Xia Xun returned to China, and it seemed that... he had brought a new and prosperous atmosphere.【】
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sent off the two heavenly angels with a ceremony. Returning with Xia Xun, there were more than 20 merchants and dozens of merchant ships. This was the fastest speed for the daimyo who had obtained the quota for joint trade.
Various commodities that were most popular among the people of the Ming Dynasty were collected, and the ballast stones were replaced by some metals such as gold, silver, copper and tin.
Because the goods of the Ming Dynasty were generally more expensive than goods, the goods exchanged for barter could not fill these merchant ships. They needed to use real money and silver to buy the luxury goods of the Ming Dynasty. This would alleviate the shortage of gold and silver in the Ming Dynasty to a great extent.
Gold and silver are recognized universal currencies in any country in the world and represent real purchasing power. This kind of storage was extremely popular in the Ming Dynasty, both official and private.
In addition, those copper, tin and other items were prepared to be minted by the Ming Dynasty. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, who urgently needed a name and expanded his influence, was very interested in issuing coins with his name or image. Xia Xun just proposed
With this idea in mind, he couldn't wait to put forward the conditions: three out of ten. He would provide all the required casting materials. The Ming Dynasty only had to return 30% of the weight of the total casting materials in coins, and the rest was used as losses and rewards.
The ship landed in Hangzhou Bay, and the military and political officials from eastern Zhejiang, led by Chen Xuan, rushed to the dock to greet Duke Fu and Zheng He. There were also dedicated personnel responsible for inspecting and receiving the merchant ships and cargo.
A banquet was held in the city of Hangzhou to entertain the two envoys upon their return.
Xia Xun seemed to be very excited to return to his hometown after a few months apart. Zheng He did not drink alcohol, so Xia Xun did the work for him. After the wine was dry, they parted happily. On that day, Xia Xun and Zheng He lived in
Gushan Plum Garden in order to set off for Beijing early the next morning.
There are ready-made villas on Gushan. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Song Lizong built a villa here, covering most of Gushan. After the wars of Yuan and Ming Dynasties, most of them were destroyed. In the early Ming Dynasty, some manors were rebuilt, hidden among the greenery.
,very beautiful.
The villa where Xia Xun and Zheng He are located faces the beautiful West Lake. When you open the four-part red lacquer door, you can see the scenery on the lake. Standing at the top of the building, you can see the "Autumn Moon on the Flat Lake" at the end of the Baidi. The scenery on the lake is overwhelming.
Painted boats are moving around, music is playing melodiously, waterbirds are flapping their wings, and flowers and butterflies are dancing, just like a paradise on earth.
The villa is winding and beautiful, covered with flowers and trees, green and fragrant. The two small buildings of Xia Xun and Zheng He are like the spread wings of butterflies, facing each other. The two small buildings are stacked with rocks to form a peak, and the flowers and trees are sparse.
, small pool, Zhanbo, adjacent pavilions and corridors, it is a quiet and elegant place.
"Master Fu and Eunuch Zheng, please stay here tonight. Early tomorrow morning, Chen Xuan will bring his colleagues from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to see you off."
Chen Xuan led the two of them into the plum garden and said with a smile that sergeants had been posted outside the courtyard to guard them.
She is a pretty little maid from a local girl in Suzhou and Hangzhou.
"Hurry up, hurry up, the Duke is drunk, please help the Duke back to rest."
Chen Xuan said loudly, and immediately two happy and angry little maids came over and supported Xia Xun, whose legs were a little swaying. Zheng He turned around and thanked Chen Xuan and other officials: "Thank you for your kindness, sir."
Hospitality, early tomorrow morning, we have to set off back to Beijing to reply to the emperor's decree. It's already getting late, so I won't leave you my lords any more."
"Okay, okay, you two imperial envoys, please take a rest early. I'll take my leave later."
Xia Xun put his arms firmly on the young girl's shoulders, and greeted Chen Xuan and the others with his drunken eyes and a big tongue. Zheng He sent Chen Xuan and the others out of the door. When he turned around, Xia Xun was already there.
After being helped into the building, Zheng He asked a servant in green clothes and a small hat: "Where is my residence?"
A servant hurriedly said: "Sir, please go this way. The Duke of Guo and you both live in Lianbi Building. The Duke of Guo lives in the left room, and you, Master, live in the right room..."
As the servant said this, he led the way. Zheng He stared at his back and his eyes suddenly shrank. When the man stopped, looked back and said with a smile: "Master, this is the room."
His demeanor has returned to normal, he smiled faintly and walked towards the building...
It was getting dark, and two little maids walked out of Xia Xun's small building holding lanterns and walked side by side along the verandah.
"The Duke is so young and very handsome!"
