Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Zhu Youjian was very happy that Taoism was willing to follow the guidance of the court.

Thinking that Master Zhang and Duke Yansheng were both of the second rank, Zhu Youjian said:
"Give Duke Yansheng and Master Zhang the title of Senior Advisor."

"When they are in Beijing, they are allowed to attend the Council of State meetings."

This order surprised Jiang Dejing, the editor of the Hanlin Academy who was in charge of imperial edicts.

Because the title of Minister of State is not a completely empty title.

According to the court regulations, the advisory ministers can participate in court recommendations and discussions.

The emperor gave Duke Yansheng and Zhang Zhenren the title of Advisor, which meant that they also had a say in court decisions, unlike before when they only had a second-rank position but actually had little power in court affairs.

It's understandable that Yanshenggong is a Confucian figurehead, but Zhang Zhenren belongs to Taoism. As a Confucian scholar, Jiang Dejing certainly doesn't agree with this.

However, as an editor of the Imperial Academy, he could only follow the emperor's orders and draft imperial edicts. To discuss court affairs with the emperor, one had to be a Grand Secretary.

Even if he didn't agree, Jiang Dejing could only draft the decree. He watched as the decree was issued.

Witnessing the rapid issuance of the imperial edict, Jiang Dejing thought of the edicts that the emperor had been issuing continuously in recent days.

Compared with the period before martial law, the emperor issued many more decrees than before, and the content was all-encompassing, involving adjustments in all aspects.

Thinking of this, he sighed in his heart, and after finishing a busy day, he went to visit his teacher Yuan Keli.

When talking about the imperial edict drafted these days, Jiang Dejing said with some worry:

"Your Majesty seems to be accustomed to issuing orders in the form of imperial decrees these days."

"I am worried that if this continues, Your Majesty will get used to issuing imperial edicts and bypassing the ministers in the court."

Yuan Keli also frowned, somewhat worried about this. After thinking about it, he said:
"Tomorrow during the court meeting, I will report the implementation of the martial law order and request Your Majesty to determine the date of martial law."

"The chaos in western Beijing has been basically quelled. There are no signs of rebellion. The martial law should end."

Jiang Dejing hesitated to speak, and finally, under Yuan Keli's questioning, he said to his teacher:

"The implementation of martial law this time has caused a lot of criticism from both the government and the public, and teachers have also been criticized a lot."

“Students believe that teachers should follow public opinion and reinstate the martial law system.”

Yuan Keli didn't know what was going on, but he had his own considerations.

Faced with his disciples' confusion, Yuan Keli considered it carefully and gave them a serious reminder:

"Your Majesty is willing to follow the rules and use the imperial edict, and we, the ministers, should obey."

"Otherwise, if Your Majesty releases those who do not follow the rules, it will be just like the reign of the previous emperor."

"You need to remind your colleagues of this consideration."

"Don't force your majesty to release another Wei Zhongxian to seize power by unruly means."

Jiang Dejing exclaimed "Ah" when he heard this, and then he understood what his teacher was thinking.

Although Wei Zhongxian had just fallen from power for more than a year, and even the trial of the eunuch party's rebellion had not yet been fully concluded, many officials in the court felt that the eunuch party's time of power had passed.

They were accustomed to the emperor discussing court affairs with them, and even expressed dissatisfaction with the emperor's monopoly of power.

But in the eyes of the emperor and the ministers, the eunuch party was far from over. Some ministers were even worried that the current emperor would release another Wei Zhongxian.

After figuring this out, Jiang Dejing finally understood why the ministers in the court obeyed the emperor in many matters.

He also understood why Xuelong's memorial was tacitly treated coldly by the emperor and ministers.

In fact, when facing an emperor who is willing to abide by the rules, the ministers' greatest wish is that the emperor will always abide by the rules.

Instead of breaking the rules, he insisted on seizing power from the emperor.

"Your Majesty re-established rituals and music, and deep down he is willing to abide by the rules."

"We must act according to your majesty's rules so that your majesty can distribute power with confidence."

"You are His Majesty's closest minister, and you are being trained as a potential prime minister. You must listen more, watch more, and interact less with others."

After warning Jiang Dejing, Yuan Keli asked him again:

"You are by His Majesty's side. Do you feel that His Majesty has changed in any way?"

"Since the martial law order was issued, are you happy or tired?"

Jiang Dejing thought for a moment and said:

"Your Majesty has not been very happy recently. On the contrary, he has more troubles."

"But compared to the previous few months, it is indeed more diligent."

"From the frequency of issuing edicts, it seems that we have returned to the time when we dealt with Wei Ni, and we often issue edicts."

