The windows of the private room were open.

There are small snowflakes floating outside, and the winter in Nanjing is rainy and cold, and there are not many opportunities for snow every year.

Xia Yuanji looked at Zheng He, who was taking off his black robe, and said with a smile: "I heard that Sanbao is about to travel far away, and even this Jinling City is a flying snow farewell!"

Zheng He smiled slightly, but did not answer.

For a moment, he couldn't tell the deep meaning behind Xia Yuanji's words, did he imply that his return was not actually welcomed in the capital, and he had been looking forward to him leaving for a long time?

Xia Yuanji sat down with a faint smile on his face, Zheng He's feeling was right, there was indeed such a meaning in his words.

He looked at the young man in civilian clothes in his thirties with some vicissitudes on his face and tanned skin, and secretly sighed in his heart, it seems that he has also suffered a lot of hardships and hardships in the past two years of sea life.

For Zheng He, Xia Yuanji is actually not disgusted, on the contrary, he has some appreciation.

It is said that Zheng He's surname was Ma, and he was a prisoner of war captured by the Ming army when he entered Yunnan, and was used as a slave, and later received the gift of purification and became an attendant in the palace of Zhu Di, the king of Yan.

With such a background and such a situation, this person is diligent and studious, and he is smart and clever, which is very much loved by Zhu Di.

Even in addition to some ink in his chest, he also read military books, rumored that later in the Battle of Jingjing, at the critical moment, he also calmly commanded the army to fight, and made military achievements, but because of his special identity, it has not been seen in any records, but from Zhu Di ascended the throne after giving the surname "Zheng", and it seems that he has set up this military feat.

Not to mention the distance, just the fact that he can lead a team of more than 10,000 people and return safely with the fleet for two years is enough to be admirable.

However, in private, Xia Yuanji and him are not familiar with each other.

This is not because on some issues, he and Xia Yuanji hold different political views.

Not only Xia Yuanji, but also many important ministers in the court and the central government all looked away from these eunuch-born figures like Zheng He, who were rewarded by the emperor's favor and had no match for a while.

When Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang established the dynasty, he believed that the eunuch rebellion had existed since ancient times, and it was the way to take trouble in all dynasties and the foundation of the country, so he made a strict order that the palace servants should not be literate, in case they could use this to disrupt the government and bring disaster to the country and the people in the future.

Later, Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunwen was deeply influenced by his imperial grandfather, and set up all kinds of harsh punishment laws, and once the attendants were at fault, they would often suffer heavy punishments, ranging from whipping to canes, and even severed limbs, which was unspeakably miserable.

Therefore, the eunuchs in the palace at that time were all worried, and they were full of resentment against Emperor Jianwen.

However, Zhu Di, the king of Yan, took a fancy to this and secretly made friends with them, so that when it came to the later Battle of Jingyan, the palace attendants passed the military information and various news of Emperor Jianwen's side to Zhu Di like snowflakes, which made great contributions to Zhu Di's later successful breakthrough of Nanjing and victory.

Since there is merit, it needs to be rewarded.

So after Zhu Di ascended the throne, these eunuchs who were originally persecuted were rewarded heavily, and characters like Zheng He, as well as Ma Jing, who led the army to Gansu Province, gradually appeared in the center of the political arena from the obscure backstage.

However, for the more traditional civil servants such as Xia Yuanji, as well as those nobles of the noble clan who pretend to be high-minded, these people are just eunuchs after all

, the influence of Emperor Taizu's teachings and the memory of the calamity of eunuchs in the past dynasties made them unconsciously keep a distance from these people.

So now Xia Yuanji actually has some doubts in his heart, he and Zheng He have no personal relationship, let alone friendship, Zheng He has obviously been ordered to leave Beijing, but secretly sent someone to meet him here, what is it for?

It can't be a resignation for him, right?

You must know that today's emperor especially hates forming parties for personal gain, and for the important ministers of the court, especially Zheng He, who is from the internal servants who command the army outside, the private exchanges are still extremely sensitive, and the spies under the Beijing Horsemen such as Jinyiwei are also extremely strict in the monitoring of the capital.

They all take a great risk in such a private meeting.

And what surprised Xia Yuanji the most was why Zheng He chose this restaurant to meet at this restaurant?

The owner of this restaurant is a distant relative of Xia Yuanji, and the capital to open the restaurant is also funded by Xia Yuanji.

The reason why I chose to be in such a secluded place was not to make money, but to be able to avoid people's eyes and ears in the capital, and to have such a place to have a good conversation with those colleagues who have close personal relations and have the same political views, and relieve the blockages in my heart.

This is not unusual, like the old fox of Jianyi also opened a teahouse for the same purpose, and most of the important ministers of the court have such a place outside.

However, most of such locations are secret, and only a few people in a very small circle know about it, just like the relationship between the owner of this restaurant and himself, outsiders have no way of knowing.

