prosperous age

Chapter 816 905 Double Potion

"Snapped"

The sound of the tea bowl breaking resounded in the room, followed by another "crash" sound.

Outside the door, Zhang Ji and several servants stood with their hands down, not daring to say anything.

After a long time, the noise in the room finally stopped, and Zhang Ji dared to look into the room. He only saw Wei Guangde sitting on the Taishi chair, still breathing heavily.

Zhang Ji knew what Wei Guangde was angry about. After the newspaper was delivered today, Zhang Ji felt that something was going to happen.

Sure enough, when the Di newspaper was handed over to Wei Guangde, he started to curse in anger, and then threw things and knocked over bookshelves.

Wei Guangde was really angry, because when he saw the latest Di newspaper, he did not see Gao Gong continuing to straighten Xu Jie, and then Beijing officials staged the scene of inverting the arch again under the instigation of Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng, but the imperial court An order was issued to allow the patrolling navy to withdraw to their respective provinces and strictly guard important seaports in each province.

Not only was the Nanyang Navy that he expected to be dismantled, but Yu Dayou, the admiral of the Navy and the chief military officer of Guangxi, was beaten to the bottom and sent home to wait for orders.

Wei Guangde thought that Gao Gong would only focus on the civil service group, but he did not expect that Gao Gong would put his hand into the Ministry of War.

"Zhang Ji."

"master."

Hearing Wei Guangde calling him, Zhang Ji crawled into the house and knelt directly in the house.

"Why are you kneeling? Get up."

Wei Guangde was very angry at the moment and felt that nothing he saw was pleasing to his eyes.

"Yes."

When Zhang Ji got up, Wei Guangde said to him: "Immediately send someone to deliver a message to Fujian. All merchant ships that have not set sail should be stopped first. There is no chance of a change in the weather along the coast.

If there are too many goods on hand that are difficult to deal with, just send them to Yuegang. You can always make some money out of them. "

"Yes, sir, I will arrange for someone to deliver the letter right away."

Zhang Ji hurriedly agreed and walked out.

"Wait, remember to tell them to be more honest lately. If something happens, no one can protect them."

"Yes, I will send someone to inform you immediately."

Zhang Ji said hurriedly. Seeing that Wei Guangde didn't continue to say anything, he hurried out of the house.

It was naturally impossible for Wei Guangde not to intervene in such a big event as the opening of the sea in the Ming Dynasty. There were real interests in this matter.

The qualifications of less than a hundred merchant ships to go to sea were said to be allocated to Fujian merchants, but ten of them fell into the hands of the chamber of commerce associated with Wei Guangde, and the routes taken by these ships were naturally not the east-west and west-ocean routes approved by the imperial court. Instead, they followed the Japanese route.

During this period, because Japan was rich in gold and silver, the main route for Western merchants who traveled all the way to East Asia to do business was from Southeast Asia to Japan, and they would also collect Ming Dynasty products in the middle.

The route that really makes them money is to go to Japan and trade the goods on the ship for precious metals such as gold, silver, and copper.

When the Ming Dynasty opened the sea, merchant ships were strictly prohibited from doing business with the Japanese country. However, the actual situation was that most merchant ships could only go to the Japanese country after going to sea, except for Southeast Asian routes. The ships were purportedly going to North Korea for trade.

The Ming Navy had nearly a thousand large and small warships cruising the sea day and night around Fujian. When these merchant ships go to sea, they can't just draw a line on the map to reach their destination. They all have standard waterways.

This involves not only meteorological conditions, but also hydrology, routes to avoid reefs, etc.

You must know that all sea-going ships departing from Yuegang are guided by ships. When they leave the port and when they return, the time is calculated.

Taking the Japanese route is much farther than going to North Korea, so the ship needs to make full use of the influence of wind direction and sea currents to arrive at the destination within the planned time to complete the transaction.

The Japanese country is no different from North Korea, where gold and silver plus some local specialties are traded for Ming products, while the Japanese country directly trades gold, silver and brass.

In addition, the Japanese country is also rich in sulfur, which is also a hot commodity in the Ming Dynasty and is mainly used to make gunpowder.

Although Ming Dynasty had domestic production, the output was not large and could not meet its own needs.

Among the restricted commodities in the Ming Dynasty's foreign trade, in addition to copper and pig iron, which were in short supply domestically, there was also saltpeter, which was also a weapon for some foreign countries around the Ming Dynasty, including North Korea.

Let's make a judgment, as long as businessmen can trade with Japanese people, they will never choose to do business with North Korea.

Why did Wei Guangde concentrate all Ming Dynasty's naval forces in the south on the coast of Fujian? Naturally, he had his own plan.

The fleet is placed here, and it is very convenient to go south or north, especially because it can block some merchant ships that compete with him for business.

Now that Gao Gong clearly wanted to intervene in the coastal navy, Wei Guangde had to take some precautions to avoid being taken advantage of.

