King Zhou and Xia Xun both mistook Zhu Gaoxu, the king of Han, for Zhu Di, because Zhu Gaochu was a cool and cool father when he became an adult, and the prancing horse whip and heroic figure were also Zhu Di's usual performance when he was in the army, and at a quick glance, he naturally regarded him as the emperor, but Emperor Yongle did not ride a horse today, but sat quietly in the car.
He was dressed in a dark robe, with only a thin and faint moire gold thread embroidered on the cuffs of his robe, and nothing else decorated.
He reclined on a pillow and did nothing, just stared at the corner of the carriage with a tiredness that could not be concealed between his brows.
The battle of the northern conquest lasted for half a year, during which he always rushed to the front line, to dispatch troops, to charge into battle, to show the best posture in front of the soldiers, and when the war was over, he calmed down from the excitement of victory, and felt extremely tired mentally, after all, he was not a heroic young man in his early twenties.
This northern expedition achieved his strategic goal, and the war on the Western Front ended in danger, he was very happy, but the worries about the ups and downs of the national fortune were temporarily put down, and he was worried about his family again.
After the news of the victory was transmitted back to Beijing, he received a letter from the prince, who originally wanted to stay in Yanjing for a few more days, but after receiving the prince's letter, he had to set off immediately to rush back to Nanjing, and he did not get a good rest along the way.
The prince only said one thing in the letter: the queen mother's body has become more and more inappropriate recently, and her head has been suffering frequently.
This situation began at the beginning of spring, but at that time, the western front of the Ming Dynasty was full of war clouds, and the northern front was in full swing, and Empress Xu strictly told her son not to share the emperor's heart in this matter, so it was not until the news of Yongle's victory came that he dared to share the information of his mother's illness with his father.
After Zhu Di saw the letter, the joy of returning triumphantly was suddenly swept away, and he now just wanted to return to Nanjing as soon as possible and see his queen.
The car bumped slightly, Zhu Di sighed leisurely, and curled up back lazily, with a look of interest.
As an emperor, he is high, like a god in the hearts of his courtiers, so his every move must be paid special attention in front of people, and the courtiers must not lose their honor, and the king must not lose his honor.
It is only in the presence of his closest people, or when such a person is alone, that he can unguard his disguise and reveal his true self.
And now, the only person who can let him take off the emperor's mask and show himself in front of her defenselessly, Zhu Di is seriously ill, and Zhu Di knows very well that the queen's illness is very serious.
He has the most superb doctor in the world, and he has the most expensive medicine that can be supplied at any time as long as he wants to, but he has never been able to cure the queen's illness, and since then, he knows that the queen's illness is incurable, and he only hopes that God can let his favorite woman accompany him more The desire of the people is appealed to the officials, and the wishes of the officials are appealed to the emperor, and the emperor is a lonely man, he can only turn to the heavens.
The emperor is lonely, if this wife dies again, he will really become a lonely person, and the height is unbearable The car stopped suddenly, Zhu Di raised his head slightly, and heard his son Zhu Gaoxu say aloud in a full voice outside: "Father, His Royal Highness the King of Zhou, His Royal Highness the Prince of Zhou, and the Duke of Fuguo, welcome the holy driver" Zhu Di took a long breath, slowly stood up and rolled up the curtain, Zhu Di appeared, he stepped out of the car, wearing a dark gold striped civilian clothes, his hair was tied in a bun, and he was tied with a black forehead, standing there straight, like a big gun piercing the sky, with the blue sky above his head, and his body was extremely majestic.
King Zhou, Shizi, and Xia Xun leaned down at the same time Zhu Di walked out of the car with vigorous and powerful steps, helped King Zhou up first, and said with a smile: "Farewell in a hurry, more than half a year, the emperor's brother is as heroic as ever, I am very pleased."
He picked up the prince again, looked up and down, and said with a smile: "The good nephew is a little less young than at the beginning, and he is much more mature, you are the prince of the king, and you have to help your father and the king in everything."
