"My son, Liu Mingzhi, visited my father. He is in good health!"
"No courtesy, take a seat!"
"Thank you, Father!"
Liu Mingzhi looked stunned as soon as he stood up, not knowing what was going on.
The civil servants, the left and right prime ministers, the six ministers, and the nine ministers of the temples; the neutral party, four people headed by the Yushitai Yushi doctor; the military attache, eight or nine people headed by Wu Guogong Wan Buhai, were all sitting on chairs in full armor.
Prince Li Baiyu, Prince Qing Li Baihong, and seventh prince Li Zhi were also sitting nearby.
Even the fourth prince Li Yunping, who is rarely seen, and Prince Duan Li Yang, who rarely goes to court, are also sitting in this row.
There were several middle-aged men wearing python robes beside them. Liu Mingzhi seemed to be a member of the royal family of the Zongren Mansion, but he could not be named at all.
He seems to be some kind of brother of the emperor.
Liu Mingzhi felt a little uneasy. It felt a little unusual for the emperor to summon so many ministers at once in the royal study.
Could it be that something big happened again?
Something happened in Northern Xinjiang? No, the old man and Zhu Run have already prepared the third batch of caravans to rush to the mutual market in Northern Xinjiang. If something goes wrong, there is no way that the old man will not say hello to him!
What happened to the Turkic grassland or to put it bluntly, this prodigal woman?
It's not that Mr. Liu is just thinking wildly, he has always known in his heart that the Queen has never been a peaceful person.
It’s just that now the three countries are slowly recuperating through the border trade. The border trade has been developed for two years and has always been very good. You shouldn’t say something will happen!
Liu Mingzhi pretended to be thinking as if nothing had happened. Li Zheng glanced at the ministers who had all gathered after he personally called his name and nodded towards the chief manager Zhou Fei.
Zhou Fei nodded respectfully and waved to the young eunuchs on the side: "Bring it over here!"
After a while, several young eunuchs came over carrying a screen.
Liu Mingzhi narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw this. There was no beautiful landscape pattern on the screen, but the world map that he had given to Emperor Li Zheng in the past.
It's just that it's not the original one, but a more atmospheric map that has been redrawn and copied by someone.
Except for Li Zheng and Liu Mingzhi, no one present understood what this world map meant.
Therefore, looking at this strange screen, everyone except Li Zheng stared at the world map with blank expressions, wondering what His Majesty meant.
The emperor summoned himself and others, even the newlyweds who were in their wedding period, summoned all the princes into the palace just to see this weird picture?
However, Jiang Yuanming, the Minister of Household Affairs, seemed to see something. He glanced at the emperor and lowered his head without saying anything.
Prince Li Baiyu had seen this map, and he had asked his father in a vague way what it was, but his father cleverly covered it up.
When I saw the strange painting that my father didn't even tell me about, but I was talking to Liu Mingzhi, I still felt a little uncomfortable.
Fortunately, Liu Mingzhi became his own brother-in-law, even though Liu Mingzhi, a popular man in front of his father, did not openly stand in his team.
However, everyone in the civil and military circles of the dynasty thought that Liu Mingzhi, the Marquis of Wanhu, had become a member of the prince line.
After all, the third princess, Li Yan, is the biological sister of the prince's mother. As a Marquis of Wanhu, his eldest brother Liu Mingzhi has no reason not to side with the prince.
Apart from these, Young Master Liu's promotion path has always involved his status as the prince's companion.
Thinking of these princes, they could not help but feel secretly happy.
He knew Liu Mingzhi's connections best. He was the Minister of the Ministry of War, the Longwu Guard Marquis Zhang Kuang, and the eldest son of the Liu family of the four major families. As for the matter of setting up his own business, the prince would sneer at him and not take it seriously.
Even though Liu Mingzhi has no direct relationship with the Liu family, he is still the grandson of the Bai family of Donghai and the nephew of Yunyang's daughter-in-law, Duke of Jingguo.
With the addition of Liu Mingzhi, an emerging noble figure, nearly half of the civil and military forces in the dynasty were on his side.
As long as he doesn't make any big mistakes, he can firmly inherit the throne from his father and become the master of the world in a hundred years.
As for the status of the deposed prince, Li Baiyu never thought that as long as he did not rebel and deceive the emperor, he would have no sin at all and his father would depose him.
Besides, there is absolutely no need for him to rebel.
He cast a vague glance at his brothers and the prince felt extremely relaxed and contented.
Now that he has people, the Marquis of Guannei secretly gives himself a lot of money to win over his ministers. What can these brothers use to fight against him?
Compared to the relaxed mood of the prince, one can imagine the mood of Prince Qing and other princes. If the father's popular man went to the prince's side, he would become very passive.
The princes thought exactly the same as the others. Although Liu Mingzhi did not express his position clearly on the prince's lineage, many people had already voluntarily considered Liu's lineage because of the third princess.
The emperor slowly stood up and walked towards the world map: "My dear friends!"
"I'm here!"
"Come and see with me!"
"According to the order!"
The chief steward hurriedly picked up a candlestick and put it into the hands of Emperor Li Zheng: "Your Majesty, you can see more clearly with the candle!"
Li Zheng smiled lightly and nodded: "You still understand my heart!"
Li Zheng held up the candlestick and gently touched the map with fiery eyes amidst the puzzled gazes of the ministers.
"My dear friends, this is the reason why I insist on going to the West. I can't see Mount Tai even if I am blinded by a leaf. We are always looking at the sky from a well. The world is so big, I want to see it!"
All the ministers gathered around the map and looked at it carefully.
When they saw the map with the big dragon on it, everyone had weird expressions on their faces.
"Your Majesty, how is this possible? How can my great dragon, who is rich all over the world, only have such a small position! This is impossible, I don't believe it!"
"It's fake, it's all fake. How can my big dragon only have such a small place? How can there be such a big place outside the vast ocean?"
Xia Gongming, the imperial censor, took a long breath: "Your Majesty, I am willing to believe in your Majesty!"
The others looked at Xia Gongming in disbelief, not expecting that he could accept the country's territory depicted on this world map so quickly.
Even Liu Mingzhi was a little confused as to why Xia Gongming accepted such a map that was nothing short of a fantasy so quickly.
The character of this fair and honest imperial censor is truly extraordinary!
The emperor looked at Xia Gongming with great interest. He guessed that many people would accept the authenticity of this map, but he did not guess that the first person to accept it would be Xia Gongming, an old scholar who usually liked to confront him.
, old antique.
"Xia Aiqing, why do you think this map is real and not just made up by someone?"
Xia Gongming pulled up the sleeves of his official robe: "Your Majesty, please move!"
The emperor shifted his body slightly to let Xia Gongming approach the map.
Xia Gongming glanced at the world map with wonder on his face: "Your Majesty, colleagues, please take a look!"
"Annan, Goguryeo, Japan, and other countries in the Western Regions, all these small and foreign countries have come to pay homage to my great dragon."
"This does not prove that the rest are true!"
Xia Gongming narrowed his eyes and looked at Wang Hezheng, the minister of Honglu Temple to one side: "Master Wang, as the minister of Honglu Temple, you have always received envoys from various countries and original merchants, right?"
"Yes, this is indeed the job of a lower official!"
"Then do you still remember that you once told me about a legend spread from the caravans in the Western Regions?"
Wang Hezheng thought for a moment and his eyes lit up.
"My lord, are you talking about the stories from the far west, the devil from the east, the invincible legion, the whip of God?"