Jingming

Chapter 272

When only he and Cui Yuan were left in the main hall of Huaiyin Station, which was used by Zhu Houcong to meet his ministers, Zhu Houcong asked him to get up and sit down first, and then looked at him deeply.

Cui Yuan felt a little nervous, he was afraid that he would say a wrong word next.

Zhu Houcong felt his trembling, so he spoke first: "If you have something to say, don't be afraid. Why have I ever punished you for speaking freely?"

Cui Yuan knelt down immediately, and kowtowed first: "Your Majesty has been in power for three and a half years, and the king's prestige is growing day by day. The new law has such a strong ambition to make the country rich, that even in Fengtian Hall, he raised his son with a knife, and nearly took him for the crime of treason." To be the magistrate of the four prefectures. Among the counselors, when the Marquis of Jing’an arrived in Beijing, the imperial tour to the south was imminent, and there was no chance to persuade him; now that Hengyang City is broken, the Marquis of Zhenyuan has this report, and I hope that your majesty will forgive me. !"

Zhu Houcong was silent for a moment, and then said: "Get up and sit down, no matter what you say today, I will never blame you."

After Cui Yuan sat down, he was still silent for a moment, and then said: "I would like a glass of thin wine."

"...you have to be brave enough to say it? Or do you want me to promise to drink together with the golden cup?"

Cui Yuan didn't speak.

Zhu Houcong thought for a while, and called Huang Jinlai to follow him.

Huang Jin went out knowingly.

Cui Yuan gulped it all down, raised his head and said: "Today, I will start with the things in front of me. Your Majesty went to Sizhou and Fengyang. For half a month, I have been ashamed. I have no good plan for the flood in the Huanghuai River. I dare not say anything. Solve this ancient problem."

Zhu Houcong didn't understand why he said this first, Cui Yuan then continued: "Your Majesty understands the practical science and creates new methods. There are often ministers who fail to speculate about His Majesty's outstanding talents, and there are also cases where the ministers die if the new laws are not implemented. Therefore, no one dares to say that it must be impossible!"

"You mean, I have too much prestige, and all the ministers are worried but dare not speak up?"

"After Zhou Xi Zhenggong left, none of the important ministers and close ministers dared to persuade Your Majesty like this again." Cui Yuan said solemnly, "The minister is a son-in-law and one of the clan. The Marquis of Jing'an has no chance to remonstrate these words in person. Now The news of the Huguang Zoubao can only be said by the minister. Your Majesty, could it be that you have made a concerted effort to make your Majesty think that everything in the world can be followed by laws, orders and prohibitions, and that all officials and gentry in the world can understand the essence of the new law, and the people in the world can understand the essence of the new law. Is there a lot of people's power to change the world?"

"...you talk about it in detail."

Cui Yuan was heartbroken: "Your Majesty expelled Yan Sheng Gong and worshiped Kong Xindian, but the officials and people in the world have been educated by Confucianism for more than a thousand years? Your Majesty wants to weed out weeds and make the world more lenient, but how can the emperor plot against the people of the world? Your Majesty wants to rule Flooding in the world, promoting the water conservancy of the world to calm the people, how can you underestimate the mighty power of heaven and earth, overestimate the power of the people in the world, and misjudge the selfish desires of people? Enlightenment, law, and temptation, Your Majesty pays more attention to the latter two, and forgets the difficulty of enlightenment."

After a pause, he said: "Use the new law to promote the rebellion of those who are unwilling, and then deal with it with a thunderbolt; use the crime of rebellion as a rope to promote the new law, train elite soldiers, and plan to expand the territory in the future." These are just like what Wang Dehua said before. The new law is one ring and one ring, and the other is indispensable. However, something went wrong now! The emperor used his sister-in-law and nephew as bait, and this move is far from the king! Even if your majesty is not afraid of history, the people of the world How will you treat Your Majesty? How can the new law be achieved if it cannot win the hearts of the people all over the world?"

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong understood what he wanted to say.

Cui Yuan has said so much anyway, and now he is willing to go all out: "Your Majesty, you can show your might first, and that should be brilliant heavenly power, not calculating and cruel; if your majesty wants to make the world more virtuous, you can't do it first. Lord, I would like to ask Your Majesty, Your Majesty: Knowing that Prince Rui's mother and son are in danger of being hijacked, how will Empress Zhuang Su and Prince Rui handle themselves after the chaos is brought to an end? How will Your Majesty deal with it?"

"If Pu Zitong's generation harbored evil intentions to usurp the throne, have Prince Rui's mother and son been humiliated? If people in the world say that Prince Rui's mother and son have complaints about His Majesty's handling of things after he takes over the throne, how will the court deal with it? Is the crime of killing the nine clans?"

