Chapter 4 The Dragon King’s
capital, Xiyuan, Yuxi Palace.
Jiajing, the emperor who had been in power for thirty-three years, used great rituals to remove the civil servants who supported him as a young man after he ascended the throne, showing his extraordinary talent for power.
In today's Jiajing, the ability to manipulate people's minds and manipulate the situation of the government has reached its peak.
At this time, the Daojun Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was sitting on an exquisite futon.
Yuxi Palace is a Taoist-style palace. Four golden nanmu pillars that can only be hugged by two people support a towering dome, and the futon where Emperor Jiajing sits faces the center of the dome.
The futon is surrounded by gold inlaid on the floor tiles, forming the image of Bagua.
At this time, the "loyal and filial emperor" who carried the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty on his shoulders was reciting Taoist scriptures with his eyes closed.
He held a copper pestle and gently tapped the copper rod in front of the futon, making bursts of metal and stone sounds.
Lu Fang, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, was called the internal minister by the ministers in the outer court, and the eunuch in the inner court was respectfully called the ancestor. At this time, he knelt respectfully beside the futon and read the memorials of the ministers to Emperor Jiajing.
Lu Fang's voice was melodious and his words were clear. The ability of this imperial minister that Jiajing admired the most was his ability to extract the key content from the misty memorials of the ministers.
At this time, Lu Fang was reading a memorial written by Nie Bao, Minister of the Ministry of War. Lu Fang did not read according to the memorial, but picked out the most critical part of the memorial and told it to the emperor: "Your Majesty, Nie Shangshu has stated that the world is now equipped with military equipment
. The fundamental reason for cheating is that General will not pay attention to the court and is unwilling to serve the court."
Jiajing stopped reciting Taoist scriptures and tapped the copper plate lightly. Lu Fang, who was best at figuring out Jiajing's mind, immediately continued:
"General The reason why the imperial court did not pay attention to proofreading is because they have resentment towards the imperial court."
Jiajing tapped the copper plate again. Lu Fang knew that this memorial had aroused Jiajing's interest, and he quickly said:
"Nie Shangshu read the survey of the Ministry of War, and now the Wei Many of the officers in the institute are descendants of convicts who were exiled to the army for their crimes. The ancestors of these people were originally criminals in the Ming Dynasty. They have been imprisoned in the military for generations for their crimes. Now their descendants have become officers because of their luck and merit. How much influence can they have on the court? Where can I speak of loyalty?"
"It is stated in the laws of this dynasty that the descendants of guilty ministers cannot serve as officials. These descendants of guilty ministers mingled with the generals, which ruined the atmosphere of the guard station and made the soldiers of the guard station so unfit for battle. "
Only hearing Tong Qing knocking three times in succession, Lu Fang knew that this was Emperor Jiajing's interest in this memorial. He immediately continued: "
Now that the Japanese rebellion in the southeast has not been put down for a long time, there are also these criminal officials in the guards who care about themselves. The reason. Nie Shangshu believed that the imperial court should send envoys to investigate the descendants of criminal ministers in various places, remove them from their official positions, recover the rewards and generous salaries of the imperial court over the years, use the money to pay for the military, and then select the best talents in the army to serve as military academies. Then there is no need for the imperial court to lose money and food, and the Japanese pirate chaos in the southeast will be solved by itself."
Lu Fang carefully looked at the face of Emperor Jiajing on the futon, only to see the solemn face of the loyal and filial emperor, with no indication of likes or dislikes.
Lu Fang once again lamented the unfathomable power of God, and heard Jiajing suddenly ask:
"What does the cabinet think?"
Lu Fang immediately turned to the end of the memorial, glanced at the cabinet approval and said:
"Mr. Yan Ge is in favor, Mr. Xu Ge is against it." , Mr. Li Ge was non-committal."
Jiajing said with a smile: "Are you wondering why the two cabinet ministers changed their positions?"
Lu Fang quickly lowered his head. As the eunuch Bingbi, the eunuch who was the chief of etiquette, he was the most taboo. It means making friends with foreign ministers.
