After giving instructions on the exchange of officials, Yunxi thought of what he had wanted to do last year but had been putting off until now. It happened that Zori and Xiyang Zori sent people to pay tribute, and they could also be used as guides.
Yunxi told Wang Xi: "There is a man from Guangxi named Zhang Tan. He was recommended by Cangwu County after the Order of Talents. He should have entered Beijing last year. Now you go and call him to see me."
Wang Xi was immediately confused. "Zhang Tan, who is this? Why haven't I heard of him?" Wang Xi was confused.
But since His Majesty has given orders, we have to look for it.
Wang Xi walked outside the Qianqing Gate and found the guard commander Li Bo and others, and asked, "Do you know who this carbon is?"
"Zhang Tan?" Li Bo and others also looked puzzled. After Wang Xi said that he was the person recommended by the Talent Promotion Order last year, he said to him: "Eunuch Wang, did you send someone to the Ministry of Personnel to ask? Since They are talents recommended by the Talent Promotion Order, and the official department should have records."
Wang Xi immediately sent Chang Ruijiang and others to the Ministry of Personnel to inquire. The Ministry of Personnel indeed had a record of his coming to Beijing, and they also arranged a public rental house for him at that time. Chang Ruijiang and others rushed to the public rental house without stopping. But when they got there, they found Zhang Tan Chang Ruijiang and others sent people back to tell Wang Xi while waiting anxiously. Finally, it was dark and Zhang Tan came back.
Chang Ruijiang and others did not know whether Yunxi would receive him again in the evening, and they did not dare to make a decision on their own, so they took Zhang Tan to Qianqing Gate and asked the eunuch guarding the gate to invite Wang Xi to come over.
After a while, Wang Xi came over and said to Zhang Tan, who was obviously excited and a little scared: "Your Majesty is currently meeting with others. I don't dare to pass the news. You can wait here for a while."
…
…
At this time, Yunxi was indeed meeting other people in the Qianqing Palace. These two other people were Cao Che and Yunying.
Before Yunxi celebrated the New Year, he said that he would give Cao Che an important task after the New Year. He called the couple here tonight just to hand over this important task to them.
Yunxi chatted with them for a while, took out a map of the southeast coast, pointed to the island off the coast of Yongjian, and said, "Do you know this island?"
Cao Che looked at it and said with a smile: "I know this island. I heard it in the foreign language class when I was still studying in the Jiangwu Hall. At that time, Your Majesty was still in charge of the Jiangwu Hall." He didn't move. He had a relationship with Yunxi in a sensual way.
"This island is called Xiaoliuqiu, and it is populated by uncivilized natives. The island is quite large, much larger than Qiongzhou..." Cao Che said a lot in one breath.
Yunxi smiled and said: "It seems that you listened carefully to the extracurricular classes back then and didn't fall asleep at all."
"Yes, there are only some natives in this place now, and there are a very small number of Han people in the south. They are all descendants of those who fled during the wars in the Song and Yuan Dynasties."
"Although this place is desolate, it is too close to the Ming Dynasty and is an ownerless land. I plan to bring this place under the rule of the Ming Dynasty."
Yunying smiled and said: "Third brother, are you going to add another uncle or brother, and then make your husband the left prime minister?" She said something similar to Xu Jingchang's.
"No," Yunxi said, "I plan to use a new method."
"I have decided to rename this island Taiwan and make it part of Yongjian Province. However, I will establish Taiwan Town, establish the Taiwan General Force, increase the rank of general, and take charge of the local military and political power."
If these were still within the scope of Cao Che's imagination, the next sentence shocked them: "I have decided that you, Cao Che, will serve as the commander-in-chief of Taiwan's military, and follow the example of the Mu family stationed in Yunnan."
Emulating the Mu family? Yunying and Cao Che looked at each other, which means that the Cao family will guard Taiwan for generations?
Taiwan has been guarded for generations. Since Taiwan is now completely uncivilized, it may not be a good thing at the beginning. It may even take two or three generations of efforts to make some places in Taiwan appear richer before you can start to enjoy it.
But when that time comes, will His Majesty then regret and cancel their guarding for generations?
But then I thought again, how rich can a small place like Taiwan be? Besides, they are only guarding it for generations, not a vassal state; besides, they have been guarding it for a long time. Stability will not be revoked. Isn’t that what the Mu family in Yunnan is like?
So Cao Che said: "Since your Majesty has made a decree, how dare I disobey it?"
Yunxi had long expected that he would agree. Of the two generations of the Cao family, Cao Xing is the eldest son and will inherit the title of marquis in the future; he, Cao Che, is only the second son. Although he married the princess and received the Tiancheng Earlship transferred from his eldest brother, this title It cannot be hereditary. Even if it is granted, the princess will only be a hereditary commander in the future. Therefore, if you want a future, you must work hard on your own.
Guarding Taiwan is much better than going to the border to fight. The merit may not come quickly, but the advantage is stability. It is very suitable for non-heirs of noble families who want to fight but have a degraded spirit of hard work.
Since he had agreed, Yunxi didn't waste any time and said directly: "I will give you a guard and send a guard from Fujian. As for the people, I can allow you to recruit people from Yongjian to open up wasteland, but they need to go through it in advance. My permission."
