My father is Jiajing

Chapter 446: Ten Years of Sharpening a Sword (Two in One)

"Your Majesty, I am back."

After Hu Zongxian sent Wang Zhi to the imperial prison, he immediately went to Prince Yu's Mansion to meet Zhu Zaigui.

Zhu Zaigui looked at Hu Zongxian, whom he had not seen for several years, and felt inexplicably moved.

Zhu Zaigui stood up and came over to support Hu Zongxian and said, "Well, well, you have done a great job in Zhejiang. I am very pleased!"

Hu Zongxian was deeply moved when Zhu Zaigui helped him to stand up. He did not expect that after so many years, the prince still treated him the same.

Hu Zongxian began to talk about business. He said, "Your Majesty, I have already sent Wang Zhi to the imperial prison, but I suggest that we should treat Wang Zhi with appeasement instead of killing him."

Zhu Zaiqi hummed and asked in return: "Why can't we kill him?"

Hu Zongxian took a deep breath and said, "Wang Zhi has great influence on the sea. There are 66 small countries that have dealings with him, and there are tens of thousands of pirates and bandits under his control. If we fail to deal with Wang Zhi properly and kill him directly, it may cause disorder among Ningbo's overseas pirates, which will in turn have a great impact on the situation in the southeast, and the opportunity to suppress the bandits and destroy the Japanese will be delayed for a few more years."

After Zhu Zaigui finished listening to Hu Zongxian's words, he replied: "I will consider this matter carefully. I heard that there is a great talent named Xu Wei around you. Did he go to Beijing with you?"

Hu Zongxian said: "Xu Wei came with me and is now at the post house."

Zhu Zaigui laughed and said, "I have heard of Xu Wei's name many times in the capital. He played a big role in tricking Wang Zhi to the shore this time, right?"

Hu Zongxian said: "Xu Wei was extremely talented and full of wisdom. He was a rare talent. It's a pity that his road to the imperial examination was extremely bumpy. He failed the examination eight times even after he passed it at the age of 20."

Zhu Zaigui could not help laughing when he heard Hu Zongxian introduce Xu Wei like this: "Extraordinary people should have extraordinary talents. Although Xu Wei was not good at the imperial examination, his ability was extraordinary. It is said that he failed the provincial examination many times because he could not grasp the length of the essay. He always liked to write long essays on the examination paper. When there was not enough paper, he wrote on the desk, chair or bench."

"If he really took the imperial examination in this way, it would be difficult for him to pass with such an essay, but this is in line with his meaning of "文长".

Hu Zongxian smiled awkwardly, "Your Highness is right. Xu Wei is like this. If he could refine his writing, with his talent, it would not be a problem for him to pass the imperial examination. It's a pity that some things are difficult to look at with common sense. Therefore, Xu Wei can only be a famous scholar in the world, and it is difficult for him to enter the government."

Zhu Zaigui laughed again, "Okay, let's not talk about him anymore. Let him continue to be by your side to help you with your plans. When the southeastern affairs are settled and you can return to the capital to take up your post, I will personally examine his talent. If he is really capable, I will let him come to the palace to teach the prince. Speaking of which, my son has also reached the age of enlightenment."

Zhu Yiyan is five or six years old now. In the world before Zhu Zaigui traveled through time, this age would have made him a pupil in the middle or senior classes of kindergarten. But now he has been enjoying his childhood freely in the palace like a precious baby. He even likes to bully his younger brothers and sisters when he has nothing to do. He is really mischievous.

However, Zhu Zaigui did not stop the children from playing together. He believed that it was normal for brothers and sisters to have some quarrels and frictions when they were young.

Moreover, children have a lot of energy. If they are asked to be quiet and behave like good children, it is not in line with their nature.

So Zhu Zaigui just let them have fun.

While Zhu Zaigui was talking to Hu Zongxian, Zhu Zaigui's second son Zhu Yijun came to the study courtyard with grievance. As soon as he arrived, he burst into tears: "Dad, my elder brother bullied me!"

Zhu Yijun cried loudly, but without a single tear.

When Hu Zongxian saw Zhu Yijun coming in, he also bowed and said, "Greetings, young prince."

Zhu Zaihui picked up Zhu Yijun and put him on his lap, then patted his little butt. "Did you tear apart your brother's building blocks again?"

Zhu Yijun paused when he heard this, his eyes rolled around, and he quickly shouted, "I didn't, I didn't mean to do that!"

Zhu Zaiqi chuckled, "If it wasn't intentional, then why did he beat you? Go back quickly and help your brother put it back together, or I'll beat your ass again."

