Zhu Youxiao was not in Qianqing Palace most of the time, but worked hard in his carpentry room.
At this moment, he was wearing an apron, holding a carving knife in his hand, and was looking at a golden nanmu screen in front of him.
This screen had already taken him more than half a month from cutting to assembling the wood. The remaining work was carving, polishing and painting.
In this regard, Zhu Youxiao has a great craftsman spirit and strives to achieve excellence in every detail. At this moment, when he heard Wei Zhongxian calling "Your Majesty" beside him, he said without raising his head:
"This screen is just for critical moments, so don't bother me if you have nothing to do."
Wei Zhongxian had already figured out Zhu Youxiao's temper. In the past, he often deliberately chose the most important time for Zhu Youxiao's carpentry work. At this moment, Zhu Youxiao was basically not in the mood to listen to what he had to say. He waved his hand and said, "Just do whatever you want."
Therefore, this resulted in Wei Zhongxian's dominance in the court.
In the past, Wei Zhongxian thought that he was very smart and could fool the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. As an eunuch, he was considered to be at the top of his game.
But today he felt a little uneasy, because he suddenly realized that he had never seen the young emperor clearly before him.
"Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty is now financially empty. Sun Chengzong is having a hard time going to Liaodong. The old slave thinks that the industrial and commercial tax should be opened. Only in this way can our Ming Dynasty become more prosperous. As long as we have money, we can refuse the money outside the customs externally, and we can fundamentally cut it off internally. The rogue bandits are causing chaos, and I hope Your Majesty will give you permission."
Wei Zhongxian finished speaking in one breath and stared at Zhu Youxiao closely, trying to see some clues from the other person's expression.
Who knew that Zhu Youxiao, as usual, didn't take it seriously at all. He waved at Wei Zhongxian and said lightly:
"The Holy Lady mentioned this to me. I think it's a good idea. It's up to you to handle this matter."
Wei Zhongxian looked at Zhu Youxiao's expression and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He murmured in his heart:
"Am I worrying too much, or is His Majesty pretending to be confused as always?"
Thinking of this, he said again: "In today's Zhuyuan Poetry Meeting, Lin Ping'an, the director of Taiyuan Hospital, also mentioned this matter. He also advocated the introduction of industrial and commercial tax."
After saying this, he looked at Zhu Youxiao closely.
Who knew that Zhu Youxiao looked normal and didn't seem surprised at all, or maybe he didn't care about this matter at all. He just nodded slightly and said:
"This guy is the director of the Imperial Hospital, but he also runs a restaurant to make money. The perfumes he gave to the Queen are also used to make money. It's not surprising for a businessman like him to think of this."
After saying this, he picked up the carving knife in his hand and cut it on the screen. After a while, he said again:
"These were originally very ordinary pieces of wood, but in my hands they turned into such exquisite screens. Do you know why?"
"Of course it's because His Majesty is so skilled!"
Wei Zhongxian replied without thinking.
Zhu Youxiao shook his head, turned to look at Wei Zhongxian, raised the carving knife in his hand, and said seriously:
“That’s because my hands are steady and my knife is fast!
If the hand is not steady, the lines will not be smooth, and if the knife is not fast, the lines will be uneven. "
Zhu Youxiao patted Wei Zhongxian and said lightly: "Of course you, a layman, don't understand these principles."
After saying this, he ignored Wei Zhongxian and concentrated on starting his carving again.
Wei Zhongxian was a little confused for a moment. He vaguely felt that Zhu Youxiao's words were very high-end, and there seemed to be something behind them, but for a moment he was a little confused.
"Steady hand? Fast knife?"
He murmured in his heart, bowed to Zhu Youjian and then retreated.
On the way back,
Wei Zhongxian pondered over Zhu Youxiao's words, and the more he thought about them, the more profound they became.
"Steady hand, quick knife?" He murmured to himself again, and suddenly his heart shook, and he understood.
"Is Your Majesty telling me that he has always been very knowledgeable about the Ming Dynasty, and I am the knife in his hand?"
Wei Zhongxian couldn't help but be shocked when he thought of this.
"Then if this knife doesn't work well, will he find another knife?"
Cold sweat began to break out on his back, and he felt that he understood the meaning behind Zhu Youxiao's words in an instant.
"terrible!"
