When Huang Zicheng heard this, he immediately took a step forward and arched his hand: "No, Cao Guogong is a national general, and now the country is eventful, and it is impossible to have a general in the court." Please also think twice, Your Majesty. ”

"Uh......" Zhu Yunwen felt that what Huang Zicheng said was also very reasonable, and it was really difficult to send someone over, so he said helplessly: "Then I can only ask Changxinghou to go again." Who of you is going to invite this old hero out of the mountain for me? ”

It seems that it can only trouble Geng Bingwen, this candidate is acceptable to the three ministers, so no one objected. The idea of sending envoys to Su Guo was made by Qi Tai, since this is the case, then he must be responsible to the end, and said to Zhu Yunwen: "Your Majesty, this idea is from the minister, let the minister invite the Marquis of Changxing." ”

Zhu Yunwen nodded with great satisfaction and said, "Then there is Lao Qi Aiqing." The monarchs and ministers discussed some inconsequential matters in the palace again, and then they all dispersed.

But Zhu Yunwen still left Fang Xiaoru behind, because Fang Xiaoru is full of knowledge, and he has several things he doesn't understand in his recent reading, and he wants to ask Fang Xiaoru, plus he also wants to discuss the new official position of the Zhou Dynasty with Fang Xiaoru.

I don't know why, as soon as I chatted with Fang Xiaoru, Zhu Yunwen felt very happy, there was really a feeling like a spring breeze, which was happier than letting him sleep with his wife. This is probably the same smell between the two people.

After leaving the palace, Qi Tai went straight home, and only came to Geng Bingwen's house the next day, to his surprise, how the old Geng's family was still closed in the daytime, the family liked to be lively the most, and it was usually brightly lit at night. Although he didn't understand the reason, he had a mission on his side, and he had to bite the bullet no matter what.

Qi Tai knocked on the door a few times, and after a long while, an old butler came out and opened the door. The so-called prime minister's doorman Qipin official, this old housekeeper has followed Changxing Hou Geng Bingwen for so many years, and the dignitaries in the capital naturally recognize it, and after seeing Qi Tai, he bowed very respectfully and said: "It turned out to be Lord Qi, I don't know what Lord Qi has ordered here?" ”

Qi Tai looked at the old housekeeper with a puzzled expression, and raised his eyes to look into the courtyard, only to see that it was empty, and there was no movement, and he couldn't help but ask, "What about the old man Changxinghou?" ”

The old housekeeper's face suddenly changed to a sad look, and he said with a melancholy expression: "Hey, my lord contracted a cold last night and fell ill, I'm afraid I won't be able to see guests." Is there something wrong with Lord Qi looking for him? Or the villain will go in and ask you again. ”

"Sick?" Qi Tai's face suddenly showed a surprised expression, and said, "I saw him all right yesterday." ”

The old housekeeper sighed for a long time, tears oozed from his eyes, and said sadly: "Who said it wasn't? My lord was born as a military general, and his body has always been tough, but this person, no one is afraid of age. When you are old, you will be sick, and there was no recruitment before. ”

"Oh. Changxinghou is indeed old, and it is time to rest. Qi Tai said with a stunned face, he remembered that Changxinghou was already in his sixties, and at his age, it was normal to get a little sick, but he had the emperor's order, and it was impossible to leave like this, and said very embarrassed: "It stands to reason that Changxinghou is sick like this, I shouldn't be bothering his old man, but I have a holy purpose, you see this ......"

The old housekeeper was startled, and immediately flashed a way, bent over, and said respectfully: "It turns out that the lord is under the holy decree of the lord of long live, then please come in quickly, the villain will introduce my lord for you." ”

Qi Tai nodded very embarrassedly, smiled awkwardly, and then followed the old butler and said with a smile: "Then there is labor, there is labor." ”

The old butler bent down very respectfully, and said with a panicked expression: "Whatever Lord Qi said, the villain will never dare to be. Qi-sama, please. With that, he led Qi Tai towards Geng Bingwen's bedroom.

When he walked to the door of Geng Bingwen's bedroom, a middle-aged man stood up, and when he saw Qi Tai, he immediately had an obvious smile on his face, and said, "It turned out to be Lord Qi, what kind of wind blew you here?" ”

Qi Tai knew this middle-aged man, he was Geng Bingwen's eldest son Geng Xuan, and his wife was Zhu Biao's eldest daughter, Princess Jiangdu, and Zhu Yunwen's brother-in-law, and immediately replied: "Don't dare to be, Master Ma." The lower officials were ordered by the emperor to discuss important matters with the Marquis of Changxing, and they didn't want the Marquis of Changxing to be sick. ”

Geng Xuan looked embarrassed after hearing this, hissed, took a breath of cool air, and said, "This, my father is seriously ill now, I'm afraid it's ......."

