Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 48 Yuan Zonggao urges marriage

In early summer, the weather is getting hotter.

Zhu Houcong also picked up a fan and enjoyed the coolness under the shade of the tree.

When Yuan Zonggao arrived at Qingning Palace, he saw Zhu Houcong sitting under a big tree in the garden of Qingning Palace, reading a memorial.

"His Majesty!"

Yuan Zonggao called out first, and then swayed slightly as he was about to kneel down and pay his respects.

Zhu Houcong hurriedly put down his memorial, walked over quickly, and supported him: "Sir, please don't be polite."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Yuan Zonggao smiled slightly.

He had not seen Zhu Houcong since Zhu Houcong ascended the throne, so now he just looked at him a few more times.

In his eyes, Zhu Houcong now seemed to have a little more dignity of a superior. Although he still treated him with great respect, he could feel that his student had begun to possess the manners that an emperor should have. His every move and gesture was already dignified, and his face was a little rosier than when he first entered the capital.

"Today we are just meeting in private, and there is no need for any formalities. The people around you are all old people from the palace. Sir, just sit on the chair, and I will talk to you."

Zhu Houcong knew that Yuan Zonggao was old and had not been in good health since he came to Beijing, so before Yuan Zonggao came, he had someone prepare a soft chair with a mattress.

After confessing his crime, Yuan Zonggao sat down as ordered, and said to Zhu Houcong with a smile: "I have heard that Your Majesty ordered the ministers to clear the farmland just ten days after taking office, so that hundreds of thousands of refugees and dismissed soldiers had a chance to settle down. As a result, people praised Your Majesty for his benevolence and love for the people, and said that the Ming Dynasty had a great chance of revival."

"What pure hearts the people have!"

Zhu Houcong said with a smile.

then.

Zhu Houcong stopped smiling again, his face calm, and said to Yuan Zonggao:

"But I know this is not something to be proud of. The treasury is still empty, the expenditure is still huge, the people are still struggling, the great evils of the world have not been eliminated, and there is no talk of revival!"

After Yuan Zonggao revealed his true intention to reform the system to him, Zhu Houcong no longer intended to hide his inner thoughts from Yuan Zonggao.

Moreover, he also needs to give correct information to those who truly care about him, so as to avoid misunderstandings.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong told Yuan Zonggao the truth and sighed after he finished speaking.

Yuan Zonggao smiled knowingly, his eyes full of satisfaction, secretly sighing that it was rare that the emperor whom he had watched grow up since he was a child, had not lost his childlike innocence, and was truly concerned about the country and the people. He was not proud and complacent just because he had cleared the fields and pacified the people, but was mature beyond his years, calm on the outside and wise on the inside.

to this end.

Yuan Zonggao could not help but swallow back the many words he wanted to say to persuade Zhu Houcong not to be too complacent, and just smiled and said:
"Once the mourning period is over, Your Majesty should choose a daughter for marriage as soon as possible!"

"Offspring are the foundation of a stable country. The late emperor has learned from this lesson. The cause of the rebellion by Prince Ning was this."

Zhu Houcong did not reject Yuan Zonggao's urging for marriage. He just nodded and said, "I was just about to tell you about this, sir."

"Your Majesty, please give me your instructions."

Yuan Zonggao hurriedly stood up and prepared to perform a grand ceremony.

Zhu Houcong hurriedly asked him to sit back down, and stood up and said with his back to him:

"Although the imperial court selects concubines from humble families, it is to avoid the influence of foreign relatives and interference in government affairs."

"But everything has its pros and cons, and it's hard to be perfect."

"So there are also disadvantages in selecting daughters from poor families. Daughters from small families are either too honest and naive and easily bewitched, or too crude and shallow and easily radical. If there are docile, modest and beautiful daughters, they are often from snobbish and inferior families who are sent to live in poor families. If you want to see daughters from honest families who are docile and intelligent, you need to secretly select more for me from the people."

"Your Majesty is talking about families that are serious, respectful and value their children's education. They are low-key and do not want to be famous. You have to carefully select them to find them."

"I will follow the imperial edict and secretly select people for your majesty to prevent evildoers from taking advantage of the situation."

Yuan Zonggao nodded.

He admitted that what Zhu Houcong said made sense.

No matter how good a system is, there will always be people trying to exploit loopholes.

The system of selecting concubines is no exception.

Although the requirement is to select concubines from the common people, there is often collusion between insiders and outsiders, and some people who are not virgins or from honest families may be selected into the palace.

It was because Zhu Houcong knew this that he gave these instructions to Yuan Zonggao.

Because in the Ming Dynasty where the commodity economy is becoming more and more prosperous, people's impetuousness will only become more and more serious, there will be more and more opportunists, and there will be more and more people who want to make progress and are not willing to be mediocre.

Men would voluntarily castrate themselves for the sake of wealth and fame, and line up to enter the inner court. The same is true for women. The chastity and integrity emphasized by Neo-Confucianism can be pushed as far as possible. If they can really enter the inner court and win the position of empress or concubine, they would rather eat mercury every day to make their skin more tender, and let their family spend more money, which is nothing.

