Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

A person with whom I have never crossed paths turns out to be looking for myself.

When Zhu Youtang heard these words, he immediately doubted himself and quickly searched his mind. He soon determined that he had not had any interaction with Princess Dayuan in his monotonous life as a prince.

In fact, there is no possibility of intersection! The Ming Dynasty and Beiyuan have always been in a state of hostility, and Wang Zhi and Wang Yue once even went straight to the Khan's court. What reason would a prince and a princess have to meet?

Liu Jin was standing at the nearby sandalwood stove playing with sandalwood. Hearing this, he turned to look at the Shuntian Prefect in confusion.

"Reporting to your majesty, Princess Yixi claimed that she was entrusted by the dead master Shen Mo and came to Shuntian Mansion to find Huang Shang to return the painting. Huang Shang, this name is worthy of scrutiny, and Yixi even has the appearance of Huang Shang. I don’t know, and I saw that the painting of Princess Yixi turned out to be an imitation of Gu Hong’s painting, so I boldly concluded that it was a secret picture that Shen Mo wanted to send to His Majesty through Princess Yixi!” Song Cheng greeted Zhu Youtang With shocked eyes, he expressed his judgment.

Zhu Youtang suddenly realized that he had misunderstood. Princess Yikesi was not an old acquaintance of his, so he asked confusedly: "I remember that Gu Hong was a painter of the Southern Tang Dynasty. What is the significance of Gu Hong's paintings?"

Liu Jin had never heard of this Southern Tang painter. He replaced the sandalwood cover and looked at the black-faced young man who was talking in confusion.

"Your Majesty only knows that Gu Hong is a painter of the Southern Tang Dynasty, but few people in the world know that Gu Hong is actually a spy of the Emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Gu Hong was ordered to spy on the important minister Han Xizai, and at that time he painted the famous "Han Xizai Night Banquet", so I infer that Shen Mo I want to pass on information about the Northern Yuan Dynasty to Your Majesty through Princess Yikexi!" Song Cheng made a bold inference based on his own knowledge.

Zhu Youtang knew that in addition to sending Ye Bushou into the desert, some general soldiers or governors of the Ming Dynasty also had the tradition of sending spies to lurk in Mongolia, and this Shen Mo was probably the spy sent by the Ming Dynasty to Mongolia.

If other people inferred that Shen Mo was a secret agent of the Ming Dynasty based on a painting and a name, he would not believe it, but Song Cheng had already proven his amazing ability to infer.

Now that Song Cheng dared to infer this and came to meet him in person, it proved that he was quite confident about this inference.

Zhu Youtang nodded noncommittally and asked directly: "Where is the painting?"

"Your Majesty, the painting is still in the hands of Princess Yixi! This painting may involve major secrets, and the matter has nothing to do with Shuntian Mansion. I just came to report!" Song Cheng was not a person who liked to rob, so he immediately explained .

Huh?

Liu Jin looked at this dark-faced young man seriously, but she didn't know whether he was smooth or principled. It seemed that the painting could be snatched directly and presented to His Majesty.

Zhu Youtang knew that it was a very simple matter for him to seize the painting from Yikesi's hand, so he changed the subject and said, "Song Qing, you should have met Du Ming and Wang Xiang when you came, right?"

"Yes, I happened to bump into him in front of Xiyuan Gate!" Song Cheng's eyes were firm and he nodded seriously.

Zhu Youtang picked up the tea cup on the table and asked seriously: "Song Qing, do you know what errand I just sent to the two of them?"

"Du Shangshu and Wang Xiang were in a hurry. Du Shangshu was a humble servant, but when he saw the minister this time, he just bowed his head and left. I guessed that the two of them were ordered to search an official's house together, or to search a certain official's house. Official's home!" Song Cheng's eyes seemed to be looking at Zhu Youtang motionlessly, and he seemed to reason very honestly.

Zhu Youtang knew that the dark-faced young man in front of him had very keen observation skills. He held a teacup and poured tea lightly and said: "The two of them were ordered to raid a house. Can you guess which house I want them to raid? "

"Your Majesty suddenly talked about this matter with the minister, so the officials under inspection may be related to me. There is only one person involved with important officials in the court, and that is my teacher Xu Pu!" Song Cheng thought for a moment and then Give your own judgment.

Zhu Youtang couldn't help but look high at Song Cheng, then took a sip of tea and said: "You guessed it right, I just asked Du Ming and Wang Xiang to go and inspect Xu Pu's house!" After a pause, that's it. He spoke eloquently: "This time I ordered two of them to search Sun Jiao's house and got a number of letters from Sun Jiao's study. Most of them were written by Xu Pu. They actually ordered Sun Jiao to help him promote local officials. After verification, Most of the officials who were promoted or transferred were former disciples of Xu Pu. This move involved nepotism and committed the crime of treason! Although Xu Pu hanged himself today, his followers are still there, so they will inevitably be used by treacherous ministers in the court again. Therefore, I want to find out the number of traitors in the Qing Dynasty. Du Ming, Minister of Punishment, and Wang Xiangzai Ming, I hope you can abandon the relationship between teacher and student with Xu Pu and investigate this matter secretly for me. What do you think?"

