Chapter 257: Judging by Actions, Not Intentions

Xu Wei did not directly finalize a so-called military alliance, but first established a loose commercial alliance—a community of interests—which was a trade zone in the Kyushu and western Honshu regions with Nagasaki Port as the core trade hub.

Xu Wei didn't believe at all that a piece of paper could restrain these *daimyo* who had long since been blinded by blood. He didn't even believe in any military alliance. At the western entrance of the Ten Thousand Mile Sea Pond, the Malacca Kingdom had been breached by the Red-Haired Barbarians at the Strait of Malacca. The Prince of Malacca, Tun Muhammad, had personally gone to the capital to request reinforcements from the Great Ming, but the Great Ming had only issued an imperial edict asking the Red-Haired Barbarians to return it.

The Malacca Kingdom was a tributary state of the Great Ming. As the suzerain state, the Great Ming had only expressed it verbally and provided everything except support.

Xu Wei believed more in interests.

The alliance event that took place in Nagasaki was reported to the court in great detail from three perspectives: Sun Keyi, the Nagasaki Merchant General; Ma Jin, the Nagasaki Thousand-Household Commander; and Xu Wei, the Nagasaki Governor. It was exhaustive, mentioning even what Mori Terumoto ate. One detail mentioned was that Mori Terumoto had been married for several years but had no offspring. It wasn't that he didn't like women; when staying in Nagasaki, Mori Terumoto also had courtesans visit.

After Xu Wei inquired with the courtesans, he concluded that Mori Terumoto likely had fertility difficulties.

Xu Wei was a typical scholar who would use every opportunity he could. He sent a woman to Mori Terumoto, and Mori Terumoto readily agreed. As for whether they would have children or when, that was hard to say.

The "Night Scouts" of the Duntai Yuan Marquis, the "Sea Flyers" of the Coastal Defense Inspectors.

The Coastal Defense Inspectors were still responsible for delivering this memorial to the capital.

The Nagasaki Governor's Office needed the Great Ming court's trust in exchange for the deployment of a five-masted ocean-crossing ship.

The Nagasaki Governor's Office was actually very weak and had split into two factions through factional strife. Only 600 Songjiang naval soldiers could participate in battle. The jurisdiction of the Nagasaki port was also very small. Ensuring its own safety relied on interests on one hand, and military force on the other. Most importantly, it was to let the *daimyo* coveting Nagasaki truly know that the Great Ming court was the backing of the Nagasaki Governor's Office.

The five-masted ocean-crossing ship was the best proof.

Great Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun looked at the letter in his hand and said to Zhang Hong: "You must remember, this is the face of a scholar—ruthless, vicious, and merciless. Scholars are just this poisonous."

"Xu Wei wrote his thoughts clearly and told me."

"The woman he sent to the Mori clan hasn't had a child yet, but when the time comes, she can have one. Tsk tsk, it's truly..."

Xu Wei sent out a woman, and this woman could only rely on the Nagasaki Governor's Office. When needed, she could have a child, and in this way, the initiative was firmly grasped in Xu Wei's hands.

This was the ruthlessness of a scholar.

"A man who isn't ruthless isn't a man." Zhang Hong wiped the sweat from his forehead. The front line of the conflict between imperial power and ministerial power was not the eunuchs, but the Emperor himself. From assassinating the king to burning the palace, to the ambush at Xishan, the Emperor was always on the front line of danger. Zhang Hong asked himself, as a eunuch, he truly couldn't beat these civil officials.

This was the difference caused by the selection mechanism. Which civil *jinshi* wasn't one in ten thousand?

The ruthlessness of a scholar and the ruthlessness of a eunuch were completely different dimensions.

Zhu Yijun intended to write a letter personally, but Zhang Hong stopped His Majesty because the imperial physicians had warned that during these hundred days of healing broken bones, he should not use his right hand if possible, so only Feng Bao could write it for him.

In the letter, Zhu Yijun first expressed his condolences for the hard work of the Great Ming Navy in Nagasaki. Condolences were not just verbal praise; Zhu Yijun always liked to give real gold and silver. Thirty taels of silver per person was the Emperor's extra grace, given directly to the families of these naval soldiers, delivered personally by the Southern Yamen Commander Luo Bingliang.

Afterwards, Zhu Yijun affirmed Xu Wei's plan to continuously collect intelligence during trade activities to reduce the danger to the "Langli Baitiao." Similarly, he continued to use the internal contradictions in Japan to provide Mori Terumoto with certain support, affirmed Xu Wei's judgment and strategy, and continued to let him act as circumstances required.

