Compared with the gradually warming 21st century, the weather in this era is much cooler, especially in winter! Even in Henan, a province not too far north, in December, the sky and the earth are completely white, with thousands of miles of ice and thousands of miles of snow falling. A gust of north wind blew through, and among the trees covered with snow, there were snowflakes flying, like mist.
However, no matter how cold the weather is in Xuzhou and how heavy the snow is, it cannot stop Wu Shifan and Wu Xuanye, their beloved relatives and friends, from missing each other. In mid-December, the young couple, who had already reached the pinnacle of their lives and became cousins of the emperor, braved the cold weather and the wind and snow blowing from Siberia to travel to their country. Xuzhou, the former capital of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, held an "emperor versus emperor" alliance that may have rarely happened in Chinese history.
The emperor of China should theoretically be the only one, a solitary person! Where are the pairs? Even if two or three emperors exist at the same time, they should be hostile. If they want to meet, it will most likely be on the battlefield.
However, at the end of the third year of the Republic of Ming Dynasty, a rather rare "Double Emperors Meeting" occurred in Xuzhou City. What is even more rare is that the "two emperors" who met were all dressed in white - both emperors were dressed in mourning robes.
What a coincidence, both emperors have died in their families. Among them, those who died in the home of Wu Shifan, the Honghua Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, were his father Wu Yingxiong, Emperor Xiaozhuang, and his grandfather Wu Sangui, Emperor Zhaowu. As a filial son and grandson, he had to wear sackcloth and wear filial piety! However, Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty Aisin Gioro Wu Li Xuanye did not have to pay filial piety when his biological uncle and godfather died. Therefore, he is now doing filial piety for his godfather Wu Sangui.
If we want to talk about seniority from Wu Sangui, Kangxi is still Wu Shifan's cousin!
This is really a trick of fate!
The two people who were supposed to be mortal enemies have now become brothers, and they are also recognized as "two emperors" by each other. This is all thanks to another of their dearest relatives and friends, the Ming Dynasty General Li Zhongshan.
In a palace prepared for Kangxi by Zu Liangbi, the first-class son of the magistrate of Xuzhou and commander-in-chief of the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi and Wu Shifan were holding each other's hands and crying!
Kangxi actually hugged Wu Shifan and cried, and he was still crying over the deaths of Wu Sangui and Wu Yingxiong. Even his tears were real!
Although Kangxi also hated Wu Sangui as his godfather before, he secretly cursed him to die a good death more than once. But Wu Sangui really died, but he cried sadly. Because he knew that without Wu Sangui to protect him from the wind and rain, the Ming Dynasty might decide when to go north to the Central Plains to take his life and destroy his Qing Dynasty! Can he not be sad, can he not be sad?
But people cannot be resurrected after death, so now Kangxi and his little brother Wu Shifan have to support each other for the rest of their lives.
After crying for a while, Kangxi comforted Wu Shifan and said: "Good Anda, don't be sad. My brother is here. From now on, we will block the Ming Dynasty together. My brother should not be happy with Tiemu'er properly, and you should not be Chen Li or Mingsheng. This is terrible." good?"
This Tuohuan Tiemu'er was Emperor Shun of the Yuan Dynasty. Kangxi's current life goal was to become Yelu Ruan, the nephew of Yelu Deguang who once occupied the Kaifeng Mansion in Tokyo, but later failed to stand and was kicked out. He was known as Shizong of the Liao Dynasty in history. Although the Liao Kingdom at that time failed to take over the Central Plains, it still occupied the land of Youyun, and its rule in northern Saibei and Liaodong was also very stable.
Chen Li is the son of Chen Youliang, and Ming Sheng is the son of Ming Yuzhen. They were both emperors. After being captured by Zhu Yuanzhang, they were first made marquises and later sent to Goryeo. However, Zhu Yuanzhang was also stingy and did not give him enough living expenses. He only gave the King of Goryeo 48 pieces of silk. How could this be enough? Therefore, one can imagine how Chen Li and Ming Sheng were treated in Goryeo. However, the descendants of these two people were not cut off. It was not until Yang Qilong arrived in North Korea to serve as the supervisor of the country. Yang Qilong also promoted some descendants of Chen Li and Ming Sheng to serve as officials. The descendants of Chen Li and Ming Sheng were also mentioned in the excerpt to Kangxi. So when Kangxi saw the pink and tender Wu Shifan, who was quite lovable, he thought of Chen Li and Mingsheng.
