Two days after Zhang Zhou entered the palace to "see a doctor" for the emperor and his wife, feedback from the palace came.

And it was Zhu Youji's personal feedback.

On this day, Zhang Zhouren sat at home, Zhu Youzhu came to the door in person, when Zhang Zhou got the rumor, and when he saw Zhu Youzhu at the door, he was also a little unbelievable, and it seemed that Zhu Youzhu himself seemed to have recovered.

"Your Majesty, you should recuperate more, why do you want to leave the palace?" Zhang Zhou stepped forward, first saluted, and then said in the tone of a doctor.

Zhu Youji's face was full of red light, and he looked a little energetic, and said with a smile: "My health is much better, you said that you want to walk more, I have a hard time going out of the palace, and there is no place to go, so I came to you, speaking of which, I haven't come to see where you live, I don't know if you can get used to it?"

This is regarded as the emperor's home visit to the minister's home.

Zhang Zhou was also thinking in his heart, if you are still sick and can't go to court when you are the emperor, if those ministers know that you are still running to me while recuperating from your illness, if I am not a minister, I think I brought you badly, then the rumors may not be as ugly as they hear.

Zhang Zhou welcomed Zhu Youzhu into the door.

With Zhu Youji, in addition to Li Rong, there were also Mu Bin, the commander of Jinyiwei, etc., even though Zhang Zhou already felt that his yard was very spacious, but when this group of people came in, they instantly felt a little crowded.

Zhang Zhou invited Zhu Youzhu to his main hall.

After the monarch and the minister sat down, Zhu Youzhu smiled and said, "Bingkuan, your medical skills are really clever, not only me, but even the queen's illness can be cured without medicine, and I can't accept you."

Zhang Zhou knew when he heard that Empress Zhang no longer continued to pretend to be sick, and Zhu Youzhu and his wife seemed to have reached a "reconciliation" in some aspects.

Zhang Zhoudao: "The minister did not prescribe medicine to the queen, but just chatted with the queen for a few words."

"I know." When Zhu Youzhu said this, he seemed to be a little interested, and then waved his hand and said, "You all go out first, I have something related to the disease, tell Bingkuan alone."

"Yes."

Li Rong responded while beckoning Mu Bin to go out.

He was still wondering in his heart, what is wrong with His Majesty and the Queen, and they still want to avoid people? Is it unspeakable?

When there were only Zhu Youzhu and Zhang Zhou left in the main hall, Zhu Youzhu was like a naughty boy, and he actually moved a chair to Zhang Zhou's side, just when Zhang Zhou was about to get up to help him, he was blocked by Zhu Youji's outstretched hand, and then Zhu Youzhu sat on the chair he moved.

"Bingkuan, although I don't know what you said to the queen, the queen has been a little different in the past two days." Zhu Youzhu said in a low voice.

Zhang Zhou probably knew that this was the couple's private matter, and he should not be asked as a courtier, although Zhu Youzhi regarded him as a friend, but he should not confide in his friends about everything.

Possible......

This emperor is still too easy to be swayed by others, and the people who used to control his thoughts were Empress Zhang and the Manchu Dynasty Wenchen, but now he has unconsciously become him Zhang Zhou.

Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, there are some things that you don't have to mention to your ministers."

"How can you do it without saying it? I don't vomit or be unhappy." Zhu Youzhu looked very invisible, and said with a smile, "In the past two days, the queen has not only had a lot of contacts with Concubine Xian, but also personally sewed clothes for Hou Xuan. Last night, Concubine Xian was in Kunning Palace. Hehe, Bingkuan, you are really ...... Helped me solve my troublesome family affairs."

Zhang Zhou said in his heart that he couldn't stand it.

You are an emperor, do you know what you are talking to your courtiers?

As a king, how to get along with your queen and concubines, it has nothing to do with me as a courtier, don't always push all the official and private affairs on me, as if you leave me, you won't behave in the world.

Zhang Zhou smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, the minister just used himself as an example and mentioned a few words to the queen, only when the backyard is peaceful, the minister can have the heart to do things outside."

"Okay, you don't need to explain." Zhu Youzhi was full of ambition, and said with sincere emotion, "I actually wanted to ease the affairs of the Inner Palace before, but you know, this kind of thing is really not as good as a thousand words for others, maybe it is because you are a doctor who can cure all diseases in the queen's heart, that she will accept your proposal. It's me

It's useless to say anything."

