At dusk, Zhu Gaoxu left the Shen Mansion and returned to the palace.

He had returned from the Xuanwu Gate, and there were secret sentries of the Jinyi Guard on several roads along the way, which had been deployed a few days earlier; After Zhu Gaoxu left the shore of Xuanwu Lake, he temporarily chose one of the roads at random.

Everything was calm. Just like Ma Enhui's series of processes of serving tea, the greatest significance may only show the importance of Zhu Gaoxu.

After Zhu Gaoxu walked into the Xuanwu Gate, he climbed the city tower on a whim. Just as he walked out of Ma Enhui's living room and came to the lake to enjoy the view, there was no special purpose for this trip.

It was a bright day, and even at sunset, the sky and the earth were beautiful. The afterglow is sprinkled on the countless heavy eaves in the imperial city, and the glazed tiles are gorgeous. Outside the Imperial City, the magnificent buildings and the plants and trees revived in spring coexist in harmony, forming an environmentally friendly and beautiful picture.

The sight is beautiful.

The Chinese civilization has been reborn from the ashes of many disasters, and now the unified Central Plains Empire has re-emerged and is entering a period of rise that has been established for decades. This is the golden stage of every complete dynasty, and it is undoubtedly an era full of glory and dreams.

The economy began to recover, the population began to grow, a huge fleet was being carved out on the vast seas, the Ming army penetrated into the Baikal region several times, and established a military control zone at the level of the capital near the distant island of Sakhalin. The Central Empire re-emerged and regained control of this region of the world, suppressing the growth of disorderly barbarian forces, and reducing the possibility of large-scale chaos to a minimum.

But standing in the afterglow of this dusk, Zhu Gaoxu vaguely felt that all this seemed to be just a return to the light.

If we follow this inertia, it seems that "history" will repeat itself hundreds of years from now. He "recalled" everything, and felt that the most terrifying thing at that time was probably not the compression of living space, but the complete loss of dignity and confidence.

Zhu Gaoxu left the Xuanwu Gate. Today has reached the next duty, and he went straight back to the Qianqing Palace. However, he did not go to the dormitory, but went to the East Warm Pavilion first.

Compared with the spacious Rouyi Hall, the East Warm Pavilion appears narrow and closed. After all, the Rouyi Hall is a palace of the Eight Classics, and the Dongnuan Pavilion is just an attached house of the Qianqing Palace.

During the process of walking back to the Qianqing Palace from the Xuanwu Gate, the sun had completely set. The candles on the lampstand in the East Warm Pavilion have been lit, and the lanterns outside and the flames of the lampstand have also shone through. But these fires can't be compared to the sun at all, and the East Warm Pavilion is still shrouded in darkness.

However, this dark and narrow space is more suitable for thinking about some hidden thoughts. Because the place is clear and wide, it is easy for people to feel as if they are exposed to broad daylight, and they can't help but approach the direction of the light.

Zhu Gaoxu sat on the chair that Emperor Taizu had sat on, neither making a sound nor moving, and for a while he seemed to have disappeared into the darkness. If you don't pay attention, you may overlook the fact that there are individuals sitting there......

This time he left the palace without permission, and Zhu Gaoxu had a completely different feeling from before, and he was very impressed.

With the end of the civil war, the institutions of the imperial court were on the right track, and various systems for the emperor to guard were gradually improved. The world does not seem to be concerned about the psychological effects of the emperor; However, Zhu Gaoxu could feel that all this made him feel nervous and restrained. In the past, when he was the prince and prince, he was obviously freer, and even had to personally lead his troops into battle, often in the midst of adventure.

But Zhu Gaoxu did not interfere in the operation of these systems, and perhaps it was really necessary.

People all die, but there is a big difference between dying early and dying late, especially the key figures. The inevitability or contingency of history is not defined by Zhu Gaoxu; But he knows very well that the world really began to change when a person died by accident, Zhu Di. And before that, everything was probably just moving according to inertia.

So how much impact will Zhu Gaoxu's early death and late death have?

The death of his father, Emperor Zhu Di, shook Zhu Gaoxu a lot. Zhu Gaoxu pondered that incident many times and learned some lessons: establishing a defense mechanism around the emperor was like a fortification defense on the battlefield, which was a passive defense; A more effective defense, on the other hand, may be to actively defend and try to weaken the source of danger.

Therefore, Zhu Gaoxu felt that his father's miscalculation was not that he killed too many people...... It's that the killing is not precise enough and not thorough enough. Killing will create fierce hatred, and the fire of revenge should not be left behind, but the roots should be carefully cut down.

If you are not sure, it is better to show a gesture of tolerance and kindness in the hope of easing the hatred and leaving room for compromise and reconciliation.

This is also the reason why Zhu Gaoxu did not kill Yang Shiqi, one of the "Three Yangs", for a long time. Yang Shiqi is the former official of the East Palace of the abolished prince and Zhu Gaochi's confidant, but it is a pity that he ...... Yang Shiqi's son has not been caught so far.

