Zhu Houxi was anxious in the main hall, and almost every tea time he had to ask the attendants serving beside him: "Is Lu Bing here?" ”

The chamberlain lowered his eyebrows and replied, "Your Majesty, Lord Lu hasn't come yet, and he has already sent someone to the mansion to urge." ”

"Urge, urge! I've urged it a few times, what is this Lu Bing doing, he is not at home. Usually I wander around the palace when I have nothing to do, but when I use him, he is gone, what a delay! Zhu Houxi was angry, and everyone knelt on the ground and shouted long live, and then persuaded Zhu Houxi to calm his anger.

Zhu Houxi was still walking under his feet, and he was about to turn himself unconscious, when suddenly someone outside the door said, "Lu Bing came to meet him." ”

"Please, please." Zhu Houxi said hurriedly.

Lu Bing walked in quickly, and everyone thought that Zhu Houyu was scolding him with a stinking scolding on his head and covering his face, but they didn't expect Zhu Houxi to grab Lu Bing's wrist, take Lu Bing to the bottom of the dragon steps, and order: "Give the embroidery pier." Lu Bing wrote that he sat down, and he could be given to sit on the top of the Golden Palace, but it was a supreme glory, which represented the emperor's favor. In addition to Yang Tinghe and Yang Yiqing, two former ministers of the cabinet, Lu Bing was the third person in the dynasty to enjoy such treatment.

Zhu Houxi said: "What's the matter with you, why did you come so late." ”

"The minister went to spy on the Holy Lord." Lu Bing said, in fact, it is a bit of a shame to say this, Lu Bing has just returned to the capital from Yang Yiqing, and along the way Lu Bing learned the information, only the Gutian riots, but also the northwest, northeast, southeast coast and the Central Plains, there are wars, which is clearly the rhythm of the chaos in the world.

Zhu Houxi's body trembled, and he clearly misunderstood. Hurriedly stood up and asked, "Why is there a movement in Wulin?" Do you know about the mob on the Furuta side? ”

"Your Majesty is not surprised, the minister learned that it was just a riot of the people in various places and a foreign invasion, and the people in the rivers and lakes still took the alliance leaders of various places as the benchmark, actively resisted and bravely killed the enemy to protect the country and protect the emperor. There was no collusion with foreign enemies to lure thieves into the customs and turn against the Ming Dynasty. Lu Bing said.

Zhu Houxi nodded and said: "Exactly, but it's not just Gutian who has rebelled, how can there be foreign thieves invading?" ”

"Ordos Bazhai advanced, it should be all the elite iron cavalry of the department, and at the same time, the Yarkand Khanate in the northwest also moved, and they pressed the army on the northwest frontier. The garrison of our border could not dispatch reinforcements, and even more so they had to send a large army to resist. If they ignore it and only deal with the Ordos Department in the north, then maybe the Yarkand Khanate will turn from a confrontation and demonstration to a real attack, and I am afraid that the consequences will be unimaginable when the iron horse enters the plain. Lu Bing said.

Zhu Houxi took two steps back and sat down on the dragon chair, Lu Bing ignored Zhu Houxi's pale face, and continued to tell the truth: "These Tartars also sent their ghosts and witches into the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and according to reliable sources, many Japanese robbers along the coast also gathered together. Slowly, I want to offend my Ming coast. The rest is that the Gutian mob is in turmoil as His Majesty knows, and Annan is not honest, but he is still waiting. In short, it is an eventful time now, and these thieves are guilty of my Daming, and they are not taking advantage of the fisherman's profits to rob him. Instead, they attacked at the same time, and someone must have contacted them. According to the minister's opinion, this matter may be that the people of the Secret Thirteen are playing ghosts, and the Secret Thirteen is weak enough to control these people, but they can provoke them to enter the palace of Daming, and even assassinate the generals into the city. ”

"You....... Wait a minute, my mind is a little messy. Zhu Houyu pressed his forehead and said, after about a cup of tea, Zhu Houyu said: "I know something about shamans and ghosts, but I really ......... the secret thirteen you said Who are they? You tell me a good story from beginning to end, and I hear it in a fog. In addition, Lu Bing, you tell the truth, such a critical juncture. Blooming on all sides, can my throne be preserved? ”

Lu Bing replied: "The minister doesn't dare to say it, but he will swear allegiance to the death, and he will also protect the Ming Dynasty, the Holy Lord, and the people of the world." After that, Lu Bing introduced Zhu Houxi to the general situation of the Secret Thirteen and some specific information about the shamans and ghosts, as well as the names of the leaders of the Japanese Bandits and their respective powers.

