"Gao Congyi, your proposal...is not good." The emperor stared at Gao Qingkui closely, his eyes sharp, and he emphasized the word "not good".
Letting the emperor become a ruler who rules from the top has really been the main pursuit of civil servants for thousands of years. It is still the same today, working tirelessly and not wanting to miss any opportunity.
Although the emperor's pressure was heavy, Gao Qingkui, whose face remained calm, still held up his hands and said calmly: "Your Majesty, I just mentioned it. The main reason is that the hen Si Chen has made too many criticisms."
"If you lose something, you will gain something, and vice versa." The emperor glanced at the people present and said calmly: "Although the stroke is dangerous, I can still carry it clean now."
Then the room fell into a weird silence, so quiet that it seemed like you could hear your heartbeat?
After a while, Yu Shenhua bowed his hands in great earnestness and said seriously: "Your Majesty's consideration is indeed reasonable, but it is difficult for me to agree with it."
The so-called "reason" refers to the natural stance of the emperor and the crown prince - to protect the monarch's power from being weakened as much as possible.
As a foreign minister, he is a Republican and is essentially inclined to weaken the imperial power. Naturally, he hopes that the much weaker young prince will succeed to the throne.
Now he doesn't need to avoid anything, he can just state his attitude frankly. In fact, everyone knows their respective attitudes.
This is a political compromise. As the center of the imperial court, the cabinet cannot be completely controlled by members of the Constitutional Council, otherwise it will be almost the same as the royal cabinet.
The emperor didn't raise his head, raised his cup, took a sip of tea, and said calmly: "Of course you won't agree."
But...so what?
There is currently no perfect plan. Whoever succeeds will have negative consequences. It can only be the lesser of two evils.
As for Wu Weihuan, who represents the Ming Army, he doesn't care.
Now the nobles and merchants only care about making money, and it doesn't matter whoever becomes the emperor. The princess herself is a member of the Chinese Party. If I really want to say it, she is more popular than the prince. As for the little prince, there is no need to take him seriously.
Wu Weihuan's current physical condition is not suitable for attending banquets and feasting every once in a while, but in the past, nobles have long been discussing how to divide the assets of various places in Southeast Asia while eating and drinking.
At present, it seems difficult to suppress these guys who are ready to move, not to mention that the oil fields in Borneo are the best assets that everyone is jealous of, and they can make huge profits.
The oil production of the Dutch East Indies reaches more than 5 million tons, accounting for about 30% of the world's total production; the rubber production of Malaya and Borneo accounts for 85% of the world's total production; the tin production of Malaya and the Dutch East Indies Production accounts for 60% of world production.
In addition, from an economic point of view, the impact of the Great Depression has slowed down Ming's economic growth in the past two years. While continuing to carry out large-scale construction projects step by step, how can we restore the prosperous economic situation ten years ago?
The answer is obvious.
This meeting of the highest power in the empire ended like this. The process was short and there were not many participants, but the decisions made directly established the future pattern.
Because the change was so big, the court had an astonishing number of internal matters to deal with in the next few days.
Faced with this cruel situation like a bolt from the blue, the former princelings could not bear to grieve and regret, and could only hurriedly look for new backers.
This small shuffle will take some time, but the meat-eaters who will fight hard for rights have a tacit understanding of keeping this secret, and no one is willing to let the outside world know all this in advance.
"Outrageous! What on earth is this emperor thinking?"
Zhou Changfeng naturally knew the inside story of this matter. His first reaction was whether the emperor who narrowly escaped death after a stroke had lost his mind.
There are many examples in history of people making mysterious decisions after being shocked or seriously ill.
But he soon figured out the emperor's intention - he was really trying every possible means to protect the imperial power, he was really unaware!
Well, it is indeed wishful thinking to expect the monarch to take the initiative to transfer power. I wonder if Louis XVI regretted it before being sent to the guillotine.
Although it seems unreliable intuitively, after thinking about it calmly, it seems that there is no irreconcilable contradiction.
And the benefits that this wonderful ending brings to me... I can't refuse.
After sizing up the situation, Zhou Changfeng realized that he was about to achieve great success, and he couldn't help but feel happy, "I might be able to be a major general for two years and a general for five years."
The table in Zhu Lingjing's study room was piled with "memorials", stacks of them, at least dozens of them.
"Your Highness, why are there so many documents?" Zhou Changfeng asked curiously.
"They are all for the prince. They were accumulated in the past few days." Zhu Lingjing, who was sucking ink with a pen, replied casually.
