Ciqing Palace, Empress Zhang's dormitory.

Although Empress Zhang is the sister-in-law of the current emperor, she is highly respected by Emperor Chongzhen. When Ming Xizong was critically ill, he ordered his fifth brother King Xin, who is now Emperor Chongzhen to succeed him. The reason why Chongzhen was able to successfully ascend the throne as the emperor was that Zhang Yan made a lot of efforts, so after Chongzhen ascended the throne, he was called "Queen Yi'an" for Zhang's family.

Since then, Empress Zhang has also been living in Ciqing Palace, and has won the respect of Chongzhen and Empress Zhou.

The early spring in the palace is still very cold, and the spring breeze is already blowing outside the palace, and the spring returns to the earth, and the flowers are in full bloom.

In the warm pavilion where the charcoal fire burns, the warmth rumbles, but there is no smell of smoke and fire, and the air is only filled with a faint white smoke, which is ambergris burning in the crane incense burner.

Waking up from a light nap in the afternoon, the young and beautiful Empress Zhang stroked her black hair and opened her eyes a little sleepily, "Who is here?" ”

"Yu Niangniang, it's the queen, the crown prince and the two princesses who are here." The palace maid who came in bowed her head and replied.

"Invite them in." Empress Zhang hurriedly said.

Empress Zhou walked in with the eleven-year-old crown prince Zhu Cihong. The emperor's eyebrows were gloomy and uneasy, and Empress Zhang was a little surprised when she saw it. Recently, the emperor has been in a very good mood, and the palace maids, eunuchs and even concubines in the palace are also relaxed and happy, but the queen has such a look.

"Sister, what's going on?"

Empress Zhou is only twenty-eight this year, five years younger than Empress Zhang, she was originally from Suzhou, her family was poor since childhood, and later moved to Beijing with her father. His father, Zhou Kui, made a living as a fortune teller in Beijing, and later chose a concubine for the king, and Empress Zhang took the mother-in-law as a substitute for her mother, and selected the fair-skinned Empress Zhou of the beautiful merchant village to be the princess of the letter among many candidates.

Because of this relationship, Queen Zhou and Queen Zhang have a very good relationship, and they usually discuss everything with Queen Zhang.

"Sister, there's something I want you to ask for an idea."

"What's the matter, I'll help you see."

Empress Zhou sighed. He took the crown prince's hand and said to Empress Zhang, "Today, Mr. Shou Fumei played His Majesty and mentioned three things. The first is to let His Majesty transfer the town of Nanhou to lead the army to Jinzhou to participate in the war, the second is to let the prince go to Nanjing to supervise the country, and the third is to return to his hometown with beggar bones. ”

"Huh?" Empress Zhang snorted in surprise, "Mr. Mei is going to resign, and he wants the prince to go to Nanjing to supervise the country?" ”

"Yes, recently, the emperor seems to have a disagreement with Mr. Mei over the attack on Yizhou, and the emperor let Mr. Mei recuperate. Mr. Mei played the tune to transfer Ciye to Jinzhou, and asked the prince to go to Nanjing. and make a request to return home. ”

Three things, each of which is quite important, I don't understand the war after a week, but I also know that the emperor is very satisfied after Mei Zhihuan enters the cabinet, and now Mei Zhihuan is leaving, which makes the emperor very angry. Of course, what worries Empress Zhou the most is Mei Zhihuan's proposal to let the prince go to Nanjing.

In this dynasty, during Chengzu's northward journey and Jiajing's southern tour, the crown prince was in charge of the country. The crown prince stayed in Beijing to supervise the state, and had full authority to handle the general affairs of the court. It also prevents the occurrence of emergencies, so that the crown prince has a comprehensive understanding of the situation in the court before succeeding to the throne, and increases his knowledge and ability.

Since the two princes have been in charge of the country, there are no other princes in this dynasty. Especially now that the crown prince is only eleven years old. let him go to Nanjing to supervise the country, which made Empress Zhou more and more worried.

She also didn't understand why Mr. Mei asked the prince to go to Nanjing to supervise the country.

