At the beginning of the first hour of the first month of May, Liu Dongming, Liu Xiya, Yu Yan, Xu Yun, Jin Zhongqing and others came to the Datong Pavilion to ask for a meeting with the Ming envoys and asked if the Celestial Empire mission could go on the road today.

Liu Dongming was immediately anxious when he heard this, if he was on the road today, he would almost be able to arrive in Wang Jing on the evening of the sixth day of the first lunar month, and if it was too late, he would not be able to catch up with the crown ceremony of the eighth day of the first month of the prince Li Zhen.

Liu Dongming and his brother Liu Xiya and Yu Yan and others urgently discussed, and gave Zhang Yuan a generous gift before noon that day, a total of 1,000 taels of gold, 8,000 taels of silver, 300 high-grade East Pearls, and countless other wines and delicacies. This made Liu Dongming panic: Zhang Yuan neither wants female music to serve, nor does he accept gold and silver property, what does Zhang Yuan want to do?

In the afternoon, Liu Dongming was accompanied by Xu Yun and Jin Zhongqing to ask to see Zhang Yuan again, Zhang Yuan's answer should be met, and the meeting still only said that he was not in good health and could not travel long distances, and the canonization ceremony did not have to be held at the same time as the crown ceremony of Prince Li Zhen, so why not delay it for a few days, and said: "I heard that the dancing girl on the eve was not dead, this woman wanted to assassinate me at first, and when she saw that I had taken precautions, she stabbed herself, which is really hateful - General Liu, can this dancing girl be handed over to me to deal with?" ”

Liu Dongming couldn't guess Zhang Yuan's intentions, and said: "Although the who offended the angels was not killed, she was also killed, since Zhang Xiu was annoyed with her, she should be executed immediately." ”

Zhang Yuan insisted that he should deal with the dancing girl, Liu Dongming hesitated for a moment, remembering that the medical officer in Pyongyang Province had said that the dancing girl would not live for three days, and since Zhang Yuan wanted to see the dancing girl die with his own eyes, it would be up to him. In the evening, Liu Dongming asked people to carry the dancing girl to the Datong Pavilion.

In the Pyongyang Mansion House, Liu Dongming got a reply that the dancer Gu Xishan had been sent to the Datong Pavilion to be handed over to the Ming Mission for disposal, and Liu Xiya was puzzled: "Why did my brother agree to hand over that cheap maid to Zhang Yuan?" The babbles nonsense. It will damage the reputation of the king and us. ”

Liu Dongming said: "Zhang Yuan can also inquire about the matter of the mother and son of the abolished concubine Jin, I don't care about the cheap maid's mouth, since Zhang Yuan wants to deal with the cheap maid personally, let him go." ”

Liu Xiya was silent for a moment, and said in a low voice: "Brother is using this to test that Zhang Yuan? ”

Liu Dongming frowned and said: "Although the new champion of the Ming Dynasty is young, he is scheming and used to be in Beijing. He is quite kind to us, and he has the power to defend and canonize him, but he ruthlessly dealt with the admonition of the monks of Puci Temple in Lianshanguan, and showed that this person is not so easy to get along with. ”

Liu Xiya said: "Maybe it's really a long journey and hard work, or maybe the gift can't make it enough?" ”

Liu Dongming did not answer. But said: "It's too late to hold the canonization ceremony on the eighth day of the first lunar month, I will send someone to report to the king in the starry night, so that the king can send noble relatives and important ministers to welcome the angel." On the other hand, regardless of money, he bribed Zhang Yuan's subordinates and probed his every move, of course, this must be done carefully, otherwise once Zhang Yuan detects it, it will annoy him, Zhang Yuan is alert and wise, and he can't be fooled. ”

Liu Xiya nodded, and said: "Nurhachi sent the important minister Nalan Bakshi to see the king this time, I don't know what is important?" On the occasion of the canonization ceremony. Is it denied entry? ”

