At the beginning, the matter of conquering the Wa Kingdom must have come down, and Zhu Houzhao went to Emperor Hongzhi several times in a row, the purpose of which was needless to say, to accompany the army to conquer the Wa State.

At the beginning, Emperor Hongzhi was still serious about education, telling him the stakes in it, you are the prince of the Ming Dynasty, the future emperor, and the heir to the world's expectations.

Later, he was scolded and warned sternly, and then he was annoyed by him, and directly grounded him with a holy decree.

Of course, the discussion between father and son about the holy decree is too divisive and hurts feelings.

What's more, the holy decree of grounding is useless to Zhu Houzhao, and there is no paper to wipe his buttocks.

Emperor Hongzhi also took this into account, so it was not so much a ban as a captivity, or house arrest.

Ciqing Palace in the East Palace is the prince's bedroom, Zhu Houzhao is closed there, and there is a big lock, and three meals a day are sent in from a small window.

Xia Yuan went to visit him a few times, and each time he visited the prison through that small window, and Zhu Houzhao's stay in it was basically no different from being in prison.

Now, even if he is the kind of birdman who shines with freedom on every feather on his body, he can't escape.

Although it was pitiful, Xia Yuan felt that this method could work, otherwise he would not be able to lock him up, after all, this forced the child to have a criminal record.

Now that the army has been on the march for many days, it seems that it has arrived in Weihaiwei, but it still let him run away and is not closed.

This kind of behavior is simply a prison escape, and a redemption of Ciqing Palace is staged.

"The prince escaped from prison. Phew, how many days have you been missing? ”

"It's been five days since I was missing."

Xia Yuan frowned, "Five days. Counting the rest along the way, he shouldn't have been able to run far. ”

"It is reported that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince left by boat this time."

As soon as he heard this, Xia Yuan's brows instantly furrowed deeper, and he immediately asked, "The prince went by boat, why don't you go along the waterway to find it, and come to ask me what do you mean?" ”

"Master Mu has already led people along Caoyun to find it. But after all, Changdehou had a very close relationship with the prince, and I wondered if the prince would come to Changdehou, so I rushed here day and night to inquire."

As he spoke, Shi Wenyi looked up at his expression, Xia Yuan didn't know what he was looking at, he was just observing himself to see if he was lying.

He waved his hand, "Shi Tongzhi can ask directly, ask me if I harbor the prince and it's over." ”

"That's not what I mean." Shi Wenyi hurriedly clenched his fists, and continued: "Since Changdehou has never seen the prince, then I will leave first." ”

"Oh, there is another one, this matter is very important, and I hope that Chang Dehou should not talk to others."

After that, Shi Wenyi clasped his fists and saluted again, and then did not stop any longer, walked over and called those men, and rode away together with the dozens of cavalry on the periphery.

Xia Yuan stared at the backs of the dozens of people leaving, and his heart couldn't help but be leisurely.

Emperor Hongzhi was determined to give Zhu Houzhao to death this time, when the Beijing Division Forbidden Army went out, Zhu Houzhao was still locked up, and Emperor Hongzhi also planned to keep him closed, at least for another month.

It has only been about 20 days since the army set out, and Zhu Houzhao has been missing for another five days, that is, he has only been locked up for more than ten days, which is obviously not the sentence.

And the big lock of Ciqing Palace is not an ordinary copper lock, but a large iron chain, the thickness of the child's arm, very strong, just in case, the key is still kept by Emperor Hongzhi, how did this dog prince escape from prison?

——————————

In the evening, the 10,000 forbidden troops who set out from the Beijing division finally arrived in Weihaiwei.

Weihaiwei is a guard, a place, and a city.

According to the Ming Dynasty's guard system, the military pass was guarded, and the Guanjin ferry was set up, and no matter the guard, there were fixed barracks. The large-scale guard post is equipped with city walls, just like a city.

Weihaiwei, near the sea, is a city.

This city is full of military households, there are no people, whether it is a general, or a soldier is married and has children in it, and the son inherits his father's origin, and has been in the army for generations.

At this time, when the army gathered in Weihaiwei, tens of thousands of people suddenly increased, bringing a lot of population pressure to the city, in addition to those brick and wood houses, you can also see countless temporary barracks.

From afar, the port near the sea is even more flag-waving, and hundreds of naval warships are moored there.

As the sun set, tens of thousands of soldiers entered the city, Xia Yuan instructed Wang Shouren, the military counselor, to arrange for the soldiers to set up camp, and he took his waist cards and documents, and went straight to the largest commander's mansion in the city.

As soon as he stepped into the gate, Xia Yuan rushed to a stagnant and tense atmosphere, everyone in the Shuai Mansion was in a hurry, and there were scouts coming in and out.

When I entered the lobby, an old man was sitting behind the bookcase in armor, burying his head in writing.

The old man has gray hair, about sixty years old, although he is wearing armor all over his body, but compared with ordinary military generals, he has less fierce spirit, or no temperament of a military general.

doesn't look like a general, at least not like a general who fights on the battlefield.

Temperament is a mysterious thing, but it can indeed be felt, and the old man does not have the temperament of a military general who fights in the field.

After all, his name is Zhang Mao, and he is a British duke today, and he has never been on the battlefield in his life, let alone led troops to fight.

Although he had no combat experience, he was the presidential commander of this conquest, and there were troops from all over the country, and they were all under the command of their respective generals.

In today's world, if you ask who can suppress these arrogant generals, I am afraid that only the British Gong Zhang Mao, who has been in charge of the Governor's Office of the Five Armies for 40 years, can do it.

"The assistant manager of the army is Xia Yuan, and I have seen Zhang Shuai."

Xia Yuan bowed his hand, bowed down his waist, held the waist card and documents in his hand, and continued: "Xia Guan was ordered to command the elite of the 12 regiments and battalions of the Beijing Division, escort firearms and baggage here, and now let the soldiers camp in the city. ”

Zhang Mao put down his pen and raised his head, his brows were tightly wrinkled, and a pair of slightly cloudy eyes looked him up and down a few times, and then his eyebrows quietly stretched, and he beckoned to him: "You came just in time, come, come to the old man's side." ”

Xia Yuan stepped forward for some reason, "What does Zhang Shuai command?" ”

"Although we haven't met, the old man knows you, and he has heard your name for a long time, and the old man still knows that you mentioned the matter of this conquest to Your Majesty. Thanks to you, the old man has spent his whole life and finally has the opportunity to lead the troops, and you have a favor with the old man. ”

"Uh, don't dare."

Zhang Mao stiffened his face, "There's nothing you don't dare, kindness is grace, the old man has always said something straight, not only that, but now the old man has to say one thing to you." ”

"Zhang Shuai, please speak."

"The old man knows if you are a civil official or a champion duke, come, the pen will be given to you, and you will write this recital."

(End of chapter)