Chapter 631: The Son of Heaven Guards the Country, and the King Dies

Since Taizu divided the feudal kings, although the feudal domains were not allowed to leave the fiefdom without permission, they could always go to Beijing for a pilgrimage once in three or five years, but the number of times the feudal lords went to Beijing gradually decreased with time. Since Zhu Di made the capital in Beijing, the only vassal king who stayed in Beijing was the king of Zhou - even this one was not because he was ordered to make a pilgrimage, but because he was stabbed in the back.

The fall of favor from the king of Han is already known to the world, this prince has not been allowed to make a pilgrimage for several years, and can only nest in the fiefdom, this time it is finally easy to ask the prince, and the third son of Jiyang King Zhu Zhanyao was sent to the Mid-Autumn Festival in Beijing. The day before Zhu Zhan entered Beijing, Wan Shijie and others left Beijing to send an envoy to Wara, but compared to the desertion over there, the team that greeted them at Tongzhou Wharf on this day was quite magnificent. The young Zhu Zhanyan is not like his father and his brother who imprisoned Xinei, but he is quite shy and shy.

Because the emperor is now ill and has not recovered, this time he came to Beijing and was the prince Zhu Gaochi pleaded for him, so the Ministry of Rites agreed that Zhu Zhan Yan would enter the palace from Dong'an Gate, first go to the Qianqing Palace to pay respects, and then go to the East Palace to visit, and this mighty group of people entered the city from Chongwen Gate first. For many years, no vassal king has entered the Hajj, and Zhu Zhanyi is the eldest among the seven sons of the Han King, so Jinyiwei naturally put the entire Chongwenmen Street under martial law, until people enter the palace, and then withdraw the guards along the way.

The late Yizhuang Shizi is deeply hidden, the previous King Shouguang was a straw bag, and this King of Jiyang is only thirteen years old, that kind of cowering appearance is not like Tianhuang nobles at all, and it is really different from the nine sons of Longsheng!

When he returned home at noon, thinking of the golden branch and jade leaf he had just seen, Yuan Fang couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and then thought about the news sent by Zhang Yue. Naturally, he kept staring at Le'an, but because it was where the Han Wangfu was located, the people up and down were carefully screened by the palace guards like a sieve, and there were almost no spies left in Jinyiwei, so even if a lot of newspapers had already accumulated in his hand, he didn't take action easily.

Emperor Hengzhi has been completely disappointed in the King of Han, he has endured it again and again, and now even if he reports it again, it will only attract the anger of the Son of Heaven, and it has no substantive effect. Besides, the emperor's illness made him even more suspicious of the crown prince, and if his report was mistaken for something unclear between him and the prince, it would not be worth it. Moreover, instead of wasting it, it is better to calculate the timing of the shot, and let the evidence in hand become the last straw that crushed the King of Han. Moreover, if the news sent by Zhang Yue is verified, then find an opportunity to send a letter to the White Lotus Sect leader, and there will be a mess on Le'an's side, and there will naturally be a chance to take advantage of it!

"Ah Qi!"

Hu Qi has been pretending to be a servant of the Yuan Mansion to follow Yuan Fang recently, and understands that this Jinyi Guard commander is already preparing for the back road. At this time, he stepped forward when he heard the sound, compared with Zhang Yue's side, he was impressively bearded at this time, and he looked very majestic and mighty: "What do you command?" ”

"I have one thing to tell you, and that is the letter you brought back yesterday." Yuan Fang saw that Hu Qi's face did not change at all, and knew that Zhang Yue had not mentioned the above content to him at all, so he sighed, "Zhang Yue said in the letter, if I am not in his position, even if you are an underground spy who can control Jinyiwei, it may not last long." Now that he has been ordered to reorganize the Ministry of War, he has just had such an opportunity. If you are willing, you might as well take care of it. When the time comes, he will be able to justifiably go to the emperor and ask for a origin for the four of you, which is better than being so unclear now. ”

Although it was cultivated by Yuan Fang as the reserve backbone of the Jinyi Guard in the past, it was not easy to enter the Jinyi Guard at will, and there was Dongchang watching from above, so Hu Qi gave up that idea. Therefore, when he heard Yuan Fang's words at first glance, he only felt incredulous, and after thinking of something else for a while, he suppressed the ecstasy.

"My lord, the young master is so kind, I am naturally willing. But if we're gone, you're ......."

"It's not that the four of you want to transfer all together, there is always a priority, besides, I still have someone available here, and I called you back at the beginning, just to familiarize you with those affairs and master some more people in your hands. Now that Zhang Yue has come up with such a good idea, it is just right to settle you. Again...... You've worked hard all these years. ”

Yuan Fang finally changed the second half of his words, and he himself knew that it was difficult to start and finish well in the Jinyiwei industry, but since he had entered this industry, he had already let go. As long as the crown prince ascends the throne, for the sake of being cautious as the commander of the brocade guard, he can at least be a comfortable Tian Sheweng.

