Bright Spring

Wang Gui turned his head and glanced at the teams passing by the Waiwulong Bridge one after another, showing a deliberate smile, waiting for Pei Youzhen.

Pei Youzhen quickly said: "The Holy Father was in the car just now and discussed some things with me. I wanted to look up the relevant old files, so that if the Holy Father talked about this again, I have nothing to say. I will not go to the Ancient and Modern Tongji Library Yes, the Daben Hall and the Wenyuan Pavilion warehouse are all on the side of the East Palace. In the past few days, I want to go there often, check some volumes, and hope that the prince will say hello to the eunuchs and generals in the gate tower, so I can save a lot of trouble .”

Wang Guidao: "No problem, our family will definitely keep this matter in mind."

Pei Youzhen said: "Zheng He and Wang Jinghong's voyages to the West, or some records have been recorded, which should be stored in the Prison of Rites. Among them, the files about Chenla, Siam, and Champa, can I borrow them?"

Wang Gui said cheerfully: "Our family has to ask someone to find everything first, and send it to the military office tomorrow afternoon, how about it?"

Pei Youzhen bowed, "Thank you, Mr. Wang."

Wang Guidao: "Pei Shilang is on the emperor's errand, it's our duty to make it convenient for our family. Let me go."

Pei Youzhen also turned around and walked back, thinking for a while while walking.

He will be dispatched to North Korea and Japan with the ship until the end of next month, and there is still more than a month to go.For more than a month, he was going to do two things, one was what he talked about with Wang Gui just now, and the other was to ask the musicians of the Jiaofang Division to re-arrange the song.Pei Youzhen is an official of the Ministry of War and can't control the Jiaofang Division, but as long as it is said in the past that it is an imperial decree, things will definitely be convenient.

When Pei Youzhen returned to the study of the Yamen of the Ministry of War, she habitually sat quietly for a while.It is very popular among civil servants to call it retreat and introspection.Pei Youzhen tried her best to learn how to be an official, and gradually formed a habit.

He didn't have the time to think about whether there were any omissions in his performance in front of the emperor today.

Pei Youzhen suddenly remembered what she had said with Hou Hai in a restaurant outside the imperial city a few days ago.

Hou Hai said, we are regarded as the confidantes of the old officials of the Holy Majesty, but the words in the temple are not enough, why?There are too few old officials in the palace of the Han Dynasty, and there are too many old officials in the court. We are trusted by the emperor, but we have little reputation among the officials.Being an official like this, we are at best favorite ministers, not ministers.

Look at Xia Yuanji, he often disagrees with His Majesty's views, but his words are effective.Those high and powerful people in the court, such as Jian Yi, Ru Zhen, Lu Zhen, and Hu Guang, all felt that he was reliable.To put it bluntly, even Xie Jin's voice is louder than ours, at least he has the talents of Jiangxi's scholars...

Pei Youzhen thought about it for a while, and felt that what Hou Hai said made sense.But he thought about his background, if it wasn't a coincidence for him to join the Holy Majesty, what kind of minister would he be?

After thinking about it for a while, Pei Youzhen still believes that the right way is to get the Holy Majesty's approval first for her talents.

As for the old and new policies, Pei Youzhen really didn't care much.He has neither Xia Yuanji's prudence nor Hu Mu's ambition; he thinks that compared with the ministers of the DPRK and China, he is indeed worse than his party members.

For several days in a row, Pei Youzhen went through all the files he could find.The records of those countries in Nanyang were rarely paid attention to by the court; if the officials in charge of managing the old files did not follow the rules and took them out to dry from time to time, it is estimated that these files will be destroyed by moths now.

However, the Holy Majesty didn't talk about Nanyang anymore, and Pei Youzhen gradually felt that she must have been busy in vain.But it doesn't matter, the so-called preparedness.

Until more than half a month later, the eunuch Wang Gui suddenly came to the Yamen of the Ministry of War and found Pei Youzhen.

Wang Gui seemed a little anxious, and said: "What tea do you want to drink? Hurry up and go to Dongnuan Pavilion with our family, the emperor is waiting to see you."

Pei Youzhen hurriedly asked, "What's the matter?"

