Time is slowly moving forward, and the season has entered winter. People who have gone out for assessments gradually return, except for those who supervise the road construction project.

Zhu Youxiao's daily work is to re-formulate some strategies through the summary of various information, and then implement them through the cabinet.

On this day, he was reading the memorial in the Nuan Pavilion of Qianqing Palace. It was already November and the winter solstice was coming soon, so there were a lot of complicated things.

Originally, the Winter Solstice Meeting was just a ceremonial meeting, but it was turned into a year-end summary meeting by Zhu Youxiao. It was considered a rough idea last year, but it is more mature this year. The cabinet, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Dali Temple, the Metropolitan Governor's Office, and several top Government agencies must conduct work summaries and report to all officials.

Moreover, since two vassal countries came to pay tribute last year, there were even more projects at the Winter Solstice Meeting. Because several small countries also came to pay tribute this year, it is foreseeable that as the Ming Dynasty gradually moves overseas, countries that have established tributary relations will They will all come one after another.

Therefore, various etiquette systems need to be re-determined, such as whether to review the year-end review first or pay tribute to the vassal country first. Also, in which time period will the emperor's new military parade this year be placed, in front or behind, and where will it be? Which musical instruments will be used? What music is played?

The winter solstice falls on November 23rd of the lunar calendar, so as soon as November enters, all departments start to get busy. As for the Ministry of Rites, it starts even earlier. They have to receive various tributary countries from the Indo-China Peninsula. .

Siam, Chenla, Annam, Champa, and even the Mo family in Gaoping sent envoys over. With them came a large number of gifts. They already knew what happened last year and paid tribute, but these countries still paid no attention to it. Without hesitation, he brought heavy gifts and presented them to the Ming Emperor.

The fleets wandering in the South China Sea in the past few days made them realize that the Ming Dynasty was still extremely powerful, and it was only natural for them to join the strong men in the Central Plains. Moreover, Guangzhou Port began to show its power, and various Chinese goods were exported, which greatly strengthened the Ming Dynasty's influence. Overseas influence.

Under such circumstances, how could they not come to pay tribute?

Under this situation, Zhu Youxiao's three concubines were extremely busy. After all, they were going to hold a ceremony in Huangji Hall, which was related to the Imperial City Department. They had to manage and cooperate with the work of the cabinet.

On this day, when Zhu Youxiao and Zhang Yan were watching and inspecting the layout of the venue, Liu Ruoyu hurriedly came to report, "Your Majesty, Mr. Sun Chengzong wants to see you!"

"Sun Chengzong? He's back?" Zhu Youxiao said in surprise. If he remembered correctly, Sun Chengzong would not have time to come back to attend the Winter Solstice meeting this year. The urban defense armies of Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Gansu provinces had just been established. He You will also have to sit there for a period of time and conduct more in-depth military training.

According to the original plan, he was to come back in March next year, but now that he has only come back in November, something must have gone wrong.

"Could there be someone filming a rebellion somewhere?" Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but guess. After thinking about it for a while, he realized that there was nothing to think about, "Take someone to the Nuan Pavilion."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Liu Ruoyu stepped back.

"Baozhu, I still have government affairs. You can take care of it yourself first." Zhu Youxiao said slightly apologetically. Today is called viewing the venue, but it is actually Zhu Youxiao's time to accompany Zhang Yan. But after all, Queen Zhang Yan is everyone's Although the lady was unhappy, there was nothing on her face. Instead, she nodded gently, "Long live my lord, please go, I will leave this place for you... vomit!"

Suddenly, as Zhang Yan was talking, she felt a tightness in her chest and felt like vomiting.

"Baozhu, what's wrong with you?" Zhu Youxiao was shocked and hugged Zhang Yan quickly.

"It's nothing, I just feel a little uncomfortable in my chest, which makes me worried." Zhang Yan blushed and struggled quickly, but she had little strength, so how could she break away.

"Long live Lord, let go." She said with a red face.

"Oh, okay, Zhenzhen, Die'er, you two accompany the queen to have a rest, and then send the imperial doctor over to take a look." Zhu Youxiao said worriedly.

"My concubine obeys the decree." The two of them laughed happily, then laughed and walked back with Zhang Yan surrounded. Next to them, a young eunuch walked towards the imperial hospital.

Because of the delay, when Zhu Youxiao arrived at Nuange, Sun Chengzong was already waiting. When they entered, Zhu Youxiao was stunned at first. Sun Chengzong's dress was really embarrassing.

He was wearing a gray robe, with some ice and snow hanging on it. At this moment, under the warm temperature in the Nuan Pavilion, it was gradually melting, making the whole dress wet, with water marks all over it, and his hair was hanging messily, and the top was also wet. Look.

Seeing Sun Chengzong like this, he was moved and his eyes were a little moist.

"Thank you for your hard work, dear!" Zhu Youxiao spoke first.

"Your Majesty, I am here to attend." He heard the voice and looked over. When he saw the emperor coming in, he immediately saluted.

"Okay, get back on your feet." Zhu Youxiao waved his hand to get him up, and then asked strangely, "Why did Aiqing come to Beijing at this time? Is it possible that there are still twists and turns in the military reform?"

"No, Your Majesty." Sun Chengzong shook his head, looking a little tired, "It's Mongolia, Mongolia may invade!"

"Mongolia!" Zhu Youxiao stood up from his chair in shock. "Has the integration of Lin Danhan been completed? How is the construction of the city defense armies in the three provinces going?"

"Your Majesty, the military system of the three provinces has been reformed, and the city defense army has been recruited and established. However, the combat effectiveness is still unknown, and there are still many checkpoints to defend. I am afraid that the local troops in the three provinces alone will not be able to sustain it for long." Sun Chengzong explained.

road.

