Zhao Langjiang did not expect that Xue Huai would say such rebellious words in front of him. He was shocked for a moment and didn't know how to answer the conversation.

This topic is related to royal privacy. Did he know his identity? Then he thought that for twenty years, he had a high position and became Zhu Liye's most trusted minister. He was also named a prince of a different surname. Even Yuwen Tianlu had never enjoyed such an honor. His loyalty was naturally recognized by Zhu Liye, otherwise the emperor would not have given him the command of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the northern border.

Could it be that he guessed his own life experience?

The pressure Zhao Langjiang was under is greater than that he met a dozen sword guards yesterday. If he didn't answer a little, he would not know that it was him, his wife and children, and hundreds of thousands of people in Yinyang City, and would be in a doomed place. This is no longer a personal grudge between him and Zhu Liye.

After Xue Huai said this, he stared at Zhao Langjiang with his eyes, as if he wanted to see something from his face.

Zhao Langjiang took a deep breath, pretended to be calm, and said carefully, "Your Majesty's body is like a dragon and tiger, and it has been for thousands of years. How dare you say that you are old?" He is no longer a reckless boy back then, so he dare not speculate on himself, and he will not express his true thoughts to outsiders easily.

Xue Huai looked at him for a moment and said, "Your Majesty is not old, but his heart is old."

Zhao Langjiang had made up his mind and said respectfully: "As a minister, Zhao Langjiang dared not argue with the king."

Xue Huai laughed and patted him on the shoulder, "It's almost time, let's go out."

One by one, one by one, the two walked out of Xue Huai's office.

Outside the door, three drums were heard.

The celebration has begun.

An eunuch shouted outside the door, "Your Majesty has an order to promulgate all civil and military officials and foreign envoys to come to the court to celebrate their birthday."

A rumbling sound broke out.

Sixty cannons sounded.

Heaven and earth are ringing together.

Zhao Langjiang followed his ministers to the square, Wendong and Wuxi, officials above the fourth rank in the entire capital, Northern Zhou, Western Chu, Nanzhao, Dongyi and other foreign envoys followed him. Under the guidance of the official of the ritual, they performed the ceremony of three kneelings and nine kowtows, shouting long live the mountain, and entered the Hall of Supreme Harmony in order.

Zhu Liye, the king of the Ming Dynasty, wore a dragon robe and a dragon crown on his head. He was tall and looked down at the ministers.

The civil and military officials again bowed to the emperor in the order of the cabinet, the six ministries, the three ministries, etc. These red tapes were bothered over and over again. Zhao Langjiang followed the Ministry of War and secretly watched Zhu Liye's expression. His reply was quite meaningful. If he was an ordinary official, he would not say a word and nodded slightly. If he met a minister who was valued, he would ask the other party to be ruthless and even greet the officials' parents or recent situation. Although it was just one or two sentences, it flattered those officials. This kind of approach of being close and alienated could not help but make the officials ponder for a while.

This is probably the so-called emperor's art.

Zhao Langjiang thought.

When the luggage of all officials in the court was completed, the envoys from various countries came forward to celebrate their birthdays, and brought generous gifts and greetings from their kings. Now, the territory of the Ming Dynasty is vast. In recent years, it has defeated Western Chu and Northern Zhou coalition forces, and Xue Huai, the King of Dingbei, has also pushed the army to Shenxiangou. It is invincible on this continent and is enough to shock the states. Therefore, when the countries come to enter the market, they are flattering, which makes Zhao Langjiang sleepy.

During this process, a small episode appeared, which aroused the interest of court officials.

Among the foreign countries that came to meet, there were two small countries, one was called Zixu and the other was called Wuyou. The two countries bordered and the world

The generations are not in harmony. Zixu Country produces a lot of sacred cows. It is said that the milk produced is delicious, and Wuyou Country has a fruit tree. As a result, the Zixu Country's divine cow ran to Wuyou Country and ate the fruits of Wuyou Country. Wuyou Country seized the sacred cows. The two countries went to the Golden Palace and begged Zhu Liye to be fair.

Zhu Liye was already a little tired. When he heard this, he became interested and wanted to decide the case for them.

The envoy of Zixu Kingdom said, "Our divine cow is worth ten thousand gold. But if you eat their fruit, you will be detained by Wuyou Kingdom. I wanted to offer it to your respected Majesty and ask your Majesty to uphold justice."

Zhu Liye said, "This is wrong with Wuyouguo."

The envoy of Wuyou Kingdom said, "Our fruit blooms for five hundred years and bears fruit for five hundred years. It only bears one fruit. After eating it, it is forever. This fruit was originally to celebrate His Majesty's birthday, but now it can only send three pairs of parrots. The country of Zixu cannot escape this charge."

Zhu Liye said again, "Is this? What's wrong with Zixu Country."

The two messengers refused to give in to each other and started arguing in the hall.

Zhu Liye stood up, held his left and right hands, crossed his chest, and kept opening and closing, saying, "Don't argue, no one knows the fruit of immortality better than me, and no one knows the sacred cow better than me. Since these are given to me, no one should argue, just send the cow and the fruit together."

The two messengers still have to argue, Zhu Liye said, "You are such a bad messenger, the next one."

While the two were chattering, they were dragged out by Jinwu Guards and threw them out of the palace.

The last letter was submitted to the Northern Zhou envoys, led by Tuoba Lanruo. Due to the Shenxiangou issue, they had already arrived in the capital two months ago. After two months of gamble with the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of War, they finally reached an agreement. The Northern Zhou Dynasty paid tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and the Emperor of Northern Zhou sent a letter of surrender, and recognized Zhu Liye as his adoptive father. In return, Zhu Liye rewarded Shenxiangou to the Northern Zhou Dynasty.

