The night was as dark as a black curtain, pressing over the entire capital.
That night, some people were roughly pulled out from under the covers, while others had such sweet dreams that they stayed until dawn. Whether they experienced the noise or enjoyed the tranquility, everyone faced the gradually brightening sky.
As soon as the daylight dawned and the city gate opened, several fast horses galloped out of the city gate hole, stamping on the dust on the official road, and galloped away into the distance. Moreover, at this moment, there were more than one city gate with fast horses running out.
On a hidden hillside, there is a cage of overgrown weeds. After carefully pushing aside the weeds, you can see a huge gap in a stone, which is just big enough for a person to lie down and sleep.
Moreover, from this location, you can have a clear view of the official road down the hillside through the gaps in the weeds. Muda was lying inside, resting all night. Muda twisted his body randomly, and there were sounds of exploding joints all over his body.
Looking at the fast horses galloping by on the official road, Muda showed a long-lost sincere smile on his face. Without any movement, he continued to lie there until the sun was about to set. Then he carefully tried not to change the cage of weeds at all and came out of the stone.
Twisting a few times on the chin and under the ears, the muscles changed his appearance, from a rich, fair and pampered butler of the Hou Mansion to a dark, rough, yellow and skinny one. Muda put on the clothes he had prepared long ago, took the road guide and walked into the capital step by step.
There is not much turmoil here in the capital, and the number of guards at the city gate has not increased, except for more interrogations.
"Where did you come from? Going to Beijing to work on something?"
Facing the guard's interrogation, my mother acted very nervous, and she even couldn't speak clearly, making two ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. He just holds a copy of the road to his chest.
The guard didn't react much to Muda's nervousness. For an old man who rarely goes out, it is normal to be afraid of him. If Muda remained calm and calm when facing these guards, then they would suspect that there was something wrong with the old man.
"Are you from Liyang?"
"Yes, yes, little old man..." Muda was about to say what he had prepared, but the guard did not have the patience to listen to what he had to say, and directly waved his hand to interrupt him. This just suited Muda's wish, so he looked scared and quickly closed his mouth.
"What are you doing in the capital?" the guard asked again.
"Looking for, looking for someone...looking for my nephew, he is in the south..." Muda was about to tell the guard his address.
However, the guard had to interrogate how many people entering the city in a day, and he was already exhausted when he arrived at Muda. He waved his hand and said to him nonchalantly: "Go in."
There are not even a thousand people but eight hundred people who come to the capital every day to look for relatives. How can the guards interrogate them one by one? I can only ask roughly. Seeing that there was nothing unusual about Mu Da's movements, he put him in.
The most dangerous place is the safest place. The moment Muda walked through the city gate, a confident smile appeared on his old face.
After informing Lao Zhu about the news through Zhu Biao, Han Dong stopped taking care of it. Judging from Mao Xiang's actions, Lao Zhu's current mood may not be very good.
As the initiator of Lao Zhu's bad mood, Han Du decided to stay at home and watch over An Qing and his son, not going anywhere. Even if Lao Zhu Xingshi investigates the crime, An Qing and his grandson will be able to help him eliminate the firepower to some extent.
After hiding at home for a few days, Han Du did not see Lao Zhu, who was raising troops to question him, but he saw Zhu Biao with a worried face.
As soon as Zhu Biao arrived, he picked up Han Du and left without saying a word.
"Your Highness, what are you doing?" Han Du didn't understand what was going on with Zhu Biao? Could it be that you have encountered some difficulty again? But Zhu Xi's matter is over, and I haven't heard what Lao Zhu wants to do to him, so he should be fine.
Zhu Biao turned around and said to Han Du, "Let's go quickly. The second brother had a quarrel with his father today. Now the father is angry and threatens to expel the second brother."