"The young Duke of Guo is not just the Duke of Fu. Duke Cao and Duke Ding are both young, but they all inherited the legacy of their fathers and ancestors. This Duke of Fu is different. He earned his fortune by his own ability.
Fame... eh..."
"What are you sighing for?"
"You don't care!"
"Hee hee, are you a little disappointed? You are so young, handsome, and so old. If I asked you to serve as my bedside servant, you would rise to the top in one step. It's a pity. I should have known that a prince of the country was coming today.
I dress up like a bride, ah! But the prince is as drunk as a dead pig, and he has wasted all the efforts of my little girl!"
"Damn girl! What nonsense are you talking about!"
Another girl was so embarrassed that she chased after her and tried to pinch her waist. The little girl in front hurriedly twisted her waist to avoid it and ran away with a smile. The two maids chased her away one after another.
Go, the light in that hand dances in the night, like two happy fireflies.
They are all girls from poor families. If they are really taken in by a nobleman and become his concubine, it will not be a tragedy for their lives, but a blessing. They have the right to pursue happiness, and this is their reason for pursuing happiness.
Opportunity. Tonight, they did not seize this opportunity, which was obviously a blessing. Otherwise, they might have lost their lives before the opportunity for the sparrow to turn into a phoenix came.
Because they had just left, several figures appeared outside the verandah. They gestured to each other, jumped over the fence briskly, and quickly moved toward Xia Xun's residence with a dragon's step. They landed silently and were as light as flying feathers.
There is an assassin!
A moment later, there was an explosion in the red building, and a figure crashed through the window lattice and flew out. After landing, he rolled several times and finally stopped under the banana leaf. As soon as he got up, he saw another figure dancing and dancing from the door.
Flying out from upstairs, the man obviously received a severe blow and fell to the ground. He spit out a mouthful of blood, straightened his body, and lay there stiffly, motionless.
The assassin who barely climbed up had just touched the ground with his shoulder, and felt a splitting pain in his shoulder bone. He gritted his teeth and was about to rush back into the building with his sword when he saw a figure flying towards him like a big bird. At this time, the full moon was in the sky.
, the ground was clear, and the man saw that the person who came just stepped on the top of the rockery with one foot, and flew up the stairs like a big bird. He couldn't help but be shocked. With such lightness, how could this man's kung fu be bad?
I saw the man jumping down into the building railing. Just as his feet touched the ground, he suddenly turned to the side. The third assassin flew out from the broken window. His figure was as limp as a ball of rags, and he was already in the air.
Out of breath, the assassin didn't dare to risk his life after seeing this. He immediately sneaked back quietly, moved far away, and ran away.
The man at the top of the building dodged the corpse flying out, and dodged towards the broken window, and a bright sword light flew towards his face. The sword was extremely fast, with the sound of wind and thunder. The people outside the window were also horrified, with one foot on the floor.
With a twist and turn, he narrowly avoided the knife, and one sleeve flew downstairs lightly.
"Stop! It's me!"
There was a shout from outside the building, and the person inside became silent for the second time. Under the light, this person was Xia Xun. Xia Xun, who should have been drunk, now had clear eyes, and he was already a little tipsy.
The person standing outside the window is naturally Zheng He.
Xia Xun stepped aside, and Zheng He flew in. He saw a lamp on the table, illuminating the entire room. There was a corpse lying on the ground, and there was a pool of blood under him.
Zheng He frowned slightly and asked, "Gong Fu, what's going on?"
Xia Xun smiled softly and said, "It's just an assassination attempt. My father-in-law came so quickly!"
Zheng He said: "In the evening, I felt a little strange. The servant who led the way had a long breath and his feet were very steady. He was a servant with superb skills, but he was a little weird in nature, and his behavior... was quite...
Quite..."
Xia Xun smiled and said: "It's quite the style of military service!"
Zheng He was silent. The assassination of an imperial minister was a shocking event. If the assassin had a military background, the complexity of the case would have been even more unimaginable.
At this time, the movement in the small building had attracted the attention of the soldiers patrolling outside the garden. A group of generals, holding torches and swords and guns, swarmed towards the small building. Xia Xun glanced out the window and said, "Father, please step aside.
, let Yang answer them correctly, we will leave for Beijing early tomorrow morning, it is best not to keep us awake all night."
Zheng He nodded, turned around and jumped out of the window. When he used his strength to jump on the top of the rockery and returned to the small building where he lived, he suddenly remembered something. Just now, Yang Xu, the auxiliary Duke, was sober and unfazed.
He was drunk, and when he arrived at Meiyuan in the evening, he was so drunk that he couldn't walk. Why did he sober up so quickly? Or... did he already know that someone would assassinate him?