Zhu Yijun rubbed his butt in grievance. He originally wanted to complain, but he didn't expect that his father would see through him at a glance. He was really careless.

Zhu Yijun was about to turn around and leave, but at this moment he noticed Hu Zongxian standing respectfully beside him. This was the first time he had seen this man. Zhu Yijun asked, "Dad, who is this uncle?"

Before Zhu Zaigui could say anything, Hu Zongxian immediately said to Zhu Yijun: "Young Prince, you cannot address me like that."

Zhu Zaigui looked at Hu Zongxian's nervous expression and waved his hand nonchalantly, saying, "Don't bother with him. This is the courtesy he should have."

Then Zhu Zaigui said to Zhu Yijun: "This uncle is an important official that Daddy has arranged to be in the southeast. When you see him in the future, you must respect him as you would Uncle Gao and Uncle Zhang, and you must not disobey him in any way."

Zhu Yijun said, "I'll remember it."

Zhu Zaigui rubbed Zhu Yijun's head again and said, "Go and play."

Watching Zhu Yijun's back as he skipped away with his little butt twisting, Zhu Zaigui felt sad in his heart. He had originally wanted to avoid the name "Zhu Yijun" for this child, but the diligent Emperor Jiajing asked Huang Jin to deliver a note with the word "Jun" written on it as soon as he was born.

It is obvious that Emperor Jiajing also wanted to treat his grandson equally and give him a name.

When Zhu Zaigui looked at the word "Jun", he felt like a thousand horses were galloping in his heart. What a crappy name! Isn't it obvious that it is going to ruin people?
Therefore, Zhu Zaigui paid the most attention to Zhu Yijun's education and management, for fear that this kid would really become the Wanli Emperor in history in the future.

But at the same time, Zhu Zaigui was also worried about his eldest son Zhu Yifan. You should know that in history, Zhu Yifan died at the age of five or six.

Therefore, Zhu Zaigui's concern for Zhu Yixuan in the past two years has reached the extreme. He asked Li Shizhen and Wan Mizhai to be on standby in the capital at any time, and no longer let them leave the capital to participate in the local post-disaster medical tasks arranged by the court. At the same time, Zhu Zaigui was also actively paying attention to the physical condition of Princess Li. Her health did not seem to get better because of Zhu Zaigui's special attention. If Li Shizhen and Wan Mizhai had not tried their best to keep her alive over the years, she might have died long ago.

Therefore, Zhu Zaigui is now very worried about Zhu Yihuan's future, fearing that he will not be able to withstand the inertia of history and will die at the age of five or six.

If this was true, Zhu Zaigui would be very sad. After all, this was his first child and the child he had poured countless efforts into. He really didn't want the historical fate to come true on Zhu Yihuan and make him experience the heart-wrenching pain of losing his son.

After all, in Zhu Zaigui's consciousness, in his concept before he traveled through time, there seemed to be no children that could not be raised, so Zhu Zaigui would not be mentally prepared for the death of a child.

Even though he knew that the infant mortality rate in ancient times was very high, he still didn't believe that his own child would be like that.

Therefore, in order to protect Zhu Yihuan and ensure that he could smoothly pass through the historical destiny, Zhu Zaigui selfishly kept Li Shizhen and Wan Mizhai by his side, allowing them to diagnose and take Zhu Yihuan's pulse at any time and always pay attention to Zhu Yihuan's health.

Hu Zongxian also watched Zhu Yijun's back as he left. He turned to Zhu Zaigui and bowed again, saying, "The young prince is very smart."

When Zhu Zaigui heard Hu Zongxian's praise of Zhu Yijun, he couldn't help but chuckle and sighed, "He is just a little clever and lacks patience. He easily gives up when he encounters setbacks. I'm really worried that he will have the same personality in the future."

Hu Zongxian advised again: "Your Highness, don't worry so much. Maybe he will change when he grows up."

Zhu Zaigui shook his head slightly and sighed, not continuing with Zhu Yijun's little episode.

Zhu Zaigui asked: "What do you think of Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou?"

When Hu Zongxian heard Zhu Zaigui asking about Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou, he immediately praised them: "These two men fought bravely, and their troops had strict discipline. They were my main support in the fight against the Japanese pirates in recent years."

Zhu Zaigui said, "It seems that the only remaining threat is the bandits in Fujian. You should adjust these two people and send one to the Nanjing Longjiang Shipyard to look for the large ship construction drawings from the Yongle period. Then recruit some Taixi Yi people who are good at shipbuilding and combine the shipbuilding techniques of both sides to improve them."

