Everyone beat their horses and galloped, and in the evening, the majestic city wall of the ancient city of Jizhou had appeared in front of Zhu Youzhen's eyes.

When Zhu Youzhen was in school in his previous life, he only wanted to pass other subjects, but he had a special fondness for geography. He knew that Jizhou would be the future Jixian County of Tianjin, which was just an ordinary small county town. He couldn't figure out why Jizhou was so important in this era?

Sun Chengzong's words just answered his doubts: "Jizhou was called Yuyang in ancient times, and it has a history of more than 2,000 years since Zhou Zhao Gongzheng established the capital here. This place is the town of Jingfu, the left chokes the mountains and seas, the right controls the Yong, the back is connected to the ancient north, and it is more than 400 miles away from the east and west and the south. And Jizhou is the brunt of it, the pillow mountain with the river, the heavy pass and the resistance, the first is to respond, to cover the wings of the Jifu, Xiongjia he town.

"I border the northern frontier of the Ming Dynasty with Mengyuan, in order to defend against the invasion of the northern departments, from west to east, there are Gansu, Ningxia, Guyuan, Yansui, Shanxi, Datong, Xuanfu, Jizhou, Liaodong nine towns, Jizhou is one of them. Because of the fact that the four towns were particularly important in guarding the Beijing Division, the Governor of Xuanda and the Governor of Jiliao were added to take charge of the defense of the four towns. This Jiliao Governor's Mansion is also located in Jizhou. ”

As the two of them talked, they slowed down and walked slowly. At this time, the gate of Jizhou City was also opened, and the queue that received the soldiers and horses of King Qin into the city came out of the city and greeted them from afar. At the forefront were all local officials and garrison guards, led by Yan Mingtai, the new governor of Jiliao, and Tu Zhong, the eunuch of Jizhou.

Sun Chengzong greeted the officials one by one, but he didn't see Guan Ning, and asked in surprise: "Why don't you see Lord Jianjun?" ”

Yan Mingtai smiled and said, "Back to the words of the Governor, Father-in-law Guan has already set off for Shanhaiguan yesterday. ”

He was able to serve as the governor of Jiliao, and it was Sun Chengzong's strong sponsorship that played a role. Therefore, he worships Sun Chengzong like a god and answers all questions.

Sun Chengzong frowned slightly, thinking that this Guan Ning was quite positive, and hoped that he wouldn't add any trouble to himself! I also thought that this Yan Mingtai was known as a virtuous person, how could he become such a flattering appearance now!

Zhu Youzhen didn't know anyone, and others stayed away from him, only paying homage, and still hugging Sun Chengzong to ask for warmth. He was very bored, so he had to look at the walls of Jizhou.

At this time, an official about thirty years old, short in stature, with a dark complexion, and a wide nose and wide mouth stepped forward, first bowed to Zhu Youzhen, and then said, "Your Highness is observing the city wall of Jizhou?" ”

Zhu Youzhen saw that someone took the initiative to talk to him, but he was a little surprised, but he just said "um".

This person said: "The ancient Jizhou city wall is made of earth. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the city wall has been renovated repeatedly, and now it has been replaced with a brick and stone structure, and the defense capability has been greatly enhanced. Nowadays, the circumference of the city wall of Jizhou is nine miles and thirty steps, and the female wall is three feet and five feet high, and there are 2,000 and 40 battlements. There is Weiyuan Gate in the east, Pingjin Gate in the south, and Gongji Gate in the west. There are also four corner towers, and thirty-two are paved, and the moat is six feet deep and five feet wide. The real Jingdong no Xiong Sekiya! ”

At this time, Sun Chengzong happened to be surrounded by all the officials and walked here, after hearing this person's words, he glanced at him with appreciative eyes, and asked, "This lord has a great name, what is his current official position?" ”

The man hurriedly saluted Sun Chengzong and said, "Yuan Chonghuan, the head of the Ministry of Civilian Soldiers, has seen Lord Inspector!" ”

"Yuan Chonghuan?!" Zhu Youzhen shouted.

