Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 177 The Demon Queen Tests the False Emperor
Zhu Qizhen still received the envoys from U-Tsang with great ceremony, held a special banquet, and rewarded them generously, with the largest reward being tea, including precious tea.

The Wusi-Zang region needed a lot of tea because they ate meat and needed tea to help digestion. But there was no tea in Wusi-Zang, so a small amount of tea played a big role. The Ming Dynasty used tea to control the barbarians.

"Using horses as a tax and tea as a reward, we can make the remote barbarians become our subjects and they dare not rebel. If they cannot get tea, they will get sick and die. This is better than tens of thousands of soldiers. This is the best strategy to control the Western Barbarians and the Northern Barbarians."

The tea-horse trade started in the Hongwu period. Zhu Qizhen confirmed with the U-Tsang Chanhua King that the tea-horse trade would continue, and the Chanhua King was of course happy.

Zhu Qizhen had no choice but to appease the various tribes in U-Tsang and maintain their stability. As for Guanxi, Jinyiwei was asked to support the newly appointed guards and let them continue to be in chaos. After the Ming Dynasty dealt with the Japanese pirates in the southeast, it would free up its hands to deal with Guanxi.

Finally, the U-Tsang delegation received generous rewards and returned happily. Zhu Qizhen was speechless about this kind of tribute. In addition to earning some face, they got nothing and suffered a great loss.

"What I want is for all nations to come and pay tribute!" He stood in front of the Fengtian Hall, looking at the U-Tsang delegation going away.

He rubbed his face to sober himself up.

With this move by U-Tsang, the Zhengtong Emperor took the lead. His imperial edicts must have played a big role.

"I was careless. I neglected U-Tsang before." Zhu Qizhen muttered.

……

Qianqing Palace.

After the morning court session, Zhu Qizhen summoned Gao Gu, the Minister of Works, to ask him about the Longjiang Shipyard. The Longjiang Shipyard was founded in the early years of the Hongwu reign and is located at the Sancha River in Xiaguan, northwest of Yingtian City. It reaches the moat in the east and Yifeng Gate in the northwest. Its geographical location is superior and convenient for the manufacture and launching of ships.

Most of the ships used by Zheng He for his voyages to the West were built here. During its heyday, the Longjiang Shipyard had strong shipbuilding capabilities.

Longjiang Shipyard has a division of work to manage shipbuilding business. At the same time, there is also a command hall for helpers as an office, as well as six workshops such as sailing, wood, paint, iron, rope, and cable, forming a relatively complete production system. There are more than 400 craftsmen in the shipyard, with clear division of labor, each doing their own job, and extremely high efficiency.

The shipyard mainly built warships, canal transport ships, patrol ships, sentry ships, speedboats, fishing boats, yellow boats, etc. During Zheng He's voyages to the West, the shipyard also built and renovated a large number of seagoing ships.

In the process of shipbuilding, they continuously innovated and improved the technology. For example, they adopted iron nail connection method and mortise and tenon joint technology to enhance the hull strength; applied watertight bulkhead technology to improve the safety and navigation stability of the ship; used a variety of nails and sail structures to optimize the power propulsion system, etc.

"Is the shipyard still operating normally? Can it build ships?" Zhu Qizhen asked.

Gao Gu replied politely: "Your Majesty, we can build it if you pay for it!"

Zhu Qizhen: “!!!”

Damn, it’s because we’re short of money. After defeating Yesen, we’ve almost exhausted the national treasury.

"How much silver does it take to build a warship of the same size as the one Zheng He used to sail to the West?" he asked again.

Gao Gu, worthy of being the Minister of Industry, thought for a moment and said:

“五百料外海官船造价为1000两银子，四百料的外海官船造价为800两银子，而200料的外海官船造价则为400两银子。每料的平均造价大约为2两银子。”

"Zheng He's treasure ship cost 5,000 taels. Your Majesty, how much silver would you like?"

Zhu Qizhen smiled awkwardly: "Then we don't need to use all 5,000-ton ships. We need to fight against the Japanese invaders right now. Go to the Longjiang Shipyard in Yingtian and submit a report to me."

"Yes, sir." Gao Gu accepted the order and retreated.

Zhu Qizhen sat in the chair and rubbed his eyebrows.

The shipyard must invest heavily to build better warships in the future. I also want to open up the sea and become the overlord of the sea.

