Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 38 Little Ermao

After having a meal of "Northeastern Stew" with Wang Daoqiu at the coal yard, Lu Bing and Wang Daoqiu returned to the city.

The two parted at the city gate, and Lu Bing asked someone to put Wang Daoqiu down from his horse.He handed over to Wang Daoqiu, said "Take care", and rode away with his men, leaving only the dust along the way for Wang Daoqiu. Wang Daoqiu choked and hurriedly covered his hands with "cough cough cough". The muzzle ducked to one side.

Ma De, Lu Bing is such a bastard. Lao Zhi gave him such a great fortune, but instead of rewarding him with gold and silver, he rewarded Lao Zhi with ashes!It's so weird.

Yes, this guy Lu Bing wanted to go to his "little boy" as soon as possible to invite pets, but he forgot to give Wang Daoqiu some reward money.This makes modern people think that if I do work for you and you have to pay me, you really can’t convince yourself!
So when Lu Bing rode away with his guards without giving him a penny, Wang Daoqiu spat out the dust that he had accidentally sucked into his mouth, while cursing Lu Bing in his heart that he was not a thing, and Lu Bing was cursed. When Bing waited for a while and arrived at Xiyuan, he was taken through the "back door" by his "youngster".

Lu Bing didn't know that Wang Daoqiu was cursing him behind his back. He took his guards and a carriage equipped with a briquette stove and a dozen briquettes and rushed towards Xiyuan.

In the 21st year of Jiajing's reign, the Renyin Palace changed, and Emperor Jiajing was almost strangled to death with a ribbon by Yang Jinying and several other palace maids.Emperor Jiajing had a psychological shadow over the emperor's exclusive residence, Qianqing Palace. After that, he moved to Xiyuan outside the Forbidden City until his death.

As Emperor Jiajing moved to Xiyuan, the main heads of the Ming Dynasty also moved their offices to Xiyuan. From then on, they worked in Xiyuan, which was called Zhilu.That is to say, from the Renyin Palace Revolution in the 21st year of Jiajing to the death of Emperor Jiajing in the 45th year of Jiajing, during these 24 years, the center of power of the Ming Dynasty was not the majestic Forbidden City, but the elegant and tranquil Xiyuan.

Lu Bing rode his horse to the center of power of the Ming Dynasty. He cleverly dismounted at the door and walked in by himself, giving the emperor full face.

From this point, it can be seen that Lu Bing is a man with a sense of propriety and a clear mind.In fact, based on Lu Bing's relationship with Emperor Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing had rewarded him for riding in Xiyuan before.

But Lu Bing's mind is very clear, he knows that the emperor's rewards belong to the emperor's rewards, and your courtiers should have the measure of a courtier.It's like when you go to someone else's house as a guest, and they tell you not to be polite, just treat it as your own home. Don't tell me you really treat other people's house as your own!So a person who understands the world, when he goes to someone else's house as a guest, no matter how polite the host is, he will always remember his identity as a guest.

This is how common people get along with each other, but ministers should pay more attention to these details when getting along with the emperor.For example, the later emperors of the Qing Dynasty would reward their ministers with riding horses in the Forbidden City when they were happy. But in the nearly 300 years of the Qing Dynasty's national destiny, which minister would be really stupid enough to ride a horse in the Forbidden City?
Therefore, when the emperor is polite to his ministers, it is just a gesture.As a minister, you must have the propriety of being a minister, and you cannot just climb up if you are given a ladder.At this point, Lu Bing respected Emperor Jiajing very much, which was one of the reasons why he was favored for a long time.

Lu Bing is going to see Emperor Jiajing now. This is a good time. Emperor Jiajing has just had lunch and is free.

Arriving at the gate of Wanshou Palace, the residence of Emperor Jiajing, Lu Bing rewarded the young eunuch on duty with a piece of broken silver and asked the young eunuch to go in and report, while he waited outside.

After a while, the little eunuch who went to report just now came out together with all the eunuchs and maids in the Longevity Palace, including Lu Fang, the current chief of ceremonies.

