Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1141 Goodbye
Zhu Shenzhu knew something about this history, which was why he decided to let the Tengger brothers rule the various Mongolian tribes in the south of the desert separately. But this was far from enough. As the Ming Dynasty gradually recovered its national strength, even if he trusted the Tengger brothers, he had to consider the long-term stability of the northern part of the Ming Dynasty.

As his own sons, the Tengger brothers were taught by Zhu Shenzhu himself, so he naturally trusted them. But what about their sons? What about their grandsons? What about their great-grandsons? Although they are all his descendants, as time goes by, Zhu Shenzhu's generation will eventually grow old. After a few decades, when Zhu Shenzhu passes away and his sons die one by one, will their descendants still be as loyal to the Ming Dynasty as they were at the beginning?

This is something that no one can guarantee, and Zhu Shencui must take this into consideration. He does not want his descendants to fight each other a hundred years later for the position of the Great Khan of Mongolia, or even lead troops to attack the Ming Dynasty and bring war and disaster to the Central Plains. Zhu Shencui must not only solve this problem in advance, but also establish the ruling position of the Ming Dynasty in Mongolia and let all Mongolians know who is the real master of the world.

Under this circumstance, Zhu Shenzhu decided to leave Beijing for the grassland. However, he made thorough preparations before leaving. First, he adjusted the cabinet. After Wang Jinwu returned, Wen Tihen officially resigned and returned to his hometown. Zhu Shenzhu gave him due treatment and added Qian Qianyi, the Minister of Rites, to the cabinet. In addition, Wang Jinwu's ranking in the cabinet also rose directly from the original third to the second assistant.

Although Wang Jinwu is not the first assistant, and according to Zhu Shenzhu's regulations on the cabinet adjustment, the highest position of the nobles who represent the military in the cabinet in the future can only be the second assistant. Don't forget that the current first assistant is Zhang Zhifa. To put it bluntly, Zhang Zhifa is the first assistant in the current transition period. When Wen Tiren was there, he was the second assistant and followed Wen Tiren's lead. Now that Wen Tiren has left, Zhang Zhifa is the first assistant in name, but in fact he will discuss everything with Wang Jinwu. So from this point of view, Wang Jinwu, the second assistant, actually has more power than Zhang Zhifa, the first assistant, and the entire cabinet is still controlled by Zhu Shenzhu.

With Wang Jinwu in the capital, assisting the temporary regent, Zhu Minlan, Zhu Shenzhui's temporary departure from the capital can also ensure the stability of the capital and the local areas. In addition, apart from them, there are Xu Xiancheng, Zhou Anmin, Zhang Xijun, Li You and other confidants in the capital to assist, plus some arrangements made by the Jinyiwei and the local areas, the emperor's temporary departure from the capital will not have any impact, let alone any accidents.

As an emperor, Zhu Shenzhu's expedition to the grassland was naturally large. He mobilized 6,000 elite new troops and 3,000 cavalry, plus a total of more than 10,000 entourage. But such a large team was not too large in terms of number of people. After all, emperors in history would often send tens of thousands of people out of Beijing, and the number of people Zhu Shenzhu brought was already small.

Although the number of people is not too large, they are the elite among the elite, especially the 6,000 elite new troops, which are formed with the old foundation built by Zhu Shenzhui in the past as the core. Many of the officers are old brothers who followed Zhu Shenzhui to fight in the past, so they are naturally absolutely assured of his loyalty.

As for combat effectiveness, there is no need to mention it. The new army is now better equipped than before. The firearms of the Ming Dynasty have been further developed in recent years. Not only have they been improved on the previous firearms, but new firearms with stronger power and more accurate have also been developed. The new army, as the most elite force of the Ming Dynasty, is naturally the first to be equipped. With such a new army, it is entirely possible to confront enemies of two or three times their number head-on without being at a disadvantage, or even defeat them.

