King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 412 The Emperor’s Rice Bowl
Two days passed quickly, and Wang Ziteng embarked on the journey to the northwest.

With his departure, things are far from over.

In order to cope with the upcoming war in the northwest, the imperial court not only increased the supply of grain, grass and military equipment, but also once again mobilized troops from Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi and Beijing Camp to go north.

At the same time, as the recruitment order was issued, the chieftains in Tibet and the various tribes and alliances in the northwest were also gathering their own troops.

If nothing else happens, a large-scale war will break out after this winter is over.

Once the war machine was in operation, the various ministries of the imperial court were busier than before.

However, the tree wanted to be quiet but the wind was not stopping. Just when Zhu Xianming thought he could breathe a sigh of relief, bad news came from Jinling again.

In the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Xianming, who had been busy all morning, was having his lunch in the side hall.

"Your Majesty, an urgent report has been sent from Jinling Qianhu Office!"

Looking at Cheng Ying in front of him, Zhu Xianming said in a deep voice: "Read..."

The urgent report sent by Jin Yiwei, he knew it was bad news just from this sentence.

Cheng Ying opened the letter, unfolded it and read: "The left office of Fusi, Beizhen, forwarded it to Jinling Qianhu..."

"On the first day of November, Yingtianfu Liyang County government officials went to Shangtian Village to re-explore the land. They clashed with the villagers and killed three people. The people were so angry that they killed the officials and then gathered in the county seat..."

"The Liyang County government failed to respond in time, so the mob rushed into the city. The people in the city fled in chaos. The county magistrate Chen Anhuai... was..."

Hearing this, Zhu Xianming frowned and said, "What happened?"

"Surrounded by rioters..."

After saying this, Cheng Ying lowered his head consciously. He could guess how angry the emperor was at the moment.

"waste……"

After Zhu Xianming scolded him, there was a "snap", and he saw him directly put the rice bowl on the table, and the beautifully decorated royal bowl broke into several pieces.

The emperor was angry, bleeding and drifting away.

The dozen or so eunuchs serving in the hall quickly knelt on the ground and crouched on the ground, trembling as if they were facing an abyss.

Even Li Qingxiang, who was waiting outside the hall, was so frightened when he heard the movement that he shook his body and raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

The report just now was delivered by him personally.

"Those losers in Jinling are all trash!" the emperor still scolded.

Originally, the civil uprising in Tianfu had been suppressed, but now at the time of turmoil in the northwest, something like this happened again. This has really become a situation of internal and external troubles.

He stood up and came to Cheng Ying, took the letter in his hand, and Zhu Xianming read it carefully.

Although the matter seemed simple, Zhu Xianming knew that someone was instigating him behind the scenes to cause the current situation.

After the last civil uprising subsided, Zhu Xianming did not allow in-depth investigation in order to prevent further trouble.

Fortunately this time, although they did not besiege Yingtian City, they broke into the county town directly and even detained the county magistrate.

The face of the imperial court and the implementation of the New Deal... all forced Zhu Xianming not to tolerate it.

"Let Li Qingxiang come in!" Zhu Xianming knew that this guy was outside.

"Yes!"

Soon Li Qingxiang entered the palace. Zhu Xianming first gave him a few words of reprimand, and then ordered him to send a message to the Jinling Qianhu Office, asking him to find out the whole story.

Especially those who are causing trouble behind the scenes must be dug out and punished severely this time.

"You can't completely trust the Jinling Qianhu Office. Your Beizhen Fusi also sent people to investigate carefully in secret!"

"Yes!" Li Qingxiang answered cautiously.

In addition to the people sent by Fusi in Beizhen and the spies sent by Dongchang long ago, there are three groups of people from the royal family alone investigating, who can find out the whole story to the greatest extent possible.

After Li Qingxiang received the order to retreat, Zhu Xianming continued to give instructions: "Immediately pass the order to the Ministry of War and order the Jinling Governor to start quelling the rebellion!"

"Yes!"

Zhu Xianming didn't pay attention to small civil unrest. He paid more attention to the people who were hiding behind and causing trouble.

If these people are not dug out, on the one hand, the implementation of the New Deal will be hindered, and on the other hand, it will be difficult to eliminate his hatred.