Although he lacks historical knowledge, he still hears Yuan Chonghuan's name like thunder. And his understanding of this controversial historical figure still comes from Mr. Jin Yong's "Blue Blood Sword".

Based on the history he knows, this Yuan Chonghuan will rise to the top in the near future, successively serving as the governor of Liaodong, the secretary of the military department, and the governor of Jiliao, and he is a very popular minister. He built the Guanning defense line, commanded the Guanning iron cavalry, and repeatedly defeated the Jin Jin army.

However, due to the fact that Huang Taiji bypassed the Shanhai Pass and arrived in Beijing, causing the "Jisi Change", Yuan Chonghuan was executed by Zhu Youzhen, who had been promoted to emperor, on the charge of "plotting treason and deceiving the monarch".

But at the moment, Yuan Chonghuan is still just a small head of the military department, and he has just been transferred from Shaowuzhi County, Fujian, and almost no one knows his name. Seeing Zhu Youzhen's shocked appearance, Yuan Chonghuan also asked in surprise: "Why, Your Highness has heard of the name of the humble position?" ”

Only then did Zhu Youzhen return to his normal state from shock, and smiled awkwardly: "Uh... I haven't heard of it, I can't remember it clearly..."

Sun Chengzong asked: "Director Yuan, you are not on an errand in the Yamen of the Ministry of War, what are you doing in Jizhou?" ”

Yuan Chonghuan said angrily: "Master Hui, when I was in Fujian, I was already quite concerned about the war in Liaodong. This time he went to Beijing to report on his work, just in time for the defeat of Guangning, and the people in Beijing were panicked, and some officials and wealthy families were afraid that the Beijing division would be attacked, so they planned to flee south. Although Chonghuan is dull, but Shi Junlu should be worried about the king, how can he be the person who is greedy for life and afraid of death! Later, he was appointed as the head of the military department, so he rode out of Beijing to inspect the border passes, and thought about finding a good way to break the capture for the imperial court. I didn't want to meet His Highness and the Overseer here. ”

Sun Chengzong was secretly surprised in his heart, thinking that as soon as the other officials heard about the war, they immediately hid far away and couldn't avoid it. There are even some high-ranking officials, the emperor has repeatedly ordered them to appoint, because of greed for life and fear of death, they would rather resist the decree and lose their official positions, and never dare to go to the front line. And although this Yuan Chonghuan is a soft-spoken official and has an ugly appearance, he dares to take the initiative to inspect the border pass, and this courage alone is quite rare.

Everyone greeted and entered the city, and Yan Mingtai first led Sun Chengzong and Zhu Youzhen to the Jiliao Governor's Mansion.

As soon as Sun Chengzongfu sat down, he asked, "Governor Yan, how is the defense situation in Jizhou now?" What happened to the Mongol tribes in the north? ”

Yan Mingtai said with a smile on his face: "Master Inspector, since he took office, Jizhou Town has been calm. Jibei is mountainous, the mountain roads are rugged, and it is difficult for horses to walk. The Mongol tribes were mainly cavalry, and they could gallop across the steppes and plains, but they were useless here. Humble and heavily guarded Zunhua, Qian'an and other border passes, Jizhou should be able to sit back and relax.

"As for the area outside the Guan, there are three main Mongolian departments in the north of Jizhou, which are the Duoyan Department, the Han Department and the Khalkha Department from south to north. These three forces are intertwined and contradictory, and often fight each other for pastures. Even if there is an occasional offense, it is not a problem. ”

Sun Chengzong asked dissatisfiedly: "What does it mean that 'even an occasional offense is not enough to cause trouble'?" If he violates the realm, how will Lord Yan respond? ”

"I think that the Mongolian tribes are nomadic herdsmen, living in pursuit of water and grass, and the reason why they will violate our borders is only to plunder property." Yan Mingtai held his short beard and said triumphantly, "The imperial court Chen has heavy troops at the border pass, but he still can't stop him from entering the Kou, why not?" Just because they are so hungry that they will be exterminated if they don't come to plunder! ”

Zhu Youzhen listened and listened, only to feel that this Yan Mingtai seemed to be making excuses for the Mongol invasion, and felt very unhappy. He thought to himself, if according to this logic, as long as you can't eat, you can rob others openly and shamelessly, isn't this the law of the jungle, whoever is more ferocious can eat other animals?

