prosperous age

"Oh, finally everything is done. Lubu, Lubu, come in."

Wei Guangde stretched himself in the duty room and shouted loudly to the outside.

Yesterday, I wasted a lot of time investigating the matters of Wangzhuang and Xuntian, and all my official duties for the day were neglected.

So, today Wei Guangde started working hard as soon as he entered the duty room, processing the official documents that were transferred over yesterday and today.

After working for most of the day, I finally drafted all the backlog of memorials and finished processing them.

"master."

"Take these out. They have all been processed. Have them record them and send them to the Imperial Household Department later."

Wei Guangde gave an order to Lu Bu, who was bowing and listening to his orders, then stood up and walked around the room.

"Master, I will take the documents out."

"Ah."

"Master, instead of walking around the house, you might as well go to the lotus pond next door and look at the lotus flowers. They were so beautiful when they bloomed yesterday."

"Yes, I think you mentioned it yesterday."

As he was speaking, Wei Guangde had already walked to the door of the duty room, stepped over the threshold, and walked towards the lotus pond next to it.

Inside the room, Lu Bu picked up a large pile of memorials and walked out slowly.

There are quite a few memorials on the desk. It looks like I'll have to make two trips to move them all out.

Wei Guangde left the duty room and strolled through a moon gate. Inside was a garden with a pond in the middle. There were not only koi carps but also large lotus flowers.

In ancient imperial palaces, lotus and water lily were not only used for viewing, but also had profound cultural significance.

The lotus symbolizes the noble quality of being untainted by the mud, and the lotus is often regarded as a symbol of Buddhism.

This place is called the Lotus Pond, so naturally there are only lotus flowers. Correspondingly, there is also a special lotus pond in the palace.

At this time, Wei Guangde entered the garden and smelled a light fragrance. Looking at the lotus pond, he saw a sea of ​​flowers, which was pleasing to the eye.

However, the only drawback was that at that moment there were several eunuchs in the lotus pond, picking the blooming lotus flowers in small wooden basins.

"What are you doing?"

Wei Guangde walked nonchalantly to the edge of the pool and shouted into it.

"Mr. Wei Ge."

"Mr. Wei Ge."

The eunuchs who were picking lotus flowers stopped what they were doing and saluted Wei Guangde when they heard the voice.

As they bowed, the small wooden basin began to sway on the water.

"Okay, be careful. It's easy to catch a cold if you fall into the water."

It's almost the end of the year now, so the weather should be getting colder.

But the weather this year is a bit strange. It was not hot in April and July, so the lotus flowers in the lotus pond did not bloom.

I thought it wouldn't bloom this year, but it actually bloomed two months later. I have to say it's a bit strange.

"Who told you to pick lotus flowers here? What are you going to do with them?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously.

In the early years, when the lotus pond bloomed, everyone would just walk around and look at the flowers, but I have never heard that the inner court would ask the eunuchs to pick all the lotus flowers.

Although lotus can be used as medicine, Wei Guangde really doesn't know what its specific effects are.

After all, he would not read any books on pharmacology unless he had nothing else to do, and he did not plan to become a doctor.

As for the lotus pond on the other side, it is different. The lotus seeds, lotus pods, lotus roots and other parts of the lotus are all people's favorite ingredients. Even in later generations, they are still considered to be ingredients with rich nutritional value.

Every year the inner court would organize eunuchs to pick lotus flowers from the lotus pond and present them to the palace dignitaries for their enjoyment.

"Lord Wei, this is what the Prime Minister asked us to pick. He said it should be sent to the Palace of Heavenly Purity."

Unexpectedly, when a eunuch spoke up to explain the reason, Wei Guangde was stunned.

"The Prime Minister asked you to pick the fruits and send them to the Palace of Heavenly Purity?"

Wei Guangde couldn't help but ask another question, frowning.

He didn't expect that picking lotus flowers was actually Zhang Juzheng's order to give them to the emperor. What does this mean?
"I dare not lie to Lord Wei. It is indeed an order from the Prime Minister's duty room, saying that the white lotus and the pair of white swallows caught by the Hanlin Academy must be sent to the Qianqing Palace for the emperor."

The eunuch who answered at the beginning continued.

"Well, okay, you guys continue."

Wei Guangde didn't care about them picking lotus, but he was a little curious at this time.

What did it mean that Zhang Juzheng gave white lotus and white swallows to the young emperor for no reason?
Wei Guangde shook his head slightly, looking indifferent, and walked around the lotus pond.

At this time, most of the lotus flowers have been picked and the sea of ​​flowers no longer looks like it did before.

Feeling bored, Wei Guangde left the garden directly and returned to the duty room.

"Have you finished moving?"

When Wei Guangde came in, he saw Lu Bu standing in front of the desk, preparing to take out the last stack of memorials.

