After returning home, Shen Yi, who had been running around and working hard for a whole year, finally got a few days to rest.
Because he had no real vacancy in the court, he did not need to go to the Yamen to work. Apart from occasionally going to the Ministry of War to have a good time with Lao Jiangtou, he spent most of his time at home to accompany his family.
I don’t even want to go out to socialize.
Everything was calm in the court.
Except for a Zhongshu Sheren and a few minor officials who were impeached and dismissed by the Yushitai, nothing else happened.
But the big tree attracts the wind. He is now a new noble in the imperial court. Countless people come to visit him every day. Invitations to him for dinner also float into the Shen family like snowflakes.
Mr. Shen turned a blind eye to all these and continued to do his own thing every day. When he had free time, he would sneak out through the back door and go to Dayifang to see Old Man Gu.
In the blink of an eye, eight or nine days have passed since Shen Yi returned to Jiankang, and the time has come to the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month in the thirteenth year of Hong De.
It's snowing heavily.
It snowed heavily all day long, and by the afternoon, the snow on the road was nearly a foot deep in places.
Although Jiankang is not particularly southern, it is considered southern in general, and it has not seen such heavy snow for many years.
After lunch, Shen Yi, who was wearing cotton clothes, moved a chair and sat under the corridor of his home to watch the snow.
Shen Yuan was taking his sister running in the snow in the yard. It was the first time for the little girl to see such heavy snow. She was running back and forth in the heavy snow, very happy.
Lu Ruoxi would urge the three of them into the house from time to time, but the three of them were unmoved.
After a while, Lu Ruoxi felt helpless. She moved a small bench and sat next to Shen Yi. She looked at Shen Yi who was lost in thought and asked, "What are you thinking about, husband?"
Shen Yi looked at the falling snowflakes outside and sighed slightly: "This winter seems to be colder than in previous years. It's so cold in Jiankang. I'm afraid it will be even colder in Xuzhou."
Lu Ruoxi pulled Shen Yi's sleeve and said softly: "My husband is afraid that the soldiers will not be able to wear warm clothes."
"When I left, I took off my cotton-padded clothes. It wasn't because I was worried that they wouldn't be warm enough."
Shen Yi was silent for a while and said softly: "It's just that most of the Huai'an army officers and soldiers are from the southeast. They have followed me northward since the autumn of the eleventh year. It has been more than two years now."
"I can come back to Jiankang every New Year."
Mr. Shen exhaled a white breath and sighed: "Most of them, including the generals, have never returned home."
"Sometimes I just wonder."
Shen Yi held Lu Ruoxi's hand tightly and said softly: "When will the battle be over? Then we will give them rewards and let them return to their parents happily and do errands. It can be considered that their hard work has not been in vain in the past few years." "
"But I'm afraid it will be difficult to finish the war within three to five years."
Lu Ruoxi patted Shen Yi's back gently.
"My husband still has the heart of a scholar. I really don't know how he leads so many troops."
"It has nothing to do with whether you study or not."
Mr. Shen looked at his little daughter, who was unable to walk steadily but was still flopping in the snow, and said softly: "It's just that everyone has different temperaments. I was born with this personality."
"But no matter what, the battle must be fought."
Shen Yi squinted his eyes and said, "It's better for me to lead them than for others to lead them. After all..."
Before Mr. Shen finished speaking, Lian'er from the front yard hurried over, lowered his head to Shen Yi and said, "Uncle, someone from the palace has come, saying that His Majesty has summoned you to the palace."
Shen Yi nodded first, then stood up from the bench, stretched, then pulled Lu Ruoxi up, and said with a smile: "Let's go, madam, wait for my husband to change his clothes."
Lu Ruoxi first turned around and told Lian'er to take care of the two little ones, and then followed Shen Yi into the bedroom to change into official uniforms. As she walked, she asked: "It's the end of the year soon. Does your husband have any real officials from the imperial court? Your Majesty invites you at this time." What are you doing in the palace?"
