My father is Jiajing

After several days of being awakened by the cold wind in the early morning, the officials who had been "studying" with Zhu Zaigui outside the Wenhua Hall finally couldn't stand it anymore.

During the time of Emperor Jiajing, they often liked to complain that Emperor Jiajing did not attend court and did not take care of state affairs, and they wanted to cheer Emperor Jiajing up and restore the previous court meeting system.

Now that Emperor Jiajing had become the retired emperor, they had finally welcomed a new emperor who was governed by the ancestral system. All the officials were extremely happy and encouraged, thinking that the new dynasty and new atmosphere would always have something different.

As a result, after just a few days, differences appeared.

The newly enthroned Emperor Longqing was truly diligent and law-abiding. Every day he paid homage to his ancestors and the heaven and earth according to the schedule prescribed by the ancestral system. He also handled the accumulated affairs of the court with utmost diligence every day.

but! !
But the price of being diligent and abiding by the rules is extremely heavy!
Emperor Longqing could not work hard alone to pay homage to his ancestors and the heaven and earth. He had to lead all the officials in the capital to work hard together and pay homage to the heaven and earth.

So in the past few days, all officials were still immersed in the joy of the new emperor and the new atmosphere.

Their beloved Emperor Longqing issued an edict requiring all officials in the capital who were qualified to attend court to gather in front of the Wenhua Hall before the hour of Mao to listen to the ancestral teachings with the emperor, remember the difficult founding of the country by Emperors Taizu and Chengzu, and feel the past when previous emperors worked hard to govern the country.

The officials who had just received the imperial edict did not know that the problems that followed would be so serious. They were all extremely excited and in high spirits, and arrived outside the Wenhua Hall on time according to the imperial edict to "study" with Emperor Longqing inside the hall.

However, they never expected that this "learning" would not stop. In the following days, Emperor Longqing issued an edict every day requiring all officials to rush to the Wenhua Hall to study together at this time regardless of rain or shine.

Now it was the officials' turn to be unable to bear it.

They suddenly missed Emperor Jiajing who did not attend court. Although Emperor Jiajing did not attend court at that time, it did not delay anything and he would not trouble them like this.

As a result, now that the new emperor has ascended the throne, he is diligent and hardworking, but they can no longer hold back.

As a result, these officials who had always admired the former Emperor Jiajing and the current Emperor Longqing for being diligent, hardworking and respectful to the heaven, earth and ancestors, finally couldn't bear it anymore. They gathered in the cabinet and stared at each other with Li Chunfang and others.

"Say something, sir!"

The Minister of Rites Gao Yi was as anxious as an ant on hot pan. On behalf of all the officials, he spoke to Li Chunfang and others.

Li Chunfang, Gao Gong and others held their noses and drank the ginger tea brought by the secretaries in the cabinet. They couldn't stand it at all during this period.

Especially as members of the cabinet, they had to stand in a row on the front steps of the Wenhua Hall. They could not gather together like other officials to share some warmth and block the cold wind.

So over the past few days, even though their bodies had been tempered through ten years of hard study, they could not withstand the cold wind.

If they hadn't started wearing clothes as thick as cotton balls without caring about their image from the next day, they would have collapsed long ago.

Now Gao Yi couldn't help asking them questions. After Li Chunfang and Gao Gong took a sip of hot ginger tea, they finally felt a lot better.

Li Chunfang and Gao Gong looked up at Gao Yi, then at the other officials gathered in the cabinet.

Finally, Li Chunfang said, "What do you think?"

Li Chunfang's question stumped everyone.

Although this opinion is obvious, it is not so easy to say.

After all, no one dared to say that Zhu Zaigui was wrong in asking all officials to "study" with him.

If this is "wrong", then doesn't it mean that the emperor can be lazy, can openly break the rules, and can act arbitrarily and not attend court?

Although this kind of fatigue has occurred in every dynasty and even in every emperor, it is merely the emperor's personal choice.

When the officials saw this situation, they simply wrote memorials to express their complaints and asked the emperor to work harder.

However, they never expected that the current emperor was not only hardworking, but also led all the officials to work hard together, and they would "study" together before dawn. This could be tolerated once or twice.

But judging from the current situation, it seems that this matter is going to become a custom. A sign-in sheet was even made this morning, requiring every official to sign in personally, and after finishing the "study", they also have to write a 300 to 500-word learning experience.

Failure to sign in or failure to write down learning experiences seriously will be recorded in the Ministry of Personnel's performance evaluation and used as a reference for future appointments and dismissals of new positions.

