Two days have passed since Jiajing last discussed matters related to taking over Hu Zongxian's position with Zhao Zhenji.
In the past two days, the government and the public were extremely calm, without even the slightest disturbance!
In the evening, the Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.
After finishing his daily meditation, Jiajing stood up from the futon. Then, his eyes fell on the desk beside him, the memorials that he had not yet had time to look at. But soon, Jiajing looked away and said to himself.
"Well, let's wait until tomorrow. While it's still early, I have to go to Ganlu Palace to see how Shen is doing."
Just as Jiajing was about to leave, Lu Fang walked in with extremely eager steps.
The moment he entered the Qianqing Palace, he subconsciously turned his gaze to Jiajing, knelt on the ground, and reported respectfully.
"...Your Majesty, slave...I have something important to report, Ying...British Duke..."
Seeing Lu Fang's eagerness, Jiajing frowned slightly and turned to ask.
"Lu Fang, don't be anxious and speak slowly. What's wrong with Mr. Britain?"
After taking a deep breath and calming down, Lu Fang regained her composure and reported to Jiajing.
"Your Majesty, the British Duke Zhang Rong is seeking an audience outside. He said he has something extremely important to discuss with you!"
After listening to Lu Fang's report, Jiajing suddenly had a look of hesitation on his face. After pondering for a moment, Jiajing came back to his senses and gave instructions.
"Well, I understand, let him come in!"
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
After getting Jiajing's permission, Lu Fang secretly breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to leave without stopping at the Qianqing Palace.
At this moment, outside the Qianqing Palace, British Duke Zhang Rong was waiting uneasily for news about Lu Fang.
Looking at the Qianqing Palace so close in front of him, Zhang Rong's thoughts had already drifted to a far away place.
"Well, I don't know if His Majesty will agree to this proposal later. If His Majesty doesn't agree, how will I explain it to the clans and nobles who have high hopes for me!"
While Zhang Rong was still envisioning the scene of his meeting with Jiajing later in his mind, Lu Fang had quietly arrived in front of Zhang Rong, bowed to the ground, and said softly.
"British Lord, Your Majesty wants you to come over!"
After hearing Lu Fang's reminder, Zhang Rong came to his senses and immediately expressed his gratitude to Lu Fang.
"I'm here to help Eunuch Lu!"
When Lu Fang heard this, a flattered expression suddenly appeared on her face, and she declined continuously.
"Where, where, the British government has made a serious statement, you should go there as soon as possible, don't keep His Majesty waiting!"
"Um."
After Zhang Rong heard this, he responded in a subtle way and immediately stepped onto the stairs of Qianqing Palace.
Before officially entering the Qianqing Palace, Zhang Rong suddenly stopped. After taking a deep breath to calm down his emotions, he entered the Qianqing Palace with steady steps.
After Zhang Rong entered the Qianqing Palace, he knelt on the ground respectfully like the ministers and said in a deep voice.
"I bow to your majesty, long live my emperor!"
When Jiajing saw this, he immediately stood up from the dragon chair, then came to Zhang Rong himself, lifted him up from the ground, and said.
"Mr. British, you are the noble queen and pillar of our Ming Dynasty. There is no need to be like this!"
After that, Jiajing looked at the eunuch waiting on the side and gave instructions.
"Come here, give the British Duke a seat!"
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
As soon as Jiajing finished speaking, a eunuch came forward, prepared a seat for Zhang Rong, and thoughtfully covered the seat with soft cushions.
Although Zhang Rong had already imagined the meeting scene with Jiajing in his mind before this, what happened before him was still beyond Zhang Rong's expectation, especially Jiajing's intimate attitude towards him, which caught him off guard. .
Soon, Zhang Rong reacted, cupped his hands, and thanked Jiajing: "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!"
Jiajing didn't take this matter to heart. He just waved his hand casually and turned to speak.
"Mr. British, you don't have to be so polite to me. Your ancestors were all heroes who shed their lives and blood for our Ming Dynasty, and they deserve to be treated like this!"
When Jiajing said this, he immediately pointed to the seat and gave instructions.
"sit down!"
After receiving Jiajing's instructions, Zhang Rong sat down in his seat uneasily.