……

It is already autumn, and the capital has gradually lost the heat of summer and replaced it with the gentleness of early autumn. The sky is as blue as a wash, high and clear, with a few white clouds wandering leisurely, adding a bit of distant artistic conception to this quiet season.

Zhu Qizhen walked on the street, the breeze blew on his face, bringing a slight coolness, and he could not help but tighten his clothes. Wherever he looked, he saw the unique scenery of early autumn: the leaves of the trees on both sides of the street began to turn yellow, and occasionally a few leaves could not wait to fall down, spinning lightly in the air, and finally lying quietly on the bluestone slabs, paving a golden path.

The sun shone through the sparse clouds and sprinkled on the ancient eaves. The street vendors shouted one after another. Zhu Qizhen walked slowly and came to Ning Rongrong's guild hall.

"Mr. Zhu, it's been a long time since you came." Ning Rongrong greeted him warmly.

She was wearing an elegant long dress that reached the ground, with a slender figure and a gentle temperament. Zhu Qizhen never thought that this cold fairy would be a cruel person.

People should not be judged by their appearance!

He muttered in his heart, but his face was gentle and he smiled slightly: "It's autumn now, I came to you to have a cup of tea."

Ning Rongrong led him into the private room and arranged for the maid to serve tea. Zhu Qizhen pretended to ask casually: "I haven't seen Xiao Cai for a long time, where is she?"

"Oh, Xiaocai has returned home." Ning Rongrong said lightly.

Zhu Qizhen did not ask any more questions. He took a sip of tea and praised it: "Good tea. I think of the tea you made from time to time."

He started flirting, not because he had to get Ning Rongrong, but because he wanted to have some fun with Zhu Wushi's alias. But Ning Rongrong was always hot and cold.

"There's still no news about the book that Young Master asked me to find last time." Ning Rongrong said as she poured tea.

"Don't worry." Zhu Qizhen pretended to be puzzled. "Now that the sea is banned, do those Western merchants dare to come to you?"

Ning Rongrong smiled slightly. Zhu Qizhen said quickly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't ask these questions, this is your... business secret."

"Trade secret? That's an accurate term." Ning Rongrong smiled. "Young Master is very smart, he must know how we do it. Our Chamber of Commerce has its own way and can sell goods overseas."

Zhu Qizhen became interested again, not because of smuggling, but because of their ships. He asked, "Can you get the design drawings of the ships used by Western merchants? I also want to build a ship and go overseas in the future."

Ning Rongrong's eyes flashed with surprise, and then she smiled and nodded: "Of course we have the blueprints, and the Chamber of Commerce also builds ships. Please wait a moment, sir, I will get them for you."

So smooth?

Zhu Qizhen didn't expect Ning Rongrong to be so straightforward. After a while, Ning Rongrong came over with a stack of papers and said, "These are all for you, young master."

"This..." Zhu Qizhen felt a little embarrassed.

"Sir, take it. The spinning machine blueprint you gave me is worth many times more than these." Ning Rongrong's eyes were clear.

Zhu Qizhen was not polite and took them all.

He wanted to give these drawings to the Ministry of Industry so that they could combine the advantages of the East and the West when building ships in the future. After chatting with Ning Rongrong for about half an hour, he left the guild hall.

Ning Rongrong looked at his back and whispered to herself, "You are actually the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!"

She only learned about Zhu Qizhen's identity not long ago. Someone told her.

She stood there for a while, then came to the backyard of the guild hall, opened a room, and saw several memorial tablets inside. She lit three incense sticks and knelt down.

"Your Majesty, Grandpa, I met the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty." Hatred flashed in her eyes.

Since she was young, her parents told her that the Ning family was sentenced to death by Emperor Yongle, and only her father escaped. Yongle was the enemy of her family, and decades later, Yongle had already died. The current Ming emperor is Yongle's great-grandson, and she wants revenge.

……

Zhu Qizhen was holding a circle of scrolls and preparing to return to the palace. On the way, he met Chao Xiaotian. Chao Xiaotian took the initiative to help him hold the scrolls and said as he walked: "Master, I knew it as soon as you entered the guild hall. I'm not saying anything bad about you. Ning Rongrong is not a good person. Why did you go up to her?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Zhu Qizhen glared, "Your people followed her. Did they find anything?"

