Ming Dynasty 1566

Chapter 133

Hai Rui swallowed a mouthful of tears: "This time I went to Daxing, at the feet of the emperor, during the New Year, the people who died of hunger and cold were poured into the snow! The local officials turned a blind eye to it, and the Beijing officials who were close at hand did not pay attention. The cabinet and It is a false story that the household department has to allocate some military rations, and it has repeatedly asked the emperor not to know, so as not to defeat the emperor's joy of moving! This is especially the case under the imperial city, and there are so many miserable creatures in the world! In Daxing these days, all I can do is to save one person, and there is no place to cry in front of those heartless people. Mr. He has cured the sick and saved people all his life, but those of us who live on the imperial salary can only watch the people Dying one by one before my eyes..." At this point, Hai Rui, who was always as hard as a rock, burst into tears and swallowed.

Li Shizhen was also a person as hard as a rock, and at this time tears welled up in her eyes.

The two were relatively sad for a while, and everyone wiped away their tears again.

Li Shizhen: "Let's go to Shu! Even if you can't send rain for the common people in the world, you have to send him a thunderbolt in my Ming Dynasty, where all horses and horses are silent!"

Hai Rui's eyes sparkled, "I'm going to listen to my husband's opinion on how to go to school!"

Li Shizhen: "You already have your own insights. Brother Gangfeng, if you really want to take this course, you have to point out the root cause of the disease! If you are like those ministers in the past, although you go to the course, you have scruples, and you only talk about things, regardless of people, and only scold you." If a minister does not scold the emperor, it is better not to be superior. If you want to reprimand, then reprimand one person to rule alone, and if you want to remonstrate, then remonstrate with the emperor and his ministers to rule together! Essays through the ages, even if they can’t make today’s emperor repent, can also make another person startled. If the court is to serve one person in the world, the country will perish and the world will be reversed! Brother Gangfeng, if you can do this, you will have great merit and virtue to the world. Do you know who I am talking about?"

Hai Rui: "King Yu!"

Li Shizhen: "That's right. So you have to take two things into consideration: one is Mrs. Tai and Mrs. Sister-in-law. During the reign of Emperor Jianwen, Fang Xiaoru was famous for his loyalty and implicated ten clans. More than [-] relatives and friends died innocently. Doing this matter must not endanger Gaotang's mother and pregnant wife. It's not that I don't want to try my best, you know that my lifelong wish is to rewrite the "Compendium of Materia Medica", and the journey is uncertain. Take Madam and Madam Sister-in-law away from the capital as soon as possible, and the only one who can take care of them in the future is Wang Yongji. Therefore, before you go to the school, you must find a way to get him out of the relationship, and don't involve him in it."

Hai Rui nodded heavily: "Is there anything else that must be taken into consideration?"

Li Shizhen: "It is King Yu. I have known King Yu for many years, and I know that he is a kind-hearted man who respects the virtuous and loves the people. If the Ming Dynasty wants to change the past and rule together with the monarch and his ministers, only King Yu can do it. As soon as you go up, the emperor must suspect that you are instigated by others. You were recommended by King Yu at the beginning. If the emperor suspects King Yu, it will be a big deal! Therefore, you can no longer communicate with anyone before this memorial. You can't involve King Yu, nor anyone else, let the emperor really know that you have no party and no selfishness!"

Hai Rui was in awe, sat up straight and arched his hands together: "I would like to be taught!"

The ministers didn't show up for congratulations, the emperor didn't want to move, the relationship between the monarch and his ministers was close to fire and water, even if it wasn't said to be like a feud.King Yu was very worried when he got the news, and in the middle of the night, he took Xu Jie, Li Chunfang, Gao Gong, Zhao Zhenji, and Zhang Juzheng to the imperial medical hall where the officials who were beaten up years ago were treated.

Those officials who were lying on the sickbed never thought that Prince Yu would appear here in person at this time. Those who could turn around struggled to sit up, and those with broken legs couldn't sit up, but also raised their heads. They looked very excited, and some people still had blank faces.

"Lie down, please lie down!" Yu Wang's eyes were wet, and before these people could speak, he stood in the middle of the lobby and pressed his hands to everyone, looking into the excited eyes and said loudly.

"Lie down, everyone please lie down!" Xu Jie helped an official to lie down first.

