Seeing that his goal had almost reached, Chen Xi said coldly: "Yu Niang should tell the truth. Liu Shangshu is not in the team that sends cannons now, right?"

Yu Niang looked at Chen Xi with a very serious expression.

Chen Xi looked at Yu Niang without any concession. From the other party's eyes, he could not see whether she was intentional to deceive. But even if Yu Niang didn't say it, Chen Xi could basically conclude that Liu Daxia had not been with him at all, and it was very likely that Liu Daxia had already arrived in Datong Mansion with light carts.

"Something, Lord Shen still doesn't know." Yu Niang finally compromised and did not answer positively, but it was equivalent to a disguised default.

Chen Xidao: "Go back, I will arrive at the border within the deadline stipulated by the court, but don't be too demanding, because if the speed is too fast... it will not be of any benefit to you and me."

"benefit?"

Yu Niang didn't understand the meaning of Chen Xi's words.

Chen Xi was not interested in explaining because no matter what, he was actually played with by Liu Daxia once, and his dignity was damaged. Now he doesn't want to be honest with Yu Niang, who is Liu Daxia's accomplice.

Liu Daxia has his own plan, why can't I have it?

Now, Chen Xi is almost certain that Liu Daxia's purpose of going to the border was not to investigate and levy and deduct military pay, nor to investigate corruption in Gaoming City. Chen Xi thought that the three-sided governor who sent the imperial court to control the military and political power of the Beiguan was mostly Liu Daxia.

Liu Daxia was the minister whom Emperor Hongzhi liked to be sent to serve as imperial envoys the most. He was deeply trusted by Zhu Youzhan and was also the only candidate to replace Ma Wensheng as Minister of War in the future. Since Liu Daxia had the ability to govern the army, it was reasonable for Emperor Hongzhi to send him to guard the three sides.

Because only capable ministers like Liu Daxia can shock the border generals like local emperors, making the Tatars afraid and dare not come to attack the border again.

Although from some perspectives, the Minister of War and the Minister of Revenue are not as good as the Minister of Revenue, and the three-sided governor is far from the center, even more so than the Minister of War. But for loyal and straight ministers like Liu Daxia, the most important thing is that the emperor needs him to be there, and he will go there and will not refuse at all.

In Shen Xi's view, Liu Daxia is very likely to carry out a large-scale cleanup and manpower transfer of the border areas while guarding the three sides. This is the main reason why he wanted to take secret actions. It is not the brothers of the Zhang family who are hiding the foreign relatives, but those border generals to prevent mutiny in the army when he is scrambling personnel.

No one wants to give up the military power in their hands.

If you figure this out, Chen Xi will be much more relaxed. Regardless of whether you, Liu Daxia, investigate the case of Gaoming City, and whether you, Zhang Heling, intends to embezzle, I just need to go there slowly and wait until Liu Daxia solves the border problems first, and I will send the cannon here and then I can return to Beijing. The big and small matters of the border have nothing to do with me from now on.

Chen Xi is a smart person. Since he knew that the frontier might be undergoing personnel transfers and cleaning, the new official took office and caused three fires to make anyone unlucky. He was in a hurry to go there and it was purely causing trouble... What is the job of this trip? Just complete it on time and everything will be fine.

Chen Xi decided to go to Datong Prefecture first. If Liu Daxia had left, he could even stay in Datong Prefecture for a few more days before going to Yansui, because Yansui is one of the three sides. When going to Yansui, you must first observe the situation before leaving.

There are time limits for sending cannons to Datong Prefecture on this trip, but there are no strict time regulations when you arrive in Yansui, because in Datong Prefecture, you must first teach the border troops in Datong Town how to use the Folang machine cannon.

Chen Xi's leisurely and contented attitude seemed very good to Song Shu, but Yu Niang could only be anxious.

In fact, Yu Niang didn't know Liu Daxia's exact movements now. She just guessed from the tasks assigned by Liu Daxia that Liu Daxia had gone to Datong Mansion first. As for what to do and what will happen in the future, it was not something she could guess. She was just worried that Liu Daxia would ask her to urge Chen Xi to go to the border as soon as possible.

...

...

Two days later, Chen Xi was still calmly rushing to Datong Prefecture to "rush" and in the capital, after a happy and happy night, Zhu Youzhang felt relatively better. He summoned his old ministers to discuss the defense of the northern border for two consecutive days.

On the first day, three cabinet ministers and British Duke Zhang Mao were summoned. On the second day, Emperor Hongzhi summoned Ma Wensheng, the Minister of War.

As for the Zhang brothers, they were not summoned by Zhu Youzhang, because Zhu Youzhang also knew that letting the two brothers-in-law serve as deputy commanders in the Governor's Office of the Five Army was just to give them a chance to be promoted, rather than to really participate in military and national affairs.

"... After Liu Shangshu arrived in Yansui, Shangshu Ma thought when would he be able to rectify military affairs and lead the army to attack?"

Zhu Youzhang discussed with Ma Wensheng about taking the initiative to fight the Tatars.

As Tatars invaded borders more and more frequently, the court could no longer hide the fact that the Tatars were rampant from the world. Now the capital is constantly in a row to prevent the Tatars' cavalry, which seriously interfered with the normal life of the people. There are many different opinions among the people, and doubts about the court's passive attitude of avoiding war, which is extremely unfavorable for public opinion.

