My father is Jiajing

Chapter 126 Mid-Autumn Festival
According to the "Famous Mountains Collection·Biography of Qiu Luan", in order to cover up the previous lie, Qiu Luan, after expressing his loyalty in a memorial to Emperor Jiajing, submitted another secret memorial advising Emperor Jiajing to open up trade.

Qiu Luan secretly wrote in a memorial: "Among all the border barbarians, the most serious threat is from Xuanda. The barbarians have their nests within our borders. We have watchtowers, but the barbarians take them and guard them; we have soldiers, but the barbarians communicate with us; we pacify our fugitives and rebels. The barbarians are numerous and rely on us for everything. If we cannot get what we want, they will invade us."

"They are strong when they gather together, while we are weak when we disperse. They appease our rebels and fugitives, and know our movements, while we sit still and are ignorant of their plans. Therefore, every year we penetrate deep into our territory, and we always gain benefits. Last year, we asked for tribute, but the court was still undecided. The former general Zhou Shangwen took advantage of their obedience and traded with them privately."

"If the enemy gets what they want, they won't invade. Rather than letting the border officials have secret dealings with the lower ones, it is better for the court to reward them. If the emperor issues an imperial decree to integrate trade with Liaodong, Gansu, Jizhou, and Xifeng, they will be foreign officials for generations. Compared with the border military officials who have formed alliances with each other, their achievements are ten thousand times greater."

Emperor Jiajing, who was still in the dark, saw that his trusted loyal minister had such far-reaching insight, and felt that Qiu Luan had finally lived up to his painstaking training and had finally grown up.

So he couldn't help but think about trade, thinking that this should be an opportunity. However, what he didn't know was that Anda's army was almost reaching Gubeikou. Once Anda's army broke through the Gubeikou defense line, the capital would be exposed to the enemy's claws and become precarious.

At the same time, Zhu Zaigui also started to move.

Since he was unable to change the court's decision and could not participate in the court's specific affairs, Zhu Zaigui was also very clear that his words would not attract any attention in the court.

Especially in such military and national affairs, Zhu Zaigui, as a prince in the palace, had no chance to interrupt even though he was the biological son of Emperor Jiajing.

Moreover, even if Zhu Zaigui stood up and said that Altan was about to besiege the capital, there was no guarantee that people would believe it, so it was better not to say anything.

What's more important is that once Zhu Zaigui gave advance warning of this matter, he would not be able to explain the source of his intelligence. When Anda really reached the vicinity of the capital, Zhu Zaigui would be in even more serious trouble.

So instead of foolishly giving advance warning to Emperor Jiajing and important court officials who didn't trust him, it would be better to protect the people in the suburbs of Beijing in his own way so that they would suffer less in this disaster.

August 15th was the Mid-Autumn Festival, the day before Altan's army invaded Gubeikou.

Zhu Zaigui sent eunuchs from the palace to Xiyuan to pay respects to Emperor Jiajing and present him with mooncakes he had made "himself". Then he hurriedly took Meng Chong to Shunyi, on the pretext of sending holiday greetings to the workers in the Shunyi Industrial Park!
After arriving at Shunyi Industrial Park, Zhu Zaigui's mood did not become cheerful because of the arrival of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Because Zhu Zaigui knew that the Altan army could break through the Gubeikou defense line at any time in an unexpected way, and then trample on the outskirts of Beijing and loot the imperial tombs.

For Zhu Zaigui, such a result was absolutely unacceptable.

He could not tolerate Altan's army coming and going freely to plunder important areas in the capital of the Ming Dynasty as if they were in an empty land.

Therefore, on the eve of this difficult situation, Zhu Zaigui had to stand up and mobilize the workers of his Shunyi Industrial Park to let them know that once the Tatar army rushed into the suburbs of Beijing, everything they had now would be wiped out! The only way to keep everything they had now was to take up arms and fight the enemy for life and death!

No one else can be trusted!

"Your Highness, the stage for the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala has been set up. All the workers have stopped working and gathered on the stage square, waiting for Your Highness to speak."

