After returning to the capital, Ji Yan was full of emotion, this errand opened his eyes, not only to see the prosperity of Qingzhou Mansion, but also to understand the dilapidated depression of Jinan Mansion.

These two places are only separated by two or three hundred miles, but due to the strict armor protection system of the Ming Dynasty, individuals are not allowed to leave their hometowns without authorization, so they are two worlds.

The group first unloaded their luggage at Ji Yan's house, and then Ruan Xiaoyi took the family to find a house.

Ji Yan looked at the sky, it was just after noon, anyway, the place where he lived was very close to Tianxi Temple, so he decided to go first and report to Zheng He.

As soon as he stepped into the temple gate, he walked a few steps before he met Wang Xi, and the two of them were also old acquaintances and reunited after a long absence.

Wang Xi raised his eyebrows, and hurriedly ran up and said: "Ji Tongyi, you can count it back, Manager Zheng has been thinking about you in the past few days, and the slave will take you to see the chief manager." ”

Ji Yan smiled, raised his right hand and let it go, meaning that it would be please.

The two walked quickly to the door of Zheng He's room, and the weather was still very hot at this time, so Zheng He directly opened the door and window to deal with the official documents.

The two entered the door directly together, and Zheng He also raised his head when he heard the sound.

Seeing that Ji Yan was back, Zheng He was very happy, and walked forward directly from his seat, looked at Ji Yan carefully, and said, "You are back, this trip is hard, when did you return to Beijing?" ”

Ji Yan smiled slightly, and arched his hand: "I just entered Beijing in the morning." ”

Zheng He pointed to the stool next to him, motioned for Ji Yan to sit down, and said to Wang Xi: "Take some "Ice", bring Ji Tongyi a bowl of ice lotus seed soup, and then close the doors and windows, and I will discuss with Ji Tongyi. ”

During the greetings between Zheng He and Ji Yan, Wang Xi was very happy, and he had already put the ice lotus seed soup in Ji Yan's hand, and withdrew to close the doors and windows.

Ji Yan took a sip, only to feel cold and refreshing, very comfortable, he stood up, bowed over and said: "My subordinates failed to complete the mission entrusted by the adults on this trip, and I hope that the adults will punish them." ”

Zheng He was slightly surprised and asked, "Oh? How it wasn't done, let's talk about it. ”

Ji Yan told in detail what he saw and heard in Qingzhou Mansion, how he talked with the maritime merchants in Qingzhou Mansion, and how he accidentally discovered the secret communication method, etc.

Ji Yan said his opinion again, that is, it should be considered from the source, rather than continuing to grasp the details and delve into the details, he took out the testimony signed by those merchants, handed them to Zheng He, and then returned to the place and stood bowed.

After listening to Ji Yan's words, Zheng He seemed to be a little deflated, and he didn't speak for a long time.

At this moment, he was deeply immersed in thought, what Ji Yan said made sense, and it was meaningless to continue to investigate, but who was it, and why did he interfere with his mission to Japan?

Motivation may be more important than who it is, this is the question that Zheng He is thinking about.

Ji Yan hunched his waist, he couldn't see the expression on Zheng He's face, and he didn't know what Zheng He was thinking, he could only feel the increasingly turbid air in the room, and hear the breathing of himself and Zheng He.

After about a stick of incense, Zheng He seemed to have finally figured out something, he let out a long sigh and said, "We won't talk about this today, I'll tell you an old case." ”

Ji Yan was a little confused, but he believed that Zheng He thought for a long time before he spoke, and it shouldn't be casual talk, so he listened with bated breath.

I only heard Zheng He say slowly in his resolute voice: "During the Taizu period, there was a founding father in our dynasty, named Hu Weiyong. The official worships the prime minister of Zuo, a very popular minister, but this person relies on the favor of honor, pampered and domineering, and blinds the saint, and then he has different ambitions and plots against him, but fortunately my Emperor Taizu is the Holy Spirit, thwarting his tricks. After the East Window incident, Taizu was furious and made a copy of the case "Showing the Traitorous Party" and announced it to the world. The case was not cleared up until several years later. More than ten years later, Li Shanchang's case was also implicated, so that Li Shanchang's family was tragically punished. ”

When Zheng He said this, he had already silently got up and walked to Ji Yan's side, he straightened Ji Yan's body, looked at Ji Yan, and asked, "Have you read "Zhao Zhao Traitorous Party Record"? ”

Ji Yan naturally didn't understand this, so he could only answer truthfully.

Zheng He didn't mind, and continued: "Yes, it is estimated that your generation will not read this now, I was still learning to read and write in the Yanwang Mansion at that time, this was published by Emperor Taizu, so I naturally want to read this book." This book lists many of Hu Weiyong's crimes and henchmen, I won't repeat it, it mentions that Hu Weiyong committed the crime of rebellion. He contacted the king of Japan, and under the pretense of a visit from his envoys, he tried to cooperate with the outside and rebelled. However, the king of Japan at that time was not the one we had ever seen, but the king of the Southern Dynasty, who had died. ”

After Zheng He said this, he didn't continue, just stood quietly and looked at Ji Yan.

He said this halfway, and he made it clear, but he didn't say it clearly.

Hu Weiyong's case is finished, but what is the relationship between this case and today's events, Zheng He did not say it clearly.

Zheng He actually suspected that someone in the court was "emulating Hu Weiyong" and quietly contacting the Japanese with bad intentions, but someone who intended to rebel could not be said nonsense, so he could only use an old case to explain it insinuatingly.

Ji Yan actually never thought about it in this direction, because he came from modern times, and if he went to school, he knew that after the Yongle Emperor seized the throne, he had completed many achievements in history, so he had never thought about it before, could this history have changed because of his arrival?

He himself has crossed over, maybe he is the butterfly that stirred his wings, so that the original trajectory of history slowly changed, and finally caused a storm one day in the future, which is also unknown.

Zheng He naturally didn't know what Ji Yan was thinking in his heart, he looked at Ji Yan, sighed again, and said: "Today I accidentally remembered such an old case in the Taizu period, so I casually chatted with Ji Tongyi about you, Ji Tongyi, you just heard it, don't take it to heart." ”

Ji Yan thought to himself: Let me not think about it, is this possible?

Zheng He continued: "Don't continue to investigate the leak. For today's plan, we can only be cautious in our words and deeds, walk on thin ice, and look at what we do. ”

Ji Yan promised, which was accepted.

Zheng He's eyebrows stretched a little, and he asked again: "I heard you say just now, the other two errands have been completed, right?" ”

Not to talk about that heavy topic, Ji Yan also felt a little lighter, and said: "Yes, I killed two birds with one stone, recruited a skilled craftsman who fired glass, and now he is also in the capital and is in my home." ”

Zheng He said with a smile: "Okay, good, it's good, tomorrow I will ask him to go to Wang Jinghong to report, the construction of Tianxi Temple, the recent progress is really slow." ”

Ji Yan asked, "Why?" Isn't it an errand appointed by the emperor, and the yamen of each ministry is unified and assisted by you, my lord? ”

Zheng He smiled bitterly and said: "The difficulty is in this unification assistant, all the ministries and yamen, except for the Ministry of Industry, are still dedicated, and the other departments are all yang and yin, one set in the open and one in the dark, alas, you just came back, I won't talk about these things, I see that you are tired, you go back to rest first." ”

Ji Yan bowed and retreated, and Zheng He paced back to the desk in the empty room, looking at Ji Yan's testimony to his businessmen in a daze.

After a while, he lit the candle and burned the testimony with the flame, leaving the air only the smell of burning candles and paper, and the whole world was calm again.