At the beginning of September, it rained in Zhili, and after the autumn rain, the weather was cool, and Jingshi had a bit of early winter.

Between the red walls on the west side of Kunning Palace, there is a gatehouse, and once you pass the gatehouse, the outside is the West Sixth Palace. Not long after the Holy Emperor ascended the throne today, there are not many concubines, and the concubines of Emperor Taizong have also moved away, so some courtyards in the West Sixth Palace have been vacated.

Because Empress Zhang believed in Buddhism, the eunuchs in the palace chose one of the courtyards in the West Sixth Palace and arranged it into a Buddhist hall.

Most of the people gathered around the queen's palanquin were palace maids and female officials. In addition to a few small eunuchs, there are also two eunuchs: one is Haitao and the other is Yang Qing.

The sedan chair stopped at the foyer outside the courtyard of the Buddhist hall, Yang Qing immediately opened the umbrella, and very firmly blocked the door of the sedan chair, Haitao took a silk cloth with a very soft feel and cushioned his wrist, and stepped forward to let the queen help him down. The queen would cook and do some housework, but she would only work for the saint, and of course her hands could not be worn out in the slightest because of the rough material of the eunuch's clothes.

The queen was huddled into the foyer. Haitao turned around and ordered, "You are all waiting in the foyer, don't make a noise." ”

The palace women said, "Yes." ”

The queen did not go to the Buddha hall first, but entered a wing room along the corridor under the eaves. Haitao ordered Yang Qing to serve tea, and he himself followed into the wing.

Haitao waited for the queen to sit down, then bowed forward and said: "The inside story of Kuizhou City, the slave has asked clearly." It is said that there is a hundred households in the rebel defenders, named Li Jiaming, who was originally a military attache in Chongqing Prefecture, and later followed Xu Hua, the commander of the Chongqing Guard, and surrendered to the rebels. But one of the brothers of the hundred households is on the side of Huguang Jingzhou.

At that time, there were 50,000 or 60,000 officers and soldiers who were ordered to march westward, all of whom were Jingzhou troops. Somehow, the general of the official army knew about Li Jiaming of the hundred households, so he sent the brothers of the hundred households to surrender and take refuge, and promised Li Jiaming: buy Kuizhou City at the price of 1,000 households and 200 taels of silver. As a result, the rebel army really opened the city gate! ”

"The Buddha bless my Ming officers and soldiers." The queen reverently read softly.

Haitao echoed: "Yes, it's really an eye-opener!" There are many mountains on the side of Kuizhou, and the army can't move, but fortunately, the city was captured quickly, otherwise when the rebels come to help, I am afraid that it will take a year and a half, and the official army has no way at all. ”

The queen nodded slightly.

Seeing this, Haitao said again: "The Chinese military capital of the DPRK said that the Han King rebels and the Daming official army fought fiercely, and there were Daming military households on both sides, maybe there were some people who knew each other, and the soldiers on both sides were easy to surrender." Therefore, we can't afford to lose momentum! As long as the British can win the battle of Huguang this time, even if the rebels have hundreds of thousands of people, it will be useless, and no one will stop the defeat! ”

"Although Zhang Fu is the main general, there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Huguang, how can it be his credit alone?" The queen said softly.

Haitao hurriedly said: "Niangniang said yes. ”

The queen said, "Today I will recite the scriptures here and pray for blessings. By the way, the Buddha beads that Zheng He brought back from India last time are said to be beads used by the Buddha Shakyamuni, and they have the power to stay on the holy relics, and they seem to be still in Kunning Palace. You go and get it. ”

"Yes." Haitao Road.

At this time, the eunuch Yang Qing knocked on the door outside the wing room and brought the tea. Haitao ordered Yang Qing to wait for the queen, and he personally went to Kunning Palace to get Buddha beads.

Empress Zhang felt that Yang Qing had heard about the Buddha beads just now. She suddenly asked, "Where is Zheng He now?" ”

Unexpectedly, Yang Qing was also a very thoughtful eunuch, and immediately replied: "If you go back to Niangniang, Zheng He is still living in the imperial city recently, and the eunuchs in the inner palace to the west of the Sheji Altar. The celebrant who was in charge of the eunuchs in the palace did not allow Zheng He to enter the palace. However, Zheng He was the confidant eunuch of the first emperor, and there were many henchmen among the ceremonial eunuchs and eunuchs, and he knew most of the things in the palace well. ”

Zhang asked silently, "Do you have an old grudge against Zheng He?" ”

Yang Qing hurriedly said: "Back to the mother's words, the slave maid was not the eunuch of the celebrant eunuch, it was the slave maid brought in by Gonggong Hai, and the slave and maid were almost unmasked with Zheng He, let alone have grievances. But when the queen asked, the slave didn't dare to hide anything, let alone offend people, so she was loyal to her mother and knew everything. ”

"I've heard you speak very quickly, it's just a chapter." Zhang smiled.

Yang Qing suddenly "pounced" and knelt on the ground, kowtowed: "The slave is talkative, please punish the mother!" ”

Zhang's kind words: "Get up, get up." When did I blame you? ”

Yang Qing stood up cautiously at this time, but he didn't seem to really feel that he was too talkative, and immediately spoke again: "The slave maid heard that Zheng He gave a gift to Niangniang, but she felt a little strange, isn't he a person from the King of Han?" ”

Zhang's face changed suddenly: "Zheng He has always been a close attendant of the first emperor, how can he be a person from the King of Han?" ”

Yang Qing was stunned and said: "The slave thinks that the mother knows." ”

Zhang frowned and said, "Tell me, what's going on?" ”

Yang Qingdao: "As early as before the Battle of Jingyan, Emperor Taizong lived in Beiping, and every time he summoned the king of Gaoyang County at that time, he sent Zheng He to meet the two alone. In addition, Wang Gui, the eunuch beside the King of Han, also gave Zheng He property from time to time, and he has already made friends"

"Who do you listen to about these things? Is that true? Zhang asked.

