The straight man who wears bright clothes is also afraid of messing with him

On the fourth day of September in the tenth year of Hongwu (1377), Cui Miao went straight to Fengyang Mansion from home. Feeling out of breath.

Annoyed, Cui Miao stood on the side of the road wiping her sweat, and fanned her with her sleeve.From a distance, the dust was flying, followed by the sound of horseshoes.

"Get out of the way! Get out of the way! The prince is on patrol, and the idlers are waiting to get out of the way!"

"My lord?" Cui Miao was stunned, and the horse team had already approached. He hurriedly avoided the side of the road, but unexpectedly there was a big rock behind his feet, and he fell backward involuntarily. In order to avoid hitting the back of his head, Cui Miao exerted all his strength With all his strength, he turned over and rolled to the right. The moment he landed on the ground, the cavalry galloped past him.

Cui Miao rolled twice on the ground before she let off the momentum of falling to the ground.He rubbed his body hurt by the stone, and stood up grinning, but he found that there were four horse legs as far as he could see. Looking up along the horse legs, a young man of seventeen or eighteen was sitting on the horse. He was wearing a black collared shirt with a belt of the same color around his waist. A piece of white jade hung on the belt and light blue tassels hung down.The young man has handsome eyebrows, red lips and white teeth, and looks at him expressionlessly.

Cui Miao hurriedly bowed and saluted, and said, "My lord, please forgive me for offending you!"

The young man raised his eyebrows slightly and asked, "Do you have fame?"

Cui Miao cupped his hands and saluted, and replied: "My lord, Xiaomin just passed the hospital examination this year."

"How old are you?"

"My lord, Xiaomin is fourteen years old."

Cui Miao replied seemingly calmly, but his heart was sweating. Although he has been in this era for a few days, he still doesn't know anything about etiquette. If something goes wrong, the other party is not easy to mess with. Just moved.

"Fourteen?" The young man looked a little surprised.

Li Cuilan raised Cui Miao very well. Except for the coarse linen clothes, he looks like a child from a wealthy family, but he is a little short in stature, less than 1.5 meters.

While the two were talking, the horse team that had just galloped past turned back, and a red figure stepped out from the crowd, pacing on horseback.The man on horseback was wearing a big red cloak, with black brocade clothes embroidered with auspicious clouds pattern inside, emerald jade hanging on the belt of the same color around his waist, and a pair of thick-soled black long sleeves on his feet.The man is about 20 years old, his facial features are tough, with sharp edges and corners, especially his eyes are shining and sharp.

Seeing this, the young man hurriedly greeted him, immediately bowed and saluted, and said, "Your Highness, please leave the team without permission from your lowly post, please punish me!"

"Zhan Lin, you don't need to call him like this outside, just call me the fourth brother."

Although the man in the big red robe smiled gently, it gave off a very aggressive feeling, especially when he looked at Cui Miao, as a modern man, he couldn't help breaking out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly lowered his head. Dare to look again.But Cui Miao murmured in her heart.

"Fourth brother? Your lord? The fourth eldest in the early Ming Dynasty, who was crowned king, isn't he the future Emperor Yongle, Zhu Di?" Thinking of this, Cui Miao's body became more cold and sweaty.

Seeing this, the young man naturally moved his position, blocking Zhu Di's sight, and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, courtesy cannot be broken!"

Zhu Di looked a little helpless, but his voice was more gentle, "Zhan Lin, what caught your attention so that you couldn't keep up?"

The young man replied truthfully: "Go back to the lord. When the team was marching, I found that someone fell to the ground while dodging in a hurry. I was afraid of hurting civilians and affecting your highness's reputation, so I stopped to check. Please forgive me for delaying the lord's tour!"

"Zhan Lin thinks of the king in everything, why is he guilty? Did that person get hurt?"

"Return to Your Highness, never."

"In that case, let's go and follow me to Phoenix Mountain for a tour."

"Yes, I obey!"

Seeing that everyone was about to leave, Cui Miao stepped forward quickly, but before he reached the young horse, he was stopped by the knight on the horse, the whip was raised, and a gust of wind rushed towards him, Cui Miao narrowly avoided the whip, and subconsciously frowned He frowned, then remembered his current situation, quickly lowered his head, suppressed the emotions in his eyes, and saluted respectfully: "My lord, Xiaomin joins the lord!"

The scene just now fell into the eyes of the young man, a look of disapproval flashed across Qing Juan's face, and he raised his voice and said, "Back off."

The knight looked at Zhu Di, and seeing Zhu Di nodded slightly, he clamped his horse's belly and stepped aside.The young man turned his body slightly to avoid Zhu Di's sight.

Zhu Di understood the young man's actions almost instantly, and said with a smile in his eyes, "Zhan Lin seems to appreciate this young man very much."

The young man's face was calm, without the slightest embarrassment of being seen through his mind, he said: "Return to the prince, this boy has already passed the hospital examination at the age of fourteen, I think there should be merits."

"Oh? If that's the case, it's really good." Zhu Di's tone was very light. He was the emperor on horseback. Although he also used civil servants, he paid more attention to generals.But for the face of the young man, Zhu Dikan planned to give Cui Miao a chance, looked at Cui Miao and said indifferently: "Come forward and answer."

