Jiajing Chengming

"Gao Gong and Zhao Zhenji did nothing wrong. Don't expect the crown prince to be taught to be stupid in the future!"

Xia Yan's voice was stern and his eyes were cold, as if he could see through what Zhai Luan was thinking, causing Zhai Luan to look panicked.

"After all, the world has changed. Even if Gao Gong and Zhao Zhenji are not here today, there will be other civil officials tomorrow who will take the initiative to teach the crown prince. Many of our scholars have begun to advocate respecting the authority of the lord!"

Xia Yan then added.

"Do you understand?!"

Xia Yan even asked Zhai Luan another question.

Zhai Luan was intimidated by Xia Yan's aura and was at a loss for a moment.

He didn't expect Xia Yan to be angry with him for this. After thinking for a long time, he finally sighed and nodded:
"You are right, Lord. I was bewildered and forgot that the situation has changed."

Seeing Zhai Luan's attitude change, Xia Yan's tone softened a little. He nodded slightly, with a hint of understanding in his eyes:
"But I can understand your mentality."

"Right now, the court is conducting a nationwide land survey with great fanfare. Your Majesty strongly protects officials such as Zhang Fujing who support the survey. The gentry and wealthy families are full of resentment. It is inevitable that the court will also become resentful and hope that the crown prince will ascend the throne in the future to eliminate today's policies. It is inevitable."

Xia Yan's voice was low and powerful, as if reminding Zhai Luan that the current situation no longer allowed them to have any illusions about "co-governance between the monarch and his subjects."

"Therefore, to completely eliminate today's policies, we can only let the crown prince understand that making the people rich means that the whole world is poor. Only in this way can the crown prince be willing to take the initiative to abolish today's policies after he ascends the throne. We cannot expect that the literati and officials can continue to be like the Hongzhi period or even the two Song dynasties, where the emperor can bear the stigma of increasingly serious annexations of the world, while the gentry can continue to be the parents of the people of the world."

Xia Yan continued to explain his views.

After hearing this, Zhai Luan couldn't help but nod again, his expression solemn: "The elder is right."

Then, Zhai Luan could not help but ask Xia Yan: "But, Lord, what the crown prince will do after he ascends the throne is a matter for the future. Now, are we really going to watch Zhang Fujing, Gui E and others carry out land reclamation, causing many wealthy families to be ruined, and let these two people die peacefully, so as to inspire those who come after them?"

"Of course not!"

Xia Yan's voice suddenly rose and he replied in a decisive tone.

His face darkened instantly, he folded his hands on his chest, and looked towards Zhang Cong's cabinet duty room with sharp eyes.

"It can be said that surveying the land of nobles and relatives can be considered a good policy, but surveying the land of the entire country is undoubtedly an enemy of the gentry in the world!"

"If someone who is an enemy of the gentry in the world can have a good end, he will only be a shame to the gentry in the world! And people like Anshi must be labeled as traitors and must be nailed to the pillar of shame of the literati forever!"

Xia Yan's voice was full of anger and determination, as if he had already seen the fate of Zhang Fujing and others.

After hearing this, Zhai Luan had a complicated expression and whispered back, "Of course, but whether Zhang and Gui's party can be labeled as traitors and nailed to the pillar of shame depends on what the emperor does."

"You are right, but there is still hope that the Emperor will do this."

There was a hint of depth in Xia Yan's voice, and an elusive light flashed in his eyes.

"Since ancient times, it is easy for kings to share adversity, but difficult to share happiness. Now, Your Majesty needs to rely on them to survey the land of the world, but sooner or later, there will be a day when the birds are gone and the bows are put away."

Xia Yan's voice was low, as if he was predicting something.

After hearing this, Zhai Luan couldn't help but nodded, with a hint of relief and anticipation in his expression, looking forward to the day when Zhang Cong and Gui E would be counterattacked in the future.

