When the Jiajing Emperor was particularly angry, he became unusually calm, making it impossible to tell. At this moment, he smiled and said, "It is truly rare for Hou'er to have such a state of mind... Princess Consort Yu, Lady Li, must have also offered much guidance... Lu Fang, bestow thirty thousand bolts of silk upon Princess Consort Yu's household..."
Lu Fang, upon seeing Jiajing's familiar gloomy smile, was greatly alarmed. When he heard the emperor speaking of bestowing silk upon Princess Consort Yu's household, his heart leaped wildly—
Prince Yu is finished...
That woman is even more finished!
His Majesty hasn't been this angry in over ten years...
What's even more terrifying is that when this person is angry, others can't tell; they think he's genuinely happy! Only those who have suffered before know the horror of this approach...
Thinking this,
Lu Fang's veins twitched, and he did his utmost to appear as if nothing were amiss, responding, "Your servant will prepare it immediately..."
Prince Yu, unaware of this, thought he had truly struck a chord with the Emperor. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Thank you, Father Emperor, for your great kindness. Your son thanks you on behalf of Princess Consort Yu's household for your imperial favor..."
His heart was filled with joy, thinking that tonight, when he returned home, that woman would surely show him a pleasant face...
Jiajing continued to smile, waving his horsetail whisk, and said, "We are family, why thank me?"
But at this moment, Prince Yu suddenly felt a trace of strangeness—with the relief efforts in Xuanda underway, would it be appropriate for me to take this silk back?
However, upon recalling Lady Li's angry expression, he was momentarily stunned again, thinking: No, no, if I don't bring back some reward this time, that woman will torment me to death!
Without further thought, he slowly withdrew from the Yuxi Palace.
...
At the same time,
The Yan residence was also enveloped in a bizarre atmosphere.
Yan Shifan paced around the scout, his eyes filled with confusion, repeatedly muttering to everyone, "Do you all understand? What does he need so many iron pots for?"
When he first heard the scout's report, he immediately thought of Anda. Zhu Mo might be going to negotiate with Anda, and this would likely be a gift for the meeting. He had initially thought Zhu Mo wouldn't be able to guess Anda's intentions, but now it seemed he had underestimated the kid.
No one present dared to utter a sound, but they all understood in their hearts—
For over a decade,
The Yan family had been involved in smuggling iron with Anda, and the profits were immense, far exceeding those from private salt. The mine owners under the Yan family would smelt ore into iron ingots and transport them to the grasslands. However, several years prior, Zhang Juzheng became the Minister of War and had implemented an "iron pot embargo" against Anda, strictly forbidding inspections at all passes in the nine frontier garrisons.
With Zhang Juzheng's strict inspections and the oversight of pure officials, Yan Song, to avoid affecting the political situation, ordered Yan Shifan to cease smuggling iron and switch to dealing in cloth, tea, and medicinal herbs... Therefore, upon hearing that Zhu Mo had also acquired a large quantity of ironware, the first reaction was that it was for Anda.
But why would he give Anda such a special grand gift? Did he truly see through Anda's intentions? Was he going to negotiate?
At this moment, Luo Longwen happened to say:
"Young Premier, Zhu Mo couldn't possibly know that much... The scouts have already reported that the Commander of Xuanda, Li Wenjin, and the Deputy Generals Ma Fang and Liang Menglong have come to the capital, and they likely met with Zhu Mo. After returning, Ma Fang led his troops to the frontier...
Young Premier, your subordinate believes this indicates he doesn't know, and merely wishes to negotiate peace. Those iron pots are most likely a gesture of sincerity... Have you all forgotten? Grand Tutor Zhang banned iron pots years ago... Zhu Mo is indicating that he is willing to resume the iron trade in exchange for peace..."
Upon hearing this, everyone praised him.
"Lord Luo is incisive!"
"That's exactly it!"
"We shouldn't overthink things..."
"Unseen is not unknown; if it's strange, it will be defeated!"
"..."
Yan Shifan pondered for a moment and couldn't help but nod, saying, "Indeed, indeed, Zhu Mo should mean this. But why did he send Ma Fang and his troops to the frontier?"
Luo Longwen smiled and said, "Young Premier, isn't that simple? It's just to put on a show! He's deliberately making it look like he's going to fight Anda to the death, but in reality, he's going to surrender... Wasn't it the same for Zeng Xian and Xia Yan back then?"
Hahaha...
"Well done, Zhu Mo, he's got a trick up his sleeve! Ha..."
"No matter how awesome Zhu Mo is, can he fight Anda? He's scared this time, isn't he..."
"This Zhu Mo is truly good at pretending!"
"He's too damn good at pretending!"
"We should learn from him..."
"..."
Everyone suddenly understood and burst into laughter.
As the crowd roared with laughter, Gao Hanwen suddenly stammered, "But, what has he been doing at the gunpowder bureau recently?"
Luo Longwen snorted, "What else could he be doing? Just finding a group of musketeers to put on a show... Have you all forgotten? Grand Tutor Zhang loved to put on a show the most! Three years ago, when he went to Xuanda, didn't he also bring a squad of musketeers?"
Everyone nodded again, each understanding in their hearts—
Unless muskets were mounted on the battlements of city walls to fire, they were useless. Tatar cavalry were too fast, and muskets took too long to reload. In direct combat, the Ming dynasty's muskets had never held much of an advantage in field battles...
And developing a more powerful musket was not an easy task. How many intelligent individuals had racked their brains for decades, and what had they accomplished? Zhu Mo was a scholar, how could he know about these mechanisms?
With their thoughts churning, everyone felt that what Luo Longwen said was likely the truth, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Yan Shifan also felt it was appropriate, so he ceased his doubts and said, "Mao Qing, send another letter to the Princess Consort, telling her to proceed as planned! Zhu Mo should be setting off in the next few days..."
...
Deep in the night,
By the shores of Xiaobai,
Ma Fang picked up a broken iron pot, looked at the scattered debris, and muttered, "Amazing, damn it, truly amazing... This nephew is really a bit uncanny... The Tatars should have camped here last night. Looking at the limited number of camp stoves, their logistics are indeed insufficient..."
At this moment,
A rider approached from behind. A middle-aged warrior took the fragments of the iron pot, also full of surprise, and asked curiously, "There's still residual warmth. They camped last night and shouldn't have left long ago... Third Brother, I didn't believe you at first, but it seems our nephew really has some talent...?"
This person was named Wang Chonggu, then a Deputy General. Not trusting Ma Fang to raid alone, he had accompanied him.
"Heh, more than a little talent? Fourth Brother, you'll know when he arrives! Judging by the residual warmth, the Tatars have been gone for no more than four hours, and they should be heading towards Yinshan now..."
"Mm, Anda is likely under Yinshan... Third Brother, look at this..."
He held out an arrow tip. On the shaft of the arrow was carved a small wolf's head. He said, "Third Brother, this belongs to the young prince. When these few Mongolian characters are translated, they mean 'Han Na Ji'. He should be among the chaos..."
"Good! Excellent! This time we'll capture the young prince alive, Fourth Brother, let's go!"
Ma Fang turned and shouted orders, "The entire army, pursue! Capture the young prince alive!"
"Giddy up!"
Giddy up...!
Giddy up...!
"Capture the young prince alive!"
"Capture the young prince alive!"
"Capture the young prince alive!"
"..."
Rumble~~~
Clip-clop clip-clop...
Rumble~~~
Three thousand elite soldiers crossed the valley, galloping along the riverbank, like dark clouds speeding through the night.