On the 31st day of October in the 21st year of Hongwu, that is, the eighth day after Zhu Yuanzhang's birthday banquet, the holy decree finally arrived in Datong Mansion.

Zhu Gui, Xu Miaoqing and Liu Jing greeted the holy decree together.

The holy decree is also very simple, that is, summoning Zhu Gui now, and he has not even explained the reason.

Everyone present, including the eunuch who delivered the decree, looked at Zhu Gui, the acting king, with some concern.

However, Zhu Gui himself looked relieved.

That's right, after guessing that there might be this result, Zhu Gui has been making preparations, and in those few days, he has made a lot of preparations, and in the end, he is bound to the holy decree.

Zhu Gui instructed the steward Wang to receive the ship eunuchs, and the silver money was naturally indispensable.

And he took the other two to the backyard, and at the same time sent someone to invite Xu Yingxu again.

Soon after, the five of them were together again.

Zhu Gui took the lead and said: "The relevant matters here in Datong Mansion will be discussed and decided by Mr. Liu and General Xu, and this time the king will take the princess and Princess Yan to Nanjing together." ”

"Great." Hearing this, Xu Miaoqing not only did not worry, but became happy.

However, the other three looked worried.

Xu Miaoyun pulled Xu Miaoqing and whispered something in her ear.

The joy on Xu Miaoqing's face immediately froze, and she turned her head to look at Zhu Gui and asked, "Zhu Gui, will it be dangerous to go to Nanjing here?" ”

Princess Yan's original intention was to hope that Xu Miaoqing would not go to Nanjing, after all, life and death were uncertain, and Zhu Gui himself might not be able to protect himself.

But she herself has always been in love with Zhu Di, the king of Yan, but she didn't realize that Xu Miaoqing had feelings for Zhu Gui.

Zhu Gui looked at Xu Miaoqing and said with a smile: "Don't worry, it's just a routine investigation, and it'll be fine." ”

Xu Yingxu said at this time: "Why don't I escort the prince back to Nanjing?" Although I have already written a letter to my father, I am still a little worried. ”

Zhu Gui stretched out his hand to stop Xu Yingxu from continuing: "General Xu, as the general of the garrison of the guard, cannot leave easily without an order from the imperial court, don't make it difficult for Xu Guogong because of this trivial matter." ”

"But......" Xu Yingxu wanted to say something.

I heard Liu Jing also say: "What the prince said is right, although the emperor is decisive and has some opinions about the prince, but the main responsibility for this matter is still on the deceased King of Jin, and the death of King Jin can make the emperor revoke Jinyiwei in anger, which shows that the emperor still has feelings for the princes." ”

Liu Jing's remarks eased the atmosphere in the room a little.

So Zhu Gui explained the things he had prepared during this time to Liu Jing and Xu Yingxu one by one.

Except for the affairs of the Datong Chamber of Commerce and Datong Qianzhuang handed over to Liu Jing for management, other matters were mainly decided by Xu Yingxu.

One of the most important things is the nearly 1,000 Mongolian cavalry that Zhu Gui recruited during this time.

A few days ago, they had already made their way into the depths of the steppe in three directions, with the aim of exploring the Mongol forces in other parts of the three routes.

It is naturally best if you can negotiate peacefully, and secondly, you can also exchange commercial goods to prepare for the Datong Chamber of Commerce to go deep into the grassland in the future.

Of course, if the Mongol power in those areas is very weak, Zhu Gui will not mind using some means to gain actual control of those areas.

After Liu Jing and Xu Yingxu heard Zhu Gui's words, the expressions on their faces could be said to be very exciting.

They never thought that Zhu Gui's vision would be so long-term, and he could still look beyond the Ming Dynasty when the situation in Nanjing was unclear.

The two immediately promised that during Zhu Gui's absence, they would ensure that his plan was foolproof.

Zhu Gui was satisfied with the things that went to prepare to enter Beijing, and Xu Miaoqing quickly chased them out, leaving only the three of them looking at each other in the house.

Liu Jing saw that Xu Yingxu and Princess Yan had no intention of leaving, and he, as an outsider, immediately took the lead in leaving.

After Liu Jing left, Princess Yan Xu Miaoyun looked at Xu Yingxu with gentle eyes and said, "Second brother, I can see the change in your attitude towards the acting king, is this related to the little sister?" ”

Xu Yingxu paused for a moment, and then said with a wry smile: "At first, it was indeed because of my little sister that my father asked the emperor to invite me to come here to repair the palace, but with this period of contact, I think the previous name of the acting king may be a misunderstanding." ”

Xu Miaoyun listened to Xu Yingxu's words with a complicated expression, and said after a while: "If one day, King Yan and King Dai have a conflict, which side will you stand on?" ”

Xu Yingxu looked at Xu Miaoyun in surprise and asked, "Eldest sister, no, Princess Yan, why do you say this?" The last time King Yan came here, he had a good conversation with the acting king, there will be no conflict between them, and you should be able to see that the acting king does not have much ambition for power. ”

After listening to Xu Yingxu's words, Xu Miaoyun shook his head with a noncommittal smile and said: "Maybe things are not as simple as you see, I value my intuition more, I am not interested in the power struggle of the acting king or many royal families, but his ambition is definitely not small." ”

Xu Miaoyun turned around as she spoke, looking at the huge world map attached to the wall.

In Xu Miaoyun's view, Zhu Gui's ambition is this so-called world map.

Xu Yingxu followed Xu Miaoyun's gaze and looked at the map, and suddenly realized something.

However, as a general, he admired Zhu Gui's behavior of expanding the territory very much.

"Maybe it's as you said, eldest sister, but as a general, I don't have a strict personal position, everything is based on the court and the national righteousness, if you really say that day, this is also the principle I will stick to."

After thinking about it for a while, Xu Yingxu said very calmly.

Although she did not respond positively to Xu Miaoyun's question, she already had an answer.

Xu Miaoyun is also a smart person, so he didn't continue to ask, only hoping that one day would not come, and then left the conference hall silently.

And Xu Yingxu looked at the map on the wall, and some questions that he hadn't thought about before suddenly had answers.

It turns out that the reason why this seemingly harmless little prince is thankless, and even risked being punished by the imperial court to trade with the Mongols, is this reason?

Originally, he was a little puzzled by the fact that Zhu Gui became the nominal owner of the large grassland outside Datong Mansion.

But now, if this grassland is placed on the world map, Xu Yingxu suddenly understands the importance of this grassland.

As long as they can master this grassland, coupled with the road construction plan that the Dai Wangfu has been promoting, sooner or later, the banner of the Ming Dynasty will be all over this entire continent.