It is obvious that Emperor Hongde attaches great importance to this Fengchan ceremony, and until now, he has not made up his mind whether to go or not.
Maybe, they haven't even mentioned it to the prime ministers in Zhongshu.
Therefore, he planned to send Li Mu there to set up an outpost and go to Mount Tai to have a look first. If things were easy to handle, then Li Mu would be responsible for the preparations for Feng Chan in the north. The preparations would be almost complete. The emperor then set off from Jiankang.
King Mu of Jin is the eldest cousin of Emperor Hongde, and recently, Li Mu has begun to take charge of the affairs of the clan. In the near future, when the previous generation of the clan grows old, Li Mu will assume the title of Zongzheng. Taking charge of the clan is almost a certainty.
Therefore, it is reasonable for him to go to the north.
In the Hou Mansion, Shen Yi added a cup of tea to Prince Jin and said with a smile: "Both the Prince and I are short of this share of credit, so it doesn't matter who cooperates with whom, the key is to complete this errand."
"When the time comes that the prince will accompany you to worship Mount Tai, it will be a good story in the future."
Li Mu shook his head slightly and said: "When the time comes, it will naturally be the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Chunguan Shangshu, who will accompany the sacrifice. Where can I get involved?"
Having said this, he looked at Shen Yi and said with a smile: "At that time, if you are free, Ziheng, you might be arranged to accompany the sacrifice."
"Your Majesty, this is just flattering and killing me."
Shen Yi smiled and said: "I'm not in the Ministry of Rites, and I can't be the Prime Minister. I'm only responsible for His Majesty's safety. Other things have little to do with me."
"According to my responsibilities, I really have little to do with Zi Heng, but..."
Li Mu said sincerely: "Your Majesty can go to Mount Tai, and you will be inextricably linked to Ziheng."
After the two exchanged some polite words, Prince Jin began to talk about business. He coughed and said, "I came here mainly to confirm two things with you, Zi Heng."
Shen Yi said sternly: "Your Majesty, just say so."
"The first thing is if His Majesty goes north, when should it be set?"
"The second thing is whether the imperial army will move at that time and how much they will move."
Shen Yi thought for a while and replied: "The previous emperors who granted Zen to Mount Tai were all in October. If Your Majesty is going to go, I think it would be better to go in October. As for the imperial army..."
Mr. Shen lowered his head to drink tea, glanced at Li Mu, shook his head and said: "This prince asked the wrong person. The Forbidden Army is not under my control, and I have no right to interfere with the mobilization of the Forbidden Army. When the time comes, it doesn't matter whether the imperial court sends out the Forbidden Army or not, or how many it sends. I will coordinate with the Forbidden Army in advance to ensure your Majesty’s safety along the way.”
Li Mu clicked his tongue and said, "You are as cautious as ever."
Mr. Shen smiled slightly and did not answer.
Who knows whether this Prince Jin was sent by the emperor to try out the conversation?
Li Mu paused, nodded and said, "But when you said that, I knew it."
He looked at Shen Yi and asked: "When will Ziheng leave Jiankang this year? Say hello to me in advance and let's go north together."
Shen Yi looked to the north and said with a wry smile: "The fighting has begun on the front line. To be honest, I want to rush back now to take a look. However, Your Majesty still has something to discuss with me. It is hard to say when to leave Jiankang."
"When the time comes, I will go to the prince's house to say hello in advance."
"But please don't come in person."
Li Mu waved his hand and said: "If you, the current prince's royal guard, come to my house to report to me, it will really shorten my life."
Mr. Shen laughed dumbly: "What kind of prince and guardian is not as good as the prince?"
Li Mu stood up and said with a smile: "Which one is more valuable, Ziheng, you know better than me."
He cupped his hands to Shen Yi and said, "I know you're busy, so I won't bother you any more. We'll meet again in the next year."
"Why is the prince leaving in such a hurry?"
Shen Yi pulled his sleeve and said with a smile: "The dog is studying in the backyard. I asked someone to call him and ask him to come and kowtow to the prince, and then leave after kowtowing."
"No."
Li Mu shook his head and said with a smile: "Whenever I have free time, let the young prince come to my house for a walk. I also have many playmates of his age in my house."
Seeing that he insisted on leaving, Shen Yi did not stay long and sent him all the way to the main entrance of the Hou Mansion, then turned back to the study and continued to deal with official business from the north.
At this time, according to the battle report sent from the north, Nuo Yong's troops once again gathered their forces and headed south from Zhending Mansion.
Because Nuo Yong's troops had a large number of troops, and due to the cold winter, the Huai'an army mainly focused on defense. Within ten days, Ling Su's troops were once again forced back more than a hundred miles.
At the same time, the Southern Conquest Army in Cangzhou must have also received pressure from the Northern Qi court and began to devote its troops to the main battlefield.
