When the Filipino students were sent to Nanjing, a grand ceremony was being held in Nanjing.

It is now the third day of the entire prisoner sacrifice ceremony, and Hu Jichen, the emperor of the puppet Dayu Dynasty of Annan, the emperor Hu Hancang, the king of Zuo Xiangguowei, Hu Yuancheng, and his next criminal officials have all been sent to Daming to be publicly executed by the eyes of the people of Nanjing.

After the parade was completed, on the Fengtian Gate, Zhu Di and the eldest prince Zhu Gaochi, the third prince Zhu Gaosui, the national teacher Jiang Xinghuo, as well as the six Shangshu, Shilang, and the princes and counts of the Five Military Governor's Mansion, looked down on the team of prisoners together.

The link of the Taimiao blessing, which only courtiers can participate in, has ended, and now it is the noon gate prisoner that all the people are looking forward to.

"Your Majesty, this is the traitor and traitor of the Hu clan."

Zhu Gaosui, who was dressed in a bullfighting suit, pointed to the figure kneeling at the bottom of the steps, and said to Zhu Di.

"Hmm." Zhu Di nodded in response, and then raised his hand to signal the firecrackers to go off.

Well, in fact, as early as the Tang Dynasty, people would use firecrackers in religious activities to make sound to express the meaning of sacrifice, and in the Song Dynasty, with the development of gunpowder technology and the formation of the firecracker industry, this lively thing also became a part of the rituals of various royal events.

In a series of deafening firecrackers, the civil and military officials of the Annan Kingdom, who were kneeling on the ground, looked up at the king who had risen from the throne at the city gate, and they saw a majestic middle-aged man, staring at him indifferently.

Zhu Di's eyes were bright, as sharp and deep as an eagle's falcon, and he stared at the Hu father and son who were kneeling at the forefront, unexpectedly interrupting the established ritual flow.

Next, it should have been the Hu father and son kneeling into the prepared guilty table, and then the ceremonial envoy went through the motions, holding the guilty table in and handed it to the proclamator to read, the emperor sent a message to the undertaker to go out to pass it, but now the emperor moved himself.

"I'm going to ask them personally."

Zhu Di said as he walked down the city tower, and under the escort of two rows of armor soldiers, he walked straight to the bottom of the steps, and there was no word left in the whole process, except for the sentence at the beginning.

The eldest prince Zhu Gaochi and the third prince Zhu Gaosui hurriedly followed, and although the other civil and military officials were shocked, they still followed the rules of etiquette and continued to act according to the process, standing in place as a stake.

Jiang Xinghuo was a little distracted, and it wasn't until Song Li, the waiter of the Ministry of Rites who had just rushed back to the capital, pulled the sleeve of his unicorn suit that he came back to his senses.

A lot has happened in the past few days.

Zheng He's fleet successfully took the port of Manila and sent a prince of Luzon and some people over.

Of course, this is a very meaningful thing, not only because Luzon has also become a dumping ground for Ming commodities after Japan, Korea, Annam, Champa and other countries, but also because Manila Port, Qinghua Port, Quanzhou Port, these three natural harbors can form a stable triangle after they are in hand, so as to completely control the entire Wanli Shitang, which is equivalent to building a vast exclusive economic zone for Daming, which greatly increases the stability of the maritime frontier.

Now, with the progress of several extermination operations, the pirates and pirates in this triangle have basically been wiped out, which provides the necessary stable environment for the development of maritime trade.

And after Zheng He's fleet initially completed the Luzon State, there was another important significance to Jiang Xinghuo, that is, he had the ability to fulfill the agreement with Zhu Gaosui on overseas feudal feuds and exchange of information.

As the second year of Yongle approached, as well as the increasingly tense internal and external situation, Zhu Gaosui's intention to withdraw was obvious.

