Sometimes, people always act in a way that shocks everyone else who is on the same footing.

It's like when someone rose up to resist when the Central Plains was in trouble, ten rooms and nine empty; Others grovel and are willing to be lackeys of their enemies.

Under the tremendous pressure of the Ming army, there were European countries like the Kingdom of Sicily and the Papal States that tried to resist, and there were also those who groveled and sneered at the Duchy of Athens.

But in the history of the Principality of Athens, which is not very old, this is not an uncommon thing.

This is not to say that it is not culturally long, Greece, or ancient Greek culture, is famous in the history of mankind.

The formation of a slave state before 800 BC is a long time later than the establishment of the Shang Dynasty in 1600 BC in the Central Plains, but it cannot be said that this civilization is not long.

But again, the Duchy of Athens is not Greek civilization.

The Duchy of Athens was founded at the beginning of the 13th century as a state in ruins after the Fourth Crusades, and in the early days of its establishment, it was subjugated to the Kingdom of Thessaloniki and then to the Duchy of Achaia.

In the last few decades, the Duchy of Athens first submitted to the Duchy of Venice, and then to the Eastern Roman Empire in order to resist the oppression of the Venetians, that is, the one where Zhu Zhan Yi had just fallen and had the castle as its capital.

Later, because the Eastern Roman Empire was far from quenching its thirst, and it was already difficult to protect itself, the Duchy of Athens began to kneel and lick the ass of its old master, the Duchy of Venice, again.

This is up to now, but in history, the Duchy of Athens has been much more than that.

Historically, after the Battle of Constantinople, the Ottoman Empire began to show its fangs, and the Duchy of Athens immediately rushed to the front of the Ottoman Empire and began to kneel and lick.

However, this master this time was not like the masters who had been licked by the Duchy of Athens before, and the Ottoman Empire directly slaughtered this little brother who wanted to kneel and lick himself.

Therefore, after knowing that the Duchy of Athens sent someone to submit a letter to annex it, Zhu Zhanyan was not surprised, and even felt that this was the most normal thing.

"Where's the stuff?"

After going through these things in his mind, Zhu Zhanyan stretched out his hand to look at Mu Bin.

"Here!" Mu Bin immediately took out a letter, which was the so-called invitation attached to the book.

"Go aside!" Zhu Zhanyan angrily patted the letter aside.

"I don't understand, what's the use of you giving me this? And it's just attached to the book, even if it's a few words, so much I still need to read? ”

"Huh?" Mu Bin's eyes widened, his mouth slowly opened, and his face showed a clear stupidity.

Except for the recital attached to the book, he didn't know what else Zhu Zhanyan wanted.

"What's good!" Zhu Zhanyan slapped the table angrily.

"Do you know that you have come to the Annunciation, have you ever learned about the history of the Duchy of Athens? Do you know why they chose to submit the book at this time? ”

"The Duchy of Athens has always been the target of bullying by the surrounding countries, and it is not nice to say it but it is very real, basically a person can spit in their faces!"

"At this time, in addition to thinking that our Ming army is invincible, doesn't he just want us to help him find his way back and beat up all the countries that have bullied him?"

"How can there be a good thing in this world that drops pie? Let them take advantage of the cheap, but let us come out of the coolies? ”

"Uh......" Mu Bin scratched his head in embarrassment.

His thinking is still very simple, plus when he was young, he "read poetry and books", and his thoughts were still in the Yongle Dynasty, when the group of corrupt Confucians was the main body of the imperial court.

All surrendered and still give benefits? This is something that Mu Bin has not considered at all.

"Remember! Zhu Zhanyan knocked on the table angrily, making Mu Bin's eyes focused.

"You learned literature at a young age, and when you grow up, you will learn martial arts from your father, which is a good thing, but you have to balance it."

"Learning literature is to reason with others, and learning martial arts is to let others listen to you quietly, not that he will be a scoundrel as soon as you are reasonable, and he will reason as soon as you are a scoundrel."

"We have conquered Junbao, and with a bridgehead that is quite close, the follow-up advance is the easiest and logical thing for us."

"Even if he doesn't submit to the Duchy of Athens, we will fight it, and then their wealth will be ours, and now they want to protect themselves by surrendering, how can it be if they don't pay a price?"

"Yes!" Only then did Mu Bin wake up and stand up straight.

However, the confusion on his face did not go away.

"That'...... Your Royal Highness, what kind of benefits do they have to give, and how many benefits do they have to show before we can accept their subordination? ”

"!" Zhu Zhanyan grabbed the letter of the Duchy of Athens requesting to be attached and threw it over.

"Go back and study hard with your dad and come back! Really, if I'm a private school? ”

"Accept the fart! What was meant to belong to us, and now we have to give it up because of the slightest benefit? How can there be such a loser thing in the world!? ”

The envelope fluttered lightly and had no strength, and it fell to the ground softly before it even flew out of the range of the table, Zhu Zhanyan felt puzzled, grabbed the teacup on the side and threw it out.

Mu Bin hugged his head and ran out in embarrassment.