As long as it wasn't treason, whatever happened, he, the Emperor, would cover it.

Xu Wei's fundamental purpose was to incite Japan to continue its internal strife. The Japanese *daimyo* and the Japanese people were all tired of fighting, and the hearts of the people longed for stability. Now, a "tough guy" like Oda Nobunaga had appeared, and the trend of Japan ending the Warring States period was becoming increasingly obvious.

With the Mori clan's strength, they were simply no match for Oda Nobunaga. If the various *daimyo* of Kyushu didn't backstab the Mori clan, the Mori clan wouldn't win either. Moreover, the Japanese *daimyo* were typical fair-weather friends. Once the Mori clan fought ineffectively, Oda Nobunaga would just need to do a little lobbying, and the Kyushu *daimyo* would backstab them, and the Mori clan would be defeated miserably.

Therefore, Xu Wei was giving support to the Mori clan: silver in exchange for military equipment.

Xu Wei's plan in the memorial could be summarized in one sentence: until the last man of the Mori clan died, Oda Nobunaga shouldn't think about unifying Japan.

The production speed of the Great Ming's tribute grain boxes was accelerating. The Great Ming had an extremely strong demand for grain trade. The more developed the trade, the more grain was lacking for various reasons.

For example, more than half of the farmland in Songjiang Prefecture was used to grow cash crops like cotton. Under the general trend of opening the seas, more and more workshops appeared in Songjiang Prefecture, leading to a decline in farmers working in the fields. At the same time, because of Songjiang Prefecture's extremely superior geographical environment, the phenomenon of population siphon from the surrounding areas was very obvious. Population increased, arable land for crops decreased, and farmers decreased. Multiple factors caused a shortage of grain.

With the mass production of tribute grain boxes, in the next three to five years, the Great Ming would have enough tribute grain boxes to transport grain to Japan, thereby allowing those farmers of the Mori clan to participate in the war.

In Xu Wei's plan, the Mori clan would even have to send farmers and women and children to the battlefield to block Oda Nobunaga's expansion, bleeding until the last drop, preventing Japan's stability, and turning Japan upside down so the Great Ming could reap the benefits—this was Xu Wei's plan.

A ruthless scholar, his strategic plan was so vicious.

In the letter, Zhu Yijun also emphatically praised Sun Keyi. The business of Japanese women was actually very damaging to one's virtue, but Sun Keyi had three large ships arrive at the port, and this business was in full swing.

"It's already November. How is the wedding preparation going?" Zhu Yijun stamped the seal and handed the letter to Feng Bao. Feng Bao would take it to the Ceremonial Secretariat to have a copy made, stamp the seal on the seam of the original and the copy to prove the existence of the document, and then the original would be sent to the Hall of Meeting and Reception, through the water and horse post, to Tianjin, then to Shandong, and out to sea from Jiaozhou.

The Bohai Bay was frozen, and Tianjin couldn't leave the port, so they could only depart from Jiaozhou.

"Grand Minister Wan is handling it, so naturally there's no problem. But there's a problem with the Empress Dowager," Feng Bao said with a difficult expression. His eyes avoided the Emperor's scrutinizing gaze.

"What's wrong with the Empress Dowager?" Zhu Yijun asked.

"It's just that she's too good-looking, and both Empress Dowagers feel it's not quite right." Feng Bao explained the worries of the two Empress Dowagers in detail.

It was the two Empress Dowagers who said she didn't look good, and it was also the two Empress Dowagers who said she looked too good.

Actually, the Empress Dowagers' concern was mainly the fear that the harem would not be peaceful. Taking Wang Yaozhuo's external conditions as a ten, among the thirty-two scrolls sent into the palace, seven reached a nine, and three could reach a ten. They had the looks, the figure, and the character, and their parents were also honest families. One of them was the daughter of a battalion commander in Jizhou Town.

Wan Shihe knew the Emperor didn't trust civil officials, so most of those sent into the palace were from military families.

The problem was that they were too good-looking, and the harem would definitely have a lot of trouble with them competing for favor.

Then there was the Longqing Emperor's mess. The Longqing Emperor lived a luxurious life and liked "tiger and wolf" medicine. He was already physically weak and sickly, and with the medicine, he already had signs of a stroke in December of the fifth year of the Longqing era. Later, his condition continued to deteriorate, and he stopped reviewing memorials in March of the sixth year of the Longqing era. By the end of May, he couldn't hold on anymore.

