Imperial Palace, inside the Qianqing Palace.

At the end of the morning of this day, Zhu Youzhu rushed back to the Qianqing Palace, and there were a lot of boxes in the Qianqing Palace at this time, which were transported from the south of the Yangtze River.

Xiao Jingli said with a smile: "Your Majesty, this is the goods sent by Tang Yin, the governor of the Bohai Sea, to the South Seas, many things are not seen in the Central Plains, there are many rare treasures, as well as fragrant wood, etc., you can concentrate with peace of mind, and there are many local specialties." ”

Zhu Youzhu went up to see it, with a smile on his face.

Li Rong followed in and asked, "I don't know if there is a longevity fairy grass?" ”

"This ......"

Xiao Jing didn't know how to answer.

The emperor initially asked Zhang Zhou to send a ship to sea, it seems that he had said that he was looking for the elixir of immortality, but that was just a pretense, Xiao Jing, as the original participant, knew that Zhang Zhou had not given the emperor any promises at the beginning, only said that there were good things overseas.

Zhu Youzhu raised his hand and didn't let Xiao Jing answer the too difficult question, which was regarded as relieving Xiao Jing, he said: "How is the ship built now, the South Sea has been able to go down, can the West Ocean go?" ”

Xiao Jing smiled again and said: "Back to Your Majesty, Tang Yin also mentioned in the last recital that he has built two large ships designed by Cai Guogong, loaded with new cannons, which are much larger than the big ships of the Franc Machine, and they have already sent ships to the sea in the middle of last month, and according to the chart given by Cai Guogong, they will go to the Western Ocean. I guess I'll be back before the end of the year. ”

"Hmm." Zhu Youzhu nodded and said, "Bingkuan said that the sea east of the country, called the Pacific Ocean, although the sea is basically peaceful, but in the summer there are strong winds, so you must start sailing before the summer, otherwise you may encounter a hurricane and cause a shipwreck." ”

As soon as these words came out, Xiao Jing and Li Rong both realized that the emperor knew a lot about the Great Voyage, and it seemed that he was not just a layman seeking results.

"Alas! Bingkuan also said that in the land of the West, there are several kinds of crops, if they can be brought back and widely planted in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, the yield will be very high, the people of the Ming Dynasty will be full, the people of the Ming Dynasty will be prosperous, and the people's lives will be greatly improved. ”

Zhu Youzhu also mentioned the big cake that Zhang Zhou once painted for him.

Xiao Jing said: "Your Majesty, it seems that Cai Guogong is bent on Hu Guoanbang. ”

Zhu Youzhu glanced at him and said, "Do you still need to say it?" Since Bingkuan entered the court, what he did was not for this purpose? ”

"Yes, yes." Xiao Jing hurriedly responded.

"It's a pity that others don't understand him, and they always think that I trust him too much, saying that he is a traitor, has there been such a traitor since ancient times? Just because he had a Taoist background, can he be said to be a traitor? Even Emperor Taizong still used monks to assist in governing the country, why can't I use Bingkuan? ”

Zhu Youji's tone was a little annoyed.

Because Xiao Jing didn't go to the court meeting in the past few days, he didn't know what was going on in the court, and he couldn't help but look at Li Rong on the side with a verifying gaze.

Li Rong said: "Your Majesty, it's just because they don't know Mr. Zhang's layout and arrangements in the northwest. ”

Xiao Jing was even more surprised, is there any arrangement for this? What's the arrangement?

Zhu Youzhu still said angrily: "Thinking about those officials, in order to show their integrity, sometimes they have lost their hearts. I used Bingkuan and the people he recommended to go to war, so I attacked the improper tactics and tactics, saying that the Ming soldiers were in danger and that they should rest and recuperate...... Now that the old ministers and veterans of the court are used, they also say that the current military department is not responsible, and they don't care about the border reserve troops...... As long as they are not happy, a black pot must be buckled on Bingkuan's head. ”

Xiao Jing understood now.

The emperor was "angry" again in the court.

Zhu Hui did not make any tactical progress in the Hetao, and he was still in the process of blindly marching, and the government and the opposition began to criticize, saying that the military headquarters did not provide tactical support for Zhu Hui's march.

It is equivalent to saying that Zhang Zhou, the secretary of the military department, is incompetent.

Xiao Jingyi gritted his teeth and said: "Your Majesty, if there are ministers who want to slander the court out of nothing, they should be corrected in time. ”

"You mean to let me send those who have a voice of criticism to be sent to prison for investigation?" Zhu Youzhu frowned and looked at Xiao Jing.

