Regarding Zhong Nan's experience after Suzhou, the Jinyi guards have already submitted relevant reports to their desks, so Zhu Yijun doesn't care about the other party's status as a soldier, he is interested in the story of Zhong Nan's youth. Zhong Nan picked out some interesting stories about his childhood and told them to the emperor, most of them were fragments of being punished by his mother and husband, and after the emperor listened to it, he was very emotional, and he asked Zhong Nan: "Have you ever complained about your mother and husband?" ”

"Emperor Qiqi, not to mention complaints, I can almost say that I hated them at that time," Zhong Nan said with a smile, "But later I realized after I joined the army that my mother and the husband who taught were all for my good, if I studied hard, maybe I would be able to take the exam and even become a jinshi!" ”

"Aren't you now a guerrilla general?" Zhu Yijun asked, "Don't you think it's good now?" ”

"Emperor Qiyu, it's not that it's not good now, it's just that if I listen to the teachings of my mother and husband, it will definitely be better than now," Zhong Nan pondered his words, "It wasn't until I joined the army that I gradually understood that whether it was my mother or the husband who taught me, they were the ones who cared about me the most, although the approach may be more severe, but it is 'hating iron does not become steel'!" ”

"It's a 'hate of iron doesn't make steel'," Zhu Yijun couldn't help muttering in contemplation, "Very good, very good!" ”

Zhong Nan saw that the emperor really listened to his "story", and the stone in his heart fell to the ground, the reason why he told such a story half-truthfully and half-compiled, in addition to narrowing the distance between the two, did not want the Ming Dynasty to be tossed by the emperor - at this time in the court, the great eunuch Feng Bao had been overthrown by Wanli and sent to Yingtianfu; And there are also signs of liquidating Zhang Juzheng, Zhong Nan does not want the dynasty that has only been flourishing for a long time to sink quickly.

The entire imperial study was quiet, neither the eunuch nor Zhong Nan disturbed Zhu Yijun, the eunuch did not say anything because he knew the temperament of this long-lived lord, and what the emperor needed at this time was quiet; Zhong Nan didn't speak but let Emperor Wanli realize it himself, effective psychological counseling is not to say everything, but more importantly, let him understand it himself.

It wasn't until the eunuch behind him re-served the hot meal that Zhu Yijun came back to his senses, and when he saw that it was getting late, he ordered Zhong Nan to sleep outside the palace and come to the imperial study early tomorrow morning.

Zhong Nan was very surprised, the first reason was that he didn't expect Zhu Yijun to be very thrifty, and the hot meals were still eaten with relish, it seems that the old Zhu family's thrift gene is very strong; The second is that the emperor actually summoned himself, originally he thought that the emperor summoned him to be fresh, and the content was nothing more than a few words of encouragement, and a few words of innocence at will. From this point of view, the emperor summoned him to really have something, but what kind of state affair could it be?

Zhong Nan thought for a while, but he had no clue, so he simply stopped guessing, anyway, he would know after tonight, why should he bother himself, it was better to sleep peacefully, so it didn't take long for him to go to the meeting with Zhou. Zhong Nan slept very sweetly and comfortably, who knew that most of the people in the entire court that night couldn't sleep - how long had the emperor not had dinner with his ministers? How long did the emperor not let the minister sleep outside the palace, so that he could enter the palace for the second time the next day? Who thought of a little guerrilla general, but tonight he took all of these two, does this mean that it is not clear?

In feudal society, the relationship between the monarch and the minister will even be higher than the blood relationship between father and son, as the old saying goes, "the king calls the minister to die, and the minister has to die", which shows how monstrous the power of the emperor is. Although in the Ming Dynasty, the rights and status of civil officials were much higher than before, except for a few periods, they still could not shake the imperial power. Therefore, if the emperor is optimistic about someone, he can basically foresee a bright future, and in the same way, if the emperor hates you, then don't think about making progress in his career.

After the morning of the second day, the Wanli Emperor found a gap to summon Zhong Nan again, and this time the emperor went straight to Zhong Nan and asked Zhong Nan to talk about his views on the Japanese state, because he was a personal participant in this anti-Japanese war and should have more say.

"Your Majesty, the Japanese people are the kind of people who don't know the pain if they don't be beaten, although they promised to negotiate peace with us this time, Weichen thought that this was just a delaying tactic, maybe one day they would make a comeback!" Zhong Nan really doesn't have a good impression of the Japanese people.

"Oh, you mean there will be a war with the Wa Kingdom?" Zhu Yijun frowned and thought deeply, "Then what do you think the approximate time will be?" ”

"Three to five years!" Zhong Nan's tone was affirmative, this was because he knew that the original second war to aid Korea took place five years after the first one, and although the first war to aid Korea was now postponed by one year, the time for the second time would not be far behind.

"So sure?" The emperor didn't expect Zhong Nan's answer to be so firm, not at all like those officialdom oils, they would only say ambiguous words, and they were not sure of anything.

