Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 40: True Serving the Country and the People
Although it is the time for the burial of Emperor Xiaozong and many things are complicated, state affairs cannot be neglected and the matter of the little prince committing a crime in Guyuan still needs to be discussed in court.

Before Zhu Houzhao fell asleep, Wang Yue, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, came to ask Zhu Houzhao whether he would convene a court meeting the next day.

Zhu Houzhao knew that the cabinet would not agree to the military reorganization and military training at the border, so he was in no mood to hold a court meeting. But when he thought of his promise to give the empress dowager a title, Zhu Houzhao nodded and approved the cabinet and the Ministry of War's request to hold a court meeting tomorrow. At the same time, Zhu Houzhao also ordered the Minister of Rites Zhang Sheng to participate.

The next day, which was the early morning of October 11th, the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign, it began to snow in the capital city of the Ming Dynasty. Snowflakes, like willow catkins, were blown up by the cold wind and after a long time they landed on the double eaves of the palace, dyeing the red tiles white.

Zhu Houzhao put on a sable coat with a layer of plain clothes on the outside, and the crown on his head was also covered with white cloth. His whole body was snow-white, and he stood beside the white marble pillars, the same color as the sky and the palace walls and pavilions. Only his pair of deep black eyes seemed particularly bright, staring at the cabinet ministers Liu Jian and others who were walking in front of him, as well as the eunuch Wang Yue, the seal-holder eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, and Lu He, the eunuch who was standing under the eaves on both sides, wearing dragon robes and three-peaked hats.

Since ascending the throne, Zhu Houzhao has had many contacts with these two central institutions of the Ming Dynasty, namely the cabinet ministers and the eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department.

But because of this, if it weren't for these actual contacts, Zhu Houzhao would not have known that his imperial power would also be restricted by these two institutions.

Because, theoretically speaking, the power of these two institutions was created by the emperor, but in reality they became two huge mountains blocking his way to power.

Zhu Houzhao knew that the previous emperors established these two institutions not to limit the imperial power but to check and balance each other and safeguard the imperial power. The fundamental reason why the balance was broken was that the eunuchs and foreign officials colluded with each other behind the scenes, thus undermining his position as emperor.

To put it bluntly, it’s actually because of human factors.

But Zhu Houzhao still didn't understand. Collusion between internal and external officials was a taboo. These people were extremely bold. Perhaps it was because Emperor Hongzhi was too lenient to his ministers during his lifetime. If it had been in the previous dynasty, they would have been beheaded long ago. Zhu Houzhao felt that he must strictly prevent internal and external officials from having private contact without his knowledge in the future, otherwise he would not be able to guarantee his own safety.

Zhu Houzhao looked at Liu Jin who was holding a plain white umbrella for him and said, "Liu Jin, if you dare to contact officials from outside the court without my knowledge in the future, no matter how big or small the matter is, I will not let you off easily! Just like the snow in my palm!"

Zhu Houzhao grabbed a handful of snow on the white marble pillar and squeezed it hard in his hand, then suddenly threw it to the ground angrily, and the snowball broke into pieces.

Now, Zhu Houzhao took the initiative to arrange and was aware of the contact between Liu Jin and other officials outside the court. Zhu Houzhao could not pursue it, but he felt he needed to remind Liu Jin and others about future matters.

Liu Jin couldn't help but be startled, and bowed slightly: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I dare not!"

Wang Yue, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department, had been staring at Emperor Zhu Houzhao. He found that Zhu Houzhao seemed to have changed a little, and there seemed to be some anger and majesty between his brows. The action of throwing snow just now made him tremble inwardly. He thought that the emperor's personality was like that of the late emperor. Although he was cynical, he had a very good temper and was always innocent and would not have any scheming. But why was I a little panicked just now?

At this time, the chief minister of the cabinet, Liu Jian, was holding up his robe and walking towards Zhu Houzhao with Li Dongyang and Xie Qian, while the Minister of Rites Zhang Sheng and the Minister of War Xu Jin followed behind them.

