Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 134 Empress Dowager Zhang is controlled and slaps Zhang Yanling
Empress Dowager Zhang raised her eyebrows upon hearing this.

Looking at his younger brother Zhang Heling looking so aggrieved.

She wished she could tear Zhang Fujing into pieces right now.

"The Queen Mother Xingguo has arrived!"

But this time.

From outside, the sound of Emperor Jiajing's biological mother, Jiang, coming to visit was heard.

This made it difficult for Empress Dowager Zhang to continue her outburst, so she had to get up and prepare to go meet Jiang.

What makes Empress Dowager Zhang very distressed now is that Jiang always appears when she meets her two brothers alone.

Whenever Jiang appeared, she would often advise her and her two younger brothers on how to behave more decently.

This also made it difficult for Empress Dowager Zhang to do anything naughty.

and so.

Although Jiang often came to chat with her and was very kind to her, she would bring her some southern snacks that she had never eaten and some precious southern specialties that she had never seen.

But when Empress Dowager Zhang heard that Jiang was coming, she felt particularly pressured and restrained.

In short.

In her own opinion, it was a feeling of not being able to be free, not being able to do anything naughty, and having to follow the wise and righteous actions of the virtuous empress dowager.

For a while, she was even unable to instigate Jiang, Jiajing's biological mother, to join her in forcing Jiajing to vent her anger for her two younger brothers.

She couldn't tell anyone about this frustration.

Sometimes she even hated herself for being too willful when she was young, and for not allowing Emperor Xiaozong to take more concubines and have more children, nor for not allowing Emperor Zhengde to leave her a grandson.

In her opinion, if the successor was still her son or grandson, Emperor Xiaozong, she would not have to restrain herself like this and could be more unrestrained for her two younger brothers.

Unfortunately, the current Emperor Jiajing was not her son or grandson, so she could not force Jiajing to go against the will of the civil officials for her two younger brothers by throwing a tantrum.

Even if Emperor Jiajing wanted to show that he favored her Zhang family, she had to dissuade him against her will.

After all, she also knew that she and Jiajing did not have much affection for each other. What's more, there was still the Empress Dowager Jiang who always put her up, saying that she was a legitimate empress dowager and should be more righteous than her, who was born into a vassal state. It was also difficult for her to let the world think that she was not as wise as Jiang, who was born into a vassal state.

Empress Dowager Zhang stood up and said to Zhang Heling, "Go and ask to see the emperor and see what he says!"

"I can't help you now!"

"You should also stop coming to the harem. If you have anything to say, tell the emperor directly."

"He is the emperor. Since he said that he would treat you as his uncles, then he will treat you as his uncles and will not ignore you."

"You have nothing better to do than to complain to me. Not only can I not help you, but it will also make him unhappy. He will feel that you do not treat him as a family member and that our Zhang family is still instigating something. He may even think that the arrogance of those civil servants who protect the ceremony has something to do with us."

"Otherwise, Queen Mother Jiang wouldn't come to Renshou Palace every day when you come to see me. It's obvious that she still doesn't trust our Zhang family."

After Empress Dowager Zhang said this, Zhang Heling had no choice but to agree.

Empress Dowager Zhang had already left the palace. She smiled and greeted Jiang who was walking over: "Sister, are you here?"

"Huguang sent some fresh Yulu tea. I thought my sister said she was tired of the tribute tea in the palace, so I decided to send some to her today."

Empress Dowager Jiang replied with a smile.

"My sister is thoughtful!"

Empress Dowager Zhang smiled and showed great kindness and gratitude towards Empress Dowager Jiang.

If Zhu Houcong needed to show respect to Empress Dowager Zhang because the civil officials and literati who supported rituals believed that the emperor should show respect to Empress Dowager Zhang, then Zhu Houcong needed to show respect to Empress Dowager Jiang because the civil officials and literati who advocated rituals believed that the emperor should show respect to Empress Dowager Jiang.

Therefore, Empress Dowager Zhang and Empress Dowager Jiang each had a group of civil servants behind them to support them in gaining the emperor's respect.

Because of this, Empress Dowager Zhang did not dare to look down on Empress Dowager Jiang, but respected her because she knew that Jiang was able to become the empress dowager because she had a group of civil servants behind her who advocated that Jiang obtain the same noble status as her.

……

Zhang Heling submitted the letter requesting to see Zhu Houcong again.

Zhu Houcong did meet him.

Zhu Houcong knew that Zhang Heling had to come to him directly for help because his mother always interfered whenever the Zhang brothers wanted to meet Empress Dowager Zhang alone.