Before he finished speaking, he heard an old voice in the room, saying, "Is Lord Qi here?" What does the emperor command? Please come in and talk about it. ”

Qi Tai and Geng Xuan glanced at each other, a trace of embarrassment appeared on their faces, and they still walked in. After entering the room, Geng Bingwen was lying on the sickbed, wearing only a pajamas, and his face was listless, he had long lost his previous look, and asked with concern: "Changxinghou, how is your old man's health?" Does it matter? ”

Geng Bingwen glanced at Qi Tai, raised his right hand and pointed to a seat in the room with great difficulty, motioned for Qi Tai to sit down, and said, "Hey, people are old and useless." I drank too much last night, and the wind blew for a while, and it was like this. Lord Qi said that he was at the emperor's behest, what instructions did the emperor have for the old man? ”

Qi Tai is the secretary of the military department, although his status is much lower than Geng Bingwen, but he is also a member of the imperial court, so he doesn't need to grovel, after seeing Geng Bingwen's signal, he sat straight on the seat and said very casually: "That's the case." The Marquis of Changxing should know that King Su has made two secret weapons called cans and arquebuses respectively. The emperor was very interested in these two things, but out of flesh and blood affection, he was embarrassed to open his mouth to ask for them directly, so he wanted to ask the Marquis of Changxing to go to Su to serve as an envoy and negotiate with King Su, and exchange these two sharp weapons with him on the condition of reducing the grain he handed over to the court every year. The bottom line is a million stones. I don't know ...... Marquis of Changxing"

"Ahem, ahem." Before Qi Tai's words were finished, Geng Bingwen lay on the bed and coughed heavily, and the two little maids in pink clothes in the room immediately ran over to smooth his chest, and then fed him another glass of water.

Geng Bingwen poured several sips of tea, then calmed down his condition, pushed away the little maid who had been massaging him, and said weakly: "Since the emperor has an order, the old minister does not dare to disobey, but I am afraid that my body will not get better for a while, the old man is already in his last years, and it doesn't matter if he lives one more day or less life." It's just that I'm afraid that if the emperor's major event is delayed, the old minister will die without redemption. ”

Qi Tai sat in his seat and looked at Geng Bingwen's appearance, as if he was really sick, but he didn't dare to believe it all, after all, it was a matter of getting sick for an old fritter like them, and he didn't need to prepare at all, it could be said that he was in the play in a second, but what could he say when things got to this point? The other party is not only an old and meritorious founding hero, but also Zhu Yunwen's elder, since he keeps saying that he is sick, can I still force him to take the order? In the future, we won't work together, so I hesitated for a moment, but still said: "Since Changxinghou is in poor health, it is not easy for the lower officials to disturb." The lower officials will go back to the emperor and let him choose another talent. ”

After that, he stood up, bowed to Changxinghou, and said, "Changxinghou can recuperate with peace of mind, and the lower official will leave." ”

Geng Bingwen lay on the bed, rubbed his body upwards with difficulty, and said to his son Geng Xuan: "Go and help me send one to Master Qi." ”

Geng Xuan also waved at Geng Bingwen and said, "Father, you have a good rest." Son, this is the send-off of the adult. With that, he accompanied Qi Tai out of the house and delivered it to the gate.

"Master Ma, please go back, Changxinghou's body still needs you to take care of it." After Qi Tai walked to the door, he arched his hand at Geng Xuan, said a word expressionlessly, and then turned around and left.

Geng Xuan looked at the back of him leaving, snorted heavily in his heart, a sneer hung on his lips, and then turned back to the room very complacently.

Geng Bingwen saw that his son was back, and the look on his face suddenly recovered, and he said coldly: "He's gone? ”

"Gone." Geng Xuan said lightly: "I'm afraid I'm already far away at this time." ”

Geng Bingwen stood up from the bed with a bang, walked to the door and looked out, and said very complacently: "Qi Tai, this kid, has a bad stomach. He didn't implement the bad idea he thought of, but wanted the old man to give him a thunderbolt. ”

Geng Xuan also stood behind his father with a smug face, and said: "He is still much more tender than his father, and if he wants to wax my Geng family, I'm afraid it's not so easy." ”

Geng Bingwen turned around and returned to the house, picked up an apple on the table and ate two bites, and said with a disdainful expression: "These scholars know that they are self-righteous. They don't know King Su, but I do. King Su is not so easy to speak, how can he give away the two sharp weapons he worked so hard to get at will? If you go and talk to him about this, it is tantamount to seeking the skin of a tiger. Whoever likes to go will go, anyway, Lao Tzu will not go to this troubled water. ”

"Father is wise." Geng Xuan stood behind Geng Bingwen and kept patting his ass.