Seeing this, Xia Yan stopped talking about this topic and handed the sermon reviewed by the cabinet to Zhai Luan. His tone returned to calm: "Go ahead and think about it carefully. Don't let the emperor and the crown prince only know Gao Gong and Zhao Zhenji and not know your loyalty, Zhai Zhongming."

Zhai Luan took the sermon, bowed respectfully, then turned and left the cabinet, heading towards the main hall. …

……

In the imperial study, the flickering candlelight shone on Zhu Houcong's face, making his expression seem even more profound.

At this time, only Zhang Cong was standing before the emperor, respectfully waiting for the emperor's questions.

Zhu Houcong raised his eyes to look at Zhang Cong and asked calmly, "Where is Lord Xia?"

Zhang Cong quickly stood up and replied with a folded hand: "Your Majesty, he is waiting for Zhai Butang to come and receive the lecture. It will probably take a while for him to arrive."

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong nodded slightly. He did not continue to ask about Xia Yan's situation, but instead asked, "How many craftsmen have been recruited and trained by Yan Song?"

Zhang Cong straightened his face and replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, we have recruited more than 50,000 craftsmen, and there are more than 100,000 apprentices. It is estimated that in two or three years, there will be more than 100,000 mature craftsmen engaged in various industries."

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong's eyes flashed with satisfaction and he nodded slightly.

The gentry and wealthy families were dissatisfied with Zhu Houcong's policies of enriching the people and strengthening the country, and coupled with their own unstoppable demand for annexation, they created a large number of refugees for Zhu Houcong.

Zhu Houcong gathered these refugees together by means of work-for-relief, and asked Yan Song to coordinate these refugees and recruit craftsmen to build wooden tracks, smelt iron ore, and manufacture horse-drawn trains on the north-south water transport line in the Huaiyang area. Although the number of refugees increased greatly, there was no large-scale civil unrest.

Among them, craftsmen are responsible for precision manufacturing and taking young refugees as apprentices, the young and strong refugees do hard labor, and the old and weak are responsible for life and logistical services.

Zhu Houcong also sent some advanced mechanical concepts he knew to Yan Song in the form of an imperial edict.

In Zhu Houcong's view, other scholars might reject these strange skills and tricks. Even if he, the emperor, provided them for them to study, they would probably resist in order to maintain the status of Confucianism. But Yan Song certainly would not, and would not even despise his intention.

Yan Song did not despise it.

After receiving drawings of various new machines, such as the water-powered multi-spindle spinning frame (Jenny spinning frame) and the flying shuttle loom, he began to seriously consider the emperor's motives.

For this purpose, he specially called his brother-in-law Ouyang Bijin, who stayed by his side because of mourning and had not yet been reinstated, and said: "You are the most knowledgeable about the skills of all kinds of craftsmen. Can you make these?"

Ouyang Bijin, who invented the human-powered ox agricultural machine and was quite famous in the history of science and technology in the Ming Dynasty, took the drawing and looked at it carefully.

After a moment, a trace of shock flashed in his eyes. He looked up at Yan Song and said in disbelief: "Brother-in-law, where did you get these?"

"It was sent by His Majesty's imperial decree."

Yan Song's voice was calm, but there was a hint of depth in his eyes.

After hearing this, Ouyang Bijin remained silent for a long while with a complicated expression.

Seeing this, Yan Song suddenly said with a worried look on his face: "If these can be made, the people in Jiangnan will hate me to death!"

Ouyang Bijin was silent for a moment, and finally said: "But I can make these! Because your majesty marked the drawings very clearly, and it can be so clear, which means that your majesty has already had people in the palace make them first, and now just wants to let them be released to the world through my brother-in-law's hands."

"You're right!"

Yan Song nodded, his voice full of determination, "This is an opportunity given to me by His Majesty. Even if the people of Jiangnan hate me to death, I have to do this!"

After hearing this, Ouyang Bijin frowned slightly and couldn't help asking, "But brother-in-law, why did you say that if you let these machines come out, the people of Jiangnan will hate you to death?" (End of this chapter)