Zhang Zhou thought to himself, is the emperor so "undignified" in front of his wife?

If it doesn't work, you just send a will, before you snubbed the queen, didn't you also do it? If it weren't for your neglect, the queen wouldn't be so nervous that she would have to feign illness to win your sympathy, and she wouldn't have adopted my opinion!

"It's hard for me to make a trip, Bingkuan, you take me everywhere, the martial arts hall and the school grounds, and you don't need to make a show, or let me see your recent achievements in improving the firearms of the Shenji Battalion, I am not here to check you, I just want to know how the progress of the firearms in the army is, and what the chances of victory against the Tatars are in the future. I suddenly became in high spirits, and I wanted to ride my horse and lead the army to conquer in person!"

Zhu Youzhu changed his previous decadent aura, and when he said this, he also gave Zhang Zhou a feeling that he was not lying.

may solve the troubles of the inner courtyard and make everyone who is the emperor feel the pride of being a man.

The woman's troubles are solved, and the next thing is to show the ambitions in her heart, thinking about Jin Ge Iron Horse, probably men have a little unrealistic ideals in the end.

"Your Majesty has an order, and the ministers should obey it, and please give your Majesty a little time, so that the ministers can simply clean up, and then walk with Your Majesty."

"Don't be so restrained, you don't have to change your court clothes, I'm just in civilian clothes, I don't need to be solemn and solemn, let's go."

Zhu Youzhu said that he had already started to pull Zhang Zhou.

Zhang Zhou was also a little helpless.

It may be that after this treatment, Zhu Youzhi trusts and relies on him more, after all, even the affairs between husband and wife come to him to deal with, which has transcended the relationship between the monarch and his friends......

Zhang Zhou even felt that he might really want to bring this emperor into the ditch.

Those ministers are guarded, maybe there is still some reason.

But who kept you off guard? Who is to blame?

Zhang Zhou took Zhu Youzhu to check the existing armaments of the Ming Jing Division.

When he was the emperor, he said that he did not inspect the actions of the ministers, but Zhang Zhou also knew that if he had not made any achievements recently, he would never be able to communicate with the emperor, after all, he usually did not go to the court, and he basically did not give lessons to the prince with the title of lecturer in the East Palace, and he almost never set foot in the Governor's Mansion.

In this way, if you don't come up with some decent results, even if you don't have to attack Wenchen, it is estimated that the emperor will think, you Zhang Bingkuan is usually too idle, right?

I trust you, and I'll do your work.

Therefore, Zhang Zhou can be regarded as finding a reasonable reason for not contacting the court this time.

Inside the Ordnance Factory.

Zhang Zhou took Zhu Youzhu to inspect the rows of artillery in the warehouse, there were more than 60 heavy artillery pieces alone, plus sub-mother cannons and light artillery, there were as many as six or seven hundred, Zhu Youzhu was very rare, and after going up, he didn't care that the cannon body was dirty, and he went up to touch it, giving people the feeling that the emperor had never treated anyone so gently.

"Bingkuan, why are there so many? Didn't you have time to send it to the northwest?" Zhu Youzhu seemed to have found a treasure, and after turning around, he remembered that the biggest contributor to this matter was still following him to inspect it.

Zhang Zhou said: "Back to Your Majesty, these are all used for the defense of the Beijing Division, and this is only a part of it, and a large number of them have been sent to the city head and other places to strengthen the city defense."

Zhu Youzhu exclaimed, "So much? Or the Beijing division can't use it, so why don't you transport more to the northwest?"

Zhang Zhou replied: "Your Majesty, these are all made in the past two months, even if they are sent to the northwest, most of them are made from Datong, Xuanfu and other places, and then directly transferred to the northwest, this batch is basically made from Xishan, and the artillery made from Yongping Mansion is also basically used in Liaodong, Jizhou and other places."

"Good, good. You can arrange it."

Zhu Youji also wanted to "point fingers" at Zhang Zhou's artillery layout, but he probably realized that he didn't know much about it, and seeing that Zhang Zhou was confident, he let go and handed over the matter to Zhang Zhou.

As he was talking, Li Rong walked in from outside and said, "Your Majesty, the slave maid has checked the fire gun next door, and there are tens of thousands of rods."

"That

How much?" Zhu Youzhu asked, "Is it all new?"

Li Rong smiled, "Yes."