"The King of Qin removes his title? Isn't this a very happy thing..." Han Du said subconsciously. What Zhu Xi did in Xi'an was really not human affairs. The people of the Ming Dynasty were levied and brutally exacted, forcing so many people to sell their children and daughters and lose their entire fortune. But this is still considered a good thing. He is so cruel to the eighteen Tufan tribesmen. He arrests pregnant women, kidnaps young girls, castrates young boys... It can be said that he does not treat these Tufans as human beings at all. .
This made Lao Zhu's efforts to appease the eighteen Tufan tribes instantly vanish into thin air, making Lao Zhu furious.
However, from Han Du's point of view, although he felt that Zhu Xi was a bit ruthless, he must have a different heart if he is not from my race. Han Du did not regard these Tufan people as his own, and it was impossible to compare them with the Ming Dynasty. All people are treated equally.
According to incomplete statistics, the Ming Dynasty now has a population of nearly 10 million households. With so many of its own people unable to take care of it, Han Du has no intention of taking care of outsiders. Han Du's attitude towards these Tufans was that they must either surrender or die.
Now that I have surrendered, I will bear all the sins. If you can't help but want to resist, that's fine, leave no one behind. Anyway, land is what Han Du values about. As for the land above, it would be better if it was gone. The people of the Ming Dynasty could just take advantage of it.
Even in Nanyang, Handu implemented it this way. A governor's palace was established and troops were stationed, and all the people who had been exiled by the Ming Dynasty rushed to farm. Of course, they did not farm the land themselves, but let them manage the Nanyang indigenous farming land. Some of the proceeds were used for their own use, and some were used by them to trade with the Governor's Mansion.
The more people leave the Ming Dynasty, the stronger their attachment to the Ming Dynasty will become as time goes by. They couldn't go back to the Ming Dynasty, so they had to buy various things from the Ming Dynasty to comfort their homesickness.
Regarding Han Du's set of operating procedures, the thirty-three governors of Nanyang fully supported it. The governors first led troops to attack everywhere, plundered the natives and collected a large amount of wealth. Then they settled down the people who had been exiled by the imperial court, gave them land, sold it to the natives, and asked them to use iron whips and steel knives to drive the natives to work hard.
Although robbing the natives is a hugely profitable business, it is also just a one-time deal. If the natives were not driven to produce and work, where would the money for these governors' annual tribute to Lao Zhu come from?
Han Du, whose thoughts were wandering, had just come back to his senses when he saw Zhu Biao looking at him with a dissatisfied face. Suddenly realizing that he was speaking too bluntly, Han Du smiled sheepishly.
"Although the King of Qin made a mistake this time, hasn't he already compensated the people? This is the best way to avoid death. Isn't it too unfair to the King of Qin to be expelled like this?" Zhu Biao seemed to have no idea of a way to persuade Lao Zhu. , so he thought of persuading Han Du first.
However, Han Du didn't care much about it at all. Whether King Qin was deposed by Lao Zhu or not, what does it have to do with Han Du?
I'm not familiar with him~
Seeing Zhu Biao looking at him eagerly, Han Du couldn't keep silent. He laughed twice and asked with some doubts: "What does the emperor want to do with King Qin? That is the emperor's business. He and his ministers should do it." Doesn’t it matter?”
Zhu Biao did not agree with Han Du's words, "Why doesn't it matter? Don't I regard you as my arm? I don't want my second brother to be expelled, shouldn't you stand up and dissuade my father?"
After being pulled by Zhu Biao, Han Du stood motionless and looked at Zhu Biao steadily.
"Your Highness, sometimes it's too..." Han Du originally wanted to tell Zhu Biao not to be too kind, but when the words came to his lips, he couldn't say them out.
He had no choice but to change his subject and said instead: "If you care too much about King Qin, I'm afraid it may not be a good thing for him."
"Why? Brothers, friends, and brothers treat each other with sincerity, and they repay their sincerity to me. What's the problem?" Zhu Biao asked Han Du in confusion.
