Zhou Renyuan's army arrived ten miles on the outskirts of Beijing, and saw the flags waving in front of him, crowded with people, and a bright yellow sedan chair parked there. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info: "Could it be that Emperor Chongzhen personally came to greet him?" That's too high. Zhou Renyuan said in his heart, and hurriedly dismounted with Wu Xiang to meet him.

What came out of the sedan chair was not Chongzhen but the crown prince Zhu Cihong, followed by Lu Daqi and Huang Daozhou and other ministers. The two hurriedly saluted Zhu Cihong, and Zhu Cihong smiled and said, "King Yongming and General Wu have worked hard and made great achievements, and my father specially asked Cihong to greet the two and all the soldiers on their behalf. As he spoke, he took out a holy decree and rewarded Zhou Renyuan with 1,000 taels of gold, 10,000 taels of silver, and 300 horses of silk. Two hundred horses of silk, He Renlong was promoted to the general army of Datong (from the first rank), Zu Kuan was promoted to the general soldier of Songshan (from the first product), the rest of the surviving Hu Dawei was promoted to the deputy general soldier of Datong (from the second rank), Yang Guozhu and Yang Tinglin were promoted to the deputy general soldiers of Xuanfu (from the second rank), Hengzhou and other generals were all promoted to one level, and the soldiers were rewarded with one hundred taels of silver, and the merit was recorded according to the beheaded head.

Zhu Cihong looked at Zhou Renyuan apologetically after reading the holy decree, Zhou Renyuan had the greatest military achievements in this battle, but he was already the king of the county, and his son King Gui was a prince, and he could no longer be promoted to a prince in the title, so he could only reward some gold and silver.

Zhou Renyuan didn't mind at all and asked, "What happened to Governor Lu---? ”

Zhu Cihong said with a solemn face, "Fourth uncle, don't worry, my father has arranged to park Governor Lu's coffin at the White Horse Temple in the capital first, and my father will personally go to pay respects." As he spoke, he came to Lu Xiangsheng's coffin, bent down and bowed deeply.

Zhou Renyuan shouted to the team behind him, "Soldiers, you go to the camp in the western suburbs to rest first. Come, let's give Governor Lou a final ride! As he spoke, he drew his sword and waved, and all the soldiers took off their helmets and stood up straight side by side with solemn faces, "Salute!" Zhou Renyuan's sword waved downward, only to hear the "pop-----pop" firecrackers shot three times into the sky together, and all the soldiers bowed to Lu Xiangsheng's coffin three times, and shouted in unison, "Governor Lu is good!" Governor Lou is good off! ”

Zhu Cihong and the ministers were shocked by this solemn ceremony, and some ministers kept wiping their tears. Zhu Cihong also had red eyes and personally helped Lu Xiangsheng.

The people of the capital saw an unforgettable scene, the crown prince and the king of Yongming helped Lu Xiangsheng's coffin into the capital, behind them were Wu Xiang and the courtiers slowly followed, and Zhou Renyuan's three hundred guards walked at the end, marching forward step by step with neat steps. The people on the street suddenly fell to their knees and cried out bitterly, "Governor Lu, for eternity! ”

Soon after, a group of soldiers drove through the street with a prisoner van with a gray face, and Chongzhen ordered him to be taken to the Dali Temple prison to await the final verdict.

After Zhou Renyuan and Wu Xiang's generals thanked Chongzhen in person, Chongzhen knew that he had worked hard all the way, and did not keep him, but allowed him to rest for three days.

Zhou Renyuan returned to the post house, and as soon as he got off the horse, Mo Zhu wiped his tears and shouted, "Lord Wang, you are back, the little worry is dead, if you have three long and two short on the battlefield, how should I explain to the prince and the princess?" ”

Before Zhou Renyuan set out on the expedition, he saw that Mozhu was still young and must not be able to withstand the pain of the march, so he left him in the toothbrush shop in the capital. Mo Zhu wanted to go alive or dead, and in the end, Zhou Renyuan lost his temper and obediently stayed. Now that he sees it, Mozhu is both happy and aggrieved.

Zhou Renyuan smiled and said, "No, didn't I come back safely?" By the way, did I reply to my letter to Hengzhou before the expedition? ”

"The letter to the old prince has long been sent out through the secret channel of the toothbrush shop, but there is no news from the reply to the letter!" Mo Zhu said while helping Zhou Renyuan remove the armor, "Don't worry, Lao Yu and they will definitely send a letter as soon as they have a reply." ”

Mo Zhu suddenly covered his nose and shouted, "My mother, how long has it been since you took a bath?" The smell on your body can kill flies! ”

Zhou Renyuan slapped Mozhu's head lightly, and scolded with a smile, "I'm going out to fight, and I'm not going to play in the mountains and rivers, so it's strange that my body doesn't stink!" Still not ready for bathwater? And clean this armor set, don't leave the smell of Tartar blood. ”

Mozhu stuck out his tongue, pinched his nose, and went out with his heavy armor.

