Chapter 18 Chapter Eighteen

Emperor Wanli didn't see Wang Xijue's memorandum at all - it was a good season for orange, yellow and orange, to enjoy the snow and plums through the window, and with the beauty in his arms, a glass of fine wine, and a box of blessings, of course he didn't want to go to court even more. I don't want to meet my courtiers, let alone read memorials. He only concentrates and fully enjoys his life of doing nothing, and the effect of drugs makes him more and more laziness, and it is the end of the year, so he has more reason to do nothing, let alone Wang Xijue's He didn't read the memorial, and he even forgot that he had Chang Luo, his son.

Surrounding him are the three children born to Concubine Zheng—among the three children, Chang Xun is not the one he loves the most, but Shouning Company, who was born as a girl; Looking at Princess Shouning's little face that could be pressed like water, he teased her and said, "It's a pity that there is no system of 'Emperor Dowager' in this dynasty, otherwise the emperor will pass on the throne to you!" When Concubine Zheng heard this, she always looked at him with a half-smile, and the words in her eyes were silent. However, in the early morning of New Year's Day, a subtle change suddenly occurred in his mood.

According to the etiquette of Ming Dynasty, on New Year's Day, all the princes who have not yet "taken up the vassal" will come to his palace gate early in the morning to salute and congratulate him on the new year—so, he met the prince who had not seen him for many days. The eldest son Chang Luo. It's New Year's Day, so from this day on, Chang Luo will be fourteen years old, but Chang Luo's appearance doesn't look like a fourteen-year-old boy in any way—he is short and thin, with a stern expression. He was a little shy and dull, and his voice was small and trembling, as if there was wind blowing in his throat——but, even though it was a lot smaller, Chang Luo's face was very similar to him, no matter whether it was eyebrows or eyes. The lips and nose naturally revealed the blood relationship between father and son.

For a moment, he was dumbfounded, and his heart shook slightly. Although this feeling disappeared quickly, and he was immediately distracted by the coming New Year's Day celebration ceremony, he quickly forgot about it; but, in his heart However, this string in his heart has already been touched, and a few days later, it sounded in his heart again, as if Chang Luo was calling him: "Father—Father!" One night, he even dreamed that Chang Luo came to him, knelt at his feet, put his arms around his knees, and called him several times. After waking up, he felt a sense of loss. Feel.

Then, he couldn't help thinking back to the year when he was fourteen years old; at that time, he had already ascended the throne and been the emperor for four years, and he had lost his father's love four years ago-at that time, he was in the strict education of Zhang Juzheng Go down to study and learn to be a good emperor in Zhang Juzheng's ideal... After waking up in the middle of the night, the feelings passing through his heart began to become complicated, even with a hint of sadness; for the father's love that Chang Luo did not get, he had the idea of ​​making up for it, but for Zhang Juzheng's expectations, After a slight tremor, he immediately ended this train of thought with a dual mentality of fear and avoidance—he even used Chang Luo to block Zhang Juzheng, and he let himself only think about Chang Luo's oral question over and over again, even if it was a little When he lost control and thought of Zhang Juzheng again, he immediately forced himself to turn his mind to Chang Luo.

So, this time, Chang Luo's problem improved; he thought over and over again: "After all, he is my son, he is fourteen years old, and he hasn't studied yet, so it's a bit unreasonable——" "The ministers have been arguing for many years, and they have to appease—" Finally, he finally made up his mind; just after the first month, he issued a formal edict announcing that his eldest son Chang Luo would leave the cabinet to give lectures. After all, he is a smart man, and he came up with this idea at the right time, which not only appeases his own heart, but also appeases the hearts of the ministers-this decree immediately took effect in the court; Luo's ministers who have been fighting for the crown prince for many years, although they have not achieved their wishes, think that things have turned around and hope is in sight; a group of optimistic people circulated a few words among each other: "Leaving the cabinet to give lectures is the title of the emperor. It’s a sign for the prince——Long Live Lord must have changed his mind, but it’s just that it’s too late to hold the canonization ceremony, and I’m afraid that the emperor’s son’s studies will be delayed, so he will go out to give lectures first—”

People of this faction believe that the matter of "registration" is just around the corner. And even those who hold a slightly pessimistic view are not as desperate as they used to be this time: "Although the Lord Long Live may not be willing to appoint a crown prince as soon as possible, but since the eldest son of the emperor has been given a lecture, the attitude towards the eldest son in his heart Must have started to change—” Therefore, almost everyone had more or less hope in their hearts, and of course the "significance" of the chief assistant Wang Xijue was automatically dispelled. What appeared in the court of the Ming Dynasty was a vitality that had disappeared for many years. Like the spring that first came to the world, it inspires people's confidence in pursuing a bright future...

But in Jianzhou, the bright future has been more and more concretely unfolded not far ahead... From the end of the year to the beginning of the year, things planned by Nurhachi went smoothly. First, after he finished taking care of all the chores of the victory over the Nine Allied Forces, he immediately sent troops to conquer Zhusheli and Neyin who had betrayed Jianzhou. Because at the beginning of the great victory, the morale of the Jianzhou soldiers was high and their combat capabilities were very strong. Of course, the two departments, which were originally relying on Ye He's power and had no strength, could not resist, and soon surrendered.

Then, an unexpected harvest came—shortly after the beginning of spring, good envoys sent by Ming'an Beile of the northern Horqin tribe of Mongolia and Beler Rausa of the five tribes of Khalkha arrived in Danjianzhou. As soon as he received the news of the Mongolian envoy's arrival, Nurhachi seemed very happy. He called E Yidu, Anfei Yanggu and several others to discuss and said: "Enemies should be resolved rather than knotted. Although Ming Anbeile once He has participated in the Nine Allied Forces and fought against our Jianzhou, but now that he has sent envoys to Tonghao, let us stop worrying about the past—Khalka Five Divisions have never had any contact with Jianzhou, and now they are the first to send envoys to Tonghao , showing our sincerity even more, we must treat the envoys from these two departments well, and let them pass on Jianzhou's sincerity to form an alliance with his second department to Baylor of the two departments!"

Anfei Yanggu thought for a while and said: "These two departments took the initiative to communicate, and there may be another reason; among the current Mongolian tribes, the Chahar tribe is the strongest, and it always threatens Horqin and Khalkha. I am eager to form more alliances to fight against the Chahar Ministry with increased strength!" Nurhachi nodded and said: "I know this—earlier, Ming'anbeile formed an alliance with Yehe and Ula, and even joined the Nine Alliances. Isn't this the reason?" As he spoke, his voice paused, and he said earnestly: "It doesn't matter what the reason is, as long as it is beneficial to my state, we must go all out - regardless of the purpose of Horqin and Khalkha, Even as far as our state is concerned, we should form more alliances to increase our strength!"

Thus, the meeting ended satisfactorily; when the envoys from the two ministries arrived in Jianzhou, the task was completed more satisfactorily, and the foundation of the friendly relationship between the two parties was laid.

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