Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 226 Blackmailing Ju Zheng and assassinating the elder!
"My mentor... is he still alive?"

Zhang Juzheng got on the sedan chair, feeling uneasy and with a trembling voice, he asked Lu Fang.

As if Lu Fang had expected this, he nodded and handed over a note.

Authenticating the authenticity of the imperial seal is a very difficult task, and the palace understands the principle of "if you want the horse to run, you must first make it eat grass."

……

On the twenty-first day of the twelfth lunar month, the moon became increasingly waning, and when it rose above the eastern wall, the sky had just begun to darken.

A bed, a table and a chair.

There is the moon, the lamp and the piano.

The dust from the zither was sealed in the bag, and he was too lazy to light the lamp because there was no book. Xu Jie sat at the wooden table under the north window, looking at the hazy moonlight outside the window. He felt the moonlight slanting into the house from the door. He slowly turned his head to look, and a feeling of "the southern guest's thoughts" was all on Yuexi's face.

A night after snow is brighter than a dark night. You can see the road clearly even without a lamp to lead the way.

Following Lu Fang's instructions, people from the Imperial Household Department delivered daily necessities to the courtyard. Although the courtyard was small, it had everything it needed.

Under the moonlight, Zhang Juzheng looked towards the small house with the open door. He could not see Xu Jie's figure here, but his steps were heavy and he could not move forward.

Inside the house, Xu Jie was still staring at the moonlight outside the window in a trance. Suddenly, he seemed to sense something and his body trembled slightly.

Xu Jie stood up and walked towards the door. Before he reached the door, he turned around and walked towards the window, but soon he stopped again.

There were footsteps behind him, and Xu Jie asked in an uncertain tone, "Is it Taiyue?"

There are so many emotions in his tone, such as surprise, worry, fear, etc., that it is hard to put into words.

Zhang Juzheng did not answer, but walked straight to the table, picked up the flint flannel, rubbed it and lit the vegetable oil lamp. He stood there without turning around and said, "After tomorrow, this small courtyard will probably be completely closed..."

If the Five Cities Military Affairs Department couldn't catch someone, the Embroidered Uniform Guard would always be able to bring that person back, especially near the capital, so there was no one that the Embroidered Uniform Guard couldn't find.

No matter how big or small the matter is, it is all under the control of the Jinyiwei.

It was not that Zhang Juzheng was arrogant. Zhang Juzheng knew that the reason why the emperor did not let the Jinyiwei kill people was that he, the chief minister of the cabinet, still had some value.

Just like the master and disciple Yan Song and Hu Zongxian, if Yan Song did not have an absolutely unforgivable reason, the emperor would most likely spare his life for Hu Zongxian's sake.

The emperor has spared the life of my teacher, but he was restless. He gave lectures in Jiangnan, established the Donglin Academy, criticized the government, and even thought of making a comeback as an opposition party.

Even though he was warned that the School of Mind would be banned, he still dared to change his "skin" and participate in the three-way debate among Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.

My heart is so thirsty.

Disaster followed, and once you entered the capital, you couldn't leave.

For this reason, he, as the chief minister of the cabinet, even risked the displeasure of the emperor and allowed his master and mentor to leave Beijing.

The master even asked the mentor to get off the car early and used himself as bait to save the mentor's life.

However, the life of my mentor was saved, but he was trapped in this "cage" forever.

Xu Jie suddenly felt disappointed.

This small courtyard is only three meters in width and five meters in width. He has to stay in it for the rest of his life and die in confinement. For someone like him who likes "liveliness", it is even more painful than death.

"Tai, Taiyue, you can't..." Xu Jie's body and voice were trembling, almost begging.

"No."

Zhang Juzheng shook his head, his voice lacking firmness, and said, "You should have a good rest. If you are still alive in 20 years, I will take you home."

If Xu Jie could live another twenty years, when Zhang Juzheng ended his tenure as the ruler of the country and returned to his hometown to beg for mercy, he could still have the dignity to ask for mercy and take Xu Jie home.

Otherwise, this small courtyard would be both a prison and a tomb, and would bury Xu Jie.

Zhang Juzheng left.

Looking at that back figure, Xu Jie's eyes were covered with tears, and his throat was choked by tears, so he couldn't speak.

Outside the courtyard gate, there was the sound of the gate closing, someone talking, and then the sound of someone locking the gate. From then on, there were all the sounds.

The courtyard located in the prosperous capital city has become an isolated island on earth.

……

cabinet.

Government Hall.

Without Zhang Juzheng, a key figure who could do the work of two people, the entire burden fell on Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang. It was already three quarters past eight in the evening, and the government affairs had not been sorted out yet.

The three ministers no longer wanted to go back tonight and planned to sleep in the cabinet residence after they finished their work.

But Zhang Juzheng's return surprised several people again. Without saying a word, Zhang Juzheng took up the government affairs and started to deal with them, much faster than before.

Hu Zongxian was a little worried at first, but after taking a look at the memorial that Yuan Fu had handled, he found that there was no problem, so he felt relieved.

