Zhu Jingyuan knew why his father's face was so ugly.

Now neither the imperial court nor the enemy wants to continue fighting, but the peace negotiation needs someone to negotiate and sign, which is the default job of Foreign Minister Honglu Siqing.

In the case of a victorious armistice, the emperor's secretaries, such as scholars, may also intervene and find a way to negotiate and sign.

Although this war is theoretically a draw, the social atmosphere after the revival of the Ming Dynasty is completely different from that of any previous dynasty.

Now, as long as there is no victory, it will be regarded as a defeat by the public, not to mention that this time it is theoretically lost.

It doesn't matter if it's the interior of Africa or the Amazon jungle, as long as it was occupied before, now it's gone, it's a lost land.

So there is no way that anyone will jump out this time and compete for the opportunity to negotiate and sign the delegates.

Zhu Jianyan, who is the secretary of Honglu Temple, has a high probability of signing this peace treaty by himself, and will be regarded by the Ming Dynasty as a peace treaty of defeat and loss of land.

In Zhu Jingyuan's view, the impact of this kind of thing on personal fame is actually not the most important, but more important is the Ming throne.

After Emperor Shizu revived the Ming Dynasty, he abandoned the traditional primogeniture system.

It was changed to a model similar to that of the Great Qing Dynasty, where the emperor himself secretly appointed his own heir, and in fact let all the princes compete semi-openly.

Zhu Jianyan was not the most favored prince in the first place, if he signed this peace treaty of defeat and loss of land again, he would really lose the throne completely.

Zhu Jingyuan, as the son of Zhu Jianyan, is even more out of contact with the throne.

After thinking about this, Zhu Jingyuan subconsciously said:

"That can only drag on and talk slowly, at least take back those rotten land......

Zhu Jianyan had obviously considered a similar approach, so he immediately shook his head helplessly and waved his hand and said:

"It's useless to drag, now neither side is able to occupy the other side's homeland, and neither side can see any signs of victory, which is why both sides are willing to negotiate peace.

"The main thing is the massive use of barbed wire and heavy machine guns, which changed the pattern of warfare, and now it is relatively easy to defend and extremely difficult to attack.

"Those lands were originally rotten land, and the border army did not have a special defense, and the original idea was that as long as the enemy's main force was defeated, these rotten lands were all a matter of one sentence at the negotiating table.

"So at that time, we let Xiyi take over, and then Xiyi deployed defenses on those broken grounds, and now it will be very difficult for us to take it back.

"What's more, your grandfather has passed the retirement age stipulated by Renwu's new system, but he has not retired because of the continuous war in the past few years.

"Your grandfather's health is not good, and now he definitely wants to sign the armistice agreement as soon as possible, and then go to abdicate and recuperate.

"Moreover, the situation in the various vassal states and the mainland does not allow us to delay indefinitely.

"I only have two years at most, if not a year, to figure out how to make the armistice more favorable.

"In a year or two, it is impossible for the situation on the battlefield to undergo subversive changes, and it is even more foolish to achieve a large-scale victory."

After saying the words that were held in his heart, Zhu Jianyan seemed to look away a little, gently patted his son's shoulder, turned around and got into the car directly.

After Zhu Jingyuan was stunned for half a second, he immediately ran to the opposite side of the car, climbed into the car and sat next to Zhu Jianyan.

Zhu Jianyan looked at his son's serious expression, and sighed softly in a very complicated mood:

"Jingyuan, I know that you have just graduated, and you are eager to make a contribution, and you want to participate in everything, and this is how my father came back then.

"But peace talks in this form really don't help your future, and they may even become a stain.

"You are not a prince, you don't need to be in a hurry to make meritorious contributions, just go into politics step by step, listen to your father's words, go back and rest."

Zhu Jingyuan was stunned for a moment, and then said with some excitement:

"I'm not a prince now, but you, father, are! Only when you win the throne can I become a prince! ”

Zhu Jianyan was also stunned for a moment, and then suddenly laughed:

"No wonder you were so excited before, you thought your father still had a chance to be the emperor? And then you have a chance too, haha......"

