The minutes passed.

Seeing that the time was approaching, the young emperor and the equally young Zhu Daolin were still kneeling on the huge "Territory Map of the Ming Empire" and discussing fiercely.

The two were sometimes proud of the Yongle Emperor's northern expedition to Mongolia and the East and West Warats to pay tribute, and sometimes lamented the Yongle Emperor's death on the shore of ** Lake, and then had a fierce argument over whether Xuande should give up the vast and cold Nuer Gandu Division in the ninth year, and finally quarreled from the easternmost Nuer Gandu Si Kuyi Island (Sakhalin Island) to the westernmost Tang Dynasty Anxi Protectorate Tangnu Wulianghai and Green Ridge.

Emperor Chongzhen, who is only twenty-one years old, has studied hard since he was a child, has been well-read and memorized, and has been diligent in managing the government every day since he succeeded to the throne for five years, and has tirelessly read historical classics as long as he has time, so he can always find a basis for refutation in disputes.

Zhu Daolin does not have the emperor's profound knowledge of Chinese culture, but he has rich experience and extensive knowledge, and in the past year, he has continued to make up for history, and he has remembered the eloquence and great achievements of famous emperors of all dynasties with his superhuman memory, so he can always draw out various new views that make the emperor stunned from the emperor's rebuttal evidence.

Zhu Daolin's words sounded incredible, but when he thought about it carefully, it was reasonable and to the point, not only did the eunuchs around him listen to it with taste, but even the historians forgot to record the dialogue between the monarchs and ministers.

Don't look at the many points of view that the two are arguing, but there is only one focus, that is, how big is the territory of the Ming Dynasty?

Emperor Chongzhen quoted scriptures, the reason is very sufficient, and the mainstream thought of the previous generations of the Ming Dynasty is the same, that the subject countries that pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty should not be incorporated into the Ming Dynasty, because the Ming emperors failed to really implement the right to rule.

Zhu Daolin believed that since it was a subject country of the Ming Dynasty, it should obey the rule of the Ming Emperor and the central government, and did not hesitate to risk offending the emperor for this reason. took out the Confucian "the shore of the land is not the king's land" and other glorious righteousness that sounded reasonable but difficult to do, and the emperor was so angry that he was so angry that he was right.

Wang Chengen, Cao Huachun, and Zhao Huaizhong refuted Zhu Daolin for the sake of their master's face, but Zhu Daolin always had real opinions and evidence to fight back, and in the end, most of the quarrels were won by Zhu Daolin.

Seeing that the palace gate was about to close, Cao Huachun had to ask the emperor to rest early. Emperor Chongzhen, who was speechless by Zhu Daolin's refutation, puffed up his anger, but Zhu Daolin still didn't give up, and when he knelt down to say goodbye, he even ignored and said a large paragraph:

"Your Majesty, in fact, the minister's view is very simple, governing the country is also like sailing against the current, not advancing and retreating, all the places that have been conquered by the previous dynasties of my Han nation should be included in my "Ming Empire Territory Map", not to mention the subject countries conquered by Taizu and Chengzu of this dynasty. Blindly retreating, there will be no retreat soon! ”

"The emperor must not listen to the so-called fallacies of those pedantic ministers, 'divide for a long time, merge for a long time, and divide for a long time', 'the change of dynasty and the reincarnation of heaven', they have so many big truths, why don't they persuade the Manchu Tartars who burn, kill, and plunder like beasts? Why not go to the Northwest and reason with hundreds of thousands of rebels? ”

"The greatest sorrow of my Han nation is the exclusive respect for Confucianism since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and Kong Laoer, who pioneered Confucianism, is a great man, but Dong Zhongshu, a Confucian master favored by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, is definitely a villain in the past and the present!"

"If the emperor doesn't believe it, you might as well think about the history of the overthrow of dynasties established by my Han nation, and see how those Confucian believers who talk about it can justify themselves in the history books?"

"In fact, most of them are on their knees before the aggressor. Kneel under the iron hooves of the barbarians they once criticized, and continue to be their officials. Continue to peddle Dong Zhongshu's set, but you can't do it, emperor! Who has been able to get a good death among the kings of the dead countries of all dynasties? ”

Before Zhu Daolin's words fell, Cao Huachun and Zhao Huaizhong, who were scared into a cold sweat, immediately pushed him out of the imperial study, and only after setting up the Xihua Gate did they pant and pointed at him and scolded.

Quietly in the imperial study, Wang Chengen and a group of henchmen and eunuchs knelt together. The young Emperor Chongzhen sat on his knees in the center of the large territory map.

Under the bright candlelight, the emperor's eyes were closed, his hands were clenched into fists, and his pale face was full of pain, which frightened Wang Chengen to quickly kneel forward. Grabbing the emperor's cold fist, he burst into tears:

"Holy, holy! Don't be like that wild Taoist priest, he has been living abroad since he was a child and lacks education, so he talks nonsense without concealment, and the saint doesn't listen to him. ”

"Nope! Although Zhu Aiqing was rude and rude, his words were deafening! ”

The young emperor let out a long sigh and stood up with Wang Chengen's shoulders full of loneliness: "I suddenly feel so tired! Go back and rest. ”

"Holy ......"

Wang Chengen couldn't help crying, and the eunuchs and historians around him also wiped their tears frequently, unable to help themselves.

Emperor Chongzhen gently patted Wang Chengen's shoulder: "Don't worry, I can still withstand this little blow, alas! Get up, don't collect the map, just put it here, no one is allowed to come in, I will see it after tomorrow, although I have drawn the territory of the Ming Dynasty larger, it is a hundred times stronger than Matteo Ricci's map of all countries, at least there is nothing wrong with the marked mountains and rivers and fine mileage, Matteo Ricci will never be able to do it, and no one in the monarchs of all dynasties has ever had such a fine and accurate territory map, it is a priceless treasure! ”

"Although Zhu Aiqing has made me very faceless, I have to admit that he is very knowledgeable, at least in the knowledge of the territory of all dynasties, no one can match it, even if what he said is not all right, I have to admire his extraordinary knowledge!"

Wang Chengen finally relaxed his heart and skillfully changed the topic to avoid the emperor being too heavy: "I have long heard that this Zhu Daolin has a tough personality, love and hate, and when I saw it today, I found that his nature was really wild, and it seems that the Chinese courtiers scolded him for not wronging him. ”

Emperor Chongzhen smiled: "It is indeed a wild man, but because of this, I can see his heart clearly." ”

"I won't hide it from you, just now I was really annoyed by his fallacies, thinking that he may have been overseas for too long, and he is good at business, so he will inevitably fall into the trap of some merchants, who want any land, and don't ask himself if he has the ability."

"But when you think about it, when he gave me the Yingzhou Island that he had invested millions of taels of silver to occupy, he didn't frown, and then he thought about the tribute he sent to me this time, as well as the artillery and copper that he gave me again and again, you know that he has me in his heart, so I won't blame him." (To be continued.) )