Thang Long City in Annam on a sunny day, the sun is warm. The weather is not cold when wearing single clothes, and it is difficult to have the breath of winter.

On the other side of the rippling moat stands the royal palace of the eastern capital of Annam. This palace, which finally survived the war, seems a little lonely at this time.

Zhu Gaoxu's line was outside the palace, and even Queen Chen did not move into the palace for the time being.

In the hall of Xingyuan, Zhu Gaoxu was looking at the map and pondering. This afternoon, Zhang Fu returned from the front line of the Ojiang River and reported on the latest military situation......

The Annan army transferred troops from the stuffy sea mouth (Nanding Province) to march to the Ao River, and Zhang Fu set up an ambush on both sides of the river, and defeated the attack of the Annan army with firearms, bows and crossbows.

Then Hu immediately abandoned the Pingjin Beach north of the Great River (Red River), so the Daming Naval Division transferred from Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi was able to operate in the lower reaches of the Great River. Since then, the official army has occupied the entire river basin, as well as a large area of territory in the north and south of the river.

The situation is very good. The Hu clan seems to have some troops in their hands, but at this time, the anointed land of the Annan Kingdom was lost, and many Annan people saw the situation clearly, and there were many surrenderers, and the Annan army was panicked and demoralized. Next, the Ming army directly went south to capture the western capital and completely eliminate the Hu government, which was just around the corner.

But what gave Zhu Gaoxu a bit of a headache was that Zhang Fu and a cadre of military generals both advocated the direct occupation of Annan and wanted to write a letter to set up a political envoy in Annan.

Just as he was weighing the pros and cons, Queen Chan came into the hall. Only then did Zhu Gaoxu come back to his senses and remember that the Chen family was invited by him.

"His Royal Highness the King of Han has something to tell me?" Chen asked softly.

Zhu Gaoxu made a voice, but did not answer immediately.

Seeing this, Chen waited for a while, and then said, "When I arrived outside the door, a military general said that King Han and General Zhang were discussing important matters, so I waited in the corridor for a while. I couldn't hear the people in the room clearly, and I didn't know what General Zhang said, so that His Royal Highness the King of Han was so preoccupied? ”

Zhu Gaoxu had no choice but to say: "Xincheng Marquis Zhang Fu dissuaded me from supporting the Chen clan. There are also many generals who seem to have the same mind as Zhang Fu and advocate the occupation of Annan. Zhang Fu said that we have killed a lot of people, so we will give it to the Chen family, for fear that the soldiers will not be convinced. ”

Chen's expression changed slightly after hearing this, and he asked carefully, "Will the King of Han obey the will of the generals?" ”

"In the end, this matter is decided by the emperor." Zhu Gaoxu said.

Chen asked again, "Will your opinion change, King Han?" ”

Zhu Gaoxu quickly shook his head and said: "The generals advocate the occupation of Annan, which is nothing more than to expand the territory of the Ming Dynasty and get the great merit of opening up the territory; The generals are not worried about war, and only when they fight can they have military merits. But I still think that it is more beneficial to the overall situation to return to the Chen clan......"

But how could he not have weighed his own selfish interests in his heart?

If you think for yourself and advocate the same as the generals, it seems that it is most beneficial to be more recognized by the generals...... However, this is not the case, and the low-level pawns probably do not want to continue the war; What's even more unfavorable is that Zhu Gaoxu and the generals breathe out of one nostril, which will make his father Zhu Di even more vigilant.

Therefore, no choice of proposition will necessarily be beneficial.

At this time, Zhu Gaochu saw Chen's worried look, and didn't seem to believe that Zhu Gaochu was so selfless. Sure enough, she was a very defensive woman.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to say what he weighed and lost, in that case, the Chen family might be even more insecure.

He muttered: "I am not a prince or uncle, and I want to make contributions in the battle to conquer the southern kingdom of Annan. But the world will know what I did and why I did it, and I want to be of some value to the world. So I'm not going to change my mind easily! ”

Chen raised his head, and a bright gaze brushed over Zhu Gaoxu's face.

Zhu Gaoxu turned around and walked behind the bookcase, and said, "I invited the queen over today to discuss the matter of Prince Chen Zhengyuan. I have already sent someone back to Kunming City, brought the letter back, and ordered the palace guards to send troops to escort Chen Zhengyuan to Shenglong. ”

Chen asked a little surprised: "I haven't seen General Zhao Ping recently, and he has been sent back to Yunnan Mansion?" ”

Zhu Gaoxu shook his head and said, "Zhao Ping went to Chen Tianping's manor, which is the place where the queen has been hidden for several years. Zhao Ping will bring all the people on the manor to Huilong City, and also find the midwife who delivered the queen back then. What we need to do now is to find evidence and prove the identity of the prince. ”

Chen's expression was complicated, but he was already beaming with joy. In any case, Zhu Gaoxu was already working on this matter, so she couldn't guess.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Chen and said, "The queen has gathered all the former ministers, and the more people there are, the better, so as to confirm your identity as a queen and that she was pregnant when she left the palace." Can this be done? ”

Chen nodded without hesitation: "There are many former ministers of Shenglong, and there are many people who know me. She showed a worried expression again, "Will Emperor Ming agree to Chen Zhengyuan as king?" Will it be dangerous for Jeong-won to return to Thang Long City? ”

Zhu Gaoxu said with relief: "The prince has a good chance to ascend the throne. The prince is still young, and the queen is a woman, my father will not worry about you rebelling against the Ming Dynasty, and canonizing Chen Zhengyuan is a good choice. ”

After hearing this, Chen suddenly asked in a slightly joking tone: "King Han also thinks that our mother and son are at the mercy of each other?" ”

Zhu Gaoxu was stunned for a moment and shook his head slightly: "Not all women are weak, I don't think the queen is like that." ”

Chen said: "Does King Han remember the day Chen Xingwang was killed? ”

Zhu Gaoxu nodded.

