Daming Greedy Wolf Star

Chapter 160 Heart and Mind, Loyal Man (Two in One)

After having a meal with the old man in Qianqing Palace, despite the old man's repeated attempts to stay, Zhu Zhanhe insisted on leaving.

His heart is no longer here, staying in this palace is a torment for Zhu Zhanhe every moment.

Yingtianfu, the wharf on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

Xia Yuanji looked at the 14-year-old Zhu Zhanhe in front of him, feeling very emotional.

He never thought before that one day he would look forward to the return of a 14-year-old boy so much, and feel very sad for him to leave.

"His Royal Highness, have a good journey."

"Why, don't you want to part with it?" Zhu Zhanhe had a good impression of Xia Yuanji, and immediately asked with a smile.

Xia Yuanji's life was wonderful. He was valued by Zhu Yuanzhang during the Hongwu period. There was even a servant surnamed Hu who once falsely accused Xia Yuanji because of jealousy. beheaded.

It can be said that Xia Yuanji is the team left by Zhu Yuanzhang to Zhu Yunqi.

Later, Zhu Yuanzhang died, Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunwen succeeded to the throne, Yan Wang Zhudi raised troops to calm Nan, and finally invaded Yingtian.

Zhu Di, who entered Yingtian, began to liquidate Jianwen's old ministers, and Xia Yuanji was also among them. When he was tied up and sent to Zhu Di, he didn't beg for mercy or flatter him. Instead, he calmly made a request to Zhu Di.

"Can you give me another three days?"

Zhu Di was very surprised, and asked why, he said: The officials of the household department fled in all directions, and the money and food accounts were in chaos. In three days, I will be able to sort out these accounts, and it will be convenient for handover at that time.

After Zhu Di listened, he took the liquidation list and crossed out Xia Yuanji's name with his own hands.

From then on, Zhu Di knew that Xia Yuanji's allegiance was not Zhu Yuanzhang, nor Emperor Jianwen, nor his Emperor Yongle, but the people of the world.

On that day, Zhu Di did not give Xia Yuanji three days, but gave him 25 years.

From Yongle to Hongxi and then to Xuande, Xia Yuanji's position as Minister of the household is unbreakable, and no one has ever threatened him.

Zhu Zhanhe knew very well that without this person in front of him, Yongle's prosperity would at least have shrunk by half.

"Yeah, I'm reluctant..." Xia Yuanji sighed softly, not hiding his expression at all.

"I don't know when His Royal Highness will respond to Tian again?"

"Respond to the sky again?" Zhu Zhanhe smiled slightly when he heard the words.

"I'm afraid...it's impossible..."

As he spoke, he raised his head and looked in the direction of the palace.

"Go back!" Before Xia Yuanji could speak, Zhu Zhanhe interrupted his words first, and patted his shoulder twice heavily.

"Don't worry, I, the money-giving boy, will continue to give you money."

"More than that, if everything goes well, I will give you a big gift sooner or later next year, which will make you laugh from ear to ear when you sleep."

Xia Yuanji also laughed when he heard the words, and the expression on his face also changed, turning into anticipation.

"Then, Wei Zhe is here in Yingtian, looking forward to the good news from His Royal Highness."

Zhu Zhanhe didn't speak, just waved his hands, then turned around and boarded the boat without any regrets.

Back to Yunnan, the land route is still too slow, and the water route is much faster.

But the Great Ming Forbidden Sea, that is, Zhu Di deliberately opened the back door for Zhu Zhanhe, otherwise Zhu Zhanhe could only go by land honestly.

Standing on the pier, Xia Yuanji watched the boat leave the pier and gradually drift away, the emotion on his face could no longer be concealed.

"Weizhe!"

After a long time, Xia Yuanji was about to leave when he was suddenly stopped.

"Zong Yu?" Xia Yuanji frowned as he looked at Huang Huai approaching.

At this time, it would definitely not be a good thing for Huang Huai, the chief minister of the East Palace since Hu Guang left, to come to him.

At least, Xia Yuanji would not think this is a good thing.

Wan'an Street, Xiafu.

The mansions of officials of the Ming Dynasty, whether civil servants or military generals, are actually more in Chang'an Street, followed by Ping'an Street and Yong'an Street, and finally Wan'an Street.

Xia Yuanji is one of the six ministers, but his residence is in Wan'an Street. I have to say that he is really out of tune with this world sometimes.

