Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 168: The benefits brought by the strengthening of imperial power will benefit the whole world!

Zhao Huang was so anxious that he blurted out this sentence.

"Please note that Dasikong said that it is not extravagant to use Northwest red and blue flowers as paint!"

Zhu Houcong hurriedly gave instructions to the daily record official Xianfu.

Zhao Huang was wiping the sweat from his forehead with his hand.

After hearing Zhu Houcong's instructions to Fang Xianfu, he couldn't help but widen his eyes and thought:
“Is there no need to write down everything?”

However, civil officials all liked to advise the emperor to be frugal in spending money.

But for them, whether asking the emperor to be frugal is appropriate depends on the actual situation.

At least, for Zhao Huang, the Minister of Works.

He could accept reductions in the expenses and income of the Guanglu Temple, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Ministry of Rites.

But he could not allow the Ministry of Works' expenditure and annual revenue to be reduced, at least not while he was the Minister of Works!

Because in that case, he would be betraying the Ministry of Industry.

After all, if the royal family really stopped using cinnabar, then the miscellaneous taxes that were converted into silver for cinnabar and handed over to the Ministry of Works would be cancelled!
The Ministry of Industry will lose a large portion of its income!

"His Majesty!"

"The northwest is vast and sparsely populated, while the inland areas have more people and less land. As long as the people in the interior are encouraged to go to the northwest merchant settlements to grow red and blue flowers, and the court can exempt them from military service, the common people will certainly be happy to go there."

"In this way, the price of red and blue flowers will inevitably drop to the level of cotton, or at least be much lower than cinnabar."

"In addition, we can use the taxes collected to pay for transportation, so the border troops will be willing to transport safflower materials for the court, and at the same time it can also play a role in strengthening the border."

Since Zhao Huang said that he was not extravagant, he naturally had to explain his reasons to the emperor.

As an official who had risen to the position of Minister of Works, he could have thought of a solution to the high cost of red and blue flowers as long as he was willing to do so.

So he immediately put forward a preliminary reform plan.

Zhu Houcong nodded after hearing this.

"very good!"

"After all, he is a loyal elder. It is really hard to think of a solution."

"Let's do it this way. Prepare a draft as soon as possible."

Zhu Houcong praised Zhao Huang.

Zhao Huang cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I am ashamed to accept your praise."

Fang Xianfu watched Zhao Huang leave without saying much. He only recorded the scene truthfully in his diary and sighed in his heart with great emotion:
"Your Majesty is truly frugal and does not like extravagance. I'm afraid that saying cinnabar is poisonous is just an excuse to save money. If Lord Zhao had not come up with a good idea to replace it with red and blue flowers, I'm afraid you would rather not use the red color than burden the people and waste money."

Zhao Huang was not so moved. Instead, he returned to the Ministry of Works in a dejected manner and conveyed to the officials of the Ministry the result of the reform of using red and blue flowers instead of cinnabar as paint in the palace.

All the officials in the Ministry of Works were shocked.

Tong Rui, the left assistant minister, even asked Zhao Huang directly, "Why is this so?"

Zhao Huang explained the reason.

Tong Rui complained after hearing this: "Why didn't you know that cinnabar is not poisonous?!"

"Even if you say you are willing to drink a cup of cinnabar water in front of him, His Majesty will doubt you if you do so!"

"Of course I can say that cinnabar is not poisonous, but what if it is poisonous?"

"Who dares to take risks when it comes to the Holy Eucharist?"

In fact, Zhao Huang himself had no idea whether cinnabar was poisonous or not, so he didn't dare to say in front of the emperor that he could try drinking cinnabar water himself.

Tong Rui was the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works and a native of Huguang, so the cinnabar purchased by the Ministry of Works was basically from cinnabar suppliers among his relatives and friends in Huguang.

Tong Rui was naturally disappointed by the sudden change. After Zhao Huang said this, he laughed and said, "Most women in the world paint their lips with cinnabar, and no one has been poisoned."

"Can an ordinary woman compare with the Holy Eucharist?"

"Gong Zhen insists that cinnabar is non-toxic. You can submit a petition to make your case. There is no need to argue with me!"

Zhao Huang flicked his sleeves and turned away.

Tong Rui naturally didn't dare.

Women of this era did indeed often paint their lips with cinnabar.