Chen smiled bitterly: "Li Li threatened me that day, I knew that he wouldn't dare to kill me, but I still almost couldn't hold back in fear, and my right foot was already raised." At that time, my heart was empty for a while, and I endured it so that I didn't give in. I am not a fearless person. ”

Zhu Gaoxu listened and thought for a while, and then said: "People are born to be afraid, otherwise the rules in the world will definitely not be what they are now." ”

"His Royal Highness the King of Han is really full of wisdom and faith." Chen smiled. She glanced sideways at the window and said, "It's not early, I can't stay here longer, please take your leave." ”

Zhu Gaoxu didn't stay, and shouted: "Come on, send off!" ”

He stood next to the chair and watched Chen's graceful figure disappear from the door, and then withdrew his gaze. Her posture of twisting her waist is very beautiful, and her figure is also very attractive, but she has never taken the initiative to charm Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu pondered, Chen is a very smart woman, she must know in her heart, big things can't be facilitated by hue. If Zhu Gaoxu, like Chen Xingwang, was obsessed with Chen's beauty, he should be a little resistant to the little prince, but he never showed this.

…… In the fourth year of Yongle, Zhang Fu led the army first and arrived at the mouth of the sea. However, the Annam army voluntarily abandoned this place and retreated south. So the Ming army occupied many prefectures and counties and walled cities along the way.

After Zhu Gaoxu got the report, he always felt that something was wrong.

The war seemed to be coming to an end, and he didn't dare to take it too lightly, remembering what he had once said: Tightrope walkers usually fall at the last few steps.

So he also led the armies of Sichuan, Yunnan and other places to leave Thang Long City and go to reinforce Zhang Fu.

When Zhu Gaoxu saw Zhang Fu, he said straight to the point: "It seems that there is still a big war." ”

Unexpectedly, Zhang Fu immediately responded: "The last general is also thinking, where will the last big battle be." ”

The two met and said a few words, and Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to continue to explain...... Because Zhang Fu seemed to have the same idea as him.

After the Ming army captured Thang Long City, Hu Shi once transferred troops to take the initiative to attack the Ao River, which shows that he was not willing to give up the entire river basin. Later, the Annan army was unsuccessful, so it immediately withdrew the men and horses of Pingjintan, an important town on the north bank of the river.

The Hu clan was not even willing to give up in the Dajiang area, which could no longer be defended, and launched a counterattack; Now that the Ming army has marched into Thanh Hoa, how can the Hu clan give up on the old nest?

Zhu Gaoxu also recalled the characteristics of Hu's use of troops in the early stage of the war: concentrating troops on the Dajiang defense line, especially the important towns of Duobang City, with the intention of fighting a decisive battle by defending instead of attacking. So he made a guess that the Hu clan might be currently deploying troops and concentrating their forces on a certain fortification, waiting for another big battle with the Ming army!

At this moment, Zhang Fu said: "The last general has sent scouts to explore the important places in the south, and the Hu clan should be building fortifications on the road to Qinghua." ”

Zhu Gaoxu was a little surprised when he heard this, but he didn't expect him and Zhang Fu to have a sense of inspiration.

Zhang Fu used his troops calmly, was not arrogant or impatient, and did not take the enemy lightly when he was about to win; He also had insight into people's hearts, taking advantage of Huang Zhong's desperate situation to drive Huang Zhong to die and gnaw on Duobang City. Zhu Gaoxu has been dealing with him for several months, and he intuitively feels that this person is indeed a good general!

As for greed, that's not a disadvantage. Military generals are not greedy for merit, and businessmen are not profiteering, so why do they want to do their own business?

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu thought about it, Zhang Fu said: "His Royal Highness the King of Han has a noble status, you can sit in the back, and in the end, you only need the people of the headquarters and Keri to destroy the main force of the Hu clan!" ”

Zhu Gaoxu was immediately very unhappy when he heard this, and said in his heart: I came over for reinforcements kindly, do you mean that I am afraid that I will rob the credit?

The last time he fought in Shenglong City, Zhu Gaoxu gave up his great credit to Zhang Fu very generously. Zhang Fu didn't even say a word of thanks, probably thinking that the military exploits of capturing Thang Long City were originally his.

The merit of Thang Long City, reasoning should indeed be Zhang Fu. But Zhu Gaoxu was unhappy that this time he had already led his troops south, so how could he be satisfied with the generals under his command if he wanted to run for nothing?

Zhu Gaoxu felt that this person was not easy to woo, but he didn't want to grudge with him casually, so he was not angry at the moment. Zhu Gaoxu thought for a while and said: "Xinchenghou will come to Guangxi in the east, this time you will also take the west road, I will take the east road, and attack Qinghua together." ”

After hearing this, Zhang Fu had to clench his fists and say: "Just follow the order of the King of Han." ”

Zhu Gaoxu pondered, maybe this time he wanted to improve his reputation again through the battle of Annanguo, and he was competing with generals like Zhang Fu. Occasional unhappiness may be unavoidable.