Although those merchant ships had nothing to do with him in name, they could not withstand further investigation.

Not causing trouble is naturally the best.

However, through this incident, Wei Guangde also realized that even if he wrote letters to his friends and asked them to be cautious in doing things, it seemed to be useless.

They just used the censor's rumors to take you down. At least you will be suspended from your position during the investigation. As for if there is no evidence after the investigation, then wait for the Ministry of Personnel or the Ministry of War to make other arrangements.

Once an official position in the Ming Dynasty was lost, it would be difficult to get it back.

In fact, this is the reason why Wei Guangde is angry. He feels that Gao Gong is not particular about achieving his goal. He uses such despicable tricks, which is really hard to guard against.

He doesn't have the heart to write to Ma Fang and others now. There's no point in going there. If they want to take your position, it's just a matter of words.

Wei Guangde was angry at home. Thousands of miles away in the Forbidden City to the north, Emperor Longqing was also losing his temper. However, his reason was naturally not Wei Guangde's. Instead, he was complaining about the recent increase in the various "conditioning" medicines dispensed by the Imperial Hospital. It's becoming more and more useless.

These potions were prepared from secret recipes collected by the Taiyuan Hospital from various places and donated by alchemists. In the past few years, the effects were still very obvious, but recently, Emperor Longqing felt more and more unable to do his job.

Perhaps because the ministers were too capable, Emperor Longqing thought he was no smarter than them, so he chose to delegate power and let the subordinates handle affairs. He was only responsible for making decisions.

Of course, it is still necessary to properly control the forces in the DPRK and China. It is not good for one family to dominate, as it is easy for mistakes to occur.

It is precisely because the power of handling government affairs was delegated to Xu Jie, Li Chunfang and Gao Gong successively that Emperor Longqing lived a very comfortable life in the harem these years.

If the powerful pavilion elders can handle the government affairs perfectly, he can focus his time and energy on the harem and enjoy life to the fullest.

And for Emperor Longqing, he wanted to put all the beauties in the world into the harem for him to enjoy. For this reason, he did not hesitate to have conflicts with the cabinet due to the selection of palaces and cabinets. There was really nothing to do.

Every time under his strong demands, the cabinet had to make compromises. At most, it would delay for a while, but it could always meet his needs.

However, this also brought about a serious problem, that is, as the emperor, he felt more and more lack of energy. After all, it was an ordinary person's body and it was impossible to have an endless supply of energy.

Emperor Longqing gradually felt powerless, but he could not refuse the temptation, and felt that this was a huge blow to the emperor's self-esteem, so he felt annoyed.

However, the most indispensable thing in ancient feudal society was subordinates who knew how to speculate. Whether they were eunuchs in the inner court or officials in the outer court, they knew the emperor's needs in this area, so these eunuchs and ministers contacted doctors who specialized in this way. Doctors and alchemists offered secret recipes or aphrodisiacs to the emperor one after another in order to obtain rewards from the emperor.

In the past two years, Emperor Longqing has been completely inseparable from these medicines. He has been deeply involved in them and cannot extricate himself. Just recently, it seems that these originally effective medicines are becoming less and less effective.

"Meng Chong."

"The slave is here."

"Notify the hospital and start giving me double the amount of medicine today."

"The slave obeys the order."

The eunuchs of the Ming Dynasty, especially the great eunuchs like Meng Chong, could actually be considered subjects in front of the emperor.

But in fact, all eunuchs like to call themselves slaves in front of the emperor, as if this seems to be close to him.

Perhaps this is also a habit they developed when they were servants.

Emperor Longqing wanted double the amount of medicine to add to the fun. Meng Chong knew that it would be bad to use it this way, but if he dissuaded or opposed it, the result would definitely be the dissatisfaction of the emperor.

At this time, Meng Chong's status was not as high as the outer court thought. In fact, Chen Hong, with the support of Gao Gong, was eyeing his position, so he did not have the courage to refuse the emperor's order.

"Go and get it now. Send it to me immediately after you get it. Whose turn is it to come to me today?"

With nothing to do, Emperor Longqing had already made up his mind. Since there was no better potion, he would take more. What he was thinking about was who should be arranged to come to Qianqing Palace today to accompany him to enjoy himself.

Meng Chong hurriedly left Qianqing Palace and headed to Taiyuan Hospital. On the way, he met Feng Bao who was wandering around the palace with Prince Zhu Yijun.

The prince was present, and even Meng Chong, the chief minister of etiquette, hurriedly knelt down to salute the prince.

Zhu Yijun didn't think much, and asked Meng Chong to get up, and then he was about to leave with others, but Feng Bao fell behind at this time and asked with concern: "What happened to Eunuch Meng, why are you in such a hurry? "

"Your Majesty asked me to go to the Imperial Hospital to get medicine."

Meng Chong didn't think much and said casually.