Zhou Renyuan took a bath, ate a full meal, lay on the bed and closed his eyes, thinking that Zhu Cihong revealed to him today a news that the Manchu Qing Dynasty sent Haoge as a special envoy to negotiate with the Ming Dynasty, and specified that he would be the negotiation envoy of the Ming Dynasty, and the emperor and the ministers meant that the crown prince Zhu Cihong would be the chief envoy and himself would be the deputy envoy.

Zhou Renyuan was thinking in his head, what idea was this Huang Taiji playing, it seemed that his appearance had attracted the attention of Huang Taiji, which was not a good thing. Since ancient times, negotiation has been the most brain-intensive work, and if you don't put your mind to it, you will be charged with being a traitor. Besides, he has always been worried about the safety of Hengzhou, after all, in Hengzhou, it is his own one-third of an acre, and he also wants to see Wang Wanting as soon as possible, I don't know how she is doing in King Gui's Mansion now?

In this way, Zhou Renyuan slept all night in a daze, and his eyes were red when he woke up in the morning. Mozhu brought the water for washing and asked, "What?" The little prince didn't sleep well last night? ”

Zhou Renyuan nodded, and said while washing, "Since I left Hengzhou, where have I had a good night's sleep!" ”

Mo Zhu pouted and said, "That's it!" When will we go home? We've been out for half a year, don't you miss the old prince and princess? ”

Zhou Renyuan sighed and said, "Who said I don't worry about it?" I originally thought that I would be able to resign to the emperor when I came back from this expedition, but it seems that the emperor is going to arrange for me to run an errand again, and this time we may have to go to Guanwai. ”

"What? Going to Kanwai again? Mo Zhu hurriedly said, "Outside the gate is the territory of the Tartars, is the little prince going to fight the Tartars outside the customs again?" ”

Zhou Renyuan shook his head and said, "It's not to fight the Tartars, it's to negotiate with the Tartars!" ”

Mo Zhu relieved himself and said, "That's okay!" But the little ones heard that the cold runny nose outside the gate will freeze into ice! ”

Zhou Renyuan laughed, "Who did you listen to?" It's cold there, but it's not as bad as you say, as long as you dress warmly. ”

"Then you must take me with you this time!" Mozhu said.

"Okay, I will definitely take you this time and let you see the scenery of my northern country!" Zhou Renyuan agreed.

"Great!" Mo Zhu said happily.

"By the way, has General Zheng's sailor ever returned?" Zhou Renyuan asked.

"Not yet! I heard that they went far enough this time, and killed a lot of Tartars, and two days ago, when the Tong of Jinyiwei went to the toothbrush shop to buy a toothbrush, he said a word, as if they had returned to Ningyuan. Mozhu said.

"Well, you go to the East Palace to bring a message to the prince, and ask the prince to tell the emperor that Zheng Chenggong's sailors will be stationed on the seashore near Ningyuan, and wait there for me and the prince to join them. You should be familiar with the prince, right? Zhou Renyuan said.

"Familiar! I've seen the prince's guards many times!" Mo Zhu said proudly, "After the little prince set out on the expedition, the prince also invited me to the East Palace as a guest!" ”

Zhou Renyuan smiled and said, "You kid is better than me, I haven't been to the East Palace once!" ”

Mo Zhu also smiled and said, "Little prince, what you want to go to is the emperor, and the small ones are not as good as you!" ”

"Alright, don't be poor! After going to the East Palace, follow me to the toothbrush shop! Zhou Renyuan glared.

At noon, Mo Zhu went to the East Palace to tell Zhou Renyuan that the matter had been done, Zhu Cihong agreed, and said that Zhu Cihong would come to the post house to tell Zhou Renyuan in person as soon as he had news. Zhou Renyuan and Mozhu changed into casual clothes and came to their toothbrush shop.

