Prodigal Son of the Ming Dynasty

  Chapter 70 Shengjun

  The heavy snow has not shown signs of stopping. For more than ten days in a row, the weather has only become colder and colder. Countless people have complained about the terrible weather, but it has also made the anthracite dug out of the Xishan Coal Mine almost in short supply.

  The whole city of Beijing has long been a vast expanse of whiteness. The flakes of snow swaying in the air, like dandelions, fall on this ancient capital layer by layer, making this mottled and grand city a new suit.

  The defenders of Andingmen would open the city gate on time, and the soldiers who were breathing white gas, their faces stiffened by the cold, crawled into the door opening, holding their hands, ready to check the flow of people entering and leaving the city.

   It's just that the weather is such that there are very few people entering the city.

  Outside the gate of the city, there was a vast expanse of white snow, and the new snow showed no signs of being trampled or destroyed.

   Only at the end of the snow-covered official road, the sound of horseshoes came in a hurry.

This cheered up the defenders, and in the confusion, they saw the figures of a man and a horse emerging from the white mist like ghosts. The knight on the horse seemed to be frozen, but the horse under his seat was walking around. Countless snow piled up on the hooves, and there was a snort in the mouth.

  The knight was carrying a bamboo tube on his back, and there were obvious traces of wax paint in the bamboo tube. He was wearing a black jacket, and he was covered with dust. When the new army in the doorway saw him rushing like a whirlwind, they retreated subconsciously, not daring to stop him.

This is an urgent report from the courier shop eight hundred miles away. The keen defenders can tell that it is from the southwest just by looking at the other party's appearance. Put it into a bamboo tube and seal it with glutinous rice.

   It's just... such an urgent report, under normal circumstances, is rarely used. Southwest... something happened?

  …

  Fang Jifan is always late every time he arrives at Zhan Shifu, because...he is lazy.

But it doesn't matter, because the Baihu adults above have already ordered the urns for him, which makes Fang Jifan owe the Baihu adults a favor. Fang Jifan wonders if this guy wants to show his favor to him, but these trivial things, he I didn't keep it in mind, and when I arrived at Zhan Shi's mansion, I saw Zhu Houzhao riding a horse, wearing a velvet python robe, and said to Fang Jifan in a refreshed manner: "Old Fang, you are late again? Come on, let's go see you." .”

   "Jianjia..." Fang Jifan was a little guilty. In fact, he was not afraid of anyone in the capital, but Jianjia... made him panic. His Majesty the Emperor seemed kind on the surface, but he always felt that he was a bit of a thief.

For example, Emperor Hongzhi snatched half of the shares in the coal mine without hesitation. Although the shares belonged to Zhu Houzhao, it was so natural and he did not treat himself as an outsider at all. Fang Jifan felt that behind the magnanimity of Emperor Hongzhi, there was He has a bandit side; for another example, he wanted to build an iron workshop and make tools in Xishan. He thought it would be easy, but the emperor couldn't deny it. What does this mean?

  Fang Jifan smiled: "I won't go, Your Highness will take care of it. I must be loyal to my duties and guard the house for Your Highness. This is my duty."

Zhu Houzhao bared his teeth: "Don't be so wordy, you don't want to see him, do you think I want to see you? I always feel that my right eye is always twitching today, which is a sign of being beaten, but there are people in the palace. I have ordered you to enter the palace with me."

  Fang Jifan laughed dryly: "That's great, I have long wanted to see His Majesty, and I want to express my heart, haha...haha..."

   The smile was a bit false, then Liu Jin had already brought Fang Jifan a horse, and Fang Jifan got on the horse.

All the way into the palace from Chongwenmen, the two got off their horses and walked, shoulder to shoulder, stepping on the snow-covered bricks and stones in the palace. Zhu Houzhao thought thoughtfully: "This palace is still not reconciled. coal mine."

  Fang Jifan has long understood that although Zhu Houzhao is confused, he has an ambition. He is different from the scum like Jifan in front of him.

  It’s just that from the emperor to the civil and military courts of the Manchu Dynasty, they all regarded him as a child. Even in history, after Zhu Houzhao ascended the throne, he was just the object of coaxing by a group of ministers, doing big things...no way.

  Fang Jifan couldn't help but looked at Zhu Houzhao sympathetically, but squinted his eyes again, with a hint of cunning flashing in his eyes as always: "Your Highness, it's actually too easy to get rich."

