place. She stood for a moment in the noise of the rain before stepping forward to the distant gate.

On the small bench in the gatehouse, the person who sits on the brocade guard of the Ming Kingdom is said to be called a sitting record. In addition to the generals under Zhang Fu's command, there should be many civil officials in the courtyard.

"Stop, what are you doing?" The guard uttered a word.

Chen Xianzhen immediately shouted, and emotionally reported his name, and also mentioned Empress Dowager Chen and others.

The guards wouldn't let her in, but they immediately called someone to run in and report it. After a while, some military generals and civil officials came to the gatehouse and listened to Chen Xianzhen crying there.

At this time, a military general hurriedly walked out and said, "Mrs. Chen, don't be impatient, please go inside and talk slowly." ”

Chen Xianzhen said: "Are you the Empress Dowager Chen's person who wants to harm me?" ”

The military general hurriedly said: "You can't talk nonsense, this is the Governor's Mansion of Annan, and the person who invited you to meet is Zhang Dashuai, the Marquis of Xincheng, don't worry." Shouting here, you're going to be laughed at. ”

Chen Xianzhen followed him in, from a corridor on the side of the courtyard to a large room directly north. A burly man in his thirties was standing in the middle of the room, he was wearing a beam crown and a red robe, he was a big official, it should be Zhang Fu.

Zhang Fu looked at Chen Xianzhen and asked, "You are Chen Xianzhen, the original envoy to the Ming Dynasty?" ”

Chen Xianzhen didn't have time to answer, and there was a slightly shorter civil official next to him who said: "It's indeed Chen Xianzhen, the lower official has seen her." ”

She followed the prestige, and sure enough, she felt that the civil official was familiar, but she couldn't remember the name for a while.

After hearing this, Zhang Fu asked again: "What's the noise?" ”

Chen Xianzhen said with grief and indignation: "I just want to write to the Ming Emperor and let him know what happened to me after I returned to Annan!" Since the Chen family has restored the king of Annan, our family is a clan, why is it not recognized by the government? ”

Zhang Fu said: "Don't worry, speak slowly." Come on, give Mrs. Chen a cup of hot tea. ”

When she said this, she began to cry, and she didn't know whether it was tears or rain on her face, "The Thanh Hoa government took away our fields and houses, and robbed all our belongings, not to mention giving us money. I had already seen through the red dust, and I just wanted to find a Taoist temple to live in seclusion and repair, and go home to get some belongings, but I only knew about it, and now I can't be quiet. ”

Zhang Fu said kindly: "Seclusion really requires family strength. ”

He said it kindly, but it was obvious that he didn't care about the life or death of Chen Xianzhen's family at all.

Chen Xianzhen continued: "I wrote a chapter to go to Jingshi, and asked my brother to try to send it to Jingshi and inform the saint of this matter. Unexpectedly, the music was detained by the Empress Dowager Chen of Shenglong, and the Empress Dowager Chen also sent someone to secretly hunt me down. What am I guilty of? I was really desperate, so I found the Governor's Mansion and wanted to ask the officials of the Ming Dynasty to help us so that our recitals could be sent to Beijing. ”

"Ben will understand what's going on." Zhang Fu said, "In this way, you stay here first, it's safe here." The matter will be properly handled. ”

Zhang Fu couldn't help but say, and immediately ordered: "Come on, find a corridor house for Mrs. Chen to settle in." ”

…… After Chen Xianzhen left the lobby, Hou Hai, a civil official next to him, said, "How can such a trivial matter alarm the imperial court?" Xincheng Hou is looking for

People said a word to the Empress Dowager Chen to appease Chen Xianzhen's family. ”

Zhang Fu said: "At present, the Governor's Mansion has a great impact on the Chen royal family, and if we talk about it, it will definitely affect the governance of the Empress Dowager Chen." We don't bother to take care of their own affairs, so we just send Chen Xianzhen back to her hometown, tell the local Annan officials to take care of her, and don't let her come out to make trouble again. ”

"It's not going to work." Hou Hai stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "That Chen Xianzhen has lived in the palace for a long time, and he may be ...... with the saint."

Zhang Fu was slightly surprised and said, "Is there such a thing?" ”

Hou Haidao: "Xinchenghou may not know, but Xiaguan understands." ”

Zhang Fu asked, "Then why did she go back to Annan?" ”

Hou Hai replied: "The officials don't know about this, I'm afraid only the eunuchs in the palace know, like Cao Fu." But there is nothing strange about it, during the Yongle period, I went to conquer the Hu clan of Annan, and I got close to a few Annan girls, and finally forgot about it. ”

Zhang Fu nodded.

Hou Hai muttered: "The Holy Lord is eloquent and strategic, and he has issued an edict prohibiting the collection of beauties and jewels in Annan Kingdom, but this Chen Xianzhen should not be regarded as a collection of beauties." ”

Zhang Fu was noncommittal and did not continue to talk about the matter.

As the day approached, the rain had stopped, and a sunset appeared on the horizon. Zhang Fu left the lobby, asked where Chen Xian really was, and walked over there.

I saw that Chen Xian was really writing the side of the case, and seemed to be writing a chapter. She turned her head and saw Zhang Fu, so she got up and curts. Zhang Fu saw that she was knowledgeable, and looked at her appearance again, and nodded his head lightly without moving.

Zhang Fu asked in a casual tone: "I heard that Mrs. Chen has lived in Jingshi for a while, is Jingshi not good, why did she return to Qinghua?" ”

Chen Xianzhen suddenly said indignantly: "It's not that Empress Dowager Chen's slander!" ”

"Oh?" Zhang Fudao.

