King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 810: The Classic of Mountains and Seas
Zhu Jinghong was undoubtedly shocked when he heard the "Seven-Step Poem" with his own ears, and it instantly reminded him of some old things.

The past was too painful to recall, and Zhu Jinghong tried his best to avoid thinking about it, but this poem made it easy for him to think of it.

Hearing Baochai's angry scold and seeing her worried look, Zhu Jinghong burst into laughter.

This scene made Baochai even more worried, as she was not sure about the emperor's intentions.

But after Zhu Jinghong burst into laughter, he waved to Zhu Muzhen, and when Zhu Muzhen came closer, he asked, "Zhen'er, you read this poem very well. Who taught you?"

"Yes...I can't remember clearly, yes...my son saw it himself!"

"Did you see it yourself? Where did you see it?" Zhu Jinghong asked again.

At this time, Baochai approached from the side and came in front of Zhu Jinghong. She was sure that her husband was not too angry.

At this moment, Baochai also wanted to know who was framing her son.

Zhu Muzhen replied: "In the bedroom!"

"Bedroom?" Zhu Jinghong was a little surprised, and then looked at Baochai.

Zhu Jinghong originally thought that someone in the Hanlin Academy had embarrassed him, and he had just been preparing to launch a major case. This direct attack on the emperor was unforgivable.

The reason for the strict investigation, of course, could not be because of Zhu Muzhen's reciting poems, but to start with the official records they compiled or other classics, to give them a little shock of literary inquisition.

Zhu Jinghong even thought that this might be a backlash from the civil servants and literati against his past autocratic rule. However, people who sit in this position tend to have a similar way of thinking.

Zhu Muzhen's words temporarily cleared the Hanlin Academy of suspicion, but the investigation still had to be carried out.

Baochai came to her son, took his hand, and asked, "Zhen'er, who around you taught you to learn this?"

Zhu Muzhen didn't understand why his parents were so concerned about the source of the poem instead of praising him for being studious.

After thinking for a while, Zhu Muzhen answered seriously: "I saw it in a book, and my son memorized it!"

"You memorized it after just looking at it once!" Baochai asked again.

"I've seen it...seven or eight times!"

Baochai asked again, "Seven or eight times? Where did you watch it? Who asked you to watch it?"

"It's right on the desk. Those volumes of Cao Zijian's Collection of Essays. My son can read them when he gets home from school!"

Although Zhu Muzhen's answer did not get to the point, Zhu Jinghong and the other man still heard something unusual. The key lay in those seven or eight times.

I saw it seven or eight times every time I came home from school. It must have been done intentionally.

Baochai was about to ask again, but she heard Zhu Jinghong say, "Forget it, forget it. There's no need to ask any more questions. It's just a poem. Don't make a fuss about it!"

Baochai then replied: "There is an adulterer in the harem, even in Kunning Palace. This is my fault!"

Motioning for her to sit down, Zhu Jinghong said, "No one is perfect. I have made many mistakes. What does this matter?"

"If I don't accuse you, you are innocent!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Baochai said with a smile.

Sighing, Zhu Jinghong put his two sons down, picked up the teacup beside him and said, "Come to think of it, it's also my own imagination. This also proves the old saying, if you don't do anything wrong, you don't have to worry about ghosts knocking on your door!"

Zhu Jinghong only said these words in front of Baochai. All the previous fights for the throne were conspired between the two of them.

Baochai said sternly, "Your Majesty, I always believe that everything you did was right, so Your Majesty should not blame yourself!"

Zhu Jinghong smiled but didn't say anything more. After asking the eldest and second oldest brothers about their schoolwork, Zhu Jinghong let the three brothers go out and play.

Although there are differences between legitimate and illegitimate children, they are still young after all, so they can still play together.

The children went out to play, and Zhu Jinghong went into the inner hall with Baochai to see his youngest son.

An hour later, Zhu Jinghong left after lunch, and Baochai called one of his female officials over.

"Send all the eunuchs and palace maids in Zhen'er's room to the East Factory for interrogation, and transfer another 20 people over!"

"Yes!" the female official responded.

After sending this man away, Baochai looked at Ying'er and Wenxing on her left and right. Ten years had passed and these two had become old maids. They had been taken in by Zhu Jinghong several years ago.

"Who do you think is causing trouble?" Baochai asked calmly.

Wen Xing thought for a moment and replied, "My Lady, will it be possible..."

"what?"

"Could it be just a misunderstanding? The people in our palace are still trustworthy!" Wen Xing said hesitantly.

Wen Xing was very familiar with the twenty people who served Zhu Muzhen. She thought there was nothing wrong with them, so she couldn't bear to see them sent to the East Factory to be punished.

Baochai glanced at her and didn't respond to her at all, then looked at Ying'er.