While Master Shen was arranging his official uniform, he felt helpless: "My husband will not know until he enters the palace."
After a while, Mr. Shen was dressed neatly. When he was about to leave the house, he turned around and said: "Zichang is still on his way to work. Madam, please pay more attention to your mother. She is the first born, so don't make any mistakes."
Chen Youniang is due to give birth in these few days.
In recent days, Mrs. Wen has been staying at Shen's house and never leaves for a moment.
Lu Ruoxi nodded in agreement and watched Shen Yi get on the carriage.
Mr. Shen's current residence was the residence of a certain minister of the Ministry of Industry. It was very close to the imperial city. Not long after, the carriage stopped at the gate of the imperial city. Mr. Shen, who was dressed in official uniform, got off the carriage and stood up. He took off his umbrella and walked towards the palace against the increasingly heavy winter snow.
At the entrance of the palace, the eunuch who greeted him almost turned into a snowman. After seeing Shen Yi, he hurriedly welcomed him to the entrance of Ganlu Palace.
Master Shen took away the umbrella, handed it to the young eunuch, and then walked into the Manna Hall.
As soon as I entered the Manna Hall, a wave of heat hit my face.
Ganlu Hall is the emperor's study.
However, because Emperor Hongde liked this place very much, he usually stayed here most of the time, and even often stayed at night in Ganlu Hall. This became the real administrative center of the Hongde Dynasty, so there were many stoves in the hall, making it as warm as spring. .
Not long after Shen Yi entered the Manlu Palace, he saw the emperor talking to someone.
In front of the emperor, stood a strong man who was a whole head taller than Shen Yi and had extremely broad shoulders.
This strong man looks to be in his mid-forties, he is wearing the official uniform of a military attache, and he is of rank two.
Shen Yi stepped forward and bowed to the emperor: "Your Majesty, Shen Yi, I would like to greet you..."
Before he could finish speaking, he was stopped by the emperor.
The emperor first asked Shen Yi to stand up, then pointed at the big man and said, "This is Pei Jun, the commander-in-chief of the fifth army camp."
His Majesty the Emperor looked at Shen Yi, paused, and then continued: "He is also the coach of the Western Route Army that I have carefully selected during these days."
"Shen Qing, come quickly and get to know General Pei."
The name Pei Jun is not unfamiliar to Shen Yi, because the information given to him by the emperor has written in detail that he is one of the five commanders of the Fifth Army Camp, that is, the Forbidden Army, and he is a hereditary marquis with the title of Marquis Anyuan.
The generation of Emperor Taizu, the founder of the Chen Kingdom, and the generation of Emperor Taizong had many meritorious officials and were awarded many titles, so many generals were left behind.
Most of these generals are princes and some are uncles. They have basically served in the army for generations, and some have even served in the imperial army to defend the capital.
Up to now, almost 99% of these nobles are handed down from the two generations who founded the country. Currently, the only newly promoted titles are the Zhao family of Anping Marquis and the Shen family of Jiangdu Bo.
Although these honorable ministers are somewhat too old, they have one advantage, that is, they are absolutely loyal to the royal family and the emperor.
After all, the words "lords and princes for generations" mean that the Li family will be with them for generations, not that the courtiers will be with them for generations.
If the royal family is gone, their noble status will also be gone.
Because of this reason, these noble generals were naturally loyal to the royal family and were almost independent of the court. Most of the responsibilities of guarding Yandu were entrusted to them.
The five commanders-in-chief of the fifth military camp were all noble generals, including three marquises and two earls.
After listening to the emperor's words, Mr. Shen stepped forward and bowed his hands in salute: "Shen Yi from the Ministry of War has met Mr. Pei Hou."
Although Pei Jun is tall and strong, his face is not ferocious, and the beard on his face is quite neat. Seeing Shen Yi salute him, Pei Jun quickly lowered his head and saluted with clasped fists: "Pei Jun of the Fifth Army Camp, I have met Lord Shen. ."
The two of them raised their heads in unison and glanced at each other.
