Smuggling Daming

Jiao Fang thought that she already knew Zhou Zhong very well, but he never expected that Zhou Zhong was still carrying such a big secret. The governor in front of him was not actually Zhou, but Zhu Ming Houwei, who was also the late emperor. The second son of the Empress Dowager, the younger brother of His Majesty the Emperor!

"This... this..." Jiao Fang was dumbfounded for a moment when he heard Zhou Zhong reveal his true identity. He really didn't know how to react to this court secret.

Seeing Jiao Fang's appearance, Zhou Zhong thought that the other party was still doubting his identity, so he took out an imperial decree from the hidden compartment under his desk, and saw Zhou Zhong handing it to Jiao Fang, saying: "Old Jiao Ge, this It is an imperial edict written by the emperor himself to prove my identity. In addition, the empress also has the same imperial edict. According to the emperor, I was stolen from the palace by thieves, except for some people in the palace. The three veteran officials, Li Dongyang, Liu Jian, and Xie Qian, also know about it, and the emperor brother has already told Li Dongyang of my identity after returning to the capital. "

Still in shock, Jiao Fang instinctively reached out to take the imperial edict, opened it casually, and found that it was indeed an imperial edict written in Zhengde's handwriting, and even half of it was true, and since Zhou Zhong said that even the Queen Mother and Li Dongdongyang could do it for him As evidence, what Zhou Zhong just said will be more credible.

Thinking that Zhou Zhong in front of him turned out to be the only younger brother of Emperor Zhengde, and that Zhengde had never had any heirs, Jiao Fang suddenly felt a burst of ecstasy. If Zhou Zhong or his son could inherit the throne, then he, as Zhou Zhong's most important A close advisor who is likely to be in the cabinet again in the future.At that time, Jiao Fang will be able to make a comeback.Even more brilliant than before.

Think about it.Jiao Fang also felt the heat in her heart. Regardless of his age, his desire for fame and fortune has not weakened in the slightest. Even if he is going to die tomorrow, as long as he can be the chief minister of the cabinet for a day today, Jiao Fang will also She would be willing, but in the past, it seemed that this was just Jiao Fang's extravagant wish.But now because of Zhou Zhong's identity, he sees real hope. At the same time, Jiao Fang finally understands the reason why Emperor Zhengde arranged him and Zhang Cai to Zhou Zhong's side. Zhong's identity made a comeback.

Seeing the ecstatic expression on Jiao Fang's face, Zhou Zhong couldn't understand what the other party was thinking, but he had expected it a long time ago, so he could only smile helplessly at the moment, and could only wait for Jiao Fang himself clam down.

After a while, Jiao Fang finally woke up from the excitement, and looked at Zhou Zhong with some embarrassment.He cupped his hands and said, "Don't blame the governor, Jiao lost his composure just now."

"Hehe. It's okay. The reason why Zhou told Elder Ge about this is to hear Elder Ge's opinion. After all, according to my current situation, it is not difficult to enter Beijing. Disclosing my original identity, in this way, I will also become the vassal king in Daming. According to the laws of Daming, I can only go to other places to become a vassal, and I will never be able to enter the capital without conscripting. Jiang Bin has gained power!" Zhou Zhong said with a wry smile.

He had no choice but to tell Jiao Fang his identity. After all, Zhou Zhong was already undecided, and Jin Xuan couldn't give him a good suggestion. In contrast, Jiao Fang has been in the officialdom for many years. He is well-informed, and he is a crafty and cunning person, so Zhou Zhong believes that Jiao Fang will definitely give Zhou Zhong a reasonable suggestion.

As expected, Jiao Fang did not disappoint Zhou Zhong. He pondered for a moment after listening to it, and then suddenly chuckled and said, "Your Excellency is really worrying too much. According to the laws of my Ming Dynasty, the vassal king really needs to go to other places to pay the vassal. , but His Majesty's current situation is special. There has been no heir in the palace, and there are no other brothers. In this way, the Governor-General is the only relative besides the Queen Mother, so as long as His Majesty's consent is obtained, the Governor-General It is not difficult for adults to stay in the capital in the future!"

Just as the so-called one word wakes up the dreamer, Zhou Zhong himself got into a corner before, always thinking about the laws of the Ming Dynasty, but he forgot that the era of the Ming Dynasty was still an era in which imperial power was greater than the rule of law, and of course future generations would also Almost, it can be said that as long as Zhengde is unwilling to let Zhou Zhong leave, then Zhou Zhong can stay in the capital forever.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhong couldn't help feeling relieved. Zhengde grew up in the palace alone, and he didn't have other brothers and sisters to accompany him. Growing up in the environment, he longed for family affection, but unfortunately Xiaozong was too busy to take care of Zhengde at all, so under such circumstances, Zhengde could only feel a little family affection from the Eight Tigers and others around him, which is precisely His special affection for the Eight Tigers is why Liu Jin and others gained power. Although Liu Jin is dead now, Zhang Yong and others are still powerful.