“It’s all moved.”

Seeing that his master came back so soon, Lu Bu answered while glancing at Wei Guangde's expression.

"Master, is there something wrong?"

At this time, Wei Guangde still frowned slightly. After all, he planned to appreciate the flowers, but he didn't expect to be disappointed.

"Lubu, do you know what lotus is good for?"

Wei Guangde suddenly asked.

"Lotus? What else can it be used for besides looking at it? You can't eat it."

Lu Bu was very honest and answered directly.

"Besides watching, haha, just watching is fine."

Wei Guangde smiled.

"Master, are the flowers in the lotus pond withering? That shouldn't be the case. They have only been blooming for a few days."

Lu Bu said.

Suddenly, Wei Guangde thought of the White Swallow of the Imperial Academy that the eunuch had mentioned earlier, so he asked again, "Do you know about the White Swallow of the Imperial Academy?"

"White Swallow, I heard that a pair of white swallows flew over from somewhere a few days ago. The scholars in the Hanlin Academy thought it was strange and wanted to catch them and raise them.

But I heard that the Prime Minister asked to present the white swallow to the Emperor."

Asking questions like this was Lu Bu's strong point, so he answered it immediately.

"Haha, when did Zhang Baigui learn to be nice and docile? He gave away white lotus and white swallow. When he catches a white turtle, he will give it to him as well."

Wei Guangde laughed cheerfully.

Zhang Juzheng's courtesy name was Shuda and his pseudonym was Taiyue, but his childhood name was Zhang Baigui. It is said that before his mother gave birth to him, Zhang Juzheng's grandfather once saw the moon fall into a water tank in a dream and turned into a white turtle.

Of course he would not name his grandson "Bai Gui", so he used a homophonic character and named his grandson "Bai Gui".

Baigui comes from the "Book of Songs·Da Ya·Yi" which says "The stain on Baigui can still be polished away, but the stain of these words cannot be polished away."

This poem means that stains on white jade can be polished off, but mistakes in speech cannot be undone.

Zhang Juzheng's grandfather had high hopes for this, hoping that he would be able to protect himself and live a comfortable and stable life.

However, because Zhang Juzheng had previously introduced the performance evaluation system, some people in the officialdom who were dissatisfied with him privately used the "white turtle" to metaphorically refer to him.

This shows how unpopular the new policies implemented by Zhang Juzheng were in the officialdom.

Wei Guangde had also heard someone mention it by chance before, but he just laughed it off.

Seeing the white lotus and the white swallow just now made Wei Guangde think of the white turtle.

"Master, I heard that the first assistant's newly created "Ode to the White Lotus" and "Ode to the White Swallow" were presented to the palace. When you mentioned that Lord Zhang had people pick white lotuses to present to the palace, I finally understood what the "Ode to the White Lotus" meant. When I first heard about it, I was wondering where this "Ode to the White Lotus" came from. It turns out that the roots are in the two lotus ponds."

Lu Bu whispered.

Even though he was in front of Wei Guangde, Lu Bu knew he had to restrain himself when talking about ministers behind their backs.

It's not a good thing to spread gossip about others behind their backs.

"He also wrote poems, haha. This Zhang Shuda is great."

Wei Guangde shook his head as he spoke, then waved his hand and said, "Okay, okay, stop talking, and take all the things out first."

"Yes, sir."

Lu Bu agreed and walked out of the duty room carrying the pile of memorials.

At this time, to the north of Myanmar's Toungoo City, a large army with red flags flying was marching quickly forward.

Suddenly, a group of people appeared on the far left side. There were not many of them, only about ten riders. They were obviously scouts sent by the other side.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

After this team of scouts appeared, twenty or thirty fast horses immediately rushed out from the army and rushed directly in that direction.

The scouts on the opposite side discovered that the army had sent out a group of cavalry to rush towards them, so they decisively turned their horses and left.

Soon, the team split into two groups, one group ran quickly to the south, while the other group of seven or eight cavalrymen seemed to deliberately slow down their speed, and then ran to the west with the pursuers.

"Brother, you just said that they spotted a group of scouts. After seeing our army sent a group of troops to drive them away, they fled to the southwest."

Soon, more than ten cavalrymen in the army quickly rushed to the front of the central army's banner and spoke to a young general under the banner.

"Second brother, this place is not far from Toungoo City, right?"

The young general under the big flag was Li Rusong, the eldest son of Left General Li Chengliang, and in front of him was his brother Li Rubai.

"Brother, it should be several dozen miles away. At our marching speed, we will arrive the day after tomorrow at the latest."

Li Rubai answered loudly.

"Then this team of scouts was most likely sent by Toungoo City to investigate the enemy situation around them."

Li Rusong chuckled.

"Are they Yu Manzi's soldiers?"