If it were in the pre-Ming Dynasty, the emperor would at least summon his cabinet ministers to discuss such a major event, but the development now depends entirely on the emperor's will.

For example, if Zhu Xianming is angry at this time, he can make a decision directly.

"An additional order was sent to the Chief Secretary of Jinling, asking them to try to stabilize the situation and not to allow other prefectures and counties to cause trouble!"

"Yes!"

Working as the eunuch in charge of the Qianqing Palace, I couldn't do the job because of my poor memory. At this moment, Cheng Ying was memorizing it carefully.

"Go and call Dai Quan over again!"

"Yes!"

"Also...call the prince!"

"Yes!"

After giving these instructions, Zhu Xianming waved his hand, indicating that Cheng Ying could go on his errands.

Cheng Ying saluted and left, while Zhu Xianming returned to the dining table. The place had been cleaned up and a bowl of rice was served again.

The Superintendent of Ceremonies was not far from the Qianqing Palace. Dai Quan soon appeared in front of Zhu Xianming and was given another errand by him. To put it simply, he was to send another team of people to Jinling.

After Dai Quan took the order and left, Prince Zhu Jingyuan hurried over. At this moment, Zhu Xianming had already eaten and was reading.

Entering the hall, Zhu Jingyuan was called up after saluting, and Zhu Xianming also put down his book.

"Prince, last time I asked you to select officials who would appease Jinling. Do you know where you are now?"

Zhu Jingyuan didn't expect that the old man called him here for this matter.

But he didn't panic at all, because after he returned to the East Palace, he carefully discussed this matter with a group of bachelors and came up with two extremely suitable candidates.

But later the situation in Jinling calmed down and the matter was dropped. Who would have thought that the emperor would ask again now.

"Dad, my son thought about this carefully when he went back. After thinking about it, he thought of two people..."

"It's just that my son has little knowledge and is afraid of missing important matters for his father, so he doesn't dare to speak nonsense!" Zhu Jingyuan's attitude was extremely humble.

Standing up from the chair and walking towards the outside of the hall, Zhu Xianming asked: "Who do you plan to recommend?"

The prince followed up and replied: "Li Guichun, the minister of the Ministry of Punishment, is very thoughtful and responsive. Seven years ago, he was the inspector of Annan and quelled the civil uprising in Xing'an Prefecture!"

"Well, who is the other person?"

Zhu Jingyuan then replied: "Liang Qian, the deputy censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, is an upright and thorough man. When he was the censor of the Procuratorate of Shaanxi Province, he once led to Zhu Jinlong's major corruption case..."

The people recommended by the prince also have something in common. These two people are both of the third rank, and the highest official rank in Jinling is the third rank. By sending these two people, they can steadily suppress the place.

Of course, the recommended two people also support the eldest prince, and can be regarded as one of the East Palace's own.

Stopping on the Danbi Stone outside the main hall of Qianqing Palace, Zhu Xianming turned around and asked: "So of these two people...who do you think is the most suitable person to go?"

"My son thinks... it would be more appropriate for Liang Qian to go!"

"Why?"

"There is an Inspectorate in Jinling. If we send people from the Ministry of Punishments again, it will appear that the imperial court does not trust the place!"

Turning around, Zhu Xianming asked: "Is this your idea, or is it the intention of the scholars of the East Palace?"

"Reporting to the Emperor Father, this is a matter of discussion between the ministers and the scholars!"

Zhu Xianming smiled and then said: "Then take it as your wish. In that case...send Liang Qian to patrol Jinling!"

"Yes!"

In the current era, governors are temporary dispatches. They are only set up to perform extraordinary things at extraordinary times. They will be dismissed as soon as the matter is completed.

"There have been civil riots in Jinling many times. What does the prince think of this?"

Obviously this is another temporary teaching test. This kind of situation happens from time to time, so Zhu Jingyuan is not panic at the moment. "The main policy of the imperial court is to determine the land and formulate a tax system based on the actual situation. The original intention is to reduce the burden on the common people..."

"But the stupidity of local officials made it difficult for the people to understand the difficulties of the court, so... these misunderstandings arose!"

This kind of temporary policy inquiry can test the prince's true thoughts.