"Your Majesty is feeling unwell?"

When Feng Bao heard that he was getting medicine for Emperor Longqing, his first reaction was that the emperor was ill.

After all, relying on his youth, he bet on the prince, so when he heard that the emperor wanted to take medicine, he felt happy immediately.

"Hey, it's not just that kind of medicine."

Meng Chong said without thinking too much.

"Oh, isn't it usually delivered to the hospital? Why do you want Eunuch Meng to pick it up in person today? Just send a chamberlain."

When Feng Bao heard that the emperor wanted medicine to help him feel happy, he lost interest and handed it over to leave.

In the palace, it was common for the emperor to use such potions, so he was not surprised.

"I don't know if the medicinal materials purchased are not very effective or something else. His Majesty has recently said that he is not happy with the medicinal materials. Starting today, the hospital will need to double the amount of medicine. This will also require the recruitment of two more talented people to serve him. , if you ask me to go to Tai Hospital to urge medicine, I will take the first step."

With that said, Meng Chong walked towards the Taiyuan Hospital without looking back. Feng Bao still cupped his hands at Meng Chong's back.

Are the medicinal materials purchased in the palace not effective?

Feng Bao was thinking in his mind, but Meng Chong had already walked away at this time. He seemed to feel something, but before he could think about it, he chased in the direction where the prince left.

Gao Gong, who was the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty, certainly didn't know what happened in the palace. Otherwise, he might have realized that something was wrong and would have given up on his previous methods of accommodating Emperor Longqing and tried his best to dissuade the emperor from taking large doses of medicine.

It's medicine that's three parts poisonous. Emperor Longqing, who took medicine every day, took this type of medicine, so there was no way it wouldn't harm the body.

Perhaps, at this time, finding a potion for Emperor Longqing to strengthen his foundation and cultivate his vitality could save his life. Unfortunately, Gao Gong didn't know about these things.

At least Emperor Longqing still looked like a dragon and a tiger to outsiders, and he didn't seem to realize that he had overdosed on drugs.

And now the prince Zhu Yijun, who only knows about having fun, is even less aware of anything. He only knows what his father told him during the Chinese New Year. He is already ten years old and will soon go out to study.

Going out to study is so scary.

The only person who can take care of him in the future is his father and his teacher.

From now on, I have to get up before dawn to read and practice calligraphy. I not only have to listen to the teacher's lectures every day, but also complete the homework assigned by the teacher.

Although the prince Zhu Yijun did not go out to study, Feng Bao came from the inner library, so he naturally knew the rules about the prince's study in the ancestral system.

After knowing that he was going to start studying, Zhu Yijun asked Feng Bao what it was like to study outside the cabinet, so the prince was frightened by studying.

But he also knew that this was his father's order, and he, his son, could not object, so he could only seize the last moment to have fun.

After studying, there will be no time for playing.

As the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang spent his life on the battlefield, fighting in both the south and the north, and went through untold hardships to conquer thousands of miles of territory.

He knew that "starting a business" was difficult, and "keeping a business" was even more difficult, so he paid great attention to the education of his princes, so he combined the experience of previous dynasties to create a unique way of educating his children.

After all, the prince is "the foundation of the country" and will "inherit the Holy Body and inherit the throne of heaven" in the future.

Therefore, his education is a major matter related to the country, the country, and the country, so he must be particularly cautious in selecting teachers for the prince.

As the saying goes, teaching by words and deeds only means that only if the teacher is highly respected, can the prince be influenced by his teachings and learn his good character.

Only old Confucian scholars who have conducted in-depth research on orthodox Confucian education are eligible to be selected.

At the same time, they were not only responsible for teaching the prince talents and knowledge, but also cultivating his talents in governing the country.

So after several generations of development, cabinet ministers became the first choice for teachers of the prince, because they were from the Imperial Academy, assisted in the cabinet, and had experience in governing the country.

In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang also stipulated that the prince should be separated from the upbringing and education of his concubines and eunuchs after reaching a certain age. In the second year of Hongwu, he first established Zhanshi Yuan, and then added Zuo Chunfang, You Chunfang and Si Jing bureau.

At that time, the four institutions jointly tutored the prince, and later returned to Zhan Shifu together.

However, the system of educating the prince in the Ming Dynasty was only established during the reign of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty. Since "their daily reading rituals were given, after the emperor retired early in the morning, the crown prince came out of the cabinet and ascended the throne. There was no need for guards and other officials. Only the attendants and lecturers such as , kowtow."

At that time, the prince spent his morning studying the Four Books, Five Classics and historical classics, and in the afternoon he had to practice riding and shooting.

In fact, this system was first used by Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty. Although this system was issued by imperial edict, it was determined after discussion by the then cabinet ministers.

Who knows that Emperor Yingzong was only ten years old at that time and had no right to object at all.

(End of this chapter)