In front of Empress Dowager Zhang, Zhu Houcong took into account that this era attached great importance to human relations and etiquette, so it was difficult to criticize Empress Dowager Zhang. Therefore, he would deliberately act to vent her anger, even at the cost of disrupting the laws of the world.

But in front of Zhang Heling, Zhu Houcong didn't have to do so.

Therefore, when Zhu Houcong saw Zhang Heling, he asked directly with a serious look: "Why did the uncle come to see me?"

"I have no other purpose than to sue the Shuntian Governor Zhang Fujing!"

"Your Majesty, you don't know that he dared to collect taxes from me and even ignite the cannon to kill me. If I hadn't run fast, I would have been killed by his cannon!"

As Zhang Heling spoke, he began to sob.

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong asked calmly: "So, you owe taxes?"

Zhang Heling was speechless.

"I ask you, do you owe taxes?!"

Zhu Houcong's tone became a little stern.

"answer!"

Zhang Heling sensed something was wrong and could only reply, "I owe you!"

"How many years have you owed it?"

Zhu Houcong asked.

Zhang Heling said: "About, I can't remember clearly, but I haven't paid taxes since the beginning of the Hongzhi period."

"you!"

"You are the king's uncle!"

“How can you owe so much in taxes?!”

Snapped!
Zhu Houcong slammed the imperial desk, stood up and angrily scolded Zhang Heling.

then.

Zhu Houcong walked up to Zhang Heling and spread his hands, "If you do this, how will people in the world view the two previous emperors, and how will they view me?!"

"If everyone in the world knew, even the king's uncle would dare to owe taxes like this."

“Who is willing to pay taxes seriously?”

"Who would care about the life and death of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Is this Ming Dynasty just the Ming Dynasty for the common people?!"

"Check your conscience. Haven't the kindnesses bestowed upon you by the two previous emperors and me been insufficient? Is this how you repay the two previous emperors and me?"

"You want me to face those courtiers?"

After Zhu Houcong finished his scolding, he sat back on the throne:

"Of course, what Zhang Fujing did was also excessive, but he is in the right. How can I make the decision for you?"

"Can I still say that your uncle should owe taxes, should not care about the life and death of the Ming Dynasty, that the country is only the business of the civil servants, and that my relatives should destroy the Ming Dynasty and bring about its demise?"

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

"It's not that I don't want to pay, but my family is too big and the expenses are too high. If I pay the tax, I will go hungry!"

"Well, we have borrowed a lot of money to buy the two royal stores recently, so we are still in debt. We thought we could save as much as possible so that we can repay the debt you lent us as soon as possible. We did not plan to pay the taxes first, thinking that the taxes would be embezzled by the civil servants and would not reach your hands, so we did this." "We did something wrong."

"But Zhang Fujing shouldn't be so cruel! He actually dared to execute me by cannon fire in front of so many people. I don't know how to face people in the future."

Zhang Heling knelt down hurriedly, begged for mercy, and began to explain. After explaining for a while, he began to wipe his tears again, while also stealing glances at Zhu Houcong.

Zhu Houcong looked at Zhang Heling in puzzlement.

"Tell me if you need money!"

"I'll find a way for you!"

“How can you owe taxes?”

"Do you know what not paying taxes means? It means betrayal and disloyalty! And it will make the people of the world think that you are dissatisfied with me!"

"So, as a human being, the minimum loyalty you should show is to pay the taxes you should pay! Otherwise, no matter how excessive those civil servants outside are, I will not be able to protect you!"

Seeing that Zhu Houcong was so stern and said that if he owed taxes, he would not be able to protect him, Zhang Heling immediately kowtowed and said, "I know my crime, and I will never dare to owe taxes again!"

Zhu Houcong then asked Zhang Heling: "Did you go to see the Emperor's aunt again?"

Zhang Heling naturally did not dare to hide the truth from Zhu Houcong.

After all, Zhang Heling had to report his entry into the palace.

Zhu Houcong can be found with just a simple search.

Therefore, Zhang Heling replied truthfully: "Yes."

"What can I say about you?"

"How could you disturb the Imperial Aunt's peace again?"

"Do you know how much abuse you have brought upon her?"

"Now there are still many ministers in the court saying that she harmed two generations of previous emperors and is not a virtuous descendant, so she indulged you two uncles to be rampant and arrogant. They also said that I only know how to protect you and fear the power of the Queen Mother, and I am not upright enough."

"Why are you still bothering her? Is there anything you can't tell me?"

