Ming Empire

Chapter 285
When Cao Yue led his troops to the Yanziji Wharf in Nanjing, the young emperor Zhu Cijiong personally took the Korean and Chinese military officials to the wharf to greet them. The two guards guarding Nanjing also lined up to greet them at the wharf.

The banners were flying, the drums were clamoring, the emperor and the court ministers were all welcoming, and tens of thousands of soldiers lined up on both sides of the pier to greet each other. This incomparably grand welcoming scene surprised Cao Yue who had expected it. I really don’t know who it was. Cao Yue was a little speechless when he even tossed out such a standard welcoming ceremony.However, the battle has already been laid out, and he can only accept it bravely.

The other people who came back with Cao Yue had never seen such a grand welcoming ceremony before, and they were all secretly surprised.The red lady who was originally from a reckless background panicked in front of such a formation. Although she had repeatedly asked Li for advice before arriving in Nanjing, after arriving in Nanjing, she should pay attention to the etiquette when facing other officials and the empress. There are many ways to deal with it, but she is still very flustered when she encounters such a scene after getting off the warship.In the end, he didn't care much, so he could only follow Cao Yue closely, not daring to stay too far away.

"Cao Yue, the governor of the governor's mansion, bows to His Majesty the emperor, long live my emperor!" After getting off the ship's side, Cao Yue led the accompanying personnel, and quickly stepped forward to salute Zhu Cijiong who came forward. "I dare not be greeted by His Majesty the Emperor, I am terrified!"

"Cao Aiqing, please hurry up," Zhu Cijiong, who had not yet grown up and was very excited when he saw Cao Yue, blushed, and hurried forward to help Cao Yue, "Aiqing made great achievements in the Northern Expedition , not only defeated Jiannu, but also regained the capital Beijing. When I heard about this, I was so happy that I couldn’t sleep at night. Daming has a virtuous minister and general like Aiqing, so why worry about the world’s injustice? Great reward!"

Cao Yue could only resign, saying that this was his duty as a subject. Today, the world is not peaceful, the foreign captives are not destroyed, and the internal strife is not settled. Will continue to lead the army to fight, completely put down the internal strife and foreign captives, and restore peace to the world.Zhu Cijiong naturally gave some encouragement, and then the two walked forward together.

When Cao Yue followed Zhu Cijiong to the barracks, Sun Chuanting, Ma Shiying, Shi Kefa, Gao Hongtu and other important officials in the court also stepped forward to congratulate Cao Yue, praising Cao Yue's wisdom and outstanding strategy. I hope that Cao Yue can continue to lead the Ming army to fight, pacify the world, and avenge the late emperor.After some etiquette, Cao Yue accompanied Zhu Cijiong and the ministers of the DPRK and China to inspect the army.

This was the first time for Zhu Cijiong to see the majestic posture of the Ming Guards, which made him very excited and excited.Seeing a group of Guards soldiers striding forward in front of the reviewing stand, he couldn't help standing up and applauding regardless of his status as the emperor. Let him lead a team and go out to fight.

Zhu Cijiong made this request several times, and Cao Yue was a little dumbfounded. He could not refuse or agree, and could only respond vaguely.

Among the officials in the DPRK, some had seen the majestic military posture of the Guards before, but like Zhu Cijiong, many of them saw it for the first time, and a large number of them were shocked.After the ceremony, Cao Yue returned to Nanjing City along with Zhu Cijiong and other ministers.

After suing the temple, paying homage, and comforting the soul of Emperor Chongzhen for his military exploits, a large group of people returned to the palace in a mighty manner.It was already nightfall, but Zhu Cijiong was very excited and held a temporary meeting in the palace to reward Cao Yue.

Under the suggestion of Sun Chuanting and others and Zhu Cijiong's own suggestion, it was decided to grant Cao Yue the title of county king, and Cao Yue, who was crowned King Dingbei on his head, became another king with a different surname in the history of Ming Dynasty.Cao Yue couldn't refuse, so he had to thank him and accept it.Before the start of the interim court meeting, Princess Zhu Yu of Kunxing had already entered the palace, and after Cao Yue received the reward, she also came out to thank her.Aimee Zhu transformed from the eldest son to the princess.The identity of the princess and the queen has become a great legend, and soon it has become a topic that the common people talk about.

Other meritorious ministers were also rewarded. Cao Bianjiao was conferred the title of Ningguo Duke for his meritorious service. Generals who made military exploits, including senior generals such as Huang Degong, Gao Jie, and Cao Jie, were also rewarded with titles.

How to reward the red lady who came to Nanjing with Cao Yue became a hot topic among the ministers in the court.In the past time, Hong Niangzi made outstanding military exploits for Daming, and her merits surpassed that of Qin Liangyu, another strange woman in Daming who was awarded the post of general soldier.It's just that the status of women was still low in the Ming Dynasty, and Hong Niangzi was originally the leader of the bandits, so how to reward has become a topic of controversy among many people.

When the ministers were arguing about this issue, the red lady who finally calmed down after panicking for a while, gritted her teeth and made up her mind, knelt down in front of Zhu Cijiong, declined all the rewards, and said that she had only one request, that is to marry Cao Cao. Yue, became the daughter-in-law of the Cao family, and hoped that the emperor would be fulfilled.The red lady's request immediately shocked everyone in the court hall, and also surprised Zhu Cijiong.

Of course Zhu Cijiong didn't want a beautiful woman to compete for favor with his elder sister in front of Cao Yue, but before he could speak, Zhu Yuxi, who was standing with Cao Yue after entering the palace to receive the reward, stood up again and begged the emperor to agree to let her go. Hong Niangzi married Cao Yue, and she was willing to accept Hong Niangzi as a woman.What Aimee Zhu said surprised Zhu Cijiong and other ministers, only Cao Yue was not surprised.

Before Cao Yue came back, he wrote a letter to Aimee Zhu, telling Aimee Zhu about the red lady in great detail, saying that the red lady came to surrender because she admired him, which saved Daming from unnecessary wars and saved countless people. s life.He didn't want to disappoint Hong Niangzi, so he wanted to accept her, but no matter who he accepted, Aimi Zhu's position in his heart would never be replaced.

Zhu Yu was born in the palace since she was a child, and she is very aware that the rich and powerful in this era not only have beautiful wives, but most of them also have a bunch of concubines. Although she has a deep affection for Cao Yue, she never thought that Cao Yue was the only woman.She already knew that Cao Yue was going to take Liu Rushi, Chen Yuanyuan, and Dong Xiaowan in. Before Cao Yue came back, she had private contact with these three women.

Cao Yue respected her, wrote to her and told her about the red lady in detail, and asked her for her ideas. The red lady who had made great contributions declined other rewards. The only request was to marry Cao Yue. How could she not What about support?So he stood up and pleaded for the red lady in the hall.

Zhu Cijiong, who was originally worried that his sister would not accept it, saw that Auntie Zhu stood up to support the matter in public, and did not express any objection anymore, and the hall agreed to Hong Niangzi's invitation.

The matter of the red lady has a good result. How to deal with the captured or surrendered Manchu dignitaries such as Bumbutai, Zhezhe, Namuzhong, and Fulin is also a matter to be discussed in today's temporary court meeting.

(End of this chapter)