Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 179 The king is not in court
The Ming Empire has not yet reached its decline and still has strong national strength.

After all, the Hongzhi Restoration was not really a false reputation.

Since the first year of the Zhengde reign, so many high-ranking officials and gentry had been punished through cases such as the Rebel Party, and the finances of the central court had been greatly supplemented.

Logically speaking, even the little prince, a powerful man who has unified the southern part of the desert and is about to unify all of Mongolia, is not enough to pose a threat to the Ming Dynasty.

But that's the case.

Zhu Houzhao did not reduce his contempt for the little prince either.

The little prince was ambitious, and Zhu Houzhao himself was ambitious too. Just as the little prince wanted to rebuild the Yuan Dynasty, he also wanted to devour the little prince and own the entire land outside the Great Wall, including the population there.

Ma Wensheng once again left Beijing and went to the three borders to continue coordinating border affairs and prevent the little prince from sneaking into the interior and repeating the incident of Yesen besieging the capital.

The Minister of War Xu Jin remained in the capital, responsible for allocating money and grain from all over the country and recruiting strong men to strengthen the border troops.

The chief ministers of the cabinet, Jiao Fang and Wang Hua, as well as the ministers of the Ministry of Revenue, Wang Hua and Xu Jing, began to prepare to restore the Kaizhong method of paying grain and obtaining salt.

Although the Ming Dynasty seemed very peaceful in the fourth year of Zhengde.

But the rulers of the entire Ming Empire were not at peace, and even the scholars and common people who knew the inside story were not at peace.

Under the propaganda led by Huang Ming Bao and the Second Secretariat.

More people began to understand what the empire's top rulers were doing, what they were worried about, and began to care about the fate of the empire.

They knew that the emperor killed the son of a northern Tatar leader in order to avenge them, the ordinary people, but the empire would face the crisis of retaliation as a result.

"The border towns have stepped up their defenses, and troops have been added to the passes. Sentinels have been sent out everywhere, even at night! Spies have been secretly planted among the merchants who are trading abroad, and 300,000 dan of grain has been mobilized from the Huguang area to the capital, just in case of emergency!"

After Xu Jin, the Minister of War, reported the latest military affairs to Zhu Houzhao, he asked again: "Your Majesty! I dare to ask, Your Majesty, are you really going to Datong?"

"Yes, let's go to Datong. I will organize 100,000 cavalry to destroy the little prince! The cabinet chief Jiao Fang and the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department Liu Jin will go with me, and you and Wang Hua will stay in the capital!"

Zhu Houzhao said.

"One hundred thousand cavalry? Your Majesty, when did the Ming Dynasty have one hundred thousand cavalry?" Xu Jin was a little puzzled.

"Of course the Ming Dynasty does not have so many cavalrymen, but there are still some in the whole world."

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said that he believed the little prince had more than one enemy, the Ming Dynasty, and that other tribes might not be willing to sit idly by and watch the little prince become more powerful. He believed that it would not be a problem to organize an alliance with the imperial prestige of the Ming Dynasty.

And if we unite all the other tribes outside the Great Wall to attack the little prince, organizing his 100,000 cavalry will naturally not be a problem.

Xu Jin didn't say anything else, nor did he stop Zhu Houzhao. He knew that he was not an emperor who was only satisfied with governing the people within the Great Wall. He wanted to show his great talent and create his own empire.

Zhu Houzhao left the cabinet and the Silijian duty room and prepared to return to his own palace to rest.

As the six ministries of the cabinet were almost all filled with reformist officials, Zhu Houzhao, as the emperor, no longer had to stay in the cabinet and the Imperial Household Department all the time to hold power. He trusted his subordinates and believed that these officials would handle daily government affairs with the purpose of safeguarding the interests of the Ming court and the people.

Zhu Houzhao never realized that he had been in the Ming Dynasty for five years.

Suddenly.

He almost forgot that he was a person from the future, but he was still shocked that he could own an empire.

Looking at the majestic and magnificent Forbidden City before him, he never thought that this would become his home.

What Zhu Houzhao didn’t expect was that he was only nineteen years old!
However, it was hard for Zhu Houzhao to imagine that at the age of 19, he had already become an awe-inspiring emperor. Even if he glanced at him slightly, the eunuchs inside the palace would be frightened as if they had lost their souls.

Cining Palace.

Empress Dowager Zhang is here.

It was still the place Zhu Houzhao often came to after handling state affairs, and he had meals and daily royal gatherings here.

Zhu Houzhao's queen and even two imperial concubines would often stay here to accompany Empress Dowager Zhang.

However, the two maternal relatives, Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling, do not often come to the Cining Palace nowadays.

According to what Zhu Houzhao learned from Yan Song, the navigation knowledge mastered by these two uncles was improving day by day. After the relevant materials about Zheng He's voyages to the West found by Minister of War Xu Jin from the Ministry of War were transferred to the Imperial University for safekeeping, these two people read through them again and again. They said that they would go to look for the sweet potatoes with a yield of dozens of dan per mu mentioned in the books of the Imperial University in the future.