Liu Dongming said: "Jianzhou soldiers are strong and strong, can not be offended, the king is far-sighted, far-sighted, and thinks that the period of Jianzhou to the Ming Dynasty is not far away, and our country can sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, or be able to meet the source." In the future, he will not be subject to the control of the Ming Dynasty, so this Nalan clan wants to see it, but it must be extremely secretive, and Zhang Yuan must not be allowed to hear the rumors, this person is not as arrogant and mediocre as other Ming officials, he is very jealous of Nurhachi, and he has been inspecting the border preparations of Liaodong all the way, worrying about state affairs, which is very different from other Ming envoys. ”

Liu Xiya said: "Brother understands, has passed the book to General Yizhou An, if the Nalan clan arrives, he will pretend to be a merchant, and send him to the official hall on the east side of the Bihu Pavilion outside Wang Jing to wait for the king to receive him, because there are many eyes and ears in the city, the Nalan clan and his party cannot enter the royal capital, and the opposition to the exchange with Jianzhou in the DPRK is not small. ”

Liu Dongming sneered: "When the name of the prince is confirmed, then we can gradually eliminate dissidents, and no officials from the Xiaobei faction are allowed to stay." ”

The Great Northern faction is the official who supported the establishment of Guanghaijun back then, headed by Li Erzhan, and the Xiaobei faction advocated supporting the establishment of his son-in-law Yongchang Dajun, headed by Liu Yongqing, although this Liu Yongqing was also out of the cultural Liu family, but they parted ways with Liu Dongming's lineage, after Guanghaijun ascended the throne, Liu Yongqing was given death, and Li Erzhan was reused, becoming the leader of the government, that is, the head of the cabinet, but the power of the Xiaobei faction is intertwined, and it is still not to be underestimated, Guanghaijun has long wanted to depose and exile this group of ministers who had opposed his succession, As long as the foundation is determined after the canonization of the prince, the great purge can be started-

……

The dancer's face was as white as paper, her eyes were closed, her breath was dying, and she was still in a coma, Zhang Yuan asked Ma Kuoqi and Sheba to carry the dancer to Xiaozhen's room, the dumb girl Xiaozhen was already waiting in front of the door, as soon as she saw the dancer on the stretcher, the girl Xiaozhen's tears were watering, and she immediately gave the dancer Gu Xishan a pulse, and her thin eyebrows frowned, obviously the dancer's injury was extremely serious-

The girl Xiaozhen didn't care about Zhang Yuan and a few people in front of her, untied the bandage on the dancer's chest, the dancer's ** was full of blood, and the heart was yellow and mushy and I didn't know what kind of wound medicine it was, the smell of blood was mixed with the pungent smell of herbs, the girl Xiaozhen's nose twitched and sniffed, shook her head, first went to pour a basin of warm water, took off all the right side of the dancer's upper body, wiped the dancer's upper body, ** also wiped cleanly, although she was a dying person, but her youth was still standing and blooming-

Zhang Yuan, Wang Zongyue, Ma Kuoqi, and Sheba were inconvenient to see, retreated to the eaves of the corridor, and saw that the girl took out a green sac that she carried with her, and there was a willow box inside, and dozens of silver needles in the box were long and short, Xiaozhen began to prick needles around the dancer's arms, shoulders and heart, and the technique was very skillful, and after more than ten silver needles were inserted into the dancer's body, the girl Xiaozhen carefully removed the wound medicine from the dancer's heart, and replaced it with the wound medicine she brought-

Zhen Zidan walked over at this time, saw that the girl Xiaozhen was healing the dancing girl, and said to Zhang Yuan: "Zhang Xiu, our Jinyiwei's injury medicine is excellent, do you want to take some to treat this girl?" ”

Jin Yiwei has both torture and good wound medicine, the girl Xiaozhen took the wound medicine and bowed to Zhang Yuan to thank her, Zhang Yuan couldn't say anything to her, made a gesture, and asked the girl Xiaozhen to come to him if she needed help.

