Although Jiajing was eccentric and moody before, as long as you serve him well, get him money, give him all kinds of rare treasures, and flatter him, he will be satisfied with you.
But the current new emperor doesn't seem to be too interested in this.
The palace's expenses were reduced to 100,000 taels. It might cost more than that for the emperor to embroider a new dragon robe.
"Everyone" thinking of this, Xu Jie spoke.
Li Chunfang, Zhao Zhenji and others sat opposite Xu Gaozhang and looked towards them as Xu Jie opened his mouth.
"Your Majesty has put so much pressure on the palace's expenses. This is not acceptable! This is too shabby. Should we try to persuade His Majesty again?"
"Mr. Li Ge, what do you think?"
Li Chunfang, who was named, adjusted her sitting position, "Frugality is indeed too frugal. Emperor Taizu Gao can be said to be the most frugal emperor in the Ming Dynasty, but the palace expenses of the Hongwu Dynasty were more than 300,000 taels."
"But I don't think we should admonish His Majesty in person."
Gao Gong asked, "What about that?"
Li Chunfang looked at Zhang Juzheng.
The latter understood it and asked, "Does Mr. Li Ge mean to add more to the palace expenses of the Hubu and Guanglu Temple?"
"Exactly!" Li Chunfang said, "Your Majesty has just ascended the throne and is determined to make progress. He wants to be a wise king. It is good to be frugal and self-disciplined, but as ministers, we cannot watch our father suffer like this!"
"But if you give me face-to-face advice, your Majesty's energy may be hindered, and your Majesty may not agree, so we might as well just add some more to the limit set by your Majesty."
Zhang Juzheng thought for a moment, felt it made sense, and nodded in agreement.
Li Chunfang's plan was that judging from the emperor's performance just now, he was very tough on this, and the cabinet going back to dissuade him might make the emperor dislike the newly formed cabinet.
He really didn't want to experience the situation like the Jiajing Dynasty where the emperor and the ministers were enemies.
In this case, just add some money to the limit given by the emperor, so that even if the emperor knows that they are resisting the decree, he probably won't pursue them.
This is like the boss saying that I will have lunch with you starting today, and you will give me whatever you want for lunch.
It turns out that if you really buy street food for people every day, does your boss really not mind?
You have to add a tea egg anyway, right?
"That's it!" Xu Jie nodded, "Don't tell His Majesty, how about adding another 100,000 taels on top of the 100,000 taels?"
Zhang Juzheng nodded, "Then the Household Department will follow the wishes of the two pavilion elders!"
Gao Gong on the side did not interrupt, but absentmindedly played with the two lion heads in his hands, his face seemed a little unhappy.
"I don't agree!" Zhao Zhenji suddenly interrupted.
"Your Majesty's decree is for 100,000 taels, so it must be 100,000 taels. Any additional penny must be approved by His Majesty."
"Master Zhao!" Xu Jie said, "We don't want His Majesty to live too hard!"
Zhao Zhenji said with a serious face, "I only know that your Majesty's decree cannot be changed casually by your ministers!"
Guo Pu beside him also responded, "Today, for the sake of Your Majesty, the palace's expenses are increased. Tomorrow, for the sake of His Majesty, will we also increase the taxes of the people?"
These two people are selfless people. They are not opposed to increasing expenditures for the palace, but they are opposed to Xu Jie and others' secret violation of the imperial edict.
After all, there were eunuchs and strict party members in the Jiajing Dynasty who did a lot of evil in the name of doing good for the emperor.
Xu Jie's actions touched Zhao Zhenji's nerves.
"you…"
Xu Jie turned around and looked at Gao Gong, "Su Qing, what do you think?"
Gao Gong then turned his head and said angrily, "I think it's not up to us to decide whether His Majesty is doing well or not."
"If your Majesty thinks that 100,000 taels is not enough, you can order more in the future!"
Xu Jie shook his head helplessly, "In this case, I'd better give advice to Your Majesty tomorrow."
Zhang Juzheng still nodded.
When he first arrived, he could only follow the teacher's footsteps closely, and it was not his turn to express his own opinions yet.
Xu Jie was very unhappy. He just wanted to show his loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor and test the Emperor's temper. However, he did not want to bear the risk of being scolded and disgusted by the Emperor alone. He invited the cabinet to see how the Emperor's temper fell. .
As a result, no one except his own students looked down upon him!
Sure enough, this cabinet team is not easy to manage!
"If nothing happens, then everyone can go back to work."
Hearing this, Gao Gong was the first to rush out of the cabinet door.
Zhao Zhenji and Guo Pu followed.
Only Li Chunfang hesitated for a while, said goodbye to Xu Jie, and walked out.
Only Zhang Juzheng was left by his side.
"Why!"
"Mr. Ge, don't sigh!" Zhang Juzheng said, "The student union will follow you to the end of this journey."
Xu Jie looked at Zhang Juzheng with satisfaction and nodded kindly.
Then he added, "I'm afraid this road will be more difficult!"
~~
In the evening, Huangji Palace.
All preparations for the banquet have been made. Dozens of tables were placed in the hall, covered with precious tablecloths, and various gold and silver tableware were also placed in a dazzling array.
However, none of the good wine or food was served.
In the palace, the princes of the Zhu family were also deserted and embarrassed.
Although their surname is Zhu, they are almost strangers.
In the Ming Dynasty, the vassal kings could not leave their fiefdoms, so that now, more than 100 years after the Ming Dynasty, the descendants of these vassal kings almost do not know each other.
Zhu Tingzhi, the acting king, looked at this scene and felt angry. He grabbed a eunuch and shouted, "Why aren't you serving food? The tables and chairs are all set up. What are you doing if you don't serve wine and don't serve food?"
The little eunuch trembled and said, "Go back to your Majesty, the food and drinks will come later, come later!"
"A bunch of trash!"
Zhu Tingzhi kicked the little eunuch and knocked him to the ground.
This move was seen by Feng Bao in the dark.
He is the thirteenth son of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, a descendant of Zhu Gui, the seventh generation king.
Now the oldest of these vassal kings, so unlike the slightly timid Zhu family, he dared to roar in the Huangji Palace.
After a while, a group of young eunuchs began to serve dishes, but what they served was not dishes, but bowls of ordinary white rice porridge.
Sitting together, King Lu Zhu Yitan and King Shen Zhu Tianxuan looked at each other with shock and confusion in their eyes.
When the acting king Zhu Tingqi saw this, he became furious again.
"How dare you, slave! How dare you eat something that even these pigs won't eat!"
Then he stood up and started beating the eunuch closest to him.
"Without fish or meat, how can I, the king, eat it? What a piece of shit!"
The older King Lu couldn't stand it anymore and stood up to stop him, "King Dai! This is the Royal Palace!"
The acting king Zhu Tingshu's eyes widened in anger, "So what, let these dog slaves insult us like this?"
"I…"
King Lu was shocked by his appearance, stopped talking, and sat back again.
"Who asked you to bring these things up? You won't even eat dog food or pigs! Dog slaves!" Zhu Tingzhi kicked the eunuch lying on the ground.
At this time, a cold and harsh voice came from outside Qianqing Palace:
"I asked them to come up!"