Han Du stared at Zhu Biao blankly, intending to explain to him what it means to have no family ties in the royal family, and what it means that the throne is forged with the flesh and blood of brothers... However, he was afraid that if Lao Zhu found out, he would beat him to death. , in the end Han Du chose to remain silent.
Seeing that Han Du had nothing to say, Zhu Biao didn't think too much. He pulled him away and said, "Let's go. Go help Gu and persuade his second brother. Let him admit his mistake to his father and keep his life." Title."
Zhu Biao couldn't help but Han Du took him to the East Palace. After rejecting the others, only Han Du, Zhu Biao and Zhu Ping were left in the entire palace.
The room was so quiet that one could hear the needle drop. Zhu Biao glanced at Han Du several times, but Han Du pretended not to see it.
It's not that Han Du didn't help Zhu Biao, it was actually that Han Du didn't know how to help in this matter.
Zhu Ming's indifferent look made Zhu Biao's teeth itch even more.
There was no other way, so Zhu Biao had no choice but to speak first: "Second brother, my father's words about expelling you were just words of anger. Just go and admit your mistake to your father, and this matter will be over."
"We're not going." Faced with Zhu Biao's earnest advice, Zhu Xi could only say these three cold words.
Logically speaking, Zhu Biao should be angry, angry, and ignore this idiot brother. But Zhu Biao was kind-hearted after all and did not want to see Zhu Ping be demoted to a commoner. Seeing that he could not persuade Zhu Ping, he had no choice but to turn his attention to Han Du.
Han Du chuckled dryly, spread his hands and asked in confusion: "Your Highness, what happened? I am confused and don't know anything."
Zhu Biao looked back at Zhu Xi and saw that he looked indifferent. This time he explained carefully to Han Du: "This time, because you proposed compensation to appease the people, my father had never thought about how to punish the second brother."
After saying that, he looked back at Zhu Xi.
Zhu Fang seemed to know what Zhu Biao would say next, he snorted and turned his head to the other side.
Zhu Biao had no choice but to continue: "But the death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime cannot be escaped. My father was ready to scold him and let him remember it for a long time. Just when my father mentioned that he had killed the Tufan people and ruined his plan to appease the people, He actually contradicted his father."
When Han Du heard this, he couldn't help but glance at Zhu Ping. This guy is so courageous that even his father dares to contradict him. To be honest, when Han Du saw Lao Zhu, he saw in a daze that Lao Zhu was opening his mouth to bleed at any time.
"My father was so angry that he said that he would deprive his second brother of his title and demote him to a commoner." Zhu Biao said helplessly. Judging from his appearance, it was obvious that he had tried to persuade Lao Zhu, but it must have had no effect, so he thought of trying to persuade Zhu Xi. And judging from the situation where he brought Han Du over, it was obvious that Zhu Ping didn't listen to him either.
"Just be demoted. It would be better if we were demoted to common people. Then I can do whatever I want without having to look at anyone's face." Zhu Ping cursed loudly.
From his tone, Han Du could feel that these were childish words.
Han Du shook his head and refuted Zhu Ping's words, "The King of Qin is wrong. Common people cannot do whatever they want. In this world, the most restricted people are the common people."
Zhu Xi's words just now were just his angry words. Of course he knew that once he was demoted to a commoner, he would have nothing. But he wanted to lower his head and admit his mistake, but he couldn't swallow the sigh in his heart.
With a bit of grievance, he said with some sobs: "We didn't do anything, weren't we just a little cruel to those Tufan people? My father was not there. He didn't know how those Tufan people had treated the people of Ming Dynasty. . This king was so angry that he thought of avenging the people."
Zhu Biao sighed helplessly and said softly: "Second brother, the Tufan you mentioned harming the people was a hundred years ago."
"So what if it's a hundred years?" Zhu Xi's eyes widened, with an aura of dissatisfaction all over his body, and his eyes seemed to be spitting fire: "Blood debts must be repaid with blood. This is what my father taught us since childhood. Could it be that it's just because it's been too long that it's become too light?" Reveal it?"