Probably realizing that he had stolen the limelight from Zhang Zhou, Li Rong hurriedly looked at Zhang Zhou with a smile and said, "I think Cai Guogong has already made arrangements for this batch of firearms."

Zhu Youzhu said, "It hasn't been long since I have accumulated so many firearms, and I don't remember how many coins the imperial court has allocated for this, right?"

Li Rong said: "Back to Your Majesty, it is true that it has not been transferred, it has been raised by Cai Guogong from all over the place."

"Bingkuan." Zhu Youzhu looked moved, and looked at Zhang Zhoudao, "I don't know how to say this, Daming has you, it's really my luck." You're holding up the court alone."

"Your Majesty is serious, the minister is just doing his best, after this year, there will be a lot of coal, iron and other things produced in various places, coupled with the expansion of production capacity, that is, the efficiency of manufacturing, the number of cannons made this year has exceeded the sum of the previous two years, and this is only May."

"yes, that's a lot. If so many artillery pieces are fired in unison...... Haha."

"Your Majesty, in terms of making cannonballs, we are also rushing to work, and the biggest problem at the moment is the lack of some materials."

"Then we have to keep excavating. Bingkuan, have you figured out where are the minerals for making cannonballs?"

Zhu Youzhu heard that there were few shells, so what could he do?

There are only artillery, row by row, and there will be no shells at that time, which is nonsense, so Zhu Youzhi immediately went to discuss with Zhang Zhou about making shells.

Zhang Zhou said: "We are already stepping up mining."

Zhu Youzhu patted his head and said, "Look at me, since I have you, why am I still worried about this? You can do it well. That's great. Hehehe......"

In the back, Zhu Youzhu was even a little incoherent.

When the emperor came in person, in addition to inspecting the manufacture and storage of artillery, he would also give them some of the officials and generals in charge of the ordnance factory and the Beijing camp, which was regarded as a kind of encouragement to them.

In Zhang Zhou's view, Zhu Youzhu also did this for a purpose.

Who said that Zhu Youzhu does things in a hurry?

At this time, it was when Zhu Hui and the old Xun faction were investigated, the morale of the army was low, and there were also people in the Beijing camp who were in danger, after all, Zhu Hui had been in the Beijing camp for many years, and there were many old departments, and this group of people were also afraid of being held accountable by the emperor, and the main purpose of the emperor's coming this time was to appease people's hearts.

Therefore, in addition to the necessary gifts, the emperor's attitude towards his courtiers is also very important, and Zhu Youzhi also directly expressed his trust in the officials and generals of the Beijing camp when he met with them.

At the same time, rewards were also given, and for some conscientious people, even if there was no actual combat merit, promotion rewards were also given as appropriate.

This is also a booster for the almost solidified Ming army, after all, ordinary soldiers have no military merits, let alone a generation, even if it is several generations, they can't change their military positions.

And now the emperor has given them the opportunity to follow Zhang Zhouda to do special work, to have money and wealth, and to have status.

"Your Majesty, everyone in the camp is grateful for your kindness, and after they retreated, they are still asking the slaves and maids if they want to write a table together to thank you." After Li Rong sent out some of the generals and officials who had given him, he came back and said to Zhu Youji.

Zhu Youzhu shook his head and said, "Those empty things are not necessary, let them do things well, it is more important than anything else."

Li Rong smiled and agreed, "Yes."

"Bingkuan." Zhu Youzhu didn't say a word, and turned his gaze to Zhang Zhou again, "Why haven't you seen Zhijie recently? Earlier, you also said that for the sake of the family, he wanted to get another opportunity to make contributions on the battlefield, and didn't let him go to Liaodong, what is he doing now?"

Zhang Zhou said: "In the past few days, Anbian Hou has gone to Xishan to inspect with Lu Wan, the outgoing governor of Neisanguan, firstly for coal mining and smelting, and secondly, to prepare to build some city walls around Xishan, so as to avoid foreign invasion in the future, so that they have the opportunity to seize the resources of Xishan."

"Hmm. It's also necessary. It seems that Zhijie can also do these daily official things, which is very good."

Between Zhu Youji's words, he regarded Zhu Feng as a younger brother or a junior.

Seeing that Zhu Feng had made progress, they all began to work for the daily government affairs of the Ming Dynasty

, military affairs are running, and being a brother is very gratifying.

"By the way, Bingkuan, recently Xinjian Bo also played from Datong, saying that the construction of the city fortress in Maoerzhuang has come to an end, and at the same time, patrols in Weininghai and other places are also more frequent, I am thinking, where should I fight the next battle?"

