When night falls, the Diaoyutai is brightly lit, and the whale oil candles, which have a higher illumination than ordinary candles, have become the standard configuration of night lighting in the palace. This candle does not emit the unpleasant smell of mutton fat candles when burning, nor does it emit black smoke when burning kerosene, so it is deeply loved by wealthy families in Beijing. Especially when holding banquets, whether or not whale oil candles are used for lighting has been used as a standard to measure the host's family background.

The capital in the eighth month of the lunar calendar has reached the end of summer, the day is still hot, but the night has begun to cool down, and the Diaoyutai near the water's edge is even more under the gentle breeze by the lake, so that the whole Diaoyutai is full of coolness.

Under the guidance of several attendants, Zhu Youzhen walked in through the small door on the side of the Diaoyutai, looking at the crowd below who got up to greet him, he walked towards the high platform on the north side, and said to everyone heartily: "All of you are exempt, you are all my guests today, so you don't have to be too restrained." Tonight, let's not talk about the etiquette of kings and ministers, let's relax and have a good time. ”

Sun Chengzong and Huang Liji, who were accompanied, led everyone to respond to Chongzhen, and only after the emperor sat down on the throne did they sit down slowly.

Zhu Youzhen, who was sitting on the seat, watched Wang Chengen pour himself a full glass of wine, and then his eyes turned to the banquet below, and in the bright candlelight, he saw that everyone had already held the wine glasses in their hands, waiting for him to announce the beginning of the banquet.

Zhu Youzhen picked up the wine glass and thought about it, then he restrained his smile and stood up, under the gaze of everyone below, he walked to the edge of the platform and said solemnly to everyone: "Although tonight's banquet is for Governor Zhu and the loyal marquis to wash the wind and dust, it can also be said that this is also to celebrate the end of the war in the southwest."

Therefore, this first cup of wine, I want to pay tribute to those Ming soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the Southwest Pacification War, hoping that their spirits in the sky can drink this cup of victory wine. ”

Just as Chongzhen spoke, the people below had already stood up quietly, and as the emperor poured the wine in his hand on the ground, everyone also did so quietly, and the relaxed atmosphere in the Diaoyutai gradually became heavy.

Zhu Youzhen straightened up, and by the way, he raised the glass in his hand, and Wang Chengen, who was behind him, suddenly took the wine jug and went to Chongzhen, and the wine glass in Chongzhen's hand was filled with wine.

Zhu Youzhen took the wine glass and continued to the people standing below: "This second cup of wine, I want to pay tribute to the people of the Ming Dynasty who died innocently in the war in the southwest, I hope that their souls in the sky can rest in peace, and I also hope that my people of the Ming Dynasty will not suffer such misfortune again..."

Chongzhen, who was holding the third glass of wine, couldn't speak for a long time, and everyone below also looked at him firmly, wanting to hear what the emperor's third glass of wine was.

Zhu Youzhen pondered for a long time, and finally raised his glass and continued: "This third cup of wine, I want to give it to General Ma Qianchengma, General Ma was originally General Fubo, after Ma Yuan, his family style is mellow, loyal and patriotic, and he is really a good general of the Ming Dynasty." It's a pity that the general is jealous of heaven and has an eternal lifespan, which makes my court lose a pillar of material, and it hurts me. ”

Chongzhen's three toasts before the banquet made the guests who participated in the banquet think about it after sitting back in their seats. Sun Chengzong, who was sitting close to the platform, looked a lot more soothed after listening to the emperor's toast.

Although the rebellion had subsided, the finishing touches on the end of the war were more of a headache for him than when the war was underway. As the General Staff in charge of all the armies in the world, after the end of the Southwest War, it naturally became the responsibility of the General Staff to approve military merit rewards for the counterinsurgency armies.

However, this battle merit is not so easy to evaluate, first of all, the generals of the new army in Beijing do not think that the southwest armies took seven or eight years to put down the rebellion of luxury and peace is any merit. They felt that if the new army and the border army outside the Guanxi had been transferred to quell the rebellion, the chaos in the southwest would have subsided long ago. Therefore, they did not approve of it, and gave too high merit to the southwestern armies.

On the other hand, the distribution of credit within the southwestern armies was also not harmonious, with Zhu Xieyuan leaning towards the Guizhou army having the greatest credit in this war of quelling the rebellion, while the Sichuan army believed that their own merit came first.

In addition, the meritorious post should have been headed by Qin Liangyu, the governor of the Southwest Governor's Mansion, who commanded the armies, but she was not only a woman, but now she was also the most powerful Tusi in Sichuan. If she is listed as the first merit, it will not only enhance the power of Shizhu Tusi, but also violate the ethics and morality of male superiority and inferiority of women, and make many generals who do not want to live under women very complain.

However, with the three toasts before the emperor's banquet tonight, Sun Chengzong felt that the next thing would be easier to do. According to the emperor's will, the first merit can be awarded to the dead and wounded, which avoids the fighting between the southwestern armies. And with the emperor's endorsement of Ma Qiancheng, there will be no obstacle to Qin Liangyu's recountance.

Because everyone knows that Ma Qiancheng's death is inseparable from the internal prison, then this time the narrative has some flavor of compensation for the Ma family. In this situation, if someone jumps out to pick a thorn, it will be a slap in the face to the emperor, and he is not close to people. In today's Ming Dynasty, there are really not many people who dare to slap Chongzhen's face. In this way, the obstacle for Qin Liangyu to take over as the governor of Gyeonggi Metropolitan Government can be regarded as clearing.

Sun Chengzong sat there chatting with Chongzhen from time to time, but he thought about these questions thoroughly, he occasionally looked up at Huang Liji who was sitting opposite, and the other party obviously had a slightly appreciated look, and between the eyes of the two, there was more incomprehensible tacit understanding.