Seeing Zhang Rong sit down on his seat, Jiajing nodded imperceptibly. After that, Jiajing sat back on the dragon chair, turned his eyes to Zhang Rong, and asked.
"By the way, the British father-in-law is here today. Do you have anything to do with me?"
After Zhang Rong heard this, after hesitating for a long time, he put on a brave attitude and asked Jiajing.
"Your Majesty, I will tell you the truth. This time I came here because I was entrusted by the clan and nobles to ask your Majesty something!"
When Jiajing heard Zhang Rong's words, the expression on his face remained unchanged, but he had quietly raised his inner vigilance to the highest level.
After that, Jiajing pretended not to care about it and said slowly.
"The British Lord said it doesn't matter. As long as I can do it, I can promise you!"
After receiving Jiajing's promise, Zhang Rong's nerves, which had been extremely tense since entering the Qianqing Palace, finally relaxed a little.
Then, after Zhang Rong sorted out the words in his mind, he carefully proposed the purpose of his trip to Jiajing.
"Your Majesty, I am entrusted by those clans and nobles this time. I would like to ask your majesty, can you give more places to the clans and nobles on the basis of the imperial examination?"
When Zhang Rong said this, he cried out without waiting for Jiajing to respond.
"Your Majesty, you don't know something. Since you previously ordered to reduce clan expenses and allow clan members to freely pursue their careers, many clan members have become visibly miserable due to lack of ability to make a living!"
"Before this, their family had a large population. On weekdays, they relied on the salary and lumi distributed by the court."
"And now, since Your Majesty has ordered to reduce the expenses of the clan, can you give them some appropriate compensation in other aspects?"
"For example, in addition to the imperial examinations, we will organize special examinations for the clan and nobles, and select available talents from them!"
After Jiajing listened to the proposal given by the British Duke Zhang Rong, the expression on his face suddenly became extremely embarrassed. After thinking about it for a long time, he gave a response.
"If possible, I actually don't want to reduce the expenditure on the clan's side, but the situation at that time is that the clan's expenditure has accounted for one-third of the national treasury revenue. If we do not carry out reforms, our Ming Dynasty will support it sooner or later. You can’t go down!”
When Jiajing said this, he paused for a moment and then continued to add.
"In addition, what the British government just mentioned is that in addition to the imperial examinations, special examinations for the clan and nobles will be organized to select talents."
"You must be very clear in your heart that this matter is related to the interests of countless people and cannot be decided by me alone!"
After listening to Jiajing's explanation, Zhang Rong's eyes suddenly became extremely gloomy and he lowered his head unconsciously.
"Alas, it seems that His Majesty is not going to adopt this proposal!"
Just when Zhang Rong thought that things were going nowhere and was about to leave, Jiajing seemed to have seen what Zhang Rong was thinking and looked away from him and said to himself.
"But, I plan to bring this matter to the next cabinet meeting for discussion. At that time, I will do my best to try to come up with a plan that everyone can accept. What do you think?"
Seeing that Jiajing had already said this, Zhang Rong had no choice but to hold his nose and admit the fact no matter how reluctant he was.
After that, Zhang Rong stood up from his seat, raised his hands to Jiajing, and said in a deep voice.
"Your Majesty is wise, in this case, I will not disturb Your Majesty!"
When Jiajing heard this, he responded in a subtle way and immediately gave instructions.
"Well, if there is any progress, I will send someone to inform you!"
"Your Majesty is wise, I will resign now!"
After Zhang Rong left, Jiajing was seen supporting his chin with one hand and began to think about the pros and cons of this matter.
After a long time, Jiajing came back to his senses and muttered to himself silently.
"This matter is not easy to handle. After all, it involves millions of clan members and the interests of those nobles!"
"We have to come up with a solution that is acceptable to both parties as soon as possible!"
Jiajing thought so, and immediately stood up from the dragon chair, waved his sleeves suddenly, and walked out of Qianqing Palace.
As soon as Jiajing walked out of Qianqing Palace, Lu Fang, who had been waiting outside, came up to him and asked cautiously.
"Your Majesty, are you going to the Manna Palace next?"
When Jiajing heard this, he glanced at Lu Fang strangely, looked at the darkening sky around him, and then said.
"Go, why not go?"
"Without further ado, let's set off now!"