It doesn't seem to be quite understandable, why is Xiao Jing on the side of me and Bingkuan today?

Xiao Jing said: "Yes." ”

Zhu Youzhu said: "Bingkuan and they already have a vendetta, and others think that I am protecting Bingkuan, so tossing, doesn't it make Bingkuan even more difficult?" I don't want to exacerbate the conflict, let's see the results. ”

When the emperor said this, Xiao Jing deliberately went to Li Rong's side to observe, and found that Li Rong was echoing the general snickering.

That look made Xiao Jing feel extremely uneasy.

……

……

After Xiao Jing returned to the celebrant duty room.

Wei Bin hurriedly came over and said with a worried face: "Gonggong Xiao, you can count it back, now it has been verified, Ren Liang was really taken by Jinyiwei, and it is said that he has been tortured." ”

Xiao Jing said: "Just say hello, why are you in such a hurry?" ”

In Xiao Jing's opinion, the Jinyiwei is not worth mentioning as many eunuchs as the celebrant eunuch, as long as there is a random person here to say hello, Jinyiwei will definitely give face, even if the emperor says that he will be tortured, Jinyiwei will also use some means, such as fake beatings, injuries and other methods, so that there will be no deviation.

Wei Bin sighed: "The difficulty is here, it won't work this time." Even the East Factory can't be asked. And said it was...... It may involve fornication...... I'm afraid that the implication will expand. ”

"What?"

Xiao Jing frowned.

If it is an ordinary corruption and perversion of the law, Jin Yiwei categorically can't do anything to Ren Liang, or say that everything is within the controllable range.

But if you add the article of fornication with a foreigner, then who will intercede or say hello...... That is tantamount to not confessing to himself, telling others that he has something to do with this matter, and Wei Bin, as the backstage of Ren Liang in name, will make Wei Bin dare not interfere in this case at all.

Wei Bin asked: "Look, did that Cai Guogong deliberately lead things in this direction?" ”

"What's the matter with Guan Cai Guogong?" Xiao Jing frowned.

"I also learned the news from the Fusi of Jinyi Weibei Town, that is, Guo Ang said, Mu Bin went to see Cai Guogong, such a big case, Dongchang is not involved, Your Majesty can't just let Mu Bin investigate alone. If you really can't do it, don't you...... ...... with Cai Guogong's side Ventilation? ”

Wei Bin was panicked.

He is Ren Liang's direct backstage, if the emperor wants to use Ren Liang as an introduction, he Wei Bin must be the first to be investigated.

Xiao Jing said coldly: "It's just to check Liaodong, what does it have to do with you?" If someone has to put a pot of on your head, just let him come! ”

Wei Bin said: "This is Your Majesty's intention. ”

"Your Majesty can't be unreasonable, if it's just money, Guan Bao can settle it for you." Xiao Jing's implication is that you have to resist things, don't think about finding someone to accommodate, and don't involve others, "You can remember, you can't put on a weak posture unless you have to." If you show weakness, then Cai Guogong will become the second Li Guang, and in the future, our ceremonial supervisor may also be pinched by him! ”

Wei Bin was surprised: "He's not ...... Palace people, how can you ......"

It means that Li Guang is a eunuch, and there is still a basis for holding the authority of the master of ceremonies Zhu Zhu or something, so that a normal minister like Zhang Zhou, who is not in the palace, can control the power of the master of ceremonies?

Xiao Jing said: "You are really confused. Do you think that if others want to control our celebrant supervisor, they need to hold everything in their hands? As long as the DPRK and China have a good plan for employing people and things, what else can the celebrant and supervisor be independent and commendable? ”

"That'...... That's too. ”

Wei Bin immediately understood what Xiao Jing meant.

Zhang Zhou wants to control the celebrant eunuch, he doesn't need to be a eunuch, or even need to insert eyeliner, he only needs to convey his own meaning, and the celebrant and the eunuchs do the same...... That is equivalent to saying that Zhang Zhou became a powerful minister below the emperor and above the celebrant supervisor.

"Didn't Li Guang also use these methods at the beginning? We're all people who have experienced it, but we have to guard against it. Xiao Jing said this, looking a little afraid.

Wei Bin said: "But now...... There is no bottom, His Majesty has not even mentioned this matter to us, have you asked Gonggong Li, ...... over there?"

"Don't ask, don't know." Xiao Jingzhi meant that he couldn't even go directly to ask Li Rong of Admiral Dongchang about Ren Liang and Zhang Yu's case, let alone go to talk to Zhang Zhou.