After hearing this, Zhu Houxi suddenly slapped the dragon case and scolded: "As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, he is not loyal to the country, and he is so disgusting to the country and the people, what is their purpose?" Could it be that the Mu Dynasty usurped the throne, faced the south and turned his back to the north, and became a generation of kings? ”

"Holy Lord, it's really not surprising that the thieves have such thoughts, but although Da Ming has some problems with his official position, soldiers and finances, he is not terminally ill, if they want to gnaw us, they still need a good pair of teeth, otherwise they will have to break down two gates for him. Therefore, it is not realistic to usurp the throne directly, I think they will soon negotiate with us on the terms, and set themselves up as kings in separate places, or use strong coercion to coerce the Ming Dynasty together, which has achieved the effect of ceding land and paying compensation. Mi Thirteen will have their own benefits, whether it will last long I dare not say, their foundation is too weak, but it is mysterious, but other countries and chaotic people I think at least they will get a lot of real money and the real benefits of the people of the land. However, there is another possibility, that is, they bewitched other forces, complicit in the Ming Dynasty to divide the land, and divided the powers and balances to obtain their own territory in the cracks. The saint doesn't have to worry, in the face of interests, everyone will do their best, but no one wants to pay more, and be the most injured bird. This is our breakthrough point, the geographical span is large, the people are not aligned, we have a chance to win the game. Lu Bing said.

Zhu Houxi clapped his hands and said: "What you mean is to talk to them, and after contact, go the opposite way and use interests to disintegrate them." ”

"Your Majesty Shengming, it's just not with interests, our Daming's land and dignity are not a condition of exchange, the land compensation is like cutting meat to feed the tiger, and the tiger will bite us again every time it has an empty stomach. The men of my generation should swear to protect to the death, do not compromise and do not bear, and open up the pattern with iron and blood, so that they have the capital to negotiate. Don't say that Mi 13 won't talk to us now, but will only talk to us when we're embattled, and even if I do, I won't talk to them, otherwise I'll always be passive. Lu Bing waved his fist.

Zhu Houxi turned around and pulled out the hanging long sword, raised his sword and said: "Okay, you have the courage, go into battle with father and son, fight tiger brothers, you and I brothers, we will join hands to meet them for a while." Let them know that I am not easy to mess with, and Da Ming is not easy to bully, and those who offend me will be punished even if they are far away! ”

In the next hour, in addition to discussing countermeasures with Zhu Houxi, Lu Bing mainly explained why he knew so much information, and it was more detailed than the intelligence agencies Jinyiwei and Dongchang knew. Lu Bing made up nonsense, telling the truth and falsehood, Zhu Houxi was particularly satisfied, and declared to Lu Bing that he completely trusted Lu Bing this time and would surprise Lu Bing tomorrow morning.

After Lu Bing returned home, he continued to collect the information that came from all over the world that day, and studied the policy of how to deal with foreign enemies, and he did not look forward to what surprise Zhu Houxi said, and he always felt very unreliable about this emperor and this court, and he had to rely on himself. As for why he did this, Lu Bing didn't want to say that he regarded the world as his responsibility, but he didn't want to be so cowardly, protecting his family and defending the country is what a man should do.

On the second day, when he went to the court, Lu Bing wore a brocade robe to enter the court, and now Lu Bing's official position is only a deputy thousand households, and there are many people at this level who have real power in the capital and no real power, so it is not easy to have the qualifications of the court, and now he is standing in the middle and rear position of the generals, and Lu Bing is a guard on the side on weekdays, watching people go to court in front of this Fengtian Palace.

Zhang Xuan is now a cabinet scholar, and when he came out of the Fengtian Hall at this time, it seemed that he had just heard what Zhu Houxi had said, and his expression was very rich. At this time, when Zhang Xuan saw Lu Bing in the crowd, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, if it wasn't for the Golden Palace, he was afraid that he would be smiling.

There are a lot of rules when you go to court, what time do you go to court, how to stand in shifts after going to court, when you can call long live the mountain, and when you can't make a little movement. Even if you are old when you go to the court, you must abide by these rules, the emperor is in a good mood and the ministers are extremely qualified, or the powerful ministers usurp the throne, so they will be given to sit in the court. Otherwise, no matter if you are seventy or eighty, you are still unwell, or you can't move when you eat and drink Lazar's physiological reaction, and you have to hold back your urgency, even if you casually raise your eyes to look at the emperor, you are not allowed.

These rules are not only based on conventions, official rules and Da Ming laws are jointly constrained, and from the way to the palace gate to the front of this hall, there are people to supervise and guard, if anyone does not do well, they will be written down in this book, only this one can participate in you, so it is not so easy to be an official, just eat and drink Lazar can mix for a lifetime is definitely not a big official.

Not to mention these, Lu Bing saw Zhang Xuan's appearance, and then looked at the other cabinet scholars, his eyebrows changed, and he looked at himself in unison, and couldn't help but doubt in his heart. It seems that this time it was Zhu Houxi who had been planning for just one day, and only made a temporary decision today, just before going to the court, he called the cabinet to announce the matter, otherwise how could something big happen and he didn't know, you must know that there is no impermeable wall in this world, if the wind is strong, it will definitely be captured by his own intelligence department.

"Today, I don't need to be in the court, I announce it myself." Zhu Houxi walked out quickly at this time and said happily.

Zhu Houxi glanced at everyone, he enjoyed the feeling that others could not guess his thoughts, seeing the different expressions of the ministers, he could guess their thoughts, this kind of pleasure that others did not know themselves and had to guess others made Zhu Houxi refreshed.

"Lu Bing." Zhu Houxi raised his voice and said.

Lu Bing clenched his fists, pushed the golden mountain and poured the jade pillar, and bowed his head: "The minister is here." ”