This is also an old rule. Every time Emperor Jiajing summons Lu Bing in private, he likes to treat Lu Bing as friends, so everyone can do whatever they want.The true temperament of these emperors should not be shown to slaves such as eunuchs and maids.So every time Emperor Jiajing summoned Lu Bing privately, clearing the place became the first step.

Lu Fang, the chief minister of ceremony, was also an old man in Prince Xingxian's palace. When Emperor Jiajing was still the son of Prince Xingxian, Lu Fang was Emperor Jiajing's companion.Therefore, Lu Fang and Lu Bing were friends who had been with Emperor Jiajing since childhood and were very familiar with each other.So when Lu Fang came out and saw Lu Bing, he smiled and said, "Go in quickly, don't keep the emperor waiting too long."

"Hey, okay, I'll go in then, Brother Lu, you're busy."

"Go, go, go!"

After bidding farewell to Lu Fang, Lu Bing carried the briquette stove and went in to see Emperor Jiajing.

When Lu Bing entered the room, Emperor Jiajing was lying on the steps with Ge You, looking at Lu Bing who came in.

When Lu Bing came to Emperor Jiajing, he knelt down to salute in a very busy and current manner.But just as Lu Bing bent down, Emperor Jiajing said impatiently: "Okay, okay, everyone in the world will kneel when they see me, including you, Lu Ermao. How many times have I told you, are you here?" When you are with other people, you don’t use those false etiquette, you don’t use those false etiquette, but you still do that every time. Ermao! When you were young, you worshiped me as your big brother and got close to me. But after I became the emperor, you and I are the same. We are getting more and more divided. Emperor, what’s wrong with the emperor! Can’t the emperor have his own friends?”

Ermao, this was the nickname given to Lu Bing by Emperor Jiajing when he was a child.The reason was that back then, when little Jiajing was being controlled by his master in studying, Lu Bing was waiting at the door for little Jiajing to play with him after school.

Maybe the old master's way of Confucius and Mencius is too hypnotic?Lu Bing waited and fell asleep on the doorstep.At that time, little Jiajing, after discovering that his little friend Lu Bing had fallen asleep, rolled up the book on a whim and made a telescope to spy on Lu Bing.From this point of view, the earthen telescope shows the two bundles of hair on Lu Bing's forehead at that time.

So from then on, little Jiajing called Lu Bing "Lu Er Mao" or "Er Mao".After Emperor Jiajing ascended the throne and became emperor, every time he called Lu Bing "Er Mao", it meant that he hoped that Lu Bing could talk to him as a friend in the future.Hey, the emperor said he was lonely and lacked friends!

Having been friends for more than 30 years, Lu Bing naturally knew the character of Emperor Jiajing.So after hearing Emperor Jiajing calling him "Er Mao", Lu Bing also cooperated very well and stopped saluting. Instead, he smiled stupidly and sat down next to Emperor Jiajing.Lu Bing looked like a silly child now, which made Emperor Jiajing amused.Emperor Jiajing smiled and joked: "Er Mao, you look so mean-spirited. Which family's daughter have you brought trouble to? And what did you carry into my palace?"

"Hey, Cong Cong, let me tell you, the things I carried today are not ordinary, and it's no problem to make you 8 to [-] taels of silver in a year."

Since the Emperor wants to take off his disguise and return to his true nature.Lu Bing also cooperated well with his lines and called Emperor Jiajing his childhood nickname "Cong Cong".

After Emperor Jiajing heard what Lu Bing said, he didn't care what Lu Bing called him. He was attracted by the one hundred and eighty thousand taels of silver that year.So after listening to Lu Bing's words, he got up and went to the briquette stove to look carefully.

At first glance, it was a piece of charcoal with holes punched vertically. The bottom piece was still red and steaming upward.Emperor Jiajing didn't see why these pieces of black charcoal were related to one hundred and eighty thousand taels of silver.

So he asked Lu Bing with a question mark on his face: "Er Mao, these are just these pieces of black charcoal, are they coal? Haven't you been in the coal business these years? Is there anything valuable you can bring here to make fun of me?" "

"Hi, Your Majesty, this is coal, but it is not the original coal. To be precise, it is coal powder and mud powder mixed together..."

