Chapter 514: Unexpected but Reasonable

Although Wang Yue has always been very low-key, his personal reputation is here. He is also the head of the Military Affairs Council and one of the emperor's most trusted ministers, so the weight of his words can be seen.

As he pointed out, there is indeed something puzzling about this matter.

Manduhai actually took the initiative to send her son to the capital as a hostage. Why did she not hesitate to break off with the Ming Dynasty and detain the Northern Concubine and the prince? This approach is a bit contradictory.

You know, she only has one son, but the Ming Dynasty has several princes.

Although the palace "secretly raises" the born princes, it is no secret that Concubine Jing and Shurong gave birth to princes in addition to the eldest son Zhu Houye.

Now Manduhai is holding the Ming prince as a hostage, which not only does not affect the issue of the successor of the Ming Dynasty, but also puts her only son in crisis.

"What Wang Gelao said makes sense! Now that the prince is detained by Manduhai, we are all furious, but now we must first find out what Manduhai is up to!" The Minister of Revenue, He Cong, is not a belligerent person, and he immediately stood up to express his approval.

The Minister of Works, Chen Shen, and others nodded silently. Although they did not oppose the attack on the Northern Yuan Dynasty, they did need to find out the real motive of Manduhai.

"It is said that since we have the little prince in our hands, Manduhai would not dare to do anything wrong!"

"She dares to be so unscrupulous, could it be that the little prince is actually fake?"

"The little prince cannot be fake, we have already confirmed this from many aspects!"

...

As Wang Yue set the tone, important officials such as the Minister of War, Liu Xuan, expressed their opinions one after another, but soon fell into a state of confusion again.

They clearly have the little prince as a big bargaining chip in their hands, but judging from Manduhai's actions, she does not seem to be afraid that the little prince will fall into crisis.

"Little prince?"

Zhu Youtang, who was sitting in the attic drinking tea, had calmed down. At this moment, his heart moved slightly, and he suddenly remembered an old story.

Bei Fei once suspected that the little prince had a hidden disease, but he was busy bullying Bei Fei at that time, so he didn't take it to heart at that time.

"I have never seen the little prince learn to walk, and I once suspected that he had a leg disease, but this matter was stopped by the Mongolian envoys! Now it seems that the identity of this little prince may be true, but there may be major deficiencies in his body!" Liu Xuan, the Minister of War, was slightly moved in his heart, and immediately stated his judgment.

Leg disease?

As soon as this was said, it immediately attracted everyone's attention.

If a little prince with a leg disease, no matter whether he has the blood of the Golden Family in his body, it is impossible to win the recognition of the Mongols. A person who can't ride a horse well is destined not to become their Great Khan in a martial country.

"I propose to immediately verify the little prince's leg disease. This matter may be the motive for Manduhai to detain the prince!" Wang Yue found the answer vaguely and proposed it immediately.

With Wang Yue's statement, other important officials expressed their support.

Zhu Youtang said very straightforwardly in the face of the decision made by the people below: "Yes, check this matter immediately!"

Manduhai is an ambitious woman, and such people may indeed be much less affectionate to family members than ordinary people.

Everyone in the world knows that the Ming Dynasty killed Dayan Khan, but after Dayan Khan's death, Manduhai has always put the interests of the Northern Yuan Dynasty first and never took any revenge.

If the little prince's leg disease is true, then the little prince has no right of inheritance from the beginning, so no matter how hard she tries, it is impossible for the little prince to unify Mongolia.

That's why everyone originally agreed that the little prince was Manduhai's weak point, but it was actually wrong. Manduhai may have completely given up on the little prince.

This matter was quickly fed back, and the little prince did suffer from a leg disease.

"The little prince actually has a leg disease!"

"My goodness, this matter is too well hidden, isn't it?"

"I wonder why Manduhai took the initiative to let the little prince be a hostage in the capital. It turns out that the little prince has been abandoned by her!"

...

Faced with this unexpected truth, everyone immediately started to discuss it, but they never expected that Manduhai would play such a deep trick on them.

Originally, everyone thought that Manduhai had been controlled through the little prince, but they didn't expect that everyone drank Manduhai's magic potion. The little prince was actually a discarded pawn, which led to their misjudgment of the situation and let the Northern Concubine and the prince fall into Manduhai's hands.

With this thought, many important officials re-examined the grassland woman. This wisdom is no less than that of men, and even more powerful than most men.