Zhong Nan told Zhu Yijun about some of the events in the war to aid Korea, and at the same time introduced the domestic situation of the Japanese State, and "boldly analyzed and predicted" some military and political trends of the Japanese State.

Then the two had a brief discussion on the surrounding situation of the Ming Dynasty, it stands to reason that Zhong Nan is not qualified to discuss such topics with the emperor, but it seems that Zhu Yijun has some preference for Zhong Nan. Zhu Yijun, who originally planned to use the gap between the early dynasty and the queen to have a brief chat with Zhong Nan, ended up talking for nearly two hours, leaving aside the cabinet ministers who had arranged to be summoned before, and ended the talks until the eunuch reported three times.

The next few days were the happiest days for Zhong Nan after the crossing, because the plan of the Shandong mission was to stay in Beijing until after the Lantern Festival, so he took Qiu Xiang and walked all over the famous streets and alleys of Beijing Division, as long as it was the place where Qiu Xiang wanted to visit, the food he wanted to eat, and the things he wanted to buy, Zhong Nan was not stingy.

Because the Spring Festival is about to pass, the whole Beijing division is very lively, the eastern power in the 17th century, can be said to be the center of the whole world, the economic prosperity, cultural magnificence, and the richness of life in the Celestial Empire are all desirable to foreign countries, so at this time the Beijing division gathered people from *, they have different identities, such as merchants, missionaries, officials, geisha, etc., so that the Chinese people at this time can feel the exotic customs and different civilizations without leaving home.

Zhong Nan and Qiu Xiang were watching various performances near the overpass in Jingshi at the moment: in the front left, a group of young girls from the Persian Gulf danced a dance that the Ming Dynasty had never seen before; On the other side, several strong Nordic men with blue eyes and big noses are doing magic tricks with crystal balls...... The entire flyover seems to have become a "Happy Valley Paradise" in the future, and both Chinese and foreigners can temporarily forget their troubles and wander in this sea of joy during this special day.

Qiu Xiang's excitement infected Zhong Nan, originally he was not very interested in these performances, for no other reason - he had seen too much in the original time and space. It's just that seeing Qiu Xiang happy like a child, his mood brightened.

In addition to various performances around the flyover, Jingshi also held various large-scale lantern festivals during the Spring Festival. China has the custom of appreciating lanterns since ancient times, legend has it that this originated in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, when there was a palace maid, in the first month of the year, she missed her parents at home, but the harem was forbidden and could not go out, what should I do? Later, Dongfang Shuo came up with an idea, he first spread rumors, saying that the Fire God Monarch would send someone to burn Chang'an City, and there was a panic in the palace. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty found out, he promised the palace ladies that they could meet their families on the day of the Lantern Festival, so everyone made a fuss all night, but Chang'an City was safe and sound, and it was not burned.

After that, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered that lanterns should be put on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month every year, and since then the custom of appreciating flowers and lanterns has gradually formed. However, according to the literature, as early as the beginning of the Southern Dynasty, the Lantern Festival was held in the capital of Nanjing, which is the earliest recorded lantern festival in China. In order to pray for good weather, family happiness and peace in the world, this kind of grand occasion of lanterns and lanterns gradually moved from the deep palace and the forbidden garden and religious places to the people, and slowly formed lantern festivals of different scales in various places, or official or non-governmental, all from the first day of the first month to the fifteenth day of the first month.

Compared with the previous dynasties, the lantern festival of the Ming Dynasty was more commercial, and during the lantern festival, merchants and skilled craftsmen from all over the country would gather in Beijing to sell the lanterns they made on the North Street outside Dong'an Gate. In this short few days, it is not only a competition of lantern making technology, but also a competition of business strength. The lanterns they brought were not only for the public to enjoy, but also sold to princes, nobles or dignitaries, and sometimes the high-priced lamps were sold for thousands of taels of silver. The styles and techniques of these lamps are also novel, ranging from lamps inlaid with rare jewels to lamps sold from neighboring countries or overseas, attracting an endless stream of viewers. At that time, the Ministry of Industry also recruited a large number of folk craftsmen to make all kinds of beautiful lamps and lanterns for the royal family, and the glass lamps were found from the lantern fair.

During his stay in Beijing, Zhong Nan also participated in the grand celebration held by the emperor in the first lunar month, where important officials from all over the country, envoys of various vassal states, and representatives and envoys of some European and Asian countries gathered in the Forbidden City. When the tsunami-like cheers sounded, Zhong Nan felt his pride as a Chinese, and sincerely hoped that the Daming Dynasty would be more prosperous, and the sense of mission of "the world rises and falls, and the husband is responsible" spread deep in his heart for the first time.

The good times of the Jingshi are extremely enjoyable, but before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the news of the resurgence of the White Lotus Sect came from Shandong, and the governor Wu Xiukai summoned the officials of Shandong to return to Jinan Mansion overnight, and Zhong Nan had to end his trip to Beijing with Qiu Xiang.