Therefore, being too good-looking and too enchanting became a point of special vigilance for the two Empress Dowagers.

Zhu Yijun could understand the worries of the two Empress Dowagers. He thought for a moment and said: "Just do as Mother and the Empress Dowager wish. Let the Ministry of Rites send another batch of portraits into the palace."

"The two Empress Dowagers said, their exact words were: 'His Majesty should make his own decision,'" Feng Bao said with great certainty.

The current two Empress Dowagers didn't dare to manage the Emperor's affairs. It was that they didn't dare. The Emperor was becoming more and more majestic, and that bone-deep arrogance of being the only one in the world was forming. When the two Empress Dowagers interfered with the Emperor, they always muttered to themselves, so they simply let go.

Letting the Emperor make his own decision about his marriage actually didn't conform to the feudal etiquette of "parents' orders and matchmakers' words."

But if you think about it carefully, Wang Yaozhuo was already designated by Empress Dowager Li. Everyone knew Wang Yaozhuo was going to be the Empress, so the choice of concubines and bedmates was left entirely to the Emperor.

Empress Dowager Li actually saw Zhu Yiliu's change before she made up her mind not to interfere with the Emperor's decisions anymore, quietly practicing Buddhism and seeking peace of mind.

Prince Lu, Zhu Yiliu, was actually very difficult to discipline. He lost his father when he was a few years old, and his mother spoiled him extremely. He became lawless at a young age. The Emperor's constraints and discipline gradually made Zhu Yiliu start to understand reason, at least not as mischievous as before.

The Emperor was the head of the family, and he could manage it well, so the Emperor making his own decisions also saved him from complaints.

"Let the girl make the decision." Zhu Yijun didn't have much interest in this matter. Since Wang Yaozhuo was designated as the Empress and even the betrothal gifts were given, she would be sooner or later.

"Is there still no news from the Commander?" Zhu Yijun asked about the investigation into the Xishan assassination case.

"All clues point to the Grand Tutor," Feng Bao said with great helplessness.

Feng Bao had completely dispelled his suspicion of Zhang Juzheng. Zhang Juzheng's previous three words: "Replaceable."

It could be said that he had exposed the vital points of the powerful and wealthy, the giant merchants and the gentry. Feng Bao and Zhang Hong realized that after Zhang Juzheng stopped traveling and returned to the court in the 36th year of the Jiajing era, he never intended to have a good ending.

Such a person was the most terrifying person. Such a person, while alive, simply couldn't be dealt with.

This could also explain why Zhang Juzheng dared to contradict the Jiajing Emperor and the Longqing Emperor.

Similarly, those who assassinated Zhang Juzheng had also made extremely sufficient preparations. They had to pin the crime of assassination on Zhang Juzheng, and the handling of the hands and feet was extremely clean. Those desperate criminals who were captured simply couldn't explain who had hired them.

The Great Ming Dynasty had too many unsolved cases. Zhu Di, such a ruthless person, had just moved into his new home for three months when the three great halls and the Meridian Gate were burned clean by a fire, which also became an unsolved case.

With the Daoist Emperor's political skills, those strange cases in the end were nothing more than leaving them unsettled.

The assassination of the king in the first year of the Wanli era and the burning of the palace in the third year of the Wanli era were entirely because the Commander and even Wang Zhi were watching Zhang Siwei, so they were able to investigate clearly.

The unsolved case itself was not strange. What political purpose was achieved by using the unsolved case was something a mature politician needed to consider.

Zhang Juzheng dared to run to Xishan to be the "Old Ancestor" because he knew the Emperor was a mature politician.

"It's okay. I go every 23rd of the month. I don't believe they can hold back." Zhu Yijun was not in a hurry. Either physically kill him, the Emperor, or jump out. This was a game of cowards. Whoever was timid would lose everything.

"Has Commander Qi arrived at Danning Guard? Bring the report from the front line and let me see." Zhu Yijun organized all the reports.

The 100,000-strong Beijing Camp set out in September and arrived at Danning Guard in October. The offensive had already been going on for more than a month.

And this time, Qi Jiguang's strategy was steady, step-by-step encroachment. Build a camp, build a few earth forts to guard it, eat a piece, and digest a piece.

