At this moment, Emperor Chongzhen's imperial edict arrived. Of course, it was not for King Rui, but for Duke Xingguo.
This imperial edict had actually been issued a long time ago. It was just because Zhang Mingwei happened to lead the cavalry to fight thousands of miles away, but the angel who delivered the message was unlucky and chased after the cavalry all the way to Hanzhong Mansion, where he finally caught up.
The content of this imperial edict is that Emperor Chongzhen authorized Zhang Mingwei to decide matters first and then report them, which is a step further than the authority to kill first and report later.
Zhang Mingwei didn't think anything of it, but when King Rui found out, it was a big deal.
In his opinion, this means that Duke Xingguo is an uncrowned king. As long as he decides something, the current emperor will definitely agree.
Although this matter has actually been circulated before, the imperial edict is equivalent to a public admission, which greatly enhances the power of Duke Xingguo.
In addition to envy and jealousy, King Rui couldn't help but be very happy, so he acted more actively and entertained Duke Xingguo more eagerly.
After such an episode, King Rui finally found an opportunity to say to Zhang Mingwei: "My lord, would you like to donate all your grain fields to create a self-defined fiefdom?"
When King Zhou was the king, the court tried to seduce King Zhou, saying that Luzon was a treasure trove of gold and silver, but King Zhou was under strong pressure at that time and had to agree in the end.
But the current King Rui proposed it himself. It was obvious that he had his eye on a certain place.
With this in mind, Zhang Mingwei became a little curious and asked, "Tell me, where do you want to be a vassal?"
After hearing this, King Rui looked at him expectantly and slowly uttered two words: "Tianzhu!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Mingwei was stunned for a moment, and then came back to his senses. This King Rui had only two hobbies in his life, one was to make money, and the other was to practice Buddhism.
Thinking of this, Zhang Mingwei suddenly understood why Prince Rui chose Tianzhu!
However, Zhang Mingwei immediately shook his head and said: "As far as I know, today's Tianzhu is ruled by the Mughal Empire. Just like the sun is rising, it will be too difficult if you want the court to help you conquer Tianzhu!"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Changhao was not only not disappointed, but overjoyed. Because he heard it, Duke Xingguo did not refuse, he just emphasized that Tianzhu was too difficult to attack.
So, he quickly said: "My lord, I just want to be in Northern Tianzhu. Being able to cultivate Buddhism in the place where the Buddha came is my lifelong wish!"
When Zhang Mingwei heard this, he looked at him as if he were an idiot, and then asked him: "Then if someone wants our Ming Dynasty Qin Dynasty, do you think they can just capture Qin Dynasty and don't have to worry about our Ming Dynasty court sending troops?"
After a pause, he changed his angle and asked again: "In other words, you just want the court to help you find a place in Tianzhu and then hand it over to you. Is that all right?"
"..." When Zhu Changhao heard this, he was stunned.
I didn’t think much about it before, I just thought about going to the place where the Buddha came to practice Buddhism, maybe I can achieve enlightenment and become immortal!
At this time, he naturally knew that his idea was too naive, and for a moment, he smiled awkwardly.
But who knows, when Zhang Mingwei saw him like this, he changed the subject and said: "Of course, if King Rui really wants to belong to Tianzhu as a fiefdom, it is not impossible. He must defeat the Mughal Empire. But, just With King Rui's current financial resources, it is not enough to help the court strengthen its troops and defeat powerful enemies."
When he saw Zhu Changhao looking at him with surprise and surprise, Zhang Mingwei continued: "If King Rui wants to stabilize his vassal status, the imperial court must destroy the Mughal Empire. In this way, the whole of Tianzhu will It belongs to the Ming Dynasty. If I only give you King Rui, don’t you think this fief is too big?”
Hearing this, King Rui asked in surprise: "What the Duke means is to confer several vassal kings in Tianzhu. Is that enough?"
Zhu Yuluo on the side has been listening to their conversation silently, feeling a little dumbfounded.
In her opinion, the two people in front of her really dared to think and answer, which was a bit too outrageous!
Today's Ming Dynasty is still trying to save the nation. The bandits and rebels must be eliminated within the pass, and Liaodong must be liberated outside the pass. It has also been decided to help the King of Zhou conquer Luzon.
With so many things going on, these two people in front of them were discussing the attack on Tianzhu. It was really a ghost!
But if she thought about it from another angle, today, except for a few people such as herself and Emperor Chongzhen, to be precise, a total of five people including Zhang Mingwei knew that the Ming Dynasty would originally perish in two years. I simply don’t believe that the Ming Dynasty will fall.
Otherwise, I wouldn't be so stupid that I would continue to live in intoxication and fight in various nests. After all, today's bandits have always been unfriendly to officials, gentry, feudal kings, etc.
In addition, this King Rui did not even get close to women, and he only wanted to cultivate Buddhism, which included his own fanaticism. For this kind of person, in his eyes, except for what he likes, he basically won't think deeply about anything else.
As for Duke Xing Guo, he also followed Prince Rui in his efforts, that was because Zhang Mingwei came to Prince Rui's Mansion just to smooth out the wool. If he could draw cakes for King Rui and get the money and food needed to fight in Shu, he would certainly not let it go.
