My father is Jiajing

Anlu Palace.

Inside the palace, Emperor Jiajing and Zhu Zaigui were still sitting together, and the father and son were also chatting about things outside.

Emperor Jiajing asked, "Now Xu Jie and the others are blocking the door. What are you going to do? Are you really going to pretend to faint so that they can let down their guard completely?"

Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "Father, what you said, how could I be so bored? Elder Xu and his men are blocking the palace gate for the sake of the court and the country. How could I be so shameless as to test their intentions?"

"Not to mention that human hearts cannot stand the temptation. Once this precedent is set, it will be extremely difficult to trust again in the future. Although I am not talented, I cannot do this to such an extent that the king and his ministers will lose their hearts in the future."

Emperor Jiajing looked at Zhu Zaigui in surprise. He did not expect that Zhu Zaigui had such awareness and depth.

You must know that the art of emperors since ancient times has been to constantly test and test again in order to achieve the effect of checks and balances.

Now Zhu Zaigui said that he was not going to continue, which really surprised Emperor Jiajing.

Emperor Jiajing asked: "If so, how are we going to solve the problem that they are blocking the door now?"

Zhu Zaigui said: "Just avoid seeing them. By the way, we can also see who can hold out to the end and who will come up with other ideas while holding out."

Emperor Jiajing hummed and nodded in agreement, "That's the only way. Using stillness to overcome movement is the most effective way right now."

Then Emperor Jiajing couldn't help but sigh: "I wonder how Chen Hong is doing now?"

Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "Father, Chen Hong is an extremely sharp knife. Now that we are leaving Beijing, it is equivalent to giving him a chance to unsheathe. It is also a perfect time for us to observe this knife and see whether it is selfish or selfless."

"If he becomes too selfish and starts to plot for the future, then no matter how good this sharp sword is, we can no longer trust it. We can only treat it as a useless sword and discard it after using it once."

The same was true of Emperor Jiajing's view of Chen Hong. If Chen Hong was completely selfless, even if he offended everyone and became a rat crossing the street, Emperor Jiajing would still ensure his safety for the rest of his life.

But if Chen Hong is too selfish, always thinking about his so-called future, unable to devote himself to his work, and unable to help his emperor and father solve their problems, then after this turmoil, Chen Hong will really be put away and destroyed, just like the eunuch Liu Jin during the reign of Emperor Wuzong.

Emperor Wuzong placed great trust in Liu Jin and granted him enormous power, allowing him to act as a sharp blade to tear apart the power that had been tightly held by the civil servants.

In the end, Liu Jin lost himself in power, began to drift, and lost track of who he was.

He thought he could really cover the sky with one hand and change the situation at will, and he began to have a rebellious heart.

In the end, Emperor Wuzong had no choice but to sheath the sword and destroy it, thus dividing power among the "Eight Tigers", regaining power and intervening in military affairs.

But unfortunately, when he finally concentrated most of the power in his hands and was finally able to take charge of the military power himself and ignore the deliberate obstruction and passive resistance of court officials, he fell into the water and died. In less than a year, he was gone.

Although Zhu Zaigui is neither the emperor nor the crown prince now, at this point in time, he must take certain actions to make these officials feel fear, tension, and a sense that they can only feel safe if they rely on him.

In this way, when Zhu Zaigui actually came to power, he could save a lot of time and directly hold power in his hands, without having to make peace with and fight with the ministers to concentrate the power that originally belonged to him.

Xu Jie and others insisted on standing outside the palace gate under the scorching sun, just as they had done a few days ago when they knelt together in silence to beg for a meeting.

Xu Jie was holding on with great effort, his palms were full of sweat.

At this time, his mind was also full of twists and turns.

Countless thoughts popped up in my mind, and I even wondered if Prince Yu had passed away by now?
If Prince Yu had died, then he could have put off the risk of submitting the memorial and naturally become a supporter of Prince Jing. He would not have to go back on his word again and be ridiculed by his political enemies as a "submissive minister of a traitorous ruler."

Therefore, at this moment, even if Xu Jie died kneeling here, he wanted to see Emperor Jiajing and Prince Yu!

Only in this way can he feel completely at ease.

Time passed by minute by minute, and the tightly closed palace door showed no sign of opening.

Guo Pu, who was kneeling beside Xu Jie, could no longer hold on. He moved his body with difficulty and whispered to Xu Jie with a dry throat: "Lord, how about we come again tomorrow?"

