Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 361 It turns out that he is the emperor
Emperor Hongzhi asked Yang Tinghe to come to the palace for an audience, presumably because something had gone wrong with Zhu Houzhao again.

"I am here to see you, Your Majesty."

Emperor Hongzhi did not raise his head, still carefully reviewing the memorials, and said to Yang Tinghe casually: "Well, is there anything wrong? But what did the prince do out of line again?"

Yang Tinghe hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, the prince has been studying very hard recently, but..."

Emperor Hongzhi asked, "Just what?"

Yang Tinghe said, "Recently, a proofreader has come to the Ministry of Scriptures. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince often goes to play with this proofreader. The two are of similar age. I am worried that the Crown Prince will neglect his studies because of this person."

It’s Chen Ce.

Emperor Hongzhi said nonchalantly, "Oh, the proofreader of the Jingju Bureau is in charge of the books in the Eastern Palace. It's not surprising that Houzhao went to see him. How could he neglect his studies?"

Yang Tinghe hurriedly said, "Yesterday I saw the Crown Prince taking this person to visit the East Palace, and today at noon I even saw the Crown Prince inviting this person to eat hot pot in the main hall of the East Palace."

Emperor Hongzhi put down the brush in his hand, squinted his eyes and looked up at Yang Tinghe, and asked: "Do you have a grudge against Chen Ce?"

After hearing this, Yang Tinghe was stunned.

The emperor actually remembered the name of a small proofreader? This shows that the proofreader in the Jingju Bureau has a close relationship with the emperor!

Emperor Hongzhi said in a deep voice: "How can eating a meal lead to neglect of studies?"

"Master Yang seems to be a little too worried, right?"

Yang Tinghe said hurriedly: "Minister, this is to prevent trouble before it happens. Please understand, Your Majesty."

Emperor Hongzhi waved his hand and said, "Okay, don't make a fuss, go down."

Yang Tinghe originally planned to file a complaint with Emperor Hongzhi. He was just a small proofreader. If the emperor knew that he had delayed the prince's studies, he would definitely blame him. However, Yang Tinghe did not expect to provoke a tough opponent.

No wonder he was so confident in the Finance Bureau. Yang Tinghe didn't know the specific relationship between Chen Ce and the emperor yet, so he didn't dare to push his luck too far and could only leave in disappointment.

Emperor Hongzhi looked at Yang Tinghe's back, but he didn't know how Yang Tinghe could be concerned about Chen Ce when he had only been in the Finance Bureau for two days.

"Go to the Bureau of Economics."

Emperor Hongzhi put down the memorials he was reviewing and took Huai'en to the Finance Bureau of the Zhanshi Palace.

……

Chen Ce found a lot of historical materials and various drawings, which covered the desk. These were all patterns for building ships.

He wanted to find out the structure of the ship that eunuch Sanbao used when he sailed to the West, but after searching through many historical materials, he found no information about that batch of ships.

Chen Ce did have the route, but it was not historical material hidden in the palace, but what Chen Ce himself harvested in the vegetable garden.

The wood used for traditional inland ships is ebony, which is not suitable for going to sea. If you want to build a fleet of ships that can go to sea, you must use professional wood, such as golden oil sandalwood, Thai pomelo, bupleurum, ironwood, stone stalk, kundian, and teak.

Among these, teak is the most easily available, relatively low in cost, and corrosion-resistant, making it very suitable for sailing. However, its cost is only relatively low compared to other sailing woods, but it is actually not low.

If Southeast China wants to build a fleet capable of crossing the ocean to attack the Japanese islands, the construction of ships and warships is crucial.

Chen Ce was studying seriously and had no idea that Emperor Hongzhi had appeared in front of him with his hands behind his back.

"what are you doing?"

"Looking for wood for the ship...eh?"

Chen Ce raised his eyes and saw Emperor Hongzhi behind him, and asked in confusion: "When did you come? Why are you here?"

What was a bureaucrat from the Ministry of Justice doing in the Bureau of Economics for no reason?
Chen Ce was a little confused.

Huai En's cheeks twitched as he listened. Why couldn't the emperor come here? The entire palace belonged to the royal family!
Emperor Hongzhi did not answer Chen Ce's question, but asked curiously: "You seem to be studying ships?"

Chen Ce uttered an "oh" and said, "Yeah."

"What's the use?" Chen Ce said, "I heard from Minister Qin about the situation in the southeast. Sooner or later, the court will have a war with the Japanese in the southeast. It's better to be prepared."

Emperor Hongzhi said calmly, "Did Minister Qin tell you that the Ministry of Rites has already sent a letter to Japan?"

"If their emperor receives my letter, will he still dare to cause chaos in the southeast?"

Chen Ce nodded affirmatively and said, "Dare!"

Emperor Hongzhi might not know the current internal situation in Japan, but Chen Ce knew that they were now in an era of shogunate separatism, just like China's Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period.

The emperor no longer has the real power to control the shogun. If you send a letter to the emperor now, do you expect him to reply to you or even give in?

how is this possible.

Emperor Hongzhi smiled and said, "You seem very sure? Perhaps you don't know the prestige of our Ming Dynasty among the vassal states. How dare they disrespect our Ming Dynasty?"

Chen Ce didn't answer, but it seemed like he answered everything.

Emperor Hongzhi said calmly, "Let's make a bet. By the time the envoy sent by the Ministry of Rites returns, you will know the position of the Ming Dynasty in the hearts of the vassal states."

Chen Ce was too lazy to make a bet with Emperor Hongzhi, and just said calmly: "Oh."

Emperor Hongzhi was speechless.

"How are you?"

Chen Ce said: "It's just like that, neither good nor bad."

"I heard that Yang Tinghe bullied you?"

Chen Ce glanced at Emperor Hongzhi and asked, "What's wrong? Did the Emperor ask you to come to the Ministry of Justice to punish me?"

Emperor Hongzhi shook his head and said, "That's not the case. I'm just curious as to how you provoked Yang Tinghe to the point of asking him to file a complaint with the Emperor."

Chen Ce thought for a moment and said, "I didn't provoke him."

Chen Ce didn't say anything else, nor did he say anything bad about Yang Tinghe behind his back.

However, Emperor Hongzhi understood Chen Ce's character. He generally would not take the initiative to cause trouble. Perhaps it was because Zhu Houzhao was too close to this guy, which made Yang Tinghe feel threatened.

……

Zhao Zhongping and Han Douyin were getting ready to go off duty.

"Old Zhao, do you think Chen Ce can escape this disaster?"

Zhao Zhongping sighed and said, "It's difficult! Yang Tinghe, that bastard, may have gone to the emperor to gossip about him."

"Chen Ce is not qualified to see the emperor, but he can say whatever he wants with Yang Tinghe's mouth."

"Bah!" Zhao Zhongping spat fiercely and cursed: "Those who know him think he is a scholar of the Eastern Palace, and those who don't think he is a eunuch. He has no other skills but likes to complain. What's the difference between him and a treacherous flatterer?!"

"Ah, Chen Ce is such a miserable kid."

"Yeah, how did I offend Yang Ting and that bastard?"

As they were talking, the two came to Chen Ce's duty station.

Both of them were genuine Jinshi who passed the imperial examinations on both lists, and were disciples of the emperor. They had actually met the emperor, although it was only once in their lifetime, but it was enough to bring honor to their family.

As soon as the two of them arrived at Chen Ce's duty station, they stumbled and almost fell.

Then, isn’t that the emperor?

Oh my god, the emperor is standing in front of Chen Ce, and Chen Ce is sitting on the throne?

This scene made the two of them drop their jaws in shock!
(End of this chapter)