"Your Majesty, I am a minister of the Ming Dynasty, and I am deeply favored by you now. Although I voted for my disciples to assassinate the Xu Mansion because of the college entrance examination, I never had the intention to form a party, nor did I have any selfish thoughts. The court formed a party and disrupted the government. , Traitor parties will definitely harm the country and the people, which is not allowed by law. I am willing to eradicate the traitors for Your Majesty, so as to restore the purity of the court!" Song Cheng knew that His Majesty was worried that he would protect Xu Pu, so he solemnly expressed his stance.

This is of course a true statement. The reason why he surrendered to his disciples back then was due to the bad atmosphere in the officialdom. Although he complained about this move, Xu Pu had a reputation as a virtuous man at the time, so he accepted the apprenticeship with him in the same year without hesitation.

It's just that what he believed in was never the Confucian and Mencius principles of unconditional respect for teachers, but the pursuit of justice.

Not to mention that it was not his wish to become a teacher and student with Xu Pu, but now that he learned that Xu Pu was secretly forming a party, he naturally had to find out the evidence of Xu Pu's crime.

Zhu Youtang put down the tea cup in his hand, nodded gently and said: "In that case, I will give you a token, and both Du Ming and Wang Xiang will share information with you! You focus on investigating how these officials secretly convey benefits. , and how they communicated privately in secret, striving to find evidence of their forming a clique for personal gain!"

Sun Jiao's incident has actually exposed the biggest secret of the civil service group. They manipulate the promotion of local officials through the humble Merit Examination Department and the Literature Selection Department to achieve an ulterior purpose.

It's not an easy task to find out those people who are clinging to each other from this intricate network of relationships. After all, it's impossible for everyone to keep letters like Sun Jiao.

However, no matter how difficult it is, we still have to carry out an investigation. If we continue to follow the examination department and the literary selection department, we will definitely be able to eliminate the cancer hidden in the Ming Dynasty.

"I accept the order!" Song Cheng's black face still looked as straight as Gu Jing's, and he immediately saluted politely.

When Zhu Youtang saw that the matter was over, he gently raised his hand and said: "Go down!"

"I beg you to retire. Long live my emperor, long live, long live!" Song Cheng, who had always been grateful to Zhu Youtang for his kindness, bowed respectfully and left.

Zhu Youtang watched Song Cheng leave with a pensive expression on his face.

With Song Cheng's talents and his upright character, he is actually qualified for the position of Minister of Dali Temple, even more suitable than Du Ming, the Minister of Punishment.

But he knew that to be an emperor who was good at power, it was not advisable to feed an official in one go, otherwise it would be difficult to control him later.

No matter what kind of officials they are, they must let them walk step by step along the palace road in front of them, so that they will understand the difficulty and cherish this hard-won official position even more.

Before his promotion, Song Cheng was just a member of the Zhejiang Qing Dynasty Officials Department, a small official in the Ministry of Justice. Now he is the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, known as the Small Ministry of Justice.

That's why it's not advisable to overthrow the seedlings now, and it's not advisable to apply too much fertilizer. Song Cheng can stay in the position of Shuntian Prefecture Yin for a year or two.

Time has quietly arrived in July, which is the most difficult time of the year.

Since it has not rained for many days, the capital is now like a big steamer. People in the capital will be sweating profusely after staying outside for a while. The water level of the 700-acre Taiye Pond has dropped and its area has become slightly smaller.

Since he was transferred to Yangxin Hall to handle government affairs, Zhu Youtang's contacts with officials have obviously increased significantly, and the most contacts were actually with Wan An and Liu Ji from the cabinet.

The weather is still hot today. Zhu Youtang called Wan An and Liu Ji to the Yangxin Hall to enjoy the freshly made sour plum soup together. This is undoubtedly a supreme honor.

The sour plum soup continuously improved by Liu Yidao is not only a good way to prevent heatstroke, but also a delicacy in the world. Drinking the cool, sour and sweet sour plum soup in this hot summer season is definitely a super enjoyment for the body and taste buds.

Seventy years has been rare in life, but now Wan'an is already seventy-two, and he has no resistance to the scorching heat, so he likes this sour plum soup the most.

"Two pavilion elders, please enjoy!" Liu Jin personally served the iced sour plum soup and said respectfully.

