My father is Jiajing

Chapter 328 I Want to Give Birth to a Prince
Xiyuan Wanshou Palace.

Emperor Jiajing was wearing a casual Taoist robe and was in a very good mood, standing around an exquisitely crafted palace.

Emperor Jiajing said happily: "This Yan Shifan is sensible. Look at how much has been done in this new palace."

Huang Jin, who was waiting on the side, followed the Emperor Jiajing and looked at the new palace together. He praised sincerely, "Your Majesty is right. This new palace is magnificent, like a fairy palace on earth. Only you, Your Majesty, can live in such a palace."

After hearing what Huang Jin said, Emperor Jiajing also laughed, "Yes, it's like a fairy palace on earth. Yan Shifan is really thoughtful. I will issue an edict in two days to give Yan Shifan the title of Minister of Works. This can be regarded as my reward to him."

Huang Jin was not at all surprised at the favor bestowed upon Yan Shifan.

In the past two years, Yan Shifan has indeed worked hard, especially Yan Maoqing, whom he recommended. He is a capable general. The current salt administration of Jianghuai is many times better than the previous salt administration imperial envoy.

Originally, the salt tax could only collect 600,000 taels of silver a year, but now it can collect 1 million taels every year.

This was like timely help to Emperor Jiajing, who was in urgent need of money to cultivate immortality.

Although this money had been allocated to the construction of the outer city of the capital by imperial decree two years ago, as time went by, Emperor Jiajing gradually forgot about this thousand-year plan. He felt that the construction of the outer city of the capital would take a long time anyway, so it would not be a problem to embezzle some of the money to build a new palace for himself.

Therefore, at the suggestion of Emperor Jiajing and the instigation of Yan Shifan, the money that was originally intended to be used for the outer city project of the capital was now diverted to build palaces and temples for Emperor Jiajing.

And few people dare to say anything against such changes.

Therefore, it is now a foregone conclusion that the money for the outer city project of the capital has been misappropriated.

Hai Rui was extremely angry about this situation. He was angry at the weakness of Shuntian Prefecture and the inaction of the Ministry of Revenue.

It was agreed that the salt tax silver would be used exclusively for the outer city projects of the capital, but the silver was only used for one year.

Fortunately, the construction projects over the past year were mainly focused on the drainage system and the excavation of reserved pipes, and the money-burning construction of the outer city walls was not actually started.

So over the course of the year, only over 300,000 taels of silver were spent, leaving over 600,000 taels of project funds in reserve.

Although more than 600,000 may seem like a lot, it is actually a drop in the bucket, because according to the new construction period requirements, the Urban Construction Company will have to start customizing bricks from Henan, Shandong and other places.

These bricks may seem to be worthless, but because the quality requirements are very strict, the manufacturing cost of each brick is difficult to calculate using ordinary building materials.

Moreover, since the bricks were manufactured in Shandong, Henan, Shanxi and other regions, after they were manufactured, more manpower and material resources were needed to transport them to the capital.

As a result, the cost of bricks alone is already an astronomical figure, not to mention other construction costs after the bricks are transported.

You have to know that in order to build the ancient city walls strong enough, rammed earth and stone strips must be added to the interior of the walls, and these things are costs that cannot be cut corners.

After completing all this, a large amount of millet is used to make millet porridge and mixed with lime and sand to create a highly sticky adhesive that is used to fit the external bricks. This will ensure that the newly built city wall will be as solid as a rock.

It can be said that just with these processes, the more than 600,000 taels of silver left over from last year will be consumed in just a few months.

Therefore, Hai Rui was really anxious during this period, always worried that the construction of the outer city of the capital would soon be suspended or unfinished due to lack of money.

However, it seemed that he was the only one who was anxious about this matter from beginning to end. After Emperor Jiajing looked around again, he asked Huang Jin nonchalantly, "What is San'er doing?"

When Huang Jin heard Emperor Jiajing asking about Zhu Zaigui, he quickly replied, "I heard from people down below that Prince Yu seems to be writing a book at home."

"Write a book?"

Emperor Jiajing was a little surprised to hear this answer.

But then Emperor Jiajing said unhappily: "How old is he? He's still writing books? Doesn't he know how to do something useful? I selected ten women to enter the palace, and a year has passed, and there is not even a good news. I really don't know what he is doing?"

When Huang Jin heard Emperor Jiajing's complaints, he felt helpless.

Huang Jin originally thought that after the wedding, within a year, there would be good news from Prince Yu's Mansion. However, after a year, Prince Yu's Mansion was still quiet, and Princess Yu and the selected concubines were silent.

This made Emperor Jiajing very worried, as he thought something had happened to his third son.

So during this period of time, Emperor Jiajing intentionally or unintentionally sent imperial physicians to Prince Yu's mansion to take his pulse and find out some information.

However, the news that these imperial doctors brought back every time was that Prince Yu was in good health, and the princess consort and the concubines in the palace were also normal.

Therefore, Emperor Jiajing couldn't help but feel confused.

Is it because San'er is not working hard? Is he not very interested in sex?

However, according to the reports from the secret agents in Prince Yu's Mansion, Zhu Zaigui seemed to have visited the royal princess and selected concubines quite often.

Therefore, for such a situation, Emperor Jiajing could not only imagine that Zhu Zaigui was not working hard enough, but also believed that it was probably "God's will".

Therefore, over the past six months, Emperor Jiajing has been performing rituals and praying, hoping that Zhu Zaigui can give birth to a big fat grandson for him as soon as possible.

As long as he has a grandson, his lineage will be completely stable.

Otherwise, his identity as a vassal prince who succeeded the throne would always be like a hidden thorn in his heart, making him uneasy.

Huang Jin comforted the Emperor Jiajing and said, "Your Majesty, the imperial physician said that the prince and princesses are in good health, and it is only a matter of time before they have children. Maybe there will be good news in a couple of days."

Emperor Jiajing snorted and said, "If there is no good news, I will have to work hard to give birth to another prince."

Huang Jin was stunned. He never expected that Emperor Jiajing would say such a thing. But then Huang Jin smiled and said, "It is easy for the emperor to have another prince with his immortal body. However, the emperor still needs to strengthen his foundation and preserve his essence."

Emperor Jiajing was unconvinced and said, "I am still full of energy. Please arrange for Immortal Tao to deliver two elixirs tonight. I want to visit my concubines!"

Huang Jin's head shrank slightly, "Yes, I will do it."

(End of this chapter)