Zhu Houzhao was very pleased with this. In fact, these royal relatives were the class that gave him the most headaches. Not only did they own countless lands and wealth but they did not pay taxes, and even if they committed crimes, they could not be punished too severely. It would be good if they could be allowed to do something proper, to avoid causing trouble and forcing him to deal with them by force, which would also make Empress Dowager Zhang sad and affect the relationship between mother and son.

There is a saying in later generations that a woman with a younger brother should not be married. In fact, it also reflects a family phenomenon in which the elder sister is extremely doting on her younger brother.

Empress Dowager Zhang was a demon who subdued her brothers. Zhu Houzhao knew this. Otherwise, Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling would not have been directly promoted to marquis without any achievements. Now that she knew that Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling were studying, although Empress Dowager Zhang did not know what books her two brothers were reading, she was in a good mood. She felt that her two brothers finally had a promising future, and she was naturally in a good mood. She also forgot about the day when the Minister of Rites Zhang Sheng forced her to kill Ma Wensheng.

Home and everything are prosperous.

Zhu Houzhao was very pleased that the royal family could still live in harmony.

However, as the fourth year of Zhengde was about to pass, there was one thing that made Empress Dowager Zhang worried again, and that was the issue of Zhu Houzhao's offspring.

The Queen has never been pregnant!
Zhu Houzhao also knew that the royal heir was a very important matter in this era, and even had strong political significance.

It is now the fourth year of Zhengde. If I don't have a child again, it will undermine the confidence of all reformist officials.

Looking back at the pretty figure behind him, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but smile, wondering whether he should take her body tonight.

Then he looked at the other two beauties who were lowering their heads and fiddling with their fingers, and wondered if he should have both of them.

This increases the chances of pregnancy.

"Noble Concubine Su, Noble Concubine Liu, you will stay in the Qianqing Palace tonight! No, from now on, you will all stay in the Qianqing Palace! Until I leave the capital!"

Zhu Houzhao said this and the two girls blushed and nodded in agreement. They also guessed what Zhu Houzhao's words implied.

Queen Xia suddenly stopped and looked at Zhu Houzhao who had already climbed the stairs. She wanted to ask something, but in the end she didn't open her mouth.

By the time the four had finished washing, the serving maids had all left, and even the eunuch on duty had closed the red door.

Queen Xia had already consciously lay down on the inner side of the dragon bed. As she grew older, she no longer dared to sleep lying flat on her back. She was instinctively a little shy, with only her back exposed, facing Zhu Houzhao.

But as she grew older, she gradually became more knowledgeable about worldly affairs. Although she had not experienced it personally, she knew that some unspeakable things could happen between men and women.

Tonight, Emperor Zhu Houzhao suddenly called Concubine Su and Concubine Liu to stay overnight in the Qianqing Palace, which made her feel a little surprised, and she also sensed that something was different from the past.

The next morning.

The autumn sun shone in from outside the red gate, and the mottled sunlight fell on Zhu Houzhao and his concubines.

The eunuch, who had listened to the sweet voices and breathing sounds all night last night, was still yawning.

But Zhu Houzhao had already woken up. Looking at the empress and two imperial concubines whose virginity he had deflowered one by one under the golden gauze tent, he just shook his dizzy head, thinking that it was good to be young and strong.

Ruyi came over, looked at the scene in front of him, and said only one sentence: "Serve His Majesty in bathing!"

When Zhu Houzhao came back from morning exercise again, the empress and the two imperial concubines seemed to have become more charming overnight, and there seemed to be something more in their flirtatious eyes, rather than just shyness and innocence.

For the rest of his life, Zhu Houzhao began his absurd life as an emperor.

Before the fourth year of Zhengde, he had not tasted the flavor of this place, so naturally he had no idea what it was like inside. But now that he had his first taste of the relationship between a man and a woman, he naturally felt it was like eating bones and knowing the marrow, and was deeply attached to it. He indulged himself in the pleasure, and didn't know how long it would take for the world to last.

There will be no court today.

There will be no court tomorrow.

There will be no court the day after tomorrow!

It was not until the fourth day that Zhu Houzhao came to the duty room of the Imperial Household Department and the Cabinet.

After all, tomorrow is the day he leaves Beijing for Datong, and he can't be lazy any longer. Although the flower garden is beautiful, it is not a place for a man to realize his ambitions.

Jiao Fang looked at Zhu Houzhao and sighed inwardly that he no longer had the energy to enjoy this blessing. He was already over 70 years old and had already indulged in pleasures in his youth, so that even now he could not last long even if he took medicine.

Liu Jin was even more unhappy and regretted his choice.

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao had to say: "I admit that I have been a little indulgent these days, but you should not act so depressed. If you want to advise me, then do it. Do you think I will kill you?"

"Your Majesty, you have misunderstood! I am not depressed, nor do I want to advise Your Majesty. Your Majesty is vigorous and energetic, and is a blessing to the country and the Ming Dynasty!"

Jiao Fang smiled awkwardly.

"The eunuch thought so too," Liu Jin said with an awkward smile.

"In that case, let's discuss business. Are there any important memorials that need to be reported?" Zhu Houzhao said as he began to read the memorials.

(End of this chapter)