I, Zhu Youjian: the first prodigal son of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 3 Shooting yourself in the foot

"Where is Wei Zhongxian?"

As soon as Zhu Youjian finished speaking, a red light flashed at the corner door of Huangji Hall. Wei Zhongxian rushed over with small steps, followed suit, and knelt in front of Danbi, shouting long live:
"Long live Lord, please calm down. The ministers are afraid that they will miss the important event of Long live Lord, so they just supervised and urged them to prepare the imperial gift of wine and food as soon as possible, so they came late. Please, Long live Lord, punish the minister for the crime of disrespect!"

While talking, Wei Zhongxian poked his head on the ground and made a loud noise.

Look, this is the kowtow method of a good courtier, and the sound is clearer and sweeter than those of scholars!
With the help of such an eunuch who is so observant, sycophant, and flattering, why worry about prodigal family unhappy and unsuccessful!
Zhu Youjian was in a good mood, nodded slightly, and said softly, "Wei Aiqing is alive."

Wei Zhongxian hurriedly shouted "Long live" again, and after three kowtows and nine obeisances, he just got up from the ground and stood there with his hands down respectfully, as if he was listening attentively, which greatly relieved Zhu Youjian.

"Wei Aiqing, you are the eunuch who is the supervisor of ceremonies and Bingbi. I have a question." Zhu Youjian glanced at the group of civil servants lying on the ground, and asked calmly: "The emperor giving a banquet can be regarded as violating the ancestral precepts and corrupting the court. ?”

"Long live, this matter is of course a violation of ancestral precepts and corruption of Chaogang!"

Wei Zhongxian said these words in a neither humble nor overbearing manner, which stunned Zhu Youjian, and his face gradually became ugly.

And those civil servants lying on the ground looked at Wei Zhongxian contemptuously, while secretly winking and showing a subtle smile on their faces.

"Your Majesty," Wei Zhongxian coughed lightly, took half a step forward slowly, and continued: "Back then, the Taizu indeed had the teaching that one who was an emperor should share weal and woe with the people.

My Ming Dynasty has lasted for more than two hundred years, and the country’s prosperity was prosperous. The previous emperors and Long live Lords worked hard and thought hard.

but! "

Wei Zhongxian suddenly turned around, looked at the civil servants with strange faces, and scolded in a cold voice: "Is the Lord Long Live really sharing the suffering with the people? May I ask, my lords, are you the people of my Ming Dynasty?
You have three meals a day, which one is not tired of fine food and fine stew?Which meal is not delicious and luxurious?
Just like you, Qian Qianyi, Mr. Qian, I'm afraid you haven't finished the century-old ginseng soup last night, have you?
My lord, when you had breakfast, you had another meal of pigeon meat and a bowl of breast milk. My lord Qian's belly was too greasy, it really was bitter, and it was so bitter, right?Bitter and just want to drink a bowl of millet porridge gifted by His Majesty, is it light and light? "

Below Danchi, the civil servants were as silent as cicadas, trying to hide their heads and faces in the sleeves of their robes, for fear of being "named and criticized" by Wei Zhongxian, a great eunuch.

Zhu Youjian secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking: "Sure enough, there is still a rivalry..."

Zhu Youjian couldn't help but sigh again, with his current morality and so-called life experience, it's still too early to fight these old foxes who have been struggling in the court for decades.

This made him even more determined, his determination not to kill Wei Zhongxian!

"Long Live Lord, the minister's speech is useless, contradicting Long Live Lord, please forgive me!" Wei Zhongxian lightly 'suppressed' the gang of civil servants, turned around and knelt down on the ground, with a look of grief and indignation on his face.

Zhu Youjian nodded slightly, and said softly: "Wei Aiqing, all Aiqings, please be free from courtesy."

There was a sound of "哗啦啦", all the civil servants got up from the ground one after another, retreated with shame on their faces, and stood under Dan Chi in an orderly manner.

Only Wei Zhongxian bowed his head and knelt down without getting up.

Zhu Youjian coughed lightly, and asked, "Wei Aiqing, you can recover now."

Wei Zhongxian stamped his head on the ground, and said in a mournful voice: "The minister is guilty, and he deserves death, long live."

"Long live my lord, when I look back at the past, and then look at the present, I think of my extravagance, extravagance and waste these years, I deserve to die..."

This Wei Zhongxian is worthy of being a famous eunuch and jester in history, his expression, tone of voice, and demeanor are really well grasped!

Zhu Youjian was very relieved in his heart, and felt that having such a great eunuch by his side would be like adding wings to a tiger after losing his fortune!