After Qi Tai returned home, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that Geng Bingwen was acting, and he couldn't help but scold him at home for being cunning and cunning. When Qi Tai's wife heard this, she was very puzzled, and said with an unhappy face: "If he doesn't go, he won't go, why don't you go and tell the emperor to change someone?" As for scolding so much at home? ”

Qi Tai glanced at her angrily, shook his head, and said, "What do you know as a woman?" If only things were as simple as you think. Now that the imperial court can't send anyone to come, it is very likely that it will send me, the person who suggested it. ”

When Qi Tai's wife heard this, she was immediately frightened, her face turned white, and she immediately ran over and grabbed Qi Tai's arm, and said with a look of fear: "Really? I heard that Su Guo killed people in the northwest without blinking. If you go, don't talk nonsense. My children and I are still waiting to be fed by you. ”

Qi Tai sighed heavily, patted her hand, and said, "Okay, I have my own measure." Besides, after I go, no matter how I say it, it will be the imperial court's messenger, and King Su will not do anything to me. ”

Qi Tai's wife still refused to follow, and the woman's courage was relatively small, so she still grabbed Qi Tai's arm and said, "Then you have to be careful." I heard that those vassal kings are all arrogant and domineering, and killing people is like killing chickens. ”

Qi Tai is also a little nervous in his heart, although he believes in Confucianism and is ready to sacrifice his life for his ideals, but if he dies like this, it is really not worth it, at least he has to make a meritorious career and become famous before he dies, so that at least Qi Tai will be left in the history books, he took a deep breath and said with a solemn face: "Don't worry, I have my own measure." ”

At the same time, in the palace of the Forbidden City, Zhu Yunwen was still tirelessly asking Fang Xiaoru questions, and said: "The maladministration in the Hongwu period that Mr. just said is indeed very reasonable, and it can be said to be to the point. In particular, the problem of excessive taxation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang deserves great attention. I thought that although those people had supported Zhang Shicheng, now they were all my Ming people, and the court should treat them equally. ”

As mentioned above, after Zhu Yuanzhang occupied the city of Nanjing, he implemented the grain policy, which exploited the people near Nanjing very seriously, but Lao Zhu was also an interesting person, and after becoming the emperor, he reduced the taxes in this area to repay the people in this area for their support to him. However, Lao Zhu is a shrewd person who will smoke in his head, so he naturally refuses to suffer, so this part of his tax reduction and exemption must be recovered from other places, specifically, from the place occupied by Zhang Shicheng before. Because when Zhang Shicheng ruled this area, he only charged very low taxes to the people, and the people thought of his good in their hearts, and they were still burning incense for him after his death, which made Zhu Yuanzhang very angry, so he levied very high taxes on them, the first was as revenge, and the second was to make up for the losses he had suffered.

"Your Majesty." Fang Xiaoru was very pleased to give Zhu Yunwen a look and said: "Since ancient times, those who win the hearts of the people win the world. The first emperor pacified the world by force, and he was really the master of great talent, but he could not rule the world by force, but he had to rule by civil and benevolent government. Otherwise, it is impossible to avoid the historical lesson of the death of Qin II, and the offensive and defensive situation is different without benevolence and righteousness. ”

Zhu Yunwen nodded very approvingly, deeply sighed how profound the wisdom of the ancients was, benevolence and righteousness were not applied and the offensive and defensive forces were different, and if he wanted to govern the country well, he must spread benevolence, win the hearts of the people, and be a good emperor supported by all the people like Emperor Wen of Han, and said with a smile: "Mr. said it well." Although the emperor's grandfather was wise and martial, he did implement some malpractices during his reign, enforcing the law too strictly, killing too many people, so that everyone in the ministers was in danger, and he also set up institutions like Jinyiwei to monitor the ministers, resulting in the monarch and ministers not being able to govern the country with one heart and one mind like Zhenguan once. In the future, I will get rid of these malpractices and become an emperor comparable to Tang Taizong. ”