Yunzhou City.
The general king of the Ming Dynasty Zhenbei went to the palace.
One person is doing exercises cross-legged, and the other person is standing quietly beside him.
The young man practicing Qigong is dressed luxuriously, with bright yellow clothes and embroidered clouds and dragons. He is none other than Wanli, the prince of the Ming Dynasty, the general king of Zhenbei!
The man entrusted with the copper basin has a solemn face and gray beard, but his eyes are firm and deep.
Even though he is doing the job of a domestic servant, it can't cover up his aura of being in a position of power for a long time!
"Here comes the water."
Wanli suddenly spoke, but his eyes were still closed.
There was arrogance in his distant voice, and he really treated Hu Zongxian, the governor of Northern Xinjiang in the Ming Dynasty, as a domestic servant.
Hu Zongxian was neither humble nor arrogant, and walked steadily to Prince Wanli.
He bowed and held the copper basin low for Wanli's convenience.
Wanli's eyes finally narrowed open a crack, and the gaze leaking out of the crack seemed to be admiring Hu Zongxian's embarrassing appearance of condescending.
He raised his hands, reached into the copper basin, dipped some water and rubbed his hands.
"Go to the water."
After Wanli gave an order, Hu Zongxian took away the copper basin, took out a piece of silk as thin as cicada wings, and respectfully handed it to Prince Wanli.
Originally, Wanli only needed to take the silk scarf and dry his hands himself.
But the prince remained motionless, and the corners of his mouth were pressed down.
Although Hu Zongxian was bowing, he was always paying attention to the prince's every move with the corner of his eye.
He understood and without hesitation spread out the silk scarf and wiped the water stains on the prince's hands himself.
"Governor Hu is not very good at leading troops in war, but he is very intrusive in serving others."
"Is it possible that my father's ignorance of people did not realize that Governor Hu is not a talented general, but is a good candidate for the harem manager?"
This isn't a sarcastic comment, it's almost insulting.
He scolded Hu Zongxian as a defeated general and said he was not worthy of being a man and should be castrated and sent to the palace as a eunuch!
Hu Zongxian, who suffered great humiliation, still maintained a respectful and humble appearance.
Just listen to him speak slowly and in a deep tone: "The Ming Dynasty has laws. When selecting eunuchs for the harem, they must be close to the palace since they were young. The guilty minister is over fifty years old. He has married several wives and concubines, and has more than a dozen children. . According to the law, the guilty minister is no longer qualified to serve in the palace."
After a brief pause, Hu Zongxian continued: "But whether inside or outside the palace, the guilty minister has the honor to follow His Majesty and serve the prince. This is the blessing that the guilty minister has cultivated for several generations."
He kept talking about the sinners and his attitude was extremely submissive, which finally made Prince Wanli laugh!
Why did the prince make things difficult for Hu Zongxian?
Yunzhou City reorganized the Zhenbei Army. Wanli was the general king of Zhenbei and Hu Zongxian was his deputy. The two should have cooperated tacitly.
However, before Wanli left Beijing, his teacher Zhang Juzheng personally told him:
"Hu Zongxian is the eagle and dog of Yan Song."
"His Royal Highness will inherit the throne sooner or later. If the strict party is not cut off, the story of Dong Zhuo during the reign of Emperor Xiaoren of Han Dynasty will be repeated."
"Or, today's Chu State..."
Zhang Juzheng almost risked his life to save Prince Wanli outside Yunmeng Mountain.
Even though Prince Wanli had a cold nature, he would not forget his teacher's life-saving grace in a short period of time, and of course he obeyed Zhang Juzheng's words.
What's more, Prince Wanli has already regarded the throne as a personal property.
The throne belongs to him, and the power of state power in the future Ming Dynasty will of course also belong to him.
Does the strict party dare to fight for power?
That is, I would rather kill them by mistake than let them go, and just settle them all in the future.
Therefore, making things difficult for Hu Zongxian has almost become Wanli's daily behavior.
"Your Highness."
Hu Zongxian saw that Wanli seemed to have teased him enough, so he spoke cautiously.
"In the previous battle, the guilty ministers failed to lead the troops and lost their troops and generals."
"However, the fault lies with me alone and has nothing to do with the soldiers who died in the battle. The women, children, old and young in their families are even more innocent."