This is the crux of the problem. In Lao Zhu's view, it is necessary to appease the Tufan people for the sake of overall stability in the Ming Dynasty's border areas.
Zhu Biao also holds this view.
But in Zhu Xi's view, since the Tufan people thought that they had bullied the Han people wantonly when the Han people were weak. Now that the Han people have stood up again, they will naturally have to settle old and new grudges together. Only in this way can we be worthy of our ancestors.
Han Du finally understood that Lao Zhu and Zhu Biao were both imperial thinkers, not for individuals but for the benefit of the entire Ming Dynasty. But Zhu Ping doesn't care about the justice of the world. What he wants is revenge and revenge.
Zhu Ming's eyes turned red. He turned to look at Han Du and asked with a sense of grievance: "Do you think this blood feud can be forgotten at will?"
"Of course it's impossible." Han Du replied without hesitation, but his expression was calm and indifferent.
Zhu Biao didn't expect that Han Du would stand by Zhu Ping's side. He looked at Han Du in disbelief. His eyes seemed to say, Gu came to you to help Gu persuade his second brother, not to ask you to help him. of.
Zhu Xi did not expect that Han Du would agree with his point of view so simply, and he was stunned for a moment in disbelief.
"Han Du, speak up." Zhu Biao didn't know what to say to Han Du, so he could only rebuke vaguely.
With a smile on his face, Han Du spread his hands and said, "I just said good things, not nonsense."
Zhu Biao was almost mad at Han Du. If his legs weren't long enough, he would have wanted to kick him under the table.
Seeing the different expressions of the two people, Han Du pondered for a moment, then looked at Zhu Biao seriously and said: "I know that His Highness believes that the Ming Dynasty should appease the four parties, so that the four parties will be grateful to the Ming Dynasty and be at peace with the Ming Dynasty. Only in this way can the world be peaceful."
"Isn't that the case?" Zhu Biao was very dissatisfied. Since Han Du knew what was going on, why did he say that again just now?
"Hahaha..." Han Du raised his head and laughed a few times. After he stopped laughing, he looked at Zhu Biao and asked in a deep voice: "Your Highness, I dare to ask, is this really your Highness's own?" An idea? Or... the books told you?"
Originally, when Han Du said the first half of the sentence, Zhu Biao knew very well that this was his own idea. But when Han Du spoke the second half of the sentence, Zhu Biao's expression suddenly changed. What he had been so sure of just now suddenly changed. Gotta shake it up.
Is this my own idea, or is it what the books told me? Zhu Biao fell into deep thought. Of course he had an idea, but this idea... Zhu Biao had to admit that it came from books.
Zhu Xi also fell into deep thought. He was thinking carefully about Han Du's words. At first glance, what Han Du just said seems a bit confusing, but when you think about it carefully, you always feel that there is some great truth in it.
Seeing that his goal was achieved, Han Du made Zhu Biao start to think about it. Then he continued: "Almost all the books in the world come from Confucianism. I am not saying that Confucianism is not good, but I think they are too idealistic...well, that is, they take it for granted. I always think that "If you treat others with sincerity, others will treat you with sincerity."
"Isn't that true?" Zhu Biao always felt that there was a layer of fog between Han Du's words and him. He clearly saw something in front of him, but he couldn't see it clearly, which made him very uncomfortable.
"This is true in theory, but reality is not theory. Not only is reality very different from theory, but sometimes it is even completely opposite." Han Du said decisively.
"If these Tufan people are not inferior to the Ming people in all aspects, or even exactly the same as the Ming people, then they may calmly interact with the Ming Dynasty as equals, and everyone can harmoniously communicate with each other."
"This is impossible." Without Han Du's explanation, Zhu Biao shook his head and retorted, "These people are much worse than the people of the Ming Dynasty in terms of etiquette, life, food and clothing."
