Suncheonfu, the Imperial Palace.

King Wu has basically packed up his things, and what he is waiting for is the arrival of spring.

As soon as spring arrives, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty will drive the expedition in person, and the king of Wu will withdraw from Shuntian Mansion and move to Yingtianfu, and then wait for the news that they have been waiting for to come, and King Wu will let Zhu Zhanyan stay in Shuntianfu, and King Wu Zhu Gaoxu will retreat south to Yunnan Mansion.

That's the deal, it's the chips given by both sides, but it's not necessarily the final outcome.

Of course, after more than ten years of exercise, although Zhu Gaoxu's brain can't drift, there is no problem with a simple sharp turn.

King Wu will not give up the Shuntian Mansion that he has obtained with great difficulty for no reason, let alone hand over the control that he has worked so hard to obtain.

Although there is a queen mother...... Oh no, wait until next year to be the Queen Mother.

Although there were Empress Dowager Zhang and Empress Dowager Sun Ruowei, at that time, the emperor was still a child, and many things still had to be handed over to the cabinet and the six ministries.

After all, it is an ancestral precept that the harem must not interfere in politics.

But at the moment, the emperor has not yet driven the imperial expedition, and the king of Wu has not moved out of the palace, and there is still some tension in the palace.

For those at the top, it's a foregone conclusion, and they don't need to worry too much about anything, what to do or how to do it.

But for others, such as palace maids, chamberlains, and even some concubines, every day is a day of trembling and walking on thin ice.

The Temple of Nourishing the Heart.

Thin smoke wafted out of the incense burner, a few wisps of water vapor slowly drifted from the teacup on the table, and Zhu Gaoxu and Empress Dowager Zhang, who were sitting opposite each other, were speechless.

I don't know how long it took for Zhang to slowly break the awkward atmosphere.

"Junji sent me a message yesterday, saying that he would not attend this year's Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, and that he would have to recuperate well and wait for next year's northern expedition."

"This year, I may have to trouble the second brother to preside over it."

"Sister-in-law is polite." Zhu Gaoxu bowed his head slightly.

For Zhang, he still has a lot of respect.

Emperor Taizong's Empress Xu died very early, and Yongle died in five years, and from then on, including Emperor Taizong's harem, the Zhang family was in charge.

As the old saying goes, the eldest brother is like a father, and the eldest sister is like a mother, but in fact, there is another saying: the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother.

In fact, there are many times when even Zhu Gaoxu is thinking about why they turned against each other after they became rich and noble.

Can we share hardships and hardships? Zhu Gaoxu thinks not.

Is it the temptation of power and the expansion of desire? Zhu Gaoxu thinks it's not all so.

In fact, in this matter, maybe Zhu Gaochu had his struggle because his efforts were not proportional to his gains, or maybe it was because Zhu Zhanji was too good that Zhu Zhanji suddenly became crooked, giving Zhu Gaochu a chance.

But no matter what, just like Emperor Taizong Fengtianjing back then, even if he Zhu Gaoxu has many reasons, he is still wrong now.

Even if he is just asking for his share of the reward, even if it is to ensure the future of Daming after Zhu Zhanji is crooked, even if he is just trying to prove himself to his father and eldest brother......

Even if there are many reasons, he is still wrong, maybe in the near future Daming will embark on a broad road, but now, Daming is really a mess.

And this chaos was caused by his son Zhu Zhanqi, and he also caused it.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but think of a sentence from Emperor Taizong back then, which he said when he entered Yingtianfu.

From today on, I will be a thief for all eternity.

Now, this sentence can still be placed on him, since the day he entered the Shuntian Mansion, he has been a thief for eternity.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but sigh softly, took out a letter from his sleeve pocket, and pushed it in front of his sister-in-law.

"This ...... It was sent back by Zhan Yan, and it was originally sent to me, but he said two things on it, maybe you should take a look at it, sister-in-law. ”

"For Jungji ......"

When he said this, Zhu Gaoxu's words suddenly stopped, and he swallowed what he wanted to say next back into his stomach.

Slowly getting up, bowing slightly to Zhang's family, Zhu Gaoxu turned around and left the Heart Cultivation Palace.

……

Quietly watching Zhu Gaoxu leave, Zhang just sat like that, not moving for a long, long time.

I don't know how long it took for Zhang to move his somewhat stiff body, slowly reach out, take the letter on the table, and slowly open it.

In fact, what Zhu Zhanyan sent to his father was not so much a letter as a war report, but to say that it was a war report, it seemed to be a letter.

Because, mixed with two different things.

The first thing is the progress of the westward expedition to Europe so far.

Zhu Zhanyan explained in the letter the extent of his defeat from the western expedition to the Timurid Empire, and even attached a sketch in which Zhu explained to Zhu Gaoxu how much he had won so far by comparing it with the Ming Dynasty.

In addition to this report, there are also some things about the Nanzhou Mansion and the Xiangzhou Prefecture, including the supplies needed for the future expedition to Europe.

Seeing this, Zhang couldn't help but sigh.

As the saying goes: people have to die more than people, and goods have to be thrown away.