At this time, the Huai'an Army's left and right armies were all involved in a fierce battle. Although the intensity of the battle was not as intense as the previous battle, it was still extremely fierce.
On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month alone, the Right Route Army suffered more than 800 casualties.
Compared to an army of 100,000, this number may not sound impressive, but in fact, it is already quite a lot.
You must know that the time span of a war in this era is measured in years. Even for Shen Yi, several years have passed since the official Northern Expedition.
If the time span is extended to one year, the casualties of 800 people a day are absolutely unacceptable.
Of course, when fighting on the front lines, it is impossible for so many people to die every day.
After finally reading the documents sent from the north, Shen Yi called out: "Jiang Sheng, Jiang Sheng."
Jiang Sheng immediately opened the door, walked in cautiously, lowered his head and said: "Young Master."
"Tell the Di Reporting Department that the battle reports from the north must be sent to me as quickly as possible, and at the same time, the documents I have here must be sent to various armies as quickly as possible."
Jiang Sheng lowered his head and said, "Yes."
…………
With the roar of gongs and drums in Jiankang City, the New Year's Eve of the seventeenth year of Hongde passed just like that, and the time came to the second day of the first lunar month of the eighteenth year of Hongde.
On this day, Jiankang City was still lively. People in the city began to walk around with their children to pay New Year greetings. The sound of firecrackers exploding could be heard everywhere in the streets and alleys. There was a cheerful atmosphere both inside and outside the city.
And on this afternoon, Shen Yi, dressed in regular clothes, hurriedly entered the imperial city, then quickly passed through the palace gate and arrived at the emperor's palace.
At the door of the palace, Eunuch Gao, who had retreated to the second line, was already waiting for Shen Yi. Seeing Shen Yi walking over quickly, Eunuch Gao bowed slightly and saluted, and then asked: "Your Majesty is currently receiving some clan members and some outside vassals." Come to worship, Lord Shen, why is he so anxious about something? He came to the palace on the second day of the Lunar New Year."
Shen Yi said helplessly: "What else can make me anxious? Of course it's the war."
He asked: "How long will it take for Your Majesty to meet everyone?"
Gao Ming shook his head slightly: "Our family doesn't know about this either."
He hesitated for a moment and then said, "How about we go in and ask?"
"Need not."
Shen Yi shook his head and said: "It's just a report on the battle situation. It's not a particularly big deal. Besides, we are far away in Jiankang. There is no point in rushing about things on this battlefield."
Eunuch Gao nodded silently: "Let's take Mr. Shen to the side hall and wait."
Mr. Shen nodded and followed Gao Ming. After thinking for a while, he said: "When will Eunuch Gao stop being on duty? Xu Fu told me some time ago that one day Eunuch Gao will no longer be on duty in the palace, and he is willing to Eunuch Gao will take you home to take care of you until you die."
Gao Ming didn't look back, but his steps were obviously a little messy, and then he laughed at himself: "He is really serious, and he is worthy of being an uncle and nephew."
"Master Shen, Lord Shen, had time to tell him that there were many errands in the palace, so there was no need for a chamberlain, and there were other places to stay."
"Our family..."
Eunuch Gao looked around and sighed silently: "I may not be able to leave this palace for the rest of my life."
While they were talking, the two of them had already arrived at the side hall. After Gao Ming ordered the eunuch below to pour tea for Shen Yi, he said a few words to Shen Yi.
It was almost tea time before two young eunuchs came over to say a few words to Gao Ming. Eunuch Gao looked at Shen Yi and said softly: "Your Majesty has finished meeting the guests. The Marquis will follow me."
Shen Yi nodded, followed Gao Ming, and soon saw His Majesty the Emperor, who was looking through documents.
The emperor looked up at Shen Yi and sighed slightly: "I heard that you were in a hurry to enter the palace, and I felt uneasy. By the way, what happened?"
"Is the frontline in a hurry?"
Shen Yi leaned slightly, lowered his head and said: "Your Majesty, although the battle on the front line is fierce, the generals of the Huai'an Army can take charge of their own affairs. There is no big problem, but I have just received the news."
He said silently: "There is a Qi army in Shaanxi that is attacking some state capitals in Shanxi and many state capitals in Henan."
"The number of them is not very large. It is estimated that there are only 10,000 people at most. But Henan now has almost no troops to defend it, and they are making trouble very uneasy."
"The documents from the Governor of Henan and the Chief Envoy are expected to be sent to His Majesty's desk soon, explaining the matter in detail."
His Majesty the Emperor frowned: "The Northern Qi Dynasty still has troops in Shaanxi? How many more troops are there?"
"It should be some troops from the former border army."
"These troops have begun to harass the people of Henan."
Shen Yi was silent for a while and said slowly: "Beiqi is doing everything it can now..."