Zhu Youzhu immediately seemed to be urging Zhang Zhou to "put pressure".

Zhang Zhou said: "Military supplies are being prepared everywhere, and it may take some time."

Zhu Youzhu smiled and said, "Don't think that I am putting pressure on you, in fact, I think so, the new defeat of the little prince of Tatar this time will definitely cause his reputation in the grassland to plummet, and the grassland is full of wolves, if you can take the opportunity to add another fire to them, it will definitely make them fall into civil strife." That's why I've been very concerned about the performances to the imperial court in various parts of the grassland recently."

As he spoke, he glanced at Li Rong, which means that I don't know much in detail, you can tell me.

Li Rong added: "In this way, before the battle of Ningxia was over, the fire sieve had already been played to the imperial court, and the order was sent to fight side by side with the Ming army. But it took nearly a month for the performance to reach the Jingshi, and when it was delayed, it could be seen that the fire sieve had a heart. In addition, there are also Tumut and other tribal leaders who have also played one after another, please trade with the Ming Dynasty, and have agreed on the recent tribute."

Zhang Zhou said, "Your Majesty wants to use the power of these small tribes to disrupt the situation in the grassland?"

"Hmm." Zhu Youzhu said, "Originally, I had the intention of swallowing these small tribes first, but now it seems that it is a good choice to raze them."

"But Your Majesty, these outsiders should not be unclear that the purpose of the Ming Dynasty is actually to completely wipe out the grassland, and they will also be destroyed or conquered, and the ambitions of this group of people and wolves may not be credible. Especially if they are used to confront the little Tatar princes, most of them will be perfunctory to the imperial court, and it may also be some means used by the steppe people to paralyze the Ming Dynasty."

Zhang Zhou didn't want to unite with the small tribes of the grassland.

It's not necessary.

The Ming Dynasty's armed forces have begun to gradually reach its peak, if this group of small tribes is now relied on to fight against Batu Munk, it will give these small tribes a chance to develop, after all, the Ming Dynasty wants to rein in them to give benefits, even if they don't give firearms, at least trade will be opened.

This group of small tribes took advantage of a situation to bargain with the Ming Dynasty, saying that they would confront Batu Munk, but in fact, with their ability, how could they be able to challenge Batu Munk's military prestige?

When the Ming Dynasty really reaches the time to level the grassland in the future, there is a good chance that this group of small tribes will still join Batu Munk's camp.

Zhu Youzhu said, "Bingkuan is saying that there is no need to ...... Raising tigers?"

"Yes." Zhang Zhou nodded.

Li Rong next to him said: "But in this situation, the border army will no longer send troops in a short period of time, why not instigate civil strife in the grassland? Cai Guogong, I'm not questioning you, it's just that this doesn't seem to be in line with the art of war."

Whether it is the ruler or the generals below, the Ming seems to be more superstitious about the so-called art of war, especially the art of war left by the ancient gods of war.

The so-called art of war basically follows the route of "trickery", that is, using people's hearts and minds to maximize the advantage over one's own side.

But Zhang Zhou's thinking, the art of war or anything is not important at all, or just an auxiliary role, the most important thing is to be stronger, is to rely on the crushing of the weapons of the times to complete the conquest of the grassland, otherwise use the art of war and trickery to win, I am afraid that the forces on the grassland will still be unconvinced, and will still resurge.

Zhu Youzhu said: "That Bingkuan, when the little Tatar prince is weak, we really don't do something? This battle of Ningxia seems to have been won, but the Tatars have basically retreated, and I am still very worried."

Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, as far as the ministers see, you might as well use the border towns of Datong to send troops outward, in the name of patrolling, carry out raids, drive the Tatar tribes to the north, and occupy the fertile pastures near the Ming frontier as much as possible, so as to weaken the strength of the grassland."

"That's right. It's good."

What Zhu Youzhu probably wants is to show his military prestige and pave the way for the future of the flat grassland.

It's really a day without fighting, and being an emperor is uncomfortable.

In the past, it was forced to fight, but now it is even more necessary to take the initiative.

Zhang Zhou said: "Your Majesty, this battle should not be expanded, it should be stopped in moderation, but someone must also coordinate and dispatch."

"Just let Qin Hong." Zhu Youzhu said, "He has asked me to resign many times, and I want to use him well again before he retreats, so as not to make people think that I don't trust him enough!"