Writing to the emperor is called "Zou", while writing to the prince is called "Qi". This is a rule set during the Yongle period.
Zhou Changfeng struggled with whether to congratulate her or not. After hesitating for a long time, he reluctantly said, "Well... Congratulations to Your Highness for becoming the second female emperor in history."
"There's nothing to be happy about. Outsiders can just flatter you, so you might as well speak the truth." Zhu Lingjing sighed, screwed up the pen and made a few strokes on the white paper next to her. "This job is not easy, and the burden is heavy." , grow old quickly and die early.”
"..." Because these words were too Versailles, Zhou Changfeng was speechless.
After a while, Zhu Lingjing raised her eyes to look at him and said casually: "The Navy will pass a formal decision on expansion next month, so you can prepare."
"good."
"You usually have too few interactions with people in the military, political, and business circles. It was fine in the past, but you can't do that again in the future. If you don't fit in with others, you will be squeezed out. Although contracts between the three are not allowed, it is difficult to separate these matters after all. .”
Zhu Lingjing said this without any reason, and Zhou Changfeng nodded in agreement, "Thank you, Your Highness, for reminding me."
Perhaps because she felt that he didn't pay much attention to him psychologically, Zhu Lingjing raised her voice slightly and warned in a very formal tone: "You don't know the truth about Mu Xiu Yu Lin, so don't take it to heart. Since there are people who want to curry favor with you, Naturally, there are also some who hate you, so while these days are generally peaceful, you can improve your relationship, otherwise it will be too late to regret it in the future when one party is in trouble and everyone is watching with cold eyes."
Although he knew her good intentions, Zhou Changfeng was extremely unhappy with the last sentence, and his blood pressure soared just thinking about it.
He said "Yes" and said disdainfully: "Standing on the sidelines? If someone dares to ignore the justice of the country, the friendly forces will be in trouble... If the military law does not sentence him to death, I will kill him."
Zhu Lingjing laughed angrily at him, she frowned and said: "Lawless! Now I finally know what it will be like to be a person who lacks father's discipline since childhood. If you dare to start this thing, I dare to say that you will be labeled a lot of things. Dismissed from office sadly."
Zhou Changfeng: "..."
That's too much! Although "Zhou Changfeng" did lose his father when he was young, I still have a father!
After a moment of silence, he said: "Actually, someone wanted to put his nephew into our department some time ago and wanted me to take care of him in the future... But I definitely didn't agree."
"It's just that I want to gain seniority and get some credit for my military exploits."
"Your Highness, this is definitely not possible. It will have a great impact on morale, so there is no need to discuss it."
"Then why don't you just step back and not follow the army? It's a matter of adding a name when reporting your merits." Zhu Lingjing looked at him with some disgust, "Did you tell Luo Fu before that you asked him to accompany you in the future? ?”
"Yes."
"It's okay, you can't even take care of yourself, and he can still take care of you together."
Zhou Changfeng did listen to Zhu Lingjing's suggestion, but he still planned to stick to his principles on matters that were directly related to his troops.
Did you go to the front line of bloodshed and sacrifice because of your connections? It's really hard to accept emotionally.
It can be said that Zhu Lingjing is accommodating Zhou Changfeng in many aspects. This does not mean that Zhou's personal charm is great, but that he has sufficient potential and should be able to live up to his expectations in the future and is worthy of accommodation.
You must know that mediocre people are mostly Adou who cannot be supported. Even if you give him a hundred thousand elites, he may not be able to achieve a good record.
Taking the example of Li Jinglong, the great hero of Jingnan, Zhu Lingjing knew this very well.
Ah! If Zhou Changfeng does nothing in the future, don't blame me for turning against him.
The last day of July.
In Nanjing, it is still an unbearably hot dog day. The scorching sun is scorching everything on the earth, and the vicious sunshine makes people feel like their skin is being burned.
But at the other end of the Eurasian continent, across the strait, London, located on the island of Great Britain, has a pleasant climate, with daytime temperatures of no more than 20°C.
There is a Georgian-style building that occupies most of the area in Downing Street. It is ten o'clock in the morning, and the Prime Minister and several ministers are discussing something inside.
The exquisite carpets are thick and heavy, the tables, chairs and sofas are gorgeous, and the interior decoration here is particularly elegant.
The Foreign Secretary said disdainfully: "The Chinese are really cunning, these hypocritical guys."
