My father is Jiajing

Chapter 518 Meeting with the Regent
Inside the Wenhua Hall, Zhu Zaigui sat on the main seat in the Wenhua Hall under the gaze of all the officials.

As soon as Zhu Zaigui sat down, all the officials began to bow and salute him.

"Your subjects greet the Regent!"

Zhu Zaigui looked calmly at the many important officials of the imperial court crowded in the small Wenhua Hall. He also raised his hand slightly and said, "No need to be polite, everyone."

All the officials bowed again: "Thank you, Regent."

Then all the officials stood on both sides of the hall.

Zhu Zaigui looked at these people and said, "I am honored by your majesty's grace to be appointed as the regent prince. I hope you will work together with me to complete the tasks entrusted to us by your majesty and wait for the day when your majesty comes out of seclusion."

Yan Song, the leader, also stood up tremblingly at this time and replied to Zhu Zaigui, "I will definitely live up to your majesty's expectations and the prince's expectations, and will do my best to assist the prince in supervising the country and governing the country."

Zhu Zaigui looked at Yan Song and smiled, "Thank you for your hard work, Lord Yan. Wenhua Palace and Wenyuan Pavilion are only separated by a wall. If there is anything that needs to be reported to me in the future, the Lords don't have to come in person. Just send a servant to inform me."

After hearing this, Yan Song, Xu Jie and others also hurriedly bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

But in fact, after hearing what Zhu Zaigui said, several cabinet members could only treat it as a very polite remark, and no one dared to send a secretary in the cabinet to deliver the message if there was really something.

If they really did this, let’s not talk about whether Zhu Zaigui would be unhappy. If Emperor Jiajing knew about this, he would think that these people had become bolder and were even more arrogant than the Prince Regent. Did they want to rebel?

Therefore, no matter whether Zhu Zaigui's words were genuinely polite or just false politeness, they would not take them seriously.

Whenever there was something, they would come personally from Wenyuan Pavilion and report to Wenhua Hall where Zhu Zaigui was.

Zhu Zaigui looked at the officials in the hall. Now that they had all met and paid their respects, he had no reason to keep them in the Wenhua Hall any longer.

After all, the various government offices of the imperial court have a lot of government affairs to deal with every day, and it is really excessive to waste every day on such formalistic etiquette visits.

Zhu Zaigui said, "Thank you for your hard work, my ministers. This is my first time as regent, and I still have some matters to discuss with the cabinet and the ministers. You should all go back to your respective offices and come to see me when you have something to do."

When all the officials in the palace heard what Zhu Zaigui said, they all bowed together and said, "Your Majesty is right. We will take our leave."

Zhu Zaigui also raised his hand slightly and watched these people leave.

After they all left, Zhu Zaigui withdrew his gaze and looked at the remaining cabinet members and the six ministers in the hall. Zhu Zaigui said again: "All the elders and ministers, please sit down. I am also here to learn, and I am also your junior, so there is no need to be so formal."

While speaking, Zhu Zaigui also waved his hand and asked Meng Chong to arrange the eunuchs and guards in the hall and put chairs on both sides so that they all had a place to sit.

Upon seeing this, everyone could not help but thank Zhu Zaigui and bow to him again, and then carefully sat down on the chairs in the hall according to their respective orders.

Zhu Zaigui looked at Yan Song, then at Xu Jie, and finally his eyes passed over them and looked at Li Chunfang, Gao Gong, Zhao Wenhua and others behind him.

These people are the top senior officials of the Ming Dynasty today, and their every move can be said to have far-reaching influence.

Zhu Zaigui said, "Today is the first time that I come to Wenhua Palace to supervise the country and govern the country. If I do something wrong in the future, please give me more guidance and don't let my small mistakes turn into big ones."

Yan Song and others immediately replied: "Your Highness is gifted and intelligent, and we will certainly assist him with all our heart."

Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "Thank you very much."

Zhu Zaigui then chatted with them for a while, and then asked Yan Song, Xu Jie and others to leave, leaving only Li Chunfang, Gao Gong and Zhao Wenhua.

When only these three were left, they could no longer hold back their excitement and bowed to Zhu Zaigui again, "We congratulate His Majesty and congratulate His Majesty on taking the throne in the Wenhua Palace."

Zhu Zaigui no longer had a serious expression at this moment. He also laughed and said, "Don't joke around like that. Although I have held the title of Regent for many years, it was just a title during those years. I didn't really hold the title of Regent."