Chao Xiaotian thought for a while and said, "There's nothing special for now. She shuttles between various merchants, and those merchants respect her very much. Oh, they must be smuggling overseas."

"Have you seen those goods?" Zhu Qizhen asked.

Chao Xiaotian shook his head: "No, their goods are not shipped from the capital at all. The porcelain factories and textile factories are all in Jiangnan, so they can just ship from Jiangnan. We have heard that most of their goods are sold to Westerners, oh, and Japanese pirates."

"What? They are still collaborating with the Japanese?" Zhu Qizhen was shocked.

"Yes!" Chao Xiaotian snorted, "There are still many people from the Central Plains among the Japanese pirates. These bastards brought the Japanese pirates to plunder the Ming Dynasty. They deserve to die."

Zhu Qizhen frowned.

Many of the Japanese pirates were indeed from the Central Plains. They were originally coastal people.

During the Hongwu period, in order to defend against hostile forces and pirates along the coast, and to prevent the remnants of the anti-Yuan righteous army such as Fang Guozhen and Zhang Shicheng from making a comeback by using maritime power, the Ming court implemented a strict maritime ban policy. This policy restricted the livelihoods of coastal residents, forcing them to take risks and become part of the Japanese pirates.

Since Zhengtong ascended the throne, the court has focused on the northern desert, coupled with internal corruption, land annexation and ineffective governance of coastal areas. This has led to the neglect of coastal defense, and coastal residents, without a livelihood, are more likely to be lured or coerced by Japanese pirates.

There is also the economic problem. Trade is blocked, and overseas countries need Ming Dynasty goods. In order to make huge profits, some coastal residents do not hesitate to violate the maritime ban policy and collude with Japanese people to engage in smuggling trade. When the smuggling trade is cracked down by the court, they may turn to pirates or Japanese pirates.

"The fight against the Japanese pirates has begun. It's time to get rid of Ning Rongrong." Zhu Qizhen thought to himself, "Otherwise, the imperial court is fighting against the Japanese pirates, but they are trading with them. Isn't this ridiculous?"

……

Taishan County, Taizhou Prefecture, Daliu Township, this once peaceful and tranquil land is now shrouded in silence and sadness. The new Taizhou prefect Shen Manqing rode slowly into the ruins, his eyes filled with shock and grief.

All around, the once lush farmland had been reduced to nothing, leaving only scorched earth and broken farm tools scattered all over the ground. In the rice fields, the charred rice grains and the ashes of the soil were mixed together, and it was no longer possible to distinguish the harvest scene that had once been there. Occasionally, a gust of wind blew by, bringing with it bursts of pungent smoke.

The villages of Daliu Township are now in ruins. Houses were burned down, leaving only broken walls and some still emitting smoke. The villagers' belongings were looted, including clothes, furniture, and daily necessities.

On the road, there were fallen bodies everywhere, some were burned beyond recognition, and some were chopped by swords, which was horrible to look at. Shen Manqing clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms. He could not imagine the despair and fear these innocent people experienced under the butcher knives of the Japanese pirates.

The cries of the children seemed to still echo in the air, but those young faces were forever frozen in that moment. The helpless eyes of the elderly and the terrified screams of the women, all of this, like a nightmare, entangled in Shen Manqing's heart. He dismounted and walked slowly in the ruins, every step seemed to be on the tip of a knife, his heart was bleeding.

"Sir, we will stay and clean up." A guard came over, "General Zhang is just ahead, you go and meet him."

Shen Manqing bowed towards the village, and stood up after a long time. With tears on his face, he got on his horse and rode away. An hour later, he arrived at a camp. When the guard saw him, he came forward and bowed: "Sir, our general is on that hill."

Following the guard's instructions, Shen Manqing climbed to the top of a hill and saw Zhang Lun standing there. Zhang Lun turned around and smiled at Shen Manqing: "Old Shen, I almost didn't recognize you with your untidy beard. How come you look like us, a rough old man? You are the famous Jade Master in Jiangnan."

"You're such a jerk!" Shen Manqing walked over. "I'm going to report to His Majesty that I'm going to your army and be a jerk prefect."

"That won't do! I need you to provide me with food and fodder." Zhang Lun sighed softly, "You saw the villages looted by the pirates on your way here, right? I hope the court will pay more attention to the southeast this time."