Moreover, the Jinyi Guard under the command of Ji Gang also gradually restored the old system during the Hongwu period, and the establishment and number of people began to expand rapidly, which from another point of view, also led to the original three-legged situation of the intelligence agency, which began to be gradually broken.

In fact, this is inevitable, because although Jinyiwei was the last to join, Jinyiwei is a serious intelligence agency of the national dynasty, or in other words, an intelligence agency on the surface, and whether it is the foreign intelligence agency of the Yan Army in charge of the old monk in the past, or the intelligence agency that Zhu Gaosui later made to supervise the internal intelligence, they are not on the table.

The former has now been gradually reduced or even abolished, and the personnel and information have basically been handed over to Jinyiwei.

There is not only Zhu Di, who is really turning into Jackie Chan, a trace of vigilance against the black-clothed prime minister who is helping him Jackie Chan in one hand, but also the intention of formalizing the intelligence agency, after all, the part of foreign intelligence can be completely handled by Jinyiwei, and it must be regularized.

And Zhu Gaosui's internal supervision, although it is not necessary to hand it over to Jinyiwei so as not to be a monopoly business, but this job is very hot and offensive.

Especially at the moment when the final review of the examination method in the first year of Jingcha and Yongle is coming, Zhu Gaosui has already felt that the pressure of burning his eyebrows is really not an exaggeration, and it is really not an exaggeration to offend people, because he is responsible for supervising these civil and military officials in secret, and this "secret" is actually not so secret, it is just a secret that is not open in the temple.

The eldest prince Zhu Gaochi has the support of almost the entire civil and official system, and the second prince Zhu Gaochu has the collective support of the noble and military ministers.

offended people a lot, and in the end, his father Zhu Di would definitely not take him as a scapegoat, at most he would reprimand and reprimand, "How dare you spy on the ministers of the dynasty privately?" "Then find a place to be a vassal king.

But anyone with a discerning eye can see what the vassal king has been cut into now, and the king of Sai, who is still insisting on not returning the three guards, is now left with the Qin and Jin domains, the two strong and unruly Qin and Jin clans, are the inheritance passed down by Zhu Yuanzhang's second and third sons, although the boss Zhu Biao failed to become the emperor, but why do you have the fourth line as the emperor to ride on our heads? When our father (King of Qin and King Jin) was here, you Zhu Laosi couldn't call me brother respectfully?

Needless to say, Ping'an and Sheng Yong, who were stationed on the front line of Xuanda, and Xu Huizu, who was stationed in the military capital of Beijing, were the three famous generals of the Southern Army who were used to deal with the Qin and Jin domains.

But Zhu Gaosui knows very well that no matter how much his father loves him, when he is a vassal king, he is a prince of peace, and he is absolutely not allowed to have any power in his hands, including the most important military power.

But what does this Taiping prince mean to him?

Therefore, if you want to be free and have power in your hands, you have to go overseas, go overseas to be a vassal king, say that it is a vassal king, and the emperor is far away, that is the emperor of the soil, and he is a well-deserved king.

Therefore, Zhu Gaosui really wanted to stay away from the center of the temple storm that was getting more and more fierce now, and go to Luzon to be a free king.

"It's time to meet this Luzon student who came to be a proton today."

Jiang Xinghuo thought about it and decided in his heart.

At this time, Jiang Xinghuo's eyes looked under the city gate, and he saw that Zhu Di had already walked in front of these descendants, some of these descenders from Annan Kingdom bowed their heads deeply and pretended to be ostriches, and some were doing all kinds of small movements nervously, but no matter what they did, they couldn't hide the panic in their hearts.

Zhu Di came to the Hu father and son, and stopped a few feet away from the other party.

Of course, it's not that Zhu Di is afraid of being assassinated, if calculated according to the force value, Zhu Di, who is now in his forties, is a first-class general, not as good as Zhu Gaoxu, but the individual combat effectiveness is definitely at a very high level, and in the face of weak chickens like Hu's father and son, it is not too much to take one away with one hand.