Zhu Xianming was really impressed by the prince's answer today. He thought that the prince would say that the people were revolting because of the government's oppression...

Then Zhu Xianming asked: "Tell me, should the court implement the New Deal?"

"My son thought..."

The prince began to talk. He was recognized by his father twice today, which made him feel particularly confident in his answers.

However, limited by his knowledge, after talking about the benefits of the New Deal, he still pointed out its shortcomings, which made the emperor dissatisfied with him again.

…………

A few more days passed, and before the emperor's decree was delivered, more news came back from Jinling.

When the Jinling Dusi began to mobilize troops, the rebels dispersed after hearing the news, and robbed Liyang County along the way.

The fact that the situation has developed to this point is not too outrageous. It is unrealistic for these people who usually work peacefully to farm their fields to confront the government and the army.

In this matter, the Liyang gentry shot themselves in the foot. After all, most of the robbed Liyang County towns were their properties.

Although the civil unrest was suppressed again, this time Zhu Xianming was determined to dig out the people behind it, so the previous decree would not change.

As for the common people who caused rebellion, all those who could be caught were arrested and then exiled to Annan to guard the border. This was also a routine operation in the past ten years.

As for the situation in the northwest, there is nothing much to say. Both parties have made it clear that they have begun to prepare for war, and they will start fighting as soon as this winter is over.

The only thing worthy of attention and intervention is the Zasak Khanate, whose situation is on the verge of getting out of control. Once it rebels against the court, it will have to adjust its strategy.

"Your Majesty, the Queen said... please come over and have dinner!"

In the study room, Zhu Xianming said "hmm" after hearing this, and the young eunuch who reported the matter retreated voluntarily.

As for Kunning Palace, Zhu Yunsheng jumped for joy because she had persuaded the queen that they could go see her brother together tomorrow.

After all, they are brothers and sisters who grew up together, and they still care very much about Zhu Jinghong, the third brother, Zhu Yunsheng.

"More than two months have passed since the beginning of September... I wonder how Sister Bao is doing?"

They were going to meet tomorrow, but it made Daiyu feel sad, and Xiangyun who was watching from the side shook his head repeatedly.

"With Master Thirteen taking care of me, Sister Bao will definitely not be wronged!"

After hearing Xiangyun's persuasion, Daiyu nodded slightly, picked up a handkerchief and wiped away her tears.

The two girls were talking, while Zhen Qin followed Zhu Yunsheng on the other side and said, "Princess... let's bring more things tomorrow, including food and entertainment, and try our best to make Master Thirteen's life better!"

"That's what I thought of. Maybe that's all I brought, nothing new!" Zhu Yunsheng said helplessly.

Zhu Yunsheng's words played right into Zhen Qin's hands, and she had put a lot of effort into this matter.

After more than half a year of adaptation, Zhen Qin has now recovered from the loss and is once again full of hope for life.

According to the imperial system, the prince should have two concubines. Even if Yang Jingting takes one, there is still one spot left.

Obviously, Zhen Qin has set her sights on this position. As far as she is concerned, as long as she enters Prince Xiang's Mansion, it will not be a shame for her sisters in the clan.

After all, the queen's biological niece is just a concubine.

After explaining her thoughts in detail to Zhu Yunsheng, Zhen Qin looked around at everyone and felt that the position of the concubine should be stable. There was no way two girls could still compete with her.

About half an hour later, it was time for dinner, and the emperor himself was invited.

In the dining room of Kunning Palace, the emperor and the empress were sitting opposite each other. At this moment, the maids were serving delicious food.

"You all stand down!" The queen looked around.

"Yes!"

After everyone in the hall exited, Yang Qingyin picked up the chopsticks and personally served Zhu Xianming with the dishes.

"Your Majesty, please use it!"

The queen was too considerate, which made Zhu Xianming a little uncomfortable, so he asked: "I have nothing to do to be attentive... What do you want?"

"Your Majesty, what you said is too outrageous. You and I are husband and wife after all. It is my duty to serve Your Majesty as a concubine. How can I be so courteous for nothing?" Yang Qingyin said with a smile.

"The queen didn't talk like this when she was blushing to me!" Zhu Xianming said calmly.