The two men sat down on the rocks, facing the wind. The once jade-like young man now had a weather-beaten face.

"Your Majesty, the Mandarin Duck Formation is quite useful!" Zhang Lun spread his hands, "Otherwise, with the small number of troops in the southeast, I would be stretched to the limit."

Shen Manqing frowned slightly: "I still admire your majesty very much. He has so many troubles of his own, but he can still come up with a mandarin duck formation."

Zhang Lun had a proud look on his face: "Our emperor knows a lot. He knows government affairs, military tactics, and river management. The concrete he made will benefit generations to come. Which emperor in history can compare to him?"

Shen Manqing smiled and spread his hands: "He can also improve the musket. You said he is busy enough as an emperor, how can he have time to think so much? Does he think about these things every day? So he is so busy that he has no new prince until now?"

Zhang Lun looked strange.

……

Night falls.

After dinner, the fake emperor lay on the soft mat, not wanting to move. The pillow he was hugging had the faint fragrance of the Demon Queen. The Demon Queen was taking a bath at this moment. She had to take a bath every day, and it took at least half an hour.

The false emperor was about to fall asleep when he heard a noise. He looked up and saw a graceful and proud figure. It was the demon queen. She had not been avoiding the false emperor recently and had been wearing bold clothes.

She was wearing the pajamas of this era, a thin long skirt that revealed her fair and delicate collarbone, and below that, her snow-capped peaks. Her slender waist was bound so that it could be held in one hand, and her pair of snow-white, straight long legs attracted everyone's attention.

"You haven't left yet?" The Demon Queen came over.

She sat down next to the fake emperor, handed him a towel, and said, "Help me wipe my hair."

Her hair was like a waterfall, not yet dry. She knelt up, flipped her hands, and pushed all her hair to the front. Zhu Qizhen held his forehead and said, "I thought I saw Sadako."

"Sadako, what Sadako? Which woman is this?" asked the Queen of Demons.

The fake emperor took a towel and wiped her hair, hesitatingly saying, "Sadako is... a female ghost."

The Demon Queen knelt down with her head down, and she was so angry that she slapped him with her hand and said angrily, "Who is the female ghost?"

"A beautiful female ghost." The false emperor said without hesitation, "In our hometown, Sadako is the most beautiful female ghost in the legend. She has beautiful hair, just like you."

The demon queen leaned back slightly with her hands, threw her hair to her back, and raised her head: "Tell me the story of Sadako."

Under the candlelight, there was a mature and beautiful face, with her falling hair just covering the spring scenery on her chest. Her skin was as white as jade, like the finest silk, without a single flaw.

The fake emperor smacked his lips, a sly smile flashing across his lips.

A scary ghost story? Won't it scare you into crawling into my arms?

Who told you to just leave after flirting? Don't you know how attractive you are?
You are at your age, as energetic as a wolf and a tiger, while I am a hot-blooded young man, full of passion and rage. What should we do if a fire breaks out?
"Okay, I'll tell you." The fake emperor took her hand and said, "Come closer."

The Demon Queen came closer obediently. She wanted to know more about the Pseudo-Emperor's past. Could he really have come from the future? What would the future be like? She became even more curious.

The false emperor held her little hand and began to speak.

……

"what?"

When the demon queen heard Sadako climbing out of the well again, she screamed in fear. The false emperor took the opportunity to pull her into his arms, hugged her tightly, and stroked her jade back with one hand.

After a while, the Demon Queen realized something was wrong. She raised her beautiful face in his arms and pouted: "You are trying to scare me, right?"

"That's what you want to hear." The fake emperor had an innocent expression.

"Sister, don't you know your little tricks?" The Demon Queen put her arms around his neck, her eyes seductive, "I am a little greedy for your lips."

As she spoke, she took the initiative to move forward.

This time, both of them were very intense. The false emperor clearly felt that the demon queen in his arms seemed like a puddle of mud. He learned from the last lesson and reached out his hand to the mysterious place.

The demon queen's eyes were dazed and she seemed not to notice.

"Ah!" She suddenly screamed and tried hard to push the fake emperor away with both hands.

How could the fake emperor let her succeed? But tears welled up in her eyes and dripped onto the fake emperor's arm.

