Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 87 I want to reform and do it as a big thing

Chapter 87 I want to reform and do it as a big thing (please read it later)
Zhu Houcong then exempted his elder sister Princess Yongfu and his younger sister Princess Yongchun from the state ceremony.

While Zhu Houcong honored Jiang, he also gave both of them the title of princess.

The two of them now also went to Beijing with Jiang.

Princess Yongchun, who was four years younger than Zhu Houcong, was closest to him, so after thanking him, she took the initiative to ask Zhu Houcong: "Brother, why is my title Yongchun? What does it mean?"

Jiang touched Yongchun's head and said, "Don't you understand this?"

at this time.

Looking at the scene where the emperor and his biological mother were chatting and laughing under the magnificent umbrella.

Prime Minister Liang Chu couldn't help but have tears in his old eyes and smiled slightly.

He sincerely wanted to see the emperor have the opportunity to speak easily and happily in front of his family like most teenagers, and experience the warmth of home.

In Liang Chu's opinion.

If the emperor cannot feel the warmth of home and the kindness of human nature, it will be difficult for him to truly be benevolent to the world and understand the people's need for peace in their country and family. It will also be difficult for him to truly appreciate the benefits of being a benevolent monarch.

Therefore, Liang Chu was very happy to see the emperor smiling brightly in front of his mother.

Emperor Zhu Houcong accompanied his biological mother Jiang to Empress Dowager Zhang.

Empress Dowager Zhang had arrived outside the palace early and was waiting.

Now she has a very good impression of Zhu Houcong, so she is very willing to welcome Jiang's arrival.

of course.

This was mainly due to the fact that Zhu Houcong skillfully exploited the contradictions between the maternal relatives and the powerful gentry and officials, and used the interests that would have been swallowed up by the powerful gentry and officials to win over the maternal relatives, the Zhang brothers.

This meant that the Zhang brothers would speak well of Zhu Houcong in front of Empress Dowager Zhang every day, and even said that Zhu Houcong treated them almost more kindly than the two previous emperors.

Empress Dowager Zhang always listened to her two younger brothers, so she felt the same way.

Empress Dowager Zhang was also very kind to Jiang.

After Jiang saluted her, Empress Dowager Zhang also returned the salute and said that they could call each other sisters from now on.

This made Zhu Houcong very satisfied.

Not long after.

Zhu Houcong left Renshou Palace on the pretext of attending an imperial lecture.

He believed that his mother, Jiang, as the daughter of the commander-in-chief and having spent many years in the harem of a former king, would be able to stabilize the nobles in the inner court and prevent internal strife in the inner court of his own palace.

Because the Minister of Personnel Shi Yao requested to hold a lecture on imperial classics, Zhu Houcong approved his request. Now, after attending court on the 3rd, 6th, and 9th days, he will receive lectures on imperial classics in the Wenhua Hall.

Today happens to be the day of the imperial lecture.

Zhu Houcong then went to the Wenhua Hall to receive the imperial lecture.

After Zhu Houcong finished his lectures on the imperial court and retired to the warm room to rest, he would ask the Imperial Household Department to present memorials from various government offices to him for his review.

The ministers who participated in the imperial lecture would retreat to the west wing to serve at this time, so that when Emperor Zhu Houcong had any questions, they could go to the warm room to report everything clearly.

"Xuan Yuanfu!"

When Zhu Houcong finished his lecture that day, he summoned Liang Chu to come in.

Gu Dayong hurriedly asked someone to set up the chairs.

After Liang Chu thanked him and sat down, Zhu Houcong smiled and said, "I am very happy today."

"Your Majesty, mother, son and sister are reunited. I am also happy for Your Majesty!"

Liang Chu replied.

Zhu Houcong said: "I know that the current peace and happiness of the royal family is due to the contribution of the prime minister!"

"So, after the Prime Minister returned to the Cabinet, he drafted an imperial decree to increase his salary as an earl and grant him a sedan chair in the Forbidden City."

Zhu Houcong said with a smile at this time.

Liang Chu could not help but stand up and said: "Your Majesty, I should not refuse your kindness, but I will."

Zhu Houcong did not wait for Liang Chu to refuse, and interrupted him with a wave of his hand: "You are not allowed to refuse!"

"Although it is my good intention, I also have other considerations."

"Now that we have raided their house and killed someone, it's time to do something big."

"This will inevitably make the Prime Minister work harder. He will have to travel back and forth from home to my Qingning Palace. However, there is snow in winter and rain in summer. Adding a sedan chair will also help the Prime Minister not get sick due to work."

"Also, the family of the Prime Minister will also have to work harder, so give them more salary and reward them."

"After all, Yuanfu has brought peace to my family, so I should make sure that there is no resentment in Yuanfu's family."

After Zhu Houcong said this.

Liang Chu had no choice but to kneel down and kowtow, saying: "I respectfully thank you for your grace. Even if I work hard, I cannot repay you even a fraction of it!"

"Help me up!"

Zhu Houcong gave an order to Gu Dayong.

Liang Chu was helped up by Gu Dayong and sat on a chair.

then.

Zhu Houcong then ordered: "Call Zhang Cong."

Not long after.

Zhang Cong then entered the warm room and performed the ceremony with great respect.

Zhu Houcong said to Zhang Cong: "From today on, you will be appointed as the recorder of my daily life. You will be by my side and record my important words. If you have any suggestions, you can also present them to me!"

Zhang Cong nodded and said yes, very excited.

Liang Chu glanced at Zhang Cong with a profound gaze.

But when he thought of the emperor bestowing him a sedan chair and increasing his salary, his eyes softened a lot.

After all, working for such a humane emperor, even if it offends people all over the world, there is no need to worry about the consequences being too bad.

"The court owes the treasury 5 million taels of loan and is short of financial resources. Does the Prime Minister have a solution?"

Zhu Houcong asked about Liang Chu here.

Liang Chu replied: "Your Majesty, I have discussed with my colleagues in the cabinet and decided to start with rectifying the salt administration."

"Because the Huai River and Huai River regions are suffering from severe disasters and there are famine victims everywhere, we can send an imperial envoy to the south to provide disaster relief in the name of disaster relief, and then investigate the local salt affairs and increase the salt profits first. This way, we can at least get through this difficult time this year."

"More importantly, this is easier to control than surveying the land and opening up the sea, which would affect the entire country."

Liang Chu stated his reasons. Zhu Houcong nodded and looked at Zhang Cong: "What do you think?"

Zhang Cong could not help but put down his pen, stood behind a makeshift desk between Zhu Houcong and Liang Chu, and said with a folded hand: "Your Majesty! I think it is indeed a safe move to rectify the salt business first."

“Governing a big country is like cooking small dishes.”

"There are three advantages to turning it over first and then turning it over."

Zhang Cong replied.

After hearing this, Zhu Houcong asked, "What are the three benefits?"

Liang Chu also smiled slightly and looked at Zhang Cong.

"First, there are few officials who are willing to do things to benefit the whole country, so it is not appropriate to carry out nationwide reforms, such as surveying the land and rectifying the sea and border trade. We can only focus on rectifying the salt business."

"Secondly, we won't offend too many people. We can start with the easy ones and then move on to the difficult ones, slowly letting people get used to it. We can also use this as a way to establish our authority and set an example."

"Third, it can also be used to train a group of people and prepare for the next major reform across the country."

After Zhang Cong said this, Zhu Houcong nodded: "That makes sense."

"What does the Prime Minister think of this?"

Zhu Houcong asked about Liang Chu.

Liang Chu said: "I originally thought that Master Zhang was only proficient in etiquette, but I didn't expect that he also had great insights into government affairs. He is a talented assistant to Your Majesty. I congratulate Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, thank you for the compliment."

"You are overpraising me, Yuan Fu!"

Zhang Cong couldn't help but be humble.

Zhu Houcong waved his hand and smiled, "Then let's do this. First, we will rectify the salt business. In the name of disaster relief, we will send people to investigate and figure out how to rectify it, who will benefit from it, who will lose it, and who can be won over."

"I will send you there as the Imperial Envoy with the title of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue!"

Zhu Houcong glanced at Zhang Cong and said: "You can't just stay in the center, otherwise you won't be able to see clearly what's going on below."

"The minister obeys the order!"

Zhang Cong responded excitedly.

Liang Chu also stood up and said, "Your Majesty is wise!"

Next.

After the lecture ended.

Liang Chu returned to the cabinet on the hard and shaking sedan chair.

Along the way, he saw that the ministers and court servants were all within his sight, which made him feel comfortable.

When Jiang Mian and Mao Ji saw Liang Chu's return to the cabinet, they immediately became more jealous.

"Your Majesty is really kind to me! It should be very comfortable to ride in the palace, right?"

to this end.

Mao Ji couldn't help but say this to Jiang Mian.

Jiang Mian said: "Taifu didn't have this kind of favor back then."

Two days later, at Yang's house.

Yang Shen saw Yang Tinghe frowning again: "Why is father angry again?"

"I have never ridden in a sedan chair in the palace! What qualifications does Liang Shunde have?"

Yang Tinghe pointed to a newspaper in front of him and said.

Yang Shen said: "The emperor is really kind to his ministers!"

Let’s talk.

The next day was the day of the imperial lecture.

Liang Chu then came to the Forbidden City in a sedan chair to attend the imperial lecture.

But before entering the imperial city, a bald-headed man in plain clothes suddenly rushed towards Liang Chu with a knife.

"Catch him!"

Liang Chu's guards shouted immediately.

Nervous.

Liang Chu himself also stayed in the sedan chair.

By then.

The deaf-mute plainclothes Jinyiwei who were ordered to secretly protect Liang Chu have captured this man.

After Zhu Houcong learned about this, he ordered to stop the imperial lecture and personally interrogated the man in the Wenhua Hall: "Why did you assassinate the prime minister?"

"Tell the truth and you'll be spared the crime of being tortured to death."

Zhu Houcong continued.

"My master asked me to do this. He said it was Mr. Yangming's idea."

"Wang Yangming?"

All the officials and Jinyiwei present were shocked.

Zhu Houcong asked again: "Who is your master?"

"Wu Wending, I am his servant and I came to Beijing with him."

Zhu Houcong waved his hand and sneered, "You are lying!"

"You are not Wu Wending's servant at all!"

"I'm!"

The big man replied.

Zhu Houcong called several Jinyiwei and asked, "Who are they?"