"Now that His Majesty has suddenly arranged for me to serve as regent in Wenhua Palace, you can imagine how terrified I am. I am really worried that something might go wrong."

Li Chunfang said: "Your Highness, do not be afraid. His Majesty has allowed you to govern the country in Wenhua Palace. This is actually the greatest trust in you and also His Majesty's expectation and cultivation of you. Moreover, I, Minister Gao and others will definitely assist you wholeheartedly and will never let anything unexpected happen to you during your period of governing the country."

Zhu Zaigui looked at Li Chunfang and nodded with satisfaction.

Li Chunfang is really in high spirits now. Not only is he the Minister of Works, but also two days ago, he was promoted to the Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace by the special decree of Emperor Jiajing.

Now he can be regarded as a true cabinet elder, no longer a temporary worker who just served in the cabinet with the title of Hanlin Bachelor.

So now Li Chunfang is also very proud and proud, and he can see all the flowers in Chang'an in one day!

Moreover, his good fortune was also noticed by Gao Gong and others, and they were all envious to the point of their eyes being sore.

You have to know that Li Chunfang is only in his forties now. Even if he can only live to sixty, as long as he does not make mistakes and is not targeted by others, it is not impossible for him to stay in the cabinet for another ten or twenty years.

So it can be seen how popular Li Chunfang is now.

So much so that even Gao Gong, who usually rushed to be the first to speak in front of Zhu Zaigui, unconsciously stepped aside and let Li Chunfang speak first.

Zhu Zaigui looked at Li Chunfang and said cheerfully, "The Ministry of Works is now in the hands of Mr. Li. He must make some achievements that are different from the past. Otherwise, it will be unworthy of your title of Grand Secretary of the Wuying Palace."

When Li Chunfang heard this, he couldn't help but laugh happily.

In the past, both the court officials and the rest of the world believed that the Ministry of Works was just the last of the six ministries.

As a result, the Minister of Works now holds the title of Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace, which has elevated the status of the Ministry of Works to the top of the six ministries.

In the future, even if there is a grand court meeting, Li Chunfang, as the Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace, can stand in front of the six ministries and put the Ministry of Industry above all other ministries. Li Chunfang said: "Your Majesty is right. Recently, I have been preparing to build a school of engineering in the capital special district in the name of the Ministry of Industry, so that skilled craftsmen from all over the world can also go to the school of engineering in the capital to study or work as teachers, so as to show the prosperity of our Ming Dynasty industry!"

Zhu Zaigui nodded with satisfaction. This was the suggestion Zhu Zaigui made to Li Chunfang, and its purpose was to demonstrate the court's recognition of the great work.

After all, the future world will be one of great contention, and the traditional craftsmanship inheritance is still a bit too petty. Many skilled craftsmen, even if they are extremely dexterous, can make amazing and magical things that will amaze people.

However, most of these craftsmen only have skills but lack the spirit of exploring the original meaning. They just know that they can learn or complete a certain craft in this way.

However, this kind of craftsman thinking of "only knowing the result but not the reason" is obviously unable to produce more sophisticated industrial inventions.

Therefore, in order to cultivate super craftsmen with a spirit of inquiry, Zhu Zaigui could only think of ways to systematize the craftsmen's skills and knowledge.

Only in this way can future Ming Dynasty craftsmen stand on the shoulders of generations of masters and innovate super industrial products that are more in line with the progress of the times.

At the same time, with the systematic development of industrial knowledge, subjects that were not valued in the past, such as mathematics and physics, can naturally achieve rapid development.

In this way, even if the Ming Dynasty in the future still emphasizes culture over industry and culture over military affairs, as the new creations made by these great craftsmen become stronger and stronger, they will also subtly change their views on craftsmen.

We will no longer treat these craftsmen who can only tinker with wood and iron as the lower class.

Zhu Zaigui said: "Mr. Li has done a great job. If we trace the origin of craftsmanship, we can trace it back to the theory of Mozi during the period of the Hundred Schools of Thought. When Mozi advocated universal love and non-aggression, his confidence came from his craftsmanship, not from those seemingly reasonable ancient articles and sentences."

"Moreover, throughout the ages, no matter how dynasties changed or how the world changed, what ultimately determined the power of the world was never a few moral articles, but real industrial progress."

"For example, during the Qin and Han dynasties, the Han people fought against the Xiongnu people and were able to achieve a victory of one Han over five Hu people. This was also based on the fact that the weapons and armors made by the Han Dynasty were several levels higher than those of the Xiongnu people at the same time."