Lu Bing then spent a quarter of an hour introducing to Emperor Jiajing in detail how he and Wang Daoqiu developed this briquette today and the wonderful uses of this briquette.

After listening to Lu Bing's report, Emperor Jiajing's thinking jumped again. He skipped the matter of briquettes and directly asked about the Longyan Iron Mine mentioned in Lu Bing's words just now.

Emperor Jiajing asked: "Er Mao, is there really a red stone mountain at Longguan in Xuanfu? Is that red stone really an iron ore?"

"I don't know, I don't know yet! I have sent people there, and my instructions to them are to bring me a thousand kilograms of red stones in three days. When the red stones arrive, Only by smelting it in an iron-smelting furnace can you know whether that red stone is iron ore."

"Oh, that's it! When the Ermao, that red stone arrives, you can use Xiyuan to refine it in front of me. I want to see with my own eyes whether it is real iron ore."

"What, Your Majesty, do you want to watch iron-making? That work is dirty, and that's not what you should watch. When I go back and finish the steel-making, I will come over and tell you the results. Isn't that the end? You don't have to..."

"Go away, you stupid fool, what do you know? Not only do I want to see with my own eyes whether that red stone can produce molten iron. If it can, I also want to go to the red stone mountain to see for myself, okay? Arrange the next steps.”

"It's so troublesome! Your Majesty, what are your instructions for this matter? Can't you just leave it to me?"

"Okay, okay, you idiot, there are some things you don't understand, just listen to me on this matter. By the way, Ermao, you said that your Laoshizi briquettes, briquettes stove, and the Hongshishan iron ore are all... Was it that Zhejiang Jieyuan who gave you the advice?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, that boy is angry with me. Your Majesty, you know who I am. I like tough people. And the boy was in the Longevity Palace the day before yesterday. The emperor took care of the old thief Xia. I That's a relief! Didn't I just resell some salt that day? For such a trivial matter, Old Man Xia forced me to kneel in front of his house for more than an hour before he let me go. I was in the capital. I am so disgraced that I can’t even hold my head up in front of those subordinates. Mad, that old thief from Xia!”

Lu Bing angrily talked about how he was forced to kneel at the door of Xia Yan's house that day.This made Emperor Jiajing feel very guilty. After all, aside from the money Lu Bing got, most of it would be sent to him here.Just because this matter was brought to him at that time, for the sake of his own face, he did not protect himself as a "child" and sent the case to the cabinet for discussion. Emperor Jiajing felt that he was ashamed of Lu Bing. It’s because I’m not a friend enough.

So now when Lu Bing mentioned this, Emperor Jiajing blushed a little. In order to avoid embarrassment, Emperor Jiajing skipped Lu Bing's punishment of kneeling in front of Xia Yan's house.He said: "Er Mao! Since you have a bad temper with that Zhejiang Jieyuan, you should learn more about culture from him! To be honest, I really don't understand you. You are so smart and so good at martial arts. You kid can bear the pain, but why can't you do this studying?"

"Hi, Your Majesty, it's not that I don't like reading. I can read case files for most of the day."

"Go away, is this the same? You're going to be fighting and killing me all your life."

"Okay, okay, okay, I'm a rough martial artist, that's all. But Your Majesty, that King Daoqiu of Jieyuan of Zhejiang, after the palace examination next year, you have to put him in the Jinyi Guards to help me."

"Let that kid go to your Jinyiwei? Since that kid can pass the Jieyuan exam in Zhejiang Province, it shouldn't be a big problem for him to be a good scholar in the exam. With such a good score, it's not appropriate to be directly transferred to your Jinyiwei. How about that? After the imperial examination next year, I will let him go to the Hanlin Academy first. I believe that with the ruthlessness of that kid who dared to pull Old Man Xia off his horse, he will stay in the Imperial Academy for less than three months, and the people in the Imperial Academy will It’s time for a letter of impeachment, and drive him away. At that time, I’ll use the donkey to punish him, and send him to your Jinyiwei. Then, it’s in line with the court’s rules.”

(End of this chapter)