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

Chapter 385 Accident at Sea
Empress Zhang went to Emperor Hongzhi crying, but there was nothing she could do as there were only two younger brothers in her Zhang family, and they were very stupid.

If I, as their elder sister, had not stood up for them, I would have been killed by the civil servants long ago.

When Empress Zhang heard that the two brothers of the Zhang family were imprisoned in the Dali Temple, she was extremely worried and had no choice but to find Emperor Hongzhi to plead for mercy.

"Your Majesty, Heling and Yanling are just stupid people. They ruined your plans. They deserve to die. But I beg you to leave them with intact bodies so that I can give an explanation to my ancestors in the future."

"If it weren't for these two brothers who took care of me when I was young, I would have died of illness. Now I see my two brothers in prison. It's better to suffer a short pain than a long one. It would be better if the emperor could give them a quick death, so that I don't have to worry about it."

Emperor Hongzhi: “…”

"Okay, it's not that serious. I'm just putting on a show for the outer court officials. I'll let them go in two days."

Empress Zhang stared with watery eyes and said, "Your Majesty, did you not lie to me?"

Emperor Hongzhi said helplessly: "Why would I lie to you... Anyway, don't worry about these things. I know what to do."

Empress Zhang nodded hurriedly: "Okay!"

She was very sensible. She didn't ask what the Zhang brothers had done wrong outside, nor did she inquire about it. Empress Zhang had her own survival wisdom, which enabled her to be favored by Emperor Hongzhi until now.

……

The matter of Zhu Houzhao asking the Zhang brothers to falsely convey the imperial edict was gradually settled. It caused a big fuss at the beginning, but no one expected that the emperor would let it go so easily.

The Zhang brothers were released after being detained in the Dali Temple for half a month, and the matter seemed to have ended there.

After Ren Shihong was released back to Korea by the Ming Dynasty, the King of Korea did not keep his promise and continued to secretly trade with the Jurchens of Liaodong.

The prestige of the Ming court was damaged again because of this incident, but the entire Ming court chose to keep silent about the matter. The four barbarian countries did not know what the Ming was doing and were just watching and watching.

In April of the 14th year of the Hongzhi reign, a navy of ten warships and thousands of people from the southeast of the Ming Dynasty set out for the Japanese islands.

The Ming Navy continued to sail around the Japanese islands. The huge warships were intimidating. The small Japanese boats were like ants in front of the Daimyo's huge warships, and the sense of oppression was overwhelming.

However, an accident still happened. One day, a sailor discovered that the wood at the bottom of the warship began to corrode, and the corrosion became more and more serious. They had to send the situation to the Southeast Preparation Office and request the warship to return quickly.

The Southeastern Japanese Defense Office was shocked when it heard the news and sent the news to the court urgently via military post.

Ministry of War.

A cavalryman who came from the southeast quickly handed the letter from the Beiwosi to the Minister of War Ma Wensheng.

After seeing the letter, Ma Wensheng's eyes suddenly widened and he said in disbelief: "How is it possible?!"

"How can a warship corrode?"

"Go! Send the letter to the Ministry of Industry and find out the situation!"

Mr. Zhang is on duty at the Water Conservancy Bureau of the Ministry of Works today. The Water Conservancy Bureau has had sufficient funds recently. There were more than ten thousand taels of silver left over from the construction of the ten warships of the Ministry of War last time. Recently, the Water Conservancy Bureau has been finding various excuses to increase the salaries of the officials in the government office.

All this is naturally thanks to Ma Xun, a doctor in the Du Shui Department. Previously, a small proofreader in the Donggong Sijing Bureau shamelessly asked the Ministry of Works to replace the material of the warship with teak. If it weren't for Doctor Ma's guarantee of his future, I'm afraid Minister Xu would really listen to that guy.

If that were true, the Ministry of Works would have no more money to make, as all the credit was won for them by Doctor Ma.

Doctor Ma is indeed a good leader!

When Mr. Zhang saw the letter from the Ministry of War, he couldn't help but feel confused. The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War didn't seem to have much in common. The only thing they had in common was the batch of warships that were delivered around the year. There shouldn't be any problem, right?

Mr. Zhang calmly opened the letter sent by the Ministry of War. To be precise, this letter was sent from the Southeastern Japanese Defense Department. The content was very simple. It was said that after the warships in the southeast had been sailing on the sea for a period of time, it was found that the wood was corroded...Puff!

Mr. Zhang spat out a mouthful of tea, stared at the words on the letter with wide eyes, and began to tremble all over.

How can this be?

How could the wood of a warship be corroded? Ebony has always been used as a material for ships, and it has never been corroded by river water. It has only been out to sea for two or three months, so how could it be like this?

Done!Done!
Mr. Zhang's body was staggering. This was a serious matter. To be more serious, it was the fault of the water company!

Fortunately, the Southeast Navy discovered it early. If it had been discovered later, more than a thousand navy officers would have been lost in the waters of the Japanese island. If that had really happened, all the people in the entire Du Shui Si would have been crushed to ashes!
But even so, now that this matter has been discovered, it is still a serious crime!

Doctor Ma... is in danger!
Fortunately, Doctor Ma took up the responsibility alone at that time. Now Mr. Zhang no longer cared about licking his good leader. He was just glad that he did not follow Doctor Ma in cheering for him.

What the guy from the Finance Bureau said was right. Is that guy really lucky in his words?
Mr. Zhang can't care about so many things now. I would rather die than let my friend die. I am sorry to Doctor Ma.

He took the letter and rushed to Ma Langzhong's duty station.

Doctor Ma has been enjoying great prestige in the Du Shui Si recently, and he is even very inflated now. When he heard that the Vice Minister of Works was about to retire, he felt that he had a chance to touch the Vice Minister of Works.

This morning he came to the duty room leisurely to take up his post. Doctor Ma has been reading recently, reading books of sages. He feels that he has an impatient personality, so he has been practicing recently, trying to cultivate his impatient temper, so that he can step by step reach a high position.

He observed that the bigwigs in the six ministries and the cabinet were all very calm and composed, and he felt that he was still lacking in this aspect and needed to practice more.

"Master Ma, Master Ma, something happened!"

Mr. Zhang came running over hurriedly, as if the sky had fallen.

Doctor Ma smiled slightly and followed his life motto: his face should be as calm as thunder but his heart as peaceful as a lake. Only such a person can achieve great things.

"Don't panic. I'll take care of it for you no matter how big the problem is. Just take your time."

Mr. Zhang thought to himself that you really have to bear this, because no one else can bear it.

He hurriedly said, "Sir! Something happened, something happened in the southeast!"

Doctor Ma said calmly, "Oh? What happened in the southeast? Why not tell me about it?"

What does the Southeast have to do with my Ministry of Industry? It's really nonsense!

Doctor Ma didn't take Mr. Zhang's words to heart at all. He blew away the hot steam from the tea in his hand. He had just made this cup of tea and the water was boiling hot.

Mr. Zhang said, "The wood of the warships delivered to the Ministry of Industry was corroded by seawater."

Doctor Ma was stunned and didn't react for a moment. A mouthful of boiling tea went directly into his mouth. Only then did he remember that it was he who insisted on using that batch of ebony.

For this reason, he had a quarrel with Chen Ce and also acted as a guarantor to Minister Xu.

slam-la-

All the tea in Doctor Ma’s mouth flowed out. Damn, it’s so hot!

(End of this chapter)