As soon as the two arrived at the door of the toothbrush shop, they saw the big girl and the little daughter-in-law at the door, and the old and the young were waiting in line. Someone in the crowd who only listened kept shouting inside, "Hai shopkeeper, you have to leave me two, I have come to your shop three times, don't let me run away empty!" ”

Hai Yunfeng, wearing a silk robe, walked out with a smile and said to the screaming woman, "Hey, hey! Isn't this Aunt Lu in the family of Lord Yu of Taichang Temple? Yes! Yes! This time, I will definitely let you buy it. Aunt Lu was discouraged and said, "It's good to buy it!" Otherwise, my wife will have to scold me for being useless! ”

Hai Yunfeng raised his head and saw Zhou Renyuan and Mo Zhu, and after being stunned, he hurriedly laughed and said, "Two distinguished guests, please come inside!" ”

The two entered the shop, which was also crowded with people, and a girl came to Zhou Renyuan's side and said, "Ah Ju has seen the prince, you also came to buy a toothbrush?" ”

Zhou Renyuan was stunned for a moment, and when he saw that it was Chen Yuanyuan's maidservant Ah Ju, seeing that his whereabouts had been revealed, he had to smile awkwardly and said, "It turned out to be Miss Ah Ju, why did you come to buy a toothbrush too?" ”

Ah Ju smiled, "The toothbrushes in this toothbrush shop are famous, even my young lady knows about it, don't send me to buy two toothbrushes and send them to my lord, so that the lord can also try this new toothbrush." ”

Zhou Renyuan nodded with a smile and said, "As soon as I returned to the capital, I heard about the new toothbrush, so I took advantage of this leisure time to go shopping." ”

Ah Ju smiled slyly and whispered, "The prince has spare time, why don't you go to the house to visit my young lady?" ”

Zhou Renyuan's face turned red, and he hurriedly said, "Another day!" Visit again another day! After speaking, he hurriedly went upstairs with Mozhu.

Hai Yunfeng hurriedly followed the second floor and asked, "Lord Wang, this girl just now?" ”

Zhou Renyuan waved his hand and said, "It's a servant girl of an acquaintance in the capital, she doesn't know that this shop is mine!" Anyway! ”

Hai Yunfeng relieved himself and said, "But a few days ago, the Tong of Jinyiwei met Mozhu in the store, and his subordinates were afraid--"

"I dare to open this store, I am not afraid of being known by Jinyiwei, and I am still relieved to say Tong Haichuan, he will not tell the emperor, I have this confidence!" Zhou Renyuan said. "By the way, I didn't expect your toothbrush business to be so prosperous, it seems that you are really good at this business."

Hai Yunfeng smiled shyly, "This is not entirely my credit, a few subordinates have thought of putting some thought into this toothbrush handle, carving some ladies, and the flowers and birds are more attractive." As he spoke, he handed Zhou Renyuan a toothbrush.

Zhou Renyuan looked at the wooden handle of the toothbrush carved with a picture of a lady of the Tang Dynasty, which was vivid and lifelike. "Yes, that's a good idea! The handle of this toothbrush is more like a pair of crafts, and the subordinates who come up with the idea are rewarded with fifty taels of silver each. ”

Hai Yunfeng hurriedly agreed, and then led Zhou Renyuan to the secret room in the backyard. "This is where armor and weapons are stored." Hai Yunfeng introduced.

"Well, you are soldiers after all, and you must not forget your duty to train." Zhou Renyuan nodded and said.

"Lord Wang, this is a reply from Hengzhou who just arrived. I wanted to send it to you, but you just came, give! Hai Yunfeng opened a dark compartment and took out two letters from it.

Zhou Renyuan took a look, and the one on the cover was a letter from his father Zhu Changying, and the other was a letter from Wang Wanting. He was excited in his heart, and hurriedly opened it and looked at it. Hai Yunfeng hurriedly helped him move the candle and stood on guard at the door of the secret room.

Zhou Renyuan opened Zhu Changying's letter, in which Zhu Changying said that everything was fine with the military, government, and civil affairs in Hengzhou, that the army's training had achieved results day by day, and that the construction level of artillery and firearms had also been greatly improved. The training of the 30,000 militia regiments has not been relaxed, and they are qualified soldiers with weapons. At the same time, he also reminded him to be careful in the capital, and when the Guiwang Mansion learned that he was going to lead the troops to fight, they were very worried about his safety, especially his mother Ma Shi was worried about him day and night, hoping that he would report his safety to his family after returning safely, and at the same time hoped that he would return to Hengzhou as soon as possible to preside over the overall situation.

Zhou Renyuan opened Wang Wanting's letter again, and wrote a poem in Juanxiu's handwriting: "You live at the head of the Yangtze River, I live at the end of the Yangtze River, think about you every day and don't see you, and drink a river of water." ”

Zhou Renyuan looked at it and smiled, and suddenly he found a few small words at the end of the letter, he hurriedly put the letter close to the candlelight, and the small characters showed "Nanjing Pearl River", Zhou Renyuan was shocked when he saw it, sat on the stool, and muttered in his heart, "It turned out to be you!" It's really you! ”