"Wei Aiqing doesn't need to blame himself, and the ministers and workers don't need to blame themselves either," Zhu Youjian said indifferently: "Thinking that our Ming Dynasty has a vast territory and abundant products, how can we be poor with just one meal?"

He stood up slowly, walked a few steps towards the edge of Dan Bi, looked around at the civil and military officials, princes and ministers, and said in a deep voice: "As long as all the ministers are loyal to the country and care about my country and the world, eat What happened to a few good meals?
Let's open our bellies and eat boldly. Try to choose good food, expensive food, and if you can't finish it by yourself, you can call on the refugees to help you eat.

Eat it, eat it with confidence and boldness!
Don't worry, I'm the Ming Dynasty, and I won't be overwhelmed! "

After saying these words, Zhu Youjian was in a very happy mood, thinking to himself, his operation encouraged the ministers to open their bellies to eat and drink, extravagant and wasteful, how can they have a few hundred points of "prodigal value", right?

He turned on the system silently, with a black face on his face, his face was ugly again.

Encouraging ministers to be extravagant and wasteful, the 'prodigal value' not only did not increase, but instead, only seven points remained.

In other words, six of the thirteen prodigal points I earned from working hard last night disappeared inexplicably?

'What kind of dog system is this, why is it still operating? '

Zhu Youjian was complaining in his heart, but he couldn't show it on his face. There was a fire in his chest, which made him feel panicked.

Could it be that, among these civil and military ministers, someone gave him water?

Obviously, after Wei Zhongxian's "repression" and threats, coupled with his own "mobilization", some people think that what the emperor said may be ironic, and they have already made up their minds that they must abide by the ancestors' precepts and be diligent and thrifty...

He lifted a rock and smashed his own foot.

This result, while disappointing Zhu Youjian, also began to wonder, how can he be regarded as a real prodigal?

A meal, a table of banquets, in the homes of ordinary people, may really be regarded as a prodigal act.

But the problem is, Zhu Youjian is the emperor. In such a big country, a meal of wine and food is worthless!
No, I have to find another way, I can't do things so pettyly.

"Wei Aiqing, how are the preparations for the banquet at the Shangshan Supervisor?" Zhu Youjian asked casually.

"Long live, everything is ready at Shangshan Supervisor, just wait for Lord Long live to order food." Wei Zhongxian saw that Zhu Youjian's face was not very good, he seemed to be preoccupied, and couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

"Well, let's pass the decree to give food." Zhu Youjian sat back on the dragon chair, only feeling waned.

Suddenly, he thought of something, his heart skipped a beat, and he quickly called to Wei Zhongxian who was about to deliver the decree in person: "Wei Aiqing, let the little eunuch go for some trivial matters. Come here, I have something to ask."

Wei Zhongxian quickly winked at an old eunuch next to him, and passed on the decree to the Shangshan Supervisor, and naturally someone went to run errands.

The great eunuch walked three or four feet away from Zhu Youjian with small steps, stopped, and asked in a low voice, "Long Live Lord, what are your orders?"

"How much cash is there in the treasury?" Zhu Youjian asked in a low voice.

"Don't dare to lie to Lord Long Live, there is only less than 300 million taels of silver in the treasury of our Ming Dynasty." Wei Zhongxian said with a face full of shame:
"However, Long Live Lord, don't worry, Jiangnan's salt tax, silk tax, mining tax and overseas transaction tax, the ministers have sent someone to supervise, and the capital should be released within three months."

"It's only 300 million taels," Zhu Youjian muttered with some disappointment, and said calmly: "Decree, take out 200 million taels, and first distribute the money for fire consumption to all the ministers and officials of the prefectures and counties.

By the way, the other 100 million taels will be used to repair bridges and roads.

Especially the roads, bridges and post stations in Shaanxi and Shanxi are listed as key projects.

This matter concerns the national economy and the people's livelihood, so let Wei Aiqing preside over it. "

Wei Zhongxian: "..."

The great eunuch looked bewildered, wondering if the new monarch had a cramp in his head, there was only 300 million taels of cash in the treasury, and he wanted to take it all out to do some "big things" that were useless at all!
Could it be that this Long Live Lord doesn't know that Shanxi and Shaanxi have been plagued by drought for years, and seeing that locust plagues are about to strike, the common people are starving to death, so repairing bridges and roads will be of no use.

Disaster relief, suppression of bandits, and strengthening the defense of Shanhaiguan, these three things are the most important!
(End of this chapter)