Ming Dynasty 1566

Chapter 122

"Don't take the big companion away!" The prince threw himself on Chen Hong's body and grabbed his belt with his small hands, "Come here! Come! Get this slave out!"

Several young eunuchs stood up, but they didn't dare to walk over.

Concubine Li came over, and although there were tears in her eyes, she shouted: "Don't mess around! Let go!" Then she went to tease the prince.

The prince's two small hands held Chen Hong's belt tightly, and all the strength of his whole body was pressed on his hands, so Concubine Li couldn't tear him away.

Chen Hong was also very embarrassed, so he had to squat down with a smile: "Master, Master, the servant is on business under the order of Grandpa. Be good, Master, you must listen to Grandpa..." He said To break the hand of the son.

Shi Zi held on tightly, Chen Hong went to break his little hand, Shi Zi clenched his teeth and there were tears in his eyes.

With a slap, Concubine Li slapped Chen Hong loudly on the face!
Chen Hong squatted there and was stunned by this blow!

The prince was also frightened by the sudden palm of the concubine and let go of his hand, standing there in a daze.

Concubine Li has never been so stern: "You dog slave! How dare you hurt your son! How dare you say such rebellious words like 'Your Majesty, be good!' The emperor taught you to say such words, or you, a slave, said it yourself!"

Chen Hongben was squatting at this time, his legs thumped and he knelt down, but he still held his head high: "Princess, calm down. The servant did not hurt the prince. The words of 'My son is good' are also the oral instructions of the emperor's long live Lord. The concubine can't spare the servant. Just beat the servant."

She dared to talk back like this, but carried the emperor everywhere, and Concubine Li was so angry that he cried "wow".

Only then did the son show some sense, and threw himself on his mother's lap: "Concubine mother! Concubine mother, don't cry! Concubine mother, don't cry..." shouting, he also started to cry.

At this time, it was Feng Bao who was heartbroken like a knife. He raised his head and looked at the son with tears all over his face: "It's all caused by the slave. The son and the princess must not hurt themselves because of the slave. You misunderstood Eunuch Chen! The slave!" I beg the master!" After speaking, he knocked his head on the ground repeatedly.

"I won't let you go! I won't let you go!" The prince turned to pull Feng Bao.

Feng Bao could no longer kowtow, and he didn't dare to touch the prince, so he lay on the ground and wept.

The prince turned around to block Feng Bao, looked at Chen Hong who was still kneeling there with hatred, and cried, "Get out! Get out immediately!"

At this time, Concubine Li didn't go to hug the prince anymore, she stood there feeling aggrieved and uncomfortable, and kept wiping away her tears.

Only then did the two maids wake up, and ran over to support Concubine Li who was wiping away tears.

Chen Hong didn't expect this situation to happen. At this time, he was too angry and hated to break out. He said angrily: "The servant did something wrong. The princess didn't punish me, but the servant punished himself." He slapped his face left and right.

The two eunuchs who followed Chen Hong didn't wake up as if they were in a dream until this time, they immediately knelt down behind Chen Hong and raised their hands to slap themselves.

Feng Bao was even more startled. He walked around the prince and knelt and crawled over to grab Chen Hong's hand: "Second ancestor! Second ancestor! Don't be like this! Just kill the servant!"

Chen Hong slapped him away with one palm, and wanted to beat himself. Feng Bao firmly grabbed his hand, hugged him in his arms, bowed his head and knelt down.

"Feng Bao!" Concubine Li shouted again at this moment.

Feng Bao was taken aback for a moment, then raised his head again.

Concubine Li: "He's not beating himself, he's beating me! Don't stop him, let him beat him! He didn't let go of his anger, so he invited Prince Yu out, and let him clean up all the people in our Zhu family. The Ming Dynasty is over." The son has lost his grandson, let him serve the emperor alone!"

Everyone knew that King Yu was a powerful side concubine, but Chen Hong didn't really know how powerful she was until then.The original gambler was so frightened by these earth-shattering words that he took off the gauze hat on his head tremblingly, and knocked the other end on the brick floor of the yard with all his might: "By God, my servant!" Dare to have such a thought! Please ask the princess to avenge the slave!" The kowtow was louder than Feng Bao just now.

The poor two eunuchs who came to pass the decree with him had no choice but to kowtow to him, and the kowtow was also loud.

At this time, except for Concubine Li, the eldest son and the two court ladies who were supporting Concubine Li, everyone in the courtyard knelt down again.