Cui Miao hurried forward, stopped two meters away from Zhu Di, knelt on the ground with a 'plop', and said respectfully: "Xiaomin sees the prince."

Zhu Di's eyes flickered, the imperial court laws, Confucian scholars with fame and fame, don't have to kneel when they see an official, but Cui Miao's kneeling, in Zhu Di's view, he has lost the character of a literati, and is just a mediocre stalker.The expression on his face became even lighter, and he said, "Do you know that you don't have to kneel when you see an official because of your fame?"

Cui Miao bowed her head and said, "Xiaomin knows."

Zhu Di's tone sank, and he said, "Then your actions are lawless!"

With the change of Zhu Di's tone, the aura of the superior swept over, and Cui Miao's body was covered with more cold sweat, which almost soaked the thick middle coat.He prostrated himself on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, it's not that the common people are lawless, but there is something else hidden."

Zhu Di didn't speak, and Cui Miao didn't dare to look up, and the scene suddenly became deadlocked.

I don't know how long it took before Zhu Di spoke slowly and said, "Speak, my king, listen."

Cui Miao took a deep breath cautiously, and said: "My lord, my name is Cui Miao, and I was lucky enough to pass the college examination in the tenth year of Hongwu. These are all registered, and I dare not lie. Xiaomin has recited sage books since childhood. , I often recite the law of my court, and I dare not leave it for a long time. I know that all saints have a strong character, unless the king is in front, they should not bow their knees. The reason why the little people behave like this is because the little people intend to abandon their pens and join the army and take up their swords and guns Protect the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Di was taken aback, looked at the young man next to him, and after confirming that he had heard correctly, he was immediately happy, and said, "Take up the sword? Cui Miao, don't talk about charging into battle, can you carry the sword?"

Not to mention Zhu Di, even the knight guards around him had contemptuous smiles on their faces.Although Cui Miao felt annoyed at being looked down upon so much, she had to admit that with his current image, no one believed that he could kill someone.

Cui Miao gritted her teeth, and said forcefully, "My lord, Xiaomin knows that his appearance is weak, but Xiaomin has a heart to serve the country. Even if he offends the lord, he should not be underestimated!"

The smile on Zhu Di's face stagnated, and instead of being angry, his impression of Cui Miao changed a bit, and he said with great interest, "Then tell me, why did you abandon your pen and join the army? To get fame, to be the emperor and the court Sharing worries can also serve the country."

"My lord, if what Xiaomin said offends, please don't blame me, my lord!"

Zhu Di nodded and said, "Tell me, no matter what you say is right or not, I am not guilty."

"Thank you, my lord!" Cui Miao thought for a while, and then said: "Although Xiaomin was young at the time, from his parents and elders, he also learned that at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the emperor had no way. Years of wars caused the people to be displaced and suffered terribly. Fortunately, the Son of Heaven Only when the world is pacified can the common people go home and give birth with peace of mind. Xiaomin thinks that although the world is stable now, the Northern Yuan Dynasty is still a serious problem for our confidant. Instead of writing articles with peace of mind under the guards of all the soldiers, it is better to abandon the pen and join the army, take up the sword and gun, and serve as the guard The people will be stable, and the dynasty will flourish forever!"

If Cui Miao didn't believe it before, but he could say these words, this is the instinct inspired by a desperate situation.

As soon as these words came out, everyone put away the contempt just now, and their impression of Cui Miao changed a lot. After all, these guards were all from the Yanshan Guard, they were all from the army, and they were often discriminated against by literati. , I felt much more at ease.

"Even if you take this life for nothing, don't you regret it?"

Cui Miao said firmly: "Xiao Min will never regret it even if he dies!"

Zhu Di smiled, his tone more gentle, and said: "Get up. Instead of risking your life for nothing, it is better to concentrate on scientific research and do your best for the court and the people."

Instead of getting up, Cui Miao lowered her body even more, and said in a firm tone: "I beg the prince to fulfill the hearts of the people to serve the country!"

Zhu Di looked at the young man beside him, and said with a smile, "Zhan Lin, what do you think about this?"

The young man bowed and replied: "Everything is up to the prince to decide!"

Zhu Di said helplessly: "Zhan Lin doesn't have to be like this, but you just say it's okay, I don't blame you."

"Go back to your lord, since he is so determined, you might as well give him a chance." The young man lowered his eyebrows, and Zhu Di couldn't see the expression on his face clearly.

"Oh? Don't Zhan Lin feel that his strength is not enough to serve as a soldier in our army?"

It was Emperor Yongle who said this, no matter how unconvinced, Cui Miao would not be so stupid as to refute it face to face, she could only slander secretly in her heart.But compared to this, he is now more curious about why that young man who has never met before has helped him again and again.

"No matter how weak he is, it doesn't make any difference to practice for a few months, it just depends on whether he has determination."

Zhu Di nodded, taking the young man's words seriously, and said, "Zhan Lin, in your opinion, how to test his determination?"

The young man turned to look at Cui Miao and asked, "Cui Miao, can you ride a horse?"

Cui Miao was taken aback. He had indeed learned how to ride a horse in modern times, but those horses were very docile pony horses. He had never ridden such a tall horse, let alone Cui Miao, a bookworm.After hesitating for a moment, he replied: "My lord, Xiaomin is ashamed."

"Then let's try to teach riding skills."