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

Chapter 702 Showing Goodwill
Although Lu Xiangsheng was a Jinshi and a civil servant, his personality and temperament were somewhat different from those of ordinary scholars. He was good at martial arts and military affairs, and was more like a warrior who was straightforward. Otherwise, Lu Xiangsheng would not have such martial arts skills, and would not be so brave to lead the troops in battle.

Lu Xiangsheng had originally had a bad impression of Zhu Shenzhui, but later gradually changed his opinion. Today, when he saw him, Zhu Shenzhui was so polite and praised him. Although Lu Xiangsheng knew that Zhu Shenzhui might have a purpose, who doesn't like to hear good words? Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui's behavior was very much to Lu Xiangsheng's liking. He liked to deal with straightforward people. After a few words and a few glasses of wine, Lu Xiangsheng couldn't help but feel a little closer to Zhu Shenzhui.

Facing Zhu Shenzhui's praise, Lu Xiangsheng repeatedly said that he dared not, and said that he had only done his duty as a minister, which was nothing. But he did not expect that this sentence made Zhu Shenzhui even more emotional. Zhu Shenzhui took his hand and said that the current political situation in the Ming Dynasty was difficult, with powerful enemies outside and chaos inside. There were serious party struggles in the court, and local disasters continued, with many problems.

Right now, the Ming Dynasty needs loyal ministers like Lu Xiangsheng. Only when there are more people like Lu Xiangsheng in the world, will the Ming Dynasty change and the country be revived.

Listening to Zhu Shenzhui's words, Lu Xiangsheng was also moved. Although he was in the local area, he also knew some of the situations in the court and admitted that the problems Zhu Shenzhui said were all true. However, it was not easy to solve these problems. Moreover, Lu Xiangsheng also saw the situation in the Ministry of Rites when he came to Beijing today. Although he was very dissatisfied with the factional struggles in his heart for the Ministry of Rites' neglect of these victorious soldiers, he was also worried that what Zhu Shenzhui had just done in the Meridian Gate would affect the interests of these people and cause trouble.

"Regent, I'm afraid you may have been a little impulsive regarding what happened at the Meridian Gate..." Lu Xiangsheng said in a low voice.

Reaching out and patting Lu Xiangsheng on the shoulder, Zhu Shenzhui's eyes were full of admiration, but there was no worry at all: "Don't worry about this matter, I have already made arrangements. Besides, you have returned victoriously, and the court has already welcomed you with great ceremony. The Ministry of Rites has already wronged you meritorious soldiers by doing this."

"I, as the regent, personally welcomed you at the Meridian Gate. This is my attitude. What does the Ministry of Rites have to do with what happens in the inner court? The Ministry of Rites is unwilling, but I am willing! If anyone in the court is dissatisfied, they can just come to me directly, and I will take care of them all."

Lu Xiangsheng was really moved by these words. This attitude alone was enough to make Lu Xiangsheng look at him with new eyes. You have to know that Emperor Chongzhen would never do this at the beginning. Not only that, he was also good at passing the buck. It was clearly his own fault, but in the end it was his ministers who suffered. However, Zhu Shenzhu not only took the initiative to assume the responsibility, but also told it frankly and comforted his ministers. It is obvious which one is better between the two.

After chatting with Lu Xiangsheng for a few words, the next person Wang Jinwu introduced to him was Li Xin.

Zhu Shenzui had heard of the name Li Xin a long time ago. When Xu Xiancheng went to travel in the south, he became good friends with Li Xin. Later, the two took the imperial examination together. Unfortunately, Xu Xiancheng passed that year, but Li Xin failed.

Later, Xu Xiancheng went to the Ministry of Works as an official. Because he saved Emperor Tianqi during the renovation of the three main halls and the explosion at Wanggongchang, he was promoted by Emperor Tianqi and was in charge of the military affairs of the Ministry of Works, including the storage of military equipment. At this time, Li Xin came to the capital from his hometown to join Xu Xiancheng. Xu Xiancheng happened to be short of people, so he got an official position for Li Xin with the help of Zhang Xijun as a juren, so that he stayed with Xu Xiancheng.

Li Xin, like Lu Xiangsheng, was a man of both civil and military talents, but he was not as lucky as Lu Xiangsheng in his career, and was only a juren instead of a jinshi. But this did not conceal Li Xin's talent. Li Xin helped Xu Xiancheng a lot over the years. If it were not for Li Xin, Xu Xiancheng would not have been able to quell the Shandong mutiny so quickly, and would not have been able to control the military and political power of Shandong after being transferred to the post of governor of Shandong and governor of Leiden.

In addition, the specific person who implemented the withdrawal of Dongjiang Town to Shandong a few months ago was Li Xin. Li Xin safely withdrew all the remnants of Dongjiang Town to Shandong and settled them properly. This time Shandong sent troops to reinforce the battle. Li Xin led the Shandong Army and Dongjiang Town and led the two troops very well, which convinced the soldiers of the two troops. He was brave and flexible in the battle, and completed the task of blocking Huang Taiji's army for many attacks, which was highly praised by Wang Jinwu.

Zhu Shenzhu had heard of Li Xin a long time ago, but had never met him. The same was true for Li Xin, who had known Zhu Shenzhu for a long time, but had only met him for the first time today.

When they saw each other, they both secretly admired that the reputation was well-deserved, especially Zhu Shenzhui, who was looking at Li Xin, a tall and slender man who looked more like a scholar than a warrior, with a hint of heroism in his eyes and brows. He was even more amazed.