"Go back and report to your three brothers, and leave the matter at hand in mind for the time being. By the way, you will release the carrier pigeon of the summons later, and let Lin Sha take over the affairs of Le'an. If that Doctor Feng really fell into the hands of King Han, then he had to figure out what he wanted to do. In addition, you have made people keep an eye on King Jiyang, people can't look good, the children of this emperor's family are all scheming people. ”

Since the founding of the country, the north has always been a big problem for the Ming court, so all the tribal leaders who come back from the north have always been treated well, and the general Huo Zhen under Zhu Di in the past is really like this. Almost all the surrendered tribes were scattered along the Great Wall, and if other Mongol tribes attacked, they could resist one or two, and if they couldn't resist, they would have reinforcements from the guards, which was always considered a great good governance. And because of this depth, it is not difficult for the Mongols to gain a foothold in the steppe from here, so almost all the spies in the north of the Ministry of War are Mongols, and the scattered smugglers are afraid of the punishment of the imperial court, but they rarely report to the government if they have any income.

There are advantages and disadvantages to spies using the Mongols, that is, a lot of information is often contradictory, and credibility almost depends on luck. Therefore, since Zhang Yue got Zhu Di's approval, he selected a hundred innocent but clever men from the imperial horse guards and guards, and after a brief training, he started the idea of Jinyi Guard.

In his opinion, there is no profit and it is not early, and now the Mongols are most concerned about the mutual market, so although it is extremely risky for private traders to go out of the fortress, there are still tribes willing to provide shelter. Naturally, it is the safest way to obtain information through this channel, and as for the required funds, it can be completely earned back through the smuggled goods, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone. In addition, he remembered that Hu Qi and the others had never crossed the clear road so far, so he thought about letting these masters of the secret front manage this business. It's just that his recital was handed over through the General Administration Department three days ago, but there was no response for a long time.

In the afternoon of this day, a decree suddenly came from the palace to the military department - the guards on the border were on guard; A total of 20,000 elite guards from Jizhou, Baoding, Zhending, and Tianjin Sanwei went to Beijing in early August to prepare for their subordinates. Since the requisition and other matters were all in the hands of the Ministry of Staff, although he was suspicious, he could only prepare for the requisition and issuance of official documents and troop transfer letters together with his colleagues who were also uneasy. However, he had only just drafted two official documents when a soapy voice came from outside.

"Lord Xiao Zhang, Gonggong Hai of the Imperial Horse Supervisor in the palace is here, saying that the emperor has summoned you to the Qianqing Palace."

This shouting immediately caused a commotion in the quiet room. Although we all know that the last time Zhang Yue was on night alone, he met the emperor who paid a private visit to Weifu, but this can still be attributed to a coincidence, but now this summoning cannot be a coincidence. Everyone, including Lang Zhong and Tang Yong, thought that Zhang Yue had been wandering around the military department for the past two or three years, and when he packed up and went out, they immediately exchanged glances.

Hai Shou, who was dressed in a bright Jiangya sea water red robe, saw Zhang Yue coming, and greeted him with a smile. Although he just came to pass the decree to Zhang Yue, he didn't forget to go to the lobby first to see Zhao Qian and Li Qing, and after seeing each other at this time, he heard Zhang Yue say that he was going to the lobby to tell the two hall officials, he sighed in his heart that this person was as good as himself, and he nodded without saying a word. When the people came back, they went out and got on the horse together, and he couldn't help but think of what the emperor said to Zhu Gaochi when he was in the Qianqing Palace just now.

"I have been grinding him on the top of the five grades for three years, just so that you can use it in the future!"

Although he likes money most much, Haishou also understands that he has no money if he has no power these days, if he is just a low-level miscellaneous eunuch, then it is impossible to send several envoys to North Korea, let alone let the once high-ranking lord send him so many goods, let alone live comfortably in Beijing. Therefore, on the way to the palace from the noon gate, he had to be close to Zhang Yuetao, and by the way, he also revealed the emperor's intention to summon him to the palace. Finally, he whispered another reminder.

