Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 150 The Queen Mother’s Admonition

In the imperial study, the emperor gave Chen Ju a draft of an edict.

"Chen Ju, this is the imperial edict drafted by the cabinet to pacify the Japanese. Please read it carefully and tell me if there is anything wrong with it," the emperor said.

"I belong to the Dongyi clown Taira Hideyoshi, and I am an obscene servant... Your Majesty, is it too early to say this? I heard that the Japanese country is still in civil war. It is too damning to say it now. If Toyotomi Hideyoshi turns the various factions into rebels, The army is really defeated, and then surrenders to us, what can we do?" Chen Ju replied.

"Then let's wait until Toyotomi Hideyoshi wins. If Toyotomi Hideyoshi really has this ability, I can't give him a chance. Let's talk about it now, Toyotomi Hideyoshi is a clown, why should we leave him some kindness. If not The journey is really far, and I want to mobilize a large army to go eastward to defeat the Japanese, so as to avoid future troubles forever. Now I just scold him, which is already a sign that the Ming Dynasty has a good life," the emperor said.

"The minister is shallow."

"It doesn't matter. Many courtiers advised me not to send troops into North Korea before, and after the war started, they advised me not to send troops to stay in North Korea for a long time. This was not because I was afraid of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. It was indeed a bit difficult. No wonder Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty had millions The mass expedition against Goguryeo was carried out in such a mess, and the world was in turmoil in the end. It really cost too much food and wages, and the people were dying. Our army is now justified, and it is to help North Korea recover. North Korea does not want our army to stay for a long time. , I am really afraid that our army will deplete them."

"Now only Wu Weizhong's troops are left in North Korea. Wu Weizhong has returned to China to recuperate, and his troops are still in North Korea. The Korean War should be over. Judging from the intelligence received by Japan, the Japanese civil war has already begun. It is getting worse and worse, but Toyotomi Hideyoshi can still hold on to several important places in Osaka Castle and Kyoto Castle. The civil war may not end so quickly. When the civil war ends, Japan will no longer have the strength to conquer across the sea."

"Even so, we still need to be on guard. Even if the Japanese army cannot send out a large army, then a large group of Japanese warriors will be displaced. I'm afraid there will be another disaster caused by the Japanese pirates. We must be careful to take precautions. Chen Ju, please send someone to announce the edict to Zhang Xiao. , let him prepare to report to the New Army first, I want to see what his general thinking is, if we really want to revive the Beijing camp, Zhang Xiao alone cannot come up with a proper solution."

Just like that, Zhang Xiao, who was still at home trying to think of how to revise the manuscript, received the order to enter the palace immediately.

"If the mine supervision method is not adequate, what other ways do you have to raise money?" the emperor asked.

"The training of the new army can also be planned in advance. Since it is your suggestion to build a new army, if necessary, you should go and help."

"If there is a way to achieve faster results, it is not impossible. For example, the court can spread the word to establish a Nanyang trading company to develop overseas gold mines and other minerals to attract investment. Or it can directly issue national bonds, promising high profits, or even promising official positions Titles, so naturally there will be wealthy gentry and wealthy businessmen who are willing to serve the imperial court. If actual official positions cannot be given casually, then alternate official positions can also be given. As long as it is an official, there will always be someone who wants it."

"You should be cautious. What do you think? Do you have a candidate for the commander-in-chief of the new army? At the beginning of the training, five thousand people are too few. If you want to train, you must train one division first, and then train fifteen thousand people. Really? If not, I will pay some from the internal treasury.

"As for the mine supervision law, who does Your Majesty want to send to collect taxes?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"The commander-in-chief of the new army is only responsible for training troops. As for the specific command of troops to fight, this is of course His Majesty's holy will and the Ministry of War's writings."

"The minister obeys the order."

"Your Majesty, the Minister of Stocks has previously submitted a separate document, in which the pros and cons have been stated. And to issue stocks, there must be a reason, such as maritime trade, such as a new industry, so that everyone can believe that they can make money by investing. It can’t be done with a single order.”

"Your Majesty, there are methods that are faster and more reliable. At present, the currency is mainly silver and copper coins. The court can imitate the method of the Western Yi and cast round silver coins. There will be a lot of profit in this."

"The minister obeys the order."

"Now that the national treasury is empty, Zhang Xiao, do you have some ways to make money? Otherwise, all the money in our inner treasury will be borrowed and never repaid. Someone suggested to me before that I would open mines in various places and send mine supervisors to collect mining taxes. , do you think this plan is feasible? And what stock methods did you mention before that might raise funds?" the emperor asked.