So the last time Jin Yiwei brought a list of people to be removed, Zhu Gaoxu expressed great regret and said in public that Yang Shiqi was a talent. Zhu Gaoxu also ordered Jinyiwei to treat Yang Shiqi's family with courtesy, not to insult, and to provide sufficient food and clothing.

With regard to Annan's policy, Zhu Gaoxu adopted the same concept.

He forbade the generals to use the promise of slaughtering the city to boost morale, as that might lead to more resistance and revenge. What's more, the way the Ming Dynasty used an occupied territory was fundamentally different from that of the Yuan Dynasty; The Ming Dynasty did not need a ruin, let alone create more unmanned pastures.

The remnants of the rebels of Annan were not an important enemy of the Ming court, let alone the only enemy. The imperial court should first consider the cost of repression.

……

In the mountains of Annam, night has fallen. On all sides of a rice field, the shadows of the mountains appear pitch black under the night sky. On the flat depression are scattered dilapidated village houses.

In a clearing outside a village, a bonfire illuminates a small area. A group of people squatted or sat around the campfire.

Among them, there was a man standing, he looked back to the left and right, his eyes reflected the flames of the bonfire, and said: "Never trust the Ming court, remember!" ”

He continued: "The northern court has always been cunning and vicious, and one of the methods they have commonly used from ancient times to the present day is to first connive at some people to take advantage of the plunder, and then kill the bones and marrow when the time comes. After they occupy 'Da Viet', they will only be more ruthless. Now many people have been deceived, mistakenly thinking that as long as they submit to the jackals, they can get glory and wealth and gain their trust, which is simply self-inflicted. ”

There was a burst of discussion from everyone, but only one person with a big head and a small body did not say anything, and he was Ruan Xuan. Ruan Jian was involved in almost all the schemes, and of course he already knew the answer to the mystery.

And the person standing in the crowd is none other than Wang Lili, who is pacified.

Li Li said this, and turned his head to look at Ruan Xuan. Ruan Jian nodded slightly.

"Therefore, the Ming army's hypocrisy and false tolerance towards 'Da Yue' are all a big deception!" Li Li said, "They can only have one attempt to enter the Koukou, regardless of the life or death of our clan, and squeeze everything out of Dayue!" The Han people say, 'If you are not of my race, your heart will be different', our people, even do not understand this truth, and easily believe in such a jackal in the north, and some people think that the Ming army is their own people, which is really the most ridiculous thing in the world. ”

The words were quickly echoed by the people, and someone said: "Some little ladies in Shenglong and Thanh Hoa are vying to throw their arms to the people of the Ming Kingdom, shame." ”

Ruan Jian's face turned red when he heard this.

When it comes to women, they can always arouse the interest of men, and someone immediately said: "Some nobles and ladies from official eunuchs also look up to Ming people." Don't they know that most military families are just lowly paupers in the Ming Kingdom? ”

Li Li raised his hand to calm down the noise of everyone a little, and said loudly: "You have all seen the dangerous situation, the people of the Ming Kingdom not only suppressed us by force, but also gave a dose of sweat medicine and poison, and in a few months, countless people have succumbed.

After the 'Battle of Chongguang' (Tran Ji Kuang year), the main force of the Great Vietnamese Army was destroyed, and we lost our strength, because we made a great mistake, and it was a great pity that we lost a great opportunity to restore the country. But in the long years to come, we will preserve the fire and gradually restore the strength to compete with the Ming garrison. At that time, the anger of thousands of Yue people will surely burn and swallow up the ships that invaded Dayue! Let them pay the price of blood, and pay back with blood. ”

The people in the open space were emotional and shouted: "Blood debt and blood to pay ......"

Li Li calmed down the noise again, and said with a sad expression: "The Great Yue Kingdom has fallen, Chen Zhengyuan is just a dog of the Ming Kingdom, don't have any hope for them." Your subordinates here have become the last resistance force in our country. We will never surrender and will fight to the death! Even if we don't succeed in the future, we must let the boatmen see the backbone of our people. ”

The surrounding crowd was excited, and the atmosphere was very warm.

At this time, Ruan Jian stood up and said, "We have made up our minds, and we must also deploy a proper strategy. From now on, we will switch to defense and hiding for the time being. Take advantage of the land that can be cultivated in the mountainous area, build scattered villages, accumulate strength, and wait for the opportunity. For the sake of safety, the king of pacification and other important people will not be easily seen by ordinary soldiers, so you must appease your subordinates. ”

Ruan Jian said: "If the Ming army enters the mountains to clear and suppress, you should attack and block the mountains and woods along the road and rely on the terrain, and if you can't stop it, you will migrate to other villages to avoid it." Now that the Ming army is strong and strong, we must wait for the opportunity to regain our strength. ”

Someone asked, "When will it take?" "It's better to gather people and fight with them!"

Li Li said loudly: "Sending to death is to shirk responsibility, and it is even more difficult to live." ”

Ruan Jian also said: "The defeat of the 'Battle of Chongguang', we can't forget it, do you still want to repeat the mistakes of the past? ”

People finally calmed down and seemed to be thinking. On the edge of the bonfire, Li Li and Ruan Jian stood there, as if they were guarding this fire.