Reborn Ming Dynasty as Emperor

Chapter 19 The Emperor's Daily Life

In the blink of an eye, it was late September, the weather was getting colder, and the wind and sand began to visit the capital from time to time.

Zhu Youxiao, who had been staying in the Forbidden City, really wanted to learn from Emperor Qianlong, so he went to the south of the Yangtze River to avoid the cold, to be a romantic emperor, and to go to places like Daming Lake to see Xia Yuhe.

But Zhu Youxiao knew that the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty would not want their emperor to go out of the Forbidden City to observe the people's sentiments. The Emperor Zhengde fell into the water and died early because he liked to go out to play.

But now, Zhu Youxiao's imperial power has been improved, but the power of civil servants is still strong, and he still can't do his own way.

Unless, one day, Daming's wealth and army are all controlled by him.

"Your Majesty, it's windy and sandy outside, let's go inside." Empress Zhang appeared behind Zhu Youxiao at some point, and Zhu Youxiao couldn't help holding her pair of catkins.

Zhu Youxiao didn't speak, just smiled, and brushed the hair on his queen's face. After a month of recuperation, Queen Zhang's complexion improved a lot, and her skin became more and more beautiful and charming.

Zhu Youxiao, who couldn't bear the Queen to accompany him to blow the wind outside the hall, led Queen Zhang into the hall. The sensible Gong'e hurriedly served hot tea, and the small yellow door by the door also hurriedly closed the door. Two pots of charcoal fire were brought to Zhu At the feet of You Xiao and Queen Zhang.

Zhu Youxiao and Queen Zhang did not rush to sit on the kang, but waited for the maid to warm the kang with a thermos before they were invited by Hakka to sit on it.

This is his own life as an emperor. There are no 72 concubines in the Sangong and Six Courtyards who are being transmitted, and there are no big family members in the common people's family. There is only one queen and a half-servant wet nurse.

For the huge Forbidden City, there is really no family that is more deserted than the royal family.

Suddenly, the eunuch from the imperial dining room came in: "Your Majesty, it's time to eat."

Zhu Youxiao nodded, and ordered to eat here. Not long after, some little yellow men came in with red lacquered wooden boxes containing dishes.

Since the war in Liaodong, the imperial court has used millions of taels of silver to supply Guanning iron cavalry every year, which has caused increasing pressure on the treasury and has already been unable to make ends meet. From the late Wanli period to the apocalypse, it had to use internal funds to supplement military pay.

Because of this, the emperors in the late Ming Dynasty were not as corrupt and extravagant as the literati of the Qing Dynasty said.

In order to save money, from Wanli to Tianqi, the size of the emperor's meals has been lowered and lowered. Up to now, let alone a Manchu banquet, even chicken, duck and fish can't be served on a few plates.

Fortunately, whether it is Zhu Youxiao or Queen Zhang Yan, they are already used to this kind of frugal imperial life, and it is enough to eat well, not to mention, there are still countless people in Daming who can't even eat enough .

Zhu Youxiao had just had a few mouthfuls of food when he saw Wang Chengen hiding outside the hall, so he hurriedly shouted: "Come in, what are you doing hiding outside?"

Seeing this, Queen Zhang hurriedly ordered people to remove the food, and she and Ke Shi also hid behind the screen.

Wang Chengen walked in embarrassedly and said: "I wanted to wait for His Majesty to finish eating before reporting, otherwise this pile of memorials from this humble minister would have made His Majesty hungry until midnight."

Zhu Youxiao, who often stayed up late for surgery in the early days, is actually used to this kind of irregular work, and it is common for him to be full and hungry, but the only difference is that he used to save people, but now he saves the country.

"Don't talk so much nonsense, pick up the important ones and tell me now, put the others here first, and I will deal with them later."

As soon as Zhu Youxiao said that, he took over the basic and important papers from Wang Chengen, and then listened to Wang Chengen's report while reading:
"The first one is the news from Eunuch Wei from Nanjing that he has begun to win over the scholars according to His Majesty's instructions, but few are willing to contact him. However, the "Da Ming Daily" he opened according to His Majesty has been very effective. Among them After a well-known fanatic from the south of the Yangtze River criticized the Donglin Party for harming the country and the people, there was a pen battle with Wuxi elegant people. Now dozens of people have participated in the discussion, and the number of subscribers to the newspaper has reached a thousand in just half a month."

"Very good, tell Li Jinzhong to expose the shortcomings of the Donglin Party more, and don't be afraid to spend money. In order to let the common people see the Donglin Party clearly, it is worth spending more money. In addition, considering that many people at the bottom are mostly illiterate, You can spend money to hire down-and-out literati or storytellers to report to every village and township, and at the same time encourage folk artists to change operas and scripts to satirize the Donglin Party."

Zhu Youxiao nodded, and while talking, Wang Chengen immediately recorded with a small brush.

Then, as soon as Zhu Youxiao finished speaking, he reported again: "In addition, Your Majesty Qizuo, according to the report from my Dongchang eyeliner, Donglin boss Qian Qianyi met Shanxi businessman Fan Yongdou in Huqiu, Suzhou on July [-]rd. , and got the content of the conversation between the two. It turned out that Fan Yongdou saw that several provinces in the north had suffered a severe drought this year, and the grain price in the capital had shown signs of rising. A large amount of Huguang grain was purchased, and it was transported to the capital for sale in the name of Cao grain."

After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but said in surprise: "This Shanxi merchant is worthy of being a Shanxi merchant, and his reaction is faster than the imperial court. Let your people continue to keep an eye on them, and that batch of food!"

"Yes!" Wang Chengen responded, and was about to retreat when Zhu Youxiao hurriedly stopped him: "Wang Chengen, do you know these eight Shanxi merchants?"

"Returning to Your Majesty, I know something about it. I heard that the eight major Shanxi merchants specialize in business inside and outside the pass, and their wealth is incomparable to the country. Moreover, since the reign of Zhengde, the power of these eight major Shanxi merchants has grown stronger and stronger. Half of their children Half of studying in the imperial examination, so since the combination of government and business, business is easy to do, and officials are also easy to do. Nowadays, many ministers in the court are from the eight major Shanxi merchants, and there are also eunuchs from Neishutang, such as Wang An, the former supervisor of ceremonies. And the former Chief Assistant Han Yu."

Wang Chengen said.

Zhu Youxiao nodded. He naturally knew what kind of group the Eight Shanxi Merchants were. To put it bluntly, they were a group of traitors who sucked Daming's blood and then donated it to Houjin.

But this collective power is so deeply ingrained and intertwined inside and outside the imperial court that even if Zhu Youxiao wanted to dig out this cancer, he could only think long-term.

"In the future, more people will be sent to supervise the people from all walks of life of the eight major Shanxi merchants. In addition, Dongchang must give me a detailed information on the eight major Shanxi merchants in three days. The industry and so on must be investigated!"

Zhu Youxiao ordered.

Wang Chengen responded with "yes" and retreated.

Empress Zhang came out at this time, holding Zhu Youxiao's arm: "Your Majesty, let's eat."

Zhu Youxiao didn't speak, but immediately ordered "serve the pen and ink!" Immediately, the little yellow gatekeeper took out the four treasures of the study.

Zhu Youxiao didn't say anything, just wrote three words on a piece of rice paper and circled them.

These three terms are: Donglin Party, Shanxi Merchants, and Houjin.

(End of this chapter)