After a great battle, hundreds of thousands of allied forces collapsed and suffered numerous casualties. Under the leadership of Zhai Luan, it took three days to chase down the remaining enemies before completely wiping out Japan's last resistance force.
When the good news reached the capital, the civil and military officials in the Ming Dynasty were naturally very happy to hear the news. Zhu Houzhao even invited Chu Yi to lead hundreds of officials to the Ancestral Temple to worship the previous emperors.
Not to mention how much loot can be obtained from this battle, just completely occupying Japan is a feat of opening up and expanding the territory.
For an emperor, it is his duty to protect his territory. However, if he wants to be famous for generations, the most direct way is to expand his territory.
It is precisely because of the difficulty of expanding territory that it is so important to evaluate an emperor's achievements.
Ordinarily, Zhu Houzhao, as the king of a country, should be very happy when such good news came, and this was indeed the case. However, Zhu Houzhao was only happy for a few days.
In the early morning of the day, when Zhu Houzhao looked at a figure appearing among the courtiers, he couldn't help showing a look of astonishment on his face.
Not only Zhu Houzhao, but also all the civil and military officials in the court had dull expressions on their faces when they saw that figure. Apparently they did not expect that this person would appear in the court.
This person is none other than Chu Yi.
After Chu Yi resigned, it can be said that he has not appeared in the sight of officials for quite some time, and even some officials subconsciously forgot Chu Yi's existence.
If news about Chu Yi's assassination hadn't been revealed from time to time, some officials might have forgotten about Chu Yi.
Suddenly seeing Chu Yi again in the court hall naturally shocked many officials.
Even a fool can realize that Chu Yi's sudden appearance in the court must mean that something big is about to happen. Otherwise, after all, just the return of Chu Yi, who left the court, will be the focus of all officials.
.
Even the officials who had something to report at the moment suppressed their thoughts for the time being. Important matters were more concerning than Chu Yi's return.
Just by looking at the emperor's expression, we can see that even the emperor didn't know Chu Yi suddenly appeared in the court, otherwise the emperor wouldn't have such a shocked expression.
Zhu Houzhao's face showed a bit of joy. He had repeatedly begged Chu Yi to go to court to help him manage the government affairs, but Chu Yi never agreed. Now that Chu Yi actually appeared in the court, how could he not let Zhu Houzhao do it?
Such joy.
"Daban, are you ready to return to the court?"
Chu Yi slowly shook his head. Seeing the disappointed look on Zhu Houzhao's face, Chu Yi could only sigh in his heart.
Taking a step forward, Chu Yi saluted Zhu Houzhao and said: "Your Majesty, I am here to affirm that Your Majesty allows me to lead the fleet to the Western Ocean!"
"What……"
With an exclamation, Zhu Houzhao suddenly sat upright and looked at Chu Yi in astonishment.
"Sail to the West?"
Many officials looked at Chu Yi with wide eyes, obviously confused by Chu Yi's plea.
Although hundreds of years have passed since the deeds of Sanbao Eunuch Zheng He's voyages to the West, when Chu Yi mentioned his voyages to the West, the first thing that came to the minds of officials who knew about Zheng He's voyages was Zheng He.
I think that Zheng He was the eunuch who was the confidant of Chengzu in the past. Although his status was not as high as that of Chu Yi now, he was still a chamberlain who was deeply relied on and trusted by the emperor.
Chu Yi begged the emperor for permission to sail to the West. To be honest, it exceeded many people's expectations.
Everyone knew that there must be something going on when Chu Yi suddenly appeared in the court, but they didn't expect that Chu Yi would want to follow Zheng He's example and go to the West.
Almost immediately, Zhu Houzhao had the idea of rejection in his heart.
Chu Yi finally stayed in the capital for more than half a year. As a result, Chu Yi wanted to lead a fleet to the Western Ocean as soon as he opened his mouth. You must know that it would take at least a year or two to do so.
Zhu Houzhao felt a little panicked at the thought of not seeing Chu Yi for a year or two.
"Daban, don't..."
Almost instinctively, Zhu Houzhao looked at Chu Yi and shook his head and said,.
Realizing that he had lost his composure, Zhu Houzhao took a deep breath and stared at Chu Yi. Chu Yi stood there, as straight as a green pine, looking at Zhu Houzhao with determination in his eyes.
Just looking at Chu Yi's expression, Zhu Houzhao felt a little panicked. Just as Chu Yi knew Zhu Houzhao, Zhu Houzhao also knew Chu Yi very well.
So Zhu Houzhao knew from the look on Chu Yi's face that Chu Yi had already made up his mind about Chu Yi. If he wanted Chu Yi to change his mind, it would be extremely difficult. At least Zhu Houzhao felt that he might not be able to persuade Chu Yi.
But even if he was not sure, Zhu Houzhao didn't want Chu Yi to go to the Western Sea within a year or two as soon as he left. He didn't care what Chu Yi wanted to do in the Western Sea. Anyway, anyone could sail to the Western Sea, except Chu Yi.
After glancing at Chu Yi, Zhu Houzhao glanced at the civil and military ministers below and said, "All the ministers, do you have a copy?"
