Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 61 Princess Selects a Husband
After the palace examination, Zhang Yunxiu spent five consecutive days in extreme excitement.

Firstly, the policy of allowing craftsmen to buy themselves out of their craftsman status had already been implemented, and 20,000 craftsmen in the entire Zhili region responded enthusiastically.

This is 200 million taels of silver, but I don’t know when I can collect it back.

But the debt is here.

As for how to distribute the silver, Zhang Juzheng originally wanted to put it all into the Ministry of Revenue.

Finally, after weighing the pros and cons, and also in order to curry favor with Feng Bao and Empress Dowager Li, he took out 15% as expenses for the inner palace.

This one and a half percent was shared by three people: the emperor, Feng Bao, and Empress Dowager Li.

The emperor was extremely dissatisfied with this and urged Zhang Yunxiu to go out to sea to make money as soon as possible.

As soon as noon that day, Zhang Yunxiu received an order from the eunuch saying that the emperor summoned him to the palace.

He dared not stay, so he packed his things and headed straight for the Qianqing Palace.

Inside the palace, the emperor wore a bright yellow dragon robe and sat upright on the dragon throne.

Seeing Zhang Yunxiu coming in, without waiting for him to greet her, she excitedly said, "Zhang Yunxiu, I am choosing a son-in-law for Princess Yongning. Tell me, how much money is appropriate for the Ministry of Revenue to pay?"

What the hell?
Princess Yongning chooses a husband?

Zhang Yunxiu thought he was going to discuss going to sea, but he didn't expect that he was asking his sister to choose a son-in-law.

etc.
Could it be that Princess Yongning is the one that Feng Bao finally chose for her, a man with tuberculosis?

Since Emperor Chengzu, the emperor has been trying to prevent external relatives from interfering in government affairs.

All royal marriages were not allowed to marry princes and nobles, so not only was the queen from a humble family, but the princesses' husbands were also more ugly than the others.

Whoever became a royal consort would not be allowed to take part in the imperial examinations, including his entire family and closest relatives.

Any scholarly family with a bit of ambition would avoid princesses and regard them as a scourge.

For ruffians and common people, the princess is a hot commodity.

"Zhang Yunxiu! I'm asking you a question," Seeing Zhang Yunxiu remain silent, Emperor Wanli glared at him and shouted.

"Ah?!" Zhang Yunxiu woke up as if from a dream. He looked up at the emperor and asked in a low voice, "What did the emperor say?"

Emperor Wanli gritted his teeth and repeated the question again.

"Your Majesty spent a total of 200,000 taels of silver on his wedding. In my opinion, 200,000 taels are appropriate for Princess Yongning's marriage." Zhang Yunxi pondered for a moment and then told the story.

"Okay, then two hundred thousand taels."

Emperor Wanli clapped his hands and stood up from his chair.

He immediately wrote two edicts, ordering the Imperial Household Department and the Ministry of Rites to jointly handle the matter.

Seeing the emperor happy, Zhang Yunxiu smiled and took the opportunity to advise: "Your Majesty, in one month, I have already requisitioned 70 ships. It will probably not be long before we can go out to sea."

"Well, where do you want to go?"

"My first stop is Korea, just to try out this ship."

"Korea, Korea is just a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, where does its money come from?" Emperor Wanli frowned and asked in confusion.

"No matter how small it is, it is still a country, and there are many powerful and wealthy businessmen in it." Zhang Yunxiu took two steps forward and said, "And I have already thought of a way to make money, Your Majesty, just watch."

"Okay, I don't want to ask you how to make money, I want to see the real benefits!"

"As ordered."

Zhang Yunxiu responded, and Emperor Wanli said a few more words of encouragement, then waved his hand and asked Zhang Yunxiu to leave.

After leaving the palace, Zhang Yunxiu did not go home directly, but came to Feng's house to meet Xu Jue.

As soon as the two of them sat down, Zhang Yunxiu couldn't wait to say, "Go tell your master quickly that he must not compete for Princess Yongning's choice of a son-in-law, but should step back and give way to Zhang Jing."

"Why?" Xu Jue asked puzzledly.

There is a lot of money to be made when a princess chooses a husband.

Zhang Yunxiu stood up and walked to Xu Jue's ear to whisper something. Xu Jue's eyes lit up and he clapped his hands and shouted, "Great, this time our master will definitely take down that bastard Zhang Jing. Let's see how he can challenge our master."