Some people even cursed angrily: "How despicable! We are trying our best to deal with the Germans, but they...damn it, they will suffer retribution!"
Because of the secret agreement reached with Deshe, Damingtong used Turkey as a middleman to export a series of strategic resources such as tungsten concentrate, molybdenum concentrate, nickel concentrate, and natural rubber to Deshe.
The benefits of spreading military power throughout the world are countless, and the Empire on which the Sun Never Sets still exerts an important influence around the world. From the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea, as well as the Suez Canal, an essential thoroughfare, British power is almost everywhere.
Last month, MI6 agents picked up on the clues.
Since then, they have begun to investigate the truth and have been carefully searching for evidence. Today, they finally have sufficient evidence to point out all this.
According to the agreement signed by Britain, France, and China, Ming Dynasty must terminate all long-term contracts after settling its final orders, and should no longer export strategic resources such as tungsten, molybdenum, nickel, and rubber to the Germans.
Good guy, one thing on the surface and another behind the scenes, right?
The British were very dissatisfied with this, and they planned to use this as an excuse to show Akito a tough attitude - not keeping promises is a villain's behavior!
However, the initial test should not be initiated by the British side, because it was the French who attached the most importance to the embargoed resources against Germany at the beginning. It should be the French side first, and then all together.
Moreover, France no longer has much power in Asia. Even if it falls out with Ming Dynasty because of bringing this matter to the table, the damage will be within control.
Once the two sides put it together, there were not many objections, and they quickly reached a consensus - hateful warmongers! We are doing everything possible to curb the spread of ▇▇▇▇ in Europe, but you continue to trade with it secretly?
On the second day of August, the weather was clear in the Mediterranean Sea, with 31°18′ north latitude and 32°15′ east longitude.
The Cheng'an is a cargo ship with a standard displacement of 7,000 tons. It has been traveling between Australia and Daming. Its more than ten voyages in the past were all about transporting iron ore.
But now she is leased to an Annan company and is on a new route that she has experienced, transporting various ores to Turkey.
Not long ago, the Chengan crossed the long Suez Canal, anchored in Port Said for half a day to replenish supplies, and then continued on the remaining voyage, heading north across the Mediterranean to reach its destination—— Antalya.
Two bearded sailors leaned against the side of the ship, smoking and chatting.
"This canal is really long. I only heard about it in the past, but seeing it with my own eyes is really extraordinary."
"More than three hundred and eighty miles, it's indeed long enough."
"How much manpower and material resources will be spent to repair this? I'm afraid it will take ten years to repair it?"
Historically, during the Second French Empire, as the American colonies were seized by Britain, France had to turn to the east to continue its development. Therefore, opening the Suez Canal had practical and urgent significance for France.
They then established the Suez Canal Company, which forced them to hire local Egyptians at low prices to dig canals through the arid desert.
You can imagine the hard work of doing extremely heavy labor in the desert, but the colonists didn't care about it. There was a severe shortage of drinking water, and many workers died of thirst; the food was poor, and countless workers were malnourished; and sanitation was poor, and many workers died of illness.
After eleven years, high costs and numerous engineering difficulties, the significant Suez Canal was officially opened to navigation on November 17, 1869. This day is also designated as the Canal Navigation Anniversary.
During this process, more than 120,000 Egyptians died due to different reasons, with an average of more than 700 people sacrificed per kilometer.
Suddenly, a crew member noticed something strange on the sea. He pointed into the distance and asked, "Huh? What kind of ship is that?"
Another person looked along and saw several warships appearing on the vast sea, with blue, white and red flags flying high.
"Damn! Is it a warship?!"
"The person who came here is not malicious. Hurry... tell the captain!"
In fact, out of safety considerations and in order to facilitate the wrangling after being discovered, the matter was entrusted to a newly built ocean shipping company in Annan. Even the freighter was leased. Most of the crew did not know about it, and only the core members knew something about it. Insider.
As for the British and French sides, their special choice of this time was also very meaningful. Although the crash of the Ming Crown Prince was kept strictly confidential, the actions of a large number of fighter planes and warships that went to search and rescue could not be concealed.
At that time, a Canadian merchant ship traveling from Batavia to Tianjin was only dozens of nautical miles away from the incident waters, and the crew saw many aircraft and ships passing by it.
This information was later collected by the British. They speculated on the worst outcome, but were eager to find out what happened. After this operation, a lot of information could be judged based on Akito's reaction.
(End of chapter)