"Your Majesty has a universal mind, why are you so fussy about it?"

"It doesn't matter if you have a universal mind, I still have to suffer from you!"

"Our anger? Which of us?" Yang Qingyin asked curiously.

Picking up the chopsticks, Zhu Xianming said calmly: "The fourth brother recommended Liang Qian to be the governor of Jinling. The sixth brother...is secretly looking for someone again. He wants to find Liang Qian!"

After King Xiang selected his concubine, Zhu Xianming felt uncomfortable whenever he thought of Lao Liu, and the idea of ​​passing the throne to Lao Liu was disintegrating in his heart.

However, the fourth child he wanted to give the position to was unable to support the world in all aspects, which really made Zhu Xianming even more depressed and uncomfortable.

Of course, Yang Qingyin would not know what the emperor was thinking, so she asked in reply: "What does this have to do with me? Didn't you set it up?"

"I……"

"Then you should have instigated this bastard, Old Thirteen!" Zhu Xianming changed the subject and indirectly admitted that he was indulging in Old Sixth.

Yang Qingyin was worried about how to answer the question. After hearing this, she immediately said: "Tomorrow I plan to visit Lao Shisan. Do you want to come with me?"

"Look at him? What are he doing? I get angry when I see him!" At this point, Zhu Xianming put down the chopsticks he had just picked up.

"Let's go and have a look... Now he also knows that he was wrong. After spending so long there, he has changed his bad habits!" Yang Qingyin continued to say good things, preparing for the next step of rescuing her son.

"He complains all day long, saying that my father's treatment is unfair, and that he was picked up... You don't know this, right?" Zhu Xianming said with an unhappy face.

At this time, Yang Qingyin didn't know how to defend herself. She could only laugh and said: "He... has such a personality!"

"Since he won't change, then let's continue to stay!"

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, there was a "pop" sound, but it was Yang Qingyin who slapped the chopsticks on the table.

"The surname is Zhu...Old Thirteen is my lifeblood. I have allowed you to beat and punish me all these years. Now that you are so harsh on him, do you want my life?"

"Isn't it just because of what happened to the Xue family girl? This girl stayed in Shanglinyuan for more than two months and personally cooked for the three brothers. She did all the dirty and tiring work. What else are you dissatisfied with!"

"I think now...you are going too far!"

The speed with which the queen changed her face made Zhu Xianming stunned. However, he did not dare to continue arguing with his old wife because of his red eyes.

"I'm telling you, if you don't go tomorrow I'll go by myself. Why don't I live over there with Lao Shisan? I'll be angry with you even if I stay here in Kunning Palace!"

Seeing that the queen was getting more and more outrageous, Zhu Xianming finally couldn't help but said: "That's enough..."

The emperor is the emperor after all. If he is really angry, even as a queen, he will have to sue.

However, the next moment, Zhu Xianming was heard saying: "Why don't you go to Shanglin Garden and have a look... I'll just let you go. What a big deal it is, it's worth making such a fuss with you!"

Hearing this, Yang Qingyin finally felt at ease, and at the same time felt that she had figured out the emperor's thoughts.

If the emperor is really determined not to let go, no matter what tricks Yang Qingyin plays, it will be useless. The only effect of what she does is to give the emperor a step down, and then the relationship between father and son can be eased.

Although it was the emperor who shouted for beatings and punishments, Yang Qingyin knew better than anyone that she loved her youngest son as much as he did.

At this moment, since the emperor had "subdued", Yang Qingyin also understood the principle of giving in when something is good, so she said: "Your Majesty is really broad-minded, but I am ignorant of the truth and deserve to be punished... I ask your Majesty to punish me!"

After saying this, the queen really stood up from the chair, and then knelt down to confess her crime.

"Okay, okay, I forgive you... Why are you using these false politenesses? Do you still want to have dinner?" Zhu Xianming said angrily.

"Your Majesty has taught you a lesson, you have taught him a lesson!" Yang Qingyin sat back on the chair.

"Don't let Old Thirteen know about going to Shanglinyuan. I want to see... how they live their lives!"

While serving the emperor some food, Yang Qingyin said, "But it's up to your majesty to make the decision!"

(End of this chapter)