   "Oh?" Zhu Houzhao's eyes lit up: "Old Fang, I already know that you have a solution?"

  As soon as Fang Jifan heard that he was called Lao Fang, he wanted to pat him on the shoulder and call him Xiao Zhu, but...forget it...it's better to keep a useful body and eat and wait for death than to die like this.

  Fang Jifan said: "His Royal Highness, what is wealth in this world?"

  Zhu Houzhao tilted his head for a long time, and finally shook his head.

   Mentally retarded, this is it.

Fang Jifan said with a smile: "Zoushu, Your Highness, think about it, the urgent memorials sent from various states every day are sent to the palace by courier shops. In Beijing, there is no news. , whoever grasps the latest information first, for example, if there is a flood in the south of the Yangtze River, if His Highness knows the news in advance, what will happen?"

   "Disaster relief?" Zhu Houzhao said.

Fang Jifan despised him: "It's a fortune. Once the news of the flood is known in advance, it means that many sericulture production in the south of the Yangtze River will be reduced on a large scale. Once the production is reduced, the silk in the market is bound to rise. Whoever grasps the news first, Just relying on this news, I’m afraid I won’t be able to earn money? Also, if there are reports, banditry occurs in Shandong, Nanzhili and other places, so what will happen? Shandong and Nanzhili run through the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal A place that must be passed through, once banditry occurs, especially water bandits...then..."

   Zhu Houzhao's eyes lit up.

   Seems to have found a new way out all of a sudden: "You mean, from now on, I will go to the Nuan Pavilion every day to accompany my father to review memorials, by the way..."

  Fang Jifan said with a straight face: "Your Highness, don't talk nonsense, I didn't teach you."

   "..." Zhu Houzhao blushed, "You said it clearly."

  Fang Jifan refused to admit it to death: "I didn't, don't talk nonsense, don't wrong me."

  Although Fang Jifan is a confused and brain-dead patient in the eyes of others, his heart is like a mirror. It is easy to pull His Royal Highness into the sea, but there is no guarantee that if His Majesty knows, he will not settle accounts later.

  The two of you talk to each other, and I talk to each other. In this vast and snowy Forbidden City, two pairs of buckskin boots stepped on the snow, leaving two lines of clear marks.

  …

  Every morning, Emperor Hongzhi had to discuss political affairs behind closed doors with the three cabinet scholars.

  In the past, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty ruled once a day. Even Zhu Yuanzhang, who was as diligent as the Taizu emperor, only called his ministers to discuss matters once a day.

  But after that, the descendants did not have so much energy as Zhu Yuanzhang, and the dynasty was in vain, so much so that when Emperor Chenghua was born, it was only a month, and it was rare to call ministers to discuss matters.

After Emperor Hongzhi ascended the throne, he was worried about the bad government in the past, so he decreed that one court a day would be changed to two courts a day, and that court meetings of different sizes would be held in the morning and at noon every day, even in urgent and difficult situations. It was necessary to discuss with the ministers until midnight before taking a rest.

  In this warm warm pavilion, just finished talking about the recent weird celestial phenomena, Emperor Hongzhi planned to have a batch of anthracite collected from the Xishan Coal Mine to help the poor in the suburbs of Beijing, and then he couldn't help coughing.

Liu Jian glanced at Emperor Hongzhi worriedly. His Majesty is diligent in administration, everyone in the universe knows that even Emperor Gao, the great ancestor, may not be able to catch up with him. It's just... the result of such exhausting thinking has also made His Majesty's dragon body not safe, so he Couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty must take good care of the dragon's body, there are some things that don't need to be overworked."

Emperor Hongzhi smiled wryly and shook his head: "When I ascended the throne, there were too many people inside and outside the court, and the states and counties were extremely scattered, and the people were suffering from hunger and cold. At that time, it could be described as internal and external troubles. , don’t ask about the outcome of political affairs. As a son of man, I can’t slander the former emperor, but the former emperor gave me the country, but he also gave me a mess.”

Speaking of this, he couldn't help sighing: "Now that I have a son, I can't follow the example of the emperor and leave a mess for my descendants. I have a heavier burden and leave it to the country that is well-groomed, so it will be clearer; Do more things, and in the future, the prince will be less troubled. I take the previous emperor as a warning, and I hope that the prince will not have to face internal and external troubles and worry a lot like when I inherited the great rule. I am tired , no problem! This is to share the prince's worries, and it is also the responsibility of a father."

  (end of this chapter)