Before I knew it, it had reached the month of La, and the last month of the sixth year of Yongle (the first year of Hongxi) came quietly; The second year of Zhu Gaoxu's "campaign to combat crimes" is also coming to an end.

Zhu Gaoxu remembered that he spent last winter in Sichuan, but this winter he was in Huguang.

Huguang Province, located in the south, is still cold in winter, and the wind is stronger than Sichuan. The door of the central hall in the courtyard of the Chinese army was closed, but from time to time a gust of cold wind poured in from the crack in the door, making people shiver.

At this time, Qu Neng's men and horses, as well as the army under Sheng Yong's command before Ping'an, and the main forces of the Han Dynasty's army had approached Hengzhou City one after another.

Because Zhang Fu did not reply to the letter for a long time, Zhu Gaoxu's letter of persuasion sank like a stone into the sea; So in the lobby of the Chinese army, Zhu Gaoxu and several generals had some disagreements about the next decision.

Ping'an said: "Lord Wang, the last general thinks that it is impossible for Zhang Fu to surrender!" If the 'General Pinghan' will also surrender, then the puppet dynasty is really funny, I am afraid that it will be ridiculed by the world for a thousand years! ”

"Hmm......" Zhu Gaoxu habitually made a sound, with a thoughtful look, still sitting on the chair above and not moving.

Hou Hai glanced at Zhu Gaoxu, and seemed to sense that the King of Han did not approve of peace; Hou Hai immediately straightened his waist, turned his head to Ping'an and said, "Back then, Li Jinglong was still 'General Pingyan'!" Didn't you open the gate of Jingshi City? ”

Ping'an sighed, looked at Hou Hai, and said with a somewhat complicated expression: "Dare to love Li Jinglong will not be made fun of by future generations?" ”

Hou Hai said again: "Our people from the North Division sent a report back a few days ago. Zhang Fu did not make any movement, he neither handed over the messenger and the letter of persuasion, nor did he let the messenger go. Then there's still a chance to ......."

Ping'an shook his head, and said to Hou Hai with a slight sneer: "The current situation of the puppet dynasty is more than auspicious, why does he Zhang Fu dare to do that, like selling Qian Changshi?" I have led my troops to fight for many years, and I have never encountered any opponent, like Zhang Fu and others, who are one of the people who will not surrender in the puppet dynasty......"

Zhu Gaoxu turned his head to look at him, and when he saw this, he said again: "The prince is just trying, anyway, we will lose at most a messenger!" ”

Sheng Yong said calmly: "If Zhang Fu does not surrender, and the sailor has not moved, our army can only take the south road and advance eastward from Nanchang Mansion, Jiangxi." Therefore, the army that is about to arrive in Hengzhou City must not be delayed; It is necessary to immediately march in the direction of Yongzhou Prefecture and make preparations for crossing the river in advance.

The army marched from the South Road (Yongzhou, Nanchang, Hangzhou, Jingshi), with a road of more than 3,000 miles! The soldiers and horses attacked all the way, crossed the rivers by detour, and when the soldiers approached the city of Beijing, it would be more than half a year at the earliest; Things are not easy to procrastinate, beware of long nights and dreams! ”

Sheng Yong paused for a moment, and immediately continued: "But if Zhang Fu can arrange for the sailor to surrender, the situation will be simple. The men and horses of the Sin Suppression Army did not need to continue south, but only waited for the surrender of the sailors on the west bank of the Xiangjiang River.

At that time, our army crossed the Xiangjiang River straight from Hengzhou and went down the river very quickly! The vast army of the puppet Chaohu has been newly defeated, and it is absolutely impossible to remobilize the army and restore morale in a short period of time; Our army has won the 'Battle of Sin Fighting'! ”

Zhu Gaoxu suddenly said, "I thought I could wait a little longer." ”

Ping An had an expression of disbelief.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "I still think there is a little chance; Because I also gave Zhang Fu a chance, I didn't block all his roads. ”

After hearing this, several people clasped their fists and said: "The last general (lower official) obeys the order!" ”

Ping An then clasped his fists and saluted, but he did not reply or argue again.