Chen Hong was still kowtowing, and so were his two eunuchs, but the kowtowing became slower and slower.

Concubine Li gritted her silver teeth lightly and looked at it coldly, she hated her and said something, she didn't stop her at this moment, seeing the three of them kowtow like this, endlessly dying!
Zhang Juzheng just came in from the gate of the mansion, he was startled when he saw this, he stood there and asked loudly: "What's going on?"

Concubine Li turned her head to look at him quickly, tears welled up in her eye sockets which had just been wiped away!
Zhang Juzheng was holding a stack of "Four Books Lecture Notes" wrapped in silk in his hand, looking at Concubine Li's eyes as if he had seen a relative, his heart became hot in surprise, and he strode over, seeing Chen Hong and the three of them kowtowed in a daze , shouted loudly to the eunuchs in the palace: "Hold it!"

Only then did the eunuchs in the palace get up in a hurry, two people supported Chen Hong, and each of them held the two eunuchs behind Chen Hong.

Zhang Juzheng looked at Concubine Li with eyes full of concern. Seeing Concubine Li lowered her head and wiped her eyes frequently with tears, she hurriedly lowered her head, took the "Four Books Lecture Notes" and bowed her hands deeply: "I see the princess, see the prince. May I ask the princess, what is the matter?" What happened?"

Concubine Li was about to answer, but her throat was choked up again, and she finally said out through tears: "Master Zhang, I entrust you with everything!" Follow her quickly.

Zhang Juzheng watched the back of Concubine Li leaving sadly, and felt a hot flash in his heart. He hurriedly turned his head and glanced at Chen Hong and Feng Bao who were kneeling there, and then looked at Shi Zi: "Shi Zi, tell Master, what's the matter?"

At this time, the son also cried again, and grabbed the collar of Feng Bao who was kneeling there: "That slave, I want to take my big companion away..."

Zhang Juzheng finally understood some reasons, and suddenly realized that the person kneeling here was the Chief Eunuch Bingbi of the Supervisor of Rituals, and quickly ordered to the two eunuchs of the palace: "Help Eunuch Chen up quickly!"

The two palace eunuchs who were pulling him took great pains to help Chen Hong, who was half unconscious.

At this time, Chen Hong's cheeks were already red and swollen, his forehead was even more bruised and swollen, and a big lump appeared in the middle.I only saw a person standing vacantly in front of me, and it took a long time to slowly understand that it was Zhang Juzheng.Chen Hong's face was like a rock, and his eyes were like two deep holes in the rock!

The Chief Eunuch Bingbi of the Supervisor of Rituals is like the second assistant of the cabinet. Now he is in such a state in Prince Yu's Mansion, and he is bumping into himself again. Zhang Juzheng already knows that this matter is not trivial, so he walked over and arched his hands at Chen Hong: "Eunuch Chen, How did it become like this? Is there any medicine? Get the medicine quickly!"

"No need!" Chen Hong resumed his status as the chief eunuch holding pens at this time, "Since Mr. Zhang has seen it, please speak for our family with Prince Yu and the emperor. The emperor has a decree that our family will Feng Bao sent him out of the palace to serve in Chaotianguan, but the concubine and the prince punished our family. There is no such thing as a master in the world, and our family has nothing to say if he dies unjustly. Our family will wait outside the gate of the mansion. Will we let it go? Feng Bao went to Chaotianguan, and asked Mr. Zhang to help the son be the master, so that our family can go back to the palace and restore the decree." After saying this, the man took the two eunuchs out of the house for no reason, leaving this difficult problem to him. Zhang Juzheng!

Zhang Juzheng was also there in a daze, watching Chen Hong walk out of the mansion, with disgust in his eyes, but soon calmed down, and looked at Shizi: "Shizi, come here first."

The prince had been dragging Feng Bao, but now he looked at Zhang Juzheng.

In addition to still working part-time in the Ministry of War, Zhang Juzheng is now an imperial servant lecturer in Prince Yu's Mansion. He not only lectures on scriptures for King Yu, but also enlightens the son. The two generations of masters have their own dignity as masters. Looking at the son, he said: "My lord, please come here."

The prince let go and Feng Bao had no choice but to come over: "Master, don't let the big companion go."

"Listen to Master." Zhang Juzheng said with a serious face, "Master told you, who is the biggest in my Ming Dynasty?"

