Just after the Shangyuan Festival, because of a spring rain, the temperature was a little cold.

However, the activities of the people of the world are still as accurate as the rotation of the sun and the moon, and as soon as the New Year passes, people immediately begin to be busy for the year. In the imperial court, all the official offices have been opened and opened, and the officials have returned to the government office.

Zhu Gaoxu braved the rain to participate in the early dynasty, he didn't care, he had an umbrella cover anyway. But the ministers, most of them had wet hems and boots.

Leaving Fengtianmen, Zhu Gaoxu went to the Rouyi Palace, which was closer to this side. He immediately summoned Qi Tai, Ru Yu, and Hou Hai, and only said that he wanted to discuss military affairs...... In fact, he wanted to arrange a patrol with troops this year, leaving the Beijing division that had been there for several years, and going out for a walk. Of course, such a major matter must be discussed with the courtiers first.

Although a few people were summoned, the person Zhu Gaoxu wanted to see the most was Qi Tai. This person speaks effectively in front of the old ministers, and he is more willing to obey Zhu Gaoxu, so he is the best person to mediate.

I guess it will take a while to wait for people to come. Zhu Gaoxu watched the music behind the table for a while, then stood up and walked around the door of the main hall.

The rain outside was dripping and not falling heavily, but after gathering on the glazed tiles, it also formed a stagnant water, which was flowing in a row along the eaves tiles.

At this moment, two people with umbrellas walked in from outside the courtyard gate. Zhu Gaoxu didn't see his face, but he quickly recognized one of them as the eunuch Cao Fu. Zhu Gaoxu is in the palace almost every day, and he is too familiar with these close eunuchs, and he can recognize them by looking at the posture of walking.

When they came over and took away their umbrellas, they saw that the eunuch in front of them was indeed Cao Fu. Cao Fu immediately stepped forward and bowed.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at the woman behind him, he didn't know it, but he couldn't help but take a more look.

At first glance, he immediately had some kind of faint desire, and when he looked at it again, he found that she was not pretty. The facial features are very ordinary, and the light yellow skin is completely incomparable to Yao Ji's fair-skinned and delicate jade-like appearance. The palace maid's age doesn't seem to be too young, but she has a special temperament, and Zhu Gaoxu can't say what's going on.

I saw that her hair was black with a wooden hairpin, without any jewelry, and she was wearing a light gray dress with flax in a simple style and simplicity to the extreme. Perhaps it is precisely because of this simplicity that her charm is still contrasting obviously.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at her twice, and couldn't help but look up at the clear water flowing under the eaves, and suddenly felt that this woman was very suitable for this scene.

"Her name is Xiaohe, and the slave found her in the Ninety-Five Flying Dragon Palace." Cao Fudao. Of course, Xiaohe's age is not young at all, maybe he was just young when he entered the palace to take his name.

"Slave and maid knock to the Holy One." The palace maid Xiaohe immediately wanted to kneel.

Zhu Gaoxu stretched out his hand unhurriedly, accurately and steadily supported her hand, he raised his chin, looked at the ground and said: "It's raining, the ground is damp, it's free." ”

Xiaohe was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly turned his head slightly to the side, lowered his head to look at the dragon pattern on Zhu Gaoxu's chest, and bent his knees and said, "Slave and maid, thank you for your grace." ”

Seeing this, Cao Fu on the side showed a very happy look on his face.

Cao Fu's words also increased a little, "Xiaohe entered the palace during the Hongwu period, and was later sent to the Ninety-Five Flying Dragon Hall to clean the palace there. The slave maid saw in the Rouyi Hall yesterday that Shangshan sent some Chaozhou tribute tea from the Guangdong political envoy in, so she wanted to find a palace maid from Chaozhou to come over, so that she could meet the situation. I asked for some time and didn't find it, and in the afternoon I heard that there was a person from Chaozhou in the Ninety-Five Flying Dragon Palace, who was Xiaohe. ”

"Hmm......" Zhu Gaoxu casually let out a habitual, meaningless voice. Although Cao Fu tried his best to make Zhu Gaochu live comfortably, Zhu Gaochu was really not very picky about these trivial matters, so he was not very interested.

However, this little lotus must be quite happy. On the side of the Ninety-Five Flying Dragon Palace, Taizu loved to live a long time ago, but in recent years it has lost its popularity, and the coffins of Taizu and Taizong have stopped there.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at the courtyard gate and there was no movement, then turned around and walked into the main hall, turned his head to Xiaohe and said, "Then you go and make tea." ”

In the northwest corner of the main hall, next to the bookshelf, there is a coffee table, a few chairs, and a red clay stove. Zhu Gaoxu also sat down, waiting to drink a cup of tea to refresh himself, and see the minister in a while.

Zhu Gaoxu was thinking about something else, and inadvertently noticed Xiaohe again. I saw that her posture was gentle and smooth when she took the tea, and her movements were very skillful, which was very good-looking.

Xiaohe put the tea leaves into the bowl, shook it slowly, and then picked up the lid and sniffed it gently.

She also noticed Zhu Gaoxu's gaze, raised her eyes to look at him, and immediately lowered her eyes to avoid it. A subtle and flattering smile flashed across her face, and she quickly regained her composure.

Zhu Gaoxu asked, "What kind of tea, do you smell it?" ”

Xiaohe said softly: "Back to the saint, Chaozhou single bush big black leaves, grilled with charcoal, went to some coolness, and was a lot more docile." ”

Zhu Gaoxu smiled and said, "Yes, you seem to be an expert." ”

Xiaohe said again: "The people of Chaozhou love to drink tea. ”

Zhu Gaoxu's smile also disappeared in an instant, and then he sighed casually: "Trapped between this vast building, it's just up to you to tinker with these cups and plates." ”

Xiaohe probably didn't understand this sentence, so he looked at Zhu Gaoxu and smiled to show that he was rude in response. This palace maid has been in the palace for many years, and it seems that she has developed some skills.