Seeing the two people greeting each other, the emperor smiled and clapped his hands and said: "Spring has begun, and the two armies of the Da and Chen armies are about to officially embark on the Northern Expedition."
"You two should get to know each other well. In the future, when you go north of the Huaihe River, you will also know each other's needs and become each other's horns."
They both bowed to the emperor and saluted.
"Weak ministers respect your orders."
The emperor explained a few more words to the two people, and they also had a brief communication.
At the end, the emperor waved his hand and said, "Okay Pei Jun, you go back first."
"I will talk to you in detail about other matters in a few days."
The Marquis Anyuan knelt down to salute and then left respectfully.
After Pei Jun left, the emperor stood behind Shen Yi, looked at Pei Jun's back with Shen Yi, and asked: "How?"
Shen Yi came to his senses, then lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, that's good."
The emperor looked at Shen Yi in surprise: "It's rare that you are finally willing to speak. What's so good about it?"
Mr. Shen said without hesitation: "The auspicious snow heralds a good harvest. The heavy snowfall in the past two days is an auspicious sign from heaven. With this snow, we will probably have enough food next year."
"Of course this is good."
The emperor was stunned, then sighed helplessly, and continued: "I have been choosing Pei Jun for a long time. He has a more down-to-earth personality and can listen to what is said, so I chose him to be the commander-in-chief of the West Route Army."
Shen Yi lowered his head slightly and said nothing.
The emperor looked at him and said, "Shen Qing seems not satisfied?"
"I don't dare."
After a pause, Shen Yi said, "Your Majesty, I have read General Pei's information. I feel that there is nothing wrong with General Pei."
"But General Pei's background will cause some problems."
Shen Yi said softly: "For hundreds of years, all kinds of personal relationships between generals and generals have become so intertwined that they cannot be separated clearly."
The emperor suddenly said: "Shen Qing is saying that Pei Jun will send his own family members to the West Route Army?"
"It would be great if it was just the Pei family."
"I'm afraid all the generals in Jiankang..."
The emperor touched his chin and nodded: "This is indeed a problem."
"I will ask Gao Ming to remind Pei Jun and not allow him to arrange manpower randomly."
Having said this, the emperor looked at Shen Yi with a smile on his face: "Shen Qing, you have worked hard to build the Huai'an Army in the past few years. I sent someone to prepare a big gift for you in Xuzhou a few days ago."
"You will be able to see it after the New Year is over and you return to Xuzhou."
Mr. Shen subconsciously responded: "No reward for no merit."
The emperor laughed: "Shen Qing will like it."
Having said this, the emperor looked at Shen Yi and said, "Furthermore, I have arranged the two people from the Bingzhang Bureau that Shen Qing needs, a total of five hundred people."
"After the New Year, I will go north with you."
In Xuzhou, in addition to the army, Shen Yi also maintained a firearms workshop with hundreds of people, and in this firearms workshop, there were several foreigners who had traveled across the ocean from the West.
This firearms workshop is more appropriately called a firearms research institute.
The last time artillery was updated was when Shen Yi was fighting Japanese invaders in Yueqing four or five years ago. Not long ago, the Chinese and Western Gunpowder Research Institute in Xuzhou finally made some new progress.
However, this new development is still at the drawing stage due to Xuzhou's lack of supplies and manpower some time ago.
Therefore, Shen Yicai needed a group of craftsmen to send to Xuzhou to commit to mass production of physical objects as soon as possible.
At this point, the emperor was a little curious and asked: "What does the new generation of artillery that Shen Qing mentioned in the letter look like? How powerful is it?"
Mr. Shen thought for a while, then shook his head and said, "I don't know now."
"Wait until the real thing is made."
He cupped his hands and said, "I will ask someone to send one back to His Majesty."
The emperor looked forward to it, smiled and nodded.
"Honestly..."
He looked at Shen Yi with a little envy.
"Sometimes I want to go to Xuzhou with Shen Qing to have a look."