"Humph! Loser! Zhu Zhanyan was still a little relieved, and he was still a little angry when Mu Bin left.

"What the hell, the Mu family will be handed over to such a person in the future? This calf won't ruin the Mu family's foundation, right? ”

……

Just when opinions cannot be unified on the European side, some people want to get some benefits from Zhu Zhanyan, some people want to annex, and some people want to resist, but this is not the case in the Central Plains.

The abolition of the latter was finally passed.

Zhu Qizhen, who was originally the eldest son of Emperor Xuande, also completed the transformation from the eldest son to the eldest son of the concubine with the title of his mother Sun Ruowei from concubine to queen.

But there's more to change than that.

Again, there is no pie in the sky in this world, if there is, it must be something you can't bear, and a pie is enough to shoot you to death.

The Temple of Nourishing the Heart.

This newly completed palace is the residence of the Empress Dowager Zhang, and on weekdays, no one will come here.

But today, there is a person here, and it is a person who no one dares to stop.

Zhu Gaoxu sat in front of his sister-in-law, didn't say a word, just silently pushed a holy decree in front of his sister-in-law.

Looking at the scroll of holy decrees in front of him, Zhang raised his head, his eyes slightly closed, as if he wanted to stop the tears rolling in the corners of his eyes, but in the end he still couldn't succeed.

Although he hadn't read it, Zhang already knew what was written on this holy decree.

The emperor has an heir, and he is the eldest son, so naturally...... It's time to make a prince.

But......

As the actual ruler of the Ming Dynasty, why did King Wu help Emperor Xuande, from the abolition of the queen to the establishment of the crown prince, this is not in line with the interests of King Wu.

Not only is it not the best choice, it can even be said to be the most smelly choice.

However, things still developed like this, at an angle and speed beyond ordinary people's imagination.

I don't know how long it took, Zhang slowly lowered his head and looked at the holy decree in front of him in a daze.

Even if she had thought about it for a long time, she knew what was the best choice, but when the day reality really came to her, she still hesitated.

The price is too painful, and she has some ...... Can't afford it.

Suddenly, a hand stretched out from behind Zhang's back, opened a small box in front of Zhang's face, and exposed the seal that symbolized the supreme power of the world in the air.

Zhang turned his head suddenly, and watched in a daze as his son picked up the seal, slowly spread out the rolled up holy decree, and then ......

Cover it heavily!

"Zhan Ji ......" Zhang Shi was like a fish in his throat, his lips opened slightly, and it took a while to spit out these two words.

"Mother......" Zhu Zhanji's unshaven face showed a smile, and his face, which should have been dull and lacklustre, and didn't even have much blood, suddenly became a little dazzling.

"What should come, always come......"

"What to do, always do ......"

"In the same way, what should be endured, always has to be endured......"

After speaking, Zhu Zhanji took a deep breath and turned his head to look at Zhu Gaoxu, who was silent.

"Second Uncle......"

Just two words made Zhu Gaoxu's shoulders tremble slightly.

"They...... When is it time to ......"

"Back to Your Majesty......" Zhu Gaoxu slowly stood up, bowed his head, and bowed.

"If there are no accidents...... It's going to be the beginning of spring next year......"

"After a winter's consumption, coupled with the extremely high price set by the imperial court for the mutual market this year, the grassland did not get as many supplies as expected."

"So, the beginning of spring, which in the past meant that everything would be better, was also the time when they were most short of food."

"Good ......" Zhu Zhanji took a deep breath and brewed for a long time before he began to give orders again.

Since Zhu Zhanyan returned to Shuntian to the present, this is his first time.

"Someone's ......"

"Pass the order, the whole country prepares for war!"

"The household department thoroughly counts and prepares grain and grass to carry heavy ......"

"The Ministry of War Counts the ...... of Weapons and Equipment"

"Dispatch the border fortress, the border armament battle, the three major battalions and the reserve army are ready to transfer troops to the border pass in advance......"

"Also, inform the Ministry of Rites that the Ming Dynasty will join forces in early February next year and march north!"

Speaking of this, Zhu Zhanji's tone was a lot firmer, and he turned his head and glanced at his second uncle again.

It's been a long time.

"Send someone to pass the edict, Liu Sheng will command the Shenji Battalion, and Chen Mao and Zheng Heng will lead the left and right wing armies and the left and right wing armies and the left and right Ye armies ......"

"Three Thousand Battalions...... Led by Li Bin......"

"Five military camps...... Led by Seo Heng......"

"Finally...... Tell the world ......"

Zhu Zhanji took a deep breath, his eyes slightly closed, extremely brief, but the words that could make the world shake came out of his mouth.

"I ...... Will be the royal driver! ”

Wang Zhen, the eunuch who was summoned in, fell to his knees with a thud, trembling all over, and did not dare to say a word.

The temple of nourishing the heart fell into dead silence.

……

In this world, there is nothing that should be, if you want to get it, you must lose it first......

It's just that sometimes, the price paid will be a little painful, and the results will often not be as expected......

Three people, maybe it's just three years, four years, at most five years......

No one would have thought that the Ming Dynasty in its heyday would take such a step......

(End of chapter)