"The emperor is in a great better mood today, and he is in a very good mood, and Lord Xiao Zhang can say anything he wants. There's only one, and you don't want to be like Natsuhara Yoshi. The emperor sent him two sets of winter clothes yesterday, but the people who came back didn't know what they reported, and the emperor's face was full of gloom for a night! ”

After receiving such an admonition, Zhang Yue was awe-inspiring in his heart. He had been to the Qianqing Palace many times, but each time the experience was very different, so all the way in, he paid a lot of attention to the attendants around him, and found that many of them were unfamiliar faces. In front of the big red and gold thread embroidered colorful cloud shenglong brocade curtain in front of the Dongnuan Pavilion, Hai Shou, who led the way, stopped his steps and personally opened the curtain, and raised his right hand to make a gesture. Seeing this scene, Zhang Yue bent down and crossed the threshold, and immediately smelled a smell of ambergris.

There was no trace of the emperor in the outer room of the Dongnuan Pavilion, only two eunuchs stood with their hands down. Seeing Zhang Yue coming in, they were completely silent. At this moment, a deep voice came from inside: "Zhang Yue, come inside!" ”

Although there are three rooms inside and outside the Dongnuan Pavilion, Zhang Yue has only been to the outside of Xuanchang before, and at this time, he heard Zhu Di's voice inside, and he hurriedly cleaned up his mind. Separated from the inside and outside was a thick layer of agarwood-colored curtains, and as soon as he entered the door, he saw a soft couch facing the door, Zhu Di was leaning there covered with a flower carpet, and his eyes were as sharp as ever.

"Yours Chen Zhen has seen it, no profit can not be early, even this kind of thing has to involve a good word, what should I say about you?" Zhu Di angrily threw the fold in his hand on the plum blossom table next to the soft couch, and seeing that Zhang Yue just smiled, he knew that this kid must not have taken this to heart, and couldn't help but sit up straight, "Since I promised you this matter in the first place, this matter will be handled by you." You said that you can be self-sufficient, and I will not pay a cent, look at how you clever woman can cook without rice! ”

Zhang Yue wanted such a name, and he was immediately overjoyed at this time, and hurriedly bowed down and said, "The minister must do his best." ”

"Although horses and cattle are produced on the grasslands, there is no tea, no salt, and few iron tools, and they have always counted on mutual markets, and now you can use this method to send people over, and it will indeed work. But one thing, you're not a businessman, you know? ”

The minister understands that this is only for information, not entirely for profit. Moreover, in order to prevent the smuggling businessmen from leaking information about the military situation, it is even more necessary to crack down on the smuggling market, so as to ensure protection. Seeing Zhu Di nodded, Zhang Yue carefully detailed the content that was not well written in the song, and said at the end, "In addition, the minister thinks that a group of people should be selected from Meng Yuan's surrender to be sent back, after all, this can also confuse the public, but occasionally you can get important news." After all, the caravan has to come step by step to find information. In addition, in order to be fast, in addition to fast horses, carrier pigeons can also be used to deliver messages......"

"You can just look at these things, and I will let the cabinet draw up the decree on the same day, and actually give you the title of Fang Langzhong, which is in the right name. But ......"

After a pause, Zhu Di stretched out his thumb and middle finger and pressed the temples next to his eyes, and then said without raising his head: "Now that the autumn is high and the horse is fat, since there is news that Arutai is going to commit a border, I must not guard against it, I am determined to lead the army to patrol the border, west to Wanquan, east to Daning." This time, not too many soldiers and horses were recruited, only 10,000 people from the Beijing camp were selected, plus 20,000 people from the prefectures and counties of Beizhili, a total of 30,000 people. If it does, it's just the right time to give them a head-on blow. When they arrive in Daning, these 40,000 military horses can also be used to rebuild the city wall of Daning. I know that you have a few powerful subordinates, take one with you, and you patrol the border with me. ”

Although Zhang Yue had already guessed when he first got the news in the Ministry of Justice, he was still surprised when he heard the word patrol at this time. Zhu Di is so sick that he has not recovered, why does he still want to leave Beijing? Even if you are really worried about the Tatars or the Warats attacking the border, you can adopt Yang Rongjin Youzi's idea to increase troops on all sides to take precautions, so how can you go in person?

"Since I moved the capital to Beijing, I want to suppress Meng Yuan and make them unable to move, even if it is not a northern expedition this time, it is enough to deter those scheming Xiaoxiao!" Zhu Di suddenly closed his five fingers at this time, and clenched his fists tightly, "I want to let those barbarians know that even if I am old, I am still a tiger that they can't touch, and they can never underestimate me!" ”

Seeing Zhu Di's eyes wide, revealing an indescribable determination and fanaticism, Zhang Yue suddenly closed his mouth. In the eyes of those scholars who follow the way of sages, it is natural for the Son of Heaven to rule the world by hanging his clothes, but where is it so easy to govern the world, not to mention that Zhu Di was originally a too assertive son of heaven, and the things that he recognized would never change.

The Son of Heaven guards the country, and the king dies. It's not just words.