The First Prince of the Ming Dynasty

The sky was dark.

In the Leopard House, on a high platform near the street, Zhu Houzhao was using his newly acquired binoculars to spy on the houses in the distance.

At first, he was very interested, as if he could get a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people, but after watching for a while, he became bored and put down the binoculars, sighing.

"Your Majesty!" Liu Yong, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and Zhang Zhong, the Grand Eunuch of the Imperial Horse Administration, stood not far away. Liu Yong was holding several memorials in his hands.

Zhu Houzhao said displeasedly, "Again, are you trying to persuade me not to go on the western expedition? I haven't even gone yet, what are you trying to persuade me about? Where is Qian Ning?"

Zhang Zhongdao: "Your Majesty, Commander Qian said he was going to pick up some beauties who were being presented as tribute from the Kingdom of Turpan, and they may be on their way back."

"All this useless stuff," Zhu Houzhao muttered casually, still showing no interest whatsoever.

Liu Yong then presented several memorials, earnestly stating, "Your Majesty, here is a memorial from Wang Chun, the Governor of Xuanfu. It mentions that the newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of Xuanfu, Jiang Bin, led troops to plunder Xuanfu and other areas, greatly impacting the stability of the local military and civilians. Furthermore, he arbitrarily mobilized the Wanquan Right Guard troops to Zhangjiakou Fort. We request Your Majesty to punish him!"

"Bang!"

In a fit of anger, Zhu Houzhao threw the cup on the table next to him onto the ground, smashing it to pieces.

Zhu Houzhao said, "Wang Chun was quite capable when he handled things last year, wasn't he? How come he's so stupid? Did I make a mistake in choosing the right people?"

Wang Chun was selected as the governor of Xuanfu in March of the tenth year of Zhengde's reign, having previously served as the vice minister of the Court of Judicial Review. In the ninth year of Zhengde's reign, Zhu Houzhao had sent him to Shandong to handle the case of Zhu Danghu, the Prince of Guishan, who was plotting a rebellion, thus gaining Zhu Houzhao's trust.

Zhu Houzhao immediately realized that Wang Chun was also an obstinate old stubborn man who didn't know his place.

Liu Yong said, "Perhaps they don't understand Your Majesty's good intentions."

Zhu Houzhao immediately went over, grabbed Wang Chun's memorial, glanced at it in the candlelight of the lantern, then threw it on the ground. Turning his head towards the outside of the courtyard wall, he said, "If I were to go, their opposition would be even stronger. It seems that it's truly impossible to lead the expedition personally with their approval. I will have to find a way out myself!"

By this time, Zhu Houzhao seemed to have completely "woke up".

The desire to personally lead an expedition while also gaining the approval of the ministers is inherently contradictory.

"Any news from Zhangjiakou?" Zhu Houzhao asked again.

Liu Yong felt he was in a difficult position and looked to Zhang Zhong for help.

Zhang Zhongdao reported, "Your Majesty, Tang Yin's prophecy that the Tatars would invade tomorrow suggests that they are still making preparations. Perhaps the army has already set out from the pass. News won't arrive so quickly!"

"Jiang Bin is also like this. Once he arrives at his destination, doesn't he know to submit a memorial to me immediately? Even if there's a time gap, as long as the memorials are submitted frequently, I can keep track of their movements from here and provide them with strategic guidance!"

Although Zhu Houzhao was in the rear, he very much hoped to win this blocking battle through his own command.

Even with extremely high latency, he wanted to obtain the latest and most continuous battle reports from the front lines.

But clearly, Jiang Bin did not do a satisfactory job in this regard.

"Hasn't that damned Qian Ning returned yet?" Zhu Houzhao was already getting impatient.

Zhang Zhong immediately said, "Your Majesty, I will send someone to urge Commander Qian to return as soon as possible to report back."

"Go quickly! I've lost all my mood!" Zhu Houzhao picked up the telescope again, as if he could only find a moment of peace through the small opening in the telescope.

……

……

When Qian Ning returned, Zhu Houzhao was already in the banquet hall.

Unlike the usual hustle and bustle, Zhu Houzhao was alone with a cup of wine, but he didn't touch the cup.

"Your Majesty, the tribute from Turpan has arrived. Would you like to inspect it immediately?" Qian Ning stepped forward, bowing with a flattering smile.

