Thirty years after Hongwu, one day after Qingming.

Outside Yingtian City, there are 30,000 soldiers of the Beijing Army who have experienced the Eastern Expedition, the Southern Expedition, and the Western Expedition in the past three to five years, together with Yulin's left and right guards, and the Fu army's left and right guards of 20,000 soldiers and horses, for a total of 50,000 soldiers and horses.

In the pattering light rain of late spring, these 50,000 troops gathered at Longwan Pier outside Yingtian City.

On the dock pier, troop transport ships were docked one after another.

The war horses, firearms, artillery and food supplies of the military camps are being transported to the troop transport ships by the governor's office in conjunction with the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works.

Very few court officials came, because according to the official explanation, this was a military operation prepared by the court in advance to target the northwest and the plateau.

These 50,000 soldiers and horses were to board the ship at Yingtian City, then go all the way up the river, enter the Sichuan Road, and march along the western part of the Sichuan Road.

The imperial court wanted to restore the glory of the Han and Tang Dynasties and reopen the Silk Road in the Western Regions. This matter had spread from the palace for a long time.

And no one thought anything was wrong.

After all, the Ming Dynasty now marched eastward to occupy Yingzhou and established four roads. The southward expedition successively conquered the Jiaozhi Road, Zhancheng Road, and a large area of ​​territory to the west.

Last year's Northern Expedition completely eliminated the thousand-year-old enemy that had been hovering over the Central Plains people. Today, the Wanli grassland has become a meat supply place for the Central Plains people, and countless cattle and sheep are sent south every day.

Tiancheng, or it could spread to the entire south.

So under such circumstances, should the Ming Dynasty reopen the Western Regions, let the Ming Dynasty's goods return to the way they were thousands of years ago, and once again contribute to the country's prosperity?

Even the most stubborn conservative officials in the court firmly believed at this time that it was time for the court to reopen the Western Regions.

However, there was some discussion in the court about the fact that the imperial court sent 50,000 Beijing troops and military guards, and appointed the emperor's grandson as the commander-in-chief.

After all, according to the wishes of the courtiers, Zhu Yunxi should not have been allowed to go to Jiubian during the Northern Expedition.

The grandson of the emperor who supervises the country is also the foundation of the country.

As for the people of the country, they should stay safely in the capital, surrounded by armies and protected, worshiped by officials, high in temples, and in charge of arranging the world.

After finally waiting for the Northern Expedition to end, the officials all thought that the emperor's grandson should stay in Beijing peacefully this time. Who would have thought that he would go to Sichuan now?

The Ming Dynasty wanted to explore the northwest and reopen the Western Regions. The Sichuan Road was responsible for attacking the plateau.

Let the emperor's grandson climb from Sichuan Road to the plateau again?

The ministers did not dare to imagine what that would be like.

It's just that although the ministers said they didn't want to, they could not disobey the emperor's order.

In front of Longwan Pier.

Zhu Yunxi looked at the pier where all kinds of supplies were almost being loaded onto the ship and the soldiers began to board the ship.

He turned back to look at Xie Jin and Xu Yungong who were leaving the city today to send the army away from the capital.

Apart from these two, there were only officials from the Metropolitan Governor's Office, the Ministry of Household Affairs, and the Ministry of Works, who were busy on the dock with the task of loading ships for the general. These people could not be regarded as seeing him off.

At this time, a steady drizzle fell between the three of them.

Zhu Yunxi was dressed in military uniform and looked extraordinary.

Xie Jin felt a little sad in his heart. At first, no one thought that the emperor's grandson could accomplish much. Many people even thought that it might take a long time for the emperor's position to be determined.

But in the past few years.

Every aspect of the Ming Dynasty was different, and it seemed that it all originated from the hands of this young emperor's grandson.

According to Xie Jin's selfishness, he actually hoped that Zhu Yunxi could stay in Yingtian and spend more time slowly learning how to deal with government affairs instead of staring somewhere outside.

Xu Yungong felt that the emperor's grandson should go out more often. After all, once he waited until the future, he would not be able to go out whenever he wanted.

In addition, every time the emperor's grandson goes out now, it means that there is a war in the court, which is a good thing for their governor's office.

A Guo Ben who is familiar with military affairs is infinitely better than an imperial grandson who is surrounded by civil servants all day long.

"It will take years to go to the southwest. Both of you are the center of the cabinet. From now on, everything in the capital will require your cooperation."

Zhu Yunxi was very calm.

After experiencing the Southern Expedition and the Northern Expedition, he no longer had much curiosity about what was going on in the battle formation, and he was no longer as nervous as he was when he first went south to the Jiaozhi Road.

Xie Jin cupped his hands and nodded: "Your Highness is leaving. Although there are large armies looking around, we must still put the country's foundation first and never go into danger in person. A gentleman should not stand under a dangerous wall."