And, as for Tianzhu, I believe that every time traveler, if there is one, will certainly not let it go as long as there is an opportunity. Because over there, there is a place with countless oil hidden underneath. It's too far to go from the Ming Dynasty. It will be much closer if we go there after occupying Tianzhu.
Tianzhu can be granted to the vassal king, but the Middle East must be under the direct jurisdiction of the imperial court.
Since there is such a plan, it is natural for Zhang Mingwei and Zhu Changhao to chat about Zhu matters. For now, it's just a matter of blowing the whistle first and talking about it later.
At this time, when Zhang Mingwei heard Zhu Changhao's question, he nodded and said: "Yes, Tianzhu is too big. The court has to spend so much effort to defeat it. Of course, it will have to seal a few more."
When Zhu Changhao received a positive reply from Duke Xingguo, he couldn't help being very happy because of the hope. He quickly asked again: "My lord, I don't know what to do about this matter. How can I do it?"
After hearing this, Zhang Mingwei smiled and said to him: "Why don't you write your thoughts in a memorial and report the situation to the emperor. As for other vassal kings, you can suggest to King Qing, King Shu, King Qin, etc. You should contribute money and food to the court as soon as possible. By quelling the civil strife, we can plan the attack on Tianzhu as soon as possible."
The King of Qing was granted the title of Ningxia Guard, the capital of Shaanxi, the King of Shu was granted the title of Chengdu, the land of Shu, and the King of Qin was granted the title of Xi'an, Shaanxi. It can be said that these are all vassal kings in the northwest of the Ming Dynasty.
Now Zhang Mingwei is fighting chaos in the northwest, and the best source of money is of course from these vassal kings. However, Zhang Mingwei estimated that other vassal kings would not be as enthusiastic as the King Rui in front of him. Even if they knew that King Rui proposed to ban them from Tianzhu, they would probably scold King Rui for the rest of their lives.
However, Zhu Changhao didn't think much of it. He was overjoyed and quickly agreed.
Seeing that he was so happy, Zhang Mingwei suddenly spoke with emotion: "I led the army in a hurry, and I didn't have much money and food left. I am going to Sichuan to quell the chaos. Without money and food, I don't know that it will have to wait until the Year of the Monkey and the Horse Moon to calm down!"
Hearing the string and knowing its elegant meaning, Zhu Changhao originally wanted to curry favor with Duke Xing. When he heard this, he hurriedly said: "Don't worry, Duke, I have prepared a hundred thousand taels of silver and fifty thousand shi of grain to reward the army. The positive attitude of isolation.”
"What? Did Prince Rui say 500,000 taels of silver and 500,000 shi of grain?" Upon hearing this, Zhang Mingwei showed a happy expression and immediately said to Zhu Yu'ao, "I really didn't expect that Prince Rui's attitude was so positive! In this case , you can write a memorial for me later, regarding King Rui’s matter, with this attitude, I will definitely support him strongly!"
"..." Zhu Ainao was speechless upon hearing this.
"..." Zhu Changhao was stunned when he heard this.
Everyone in the palace, including the palace maid serving them dinner, were all dumbfounded.
They all looked at Duke Xingguo, dumbfounded.
But Zhu Yuluo was the first to come to her senses. She immediately nodded with a smile and said, "Okay, I'll note it down."
When she said this, Zhu Changhao also came back to his senses. If he was tough enough, he would definitely point out without hesitation that Duke Xingguo was extorting money. He didn't say 500,000 yuan in silver and 500,000 dan in grain. This was simply a money grab!
However, who is he in front of? It is Duke Xingguo who is now extremely powerful. Just now, they all heard the decree of Emperor Chongzhen, which further proves how powerful Duke Xingguo is now.
The most important thing is that Zhu Changhao is still seeking help from Duke Xingguo. Therefore, after he came back to his senses, his heart was bleeding, but he had to force a smile and stammered: "Yes... yes , five...five hundred thousand taels of silver, five...five hundred thousand dan of grain..."
When he said this, he really wanted to cry loudly! At this moment, he vomited out more than half of the money and food he had accumulated throughout his life.
Why didn't the Duke say "one million taels of silver and ten million shi of grain"? If he really wanted to say that, he could refuse with confidence, because there weren't that many and he really couldn't take them out!
At this time, he was vaguely aware that Duke Xingguo might have investigated him beforehand. After all, Duke Xingguo controlled the Jin Yiwei. Therefore, he reported this, which made him very painful, but he could still get the money and food.
In fact, Zhang Mingwei not only investigated him, but also asked Jin Yiwei to investigate all the vassals of the Ming Dynasty. At this moment, how could he not see Zhu Changhao's physical pain!
However, he doesn't care. They were just here to smooth the wool. If they had not smoothed it more, would Duke Xingguo’s appearance fee have been so low?
Having achieved his goal, Zhang Mingwei didn't stay any longer, leaving Liu Jin to lead the Jin Yiwei and a group of soldiers to wait at Prince Rui's Mansion to hand over the money and food, while he himself returned to the camp outside the city.
