King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 627 Father and son go into battle

Zhu Xianming was really shocked. The boy in front of him was even more shameless than he had imagined.

He frankly admitted that he was lustful, so much so that Zhu Xianming didn't know how to teach him a lesson in a short period of time.

This also fully confirms a truth: as long as you lie flat enough, you will not be knocked down.

"you……"

"You are so shameless! You bastard are trying to disgrace me... Today I..."

Zhu Xianming looked around and didn't find any useful weapon, which made him even angrier.

"Dad... didn't you say you wanted to shoot the tiger? If you want to fight, wait a while. Let's get the business done first!"

"This matter concerns the reputation of the imperial court. You can't delay it!"

Hearing this, Zhu Xianming was so angry that he laughed. He cursed, "You bastard, you delayed the time and now you blame me!"

Zhu Jinghong picked up his father's bow and quiver and said, "I don't mean to blame you, I just hope you can put the overall situation first!"

"The overall situation is important. If you really understand the meaning of these four words, I will thank God!"

While Zhu Xianming was speaking, he had already hung his sword around his waist and walked out of the tent.

At this moment, a large number of guards are waiting outside the imperial tent, and there are more guards gathering outside. The total number of people is at least four or five hundred, and they will form a tight protective network.

Of course, in addition to these more than 400 people, there are even more soldiers and escorts outside. The tens of thousands of guards stationed in Shanglinyuan have the only mission of protecting the emperor today.

Although there were many people protecting the emperor, there were not many people around Zhu Xianming. There were only more than 40 people guarding the emperor, all of whom were guards on duty in the Qianqing Palace.

To be selected for the Qianqing Gate Guard, one must either have a family that is absolutely loyal to the emperor or have a blood relationship with the emperor.

So there are two sources for the selection. One is the children of nobles who died loyal to the emperor in their families. The other is the children born to the married daughters of the royal family, mainly the sons of princesses, county princesses, county ladies and county ladies.

Of course, these people all knew Zhu Jinghong, but because they didn't interact with each other often, Zhu Jinghong was not familiar with most of them.

Of course, there were also people who were on good terms with him, such as Feng Ziying, who was added in June last year. This guy had even gone to the northwest with him in the 12th year of Zhengtong.

When the emperor arrived, all the guards came to pay their respects, while Zhu Jinghong went to bring the old man's horse over.

When the emperor took the reins, Zhu Jinghong was about to reach out to help him up, but the old man pushed him away.

"I'm not too old to get on a horse yet!"

The next moment Zhu Xianming jumped onto the horse. His whole movement was smooth and flowing, showing that he is still in good health.

"Your Majesty is mighty!" Zhu Jinghong praised.

Taking the precious carved bow from Zhu Jinghong, Zhu Xianming pulled the reins and turned the horse's head, saying heroically: "Don't delay, everyone get on the horse... Follow me to hunt lions and tigers!"

The old man is still as charming and powerful as ever... Zhu Jinghong couldn't help but sigh.

"Why are you still standing there?" Zhu Xianming scolded.

Zhu Jinghong waved his hand outside the enclosure, and a guard came out leading a majestic black horse. It was the BMW he had obtained from Shui Rong that year, and he named it Black Whirlwind.

Zhu Xianming knew the inside story. Just as he was trying to appease the imperial horse, he saw Zhu Jinghong holding the reins of Black Whirlwind, stroking its fur while chanting, "Where is the Beijing Prince's Palace now? All we can see is the BMW Black Whirlwind..."

This almost made Zhu Xianming laugh, and then he scolded: "Stop talking nonsense, get on the horse quickly, don't waste time!"

Just as he was about to ride forward, Zhu Xianming added, "Follow closely!"

The reason why the emperor emphasized that Zhu Jinghong should follow closely was, of course, because he wanted his youngest son to protect himself. The guards always made him feel insecure.

As if he was afraid of exposing his thoughts, Zhu Xianming immediately added: "Because you'll cause trouble again!"

"understood!"

After responding, Zhu Jinghong jumped on his horse and followed the emperor out of the imperial tent enclosure.

When the father and son took action, the guards also followed suit. Except for the dozens of close attendants, more guards were scattered thirty feet away.

Sitting on horseback, Zhu Jinghong sorted out his bow bag and quiver. These were specially made items that ordinary people could not use at all.

So at this moment, looking at the two stone strong bows in his hands, Zhu Xianming always felt uncomfortable.

After leaving the enclosure, there was a forest a few hundred meters ahead, and the prey had been placed in it in advance.

Shanglin Garden was very large, and the ministers and envoys had other places to go, and Zhu Xianming had his own hunting ground.

Now that spring has arrived, it is extremely comfortable to ride a horse fast with the wind blowing.

Everyone was enjoying the moment, except for the three court painters who were very busy trying to remember the scene in their minds.

According to the three men's idea, they would paint three pictures for this hunting trip. The first was the horse march before hunting the beast, the second was the thrill during the hunt and the emperor's heroism, and the third was the scene of his subjects singing praises after the success.