Wang Guidao: "The emperor is discussing important matters with several ministers. He asked about the entanglements in Annan, Champa, Chenla and other places. No one can explain clearly. Ru Butang, who is usually very proficient in foreign affairs, did not say anything. Understood. Our family inserted a sentence next to it, maybe Minister of the Ministry of War, Pei Shilang, knew it very well. Then the emperor immediately issued an order, asking our family to pass Pei Shilang in."

Pei Youzhen looked down at the official robe on her body, then stretched out her hand to support the black gauze hat, and said, "My lord please."

The two set off immediately.It was quite a long way for the courtiers to go from Qianbulang Yamen Office to Dongnuan Pavilion; the two walked as fast as they could, and they walked for a long time.They have to go first to Chengtian Gate, Duanmen Gate, and Meridian Gate, then pass through the Dongjiao Gate next to Fengtian Gate, pass through the three gates next to the Three Great Halls, and then enter Qianqing Gate... Then they walked up the inclined corridor and came to Dongnuan Pavilion Outside.

Wang Gui asked Pei Youzhen to follow him directly into the door.When the two arrived at the place, they walked around a partition, and sure enough, they saw several ministers inside.

When Pei Youzhen performed the prostration ceremony, he heard Zhu Gaoxu's voice say: "Pei Youzhen is exempt from the ceremony. I want to know about the affairs of the Champa Kingdom, about Siam (Thailand), Chenla (the whole of Cambodia, southern Laos, and southern Vietnam), Champa (South-Central Vietnam), what do you know?"

"I think that if we want to talk about the relationship between the southern countries, An Nanguo is indispensable." Pei Youzhen got up from the ground and said.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Very good."

Pei Youzhen pondered for a moment, then clasped her fists and said: "I will report to the sage. For hundreds of years, the Chenla Kingdom has actually made enemies on both sides of the east and west. At the same time, it has long-term grievances with Siam and Champa, and they attack each other. The Champa is also the same. , fought many times with the Chenla Kingdom in the west and the Annan Kingdom in the north. The Annan Kingdom dealt with the Central Plains court in the north and the Champa Kingdom in the south at different times.

After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Chenla mainly faced the attack of the new Ayutthaya Dynasty (also known as the Ayutthaya Dynasty) in Siam, and the offensive against Champa City has been reduced.During the reign of Yongle, because the Annan Kingdom was conquered by our dynasty, Champa had surrendered to our dynasty; after recovering the lost land in the north occupied by the Annan Kingdom, Champa turned west to attack Chenla.

At this time, the relationship between the four countries is that the war between Annan and Champa has quelled, while Chenla is facing the attack of Siam and Champa. "

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Pei Shilang made it clear, simple and clear."

Pei Youzhen was greatly encouraged, and said: "An Nanguo and Zhancheng have had too much grievances in recent decades. The temporary peace is only due to the intervention of our army; once the situation changes slightly, the two countries will soon return to each other. There will be a war.

Gein, from the beginning of Hongwu to the present, the two countries have attacked each other many times, causing countless casualties and injuries to soldiers and civilians.Champa captured Thang Long, the capital of the Annan Kingdom three times, looting and massacring.

During the turmoil of the Hu family in An Nanguo, they also attacked Vijaya (naturalized), the capital of Champa, ransacked the city, and forcibly occupied large tracts of land including Da Nang and Hoi An.After the Hu family was attacked and destroyed by the Ming army, Zhancheng regained everything and occupied the Hue area of ​​Annan Kingdom. "

Zhu Gaoxu said: "During the Yongle period, our court set up the Jiaozhi Chief Envoy in Annan Kingdom, and the entire Annan Kingdom was once under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty. Since Chamcheng Kingdom has become a vassal, why should it occupy Shunzhou, Huazhou and other places?"

Pei Youzhen worshiped: "Holy Lord Mingjian. The land of Hue (north of Da Nang) was originally disputed, and it was originally the land of the Champa Kingdom.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the Yuan army threatened An Nanguo, and An Nanguo adjusted its national policy to form an alliance in the south and resist the enemy in the north.So An Nanguo married a princess of the Chen family to the king of Champa. At that time, Champa was also afraid of the Yuan army, so he took the land of Hue as a dowry, and the two countries formed an alliance.

