Chapter 6 Sitting in court and listening to politics
After Zhu Houzhuo moved to the Leopard Room, he did not indulge in wine and sex. He knew that playing politics was not a game, and he also knew that there would be many dangers in the future. A strong body was very important. After all, the body is the capital of revolution.
Therefore, after moving to the leopard room, Zhu Houzhao ostensibly had four or five beauties taking turns to accompany him every day, but in fact, he always let himself be Liu Xiahui. He basically got up at 9 o'clock every day to exercise, and went to bed after 1 o'clock, and he was fixed. While listening to Bahu's report on the situation, he was also thinking about his own plan to make money.
On the first day he came to Baofang, Zhu Houzhao had no idea, but it was worth mentioning that he was extremely poor now. All the wealth he accumulated when he was the crown prince was given to the Eight Tigers to build relationships. , not to mention that building the Leopard House also cost him a fortune, and he also had to spend money on beauties, band actors, and mythical beasts, so that people outside would know that he was having fun.
So now he has to live a miserable life, with only steamed buns as the staple food for breakfast every day, and only three dishes and one soup for lunch and dinner.
Although it was relatively well-off compared to ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty, at least three meals a day. After all, the Ming Dynasty now only eats two meals a day, but for him, the emperor, it cannot but be said to be very shabby.
Whether it was accumulating capital to participate in political struggles or improving his own life, Zhu Houzhao had to find new ways of making money on his own. As for his own internal funds, he could only let the eunuchs from the Ministry of Revenue and the Internal Transport Treasury look after him.
When eating steamed buns in the morning, Zhu Houzhao thought that soda ash was needed for the fermentation of steamed buns. From soda ash, he thought of the saponification reaction. So the first way he thought of to make a fortune was to make soap and sell it.
Zhu Houzhao gave the last silver at the bottom of the box to his eunuch Luo Xiang and asked him to go to Qipan Street outside Daming Gate to purchase a batch of raw materials for making soap according to his own order. At the same time, he asked Qiu Ju to open up a place with good water sources near the Leopard House. Named "Royal Industrial Experimental Base".
To people of this era, Ming Emperor Zhu Houzhao was definitely doing something improper and fooling around, but only Zhu Houzhao himself knew that he was taking the first step in starting the industrialization of Ming Dynasty.
Although Zhu Houzhao was gearing up to fight in the Leopard Room, he still performed some basic duties as an emperor in this era, one of which was going to court.
On the second night after arriving at the Leopard Room, he returned to Qianqing Palace and began to prepare for the imperial court on the third day.
This can be regarded as the first great dynasty after the new emperor Zhu Houzhao ascended the throne. Zhu Houzhao got up when he came to the throne. When he was waiting for him to come to the main hall of Qianqing Palace, it was still dark, but because it was the first time in the new dynasty, he did not feel that It was so boring, I just felt it was new. According to the ceremony prescribed by the Ministry of Rites, I began to sit in court and listen to politics.
Generally, this kind of court meeting is mostly ceremonial and does not discuss some important state affairs, but there are exceptions.
Now this morning is an exception.
Liu Daxia, the Minister of War, and Liu Jian, the cabinet scholar, and others smiled and looked at Zhu Houzhao with some contempt. They thought that Zhu Houzhao would definitely be inexperienced when he went to court for the first time and would be at the mercy of civil servants like himself.
Liu Daxia, Minister of the Ministry of War, winked at He Tianqu, the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and soon he appeared in the center of the court:
"Your Majesty, I would like to impeach the Minister of Civil Affairs, Ma Wensheng, because of his old age and frailty, which has led to the neglect of government affairs. People who are in such a low position should no longer cling to power! This is to comfort the underachievers!"
As soon as He Tianqu, the imperial censor, finished speaking, the court suddenly erupted in uproar. No one expected that Ma Wensheng, the patriarch of the Four Dynasties, would be impeached in front of his majesty and officials for his love of the throne. No one can bear this insult, not to mention Ma Wensheng is a person who cares about reputation.
"You!"
Ma Wensheng was immediately furious. He pointed at the censor He Tianqu and was speechless for a long while, but his eyes were fixed on Jiao Fang, the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
The censor, He Tianqu, still held the memorial with a calm expression.
Cabinet scholar Liu Jian and others just watched all this in silence.
Liu Daxia, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, secretly smiled. Seeing Ma Wensheng glaring at Jiao Fang, he felt even more satisfied. He secretly thought that the plan of killing two birds with one stone was indeed successful. Now he is just waiting for you, Ma Wensheng, to resign, and then your disciples will attack Jiao Fang, so that I can be promoted. It’s official!
Zhu Houzhao naturally saw through the key here, and understood that Ma Wensheng was impeached now because he questioned the death of Emperor Hongzhi when Emperor Hongzhi died, and was jealous of the cabinet. Zhu Houzhao could guess that Ma Wensheng would definitely resign from his official position to prove his innocence.