When Lu Fang heard Jiajing's words, she suppressed her inner joy and responded respectfully.
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
After that, Jiajing was seen riding on the dragon boat and heading in the direction of Ganlu Palace, while Lu Fang followed Jiajing step by step as before.
…
Along the way, the eunuchs and maids on both sides of the road, seeing the emperor traveling, stepped out of the way. Those who couldn't get out of the way knelt on the ground on both sides of the road, lowered their heads, and waited for the emperor's dragon to leave.
Soon, the dragon that Jiajing was riding on stopped steadily in front of Ganlu Palace.
Jiajing got off the dragon boat, glanced at Lu Fang beside him, and gave instructions.
"Come in with me!"
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
After Lu Fang responded, she immediately followed Jiajing's footsteps and entered the Manna Palace.
As early as the moment Jiajing's Longchu arrived at the Ganlu Palace, a eunuch reported the matter to the personal maid of the imperial concubine Shen.
At this moment, in Shen's room, her personal maid was reporting the corresponding situation to Shen.
"Empress, Your Majesty has arrived!"
After hearing the report from the personal maid, Mrs. Shen's expression did not change much, and she just responded calmly.
"Well, I know, you can go down first!"
After Shen finished instructing the maid, she immediately faced the bronze mirror and used an ivory comb to comb her hair leisurely.
Shortly after Shen's personal maid left, there was a "squeak" sound, and the door to Shen's room was pushed open. Shen looked around and saw Jiajing stepping into the room.
Hearing this, Mrs. Shen stopped combing her hair, put the ivory comb in her hand back to its original position, turned her gaze to Jiajing, and said respectfully: "I have met your Majesty!"
When Jiajing heard this, he responded in a subtle way, and immediately came to Shen, picked up the ivory comb that she had put back in its place earlier, and continued to comb her hair.
Seeing this, Mrs. Shen's face suddenly turned red and she said shyly.
"His Majesty!"
Jiajing saw the shy look on Shen's face, kept moving his hands, and joked with a smile.
"We are already an old married couple, but we are still so shy!"
Hearing Jiajing's words, Mrs. Shen's face became even more shy. She lowered her head in embarrassment and said in a voice as thin as a mosquito's fly.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, I can do this... this matter myself!"
When Jiajing heard this, he gently stroked Shen's silky hair and turned to speak.
"The state affairs are busy, and I can't spare much time to accompany you on weekdays. Thank you for your hard work!"
Hearing this, Mrs. Shen shook her head imperceptibly, snuggled into Jiajing's arms, and said softly with a happy expression on her face.
"As long as your Majesty still has me in your heart, I will be satisfied!"
At this time, Shen's big, watery eyes were staring at Jiajing blinkingly, unwilling to leave for a moment. For her, the man in front of her was everything to her, his whole world. .
When Jiajing saw this, he could no longer hold back his inner feelings and immediately kissed her.
After a long time, the lips parted.
The atmosphere in the room became visibly ambiguous. After that, Shen, blushing with embarrassment, gently broke away from Jiajing's arms.
Perhaps in order to dilute the rippled atmosphere in the room, Shen pointed to the teapot on the table next to him and asked Jiajing.
"Your Majesty, would you like some tea?"
Jiajing saw Shen's belly that was obviously swollen under the cyan silk robe and immediately spoke.
"Forget it, let me do it!"
As soon as Jiajing finished speaking, Shen shook her head slightly and said slowly.
"Your Majesty is usually diligent in political affairs. For small things like this, I'd rather leave it to my concubine. Your Majesty, just sit back!"
After Shen finished speaking, she picked up the teapot on the table and poured a cup of hot tea for herself and Jiajing each.
Jiajing looked at Shen's appearance while pouring tea, but his thoughts had already drifted far away.
Just when Jiajing was stunned, Shen's voice brought him back to reality.
"Your Majesty, please have some tea!"
"Um."
After Jiajing heard this, he came to his senses immediately, picked up the teacup from the table and took a sip.
Instantly, a mellow and long-lasting taste spread in the mouth, and until the end, there was still a hint of sweetness.
Jiajing's eyes lit up, he put down the tea cup in his hand and praised him.
"Well, that's really good tea!"
(End of chapter)