At the front of the team, Zhu Xianming had already taken out his horn bow and said while adjusting the bowstring: "The Junggar envoys have entered the capital. Do you know about this?"

"Well...my son has been very busy these days and is not aware of this matter for the time being!"

This was of course a lie, but Zhu Jinghong had to say this. He wanted to reduce his external threat as much as possible, especially to prevent the emperor from being suspicious.

"Busy among women?"

"Dad, life is short, enjoy it while you can, remember..."

"Alright, alright, I won't waste my time talking to you about this nonsense. Do you know why they came here this time?"

"This……"

Not wanting to waste time with him, Zhu Xianming said in a deep voice: "They are here to negotiate!"

"They actually asked for peace?" Zhu Jinghong was a little surprised. He really didn't know about this.

The current situation in the northwest is that the armies of both sides are fighting back and forth in the Turpan area, and neither side can completely overwhelm the other. Logically, the Dzungars should not ask for peace.

Zhu Xianming said in a deep voice: "It's a peace talk, not a request for peace!"

After hearing the emperor's emphasis, Zhu Jinghong finally understood what was going on. He thought that the Dzungar Khanate was making unrealistic demands, such as returning everything to the state before the war.

"I originally didn't want to talk about it, but after thinking about it carefully... we can talk about it!"

These words showed that the emperor was very conflicted. Although he was excited about expanding the territory, he was also worried about the huge amount of money and materials consumed by the expedition with hundreds of thousands of troops.

Of course, fighting a war of attrition with the Ming Dynasty in the Turpan area was also a long and arduous expedition for the Russians, and the enormous pressure also made them want to negotiate.

"Perhaps in ten days or half a month, the peace talks will begin... Then you can go too!"

"I?"

Glancing back at Zhu Jinghong, Zhu Xianming said calmly: "You have won many victories in the northwest before. Maybe it will be of some use if you go there!"

"I'm afraid it's against the rules!"

"Hasn't there been enough things you did that weren't in accordance with the rules?"

"Son, I will listen to your instructions!" Zhu Jinghong said frankly.

The father and son fell silent, then walked forward a few hundred feet and came to a forest.

The lions and tigers were in the forest, and the Jinyiwei released one each, in addition to some goats and elks. At this time, Zhu Xianming had already drawn his bow and arrow, ready to shoot at any time, while Zhu Jinghong was sitting on the horse. Compared with the emperor, he was not nervous at all, and was even thinking about the peace talks.

Ouch...

A roar came from the northeast, causing the guards on the scene to quickly adjust their positions and prepare to shoot arrows.

Zhu Xianming turned his horse around and, after confirming that Zhu Jinghong was following closely, he rode slowly toward the northeast, leaving his back to Zhu Jinghong.

After a few breaths, Zhu Jinghong reminded: "One hundred and fifty steps ahead..."

Zhu Xianming's eyesight was not that good, so he became more alert after hearing the reminder. Sure enough, after walking forward for dozens of steps, he found a striped tiger approaching.

At this moment, Zhu Jinghong also took out his strong bow and took out arrows from his quiver.

Ouch...

The tiger suddenly started to attack and rushed towards the approaching guard. The guard immediately changed direction and led the tiger away.

Zhu Xianming immediately rode his horse to catch up, and the rest of the guards followed closely, each drawing their bows and aiming at the tiger.

Zhu Xianming shot the first arrow, but it missed by nearly two feet. Then he shot the second arrow, but it missed again.

Although he missed repeatedly, Zhu Xianming was still able to ride a horse and shoot arrows at the age of fifty, which objectively speaking was very impressive.

There was no danger now, so the guards did not intervene and allowed the emperor to shoot continuously, which was the fun of hunting.

As the distance gradually shortened, the tiger slowed down as it got tired. Zhu Xianming finally hit the target with the fifth arrow, which pierced the tiger's butt.

Feeling the pain, the tiger immediately changed direction and rushed towards Zhu Xianming. Although the latter was frightened, he still shot the sixth arrow.

The arrow missed, and the surrounding guards realized that the emperor might be in danger, so they immediately moved closer and shot an arrow each.

Although most of the arrows missed, more than a dozen of them still hit the target, piercing the tiger until it was almost as big as a hedgehog.

Although the tiger was hit by many arrows, the wounds were not deep. Instead, it aroused its ferocity and began to attack the guards indiscriminately.

So the tiger was tied in a certain direction, so Zhu Xianming could follow it and continue shooting it.

About ten minutes later, the tiger was finally shot dead, with more than twenty arrows in its body.

After confirming that the tiger was dead, Zhu Xianming jumped off his horse, approached it and personally took out the arrow from its body. Of course, Zhu Jinghong followed beside him.

The most fatal arrow hit the tiger's left eye. This was of course the work of Zhu Jinghong. His iron arrow penetrated at least five inches into the brain.