Zhu Di was just thinking about some questions.

He didn't speak, quietly examining the three people in front of him, Zhu Di's face was very calm, but the more he was like this, the more frightened Hu Hancang felt, feeling as if he was on the verge of rage.

Before the surrender of Thang Long City, Hu Hancang still had a lonely heart and wanted to give his Jiangshan Sheji a funeral, but this courage, with the surrender, with the bumps of thousands of miles along the way, with the dozens of days of detention, with the hope of life, disappeared together.

The only thing Hu Hancang wants to do now is to live.

Even if you are the queen of Shu, it is better than being the queen of the Southern Tang Dynasty!

As long as he is allowed to live, he is willing to pay any price!

"Ling, is it the 'emperor' of the puppet Dayu Kingdom?"

Finally, Zhu Di, who had been silent for a long time, spoke slowly and in a low voice.

Hu Hancang immediately stood up tremblingly, walked forward with trembling legs for a short while, and then knelt down in front of Zhu Di with a pop, kowtowing and begging: "The guilty minister knocks to see His Majesty the Emperor." ”

Great Emperor is the universal honorific title of the Ming Dynasty emperor by foreigners in this era.

Zhu Di looked at Hu Hancang who was trembling in front of him, and an indifferent smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Hu Hancang, I remember that you once said above that your Hu family is loyal and good for generations in Annan......"

"Your Majesty spares your life, spares your life!"

Hu Hancang trembled, hurriedly got up and kowtowed and begged for mercy, and his head slammed into the hard bluestone floor tiles in front of Fengtian Gate, and blood was dripping in an instant.

Looking at the so-called "Emperor Dayu" who was already frightened, a trace of disdain flashed in Zhu Di's eyes, and then he slowly said to Hu Jichen: "Hu Jichen, do you still recognize me?" ”

Hu Jichen is a famous Confucian and poet in Annan, in the early years of Hongwu, as the envoy of Annan came to the Ming Dynasty and was personally received by Zhu Yuanzhang.

But at that time, Hu Jichen was still a middle-aged man in the prime of life, and Zhu Di was even more of a child, now thirty years have passed in the blink of an eye, Hu Jichen is dying of old age, and Zhu Di has also reached middle age.

Hu Jichen smiled and said: "Your Majesty has turned into a dragon, how can I recognize this old turtle who has fallen into a well?" ”

Zhu Di heard the hidden needle in Hu Jichen's words, obviously, Hu Jichen was alluding to the fact that he and Zhu Di both ascended to the throne by means of rebellion and usurpation, the difference between the two is just that one soars into the sky and turns into a real dragon, and the other is driven into the bottom of the well and becomes an old turtle who has been thrown into the well.

It's a bit of a win or a loser, but it's also true.

"Huh." Zhu Di laughed, "Sure enough, you are old and forgetful, you forgot, at the banquet that year, the sincerity of the uncle (Liu Bowen) was sarcastic, thinking that Annan is secluded in the southwest and is not Chinese, so the customs are different, and the Annan country is regarded as a barbarian, and the Annan delegation is speechless in front of Emperor Taizu Gao, but you wrote a poem to refute, and since then, I have remembered you." ”

After all, Zhu Di actually chanted it himself.

"If you want to ask about Annan, Annan has good customs.

The well-dressed Tang system, the courtesy of the Han monarchs.

The jade urn opens a new wine, and the golden knife cuts the fine scales.

In February and March every year, peach and plum are generally spring. ”

Hu Jichen was stunned for a while, and only then did he recall this old incident, but at that time, his attention to the princes was all on Zhu Biao, who was calm and mature, and he had no impression of Zhu Di at all.

At that time, who could have imagined that this little boy would send troops to destroy his country thirty years later, and take his whole family prisoner to Nanjing to be humiliated.

