Using the Marquis of Dingxi, Xiao Chen teamed up with the Crown Prince, Lin Shangli, and Wang Xiaosi to severely suppress the King of Han. His worries about the King of Han coveting the position of the Crown Prince relaxed a little.
Holding the wine flask given to him by Mr. Zhang in his hand, he was lying on the small bed in his room in the Thirteenth Army and was thinking about how to completely clean up the King of Han. It would be best to ransack his home. There was a shout from the school outside the door.
Lieutenant's voice.
"Little brother, the prince and the prince beside the emperor are here."
"Okay, let Eunuch Wang come in." Xiao Chen responded.
In my heart, I couldn't help but shake my head and smile bitterly at the vigilance of these captains in Dongchang.
How many times have I told them that this prince is one of my own, and when I come to Dongchang in the future, just let him in.
However, these captains seemed to be worried about doing something shameful in the house, so they always shouted outside the door to notify themselves when someone came.
Sit up and put the wine bottle on the table.
Xiao Chen opened the door and Wang Xiaosi was already at the door.
"Eunuch Wang, come on, come in quickly." Xiao Chen turned sideways and stepped out of the way.
"I'm not going in. In the next life, why did the emperor ask you to go to the imperial study?" Wang Xiaosi said with a smile.
"Your Majesty is looking for me? Didn't I just report on the affairs of Gongchang Mansion? Why should I go again?"
"The Emperor has arranged another good job for you." Wang Xiaosi stared at Xiao Chen mysteriously.
"A good job? In my mind, a good job means that I don't have to arrange anything, just let me have a few good meals in the capital and get a few good sleeps to wake up." Xiao Chen rubbed his hands.
Rubbing his nose, "father-in-law, wait a moment, I'll change clothes."
Looking at Xiao Chen's school uniform, Wang Xiaosi raised his hand to cover his mouth: "Why are you changing clothes? Didn't you wear these clothes before to go to court? Oh, no, they are dirtier than these clothes.
I don’t know how many times.”
"Hey, Eunuch Wang, are you making fun of me?" Xiao Chen picked up the unicorn purple clothes hanging on the wall and put it on himself. "After the emperor gave me this unicorn purple clothes again, he asked me to wear purple clothes to go to court.
If I continue to wear whatever I want like before, am I still looking for the emperor to reprimand me?"
As he said that, he buttoned up his placket and walked out: "By the way, can you please reveal what the emperor has arranged for me?"
"Japanese pirates have been raging in Jiangsu and Zhejiang recently. The Imperial Guard has lost more than a thousand people, but not even a single Japanese pirate has been caught. The emperor plans to ask you to exterminate the Japanese pirates." Wang Xiaosi said while walking towards the door.
"Japanese pirates? Did they sail here? I can't sail a boat."
"Not only can you not, there are probably not many people in Dongchang who can drive a boat. Don't worry, the emperor will definitely arrange for the local guard station to cooperate with you. The coastal guard stations all have their own boats, so there should be someone who can drive one."
Arranging for the cooperation of the local guard station, wouldn't it require the military talisman from the Ministry of War?
Well, when Gongchang Mansion comes back, the emperor has not rewarded Dongchang yet. I will take this opportunity to cry out about poverty with the emperor.
...
In the imperial study room, Ming Chengzu was sitting on a chair wearing a thin undershirt, holding in his hand the Zhejiang Dusi's military affairs report given to him by Hong Tianren, the Minister of War, and looking at it carefully.
Behind him, Lin Shangli held a fan in his hand and waved it gently.
"Your Majesty, the captain in purple is here." Wang Xiaosi walked into the imperial study and reported in a low voice.
"Huh? Come in, let him in." Holding the official letter in his hand, Ming Chengzu raised his head.
Wang Xiaosi turned around and waved to Xiao Chen behind him.
"I see you, Your Majesty." After stepping into the threshold, Xiao Chen still clasped his fists and saluted.
Ming Chengzu put down the official letter in his hand and looked at Xiao Chen with a smile: "Gongchang disaster relief has been done well. It has been a few days since you came back. I will arrange one more thing for you."
Did it go well? Well, I didn’t see you reward Dongchang. This time we went to Gongchang, but Dongchang lost eight of the best military horses.
Although I thought so in my heart, I didn't dare to say any unwilling words in my mouth.
"I only rely on the emperor's arrangements."
Pushing the official letter on the desk forward, Ming Chengzu said: "You take a look at it first."
Xiao Chen stood up, took a step forward, picked up the official letter on the desk with both hands, and opened it.
The official letter is not short, and it states one by one the recent incidents of Japanese pirates disturbing the people in Dusi, Zhejiang.
It took half an hour for Xiao Chen to read the official letter.
"Have you finished reading? What do you think?" Ming Chengzu asked with a smile.
Xiao Chen frowned: "These Japanese pirates are not only masters of tactics, but also proficient in the art of war. The most important thing is that they know how to use them flexibly."
"Oh? Do you have such a high opinion of these Japanese pirates?" Ming Chengzu had a hint of displeasure on his face.
Before you take action, will you gain the ambition of others and destroy your own prestige?
"Zhejiang Dusi has many subordinate guard stations. And which of these guard stations is not well-equipped and paid on time? More than a thousand people were lost, and not even a single Japanese pirate was left behind. This is too unjustifiable, right?
.”
After closing the official letter, Xiao Chen gently placed it on the table in front of Ming Chengzu.
"Alas." Ming Chengzu sighed, "Sneak attack, it clearly says sneak attack, didn't you see it?"
