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

Chapter 409: Blackmail

Kunning Palace, this is the first time Chen Ce has come to the harem.

Emperor Hongzhi stood in front of Kunning Palace with his hands behind his back. The Zhang brothers hurried over and said to him, "Your Majesty, you don't have to greet us in person! It's such an honor for us... Uh."

Emperor Hongzhi didn't even look at the two Zhang brothers. He walked past them and said to Chen Ce, "Chunjian, come with me. We can have dinner after Houzhao arrives."

Chen Ce nodded and said, "Okay."

The Zhang brothers were filled with envy and jealousy. They were all pillars of the country, so why did the emperor favor Chen Ce alone? It was unfair!

There are many crabapple trees planted in the back garden of Kunning Palace. In the autumn wind, the begonia flowers are scattered all over the ground, giving a sense of withered beauty.

"Last time you said there were a lot of copper and silver mines on the Japanese island. Do you know their exact locations?"

Chen Ce: "I know. I'll go back and study it and then tell Your Majesty... Um, Your Majesty, don't you believe in Feng Shui?"

Emperor Hongzhi rolled his eyes at him and said, "Of course I don't believe in Feng Shui, but I believe in you."

"Since you can confidently say that there are rich copper and silver resources on the Japanese island, why don't I believe you?"

"I want to destroy Japan."

Emperor Hongzhi did not hide his ambition at all, and in fact he could only talk about it with Chen Ce. He had no way of telling the civil servants about these things.

The civil officials did not want him to be an aggressive emperor, but rather hoped that Emperor Hongzhi would be a Confucian gentleman and sage monarch.

Moreover, the time, place and people are all right. The Japanese invaders in the southeast are constantly committing suicide, which gives Emperor Hongzhi a reason to raise an army. If he misses this opportunity, Emperor Hongzhi does not know whether he can accomplish such a great feat in his lifetime.

Although there are risks, it is worth the risk!

While Emperor Hongzhi and Chen Ce were chatting, Zhu Houzhao had already rushed to Kunning Palace.

Emperor Hongzhi heard his son calling Chen Ce from a distance. He said to Chen Ce helplessly, "Let's go and have dinner."

"it is good!"

This was the first time Empress Zhang met Chen Ce. She smiled and asked Chen Ce, "How old is Chun Jian this year?"

Chen Ce said: "Seventeen."

"Oh, that means he is two years older than Houzhao." Empress Zhang said, and then she glared at Zhu Houzhao fiercely, saying, "You are always disrespectful to others. He is old enough to be your brother, but you still call him your brother?"

Zhu Houzhao smiled indifferently and continued to eat the chicken leg in big bites.

The two Zhang brothers were heartlessly munching on rice, meat and vegetables, as if they had never eaten in their entire lives. It was hard to imagine what kind of life these two lowest-ranking relatives of the Ming Dynasty led.

Do these two guys only use their money for watching? Do they never spend it?
Empress Zhang smiled gently and dignifiedly, and said to Chen Ce: "I heard from the emperor that you have taught Hou Zhao a lot during this period of time. I want to thank you."

Chen Ce shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, the Queen is overpraising me. I don't deserve it."

Empress Zhang smiled and asked, "Are you married?"

Zhang Yanling interrupted, "Why get married? He's going to die soon."

Zhang Heling: “…”

You bastard, if you don’t speak no one will think you are dumb!

Emperor Hongzhi frowned and pointed at Zhang Yanling with a trembling voice, saying, "If you can't speak, shut up! Do you believe that I will let you be buried with me?!"

Zhang Yanling quickly lowered his head and continued to eat.

Zhu Houzhao fanned the flames and said, "Father, why not let my second uncle die first? There are so many people in the court who want to kill them every day anyway."

Zhang Yanling was shocked, thinking, what does this prince's nephew mean? I am your uncle, how can you be so unkind? Zhang Yanling quickly said to Empress Zhang with a sad face: "Sister..."

"Shut up! If you keep talking nonsense, I will kill you right now!"

Oh my God, is there any love left in this happy and joyful little family?
It’s all Chen Ce’s fault!
Zhang Yanling quickly shut up.

The simple lunch was quickly finished and Empress Zhang left, saying that she would prepare a gift for Chen Ce.

Chen Ce accompanied Emperor Hongzhi to drink tea.

Among all the civil servants in the outer court of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Ce was probably the only one who had the privilege of sitting with Emperor Hongzhi to drink tea and chat about family matters.

"By the way, Your Majesty, I think you should not worry too much about the things in the north. I sent the map of the victory chariot to the Ministry of War before I came to the inner palace."

"If this kind of murderous aura on the battlefield is used in the northern battlefield, it will probably make the Oirat and Tatars deeply fearful."

Emperor Hongzhi said excitedly: "Oh? There is such a thing? When can it be manufactured?"

Not only Emperor Hongzhi, but even Zhu Houzhao became interested and kept asking Chen Ce what the Complete Victory Chariot Map was.

Chen Ce was unable to describe it in detail, so he said to Emperor Hongzhi: "The manufacturing cost is low, and it will probably be built in a few days. As for its actual combat performance, we still have to wait until the full-victory chariot map is manufactured before we can test it."

Emperor Hongzhi nodded and said, "Okay! Then I will wait for two more days!"

Not long after, Empress Zhang came over with a cloak. The cloak was well-made, with a collar inlaid with gold-rimmed Hetian jade, and the material was top-grade.

Empress Zhang smiled and said, "I also made a cloak like this for Hou Zhao. It's getting cold, so you should wear it to keep warm. Don't get cold."

Chen Ce bowed and said, "Thank you, Queen."

The Zhang brothers' eyes lit up. It was obvious that the material of the cloak was not cheap and it looked very majestic.

"Sister, we want it too."

Empress Zhang looked at them indifferently and said coldly: "Go buy it yourself! Don't you have money?"

Zhang brothers: "..."

Can the boat of family affection capsize just like that?
Emperor Hongzhi chatted with Chen Ce for a while, and then Chen Ce left the palace on his own accord.

The two Zhang brothers didn't stay in the harem for long and left.

On the road.

"Brother, the thing that Chen Ce and the Emperor were talking about just now, is it the thing we picked up?"

Zhang Heling smiled and said, "Of course... and judging from the emperor's expression, this blueprint is probably not simple! I know that anything that Chen Ce can give away must be top-notch stuff."

"Haha! That idiot from the Ministry of Industry doesn't know what's good. He even dared to throw away the things Brother Chen sent over!"

Zhang Yanling said, "Brother, shall we return this blueprint to the Ministry of Industry?"

hiss!
Zhang Heling gasped, "Second brother, are you really out of your mind? Return it to the Ministry of Industry? Does he deserve it?"

When the emperor asks him for it in the future and he can't hand it over, then we brothers can go and blackmail him. Isn't that good?

After hearing what his elder brother said, Zhang Yanling finally came to his senses and said to Zhang Heling in shame, "Brother, the official in the Ministry of War may not be a human, but you are a real dog!"

"Haha, great! We have to bankrupt that guy from the Ministry of Industry! Otherwise, we will never return the blueprint to him!"

Zhang Heling smiled faintly and said, "That's right. You can't blame us brothers for being ruthless. It was his people from the Ministry of War who took the initiative to throw away Chen Ce's drawings. We just picked them up. No one can accuse us of blackmail!"

(End of this chapter)