"People at all levels have their own establishments. A division has more than 10,000 people, with infantry, artillery, cavalry, and heavy equipment. If it goes to war, plus some other troops, it will be a frontal army." Zhang Xiao said .

"Division, brigade, regiment, battalion, company, platoon, and squad, the arrangement is quite orderly," the emperor said.

The emperor was silent for a long time.

Zhang Xiao said goodbye and left.

"I dare to ask your Majesty to think carefully. If you collect money in this name, let alone how much money can be collected and how much is lost. If there is any trouble in the place, your Majesty's mine will be blamed for all the faults." The prison policy is in place.”

"Your Majesty is holy."

"There must be a new army commander above the division."

"Zhang Xiao, I really believe now that you are from Nanyang. You can come up with all these ways to make money, and you are so thoughtful. If your idea is released, the courtiers will not know what to think. Okay, think about the memorial for establishing a new army. The idea you have now is still good, but it still makes little sense to use it. Think more about it." Emperor Youyou said.

"It's hard to send officials. For such a big event, of course I have to send my trusted eunuchs."

Zhang Xiao didn't react for a moment. Wasn't this about talking about the New Army? Why did the topic suddenly change to tax collection? Whether mine supervision can be implemented, history has proved that it failed, but historical records are not necessarily comprehensive, and the history of the original time and space cannot be used as evidence, so Zhang Xiao was suddenly stuck.

"Your Majesty, it's time to pay your respects today." Chen Ju reminded.

"Time flies so fast, let's go to the Queen Mother's Palace now." The emperor replied.

The emperor arrived at Cining Palace. When the emperor entered the palace, he was immediately attracted by the pile of books next to the Queen Mother.

"These are all Zhang Xiao's books. There are too many. Ai Jia has just listened to the beginning of many books, but I have listened to the entire Ottoman chapter. There are also the lyrics of the commander's military training song. Ai Jia has also read them several times. ." said the Queen Mother. "Mother has worked hard. Mother still needs to rest more now."

"I would like to rest. But there are always noises coming to the Ai family. Emperor, do you treat Zhang Xiao as an ordinary minister of literature, since he has also been the teacher of Luo'er and Xun'er. Even if you are a royal family, you must respect your teachers, so how can you let the prince’s teacher play music for the Ai family?”

"The son just wanted to make his mother happy. Time was running out at that time, and I was afraid it would be too late to ask the musicians to learn. And only Zhang Xiao knew this piece of music, so he asked Zhang Xiao to play it. After all, people from the West can't easily enter the palace. inside."

"It's hard for you, Emperor, to worry about the arrangements, and it's hard for the Ai family to say anything. But Zhang Xiao is a meritorious official, and he will be demoted for the slightest mistake. This is not the way to cultivate talents. To put it bluntly, this matter was caused by Zheng herself. How can you blame others. The Ai family knows that you prefer the Zheng family, but there must be some reason for doing things. Naturally, it is impossible for a bowl of water to be equal in the harem, but there must always be rules. Now the ministers are sparse, let them The position of the crown prince should be decided early. The position of the crown prince is naturally not something that can be decided casually. But the emperor, you are always ambiguous. What will you do if another evil person takes advantage of this to make a big fuss? Today we, mother and son, will talk about it. What is in my heart is all my precious grandson, and I will never be partial. Emperor, please tell me what you really think." said the Queen Mother.

"Mother, my son is still young, so why rush to establish a heirloom?"

"Emperor, this is not a matter of whether you are young or not. With the foundation of the country, all the officials can feel at ease. This has not been the case in all dynasties. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was so wise and far-sighted, but because he had no heirs, the king of Huainan gave up. Later, Wei Zifu gave birth to a son, who was immediately made a prince by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The appointment of a prince is a major matter related to the ancestral temple and the country, and is not a matter for the emperor alone. "

"Mother, the emperor ordered us to have a legitimate son. Now that the queen is still young, she has established a prince. If the queen has another heir, what should we do?"

"Emperor, why do you need to make an argument against the queen? After the queen gave birth to the princess, her body became very weak and she has not been able to have children for ten years. Emperor, you know this better than I do, so why do you use this excuse to fool me? Could it be that you want to depose the Queen? You chose Queen Wang yourself. She has been working diligently over the years and has never made any major mistakes. She has not committed any sins. Although she has not given birth to a son, she has not been jealous. You also help raise the prince. If you want to depose the queen, the Ai family will never agree."

"I don't dare."

"So according to Taizu's ancestral teachings, if you don't have a legitimate heir, you must be a eldest son. What's wrong with Luo'er? Every time he comes to the Ai family to say hello, he is well-behaved, polite, and studies hard. It's just because you don't like Luo'er. biological mother?"

"After all, Chang Luo's mother is only a palace servant, so she is too humble."

