This incident surprised Zhu Gui, but there was currently no more content in this area in the petition, so he couldn't do anything about it. He could only think of going to Blackwood City another day to have a look, hoping that Blackwood Han would have some news.
.
The second thing was that Prince Zhu Biao was critically ill, and the emperor had already drafted an imperial edict to have all the vassals gather in Nanjing.
Although Zhu Gui had expected it, when he saw the news, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional. He had just left Nanjing not long ago, and he didn't expect to go to Nanjing again soon.
Zhu Biao's death was likely to be a sign of unrest, and Zhu Gui had to prepare in advance.
As for the rest, they are just trivial matters, such as how many bandits the Yunzhou Army defeated, how many branches the Datong Chamber of Commerce added, and the revenue of Datong Bank.
Among them, there was only one thing that made Zhu Gui somewhat concerned.
That is, an open-pit ‘black gold mine’ was discovered in the mountains surrounding a small village southwest of Datong Prefecture.
In fact, this so-called black gold mine is a coal mine, which really made Zhu Gui interested.
You must know that before and after the first industrial revolution in history, the main raw material for steam engines was coal.
Until Zhu Gui traveled through time and came to this era, coal mines played a vital role in generating electricity.
Although Zhu Gui has not yet obtained the design drawings of the steam engine, this does not prevent him from planning ahead.
Not to mention that even without a steam engine, coal is a very good heating fuel.
Then contacting Shanxi Datong is surrounded by places rich in coal mines. This gave Zhu Gui a wake-up call, so he decided to take more pictures and start looking for coal mines throughout Yunzhou.
Early the next morning, Xu Yingxu came to Prince Dai's Mansion after receiving the news.
He came to meet the three officers Zhu Gui found for him.
Among them are one Qianhu and two Baihu.
Forget it, Qian Hu can only be regarded as a low-level officer in the army, but no matter which Ming army he is in, Qian Hu is an officer of no small importance.
Zhu Gui had no choice but to send someone to call out Gongsun Ming and the others who came back very late last night.
However, what makes Zhu Gui a little embarrassed is that the three of them drank a lot of wine outside last night and came back late at night. They were sleeping soundly at this time.
Although he was forced to wake up by Zhu Gui's personal guards, he looked groggy.
This made Xu Yingxu's brows knitted together.
"Ah, um, you three, stand still. This is General Xu Yingxu of the escort army."
Zhu Gui reminded him loudly.
"Ah, it turns out to be General Xu Yingxu, whom I have admired for a long time." Gongsun Ming was the first to wake up and immediately said to Xu Yingxu.
Xu Yingxu just nodded, his dissatisfaction almost written on his face.
The other two people were still a little confused. Maybe they forgot that they would serve under Xu Yingxu in the future, or maybe they didn't know that Xu Yingxu was the second son of Duke Xu Guogong.
"The rules in the military are that you are not allowed to drink alcohol on weekdays. This is the first and last time." Xu Yingxu said in a deep voice.
"Yes, we won't do it anymore." Gongsun Ming quickly pulled the two of them and said.
Zhu Gui also said: "It is inevitable that they will be a little excited when they first come to Datong Mansion. This will not be the case next time."
"By the way, General Xu, besides picking up the three of them, do you have anything else to do here this time?"
Zhu Gui looked at Xu Yingxu and asked.
Xu Yingxu glanced around and found that no servants were in the living room. Then he glanced at the three people still standing next to him, looking like he was hesitating to speak.
Zhu Gui immediately said to Gongsun Ming: "Take the two of them down to rest first. You will go to the military camp to report in the afternoon, so prepare first."
"Yes." Gongsun Ming saw that the two of them had something important to say, so he pulled them down without saying anything.
After Gongsun Ming and the others left, Xu Yingxu's expression immediately became serious.
"Your Majesty, I received news from my father that the prince's condition has worsened and he may be ill soon."
Zhu Gui nodded and said: "I am jealous of talents. It is a pity that the prince is such a good person. If Ming Dynasty was under his governance, I am afraid it would be a different situation."
At this time, Xu Yingxu had firmly believed in the 'prophecy' that Zhu Gui had told him before. When he heard Zhu Gui's words, his face became much heavier.
"Your Majesty, you said that if His Royal Highness the Emperor's Grandson ascends the throne, King Yan will raise his troops. What should we do then?" Xu Yingxu finally expressed what he had been thinking for a long time.
Zhu Gui looked at Xu Yingxu in surprise, and then asked calmly: "If General Xu makes the decision, whose side will you be on?"
"Well, if there are no other circumstances, the general may side with the imperial court." Xu Yingxu gave the answer after a slight hesitation.
Zhu Gui was not surprised by Xu Yingxu's words. After all, from his point of view, King Yan was the rebel party, and Xu Yingxu came from a famous family, so naturally he couldn't stand this kind of thing.
Zhu Gui said: "General Xu also said 'if there are no other circumstances', but in fact, other circumstances did happen. After my nephew came to the throne, he would aggressively cut down the vassals. The reason why King Yan took action was because
It’s also because of this matter.”
"Cutting down the vassalage? How is this possible? Isn't this the court's decision?" Xu Yingxu obviously had some doubts about Zhu Gui's words.
After all, in his view, this was the national policy set by Zhu Yuanzhang. As the next emperor, how could Zhu Yunwen change it so quickly?
"There is nothing impossible. This is the system established by the current emperor. The next emperor can naturally change it. And as one of the vassal kings, although I do not intend to act like King Yan, I do not want to sit still and wait for death."
Zhu Gui expressed his thoughts.
"What does the prince mean?" Xu Yingxu looked at the young prince in front of him nervously, as if it was the first time he met him.
Zhu Gui stood up, turned around and faced the map on the wall and said: "I have told General Xu that beyond the grasslands and the sea, there are even more vast and fertile lands. The Central Plains region where the Ming Dynasty is located, even the world
Not even a tenth of it.”
When Xu Yingxu heard this, he nodded thoughtfully, but he still didn't understand what Zhu Gui's words had to do with the topic the two were talking about.
Zhu Gui continued: "The Han people are prone to internal strife, and that is entirely because they do not know how big the world is. If all the world belongs to the Ming Dynasty, people can live a prosperous life, and there will be no more wars in the court. At that time, the world will be
Naturally, we can live and work in peace and contentment.”
"The whole world belongs to the Ming Dynasty? Is this the prince's ambition?" Xu Yingxu glanced at the map on the wall. The Central Plains area where the Ming Dynasty is located is indeed very inconspicuous, but it is really difficult to achieve what Zhu Gui said.