Even the women in the harem would use cinnabar to paint their lips, and even the red ink used for calligraphy originally contained cinnabar.

of course.

Zhu Houcong had already replaced the cinnabar, ink and rouge with those made from red and blue flowers, and did not allow the concubines in the harem to use them.

Zhu Houcong also didn't want to get cinnabar in his mouth when kissing after getting married.

Speaking of marriage.

Princess Yongfu's husband has been decided to be Shen Xueli.

This was decided by Princess Yongfu herself.

Naturally, it was what she wanted.

Unlike in history, she had no say at all. Not only her, but even her biological mother, Empress Dowager Jiang, had no say at all.

Historically, during this period, the ritual protection faction headed by Yang Tinghe had more power than in this life.

Because the Jiajing emperor in history did not mobilize or unite the grassroots people, he was really alone in fighting against Yang Tinghe and the huge bureaucratic forces of the ritual protection faction behind him.

Therefore, in history, Jiajing did not come to power so quickly at the beginning.

In history, Emperor Jiajing relied only on the equally weak Pro-Ritual Faction to slowly influence the Pro-Ritual Faction headed by Yang Tinghe. It was not until the third year of Emperor Jiajing's reign that he finally succeeded in suppressing the Pro-Ritual Faction.

This life is naturally different.

Because Zhu Houcong mobilized the proletariat to go to Beijing together, the faction that advocated rituals would overwhelm the faction that protected rituals earlier than in the Jiajing period of history.

He also came to power earlier than Jiajing in history.

Therefore, this means that Princess Yongfu, who has a close relationship with him, will have the final say in choosing her husband.

Empress Dowager Zhang, who had lost the support of the civil servants, found it difficult to have any influence on this.

And his biological mother, Jiang, would be happy to fulfill her daughter's wish.

of course.

Zhu Houcong knew that this did not mean that he was really more powerful and smarter than the historical Jiajing in the power struggle.

It's because he has an advantage in mastering information.

For example, Jiajing in history was like someone who didn't have a map and didn't know the main plot of future history. At the age of fifteen, he was just groping around on his own.

But it is like he is opening a map and knows the main plot of future history, so it is naturally easier.

Tang Chang, who originally wanted to become a royal consort, was taken to the execution ground after the re-election of the royal consort.

"what!"

He screamed in pain while being executed.

Only now did he begin to regret forcing his wife to death, regretting coming to Beijing, and feeling that he should have lived a good life with his wife at home.

Hua Bangrui and his father Hua Wei also regretted deeply when they were being tortured to death, regretting that they should not have supported Tang Chang in doing this.

but……

Shen Xueli did not regret placing the Yellow Book of the World in Xuanwu Lake. He boldly exposed the fact that officials and wealthy families in the world were forging the Yellow Book, making the Yellow Book system exist in name only and indicating that the Ming Dynasty court had long been unaware of the truth about how much land and population there were in the local areas.

Because not only did he not lose his wealth and honor by offending officials and wealthy families in the world, but he became a super-ranking imperial son-in-law, and enjoyed the royal salary and became the son-in-law of the royal family.

From now on...

He had more reason and motivation to be loyal to the Ming Empire.

Before being announced as a royal consort, Shen Xueli was still receiving training at the Daming Practical School.

But because the final decision on who will be the prince consort has not yet been announced, he has been a little absent-minded these days.

Fortunately, not long after, Huang Jin, who was also in charge of the Imperial Household Department, came here and announced to him the imperial edict appointing him as the son-in-law of the emperor.

This made Shen Xueli breathe a sigh of relief.

And it was finally confirmed that Shen Xueli would be Princess Yongfu's husband.

Zhu Houcong's own wedding date was also approaching.

In fact.

The Ministry of Rites had already requested an imperial decree to start selecting girls from good families from the public to serve in the palace as candidates.

Because no matter what their purpose was, the officials all over the world hoped that he could get married as soon as possible, establish a queen, and have children.

This is the only point on which the ritual advocates and ritual defenders among the civil servants agree politically.

Moreover, the Ministry of Rites also requested that this time, in addition to selecting one empress and two concubines as per the usual practice, nine additional concubines be selected.

The reason is naturally for the sake of offspring.