Moreover, Xia Yuanji now has the feeling of when Yu Qian was ransacked in the later period: the official is a red robe, but his family is completely empty.

During the Yongle period, there were three officials like Jin Zhong, Xia Yuanji, and Yu Qian. Others don't know why, but in the eyes of Zhu Zhanhe, a latecomer, Yongle was worth it.

"Xia is really honored to be able to alarm the Grand Master Huang..." Xia Yuanji poured Huang Huai a cup of tea, but his words were full of thorns.

"I don't know what is the reason for the great scholar Huang to come here?"

"Wei Zhe..." Huang Huai frowned.

He doesn't like Xia Yuanji's harsh tone very much, but Xia Yuanji is notoriously reticent, let alone him, a scholar of Wenyuan Pavilion, even if Zhu Di makes unreasonable demands, Xia Yuanji will Those who dare to shake face.

This is also one of the reasons why Xia Yuanjihui was sent to prison in the late Yongle period.

"Hey!" Seeing that Huang Huai was really ready to say something, Xia Yuanji directly picked up the teacup and interrupted Huang Huai's words.

"Some things, if you can't say it, don't say it. In fact, I know what the result will be. Why bother to make fun of yourself?"

"Besides, I, Xia Yuanji, am just an ordinary person, and any righteousness is useless to me, because there are only two things in my eyes."

"One is money and the other is food."

"As for those great righteousness, that's something you Wenyuange scholars need to consider. As the Minister of the Household Department, my responsibility is to maintain Daming's finances and make Daming run smoothly."

"Others, don't ask me, let alone look for me."

Being able to become one of the six ministers, and also the household minister in charge of money and food, what Xia Yuanji had was never just the ability to make money by sitting on the ground.

Political sense, vision and ability are all there, and it can even be said that they are all good.

If, as he said, he was a layman who only knew how to deal with money and food, then he would not have sat firmly in the position of Minister of the Household Department, the coveted position of countless people, for 25 years.

Not to mention 25 years, I'm afraid he was kicked down just after he took office, before he could show his talent.

Huang Huai took a deep look at Xia Yuanji, picked up the teacup and drank it down in one gulp, then got up and left.

In fact, long before coming to Xia Yuanji, Huang Huai knew very well that he could not talk to him.

To put it bluntly, Xia Yuanji is a person who doesn't care about oil and salt. He doesn't care about the prince or Hanwang. He only cares about who can create more wealth for the Ministry of Households.

To be realistic, no matter who is the crown prince or even the emperor, it has nothing to do with Xia Yuanji.

Because he has the confidence to know that no matter who is in the position, he will not be replaced.

But even if he knew this, Huang Huai had no choice but to come to Xia Yuanji, because not only him, but the civil servants knew that now the civil servants alone were not enough to suppress the King of Han's lineage.

As for generals?

Military generals are more inclined to the King of Han. The civil servants actually had a chance when the King of Han was in power, but they didn't grasp it.

If at some point, the civil servants chose to win over instead of contemptuous generals, then they might have a much better life now, at least not as sad as they are now.

Now, Zhu Zhanhe first destroyed Chen Jikuo's Dayue Kingdom, then beheaded hundreds of thousands in the Wa Kingdom, and seized more than two million taels of silver.

The military generals who saw Zhu Zhanhe's rise again would no longer listen to the words of Wenchen.

Still the same sentence, who is born to be a human being, who wants to be inferior to others?
If it was when the king of Han was in power, there might be many generals who compromised with reality, and would go against their original intentions when faced with the courtship of civil officials. After all, the prince was the general trend at that time.

But now, the ray of dawn that can make them overwhelm the civil servants has come, who will listen to the civil servants' bullying?
The pride of the civil servants made them fall into an even more embarrassing situation than before.

……

Cochin.

Even if it was by water, Zhu Zhanhe traveled for less than half a month before he arrived at Jiaozhi Shenglong City.

They have already arrived here, and home is close at hand, Zhu Zhanhe is not in a hurry, but went to inspect the construction progress here first.

It has been more than half a year and almost a year since Zhu Zhanhe set off to conquer the Wa Kingdom. Jiaozhi, without Chen Jikuo and most of the tribes, was occupied by a large number of Yunnan people who moved south, and a new construction began.

I haven't been back for nearly a year, and there is no winter here. The Jiaozhi that was burned to the ground by Zhu Zhanhe now has a new look.

The bare black and gray tone in the past has completely disappeared, and the refreshing green has spread all over the land again, telling people that this land has been slowly recovering.