"Otherwise, if we simply fought hand-to-hand with the Xiongnu people who ate raw meat and drank blood like savages, even if the population of the Han Dynasty was much larger than that of the Xiongnu, we would not be able to withstand such a loss."

"And until now, the imperial court is still trying to find a way to ban the sale of ironware to the grasslands. The reason is to restrict them from using these ironware to make weapons that can threaten the stability of the Central Plains."

"So, since Mr. Li is now the Minister of Industry and concurrently serves as the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, you must play your due role and raise the current industrial level of the Ming Dynasty to a new height."

"If the Ming army can be equipped with the new weapons made during Mr. Li's tenure as the head of the Ministry of Industry, or more powerful industrial weapons in the future, then Mr. Li may have a separate page in history."

When Li Chunfang heard this last sentence, he became very excited.

Li Chunfang didn't have much of a reaction to Zhu Zaigui's idea of ​​training great craftsmen. As long as it didn't affect his current work or his official duties, he would actively cooperate.

But now, after hearing Zhu Zaigui's reasons and factual examples, Li Chunfang suddenly felt that the Ministry of Industry seemed to be full of infinite possibilities.

It is not just about building mausoleums and palaces as before. If it can really play a role, it can cultivate industrial weapons or other industrial creations that can lead the development of the times for the court.

Wouldn't it be possible to completely transform the Ministry of Industry from being at the bottom of the six ministries to being the hottest one among the six ministries?

Wouldn't it be possible for the future Minister of Works to also hold the title of Grand Secretary of the Cabinet?
In this way, won’t the future Ministers of Works be grateful for his current achievements?

When Li Chunfang thought of this, he couldn't help but get excited.

I feel like I have really embarked on a unique road to industry!

At the same time, Gao Gong, Zhao Wenhua and others could not help but look at Li Chunfang with envy. They felt that Li Chunfang was simply the chosen one of heaven, and good luck would accompany him wherever he went.

And in fact, this is indeed the case with Li Chunfang.

He has been praised by everyone for his genius since he started studying as a teenager, and after he became the top scholar, he became even more enviable.

Moreover, for Li Chunfang, winning the top spot in the imperial examination was just a new beginning.

Afterwards, he was not only lucky enough to become an official under Prince Yu's Mansion, but also became the de facto head of the Daming Bookstore, holding the lifeline of the world's literary masters, and he also single-handedly led the publication of the "Da Ming Fenghua" magazine.

These achievements alone are enough to make his peers envious.

But that was not all. He took advantage of this favorable situation to ascend to a high position and was appreciated by Emperor Jiajing. In a short period of time, he was promoted to the position of Vice Minister of Rites and Imperial Academy Academician, and was assigned to work in the Western Garden.

Now he has become an official cabinet minister and minister of works, which is simply a win!

Now Zhu Zaigui has given him a smooth road to play the new functions of the Ministry of Works. Such luck is the envy of others!
You have to know that the previous Ministers of Works were not so lucky to receive such guidance and support.

Not long after Li Chunfang took office, he was promoted to the position of Grand Secretary of Wuying Palace by Emperor Jiajing. He was also highly valued by His Royal Highness Prince Yu, who pointed out the future work direction of the Ministry of Works for him.

This can't even be described as good luck, he is simply luck itself!
After talking to Li Chunfang, Zhu Zaigui also looked at Gao Gong.

Zhu Zaigui said: "Mr. Gao, there is no Shangshu Tang official in the Ministry of Personnel now. You and Guo Pu are the Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel. Therefore, you and Guo Pu must take the Ministry of Personnel's tasks seriously in the future and must not shirk responsibility or try to seize credit and power."

"Otherwise, if these actions are seen by His Majesty, neither you nor Guo Pu will have any good results. Therefore, I hope you can stick to your original intention and do your job well first, and everything will naturally develop towards a better result."

When Gao Gong heard what Zhu Zaigui said, he understood in his heart that Zhu Zaigui was worried that his impatient temper would prevent him from getting along well with other colleagues in the Ministry of Personnel, which would give him a bad impression.

After all, he is an old man in Prince Yu's Mansion. Unless there are any accidents in the future, he will definitely be a top minister above the cabinet.

Therefore, Zhu Zaigui's expectations for him would naturally not be too small. He still hoped that he could display his due abilities and level as in the original history and become a wise prime minister!
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Asking for a monthly ticket~~
(End of this chapter)