At first glance, Fang Xiaoru and Huang Zicheng are the same kind of people, the same knowledgeable, the same broad-minded, the same foolish loyalty, the same responsibilities that are beyond their ability, and the same Danqing reputation.

But when you break it down, the difference between the two is quite big.

Fang Xiaoru studied under Song Lian and regarded himself as a disciple of a saint, with a kind of "heart for heaven and earth, life for the people, learning for the saints, and peace for all generations." The Confucian feelings, every move, thought, and thought, completely take the sage as a model. In the past, he was sick in bed, and when he learned that his family had run out of food, he actually smiled and said: "The ancients ate nine times in thirty years, how can I be poor?" ”

His father Fang Keqin was sentenced for the "empty seal case", he helped the coffin all the way back to his hometown and was buried, the grief was overflowing, and the people who traveled saw it, all felt the same weeping, and after three years of mourning, he continued to follow Song Lian and complete his studies.

Speaking of which, his teacher Song Lian and his father Fang Keqin were all innocent and sentenced, but Fang Xiaoru himself was loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and he died.

However, Fang Xiaoru's career was not smooth, and Emperor Hongwu saw it in his early years and returned to his hometown with "old talents"; In the Jianwen Dynasty, Fang Xiaoru successively served as the Guozi Priest Wine, Taixue Sacrificial Wine and other positions, far away from the center of the court, until the sixth year of Jianwen, he was appointed as the Zhan Shi of the Zhan Mansion.

According to the usual practice, Zhan Shifu Zhan Shi is often served by old ministers with flawless morality, loyalty and sincerity, and Shilin looks up to, in addition, the manager of Zhan Shifu is not actually Zhan Shi, but Shao Zhan Shi, that is, Yang Pu.

But after Fang Xiaoru took office, Yang Pu immediately stepped aside, and with the support of the crown prince, all the major and minor affairs of the Zhan Mansion were decided by Fang Xiaoru.

As for the content of the coursework, the teacher, etc., it is under Fang Xiaoru's control.

Over time, the Zhan Mansion praised him, and Yang Pu was more like a humble gentleman who did not fight or grab, always looking forward to Fang Xiaoru's horse.

In addition, Fang Xiaoru had certain supporters in the court, such as Hu Zizhao, the secretary of the Criminal Department, Lin Jiayou, the secretary of Shaanxi, Lu Yuanzhen, the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, and Liao Yong, the health supervision envoy of Shenyang in Liaodong, were all his students, and Lian Zining, the left capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and Yang Shiqi, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, were all good friends with him.

Huang Zicheng is different, his early years of diligence and progress, similar to Fang Xiaoru.

But in the eighteenth year of Hongwu, an incident changed his life.

That year, he was thirty-four years old, the first in the Jiangxi Township Examination, the first in the Beijing Normal Examination, and the champion in the palace examination, but unfortunately when he met Emperor Hongwu, he was too nervous to answer the pediatric question of his birth date, and was demoted to the third place by Emperor Hongwu - Tanhua.

In feudal society, the influence of the emperor was enormous.

If Fang Xiaoru studied carefully because of Emperor Hongwu's comment of "old talent", he eventually became a generation of everyone; Then the experience of the palace examination made Huang Zicheng understand a truth - it is not enough to study well, but also need the appreciation of the boss.

Later, due to fate, Huang Zicheng accompanied him to read the East Palace, and was appreciated by the then prince Zhu Biao, and then won the trust of Zhu Yunwen, the emperor of Jianwen.

Looking back on the past, Huang Zicheng believes that all this is due to his dedication to the study of the emperor, ordinary people think about what the emperor thinks, and what the emperor is anxious about, in fact, it is far from enough, if you want to be the emperor's henchman, then you must think before the emperor thinks about it, and finish it before the emperor wants to do it, and at the same time can not reflect the pride and complacency.

For example, in the past, when he was cutting the king of Zhou, Huang Zicheng secretly ordered Feng Xingjian, director of the investigation department, to use means to get evidence of King Zhou's rebellion, and finally convicted King Zhou.

Another example, Wang Du and Xu Zengshou......

Hehe, counting this time, I can be regarded as a companion to the three generations of East Palace.

It seems that I made the right choice!

Huang Zicheng thought as he walked, he couldn't help but feel overjoyed, and looked up, Zhan Shifu was not far away!

......

"Let's get started!"

Zhu Yunwen raised his hand.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Sheng Yong arched his hand at Zhu Yunwen, then turned around and pointed with a baton on the map: "On the whole, the progress of our army is basically normal, there are no major mistakes, and it should not be a problem to complete our army's annual plan." ”

"In the east, according to the report of the DPRK Metropolitan Secretary Qu Yu, the anti-party bandits in the DPRK political department have been basically eliminated, order is in order everywhere, and the people live and work in peace and contentment, which has been confirmed by the DPRK political envoy Hwang Fu."

