The southern tour has its political purpose, but one of the more important aspects is to support the integration of work and rest.
The fatigue of traveling for days gradually dissipates in the gentle countryside.
Zhu Houzhao took his concubines to sleep at night. Concubine Xian was unwell and could not be helped, while concubine Jing played with him for half the night. The clouds gathered on the pillow, revealing a delicate and beautiful scene.
The night was extremely sweet until I woke up in my natural state.
After such a rest, the young body suddenly felt refreshed, as if the fatigue of the past had gone with last night, and the body seemed much lighter.
With nothing to worry about, Zhu Houzhao acted as impudently as an emperor who did not go to court again, embracing this good man and counting the passage of time.
Concubine Jing was different from others. Others all chose the nearest concubine. Even if she was smiling and looking pretty, it was all by mistake. However, Concubine Jing was summoned to the palace by himself.
So he still cherishes it.
"I heard the Emperor's stomach growl, are you hungry?"
"No, don't disturb me." Zhu Houzhao slowly drew circles on her belly with his fingers, and his body pressed together.
"His Majesty."
"kindness?"
"I wonder when your Majesty will return to the capital?"
"What? Missing home?"
"No, I just feel that the weather is getting hotter. Your Majesty is always afraid of the heat. There is a way for me to return to the capital, but it is always inconvenient to do it outside."
"It doesn't matter, they will try their best to find a way."
Concubine Jing half-stretched her body, revealing a patch of snow-white color, "I have heard that there is an excellent place to cool off in the West Lake of Hangzhou. If Your Majesty feels hot, it would be a good idea to leave for Hangzhou as soon as possible."
"That's okay. Kui'er, have you been to Hangzhou before?"
"No."
"Where's Fengyang?"
"nor."
"Take this time to take a good look."
Concubine Jing said: "I want to bring some gifts to my mother, the empress, and the sisters in the palace. They haven't been here yet."
"There should be good things in these places. The water and soil in the south of the Yangtze River nourish people."
Perhaps this sentence is ambiguous.
Concubine Jing stared at him for a while.
Zhu Houzhao was confused, "What's wrong?"
"My concubine... I also heard that the little fish from Jiangnan are better."
Zhu Houzhao laughed loudly, "Kui'er is actually jealous."
"I don't dare." Concubine Jing was also joking. She didn't dare to be called jealous.
But privately, I did hear that some people had evil intentions. Secretly collecting beauties from all over the country, waiting to be presented to the emperor.
"Would your Majesty like it?"
Zhu Houzhao was surprised, "You still ask me this kind of question?"
"Sister Xianfei said she wanted to ask, but she didn't dare, so I asked on behalf of sister Xianfei."
"Concubine Xian? Why are you talking about this?"
"Because..." Concubine Jing thought for a while and then simply said, "Because Sister Xianfei returns to her parents' home this time and wants to bring someone with her so that she can have more people to talk to in the future. This is what she told me .”
But it is impossible for a man to bring someone into the palace. A woman must be the emperor's woman.
"Bringing people to the palace is not that simple." Zhu Houzhao scratched her nose, "You could do it so easily because you had Dr. Tan as your guarantee, and your mother and the ministers knew about you. The rest of the origins Unknown people…”
"How could the person Xian Fei knows be someone of unknown origin?"
Zhu Houzhao thought about it, and that was true.
"Does she really have such thoughts?"
"I said it once or twice."
"oh."
…
…
Zhu Houzhao didn't get up until almost noon because he was really hungry.
The ministers were not in a hurry to find him.
There is nothing else important today, the sacrifice is arranged later. The most important thing is to meet with the governors of Huguang, Henan and Jiangxi and listen to their reports on their respective government and military affairs.
But when they met, Zhu Houzhao went straight to the point. He said: "Since I left Beijing, Shandong has been better. No matter where I go, I will inevitably encounter some resentment among the people. Local wealthy families, powerful people, gentry, etc. , no matter what they are called, they are still powerful people. They oppress the people, and they do so badly. As for you, you shouldn't be much better, right?"
The governor of Henan is still Peng Ze. Zhu Houzhao has been governor in several places for a long time, with good results. Therefore, people with good official reputations have not been moved for the time being. Peng Ze is one of them.
This gives them a longer time to heal a spot.
The governor of Huguang was Xie Qian, and this was also the case.
The governor of Jiangxi took office in the eighth year of Zhengde's reign, and his name was Jing Shaokui. He came through the ranks of prefect and chief envoy.
The emperor has mainly promoted this kind of officials in recent years, and Jing Shaokui is one of them. He is probably in his early forties, but his appearance is not good-looking, he is a bit short and his face is round. For this reason, he was never able to pass the Jinshi examination.
Yes, he is just a judge.
But it doesn't matter, as long as he is indeed an cadre and capable minister, Emperor Zhengde will dare to appoint him boldly.
For a feudal dynasty, the biggest problem at this time is land annexation. If the problem of farmers farming is solved, it can basically survive for half a century.
The characteristic of Jing Shaokui is that he will solve this problem wherever he becomes an official. This is a matter of great significance. Zhu Houzhao has always attached great importance to this person and has been supporting him secretly to reach his current position as governor.
Peng Ze, Xie Qian and Jing Shaokui were all the emperor's confidants, but they had no confidence to face this new problem.
Peng Ze said: "I heard about this in Henan and learned about it secretly. The situation in various prefectures in Henan... is not optimistic."
Xie Qian and Jing Shaokui couldn't say anything different.
Zhu Houzhao sighed, "So I have been thinking about an issue these days. Many of these people are local gentry. When I look at those case files, the issue of land donation is already shocking. In this matter, the court actually It’s to help them.”
Xie Qian was confused, "I wonder what your Majesty means by this?"
"Because they can get rid of money and food, ordinary people want to put the land in their names. This is a matter of asking people, how can they not give some benefits? If one family is like this, then every family will be like this. If this continues, isn't it just the imperial court that encourages it? Lose their prestige?"
Jing Shaokui agreed very much, "Your Majesty's words are to the point. I remember that the imperial court in the ninth year of Zhengde also discussed the issue of land donation. However, it is particularly difficult to put an end to this matter. This is a private behavior among the people, and the government It is often beyond the reach of the whip, so before Zhengde, the court was actually aware of this situation, but it was difficult to effectively prevent it."
"To tell you the truth, I have been thinking about this issue all the time." Zhu Houzhao, who had been carrying them on his back, suddenly turned around and said, "Let's talk behind closed doors. What do you think if the imperial court cancels the exemption of gentry?"
The three of them were shocked at the same time. This was a big deal.
"Your Majesty, this matter must not be taken lightly!" Peng Ze said seriously.
"I know. But the gentry are all wealthy owners. I charge them a certain amount of tax according to the land. They won't fight the court to the end just for this little family wealth, right?"
Xie Qian said: "I'm afraid that if this is true, it will alienate the gentry from the court. Among the people, there is still a saying that rice is good and rice is grudged against rice."
This is Zhu Houzhao's first time to test his ministers, and this step must be taken after all. "There are always difficulties... but there are pros and cons, and the pros are not small, aren't they?"
