After the cabinet officials and other members of the Supervisor of Ceremonies dispersed, Jiajing's lips curved in an imperceptible arc.
In fact, Jiajing had no intention of letting the cabinet pass a resolution to lift the sea ban from the beginning. From the beginning to the end, he had only one purpose: to expand the army and reorganize the Ming Dynasty Navy. Lifting the sea ban was just a bargaining chip.
Only by organizing the navy can we resist the possible negative impacts caused by the lifting of the maritime ban.
Starting from Zhu Yuanzhang, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban policy became more and more stringent. From the beginning of Hongwu, people on the seashore were not allowed to go to sea privately. In the seventh year of Hongwu, the imperial court withdrew from Mingzhou, Zhejiang, Quanzhou, Fujian, and Guangzhou, Guangdong. Later, It gradually evolved to the point where no boat can enter the sea, offenders will be executed immediately, and the offender’s family must also be implicated.
In addition, the government also encouraged people to report each other. If the report was indeed true, half of the property of the person being reported would be rewarded to the reporter. So far, no sailboat dared to go to sea.
Lifting the maritime ban cannot be accomplished overnight and can only rely on long-term and subtle effects.
After thinking about this, Jiajing stood up from his chair and walked slowly towards the Yangxin Hall. Lu Fang, who had been standing beside him, quickly followed Jiajing's pace.
"How did you go about what I asked you to do earlier?" Jiajing turned around, with no expression on his face.
"Your Majesty, the matter has been settled. Here is the confession handed over by Jin Yiwei Lu Bing, and everything is recorded on it." Lu Fang replied in fear, then took out a stack of paper from his sleeve and lowered his head.
Jiajing took the confession from Lu Fang, which recorded Tao Zhongwen's daily life in detail: including when he got up, time to go to the toilet, where he went, what he did, what he ate, who he talked to, and conversations What is the content of .
Jiajing did not pay attention to these, but went straight forward and did not stop until the day when Tao Zhongwen sent his subordinates to deliver the secrets of cultivation to his predecessor. He saw that it read:
At midnight on the same day, Tao Zhongwen got up and went to the toilet for a quarter of an hour. Breakfast was brought from the imperial kitchen. Tao Zhongwen preferred pickles, so he took three chopsticks and served a bowl of gruel. After the meal, he talked secretly with his apprentice Huang San, saying that he bought it at a second-hand bookstall. He asked his apprentice to help him re-edit a large pile of books and disguise them as monastic secrets, thereby defrauding him of rewards.
Seeing this, Jiajing had no intention of reading any more. It turned out that the so-called cultivation secret book was a complete scam. It was just self-defeating. Jiajing really succeeded in cultivating immortality. Now that the secret book had been destroyed by thunder and fire, the last trace of persistence in his heart The thoughts are completely gone.
"Hahaha, okay! Go and bring a message to Lu Bing later. Kill all the alchemists without leaving any trace behind!" Jiajing handed the confession back to Lu Fang with an expressionless face.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Lu Fang lowered his head, and his inner fear of the emperor deepened. Just now he witnessed with his own eyes the emperor's expression from frowning to a high-spirited look, to saying to himself expressionlessly that the group of alchemists They were all executed, and the emotional changes were so great that it was jaw-dropping.
"Accompanying a king is like accompanying a tiger, Lu Fang, you have to be more careful!"
After warning herself in her heart, Lu Fang followed Emperor Jiajing's steps step by step.
…
Capital City, Yan Mansion.
The Yan Mansion is located in the most prosperous street in the capital. This street is only a minute away from the Forbidden City. Therefore, every inch of land is expensive, and the people living around it are dignitaries. Compared with the splendid mansions of its neighbors, the Yan family's house is The residence can be described as "shabby". There are not too many decorations in Yan's mansion. There are only two stone lions and two doormen at the door. On the bright red painted door, there is a plaque with gilt characters on it. It says Yanfu.
After the imperial meeting, Yan Song and Yan Shifan returned to Yan's Mansion one after another in their respective sedan chairs.
When Yan Song was still dozens of meters away from his home, he saw many officials waiting in front of his home, as well as scholars who wanted to become apprentices and get their recommendations. He frowned and whispered: "Let's go." Side door, don’t let them see it.”
"Yes." The guard outside responded.
Immediately afterwards, without attracting anyone's attention, the sedan turned around and entered Yan's Mansion through the side door.
"Father, please."
Yan Shifan got off the sedan first and then carefully supported Yan Song.
"It doesn't matter if they are all driven away and gathered in front of my house!" Yan Song got down from the sedan with the help of Yan Shifan and said with an unhappy expression.
"Yes, my son, I'll ask someone to do it right now." After Yan Shifan agreed, he called the housekeeper. After giving a few gentle instructions, the housekeeper went out. Within a moment, the crowd in front of the Yan Mansion dispersed.
"Let them get some hot water and let me soak my feet! I'm a little tired. Come to the study with me."
After Yan Song finished speaking, he motioned for Yan Shifan to follow.
The father and son entered the study. The hot water had already been prepared and placed next to Hu's bed in a gold basin. Yan Song then sat on Hu's bed. Seeing this, Yan Shifan quickly took off his father's shoes and socks and stood aside.
Yan Song put his feet into the golden basin. The warmth coming from the soles of his feet made him close his eyes comfortably, completely relaxing, and most of the accumulated fatigue was eliminated.
"Father, do you have anything to discuss with me?"
"I want you to write a letter for me, but I'm too lazy to write."
Hearing Yan Shifan's question, Yan Song opened his eyes and answered lazily.
"Father, you say it and I write it!"
Yan Shifan sat down at the desk, studied the pen and ink, laid out the paper, and started writing.
"This letter is written to Hu Zongxian. After all, he is my student. The war in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is currently going on. As a teacher, I cannot ignore it."
After Yan Song finished speaking, Yan Shifan took up his pen and wrote on the letter raft: "Your heart sends this letter personally." In four big characters.
Immediately afterwards, Yan Song read one sentence and Yan Shifan wrote one.
"How is my beloved disciple's health lately? Since you became the governor of Zhejiang and the governor of Zhejiang, my master and apprentice have not seen each other for two years. I don't know if it is because of old age. Recently, my master often dreams about how you looked when he was a student. , the situation of suppressing Japanese invaders in the southeast depends on you alone. I hope you will not be too tired and take care of yourself. If there is any shortage of military equipment, money and food, just ask, and I will try my best to make up for you! In addition, at the cabinet meeting, the court passed The policy of converting rice to mulberry will be implemented next year, and we hope for strong assistance."
When the last word came out, Yan Shifan breathed a sigh of relief and put down his brush.
The handwriting on the letter raft is very neat, fresh and elegant, and as graceful as a dragon. Before he became an official, Yan Shifan's calligraphy was already quite famous, and some wealthy businessmen were even willing to pay 50,000 taels of silver to buy his calligraphy.
"Father, are you okay?" Yan Shifan asked when he saw his father closing his eyes again.
"Wait, add another paragraph, the Japanese pirates must be suppressed, not all."
Yan Song opened his eyes suddenly, his eyes flashing with light.
"Father?"
Yan Shifan was frightened by what his father said. He looked surprised and hesitated, wondering whether he should write or not.
"Write!" Yan Song glanced at his son lightly, with an unquestionable tone.
"Yes, father."
Yan Shifan then picked up a pen and added the last few sentences. After loading the letter into the letter raft, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, but looked at his father with more fear in his eyes.
