afterglow

Chapter 170 You don't really want to usurp the throne, do you?
The Wanmin umbrella and plaque are reasonable "gifts" to express gratitude. The four characters "Baojing Anmin" carved on a large piece of rosewood are quite pleasing to the eye, and Zhou Changfeng readily accepts them.

"Sir, the train to Jiujiang Mansion has entered the station, shall we leave now?" Xiao Li walked over and asked, pointing to the opposite platform.

"Okay, let's go now."

Because Zhu Lingjing requested to second the chemical protection unit, Zhou Changfeng and the chemical defense platoon went south to Jiujiang Mansion, while the rest of the officers and soldiers returned directly to the Jiangxinzhou garrison in the capital.

To be honest, Zhou Changfeng himself was reluctant to go, because he and Xia Xiaoshi hadn't seen each other for many days.

But Zhu Lingjing couldn't stand it anymore and asked him to personally accompany the chemical defense platoon to direct the task of burning the snails.Obviously, this is just a random excuse. Why do you need a regiment-level officer to go in person?

This train actually passed through Yiling Prefecture and Jiujiang Prefecture. Because it was a freight train composed of hundreds of flatbed cars and stuffy tank cars, it was wobbly and moving very slowly.

Jiujiang is located in the north of Jiangxi, south of the Yangtze River, where Jiangxi, Anhui, Hubei, and Hunan provinces intersect. It is a very famous tourist city. Lushan Mountain, Poyang Lake, Donglin Temple, and Bailudong Academy are all located in Jiujiang.

It can be said that this is also a typical microcosm of the development of inland cities in the Ming Dynasty. The railway station, ship wharf, airport, passenger bus station and other transportation facilities are all available, and the construction of the urban area is also quite prosperous. Human consensus.

However, in terms of specific statistics, the agricultural population of Jiujiang Prefecture is 84.9%, the non-agricultural population is only 15.1%, and the urbanization rate is only about 14%.

The progress of this modernization construction can only be objectively evaluated as too slow, but considering that the Ming Dynasty did not carry out large-scale land reforms and the speed of economic development was limited, it is reasonable for this situation to occur.

Zhou Changfeng is naturally dissatisfied with this. If the reforms in this area can be more far-reaching, the more than 30 years since the constitution was established will make Ming Dynasty much stronger.

After getting out of the station and taking a car, he drove all the way, and he finally arrived at the platform of the imperial envoy before sunset.

This is actually a government office. The decoration is probably newly built more than ten years ago, and it is beautiful and generous.

After entering, he was led to the waiting room. After waiting for a long time, someone took him to the back.

It was around five o'clock in the evening, and it was close to dinner time. Zhu Lingjing planned to go to dinner, but when she learned that Zhou Changfeng came over today, she postponed the dinner time.

"You are very active in coming, I thought you would arrive tomorrow morning." Zhu Lingjing, who was wearing a beige round neck robe, sat on a chair, holding a cup, looking as leisurely as ever.

Zhou Changfeng bowed his hands and saluted, then turned his gaze elsewhere, "Generally speaking, I will complete such instructions as soon as possible."

"There are so many people in the capital who are distracted and inconvenient. Here, it will be much more relaxed, and we can talk more."

"Talk about?"

"There are many problems and contradictions in the country today, and the various forces are fighting openly and secretly. Among other things, just today, when you were on the train, the prefect of Chizhou was anonymously accused of corruption, and the local parade people blocked the gate of the government... There are so many things like that.”

"Hmm... so what do you mean, Your Highness?"

"When the wind is raging, naturally one should not stay out of it, especially at this juncture, Da Ming must not cause chaos, otherwise it will definitely miss a century-old opportunity." Zhu Lingjing's words were high-sounding.

However, this judgment on strategic opportunities is not wrong.

Zhou Changfeng said seriously: "You are concerned about the country and the people, and you care about the world."

Yin and Yang strange?No, absolutely not!You look at my serious look, it seems to be mocking me.

Hearing this, Zhu Lingjing glanced at her, and replied indifferently: "Isn't this supposed to be true? It's as if I should be drunk and dreamed of dying."

ah?

This counterattack really made Zhou Changfeng choke. It took him two seconds to say: "Your Highness's awareness and realm are higher than those of the dignitaries in my impression."

"It's not important. The important thing is that the emperor's health is not good, and the prince's nature is stubborn... If there is a change, it will be difficult to ensure that the country will not be in chaos. This is self-evident."

After finishing speaking, Zhu Lingjing paused for a long time, then continued: "As far as war is concerned, what is your opinion on whether to fight early or late?"

Apparently, she directly acquiesced that Zhou Changfeng supported the war, so she directly asked whether it would be sooner or later.

The latter hesitated for a moment, and replied: "That depends on how early it is. I personally think that if it is really going to start, it should not be later than the next year."

If it is later than [-], the other side of the ocean will gradually begin to expand its military and prepare for war.

Zhu Lingjing took a sip from the delicate white glazed teacup, and said leisurely:
"However, the prince doesn't think so. He and the prince's faction have even drawn up a specific construction draft for the next three years."

"They think that it is the best policy to be fully prepared to fight again, but they don't know that in many cases, good opportunities are more important than hard work and preparation."

"The emperor's attitude towards this is also ambiguous and unclear. To this day, he is still watching from the sidelines, it is really..."

Opportunity is more critical than hard work?

Standing on the tuyere, pigs can take off, right?

From her words, Zhou Changfeng heard her dissatisfaction with the crown prince and the emperor.

After thinking for a moment, he hesitated and said, "Maybe it's because the emperor didn't dare to make up his mind. After all, early war and late war are two completely different strategic deployments."

"You are wrong to think so." Zhu Lingjing said lightly with disdain on her face: "In today's fierce conflict, no matter whether the two strategies are right or wrong, one should be clear about one of them to curb endless internal fighting. Otherwise it is secondary."

She continued in a strange tone, as if an outsider was evaluating an insider: "The emperor... my father, what happened to him when he was young has shaped his current style of behavior and dealing with things. He only cares about maintaining governance and great treasures."

In short, the emperor was unwilling to end the battle himself, to settle the fight at the expense of his own authority.

Zhou Changfeng thought her words were strange, "This...but isn't the emperor's core task to maintain the rule?"

"It's not wrong, but it has to be classified. In the current situation, such behavior is extremely irresponsible and full of contradictions. It has added a lot of trouble to the prince."

"Maybe he felt the time hadn't come yet?"

It's not to say good things to the emperor, but Zhou Changfeng felt that Zhu Lingjing was very prejudiced against her father, so he was a little curious.

"Not yet?" Zhu Lingjing sneered, "If you want to do something like this, you should do it as soon as possible."

Although she didn't like seeing her father very much, Zhou Changfeng felt that no matter what, Zhu Shiyan in the current dynasty was really shrewd and knew how to advance and retreat, which was very suitable for the era that required dancing on multiple eggs.

If the emperor had changed to a straightforward or one-sided emperor, I am afraid that Daming would have fallen apart at that time, and it is hard to say what it will be like now.

At this point in the conversation, Zhu Lingjing has said so much, but she just wanted to clarify her attitude, so the next step should be...

After a while, Zhou Changfeng, who had been silent for nearly ten seconds, suddenly asked, "Your Highness, don't you want to usurp the throne?"

(End of this chapter)