Unable to pull it out, in order to hide his embarrassment, Zhu Xianming laughed and scolded: "Boy, it seems that your kung fu has not fallen behind!"

"My skills are really nothing. It was only because you shot so many arrows and exhausted the beast's energy that I was able to succeed!" Zhu Jinghong replied with a smile.

Seeing this boy being so sensible, Zhu Xianming was even happier, so he took off the arrow and said, "You are familiar with Li Hui and Li Jiong in Joseon. Who do you think is better to be the king?"

Zhu Jinghong actually wanted to intervene in the issue of the throne of the Joseon king for a long time, but the emperor simply shelved the matter.

It has been delayed for almost two months, and now the matter is brought up again. It is obvious that Zhu Xianming has felt the pressure.

As the saying goes, if the lips and teeth are gone, they will be cold. As the first vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, if even Korea was deposed from the throne, other vassal states would feel insecure.

The envoys from various countries who came to Beijing this time expressed their concern about the succession of Korea, forcing Zhu Xianming to re-examine the issue of "changing the natives to Han people" in Korea.

"Quite familiar!" Zhu Jinghong answered carefully.

This matter is related to his interests, so he has to be cautious.

"Then who do you think would be better as king?"

After a few moments of silence, Zhu Jinghong asked, "Is it better for the people or for the Li royal family?"

Hearing this, Zhu Xianming smiled. He sat on the tiger's head and asked in a deep voice, "Who will be good for the people and who will be good for the Li family?"

"Li Jiong is a man of deep thoughts. If he becomes king, it would certainly be good for the royal family, but I'm afraid he has ulterior motives... If he continues to do what his brother did, it would be a disaster for the people of Korea!"

"Li Hui is much more honest and doesn't have so many thoughts. He will definitely be loyal to the court and complement the Ming Dynasty... This will certainly be a great benefit to the Korean people!"

Zhu Xianming smiled and nodded. On the surface, these words were talking about the pros and cons for North Korea, but in reality they were talking about the pros and cons for the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Jinghong continued talking, describing some details of his time in North Korea to illustrate the difference between Li Hui and his nephew.

After listening, Zhu Xianming slowly said, "People's hearts are hidden. If Li Hui has deeper thoughts and hides them from you...wouldn't it be more harmful to establish him as the leader?"

As a very qualified emperor, Zhu Xianming maintained a level of suspicion above the standard. Only the empress and Zhu Jinghong's siblings were exempted in the world.

"So my son thinks that no matter who becomes the king of Joseon, the court will have to send people to keep a close eye on him, so as not to worry about them causing chaos!"

"You mean, the imperial court will always keep troops stationed in Korea?"

The current situation is that the imperial court has stationed 5,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry in Seoul. Zhu Xianming has never thought of continuing to stay there, after all, there is no precedent for such a thing. Now Zhu Jinghong has opened up his mind.

"Not only do we need to station troops there, we also need to send a capable general to closely monitor the movements of the North Korean court!"

Zhu Xianming nodded, and while touching the tiger's forehead, he looked up and asked, "Who should be sent?"

"This person must be ruthless and decisive in his actions!" Zhu Jinghong replied.

"Do you have any candidate?" Zhu Xianming asked again.

"Dad... this is an important matter of the court. How dare your son say anything?" Zhu Jinghong did not respond directly.

"It seems like you already have a candidate in mind. Tell me about it!"

"This……"

"Stop nagging and just say it!" Zhu Xianming frowned.

On these military and national affairs, he was more willing to listen to his youngest son's opinions, which Zhu Xianming also found strange.

It is actually very easy to understand if you look into this matter in detail. Among all the princes, Zhu Jinghong was the only one who presided over several major battles and won all of them. His abilities should have been recognized.

Although the Crown Prince and Prince Rui each have their own abilities, they participate too little in these military and national affairs, so it is normal that they are not taken seriously.

After a few more breaths of silence, Zhu Jinghong replied, "My son recommended me. It's Sun Shaozu, the current deputy commander of the Anxi Xingdusi!"

The emperor had a slight impression of Sun Shaozu and knew that he was a man who could get things done.

This man was not even thirty years old, but he was promoted to the rank of fourth-rank military officer based on his military merits, which proved his outstanding ability.

"Ok!"

Zhu Xianming nodded without expressing his attitude.

Having done what he was supposed to do, Zhu Jinghong felt relieved and the matter was over for him.

When the emperor was deep in thought, suddenly a huge roar came from a distance. It was obviously the lion coming towards him.

Zhu Xianming was interrupted and showed dissatisfaction. Seeing this, Zhu Jinghong immediately said, "Father, don't move. I'll be back soon!"

After saying this, Zhu Jinghong jumped on his horse, waved the reins and galloped towards the place where the voice came from, followed immediately by several guards.

More guards gathered around the emperor, and more guards approached quickly, besieging the place like an iron wall.

(End of this chapter)