Starting from the two places of Qinglong Fort and Zhangwu, they proceeded step by step, emphasizing a horizontal crush and hard grinding, building hard camps, fighting dull battles, and maximizing the weakening of the influence of individual bravery and decision-making on the war situation.

To be more precise, it was bullying people with national strength.

Qi Jiguang had told the Emperor about this strategic plan many times before leaving the capital. Fearing the Emperor wouldn't understand, Qi Jiguang also told many cases, telling the Great Ming Emperor that the ancestors of the old Zhu family, Emperor Chengzu Zhu Di, fought like this—building hard camps and fighting dull battles. This was the traditional fighting method of the Great Ming military.

This fighting method was very dull, but this was the Great Ming military's fighting method.

Qi Jiguang used the Tumu Fortress disaster to explain the purpose of this fighting method to the Emperor, which was to provide a bottom line. This was also what Qi Jiguang said to His Majesty when he left: try to ensure that the loss wouldn't be too ugly, and not make it difficult for His Majesty.

The Battle of Tumu Fortress, the shameful battle of the old Zhu family, the most famous battle of the Oirat international student, the Ming Fortress Emperor. Qi Jiguang didn't explain it too complicatedly, but told about what happened on the day of Tumu Fortress.

At that time, the 120,000-strong Great Ming army had already stationed at Tumu Fortress, but they lacked water. The Oirats only had 30,000 people, which actually couldn't form an effective breakthrough against the Great Ming's hard camp.

It was the Ming Fortress Emperor who issued an edict to move the camp to find water, and then the Oirat Grand Master Esen let his younger brother use cavalry to completely scatter the Great Ming army that was moving the camp, triggering a major collapse.

The reason Qi Jiguang wanted to talk about this was to explain the bottom-line effect of this fighting method. Even if surrounded, they could persist for several days, waiting for rescue, playing a bottom-line role.

Zhu Yijun left the Governor of Military Affairs for this Beijing Camp expedition in the capital, just to let Qi Jiguang fight well.

Qi Jiguang didn't fight like this before. Looking at Qi Jiguang's life, he was constantly creating military miracles, or dancing in shackles. But now, Qi Jiguang no longer had shackles on him. This was a very dangerous thing because the Emperor could no longer restrain the Grand General.

The fundamental reason why Qi Jiguang wanted to be so step-by-step was that he wanted to win. Driving the Tuman Khan's various tribes out of Liaodong and cutting off the connection between the Northern Barbarians and the Eastern Barbarians involved the Great Ming's century-long national destiny. He didn't want to lose. Although His Majesty allowed him to lose, he didn't want to lose.

The Great Ming Beijing Camp had 100,000 people, 90,000 of whom were new recruits. These new recruits who were on the battlefield for the first time needed to be tempered. Even if they were trained well, without the test of actual combat, it was just training. And this confrontation with Tuman Khan was both a battle and a training.

Zhu Yijun received the memorial sent by Qi Jiguang to the capital. Qi Jiguang rambled a lot about frostbite of new recruits, getting lost in heavy snow, skirmishes of scouts, camps, earth forts, hollow pier towers, etc., urging the Emperor to be extremely careful, and even opposing the Emperor's behavior of going to Xishan on the 23rd of every month. These were all Qi Jiguang's ramblings.

Qi Jiguang meant: Your Majesty, whatever you want to do, you can do it. Even if you issue an order tomorrow to kill all the powerful and wealthy gentry in the world, Qi Jiguang can take the soldiers to do it. But wait until he returns in triumph and has the cards to flip the table before taking action.

The reason was very sufficient. It was not easy for the Great Ming to wait for a wise ruler. His Majesty's safety was not only His Majesty's own, but also the Great Ming's. The king is selfless, please Your Majesty cherish the dragon body.

"Send the Japanese women sent by Xu Wei and the Hairals sent back by Commander Qi to the Imperial Uncle," Zhu Yijun said with a smile.

Sun Keyi, who did the business of Japanese women, specially selected twelve beautiful Japanese women and sent them to the capital. Whether the Emperor accepted them was the Emperor's business. Whether the Nagasaki Governor's Office sent them was the Governor's Office's sincerity.

And Qi Jiguang sent three Hairals to the capital. This was offered by the Northern Barbarian tribe that defected to the Great Ming Dynasty after the wool trade last year. They looked very decent. If they didn't send them, these tribes would be worried. Qi Jiguang sent these three Hairals, the pearls on the grassland, to the capital, which could reassure the Northern Barbarians.

