The vigorous horn and high-pitched cymbal song sounded in the vast plain, and the "rumbling" drum sound was like thunder on the flat ground, awakening the ancient silence of the windless and humid land of the Sichuan political envoy.

At dawn, the sky was dark, but a ray of morning light rose abruptly in the east. The dense spears and flags all turned into gloomy black shadows against the backdrop of the glow. The sound of grand and neat footsteps beats the heavens and the earth rhythmically in the sound of drums; The hurried horse's hooves change the relaxed atmosphere of this place.

Under the stone plaque engraved with two mottled fonts of "Chengdu", the heavy city gate slowly opened.

Zhu Gaoxu, the king of the Han Dynasty wearing a cyan gown, rode a large brown horse, surrounded by civil officials in official uniforms, military generals in armor, and female Taoist priests wearing hats.

On the official road outside the city, groups of soldiers who had just been paid a full year's military salary were marching neatly in the southeast direction, and the filial piety clothes on the heads of countless people were spread out, and the atmosphere was solemn. Then a group of men on horseback galloped in the opposite direction and came to the city gate.

Facing the team of knights, a tall and majestic man in armor in front of him was Qu Neng, the forward general who went out this time.

"King Han!" Qu Neng shouted and slapped his horse forward. He turned over and knelt down on one knee, clasped his fists and bowed, "The last general is ordered to start early this morning." ”

Zhu Gaoxu didn't respond immediately, he climbed down from the horse first, the gown on his body was too wide, and it was extremely inconvenient to get on and off the horse. He stepped forward and helped Qu Neng up with his own hands before he spoke: "General Qu is exempt, may the general go first and win!" A few days later, the king himself arrived with a large army. ”

Chongqing Prefecture did not have the reinforcements of the Sichuan Guards, and there was no test for the forward to capture Chongqing Mansion; However, Qu Neng mainly had to establish a large camp in the east to manage the defense of the river. If Sichuan is in danger, the main source is the army of Huguang in the east; The Eastern Front is very important, so Zhu Gaoxu will leave a capable general like Qu Neng.

So Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but say in a deep voice: "General Wangqu should not live up to the king's trust. ”

Qu Neng raised his head and said: "The King of Han does not dare to forget the grace of his encounter, since the time when the King of Han in Beiping ignored the dangers and obstacles, he paid so much attention to me, and the last general has made up his mind, even if he is broken, he will never regret it!" If you can't complete the important task of the king of Han, you will be willing to be killed! ”

"General Qu!" Zhu Gaoxu was a little moved when he heard this, and said, "But I couldn't rescue the Qu family, I really can't help your sincere heart." ”

Qu Neng said: "This matter has nothing to do with King Han, King Han doesn't have to be ashamed." ”

At this moment, the guards came up with wine, Zhu Gaoxu picked up a wine glass and handed it to Qu Neng, and he also picked up a glass, which was the wine of practice.

In this grand atmosphere, Zhu Gaoxu picked up the wine glass and suddenly felt a little sentimental, maybe every parting will be like this.

Zhu Gaoxu raised his wine glass and saw that the people around him were looking at him. He felt that he should say a few words, but if he said that he killed you to the death for the sake of glory and wealth, it didn't seem to be very appropriate.

After a while, he put aside his low mood, looked back left and right, and said loudly: "My Emperor Taizu drove out the Tartars, swept away the haze of Shenzhou, restored his clothes, and established the Ming Dynasty. The sun and the moon are bright, just as we are reorganizing our Han family, recovering martial virtues, and looking at the four seas in the world, how can we let the mediocre and inactive people who are full of lies and only know how to oppress the people to control the general trend of the world?

Today's world is the eve of thousands of years of great newness, the Ming monarch and the military and the people can only be brave of hardships and dangers, forge ahead, can the country be strong and the people rich and share the peace, and the light in all directions is worthy of the sun and the moon! ”

The crowd was very quiet, and most of the civil and military could understand the literal meaning, but it seemed difficult to understand the inner meaning of what Zhu Gaoxu said.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "After accomplishing this great cause, General Qu and you can also go down in history, and future generations will have their own decisions, restore your reputation, and praise them for generations to come." May General Qu encourage you, and you will encourage you together. ”

The people next to him chimed in: "Tongqiu! ”

Qu Neng bowed and said: "For the big event in the prince's chest, the last general is willing to be the forerunner, and there will be no retreat." The last will do it first! So saying, he raised his head and drank the wine.

Zhu Gaoxu also drank the glass of wine in his hand with him, waved his hand, and said, "Let's go!" ”

Qu Neng turned over on his horse again, took a few steps forward, and then turned back to Zhu Gaoxu and saluted with a fist. Zhu Gaoxu and the others watched Qu Neng's men and horses go away, and watched his back and chased to the front of the army.

On the official road, countless soldiers marched at an even pace, marching quickly but without stopping, and the army continued to advance forward.

……

After Zhu Gaoxu saw him off, he turned around and returned to Chengdu City, back to the front yard of Li Rang's mansion.

He immediately changed out of his gown and put on the regular uniform of the dragon. Standing next to the square table, he reached out and smoothed the large map on the table, and looked at it in silence. The high mood of the morning outside the city had long since disappeared, and now he had a sad face.