The corners of Zhu Di's mouth raised slightly, revealing a look that seemed to be smiling but not smiling, and asked: "I don't know if today, do you have a poem to emulate a seven-step poem?" ”

Hu Jichen's heart jumped, this is the meaning of "seven steps into poetry, not death"?

But Hu Jichen also knew at this time that his own life was all in the hands of people, and at this time, he would either obey or die!

Thinking of this, Hu Jiyu gritted her teeth, but there was a hint of ruin, and she chanted aloud.

"As soon as you enter the red dust, you will wash your clothes, and Hanjiang will look back at Yanziji.

Thousands of worries come from afar, and half of the pillow sorghum is sparse.

If you fail, every teacher of poetry and books will be arrogant, and the sky will be high and self-defeating.

The moon is slanted and the wine shop knows each other, and the chivalrous sideburns have declined. ”

In fact, Hu Jichen just made the first two sentences, walked four steps, and immediately felt a dizziness in his mind, he knew that this was a sign of his mental exhaustion, and at that time his legs were weak, and he almost couldn't support his body and sat on the ground, but in the end, he finally supported it and walked seven steps.

This poem is neat and neat, the artistic conception is lofty, and he sighs at his life's achievements, like a dream, and finally crosses the sea of thousands of times, and returns to this Nanjing Yanziji to get off the boat.

Hu Jichen admitted that although he was full of poetry and books, his heart was higher than the sky, his eyes were high, and his eyes were low, and in the end, he said in a gesture that was almost praying, saying that he was now gray, and he just wanted to live a life of admiring the moon and drinking, and no longer had any other thoughts.

"Did you write it down?" Zhu Di turned his head and asked Zhu Gaochidao.

Seeing that his eldest son nodded, Zhu Di looked at Hu Jichen with satisfaction and said: "Hu Jichen, I heard that you not only have poetry talent, but also proficient in Confucianism. ”

In fact, there is no exaggeration in Zhu Di's words, Hu Jichen's attainments in Confucianism are indeed extraordinary, and he is almost at the same level as the Goryeo Prime Minister Zheng Mengzhou, who was known as the "ancestor of Goryeo science" mentioned earlier.

But unlike Zheng Mengzhou, Hu Jichen was very disgusted with Cheng Zhu Lixue and advocated retro, that is, respecting pre-Qin Confucianism.

Ten years ago, Hu Jichen personally compiled the "Book of Ming Dao", which has a total of 14 articles, calling Zhou Gong the first sage and Confucius as the first teacher, but Hu Jichen is not blindly retro, but while affirming the pre-Qin Confucianism, he believes that there are four very doubtful authenticities in the "Analects", namely "Zi Sees Nanzi", "In Chen Jueliang", "Gongshan", "Buddha Summons the Son to Go", and gives his own arguments for doubt.

From an academic point of view, Hu Jichen called Han Yu a thief of Confucianism, and attacked Cheng Zhu Lixue, believing that they were pedantic, blindly plagiarizing and plagiarizing the things of the ancients, and tampering beyond recognition. Although the truth is quite the same, this is the case.

And the reason why Zhu Di said this was naturally because of Jiang Xinghuo.

In addition to promoting new learning (practical learning + science) and relying on the new style of mental learning to become holy, if you want to further dig the corners of science and make science fall apart, it is natural to promote the retro movement of Confucianism, so Jiang Xinghuo needs a theoretical master like Hu Jichen.

If it were other emperors, I am afraid that they would have some scruples about using foreign monarchs like the Hu family and his son, but who is Zhu Di? It is impossible for him to care about these lost dogs, otherwise, in Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, it is impossible for firearms expert Hu Yuancheng to achieve the Ministry of Industry in the Yongle, Hongxi, and Xuande dynasties.

Although Zhu Di is a little cautious sometimes, the pattern is still big enough, and it is completely open when it should be opened.

Zhu Di said with a smile: "You must know that I want to be the first emperor of the ages, that is, I am also tolerant of you rebellious ministers and thieves." ”

Well, Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru, Jing Qing, etc. have something to say.