Yuan Keli seemed to be thinking about something. He thought about how the emperor dealt with Wei Zhongxian at the end of last year and the rebellion at the end of this year. He felt that the emperor seemed to be accustomed to working hard at the end of the year, but he still had to observe for a few more years.

But no matter what, the current emperor is not like Taizu and Chengzu, who can handle court affairs without getting tired.

In the future, power will inevitably be delegated to ministers, allowing them to take on more political affairs.

Therefore, he asked many questions about the emperor's daily preferences, and asked Jiang Dejing to count the frequency of the emperor's imperial edicts so that he could experience it himself.

Jiang Dejing was puzzled by the question, but it was not until he got home and saw his son playing that he began to understand:

"Your Majesty may be mature, but he is still a teenager and still has a desire to have fun."

"The late emperor was fond of carpentry, and even delayed state affairs for it, allowing Wei Zhongxian to gain power."

"What does His Majesty like? He seems to be more interested in music, drama, and novels."

"Compared to the late emperor, this is more normal."

Although many scholars think that music, drama, and vernacular novels are not the right path, they are also loved by many scholars as a pastime.

The current emperor likes these, which is much better than the previous emperor's preference for carpentry.

However, we must also be careful that the emperor will become too fond of this kind of art and become Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty.

Thinking about this in his mind, Jiang Dejing frowned again, and suddenly saw his own child prodigy playing, and suddenly laughed, thinking that he was really worrying too much:
The emperor was too diligent in his work and was worried that he would become Taizu or Chengzu.

The emperor has things he likes, but he is also worried that he will become Xizong or Huizong.

No matter what the emperor does, there are people who are worried. It is impossible for him to satisfy everyone.

As a close minister of the emperor, I only need to do my best to advise the emperor when he makes mistakes. Why should I consider other things?

Jiang Dejing, who had figured this out, slept soundly at home. When he attended the court meeting the next day, he indeed heard Yuan Keli's proposal to the emperor to set a date for martial law.
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Zhu Youjian has actually been considering these days how long to extend the martial law.

In his heart, in order to compete for power with the ministers in the court and issue the orders he wanted to issue during this period, the martial law should last as long as possible, preferably for three months.

However, such a long period of martial law would give people the impression that the rebellion in western Beijing was very serious, which would be detrimental to the stability of the country.

Moreover, during the martial law period, the soldiers of the Beijing camp were dispatched, and they needed to be paid more military pay. The people of the capital were also often harassed.

These days, he has received more than one memorial mentioning that some soldiers in the Beijing camp were disturbing the people while under martial law.

Although he strictly ordered the Military Supervision Bureau and the Imperial Guard to handle such matters and enforce strict military discipline in the Beijing Camp, there was little immediate effect. After all, the soldiers in the Beijing Camp were used to being spoiled, and many of them had connections with the nobles in the capital.

He is now considering letting the soldiers from the Beijing camp return to the camp and only using the Jinyiwei to enforce martial law.

Therefore, upon hearing Yuan Keli's proposal, Zhu Youjian said:
"The rebellion in western Beijing has indeed been basically suppressed."

"The martial law in the capital should indeed be relaxed to make it easier for people to celebrate the New Year."

"So, the martial law in which the army and the Royal Guards are deployed together will be called Level 1 martial law, and it will be terminated after three days."

"But the second-level martial law continues, and it is only enforced by the Jinyiwei. The Beijing camp is on second-level combat readiness, and there are people on duty at all times."

Let Yuan Keli formulate the difference between level one martial law and level two martial law, and divide the military into different levels of combat readiness.

This meant that martial law would continue. Dissatisfied with this, the Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple, Xie Xuelong, said:

"Your Majesty, now that the rebellion in western Beijing has been quelled, martial law should be lifted."

"Why maintain martial law and cause panic among the people of the capital?"

When Zhu Youjian heard the official who opposed martial law speak, he knew he was going to cause trouble, so he frowned and asked:
"Xie Shaoqing said that the rebellion has been quelled. Does that mean it is certain that the rebellion will not happen again?"

"If there are more thieves causing trouble, who will bear the responsibility?"

Xie Xuelong was speechless for a moment and didn't know how to respond.

Because he couldn't guarantee that there would not be another disturbance in the capital.

At this time, Zhu Youjian looked at the ministers in the court again, because he still suspected that there was someone behind the rebellion.

The reason why martial law has not been lifted is also related to his suspicion.

He was worried that once he relaxed, the person behind the scenes would take advantage of his situation and launch a surprise attack.

All the ministers in the court felt pressured when the emperor stared at them like this.

Some people who have something to hide are even more uneasy.

But these people were old foxes, and no matter how the emperor stared at them, they did not reveal any flaws.