The prince was reluctant, and had no choice but to answer in a low voice: "Grandpa Huang is the biggest."

Zhang Juzheng: "Who does the emperor love the most?"

Seeing that he was getting more and more serious, the prince had no choice but to reply: "I feel sorry for the prince."

Zhang Juzheng: "It's good to understand. Grandpa Huang is now asking Feng Daban to go to Chaotian Temple to let him learn more skills before coming back to accompany the son. The son must not listen to the words of the grandpa."

Shizi grinned, and was about to cry again: "Then, when will he come back..."

Zhang Juzheng turned to the prince and said: "The prince tells him to go fast, so he will come back quickly."

Shizi fell silent, tears only rolled in his eyes.

Zhang Juzheng made a decisive decision, hugged Shizi, pressed his head on his body, and said to Feng Bao: "Feng Daban, you go now, I will send someone to deliver your clothes to you!"

Feng Bao had been lying tightly on the ground, but at this moment he got up quickly, turned around without looking at anyone, and left with his head down.

The prince broke his head out of Zhang Juzheng's hands, and when he turned his head, the gate of the mansion was already empty!

When Feng Bao was gone, he didn't cry any more. He just looked at the empty gate with a dazed look.

Zhang Juzheng squatted down slowly: "My son, we are already educated and rational people. There are some things we can't do today, but we may be able to do them tomorrow. Do you understand what the master said?"

The son's gaze was still a little dull, and he looked at Zhang Juzheng: "Master, are you in charge of the army?"

Zhang Juzheng was stunned for a moment, but still replied: "The minister is in charge of the army."

Prince: "Kill that person for me!"

Zhang Juzheng was startled, he picked up Shizi, and shouted in a low voice: "Shizi be careful!"

Shizi stopped talking.

Zhang Juzheng's eyes immediately swept like knives to the eunuchs who were waiting in the yard: "What did your son say just now?"

All the eunuchs immediately knelt down: "The slaves didn't hear anything."

Zhang Juzheng said: "It's your blessing if you don't hear!" After saying this sentence, he hugged Shizi and walked towards the inner courtyard.

When Xu Jie's figure appeared tiredly at the door of the cabinet's duty room, the four officials from the official, household, military, and engineering departments immediately stood up, looking at the stack of bills in his hand like magnets with four pairs of eyes, forgetting The bills were all about silver instead of iron, so I wished I could suck it up immediately.

It was only a few steps from the door to the front of the case in the middle, and Xu Jie took every step of the way, as if he had walked for a long time before he reached the front of the case, sat down silently, and placed the stack of tickets on the case heavily.

Only then did the four people notice Xu Jie's demeanor, the ominous omen was quickly sensed by them, and the ticket was not approved!

"Old Ge, the emperor didn't let the supervisor of ceremonies approve the redemption?" Gao Gong is now in charge of the official department, and all the grievances of the officials who owe their salaries are all on his body. Therefore, he is the most urgent, and he even surpasses Li Chunfang, who is the second assistant and concurrently the minister of the Ministry of war. The first to ask.

Li Chunfang is well-known as the "Licorice Second Prime Minister", and she never considers herself a "Second Prime Minister" in the cabinet. Xu Jie is the master of all important matters, and it is recommended that more cabinet members give their opinions.Even in the Ministry of War, he also tried his best to push back and let Zhang Juzheng, who is a servant, take care of practical affairs.At this time, of course, Gao Gong didn't count on talking first, but just looked at Xu Jie.

The other two were even more silent at this moment, looking in Xu Jie's direction.

One is Zhao Zhenji, who was recommended by Xu Jie to be the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs for less than half a year from the governor of Zhejiang. Looking for some information in Xiang Xiang's eyes, he still held back and only looked at the part above his chin and above his collar.

The other is Xu Jie's son, Xu Fan, who was specially appointed by Jiajing to serve as a servant in the Ministry of Industry of his father and minister. When discussing matters in the hall, naturally he didn't even dare to look at his father's face, but just looked at the pile of bills in front of him.

In fact, the four of them were thinking the same thing at this time. They ransacked their home for nearly two months, and the four ministries had to discuss it day and night for several days before drawing up a ticket. All parties in Kyushu were waiting for the stolen money to save their lives. They only waited for Xu Jie to enter the palace to invite , if you get approved, you can give money, but Xu Jie came back like this.After Gao Gong asked, Xu Jie didn't answer again, and the guard room was as silent as a pool of stagnant water.