"That's it!" Zhu Youxiao rubbed his chin, his expression slowly falling into deep thought.

However, at this moment, Liu Ruoyu ran over and interrupted the emperor's reverie. "Your Majesty, Eunuch Wei is back and said he has something important to report!"

"Wei Zhongxian? Didn't I send him to Nanyang? How could it be done so quickly?" Zhu Youxiao considered it carefully and called him in.

"We are here to see Wei Zhongxian!" Liu Ruoyu's sharp voice spread far and wide.

"Your Majesty, may my emperor live long live!" As soon as Wei Zhongxian came in, he found a lot of people inside.

"Why is Aiqing back now?" Zhu Youxiao asked in a normal tone. He has now gradually regarded these three eunuchs as normal ministers. This is also the case. Perhaps Wei Zhongxian is the last eunuch.

"Your Majesty, this trip went very smoothly. The old slave has already contacted Zheng Zhilong and Yan Siqi. They expressed their willingness to submit, regardless of some conditions." Wei Zhongxian explained everything one by one.

In fact, it was a coincidence that Wei Zhongxian happened to go out to sea with the fleet, and through channels there, the news was passed to Wang Wenyan in the inner palace, and then transferred to him. As soon as the two parties got in touch, they hit it off and agreed to meet on a certain island.

"Needless to say." Hearing that the other party still had conditions, Zhu Youxiao immediately refused without thinking, "Tell Zheng Zhilong to surrender unconditionally, otherwise there will be no place for him wherever our fleet goes."

"This..." Wei Zhongxian was shocked by the emperor's domineering attitude on the spot. He refused directly without listening to the other party's conditions. At this moment, he felt that everything he had done before was in vain. These days of bargaining and hard work were simply useless.

A joke.

Seemingly seeing the psychological change of this slave, Zhu Youxiao immediately comforted him, "Thank you for your hard work, my dear, but I don't have time to pay attention to Nanyang at this time. Mongolia is a serious concern. If Zheng Zhilong is willing to surrender now, just sell him."

Well, I don’t want to wait for me to free my hands and conquer Ryukyu in one fell swoop.”

"Mongolia?" After hearing this, Wei Zhongxian didn't feel so uncomfortable. He turned to look at the dusty Sun Chengzong, "Master Sun, wasn't Mongolia crippled by His Majesty? How come it is still..."

"The governor's expectation was different. Although Nalindan Khan suffered repeated defeats in Chahanhot, Mongolia was not just a part of Chahar. Tumote, Ordos and even Karaqin were all part of Mongolia. Nalindan Khan fled back after being defeated.

After converting the city, relying on the threat of the Ming Dynasty and the Mongol Khan and the prestige of the Golden Family, after a campaign, the right-wing Mongolia was unified, and now they are waiting for danger and eyeing the frontier."

Sun Chengzong described the current situation in brief language. Lin Danhan was beaten so embarrassingly in Chahanhot. He hated the Ming Dynasty the most in his heart. Once his strength was restored at this moment, he immediately wanted revenge.

"Yes, these grassland peoples are all a bunch of white-eyed wolves. Once they have the opportunity, they will immediately counterattack. Now that Jiubian has just been reorganized, its strength is still weak. I am afraid that they cannot resist it, so I still need to lead my troops." Zhu Youxiao.

He seemed to be complaining, but in fact his face was full of excitement. He had been sick in the capital for a long time.

In this boring era, there were no entertainment activities that he was familiar with and liked, and he had nothing to do all day long. At this time, the only thing that satisfied him was a few beautiful wives and fighting on the battlefield.

"Although the country is big, if it is warlike, it will perish." Seeing the emperor's behavior, Sun Chengzong immediately frowned, "Your Majesty has a large governor's palace and hundreds of generals, so why bother to go to the battlefield personally? If you are not careful, your Majesty will have no heirs.

The Ming Dynasty will surely be in turmoil!"

"For the sake of the country and the country, please Your Majesty not to go to the battlefield again." Sun Chengzong looked serious.

"Haha! My dear..." Zhu Youxiao said haha, as if he wanted to drop the topic. But then, there was a sudden noise at the door, and then a eunuch staggered in.

Seeing this, Wei Zhongxian, who was born in the palace and was very sensitive to this, immediately frowned and scolded, "Where are you this ignorant thing? Didn't you see that your majesty and the chief governor are here, and you broke in!"

The young eunuch was startled, and he obviously recognized Wei Zhongxian, a legendary figure among eunuchs. "My father-in-law, please forgive me. I just came here to announce the good news. I was anxious for a while, so I broke the rules."

"You..." Wei Zhongxian wanted to say something more, but was interrupted by Zhu Youxiao, "Forget it, is there a reason for everything?" Then he asked, "Why is there such a thing?"

"Your Majesty, the Queen is happy!" The young eunuch knelt down and reported loudly.

"What!"

"Very good!"

As soon as the news came out, there was an exclamation in the entire Nuan Pavilion. Now that His Majesty has been on the throne for two years, although there are different opinions, it is undeniable that at least he is not a faint king. For his successors, it has always been a matter of relations between ministers.

Not long ago, someone submitted a memorial saying that the emperor had no children, which meant that the harem was immoral, so he asked your majesty to draft a female concubine or something like that.

Now that the Queen is happy, it can be said that this gap has been closed, and the hearts of the ministers have calmed down for a while.

"Where's the orb? I'll go see him!" Zhu Youxiao was also full of surprises. This was the first time in his two lives that he had a child.

"The empress has returned to Kunning Palace to recuperate."

Soon, a large group of people followed him.
Chapter completed!