At this time, the sound of the ministers visiting outside the hall came from outside, and Cao Fu glanced at Zhu Gaoxu and got the signal, so he sent a message to let people in.

The ministers didn't see Zhu Gaoxu next to the table, so they quickly turned their heads to look at the northwest corner, but walked here.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Don't kneel, come and sit." ”

Several people arched their hands and said, "Thank you, the Holy Lord, for giving me a seat." ”

Zhu Gaoxu's gaze swept over their faces, and found that in addition to the three people he had summoned, there was also a green-robed civil official. Zhu Gaoxu recognized him, he was a Jichou Kejinshi who was only ordered during the Wude period, named Zhang Shun.

Jichou Branch ordered dozens of jinshi, and many people Zhu Gaoxu was not familiar with, but he remembered that this Zhang Shun was a jinshi from the political envoy of Guangdong; Because Zhu Gaoxu once sent Zhang Shun to Annan and experienced the war between Annan and Zhancheng.

Qi Tai said: "Gonggong Meng of the ceremonial supervisor, Liu Tiju of the Criminal Department and others have all gone to the south, and only Governor Zhang has personally been to Zhancheng. The minister took matters into his own hands and called Governor Zhang to face the saint together. ”

Qi Tai, the secretary of the military department, mistakenly thought that Zhu Gaoxu wanted to talk about the war in the south today.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't say it for the time being, and followed Qi Tai's topic, and said in a joking tone: "It just so happens that we drank Cantonese tea today." Governor Zhang can comment on whether the local officials are eating good tea. ”

Zhang Shun hurriedly bowed down and said: "Before the minister was a protégé of the Son of Heaven, he was born poor, and he had never drunk good tea, so he didn't dare to talk about it. But as long as it can enter the mouth of the saint, it must be a local goodness. ”

Zhu Gaoxu pointed at Qi Tai and said with a smile: "When we ate horse meat and drank horse blood, those horses must also be good horses. ”

Everyone immediately laughed together.

"Sit down." Zhu Gaoxu pointed to the chair and said.

The palace maid Xiaohe had already finished the tea, so she picked up the small cup with both hands and began to divide the tea with Zhu Gaoxu. Qi Tai and Ru Yu were very casual, and when Zhang Shun finally arrived, Zhang Shun politely thanked the palace maid and asked Xiaohe to hurriedly bow in return.

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but glance at Zhang Shun. When talking about business, this Jinshi is very stubborn and pedantic, but he doesn't seem to be the kind of stubborn and strong, and seems to be a gentle and talkative person. This person is indeed a bit strange.

Zhu Gaoxu picked up a scroll of maps, unfolded it and looked at it for a while, and then began to find a reason for his plan, "In the past two years, the activities of the Tile Thorns have been frequent, and we must not ignore the defense of the north. The four water and land transportation lines deployed by the Ministry of War for the nine sides are working, and I can only look at what others write on paper. ”

After a pause, he said happily: "This year, I want to go north to hunt, to see the actual situation in the lands, and to deter the Mongol tribes and remind them not to act rashly. It's also good to let some soldiers in the Beijing camp go out for a walk, so that it will become unbearable to stay in the Beijing division all the time. ”

As soon as the words fell, Ru Butang immediately persuaded him: "The Holy Ninety-Five, you must travel carefully. Now that the country is a little settled, and the Holy Lord sits in the center, it can stabilize the overall situation and make the Ming Dynasty stable for a long time. ”

Qi Tai also echoed: "There are loyal ministers on the nine sides who share the labor with the saints, and they can also send Qin to send imperial history to inspect various places." What's more, the Holy Lord's large-scale patrol will cost money and food, and if Xia Butang hears about it, he must have something to say. ”

However, Qi Tai's tone softened a lot. It is precisely because he can think about the ideas of his former ministers that he can speak everywhere.

When Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he immediately changed his angle and said: "After the emperor's brother Gao Sui moved to Zhangde Mansion, he married his wife, and I didn't go to participate. If you can go north this year, you can also go to Zhangde Mansion to see Gao Sui. ”

It sounds like the monarch and the ministers are all reasonable with a pleasant face, but Zhu Gaoxu's words have another meaning. When Gao Sui is mentioned, it must refer to the affairs of the vassal king.

On the issue of guarding against and arranging for the vassal kings, the position of the emperor and the officials of the capital was the same. The ministers were very dissatisfied with the fact that the vassal kings had taken away a part of the benefits, not to mention that if something bad happened, who wanted to see the Jingshi officialdom re-bloodied?

Zhu Gaoxu understands the principle of seeking common ground while reserving differences. Sure enough, the attitude of several officials relaxed a lot, but they did not immediately agree. Zhu Gaoxu was not in a hurry, so he put the matter aside today.

So the kings and ministers talked about the war in the south again.

Zhu Gaoxu suddenly said: "Is the cool season in the south coming to an end, and the weather is going to be hot?" ”

Zhang Shunguan said slightly, but when it came to this topic, it was very appropriate for him to speak, "What the Holy Lord said is that after the first lunar month, the countries of the South China Sea will enter the hot season. The officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty may not be very adaptable, and the cool season will be much better. ”

Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but turn his head to look at the eaves outside the main hall, only to feel that the weather in Jingshi was still cold. But the southern front, where the officers and troops were located, turned out to be hot very quickly.

At this time, the imperial court's decision-making on the southern front was beyond the reach of the whip, and the few people present did not talk about it further. After the three rounds of tea, the discussion also ended.