"Your Highness wants to strengthen the city wall of Yunzhou. You can only let the city guards and soldiers participate in the construction of the fortifications. There is no need to issue corvees. Let the whole city's women, children, old and young work together."
After Hu Zongxian finished speaking, he looked at Prince Wanli expectantly, hoping to hear words of tolerance for the people of Yunzhou from his mouth.
However, no.
Wanli's face turned cold and his eyes revealed a fierce look.
"Hu Zongxian."
"The guilty minister is here!"
He secretly thought something bad.
There are unwritten rules in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty. Regarding the titles between superiors and subordinates, the subordinates addressing their superiors are of course extremely flattering.
However, when superiors call subordinates, they will not insult them too much. They usually address them with "Zi" and "Hao" to show closeness and trust.
Calling him by his name is as humiliating as spitting on his face!
Hu Zongxian lamented in his heart and had to bend his knees and kneel heavily in front of Prince Wanli.
"Hu Zongxian, you are in the army now, have you forgotten?"
"Gu is not only the crown prince of Ming Dynasty, but also the great general of Zhenbei who commands an army of 450,000 people!"
"All military and political matters in Yunzhou City will be controlled by me, the General, in accordance with the emperor's orders!"
"Yunzhou City has just experienced a war. The city walls are damaged and the defenses are weakened."
"How can we strengthen the city's defenses without carrying out major construction projects? How can we reorganize the defenses in the shortest possible time without calling on all the people in the city?"
Wanli roared, spittle flying.
"If you don't rely on strong city defenses, how can I lead a group of defeated soldiers like you to defeat the Three Kingdoms Allied Forces outside the city?"
"Tell me! Let you, a defeated general, tell you, what should I do!?"
Hu Zongxian knelt, his body gradually curled up amidst the shouting and cursing, and finally his forehead touched the ground, and he changed from kneeling to kneeling.
"Everything... depends on the prince... the general and the king. The guilty ministers dare not have any objections."
These were the last words Hu Zongxian said in front of Prince Wanli today.
Then, he maintained his kneeling posture for a long time until Prince Wanli sneered and left.
Wanli only spent a cup of tea every day at the residence of the great general and king of Zhenbei.
There are 450,000 troops guarding the city defense, and there is still singing and dancing in Yunzhou City.
Compared with the boring General Wang Xingyuan, the painted boats in the Yudai River in the south of the city are much more interesting. They have become the new favorite of Prince Wanli in Yunzhou City.
"Commander Commander!"
"Commander Commander, what are you doing!?"
After Wanli left, the generals of the Zhenbei Army saw that Hu Zongxian had not come out again, so they worriedly went outside the camp to investigate.
Hu Zongxian stood up slowly and patted the dust on his knees.
Hu Zongxian stood upright.
In the face of his subordinate generals, he is still the commander-in-chief who leads the important towns in northern Xinjiang and whose dignity cannot be violated lightly.
"Commander Commander, are you angry with the prince again?" a general said with tears in his eyes.
"shut up!"
Hu Zongxian calmed down all the angry generals around him with just two words and a look.
"This is a military center, have you forgotten military law?"
"First he is the General King of Zhenbei, and then he is the Prince of Ming Dynasty."
"……yes."
The generals lowered their hands and responded uniformly but silently.
"Liu Xian, go down and get twenty military sticks by yourself, so you can remember it!"
The general named Liu Xian did not hesitate and immediately took the order to retreat.
After a while, the dull beating sound of military sticks could be heard outside the camp, but Liu Xian's screams could not be heard.
But everyone knew that Liu Xian must have been beaten badly.
But compared with the defeat not long ago, and compared with Pao Ze who died in the battle, this little pain is nothing.
"Commander Commander, has General Wang agreed to exempt the widow from serving corvee service in the city?" Another general asked carefully and tentatively.
There was a hint of bitterness in Hu Zongxian's eyes.
He shook his head.
"But……"
The general wanted to say something more, but Hu Zongxian stopped him with his eyes.
"Don't worry, the governor has other plans."
"Although hard labor is hard, at least you can still live."
"I have been leading the army for many years, and I finally have some savings. Let's spend all this money to support the widows' family... It's better than nothing."
