Outside, between the majestic palaces with heavy eaves, there is a lot of snow and rain, but inside the imperial gate is antique, warm and spacious. Most of the civil and military ministers are talking to each other, and they can vaguely make people hear two sentences clearly, and most of the remarks of everyone in the temple are related to etiquette and morality.

Because most of the people who stand in the center of the empire are the rule-makers, and when they comment on everything, they have to consider the problem from the perspective of the cornerstone of the family and the country, such as truth, etiquette and law; Especially in crowded occasions, this can appear to be deep.

Emperor Zhu Di didn't say a word, he didn't care about talking to the ministers, and was reading Gao Xu's recital at this time. What is written in Gao Xu's recital, on the contrary, has nothing to do with reason, only the repeated weighing of interests......

Gao Xu believes that from the Yuan Dynasty to the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the most troublesome force on the Yunnan border was the Si clan. Until now, the most rebellious and disobedient to the king is also Si's.

However, after the collapse of the Luchuan Kingdom, the territory and population of the Mengyang Sisi clan were no longer enough to pose a fundamental threat. On the contrary, the land population of Myanmar and Mu State is growing day by day, and although there is no sign of rebellion, the strength cannot be ignored.

…… Therefore, in the name of asking the guilt of the Si clan, Gao Xu seized the opportunity to launch the battle of Meng Yangsi.

The purpose of this battle is to first give Si Shi a head-on blow and extinguish the arrogance of no one in his eyes; Alert the other toasts and deter the ministries so that they do not dare to act rashly. The victory on the battlefield can also weaken the Si clan's troops, temporarily solve the border troubles in Yunnan, and ensure that the southwest is safe for a certain period of time.

Then, it was not possible to completely disintegrate the forces of the Xie Si clan, so as not to give the surrounding Tusi a chance to annex the territory of Meng Yangsi.

…… Under this trade-off, Gao Xu only recruited the Diao clan of Pingmian to participate in the battle. Because the Diao clan was a force forcibly established by the Ming Dynasty after the collapse of the "Luchuan Ping Burma Military and Civilian Propaganda Division", it was more deferential.

After the end of the war, Gao Xu took advantage of the situation to expand the Ming army's stronghold to the Mengyang Division, and together with the Diao clan, maintained the rule of some areas of the Mengyang Division. In the end, he negotiated peace with Si's and still returned the remaining territory to Si's.

The two divisions of Burma and Mubang were not able to annex the land population after this campaign.

So in the end, it was not those hidden forces that benefited, but the Ming court. Under the circumstance that the population of the border is limited, the Ming official army can continue to expand its sphere of influence and military strongholds, and the security of Yunnan can be guaranteed to a greater extent.

……

Zhu Di put down the book in his hand, turned his head to look at the eunuch Hou Xian, and blurted out a sigh: "The one who is most like me is Gao Xuli." ”

At this time, the courtiers gradually stopped talking, and bowed down to stand facing the superior. The Emperor did not continue to speak, he sat there, his palm pressed against the pieces of paper, and was silent for a long time.

After a while, Zhu Di did not make any comment on the battle of Meng Yangsi, and stood up and waved his hand.

The eunuch Hou Xian hurriedly said: "The emperor will listen to the government today, and if the ministers have something, they will discuss it tomorrow." ”

Everyone saluted the emperor.

Zhu Di put on a mink coat, sat through the Qianqing Gate in the imperial chariot, walked through the inclined corridor, and entered the Dongnuan Pavilion that he was familiar with.

There are two warm pavilions in the east and west near the Qianqing Palace, which are located in the harem area and serve as the emperor's usual resting place; Later, it was also the place where the emperor worked privately and received close ministers. But Zhu Di rarely stayed in the Xinuan Pavilion, he liked to come to the East Warm Pavilion, maybe just because Taizu and the imperial nephew Jianwen loved to stay here.

Zhu Di walked through the partition door, just glanced at the wall inside, and the eunuch Hou Xian, who followed in, immediately went to open the curtain, revealing a large map. For such things, the eunuchs don't need the emperor's orders at all.

Zhu Di naturally walked to the wall, and immediately looked at the place below, the location of An Nanguo on the map.

After a long time, he turned around, saw Hou Xian at a glance, and said, "Wasn't it decided a few days ago to send Li Qi to Annan to question the Hu family?" Now you tell Li Qi to do one more thing: tell him to go and see Gao Xu when he comes back from Annanguo, and ask Gao Xu about Annanguo. ”

Hou Xian hugged Fuchen and bent over and said, "The slave obeys the order." ”

The affairs of Annan, from the first year of Yongle to Nanjing, have not been over until now.

First of all, the former prime minister of Annan, Hu Shi, lied about the coup d'état of Annan, saying that the former king Chen died of illness. Then the former minister of the Chen family, Lu Bohao, went to Beijing to complain, and then the Lao Xuanfu envoy sent someone to send Chen Tianping, the royal clan, so the coup d'état of Annam and the conspiracy of the Hu family to deceive the emperor of the suzerainty gradually revealed the truth.

Recently, the ministers of the Ming court had repeated disputes, and Zhu Di finally made a certain compromise with the ministers and decided to send an envoy to Annan to question the Hu family.

The envoy of the Ming Dynasty was the imperial historian Li Qi. Li Qi hasn't set off yet, and he should be able to leave Beijing in the next year......

Hou Xian withdrew from the partition door, and Zhu Di sat down on the chair.

At this time, Zhu Di lifted the brush on the inkstone, dipped it twice in the inkstone, and wrote two words under the pen: Zhan Kai. He thought about it and wrote the word "east" again.