Yang Qing bowed and said: "The slave maid has been in the Yanwang Mansion for many years, and she used to just do some rough work, but after a long time, you can find a lot of things. Wang Gui had a relationship with Zheng He, but the slave saw it with her own eyes! The slave maid is in front of the queen mother, and she will never dare to say half a lie! ”

Zhang's face was not very good, and he sat there without responding.

Yang Qing raised his head and glanced at the queen quietly, and said, "There is another old thing." During the Battle of Jingyan, once the Jianwen Dynasty used a divisive strategy, wanting to separate the father-son relationship between Jinshang and the first emperor, he sent a secret letter to Zhu Gaochi of the Shizi's Mansion to persuade him to surrender."

Zhang nodded, "I remember that incident." The saint did not have a plan, and immediately handed over the spy and the unopened secret letter to the first emperor. ”

Yang Qing bent over and said, "What Niangniang said is extremely true. However, at that time, the king of Han heard the news of the secret letter, so he wanted to take the opportunity to make trouble and slander the present in front of the first emperor. Later, Zheng He went to see the king of Han and dissuaded him, so the king of Han died down and did not attack Jinshang, which was deeply appreciated by the first emperor. ”

At this moment, the eunuch Haitao returned. Haitao walked into the wing, opened the box in his hand, bowed forward, and held the box in front of the queen.

Queen Zhang looked at the old Buddha beads in the box with a critical gaze, but she didn't reach out to touch them for a long time.

"This thing is so dirty, put it back away." Zhang said coldly.

Haitao was stunned for a moment, but he didn't say much, he just glanced at Yang Qing slightly, and said, "The slave and maid obey Yi's order." ”

Zhang beckoned Haitao to come closer, she turned to the side, leaned closer and whispered a few words.

Haitao's waist bent lower, and he said in a deep voice: "The slave and maid will do it immediately, and there will never be any mistakes!" ”

Zhang Shi no longer glanced at the Buddha beads used by the Buddha, got up from the chair, and said, "I'll go to the Buddha Hall, let Yang Qing follow." You go errands. ”

"Yes, sissy." Haitao Road.

Haitao passed the queen's decree and transferred a small team of brocade guards to the noon gate. They don't enter the palace, but go straight to the inner palace to the southwest of the palace, and the eunuchs don't enter the palace, it doesn't matter much, as long as the verbal edict is enough.

Between the various houses of the eunuchs in the inner palace, there was a light rain on the street, and the hurried footsteps of the eunuchs and brocade guards suddenly made this place a little more shy.

The group arrived at a courtyard and knocked on the door. A little eunuch opened the door and saw Haitao and the soldiers, the little eunuch looked in awe, nodded and saluted.

The main function of the eunuch is to manage all the eunuchs in the palace, and the role is to separate the eunuchs from the ministry, because the eunuchs were under the control of the foreign court officials in the past. So all the eunuchs, seeing the celebrant eunuchs and eunuchs who directly ruled them, were of course very afraid.

Haitao didn't say much, asked where Zheng He was, and went straight over with Jinyiwei.

On a rainy day, Zheng He was really staying in the house. He was sitting in front of the window, carefully carving a wooden ship mold.

Zheng He looked back, his eyes swept over Haitao and the brocade-clothed guards behind him, and soon said to a small eunuch beside him, "You go out first." ”

"Yes." The little eunuch replied.

Haitao walked in and sat down on the chair opposite the table.

The two people sitting opposite each other didn't say a word, and the atmosphere was very weird. The brocade guards also stood silently behind, waiting.

"Can we take a look?" Haitao asked politely.

Zheng He nodded.

Haitao stretched out his hand to pick up the wooden boat, looked at it over and over again, and kept nodding his head: "It's very delicate and chic." ”

Zheng He finally spoke: "This is a big cannibal ship, and the structure is not the same as our Ming ship. After I die, can you do me a favor and give it to Wang Jinghong? He paused and said, "Our eunuch's incense can't be passed on, but someone has to pass it on." When Wang Jinghong died, he gave it to Hou Xian. ”

"Yes." Haitao nodded and said, "But what Gonggong Zheng said depends on the meaning of the saint and the imperial court." The fleet spent millions of taels to go to sea, and without the national policy of the Ming Dynasty, it could not be passed on. ”

The cold scene happened suddenly, and the two were silent for a long time.

After a while, Haitao broke the silence and said: "This kind of thing, our family doesn't have the courage to make their own decisions." ”

Zheng He glanced at the Jinyi guard behind him and nodded seriously: "What does the emperor mean?" ”

Haitao leaned over and whispered, "Queen Mother." However, the eunuch Yang Qing seemed to have said something in front of the queen. ”

Zheng He stood up and bowed with his fists clenched: "Thank you Father-in-law Hai for letting our family die." ”

Haitao turned around, took a wooden box from the hand of the Jinyi Guard, and opened it with his own hands, and there was a neatly folded white silk inside. Haitao stood up, left the box on the table, bent down and bowed to Zheng He, and then exited the room.