Zhang Yuan returned to his residence, the dinner party was ready, Ruan Dacheng was waiting for him, the two drank Gyeongju wine, while talking, Ruan Dacheng was quite puzzled by Zhang Yuan to take the dying dancer to the hall, Zhang Yuan explained: "Knowing each other and knowing oneself, acting well, it seems that our trip is not calm at the moment, it seems better to save the dancer and ask clearly." ”

Where did Ruan Dacheng have Zhang Yuan's foresight, but he didn't study it deeply, drank and sang songs, recalled the wind and moon in the south of the Yangtze River, and went to rest half drunk.

After Ruan Dacheng left, Zhang Rushen came to Zhang Yuan to report secretly, Zhang Rushen and his businessmen have been in Pyongyang for two days, 30 carts of goods have been sold out of hand, and have made an appointment with Pyongyang merchants to return from Wang Jing, but also to bring back Korean ginseng, cotton paper, Jeju fans, Busan bronzes and other Korean specialties, so that back and forth, in addition to the expenses along the way, the profit of this trip will be no less than 8,000 taels, Zhang Rushen got Zhang Yuan's instructions is to try to understand the state affairs and public conditions of North Korea, this day to find out that Guanghaijun really has dealings with Jianzhou Nurhachi, Nurhachi exchanged gold beads and horses for iron ore and craftsmen and even bow horns and gunpowder for Korea-

Zhang Rushen said again: "I heard that the old slave of Jianzhou still wants to buy firearms from North Korea with a lot of money, but he has been rejected by Gwanghaejun. ”

Zhang Yuanxin said: "At this time, Nurhachi is still afraid of the Ming Dynasty, he wants to buy firearms from North Korea should not be used to arm his Eight Banners Army, because the loss rate of firearms in this era is amazing, if you can't make it yourself, it is difficult to become an army just by buying, Nurhachi must be to understand the power of firearms, to see if the armor and bows of his long-armored cavalry can fight against the firearms of the Ming army, Nurhachi's inflated ambition is eager to try. ”

Early the next morning, Zhang Yuan practiced authentic Tai Chi with Wang Zongyue, and then went to the small courtyard on the left to visit the girl Xiaozhen, Ma Kuoqi and Sheba followed him, and saw the North Korean girl walking out with a basin of water and pouting her buttocks, pouring water into the ditch in front of the door, Zhang Yuan asked: "How is that Gu girl?" As soon as the words came out, she remembered that the girl could not hear it, so she gestured and pointed to her heart—

Xiaozhen put down the wooden basin, bowed to Zhang Yuan, and invited Zhang Yuan in, her posture was extremely elegant, and when she walked beside Zhang Yuan, she also leaned forward, crossed her hips, and walked quite fast in broken steps.

The dancing girl Gu Xishan was lying on the bed, covered by the gauze tent, Xiaozhen opened the gauze tent, when Zhang Yuan looked at it, the dancing girl had already woken up from a coma, her eyes were open, her head was raised on the pillow, and her voice was weak: "Lord Angel——"

Zhang Yuan hurriedly said: "Don't move, don't talk sadly, raise it first." ”

But the dancing girl still said: "The little state woman originally had the will to die, since the angels saved her, then it was all up to the angels to decide." ”

The girl Xiaozhen's acupuncture skills are very magical, she was still a dying person yesterday evening, but she was already conscious early this morning, and her speech was still smooth, Zhang Yuan said: "Recuperate first, and I'll ask you again tomorrow." ”

The dancer said, "The little woman begs the angel to canonize the son of Gwanghae-kun. ”

Zhang Yuan said: "I came to North Korea to canonize the prince on the order of Emperor Daming, how can I stop because of your words." When he turned to leave, he saw the girl Xiaozhen holding a thin book and respectfully presenting it to him. (To be continued)

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