Empress Zhang was also a little puzzled, "Isn't the south very stable now?" Especially last year, Ciye supervised Jiangnan military affairs, and the imperial court replaced the Jiangnan governor. I heard that Jiangnan is becoming more and more stable, why did you send the prince to sit in Nanjing to supervise the country? ”

"I don't understand either, Cihong is only eleven years old. In case the emperor really asked the prince to go to Nanjing, how could this be good? ”

"The emperor shouldn't agree, right?"

Empress Zhou sighed, "But I heard that now Mr. Li has also seconded the proposal, requesting that the crown prince be sent to Nanjing to supervise the country." ”

"Gentlemen, what are you going to do?" Empress Zhang was puzzled.

Qianqing Palace.

Chongzhen was also puzzled by Mei Zhihuan and Li Changgeng's request to send the prince to Nanjing to supervise the country, why is this? After thinking about it for a long time, he didn't understand why, and finally put the two pieces aside.

He took the details of the peace treaty between the five kingdoms from the side, and it seemed that he had read it many times.

"Cao Daban, where is this Tambasi?" Chongzhen asked.

Cao Huachun stood aside, and when he heard this, he hurriedly stepped forward and replied, "It is said that this Tampasik, also known as the Lion City, was once the territory of Manraka, a vassal state of the Great Ming Dynasty, and later the Portuguese came to the east and destroyed Manchu and occupied it. ”

"Oh, how big is this Tambasi?"

"I listened to Dongchang's report, Tambaxi is just an island, about the size of a county in my Ming Dynasty."

Chongzhen smiled and shook his head, "This Jiye, why do you have to ask the Portuguese to cede such a small piece of land to Daming in the treaty?" Thousands of miles away, can I still send officials to immigrate? ”

"I heard that Lord Hou wants this island, because this island is in the Strait of Malacca, where Western European countries come to the east, this is a navigation and communication artery, and it occupies an island here, which can be used as a trading port, a supply port for sailors, and can also monitor various countries."

"Jiye thinks long-term, but in such a place, it is not convenient for the court to send officials, so reward Jiye. Draw up a decree, this Tambaxi will give the name Tiannan and give the fief of Zhennan Hou. I didn't reward him much when I accepted him as a righteous son before, but this time he has made such a great contribution, so this island will be rewarded to him. ”

For more than 100 years, in addition to relatives, there are only three people who have been knighted for military merits: Wang Mingyang, Li Chengliang and Zhu Ciye, and according to the rules, the official titles of the Ming Dynasty can also receive more money, and there is no fief. The clan has fiefdoms, but cannot be officials. Liu Jun is a little special, not only with military merits, but also as the emperor's righteous son, into the clan registration, so now the emperor wants to give Liu Jun a fief, it's okay. Especially if it is an island thousands of miles away, I believe that there will not be many people who oppose it.

"Big companion, Mr. Mei is going to resign and return to his hometown, what do you think about this matter?"

Cao Huachun thought for a while and said, "The old slave heard that Mr. Mei has been very sick recently. ”

"Several imperial doctors have seen it, Mr. Mei's health is indeed not very good, and the imperial doctor also said that he needs to recuperate, but the court can not leave him." Chongzhen seemed to be talking to Cao Huachun, and he seemed to be saying to himself. He was reluctant to let Mei Zhihuan leave from his heart, but Mei Zhihuan deviated too much from him in Jinzhou's attitude towards the war, and he didn't let the decisive battle at first. Now we have to fight a big war with all our might.

But Chongzhen wanted to fight a battle in Jinzhou, but he didn't want to put all his strength into it. If Mei Zhihuan is allowed to leave at this time, it may be beneficial to this war.

"Omato, do you want to beg to return to the countryside too?"

"The old slave has been with the emperor for so many years, he is really old, and this crippled body doesn't want to stain the emperor's eyes."

Chongzhen put down his hand and thought for a while, "If you really feel tired, don't worry." There is a lack of reliable people in Nanjing, so you go to Nanjing to retire. By the way, how about taking up the post of Nanjing garrison eunuch and being optimistic about Nanjing for me? ”

Cao Huachun was a little surprised, and the emperor asked him to serve as the eunuch of the Nanjing garrison, "Does the emperor want the old slave to go to the front station for the prince?" ”

"I thought about it, let the prince go to Nanjing to exercise him, but now the prince is too young to go, maybe wait a few years."

