Zhao Lanjiang didn't expect that Xue Huai would say such a rebellious thing in front of him, and he was stunned for a while, and he didn't know how to answer.

This kind of topic is related to royal privacy, does he know his identity? After thinking about it, in the past 20 years, he has been in a high position, becoming Zhu Liye's most trusted courtier, and he has also been named a prince with a different surname, and even Yuwen Tianlu has never enjoyed such an honor. His loyalty was naturally recognized by Zhu Liye, otherwise the emperor would not have given him the command of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in northern Xinjiang.

Could it be that he guessed his background?

The pressure on Zhao Lanjiang at this moment was greater than the dozen or so sword guards he encountered yesterday. If you don't answer a little, I don't know if it's him, his wife and children, and hundreds of thousands of people in Hidden Yang City, will fall into a place of no return. This is no longer a personal grudge between him and Zhu Liye.

After Xue Huai said this, his eyes were fixed on Zhao Lanjiang, as if he wanted to see something from his face.

Zhao Lanjiang took a deep breath, pretended to be calm, and said carefully, "Your Majesty's body is like a dragon and tiger, and there are still thousands of generations, how dare you say that you are old?"

Xue Huai looked at him for another moment and said, "Your Majesty's body is not old, but his heart is old. ”

Zhao Lanjiang had already made up his mind, and said respectfully: "As a courtier, Zhao Lanjiang does not dare to talk about the king. ”

Xue Huai laughed and patted him on the shoulder, "It's almost time, let's go out." ”

The two walked out of Xue Huai's office one after the other.

Outside the door, three drums were heard.

The celebration began.

A eunuch shouted outside the door, "Your Majesty has a decree, Xuanwen and military officials and Fanbang envoys enter the court to celebrate their birthdays." ”

There was a boom.

Sixty cannon shots.

Heaven and earth resonate.

Zhao Lanjiang came to the square with all the courtiers, Wendong, Wuxi, the officials of the fourth grade or more in the entire capital, the Northern Zhou, the Western Chu, the Southern Zhao, the Dongyi and other foreign envoys followed, under the guidance of the celebrant officer, the three kneeling and nine bowing salutes, the mountain shouted long live, and entered the Taihe Hall in order.

Zhu Liye, the monarch of the Ming Dynasty, wore a dragon robe and a dragon crown on his head, standing tall and looking down on the ministers.

Civil and military officials, according to the cabinet, six departments, three divisions, etc., once again to the emperor to bow to the salute, these red tape, over and over again tireless, Zhao Lanjiang followed behind the military department, secretly looking at Zhu Liye's expression, his reply is also quite meaningful, if it is an ordinary hundred officials, he does not say a word, slightly bowed, if he meets a serious courtier, he will open his mouth to let the other party be free of courtesy, and even greet the official's parents or recent situation, although it is only one or two sentences, but those officials are flattered. This kind of intimacy has a different way, which inevitably makes hundreds of officials ponder for a while.

This is probably the so-called Imperial Technique.

Zhao Lanjiang thought to himself.

When the luggage of the hundreds of officials in the court was completed, the envoys of various countries came forward to congratulate their birthdays, and brought rich gifts and greetings from their kings. Today, the territory of the Ming Dynasty is vast, and in recent years, it has defeated the Western Chu and Northern Zhou coalition armies, and Xue Huai, the king of Dingbei, has also advanced the army to Shenxian Gou, which is invincible on this continent, enough to deter all states. Therefore, when all the states came to enter the table, they were all sycophants, and Zhao Lanjiang was drowsy when he heard it.

In the process, there were hiccups that aroused the interest of the courtiers.

Among the Fanbangs who came to the audience, there were two small countries, one called Zixu and the other Wuyou. The two countries share a border

Generations do not agree. Zixu country is rich in sacred cows, it is said that the milk produced is delicious, and Wuyou country has a fruit tree, as a result, Zixu country sacred cow ran to Wuyou country, ate the fruit of Wuyou country, Wu Youguo detained the sacred cow, the two countries made trouble to the Jinluan Palace, begging Zhu Liye to uphold justice.

Zhu Liye was already a little tired, but when he heard this, he was interested and wanted to judge the case for them.

The envoy of Zixu Kingdom said, "Our sacred cow, this is the only one, it is worth ten thousand gold, but if you eat their fruit, you will be seized by the Wuyou Kingdom, I want to dedicate it to the respected Majesty, please Your Majesty to uphold justice." ”

Zhu Liye said, "This is the wrong thing about the country." ”

The envoy of Wuyouguo said, "Our fruit blooms in five hundred years, bears fruit in five hundred years, bears only one fruit, eats immortality, this fruit was originally for His Majesty's birthday, but now it can only send three pairs of parrots, this crime, Zixu country can not escape." ”

Zhu Liye said again, "This is what's wrong with Zixuguo." ”

The two envoys refused to give in to each other and quarreled in the main hall.

Zhu Liye stood up, clasped his left and right hands horizontally across his chest, kept opening and closing, and said, "Don't argue, no one knows the immortal fruit better than me, and no one understands the sacred cow better than me. ”

The two envoys still had to argue, and Zhu Liye said, "You are really bad messengers, the next one." ”

When the two chattered, they were dragged out by Jin Wuwei and thrown out of the palace directly.

The last to write and present the table was the Northern Zhou envoy group headed by Tuoba Lanruo, due to the problem of Shenxian Gou, they had come to the capital two months ago, and after two months of playing with the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War, they finally reached an agreement. The Northern Zhou Dynasty was a vassal to the Ming Dynasty, and the Emperor of the Northern Zhou Dynasty sent a letter to the table, and recognized Zhu Liye as his father-in-law, and in return, Zhu Liye rewarded the fairy ditch to the Northern Zhou.