"Lie down, please."

"Lie down, please."

Gao Gong, Zhao Zhenji and Zhang Juzheng went to the beds of some officials and helped them lie down.

Li Chunfang helped take a chair from the imperial doctor and put it behind King Yu: "My lord, please sit down."

King Yu waved his hand.

Zhang Juzheng: "Move away."

The imperial doctor moved the chair away again.

Although the officials on the sickbed were all lying down, they all looked at King Yu.

"I came to see you at the emperor's will." Although the good words are not false, when King Yu said this, everyone could still hear his benevolence and sorrow. "The emperor also misses you in his heart."

An official of the Hanlin Academy lying on the innermost sickbed couldn't help crying.

Afterwards, many officials shed tears, but some officials still looked blank. Among them, Li Qingyuan stood out, his eyes were indifferent, and he looked extremely frustrated.

King Yu was silent.

Xu Jie and the others stood behind him in silence.

Zhang Juzheng was standing next to King Yu, and at this moment he secretly nudged him behind him.

King Yu swallowed the tearful saliva and cleared his throat: "I want to say a few words, please listen carefully." These words were spoken to the officials on the sickbed as well as outside the door.

It turned out that several cabinet ministers and Zhang Juzheng who were standing behind King Yu hurriedly moved away, and showed the door opened by the imperial doctor's hall. It turned out that many Beijing officials had already arrived outside the door, and the entire yard seemed to be standing in the night. .

King Yu turned his body sideways so that his words could be heard not only by the officials on the sickbed, but also by the officials in the yard: "The sage said, there are no wrong parents in the world. By extension, there is no wrong king in the world." Father. My great ancestor, Emperor Gao, once said when he taught officials to judge lawsuits, father and son lawsuits should be in the hands of the son but not the father; brother lawsuits should be in the hands of the younger brother and not the elder brother. This is also the truth. I am protecting hundreds of millions of subjects. There is only one king father, and there is only one king father worshiped by hundreds of trillions of subjects. You should not make trouble at this time to build a residence for the king father from all over the world."

This is a great truth and an irrefutable truth. After listening to King Yu's words, the officials on the sickbed and those standing in the yard were silent.

King Yu went on to say: "As for the deficit of the national treasury and the hunger and cold of the people, this fault is first of all my fault, the fault of the cabinet, and the fault of the officials of the six ministries and nine ministers. It is definitely not the fault of the king. I brought all the cabinet members with me today. Here, I confess to all of you and all the subjects of the world!" At this point, he first gave a deep bow to the officials in the courtyard outside the door, then turned around and bowed deeply to the officials on the sick bed.

Xu Jie and others followed him and bowed first to all the officials in the courtyard, and then to all the officials on the sick bed.

The officials in the courtyard all knelt down one after another.

Those officials on the sickbed who were already moved had tears in their eyes at this moment, and those officials who had been dumbfounded finally let out a cry of grief at this moment, and Li Qingyuan even rolled down from the sickbed regardless of the pain, and faced King Yu. Kneel there.Those few who could struggle to get out of bed rolled out of bed and knelt down to King Yu.

Accompanied by Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng, King Yu returned to the palace at the right time.The cold wind blows at night, and the breath turns into ice. Many eunuchs are waiting here with lanterns. Seeing King Yu stepping out of the sedan door, they immediately rushed over. Someone wrapped him in a fur cloak, and someone handed him a hot Copper Tang Pozi, still cold in King Yu's arms, coughed all the way from the front yard to the inner yard.

Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng also put on thick fur cloaks and followed him to the inner courtyard.

King Yu's heartfelt persuasion at the Imperial Hospital touched those Qingliu Beijing officials who had been beaten to death. Everyone immediately expressed their willingness to write a congratulatory form overnight to comfort the heart of the king.Xu Jie immediately ordered Li Chunfang, Gao Gong, and Zhao Zhenji to gather the hall officials from various ministries and quickly notify the officials in Beijing to go to their ministries to write congratulatory forms overnight, and they must present the congratulatory forms to Yuxi Palace on Maoshi on the sixth day.

In the study room, two large basins of white clouds, copper, silver, and charcoal fire were already burning. As soon as he stepped into the study room from the extremely cold outside, the heat rushed in. King Yu was coughing, and immediately felt his throat was suffocated, and he felt a little out of breath. angry.