After thinking it over, Ying'er replied, "Your Majesty, let me say something unpleasant. The position of the Empress is extremely noble, and everyone in the harem is under scrutiny!"

This is very interesting. It means that everyone in the harem is a suspect, which is correct nonsense.

"But if you want to know who is the most suspicious, I think I have to ask... I have to ask Xingde Palace!"

Xingde Palace is Yang Jingting's bedroom. It is normal to suspect her because she has a "criminal record".

In fact, Baochai had already made this guess when she first asked Zhu Muzhen, and she was asking at this moment just to find confirmation.

With a solemn look, Baochai ordered: "You must personally check the new people selected by the Imperial Household Department and make sure they are clean and honest!"

"Yes!"

On the other hand, after walking out of Kunning Palace, Zhu Jinghong was also thinking deeply about what happened today.

When he returned to the Qianqing Palace, he had already made up his mind that the people from the Hanlin Academy still had to investigate, but as for the inner palace, Baochai would be in charge and he would not interfere too much.

After the relevant imperial edict was issued, the Eastern Depot sent soldiers into the Hanlin Academy and took away several scholars and clerks for questioning, but few people knew about the replacement of eunuchs and palace maids in Kunning Palace.

This matter is big and small, and it is impossible for Zhu Jinghong to be involved too much in it. His main focus is on governing the country.

On June 12, after seven or eight days of hesitation, Britain and France finally stopped delaying and formally submitted their letters of credence stating their intentions.

"Agree on the division of interests between Ayutthaya, Burma and other countries!"

Inside the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Jinghong couldn't help laughing when he saw the contents of the letter.

These people really do not hide their true colors. They express their views so bluntly on the issue of dividing other people's territorial interests. They really have no shame at all.

Looking at the Minister of Rites Luo Guangde in front of him, Zhu Jinghong ordered: "Go and tell them that Ayutthaya, Myanmar and other countries have been vassal states of the Ming Dynasty since ancient times. They are not dividing interests with us, but encroaching on the interests of the Ming Dynasty!"

"I obey your order!" Luo Guangde replied.

Luo Guangde certainly sneered at this behavior of directly dividing up the benefits, but as the Shangshu, he no longer had any temper and had become a qualified yes-man.

In fact, he was not the only one. The ministers and chancellors under Zhu Jinghong were not much better. At this time, there were jokes in the capital city like "Three cabinet ministers made of paper and six chancellors made of clay".

The next day, the Ministry of Rites again raised the reception standards and sent a doctor to start the dialogue.

York and the other two wanted to meet Zhu Jinghong, but until now they hadn't even met the official from the Ministry of Rites, so they were naturally very annoyed.

But time waits for no one, and they want to complete the task as soon as possible and report back, so they can only talk with this official from the Ministry of Rites.

As soon as the negotiations began, the two sides insisted on their own views on the historical ownership of Southeast Asia and refused to give in.

Britain and France insisted that whoever was closer to the place would be the master, but the Ministry of Rites refused to give in according to the imperial edict.

Holding a copy of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the official from the Ministry of Rites reminded them very seriously: "This is our ancient book. It records the Danxue Mountain, which is rich in gold and jade... The Danshui here is in present-day Myanmar!"

It is not clear at the moment whether Danshui is within Myanmar’s territory, but it will be fine as long as it can be used as evidence for now.

"More than two thousand years ago, our ancestors were collecting gold and jade in Myanmar. Where were you at that time?"

"Now that you have come into our house, you want to divide up our belongings. Does this make sense?"

The two sides had been arguing for nearly half an hour, and at this moment York and Robert were both tired.

Read more latest popular novels at 6.9*shuba!

York, who was much more irritable, immediately stood up and shouted, "Do you think that just because you pick up a random book, you can treat it as the true word of God and we must obey it?"

"Let me tell you, our two countries, together with Portugal and Spain, have formed a joint fleet at sea with nearly two hundred warships. This is our reason!"

Hearing this naked threat, the official from the Ministry of Rites also became angry and immediately retorted: "So, you want to force us with your troops and threaten us with war?"

The bad thing about the official from the Ministry of Rites was that he asked back even though he knew what the other person meant. First of all, his momentum was weakened a lot.

Robert smiled and replied calmly: "This is how the world is. Whoever has more chess pieces and stronger guns will have the right to speak!"

The negotiations naturally ended in a bad mood, and the entire content of the conversation was presented to the emperor for review.

After returning to the residence, York calmed down, but Robert was very anxious.

"Are we really going to fight?"

The four countries combined have about 200 warships, but the Ming army's navy is also very powerful. After rapid development in recent years, its scale is not inferior to the combined fleet of the four countries.