Li Rubai was slightly stunned, then he also laughed, "Brother, I forgot, I haven't seen the Burmese scouts for several days, now they are hiding in the city, when have they ever come out to move around.

I just hope those bastards don’t hurt those people, otherwise we will be embarrassed when we see Yu Manzi.”

"That's right, send someone to chase them immediately and tell them not to do anything.

Also, the front army brought the Ming flag to the front and told them to take off all those rattan armors.

As it is now, I can’t tell from a distance whether they are Burmese or Ming troops.”

Li Rusong said unhappily.

Ever since they discovered that the rattan armor equipped by the Burmese army could protect against bird-shot bullets, the Ming army soldiers were proud to own a piece of rattan armor.

No matter where it is worn on the body, or whether it is a rattan shield, many Ming soldiers are now equipped with one, and they like to wear it or hold it in their hands.

The Ming army originally had a uniform uniform, which was the mandarin duck battle jacket. But now, from a distance, the entire Ming army no longer has any uniform clothing.

There might be a war before, so Li Rusong didn't bother to care.

But now we are approaching Toungoo City and will soon meet up with the Ming navy, and it would be inappropriate to continue dressing like this.

Don't you see it?

The scouts sent by Yu Dayou mistook them for Burmese troops.

"Okay, then I'll go to the front and tell them to take off their rattan armor and put on our armor instead."

Li Rubai spoke up.

"They don't necessarily have to put on military uniforms. It's very hot here. If they don't want to wear armor, it's up to them.

But you have to let the flag bearer holding the Ming flag go in front, so that they can see the military flag from a distance and recognize it easily. "

Li Rusong spoke.

Myanmar has a hot and humid climate. Not to mention Li Rusong, Li Rubai and others, even the Ming army soldiers in the southwest are extremely uncomfortable with the climate here.

This is also the reason why many Ming soldiers took off their battle jackets and only wore rattan armor, as it was cooler to wear.

If Li Rusong hadn't wanted to maintain his prestige as the commander-in-chief, he would have taken off his armor.

When we were in the mountains of northern Myanmar, we didn't feel it so strongly, but since we moved south, the soldiers began to take off their clothes because they couldn't stand the heat.

"You guys, hurry up and chase after them. Be careful, they might be from the navy."

At this time, Li Rubai had turned around and gave instructions to the three personal soldiers behind him.

"Yes, Second Young Master."

The bodyguards clasped their fists in response, then waved their whips and chased in the southwest direction.

Even though they have been running for quite some time, that cavalry team shouldn't chase them desperately.

After all, they were unfamiliar with the area, and their main purpose in chasing them was to drive out the enemy's scouts and prevent them from observing the Ming army's formations at will, so as to judge the size of their army and other intelligence.

Sure enough, not long after they chased out, they saw the returning Ming cavalry squad.

After some inquiries, I found out that of course he didn't catch up.

"Did you see clearly what the other person is wearing?"

A personal soldier asked.

"They are similar to us. Some of them are wearing short jackets, and some are carrying rattan shields. They must be Burmese soldiers."

"Yes, it's similar to the Burmese army we saw before. The uniforms are not uniform, and they wear all kinds of things."

Several cavalrymen spoke at once.

"They sent one team south, and the others stayed behind to lure you away?"

The personal soldier was the team leader of this team, and he was the one who was asking questions again.

"Yes, Tiger Head, I can see clearly that their camp should be in the south, but there is a small earthen slope in the west, so I still took the brothers to chase after it and check if there are any ambushes behind the earthen slope."

The one who spoke this time was the captain of the Ming cavalry, and he explained the situation.

“Master, there should be no Burmese troops active in this area now. The ones you were chasing just now might be scouts from Toungoo City.

Therefore, when you encounter similar points in the future, it is not too late to distinguish between friend and foe before taking action. "

The captain of the personal guards told Li Rusong what he had guessed earlier.

"No way. They weren't wearing Ming army uniforms."

The cavalry captain said suspiciously.

"Okay, look at yourself, do you still look like a Ming frontier soldier?

Haha, looking at you from a distance, I almost want to shoot you with an arrow."

The captain of the personal guards said happily.

"Ha ha."

Their conversation caused laughter from the other soldiers.

Now in the Ming army, perhaps only a few generals and their personal soldiers still maintain the Ming army's attire, while everyone else wears whatever is cooler. From a distance, the Burmese army looks exactly the same.

"That's a little funny. Will you shout at me next time you see me?"

The cavalry captain said happily.

They were all members of the retainer team that had followed Li Chengliang from the north to the southwest, so they were familiar with each other and had good riding skills. Naturally, they were assigned to provide adequate guards in front and behind the army to prevent enemy reconnaissance.

Far behind them, a small group of cavalry guards were walking at the forefront of the army, carrying the Ming flag with black characters on a red background. (End of this chapter)