After everyone finished talking about business, they retired one after another.

Zhu Gaoxu picked out an official document from a stack of newspapers, and carefully looked at the date and address on it. He estimated that within this month, the team of the Han Wangfu might be able to reach Hengzhou City.

At the beginning of October, not long after the Battle of Huguang ended, Zhu Gaoxu ordered "Mr. Li" of the Governor's Mansion of the Han Dynasty to relocate all the family members and official offices of the Han Prince's Mansion to the Huguang Hengzhou Mansion in accordance with the original strategy. The group walked a little slowly, but it should be possible to reach it during the wax moon.

However, the previous strategy was to set up a "Xiangxi Political Envoy Division" in Huguang; Now that the situation has changed, Zhu Gaoxu decided to continue to use the name of "Huguangbu Political Envoy Division" and set up the administrative office in Hengzhou City to control the territory on both sides of the Xiangjiang River occupied by the Han army, and to set up the three divisions of Wuchang Mansion controlled by the official army.

An expectation flashed in Zhu Gaoxu's mind, hoping that during the Chinese New Year this year, the family could reunite again in Hengzhou City.

……

In the first half of the lunar month, King Gu (Zhu Lu) and others, who were taken by Zhang Fu's army in Changsha Mansion, as well as He Fu, who was suspected of being guilty, finally arrived in Beijing by boat.

Everyone landed at Longjiang Port, of course, there were no prisoner cars in the crowd, and King Gu even had an honor guard! At this time, waiting on the dock, there were officials from the Zongren Mansion and the Ministry of Rites, as well as a minister-level minister Guo Zi, and the officials of the Jingshi came to greet them with a gorgeous car.

All the officials bowed to the King of the Valley and said, "The lower officials and others will meet His Royal Highness the King of the Valley!" ”

The valley king looked dissatisfied, but he seemed to be able to realize that the situation was not good, so he casually shook his fist in return.

"Back then, the traitorous ministers in the court harmed the clan, and the king was slandered by the traitorous ministers, so Fang Gu opened the gate of the Jingshi City and let Emperor Taizong enter the city smoothly!" The king of the valley shouted in public, "And now there are traitors in the court who are scheming and picking, slandering and framing this king!" Outrageous! ”

Guo Zi hurriedly bowed down and said, "His Royal Highness the King of the Valley, don't worry. The Holy One is the Emperor of the world, and he will be able to distinguish between right and wrong, and return His Highness to his innocence. ”

"I hope so." King Gu flicked the sleeves of his robe, "snorted" and walked to the car prepared for him.

Guo Zi suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. He knew very well that it was quite troublesome and dangerous for officials to deal with these vassal kings, and they would be impeached at every turn. If it weren't for the period of the Jianwen Dynasty, which made the reduction of feudal domains a national policy, how could ordinary people afford it?

After finally receiving the king of the valley, Guo Zi went to the imperial city to return.

And He Fu, who came back all the way, has not been arrested for the time being. He Fu was told that he was waiting at home to listen to the edict.

Guo Zi walked around the royal gate, but he couldn't see the saint, and he couldn't face the saint. He had no choice but to return to the thousand-step corridor and go to the government office of the Hanlin Academy.

Hu Guang, the first assistant of the cabinet, Yuan Heng, the secretary of the Taichang Temple, and Ru Yu, the secretary of the military department, were all discussing in the Hanlin Academy. Since most of the recent recitals have not been sent to the palace, everything is decided by the cabinet scholars and the ministries together, so the ministries take turns to be on duty in the Hanlin Academy.