As for the 3,000 cavalry, they were also elite, no less than the Guanning Iron Cavalry. Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui was not Emperor Chongzhen, he was an emperor on horseback, he had seized the throne with his bare hands, fighting was just a daily routine for him, although he had not been on the battlefield in recent years, his skills were still there, even when he was handling government affairs, Zhu Shenzhui did not give up training his muscles and body, wielding a war spear in his hand, few people in the world could stop him.

This time when he went to the grassland, Zhu Shenzui did not take the nearest Xuanfu, but chose to exit the Great Wall from Datong.

Starting from the capital, he went northwest from the capital to Shanxi, and then went north from Shanxi to Datong. He had walked this route countless times before and was very familiar with it. Moreover, he did not need to worry about anything else in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and there was no safety issue. As long as he was on the necessary alert, he could walk very quickly.

After arriving in Datong, Zhu Shencui stayed there for two days and met with border generals and local officials including Hei Yunlong. After resting, Zhu Shencui only allowed Hei Yunlong to send a team of border troops to accompany him, and refused the good intention of sending more guards. He then marched out of the Great Wall in a mighty manner and headed towards the northern grasslands.

After entering the grassland, Zhu Shenzhui quickly found the feeling of leading a team between Mongolia and Ming Dynasty. However, at that time, he was just a merchant and there were not many people around him. But now, he was traveling in the name of the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, with tens of thousands of people. This feeling was naturally different from the past.

Not long after walking, he ran into the Mongols who were waiting for him. When Zhu Shencui was about to arrive in Datong, he had already sent messengers to Guihua City to inform them of his impending arrival. Although doing so would expose his whereabouts, Zhu Shencui didn't care at all, because from Datong to the north was Tengger's territory, to put it bluntly, it was the territory he had conquered with his own hands. He was very familiar with this place, and safety was not a problem. It was impossible for him to encounter any danger. Moreover, he had so many people and elites around him. Even if that blind Mongolian tribal leader came to seek death, Zhu Shencui was eager to let the other party experience his strength.

Upon learning that Mongols were coming to greet him, Zhu Shenzui did not take it seriously and asked his men to bring the Mongols to see him.

When the visitor came in front of Zhu Shenzui and saw the other person's face clearly, Zhu Shenzui couldn't help but burst into laughter, got off the carriage directly, and strode forward.

"Your Majesty... I... I finally see you..." Wang Haihu's eyes were filled with tears. The first thing he did after seeing Zhu Shenzhui was to bow down to him. When Zhu Shenzhui walked in front of him, he raised his head and sobbed in a slightly excited and trembling voice.

"You kid, I haven't seen you for many years. How come you have such a big beard? I almost didn't recognize you when I first saw you." Zhu Shenzhui pulled Wang Hai up from the ground and looked him up and down. Over the years, the young Wang Hai has grown into a sturdy Mongolian man, and the wind and sand in Mongolia are much stronger than inside the Great Wall. Wang Hai lives in the north, especially as he is the most important general under Tengger, often leading troops to fight, especially in suppressing the Mongolian tribes in the north of the desert, Wang Hai has made great contributions, so Wang Hai looks ten years older than his actual age, especially with his big beard, he looks like a completely different person from the Wang Hai in memory.

Wang Hai was originally a Mongolian slave, but his fate was changed because of Zhu Shenzhu. After being brought back to the Ming Dynasty by Zhu Shenzhu, he lived with him for a long time. The two were not only master and servant, but also master and apprentice. Moreover, Wang Hai later married Qiao'er, so from this point of view, they were even more like his own family.

Wang Hai's loyalty to Zhu Shenzhu is self-evident, and no one can compare to him. He stayed in Mongolia and did not follow Zhu Shenzhu to the Ming Dynasty because of Tana and Tenger. In his opinion, although his master became the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, his mistress and the young master were in Mongolia. Since his master was not there, he had to protect the mistress and the young master for his master, and he would not hesitate to sacrifice his life to do this.

Holding back tears, Wang Hai nodded vigorously, looking at the master in front of him. The appearance of Zhu Shenzhu in his memory and the reality finally overlapped.

