I was the emperor in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 68 Cleaning Begins

Zheng He was not surprised that the emperor wanted to put all the Western gains into the internal treasury, after all, the first emperor did the same.However, thinking that the expenses for each mission to the West are paid from the treasury of the Ministry of Household Affairs, he still clapped his hands and said:
"Your Majesty, this trip to the West cost nearly 700 million taels, especially the money from the Ministry of Households. Do you want to reward the court officials with spices and gems?"

Li Tian raised his eyebrows when he heard the words, closed the imperial book with a snap and said:

"I still need to use such means to bribe the courtiers? The six voyages to the West were done by the late emperor, so what does it have to do with me?"

Seeing the emperor's righteous appearance, Zheng He gave a wry smile, suddenly feeling speechless.

I don't want to distribute some to the ministers this time, and I am afraid that there will not be a single minister in the Manchu Dynasty who agrees when I go to the West next time.

Li Tian knew what Zheng He was worried about, patted Zheng He on the shoulder, and said with a smile:

"Don't worry, I said that the sea is the most important thing for my Ming Dynasty. Next time I go to the West, I will give you money."

If the first emperor said this, Zheng He would definitely not believe it, but after seeing the terrifying ability of the Hujiao Bureau to attract money, Zheng He felt that the next time he went to the West, he might not need to use the treasury's money.

It was getting late at this time, and Li Tian didn't pull Zheng He into a chat. After asking about the situation in Western countries, he ordered Wang Fu to send Zheng He out of the palace.

That's right, as the first eunuch of Ming Dynasty, Zheng He had a house in the capital.

Li Tian drank a lot of wine at the palace banquet.

But he wasn't a bit drunk. Firstly, the degree of alcohol in ancient times was really not high, and secondly, he practiced the Nine Forms of Guyang every day, and his body was much stronger than before.

Returning to the Kunning Palace on the dragon chariot, Li Tian thought that Empress Zhang had already rested.

But as soon as he entered the apse, he saw Queen Zhang playing cards with three maids.

When the emperor returned to the palace, Empress Zhang hurriedly got up to greet her.

Seeing the Queen's untiring appearance, Li Tian suddenly felt that he shouldn't have taken out his poker cards. If he becomes addicted to playing poker in the future, it will be fine.

"Your Majesty, what do you think of this concubine's card?"

Empress Zhang covered her mouth with a chuckle, and stretched out her hand in front of Li Tian as if offering a treasure.

Oh, one king blows four twos, Li Tian once again has a new understanding of the queen's luck.

But seeing the restlessness of the three court ladies, Li Tian especially wanted to tell the queen that even if you draw a bad hand, you are bound to win.

The game was exactly as Li Tian expected, no matter what card the queen played, the three maids shook their heads and said they were sorry, but when Queen Zhang slapped the last four on the table, Li Tian couldn't stand it anymore.

"Ling'er, are these poker cards still fun?"

Empress Zhang stared intently at the maid shuffling the cards, listened to Li Tian's question, nodded repeatedly and said:

"It's fun, these poker cards are much more interesting than the strip cards."

Hearing this, Li Tian held his forehead and felt a little dumbfounded. This was just the simplest way to play. If he took out Dou Di Zhu, the queen might have to play all night.

After watching two more, Li Tian saw that the queen still had no intention of resting, shook his head, and said with a dumb smile:
"Ling'er, you can play, I have to go to court tomorrow morning, so I'll go to bed first."

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

Three sixes were shot, and Queen Zhang responded casually.

Li Tian didn't care about the queen's faux pas, and there was only one thought left in his mind at this moment, it's over, the queen is really obsessed with poker.

Lying alone on the dragon bed, sniffing the queen's scent on the pillow, Li Tian felt sleepy after a while.

Gradually falling asleep, like a dream or sleeping, Li Tian seemed to see the queen going to bed.

But when the melodious sound of bells and drums came to his ears, and he touched the warm pillow, Li Tian realized that the queen had actually played poker all night!
Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he got off the dragon bed and turned around the huge eight-sided screen. Li Tianding took a look and found that the queen was really still playing cards.

"Ling'er, you haven't slept all night?"

"Ah, Your Majesty." Seeing that Li Tian was wearing a single suit, Empress Zhang realized that it was already daytime, subconsciously got up and saluted:
"Concubine. Concubine actually played all night?"

Walking in front of Empress Zhang, looking at Empress Zhang's bloodshot red eyes, Li Tian was both distressed and amused and said:

"Is it really that fun? I don't think you know the time."

Empress Zhang lowered her head in embarrassment, fiddled with the wrinkles all over her body and said:

"This poker is really interesting, but I decided not to play it again."

"Why?" Li Tian was puzzled.

After smoothing the wrinkles of the phoenix robe on her body, Queen Zhang raised her head and said loudly:
"A concubine who rules the six palaces, how can I play with things and lose my ambition!"

After all, Queen Zhang looked at the maid beside her and said:
"According to the imperial decree of this palace, anyone in the harem who is addicted to this thing and loses his mind by playing with it will be punished thirty times."

Sure enough, how can a woman who can become a queen be fascinated by mere poker,
Li Tian watched Queen Zhang give orders quietly, feeling suddenly moved in his heart.

When he came back to his senses, Li Tian gently took the Queen into his arms, and said in a warm voice:
"Can you take some food and then rest?"

In Li Tianhuai's arms, Empress Zhang became a small bird again, as if it was someone else who gave the orders before, she nodded slightly and said:

"The concubine will go to bed after eating a bowl of porridge."

After having a simple breakfast with the queen, and watching the queen get into bed, Li Tian paced out of the Kunning Hall, and prepared to go to the Fengtian Hall in a dragon chariot.

There is no way, this is the emperor's hard life, the price he must pay for having three thousand beauties in the world.

It has been a while since the last court meeting, and Li Tian has long been familiar with the affairs of the court. He sat on the dragon chair and waited for Jiang Bao to say that he had something to say and returned to the court. start.

First of all, it is nothing more than trivial matters, such as the auspiciousness of a carp turning into a dragon in a certain county in the south of the Yangtze River, and the fact that there is a chaste and martyr in Sichuan who erected a longevity monument for him.

After the daily flattering sessions, it was time to talk about business.

Honglu Temple reported the situation of foreign envoys.

The Ministry of Households reported the progress of autumn grain entering Beijing, and some prefectures had vacancies, and the Ministry of Officials recommended candidates to discuss with the ministers, etc.

After these serious matters are almost discussed, it will be the link of free play, which is the so-called court discussion.

In the fierce debate and discussion of the Civil and Military Society of the Manchu Dynasty, the conclusion of each memorial was sealed, or it was handed over to the emperor for personal disposal.

After dealing with the matter of the Minister of the Taipu Temple and the impeachment of the Liaodong herdsmen for dereliction of duty, Li Tian coughed lightly twice, waited for the ministers to calm down, and said in a deep voice:

"Ji Mian instructed Shandong Jinyiwei Qianhu Tan Jin to intervene in the local salt and iron affairs. You must have heard about it. According to Ji Mian's confession before his death, there are as many as 42 officials of the seventh rank and above in collusion with him.

Lu Zhen, from now on, I order you, Dali Temple, and the Third Division of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs to investigate this matter strictly. Within [-] days, all officials who committed the crime must be arrested and brought to justice. "

As soon as Li Tian said his words, Lu Zhen, the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Tang Zonghe, Minister of Dali Temple, and Jin Youde, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, knelt down at the same time and said in unison:
"The minister is waiting to accept the order."

(End of this chapter)