He lifted the piece of paper and wrote on another piece of paper: Zhan Yan.

A few years ago, the crown prince and the concubines of the king of Han all gave birth to sons. At this time, Zhu Di had already written the names of the two imperial grandsons, the prince's son was born to Guo Cifei, and his name was Zhu Zhankai; The son of the king of Han was born to the princess of Han and was named Zhu Zhanyan.

The emperor only now named his grandson, perhaps because the name was really not easy to choose. The Zhu family clan is named after the five elements, although this is the great-grandchild of Taizu, but there are already many clan populations; It's not easy to find so many words next to the soil characters at one time.

After Zhu Di finished writing his name, he asked another eunuch next to him to take the words, one to the East Palace, and the other to send someone to Yunnan; He also ordered the Zongren Mansion to select some gifts according to the ritual system and reward them to the two concubines who gave birth to boys.

The eunuch Meng Ji who received the decree was a Western-eyed man, but his Fengyang dialect was better than anyone else, and sometimes he said a few words in the local dialect, which even the courtiers couldn't understand.

Meng Ji also carefully held the rice paper and withdrew. A moment later, another eunuch entered and waited on the emperor in his place.

…… No one dares to neglect the emperor's affairs. At this time, Hou Xian braved the wind and snow to walk to the Thousand Steps Corridor, found Li Qi in the government office, and passed on the emperor's holy decree.

Li Qi has a flat and stable face with Chinese characters, a burly figure, and a dignified appearance. Most of the envoys sent to foreign countries by the Ming Dynasty were good-looking, at least not too cold, so that the Gentiles mistakenly thought that the people of the Ming Dynasty were all talented.

Li Qi listened to the holy decree and hurriedly asked: "The saint didn't say it, what did the minister ask when he saw the king of Han?" ”

Hou Xian thought about it seriously for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "No." The emperor asked Li Yushi to ask about Annanguo. After he said that, seeing Li Qi's thoughtful look, he couldn't help but kindly remind, "The emperor may just want to hear the opinion of King Han......

"Oh?" Li Qi stared.

Hou Xian glanced at him and said in a cautious voice: "The Han King's recital was sent to the imperial gate today, and it seems that he dealt with Tusi in Yunnan. At that time, our house was next to us, and I heard the emperor say, 'The most like me is Gao Xuli'; Later, the emperor went to the Dongnuan Pavilion, looked at the map of Annan for a while, and then immediately ordered the slave maid to come and deliver the decree...... Does Li Yushi understand? ”

Li Qi nodded and said, "In this way, the King of Han has dealt with Tusi in Yunnan, and the Holy Lord is very satisfied; Therefore, the saint wants to ask the king of Han to speak on the affairs of Annan? ”

Hou Xian was noncommittal.

Li Qi came back to his senses, hurriedly bowed his hand deeply, and said, "Thank you father-in-law for reminding me." ”

"I can't do it." Hou Xian hurriedly returned the salute, refusing on his lips, but his face was already smiling.

During the time of Taizu, eunuchs were strictly forbidden to do politics, and the status of eunuchs was purely miscellaneous work in the palace. However, since the Yongle Dynasty, some eunuchs have been highly used by the emperor, and a few ministers have gradually changed their attitudes.

A virtuous imperial historian made an arch against Hou Xian, and Hou Xian was of course very useful.

The two of them were polite, and Hou Xian bowed and said, "After our family passed the decree, we took our leave." ”

…… The eunuch Meng Ji also immediately sent the emperor's words to the Chunhe Palace. The East Palace is in the imperial city, and things used to be done quickly.

Guo Yan held the rice paper and showed it to the infant child, and said affectionately: "Zhan Kai, my son's name is Zhu Zhan Kai, this is the name given by the Holy God, no one will dare to bully you in the future......

After she said that, she suddenly looked up vigilantly at the surrounding eunuchs and palace maids, and several people quickly lowered their heads, as if they hadn't heard anything.

Guo Yan's brows furrowed, as if she felt that she had accidentally said the wrong thing just now, and she was afraid that it would soon reach someone's ears. She had a melancholy look on her face, but at this time, she saw Zhu Zhan Kai kicking her little feet, looking at her with a "giggle" and laughing, Guo Yan also immediately showed a smile, and reached out to gently tease the child's little nose.

She put the rice paper in front of the child again, and changed her words: "Look at how well the imperial grandfather's handwriting is, you grow up quickly, practice according to these words, and learn to write the name first......"

Finally, a little palace maid spoke: "His Royal Highness the prince likes calligraphy and ink, and he will definitely be a talented prince in the future." ”

Guo Yan was very happy to hear it and said, "As long as you can speak, I will reward you in a while." ”

The little palace maid hurriedly said: "Concubine Xie Niangniang!" ”

Guo Yan was smiling and humming a little song, and she couldn't help but think of a personable young prince in her mind, who was full of poetry and books, worried about the country and the people, and the key was that he was Guo Yan's closest relative...... For a while, some hazy impressions that were sealed in her heart gradually appeared in front of her.

At this moment, there was a "crunch", and suddenly a gust of wind was slightly stronger, blowing the door of the hidden room open. A palace maid hurriedly ran over and closed it, for fear that the child would catch the wind.

The snow outside the door seemed to be heavier than the previous two days, and a thin layer of snow had accumulated on the roof of the palace and on the ground. In the snow, more red lanterns have been hung under the eaves, the New Year festival will come soon, and the spring breeze of Yongle will not be far away.