Under the leadership of the prime minister, memorials were picked up, reviewed, and put down at a speed visible to the naked eye. As soon as the midnight watch sounded, the government affairs for the day were completed.

"Close the door!" Zhang Juzheng shouted towards the outside.

Liu Tai, the secretary of the cabinet, was stunned when he heard the voice, but he did not like it. He closed the door and stood outside to prevent anyone from approaching.

Just when Gao Gong, Hu Zongxian and Li Chunfang were puzzled, Zhang Juzheng took out the gift letter from Shen Weijing and said, "Suqing, Ruzhen, Zishi, do you think this imperial seal from the grassland is real?"

As the saying goes, "Judge a person by his heart, and listen to his words by their tone."

Yuan Fu asked this question, but it did not sound like a question or inquiry, but it represented a lot of meaning.

Li Chunfang was stunned, staring at Zhang Juzheng, and it took him a long time to come to his senses: "Prime Minister, the authenticity of the imperial seal can only be known by seeing the real thing. Who can tell it by empty words?"

Shen Weijing's letter and Tatar's letter of surrender were delivered by express mail, and the so-called imperial seal was left behind.

No one present has even seen the shadow of the imperial seal, so who dares to determine whether it is real or fake?

Of course, judging by one’s inner thoughts alone, the possibility of falsehood far outweighs the possibility of truth.

"I think it's true." Zhang Juzheng looked at him slowly.

If what was said just now was still speculation, now the three cabinet members can be sure that the prime minister wants to "call a zebra a zebra".

Gao, Hu and Li did not refute Yuanfu, but they did not agree with him. Li Chunfang said calmly, "Yuanfu, I have never seen the imperial seal. I am afraid that the second prime minister and Ruzhen have not seen it either. The only person in the cabinet who may have seen the imperial seal or knows what it looks like is Yifu, who is in charge of the 'land survey and equal distribution of land to the people' outside the capital. His family, the Chen family, has a long history. Yuanfu should ask Yifu about the authenticity of the imperial seal instead of asking us. If Yifu says yes, it is probably true."

Because he didn't know whether it was Zhang Juzheng's idea or the emperor's idea that the "imperial seal was genuine", Li Chunfang used Tai Chi to push this hot potato away.

Families like the Li family, the Gao family, and the Hu family are all small and have a short history. How would they know anything about the imperial seal?

If you want to find someone to guarantee you, someone who can take responsibility, then the Chen family of Chen Yiqin, the cabinet minister, is very suitable. If there is any problem in the future, they can also take responsibility. However, Chen Yiqin is out of town now. If you want Jianzhen to pass on the imperial seal, you must first invite him back and convince him to guarantee it with his own reputation and family credibility. These things still need to be solved by Zhang Juzheng.

If Chen Yiqin and the Chen family said yes, then they would follow suit and say yes. If they said no... then it wouldn't be that they were not giving face to Yuan Fu.

Zhang Juzheng's heart sank.

……

Emperor Taizu Gaodi established his capital in Nanjing and designated the territories of fourteen prefectures including Yingtian and four states including Xuzhou as the capital area.

Emperor Taizong Wen moved the capital northward, and made the eight prefectures including Shuntian and the two states of Yanqing and Baoan as the capital, called "Northern Zhili", and changed the old capital area of ​​Nanjing to "Southern Zhili", thus forming a special pattern of two northern and southern capital regions.

"Nanzhili" is omitted for the time being.

"Northern Zhili" was originally the territory of ancient Jizhou, and its boundaries were "the sea in the east, Sanqi in the south, Taihang in the west, and the desert in the north."

It governed eight prefectures, including Shuntian, Baoding, Hejian, Zhending, Shunde, Guangping, Daming, and Yongping, as well as two prefectures, Yanqing and Bao'an, in Zhili, with a total of 116 counties.

In addition, there are guards to protect the capital, thousand-household defense units and forts, which are arranged at various defense key points along the Great Wall.

Shuntian Prefecture was originally Dadu Road in the Yuan Dynasty. It was the area where the capital was located. It was also the capital's guard area and the core area of ​​the capital region.

The prefecture governed five states, namely Tong, Ba, Zhuo, Ji and Changping, with a total of 22 counties.

Among them, Daxing and Wanping counties were both independent counties relying on the capital, with Daxing County to the east of the city and Wanping County to the west of the city.

The prefectural government was located in the capital city. Shuntian Prefecture had abundant products, but its grain output was not high.

In the 39th year of Jiajing, statistics on the actual amount of wheat and rice collected by the Ming Dynasty showed that the total amount of wheat was 4,652,430 dan, and the amount of rice was 22,331,711 dan. The amount of wheat collected by Northern Zhili was 178,642 dan, and the amount of rice collected was 419,986 dan.

After the capital was established, due to the great increase in population in the capital, the capital's supplies, like in previous dynasties, mostly relied on the transport of grain from the south to the north.

Zhending Mansion.

Chen Yiqin, standing in a country field, wearing a fur coat and with his hands on his waist, no longer looked like a frail scholar. His skin had become darker, but his eyes were particularly bright.