It's just that he has no friendship with Zheng He, and he hasn't had any contact before, not to mention that he has led the fleet to the ocean in the past two years, how did he know that he had such a place?

Could it be that he just took a fancy to the secluded location of this restaurant, and that the choice of this place was purely a coincidence? Xia Yuanji would not believe it.

In his heart, he was a little more vigilant about the young Zheng He in front of him, although this person was not in the capital, he was so clear about the big and small things in the capital, it seemed that he should not be underestimated!

Zheng He took off his burqa and sat down across the table.

Looking up at Xia Yuanji, who was full of suspicion, he could clearly feel a sense of vigilance in the other party's eyes.

He unfolded a warm smile, wanting to resolve the embarrassment of being a little nervous, first picked up the chopsticks and looked at the delicacies on the table in front of him, and exclaimed: "It's really been a long time since I had the opportunity to taste the taste of the capital, and I really feel a little nostalgic." ”

Xia Yuanji snorted slightly: "Lord Zheng is busy making contributions overseas, so naturally there are fewer opportunities. When I can return to the capital to live for a long time, I'm afraid that these flavors will not be rare. ”

Although his tone was very soft, he called Zheng He "Lord Zheng", which obviously had a stiff feeling of drawing a clear line.

Zheng He smiled disapprehantly, he didn't understand the somewhat inexplicable hostility of these pretentious ministers in front of him towards people like them.

But he couldn't help but come to see Xia Yuanji, even if he had to suffer from the other party's cold words like this, even if he had to risk being suspicious when the emperor learned about it.

It's all because of one thing, money!

Zheng He's fleet returned from the ocean and was resting and replenishing at the moment.

The cost of a single large and small warship in his fleet was as high as six or seven thousand taels, and now the fleet needed to be repaired, and the cost was self

It's not a lot. Coupled with the rotation training of personnel and the replenishment of supplies, all of these do not cost a lot of money.

He listed all these needs one by one in the memorabilia and presented them to the emperor, and the emperor also allowed them to play, but the expenditure of these money and wealth still had to fall on one department in the end, that is, the household department.

The household department is in charge of the world's money and grain, and the treasury revenue and expenditure are equivalent to the money bag of the imperial court, and the person who holds this money bag tightly in his hand is the one in front of him, Xia Yuanji, the head of the household department!

It just so happened that this Xia Yuanji was an extremely frugal person, and with such a large sum of silver, I was afraid that he would die of distress. It just so happened again...... Zheng He happened to know that Xia Yuanji was a person who was resolutely opposed to the ocean plan.

The emperor sent a fleet to sail away, this matter was originally divided in the court, and there were not a few people who held opposing opinions, but because of Zhu Di's strength and insistence, these opposing voices were suppressed.

Among these voices, I am afraid that Xia Yuanji is the most resolute one.

But knowing that his arms can't twist his thighs, the emperor's attitude is so resolute that no one dares to blatantly fight with the emperor, but people like Xia Yuanji, who have been immersed in officialdom for many years, obviously can't do it, secretly make a stumbling block, play a little trick or something, or are familiar with the road and come easily.

No, it has been more than ten days since the emperor approved this payment, but there is still no movement on the side of the household department, you know, there are tens of thousands of people in the fleet and the migrant workers who are ready to repair and replenish the local collection, but they are still waiting for this money on the beach!

As soon as the money is not in place, they will not be able to do anything, but this large number of people will spend a lot of money on food and clothing every day! More importantly, every day of delay will undoubtedly have to postpone the date of the second voyage to the sea, and such a delay is absolutely unacceptable to the emperor.

Zheng He knows the emperor's temperament too well, so he doesn't care what kind of difficulties and reasons you have, he only cares about the result in everything.

As long as the result is not good, it must be your fault, isn't it just to use you as a person to solve the difficulties encountered in the process?

Seeing this situation, Zheng He had no other way but to take the risk of meeting Xia Yuanji privately before leaving Beijing, hoping to persuade him and change his mind.

Why don't you choose to go to the household yamen to talk to him directly?

Because in that kind of place that is too formal, a person like Xia Yuanji who is so familiar with the rules of officialdom is very likely to shirk being too busy and not seeing, and just find a small official to deal with you, in fact, no problem can be solved.

Even if you meet, talk a few words about the scene in the officialdom, say haha, and ask you to go back and wait for news, you can't do anything at all.

It's better to meet privately in such a place, where all the words come out of my mouth and into your ears, and no one else can speak freely and really communicate.

As for why he chose this restaurant, it was precisely because he knew that this restaurant was where Xia Yuanji usually met privately with some close friends.

This is somewhat of a reminder, don't think that Zheng He has not been in the capital court in the past two years, so he doesn't know anything about the big and small things that happened here, some things, even if he is overseas, he knows more than you think.

Judging from the change in Xia Yuanji's face just now, it was obvious that he had understood this.

Very good.

Zheng He silently looked at the Lord Hubu Shangshu in front of him, pondering how he should speak.