In order to win safely, they have to continue to transfer fleets from the mainland, but the feasibility of this method is almost zero. After all, international relations in Europe are in a mess, and protecting offshore interests is undoubtedly more important.

To put it more bluntly, the interests in the Far East cannot compare with those in the offshore mainland, let alone those in America.

York said: "It is not up to us to decide whether to fight or not, and now it seems that the Ming people are planning to drive us out!"

"Their emperor is so arrogant!" Robert couldn't help but complain.

York glanced at him, and then said, "If you were like him, leading troops to fight in wars when you were young, and then winning victory after victory, and then becoming the emperor of this huge empire, commanding millions of troops and hundreds of warships, you would definitely be more arrogant than him!"

Hearing this, Robert was stunned, and then had to admit that this was the fact.

He had learned about Zhu Jinghong's experience in detail, and he had a lot of admiration for this legendary figure who became the emperor of an empire in just ten years, even though he was young.

As for the imperial court, on June 14, the day after the negotiations, Zhu Jinghong convened a court meeting to discuss the matter.

The cabinet ministers, the six ministries, the nine officials, and the five military governors' offices all held a copy of the negotiation dialogue in their hands, and everyone had a different reaction after reading it.

The generals were filled with righteous indignation and wished they could kill York and his men directly, while the civil servants were either angry or worried.

"My Lords, do you know which of these conversations I like the most?"

This question was not easy to answer, and all the ministers lowered their heads. No one was trying to be smart at this time.

"It's just what the man named Robert said. Whoever has more chess pieces and stronger guns has the right words!"

"It's obvious that if we don't beat these people into submission, we won't be able to live a peaceful life!"

The purpose of saying this is to unify understanding, to prepare for the next battle against the enemy, and to make everyone abandon certain unrealistic fantasies.

"Everyone, it's not that I'm warlike, but they have already put knives to our necks. If we don't resist, we will only suffer humiliation!"

No one objected to this statement. Even if someone thought it was an exaggeration, no one would speak out at this time.

"Besides, as the saying goes, there is no gain without pain. They have come from thousands of miles away, so they are naturally seeking great benefits."

"Gold, silver, land, or any other treasures, they are all ours. How can they take them away for nothing?"

"So, whether it's to protect the comfort of the court or to preserve the wealth of future generations, we must beat these Western barbarians and scare them!"

"What do you think of what I said?"

Zhu Jinghong was the only one who spoke throughout the whole process. When he heard this question, all the generals spoke up and praised the emperor for his wisdom and expressed their willingness to lead the troops. In any case, these people were very active.

Why are they so active? Because the Military Honor Group really gained endless benefits during the war.

Zhu Jinghong was not surprised by the civil servants' lukewarm reaction, after all, they did not gain much benefit.

But he planned to adjust the policy to mobilize the enthusiasm of the scholars and officials and let them take the initiative to explore overseas interests.

In Zhu Jinghong's view, what the so-called aristocrats in Europe could do, the literati in the Ming Dynasty could also do.

After a court discussion, the Ministry of Rites formally responded to Britain and France, demanding that they not interfere in Ayutthaya, Burma and other countries, otherwise war would be the final result.

The two York envoys completed their mission, but did not get the desired results, so they hurriedly led their team out of the capital.

It can be predicted that there will be waves at sea and in places like Annan.

In response to this incident, Zhu Jinghong once again issued orders to Wan Zehui and the Guangdong, Zhejiang and Guangdong navies, asking them to pay close attention to the enemies in their respective directions.

It is now late June, and it will take nearly two months for York and others to return. It will probably take another two or three months for them to report the situation and get a reply.

In other words, it would take at least four or five months for the situation to really change, so the Ming army could be fully prepared.

In fact, the Ming army had been preparing step by step, and the decrees issued by Zhu Jinghong one after another were actually micro-manipulations when they were transmitted to the front line.

On July 12, at the Annan Commandery, Wan Zehui looked at the report in front of him and felt very unhappy.

"So, the Imperial Censor surnamed Li is still in Dacheng?"

"That's right!" replied a general below.

"Idiot, why can't you keep an eye on a person who is fine?"

The general who responded knelt down immediately and reported carefully: "General, it's not that I can't keep an eye on him. He is acting on orders. How dare we stop him!"

Wan Zehui became more and more dissatisfied: "He was ordered to investigate the refugees. It is not his responsibility to march and fight. Now he has interfered with the military affairs. Why don't you just arrest him directly?"

Wan Zehui was in a high position and had great power, so he could certainly say this, but the generals under him would never dare to take down an imperial envoy, who was also a disciple of the Chief Censor.

Even if we put all these aside, there is still something in the world called "integrity brings prestige". Li Ziheng's integrity throughout his life alone is enough to prevent evildoers from acting rashly.

(End of this chapter)