However, what Eight Tigers and others gave to Zhengde was only a kind of affection similar to family affection, not real affection. This is different from Zhou Zhong. He is Zhengde's younger brother, and Zhengde also trusts him very much. His support can be seen, and since the last meeting, Zhengde and Zhou Zhong have not broken letters. Although the two cannot meet often, the brotherhood is much deeper than before.

It was also because of this kind of family support that Zhou Zhong was sure that Zhengde would reject all opinions and then stay in the capital. After all, Zhengde was too lonely, and his wife Empress Xia had a bad relationship with him. Normally, Zhengde can't even find a person to talk to, but if Zhou Zhong goes to the capital, he can just fill in the vacancy in this family relationship.

In addition to feelings, Zhou Zhong has another reliance. As far as he knows, the military academy in Beijing has Xu Yu sitting in command, and has selected elite generals from the frontier army as generals. According to the rewritten detailed plan, it is said that the Beijing Army Military Academy should be running very well, but in fact, apart from the fact that there was indeed a new atmosphere at the beginning of the Beijing Army Military Academy, with the rise of Jiang Bin, it even began to intervene in the military academy. As a result, Xu Yu couldn't block Jiang Bin's claws for a while, resulting in chaotic management in the military academy. Even after seeing Jiang Bin's example, many instructors in the military academy started to flatter Zhengde one by one, hoping This is to obtain the rank of promotion.

It can be said that it was Jiang Bin's bad example that caused the entire military academy to slowly change its good style of work, and the entire military academy even became a mess. They were all rejected by Zhengde, so he could only suffer in the military academy, watching his hard work ruined, but Zhengde was blinded by Jiang Bin, and did not realize that the current military academy is no longer the former military academy.

However, although Zhengde was deceived by Jiang Bin, Zhou Zhong knew that the other party was not confused. If he came forward, he would definitely be able to let Zhengde see the changes in the Beijing Army Military Academy. This is absolutely intolerable for Zhengde who likes martial arts Yes, if Zhou Zhong proposes to take charge of the military academy by himself at this time, Zhengde will definitely agree at that time. After all, the Naval Academy in Songjiang is very good in comparison. Now the earliest batch of fast-track officers have already begun to serve in the Nanyang Fleet. Take the command.

Of course, the military academy is only one aspect. Zhou Zhong finally has another reliance, that is, with the expansion of Ming Dynasty's power at sea, the threat from overseas has been reduced to a minimum. The abundance is increasing day by day, especially the grain output, which is getting higher and higher every year. Now sweet potatoes are rotten on the street, and many people have started to use sweet potatoes to feed livestock.

Although there are still many problems in Ming Dynasty, such as the prevalence of official corruption, the corruption of the army, the rigidity of the imperial examination, etc., if these problems are not resolved, it will still bring serious crises to Ming Dynasty in the future.

However, the above problems cannot be solved in a day or two, and Zhou Zhong is slowly resolving these problems through Zhengde. For example, the establishment of the military academy is a reform of the corruption of the military academy, and it is also a challenge to the civil society. If they allow the civil servants to continue to be corrupt, then why should they fight against the united generals in the future?

It can be said that the current situation of Daming is unprecedentedly good, but the Tatars in the north are the confidants of Daming, and the frequent southward looting has caused serious disasters to the people of Daming. A bunch of savages.

Zhengde's greatest wish is to be able to personally lead the army to sweep the grasslands and make illustrious military exploits like the Emperor Chengzu he admired the most.For this point, no one knows Zhengde better than Zhou Zhong, so as long as he expresses his support for Zhengde's northern expedition to the grasslands, Zhengde will definitely not let him go, but let Zhou Zhong help him fulfill his greatest wish. After all, the entire Ming court Among them, Zhou Zhong is the only one who can support Zhengde, has enough talent, and can be trusted unconditionally by Zhengde. What comparability.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhong let out a long sigh of relief. If the above calculations are followed, then after he reveals his identity, he can not only stay in the capital, but also use his identity to suppress Jiang Bin, so that Zhengde will not be like in history. , ran to the Xuanfu privately several times, although he defeated the little Tatar prince by mistake, but that battle did not have much strategic significance at all, it could only prove Zhengde's bravery, but what he wanted was Completely wipe out the border troubles in the north. (To be continued..)