Xu Jie turned his head slightly to glance at Guo Pu, and replied: "Prince Yu is seriously ill. I will not leave without seeing Your Majesty."

Guo Pu sighed in his heart, why bother?

If Your Majesty is worried about Prince Yu's serious illness at this moment, these old guys may not attract the attention of Emperor Jiajing even if they kneel down and die outside.

After all, the current Emperor Jiajing is already sixty years old. To say something disrespectful at this age means he is already approaching old age. How long can he live?
If something happened to Prince Yu at this time, it would completely break down Emperor Jiajing's defenses.

So, at this time, Guo Pu was in great pain, and he even regretted being so impulsive.

At this time, the sun seemed to have lost its patience to continue watching the fun, and quietly hid away, not wanting to show up again.

The night sky and stars quietly climbed to the top of the wall and continued to silently watch the group of bored people kneeling on the ground, not knowing what to do.

Soon, just when everyone was numb with regret and was about to collapse.

An urgent report broke the silence of the night sky!

"The Japanese Navy, hurry six hundred miles! Everyone, retreat immediately!!"

This sudden sound was followed by the sound of galloping horses.

At this time, the ministers kneeling in front of the palace gate also became panicked.

No one can stop an express delivery of 600 miles like this.

Even when we are in the capital, even if the city gates and palace gates are locked, the passage must be opened quickly to allow the messenger responsible for delivering the express message for 600 miles to enter the capital unimpeded and meet the emperor!
After hearing Liu Baili's urgent voice, the guards at the palace gate did not dare to hesitate at all and immediately opened the palace gate.

At this time, the ministers who were still kneeling in front of the palace gate blocking the road also crawled to the side, fearing that they would be accidentally trampled on the spot by the galloping messenger horses.

After all, if you get stepped on, you'll have to consider yourself unlucky.

So at this moment there was chaos in front of the palace gate, some people were opening the door, some were crawling to the side.

While Guo Pu was crawling away, he did not forget to pull Xu Jie away with him.

Just as they dodged, the messenger's fast horse arrived at the palace gate.

He immediately dismounted, holding up the bamboo tube with the chicken feather mark on it, and ran toward the palace, shouting, "The Eastern Navy's six hundred li express is presented to His Majesty!"

As he shouted, the lights in the palace lit up in a short time. Zhu Zaigui, who was chatting with Emperor Jiajing and preparing to have a meal, also raised his head.

Emperor Jiajing looked serious, and Zhu Zaigui put down what he was holding.

The father and son stood up together, and Li Fang quickly came to the front of Emperor Jiajing and Zhu Zaigui, and quickly reported, "Emperor, Prince, the Japanese navy sent an urgent message from Fujian six hundred miles away!"

Emperor Jiajing looked at Li Fang and said seriously, "Bring the person here."

Li Fang immediately agreed and hurried out to lead the express messenger who had delivered the message over a distance of six hundred miles to the palace where Emperor Jiajing and Zhu Zaigui were.

Then Li Fang quickly checked the expedited bamboo tube that the messenger had hurriedly handed over. After confirming that it was correct, he brought the person into the hall.

As soon as the messenger entered the palace, he immediately knelt on one knee and held up the bamboo tube with a message of six hundred miles in length in his hand. "Six hundred miles in length, Wang Zhi, the general of the Shuangyu Guard of the Eastern Navy, and Yu Huatian, the eunuch supervising the army, are reporting to the emperor urgently!"

Emperor Jiajing glanced at Li Fang, and Li Fang immediately went over to take the bamboo tube containing the urgent message from six hundred miles away and respectfully handed it to Emperor Jiajing.

Emperor Jiajing took a serious look at the bamboo tube in his hand, opened the chicken feather and lacquer seal on it with one hand, and then poured out the urgent military intelligence inside.

At this time, Zhu Zaigui also nervously held up a bright glass lamp and shone it on Emperor Jiajing.

Emperor Jiajing quickly browsed the contents. When he saw Wang Zhi and Yu Huatian report that they had discovered a natural guano island with a radius of dozens of miles in an uninhabited sea area in Southeast Asia, he became completely confused.

"Is this the express delivery you sent over 600 miles?"

Emperor Jiajing was a little angry. He had thought it was an urgent military matter, but it turned out to be just an island covered with bird droppings. Was it necessary to deliver it urgently over a distance of 600 miles?

But Zhu Zaigui, who was standing beside him, couldn't help but breathe faster.

Zhu Zai's heart was pounding, and he said excitedly: "Father, God bless the Ming Dynasty!"