He was unhappy, and his face suddenly showed a look of disdain.

Sun Chengzong was also quite unimpressed, but his city was much deeper than Zhu Youzhen, and he just continued to listen quietly.

Yan Mingtai didn't realize it, and continued to shake his head and say: "I think that instead of wasting money and food and exhausting soldiers and hurting the people, the imperial court should replace it with Fu and give these tribes some benefits. These outsiders have a rough temperament, and they have nothing to think about. As long as I eat and drink enough, they won't bother me anymore. After all, this is much more cost-effective than the invasion of troops! ”

Sun Chengzong really couldn't listen to it, and it was not good to refute Yan Mingtai in person, so he hurriedly got up and said: "The old man still has to arrange the food and lodging of the soldiers and horses of the King of Zhuluqin, so I won't bother much!" ”

When he said goodbye, Zhu Youzhen also hurriedly followed suit, he really didn't want to see this sparse soft egg again.

Out of the Jiliao Governor's Mansion, the town guard eunuch Tu Zhong warmly invited Sun Chengzong and Zhu Youzhen to be guests at his place. Sun Chengzong was in the mood, and waved his sleeves and said: "The old man has military affairs, so let's go down to His Highness!" ”

Zhu Youzhen couldn't, so he had to follow Tu Zhong to the eunuch's mansion not far away.

The two entered the house, and after the guests and hosts were seated, Tu Zhong served a cup of steaming tea, and said to Zhu Youzhen with a smile: "The prince has worked hard all the way, please taste this fragrant tea first to relieve fatigue." ”

Zhu Youzhen opened the bowl and tasted it, and said in surprise: "Good tea!" Is it Maojian tea? ”

"His Royal Highness is indeed a master of tea tasting!" Tu Zhong praised, "This tea is not an ordinary hair tip, but the best lip tribute tea, also known as ** tea!" ”

Zhu Youzhen asked in surprise: "Tea only has the fragrance of tea, where does this ** come from?" ”

Tu Zhong said flatteringly: "Your Highness doesn't know anything. This tea is produced in Duyun, Guizhou, where the mountain of Yunzhen is located, and the light clouds are dense from afar, and the tea is fragrant and butterflies dance, like green bamboo and pine. The tea trees are mostly born on both sides of the streams and canyons, which are inaccessible, and it is extremely difficult to pick and transport, so the outside world does not know much. ”

"And the most rare thing is how this tea is made." Tu Zhong said mysteriously, "When picking tea, only a Buyi girl who is under the age of sixteen, has a good appearance, has no personnel, and must be a plump body, and picks tea with dew with her lips in the early morning. After picking the tea leaves, the tea leaves are placed on the girl's chest, and the two balls are rubbed with the two things, and the first roasting is carried out by body heat. In this way, the tea has **, and after it is flushed out, the aroma is strong, the taste is refreshing, the soup color is clear, and the quality is beautiful. Your Highness, please look at the tea buds, they are all so thin and sharp because of the repeated rubbing of the girl! ”

Zhu Youzhen heard that the harazi was about to flow to the ground, and said with a heart: "Although this tea is good, it would be better if the girl who picks the tea is accompanied when drinking tea, hehehehe." ”

Tu Zhong saw that Zhu Youzhen was really as Guan Ning said, very lustful, and secretly sneered in his heart, but on the surface, he pretended to be like waking up from a dream, and patted his head again and again: "What His Highness said is, why didn't the slave think of this section!" However, although there is no tea picker in this Jizhou city, there are stunning singers, do you want to dance a song for His Royal Highness and chat to cheer up? ”