Chen Xianzhen said: "There are many concubines in the palace of the Ming Dynasty, Empress Dowager Chen is not jealous, she has to get along with me." She blows the wind on her pillow when she has the opportunity......"

Zhang Fu looked embarrassed, because judging from the official statement, the relationship between Empress Dowager Chen and Zhu Gaoxu was very innocent, because her son was the rightful heir of the Chen Dynasty in Annan and was protected by the Ming Emperor.

Chen Xianzhen said aggrievedly: "Which point am I worse than her?" It's not like she's ever married. Perhaps because Empress Dowager Chen is particularly good at flattering and flattering, the saint was deceived by her, so he wanted to support her son to be the king. The Holy Lord is reluctant to give me, if it were not for the repeated slander of the Empress Dowager Chen, the Holy Lord would not have sent me back and suffered a lot. ”

Zhang Fu nodded, it seems that the Heart Dao Saint is indeed that kind of person, but it is not because of Empress Dowager Chen's beauty.

Chen Xianzhen said again: "I said good things for the big handsome in the concert, you can help me and let the concerto be sent to Beijing." Empress Dowager Chen holds a grudge until now, and she really doesn't want to give our family a way to live. ”

Zhang Fu didn't agree, and asked again, "Who else is in your family?" ”

Chen Xianzhen said: "I am the real Chen Dynasty clan, and if you don't believe it, you can send someone to investigate." My parents have passed away, and I have an eldest brother and nephew, so we used to live in Thang Long, then we went to Thanh Hoa, and we have been in Thanh Hoa ever since. But now the houses and mansions have been forcibly seized. ”

Zhang Fu nodded: "The Governor's Mansion is completely different from the royal family of Annam, and nominally the Governor's Mansion is still subordinate to the royal family. Therefore, it is inconvenient to take care of the internal affairs of Annan, whether you are allowed to play, etc. But you can go to Jingshi in person, and our people will introduce you to the eunuchs in the palace, and the eunuchs will come

Deal with it. ”

Chen Xianzhen shook his head and said, "There is a eunuch Cao Fu who has been bought by the Empress Dowager Chen. I don't want to go to Jingshi, I just want the Ming court to give justice to our family. ”

Zhang Fu persuaded with good words: "Ben Jiang can't put pressure on the Annan royal family in the name of the Ming Dynasty without authorization, if you don't go, then Ben won't be able to help you." ”

He said again: "After a while, the left envoy of the Northern Department of the Imperial Department may return to Beijing, and you and their team will enter Beijing together." If Hou Zuo's envoy hadn't left, Wang Jinghong's fleet in the West should also come back this year, and when they pass through the sea of Annan, you will take the sea route into Beijing. ”

……

At the beginning of the next month, Hou Hai really set off to return to Beijing to report on his work.

However, at this time, Wang Jinghong's fleet was also on the way back. When they went there, they had already sent the envoys of the various countries who entered Beijing during the Yongle period back to their original places, and canonized the Han Shi Jinqing as the ambassador of the old port, and led the Han people who panned for gold there and some Srivijaya people.

Then the fleet continued to explore the strait near Adan (near the Gulf of Aden in the Arabian Sea, near the Red Sea), and along the way to find towns and bazaars to trade, selling silk, porcelain, cloud brocade, Shu brocade, ruby jewelry, various Chinese medicinal materials and other precious products of the Ming Dynasty, and also obtained long-necked unicorn (giraffe), lions, long-horned horses, peacocks, black bears and other exotic animals, as well as some rare plants.

Having completed the mission of returning the envoys to the countries and canonizing Shi Jinqing, Wang Jinghong ordered the fleet to return to the third mission: to collect 60,000 taels of gold from the king as promised to pay compensation from the state of Java.

Unexpectedly, when they reached the sea north of Java, they found that it was not so easy at all.

On Wang Jinghong's treasure ship, there were a few black Javanese.

The Javanese were quite polite, and when they arrived on the deck, they pressed their hands to their chests and bowed to Wang Jinghong; It seems that before the Ming fleet came here, the Muslims from the Persian side also came here.

Wang Jinghong also got up and clasped his fists, and heard them muttering for a while, but he couldn't understand it at all. Wang Jinghong and others didn't know anything about Javanese writing and couldn't speak, but fortunately, Shi Jinqing's Srivijaya people had fought with Javanese and knew some Javanese, so they went with the ship as an interpreter.

The messenger in front of him seemed to have an interpreter, but he didn't say anything. The Sriwijaya people are not very proficient in Javanese and Chinese, and can only simply translate the general meaning: "They come to negotiate." ”

Wang Jinghong said: "Didn't we talk about it a few years ago? ”

The Srivijaya interpreter compared with the Javanese, and the interpreter said, "They said can you only give 20,000?" ”

Wang Jinghong frowned and said, "My subordinates want to be greedy? ”

After a while, the translator said: "They say that they are the king's messengers, and there are tokens." ”

Wang Jinghong whispered to the generals around him and the generals of the Jinyi Guard for a while, and Wang Jinghong said coldly: "The king of Java, who lives in the old port, is willing to give 60,000 taels, and will also subsidize the military expenses of the Ming army. ”

The dark-skinned people on both sides talked for a while. The translator said: "The king doesn't have so much gold, and neither does the king of the east, and the king of the east lied to you." ”

Wang Jinghong said angrily: "The things that the king of Java took the initiative to promise, and the words were written in black and white on the chapter, why did he go back on his word? ”

After waiting for a while, the interpreter added, "They will go back to report to the king." ”

Wang Jinghong said angrily: "Tell these envoys that they must give an answer within three days." Drop-off! ”

。 Writing Chinese Network M.