In mid to late October, there is no wind or rain in Beijing, but there is no crisp autumn atmosphere. The cloudy sky had been going on for many days, and the thick clouds pressed into the air, and the heavenly palace above his head seemed to be within reach.

Since Emperor Zhu Gaochi ascended the throne, he has hardly walked out of the palace, and he has roughly been active between the harem, the imperial gate, and the East Warm Pavilion. Zhu Gaochi has always liked to be quiet and not like to move, most of them are either sitting or lying down, so he usually takes the imperial chariot or has someone carry him in a sedan chair to those places.

However, Zhu Gaochi is very diligent, and spends most of his day reviewing the chapters or summoning ministers to discuss matters.

In the past, he had some resentment towards the first emperor in his heart; But after ascending the throne for more than a year, now he actually understands the first emperor a little! Zhu Gaoxu personally felt that this position was really difficult to sit on, and he was reluctant to sit down.

There was not a sound outside the East Warm Pavilion; The cloudy day of the autumn and winter transition is terrifyingly quiet.

Zhu Gaochi wore a black gauze hat on his head, and he was wearing an indigo blue regular robe, embroidered with a dragon pattern, brand-new materials, and a wide robe specially made for him in the palace. He didn't say a word, and sat there looking at the music on the imperial case, stunned.

Below stood Yuan Hui, Xue Yan, Ru Yu, Tan Qing and other civil and military personnel, and on the side stood the eunuch Haitao. The crowd did not dare to speak, they saw the emperor's expression in their eyes, and they all waited cautiously.

There was a bunch of concertos on the imperial case, and Zhu Gaochi had already picked out what he thought was the most important. Among them, there are Jinyi guards' secret recitals of collusion and rebellion among the kings, as well as the recital of Jin Zhong, the military department who supervised the transportation of military supplies and grass, and the recital of Zhang Fu, the general of the Ping Han Dynasty...... The other is a letter from Gao Xianning of the Hanlin Academy to persuade the crown prince!

These things are not isolated things, they are intertwined and inseparable!

But he knew many things in his heart, for example, he could almost confirm that Gao Xianning should be the queen's person. A few months ago, Gao Xianning mentioned the matter of canonizing the crown prince in a book; Now he brought it up again, and this matter should be the queen's instructions.

That Gao Xianning is also quite good at picking the time, what time is this, and he is thinking about becoming a henchman of the East Palace! At that time, the first emperor admired Gao Xianning very much, and it took a lot of effort to invite him out of the mountain as a virtuous minister, but this virtuous person, what kind of virtuous minister is it?!

Zhu Gaochi finally spoke: "I heard everyone say that it is for the country and the court, but I always feel that many people only think about themselves. He was a little angry, "When the overall situation of the court and the interests of their own family cannot be both, I'm afraid some people would rather die with a big guy!" ”

His tone was heavy, but he only spoke in general terms and did not name names, so the matter was not so serious. The ministers looked like they were deeply instructed, but they really didn't need to be too nervous; After all, when the emperor wants to be serious, he will not scold like this.

Sure enough, Zhu Gaochi exhaled, didn't continue, and turned his head to look at Tan Qingdao: "You just reported that Yang Qing, the eunuch of the ceremonial eunuch, is dead?" ”

"Back to the saint, he was poisoned!" Tan Qing bowed and said, "The person in charge of guarding Yang Qing is Yang Yong, the hundred households of the Fusi of Beizhen. But at the moment, the ministers did not dare to believe that Yang Yong had done this, because such things were not necessarily the actions of the manager, and Yang Yong might only be guilty of negligence. The minister has ordered him to stay at home and wait for interrogation to find out the ins and outs. ”

Zhu Gaochi looked at Xue Yan of Dali Temple again and asked, "Is Yang Qing very important?" ”

Xue Yan said: "Back to the saint, as soon as Yang Qing dies, it will be difficult to find out the truth about the matter in Beiping for a while." ”

Zhu Gaochi said: "Yang Qing's death, those suspected Jinyi guards, Xue Siqing and Tan Commander went to interrogate together. ”

Xue Yan and the others bowed: "The ministers obey the order!" ”

Zhu Gaochi was silent for a while, and quickly decided to put all these things aside for the time being and no longer ask about them, after all, there are even more urgent matters that burn his eyebrows!

He still didn't say a word, and looked at Ru Yu, the right Shangshu of the military department. Although Ru Yu didn't stare at the emperor, he must have been paying attention, and he could detect the emperor's movements with his peripheral vision.

Ru Yu bowed his hand at this time and said: "The British Bulletin reported that the official army will fight with the rebels near the city of Baoqing Mansion, and the minister cannot judge its right or wrong, nor dare to rashly persuade the saint.

It is reported that the rebels of the Han Dynasty gathered in Huguang seem to have about 300,000 people; The British had more than 400,000 heavy troops, and they had a considerable advantage in military strength.

The rebel king's many local guards and military households, according to the Ming court's actions, often take the Beijing camp as the elite and mobilize the guards in the local area as a supplement; The guards and soldiers are not as good as the Beijing camp. However, the Han rebels have been fighting for many years in recent years, and they have often won undefeated; Throughout the present and ancient times, fighting on the battlefield and winning all year round is a shortcut to obtaining elite soldiers. Therefore, the minister thought that the rebels' combat strength should not be underestimated.

A few years ago, these men and horses went out to fight for three or four consecutive years, and now they are well-armoured, strong and strong, and diligent in drilling. Nor is it an idle teacher. The minister thought that the British had a good chance of winning this battle; But the rebels were already too strong for the British to win. Holy Judgment, please. ”

As for the matter of He Fu, the deputy general of the left, being taken by Zhang Fu, Ru Yu did not mention a word. Because Zhu Gaochi didn't mention it, he pretended not to know; The ministers are also very knowledgeable.