He finally shed tears: "Your Majesty, since this year, even I have been exhausted physically and mentally. I can't sleep at night, and I feel like walking on thin ice every day. I don't know why Your Majesty is so worried. I only know that No matter how much Your Majesty is worried about all diseases If you are entangled, you can't expect to be able to complete all your achievements in one battle. Ministers and others can't afford such heavy responsibilities, and the people of the world can't afford to rebel and fight for years. Even if you want to make big purchases and encourage business and industry, don't you know that your majesty has no land? Are the people more prone to chaos?"

He said so much in one breath, but the beginning of the last paragraph was very heavy.

Zhu Houcong really didn't care much about his reputation and so-called reputation from the beginning, he always thought that he only needed to lead Daming in a good direction.

After he decided on the arrangement for Xia Shi and Prince Rui, he always felt that his arrangement was okay: Is it right or not, the initiative is still in the hands of certain people?
But what Cui Yuan told him now is: If you use your sister-in-law and nephew as a game, the world will not think you are a virtuous monarch.

And in the hearts of people who have been deeply educated by Confucianism for many years, the emperor should have face.

If the emperor is a person who doesn't want face, do you really dare to boast that the world will be "virtuous" in the future?

Now, Cui Yuanxian told him in advance: Huanghuai flood, we really can't come up with a good solution.

For so long, you have been awesome. Half of us think that you have a way, and the other half is because we can only follow you as the helmsman because we are on a thief ship.

Zhu Houcong looked at him silently.

"In this way, the monarch and ministers are united, but the counselors are afraid of power?"

Cui Yuan immediately shook his head: "Your Majesty has done his best in Daming, and the ministers are all grateful. It's just that your majesty, just like the dialectics taught by your majesty, must conform to the current situation. Everything is changing, what His Majesty thinks and does is too hasty and too fast. Now, is it because His Majesty wants to solve too many conflicts at once and forgets the priority?"

Zhu Houcong finally began to think about these seriously.

Cui Yuan used these to persuade him, but he hoped to persuade him with something that Zhu Houcong also recognized.

To put it bluntly, today's Ming Dynasty is still the same as the Ming Dynasty in the past, a Ming Dynasty that advocates morality and human relations advocated by Confucianism.

So what did you do after you succeeded?
After taking over the throne from Zhu Houzhao and expressing his admiration for Zhu Houzhao, the things he did later included but were not limited to: executed his two uncles, imprisoned his mother, adopted a son to him, and put him The wife and children are sent out to play games...

Even if the starting point is for the new law and the overall situation of Daming, he, Zhu Houcong, ignores the current technology, thinking, manpower and material resources of Daming, and only thinks about the new law, so he still makes such big strides.

The important ministers at the center of the imperial court knew that he had broken his heart for Daming, and the local officials and gentry who controlled the public opinion of Daming would only think that he was an ungrateful, cruel and cruel emperor.

Even his handling of Prince Rui's mother and son will be a big problem in the future.

Will there be fewer rumors and gossips about Tianjia among the people?If there is none, it may not be passed on well.

all killed?
"... I know." Zhu Houcong opened his mouth slowly, then paused before saying, "Decree to Gu Shilong and the others, quickly put down the rebellion completely. In addition, I don't want to talk about the flooding of the Huanghuai River today, so I have to think about it."

"...Your Majesty is holy, thank you, Your Majesty Long En!"

Cui Yuan left, Zhu Houcong didn't know what state Jiang Mian and others would be in when they saw him.

Zhu Houcong's complexion was not good-looking, and he was cautious everywhere in Huaiyin Station.

Looking at Huang Jin who was following behind, Zhu Houcong suddenly remembered that he had asked Gao Zhong in the palace before: "Are you always worried when you are by my side?"

That time, it was Zhou Zhao who had just advised him to put the country first and not to act too hastily.

Now, Zhu Houcong didn't ask Huang Jin, Cui Yuan had already given him the answer.

In this state of mind, seeing him stop, Huang Jin asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, do you want to sit with Concubine Shu?"

Zhu Houcong was slightly taken aback, and then understood what he meant: Wen Suyun has a lively personality, and he can probably make himself happy when he is not in a good mood.

"No, let's go to Concubine Jing."

Zhu Houcong sighed slightly in his heart.

He has never been a boss.

Now, three and a half years after he's been the best kind of boss, he realizes that he's not a good boss or a great boss.

He doesn't know much about his employees at all.

……

Concubine Jing Zhang Qinghe is the quietest and most peaceful among the concubines of the new emperor in the Forbidden City, and she even lives like a monk.