After a while, Miaojin walked into the middle hall, she was still wearing a Taoist robe, but the hood on her head was removed, and her face was still so beautiful. Zhu Gaoxu glanced up at her, no longer looked at the picture, sat down in the chair, and thought about something absentmindedly.

Seeing this, Miao Jin spoke: "General Qu is trustworthy and will definitely live up to your wishes, King Han doesn't have to worry." ”

"Hmm......" Zhu Gaoxu nodded.

After a moment of silence, Miaojin's voice was a little quieter, and he said: "King Han once said that you can't fully understand my heart, and I feel the same way for King Han. The Han kings were different from the first emperors and other royal clansmen, and they were even more different from the Chinese martial arts of the dynasty. In the past few months, I have felt that the Han king has neither the idea of achieving Confucian harmony, nor the desire to fight for power and profit, which is really difficult to understand. ”

She muttered, her eyes slightly misty, "Sometimes you are good at weighing the pros and cons, and you are good at calculating the benefits of the battle formation; But sometimes he is reckless and does not hesitate to take great risks......"

When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he looked at Miaojin with a complicated expression, and he was faintly a little unspeakable.

"It's for personal gain." Zhu Gaoxu suddenly whispered, "Not only do I not want to lose my position of power, but I also don't want the people I care about, relatives and friends to suffer from the catastrophe!" ”

Miaojin's charming apricot eyes looked at Zhu Gaoxu, and she was speechless for a while.

Zhu Gaoxu said again: "When I think that I may have to face a worse situation, the reality that life is worse than death, I dare to do anything!" ”

Miao Jin frowned and thought about Zhu Gaoxu's words, and he didn't know how to describe his thoughts, and the middle hall was quiet for a while. The guards who walked slowly outside the door didn't make a sound......

As Zhu Gaoxu once said, people are born full of fear, so they can only cry. Some snake-like fears are hidden in the bottom of his heart, and perhaps the greatest motivation in his heart is from fear!

He doesn't want to suffer things that he doesn't want to look back on, so no matter what mood or situation he is in, he can never give up on the goal in his heart.

Zhu Gaoxu was originally a small citizen, but it was precisely because of such persistence that he inspired the courage to give it a go and his tenacious and unyielding persistence.

And after he has a high status in the Ming Dynasty, it is inevitable that he will gradually form a far-sighted proposition in his heart, even if it is not systematic, but it is germinating...... Even in the distance, he was terrified, because he knew that the whole world would go into darkness for hundreds of years, all the way to the time of his previous life.

Therefore, some shrewd people may have discovered that Zhu Gaoxu's trait is that he is too disrespectful of the moral rules of the world, and he regards important things that require people to sacrifice their lives for righteousness. So many people said bad things about him and made him infamous, I am afraid it is not for nothing.

Zhu Gaoxu came back to his senses and saw that Miaojin was still thinking about something. He continued Miao Jin's initial topic and said, "Qu Neng is indeed very reliable. ”

Miaojin nodded and said, "When I listened to what he said to you this morning, it should be from the bottom of my heart. ”

"But not everyone is really upright." Zhu Gaoxu muttered, "If you only dare to use this kind of person, then there will be no one available." Throughout the ages, there are many people with great ambitions, but it is always difficult to change the way of the world, which shows the complexity of people's hearts; If everyone has a pure heart, why is the world like this? ”

He paused slightly, "People's concepts cannot be easily changed, only superficial words and deeds can be changed. If the superior is too faithful and upright, I am afraid that in the end the world will become more false. Everyone will always talk about loyalty and morality, and do things more superficially to show loyalty, and the mouth full of lies and truths will turn into jokes......"

Miaojin nodded slightly in agreement.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "That's why Miaojin feels that I am often good at calculating the pros and cons, and I am indifferent and ruthless. I didn't want to do those things, but I was forced. This is what the world is like, and people's thoughts and intentions are strange; If I can't tolerate sand in my eyes, then I can really only live in seclusion with Miaojin Taoist Temple and live in isolation. ”

Miaojin said softly: "This is the reason why Taoism and Confucianism, birth and accession to the WTO, are incompatible, but they always exist in the same person's heart." ”

Zhu Gaoxu thought about it and felt that it made sense, so he said: "It's strange to say, I noticed Miaojin, it wasn't because we talked about it in the first place; Now you are like my confidant. ”

"What's that?" Miao Jin looked at him and asked.

The implication of her words should be that Zhu Gaoxu paid attention to her first and for what reason.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't pay attention, and the scene of the back garden of the Yanwang Mansion in Beiping immediately appeared in his mind. The stone path between the trees, with a branch like a slingshot, the sun through the treetops left a mottled shadow on the ground, and the silent woman sent him out and walked ahead; Zhu Gaoxu could only see her back, she twisted her waist slightly when she walked, and the beautiful silhouette of her hips under her robe dangled in front of her eyes. A faint voice said: It's a city.

may have thought about it, so Zhu Gaoxu's eyes somehow saw the place where there was a faux pas. Opposite the square table in the middle hall of Li Rang's mansion, Miaojin's face turned red all of a sudden, and there was a look of blame in her bright eyes.

The two looked at each other, unable to speak, and the conversation could not continue.