Emperor Jiajing was going to continue questioning the messenger, but after hearing Zhu Zaigui's excited voice, he turned around and looked at him, saying, "What do you mean?"

Zhu Zaigui took a deep breath and calmed his excitement.

Then he ordered Li Fang and Meng Chong: "Stop it, I want to discuss important matters with His Majesty. No one is allowed to approach this palace. Anyone who violates the rules will be beaten to death on the spot!"

Li Fang and Meng Chong were both shocked when they heard the order. If this sentence was spoken in front of the emperor, even if the person was his own son, he would be suspected of treason.

They couldn't help but turn their eyes to Emperor Jiajing.

Emperor Jiajing didn't know why Zhu Zaigui was so serious, so he nodded gently and said, "Listen to Prince Yu's words."

Li Fang and Meng Chong finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what Emperor Jiajing said. They immediately retreated outside the palace as Zhu Zaigui had just ordered, and shielded all the people inside and outside the courtyard of the palace.

After everyone left, Emperor Jiajing couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong, San'er? Is there any other mystery behind this Guano Island?"

Zhu Zaigui bowed excitedly to Emperor Jiajing, "Father, you are wise! This Guano Island does have a secret! Father, do you know how much an acre of top-quality farmland can produce under the careful care of the old farmer?"

Although Emperor Jiajing was born into a noble family and had never been involved in farming, he was emperor for so many years that he still knew these basic information about people's livelihood.

Emperor Jiajing said: "If one acre of good quality farmland is carefully cared for and the weather is favorable, it can yield about 300 kilograms of crops a year."

Zhu Zaigui bowed again and said, "Father, you are right. An acre of good farmland can only yield about 300 kilograms of harvest when the weather is good. For an ordinary family, this is already a bumper harvest."

"But if we have these bird droppings, and use the composting method of the old farmers, and mix them evenly into a fertilizer with an appropriate proportion, the annual harvest of about 300 kilograms can easily exceed 500 kilograms."

"If it is a good year with good weather and good harvests, and if the grains sown by the old farmer are better than before, a harvest of 1,000 kilograms is possible. Therefore, this Guano Island discovered overseas is not just a small island, but the fundamental guarantee for the Ming Dynasty to have a good harvest and the people to live and work in peace and contentment in the next ten or even dozens of years!"

After hearing what Zhu Zaigui said, Emperor Jiajing couldn't help but take a breath!
Although everyone in the world believes that silver is the important good thing, for a country, silver is important, but its importance is still slightly inferior to endless food.

After all, sometimes having silver doesn’t mean you will have food, but food, even if it can’t be exchanged for silver, can be exchanged for many good things that silver can’t buy!

Therefore, Emperor Jiajing couldn't help but get excited at this moment.

He looked into Zhu Zai's eyes and asked, "Is it really so?"

Zhu Zaigui replied seriously: "I dare not lie to my father."

After hearing Zhu Zaigui's words, Emperor Jiajing couldn't help but feel excited.

At this moment, he seemed to see the prosperous scene of the Ming Dynasty in the future where grain production would double, and he seemed to see the well-off future where people all over the world would have enough food and clothing.

Emperor Jiajing said excitedly: "Wang Zhi, Yu Huatian and the others did a great job! I will reward them handsomely!"

Zhu Zaigui said: "Father is wise! But the most urgent task now is how we can completely take over the island."

After hearing these words, Emperor Jiajing suddenly came to his senses.

Yes, being able to completely take over this island is the most important thing.

If this island were allowed to fall into the hands of foreigners or others, it would become a weapon in their hands.

This was absolutely intolerable for Emperor Jiajing.

So Emperor Jiajing also looked at Zhu Zaigui and asked seriously, "What do you think?"

Zhu Zaigui said: "The existence of this island must not be known to anyone except my father and son, as well as Wang Zhi, Yu Huatian and others who discovered this island. Next, we must immediately formulate a complete plan and send our most trusted and confidant people to secretly transport the bird droppings on this island that can bring decades of peace and prosperity to the Ming Dynasty. This process may take more than ten years, or even more. Therefore, we must have a legitimate reason to proceed now."

Emperor Jiajing looked into Zhu Zaigui's eyes and fell into deep thought. Finally, Emperor Jiajing silently uttered two words, "Open the sea!"

After hearing these two words, Zhu Zaigui felt relieved. He had already prepared thousands of words to explain to Emperor Jiajing the importance of opening the sea.

But no more.

------

Ask for monthly ticket~~(End of this chapter)