Therefore, we must be vigilant about many things.

After all, Zhu Houcong didn't want the mother of a future prince to be someone who was not only blinded by greed but also had serious excessive levels of heavy metals in her body, which would probably affect the IQ and physical fitness of her offspring.

"There is one more matter which would be more suitable for you, sir."

Zhu Houcong said again with a smile.

then.

Zhu Houcong said: "Although this cleanup of farmland is not a major policy, it is beneficial to the country and the people. It is also the first policy for the people's livelihood that I have taken since I ascended the throne. It must be announced to the world to inspire people."

"So, my idea is that you should bring the old people in the palace to compile and publish a newspaper similar to the "Di Bao" for me. The sentences should be plain, so that even peddlers and hawkers who are illiterate can understand the general meaning by listening to others reading. In this way, we can recruit those small-family scholars who have not passed the imperial examination for a long time to write and proofread articles, so that they can also have an additional livelihood."

"In addition, you must stand upright and follow my command."

After Zhu Houcong said this, Yuan Zonggao understood what he meant, and could not help but admire him, and said: "Your Majesty is really wise and intelligent. You actually thought of such a way to seize the right to speak out in the world. In this way, it will be easier to reform the system and revitalize the country!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Yuan Zonggao responded immediately.

Afterwards, Yuan Zonggao said, "It's just that if you want to establish yourself, you need to have both righteousness and benefit. I am old and have no desire for wealth and honor. I am willing to serve your majesty. However, the other old people in the palace, although they know your majesty's kindness, they hope to bring glory to their ancestors and live a life of wealth and honor. So please treat them with both righteousness and benefit."

Zhu Houcong nodded and said, "I have also considered this. My plan is to continue to promote them. At the same time, the paper we publish, let's call it newspaper, will be sold to the public, and the profits will be shared with them. In addition, the newspapers we run can be allowed to publish some content that promotes various commercial products for a fee, and the profits will also be shared with them. The specific division and the establishment of rewards and punishments are all up to you, sir."

Yuan Zonggao did not expect that Zhu Houcong had already made plans, and was even more surprised, and said: "In this case, I will obey the imperial edict and do it."

"This newspaper is named "Yumin Newspaper". These three words are written at the beginning of the newspaper, aiming to educate the people and make people in the world know my intention to govern the country and understand the difficulties of the country."

"I will ask the Imperial Household Department to provide assistance with printing equipment and craftsmen."

"The silver spent initially also came from the inner treasury, not from the outer court."

Zhu Houcong continued.

Yuan Zonggao bowed and said yes.

Zhu Houcong also sat back, with his hands on his knees, and said to Yuan Zonggao with a smile: "I asked you in the past what position you wanted to take when you came to Beijing. You said that you were old and weak and could not handle the important position, so you had to give it to a wise man. I thought about your health, so I handed this matter over to you and did not let you manage the ministry. Even if you join the cabinet in the future, it will only be an honorary title."

"Your Majesty, I am grateful for your understanding."

Yuan Zonggao thanked him and said, "This is the best way to avoid people from criticizing your majesty for favoring personal connections and being close to wise men, but it's just empty talk."

Zhu Houcong waved his hand: "Not worth it!"

"But what you said, sir, is also one of the reasons why I did this."

"Also, let you organize the old people in the mansion together to do individual things, not involving government affairs, so as to prevent them from being lured and corrupted by people with ulterior motives in the future. In this way, it is better to gather them together because they have feelings for the palace, are closely related, and are not deeply infected by the evil trends in the court, so as to do things that benefit themselves, me and the country."

"Besides, most of them only know the internal affairs of the palace and have no knowledge of the practical affairs of the court. I am also worried about letting them work in the government offices and causing people to laugh at them."

After Zhu Houcong said this, Yuan Zonggao nodded and said, "Your Majesty is wise and benevolent. They will surely be grateful to Your Majesty and know the depth of your grace."

"But what I want is not just to let them know the depth of the emperor's grace."

Zhu Houcong replied with a smile.

If politics is not promoted, it is like wearing fine clothes walking at night.

Zhu Houcong would not really keep a low profile just because clearing the farmland in the capital was not a major national policy, but would try his best to promote himself.

After all, this is also an important position.

otherwise.

No one can say for sure whether the conservatives will completely erase all traces of your political achievements in history books just because you are too low-key. Those with a little conscience may leave a few notes for you.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong had to spend money to publish a newspaper.

He wanted to let the civil servants among his old people in the palace take charge of this matter.

And let everyone in the world know that he took drastic measures to clear the fields in the capital, resettled hundreds of thousands of refugees and a large number of disbanded military academies.

It also lets those people in the world who still hope that the Ming Dynasty will revive and change know that there is still hope for the Ming Dynasty, and it will rekindle their confidence and make them not give up and fall into depravity, but willing to continue to work for the emperor and the world, and willing to continue to maintain the fair order in this world.

(End of this chapter)