Zhang Juzheng hurriedly supported him: "My lord, turn your face away first."

King Yu turned his face to the open door, and Zhang Juzheng was stroking his back, only then did he feel his breath ease.The eunuch on duty hurriedly took off his cloak for him, and together with Zhang Juzheng helped him sit down in front of the desk.

The eunuch on duty gave King Yu a cup of hot tea with a gaiwan, and let King Yu drink a few sips. King Yu felt relieved, but he was still very tired. He had to discuss with Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng, his voice was hoarse. He said, "Both masters, please sit down."

Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng looked at King Yu pitifully, and sat down too.

The eunuch on duty brought hot tea to Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng.

"Go out." King Yu said to the eunuch on duty, "Close the door."

"Yes." The eunuch on duty crossed the threshold with one leg, closed one door first, and pulled the other door with the other leg.

"Will the congratulatory forms of the Beijing officials be presented at dawn?" King Yu asked Xu Jie.

Xu Jie lowered his body: "Your Majesty, don't worry, the officials of all ministries have greeted each other. If the congratulatory form of any yamen is not complete, the hall official of that yamen will be removed. The congratulatory forms of the officials in Beijing can be presented to the emperor at dawn." .”

King Yu looked at the ground sadly: "It's hard for everyone. The officials must make up the salary owed by the Spring Festival, and try not to kill the victims and refugees. Has the cotton cloth merchant in Songjiang called?"

Zhang Juzheng replied: "Go back to the lord. When I left the mansion, I made arrangements with Elder Xu Ge. Just now, I asked the eunuch on duty. They came early. One was accompanied by Xu Shilang in the concierge, and the other was in the bedroom to return to Li. Concubine's question."

King Yu was surprised at first, and his face immediately turned ugly: "What did Concubine Li ask about the Songjiang cotton cloth? Besides, how can you let a businessman go to the bedroom in the middle of the night!"

Xu Jie glanced at Zhang Juzheng.

Zhang Juzheng continued: "The strange ministers didn't make it clear. The prince knows these two people, they are Gao Hanwen and his wife."

"It's them?" King Yu was a little surprised, "The two big merchants you invited to do cotton business in Nanzhili are Gao Hanwen and his wife?"

Zhang Juzheng: "Go back to the lord, that's right. Gao Hanwen couldn't go home after retiring from the official position. Fortunately, that Yun Niang had some savings, and she also had some connections with various commercial firms in Nanzhili and Zhejiang, so the two started business. There is no official fortune, but fortune, I don't know how they run the business, but they are responsible for half of Songjiang's cotton business in the past four years. Now Gao Hanwen's wife is the one who is going back to Concubine Li's bedchamber for questioning."

King Yu's unhappiness disappeared, and then he was a little curious: "How did you find them?"

Xu Jie replied: "My lord, my younger brother planted a cotton field in Songjiang's hometown. He has been running the cotton industry and has frequent contacts with Gao Hanwen. I once reported to the lord that if he wants to make up for the shortfall in the national treasury, the most practical way is now." The best way is to expand the cotton fields in Songjiang to weave more cotton cloth, and the merchants assigned by the imperial court to monopolize the monopoly can not only stabilize the market price, but also collect the taxes that are usually evaded by those merchants. This profit should be 500 per year More than 300 taels, half of which goes to merchants and cotton farmers, and half of which is paid to the Ministry of Households. The treasury can increase the tax silver by two to three million taels a year. It is indeed a practical national policy to benefit the country and the people.”

"Master Xu." King Yu immediately became wary, but he was not lacking in sincerity, "It's best not to let your family members do such things."

"The lord's instruction is very good." Xu Jie immediately replied, "I just discussed with Taiyue to avoid suspicion, and asked Gao Hanwen and his wife to do this matter."

"Also." Zhang Juzheng continued, "The minister mentioned this strategy to the lord last year. He did not report the details to the lord at that time. In fact, this idea was proposed by Gao Hanwen when he wrote to the minister."

Yu Wang meditated, and suddenly remembered something: "I remember that in the 40th year of Jiajing, the reform of rice into mulberry was promoted in Zhejiang. It's getting out of hand. This time, it's not going to happen again, right?"

