More than ten days later, Li Yuntian, who had been traveling day and night, finally arrived in the capital, and the first thing he did after entering the city was to enter the palace to meet the orthodox emperor and the empress dowager, and to inform him of the peace and security affairs of the past two years.

Although Emperor Xuande left auxiliary ministers to assist the young orthodox emperor in handling military and political affairs, it was the empress dowager who was really in charge behind the scenes, and she was in charge of the jade seal of the orthodox emperor.

With the support of the Empress Dowager, the celebrant still exercised the power to approve the chapter, which did not mean that the Empress Dowager trusted those eunuchs, but a check and balance on the courtiers.

It's just that the Empress Dowager's restrictions on eunuchs are stricter than those of Emperor Xuande, after all, Emperor Taizu has left the ancestral training that the inner servants are not allowed to interfere in politics, so the Empress Dowager also suppressed the eunuchs in order to appease the civil and military ministers, and many of the eunuchs in various places have been dismissed, which has deeply affected the power of the inner court.

Today's inner court is in a dormant period, because the orthodox emperor is too young to govern, the eunuchs can only rely on the protection of the empress dowager to protect themselves, otherwise the eunuchs of the ceremonial eunuchs will bear the brunt of the courtiers, and it is too much trouble for those eunuchs to wear red.

Otherwise, the decisions made by the courtiers will be carried out after the court has passed the guò, and this is what the empress dowager fears, and in the long run, the orthodox emperor will undoubtedly be hollowed out by those civil and military ministers, so that the monarchy will be sidelined.

Therefore, throughout the history of the Ming Dynasty, the inner court was all dependent on the imperial power, and was the pawn used by the imperial power to fight against the vassals.

Li Yuntian's entry into the palace this time brought a gift to the orthodox emperor, a well-crafted Japanese sword that the shogun of the Wa State would like to present to the orthodox emperor, which is the most precious gift in the Wa Kingdom.

The Empress Dowager was very satisfied with Li Yuntian's trip to pacify the Ming Dynasty, Li Yuntian not only cleared the troubles along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, but also made the Japanese state submit, which can be said to have made a good start for the orthodox dynasty.

It is really rare to have a hard-working minister like Li Yuntian, even if a court member like Yang Shiqi wants to contribute to the country, he can't charge into battle, after all, the age of Yang Shiqi and the others is there, they are all old ministers in their sixties, and they don't have as much energy as Li Yuntian.

What is particularly important is that although Li Yuntian holds military and political power, he has never been in power, but has delegated all the power in his hands, and what he has done is only to urge everyone to do their own duties, which makes the Empress Dowager very relieved, and it is also the main reason why Emperor Xuande has always reused Li Yuntian.

Taking the Xiaowu Army as an example, the senior generals of the Xiaowu Army were all inserted when Emperor Xuande was there, Li Yuntian naturally knew what Emperor Xuande meant, but he still entrusted those generals with important responsibilities so that those people are now named Hou Baibo.

As for the middle-level generals of the Xiaowu Army, they are mainly from the first two phases of the Wutang, and there are many royal families and noble children in them, so that there are no secrets within the Xiaowu Army, and the Empress Dowager is naturally relieved to let Li Yuntian take charge of the most courageous troops of the Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, it was precisely because the Jiangwutang absorbed all the forces of the imperial court that Li Yuntian's position in the Jiangwutang was indestructible, and it was obvious that no force was willing to hand over the Jiangwutang to other forces.

Moreover, except for Li Yuntian, no one can intimidate the arrogant generals of the martial arts, let alone maintain the rapid development of the martial arts, which has involved the interests of many people, and no one will let others get involved in the control of the martial arts.

Because the Empress Dowager was very interested in Li Yuntian's trip to peace, Li Yuntian began to regain Xiaoliuqiu Island and told the story vividly, all the way to the ambush of the Satsuma army at Red Bird Mountain, and finally forced the Satsuma domain lord Shimazu Mingyun to surrender, which made the chamberlains and palace maids on the scene listen with relish.