Zhu Yijun accepted them all, and then packed them up and sent them to the Imperial Uncle to express their kinship.

"Your Majesty, if you send more, the Crown Prince's Consort will be angry." Feng Bao looked at the list of fifteen people. These were not women at all, they were demons. Zhu Zaiyu was made of iron, and he couldn't take it.

Zhu Zaiyu had two sons. These two sons came to the capital with the Crown Prince's Consort and now lived in the Prince's Mansion of the Royal Academy of Sciences, which was directly opposite the Emperor's palace. That was the Prince De Mansion specially built by the Emperor for Zhu Zaiyu.

The Prince De line had already given up the royal title, but Zhu Zaiyu had not been titled a prince. He was the Crown Prince of Zheng, and the Prince of Zheng had not yet passed away, so it was inconvenient for Zhu Zaiyu to be titled separately as a son. Zhu Zaiyu was the only crown prince in the Great Ming who refused to inherit the royal title and finally gave it up. Now, he was also the only crown prince in the Great Ming waiting to inherit two royal titles.

Zhu Zaiyu was just that special.

Zhu Zaiyu's influence in the field of natural science was already the uncrowned king.

Recently, Zhu Zaiyu had successively discovered the cycle of water, the heat release and absorption of evaporation, liquefaction, solidification, vaporization, sublimation, and deposition, and understood the cause of wind. Just this one problem could be called the "Wind Uncle" of the Great Ming. This was still one of Zhu Zaiyu's achievements in the field of natural science.

"The Crown Prince's Consort went to the Empress Dowager to complain last time." Feng Bao carefully reminded His Majesty that expressing kinship could be done in another way. Sending women all the time, the Imperial Uncle couldn't take it, and the Crown Prince's Consort couldn't take it either, right?

"Ah, I see. When Liao'er comes of age, I will send them all to him. Before Liao'er grows up, let the Imperial Uncle suffer for a while," Zhu Yijun chose to go his own way.

"Your Majesty, the Assistant Grand Secretary is asking to see you outside the Guanghan Hall." A little eunuch hurried in and bowed to report.

Zhu Yijun put down the memorial and said: "Proclaim."

"Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty. Is Your Majesty's holy body peaceful?" Wang Chonggu walked into the warm pavilion of the Guanghan Hall and bowed to pay respects.

"I am peaceful. Assistant Grand Secretary, no need for formalities. Sit, sit." Zhu Yijun signaled Feng Bao to help Wang Chonggu take off his crane cloak and hang it aside, signaling Wang Chonggu to sit down and talk. The warm pavilion was a heated kang, and the seat was opposite the Emperor's small desk.

"Assistant Grand Secretary, this crane cloak was bestowed by me in the third year of the Wanli era, right? It's been a long time. Zhang, go get a new one." Zhu Yijun looked at the crane cloak and said casually. At that time, only Zhang Han among the court officials didn't have a crane cloak, and soon Zhang Han left the court.

This cloak had been around for so long, it was indeed a bit old.

"Your subject is ashamed to accept it, ashamed to accept it." When Wang Chonggu heard this, he hurriedly thanked him and declined. The significance of this crane cloak to him was extremely important, and even in his view, it was a symbol of good fortune. He felt at ease wearing it.

The new crane cloak had flying fish patterns, one grade lower than Zhang Juzheng's python patterns. Python patterns were actually dragon patterns. Python patterns had four claws, dragon patterns had five claws. Python, the king snake, python patterns could not be bestowed casually. Zhu Yijun had only bestowed them on Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang so far.

"It is for the big bowl of tea and big bowl of herbal tea that the Assistant Grand Secretary specially created. I must thank the Assistant Grand Secretary for his great kindness to the people and the poor laborers. This is a good thing. Li Shizhen, the imperial physician of the Jiekuyuan, told me that if people don't replenish sugar, salt, and water in the heat, and then enter the factory, they are very likely to faint, fall headlong into the pool, and it will be a life. Assistant Grand Secretary, no need to decline." Zhu Yijun explained the reason for bestowing the flying fish pattern crane cloak.

Things for the people are worthy of reward.

"Your subject was also afraid of those censor officials nagging. Three people died last year, and your subject was truly full of lawsuits." Wang Chonggu saw that His Majesty was serious, so he explained his starting point. He was truly afraid of the mouths of those censor officials, because he was full of loopholes. If he made a mistake, the things he did before would all be turned over and talked about again.