Zhu Jingyuan was stunned by his father's reaction:

"Isn't that right? You are also a prince, you have completed all the required studies, and you have passed all the practical training, why don't you have a chance! ”

Zhu Jianyan couldn't help laughing twice, and then patiently explained to Zhu Jingyuan:

"It is said that Emperor Shizu once said that children born to parents before the age of twenty may not be as strong as children after the age of twenty.

Later, the Tai Hospital, together with hospitals around the country, made long-term statistics and believed that this judgment was basically correct.

"So when the emperor chooses an heir, he doesn't choose from his children before the age of 20.

"Your father and I happen to be 20 years younger than your grandfather, so I happen to be out of the screening range.

"So your father was destined not to have this opportunity since he was born."

Zhu Jingyuan's eyes widened after listening, and he asked in disbelief:

"Is this true? You don't have a chance to be on the throne in the first place? I didn't have a chance in the first place? Is there really a clear provision in the Renwu New Deal? ”

Zhu Jianyan regained his calm expression, nodded lightly and said:

"Although there are no clear regulations, they have become a common practice, and it doesn't matter if there are regulations or not.

"You see that the four ancestors after Renwu are all under the age of 38 when they ascended the throne, and the age difference between the age of the emperor who abdicated at the age of 60 is more than 22 years old.

"So I've never had a chance, so Jingyuan, you get out of the car quickly, I have to go to a meeting."

After Zhu Jingyuan realized the cruelty of reality, he suddenly had a tendency to collapse:

"So-you don't have a chance to be emperor anyway, why do you still want to be this Honglu Temple? Just resign!

"Anyway, the brother of the new emperor can't serve as a real official, and you, the Honglu Temple, will work until the new emperor ascends the throne at most, and it will only be a year or two.

"It's better to resign now, and you don't have to go to negotiation and signing, whoever likes to go!"

Zhu Jianyan shook his head with a wry smile, gently patted the back of Zhu Jingyuan's hand, and patiently comforted:

"Although I can't be a real official, my son, you and your brothers can.

"If I pick a child at a critical time, do you guess one of your uncles will wear small shoes for you?"

Zhu Jianyan was stunned for a second, and then directly reacted to the logic here.

His father patiently continued to go to work, and continued to pick up this job that might leave infamy, only for his children, including himself.

Zhu Jingyuan's mood was in a mess at this moment, some aggrieved, some disappointed, some irritable, some angry, and some helpless.

Then in anger and helplessness, Zhu Jingyuan suddenly blessed his heart, stared at his father with wide eyes and said:

"I've got a way! Let me sign it for you! ”

Zhu Jianyan subconsciously wanted to shake his head, and then quickly reacted:

"You don't ...... Wait a minute...... yes......"

Zhu Jingyuan took a deep breath and said in a rather excited tone:

"If someone else signs this word, they may leave a name, at least in the short term, but my brothers and I will not ......

"We are Ming, filial piety is greater than the sky, as a son, I can't bear to see your father bear the infamy, so I am willing to take responsibility for my father, no one can say anything.

In this way, not only will our father and son not be notorious, but they may be promoted as beautiful talks to offset the negative impact of peace talks.

"By the way, I even have the opportunity to directly get a real official position, such as the Shaoqing of Honglu Temple or something, the deputy minister of foreign affairs?"

After Zhu Jianyan figured it out, he couldn't help laughing, hugged his son's shoulders and said loudly:

"My son Jingyuan is really a genius!"

After Zhu Jianyan laughed, he stroked his beard and said:

"It's delusional that you want to be the Shaoqing of Honglu Temple directly, but if this thing happens, the two generations of emperors will be regarded as inheriting your love.

"No one will be able to get your promotion in the future, you just need to accumulate qualifications step by step, and you can be promoted to Shangshu in eight years at the earliest, or fifteen years at most.

"I have never had the foundation and mind to fight for the throne, so your emperor uncle can also use you with confidence and will not be suspicious......"

Zhu Jingyuan was also very happy to think about himself:

"Eight years later, I'm twenty-three years old, and it's worth it to be a scholar, but which one is better?"

Zhu Jianyan returned to his normal sitting posture, and said to his son:

"Now you don't need to think about things that are so far away, think about how to do the things in front of you first."

"Let's drive, go directly to the palace, and go to the Wenhua Palace......"