The two sides agreed to open border trade, pay tribute every year, and pay tribute every year, and the Ming Dynasty exempted the Northern Zhou Dynasty from war compensation in the form of annual monies. The Ming Empire gained a reputation, while the Northern Zhou Dynasty obtained territories. It can be said that each person took the needs, or it can be said that it was a confusing account.

However, for Tuoba Lanruo, her purpose has been achieved.

Now her student, the little emperor of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, became the godson of the Ming Dynasty, which was equivalent to the official recognition of the Ming Dynasty court. He was about to be eighteen years old. At that time, if the regent does not hand over the power, he can justify asking for assistance from the Ming Dynasty. With the current strength of the Ming Dynasty, it is easy to deal with the regent Tuoba Chuicai. The young emperor was young, and as long as he took the opportunity to open the market, he endured and worked hard for 10 or 20 years. When the Northern Zhou Dynasty rose strongly and the Ming Emperor was getting old, they could fight back to Fenghuang Ridge. As for temporary personal honor and disgrace, it was nothing at all.

It was already a moment when the ceremony in the Hall of Supreme Harmony was completed.

Emperor Zhu Liye of the Ming Dynasty wanted to hold a banquet for officials on the second floor of Wanshou Palace, invite all the ministers, admire the strange stones of Taihu Lake, and accept the bows of the people.

Of course, everyone knew in their hearts that the highlight was at the end, that was to deal with the traitor Li Chuntie.

Zhu Liye was in a good mood, and everyone followed him to the Wanshou Palace and took the seats in the main and second place. The banquet was very grand. Three rows were placed on the Wanshou Palace Tower. Zhao Langjiang followed Xue Huai, but could not find his seat. At this time, Zhu Liye said, "Zhao Aiqing, come to sit by my side."

As soon as these words came out, all the civil and military officials in the court were shocked.

Under the emperor's seat, there are two seats on the left and right, and the seats are the most in the banquet.

For the past, these two seats were occupied by Xue Huai and Yuwen Tianlu, while Li Chuntie, as the emperor's private minister, stood behind him. Now, Zhu Liye's most beloved governor, and the most trusted president, have all become history. Everyone is still speculating about which minister the empty seat would be given to him.

When everyone thought that this seat would be given to Duke Lu, who was so popular that he was recently given to him, His Majesty gave him to Zhao Langjiang.

For a moment, some people were envious, some were amazed, and some were dissatisfied.

The envious ones, who have won the favor of His Majesty at such a young age, has an unlimited future. This Golden Sword King, who was born in the wild, will surely become the future star of the Ming Empire.

Amazing, His Majesty the Emperor showed extraordinary respect to the King Yinyang who had only met twice, which was not in line with His Majesty the Emperor's always suspicious style.

As for those who are dissatisfied, they are the Duke of Lu. As the rise of Zhao Langjiang, as the auxiliary minister of the cabinet, he not only did not tolerate others, but instead regarded him as a thorn in his eyes and a thorn in his flesh, and secretly regarded him as his number one enemy in the future.

Of course, Zhao Langjiang would not pay attention to these things, let alone ignore them.

He was sitting on pins and needles and had no time to care about other people's reactions. He knelt on the ground, "I am not virtuous and incompetent, and I dare not sit with Your Majesty."

Zhu Liye smiled and said, "Today is my family banquet, only regarding relatives, regardless of monarch and minister."

This sentence is quite interesting.

Xue Huaizhe sat upright, his eyes slightly closed, and he closed his eyes to rest.

Zhao Langjiang refused a few more words, but he did not dare to disobey the king's order. He bowed and came to Zhu Liye. Just as he was about to sit down, Zhu Liye suddenly said, "You are an important official in my Ming army and the lord of a city. Don't be too restrained and stand up straight!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Langjiang had to straighten his back and look straight. He was originally tall and tall, so he naturally had the style of a general at this time. He struggled on the battlefield and was baptized by the martial arts world. This kind of killing intention is different from the majesty of all officials who have been in the top position for a long time.

Zhu Liye looked at the officials, "What do you think General Zhao?"

When a minister saw that Zhao Langjiang was so favored, he wanted to show it, and said, "General Zhao was walking on a leopard and tiger steps, with the style of a general, and having a general like a general guarding the country's gates for the Ming Dynasty is a blessing for my Ming Dynasty and your Majesty!"

Zhu Liye said, "It's very good, I'll give you wine."

An eunuch stepped forward and poured him a glass of wine given by the emperor. The minister kowtowed and thanked him. He picked up the wine glass and drank it all. He thought that this flattery was worth it! He also planned to go back to the major yamen and Luzhou to fight Qiufeng. While General Zhao had not yet made a fortune, he collected a million taels of silver and sent it to his mansion.

Zhu Liye looked at others again.

With the precedent, the other ministers did not understand the superior intentions, and praised Zhao Langjiang one after another. Zhu Liye listened silently, without expressing his opinion. He would give him a glass of imperial wine, whether he said good or bad.

Only, Duke Lu looked unhappy, stretched his face and refused to speak.

Xue Huai still closed his eyes and said nothing.

These words made Zhao Langjiang feel awkward.

This is not a praising him, it is clearly a praising him.

After a moment, Zhu Liye stood up, descended down the steps, and came to Zhao Langjiang. He looked around and asked the officials again, "Does all the officials think that General Zhao and I look like each other?"
Chapter completed!