"King Chungmu, how did you know that the lord of the Satsuma domain would ambush you at Red Bird Mountain?" The Empress Dowager felt that Li Yuntian was simply a god with soldiers, and she accurately guessed Shimazu Mingyun's intentions, and then realized that she had deployed heavy troops in Red Bird Mountain.

"The Empress Dowager, Shimazu Mingyun can crisscross the Kyushu Island of the Wa Kingdom, and is also a tyrant who dominates one side, good at using troops, and knows that once it is besieged by our army in Qingshui City without reinforcements, it will definitely die, so it must engage our army in advance, and Red Bird Mountain, located between Qingshui City and Izumi City, is an excellent place to ambush."

Li Yuntian bowed to the Empress Dowager when he heard this, and explained in a deep voice, "The minister is just looking at the trend of the battle situation from his point of view, if the minister were him, he would definitely take a risk and ambush our army in Red Bird Mountain!" ”

"King Zhongwu, you really deserve to be the first minister of my Ming Dynasty, both civil and military, and you can be called a model courtier since the founding of my Ming Dynasty." The Empress Dowager immediately laughed when she heard this, and praised her.

"The Empress Dowager is strict, and the minister is just doing his duty, and he is definitely not the 'first minister'." Li Yuntian frowned slightly when he heard this, and hurriedly bowed his hand to the Empress Dowager, bowed and said.

To be fortunate enough to get the Empress Dowager's "first minister of the Ming Dynasty" praise, if it is given to other courtiers, they must be ecstatic, kneeling on the ground to thank him, but Li Yuntian knows that everything should not fight for a "first", the so-called prosperity and decline, once he wins the title of "first", then he will usher in a trough next, and he will have to worry about his life.

Especially when Li Yuntian is in a high position, he is even more afraid of the word "first", in that case, wouldn't he become the target of the imperial court, and at the same time, he has also become the object of royal repair.

"These are the heartfelt words of the mourning family." The Empress Dowager saw that Li Yuntian became a little embarrassed, and knew what Li Yuntian was taboo about, so she smiled and comforted her, and then Yu Fengyi changed the topic, "King Zhongwu, you are the emperor's teacher, you have been running around and working hard for two years, and you have to give the emperor a good lesson when you come back this time, the emperor said that he likes your class the most, and the other teachers' classes are too boring." ”

"It's the minister's negligence, and he really deserves death." Li Yuntian bowed to the Empress Dowager and replied apologetically, "Empress Dowager Niangniang, I'm afraid that the minister will not stay in the capital for long in the future, and now the Western Regions are unstable and the minister is going to go to the Western Regions." ”

"Western Regions!"

When the Empress Dowager heard this, a look of surprise suddenly appeared on her face, the Western Regions are a desolate and miserable place, Li Yuntian is a dignified and loyal martial king, no matter what, it will not be his turn to go to the danger in person, could it be that something happened in the Western Regions that is enough to alarm Li Yuntian?

"King Zhongwu, what happened in the Western Regions that you need to go there in person?" Subsequently, the Empress Dowager couldn't help but ask Li Yuntian curiously, she had not yet received a report that something important had happened in the Western Regions.

"Empress Dowager, Genghis Khan's second son Chagatai established the Chagatai Khanate, one of the four khanates of the Mongol Empire, in the Western Regions, and the Chagatai Khanate was divided into the Eastern Chagatai Khanate and the Western Chagatai Khanate, and the Western Chagatai Khanate has expanded year by year, and its territory has been almost the same as my Ming Dynasty."