Wang Yue knew that this matter was very tricky, so he spoke again: "Manduhai used the little prince as bait, and this time he went to great lengths to capture the Northern Concubine and the prince. What is his real intention?"

Others may think that Manduhai feigned illness to trap the Northern Concubine and the prince, but he knew that the real start of this trapping plan was when the little prince was sent to the capital.

If the little prince had not been sent to the capital, all the civil and military officials in the court should not be careless, at least it is unlikely that they would allow the dignified prince to go to the Northern Yuan Dynasty to take risks.

It was because the little prince was sent to the capital by Manduhai that they relaxed their vigilance against Manduhai after investigating that the little prince's identity was not fake, and thus fell into Manduhai's trap.

However, such a long-term plan must have a plot after all, and what Wang Yue cares most about is what Manduhai is planning?

"She is so deliberate, is she seeking revenge?" Chen Kun, the Minister of Industry, hesitated for a moment, and finally said the worst case scenario.

As soon as these words came out, there was silence all around.

Although the relationship between the Ming Dynasty and the Northern Yuan Dynasty has been very harmonious over the years, the two countries have accumulated a lot of grievances. The assassination of Dayan Khan by the Ming Dynasty alone happened a few years ago.

Dayan Khan is Manduhai's husband and the successor carefully cultivated by Manduhai.

In the past, the Ming Dynasty secretly arranged a perfect decapitation operation for its own interests, and Dayan Khan was eliminated by the Ming Dynasty just after he came of age.

If Manduhai deliberately planned to avenge Dayan Khan, it would seem to be a reasonable and reasonable move to formulate this conspiracy.

"Is it true?" Zhang Sheng, the Minister of Rites, swallowed hard and looked up at the attic with great concern.

Once the prince becomes the target of Manduhai's hatred, he will be blamed even if he dies a thousand times. This will be the worst situation for the Ming Dynasty and the prince.

"If Manduhai was just seeking revenge, then it is unlikely that he would send the little prince to the capital! If she really killed the prince, then her son with Dayan Khan would also be slaughtered by us, not to mention that our prince is actually her grandson. This is not necessarily a good deal, right?" Wang Yue seemed very calm and pointed out the flaws immediately.

Minister of the Ministry of Revenue He Cong and others nodded one after another. Although they all felt that Wang Yue's analysis was reasonable, they were still worried about the safety of the prince Zhu Houxuan.

Cabinet minister Jia Jun seemed to attach great importance to this matter and asked Wang Yue directly: "Wang Ge Lao, if Manduhai was not seeking revenge, then what was her intention in detaining the Northern Concubine and the prince?"

"This time, I can't guess it! It's just that we should not raise troops immediately now, but negotiate with the Northern Yuan Dynasty. After ensuring Manduhai's true intentions, it's not too late for us to take the next step!" Wang Yue shook his head gently, but set a new tone.

This...

Song Cheng, the Minister of Punishment, and other important officials knew that these words were more like what he said to the emperor, and now they probably hoped that the emperor could calm down, instead of raising troops to attack Mongolia before finding out Manduhai's true motives.

Unlike the previous expeditions to the Le Dynasty, Baigu Kingdom, Shikoku Island, and the capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the Mongolian base camp was erratic, and it would be difficult to find traces once it escaped to the desert.

Zhu Youtang naturally knew that Wang Yue was sincere and devoted to the country, but he also had a bottom line in his heart: "The prince is not only my son, but also the face of the Ming Dynasty! Once the prince has an unexpected event, the Ming Dynasty will definitely raise troops to retaliate, so prepare for war immediately!"

Although Wang Yue's analysis was very reasonable, even if this battle was not initiated, it was necessary to make preparations before the war.

Only if they, the Ming Dynasty, showed enough desire to fight, then Manduhai would not dare to act recklessly, at least not easily kill her own daughter and grandson.

"As ordered!" Yin Zhi, the chief minister of the cabinet, and other important officials guessed Zhu Youtang's intentions and said respectfully.

Since the tone was set, the important officials present also discussed a war preparation plan.

With the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, it actually has the military strength of Emperor Taizong Zhu Di's five expeditions to the north of the desert, which is enough to win the war on the prairie.

Of course, it is almost impossible for the Ming Dynasty to completely wipe out the Northern Yuan Dynasty. Once they escape into the depths of the desert, the Ming army will return empty-handed.

However, it is unlikely that Manduhai's tribe will give up the fertile grassland now, so the possibility that she will provoke the Ming Dynasty by killing the prince is actually not very large.