The two sides agreed to open up border trade, pay tribute every year in the Northern Anniversary, and be a vassal in the year, and the Ming Dynasty exempted the Northern Zhou War indemnity in the form of New Year's coins. The Ming Empire had a reputation, and the Northern Zhou Dynasty obtained the territory, which can be said to be a foolish account.

However, for Tuoba Lanruo, her purpose was achieved.

Now her student, the little emperor of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, has become the godson of the Ming Emperor, which is equivalent to having the official recognition of the Ming court, he will be eighteen years old soon, and when the time comes, if the regent does not hand over power, he can justifiably ask for assistance from the Ming Dynasty, with the current strength of the Ming Dynasty, it is easy to deal with the regent Tuoba Climbing. The little emperor is young, as long as he takes advantage of the opportunity of the opening of the market, he has been working hard for one or two decades, and when the Northern Zhou Dynasty rises strongly, and the Ming Emperor is aging, they can return to Phoenix Ridge. As for temporary personal disgrace, it is nothing at all.

When the ceremony in the Taihe Hall is completed, it is already a moment.

Zhu Liye, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, wanted to hold a banquet for hundreds of officials on the second floor of Wanshou Palace, banquet the ministers, appreciate the strange stones of Taihu Lake, and accept the worship of the people.

Of course, everyone knows in their hearts that the most important thing is in the end, and that is to deal with the traitor Li Chuntie.

Zhu Liye was in a good mood, and everyone followed him to the Wanshou Palace and took their seats. The banquet was very magnificent, and there were three rows on the upper floor of Wanshou Palace, and Zhao Lanjiang followed behind Xue Huai, but he couldn't find his seat, at this time, Zhu Liye said, "Zhao Aiqing, sit next to me." ”

As soon as these words came out, the Manchu Dynasty was shocked by both civil and military forces.

Under the emperor's main seat, there are two seats on the left and right, and the seats are the most in the banquet

For the honorable. In the past, these two seats were occupied by Xue Huai and Yuwen Tianlu respectively, and Li Chuntie of Dengwen Academy, as the emperor's personal minister, stood behind him, and now, Zhu Liye's most favored governor, the most trusted dean, who was willing to hand over his back to him, has become history, and everyone is still speculating which minister the vacant seat will be given to.

When everyone thought that this seat would be given to Lu Guogong, who had recently turned red and purple, His Majesty gave him to Zhao Lanjiang.

For a time, some people were envious, some were amazed, and some were dissatisfied.

Envy, he has been favored by His Majesty at such a young age, and his future is limitless, this reckless Golden Sword King will definitely become the future star of the Ming Empire.

Amazed, His Majesty the Emperor showed extraordinary respect for this Hidden Sun King, who had only seen two sides, which was not quite in line with His Majesty's usual suspicious style.

As for the dissatisfied, they should be Lu Guogong's party. Regarding the rise of Zhao Lanjiang, as an auxiliary minister of the cabinet, not only did he not tolerate people, but regarded him as a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh, and secretly regarded him as the number one rival in the future.

Of course, Zhao Lanjiang will not pay attention to these, let alone pay attention to them.

He was now sitting on pins and needles, and he had no time to care about the reactions of others, so he knelt on the ground, "The minister is immoral and incompetent, and he does not dare to sit with His Majesty." ”

Zhu Liye smiled, "Today is my family banquet, only about relatives, regardless of monarchs and ministers. ”

This sentence is quite profound.

Xue Huai sat upright, his eyes slightly closed, and his eyes closed.

Zhao Lanjiang said a few more words, after all, he didn't dare to disobey the king's order, bowed down to Zhu Liye, and was about to sit down, Zhu Liye suddenly said, "You are an important minister in my Ming army, and the lord of a city, don't be too restrained, stand up straight!"

When Zhao Lanjiang heard this, he had to straighten his waist and look at him with eye level. He was originally burly, and under this station, he naturally had the demeanor of a general, crawling on the battlefield, and after the baptism of the rivers and lakes, this kind of killing meaning is different from the majesty of hundreds of officials who have been in the top position for a long time.

Zhu Liye looked at the hundred officials, "What do you think, how is General Zhao?"

Seeing that Zhao Lanjiang was so favored, a courtier wanted to show it, and said, "General Zhao walks like a leopard, has the demeanor of a general, and has generals and other characters to guard the country for the Ming Dynasty, which is the blessing of my Ming Dynasty and the blessing of His Majesty!"

Zhu Liye said, "Very good, give wine." ”

A eunuch stepped forward and poured him a glass of imperial wine, and the minister kowtowed to thank him, picked up the wine glass and drank it all, thinking that this sycophant was a good deal!

Zhu Liye looked at the others again.

With a precedent, the rest of the courtiers didn't understand the intentions, and they praised Zhao Lanjiang one after another, and praised Zhao Lanjiang. Zhu Liye listened silently, and did not say anything, no matter whether he said good or bad, he would enjoy a glass of imperial wine.

However, Lu Guogong's face was displeased, his face was elongated, and he refused to speak.

Xue Huai still closed his eyes and was silent.

These words made Zhao Lanjiang feel bad.

Where is this praising him, this is clearly a killing.

After a while, Zhu Liye stood up, descended the steps, and came to Zhao Lanjiang's side, he looked around, and asked the hundred officials, "Do you think that General Zhao and I are like or not?"

The originally noisy feast instantly became silent.