The fighting spirit of the soldiers in Beiguan is now fading rapidly. Even the Dongchang and Jinyiwei came to report that a general tried to reach a non-aggression agreement with the Tatars to protect themselves. The news reached Zhu Youzhang's ears and was furious, so he decided to take the initiative to give the Tatars a painful lesson and let them know that the Ming Dynasty was not easy to mess with.

Ma Wensheng had a little sad look on his face: "Your Majesty, our soldiers are extremely unacceptable to the bitter and cold land of the grassland. If they take the initiative to send troops, if they go too deep, there will be no large cavalry to protect the rear. If the food and grass are cut off, wouldn't they be in a desperate situation?"

Zhu Youzhang nodded in agreement, but he still said firmly: "Since this matter has been agreed before, it will be changed again... I am afraid that time will not be enough, and I believe in Liu Shangshu's ability. After rectifying military affairs, he will definitely win it in one fell swoop."

In fact, it was agreed that Liu Daxia had no need to achieve great results in commanding troops to attack. As long as it could boost the morale of the army, let the border army know that the Tatars were not invincible, and at the same time, the people could restore confidence in the court.

It is not worth fighting hard on the grassland with the Tatars, so Zhu Youzhang's order to Liu Daxia was not to seek merit but to seek nothing wrong.

"As for food and grass..." Zhu Youzhang added, "I have sent Mr. Gao to escort the army. Judging from his performance in the disaster relief situation in the first few months, it is enough to ensure that the army has no worries about food and grass."

Ma Wensheng wanted to say that if others were fine, this Gaoming City would definitely not be available. But he couldn't bear to attack Emperor Hongzhi. Ma Wensheng thought: "As long as the food and grass arrive and the border food weapons are sufficient, this time it is just a tentative attack, so there should be no mistakes."

As for the twenty cannons escorted by Chen Xi, they were selectively ignored by the emperor and Ma Wensheng, because the main power of the Flor cannon lies in defending the city at the top of the city. The Tatars did not invade the passes several times, let alone this time, which was an active attack. Ma Wensheng expected that Liu Daxia was cautious. If he found that it was inappropriate to attack, he would definitely withdraw his troops. Now it is the cold winter month, and the Tatars will not invade the initiative. If they want to attack, they have to wait until the beginning of spring next year.

Therefore, whether Chen Xi escorted the twenty artillery pieces to the border, nor did Chen Xi even have any impact on this active attack.

...

...

Zhu Youzhang and Ma Wensheng negotiated military affairs, and no one was allowed to enter. Even the eunuchs who served could only stand outside the Ganqing Palace.

After nightfall, the talks between the monarch and the ministers were not over.

On the Kunning Palace, Queen Zhang was in a very bad mood when she learned that the Ganqing Palace was closed again. Although she had not recovered from the bed, she still learned from the spies she arranged for in the Ganqing Palace that day that Emperor Hongzhi was visiting a female Taoist priest, which made Queen Zhang angry.

It is difficult to prevent any thieves from defending themselves...

My younger brother actually gave a woman to my husband. Is it that my sister still in my eyes?

While Queen Zhang was angry, she did not make any substantial moves, because she was a smart person. The emperor sent the person away afterwards, which means that the emperor knew that the matter was wrong and was just having sex with the woman. She was not yet healed and could not fulfill her wife's responsibilities. Moreover, she herself was afraid of losing favor, so no matter how angry she felt, she had to endure it.

"Who is Your Majesty meeting again today? Why do you have to close the door? Is there anything unspeakable inside?" Empress Zhang obeyed Emperor Hongzhi, but she often got angry with the palace maids and eunuchs who served her. Sometimes she was angry and killed with several eunuchs and palace maids... She was not afraid that the emperor would know because no one dared to stab the emperor.

"Where is Eunuch Xu, let him come to see me! I want to ask him, who gave him the courage to hide some things?

Queen Zhang's illness had not recovered yet, but her qi seemed to be stimulated. Not only did she feel much better, but her body seemed to have recovered. She was full of energy when she scolded her.

"Queen Queen calms down!"

The eunuchs and palace maids of Kunning Palace quickly knelt down and advised.

"Stop the anger? Humph, where is the man, call him!" Queen Zhang was furious.

As a result, Eunuch Xu did not come to Kunning Palace to meet him in the end, because Eunuch Xu had been serving Emperor Hongzhi and was unable to do anything.

"No, no, this Eunuch Xu is an old palace maid. Although he knows everything about me on the surface, he deliberately deceives many things. His heart finally goes to the emperor."

Queen Zhang was also planning this matter. "It seems that she must find someone who has entered the palace to stare at me. Only by treating me as her only master can she be loyal to me. But where can I find someone who knows how to do things?"

When Queen Zhang thought of this, her eyes naturally fell among the people kneeling on the ground, looking for a suitable partner.

Shen Mingtang has only been in the palace for a few years. He has followed two eunuchs in succession and can read and read. His current name is Zhang Yuan.

"Please disperse others, Zhang Yuan stays, I have something to say to you."

***************

ps: The fourth update is here!
Chapter completed!