However, it is not difficult to guess that this is obviously not only for the people of the Ming Dynasty, but also for those in Annan, especially Chen Tianping.

The meaning is very simple, if you are not honest, you can be replaced at any time.

After all, for Zhu Di, loyalty is not absolute, it is equal to absolute disloyalty.

It's always good to have two cards in your hand, just like after Liu Bei took Bashu, Liu Zhang, who moved to Jingzhou, was appointed by Soochow as Yizhou Mu to disgust Liu Bei, and Liu Zhang didn't need to really go back, but it just wanted to make your life unsteady.

"You go to the president to repair the "Yongle Canon" first, as for your son Hu Yuancheng, I heard that he is very good at studying firearms, so he will be transferred to the Ordnance Bureau of the Ministry of Industry to start from scratch."

Hearing Zhu Di's order, the Hu family and his son immediately breathed a sigh of relief, as for the second son Hu Hancang, who was a bit wasted, although he didn't get any arrangements, he obviously didn't have to worry about his life, and he didn't dare to ask for anything more.

Originally, the next step was the normal process of sacrificing prisoners, offering the table, Zhu Di pardoned his crimes, the Hu father and son waited for five bows and three shouts of long live, and then the official of the undertaking gave Daming the crown of clothes, which is regarded as the meaning of "the clothes are returned to Zhengshuo", and then kneeling to listen to the holy oracle, four bows and three shouts of long live, and finally four bows can end the whole ceremony.

But Zhu Di is not.

"Summoning the national teacher down."

After a short time, Jiang Xinghuo walked down the city wall.

Looking at the handsome and elegant young man in front of him, the Hu father and son were a little dumbfounded.

Of course, they had heard of Jiang Xinghuo's name and knew about the existence of this Great Ming National Master, but they didn't expect it to be so young anyway.

"In the future, you will be ministers in the same hall, and ask the national teacher for advice."

Jiang Xinghuo looked at these people with a calm expression, without the slightest consciousness that he had made their fate like this.

Hu's father and son naturally said yes, but Zhu Di said to Jiang Xinghuo: "The national teacher is my Ming generation of Confucianism, the talent is unparalleled in the world, only Hu Jichen became a poem in seven steps, and now the expedition to Annan has finally won a complete victory, can the national teacher have poems to souvenir?" ”

Zhu Di didn't embarrass Jiang Xinghuo and became a poem in seven steps, but Zhu Di also knew that Jiang Xinghuo was very poetic, whether it was "Writing in Prison" or "How much hatred the west wind has, and he can't blow his eyebrows", he is very poetic, and today Zhu Di is very happy, but he has a little bit of the meaning of Emperor Tang Ming calling Li Bai to compose poetry.

Jiang Xinghuo saw the snow on the golden eaves of Miyagi, and wanted to use the majestic "Water Dragon Yin, Climbing the Grand View Pavilion in the Snow" "Guanhe freezes the pear clouds, and the cold is still trying to ride a thousand times. Who said with, blank? But after thinking about it, thinking of this magnificent war against Annam, and thinking of the scene where the mountains and rivers, the sun and the moon are recreating a new chapter now that the end of the year is approaching, there is a better choice.

In front of the Fengtian Gate, Jiang Xinghuo chanted loudly.

"Bright Kunlun, the moon on the top of the mountain, someone howled. Look at the bottom of the bag, the treasure knife is like snow, how much enmity and hatred? The hands split the mole gall, and the heart forged a piece of pride. In this life, he lives up to a man, and his head is good.

Jing Ke Tomb, Xianyang Road; Nie Zheng died, and the corpses were violent. Go to the east of the river, and the aftermath is still around. The soul turned into a Jingwei bird, and the blood splattered into red heart grass. Look at the mountains and rivers from now on, heroes make them. ”

(End of chapter)