The eunuchs and the Jinyi guards surrounded Luan and drove to the Outer Five Dragons Bridge. The car stopped for a while, and Pei Youzhen got out of the car.

As soon as the team crossed the Wulong Bridge, they looked at the Chengtian Gate. Pei Youzhen didn't have to go to the palace at this time, he said goodbye to the emperor here, which was appropriate.

Luan drove again, and Pei Youzhen stood on the side of the road, facing the carriage. He found that many of the civil and military eunuchs accompanying him cast strange glances at him. No matter what kind of mood people have, in short, they are quite concerned about Pei Youzhen; After all, he had just ridden with the emperor.

He was a man who was not good-looking, but looked like a farmer, and he once taught those illiterate old and rough martial artists to read and write in the Han Palace. How could he have imagined that he would have the honor and status he has today?

Pei Youzhen was a little distracted, and quickly came back to his senses, and hugged his fist to Wang Gui, the eunuch behind Luan, and said, "Princess, please stay." ”

Wang Gui was also very face-saving, and immediately walked over and said kindly: "What do our family have to serve Pei Shilang?" ”

"Don't dare, don't dare." Pei Youzhen said. A person from a low background like him seems to have a problem, that is, he is often not confident enough, and his posture is often too low in the face of people with a bit of status; Even if the other party is just a eunuch.

Wang Gui turned his head and glanced at the teams that passed by the Outer Five Dragons Bridge one after another, revealing a deliberate smile, waiting for Pei Youzhen.

Pei Youzhen said: "The saint was in the car just now and talked to me about something. I wanted to check the relevant old documents, lest the Holy One talk about it again, I would have nothing to say. The ancient and modern Tongji library will not go, and the main hall and the Wenyuan Pavilion are all on the side of the East Palace. In the past few days, I have wanted to go over from time to time, consult some volumes, and hope that the prince and the eunuchs and guards in the gatehouse will say hello, and I will have to worry less. ”

Wang Gui said: "No problem, our family will definitely keep this matter in mind." ”

Pei Youzhen said: "Zheng He and Wang Jinghong went to the West, or some matters were recorded, which should be stored in the celebrant prison. Can I borrow the files on Chenla, Siam and Champa for a look? ”

Wang Gui said happily: "Our family has to ask someone to find it all first, and send it to the Yamen of the Ministry of War tomorrow afternoon, how about it?" ”

Pei Youzhen bowed: "Thank you, princess." ”

Wang Gui said: "Pei Shilang is doing the emperor's errand, and it is convenient for our family to do it." Leave. ”

Pei Youzhen also turned around and walked back, thinking for a while as she walked.

He will be sent to Korea and Japan with the ship until the end of next month, and there will be more than a month to go. In the past month or so, he has been going to do two things, one is what he just talked about with Wang Gui, and the other is to find the musicians of the Teaching Workshop Division to rearrange the tune. Pei Youzhen is an official of the Ministry of War, and he can't manage the Department of Education, but he just said that it was a holy decree in the past, and the matter must be convenient.

When Pei Youzhen returned to the study of the Yamen of the Ministry of War, he habitually sat quietly for a while. It is very popular among civil officials to do this, and it is called retreat and self-examination. Pei Youzhen tried her best to learn how to be an official, and slowly formed a habit.

He didn't have the heart to think about whether there was any omission in his performance in front of the emperor today.

Pei Youzhen suddenly remembered what she had said with Hou Hai in a restaurant outside the imperial city a few days ago.

Hou Hai said, we are the confidants of the saint's former officials, but we don't have enough weight to speak in the temple, why? There were too few former officials in the Han Dynasty, and there were too many original people in the court; We have the trust of the saints, but we have no prestige among the officials. As an official, we are at most favored ministers, not ministers.

Look at that Xia Yuanji, he often has the opposite opinion of the saint, but what he says works. Those high-ranking and powerful people in the court, such as Jianyi, Ru Yu, Lu Zhen, and Hu Guang, all think that he is reliable. To put it mildly, even if Xie Jin speaks a word, his voice is louder than ours, and he is at least touted as talented by the cadres in Jiangxi......

Pei Youzhen thought about it for a while and felt that what Hou Hai said was very reasonable. But he thought about his origin, if he didn't join the Holy Lord by chance, what else could he be a minister?

Thinking about it, Pei Youzhen still thinks that her talent is the right way to get the recognition of the saint first.

As for the new and old policies, Pei Youzhen really doesn't care too much. He has neither Xia Yuanji's steadiness nor Hu Hui's ambitions; I think that compared with the ministers of the DPRK and China, it is indeed not only the party henchmen who are worse.

For several days in a row, Pei Youzhen flipped through all the files that she could find. The records of those countries in the South Seas were rarely cared about in the DPRK before; If it weren't for the officials in charge of managing the old files to follow the rules and take them out to dry from time to time, it is estimated that these files would have been destroyed by insects by now.

However, the saint did not talk about Nanyang again, and Pei Youzhen gradually felt that he was probably busy in vain. But it doesn't matter, the so-called preparedness.

It wasn't until more than half a month later that the eunuch Wang Gui suddenly came to the Yamen of the Ministry of War and found Pei Youzhen.