……

……

The Land of the Loop.

Zhu Hui led the army through the Red Salt Pond where Wang Yue had broken the Tatars, entered the Yuan'er Dusi to the north, and continued to gallop towards the Yellow River in the north of the Hetao.

On this day, Zhu Hui was still on the march, and suddenly the front line reported that the war had begun, which excited Zhu Hui to the point that he couldn't do it, and after entering the land of the Hetao, it had been nearly ten days, and he finally met the living Tatars, and then Zhu Hui dispatched a total of 20,000 cavalry from the three armies under his command, ready to meet the battle.

Nothing is good.

The army had not gone more than three miles before they were told that the fighting had ceased.

"Why is it so fast?" Zhu Hui was riding on a horse, and when he heard the herald's announcement, he felt that he hadn't played well yet, why was this over?

Counselor Zhou Gui came over and summed up with him: "Grandpa, it has been investigated, but it is a small village of Tartars, originally stationed in the west, probably in the midst of migration, only a few slow runners dragged their belongings, when the pioneer people met, they took a look and ran away, and even lost their belongings, and finally caught up and killed four, one of them a woman and a child. ”

Zhu Hui was angry when he heard it.

My army of 20,000 killed four Tartars? Two of them are women and children?

Cui Yuan on the side said: "This can be regarded as a victory, and it should be a sacrifice flag." ”

Zhou Hui said: "There are two more, both of them are ...... I was old. ”

In this way, everyone who heard this was embarrassed.

Feelings have been killed for a long time, and the four are all old and weak women and children, but it's right to think about it, those young and strong Tartars must have run fast when they learned of the arrival of the Ming army, and only the old and weak women and children were easy to catch up, which was probably similar to the migration of rats, and the old and weak women and children stayed behind the team to block the gun.

"It's good, it's good." When Cui Yuan said this, he couldn't help but look at Zhu Hui.

Zhu Hui said: "What about the livestock? When people run away, there should always be livestock and baggage left, right? ”

At the mention of this, Zhou Hui said with a little more joy on his face: "I captured more than 300 animals, plus some goods...... Please also ask my grandfather to show me, do you want to chase quickly? ”

Cui Yuan almost blurted out: "Poor Kou Mo chase." ”

Zhu Hui glared at Cui Yuan and said, "A few remnants of the Tartars have been defeated, can they also be called poor?" Even if they are stubbornly resistant, my father will depend on how stubbornly they can resist! ”

Zhou Hui said: "The last general understands, so he orders to continue the pursuit." ”

"Wait." Zhu Hui immediately raised his hand and said, "Ben Shuai didn't say that he wanted to pursue, it's better to be cautious, and wait for the five roads to converge, and then fight the Tatars head-on." I don't know what happened to the rest of the people. Alas! ”

Hearing this, even Cui Yuan, who has never been on the battlefield, seems to understand.

No wonder Zhu Hui wanted to divide his troops into five ways and break them into pieces, he had long known that he couldn't fight in the land of the Hetao, so he scattered the soldiers and horses, just to catch the small Tatar tribes who were alone, especially those who had unusual news, or felt that they were running fast.

The five people formed a big net, which came to catch fish, and from the beginning they made up their minds to catch small fish and shrimp.

Cui Yuan was also depressed for a while, and said in his heart, with such a coach, it would be strange to be able to make contributions, but if he has the opportunity to go to the battlefield, he can't ask for more.

……

……

Zhu Hui entered the grassland to complete the "first battle", although he only killed four old and weak women and children and got some livestock, but it did not affect his victory in the imperial court.

And he had to report the victory earlier than the rest of the passers-by, so it seemed that he was awesome...... Don't look at it as just four people, but Wang Weining will fight dozens of people if he wins a big victory, and it is already very good that four people can win without blood.

This is the emperor's order to send troops, and a "good news" is also needed to save face for the emperor.

When Zhu Hui's "good news" was transmitted to Yulinwei, the capital of Yansui Town, the headquarters of the trilateral general system, a day later, Qin Hong's depression was also very strong when he got this good news.

That's it?

You are a person who still wants to face the loss of the country, you are embarrassed to report, I am embarrassed to mention the trilateral general system, you have mobilized nearly 50,000 troops for thousands of miles, and you have spent so much money on food and drink, and you don't know where to kill four people, it is very likely that you will still "kill the good and take the merit", and then dare to report the victory?

Sure enough, thick-skinned people have different thoughts and methods.