Xu Yungong said loudly: "Your Highness has left the capital with an order, so there is no need to worry about anything in the capital. Your Highness is planning a military strategy in the southwest and coordinating the military affairs. If anything goes wrong, please report it to the Governor's Office. The ministers should try their best to do it, and everyone in the Governor's Office will do their best."

You must be single-minded and serve your country.”

Zhu Yunxi glanced at the two of them, and finally looked up at the Waijinchuan Gate in front of the pier.

The dragon flag of the Ming Dynasty swayed gently with the wind in the spring rain, and the armor on the city head silently protected the heart of the empire.

"I'll send you a thousand miles away, but I'll have to say goodbye in the end."

"gone."

…

The beginning of Hongwu's 30th year was definitely an extraordinary year, but what exactly this extraordinary year was must be left to future generations to comment on.

It was just after the Qingming Festival that something big happened in the palace.

One early morning, the palace officials of Qianqing Palace first discovered that the emperor was missing, along with the chief steward.

Just when everyone thought that the emperor had sneaked out of the palace again and wandered around Yingtian City.

People were surprised to find that the emperor actually left behind an operation.

It is clearly written above that this time the emperor did not sneak out of the palace, but sneaked out of the capital!

For a moment, everyone in the Qianqing Palace was numb.

The emperor disappeared under their noses, and now he was about to sneak out of the capital. If the officials and princes of the previous dynasty knew about this, they would all be beheaded.

Soon, Prince Zhu Biao learned about this matter.

First, the entire emperor was searched inside and out, and then Yingtian City and Yingtian Mansion were searched from top to bottom.

Finally, the angry Crown Prince Zhu Biao finally confirmed something.

My father really ran away from home!

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! He even ran away from home with his two grandchildren.

The cabinet was summoned to the Qianqing Palace that day and dispersed from day to night.

"For the current plan, we can only block the news of His Majesty's departure from the capital, and then send the royal guards to secretly search for His Majesty's traces." Ren Hengtai's brows were almost pinched by his eyebrows, and his face was full of sadness.

Xie Jin nodded at the side and said: "Your Majesty's news must not be spread, otherwise it will cause chaos in the court, which may lead to turmoil in the world."

Zhu Biao sat on the chair under the throne in the palace, his face pale: "The old man has been stable all his life, why is he becoming more and more..."

He had troubles that he couldn't express, and there were some things that he couldn't say and let others know.

Zhai Shan glanced gloomily at the people of Qianqing Palace kneeling outside the palace gate.

According to the wishes of this cabinet minister and the Minister of Personnel, if the emperor can disappear in public, these people will all bear the blame.

It's just that His Majesty the Emperor's handwriting clearly states that they will not be allowed to punish these palace officials.

Zhu Biao also glanced outside in annoyance, and then snorted coldly.

"These people can be exempted from the death penalty, but they cannot escape from the living crime. They will all be punished with thirty punishments, expelled from the palace and no longer employed."

Go down with the command of thirty rods.

The people of Qianqing Palace who were kneeling outside the palace gate immediately expressed their gratitude.

Originally he was going to be dead, and he was definitely going to be beheaded, but now he was just punished with a stick and expelled from the palace, which was already a sign of great favor from the emperor.

Zhu Gaochi felt that he was probably going to die.

On the private path from Yingtian City to Taiping Mansion, Zhu Gaochi had turned back several times to look in the direction of Yingtian City.

Finally, he had no choice but to pick up dead branches that were not too dry from the woods beside the trail and reached the forest clearing.

Standing sparsely around were a dozen or so men in uniforms, holding long knives in their arms and carrying a long, tightly wrapped object wrapped in cloth on their backs.

Those were the firecrackers and collapsible crossbows hidden under the cloth.

When Zhu Gaochi arrived at the open space holding firewood, Zhu Shangbing had already rolled his eyes at him.

"It takes so long to collect firewood. If Grandpa Huang is hungry, can you bear this responsibility?"

Zhu Shangbing cursed, grabbed the firewood from Zhu Gaochi's arms, and walked to Zhu Yuanzhang who was sitting on a fallen tree stump with a flattering expression on his face.

He set up a pile of firewood in front of Zhu Yuanzhang and said diligently: "Grandpa Huang, don't worry, my grandson will be able to raise the fire soon, and then he will be able to heat up the food for Grandpa Huang."

Zhu Yuanzhang crossed his arms, looked at the fat grandson with an unhappy face, then looked at the silly grandson with an attentive face, and relaxed his hands and patted his thighs.

"Then grandpa is waiting for the food that my brother Bing will cook for grandpa."

Zhu Shangbing smiled happily.

He felt that these days were the happiest times he had ever lived since arriving in the capital.

My father was driven out of Beijing by his grandfather again to work, and the emperor would no longer preach to him all day long. The most important thing was that this time he sneaked out of Beijing with the emperor.

There is nothing more exciting than this.
To be continued...