"One moment, and another moment." Zhang Juzheng replied firmly, "The strategy proposed by Gao Hanwen at that time was not wrong in itself, but the strict party rule and self-seeking made the situation unmanageable. The minister thought that as long as the imperial court grasped the gate It is feasible to actually receive the money that should be handed over to the national treasury, and return the profits that should be given to the cotton merchants and cotton farmers to the people.”

King Yu looked at Xu Jie again.

Xu Jie went on to say: "Shang Yang's method of building trees, Qin Guoli sees prosperity and strength. With a good national policy and reliable people to do it, it should work."

"Then tell them to come in." Yu Wang said.

The ancients paid attention to thirty and must.Four years in the rivers and lakes, four years in the business world, Gao Hanwen has already grown a long beard, black and soft and densely blowing on his chest, the original bookishness in his bones coupled with five beautiful beards, compared with when he was a scholar-bureaucrat, he is more dusty and elegant, What a businessman.Those two eyes, which have seen famous mountains, great rivers, rivers and lakes and storms in the past four years, have added a lot of light compared to before, giving people an aura that can accomplish great things.A veteran as deep as Xu Jie, as shrewd and wise as Zhang Juzheng, are all overwhelmed by his appearance and temperament, not to mention King Yu.

Looking at him at this time, King Yu's tiredness disappeared a lot, and he leaned against the desk and listened to him quietly.

Gao Hanwen sat on the chair against the wall opposite King Yu, Xu Fan sat beside him, Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng were still sitting on the chairs by the south window, they could clearly listen to him while watching his words expression.

"Just now, Wansheng was talking about the annual production of cotton cloth in Songjiang, and the annual increase in cotton cloth production in Songjiang after the implementation of the new strategy." Gao Hanwen finished the previous introduction and turned to the next topic, "In ten years During the period, 50 pieces of cotton cloth can be handed over every year. Next, Wansheng will talk to the prince, Mr. Ge, Mr. Zhang, and Mr. Xu about how to sell cotton cloth after the increase in production.” At this point, he obviously felt a little thirsty in his throat, and swallowed lightly A mouthful of body fluid.

"No rush. Have a sip of tea first." King Yu obviously liked him very much and said with concern.

Gao Hanwen stood up, bowed to King Yu and bowed his hands: "Thank you, Lord." He sat down again, took a sip from the tea bowl on the tea table beside him, put it down, and continued talking.

At this time, there was also a large pot of silver charcoal burning green in the bedroom of Prince Yu's mansion.

Two women, one is a royal concubine, the other is a merchant woman, but has become famous in the government and the public because of her strange background as a singing girl. At this time, both of them are about the same age, 24 or [-], and both are naturally beautiful. Sitting here There is some sympathy for each other.

"I'm also from a poor family." Concubine Li had obviously asked Yun Niang a lot of questions. In order to make her let go of her restraint and let her go on with what she wanted to talk about, she first said this very plainly, and then said, "I If I ask you something, just tell me, don't worry about taboos, let alone be embarrassed. Okay?"

Yunniang: "My lady, please, the women will tell you the truth."

"That's good." Concubine Li smiled, and showed concern again, "You are so outstanding, and you don't come from a poor family, why did your family let you become a singing girl?"

Yun Niang was silent for a while, then raised her head: "Niang Niang, can I not talk about this matter?"

Concubine Li: "Why?"

Yun Niang: "Just like what the empress said, it is a taboo for the imperial court to tell the life experience of a civilian woman."

Concubine Li became even more curious: "There is no taboo here, don't worry, just tell me."

Yunniang looked at Concubine Li: "The father of the civilian woman was originally an official of our Ming Dynasty. He served in the Nanjing Imperial Academy in the 31st year of Jiajing."

Concubine Li was a little surprised: "Did you die later because of illness?"

"It's not because of illness." With some tears in Yun Niang's eyes, she turned her head and looked elsewhere, "It was the matter of the "Four Admonitions from Yuezhong" that year, my father was implicated and died in the imperial prison. My mother and I had to stay at my uncle's house. Half a year later, my mother also died of illness, so my uncle and aunt sold me to Yingtian's yard."

Concubine Li stood up, looked at Yunniang fixedly, and immediately changed her gaze, full of sympathy and a bit of respect: "Unexpectedly, you are still the Queen of Zhongliang." She said and handed over her handkerchief .

(End of this chapter)