Wang Gui seemed to be a little anxious and said, "What kind of tea do you drink?" You hurry up and go to the East Warm Pavilion with our family, and the emperor is waiting to see you. ”

Pei Youzhen hurriedly asked, "What's the matter?" ”

Wang Guidao: "The emperor is discussing major matters with several ministers, and asked about the entanglements in Annam, Champong, Zhenla and other places, and no one can say clearly. Rubutang, who is usually very proficient in the affairs of foreign domains, did not explain it clearly. Our family interjected a sentence next to it, and Xu Pei Shilang, the secretary of the Ministry of War, knew very well. Then the emperor immediately issued an order and asked our family to pass Pei Shilang in. ”

Pei Youzhen looked down at the official robe on his body, reached out and held the black gauze hat again, and said, "Prince Wang, please." ”

The two of them set off immediately. The courtiers went from the Qianbu Corridor to the East Warm Pavilion, which was really far; The two of them walked as fast as they could, and they also walked for a long time. They had to go first to Chengtianmen, Duanmen, and Wumen, and then they had to pass through the Dongjiao Gate next to Fengtianmen, and then pass through the three gates next to the three major halls, and then enter the Qianqing Gate...... Only then did he walk up the ramp corridor and came to the outside of the East Warm Pavilion.

Wang Gui asked Pei Youzhen to follow him directly into the door. When the two of them arrived at the place, they bypassed a partition door, and sure enough, they saw that several ministers were inside.

Pei Youzhen bowed, and then heard Zhu Gaoxu's voice say: "Pei Youzhen is exempt." What do you know about the relationship between Siam (Thailand), Chenla (the whole of Cambodia, southern Laos, southern Vietnam), and Champa (south-central Vietnam)? ”

"The minister thinks that if you want to talk about the relationship between the countries in the south, Annan is indispensable." Pei Youzhen got up from the ground and said.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Very good. ”

Pei Youzhen pondered for a moment, hugged his fists and said, "The minister plays the saint." For hundreds of years, the Chenla Kingdom actually made enemies in the east and west, and at the same time had long-term grievances with the Siam State and the Champa State, attacking each other. The same was true of the Champa kingdom, which fought many wars with the kingdom of Chenla in the west and the kingdom of Annam in the north. At different times, the state of Annam dealt with the Central Plains court in the north and the Champa state in the south.

After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Chenla mainly faced the attack of the new Ayutthaya dynasty (also known as the Ayutthaya dynasty) in Siam, and the offensive against the city of Cham had been reduced. In the Yongle period, because the Annan Kingdom was destroyed by our dynasty, Zhancheng has been declared a vassal to our dynasty; After recovering the lost territory in the north occupied by the Kingdom of Annam, Champa turned west to attack Chenla.

At this time, the relationship between the four countries was that the war between Annam and Champa had been quelled, while Chenla was facing the attack of Siam and Champa. ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Pei Shilang said it clearly, simply and clearly. ”

Pei Youzhen was greatly encouraged, and said: "Between Annan and Zhancheng, there has been too much grudge in recent decades. The temporary peace is only due to the intervention of our army; If the situation changes slightly, the two countries will soon break out into war again.

Since the beginning of the Hongwu Dynasty, the two countries have attacked each other many times, killing and wounding countless soldiers and civilians, which is simply a sea of blood feud. Champa has captured Thang Long, the capital of Annam, three times, and has looted and slaughtered on a large scale.

During the rebellion of the Hu clan in Annam, he also broke through the capital of Champa Vijaya (naturalization), looted the city, and forcibly occupied a large area of land including Da Nang and Hoi An. When the Hu clan was defeated by the Ming army, the city recaptured everything and occupied the Hue region of Annam. ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "During the Yongle period, our dynasty set up a political envoy in Annan, and the entire territory of Annan was once under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty. Since the state of Zhancheng has been declared a vassal, why does it still occupy Shunzhou, Huazhou and other places? ”

Pei Youzhen bowed and said: "Holy Mingjian." The land of Hue (north of Da Nang) was originally disputed, and at first it was the land of the city state.

By the time of the Yuan Dynasty, the Yuan army threatened the state of Annan, and the state of Annan adjusted its national policy, forming an alliance in the south and resisting the enemy in the north. So Annan married a princess of the Chen family to the king of Champong; At that time, Champa was also afraid of the Yuan army, so he took the land of Hue as a dowry, and the two countries formed an alliance.

But then the Yuan army gave up its plan to expedition to Annam, and as soon as the external threat disappeared, the old grudge between the two countries immediately intensified over a trivial matter, and war broke out again. Roughly Princess Annam was not martyred and was taken back to Thang Long; The Champa state considered it an insult to the royal family and sent troops to the north.

The land of Hue has also changed hands several times, and now no one can say whose land it should be. And because of the period of the 'Battle of Annan', the Zhancheng State wanted to take advantage of the fire to loot and help the Ming officials and troops to attack the Hu clan very hard, and the Ming court did not care about the gains and losses of the two cities and one place. ”

"I see." Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "What you said, is there a mistake?" ”

Pei Youzhen thought for a while, hugged his fists and said: "The minister has read the old files of the Great Main Hall and the Wenyuan Pavilion Treasury, and there are records of the master of ceremonies and supervisors, and they are summarized. There may be omissions and unclear details, and there should be no discrepancies. ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "I am very pleased that you are dedicated to national affairs. However, Japan's affairs are even more urgent, and the army will go to sea later this month. You hand over the file catalog in your possession to Qi Tai, the secretary of the Ministry of War, and focus on the things in front of you first. ”

Pei Youzhen bowed and said: "The minister obeys the order." ”

He retreated into the ranks of officials, and found that after he was in the limelight today, the reaction of his colleagues seemed a little cold. Even Qi Tai only cast an approving gaze, and did not raise Pei Youzhen in public.

Pei Youzhen felt quite emotional for a while, but she couldn't capture what kind of mood she was feeling at this time.