Hearing Zhu Shenzhui teasing him like this, Wang Hai smiled shyly. A big and strong Mongolian man actually showed a childlike smile at this time. If someone who was familiar with Wang Hai saw this scene, they would probably drop their glasses to the ground.

"Your Majesty, I have missed you all these years. Today I finally see Your Majesty again. I am so happy, so happy!" Wang Hai couldn't help but say. He was usually steady, but now he was a little at a loss, more like a child who was excited to see his father.

Zhu Shenzui reached out and patted his shoulders twice, his face full of smiles and relief. He did not expect to see Wang Hai not long after entering Mongolia. Wang Hai's arrival also made him very happy.

"Your Majesty..." At this time, a person's voice came from not far behind, the voice was full of doubt and reminder. After all, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was so intimate with a Mongolian, and the two sides were so close. What if the other party had any bad intentions?
Looking back, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but smile when he saw that the person who reminded him was Fang Yizhi.

Fang Yizhi was a member of Fushe and an old friend of Zhou Anmin. Later generations combined him with Chen Zhenhui, Hou Fangyu and Mao Pijiang as the Four Young Masters of Fushe. But among these four people, Fang Yizhi is the least famous, because compared with the other three, Fang Yizhi did not have any contact with the so-called Qinhuai Eight Beauties. On the contrary, the other three had more or less close contact with these women, leaving behind many rumors of love affairs, which made his fame less known to later generations.

But in fact, among the so-called Four Gentlemen of Fushe, Fang Yizhi was the most outstanding one. He was both literary and martial. Not only was he proficient in Confucianism, he was also well-versed in philosophy, Yixue, physics, mathematics, etc. He was not averse to Western academic studies, and was determined to combine Chinese and Western cultures and the three religions into one. Such thoughts are rare in today's Ming Dynasty.

Fang Yizhi passed the imperial examination a few years ago and became an official in the Hanlin Academy. However, due to his advanced ideas and his disapproval of the political views of the Donglin Party and others, he was more practical in doing things, so he did not have a good time in officialdom at first.

Later, due to the outbreak of the Jiangnan Case, the court carried out a large-scale purge of the civil service group including other parties including the Donglin Party, which completely reversed the party struggle situation in the Ming Dynasty. At this time, Fang Yizhi also attracted the attention of Zhu Shenzhui because of an incident. Later, through the recommendation of Xu Xiancheng, Fang Yizhi was transferred from Hanlin to the Cabinet's Edict Office as the Secretary. Although this official position was not high, its significance was very different. You must know that the Secretary of the Cabinet's Edict Office is equivalent to the secretary of the Cabinet Secretariat, and also serves as the emperor's secretary. On weekdays, he is mainly responsible for the communication between the emperor and the cabinet, and is even responsible for drafting various cabinet documents including imperial edicts.

This shows that the emperor values ​​and trusts Fang Yizhi. If nothing unexpected happens, his future prospects are limitless. In a few years, he will not only be promoted to serve in the six ministries, but it is also possible that he will enter the cabinet as a senior official in ten or twenty years. At worst, it will be easy for him to serve as a frontier governor in a local area. He is a perfect candidate for the cabinet.

This time when he came to the grassland, Zhu Shenzhui brought a lot of followers, including Fang Yizhi. Seeing Fang Yizhi seemed to be hesitant to speak, Zhu Shenzhui immediately understood his concerns, smiled and waved at him, then pointed at Wang Hai in front of him and said, "Mizhi, do you know who he is?"

Fang Yizhi was stunned. He didn't know Wang Hai at all. He only knew that he was a Mongolian. But from what the emperor meant, he was not just a Mongolian. He didn't know how to answer for a while. However, Zhu Shenzhui did not continue to ask questions. Instead, he smiled and revealed the answer, told Fang Yizhi the other party's name, and said something. After saying this, Fang Yizhi suddenly realized why the emperor treated Wang Hai like this, and felt a little embarrassed for his recklessness just now.

(End of this chapter)