The Ming Dynasty’s Prodigal Son - Chapter 70

[70.Chapter 70 Holy King]

The heavy snow shows no sign of letting up. For more than ten days in a row, the weather has only become colder. Countless people complained about the horrible weather, but it also caused the supply of anthracite coal mined in the Xishan Coal Mine to be in short supply.

The entire city of Beijing was already white. The vast expanse of snowflakes swaying in the air, like dandelions, fell on this ancient capital layer by layer, giving this mottled and grand city a new look.

The defenders of Andingmen would open the city gate on time. The soldiers who were breathing white gas were frozen and their faces were frozen. They hid in the door hole, shrinking their hands, and were ready to check the flow of people entering and leaving the city.

It’s just that with this weather, only a few people enter the city.

Outside the city gate, there is white snow as far as the eye can see. This new snow has no trace of being trampled and damaged by people.

Only at the end of the official road covered with heavy snow, the sound of horse hooves came quickly.

This cheered up the defenders. In the vastness, they saw the figures of a man and a horse emerging from the white mist like ghosts. The knight on the horse seemed to be frozen, but the horse under the seat was all around. There was countless snow on the hooves, and there was a snoring in the mouth.

The knight was carrying a bamboo tube on his back. There were clearly traces of fire paint in the bamboo tube. He was wearing a black jacket, dusty from the weather. When the new army in the doorway saw him rushing towards him like a whirlwind, they subconsciously backed away and did not dare to stop him.

This was an urgent message sent by an express delivery company eight hundred miles away. The keen defenders knew that it was coming from the southwest just by looking at the appearance of the other party. The southwest was full of miasma and humidity, so they would often pretend to have any urgent message. Put it into a bamboo tube and seal it with glutinous rice.

It’s just that… such urgent reporting is rarely used under normal circumstances. Southwest… is there something wrong?

…

Every time Fang Jifan goes to Zhan Shifu, he is always late because…he is lazy.

But it didn’t matter, because the Master Baihu above had already ordered the cake for him, which made Fang Jifan owe the Master Baihu a favor. Fang Jifan wondered if this guy wanted to show his kindness, but these trivial matters, he He didn’t keep it in mind. When he arrived at Zhan Shifu, he saw Zhu Houzhao riding a horse and wearing a velvet python robe. He looked refreshed and said to Fang Jifan: “Old Fang, are you late again? Come on, let’s go meet him.” “

“Jianjia…” Fang Jifan felt a little guilty. In fact, he was not afraid of anyone in the capital, but Jianjia… made him panic. His Majesty the Emperor seems kind and kind on the surface, but I always feel that he is a bit of a thief.

For example, Emperor Hongzhi snatched half of the shares in the coal mine without hesitation. Although the shares belonged to Zhu Houzhao, he did so as a matter of course and did not treat himself as an outsider at all, which made Fang Jifan feel that behind Emperor Hongzhi’s generosity, There is a robber side; another example is that he hopes to build an ironworks and make tools in Xishan. He thought it would be easy, but the emperor couldn’t deny it. What does this mean?

Fang Jifan smiled and said: “I won’t go. Your Highness will take care of it. I must fulfill my loyal duties and look after the house and the courtyard for Your Highness. This is my duty.”

Zhu Houzhao bared his teeth: “Don’t be verbose, you don’t want to see me .

Sir, do you think I am willing to go see you? I always feel that my right eye keeps twitching today, which is a sign that I will be beaten. But there are people in the palace, and I have already told you to come into the palace with me. .”

Fang Jifan smiled dryly: “Excellent, I have long wanted to see Your Majesty and express my true feelings, haha… haha…”

The smile was a bit fake, then Liu Jin had brought a horse to Fang Jifan, and Fang Jifan got on the horse.

All the way into the palace from Chongwen Gate, the two dismounted and walked, side by side, stepping on the newly cleared snow-covered bricks and stones in the palace. Zhu Houzhao thought thoughtfully: “I am still unwilling to give in. Why should my father rob me?” Coal mine.”

Fang Jifan had actually known it for a long time. Although Zhu Houzhao was confused, he had an ambition. Unlike the scum who waited for death from Jifan from the front, he actually always wanted to do something big and teach others. Watch with admiration.

It’s just that everyone from the emperor to the civil and military officials of the dynasty regarded him as a child. Even in history, after Zhu Houzhao ascended the throne, he was just the object of coaxing by a group of ministers. He had no way to do big things.

Fang Jifan couldn’t help but look at Zhu Houzhao sympathetically, but then squinted his eyes again, with a hint of cunning flashing in his eyes as always: “Your Highness, it’s actually too easy to get rich.”