When he walked to Xia Xun, who was bowing deeply in front of him, he didn't speak for a while, he stood in front of Xia Xun for a while, and then stretched out his arms, slowly picked Xia Xun up, and said deeply: "Wenxuan, it's darker, and I've lost some weight."
Xia Xun smiled and said: "Your Majesty, you have been fighting for half a year, and you have also become darker and thinner, please take care of the dragon's body."
Zhu Di patted his forearm and smiled slightly.
The two monarchs and ministers, one north and one west, each pacified one side and almost said goodbye, but after meeting, they only said this, and then looked at each other and smiled Zhu Di stayed in Kaifeng for a day, this is because King Zhou is the brother of his mother's compatriots, and he has the best relationship with each other.
But he was worried about the queen's illness, and he really couldn't delay.
Since the news of his Northern Expedition victory came back, the news of the queen's unwellness is no longer blocked, and the outside world already knows that the king of Zhou knows the relationship between the imperial brother and the queen, so he is not reluctant, the emperor said that he wanted to leave, and he did not dare to stay, but he received it in a hurry, and then sent the emperor out of Kaifeng City again.
On this day in Kaifeng, in addition to meeting Kaifeng Zhongwen and Wu, Xia Xun was also accompanied by him, and Zhu Di was with his fifth brother at other times to catch up with his fifth brother, and did not see anyone else, including Xia Xun, until the next time he went on the road, Zhu Di suddenly issued an order, announced Xia Xun, and asked him to ride with him.
Zhu Di rarely rides in a car, when he marched north, no matter whether it was wind or shine along the way, he was always dressed in military uniforms, riding a war horse, and his waist was straight, but on the way back, he relaxed a lot.
Although he rarely rode in a car, no one dared to cope with the emperor's imperial chariot, which was always built to the best specifications.
Although the road at this time was not as smooth as the road in later generations, there was rarely a bumpy feeling when sitting in this car.
This car is definitely built by a famous teacher, the workmanship of the parts, such as the wheel, the tip, the wheel, the hub, the rabbit and the mortise and tenon assembly of the whole vehicle without any flaws, the horse is a well-trained horse, and the hand is also a good style of one in a hundred, so the car runs steadily and fast.
Of course, unlike Timur's giant palace-like car, which needed to be pulled by 32 healthy oxen and even dragged by 64 strong oxen in difficult places, Zhu Di's imperial chariot was only a light car.
In order to travel long distances conveniently and dexterously, the emperor's chariot is not big, only a couch, a desk, four chairs, two cases, and there is no blanket on the floor, which is very simple.
Although Zhu Di is not as open-minded as his father, he is also thrifty and does not like extravagance.
Zhu Di reclined on the big pillow, and there was a Bashu bamboo cushion on the big yellow silk mattress, and listened to Xia Xun quietly.
Xia Xun sat on an official hat chair closest to him, holding a cup of tea in his hand, detailing his journey to the Western Regions.
After Zhu Di heard that Xia Xun was attacked in Hanhai, he suddenly frowned and said: "Eight hundred miles of Hanhai, if someone didn't know your destination and itinerary in advance, it would be difficult to find you so accurately, although not to mention, a team of thousands of people is still in the ice and snow, and it is impossible to have internal annihilation if you want to wait there in advance."
Xia Xun nodded: "The emperor is wise" Zhu Di sneered: "I said that there are many people in Xiliang who are willing to do his fine work, but I didn't expect that it would be so serious that I could hear such detailed information, this person must have a very high status in the army, can you find out something?"
Xia Xun said: "Yes, the minister found out some clues, but this clue is from Yu, the minister should talk about it first, otherwise the emperor will inevitably sound more strange." ” Zhu Di bowed his head and said: "Okay, you say" Xia Xun told the story of the adventure to break through after being surrounded by ambushes, from his exile in the desert, being constantly chased and killed, until the horse died of exhaustion, crossed the snow-capped mountains, caught a wild donkey, mistakenly entered Luo Bu Naoer, met the Hu merchant caravan, arrived at Beshin Bali, entered the Argus hotel with a false identity, and skillfully negotiated with the generals of the Timurid Empire.
Zhu Di gradually fell into a daze when he heard this, his eyes widened unconsciously, and even his breathing became short.