"The garrison is a military institution on the defensive side of the imperial court. They were so easily attacked by Japanese pirates. How vigilant were they? Thanks to the Japanese pirates. If it were the army of the Ryukyu Kingdom, wouldn't it be possible to invade the Ming Dynasty's territory from the Zhejiang area?
Already?"
Ming Chengzu had a gloomy face, but he had to nod.
Xiao Chen was right. As the fundamental defense force of the imperial court, it was really not a glorious thing to be attacked by someone like this, with more than a thousand casualties.
Nor should we use this as an excuse to shirk responsibility for our failure to exterminate Japanese pirates.
But right now, the court's top priority is to ensure that the people along the coast are not harassed or violated.
Putting a smile on his face, Ming Chengzu looked at Xiao Chen: "This is not the time to hold people accountable. Are you willing to watch the people along the coast being harassed by Japanese pirates?"
"Of course not." Xiao Chen puffed up his chest hard: "Compared with the local guard station, Dongchang's frontal combat is still a little inferior. There are no gunpowder arrows, no chariots, and no shields. What's more, Dongchang's total
There are only about 2,000 people, and if they are attacked by Japanese pirates, half of them will be lost."
"Stop, stop." Ming Chengzu raised his right hand.
"You said that Dongchang does not have gunpowder arrows, but Dongchang has fire blunderbuss. Is that true? Is it possible that fire blunderbuss are not as useful as gunpowder arrows? There are no chariots, no shields, and no warships. You don't have any of these.
You need to consider that when you get to the local area, the local health office will fully assist you."
Xiao Chen chuckled: "Your Majesty, do your subordinates need to bring the military talisman from the Ministry of War?"
Ming Chengzu was startled: "Military Talisman, what are you doing with the military talisman?"
"The Zhejiang Dusi is far away from the capital, and there are no acquaintances among the subordinates. At the beginning, more than a hundred officials were captured in Hangzhou. The subordinates were afraid, so they went to the Zhejiang Dusi, but they were unwilling to cooperate. They took the military personnel.
Soldier Talisman, even if they are unwilling, they must fully cooperate."
"Hahaha." Ming Chengzu was immediately amused, "With this unicorn purple dress on your body, no one in the world would dare not cooperate with you?"
"Your Majesty, my subordinates are going to exterminate Japanese pirates. If they go through the market in such a ostentatious manner, the Japanese pirates may have already heard the news and fled. And the reason why the local police station has been ineffective in exterminating Japanese pirates is probably because the action was too large and the news was leaked. Therefore, my subordinates went to Zhejiang
, I plan not to wear this outfit."
Xiao Chen said.
"Okay, okay, even if you don't wear unicorn purple clothes for the convenience of movement, I agree. However, the purple plum blossom order on your body is not as useful as the military talisman? The military talisman is not used to mobilize the army on a large scale.
Up."
Ming Chengzu chuckled and politely rejected Xiao Chen's request.
"Okay, since the emperor said so, I will try it with the Plum Blossom Order. However, Zhejiang is a long way away, and ordinary military horses will be exhausted if they can't reach Zhejiang. During this trip to Gongchang, Dongchang suffered a heavy blow from Gongchang.
The ambush by Wang Kuan, the prefecture prefect, resulted in the loss of eight fine military horses. This greatly compromised Dongchang's long-distance march."
"How many? Such a big loss? Eight horses?" Ming Chengzu widened his eyes exaggeratedly, "You are asking me around, do you think I am not rewarded for my contribution to Dongchang's disaster relief work in Gongchang?
?”
"No, no, I don't dare." Xiao Chen hurriedly lowered his head, "This trip to Gongchang, although Dongchang spent a lot of time and effort to mobilize people, as long as it is for the court and the emperor, it is worth the price."
Ming Chengzu narrowed his eyes: "Tell me, how much did it cost?"
"After all, including food and accommodation, we have ten thousand taels of silver."
"How many houses were raided?" Ming Chengzu snorted coldly.
"Wang Kuan, the prefect of Gongchang, and Wang Rong, the Marquis of Dingxi, ransacked two homes." Xiao Chen's voice gradually became lower, as if he could no longer be confident.
"What about the caravan? Doesn't the caravan count?"
"Your Majesty, what you are asking about is a house raid. The caravan is here to clean up." Xiao Chen's voice became lower and lower.
"I see, Dongchang's trip to Gongchang has been fruitful." Ming Chengzu turned his head and looked at Lin Shangli behind him, "I'm afraid the silver in Dongchang's small treasury is quite a lot, right?"
"Not much, not much." Lin Shangli hunched over and rolled his eyes at Xiao Chen, then hurriedly looked at Ming Chengzu: "The small treasury in Dongchang is used by Dongchang when he goes out to handle cases. The court does not need to deal with the issue of food and accommodation when handling cases.
Share."
Staring at Xiao Chen, Ming Chengzu deliberately turned his head to the side: "I don't care about Dongchang's small treasury. But don't make me poor. As for the contribution of Gongchang Mansion and his team, I know it well and keep it in Dongchang's mind.
.”
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Xiao Chen knew he was in the wrong and hurriedly walked down the steps.
"When to set off?"
"Tomorrow, we'll set off early tomorrow morning."
"I'm going back today to make good preparations and strive to completely eradicate the Japanese pirates along the coast," Ming Chengzu said.
"Yes, I obey." Xiao Chen lowered his head.
Seeing Xiao Chen getting ready to leave in despair, Ming Chengzu felt a little distressed.
"Xiaosi, send a message to the horse supervisor to choose eight, no, ten good horses and send them to Dongchang."