She was once appointed by the Empress Dowager Zhang as one of the tools to be selected into the palace in the future, and she was known to everyone because of the impeachment of the imperial censor after the fire at Rijingmen. In the end, she was selected in front of Zhu Houcong for her quietness and courtesy Because Zhu Houcong was a little surprised when he saw her for the first time, so he stayed in the palace in the end.

Today, Zhang Qinghe is 19 years old, but when she saw Zhu Houcong coming in, her every move was more disciplined than that of Lin Qingping back then, like a middle-aged woman who had been educated by etiquette for many years and was in a low position.

Today, Zhang Qinghe felt a little nervous.

Because after the emperor came in and sat down, he did not appreciate the meticulously built courtyard of the Huaiyin Station outside the window, nor was he thinking about anything, but just followed her all the time.

Watch her fetch the tea in person, watch her boil water, watch her silently warm a cup of tea.

"I remember, you once didn't want to be selected into the palace."

Hearing Zhu Houcong's words, Zhang Qinghe's hands trembled, and then the hot tea splashed from the teapot scalded her wrists.

But she just pursed her lips tightly and didn't make a sound.

"...The concubine was young and ignorant at the time..."

Zhu Houcong didn't speak, took her hand, and took off the tea towel next to her.

It was already the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, and the tea towel was cold, and Zhu Houcong gently pressed it on the spot where she was burned.

Cui Yuan is right, he is indeed merciless.

Sun Ming's marriage is politics.

The news of Lin Qingping's pregnancy is politics.

The choice of several concubines is also politics.

A total of twelve women at one time, all because of him have another life that lacks freedom but is bound to be full of calculations.

Zhu Houcong didn't even think about their real inner needs too much, how could he think about his sister-in-law who doesn't have much friendship?

But he always thought that he was right, for Daming, for the common people of the world.

A lofty and inexplicable sense of mission.

"After returning to Beijing, I will recall your father back to the capital. Do you miss him too?"

"...Father is highly trusted by His Majesty, and it is his blessing to be able to work in Guangdong. My concubines dare not trouble Your Majesty."

The submissive face appeared in Zhu Houcong's mind, and then he smiled: "I haven't seen him for a long time, and he must miss you too."

After changing the tea towel, Zhu Houcong looked at the small piece of red on her white wrist: "You never want anything. After being in the palace for so long, Concubine Shu and the others said that you look like a monk in the palace."

"...The concubine deserves death!"

Zhang Qinghe immediately wanted to withdraw her hand to apologize, and Zhu Houcong grabbed her palm.

"It's my fault." Zhu Houcong said softly, and then sighed, "It's my fault."

Zhang Qinghe just didn't know what to do, she had never seen such an emperor.

Zhu Houcong stayed here all the time after that, asking her to tell her stories from childhood to adulthood.

He knew that he was still out of touch with this era after all, he was conceited with the huge amount of information he had received, and comforted himself that he didn't need to disturb the people so he wouldn't look at real ordinary people.

By his side, there were either people from the former prince, the top mansion of the powerful, or high-ranking officials.

Most of these people are human beings who know what to say in what situation.

But there are actually ordinary people around him, such as Zhang Qinghe, some eunuchs and court ladies.

The ridiculous thing is that Zhu Houcong, who "enlightened" the so-called practical studies and dialectics, is actually just a porter.

His understanding of these things is not as good as that of Cui Yuan, who became a son-in-law halfway through the examination room without making a name for himself.

On the contrary, he forgot the importance of the material foundation, and all he was thinking about was new ideas, new technologies, and a new era.

History will give him a big fight sooner or later.

Now it is Cui Yuan who is afraid of the completely unpredictable future and risked his life to give him a reminder.

It was really risking his life. After all, half a month ago, when Zhu Houcong left Huai'an, he had just convicted the four prefects of treason.

It can be said to directly exercise the supreme authority belonging to the emperor with subjective knowledge and standpoint.

The next morning, Cui Yuan came to see him again.

He thought the Emperor was a little different, but wasn't too sure.

Zhu Houcong suddenly asked him: "At that time, you just took part in the national policy. I talked about Portugal and Spain in front of Napi Laizi, and discussed the Great Wall of the South China Sea. What were you thinking?"

Cui Yuan recalled that inexplicable interview and the subsequent painful national policy meeting, and the corners of his mouth trembled slightly.

Zhu Houcong smiled: "I am indeed the king of Jiji."

"...Your Majesty, the Son of Heaven is self-respecting, why does he call himself king?"

Zhu Houcong didn't explain, but just said: "Let's just say it casually. Let me know where the Huanghuai River is in trouble first. Speak freely so that I can think carefully and act carefully. This time there is no rush, and there is no need to come up with a strategy here. "

Upon hearing these words, Cui Yuan let out a long sigh of relief.