"My lord, here is a secret decree from Jingshi, saying that it is for you." Just when Qin Hong was about to be a hands-off shopkeeper, ignore Zhu Hui's so-called good news, and let him cross the border and send him to Jingshi, his staff sent him a secret decree from Jingshi.

After he opened it and looked at it, he couldn't help frowning.

The staff member named Kang Heng asked, "Do you have doubts?" ”

"Nothing." Qin Hong has always not shied away from the people below in court affairs, "This is Your Majesty's personal decree, mentioning that if my Ming sends troops out of the pass to fight, if the Tatars are unwilling to confront my Ming head-on, they may use elite soldiers and horses to attack my pass." ”

Kang Heng said: "It is reasonable to be so worried. It's just that the pass of the Ming Dynasty is so long, even if the Tatars come, they can't guard against it. ”

Qin Hong said with a vague smile on his face: "Don't you know that Daming has a Cai Guogong who can pinch and calculate?" Besides, Wang Bo'an is now sitting in Datong, and it is expected that the Tatars may not be able to attack and disturb from Datong, Biguan, Xuanfu and other places, and the weakest point of Daming is only Ningxia and Yansui. Otherwise, why did Your Majesty give me this secret decree? ”

Kang Heng hesitated even more: "Since you can pinch and calculate, why don't you explain the location?" It's hard to cover everything just where we're stationed, and if the Tatars come out......"

"It's not enough to come out of the nest." Qin Hong said, "Thinking about it, there are tens of thousands of elites of Baoguo Gong, and the Tatars are attacking from around Yansui, and the possibility is not great, if it is from the last Ningxia West Road raid, the possibility may be even greater." There is nothing wrong with stepping up your defenses. ”

"Yes." Kang Heng could only pass the order according to Qin Hong's instructions.

After Kang Heng retreated, Qin Hong picked up the secret decree again, and said to himself: "Huamachi...... The junction of Ningxia and Yansui, where the Ningxia guards are, and the fortresses of the guards, do the Tatars really dare to attack from here? ”

……

……

Inside the theater.

Zhang Zhou and Zhu Feng sat across the table, with simple wine and food in front of them, and the stage below was very lively, and a group of ticket holders were watching the new "Farewell My Concubine".

Zhu Feng was a little unthinking, obviously having troubles that stumped this second generation of the public who wanted to be an idler.

“…… My grandmother has been urging me to start a family earlier, and said that my brother has not had children for a long time, and the Chengguo Mansion may need me to support it in the future, and my father is in Nanjing, I wanted to talk to my father and ask him to help me talk about it, but when I wrote to Nanjing, my father never paid attention to me......"

What Zhu Feng is worried about is his own marriage.

In order to give birth to a son and get married, the purpose of the old Zhu family is also very clear.

Zhang Zhoudao: "Is it so difficult for you to have a child?" ”

"Hmm." Zhu Feng nodded directly.

Zhang Zhou didn't bother to evaluate this kid, he always felt that this kid was okay to have some emotions, in terms of mental instability, Zhu Feng was definitely not the kind of strong-willed general, more like a young man who would play a child's temper at any time.

"Recently, the Ministry of War has selected generals from all over the country, and the Ministry of War has decided to let you go to the vicinity of Nanjing to bring the navy and assist Ling Zun, it seems that you don't want to go either?" Zhang Zhoudao.

When Zhu Feng heard this, he hurriedly said: "If I don't have to be an errand when I go back to Nanjing, but just take a temporary post, I am willing to go back." ”

Zhang Zhou shook his head and said, "Impossible." ”

Zhu Feng said: "Nanjing's naval army...... There don't seem to be many people, do you need me to keep an eye on them? ”

Zhang Zhoudao: "That was before, now there are shipyards around Nanjing, and a large number of Hainingwei soldiers have also been trained, and in the future, the tactics of ship warfare need to be improved, using artillery and firearms, especially to go south one by one on the islands that have not been inhabited for hundreds of years, and even to prepare for the Japanese, do you think the navy is a joke in the past?" ”

"That'...... I still won't go. Zhu Feng immediately retreated.

Zhang Zhou sighed: "Do you think it's a vegetable market, and you can still bargain?" If you don't want to lead the navy, you may have to go to all parts of the northwest to lead the troops, and you can choose the important towns on the nine sides by yourself to see where it is suitable. ”

Zhu Feng said with a look of grievance: "Do you still stay in the capital, although the current life is a little harder, but the capital is still a world of flowers, if you go to the borderland...... I couldn't live that day. It's best to let me quit for a few years, and I still want to go around Daming and appreciate the customs and customs of various places. ”

(End of chapter)