So this time, all the officials really couldn't bear it anymore.

They were really afraid that Zhu Zaigui would make this learning system a normalized system.

So, these people came to the cabinet one after another, wanting the cabinet to persuade the emperor not to work so hard, otherwise he would not be able to bear it.

Li Chunfang looked at Gao Yi and the others as if they were dumb, and suddenly felt a little annoyed.

Li Chunfang said, "I know exactly what you are thinking. But you cannot let me speak for you in this matter, otherwise it will leave room for criticism. If you guys turn against your words and refuse to admit it, then won't I be cursed for eternity?"

Li Chunfang did not hide anything and spoke the truth directly, allowing those who were unwilling to speak out but wanted Li Chunfang to take the lead to explain themselves.

Now it was Gao Yi and others' turn to be embarrassed.

After all, this kind of thing does seem to be a little bit wrong.

Whoever was the first to advise the emperor not to be diligent in his work and to be lazy, if this was recorded in history books for thousands of years, he would almost be equated with a treacherous minister and a villain.

After all, looking through history books over the past five thousand years, there is no example of loyal ministers in any dynasty advising the emperor not to be diligent in his work.

So, this matter is not so easy to talk about.

But if I don't speak up, no one will be able to bear it now.

Gao Yi and the other officials around him looked at each other.

Finally, they gritted their teeth and stamped their feet and said, "Master, how about this? Let's write a joint petition together, you take the lead in signing, and we follow behind you to sign together, how about that?"

After hearing this, Li Chunfang's face turned dark.

Is this your idea?
Li Chunfang looked at Gao Yi unhappily and said in a very unhappy tone: "I cannot take the lead. If you really want to advise His Majesty on this matter, I think you should write memorials individually, explain your reasons and opinions, and present them to His Majesty for understanding. But if you want me to take the lead, I will not accompany you!"

Li Chunfang is not stupid. How can he take the lead with you?

If he takes the lead and the emperor neglects his duties in the future, the blame will be on him, Li Chunfang.

Therefore, Li Chunfang would not take the lead no matter what. Seeing Li Chunfang's resolute attitude, Gao Yi and others also knew that this matter was difficult.

As a result, their eyes could not help but turn to Gao Gong, Zhao Zhenji, Hu Zongxian, Guo Pu and other cabinet members.

When Gao Gong and the others saw their pleading looks, their faces changed.

Even Li Chunfang wasn't fooled by this, so why would we be fooled by it?

Of course not!

Gao Gong said with a dark face: "Didn't you hear what the Prime Minister just said? If you want to submit a memorial, do it alone, write down your reasons and opinions clearly, and present it to His Majesty for understanding. Don't think that the cabinet is just a mouthpiece for you. Do you know how many important government affairs the cabinet has to handle for His Majesty every day?"

"And your various offices have to deal with government affairs every day. Isn't that important? You always think about relying on the cabinet. Can the cabinet help you make all the decisions?"

Gao Gong's words were even more direct, making Gao Yi and others feel embarrassed.

Even though the cabinet has the power of the prime minister, it is impossible for it to make decisions for all the government offices in the capital.

Some government offices still have a high degree of independence and do not really regard the cabinet's opinions as tasks or national policies that must be implemented.

Therefore, at this time, they should not think of asking the cabinet to take the blame for them.

We all have to take the blame!

Otherwise, no one is allowed to have any opinions anymore, and everyone must go to the Wenhua Hall to "study" together!
Just as such a drama was being played out in the cabinet, Zhu Zaigui also appeared in the Wanshou Palace.

The current Wanshou Palace is still the bedroom of Emperor Jiajing. As the emperor emeritus, Emperor Jiajing now lives a very comfortable life and no longer has to worry about anything.

So when Emperor Jiajing saw Zhu Zaigui coming, he was so happy that he grinned.

At the same time, Huang Jin, who was serving beside Emperor Jiajing, also showed his tact and moved a chair over for Zhu Zaigui, "Your Majesty, please sit down."

Huang Jin's way of addressing Zhu Zaigui also changed to "Emperor Huangye", the traditional way people in the palace addressed the emperor.

Zhu Zaigui sat on the chair and smiled at Huang Jin, saying, "Eunuch Huang, you don't have to be polite. You can also take a rest for a while. I am here."

Huang Jin bowed gently and said, "Yes, I will obey your order."