Above the court, the civil and military officials did not have any major events. What's more, with such explosive news breaking out at the moment, it would not be a problem for some small matters to be reported to the emperor after a few days delay or forwarded to the emperor through the cabinet.
Seeing that all the civil and military officials had nothing to do, Zhu Houzhao stood up and said: "Retreat from the court!"
The civil and military personnel slowly dispersed, and before leaving, everyone looked at Chu Yi who was standing there.
Zhu Houzhao's facial reaction almost completely revealed his inner thoughts. Everyone could see that Zhu Houzhao did not agree with Chu Yi's move to go to sea at all.
It is impossible to say that there must be a detailed discussion between Zhu Houzhao and Chu Yi.
When all the officials retreated, only Chu Yi, Zhu Houzhao and several chamberlains were left in the hall.
Zhu Houzhao waved his hand, and the few attendants also quietly bowed and retreated.
Then Zhu Houzhao said to Chu Yi: "Daban, wouldn't it be good for you to stay in the capital and teach Ji'er?"
Chu Yi smiled slightly and said: "Your Majesty, I have always wanted to go to sea. In the past, Zheng He promoted the prestige of our Ming Dynasty overseas and made it famous for centuries. I will not let the sages who came before me be so beautiful. I would like to go to the west like Zheng Gong and promote our country."
Wei, your majesty, please fulfill it!"
Zhu Houzhao shook his head and said: "I...I don't agree!"
Zhu Houzhao said: "I can leave the matter of the voyage to the West to others. There is no need for Daban to personally lead the fleet away from the capital. I...I can't bear to leave Daban!"
Seeing Zhu Houzhao's reluctant look, Chu Yi felt bitter in his heart. By begging the emperor to allow him to sail to the West, he was preparing for his departure.
After thinking about it, I'm afraid the emperor is unlikely to believe him if he cheats his death. As for saying goodbye without saying goodbye, Zhu Houzhao might dare to dig deep to find him, so Chu Yi thought of taking advantage of his voyage to the West.
The machine leaves.
Taking a deep breath, Chu Yi said to Zhu Houzhao: "Your Majesty, please do it!"
Seeing Chu Yi like this, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but be stunned. If it were in the past, Chu Yi would definitely explain to him and then persuade him. However, this time, Chu Yi did not explain.
For some reason, Zhu Houzhao felt a little panicked in his heart.
Looking at Chu Yi, Zhu Houzhao said with a trembling voice: "Daban, you are hiding something from me, are you?"
Chu Yi sighed: "What did your majesty say? How could I hide something from your majesty?"
Zhu Houzhao looked at Chu Yi with a bit of disbelief in his eyes. For a while, Zhu Houzhao's face was full of hesitation.
At this moment, a chamberlain outside the palace said: "Your Majesty, I have an invitation!"
Zhu Houzhao, who was hesitating in his heart, suddenly lit up his eyes and said to Chu Yi: "Dad companion, this matter is not trivial, please allow me to think about it for a while, think about it..."
After saying that, Zhu Houzhao turned around and left, looking as if Chu Yi would catch him and agree to him if he stayed.
Looking at Zhu Houzhao's hurried back, Chu Yi sighed in his heart, bowed slightly to Zhu Houzhao and said: "I am waiting for your Majesty's reply!"
Hearing Chu Yi's voice, Zhu Houzhao's footsteps became faster.
As all the officials went to court, the news that Chu Yi implored the emperor to lead a fleet to the Western Ocean quickly spread throughout the capital as if it had grown wings.
As the head of the British Duke Zhang family, the British Duke Zhang Mao, who has been bedridden since years ago, looks much older than before. He is lying there, dying, obviously his time is running out.
Yes.
Standing beside the bed, Zhang Lun said to Zhang Mao: "Grandpa, that's what happened. Chu Yi suddenly mentioned the voyage to the West to His Majesty. I don't know what Chu Yi was doing!"
Zhang Mao, who was already seriously ill, lay there, listening to Zhang Lun telling him what happened in the court. When he heard that Chu Yi wanted to sail to the West, a look of surprise flashed in Zhang Mao's eyes.
Obviously, even Zhang Mao, an old fox, was surprised by Chu Yi's actions. Even he couldn't guess what Chu Yi was thinking.
Everyone knows that leading a fleet to the Western Ocean is definitely not an easy task. It even involves taking great risks at sea. With Zheng He's precedent, even if Chu Yi can do this well, he will be remembered in the history of Qing Dynasty in the future.
Even if you go to Zheng He, you can't get past Zheng He's level.
Therefore, in everyone's opinion, Chu Yi's move has no benefit at all.
Zhang Lun was heard muttering softly: "I really don't know what Chu Yi is thinking about. He is clearly a highly respected minister, one person is inferior to ten thousand people, and he holds great power. First, he resigned inexplicably and ignored the government affairs."
, and now he has the idea of going to the West again. This trip will only take a year or two. Isn't he afraid that he will lose the favor of the emperor if he leaves Beijing for a long time? "
"Um?"
Zhang Mao raised his brows and said subconsciously: "Is it possible that Chu Yi did this on purpose? Is he afraid that he will not end well in the future?"