Liu Jian, the chief minister of the cabinet, and others were also looking at Zhu Houzhao. Li Dongyang couldn't help but ask, "Your Majesty, why is it so quiet today?"

When Li Dongyang asked this, Liu Jian and Xie Qiandu seemed to be reminded and showed surprised expressions.

Xu Jin, the Minister of War, who was following behind him, said, "It's so cold, Your Majesty naturally doesn't want to move."

After the Minister of War Xu Jin said this, no one spoke anymore. The Chief Minister of the Cabinet Liu Jian just snorted and didn't even want to look at Xu Jin.

Zhu Houzhao pretended not to see it, but in his heart he was also very dissatisfied with Liu Jian's old minister's style. However, when he thought that it was not the time for him to make a final move, he walked into the hall calmly and said, "Let's start!"

Because the little prince had invaded Guyuan again, Xu Jin, the Minister of War, spoke first to tell the story. After Zhu Houzhao heard what Xu Jin had said, he asked, "What suggestions do you have for this?"

The three cabinet elders did not speak, but only looked at the Minister of War Xu Jin.

Xu Jinze had already prepared a speech, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, I have sorted out the areas where the little prince has invaded in recent years, and found that the little prince mainly concentrated his attacks in Shaanxi. It seems that what Shaanxi Governor Yang Yiqing said is very true, that is, the border wall from Guyuan to Datong has been in disrepair for a long time, which has given the Tartars an opportunity to take advantage of. Now the most important thing is to allocate silver to repair the border wall first!"

Zhu Houzhao understood what Xu Jin meant, that is, the direct reason why the little prince was able to successfully invade the Ming Dynasty many times was that the border wall was in disrepair. Training troops or even sending troops was not realistic at the moment. The most necessary and important thing was to allocate silver to repair the border wall.

"How much silver will it cost to build the border wall?"

Zhu Houzhao asked.

"Your Majesty, according to the report from Shaanxi Governor Yang Yiqing, at least 400,000 taels are needed!" Minister of War Xu Jin replied.

Before Zhu Houzhao could ask, the cabinet chief Liu Jian said, "Your Majesty, as Lord Xu said, repairing the border wall is an urgent matter, but there is no more silver in the Taicang warehouse, and the newly collected taxes have not yet arrived in Beijing, and most of them have been used to repair the Emperor Xiaozong's mausoleum. If we want to repair the border wall now, we can only ask Your Majesty to allocate the treasury!"

The chief minister of the cabinet, Liu Jian, and others had long known that Zhu Houzhao had made a lot of money from the Royal Exposition, so they would naturally find ways to get Zhu Houzhao to spend the treasury instead of letting him keep it for himself.

"Use the imperial treasury?" Zhu Houzhao asked in some surprise.

The cabinet's deputy minister Li Dongyang and the cabinet's chief minister Liu Jian looked at each other and said, "Yes, Your Majesty! Now only the treasury has money left."

"You know more about my treasury than I do," Zhu Houzhao laughed.

At this time, Xie Qian also said: "Your Majesty, please consider the great Ming Dynasty and use the treasury to build the border wall to relieve the people's distress."

After Xie Qian said this, he felt in his heart how much he had served the country and the people!
Zhu Houzhao also followed his thoughts and said, "Thank you, my dear minister, for truly serving the country and the people!"

Zhu Houzhao then said to Xu Jin, the Minister of War, "Since the cabinet has decided to issue the treasury, I will not be stingy. I will issue the treasury. After my father's mausoleum is buried, I will issue the treasury to the Ministry of War."

"On behalf of the soldiers and civilians in the border towns, I would like to thank Your Majesty for your grace! I will first send the remaining 50,000 silver coins from the Ministry of War to the governor of Shaanxi to repair the critical areas first, and then use Your Majesty's treasury to carry out a comprehensive renovation!"

Xu Jin said hurriedly.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao also nodded: "Okay!"

The three cabinet elders and the Minister of Rites Zhang Sheng also hurriedly said, "Your Majesty is wise!"

Zhu Houzhao then said: "The court has finished discussing military affairs, now it is time to discuss the matter of giving the empress dowager a title of honor."

(End of this chapter)