"This time, the Japanese invasion in the southeast has taught me a lesson. Instead of fighting this kind of defensive war on land, it is better to think of a way to block the battlefield on the vast sea. In this way, the coastal provinces and people of our Ming Dynasty will suffer less from the disaster of pirates."

Hu Zongxian was stunned when he heard this. He never expected that Zhu Zaigui would have such a long-term vision and actually wanted to rebuild an ocean-going navy to prevent maritime disasters.

This would be a huge military investment costing a huge amount of money. Would the court be willing to do so?
Hu Zongxian said, "Your Highness, this may be difficult. The court has never paid much attention to the sea borders, but only to land and sea defense. If we want to build a strong navy that can fight at sea, the amount of money it will cost is absolutely incalculable. I am worried that this proposal will be difficult to pass the court's discussion."

Zhu Zaigui snorted and said, "Did I say that I would approve their consideration? What kind of foresight can a bunch of old men who only know how to sit in the government office and watch the world have?"

"Every day in this small place of the capital, they think about seniority, how to protect their own interests, and the unspoken rule that 'only Hanlin can enter the cabinet'. Do they regard the official positions and power of the Ming Dynasty as private property?"

"You have fought against the Japanese invaders in the southeast for so many years, and you also captured Wang Zhi. Don't you know the huge profits and importance of the sea? And with your ability, do you think the threshold of the cabinet should stop you?"

When Zhu Zaigui said this, Hu Zongxian obviously couldn't help getting excited. As a civil servant with outstanding abilities and the spirit of a great general, it would be a lie for Hu Zongxian to say that he had no ideas about the future.

However, according to the current unwritten rules of the officialdom, his ceiling has obviously been reached, and there is no way for him to go any further. At most, he may be allowed to take up the actual position of Minister of War in the future, and then be awarded the honorary title of the Third Young Master of the First Rank, which would already be a great achievement.

But are capable people really willing to live like this? After becoming an official and reaching this point, who wouldn’t still dream of entering the cabinet?
Therefore, the pie in the sky that Zhu Zaigui inadvertently drew immediately won Hu Zongxian's heart, making Hu Zongxian also eagerly believe that he might really have a chance to break the unspoken rules and be among the ministers in the future.

Zhu Zaigui finished painting the pie and continued, "And this little Wang Zhi, who is entrenched in Shuangyu Port off the coast of Ningbo, can trade with the 66 countries on the sea. How is this different from being a local vassal? Is the court going to be complacent and turn a blind eye to such an important place? Will it allow Wang Zhi and his ilk to become bigger on the sea?"

"Do you really think that those desperate lunatics on the sea will be as stupid as Wang Zhi now, and will come ashore after being deceived? If we can't control the sea well, if a group of more powerful and invincible enemies come from farther away in the future, are we going to let the provinces and people near the sea suffer such pain again?"

"So can't we have a little foresight and organize our maritime forces in advance to wipe out all the pirates on the Ming sea borders and restore and control the prosperity of Yongle?"

"You must know that your Majesty is also a prince who inherited the throne. He must also want to establish achievements that are not inferior to those of Emperor Chengzu. Shouldn't we, as ministers, serve your Majesty and strive to become a famous minister of Jiajing?"

Zhu Zaigui's words were righteous, but in fact he just treated Emperor Jiajing as a tiger skin that he could use as a flag and a shield to help him resist all opposition.

After all, Emperor Jiajing had been hiding in the deep palace to practice meditation and rarely appeared in public. Who could confront Emperor Jiajing face to face?
Therefore, instead of being too cautious and missing out on opportunities, it is better to be bolder and take these things seriously first.

Moreover, it is already the 39th year of Jiajing, and in a blink of an eye, Zhu Zaigui has been in this era for ten years.

If the life span of Emperor Jiajing remained unchanged, he would have only lived for six years. In history, Emperor Longqing also served as a hands-off boss for only six years before he passed away, ending the short-lived Longqing New Deal.

Therefore, Zhu Zaigui did not dare to gamble whether his future could surpass Emperor Longqing in history and rule for a longer period of time.

Therefore, Zhu Zaigui now really has a sense of urgency that time is running out, and he can no longer waste time like this.

He must speed up his pace and spend another ten years to build a new prosperous foundation for the Ming Dynasty, unveil a corner for the future world of great contention, and bring a glimmer of hope.

Otherwise, wouldn’t the efforts of the past ten years have been wasted? Moreover, the ancients also said that “it takes ten years to sharpen a sword”, and now that the ten-year period has come, it is time for Zhu Zaigui to unsheathe his sword and test his sharpness.

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(End of this chapter)