Zhu Youtang is not a person who likes meetings very much, so he chooses to discuss matters that do not require large-scale discussions with two cabinet ministers. Naturally, his external rhetoric is that he cannot bear to let Li Yu and others come over in the scorching heat.

Although he was an emperor who kept his word, he still had to use some means to win over people's hearts. It only took a considerate word to get officials to die, which was undoubtedly a cost-effective deal.

Zhu Youtang had two beautiful maids fanning himself, so he got straight to the point: "You must have heard about what happened in the Li Dynasty, right?"

"I have indeed heard that the Li Dynasty dared to loot the Ming Dynasty's pearl fishing ship, which is the highest crime!" Wan An and Liu Ji exchanged glances and said solemnly.

Zhu Youtang picked up the sour plum soup in the bowl and expressed his opinion: "There is no solid evidence for the looting of the pearl boat. Now whether the Ming Dynasty will go to war with Annan, I haven't made a decision yet! However, The southwest of the Ming Dynasty is not peaceful, and we should be prepared for danger in times of peace, so the granaries in Guangdong must be consolidated. Mr. Wange, please order the officials to transfer Guangdong officials as soon as possible, and let the censors keep an eye on the granaries of each government. Don't know that there is no rice in the granaries until wartime. , that is a crime other than war!”

"Old minister, remember this, I will definitely urge the officials and the censors in Guangdong!" Wan An knew that this matter was very important, and immediately put down the sour plum soup he had just picked up.

Zhu Youtang took a sip of the refreshing sour plum soup, then turned to look at Liu Ji and said, "Mr. Liu Ge, Datong has already started the second round of negotiations, right?"

An important reason why he has not yet made a clear attitude towards Annan is that the negotiations between Ming Dynasty and Mongolia have not yet reached a formal result.

Although he has decided to take the road of strengthening the country, the war for Jianzhou has been started first. Now that the negotiations with Mongolia have broken down, it is really not appropriate to start a war against Annan Li Dynasty.

After all, fighting is not only about the military's combat power, but also about a country's money and food.

Now the shuttle loom has just been promoted, and Ming Dynasty's trade with North Korea has not yet been carried out, and it has not officially entered maritime trade.

If we choose to fight on the third front now, the salt tax that has just been sorted out alone will not be enough to support such a large military operation, so the best thing to do is to wait for the results of the negotiations on the Mongolian side.

"Your Majesty, if you count the time, the second round of negotiations should start today!" Liu Ji didn't say much, but responded very reliably.

"Your Majesty, are you worried that our talks with Mongolia will collapse? Judging from the feedback from Xu Qiong and Chen Kun, since Manduhai has already asked about His Majesty's character, I'm afraid he is interested in seeking peace!" Wan'an took up the sour plum soup again, He expressed his opinion.

Zhu Youtang put down the bowl gently, but shook his head gently and said: "If peace is really negotiated, we must start the next plan! Beiyuan has always been a worry for Ming Dynasty. Once it is allowed to become powerful, the victims will be After all, we are still the Ming Dynasty, so we have to make arrangements in advance now!"

"Your Majesty, you still want to fight?" Wan An asked in surprise as he stopped taking the sour plum soup to his mouth.

Zhu Youtang's heart moved slightly, and he smiled slightly and said: "There is a way to fight, and there is a way not to fight! Do the two cabinet elders have free time today?"

"I am willing to listen to your majesty's orders!" Liu Ji said immediately, not knowing what kind of medicine Zhu Youtang was selling in his gourd.

Huh?

Liu Jin saw Liu Ji taking the lead in expressing his stance, and couldn't help but look at Wan An, who had been silent for a long time.

Gu Gu Gu Gu...

Wan'an guessed that Zhu Youtang was leaving here, and he might have gone to Tingchao Pavilion to fish on a hot day, but he drank the cold sour plum soup in one gulp.

After drinking this cold, sour and sweet drink, my whole body seemed to suddenly look ten years younger.

If there is any difference between Emperor Hongzhi and Emperor Chenghua, it is that the young Emperor Hongzhi is so amazing in eating and drinking, he is simply a gourmet.

Wan An drank the sour plum soup in the bowl, wiped it from his sleeve to his mouth, and hurriedly expressed his position: "I am willing to listen to your majesty's orders!"

When Liu Ji saw Wan An's flowing movements, he immediately realized that this veteran was getting younger, and it seemed that he would have to wait a few more years before he had a chance to take over.

Zhu Youtang took a deep look at the greedy old chief minister, but he still had enough room for him, so he stood up and led the two of them out of the Nourishing Heart Hall.

What surprised Wan An and Liu Ji was that Zhu Youtang did not lead them to Tingchao Pavilion for fishing, but actually wanted to leave the palace through Xi'an Gate.