"Regardless of why, when doing things, judge by actions, not intentions." Zhu Yijun smiled and chatted with Wang Chonggu.

"Your subject requested an audience this time because the big project of building the imperial palace has been completed. Your subject is here to request an edict to remove the walls. The day after tomorrow, please ask Your Majesty to go and inspect it." Wang Chonggu explained his purpose. The Emperor's home, Wang Chonggu had repaired it, and asked the Emperor to inspect it.

"So fast?" Zhu Yijun thought it would take a few more days, but didn't expect it to be completed.

"The reason for the speed is that there is no need to transport wood from the south, nor is there a need to transport gold bricks from Suzhou, so it will be fast. They are all burned and built in the Xishan official factory, so it will be so fast. If there is silver, it will be fast; if there is no silver, it will be slow." Wang Chonggu said with a smile. The big project of building the imperial palace had always been a major event in his heart. Now that this matter had finally landed, he also felt a bit relaxed.

Several major events undertaken were all handled extremely well. The Royal Academy of Sciences, the Prince De Mansion, the Academy's palace, the Buddhist pagoda, and the imperial palace were all delivered on schedule and with excellent quality.

"I still think this Guanghan Hall in the Wang Wang Xiyuan is quite good. It's comfortable to live here." Zhu Yijun looked at this warm pavilion. He had lived here for more than a year and had gotten used to it, so he didn't want to move back. Wang Xijue's ten-acre big mansion didn't have the taste of home, and the imperial palace was the same. The huge imperial palace was more like a magnificent prison.

Zhu Yijun's words actually hit the reason why Wang Chonggu wanted to build the imperial palace quickly.

Could it be that the Emperor's wedding would also be held in the Wang Wang Xiyuan? That would be a slap in the face of the Great Ming ministers.

The Daoist Emperor lived in the Wang Wang Xiyuan for twenty-five years, which were also the twenty-five years of the Great Ming's rapid decline. The court officials had psychological shadows about this place. If the Emperor chose to "lie flat" here, the Great Ming would really be rotten to the point of being unmanageable.

"The Lecture Hall was built in October and will be opened next year. It will be able to recruit commoner officers as scheduled in the spring." Wang Chonggu chose to avoid talking about it and talked about the Lecture Hall.

Yu Dayou had made great contributions to the Great Ming's military affairs. He was the founder of the Songjiang Navy and also the establisher of the Coastal Defense Inspectors. Now, the Lecture Hall was established in Yu Dayou's hands.

Yu Dayou might not be as dazzling as Qi Jiguang, but Zhu Yijun remembered his silent contributions in his heart.

"Then the day after tomorrow." Zhu Yijun agreed to Wang Chonggu and said with a bit of helplessness: "Assistant Grand Secretary, the Commander has been investigating the Xishan assassination case, but has been suffering from no clues. What do you think is the perpetrator?"

"Your subject truly doesn't know. Your subject only knows that it was not done by your subject." Wang Chonggu was scared silly, knelt down directly, and said with his head bowed.

Wang Chonggu's attitude startled Zhu Yijun, and then he understood why this case was so taboo among the Great Ming court officials, who didn't dare to talk about it.

Five months had passed since the Xishan assassination case, and there wasn't a single court official who submitted a memorial about it. This case truly couldn't be mentioned, couldn't be looked at, couldn't be paid attention to, and even had to be treated as if they didn't know. Who would joke with their nine clans when they had nothing to do?

Zhang Siwei burned the palace, and his accomplices died, 728 people. These were solid heads, each hanging on the banks of the Tonghui River, and the stone tablets under the flagpoles were engraved with their crimes.

And this time, His Majesty was even angrier than the last time the palace was burned. Last time, the Emperor waited for Commander Qi to return in triumph, but this time he couldn't even wait for Qi Jiguang's Beijing Camp to return to the capital.

This was truly a topic that couldn't even be touched.

Therefore, when the Emperor mentioned this matter, Wang Chonggu subconsciously thought the Emperor was suspecting him, so he knelt down immediately. He had finally gotten rid of Zhang Siwei's case, and it was a complete stress reaction.

"Get up and talk." Zhu Yijun didn't suspect Wang Chonggu. He just wanted to ask for Wang Chonggu's opinion.

Judge by actions, not intentions. If you judge by intentions, no one is perfect. Please vote for the monthly ticket, Awooooo!!!!!!!!!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 258 =====