Teng Xiang, Chen Hong, Li Fang and other eunuchs in charge of Shunyi Industrial Park came to Zhu Zaigui and invited him to send Mid-Autumn Festival blessings to the workers of Shunyi Industrial Park.

Zhu Zaigui had already changed into a neat suit and a pair of riding boots with leggings. There was also an embroidered spring sword beside him. Those who didn't know might think that Zhu Zaigui was planning a rebellion.

But Teng Xiang and the others knew that the reason why their prince was dressed like that was because he was going to personally perform a unique song and dance for the workers of Shunyi Industrial Park.

Meng Chong and Teng Xiang looked at their prince dressed in this fine attire and praised him, saying, "The prince looks so heroic in this attire, like an invincible young general."

Zhu Zaigui chuckled, "I only hope that I am lucky enough not to die, and to return to the general. Alas." Zhu Zaigui sighed again at last. Not everyone could understand his thoughts.

There were some things he could only keep in his heart and bear silently.

After Zhu Zaigui had tied his cuffs, he looked at Teng Xiang and asked, "How has the management and training of the workers been going over the past six months?"

Teng Xiang replied: "Everything is in accordance with the prince's previous instructions. Our Shunyi Industrial Park has a large number of people and a large scale, so the militarized management is indeed very effective."

Zhu Zaigui asked again: "Can they enforce the rules?"

When Teng Xiang heard Zhu Zaigui's question, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. What was this prince trying to do? Why did he ask such a shocking question?

Teng Xiang looked at Zhu Zaigui carefully and found that Zhu Zaigui's eyes were still clear, without any intention of going beyond the line of conduct, so he couldn't help but feel relieved.

Teng Xiang replied: "I cannot guarantee that the orders will be carried out, but I can guarantee that the workers will absolutely obey the management and will not cause any trouble."

Zhu Zaiqi nodded and said, "Very good, I am relieved that you will be in charge of Shunyi Industrial Park."

Then Zhu Zaigui asked Chen Hong: "Have you calculated the Mid-Autumn Festival rewards?"

Chen Hong quickly replied: "After the prince gave the order, I have already calculated the Mid-Autumn Festival workers' rewards, and they will be issued tonight when the party starts."

Zhu Zaigui said: "Yes, I feel relieved to have you as my accountant. Keep up the good work and don't let me down."

After hearing Zhu Zai's praise, Chen Hong immediately showed an excited look and bowed to Zhu Zai: "I will live up to your trust and work harder."

Zhu Zaigui waved his hand to suppress it. He didn't need Chen Hong's statement now.

Zhu Zaiqi asked again: "How many days will the food reserves in the industrial park last?"

Chen Hong said: "According to the prince's previous instructions, except for fruits and vegetables that last for seven days, rice and grain should last for more than half a month."

After hearing what Chen Hong said, Zhu Zaigui said to Teng Xiang and others, "The food, drink, defecation and urination of nearly 10,000 people in the industrial park is a very big problem. We must not be careless about this matter. We must also not let down our guard on the hygiene and medical issues in the industrial park."

"Now Dr. Li has also opened a medical school in the second phase of the industrial park to train systematic doctors. Although the doctors trained now may only be able to perform ordinary consultations and bandages, you should not underestimate their role. You must also coordinate this matter and let Dr. Li's medical school play a good role to protect the health of our industrial park workers."

After hearing what Zhu Zaiqi said, Teng Xiang, Chen Hong and others also replied: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, we know the ability of Doctor Li and have always respected him."

Zhu Zaigui looked at Li Fang standing beside him and said, "Li Fang, you must enforce the rules in our industrial park, keep a close eye on the problems in each link and the main responsible personnel, and never let any scoundrels who eat at our own expense and enrich themselves appear in our industrial park. If there is a big problem in this regard, I will hold you responsible."

--------

There is still one chapter left, and I guess I won't be able to catch up by 6 o'clock. So I'll update it all at 9:30 tomorrow morning, all at once.

If you readers like this pace of updates, please give me some feedback and I will try my best to update more!!!
(End of this chapter)