Further east, on the Kaito side, the situation was more optimistic, and the remnants of the Wa Kingdom were huddled east of Lake Biwa, busy with civil war, and there was no sign of a westward attack; Under the command of the commander-in-chief, General Guo Key, the Haidong Capital Division and the Xingdu Division organized a large number of guards and soldiers and ordinary people to mine mines, and achieved remarkable results. ”

"At the same time, according to General Guo Key's estimate, the civil war in the Wa State will last for at least a year or more, and at that time, the Wa State will be weak and the people will be tired, and our army will be able to advance eastward, and it is expected that in the second half of next year, at the latest in the year after next - that is, in the first half of the twelfth year of Jianwen, the problem of the Wa State can be completely solved."

“......”

"At the end of last year, Wu Anbo and Zhang Fu raided for thousands of miles and defeated the Mongol and Warat coalition forces in one fell swoop, laying a good foundation for the northwest war situation."

"At the beginning of this year, Your Majesty issued an edict to dispatch 100,000 troops to suppress the grassland and establish the Mobei Sandu Division."

"In terms of actual implementation effect, although there are flaws, there is no big problem."

"The formation of Hulunbuir Dusi is very smooth, the grassland has been divided, the annexed tribes are relatively obedient, Hulunbuir Dusi's capital Bell City is under intense construction, and it is expected that the city wall and main buildings can be completed by the end of the year."

"In addition, the railway from Tongliao to Bell City is also under construction, but it will take at least a year to complete."

"For well-known reasons, although our army occupied the Ili River Valley, the Jinshan Dusi was not successfully formed, and less than half of the subordinate tribes of the Lindusi were formed."

"Of course, the General Staff has already predicted this situation and worked out the corresponding combat plan. Five days ago, Yi Guo arrived in Beijing, and he had already begun to implement the 'Operation Plan No. 3', which was expected to completely settle the Chiktu and ensure the safety of He Lindusi by October. ”

"As for the Jinshan Metropolitan Division, Your Majesty has issued an order to transfer 20,000 people from the Chagatai Affiliated Army in the Ili River Valley to Anxibo Song Xuan to rebuild the Jinshan Division."

"In the southwest direction, because He Fu transferred Luntai to the north, the southwest side is commanded by Yunnan Dusi Zhuang De and Xiping Hou Musheng, once there is a change in Annan, you can intervene at the first time."

"On the Annan side, there has been an unexpected situation, and of course it is reasonable."

"Our army is attacking from all sides, and the biggest problem is provisions."

"Most of the supplies of Haidong Dusi rely on Jiangnan, the Mobei garrison mainly relies on the northeast, and the northwest garrison mainly relies on Gansu and Shaanxi, but the northwest area, the mountains and mountains, the long yellow sand, the transportation is difficult, and because the Wei Guogong unexpectedly expanded the war, resulting in more and more military supplies, so the imperial court has ordered that the Wei Guogong Department supplies and solves it on the spot!"

In order to expand the source of food, many merchants went to Annam, Champong, Luzon and other places to buy grain, and the imperial court encouraged this. Among them, Luzon and Champa are progressing relatively smoothly, but unfortunately they encountered problems in Annam. ”

"Since Chen Tianping went to Annan, Annan has actually formed a situation of division between east and west, and the Hu family refused to go to Anhai City to meet him, but he was also wise and did not attack Anhai City."

"In the early days of our businessmen's purchase of grain, the Hu father and son still had a welcoming attitude, because in Annam, the land is fertile, the grain harvest is bumper year after year, the people of Annam have a surplus of grain, and the price is low, and later with the influx of merchants, the price of grain in Annam increased rapidly, which caused the dissatisfaction of the Hu father and son."

"In addition, it is said that Chen Tianping once sent people to infiltrate the hinterland of Annam as a Ming businessman, and tried his best to win over local officials and generals, which aroused the vigilance of the Hu father and son."

"So by the end of April, it was impossible for our merchants to enter the hinterland of Annam, and there were even rumors that the merchants were killed by the local garrison, which made many merchants hesitate, and they asked Dusi Zhang Fu to send troops to protect them."

Zhang Fu refused, and later they went to Chen Tianping, and Chen Tianping immediately took the case and was willing to provide protection.

"Chen Tianping led the army into the hinterland of Annam on the pretext of protecting the merchants, which caused strong resentment among the Hu father and son, which in turn led to war."

"Now that the war has lasted for more than a month, Chen Tianping is outnumbered and left behind, so he sent someone to ask Zhang Fu for help, Zhang Fu did not directly refuse, he has to wait for His Majesty's edict!"

“......”