Li Yuntian knew that the Empress Dowager did not know about the Eastern Chagatai Khanate being attacked by the Timurid Empire, so he replied solemnly, "Now that the Western Chagatai has sent troops to attack the Eastern Chagatai, the Eastern Chagatai is unable to support it, once it falls, the Ming Dynasty will directly face the troops of the Western Chagatai Khanate, which is very unfavorable to our Ming Dynasty, so the minister decided to rush to the Eastern Chagatai to fight against this invasion of the Western Chagatai with him!" ”

In fact, the court of the Ming Dynasty did not care about the fact that the Eastern Chagatai Khanate was attacked by the Timurid Empire, first of all, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty held the idea that the Ming Dynasty was the superior state of the Celestial Empire, and believed that no country dared to touch the Ming Dynasty.

Secondly, the Eastern Chagatai Khanate was too far away from the Ming Dynasty and had little influence on the Ming Dynasty.

Finally, the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, the Timurid Empire, and the Northern Yuan were all vassal states of the Mongol Empire, and the more fiercely they fought in the eyes of the courtiers, the better, just in time to weaken their strength.

Since the courtiers despised the attack on the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, it was natural that they would not bother the Empress Dowager with this matter, so the Empress Dowager knew nothing about it.

"It's like my Ming Territory!" The Empress Dowager was taken aback when she heard this, in her opinion, the territory of the Ming Dynasty was the largest country in the world, but the territory of the Timurid Empire was similar to that of the Ming Dynasty, which was simply an unbelievable thing for her.

"Empress Dowager, the Mongolian cavalry was all over the world back then, and now although the Northern Yuan has been driven to Mobei, the Western Chagatai Khanate is a more powerful enemy than the Northern Yuan, and the Ming Dynasty must be guarded against." Li Yuntian nodded sternly when he heard this, and opened his mouth to admonish the Empress Dowager.

"King Zhongwu, you are very pleased to work state affairs and mourn your family, but I have millions of soldiers and thousands of generals, and there are some things that should be shared by others for the Ming Dynasty, so don't be too tired." The Empress Dowager suddenly laughed and said to Li Yuntian.

She felt that Li Yuntian was simply desperate Sanlang, and he worked tirelessly to run around all day for the safety of Daming, if Daming had a few more courtiers like Li Yuntian, then she could rest easy, she didn't want Li Yuntian to go to the bitter cold place in the Western Regions, once an accident occurred, the consequences would be unimaginable, so it was better to send others forward.

The reason why the Empress Dowager said this is not only to care for Li Yuntian, but also to have another meaning, since the rise of the Xiaowu Army, the Weisu army under the command of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies has been defeated repeatedly, and in the end, it is not the Xiaowu Army that turned the tide.

Moreover, the governors of the Governor's Office of the Five Armies are now capable of arguing with the Xiaowu Army, for no other reason, the troops of the Gyeonggi Governor's Mansion and the troops of the Shanbei Military Region have changed in accordance with the military system of the Xiaowu Army in the eighth year of Xuande, and after several years of drills, they have formed a strong combat effectiveness, although they may not be comparable to the Xiaowu Army, but they are not much different.

It is worth mentioning that the garrison troops in the Gyeonggi and Shanbei regions adopted the same establishment and training model as the Xiaowu Army, except that they were under the jurisdiction of the Governor's Office of the Five Armies and were subject to the dispatch of the military cabinet, and their military supplies were each borne by the Jiangwudang and the Inner Treasury of the Imperial Palace.

In other words, the troops of the Gyeonggi Governor's Office and the Shanbei Military Region are actually copies of the Xiaowu Army, and the instructors who train them are all personnel drawn from the Xiaowu Army, and the logistics supply is also rationed with reference to the model of the Xiaowu Army, becoming a professional army of the Ming Dynasty, that is, a professional soldier, and it is Li Yuntian who took the first step to break the hereditary lineage of the guard.

"The minister respectfully obeys the decree!" Li Yuntian knew that the Empress Dowager was for his own good and didn't want him to work too hard to return to Beijing, so he bowed down with a smile and complied with the Empress Dowager's will.