In Zhu Gaochi's heart, he had a lot of dissatisfaction with Zhang Fu, not only about He Fu, the deputy general of the left who he personally profeted, but also about the suspicion that Zhang Fu framed Wu Gao last time! But at this time, the Huguang battlefield was tense, and after Zhu Gaochi weighed it, he still planned to swallow his anger.

From the perspective of loyalty and ability, he really couldn't find a candidate who could replace Zhang Fu...... And as Ru Yu said, the elite of the Beijing camp is more than a soldier of the Jingjing army; Now, in addition to Qiu Fu, Zhang Fu is the most capable general who can command the Jingnan army. But Qiu Fu openly supports Gao Xu, how can it be used?

Zhu Gaochi was physically inconvenient, had never fought a war, and did not understand specific battle formation tactics. But he was born in the Yanwang Mansion, which often presided over the northern defense line, and later the "Battle of Jingyan" and Zhu Gaochi also nominally sat in charge of the defense of Beiping; He had heard too much about war, so he still had knowledge of military affairs.

He knew in his heart that the situation on the battle array was changing, and often the judgment of the general in front was right! Therefore, he had repeatedly told the ministers around him before that it was strictly forbidden for civil and military forces to put pressure on Zhang Fu and not to urge Zhang Fu.

Before Gao Xu is completely pacified, no matter what Zhang Fu does, as long as he has no signs of taking refuge in Gao Xu, Zhu Gaochi can endure everything! Zhu Gaochi endured the beating of the first emperor all the time, and now he endures a Zhang Fu, how can he not bear it?

Ru Yu is the secretary of the military department selected by Emperor Taizu, and has been in charge of the military department for many years, so he has a lot of experience and experience. Zhu Gaochi listened to Ru Yu's words, his expression gradually became firm, and he said in an undoubted tone: "Give Zhang Fu my words, do what he thinks is right." ”

Ru Yu said: "The minister obeys the order!" ”

Yuan Heng, the secretary of Taichang Temple, bowed and said: "The saint is the eldest son and crown prince of the first emperor, and he is justifiably inherited from Emperor Taizong; Holy benevolence, won the hearts of the people, and righteousness returned! Today, the imperial court Wang Shi Pinghan army is strong and strong, with more than 400,000 soldiers, and the benefits of the water division, he will be able to quell the southwest rebellion in one fell swoop and calm the sacred heart. Please ask the saint to be relieved, focus on the dragon body, and wait for the good news. ”

He paused slightly, and continued: "Now hundreds of thousands of people from each of the two armies are gathered in the land of Baoqing Mansion. There are no conspiracies and tricks available, it is nothing more than who is strong and who wins, and the officers and troops will win this battle! ”

Zhu Gaochi said in his heart that Yuan Jue didn't know anything about military affairs, so he looked at Ru Yu again. Ru Yu said: "What Yuan Siqing said is all reasonable. Hundreds of thousands of troops gathered for a decisive battle, and it would take a long time for a military order from the Chinese army to be sent to the front, and it really could only depend on the level of strength. ”

Zhu Gaochi nodded slightly.

Although he was not in a hurry, he really hoped that Zhang Fu would decide the winner happily! Once the biggest enemy, Gao Xu, is pacified, Zhu Gaochi will be able to free up his hands to deal with the mess in the current imperial court!

"Go down, all of you." Zhu Gaochi said, he then turned his head sideways to Haitao and said, "If there is any news of the military situation in Huguang, report it to me immediately, and ask someone to come in in a basket at night." ”

Haitao said: "The slave obeys the order." ”

Zhu Gaochi took out a copy of "The Art of War" from under the chapter, turned a page casually, and saw a line of words on it: Soldiers, major events of the country, the place of death and life, and the way of survival, must not be ignored!

He stared at the line for a long time, his heart full of mixed feelings, and he became even more anxious.

At this moment, Zhu Gaochi felt that all his wishes since his birth were not as good as his current greatest wish: a decisive battle in Huguang and defeat Gao Xu!

In such a dreary palace, Zhu Gaochi just happened, time passed too slowly, and it was like a year.

…… One of the courtyards of the West Sixth Palace is a Buddhist hall, and the sound of wooden fish "tuk tuk" and faint chanting of scriptures are heard from it.

Queen Zhang was sitting on the futon, knocking on the wooden fish while reciting the scriptures, her little eyes squinted as if closed, and her expression was very reverent. She also heard the news from Huguang's side, and seemed to be praying for something at this time.

The gold-pasted Buddha statue enshrined on the wall, the craftsman has a rich expression of it, it seems to have an indifferent smile, and it seems to look down on all beings indifferently.

Except for chanting scriptures and the sound of fish and wood, the entire West Sixth Palace is silent.

The eunuchs and palace maids standing outside the Buddha hall seemed to be settled, and no one dared to speak; In the huge West Sixth Palace, it is rare to see people walking outside.

It was like an empty city, and the windless air was dull and oppressive; If it weren't for the clean cleaning of the passages between the palace houses, it would have looked like a ruin. Only the thick clouds in the sky, which seemed to be surging slowly, were difficult to detect, but difficult to stop.

Under the haze, it seems that everyone in the world is waiting for a storm. At this time, even if people are told that there is thunder and lightning, some people may believe it.

But at the turn of autumn and winter, there will be no thunder. Jingshi couldn't hear the wrath of the gods of lightning and thunder, maybe he could feel it on the Huguang battlefield two thousand miles away.