However, Zhu Houzhao would not let Ma Wensheng leave the court, because once Ma Wensheng left, the entire court would be controlled by cabinet Liu Jian and others, and his situation would be even more difficult by then.
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao said with great regret: "The late emperor repeatedly told me to pity my veterans and use them more. Now how can I dismiss Ma Aiqing just because he is old? Wouldn't that hurt the hearts of the veterans? This proposal is rejected!"
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He Tianqu, the censor, had no choice but to retire. However, Liu Jian and others in the cabinet and Liu Daxia, the minister of war, were not disappointed. On the contrary, they were a little moved and were very willing to see the new emperor Zhu Houzhao be considerate of his veterans. After all, they were also veterans, but they I believe Ma Wensheng will definitely resign. After all, according to convention, both cabinet bachelors and ministers will resign once they are impeached, otherwise they will be seen as clinging to power.
As long as Ma Wensheng resigns, Liu Jian and other cabinet bachelors, who have already taken control of the inner court, are confident that they will directly vote to approve Ma Wensheng's resignation, in which case they will expel Ma Wensheng from the court.
Of course, once Ma Wensheng was expelled from the court, the blame for deposing the old minister would still fall on Emperor Zhu Houzhao, because theoretically, Ma Wensheng's resignation could only be approved by the emperor.
But in fact, the emperor Zhu Houzhao still has no way to refuse the cabinet's vote, and he doesn't even have the power to refuse to approve the red, because neither the ceremonial supervisor nor the cabinet can listen to him now.
However, Liu Jian and other civil officials obviously not only wanted Emperor Zhu Houzhao to take the blame, but also wanted Emperor Zhu Houzhao to stay in the palace and take the blame. After all, the fact that the emperor did not live in the palace meant that they could not control the emperor.
Therefore, Hu Keji stood up in Xia Shi at this time: "Your Majesty, I have heard from you that your Majesty is not staying in the palace but is seeking pleasure in Xiyuan. Now that the emperor Daxing's spirit is not at peace, I hope your majesty will be considerate to the world." He moved back to the palace and demolished the Leopard Room to show his determination to govern! ”
Zhu Houzhao was even more angry at this time. He did not expect that Liu Jian and other cabinet academicians and the Ministry of War Minister Liu Daxia's party not only wanted to drive Ma Wensheng out of the court, but also wanted to drive him, the emperor, back to the palace. In their eyes, It’s as if he can’t govern the country if he lives outside the palace.
"The weather is hot right now, the Qianqing Palace has not been repaired for a long time, and the ice bank is in short supply. The Daxing Emperor has suffered from heatstroke while living in the Qianqing Palace, and even Long Yu died because of it. Now you want me to go back and collapse due to heat stroke?"< br>
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but asked coldly.
At this moment, Hu Ke didn't know what to say to Shi Zhongxia Shi. He didn't dare to say anything just to kill the monarch. Hu Ke gave Shi Zhongxia Shi a quick glance at Liu Jian.
What else could Liu Jian, the chief assistant of the cabinet, say? He did not dare to force Zhu Houzhao back to the palace in front of all the officials. He said that he would burn Zhu Houzhao to death, so he had no choice but to say: "Your Majesty said it is true. The health of the dragon body is a big deal." , it’s not too late to move back to Qianqing Palace after the hot summer days are over.”
After the chief assistant of the cabinet Liu Jian finished speaking, both Li Dongyang and Xie Qian were a little unhappy, but they secretly thought that the answer given by the chief assistant Liu Jian was also very good. They did not believe that Zhu Houzhao had a reason to stay in the Leopard Room after the summer heat was over.
"Just as Liu Aiqing said, we'll talk about it in three months!"
Zhu Houzhao quickly settled down to prevent these civil servants from going back on their word.
After temporarily withdrawing from the court, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Liu Daxia and other parties were in a good mood. They left the court chatting and laughing. After all, they not only successfully impeached Ma Wensheng, but also got His Majesty the Emperor to return to the palace in three months. The promise of living here.
Ma Wensheng was very disappointed at this time. He naturally didn't want to resign, but he knew that he had to resign now, and he would definitely be expelled from the court by Liu Jian and other cabinet ministers. Who told him that he didn't control it at that time? He questioned the cause of the late emperor's death.
When Liu Jian left, he glanced at Ma Wensheng and smiled coldly. He just barely stepped forward and pointed at Ma Wensheng and said, "Even if you are the Minister of Civil Affairs, if I want you to get out of the court, you can get out of the court!"
Zhu Houzhao also saw Ma Wensheng's disappointment and Liu Jian's arrogance, and only smiled faintly.
(End of chapter)