Although Xia Xun is right in front of him, indicating that he is still in danger in the end, but the step-by-step thrilling process, he is still scared to listen, his emotions with Xia Xun every step into the crisis, every step to solve the crisis and nervous, relaxed, and nervous Next, Xia Xun talked about how he became a prisoner, how to fight for life, first used the contradictions within the Timurid Empire to provoke the ambition of Hari Sultan, and then used Tang Sai'er's illusion to strengthen his confidence in rebellion, Zhu Di couldn't help but applaud when he heard this: "It's really difficult for you, In a desperate situation, you can still come up with such a solution.
This can be regarded as a mistake, if you didn't want to pretend to be a ghost and instigate civil strife in the Timurid Empire when you were ready to come back, it would have been difficult to do it in a hurry.
It is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice, let alone such a little girl. ” Xia Xun said: "Yes, after that, Hari Sultan was really determined to cooperate with the minister, but at that time he had angered Timur because of the immobility, Timur had decided to send the general Gaisuyaddin to receive the military power, and ordered Ha to return to Samarkand, if I want to cooperate with him, I must first keep his military power, but to keep his military power, unless Timur has passed away, this cooperation and its prerequisites, in fact, is one and two, two and one, therefore, the minister had to change his strategy and decided to assassinate Timur" Zhu Di exclaimed: "Assassinating Timur, how easy is this?"
Xia Xun said: "The minister also knows that it is not easy, but this deal is not profitable, why not do it, if the minister succeeds, the situation in the Western Regions will be solved without a fight, although it is wonderful, if it can't be successful, the minister will die, and he can disintegrate the enemy army all the way, in exchange for Hari Sultan to defect to the emperor, and greatly discourage Timur's spirit, why not?"
"Good" Zhu Di nodded, with a touched look in his eyes, he nodded a few times, suddenly reacted, stood up in shock, and said in a lost voice: "You really succeeded Timur's death?"
Xia Xun also stood up and said with a smile: "Yes, the minister succeeded."
Zhu Di looked at Xia Xun dumbfounded, as if looking at a monster, and after looking at it for a long time, he said impatiently: "Sit, sit down and say, you say quickly, you have to tell me everything that happened."
Xia Xun agreed, sat down according to his words, and how to get there with the help of Hari Sultan, if it was fate, Liu Yujue was valued by Guo Yixuan as a disciple, so that he got a special case of occasional alcohol ban in Timur's army, and then planned an assassination of Timur, and at the same time get rid of the idea of Hari Sultan Xia Xun said in detail, he was on the way to escape, he had carefully said the cause and effect of this matter, and when he turned around, Sehazhi must have said it to the emperor, but Sehazhi's clumsy appearance, Once the statement is unclear, I am afraid that I will have to speak by myself, so it is better to explain it first.
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Besides, Zhu Di was listening attentively, and it was impossible to be brief at this time.
Xia Xun told the whole assassination plan, and said that he went east by boat, taking advantage of the chaos in Timur's camp to escape calmly, Zhu Di couldn't help laughing, pointed at Xia Xun and said: "Okay, hahahaha, such a clever plan, seamless, unpredictable, Wen Xuan, such a method, only you can think of it" Zhu Di happily brushed his beard and said: "I won the world, the first Duke of the Six Kingdoms, Master Daoyan helped me a lot, I fought in the front, the prince guarded Yanjing, and the government affairs were thanks to the assistance of the master, although the master was a monk, he was actually the first meritorious hero among the civil officials."
Zhang Yu, Zhu Neng, Qiu Fu, that is the credit of a hundred battles and thousands of troops.
It is a pity to die early to increase his longevity, and he is the descendant of the king of Zhongshan, and I named him the prince of the country, and it is difficult for others to say anything.
It's only you, and many people who don't know the details still think that your merits are not good, and you can be crowned to save my life, and I am grateful for the picture, but I don't know that although you have not fought on the battlefield, your military exploits are really not inferior to the six major princes who led the troops.
Xia Xun smiled and said, "Your Majesty, it's better not to talk about this matter."