That night, they really couldn't sleep well. When Xia Xun told him about the assassination, the soldiers in charge of the guard became very nervous. They immediately searched the entire Gushan with the small building as their heart, noisily
After finally calming down, after learning the news, Chen Xuan, Si Hanchao and other Zhejiang military officials rushed over like their buttocks were on fire. Xia Xun and Zheng He had to brace themselves to deal with it again.
When Chen Xuan learned what had happened, he couldn't help being shocked and angry. After a thorough investigation, he found that there were four missing people in the house. Three of them were dressed as night walkers and were lying dead outside the window, while the other one had escaped unknown.
Where they went, these four people were temporarily transferred from other places by the steward because they felt that Meiyuan did not have enough servants to receive them.
The Hangzhou magistrate immediately ordered someone to ask for the steward of Meiyuan. Following the magistrate's order, the detectives hurried to the house of the steward of Meiyuan, only to find that the steward and his wife had been killed in their sleep.
Despite what happened, Xia Xun and Zheng He were on their way as scheduled early the next morning. Chen Xuan felt guilty and repeatedly promised the two imperial envoys that they would severely arrest the murderer. Chen Xun was the person recommended by Xia Xun and had already been killed by Xia Xun. Treating him as one of his own, and besides, public security matters are the responsibility of the Hangzhou magistrate, and he cannot be blamed in any case. Of course, Xia Xun will not criticize him harshly, but will comfort him greatly.
Chen Xuan and other officials sent the two imperial envoys ten miles out of Hangzhou, and then returned to Hangzhou. They gritted their teeth and started a city-wide manhunt, which caused a huge uproar in Hangzhou.
In the imperial envoy's car, Xia Xun yawned sleepily and put the blanket around his waist. Just as he was about to take a nap, He Tianyang came in from the outside, smiled at him, and reported: "Sir, Qianlong's People have already followed!"
Xia Xun hummed, without opening his eyes, his body jolted twice with the car, and he suddenly ordered: "Hurry back to the capital and go to Dingguo Duke's Mansion to find Miss Qiaoyun."
"Yes, what do you mean by humble position?"
"Just say: I'm back!"
"that's all?"
"that's all!"
"……yes!"
He Tianyang got out of the carriage and quietly stuck out his tongue: "My Duke is really open to all rivers, and tolerance is great! All the girls in Duke Ding's mansion have been fucked by him!"
In the car, Xia Xun didn't know what he thought of, and a good smile escaped from the corner of his mouth. He pulled the thin blanket to his waist, leaned against the car wall and fell asleep.
In Jinshen Palace, Emperor Yongle had just sat down when he saw a memorial with two yellow silk ribbons tied on top of a stack of memorials. Zhu Di pulled off the yellow silk ribbon and opened it, but it was Zheng He who presented it. A secret message from above.
Of course, the situation outside could not wait until the imperial envoy returned to the capital in a leisurely manner, and then let the emperor know everything. All the details about the envoy. Before leaving Kyoto, Zheng He had sent his confidant Xingye back to Jinling, the capital of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Di read it carefully. It not only described in detail how to annihilate the pirates along the coast, but also cleverly deployed Xia Xun to alienate the three leaders, slandered the Sword God Palace, and successfully contributed to the downfall of Si Bo Yi, the deacon leader who was hostile to the Ming Dynasty. He also narrated the process of completely eradicating the Oda family, the culprit behind the Xiangshan Massacre.
This is a secret memorial, something that only the emperor can access. The eunuchs in the inner study who are responsible for sorting and selecting memorials do not have the right to read it. This is a secret that bypasses the General Affairs Department and reaches the imperial palace directly from the inner study. When Yang Xu and Zheng He returned to Beijing In the future, it is absolutely impossible to hear these contents when the imperial edict is publicly delivered in court.
The heavenly dynasty, the benevolent people and the far-off people, can only convince the people with morality and scheming, how can they reach the palace of elegance?
Zhu Di smiled knowingly, put the secret notes into an envelope, sealed it, and added fire paint. Mu En immediately took it with both hands, and the secret notes were filed away. Unless a certain generation of emperors was interested in the previous secret notes and issued an imperial edict, this The content of the memorial will only be decrypted. Otherwise, what people know is that the Ming Dynasty envoys sent envoys, the king was morally loyal to the royal family, loved the king sincerely, was respectful and obedient, tried his best to suppress bandits, and crossed the waves to send envoys to pay tribute and do business. Others Yes, people will never know.
"Yang Xu is loyal, and he has made great contributions to the sun this time. Regarding the matter in eastern Zhejiang, I...it is time to give him a final explanation!"
Zhu Di thought for a while and grabbed the imperial pen...
: Another eight thousand words, so tired that I feel confused! (At this time, I am still awake_)