Hearing the emperor's probing intention, Lu Fang quickly said: "How can I guess the elder's thoughts?" Jiajing suddenly raised his voice and said: "They
are ministers, and you are also a minister! In terms of loyalty, foreign ministers are not as good as you internal ministers. But since ancient times, emperors have always used foreign ministers and have not used internal ministers like you to govern the country. Lu Fang, do you know why?"
Lu Fang kowtowed quickly and did not dare to answer.
Jiajing said: "Because foreign ministers can relieve your father's worries! Xu Jie and his gang have been using the Southeast Japanese pirates to complain about poverty all day long and talk in vain. Nie Bao is the only one who knows how to share your father's worries. I want to use "I only have ministers who can do things like this."
"Let the Ministry of War draw up a plan and submit it to the cabinet."
Lu Fang immediately understood what the emperor meant. The first thing that the emperor valued was the sentence "The Japanese pirates' rebellion will be resolved on their own." What he valued even more was that using money from criminal officials to pay Mo's troops could stop Qingliu from complaining about poverty.
And the extra money will naturally be used to build a palace for Emperor Zhongxiao!
Lu Fang received the order and exited from Yuxi Palace. At this time, a cold wind suddenly blew and raindrops fell from the southeast.
Seeing the sudden change in weather, Lu Fang quickly ordered the eunuchs to guard the windows and doors to prevent raindrops from falling into the Yuxi Palace.
This sudden rain aroused the interest of Emperor Jiajing. He was seen holding a copper pestle, quickly circling around the throne futon and on the gold-inlaid floor tiles.
While spinning in circles, he recited a certain verse from the Taoist Scriptures. When the verses were recited, Emperor Jiajing looked at the Qian hexagram at his feet, and finally a smile appeared on his face.
While beating the metal with a copper pestle, he sang like a maniac:
"The sky is dark, the black dragon is moving, the dragon is rising to the southeast, good luck!"
Lu Fang knew that this was a good omen for Emperor Jiajing, but he did not dare to delay it. Getting down to business, he hurried to the cabinet with the memorial.
At this time, on the sea in southern Fujian, a lucky boat was rising and falling on the rough sea.
A tall young man was standing on the bow of the fortune ship, holding on to the mast and looking at the waves in the distance.
"Hundred households! The wave on the bow is huge!"
The lucky boat was pushed up into the air by a wave, and then fell heavily to the sea, setting off a column of water.
These water jets fell on the deck, knocking off the square scarf that tied up the young man's hair. All he saw was his long flowing hair spreading out with the wind and waves. This young man dressed as a hundred households turned out to be a young woman!
The long-term life at sea has made this woman's skin a healthy wheat color, and the fake beard that was attached has been knocked off by the waves, revealing the woman's delicate facial features.
At this time, the sailors on the lucky ship were kneeling on the deck, praying to the Third Master's Empress to bless them and return to the port safely.
Without the sun, moon and stars, the lucky ship could not identify its direction. The most important test at this time was the captain's judgment. In such bad weather, only by finding the correct direction and sailing back to the offshore harbor could the ship be saved.
If it deviates from its course and sails into the deep sea, then this old fortune ship may not be able to survive the storm.
"Hundred Households! Dragon King!"
The helmsman pointed to a black tornado not far away between the sea and the sky. The sea water was swept into the air and connected with the black rain clouds!
When everyone on the ship saw such a horrific scene, they all put down their things and knelt down on the deck to worship.
But this Baihu, who was disguised as a man, knew that this was not some kind of Dragon King. She had heard her father talk about this terrible weather phenomenon, and ships would be shattered into pieces if they were caught in the wind!
But it's too late to explain to the crew now. The crew is now in a state where they are just waiting to die.
This female Baihu knew that she had to break the fear in the crew's hearts before she could have a chance of survival!
Female Baihu said to the helmsman beside her: "Take out my spear!"
The helmsman asked in horror: "Baihu! What are you going to do?"
Baihu looked at the waterspout in the distance firmly and said: " I want to slay the dragon!"
(End of chapter)