The false emperor let go, and he gently pinched her chin, slightly exerted force, lifted her cheek, looked into her eyes, and sighed: "I will die in your arms sooner or later."

The Demon Queen reached out and took away his hand that was pinching her chin, tears flashing in her eyes: "I will die in your hands sooner or later."

How could the fake emperor stop the car at this moment? They were already on the highway, and they were about to get close. The demon queen hugged herself with her arms, stared at him, and said, "You won't force me."

It was like a splash of ice water, and both of them sobered up a lot. The fake emperor spread his hands and said, "You have a good rest, I'm leaving."

He turned and left in a hurry. The Demon Queen looked at his back, breathed a sigh of relief, and slowly lay down, muttering to herself: "You are doing evil, playing with fire, sooner or later something bad will happen."

……

Zhu Qizhen came to Yonghe Palace, picked up the somewhat confused Concubine De, and tossed her around for an hour before he calmed down his evil anger.

De Fei leaned in his arms, without any strength left, and spoke weakly: "Your Majesty, the day before yesterday, I went with the Queen Mother to the Fahai Zen Temple to burn incense, and I saw the Queen Mother summoning a man wearing a bamboo hat."

"Ah?" Zhu Qizhen was shocked.

"Originally I was not allowed to go to the backyard at that time. I said I wanted to go to the toilet, and then Shuangxi let me in." Defei frowned, "It was at that time that I saw a man wearing a bamboo hat enter the empress dowager's meditation room. They probably talked for a quarter of an hour. I came out of the toilet and didn't dare to stay, so I went to the main hall. A quarter of an hour later, the empress dowager took Shuangxi back to the palace."

Zhu Qizhen felt strange.

The Queen Mother has a man outside the palace? He immediately rejected this idea. The Queen Mother still has a bottom line. Then, she met that man for another reason. What was that? Who knows what the Queen Mother is plotting?
It seems that we have to ask the Jinyiwei secret guards to keep an eye on the man the Queen Mother met. He should not be just an ordinary person.

"Your Majesty." Concubine De held him in her arms and said softly, "Has Concubine Xian not found a cure for your illness yet?"

Zhu Qizhen was embarrassed, stretched out his hand to pinch her waist, and said, "You want to reap the benefits, right?"

He rubbed his eyebrows and thought, could my infertility be related to my time travel? No, it's not like I'm missing any parts.

……

The next day.

After the morning court session, Zhu Qizhen returned to the Qianqing Palace to deal with memorials. His mind was still thinking about what happened yesterday, wondering whether he should go to see the empress dowager today. That would be very embarrassing.

"The Queen Mother has arrived~" Cao Jixiang's voice came.

Zhu Qizhen was startled, then stood up and saw the Queen Mother walking in, wearing a purple dress, dignified and elegant. Behind her followed Shuangxi, who was holding a food box.

"I heard that Your Majesty didn't have breakfast, so I specially cooked some soup for him." The Queen Mother approached. "It's good to be diligent in government affairs, but you also have to take care of your health."

Her eyebrows and eyes were like paintings, and there was no trace of embarrassment on her beautiful face. Zhu Qizhen was also very calm. He took the soup handed over by Shuangxi and asked in a low voice: "Is it really cooked by the Queen Mother herself?"

Shuangxi blinked: "How is it possible? How could the Queen Mother's hands touch these? Cold water will hurt the Queen Mother's hands."

The Queen Mother on the side glared: "What are you two whispering about?"

Zhu Qizhen picked up the bowl, drank it in three gulps, and praised: "It tastes good, thank you, Queen Mother."

The Queen Mother folded her hands in front of her, looking cool, gentle, and generous: "Come to Kunning Palace for dinner, I will give you some tonic, there is no need to be embarrassed."

"Yes." Zhu Qizhen nodded.

She was taking the initiative to break the ice, so he went down the stairs. She looked around and said to the eunuchs and palace maids, "Your Majesty is diligent in his duties. You must serve him well and not let him go hungry. Otherwise, I will hold you accountable."

The eunuchs and maids were so frightened that they immediately knelt down and said, "Yes!"

The Queen Mother showed off her power for a while and then left. Zhu Qizhen held his forehead and said: "Playing with fire, let's see who gets burned."

He recalled the scene of last night and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

In fact, the queen's body is very honest.

(End of this chapter)