In fact, for so many years, the entire Ming Dynasty has known that Zhu Zhanqi, the killing god, is fighting everywhere, and many people have even criticized Zhu Zhanyan for this, thinking that he is a tyrant who only knows how to fight and does not consider national strength.

But in fact, after so many years of fighting, how much place has Zhu Zhan Yan laid? It can be said that few people in the entire Ming Dynasty have a specific concept.

Almost all people can only judge how much Zhu Zhanyan has laid through those news, or even rumors.

But after Zhu Gaoxu and his family became vassals, Zhu Zhanyan first defeated the Wa Kingdom, and later the Dayue Kingdom, all of which were small places.

Although there are also large places such as Siam, Nanzhang, Khmer and Delhi Sultan, those places together are not as vast as the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

But people have forgotten that the Ming Dynasty's Uszangdu Division and Nuer Gandu Division were stabilized because of Zhu Zhan Gully, and even the old Tatar land was completely controlled because of Zhu Zhan Gully.

And these ranges are subconsciously classified into the territory of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Zhanyan's merits were subconsciously ignored, and finally people only remembered the Beijing Temple that stood on the bank of the broad Luan Haizi.

It was supposed to be a proof of the soldiers' military exploits, but now it has become evidence of Zhu Zhan's cruelty and thirst for killing.

Later, Zhu Zhan's expedition to the Timurid Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the current expedition to Europe has no concept of this.

For thousands of years in the Central Plains, even since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there has been very little communication with that side, and there is no idea how big the land is, how many people there are, and how big the place Zhu Zhan has laid down.

Therefore, in people's hearts, even in the hearts of the Zhang family, Zhu Zhanyan is still just a prince of King Wu who is conquest abroad.

They didn't think at all, and they didn't even think that even if they gave up the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Zhanyan would already be a monarch who had created the level of the Heavenly Empire.

Looking at the sketch in front of him, Zhang knew that the place where Zhu Zhan Yan took down was no longer comparable to Da Ming, even if there was no Da Ming, Zhu Zhan Yan would not care, because his strength had reached the point where he could ignore Da Ming.

Thinking about it, after so many years of foreign expeditions, except for the soldiers sent by the imperial court to the east during the Eastern Expedition to the Japanese Kingdom, Zhu Zhanyan never used the soldiers of the Central Plains.

Even, even when the Eastern Expedition was made to the Wa Kingdom, those soldiers sent by the imperial court in the past were not there to support, but to pick stones and see the big peach of Yinshan.

His hand slowly fell on the table, and Zhang raised his head slightly, with a strong sense of powerlessness in his heart.

Originally, although she had the heart to protect the Ming Dynasty and wait until she went to Huangquan a hundred years later, she would be able to give an explanation to her father-in-law and her husband, but Zhu Zhanji was still her son after all, and he was also the son she devoted the most effort to.

Why didn't she want to help her son return to his former position and regain his former rights?

But now, looking at the sketch drawn by Zhu Zhanyan, she really knows that her son has no chance.

Moreover, even if she is unwilling, she has to admit one thing now, that is, Zhu Zhanji is far more outstanding than Zhu Zhanji.

Ask yourself, Zhang doesn't think that his son can do what Zhu Zhanyan did, even if there is no enemy of King Wu's lineage, even if the whole dynasty works together, even if even the people don't say a word, they fully support their son.

Reality is always so cruel.

But there's more to it than that.

The reason why this letter is like a war report, but not exactly like a war report, is because Zhu Zhanyan said another thing at the end of the letter.

In fact, Zhu Zhanyan didn't think too much, just because the current Wu Wang lineage actually doesn't need to put the Central Plains in his eyes.

Indochina has migrated a large number of Han Chinese, so much so that more than seventy percent of the population of Indochina are now Han Chinese, in addition to the great help of the Uszangdu Division, and the fanatical group of Ah San of the Delhi Sultan.

King Wu has no shortage of people, let alone food.

Knowing that his father has no pursuit now, whether it is gambling or fighting, it has all disappeared with the departure of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Hongxi.

Therefore, Zhu Zhanji persuaded his father that if he felt tired, he might as well let it go and return the matter and rights to Zhu Zhanji.

Zhu Zhanji didn't think too much, he just wanted his father to take a break, and he was not afraid that Zhu Zhanji would return to power, because if he could enter Shuntian Mansion once, he would be able to enter the second time, and if he could take control of Shuntian and even the entire Ming Dynasty once, he would be able to take the second time.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't think there was anything, because although he was no longer angry and no longer fighting, he still had to leave something for his son, even if his son was already very good, he wanted to do his best to do something.

But all this is a great blow to Zhang.

From Zhu Zhanyan's words in the letter, Zhang understood one thing.

The Central Plains, for Zhu Zhanyan, is actually a root obsession, if it weren't for the rootless obsession, then the current Ming Dynasty is really nothing to him, and he may not even be interested.

The opponent of the year, the gap is now so big.

Zhang got up slowly, but he could see that she had changed slightly.

Walking slowly towards the back of the Heart Cultivation Palace, the queen mother who was still holding on for her son in the past was also a mother, but now she has become a little rickety, and she even walks a little shaky.

(End of chapter)