However, for Zhu Zhanhe, there is still something different here.

Cochin used to be a lush tropical rainforest, but now, there are many scars on this land, which are all farmland opened up by the common people.

However, this may be a scar for Mother Earth, but for the people of Cochin, this is a scene that is many times better than the virgin forest.

After chatting with Mu Sheng, who was already stationed in Thang Long City, about the current situation in Jiaozhi and the trends in Siam and Nanzhang, Zhu Zhanhe went home directly.

Things have priorities. In his view, although Siam and Nanzhang and other countries will take a long time to free up their hands to solve them, there will be no problem.

Anyway, the nail has been laid, the reason has been found, and if he wants to do something, it is just a matter of Zhu Zhanhe's words.

When the time came to February, Zhu Zhanhe finally returned home. This was the longest time he had been away from home so far.

"It's okay, look, isn't the baby doing well?" Zhu Zhanhe comforted his mother, feeling a little sour in his heart, but he still had to hold back.

Because he knows that if his emotions are shown on his face and actions, his mother will be even more unbearable.

"Okay, don't cry." Seeing his son again after a year, Zhu Gaoxu was also a little excited, but he still patted his wife on the back to comfort him.

"Zhan He is also a prince, so it is impossible for him to charge Shi Shi himself. Even if he is defeated, the guards and soldiers will escort him away."

"What are you talking about!?" Princess Han didn't bother to cry at this time, and immediately patted her husband in dissatisfaction.

"Yes, yes, I was wrong." Seeing this, although Zhu Gaoxu was at a disadvantage, there was a smile on his face.

In fact, the men in the Zhu family are quite affectionate.

For example, Zhu Yuanzhang to Empress Ma, Zhu Di to Empress Xu, Zhu Gaochi to Empress Zhang, Zhu Zhanji to Empress Sun, not to mention that among the descendants of the Zhu family, Zhu Jianshen, Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty, was to Concubine Wan Gui.

The same is true for Zhu Gaoxu, he is still very good to his wife, but after the incident with his side concubine, Princess Han became reticent.

"Okay, mother, you need to calm down first, my son, go and meet those three people first."

I was anxious when I was in Beijing, anxious when I was on the road, and because my home was close to me when I was in Jiaozhi, Zhu Zhanhe was not very anxious.

But now that he was home, Zhu Zhanhe became anxious again.

"Okay, let's go..." Princess Han wiped her tears and patted her son on the shoulder.

Whether it's a princess, a queen, or the concubine of a feudal king, nothing can be done by idlers.

Like Princess Han, she may not be particularly outstanding, but she is not far behind.

At the very least, she will not delay her husband and son's business.

Seeing his mother calm down, Zhu Zhanhe immediately gave his father a look, and then ran out the door without even changing his clothes.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu patted his wife on the back, and then followed.

Next to the mansion built for Zhu Zhanhe, there is a small house that is very eye-catching, because its existence is incompatible with the Zhu Zhanhe mansion next to it, which can be said to be a representative of luxury, and it looks like a plate of pickles in the Manchu banquet.

However, no one dared to get close to this small house, even the guards outside only dared to patrol the surrounding area and dared not step into the small door.

Because after the three of Qian and Yong moved in, Zhu Gaoxu gave the order to die: except for the three of Qian and Yong, if they step into this door, they can do whatever they want.

Even if it was killed on the spot.

Because, even Zhu Gaoxu would be notified in advance if he was coming.

squeak~
With the sound of teeth grinding, Zhu Zhanhe slowly stepped into the small house.

The sound of opening the door without anyone's permission for a long time immediately attracted the attention of Qian Yong and the others, and after seeing the person coming clearly, the emotions that Qian Yong and the others had suppressed for a long time finally broke out.

"Your Highness...Your Highness!"

The three of Qian Yong fell to their knees with a plop, and tears flowed from their red eyes again after four years.

"I'll wait... to live up to His Highness' trust!"

Although it had been four years and Zhu Zhanhe's body had changed a lot, they still recognized Zhu Zhanhe at a glance.

The story is very cliché, because several years ago, this boy gave them and their family a chance to live, and when this boy needed them, they left desperately.

Even if they knew that they might not come back, even if they were afraid and regretted it, they never thought of betraying Zhu Zhanhe.

Sometimes people's emotions are complicated.

But sometimes, people's feelings are very simple.

(End of this chapter)