But then the Yuan army gave up their plan to go on an expedition to Annan, and the external threat had just disappeared, and the old grievances between the two countries immediately intensified due to a small incident, and war broke out again.It is roughly that Princess Annan was not buried and was taken back to Thang Long; Champa thought it was an insult to the royal family, so it sent troops to the Northern Expedition.

The land of Hue has also changed hands several times, and now no one can tell whose land it should be.In addition, during the "Battle of Conquering the Southern Kingdom", the Champa Kingdom wanted to take advantage of the fire to loot, and it was very hard to help the Ming army to attack the Hu family. The Ming court did not care about the gains and losses of the two cities and one place. "

"So that's the case." Zhu Gaoxu nodded and said, "Is there a mistake in what you said?"

Pei Youzhen thought for a while, then clasped her fists and said: "I read all the old files of Dabentang and Wenyuan Pavilion warehouse, and recorded them in the files of the Supervisor of Rites, and summarized them. There may be omissions in the details, and there should be no discrepancies. "

Zhu Gaoxu said: "I am very pleased that you are devoted to national affairs. However, the affairs of Japan are more urgent, and the army will go to sea later this month. You hand over the archives and catalogs you have to the Minister of the Ministry of War Qitai, and focus on the immediate affairs first. "

Pei Youzhen bowed: "I obey the order."

He retreated into the ranks of officials, and found that after he was in the limelight today, the reaction of his colleagues seemed a little cold.Even Qi Tai just gave him a look of approval, and didn't say a few words of praise to Pei Youzhen in public.

Pei Youzhen was quite emotional for a while, but she couldn't grasp what kind of mood she was feeling at this time.

Chapter 8 and six

The huge fleet carrying more than [-] soldiers of the land division and countless ordnance and ammunition has set off from various ports on time at the end of February.The fleet has hundreds of sea-going ships of various sizes, including dozens of treasure ships carrying thousands of people and equipped with Hanwang guns weighing several thousand catties.

All ships will be assembled on the east coast, and then divided into five armies to form formations, and the navy general Chen Xuan will control the entire army.Next, the army will slowly walk along the coast, and when the monsoon is smooth, they will leave the coast and go to Busan Town in North Korea and Hakata Bay in Japan.

At that time, the officials and people on the eastern coast of the Ming Dynasty will also be able to witness the big ships floating on the sea and feel the grandeur of the official and military forces at sea.

In this era at the beginning of the fifteenth century, no country or military alliance in the world had such a large navy and the ability to deliver more than [-] troops and supplies at one time.In the East and the West, the total military strength of most countries should not exceed [-], let alone deployment capabilities.

Of course, all these achievements are not mainly due to Zhu Gaoxu.During the Yongle period, the Ming court gradually formed such a naval force.

Zhu Gaoxu feels that the reason why Japan is unscrupulous and has the illusion of fluke is based on the empirical judgment of a country's long-distance delivery capabilities.After all, although the Ming Dynasty had more than 200 million troops, it was only after the Yongle Year that more than 2 people were dispatched from the sea.

The Ming army did not think too much about water warfare, and only considered the storm-resistant ability of ships at sea.After all, with the displacement of the treasure ship, there is no need for artillery at all, and a direct impact can crush most sailing sampans.

After Zhu Gaoxu watched the warships leave the port one after another, he could not control the rest.The follow-up news of the Japanese army will have to wait two months at the earliest.

He began to discuss matters concerning Southeast Asia and the West (from the west of Brunei to the Indian Ocean) with his ministers.

When the monarchs and ministers were discussing matters again in Rouyi Hall, the Minister of the Household Department Xia Yuanji began to exhort: the conquest of the Japanese navy and army would be costly, and the imperial court must not start wars in the north and south at the same time.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Don't worry about Xia Butang. Even if the court has money, it has no ships now. We are running the south, and we don't want to start a war right away. If we can solve the problem through negotiations and games, it would be better not to fight forever."

He went on to say: "But after we obtain the silver from Japan, if we no longer carry out foreign trade, the effect of improving national power will be greatly reduced, because the circulation of currency and materials can only be limited to the country.