He could understand the bravery and diligence of a young emperor. Although this majesty often caused headaches for his subjects, his lenient and persuasive temperament was still good after all.

I hope he can understand more and more in the future, what kind of storm his words and deeds will cause in Daming.

At this day's meeting, Zhu Houcong listened to a lot, asked very detailed questions, and did not talk about his strategy and blueprint.

He heard Gong Hong's use of so much "filial money" and imperial appropriation from the "sinful" Gong Hong, and heard him bluntly stated that he wanted to protect both grain and water transportation in the south of the Yangtze River, as well as the ancestral mausoleum. The river yamen is near Huai'an What a cost.

Even if the people in Huizhou Prefecture pay taxes on silk and silk, it is because of the problems left by the Taizu in order to stabilize the south of the Yangtze River at the beginning of the founding of the country, and how many actual interests of the people are involved now.

He didn't think his suggestion to Chu Yuanren was wrong, and he didn't think he was wrong in the Hedao Yamen for more than three years.

"Your Majesty wants to implement a new law and control the floods in the Yellow River and Huaihe River. The difficulties I faced in the past will not be missing. There is a reason why many dynasties and dynasties have looked at businessmen differently. I am old and dull, and I don't know what the new law will be. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages. If Your Majesty thinks that the minister is also obstructing the new law, the minister and his family are all present, so he is not afraid."

Gong Hong said this calmly, and then looked directly at Zhu Houcong: "I heard that your majesty worshiped the ancestral mausoleum, and I advise you not to move the mausoleum to govern the Yellow River and Huaihe River. Whether the Great Ming National Games will change because of this is a small matter. It must be used by Xiao Xiao. Daxing labor service to rule the Yellow River and Huaihe River is different from winning the Qinlian Great Wall and Yang Sui opening the Caohe River? The new law is now, and the revival of the big campaign means opening up the frontier and expanding the land. It is called a tyrant in power , What will happen if the Ming Dynasty is about to perish? There will be riots everywhere, so what will happen to the people?"

The rest of the people couldn't help looking at the boss He in amazement, can a tyrant talk nonsense?
But Zhu Houcong thought quietly after listening, just looking at him.

Look, he could guess that he had this idea.In the past three and a half years, smart people like Daming may not understand his thinking and character.

"Give Doctor Ronglu a thousand dollars in silver, and one of Yin's heirs will be admitted to the Imperial Academy." Zhu Houcong said, "Yuanzhi has meritorious service, and I would like to be taught."

Zhang Jin has paid back, Gong Hong is indeed just a normal high-ranking official, and Zhu Houcong even killed his grandson.

In this decisive battle that Zhu Houcong considered "standing in line", those who did not completely stand on his side of the new law may not all be those who regard the new law as a scourge and regard Zhu Houcong and the new party as enemies.

Everyone has their own ideas and persistence.

After the "golden cup to drink with you", Zhu Houcong gradually slipped to the other end in the sense of accomplishment of "the monarch and his ministers are united".

In the past three years, comrades and friends have not increased, but enemies have increased.

How can Daming run well with such a boss?

It is very likely that during the three-and-a-half-year internship period of the emperor, he brought the superiority from 500 years later and played the situation after cutting the mess with a sharp knife to the brink of collapse.

Now that the rebellion is over, it's time for him to sum up his gains and losses.

"Liu Tian and the right servant and deputy of the Promotion Department are the imperial envoys, and the prime minister Hedao." Zhu Houcong made another appointment, "Although you have never cured the water, it is good if you are willing to study it. I promise you five years first, Take your lead, ask the people of insight in the world, and try to come up with a strategy."

"...Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness." Liu Tianhe only felt a heavy burden on his shoulders after years of being the fourth rank, and finally became the third rank.

Zhu Houcong looked at them again, and then said: "Since the rebellion is over, I will not go to Nanjing, and I don't need to look at the yellow book library. The southern tour was originally for disaster relief. Since Qing and others were able to provide disaster relief, I came to Huai'an to have a look in person. Huanghuai Shui suffers from emotional disadvantages, so get up and drive back to Beijing in a few days."

Jiang Mian couldn't help but take a deep look at Cui Yuan.

I don't know how many people in Nanzhili were greatly relieved by this decision of the emperor.

How did Cui Yuan do it?
Zhu Houcong just felt that he really had to think about it for a while.

He imagined that after the Huguang rebellion was put down, it should be the beginning of the renewal of Vientiane in Ming Dynasty.

But now, instead, he needs to adjust his thinking and understanding to an old one.

An engine that is too unrestrained will only run away the wheels of old history.

(End of this chapter)