After finishing all the instructions, Jiajing waved his hand and asked Zhang Juzheng to leave.
After Zhang Juzheng left, Lu Fang stepped forward, handed a memorial into Jiajing's hands, and said softly: "Your Majesty, it seems that it is almost time for spring planting. According to custom, the emperor personally plows the southern suburbs, and the queen Kiss silkworms in the northern suburbs."
Since the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, the sacrificial pattern has been established in which the emperor plows the soil in the southern suburbs, and the queen plows silkworms in the northern suburbs. Later, after Zhu Di, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, moved the capital to Beijing, he only built a large sacrificial hall south of Zhengyangmen, and so it began inexplicably. The sacrifice of heaven and earth has been carried out.
Not long after Jiajing came to the throne, he wanted to follow the Zhou rites and change the ritual to heaven and earth. Then he received the memorial of heaven and earth worship from Xia Yan, the chief minister of the cabinet.
However, Zhang Cong, Huo Tao and others opposed it. They believed that after Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, moved the capital to Beijing, he held a ceremony to unite heaven and earth, which not only followed the historical trend, but also greatly saved resources.
The two factions quarreled fiercely. Later, with the approval of Jiajing, the sacrificial pattern of heaven and earth was restored, which continues to this day.
"This is the memorial sent to you by Xu Jie, and it will be discussed at the cabinet meeting later."
After Lu Fang handed the memorial to Jiajing, he added another sentence.
Jiajing took the memorial, glanced through the contents, and then said calmly: "I understand, please go and inform the imperial concubine so that she can prepare in advance."
"It's your Majesty, I'll go and notify you right away." After Lu Fang said that, she bowed and left.
…
At the same time, the cabinet also sent people to express their anger with the Ministry of Rites and Taichang Temple, and let the Ministry of Rites take full responsibility for the process of this sacrifice.
Li Chunfang, the Minister of Rites, had to organize such a complex and complicated sacrifice as soon as he took office. It is difficult not to believe that the cabinet had the intention of taking the exam.
"Master Shangshu, what should we do? Since the previous case, most of the officials in our Ministry of Rites have been imprisoned. Not only are we short of manpower, but the newly appointed officials have no experience in this field!"
After an official learned the news, he hurried to Li Chunfang, looking anxious.
"It doesn't matter, you go down and let the newly appointed officials practice all the procedures of the Ministry of Etiquette several times. I will be responsible for the specific affairs!" After hearing this, Li Chunfang raised his head from the desk and said unhurriedly.
"Yes, I will notify you immediately." Seeing that the newly-appointed Lord Shangshu was so calm, he must have a well-thought-out plan, so the visitor felt relieved and turned to leave.
…
"Your Majesty is here!"
Outside the cabinet, a high-pitched voice sounded, and Jiajing led Lu Fang into the cabinet.
"I bow to your Majesty, long live my emperor!"
Seeing that the emperor had arrived, the ministers quickly knelt on the ground and said respectfully.
"Everyone, get up." Jiajing sat behind the bead curtain and said calmly.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The ministers immediately returned to their seats and sat down.
"Your Majesty, early this morning, Yan Maoqing, the left deputy censor, has already set off to collect the salt tax for the imperial court!"
As soon as he sat down, Yan Song took the lead in reporting to Jiajing.
"Yes, I understand." Jiajing nodded and responded.
"Your Majesty, it will be spring planting in a few days. According to tradition, the sacrificial ceremony should be held in the two large sacrificial halls south of Zhengyangmen and north of Zhengyangmen!"
"After the ceremony, when the sun comes out, the emperor will plow the fields in the southern suburbs, and the queen will plant silkworms in the northern suburbs."
After Xu Jie said this, he knelt on the ground, raised the memorial in his hand high above his head, and said in a deep voice.
Immediately, Lu Fang took the memorial from Xu Jie and handed it to Jiajing.
Jiajing had already read the contents of the memorial in advance, so he just glanced at it twice and put it aside.
"Well, I'm sure, but the imperial concubine is pregnant, so the sacrificial ceremony should be kept simple!" Jiajing turned his eyes to Xu Jie and said calmly.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Seeing that the emperor had already spoken, Xu Jie took the order.
"Okay, you have finished discussing your matters. I also have something to discuss with you." With a faint smile on his face, Jiajing said after looking around at the ministers.
Hearing the emperor's words, the five people present felt their hearts pounding and couldn't help but become nervous.
"Although most of the Japanese pirates on the southeast coast have been wiped out, the imperial court still cannot take it lightly. Most of the remaining Japanese pirates are wandering at sea. Therefore, I want to build another navy to go to sea to fight against Japanese pirates! What do you think, dear friends? ah?"
After hearing the emperor's words, except Zhang Juzheng, the Minister of War, all the other ministers looked embarrassed. The emperor still did not give up on lifting the sea ban!
As cabinet ministers, they naturally have a clear understanding of the strength of Japanese pirates along the southeast coast! Not to mention anything else, the current navy of the imperial court alone is enough to kill the group of Japanese pirates at sea until they lose their armor.
But now the emperor wants to use the excuse of suppressing the Japanese to build another navy. The purpose of this navy is self-evident.
The key thing is that they can't raise objections openly, otherwise, no one can bear the emperor's big hat! At this time, the ministers present felt that although they were very unhappy, they could not find any reason to refute.
"Your Majesty, Wei Chen believes that the current strength of the navy alone is enough to wipe out all the Japanese pirates along the southeast coast. Our Ming Navy currently has more than fifty ships capable of ocean warfare! Therefore, your majesty does not need to A new navy is being built.”
Yan Song stood up first and argued.
"Yes, Your Majesty, our Ming Navy has almost no opponents right now! There is no need to spend huge sums of money to build the Navy." After Yan Song, Xu Jie on the side also added.
"Since the facts are as the two dear ministers said, why are the Japanese invasions so rampant along the southeast coast?" Jiajing asked after listening to the words of the two elders.
"this……"
Jiajing's question stumped everyone present. It was impossible for them to tell the emperor that the reason for the rampant Japanese invasion was the smuggling families and landlords along the coast, and they were these people. of protective umbrella.
They more or less took money from these people!
While everyone was hesitating, Gao Gong on the side saw this and said: "Your Majesty, the cost of building a brand new navy is about eight million taels! Although the national treasury is full at the moment, it should still be Save some money, we can't do what we did before and end up with a national treasury deficit."
"Besides, if all the eight million taels of silver spent on building the navy were used to improve people's livelihood, the people's lives would surely be much better."
Seeing that the treasury empty card that he used in the past could not be played, Gao Gong immediately changed his strategy and turned to the improvement of people's livelihood card, hoping to persuade His Majesty not to build a navy.
"Hmph, a mere eight million taels of silver is definitely not enough to improve people's livelihood. What's more, most of this money cannot reach the hands of the people, so how can it improve people's livelihood?"
After Jiajing finished speaking, he slammed the table and cursed angrily: "You bunch of insects, don't think that I don't know what you have done privately! At the moment, Japanese invasion is rampant along the southeast coast, and the people are suffering."
"I want to build another navy to destroy the Japanese pirates, but you are here to push back and use all kinds of excuses to frustrate me! Tell me, are you taking advantage of the Japanese pirates?"
After Jiajing finished speaking, he glanced at the ministers and said in a deep voice.
(End of chapter)