“Oh?” Zhu Houzhao’s eyes lit up: “Old Fang, I know this. What can you do?”

When Fang Jifan heard that he was called Lao Fang, he wanted to pat him on the shoulder and call him Xiao Zhu, but… let it go… it would be better to stay useful and wait for death than to commit suicide like this. Some.

Fang Jifan said: “Your Highness, what is wealth in this world?”

Zhu Houzhao tilted his head for a long time, and finally shook his head.

This is mentally retarded.

Fang Jifan said with a smile: “Memories, Your Highness, think about it, the urgent memorials sent from various states every day are all rushed to the palace by couriers. In Beijing, there is no news.” , Who will grasp the latest information first, for example, if there is a flood in Jiangnan, what will happen if His Highness knows the news in advance? “

” Disaster relief?” Zhu Houzhao said.

Fang Jifan despised him: “I am getting rich. Once the news of the flood is known in advance, it means that many sericulture production in Jiangnan will be reduced on a large scale. Once the production is reduced, the silk market will inevitably rise. Whoever gets the news first will Are you afraid that you won’t be able to make money just by relying on this information? Also, what if there is a report and banditry occurs in Shandong and South Zhili? Shandong and South Zhili are connected by the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal. If banditry breaks out in a place that must be passed through, especially water bandits… then…”

Zhu Houzhao’s eyes suddenly lit up.

As if he suddenly found a new way out: “You mean, from now on, I will go to Nuan Pavilion every day to accompany my father to review memorials. By the way…”

Fang Jifan said with a straight face: “Your Highness, don’t talk nonsense, I didn’t teach you You.”

“…” Zhu Houzhao blushed: “You said it clearly.”

Fang Jifan refused to admit it: “I didn’t, don’t lie, don’t accuse me wrongly.”

Although Fang Jifan is a confused and mentally retarded person in the eyes of others. , but his heart is like a clear mirror. It is easy to drag His Highness into the sea, but there is no guarantee that if His Majesty knows about it, he will not settle the accounts later.

The two of them said something to each other, and in this vast Forbidden City where the snow was falling, two pairs of deerskin boots stepped on the snow, leaving two clear lines of marks.

………

Every morning, Emperor Hongzhi had to discuss political affairs behind closed doors with three cabinet bachelors.

In the past, the Ming Dynasty emperor had one dynasty per day. Even if he was as diligent as Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, he only summoned ministers to discuss matters once a day.

But after that, the descendants did not have as much energy as Zhu Yuanzhang, and they were in vain every day, so that when the first emperor of Chenghua came, it was rare for him to call ministers to discuss matters even for a month.

After Emperor Hongzhi ascended the throne, he was worried about the bad government in the past, so he issued a decree to change the dynasty from one dynasty to two dynasties a day. He held different dynasty meetings in the morning and at noon every day. Even when encountering urgent and difficult situations, he It was necessary to discuss with the ministers until midnight before resting.

In this warm Nuan Pavilion, after just finishing talking about the recent weird celestial phenomena, Emperor Hongzhi planned to have a batch of anthracite coal mined from the Xishan Coal Mine to provide relief to the poor near the suburbs of Beijing. Then he couldn’t help but cough.

Liu Jian glanced at Emperor Hongzhi worriedly. Everyone in the world knows that His Majesty is diligent in his work. Even Emperor Taizu Gao could not be as good as him, but… the result of such exhaustive efforts has made His Majesty the Emperor’s dragon body always uneasy, so He couldn’t help but said: “Your Majesty, you must take good care of the dragon body, and you don’t have to worry too much about some things.”

Emperor Hongzhi smiled bitterly and shook his head: “When I came to the throne, there were too many people in the government and in the country. The states and counties were also very unorganized, and the people were hungry and cold. At that time, it could be said that there were internal and external troubles. I bluntly say that this was all the result of the former emperor’s indifference to political affairs. As a son of a man, I naturally cannot slander the former emperor. However, the former emperor gave me the country, but he also gave me the country. What a mess.”

At this point, he couldn’t help sighing: “Now that I have a son, I can’t follow the example of the previous emperor and leave a mess to my descendants. I have a heavier burden and leave the country to Hou Zhao. I will be clearer; if I do more things, the prince will have less worries in the future. I take the previous emperor as a warning, and I hope that the prince will not have to worry about internal and external troubles like when I succeeded to the throne. It’s heavy. It’s okay for me to be a little tired! This is to share the burden for the prince, and it is also my responsibility as a father.”

(End of this chapter)