With the help of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, his two sons Yu Bi and Yu Jie, and his family, the land has been surveyed and distributed equally in the three prefectures of Shuntian, Baoding and Hejian, and most of the land in Zhending prefecture has also been surveyed.

The total amount of farmland surveyed in the four prefectures exceeded 3 million mu, which is a full 1.2 million mu more than the 1.8 million mu of farmland recorded in the previous fish-scale atlas of the four prefectures.

With good weather and good harvests, one acre of land can produce three shi of grain, which means that the Ming Dynasty had an additional 3.6 million shi of grain.

Under the "twenty-one tax" tax system, the four prefectures alone could increase the tax revenue of the Ming Dynasty by 180,000 shi of grain.

The increased tax grain from just surveying the farmland in the four prefectures exceeded the weight of wheat collected in the past.

Chen Yiqin estimated that if all the fields in the eight prefectures were measured, the tax grain in the capital area would double.

This shows how many hidden fields the big families have.

Looking at the people enthusiastically drawing lots to divide the land in the light snow, Chen Yiqin's weather-beaten face showed a smile.

Auspicious snow indicates a good harvest!

Previously, the emperor showed grace to the world and exempted the country from taxes for three years. This year and the next two years, all the output from the fields will belong to the people. How lucky are the people born in this era.

"Lord." Zhu Qi, one of the thirteen guardians of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, walked over without leaving any trace in the snow.

These days, Chen Yiqin has also gotten used to this call without footsteps, and responded, "Seventh Master."

You scare me by walking silently, so I call you "master" to scare you.

Not to mention Zhu Qi, even Lu Bing, the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was not qualified to be called the master by the cabinet elders.

Zhu Qi's mouth twitched. He said he didn't dare and apologized. After years of hard work, walking on the snow without leaving any footprints or making any noise was the minimum he could do. It was almost an instinct. He really didn't mean to scare people on purpose.

After a while of teasing, Zhu Qi got back to the point and said, "Lord, the Prime Minister sent a message through the Jinyiwei, asking you to return to the capital immediately."

"What's the matter?"

"His Majesty's wedding."

"I know this, but it's probably a little late to say it now." Chen Yiqin said speechlessly.

This place is five hundred miles away from the capital. Even if we ride a horse, it will take at least two or three days. The emperor is getting married tomorrow, so it is impossible for us to get back in time.

My old friend Li Chunfang is in charge of the Ministry of Rites affairs, and there won't be any major mistakes regarding the wedding system, so he must go back for other matters.

"Also, the grassland has sent Fang Chuanguo's jade seal, and Lord Yuanfu would like to invite you and the elders of your family to verify it." Zhu Qi added.

Chen Yiqin stared at Zhu Qi, what he said was quite interesting.

It is not about identifying the authenticity of the imperial seal, but about identifying the authentic imperial seal.

This is not an appraisal of treasures, but to ask him and the Chen family to act as guarantors.

"Whose meaning?" Chen Yiqin pointed to the sky.

Zhu Qi nodded, then shook his head.

Chen Yiqin understood that the emperor must "hope" that the imperial seal would return to China to prove the legitimacy of the Ming royal family.

But the emperor was unwilling to come forward and "call a horse a zebra". The prime minister must have done something to displease the emperor, and wanted to use the "real" imperial seal to make amends.

Chen Yiqin actually doesn't care much about his own reputation and family credibility. It is only a matter of time before the Chen family becomes a true Chinese family.

When the land survey and distribution to the people are completed, the Chen family will be able to rise to the top with the support of countless people. Even if he and the Chen family's Jianzhen imperial seal are determined to be fake by later generations, there will always be people who will argue for the Chen family.

If the emperor clearly wanted the Chen family to become Jianzhen, Chen Yiqin would agree without any hesitation. But if it was the prime minister's intention, the Chen family would be sorry to their ancestors if they did not take the opportunity to make some trouble.

As the saying goes, "If you pass on the scriptures with nothing, your descendants will starve to death."

Chen Yiqin wanted to ask Zhang Juzheng for some "personnel matters" on behalf of the future generations of the Chen family.

In that glorious and prosperous era, Zhang Juzheng, as the chief minister of the cabinet during the 40th year of Jiajing, was destined to leave a mark in the long river of history. Even if his calligraphy is not as good as that of true saints like Zhu Xi and Wang Yangming, it is still an extraordinary masterpiece.

After a hundred years, a piece of calligraphy can ensure that several generations of people will have no worries about food and clothing.

Just ask Yuan Fu for ten pairs of calligraphy. It doesn't matter if it's poetry, but it must be about praising the Chen family. Just thinking about it makes me excited.

The task of surveying the land was temporarily handed over to the eldest son Chen Yubei and Qi Dazhu, the thirteenth of the Thirteen Guards of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The task of distributing the land to the people was temporarily handed over to the second son Chen Yujie and Chen Hong, the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department and the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Depot.

Chen Yiqin led several clan elders and headed north immediately, while Zhu Qi led dozens of riders to escort them along the way.

A raid ensued.

(End of this chapter)