Speaking of Li Xin, Zhu Shenzhui thought of a famous figure in history, that is, Li Yan, a general under Li Zicheng, also known as Li Chuangwang.

As early as when Zhu Shenzhu heard Xu Xiancheng mention Li Xin, he felt that Li Xin's name sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had heard of it. It was not until Gao Yingxiang raised an army and called himself the King of Rebellion that Zhu Shenzhu suddenly remembered where he had heard of Li Xin. Wasn't the original name of the Li Yan in history Li Xin? Moreover, Li Xin's hometown was in Kaifeng, Henan, which was the same as the rumored Li Yan.

Holding Li Xin's hand, Zhu Shenzhu also drank three cups with him, and talked a lot with a smile. He not only asked about Xu Xiancheng's situation, but also talked about some things about the Shandong Army and Dongjiang Town. Li Xin talked eloquently in front of Zhu Shenzhu, with clear ideas and clear logic, which made Zhu Shenzhu very satisfied. He couldn't help but praise him a few words, and asked him to stay in the capital for a few days and find time to talk alone when he was free. Finally, Zhu Shenzhu curiously asked Li Xin if he had other names, and whether he was related to the former Minister of War Li Jingbai.

Hearing Zhu Shenzhui's question, Li Xin was a little confused. He shook his head and said that he did not use an alias. His father gave him the name Li Xin, and he had been using this name since he was a child. As for the former Minister of War Li Jingbai, he knew about this person, but Li Jingbai had no relatives with their family. Although they all had the surname Li, Li Jingbai was from Nanzhili, and Li Xin's hometown was in Kaifeng, Henan. The two were nearly a thousand miles apart, so they had no relationship at all.

Li Xin also laughed and said that if Li Jingbai was his elder, he might not have failed the imperial examination when he came to the capital, and he would still be just a juren until now.

Hearing him say this, Zhu Shenzui burst into laughter and a doubt in his mind was resolved. Later generations often regarded Li Xin (Li Yan) as the son of Li Jingbai and called Li Xin the son of the former Minister of War. This was probably a false rumor.

Then Zhu Shencui went on to meet with Shandong General Zhang Keda, Dongjiang Town General Shen Shikui, Deputy General Jin Riguan, Chu Jigong and other generals. Zhu Shencui showed great respect and courtesy to these people. They were different from Lu Xiangsheng and Li Xin. After all, the former were serious scholars. Even though Li Xin was not a Jinshi, he was still a Juren, while they were real soldiers.

After the Battle of Tumu in the Ming Dynasty, the status of military generals plummeted, and military power was gradually transferred to the hands of civil officials and the Ministry of War. Although the rank of general was not low, a town general was a first-rank official, and an ordinary general was also a second-rank official. However, such a high-ranking military officer often had to be inferior to civil officials. Even a mere head of the Ministry of War could point at the general's nose and curse him to humiliate him, while the general could only smile and apologize on the side, being extremely humble.

And today, the Regent of the Ming Dynasty treated them with such courtesy, which made them flattered and their faces flushed.

While Zhu Shenzui was talking to them in a friendly manner, some people couldn't even reply clearly. They stammered and looked at a loss.

Zhu Shencui was not impressed by this at all. On the contrary, he was still very cordial. He not only praised their bravery, but also praised their loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, which made these generals feel honored and extremely excited.

This time, two people were missing from the trip, one was Sun Yuanhua and the other was Wu Sangui. As for Heilongyun and his son, since Heilong was the general of Xuanfu and had to be stationed in Xuanfu, he returned to Xuanfu after the war and did not come to Beijing.

Sun Yuanhua had to go back to Shandong first because of something that needed to be done in Shandong. He would come to the capital after helping Xu Xiancheng deal with the matter. Moreover, Sun Yuanhua had been serving a crime for meritorious service and had no actual position, only joined the army. In addition, he was a subordinate of Xu Xiancheng, so it was normal that he did not come this time.

As for Wu Sangui, it was because of Liaodong. After Huang Taiji retreated, Zhu Shenzhui considered that there might be changes in Liaodong, so he asked Wang Jinwu to let Wu Sangui return to Liaodong first, and then find time to come to Beijing after ensuring that Huang Taiji would not turn around and attack Liaodong again.

So the two of them did not come with them. In Jizhou Wei, part of the Shandong Army and part of the Dongjiang Town stayed there temporarily, led by Wang Gui and others. At the same time, they stepped up to restore the defense of Xifengkou and other places to ensure the safety of the defense line in case of future foreign invasions.

The banquet in Wenhua Hall lasted from the afternoon until the evening. Before Wang Jinwu said goodbye and left, Zhu Shenzui told him not to be careless in Beijing in the next few days. The troops of the Beijing Camp must be firmly under control, and he must be even more careful with others.

Wang Jinwu nodded and said he understood, and told Zhu Shenzhui not to worry. Zhu Shenzhui nodded and told him to have a good rest today. Since they had returned with great success, the court's rewards would come soon. There might be some disturbances before the official rewards came down, so he just needed to pay attention to everything.

After seeing off Wang Jinwu and others, Zhu Shenzhui returned to the side hall of Wenhua Hall. Candles had been lit in the room. Under the candlelight, Zhu Shenzhui did not read the memorials as usual, but thought quietly. No one knew what he was thinking about, but the sneer at the corner of his mouth carried a meaningful mockery and determination.

(End of this chapter)