Guo Zi recounted the incident of Longjiang Port, and everyone began to discuss it one after another. Hu Guang rubbed his temples and looked like he had a headache: "The Holy Lord did not give an order, but the British Duke suddenly escorted the King of Gu to Jingshi, how should the imperial court deal with it?" ”

Guo Zi said in a deep voice: "The king of the valley was suddenly escorted back to Beijing, and the other vassal kings are all watching, in case the vassal kingdoms are in turmoil, how will it end?" ”

Ru Yu looked straight at Yuan Jue and said, "This matter can only be played by the saint?" ”

Yuan Hui also frowned and said, "The king of the valley has not yet arrived in Beijing, and the official has already written a book...... The music is like a stone sinking into the sea. ”

There was silence for a few moments. Yuan Hui suddenly opened his mouth and whispered: "How about finding someone to impeach Zhang Fu for this matter?" ”

Guo Zi, Hu Guang and the others looked at each other, and they all knew that Yuan Heng wanted to throw all the responsibility to Zhang Fu, who made his own claims! At this time, Ru Yu, the secretary of the Ministry of War, said quietly: "The British Duke is still the 'General of Pinghan', but he can take soldiers with him in Huguang." ”

Guo Zi thought for a while, and said in a tentative tone: "Let the King of Gu stay in Jingshi for the time being." Let's send another report, saying that Huguang was plundered by the rebels, and the imperial court was worried about the safety of the king of Gu, so he recalled the Beijing division; Just wait for Wang Shi to quell the rebellion against the king, and then send the king of the valley back to the vassal country? ”

Ru Yu immediately echoed: "This compromise method is the golden mean. ”

All the officials seconded the proposal one after another, and the matter was decided.

But when everyone talked about He Fu again, they immediately fell into an impasse. The Captain did not designate who would decide the government, but only said that everyone would discuss it, so if there was a disagreement and no one could be convinced, the matter could only be delayed; The decision-making officials who were formed on an ad hoc basis did not have perfect rules for a while.

He Fu's matter, for the time being, can only be told to the East Palace officials and the other six ministries, and then dragged on.

…… Unexpectedly, a few days later, Gao Xianning, the attendant of the Hanlin Academy, suddenly wrote a letter to impeach Zhang Fu: making unauthorized claims, coercing the prince with troops, and framing the clan, his crime is unforgivable!

The ministers were in an uproar as they walked through the political envoys to the Imperial Gate and then to a study in the Hanlin Academy.

At this time, neither the imperial history nor the matter of the court impeached Zhang Fu, but Gao Xianning of the Hanlin Academy took a mouse and wrote a letter to impeach. The ministers quickly came back to their senses: this matter was instructed by the people on Yuan Hui's side!

The ministers who used to often go in and out of the Dongnuan Pavilion were very clear about the doorways in the imperial court. That Gao Xianning set up the crown prince three times, and he must be the queen's person; Xu Huizu and other founding heroes, former ministers and civil officials of the Yan Wangfu are all people who have reached a certain tacit understanding.

Gao Xianning went to the book, wasn't it instructed by those people, who else? And the person most likely to do this is Yuan Heng, the Qingqing of Taichang Temple, because Yuan Hui's proposition on the day of King Gu's arrival in Beijing is to put the blame on Zhang Fu.

plus Zhang Fu and others, there is a gap with those who are close to the queen. Gao Xianning impeached Zhang Fu without authorization, and the reason for this is almost clear!

Guo Zi, Ru Yu and other ministers of Shangshu were very dissatisfied with this, but they couldn't sit down, so it was difficult to put them on the table to accuse Yuan Heng. Unexpectedly, when Yuan Heng was discussing in the Hanlin Academy, he took the initiative to talk about it and did not admit it at all.

Yuan Hui also called Gao Xianning to the study room used by the cabinet and accused Gao Xianning in person.

Gao Xianning quarreled with Yuan Hui, and claimed righteously that there had never been a holy decree to move the vassal king, so why did the imperial court cover up Zhang Fu's mistakes?

The ministers didn't open their mouths to mingle, and people just watched the "play" between the two people coldly.