Perhaps the civil officials understood, based on the experiences of Emperor Xiaozong and Emperor Wuzong, that the requirements on the number of women the emperor had should not be too strict, and that the emperor should have more concubines, otherwise there would be great trouble in the succession to the throne.

Especially for the ritualists, many of them felt that if Emperor Xiaozong had more descendants, he would not have to choose Zhu Houcong, a troublesome vassal king, as the emperor. Even if Emperor Wuzong had a successor, he could have been required to abide by the rules of Emperor Xiaozong.

Now, if the emperor could have an heir as soon as possible, they could place their hopes of recreating the Hongzhi reign on the crown prince.

The ritual faction did not object, but they were also worried that Jiajing would have too few princes in the future, which would be detrimental to the stability of the government.

Therefore, Wang Yangming, Zhang Cong and others all agreed with the idea of ​​adding nine concubines.

Both groups of civil servants are very consistent in this regard.

However, what the world does not know is that when Zhu Houcong chose his concubine, he did not just use the bureaucratic system, but held an open audition across the country.

He also asked Yuan Zonggao to make a conscious choice for him in secret.

The former is equivalent to casting a wide net, while the latter is equivalent to private customization.

Judging from the situation of selecting a son-in-law this time, Zhu Houcong had to admit that personal customization was better than casting a wide net.

Because trusting the entire bureaucracy is really not as good as trusting a specific official who is reliable and has a wide range of overlapping private interests.

The former, even if they were eunuchs, would play tricks, which resulted in mistakes in the selection of concubines and princes-in-law in history.

Moreover, if something went wrong with the former, it would mean dealing with the entire bureaucratic group, which was very difficult, so many emperors in history often chose to retreat.

The latter is naturally more convenient. If something goes wrong, it is always easier to deal with individual officials than the entire bureaucracy.

Because even Chongzhen in the late Ming Dynasty could kill any specific official at will.

However, what Zhu Houcong did not know was that because he had restored the imperial power, the local clans were also making arrangements for him in the selection of concubines.

It’s just that these people acted very secretly, and the power of the court and government had not yet reached the grassroots level, so no one noticed.

such as……

Because his father Jin Gui was a cabinet minister in the Zhengde Dynasty, Jin Maoren had a good relationship with many of the former eunuchs in the Zhengde Dynasty. On this day, he came to the home of his good friend Wang Ying, who had taken the provincial examination with him, and asked:
"Have you really found someone who can be the mother of the country?"

"nature!"

Wang Ying nodded and said with a smile: "I guarantee she is a national beauty! She is the best beauty in the world, and makes people forget the world when they see her. She is like the reincarnation of Empress Xiao! If Your Majesty chooses her, he will definitely not care about the common people in the world and will be determined to reform! I don't know if the Qingtian in Nanzhi will come to an abrupt end after the wedding!"

"Be careful!"

Jin Maoren scolded Wang Ying.

then.

He couldn't help but whispered: "Some risks still need to be avoided, such as not being a good girl, having a hidden illness, or even having family members with unsuitable personalities. After all, this time's selection of a consort shows that this emperor is an extremely cautious person!"

"You've already reminded me, how could I not pay attention?"

"The family I'm looking for has a clean family background and is long-lived. The people in the family are also simple and frugal."

Wang Ying replied.

Jin Maoren knew that the simplicity and frugality he mentioned meant stinginess, so he nodded and said, "I was afraid you forgot again! The key is to be truly a national beauty, so that your majesty can devote himself to cultivating the royal heir!"

"You must know that this is the instruction from the court's officials to the nobles of the world. We must do this seriously!"

"Don't worry, you'll know when you see it later."

As Wang Ying spoke, she asked her father Xue You to bring her fair-skinned and pretty daughter Xue Yunfang over.

As soon as Jin Maoren saw the woman, his eyes widened.

Seeing this, Wang Ying hurriedly touched him and asked with a low smile, "Brother, although you are the son of the prime minister and have seen countless beauties, have you never seen a beauty like this?"

"presumptuous!"

"This is not a beauty, this is a noble person!"

"A person who is invaluable!"

Jin Maoren knelt down and kowtowed devoutly, saying, "I am a humble and lowly person, and I have offended the Majesty, but please forgive me!"

Fourteen-year-old Xue looked at this luxuriously dressed man kneeling down to her, and for a moment she looked at her father in surprise.

(End of this chapter)