The next morning, Le Loi and Nguyen Chien left Yanzhou on horseback and came to the bank of a river called Songlai River, which is located in the north of Yanzhou City, only a few dozen miles away.
They were accompanied by a team of guards, but only Ruan Jian and the other two looked very tired. It was because they had slept too little after their candlelight conversation last night.
The team crossed the Songlai River via a bamboo and wood arch bridge. They ran north along the road for a while and soon saw a military camp built in the mountains.
Nguyen Chien followed Le Loi and led his horse up the hill, and saw fences, earthen walls, and some huts in the bushes. The soldiers inside came to pay homage to Le Loi, and they seemed to be Le Loi's subordinates. But there were not many soldiers stationed here, perhaps only more than a hundred people.
Several people walked out of the military camp and came to a stand near the hillside, which was a piece of he
"Da da da..." A sound of horse hooves came from the north. A rider ran towards Liu Sheng's flag and shouted, "Report!"Liu Sheng on the other side turned around, and without waiting for the knight to come closer, his eyes immediately turned to a woman behind him.The woman following on horseback was none other than Ruan, and there were two Ming army knights behind and behind her. Mrs. Ruan had already taken off the bamboo hat on her head, and she said in Chinese with a not quite standard tone, "General Liu knows me and I didn't lie to you."The knight who went to report the news had already arrived next to Liu Sheng, where he was saying something and turning to point at Ruan. Liu Sheng's eyes had already been cast on Ruan, and he did not look at the sergeant in front of him.Ruan didn't say much anymore. Since Liu Sheng saw her, he would definitely meet her.But at this time, Ruan became even more nervous. She felt as if her heart was twitching,
It was already the end of November when Liu Sheng's victory report reached Dongguan (Hanoi).Dongguan City was decorated with lanterns and full of joy. Those who celebrated included not only the civil and military officials sent by the Ming Dynasty, but also many Annan people.Among them were the surviving wealthy families after the fall of the Hu family, the clan nobles who had taken refuge with Chen Zhengyuan's family, and the Annan people such as Ruan Gonggui and Ruan Zhi who had long since defected to the Ming Dynasty. These people wished that Chen Jikuan would be finished soon. Otherwise, if the Annan rebels gain power, they will be the ones to be liquidated; everything they gained in the past few years will of course be in vain.Zhang Fujun had long since eliminated all the enemy troops on the plains, that is, the rebels in the Yellow River Basin. He has now returned to the "Annan Governor's Mansion" in Dongguan City.At this time, there were sti
The news of the great victory in suppressing the rebellion in Annan was sent to the capital by express horses, but the emperor and his ministers were not happy at this time, because just a few days ago, an unprecedented earthquake occurred in the capital, followed by several aftershocks.The Imperial Astronomical Observatory, which copied Zhang Heng's seismograph based on records in ancient books, failed to predict the earthquake. After the earthquake, many houses collapsed in the capital, and the city was in panic and chaos. Countless people died without knowing it. The capital of the Ming Dynasty, which was gradually becoming peaceful, suddenly suffered a heavy blow.Under the advice of his ministers, Zhu Gaoxu was forced to publicly admit that he had recently neglected rituals and sacrifices, and promised to follow the rules, fear God, be strict in governing officials, eliminate bad policies, etc., in order to appease God's anger.Although Zhu Gaoxu had a
In the twelfth month of the first year of Wude, Zhu Gaoxu issued an edict to cancel all banquets, weddings, and singing and dancing performances until the eve of the Lantern Festival of the following year; and it was scheduled that in the first month of the second year of Wude, the combined sacrificial ceremony (praying for blessings in all four seasons, four sacrifices to heaven and earth combined into one) would be held in the southern suburbs.He also resumed the daily morning court session, showing an attitude of following the rules and catering to the will of heaven. This "active response to the wrath of heaven" satisfied both civil and military officials. The morning court session had been frequently cancelled since Emperor Taizong, and Zhu Gaoxu naturally did not hold it for several months during the Northern Expedition.A few days later, an impeachment memorial from Hu Guang, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, finally arrived.Hu Guang wrote a letter t
This year’s Chinese New Year in the capital will be quieter than in previous years. Without fireworks, people can't celebrate, they can only offer sacrifices and reunite. However, it can be expected that the Lantern Festival in half a month will be unprecedentedly lively. After all, there are too many disasters in the world, and people cannot remain in pain.During the festival, all offices from the imperial court to the various government offices stopped working. Zhu Gaoxu no longer had to review memorials or attend morning court.Therefore, during this period, he spent a lot of time with Miao Jin, and the two often stayed in Rouyi Palace. Other people in the harem had some complaints about this, so Zhu Gaoxu had to say that Miao Jin was writing a book for him, which was a little bit of an explanation.Under the huge wooden beams of Rouyi Palace, the room with bookshelves lined along the walls still looks a bit empty.However, Zhu Gaoxu had studied he
"Bang!" The first fireworks bloomed over Chang'an Street at the foot of the Imperial City, marking the beginning of the joyful night of the Lantern Festival in the second year of Wude.The imperial palace supervisors and the Jinyiwei set up a throne on the Hongwu Gate, and placed all kinds of snacks, sweet soups, and fine wine. Zhu Gaoxu brought the empress and concubines here, and they first enjoyed the fireworks and lights before returning to the palace to celebrate. The palace had also been newly decorated, and the concubines and maids could guess lantern riddles, play various games, and even gamble, and they could also watch singing and dancing, shadow play and other performances.However, although the lights are beautiful, the most beautiful thing is the people.Every time fireworks lit up the sky, under the colorful light, the gorgeous faces around the emperor would be reflected, each more beautiful than the other, vying for beauty.The person cl
In the early morning mist, there was still a faint smell of pollution from fireworks.The messy items that could be seen from time to time in the imperial city that had not been cleaned up were all the remnants of the decorations and celebrations of the imperial palace on the night of the Lantern Festival. These things were not seen on ordinary days, after all, there were many people in the palace to maintain cleanliness.In view of the fact that Zhu Gaoxu had been attending various ceremonies in a proper manner and attending morning court and sacrifices diligently since the end of last year in order to appease the wrath of heaven, just after the Lantern Festival, the Cabinet Minister and Minister of Rites Hu Yi submitted a memorial requesting an imperial decree to reopen the daily lectures on the classics this spring.The Jingyan was a kind of reading activity held by the literati and the emperor after the Song Dynasty; the lecturers mainly talked about the
In terms of personal relationship, Zhu Gaoxu and Hu Yi trusted each other.After the fall of the party that abolished the crown prince, Hu Yi was the first to be appointed as one of the ministers at the ministry level. Hu Yi also abandoned all public and private prejudices and, in accordance with the wishes of Emperor Zhu Gaoxu, presided over the matter of whitewashing Qi Tai.But at this time, both of them were cautious. Even if Zhu Gaoxu had said in advance that he would not admit his guilt and that he was innocent, it could not completely eliminate the inexplicable estrangement between them.It is said that serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. It is natural for Hu Yi to be so cautious. But can Zhu Gaoxu fully trust his ministers? How can he expect a scholar-official like Hu Yi to truly understand him?At this moment, Zhu Gaoxu actually sat down on the floor. The floor in the attic was made of wood and was swept very clean, but the wood was s