As he said this, Xu Jue sneaked into the Imperial Household Department, met Feng Bao, and told him about Zhang Yunxiu's idea.

After hearing this, Feng Bao almost broke out in a cold sweat.

If he did this and was caught by Zhang Jing, causing disgrace to the Emperor and Empress Dowager Li, then how would he be able to gain a foothold in this palace?

"Okay, this time let's settle both old and new accounts with him." Feng Bao snorted fiercely, with a hint of viciousness flashing in his eyes.

On that day, Feng Bao claimed to be ill, and the task of choosing a husband for the princess naturally fell on Zhang Jing.

At first, he was a little skeptical. Who was Feng Bao?

He was a money-minded person. It was not until the emperor's edict came that he believed it completely.

The Qianqing Palace was filled with fragrant mist and flickering candlelight.

The emperor had taken off his dragon robe and was sitting on an embroidered couch wearing only a silk pajamas.

In front, Zhang Jing knelt on the ground and expressed his loyalty: "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Once the two hundred thousand silver coins from the Ministry of Revenue arrive, I will transfer some silver to your inner treasury."

That's more or less.

Emperor Wanli nodded slightly, asked Zhang Jing to stand up, and encouraged him: "In the entire palace, I can only talk to you in a caring way, Zhang Jing."

Zhang Jing narrowed his eyes after being praised, but his heart felt as sweet as if he had eaten honey.

From the emperor's words, he could hear the emperor's dissatisfaction with Feng Bao.

Now that Feng Bao is ill, it is the perfect time for him to continue whispering in the emperor's ears and trying to shake his heart.

"Your Majesty, Eunuch Feng."

Zhang Jing thought for a while and before he could speak, a eunuch came to report to the emperor that Concubine De wanted to see him.

Emperor Wanli had no interest in listening to Zhang Jing's chattering, so he waved his hand and asked him to leave.

Zhang Jing was unhappy and walked out of the palace gate.

At the door, a bright and pretty imperial concubine of about seventeen or eighteen years old walked in, wearing a white pleated skirt of Western cloth.

Zhang Jing forced a smile and said, "Old minister Zhang Jing, I greet Her Majesty the Defei."

De Fei nodded slightly, neither cold nor indifferent, and then ran straight past Zhang Jing and ran towards the main hall. A trace of cruelty flashed across Zhang Jing's eyes, and then he quickly walked down the long ladder at the entrance of the hall.

When Concubine De entered the emperor's bedroom, the emperor immediately walked down from the dragon throne, hugged Concubine De's soft body, and went straight to the bedroom.

De Fei knew what the emperor meant, her face turned red, and she said angrily: "What are you going to do?!"

"Go to bed!" Emperor Wanli chuckled.

"You only know how to do that. I've been feeling unwell recently and want to take a rest." Concubine Zheng De pouted and said softly.

Emperor Wanli showed a trace of disappointment. Concubine De saw it clearly, smiled and said, "Look at your face, it's like a donkey's face, and your skin is wrinkled like an old woman's."

Emperor Wanli was not annoyed by this joke, but instead said jokingly: "Well, you dare to curse me, let me see how I will deal with you today."

De Fei begged for mercy again and again, and said, "If the emperor is willing to agree to one thing from me, I will let him do what he wants."

"You're not, huh?"

"I just lied to you."

"Well, you have committed another crime, the crime of deceiving the emperor!" Emperor Wanli spoke harshly, but he was actually very happy in his heart.

Without waiting for Concubine De to speak, he continued, "Tell me what it is. I will think about it first."

Defei smiled, said a few good words for Zhang Yunxiu, and then asked for official positions for her father and brother.

"I thought it was something else." Emperor Wanli pouted and muttered, "Even if they are unfilial, I will reward them. This little thing is not worth asking for."

"Of course it's a small matter for you as an emperor, but it's a big matter for my father and Zhang Sicheng." Concubine De smiled lightly, hooked her hands around the emperor's neck, and said with a sweet breath, "If it weren't for Zhang Sicheng, I don't know when I can see Your Majesty. Your Majesty should reward him."

"Okay, okay, I know everything." Emperor Wanli waved his hands impatiently, hugged Concubine De and walked towards the dragon bed.

(End of this chapter)