The prosperity of the capital is still the same, and the Beijing-Tianjin Railway is under construction in full swing.

Although the end of the year is approaching, the entire Ming Dynasty has become busy because of the detention of the prince.

Zhang Sheng, the Minister of Rites, has a strong desire to make up for his mistakes. This time, he took the initiative to take the task of negotiating with the Northern Yuan Dynasty, and led the delegation to Datong, and then personally entered the desert to negotiate.

The fact that the dignified minister dared to take such a risk shows that he was very self-blaming for this matter, and also reflects his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty.

Just when the Minister of Rites had just left Beijing, an urgent military intelligence came from Datong: "Report! Bei Fei has returned to Datong from the desert and is now on her way back to Beijing!"

This was undoubtedly an exciting news, but it was soon stabbed in the back by reality.

In just a few days, Bei Fei Yikexi had already ridden back to Beijing.

Yikexi had a heroic demeanor. She went straight to Xiyuan all the way, and when she saw Zhu Youtang, she immediately hugged Zhu Youtang and cried.

She also didn't expect her mother to use such a despicable method to detain her son there.

Zhu Youtang looked at Bei Fei, who was crying and crying, and felt bad: "Since the incident has happened, our top priority is to let the emperor return safely. What conditions did your mother set?"

Such a layout, even at the cost of sending her son to the capital, this time I'm afraid she has a lot of intentions. But no matter how much he pays, he will get his son back.

"Your Majesty, she doesn't want anything?" Yiksi raised her beautiful eyes full of tears, but shook her head gently.

Zhu Youtang's heart suddenly chilled, and he said gloomily: "She dares to take my prince to vent her hatred?"

"No... no, my mother likes Xuan'er very much. She... she said that Beiyuan needs an heir, and Xuan'er has half the blood of the Golden Family!" Yiksi shook her head gently, and said Manduhai's true intention.

In fact, many people misunderstood Manduhai. Although Manduhai was indeed an ambitious woman, she was more for the glory of the Golden Family and for the unification of the grassland.

Originally, Dayan Khan had the opportunity to fulfill her wish, so she established prestige for Dayan Khan in the army since she was a child, and even transferred military and political power to Dayan Khan at any time.

Due to the intervention of the Ming Dynasty, she not only lost Dayan Khan, the heir she carefully cultivated, but also her and Dayan Khan's descendants could not bear her wish at all.

That's why, after learning that Beifei Yixi was pregnant, she took the initiative to send the little prince to the capital as a hostage, thus starting the plan to snatch the prince.

Compared with others, although Zhu Houxuan is a prince of the Ming Dynasty, he is also the grandson of Manduhai and has half of the blood of the Golden Family.

The most important thing is that she needs to be on guard against the all-pervasive Ming Dynasty at all times when cultivating the little prince. After all, there is the lesson of Dayan Khan being beheaded before, but Zhu Houxuan does not need to worry about the Ming Dynasty's beheading plan at all.

So, she is so deliberate, in fact, to get an ideal heir.

Huh?

Zhu Youtang learned that Manduhai actually had this intention. Although he still felt incredible in his heart, Zhu Houxuan was indeed the best choice for Manduhai.

"Your Majesty, this is a letter from my mother to you!" Yikexi wiped his tears and took out a letter from his arms.

Zhu Youtang felt bitter in his heart. He thought that with his wisdom, he didn't need to worry about the old witch at all, but he didn't expect that he would fall into her trap this time.

After all, if they hadn't been greedy to control the political situation of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, how could they have been tricked?

Zhu Youtang was originally worried that he couldn't understand the other party's letter, but he found that it was written in Chinese. Just looking at the content of the letter, his face turned pale.

"Your Majesty, this war cannot be fought!" Yikexi hesitated for a moment, but advised seriously.

Zhu Youtang frowned slightly, but said very seriously: "Don't you want to get Xuan'er back?"

"Of course I do, but the Ming army may fail, and Xuan'er will be in danger!" Yikxi said very soberly when she saw that it was about her son.

Although she hated her mother very much and was eager to bring her son back, on the way back, she knew that war was not the solution to the problem.

Zhu Youtang knew that what Yikxi said made sense, and said sincerely: "In addition to sending troops to take Xuan'er back, do you think there are other ways?"

"I think there is another way!" Yikxi raised her pretty face and said very seriously. (End of this chapter)