After three rounds of drinking, the banquet was almost in the middle part, and the greetings between Zhu Youzhen and the guests present had almost come to an end. Although his face was a little hot, Zhu Youzhen, whose eyes were still clear, couldn't help but smile and said to the two children who were sitting under Qin Liangyu.

"Ma Wannian, I just heard from your grandmother that you started practicing martial arts when you were five years old, and you have not interrupted it for the past three years, and this perseverance is much stronger than mine. Would you like to show me how you've been practicing in the past few years? If you practice well, I will have a gift for you as a reward. ”

Ma Wannian, who was sitting quietly like a little adult, subconsciously looked at his grandmother on the side, looked at his grandmother and nodded to him with a smile, before he got up and clasped his fists and saluted Chongzhen: "The minister is willing." ”

Looking at Ma Wannian, who was pretending to be an adult, the faces of the guests were all smiling, and the atmosphere of the banquet was more relaxed.

Watching Ma Wannian punch meticulously all the way, Zhu Youzhen beckoned to him with a smile and said, "Good fight, you come forward and come to me." ”

Ma Wannian looked back with some hesitation, Zhu Youzhen followed his gaze, and couldn't help but smile and said: "Zhongzhenhou's tutor is really good, and he didn't forget his younger brother when he took the gift." Perhaps, you can bring Wanchun up with Wannian. ”

Hearing Chongzhen say this, Ma Wannian, who was blushing a little because of the exercise, hurriedly returned to his seat, took his younger brother's hand and walked to the edge of the platform, ready to bow to Chongzhen. Zhu Youzhen helped the two of them, led their brothers to the platform, and then took the gifts prepared long ago from Wang Chengen and handed them to the two brothers, and then let the two get off the platform.

After Zhu Youzhen returned to his seat, he said to Qin Liangyu with a smile: "The pair of grandsons of the loyal marquis are really outstanding, and I like them very much. If you teach the Fa, you will definitely be the dry city of the country in the future. I can't bear the lack of teaching from a famous teacher for such a talented and beautiful jade, so I might as well let them stay in the capital to study, is the loyal marquis willing? ”

Regarding the emperor's question, only Ma Xianglin was a little dazed and didn't know the meaning behind the question. The others' eyes all turned to Qin Liangyu, wanting to know how she responded to the emperor's idea.

Qin Liangyu didn't think about it for a long time, and her political sensitivity was much higher than that of her husband and son, so she quickly attended to salute Chongzhen and said: "Your Majesty is willing to cultivate the descendants of the minister, and the minister is too late to be grateful to Dade, how can he not be willing?" ”

After hearing Qin Liangyu's answer, Zhu Youzhen's mood was obviously very good. He laughed twice, and then turned the topic to other places, Qin Liangyu's heart breathed a sigh of relief. The sound of silk and bamboo, which had just been stopped, began to sound slowly again. The laughter and laughter in the Diaoyu Tai soon drowned out the darkness nearby

After the banquet, Ma Xianglin, who followed his mother back to the carriage outside the palace, complained a little sullenly: "Your Majesty is a little unkind, if Wannian and Wanchun stay in the capital, won't there be no one to serve by my mother's side." Do you want to plead with Your Majesty and let Feng Yi take Wan Chun and her mother back..."

Qin Liangyu shook his head and glanced at his son who couldn't turn the corner, and couldn't help but deliberately ask: "Leaving you and Wannian in the capital, can you take care of Wannian alone?" Or did you look at Feng Yi as an eyesore, and found an excuse to send her back, preparing to take a concubine in the capital and take care of your father and son? ”

Ma Xianglin subconsciously looked at his wife, who was taking care of his two sons, and when he saw her unaware appearance, he blushed and whispered to his mother: "How can I have such thoughts, don't wronged me..."

Qin Liangyu just smiled at her son's weak heart, she stopped, turned her head to her daughter-in-law behind her and said, "Fengyi..."

Ma Xianglin was suddenly shocked and stopped: "Mom, what are you doing, I really don't have that mind..."

“… Take what Your Majesty has given you to Wannian and Wanchun, and let me take another look. Qin Liangyu ignored his son's obstruction and said bluntly.

Zhang Fengyi agreed, and walked up with a few things, she looked at Ma Xianglin grabbing her mother-in-law's sleeve, standing there dumbfounded, and couldn't help but ask her husband in surprise: "What are you doing here?" ”

Ma Xianglin was in a hurry, lowered his head and patted his mother's sleeve before replying: "Ao, I had a bad eyesight for a while, and I thought that there were insects crawling on my mother's sleeve, but it turned out that it wasn't..."

Zhang Fengyi didn't doubt it, and then said: "It's not that you still don't let go, my mother-in-law is still waiting to see what I have in my hand." ”

"Oh." Ma Xianglin immediately put down the sleeve in his hand and took over the object in his wife's arms, Qin Liangyu looked at the husband and wife arguing with a smile, and did not intervene.

Chongzhen rewarded Ma Wannian with a sword and a book made of imitation of the Han system, and gave Ma Wanchun a pair of mutton fat jade pendants. Qin Liangyu couldn't take a closer look at it in the banquet just now, but at this moment, he took it and tasted it slowly, except for the word jade engraved on the sword, there was nothing abnormal.

As for the book in the box, it is a book of the Later Han Dynasty and the biography of Ma Yuan. After flipping through a few pages, Qin Liangyu finally put down the book, and said to his son and daughter-in-law with a calm face: "Okay, it's time for us to go home." In the past two days, I have been looking for a house, and now this house is so small, we live as a family, and it is difficult to turn around. ”

Zhang Fengyi replied yes, but Ma Xianglin said strangely: "Won't my mother go back to Sichuan?" Do we have to stay in the capital for a long time..."