Zhu Di said "ah" and said angrily: "Yes, this matter is not suitable to be publicized, but this is it."
Xia Xun said softly: "The minister has never felt that he has any grievances.
Compared with those soldiers who fought a hundred battles on the battlefield and died for the country, the ministers are in a high position, the wives and concubines are beautiful, the heirs are blessed and the shadows, and they rest with the country.
Zhu Di looked at Xia Xun intently for a long time before he said slowly: "Okay, you are very good" After a moment of silence, Zhu Di said: "I didn't expect that the country of Timur would be so powerful.
If this battle starts, even if it wins, it will be a tragic victory, and the people will have to suffer a lot more, and it is a pity that they failed to fight with Timur Khan, who is invincible in the West, but such a result is the best for the country and the people.
Xia Xun said: "The emperor's mercy on the people is the blessing of the world" Zhu Di shook his head and said, "I also got the news on the way back and stayed in Yanjing for a while.
The operation in Annam, the preparation for the war on the western front, and the operation in the northern Xinjiang were all spent like flowing water, and there was only exit, not entry.
In order to supply such a huge army, the treasury of the world searched all over the world.
I saw the number of cashiers in the two capitals and the Tianxia treasury in Yanjing, the amount was so large that it was shocking, and this was still the Western Regions that had not started fighting."
Zhu Di flipped through a stack of recitals next to his pillow, found a copy, and said to Xia Xun: "Oh, military salaries, armor and equipment manufacturing, not to mention, just the transportation of grain and grass, you see: Shanxi, Shandong, Henan Sanbu Political Division, Zhili, Yingtian, Zhenjiang, Luzhou, Huai'an, Shuntian, Baoding, Shunde, Guangping, Zhending, Daimyo, Yongping, Hejian Thirteen Mansions, Chu, He, Xu Sanzhou have divisions, responsible for building cars and levying Ding Zhuang to save transportation.
During this period, 340,000 donkeys, 117,573 carts, 235,146 cart pullers, and 370,000 stone of grain were transported.
At that time, it was mainly in winter, because the roads were dangerous and the ground was cold, and many people died of frostbite or disease during the transportation of grain."
Zhu Di closed the fold and sighed: "But it's also winter, otherwise, if so many young and strong farmers are recruited, the national economy and people's livelihood will be greatly affected."
It is ridiculous that some officials and gentry ignore the sufferings of the people, blindly tout their military exploits, and please me, but there is a poem of the Tang people circulating among the people: Faith is bad for giving birth to men, but it is good for giving birth to girls.
Giving birth to a daughter still has to marry a neighbor, and giving birth to a boy is buried with a hundred grasses. ” Zhu Di smiled, shook his head and said: "Even if you marry a neighbor, the neighbor who is buried in the battlefield and a widow is not the same miserable."
Xia Xun said that Zhu Di was so happy, listening to him say this, it was obvious that Fang Cai's words were not random, and he did have some understanding, he couldn't help but be moved, and hurriedly stood up, and said happily: "The emperor can think like this, it is really a blessing for the world" This time, he had no flattery, it was really from the heart.
Zhu Di said: "So, you can surrender the army without a fight, retreat from the strong enemy of our Ming side, and successfully provoke their civil war, which is a great achievement."
Zhu Di frowned slightly, and said in a deep voice: "Although I am not a belligerent king, but I am a strong foreign captive, but I can't sit idly by, otherwise it will become a great disaster for the country, for a thousand years, when the war, it is still necessary to fight at the moment, Warat, Tatar can be temporarily balanced, if this situation of mutual restraint can be maintained, I will naturally rest the army, rest and recuperate the people's livelihood, if the tiger and wolf grow stronger, serve again, and covet my Central Plains, we still have to take the lead and prevent trouble before it happens."
Xia Xun nodded, of course he knew that sometimes the war was not waged with reckless force, but for long-term peace and stability, but this balance was really difficult to grasp, and if he was not careful, he crossed the line.