Wu Shifan cried even more sadly when Kangxi mentioned Chen Li and Ming Sheng. If he should not be the emperor and go directly to Li Zhongshan, relying on himself, and the relationship between Wu Xiaotuo, Wu Xiaoxian, Wu Guogui, Wu Shijue and Li Zhongshan, would he be afraid of losing his glory and wealth?
But after becoming the emperor, this nature changed!
To be honest, Chen Li and Mingsheng were treated fairly well among all the subjugated kings in China. At least they died.
Seeing Wu Shifan crying so hard, Kangxi couldn't stop crying. After all, his Qing Dynasty was not polite at all to the Ming Dynasty's subjugated king, and even killed the Third Prince Zhu more than a dozen times. If he fell into the hands of the Third Prince Zhu, the Third Prince Zhu Lingchi would be considered an emperor even once. Grace is mighty. Isn't this sad?
And the emperor brothers kept crying, and the ministers accompanying them were embarrassed. Should they cry together, or persuade them both? In the end, Zu Liangbi, the great warlord in Xuzhou, was so thick-skinned that he went up to relieve Wu Shifan who was crying very sadly and said: "My cousin, your Majesty, please stop crying. My uncle and my cousin cannot be resurrected after death." , you'd better discuss with the Qing Emperor how to resist. As long as you can resist, you can still get whatever you want in the future."
It turned out that he was the grandson of Zu Dashou, so he had to call Wu Sangui "uncle", call Wu Yingxiong his cousin, and Wu Shifan was his nephew. As for Kangxi, because their ancestral family was still somewhat powerful and he was related to Wu Sangui, he was sent to Xuzhou, the forefront of Henan, as a commander-in-chief and prefect, which meant that Xuzhou was handed over to him as a vassal.
Kangxi also wiped away his tears and said, "Xian Brother Shifan, don't cry. Let's discuss what to do in the future!"
Wu Shifan finally stopped crying, nodded and said: "Brother Xuan Ye, let's go into the room and sit down to discuss it slowly."
It turned out that the two reigning emperors were holding each other and crying outside in the cold weather! This scene probably has not happened twice in Chinese history.
Kangxi and Wu Shifan finally entered the house hand in hand. There was an earth dragon burning in the house and it was steaming. So they both took off their heavy coats, revealing the silk white robes underneath, and then they took their seats respectively. The ministers accompanying them were all standing by the side. Everyone had a solemn look on their face, almost as if something bad was going on was written on their face.
"Brother Xuan Ye," Wu Shifan said, "As far as I know, the Ming Dynasty expanded too fast and was too divided internally. In addition, years of wars cost too much. Their court is already heavily in debt and is temporarily unable to launch a large-scale Northern Expedition. . Even if Li Zhongshan manages the country well and can bridge the conflicts between all parties, it will still take five or six years. During this period, he will not easily provoke a war, lest the war be unfavorable and only damage his prestige."
Wu Shifan's analysis is quite logical. After Li Zhongshan defeated Wu Sangui and seized large tracts of land in Hunan, Jiangxi, and Hubei, his prestige must have reached its peak, and he could probably be said to be unparalleled in the country.
And this prestige is his biggest reliance on successfully advancing the reform. Before the reform is successful, he will certainly not easily start another war, lest the huge prestige he finally accumulated will be lost due to unfavorable war.
Kangxi nodded and said: "After five or six years of stability, Ming Dynasty is afraid that it will start a war of unification. These five or six years are the time for us to gather in the valley to train troops and prepare the army for war. But it is too much to gather in the valley to train troops and prepare the army for war. It’s a waste of money!”
Hearing that Kangxi had advanced the money, Wu Shifan remembered that his own Prime Minister Wu had taken care of his affairs, and quickly followed Kangxi's words: "When I was studying with Li Zhongshan, I once heard that this colonial man made money quickly. I don't know why. Brother Ye, have you ever heard of this statement?"
"I've heard of it!" Kangxi nodded. "That Li Zhongshan also impeached the King of Spain, the King of Portugal, and the Roman Church for their conspiracy to carve up the world and colonize China. I even specifically asked Tang Ruowang to confront him."
"Oh, is that the case?" Wu Shifan asked.
Kangxi said: "It is true that the Portuguese and Spanish wanted to conquer China, but their goal was not the Qing Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty."
"Conquer the Ming Dynasty?" Wu Shifan was stunned, "Then they are quite courageous!"
"Yes, you are indeed very courageous!" Kangxi said, "And the plan is not secret, and Li Zhongshan knows about it, so I guess he can only think about it."
"Brother Xuan Ye, what does this colonization mean?" Wu Shifan asked Kangxi again, just like a curious baby.
"To put it bluntly, this colonization is robbery!" Kangxi said with his fingers. "The first is to grab territory, the second is to grab wealth, the third is to grab people, and the fourth is to grab business."
"Is robbing business a robbing?" Wu Shifan was stunned.
"Of course!" Kangxi said with a smile, "This business can be done by everyone. If someone uses his fists and big arms to dominate the market. If others are not allowed to do it, let him and his family do it. This is Grab it! This business you robbed is so easy to do, you can make money even while lying down!"
Wu Shifan saw that Kangxi was beaming with joy, so he asked him in a low voice: "Brother Xuanye, have you taken away the business?"
Kangxi smiled and said: "I won't hide it from you, I really robbed it. Two years ago, I sent Yang Qilong to North Korea to grab business. Now North Korea's ginseng, pearls, and furs have all been robbed by my Qing Dynasty. The trade between North Korea and Japan has also been stolen." I, the Qing Dynasty, snatched it away. So Yang Qilong can pay hundreds of thousands of taels of silver to the palace every year! I really didn't expect that a small North Korea can squeeze out so much oil and water!"
Wu Shifan's eyes lit up, "Brother Xuan Ye, this robbery is about colonization. The money is very fast! Then can the two of us join hands to rob, oh, colonization?"
"Shall we join forces?" Kangxi thought for a while, "There is no problem in joining forces. We are brothers to begin with! But where are we going to colonize?"
"The Western Regions!" Wu Shifan said, "How prosperous were the trade routes in the Western Regions in the past during the Tang Dynasty? Later, the Anshi Rebellion occurred in the Tang Dynasty, the Western Regions were lost, and the trade routes were blocked, and the Hexi Corridor and Chang'an were also depressed. As a result, the world was barren and barren. Talking about Gansu. If we could open up the Western Regions, reopen trade routes, and allow silk and tea to be exported to Europe, Persia, India, and the Ottomans via the Western Regions trade routes, wouldn’t we make a fortune?”
"That's right!" Kangxi thought about it and felt that it made sense. "I heard that you can get ten times the profit by shipping Chinese silk, tea, porcelain, and sugar to Europe! Originally, this good business was done through the Western Trade Route. Later, The Western Region was blocked, so we decided to take the sea route instead.”
Wu Shifan nodded: "The sea is very windy and rough, how dangerous it is. Where is the safety of taking the land route? If this boat capsizes, not only will we lose everything, but we will lose our lives!"
"That's right, if the trade route to the Western Regions can be opened, the business of Western maritime merchants will be robbed by us!"
Kangxi and Wu Shifan really didn’t understand shipping at all! This wishful thinking is so good.
However, Kangxi still knew a little about the Western Regions. Not long ago, he met Galdan on the Jinlianchuan grassland!
"Brother Shifan," Kangxi asked, "it seems that it is not easy to open the Western Region, right? How much do you know about the Western Region?"
"It's quite easy," Wu Shifan said. "My cousin Wu Shicong just defeated the Yeerqiang Khanate and forced the Yeerqiang Khan to surrender to me, the Great Zhou Dynasty. This Yeerqiang Khan has a good background. He is Genghis Khan. A direct descendant of Chagatai, the second son of Chagatai! The Yeerqiang Khanate is called that by outsiders, and they themselves call themselves Chagatai Khanate!
The Chagatai Khanate was once the suzerain of the Western Regions and Indian countries, and the Timur Dynasty that currently rules India is still a vassal of the Chagatai Khanate! Although the countries in the Western Regions west of Congling no longer obey the Chagatai Khanate who retreated to Yeerqiang, they are all descendants of the Golden Horde, and they cannot deny the suzerainty of the Chagatai Khanate west of Congling. If I follow the example of Timur, the consort of the Yuan Dynasty, and take the daughter of Chagatai Khan as my wife and concubine, won't I be able to send troops to the west of Congling in the name of restoring the Chagatai Khanate? Brother Xuan Ye, if I remember correctly, you are still the Great Khan of Mongolia, right? "
"Yes," Kangxi nodded, "I am the Great Khan, and I am the Enhe Amgulang Khan of Great Mongolia."
"Then let's join forces!" Wu Shifan said, "You send troops to the Qincha grassland, and I will send Shi Cong to send troops to the west of Congling. Let's open up the trade routes in the Western Regions together! Maybe we can also ask the vassals of the Chagatai Khanate and India's The Mur'er Dynasty wants some tribute."
Not to mention, this Wu Shifan, oh, it was actually Wu Yingqi who had a pretty good idea! I just didn’t consider the difference between the cost of sea transportation and the cost of land transportation at all? Little did I know that the man who rules India today is a great emperor, Aurangzeb, who is known as the conqueror of the world!
Kangxi thought for a while and laughed: "Brother Shifan, to be honest, I have actually had the idea of using troops on the Kipchak grassland and Siberia for a long time. The Kipchak grassland is now occupied by the Kazakh Khanate, a descendant of the Golden Horde. Siberia, which is rich in furs, originally belonged to the Siberian Khanate, a descendant of the Golden Horde, but now it was swallowed up by the Rakshasa Kingdom, a vassal of the Golden Horde.
Moreover, this Rakshasa Kingdom was not satisfied with swallowing up a large part of the Golden Horde's homeland. It also sent troops to seize the land in the Heilongjiang and Jingqili Rivers, and killed many Sauron and Barhu people. Those are all my people!
As the Great Khan of Mongolia, it is my duty to restore the Kipchak grassland and Siberia! "
Wu Shifan smiled and said: "That's great. If we join forces, we will succeed immediately!"
Kaifeng, the Qing Emperor is here.
In a palace, Empress Nala of the Qing Dynasty (Yang family) was sitting on the kang wiping her tears, while Prince Gong Chang Ning was standing by the side with his hands down, and he was sobbing softly.
A pair of uncles and sisters-in-law were crying at each other, and they didn't know how long they cried before they heard Prince Gong Chang Ning say: "Sister-in-law, I have really suffered for you!"
Nala just sighed softly: "Fifth Master, you are the only one your second brother and your Amma can count on now. You must never confront the emperor! Now that the emperor's power is increasing day by day, if you want to confront him, that is It's a dead end. If you fall, neither your second brother nor your Ama will be able to survive."
"Sister-in-law." Chang Ning wiped her tears, "Just tell me what I should do!"
Nala said: "Fifth Master, you have to be this scolded minister!"
"I, I" Chang Ning still looked unwilling.
Nala said again: "If you become this proclaimer, you can ask General Li for an official position, and he will definitely give you a big official!"
"Make me an official?" Chang Ning was stunned, "Be an official in the Ming Dynasty?"
Nala nodded: "Yes, if you become an official in the Ming Dynasty, your third brother will no longer worry about you trying to usurp the throne. And he will not dare to eradicate you! Because to eradicate you is to fall out with the Ming Dynasty!"
With Ming Chao as the backstage, your prince and territory will be stable. Only when you are stable can your Ama and your second brother be stable. Only then can your miserable nephew survive! "
As he spoke, Nalash's tears seemed to be dripping uncontrollably. Chang Ning finally couldn't bear to refuse and nodded repeatedly: "Okay, okay, I'll go. Sister-in-law, don't worry, I'll take the blame. I can't let Huang Ama and second brother suffer more!"
(End of chapter)