After drinking a cup of ginseng soup, Emperor Jiajing looked at Zhu Zaigui and said with a smile, "I heard that you issue an order every morning before dawn for all officials in the capital to come to your palace to study together. Is that true?"

Zhu Zaigui took the empty bowl from Emperor Jiajing with a smile, put it aside, and said, "It is true. I didn't want it to happen. But since I ascended the throne, they have set many rules for me to follow, asking me to be a diligent and polite emperor."

"But I think that if I set an example by myself, it will definitely not make the Ming Dynasty as strong as they expect. So I ordered them to study hard with me and restrain themselves and return to the rites together."

After hearing Zhu Zaigui's answer, Emperor Jiajing couldn't help laughing again.

"Why didn't I think of this method back then? If I had also encouraged these ministers who always yelled about rules and principles to work hard together, perhaps my reputation would have been raised to a higher level now."

Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "Father is a man of natural talent, and he ruled like the Jiajing Emperor. Even if he doesn't do these superficial things, people in later generations will still respect father as the greatest emperor of all time."

"But I have just inherited the throne, and my foundation is shallow. If I want to gain the recognition of the people of the world, I have to do some superficial work to let the people of the world see my diligence, which will facilitate future political affairs."

Emperor Jiajing laughed again and said, "Only a fool would believe this. You have been the regent for many years. Who in the world is not used to your existence? In my opinion, you are doing this now to discipline those who want to restrain you with rules."

"You didn't have to do this before because I was still the emperor at that time. Even if they wanted to, they couldn't restrict you. Now that you are the emperor, they naturally want to impose the rules that they couldn't impose on you before on you now."

"But they never expected that you would not only abide by the rules, but also lead them to abide by them. Now it's their turn to be unbearable."

Zhu Zaigui laughed, "Father is really wise. He saw through my thoughts at a glance."

Emperor Jiajing laughed and said, "Now it's not just me who sees through your thoughts, but also the officials in the capital who are almost fed up. Now I guess they are all like ants on a hot pot, looking for someone to come out and persuade you."

"But I don't think it would be so stupid for someone to come forward at this time."

Zhu Zaigui said: "If there is no, then there is no. I am still young anyway, so I will just endure it with them and see who can endure it more, them or I!"

Emperor Jiajing couldn't help laughing again after hearing Zhu Zaigui's words.

After a while, Emperor Jiajing asked again: "What are you going to do after this?"

Zhu Zaigui said: "After this, I will measure the land of the world and re-enact the tax law!"

When Emperor Jiajing heard that Zhu Zaigui was going to make such a big move right from the start, he immediately sat up straight.

He said seriously: "This matter is of great importance. If something goes wrong, it will be disastrous."

Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "Don't worry, father. I have my own ideas about this matter, and I will not do it myself. I will find someone who has ideals and ambitions and is willing to sacrifice for them to be at the forefront, and I will just keep silent."

"At the same time, I will take advantage of this opportunity to sort out the issues of the garrison system that have not been implemented last year. After these issues are dealt with, I will ask Qi Jiguang and his men to destroy the red-haired foreign strongholds in Taiwan."

"If they want to do business with the Ming Dynasty in the future, they can only come here by merchant ship. Otherwise, they will be enemies invading the Ming Dynasty's maritime borders. Of course, within the controllable range of my maritime borders, my Ming Dynasty navy will also provide them with security guarantees and will not let pirates harass them."

Emperor Jiajing listened to Zhu Zaigui's words, but he still didn't understand. "Is the sea really so important? Is the wealth on the sea really so easy to obtain?"

Zhu Zaigui said: "Of course the sea is important, but the wealth on the sea is not easy to grasp. These red-haired foreigners like adventure, and they have occupied many unowned lands in this world that are rich in gold and silver. And the only place where these gold and silver can generate value is our Ming Dynasty."

"So, for the Ming Dynasty, this is both an opportunity and a test. If the Ming Dynasty can digest this wealth invisibly and prevent such a huge amount of gold and silver from impacting our Ming Dynasty's traditional economic structure, then this gold and silver will become the foundation for the Ming Dynasty to dominate the world in the future!"

"But if the Ming Dynasty fails to handle the influx of gold and silver, causing prices and taxes in the Ming Dynasty, as well as the gap between the rich and the poor, to widen further, then the foreigners who transport gold and silver for us will encounter some uncontrollable problems, slowing down the influx of silver, and the consequences will be disastrous!"

"Therefore, we must prepare for a rainy day. We cannot allow such an accidental and low-quality financial crisis to destroy the foundation of the Ming Dynasty!"

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