After a long time, Xu Jie finally opened his mouth, but only let out a soft sigh.

Gao Gong was even more anxious: "Xu Xiang, so many officials owe their salaries, the military supplies for the war in the north and the south, and the famine refugees in several provinces are eagerly waiting to use this money. Whether it is approved or not, there is always a word .”

"The arrears of the officials of the Ministry of Officials, the military pay proposed by the Ministry of War, and the memorials for returning taxes to the common people in disaster-stricken and overtaxed provinces have all been approved." Xu Jie said these words lightly.

The four of them shook their heads and their eyes lit up for a while, but they dimmed again soon.After Xu Xiang finished speaking, he stared out of the door in a daze, his eyes were empty.

Gao Gong was the one who could feel the subtleties most, and immediately thought of the most important proposal: "The proposal from the Ministry of Industry for the emperor to build the temple and the proposal from the Ministry of Households for the use of the palace have not been approved? "

Xu Jie slowly turned his gaze away from the door, and looked at him emptily: "Yes!"

"The emperor thinks that the funds allocated to the palace are insufficient?" Gao Gong asked anxiously again.

Xu Jie neither answered nor nodded, his eyes were still vacantly looking at Gao Gong, which was a tacit agreement.

Li Chunfang finally answered, and sighed first: "These two items are not approved, and the first three items are not approved."

The four of them immediately became discouraged again.

"Excuse me, master." Zhao Zhenji looked straight at Xu Jie, "Is there any other reason, for example, Hai Rui's false discussion of the holy will in Liubiju, which caused the emperor's displeasure?"

Zhao Zhenji's conjecture was not all that he didn't like Hai Rui Su, but from his heart, he associated the unhappiness that Hai Rui had caused him many times at that time with Jiajing's unhappiness at this time.

"Don't speculate." Xu Jie was extremely sensitive to this topic, and immediately stopped Zhao Zhenji.

"In the final analysis, the money allocated to the palace is really too little." Xu Fan stood up carefully, lowering his head, "Father, can you let your son finish what he said yesterday?"

Xu Jie's complexion immediately darkened: "When you discuss state affairs, you discuss state affairs. What father and son! This is the cabinet. I have said it many times. You are just the minister of the Ministry of Industry when you come here!"

"Yes." Xu Fan lowered his head, "It took more than two years for the Ministry of Industry to repair the palaces for the emperor, and only half of them were completed. The expansion of Chaotian Temple and Xuandu Temple has not been completed since the foundation was laid last year until this year. Construction started. Now it’s July again, and the urgently needed stone materials must be transported to Beijing before winter. If we don’t allocate enough funds this time, the project will not be completed next year. As I said yesterday, only 160 million taels of nearly ten million silver was given to the Ministry of Industry, and the palace and temples had to be built, and marble, granite and mahogany sandalwood had to be used as stone materials. I was stopped before I finished speaking. It is expected that such an account will not be approved. Even if the award is approved, the Ministry of Industry will not be able to complete the work.”

That's the point, Xu Jie naturally wouldn't take what his son said, so he looked at the three people.

Gao Gong had a gloomy face, Zhao Zhenji had a worried face, and Li Chunfang had no expression.

Xu Jie had no choice but to call the roll: "Old Li Ge, what do you think of Xu Fan's words?"

Li Chunfang had no choice but to make a statement: "Either calculate carefully to see if we can squeeze out another 150 million taels to the Ministry of Industry from those expenses."

It's about the emperor, and the teacher and junior are on the mission, so of course Zhao Zhenji would not refute this proposal.Several pairs of eyes looked at Gao Gong.

Gao Gong has always looked down on this "Licorice Second Prime Minister" in his heart, seeing him so worried at this moment, he couldn't help the urgency in his heart, and stared at Li Chunfang: "The money is here, then you have an idea, it is to cut the money." Abandon the salaries of hundreds of officials, cut off the military supplies of the Ministry of War, or let the people in the disaster-stricken areas and the exiles who have been overtaxed starve to death?"

Li Chunfang: "I told you, can you do the math again."

Gao Gong stopped looking at him, and turned to Xu Fan: "Then your Ministry of Industry said, which piece to cut for you."

Xu Fan: "Returning to Mr. Gao, the lower officials are only responsible for the projects in the emperor's palace. Of course, these should be discussed and discussed by the cabinet and the Ministry of Household Affairs."

(End of this chapter)