"The food and salary for the health center will be taken care of by the Yong City Construction Department. I will then let the Ministry of Industry be responsible for selecting a site to build a city at the southern end of the island and building a Taiwan town. It will probably be built according to the border city in the north. As for the other things, you will slowly educate them yourself. The people are gone."
Taiwan is not important now, and Yunxi doesn't pay much attention to it. He just feels that if such a large island is left nearby the Ming Dynasty, it will become a gathering place for pirates sooner or later, so it is better to send people to guard it early.
After that, Yunxi talked to them about some things and had dinner together.
After dinner, Yunying said: "Third brother, I want to go back and see my mother and concubine."
Of course Yunxi would not refuse and said, "Then you will stay in the palace tonight and return to the mansion tomorrow."
"Cao Che, you can go to see Concubine Li, but you cannot stay in the harem. I will ask the eunuch to take you to find a room in the imperial city to rest for one night."
Yunying, Cao Che and his wife bowed and saluted.
After Yunxi arranged a place for Cao Che to rest at night, he looked at the timetable and suddenly realized that it was already Xu time.
Yunxi planned to go to the harem. He had worked overtime for a long time tonight. He was very tired and wanted to rest immediately. But it was destined that Yunxi's idea would not be realized tonight.
Wang Xi walked up to Yunxi after Cao Che was sent out of the Qianqing Palace and said to him: "Your Majesty, the man named Zhang Tan whom your Majesty asked your servant to summon this morning has arrived at the Qianqing Gate. Will your Majesty summon him now?"
Yunxi was about to get up and go to Kunning Palace when he suddenly heard Wang Xi's words. He didn't react for a while, and then said, "When did that Zhang Tan come back to the public rental housing?"
"In the evening, Your Majesty."
"What did he do all day?"
"I don't know."
Yunxi thought for a while, and based on the principle of finishing today's matter, decided to meet him now. Of course, if Zhang Tan was not in the public rental house today and could not give him a satisfactory answer, Yunxi's dissatisfaction would double.
When Wang Xi went out and asked Zhang Tan to come over, he had been waiting at Qianqingmen for more than an hour. It was winter now, and although he was wearing cotton clothes, there was no house to block the cold wind, so he was still shivering from the cold.
Wang Xi took one look and understood what was going on. These guards felt that Zhang Tan was not at home all day today, which wasted their time to punish him! Anyway, even if Yunxi appointed Zhang Tan as a high official, he would not be able to control them. bodyguard.
Wang Xi immediately said: "You guys, let him go in and warm himself up by the fire. Your Majesty wants to see him, so why don't you let him go to see His Majesty like this?"
Several guards were shocked. They all thought that Yunxi would not summon him tonight, so they dared to freeze him like this. Who would have thought that His Majesty would summon him now.
Several people hurriedly brought Zhang Tan into the small room on duty and asked him to warm himself up by the fire.
Zhang Tan didn't seem to be angry at all, or maybe he didn't dare to express his anger. He stayed on the fire for a while, and then followed Wang Xi to the Qianqing Palace.
In the Palace of Qianqing, Yunxi waited for him to finish his salute and asked: "Zhang Tan, what have you been doing today?"
Yunxi's voice was very calm, but anyone who was familiar with Yunxi knew that Yunxi was not in a good mood when he spoke like this.
Zhang Tan said with some fear: "Your Majesty, I left the palace today to ask the officials to let the common people return to their hometown."
‘Ah!’ Yunxi never expected to get such an answer, and subconsciously said: “But someone went to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to inquire today, but they didn’t see you or heard that you had been here.”
"Your Majesty, I got up at nine o'clock, practiced some martial arts in the morning, and had lunch in a public rental house before going to the Ministry of Civil Affairs. In the afternoon, the common people have been asking them at the Ministry of Civil Affairs to allow me to return to my hometown, but they have always refused to allow me to return. I have no choice but to return to the public rental house late at night."
No wonder, according to the guards, they went to the official department before noon, and then had lunch before going to the public rental house, so the time of the two parties happened to be staggered. Even if they met on the street, they didn't know each other and they would have made a mistake. And passed.
Yunhe was a little dumbfounded and said softly: "That's it." Then he raised his voice and said: "Get up."
Yunxi asked him to sit down again and asked about various situations in Guangxi. However, Zhang Tan's speech was stumbling and his dialect was heavy, so Yunxi had a hard time understanding what he said, so he didn't gain much.
Then Yunxi said to him: "Do you know why I asked you to come to Beijing?"
After some questions and answers just now, Zhang Tan finally became less nervous, but when he heard Yun Hei's words, he became nervous again, and said stumblingly: "Your Majesty, I don't know."
He was conscripted to the capital last year by the Order of Promoting Talents. The other people who came to the capital because of the Order of Promoting Talents soon got their official positions. But he was the only one. His Majesty never summoned him, nor allowed him to return to his hometown, nor gave him a job. The official position made him stay in the capital for almost five months, which almost drove him crazy.
Fortunately, now Yunxi is about to reveal the answer to the mystery. He said: "I am calling you to the capital to let you explore the west by sea."
Exploring? Zhang Tan was stunned and said: "Your Majesty wants me to be an envoy?"
"No, it's not an envoy. It's exploration." Yunxi said.