He finally couldn't help shouting softly in his mouth, and at the same time strengthened his judgment in his heart.
That is, the person standing behind Lin Ping'an is definitely the night watchman, and can even be said to be His Majesty the Emperor, and the thirteen-year-old boy is just a newly found knife by the Emperor, but this knife is not as sharp as himself for the time being. That’s all.
After thinking about this clearly, Wei Zhongxian felt relieved and was secretly glad that he did not put Lin Ping'an to death because of Zhou Yingqiu's incident.
In the carpentry room, Zhu Youxiao's hand slowly stopped, and the gaze in his eyes became as sharp as the carving knife in his hand.
"Lin Ping'an actually proposed to start industrial and commercial tax?"
He thought silently in his mind, a trace of doubt rising in his heart.
Keshi mentioned this matter in his ears two days ago, and he knew that this must be Wei Zhongxian's idea.
But it was a good idea. At that time, he was still somewhat impressed by Wei Zhongxian. He didn't expect that this eunuch who couldn't read a word could come up with such an idea.
But now he heard that Lin Ping'an also made such a claim, which made him a little confused.
Lin Ping'an is just a thirteen-year-old boy, how can he understand these important national affairs?
So if he doesn't understand, who taught him to say these words?
"Could it be that the Hakka family saw that I didn't express my position at that time, so they asked Lin Ping'an to express it in front of the public at the Zhuyuan Poetry Recital to build momentum?"
Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but frowned when he thought of this.
"If that's the case, how did the Hakka family and Lin Ping'an get together?"
"Is it because Lin Ping'an went to treat Ke's headache last time and the two of them came into contact?"
Thinking of this, Zhu Youxiao shook his head instantly, because he knew the Hakka family too well. This woman was too big-breasted and brainless to think of this.
The only explanation is that Wei Zhongxian ordered all this.
"But isn't Lin Pingan a Tianmai practitioner?"
"How could it be possible to follow Wei Zhongxian's arrangements?"
Zhu Youxiao murmured in his mouth that when he heard from Hua Fangfang that Lin Ping'an was a Tianmai practitioner, he was a little stunned.
This was the first time he heard the words Tianmai Zhe, and a burst of ecstasy followed.
The birth of Tianmai people means that God is blessing the Ming Dynasty, but Hua Fangfang said that Tianmai people have their own style of doing things, and others do not need to interfere. Even the emperor, it is best not to give more instructions.
So he could only pretend to know nothing about it.
He knew better than anyone else what kind of situation the Ming court was in. As long as the game between Wei Zhongxian and the Donglin Party and even the Zhejiang Party could be controlled within a certain range, this was a situation that he, the emperor, was more willing to see.
But if the Tianmai people and Wei Zhongxian get together, then it is absolutely impossible!
This matter was very strange. Zhu Youxiao was unable to determine the relationship between Lin Ping'an and Wei Zhongxian. He felt a little headache, so he walked out of the carpentry room and walked towards Zhang Yan's Kunning Palace.
Looking at the "The Biography of Zhao Gao" in Zhang Yan's hand, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but smile in his heart.
Obviously, when the queen heard that he was coming, she temporarily took this book in her hand. How could he not know its purpose? It was just to remind herself not to reuse the eunuch Wei Zhongxian.
"A woman is a woman after all!"
Zhu Youxiao sighed in his heart: "If there were no Wei Zhongxian, wouldn't the Donglin Party and the Zhejiang Party want to annoy me to death?"
Zhang Yan put down the "Zhao Gao Biography" in her hand and looked at Zhu Youxiao with her beautiful eyes. She was a little strange. At this time, Zhu Youxiao was usually in the carpentry room. Why was he interested in coming to her place today? ?
"I have a headache. Queen, please massage it for me."
Zhu Youxiao said and lay down on the couch.
Zhang Yan sat in front of Zhu Youxiao's head, stretched out ten slender jade fingers and pressed them on Zhu Youxiao's temples, and asked softly:
"What is your Majesty so worried about that you are so exhausted?"
Zhu Youxiao said with his eyes closed: "Lin Ping'an actually asked me to start the industrial and commercial tax. Do you think it's funny?"
Zhang Yan was shocked when she heard this, "Isn't he from Tai Hospital? And he's just a teenager?"
Zhu Youxiao was silent for a long time, and then he said:
"Actually, he is a Tianmai practitioner!"