Zhu Houzhao didn't look up, only his eyes twitched upwards, and said, "Qian Ning, you've been by my side for quite some years now, and you can't even tell what I want?"

Qian Ning suddenly felt a strange sense of unease.

Although he didn't feel that he had fallen out of favor, he did feel that he was not up to the task of dealing with the emperor recently, since Jiang Bin and others were not around.

The emperor began to show his displeasure more and more frequently.

"Your Majesty, we have just received a memorial from Tang Yin." Qian Ning quickly used his trump card.

"Oh? Hurry up and bring it here!" Zhu Houzhao was so excited this time that he stood up himself and walked to Qian Ning's side.

Just as Qian Ning took out the memorial written by Tang Yin from his bosom, Zhu Houzhao snatched it away.

Qian Ning added in his commentary: "Tang Yin reported to Your Majesty what he had recently seen in his dream. He said he saw the Tatars storm into Zhangjiakou Fortress and fight broke out inside the city, but he did not see the outcome of the battle. He also said that in late April, the Emperor's father-in-law might... die from a serious illness."

"The Emperor's father-in-law?" Zhu Houzhao glanced at him sideways.

"Yes, it's Xia Guozhang." Qian Ning nodded.

Zhu Houzhao was unfamiliar with this title, after all, during the Zhengde reign, he had barely even met the Empress, let alone the almost completely invisible father-in-law, Xia Ru.

"He also said that he saw the future prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, and that Your Majesty would personally lead an expedition to the northwest to defeat the Tatar prince Batumonke, driving him away and killing him!" Qian Ning said with a smile.

Zhu Houzhao asked with delight, "Did you see it? Where is it?"

"Here!" Qian Ning said.

Zhu Houzhao asked, "Did he mention how I personally led the expedition? Am I even capable of leaving now?"

Qian Ning smiled and said, "Although he didn't say it very clearly, he vaguely mentioned that His Majesty seemed to have left Juyong Pass alone, displaying the demeanor of a king."

"I knew it!" Zhu Houzhao slapped his thigh and said, "It's impossible to rely on the support of those ministers. If I want to go to the west to lead troops into battle, I have to be firm in my stance. I can go whenever I want without anyone's approval."

"Yes." Qian Ning's expression was not good.

He completely disagreed with the emperor personally leading the expedition, but in order to please the emperor, he had to pretend to be very cooperative.

Zhu Houzhao said, "Tang Yin has reminded me that I need to replace the officers and generals guarding Juyong Pass with obedient people in advance, otherwise I won't even be able to leave Juyong Pass once I've crossed it! You can consider who would be suitable."

Qian Ning grinned and said, "Your Majesty, is there even a need to ask? If Tang Yin's prediction about winning the battle at Zhangjiakou is correct, then why not take the opportunity to arrange for him to guard Juyong Pass?"

"Send someone like Tang Yin, who has never held an official position before?" Zhu Houzhao frowned. "I still need him by my side to offer advice!"

Qian Ning harbored some ill intentions; he clearly did not want Tang Yin, such an uncertain factor, to come to the capital and affect his imperial favor.

Qian Ning said, "Your Majesty, there are actually quite a few capable people like Tang Yin in the court. For example, the Imperial Advisor Xingji Bandan has recently made a prophecy similar to Tang Yin's."

At this point, Qian Ning naturally wanted to bring out someone who was easier to control to counterbalance the potential rise of Tang Yin.

Zhu Houzhao said coldly, "When Prince Ning submitted the memorial on behalf of Tang Yin, Xingji Bandan didn't say a word. Now that things are about to happen, does he think Tang Yin's prophecy might come true, so he's joining in the fun?"

"this……"

Qian Ning immediately realized that the emperor now completely distrusted the group of so-called national teachers, Zen masters, and Buddhist disciples he had previously favored when it came to metaphysics.

Zhu Houzhao said, "Make arrangements for me immediately. In addition to fast horses, arrange several hardworking guards to be at my disposal at any time. I can't even wait for the next Tatar invasion. I want to leave the pass as soon as possible and issue another secret edict to ask Tang Yin to devise a plan for me on how to leave Juyong Pass without anyone noticing!"

Send more men to Juyong Pass to await news. I need to know the battle report from Zhangjiakou as soon as possible; there can be no delay!