From this, he remembered the seal again, in his mind, once the seal fell into the hands of the Mongols, it would be endless troubles, and he was not a living immortal who could pinch and calculate, at this moment naturally did not think of the misfortune and fortune to rely on, the seal later played a great role, and became the key to stopping the Yongle Emperor again and again, after the conquest of the Varat Tatars, and fell into the gourd to get up and scoop, and finally became the key to the reckless army.
Next, he should talk about the journey from Hami to be escorted by King Hami all the way back to Xiliang, originally this section was just a rush in the minds of others, and it seemed to be lackluster, if he simply skipped a few words, but Xia Xun had a lot of things happening along the way, especially the whereabouts of the seal, but how to say this, it was quite difficult to think.
Although it is said that Song Sheng, the Marquis of Xining, has made outstanding achievements, and now he is the in-law of Emperor Yongle, Xia Xun knows that Zhu Di is by no means a master who abolishes the public for personal purposes or compensates for his merits.
Meritorious service is merit, passing is excessive, public is public, private is private, this is the most clear place for the emperor, if it were not so, Qiu Fu would have died on the battlefield, and Zhu Di would not have been cut off after his death, and his whole family would be sent to Hainan Island.
Xia Xun was hesitating how to speak, so as not to make Zhu Di angry with the Marquis of Xining, but Zhu Di's eyes suddenly became sharp, and he asked in a deep voice: "Wen Xuan, you haven't said it yet, who is the annihilation that leaked my military plane, caused you to live in a foreign land, and killed 3,000 soldiers?"
Xia Xun's thoughts were retracted, and he said to Zhu Di: "When the minister reached an agreement with Sultan Hari, he once told the minister the name and surname of this person."
"Hmm" "Thousands of households in brocade, Yu Jian" "It's the one you just said you met in the Western Regions."
"Not bad" Zhu Di said suspiciously: "Yu Jian, as a thousand households in brocade clothes, why did he do this?"
Xia Xun said: "The motive is not clear.
During the return journey of the minister, he immediately ordered to control Tuoba Mingde, and lock Yu Jian to be investigated, but " Xia Xun took the opportunity to talk about what happened in Suzhou on the return trip, Zhu Di never expected that so many things would happen on Xia Xun's return trip, and after hearing the death of Tokhtarbuhua, the disability of Agadorji, and the unknown whereabouts of Yin Xuan, he couldn't help frowning.
Xia Xun said: "The minister was in Xingyang, and he happened to meet Yu Jian, who escaped as a beggar, Yu Jian confessed to what he did, and he also knew that the crime was inescapable, and he had committed suicide, which was recorded in Xingyang Mansion. ” Zhu Di looked at Xia Xun for a long time, his eyes flickered faintly, he didn't know what to think, and after a long time, he slowly nodded and said: "This matter, after I return to Beijing, I will deal with it."
As for that seal, you don't have to be too nervous."
Zhu Di smiled coldly and said, "Benjamin is not forced to death by me, if this seal really falls into the hands of the Warat people, let them stir up any storm, I will not be afraid to fight against Warat again" Xia Xun hurriedly said: "The minister has found out that the seal bowl fell into the hands of a charlatan.
Come to think of it, this person only regards this seal as a beautiful jade, and there may not be a situation that His Majesty is worried about. ” Zhu Di said softly: "It's better to be like this" Xia Xun has already heard on his return trip that during Zhu Di's northern expedition, the crown prince supervised the country and guarded Nanjing, Ji Gang was Zhu Di's henchman and eyes and ears who stayed in Nanjing, Ji Gang was good at speculative drilling, and was more trusted by the emperor than before.
In this way, the personal contradiction between himself and Ji Gang was completely exposed to the emperor's knowledge, and once the emperor knew that the two were incompatible to such a point, it would be difficult for him to turn around and clean up Ji Gang, as long as the emperor thought that the two had long been at odds, he would have doubts about the purpose of what he had done, and his trust in the evidence he provided would be greatly reduced.
To deal with a strong opponent in the officialdom, if it reaches the point where the contradictions are to be put on the table and have a showdown in front of the supreme ruler, then either they will be killed if they do not fight This battle will be deployed after he returns to Beijing To be continued: