The Spring Festival of the eighteenth year of Wanli was still cold, so much so that the earth dragon was turned on early in the palace. From the Qianqing Palace to the East and West harems, relying on Jinghua's continuous supply of coal mines, there is no need to worry about the cold winter. All these expenses only cost about thirty to forty thousand taels per year. Relying on the dividends from the Liaonan Saltworks, the emperor did not care about this.
Now that the Spring Festival has passed, His Majesty the Emperor in the palace has been freed from a series of ceremonial activities and is currently resting in the Qianqing Palace. However, his mood does not seem to be very good, and his face is even a little gloomy.
Taking a cup of tea from a lacquered gold plate in the hands of a palace maid, the faint fragrance of tea was refreshing. Zhu Yijun smacked it gently with his lips and looked thoughtfully at the two-color azure and crimson tea. The Yu Porcelain Dark Dragon Cup allows you to admire the exquisite art known as "Jun Porcelain Unparalleled" since ancient times (Yu Porcelain is the Jun Porcelain of the Gao family, avoiding the word Jun of Zhu Yijun).
The person serving the emperor today is Zhang Cheng. He fully understands the emperor's thoughts, but he does not plan to speak first. Instead, he prepares to wait for the emperor to raise that extremely important issue first, lest the emperor's mind changes in the future. I won't be able to afford it.
The few palace maids and eunuchs who were waiting nearby were silent and secretly observed the emperor's facial expressions, even his subtle movements and expressions when he looked at the tea cup. They were also guessing what confidential matters the emperor would ask Zhang Cheng about. These important matters were not something they dared to hear, and they did not want to know at all. However, they did not see any instructions from the emperor, and they did not dare to actively avoid them.
These palace maids and eunuchs usually do not need to wait for the emperor to speak. They will naturally act according to his eyebrows, lips, beard and any other parts or any slight movements, completely in line with the emperor's wishes.
When the emperor's eyes just left the tea cup, a palace maid immediately stepped forward, took the tea cup with a lacquered gold plate in her hands, and walked out carefully. The rest of the palace maids and eunuchs seemed to have been instructed and acted together in a tacit understanding. They all retreated in an orderly manner, quietly but in an orderly manner.
Soon, Zhu Yijun stood up, walked back and forth in Xinuan Pavilion for a while, and then asked in a low voice: "I heard that the Ministry of Revenue is very busy this year, right?"
"Yes, nothing can escape the eyes of the emperor." Zhang Cheng said cautiously: "This year, there are twice as many things in the household department as in previous years. If it were in the past, it would not be unusual for local officials to give up their jobs in a hurry...but it's not too high. For people like Situ, even if everything is complicated, it will be in order in his hands, so the emperor does not have to worry."
"Well, there is no need to say more about his pragmatic talents." Zhu Yijun said, paused slightly, and seemed to say casually: "Not only are these things not difficult for him, he even has time to do other things."
Zhang Cheng also seemed to be very casual and quickly answered: "Your Majesty, are you talking about Lu Song?"
Zhu Yijun stood by the window, looked at the flying snow outside the window, and said in an elusive tone: "I remember that in the early years, someone always told me that today's nobles would not know how to fight. I can only rely on the kindness of my ancestors to handle matters such as sacrifices for the Tian family.
Zhu Yingzhen and Zhang Yuangong also often said that they were worthy of the honor of their ancestors. In the past few years, when the Beijing camp was divided into two parts, they were willing to give up their duties in the Imperial Guard and only take care of the production and construction corps.
But I never expected that the servants of this group of people, once they received pragmatic command - not even direct command, would be able to send troops thousands of miles away and show their power in foreign countries... Why do you think this is? ? "
Zhang Cheng's heart was moved, but he still didn't dare to be presumptuous. He just continued to say cautiously: "I think those foreign soldiers are really ineffective, and they are far inferior to the Mongols, right?"
"Well, there is probably some truth to this." Zhu Yijun said calmly: "But what I am curious about is that since the country of Luzon was occupied by the Red Barbarians, and the Red Barbarians had such huge cannons decades ago, it can be seen that The extraordinary barbarians have some tricks up their sleeves after all.
However, the pragmatic thing was just to send people to go south with a group of servants of nobles, and they actually defeated Hongyi with overwhelming force... This is strange. I think about it, when the Guangdong navy described the Hongyi in the early years, it was not that the Hongyi were vulnerable, but that they had strong ships and huge cannons, and they had few opponents across Southeast Asia. You say...is this the Guangdong Navy trying to deceive Shengcong again? "
"This... this servant only knows how to serve the emperor, so how do you know these things clearly? If the emperor has any questions, why not call Gao Situ into the palace, and it will be clear once you ask, right?" Zhang Cheng lowered his head and answered.
Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: "I would like to summon him to ask, but hasn't Huang Zhiting returned to Beijing? His wife and he are usually thousands of miles apart, so it is not easy for them to get together. Now that I have summoned him to ask, it will be unavoidable. Being inconsiderate is not the way to be a king."
"Then... how about sending an envoy to Gao Situ's residence to find out more?"
"What's the difference?" Zhu Yijun turned his back to Zhang Cheng and waved his hand casually: "Based on my understanding of pragmatism, as long as I send someone over to ask about this matter, he will definitely come to the palace to see you immediately. It's snowing so heavily now. , he came here with the north wind blowing all the way, should I not feel guilty after seeing him?"
Zhang Cheng was shocked when he heard this, and secretly reminded himself to be careful, but as soon as he said it, he seemed to have no intention at all: "The emperor is joking, as the saying goes: Thunder, rain, and dew are all the kindness of the king. Several generations of the Gao Situ family have Bathed in divine grace, he himself is a role model for courtiers. Whenever the emperor has orders, Situ will obey them. It has been nearly ten years since Gengchen entered the official position as the leader of the golden list. In the past ten years, Gao Situ has served as a foreign official twice. This is a wild and remote place. How could I have heard him complain at all?
Although there was some controversy in the court about some of his practices when he was in charge of foreign affairs, but with the ears and eyes of slaves and slaves, no matter what the nobles are, they have to admit that if Gao Situ was in Guangxi, the southern border would be determined; if he was in Liaodong, the Jurchens would be peaceful; When he sent to Fengzhou, the Western captives followed; when he left the Hetao, he passed the Longping... Under such a great achievement, even if he did something out of the ordinary, based on the humble opinion of the slave, I expected that Gao Situ had his own reasons, and he probably had to do it. For you. "
"Huh?" Zhu Yijun turned around with some surprise, stared at Zhang Cheng for a few times, nodded and said: "You have made a lot of progress, which is rare."
Zhang Cheng said quickly: "I dare not praise the emperor. Not to mention that I only know how to serve the emperor. Even if I really make some progress, it must be because of being around the emperor."
"Haha." Zhu Yijun smiled, not noticing that Zhang Cheng's previous words had actually given Gao pragmatic eye drops, and he just said casually: "Pragmatic is a good person in everything, but his move to gather financial power this year is really... ...Well, some of the moves were too big. I know that his talent is unparalleled, but right now many people in the outer court are waiting to see him in a hurry, but he just doesn't take it seriously, thinking that these things will not trouble him...
Alas, in fact, I also know that he seems to be a peaceful person and is gentle to everyone, but in fact he is quite arrogant and dares to be the first in the world. This is no different from Mr. Gao back then. It's just that Mr. Gao's pride is not hidden in his words and deeds, but his pragmatic pride is only hidden in his actions.
But this is what I am most worried about. With Mr. Gao's personality, those who are his enemies will usually resort to face-to-face confrontation. However, if there are those who are pragmatic enemies, I am afraid more of them will have to attack behind the scenes.
In the past, due to Pragmatic's various achievements, this move would probably not have been easy, but last year's move to consolidate financial power was too ruthless. I heard that now even the little money that each ministry government spends on buying pens, inks, paper and inkstones is recorded in their accounts and handed over to the Accounts Department for review. If something is too expensive, it will be inspected one by one by a group of eighth- and ninth-grade officials, and they may even be ordered to return it or make up for it with their own money...
Of course I know that pragmatically doing this is for me and the court, but when the water is clear, there will be no fish, and when people are careful, there will be no disciples. This is the most sincere and reasonable statement. The crown is in front of the ears, so it obscures the light; the hair is deaf, so it blocks the ears. There are things that are clear but not seen, and things that are wise but not heard. To promote great virtues and forgive small faults, there is no need to be prepared for the righteousness of one person.
Today's pragmatic move is to seek perfection from all officials. Every entry is entered into the accounts and everything is supervised. I am afraid that if he makes any mistake, it will be the same situation as before. "
"Of course what the emperor said makes sense, but I don't expect that with Gao Situ's talent, how could he make any mistakes?"
Zhang Cheng smiled, bowed his head and said: "Nowadays, the barbarian states everywhere in the north, south, west and east are all afraid of Gao Situ like a tiger. When they hear the name of Situ, they will kowtow to the north, tremble and dare not speak.
The imperial treasury is also rich due to Gao Situ's talents. This year's annual income is so high that it is said that it may exceed ten million. With such a huge sum of money in Situ's hands, yet all the government offices in the central government were under Situ's control, as the emperor said, even the purchase of pens, inks, paper and inkstones. Who dared to do harm to Situ?
Just now, the emperor asked why the nobles, under the command of Gao Situ, could even sweep away a group of servants and conquer Luzon in a few months... The slave thought, maybe it was because they did not dare to offend Situ Huwei? After all, the Production and Construction Corps was also founded by Situ, and today's profits depend on cooperation with Jinghua. If Gao Situ is harmed, where can he find such a huge sum of money? "
After Zhu Yijun heard this, he didn't speak for a long time. After a long time, he waved his hand and said, "You can go down, I want to read for a while."
Zhang Cheng responded honestly and exited in a dignified manner.
Zhu Yijun walked to the window again, was silent for a long time, then walked to the imperial couch and sat down with his lower buttocks leaning on the edge of the bed, as if there was someone lying on the imperial couch, and he seemed to be carefully serving that person. people.
"Father, you taught me back then, saying, 'Every minister in the world has selfish motives, and no one will be completely aligned with the emperor, because in the final analysis, the world belongs to the emperor, not to him.'
I don't understand. When I asked you what to do, you said, 'Select people and use them.' Wealth, of course, there is something else, and we want both. '
You ask me, if I become emperor, how will I choose? I said, naturally choose the one who seeks fame. But you are wrong, saying, 'You have to use any one, it just depends on how you use it. '
Later you said, "When the emperor employs people, there are actually only two things to consider: whether the emperor can afford to give them what they want, and whether he is willing to give it." '
Then you and I slowly said, "It takes three days to test jade, and seven years to identify materials." Now let alone three years, even seven years have passed. It stands to reason that his son has already seen clearly that pragmatism is the real talent of the king and he is loyal enough to his son.
As Zhang Cheng said, no matter where he was in office or what his situation was, he never complained. He did everything his son asked him to do, and he could always do more... Only such a person can serve his son. , is not only a blessing for his son, but also a blessing for Ming Dynasty.
However, you have never told your son what his attitude should be if his talent reaches his level and his power becomes so great that all the countries around the Ming Dynasty look down and bow.
The authority you gave Mr. Gao back then was extremely important. He was the chief minister and also in charge of all affairs. The world's political affairs almost depended on him. I asked you about it, but you said that it didn't matter. You said, 'In the Ming Dynasty, no matter how powerful a civil official is, as long as you don't relax on two points, at least you don't have to worry about this person becoming Wang Mang. '
My son still remembers the two points you mentioned clearly, that is, factory guards and Beijing camp.
However, among the factory guards today, Chen Ju from Dongchang has been friends with pragmatism for more than ten years and respects pragmatism as a teacher; among the Jinyi, there are two governors in the north and south, one is his cousin and the other is his cousin. Even though we have never heard of Pragmatic intervening in factory security, this situation seems to be unreasonable.
The capital camp was originally controlled by nobles and nobles. Your nobles and our heavenly family share weal and woe, and our ancestors can rest assured. But now the Beijing camp is divided into two parts. Qi Jiguang, the commander of the Imperial Guard, has been under Jing Shi's disciples for many years, and he obeys Jing Shi's words like a disciple worshiping his mentor;
The Construction Corps is still in charge of the deployment of military registered military households and the production of military garrison fields. However, because it cooperates so much with Beijing, if it opposes pragmatism, it will inevitably take action. Not to mention that after the establishment of the Sea Trade Alliance, the nobles followed pragmatic business. Although this brought huge benefits to the court, it also made the nobles dare not have any objections to pragmatic..."
Zhu Yijun bent down, put his elbows on his knees, put his hands on his forehead, and said to himself: "Pragmatism does not have the power of government, but the shadow of the chief assistant of the three generations is all in his body; pragmatism does not mean that of assistant ministers, but cabinet management Which political decision would dare go against his will?
You think, can this factory guard now be considered his son’s factory guard? Can this Jingying camp still be regarded as my son’s Jingying camp? What would you do if you were in your son's situation? "
He sighed, stood up, walked around the imperial couch several times, and then said: "My son still feels that pragmatism has no ill intentions towards his son, but it's just that now... you think he is so powerful, he will Could it be that we have already reached the point of "flying dragon in the sky"? If we continue to turn a blind eye, will we have "a dragon with regrets" next?
With your great wisdom, if you were faced with this situation, where would you proceed so that the situation would not get out of control and pragmatism would not misunderstand your son's thoughts? "
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