"Emperor, your mother was also born in the palace. This queen mother of the Ai family is the title given by Feng Bao in order to please the Ai family and you, the emperor." Empress Dowager Li said angrily.

"Emperor, do you have any promise to Mrs. Zheng?" Seeing that the emperor remained silent, the Queen Mother asked again.

"No, no. Where did the Queen Mother hear the rumors? This is absolutely not the case." The emperor quickly explained.

"Emperor, you are always thinking about explaining to Mrs. Zheng, but I don't know if Mrs. Zheng can understand your painstaking efforts. The Ai family knows that men in the world always love their homes and their homes. If they like a woman, they will naturally give her to her. and the best thing for the children she gave birth to. But the royal family is not an ordinary family, it is an example for all people in the world. If the royal family does not follow etiquette and law, wouldn’t it become a joke to the world. When Emperor Xuanzong abolished Hu Hou, he replaced him with Sun Later, there was an uproar, and later Emperor Xuanzong also regretted it. Now that the emperor has been undecided about the prince's affairs, the ministers are suspicious. This is not a small matter. "

"The queen has always been steady and virtuous. My son has no intention of deposing the queen."

"That's good. Now that the situation has changed, the imperial court cannot withstand so many unwarranted twists and turns. Zhang Xiao is a man of great talent, and the emperor must boldly use it."

"Zhang Xiao is from overseas after all. In fact, my son also secretly checked and found out that this person appeared in Ming Dynasty inexplicably. If it is said that he came from Nanyang, there is no record of his entry. As for his own life experience, there is no record of him being far away in Nanyang. Legal verification.”

"Emperor, what do you mean by this? Does it mean that you are worried that Zhang Xiao might be a trickster?"

"That's not to say, how could such a talented person be sent as a spy? It's just that he knows too much, and my son hasn't seen through his details yet. I'm just afraid that Zhang Xiao has other intentions."

"Since there is no evidence, don't doubt the court ministers easily. Did Zhang Xiao do anything unusual during his many years in the Ming Dynasty?"

"That's not true. Especially after his son discovered it and invited him to the Hanlin Academy, he did a lot of things."

"That's good. Since you need to use people, you should use them boldly. If things don't work, just deal with them later."

After paying his respects, the emperor returned to the royal study. After a while, the emperor received news again that Wang Xijue, the deputy assistant to the cabinet, wanted to report important matters.

"Your Majesty, I would like to ask you to hold a menstruation feast for the eldest son of the emperor. The emperor's eldest son is now thirteen years old. In the past, your majesty had already held a menstruation feast when he was ten years old. It is too late for the emperor's eldest son to have a menstruation feast. If he does not hold a menstruation feast, it will be detrimental to the country."

"The opening of the Sutra Banquet is a matter for the emperor and the crown prince. Now that the crown prince's position has not been determined, there is no need to rush the Sutra Sutra Banquet."

"Your Majesty, according to the ancestral teachings of the Emperor Ming Dynasty, the eldest son of the Emperor should be the prince. Your Majesty said before that the prince was not yet young, so he was not canonized as a prince. Naturally, your majesty's move was based on your majesty's foresight, but if your majesty doesn't even give the eldest son the throne, If you are willing to open it, it must be because of the strong feelings, and I think it is impossible."

"Wang Cifu, didn't you ask Dong Qichang and Zhang Xiao to teach the eldest son of the emperor before?"

"Your Majesty, Dong Shijiao and Zhang Shaoqing are certainly knowledgeable enough. But they each have official duties to attend to. Zhang Shaoqing is especially busy. He even went on a mission to North Korea, and the eldest son of the emperor has not been able to attend a few serious classes. It is very disadvantageous for the eldest son of the emperor. By having a sutra feast, the eldest son of the emperor can study every day, listen to the words of saints, and understand the political affairs of the court."

"Convening a sutra feast is a major national event. I may not hold a sutra banquet. The cabinet is slowly drafting a charter. I will listen to it first. As for the sutra banquet held for the prince, I'd better think about it first. .”

"Your Majesty, I would like to inform you that Zhang Xiao is a rare talent. If he is gone, it will be difficult to promote the things he was originally responsible for. Your Majesty, should you consider Zhang Xiao's whereabouts again? I still recommend that Zhang Xiao stay in the Hanlin Academy. . It would be best for Zhang Xiao to continue the teachings of the eldest son of the emperor." Wang Xijue requested.

"Is it okay to reinstate Zhang Xiaoguan and take up a position in Zhan Shifu? However, Zhang Xiao also has to serve as an errand boy at Honglu Temple. What do you think, Wang Aiqing?" the emperor thought for a moment and said.

(End of this chapter)