Han Duzhang laughed and said: "That's right. There is a gap between the people of the Ming Dynasty and these Tufan people. They are inferior to the people of the Ming Dynasty in every aspect. The gap will make people jealous. When the Ming Dynasty is strong, they can succumb. Under the Ming Dynasty, it seems that they are dependent on the Ming Dynasty. But once the Ming Dynasty declines a little bit, these people will be like wolves, vengeful and vengeful, rushing up to bite the people of the Ming Dynasty."
"This, is this impossible? Could it be that after decades of good relations with Ming Dynasty, they could still turn against each other?" Zhu Biao obviously did not believe Han Du's words. In his opinion, the human heart is made of flesh. A stone should be held in one's arms for several years, let alone a human being. After decades of acquaintance, will they turn against each other overnight? This cannot be done.
"Why is it impossible?" Han Du asked Zhu Biao with a calm face.
Zhu Biao opened his mouth to explain...
But Han Du did not give him a chance and asked directly: "Did His Highness forget Wu Huan Hua?"
Wuhu Luanhua... As long as they are Han people, no one does not know the pain of gouging out the heart. Zhu Biao is familiar with history books, so he obviously knows it. But even he would subconsciously discard these painful messages on weekdays and remain in the corner without thinking about them.
"How prosperous and prosperous was the Jin Dynasty before the Five Husty Rebellion? At that time, weren't the surrounding Hu people dependent on the Han people? At that time, didn't the Han people also think that treating others with sincerity would lead to being treated with sincerity? What happened? ? As soon as the Han people weakened, the barbarians opened their fangs and bloody mouths, biting the Han people crazily. Two-legged sheep were everywhere, and the entire country was dyed blood red..."
"Stop talking!" Zhu Biao's eyes were red, and he couldn't help but slammed the table, interrupting Han Du.
Han Du fell silent for a moment.
Zhu Xi sat aside and stared at Han Du blankly. He was cruel to those Tufan people because he just hated those Tufan people. Of course, there are also reasons why the Tufan people once bullied the local Han people. But he never expected that Han Du would still hate Fan people more than him. Taking history as an example, he really hated Fan people to the core.
Han Du narrowed his eyes and glanced at Zhu Biao, then slowly said: "Your Highness, this is not a question of whether I will tell you or not. Even if I don't tell you, the history books will always be there. Moreover, never forget the past and the future." Master, since there are lessons learned from the past, Ming Dynasty should avoid making the same mistakes again."
"Gu... Gu just found it a little hard to accept." Zhu Biao's eyes were a little dazed, as if he was talking to Han Du, and seemed to be muttering to himself: "I have heard several teachers and great Confucians talk about the past dynasties. They also wanted Gu to learn a lesson from it and avoid making the same mistake again. They also personally told Gu about Wuhu’s chaos in China, but why didn’t anyone tell Gu to be wary of these barbarians?”
Han Du sighed, shook his head and said: "This is what I said, scholars always take it for granted. Is it okay to make assumptions about the existence of things without seeing and hearing them? It is always said that scholars can know the world's affairs without going out. ...Haha, it’s just behind closed doors.”
Han Du shook his head even more, obviously looking down on those self-righteous scholars. Even great men say that without investigation, there is no right to speak, but scholars always think that they can strategize and win a victory thousands of miles away.
Han Du wanted to ask them, is this possible?
The prerequisite for victory thousands of miles away is to know the information thousands of miles away. In an era when communication relies on roaring, this is simply a fantasy.
Listening to Han Du's words, Zhu Biao always felt like hearing bursts of thunder, and the rolling thunder roared through his mind.
"Yes, if I hadn't personally witnessed the misery experienced by the border people, I wouldn't have known that there were such pitiful Ming people in this world, and I wouldn't have hated those Tufan people so much. "Even Zhu Xi, who was sitting aside and said little, couldn't help but sigh, with a bit of pity in his expression.
Zhu Biao looked back at Zhu Xi, but there was no blame in his eyes. His eyes were as deep as water, as if there were no waves in an ancient well, and he was clearly deep in thought.