Zhu Youjian actually didn't expect to be able to see through people. He was more trying to exert pressure and warn the court officials not to cause trouble.

Otherwise, martial law might continue, with the power monopolized by himself.
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He suppressed the voices opposing martial law and made it clear to his ministers that he would abide by the martial law system that had been established previously.

After the court meeting, Zhu Youjian received requests for a meeting with some nobles.

It turned out that these nobles suffered quite a bit of losses during the martial law.

Some of the soldiers in the Beijing camp who were affiliated with them were executed for violating military discipline, and some of their properties were also affected.

After the martial law order was issued, it goes without saying that businesses such as brothels and casinos in the capital were basically no longer open.

Restaurants and hotels were also greatly affected, with few people going out.

What was even more unbearable for the nobles was that their grain stores were also subject to restrictions. They had to abide by the minimum purchase price and maximum selling price implemented during disasters in the middle of the year and were not allowed to sell at high prices.

This made their ideas of getting rich by taking advantage of the chaos come to nothing and accumulated a lot of dissatisfaction.

They took the opportunity of lowering the level of martial law to ask the emperor to relax some restrictions.

Zhu Youjian lowered the martial law level to facilitate the people. Upon hearing the requests of these nobles, he immediately agreed:
"During the second-level martial law, except for the early curfew and the constant patrol of the Royal Guards, everything else remains normal."

"All industries can operate normally, except for strategic materials which are subject to control."

This response satisfied some nobles but dissatisfied others.

Because food, ironware, etc. are all strategic materials, the nobles who run these industries are still restricted.

Just when these people were still trying to plead for mercy, Xue Lian, the Marquis of Yangwu, who had been punished by the emperor a few days ago and was about to be exiled overseas, suddenly said:

"Your Majesty, is coal a strategic material?"

“Is regulation necessary?”

Zhu Youjian thought about it seriously and felt that coal should really be regulated.

With such a large population in Beijing, a lot of fuel is needed for heating and cooking. If we enter the industrial age in the future, coal will be an even more important resource.

So he responded:
"Coal should indeed be regulated. I will ask the Privy Council to list it as a strategic material."

"Xue Qing is quite insightful to think of this."

He praised Xue Lian and thought that he had a good vision.

Upon hearing this, Yangwu Hou Xue Lian was immediately delighted and said with a smile:

"I have been ordered to move overseas. I still have several coal mines at home. I would like to present them to Your Majesty."

"We will use these coal mines to support your majesty's martial law."

This attitude made Zhu Youjian very happy.

It also made some of the nobles who still wanted to make requests turn pale.

They were also thinking of asking the emperor to relax martial law to facilitate their family business, but Yang Wuhou took the initiative to offer his family property.

How could they still ask the emperor to relax the control over strategic materials?

Zhu Youjian was very pleased with Yang Wuhou's statement, but he could not directly accept the property offered by the other party to avoid rumors of plundering and making those who run the property uneasy.

So he said to Yang Wuhou:
"After the promotion of honeycomb briquette stoves, the amount of coal used is bound to increase significantly."

"The coal mine at Yang Wuhou's home should be able to make a lot of money in the future."

"I will ask the Imperial Household Department to calculate how much these coal mines are worth, and let the Royal Energy Group invest in them to provide coal for the people."

"From now on, these coal mines will continue to be operated by your family and you will pay taxes according to the regulations."

Then he asked about the relocation of Yang Wuhou's family. After learning that many elderly, weak and female relatives were inconvenient to relocate, he gave the order:

"The Yangwuhou Mansion in the capital will be preserved, and those who are inconvenient to relocate can stay."

"Marquis Yangwu can stay in Beijing for half a year every year, just like other royal families who have established fiefdoms overseas."

This decision made Yangwu Hou Xue Lian overjoyed, because he offered his own coal mine in order to ask the emperor to allow some people in the palace to move later.

Unexpectedly, not only did he achieve his goal, but the emperor also confiscated his offering and allowed the Imperial Household Department to invest in him and do business with him.

This means that the emperor has little prejudice against him, and the Yangwuhou family can rest assured.

It can be said that after being punished, what he was most worried about was not how to move overseas, but that the emperor would suspect Yangwuhou Mansion of disloyalty and keep an eye on the Xue family.

In that case, even if the Xue family succeeds in establishing a fiefdom in the future, they may be dealt with by the emperor in the future and will not be able to continue.

Now that the emperor wants to do business with Yangwuhou Mansion, it undoubtedly means that there is no idea of ​​further punishment.

Yangwuhou Mansion can open a fiefdom without any worries, and even the industries in the capital city may be retained. (End of this chapter)