A fast horse galloped up, and the knight on the horse shouted as he galloped.

"It's coming. Here it comes! ”

On the dock, it was crowded with people everywhere, and it was crowded. Everyone craned their necks together and looked at the river bank in the distance.

"Is it really coming?" A lot of people asked together.

Another gallop on a fast horse. "The army is triumphant!"

"It's coming, it's really coming, look, it's on the river." A few young people shouted excitedly.

"The army is triumphant! ~”

One voice after another shouted. Countless people are waiting for Hou Ye to return to his hometown with his soldiers.

In the distance, on the surface of the river like a jade belt, a row of black spots appeared.

"The owner. Is that a deck ship? It's huge! A guy running the ship was amazed as he looked at the slowly approaching fleet, especially the large ships among them.

The Shenlong, which is more than 20 zhang long, has a high three-layer gun deck, dense cannon piercing and black cave cannons, especially the kind of high mast, and four masts, and the huge soft sails on it are open, and there is an indescribable might. The river boats walking on the Yangtze River in the Ming Dynasty are far less tall than this, and the sails are mostly hard sails, compared with this kind of sail that is full of wind and wind, it is indeed very different visually.

A sturdy middle-aged man next to him is a river boat owner, and he also has a river boat running the Jing River, but that boat is a world of difference compared to this big ship.

The owner of the boat picked up a piece of paper in his hand, looked at a large ship printed on it, compared it with the boat on the river, and muttered, "It turns out that what is drawn in this newspaper is true, and there really is such a big ship." ”

"Boss, what's that in your hand?"

"Color!"

"What is a color newspaper?"

The ship's owner stared at the giant ship on the river, and replied casually, "Do you know the lottery tickets of Jiangnan Qianzhuang?" ”

"You know, who doesn't know their fortune coupons, now there is a subsidy lottery ticket every five days, and the jackpot is 200,000 silver dollars. In addition, there are many new lottery tickets, the method of winning the lottery is different, but many lottery tickets are sold cheaper, although the prize silver is less, but there are many people who buy lottery tickets, many people have made a fortune by buying lottery tickets, and they became rich overnight, I also bought several times, but unfortunately I did not win once. By the way, what does this lottery have to do with this lottery newspaper? The young man asked.

"This lottery newspaper is issued by Jiangnan Qianzhuang, every five days, it is mainly printed with the winning numbers of various lottery tickets in the current period, so that everyone can know the lottery results. In addition, some other news will be published by the way, there are news from all over the world, and some shop advertisements will be printed, and sometimes some poetry books of literati will be published, in short, a five-penny money, but it is worth it, buy a color newspaper, and know the world without going out. ”

The merchant ship owner raised the color newspaper in his hand and pointed to the picture above, "See this, this color report published yesterday has already been published and said that Hou Ye has triumphed to Chu today." It even has a detailed list of several battles in which Hou Ye defeated Hongyi in Jiangnan, and there are many accompanying pictures, such as the location of Taiwan, the entrenchment mirror, and the South Seas, the giant ships and cannons of Hongyi, as well as some geographical landscapes of Taiwan, and the situation of Hongyi. ”

The owner of the ship was amazed and said, "When I read the newspaper yesterday, I saw that the boat painted on it was actually more than 20 zhang long, and I still didn't believe it." I don't believe that such a Hongyi ship actually has dozens or even hundreds of cannons of several thousand catties, but now that I look at it, I know that it is all true. Oh my God, a ship has more than a hundred cannons, and this is a moving castle that can go sideways wherever you go. ”

The young man was amazed, "Master Hou is mighty, the Hongyi ship cannon is so powerful, but he is still defeated by Master Hou." Boss, give me this newspaper, I'm going to take it home and offer it well. ”

The owner of the ship smiled, "If you want, take it and make a good offer." (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you Xiao Bin, Xuanyuan Zhanhu, and the three of you for your support, thank you, please support if you have tickets at the beginning of the month!