"I'll be frank with you, my uncle. If you are still so ignorant, I can only teach you a lesson on behalf of the imperial aunt, and set an example for the world to see. I'll let you go to Yunnan to eat mushrooms, or go to Lingnan to eat lychees, and reflect on your mistakes!"

After Zhu Houcong said this, Zhang Heling was so frightened that he kowtowed like crazy: "I dare not! I promise that I will not bother the Queen Mother again in the future, nor will I be scolded by her again!"

"If you want to see the Queen Mother in the future, come and ask me first. If I tell you to, you can go and see her. Do you understand?"

Zhu Houcong continued.

Zhang Heling said: "I understand!"

Zhu Houcong then said, "Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhang Heling then stood up trembling slightly, with his head lowered.

Zhu Houcong asked someone to give Zhang Heling a seat.

Zhang Heling did not expect that Zhu Houcong, who was strict and even threatening him, would suddenly grant him a seat. He could not help but feel flattered for a moment.

"sit down!"

"I said I would treat you as my own uncles, and I will keep my word."

"After all, the late emperor was very kind to me."

"So, I will not treat you unfairly, even if I do not favor you."

"But the premise is that you must abide by your duties and not seek death. If you do that, not only me, but even the Queen Mother cannot protect you."

Zhu Houcong's tone became gentle again.

Zhang Heling was still a little uncomfortable for a moment, and he just smiled and said, "I know that your majesty treats me very well, and I am always grateful."

"You just said that you are short of money because you have owed me a lot of debt."

"Of course I will help."

When Zhu Houcong said this, Zhang Heling immediately looked at Zhu Houcong with full expectation.

Zhu Houcong continued, "I have asked Xingming Bank to provide the two uncles with a loan with a lower interest rate. The annual interest rate is only 1%, and the maximum loan amount is 500,000 taels."

"The prince must know what benefits there are to be gained from this loan."

Zhu Houcong asked about Zhang Heling with a smile.

Zhang Heling asked, "Does this mean that I can lend money to the common people who need it at a lower interest rate?"

"That's right!"

"This is a way for Huimin to make money. I support it."

Zhu Houcong said.

Zhang Heling said: "This is good, but the monks and nuns and the gentry behind them will not be happy. They are the ones who make the most money when lending to the common people. If I lend to the common people at a lower interest rate, they will curse me to death."

Zhang Heling was not stupid and knew that he was snatching food from the tiger's mouth.

Zhu Houcong said: "What are you afraid of!"

"I will make the decision for you!"

"First of all, the capital is under the emperor's feet, so they dare not do anything reckless;"

"Secondly, you are making profits legitimately. Even if you bring the case to the emperor, I can still help you and prevent those civil servants from saying anything!"

"I can also legitimately help you deal with those civil servants who dare to oppose you."

"Don't you understand, uncle?"

"As long as you are sincerely helping the people and providing convenience to them, I will stand on your side, and the people will also stand on your side!"

"If they have the ability, they can lower the interest rate, but can they lower it as much as you have? I am behind you!"

After Zhu Houcong said this, Zhang Heling also understood and said happily: "I understand. I am not a fool. I naturally know that Your Majesty is allowing me to compete with those civil officials for profits in a legitimate way, so that they can no longer accuse Your Majesty of favoring me!"

"As long as you know."

"But you must abide by the rules and cooperate with national policies when necessary. You must not let those civil servants in the outer court get hold of your handles. Otherwise, I will be in a difficult position and it will be difficult for me to help you."

"For example, when paying taxes, you must pay the full amount and admit your punishment. When the imperial court promotes the new currency, you must cooperate and follow suit."

"You are the elder brother, so you have to urge Shouning Hou to do it."

"Uncle, only if you do this, can I help you!"

After Zhu Houcong said this, Zhang Heling knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, I will do it!"

Zhang Heling then left the palace happily.

As soon as he left the palace, he met his younger brother Zhang Yanling who was walking towards him in a menacing manner.

When Zhang Yanling saw Zhang Heling, he greeted him first: "Brother, are you going to see my sister too?"

Zhang Heling nodded.

Zhang Yanling said, "I want to go too. Damn it! These civil officials are too bullying. They beat many of my servants to death and forced me to pay taxes! I have to ask my sister to help us!"

Snapped!
Zhang Heling, who wanted to let the Jinyiwei on duty here see that he was cooperating with the emperor's request, slapped Zhang Yanling directly at this time:

"You ignorant bastard! Don't you think you haven't caused enough trouble for the Queen Mother?!"

(End of this chapter)