Daming Military Empire

Chapter 213 Prince Yang Tianwei Goes to Europe
In the capital city, the imperial palace, and the imperial study room, Zhu Youjian sat at the head seat and looked at the memorial in front of him seriously. In less than a minute (one minute in ancient times was equivalent to 30 seconds now), he had read the contents and details of the memorial. After reading the cabinet draft, he picked up the red pen almost without thinking, and scribbled down the final handling opinion.

Like a tireless robot, Zhu Youjian kept receiving the memorials, read them carefully, and then gave serious instructions. The memorials piled up in the imperial study room were decreasing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Just after the application time in the afternoon, the memorials for this day were almost Almost finished reviewing.

Don't underestimate the speed. There are hundreds of state capitals and thousands of counties in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of Ming Dynasty. I don't know how many things happen every day. Although most of them are dealt with by the local chief envoys, if the local government can't handle it, the emperor must There are also a lot of instructions. In addition to the affairs of the six departments of officials, households, rites, soldiers, criminals, and workers and more than 100 million troops, at least more than 400 memorials are sent to the imperial study every day. Percentage is also normal.

Zhu Youjian usually starts to review the memorials after eating something hastily after the morning court. If you read each memorial for 1 minute, and review it for 1 minute, the [-] memorials will be [-] minutes, which is about six and a half hours and thirteen hours. He didn't have to do anything in one day, except for eating, sleeping, and going to court, it might not be enough to spend all his time reviewing memorials!

At the beginning, Zhu Youjian's speed could not review a memorial in 2 minutes. Indeed, he couldn't do anything all day long, except for reviewing the memorial.But it is different now. After several years of training, his speed of reviewing memorials has become astonishingly fast. He can finish reviewing ordinary memorials in less than a minute, and he can return to the palace Shi Shiran every day before you. , enjoy a comfortable life.

If you want to say that the current emperor Zhu Cijiong is really good to Zhu Youjian, there is nothing to say:

For example, in terms of wives and concubines, when Zhu Youjian was the king of Xin, Emperor Tianqi also chose a concubine for him, but only three were selected in total, one concubine Zhou, and two concubines. But in the second year of Chongzheng, Zhu Cijiong chose him once. He hired four concubines and chose sixteen beauties for him in the palace, all of them were as beautiful as flowers.

Another example is in terms of mansions, Zhu Cijiong directly selected the largest mansion closest to the imperial palace among the confiscated eunuch mansions, renovated it, and gave it to him as the new palace.

Another example is that in terms of bodyguards, Emperor Apocalypse assigned Zhu Youjian three hundred school lieutenants, a total of four hundred brocade guards for one hundred troops, and Zhu Cijiong directly assigned Zhu Youjian four thousand school lieutenants, and one thousand army guards for a total of five thousand brocade guards!
As for the salary and so on, it has been rising again and again. Now each moonlight silver is 1 taels. The tributes given to him during the festivals are pulled by motorcades. Every time he has children, the rewards are no less than Over 10 taels!

In order for him to review the memorials in peace, Zhu Cijiong even gave him the imperial study room, and he was also equipped with eight court ladies and eight eunuchs to serve in turn, serving tea and water, squeezing shoulders and backs, and delivering memorials. Just sit there and just concentrate on reviewing the memorial, and he doesn't have to worry about other things.

Now Zhu Cijiong has also installed the so-called air conditioner for him, which is a device that automatically pours cold air into the house, making it extremely cool in the hot summer.Don't underestimate this thing, you don't know how much ice is consumed in a day, the palace didn't store enough ice in the past, when it was first designed, the Emperor Guang could blow it occasionally, now that the railway is connected to Liaodong, it's about the same a year I can collect ice cubes in half a year, and the ice cellar in the palace has also been expanded to a huge size. There are more ice cubes, but only his regent Zhu Youjian and the empress dowagers of the two palaces can enjoy it, and others don't even think about it.

After Zhu Youjian finished reviewing the ordinary memorial, he raised his hands and stretched his waist, then leaned back on the chair and closed his eyes comfortably. At this time, the four maids who were serving at the side immediately came up and gave him a gentle smile. Kneading his limbs to relieve his fatigue.

Zhu Youjian closed his eyes and asked with a smile: "What is the emperor doing these days?"

Wang Chengen, who was directing the little eunuch to process the memorial, replied respectfully: "The emperor seems to be working with the people from the Ministry of Industry to develop a garment-making machine recently, and it has almost been completed. The speed is like ramen."

Hearing this, Zhu Youjian opened his eyes, waved back the court lady, took a memorial handed over by the little eunuch, and said while reading: "The emperor is smart, I don't even know how that little head grows, so you can do it casually." Pulling something out can shock the world."

Wang Chengen didn't dare to answer these words, even though he was a newly promoted eunuch holding a pen, he had received all the favor of the emperor, to put it bluntly, he was only a fifth-rank official, how dare he criticize the emperor wantonly.This is the emperor's own uncle, he may be the only one in the world who dares to say that about the emperor, and everyone else will be suspected of deceiving the emperor.

Zhu Youjian just said casually, and didn't care whether Wang Chengen replied or not. What followed were more important memorials selected by the cabinet. These must be submitted to the emperor for review, so he read them very seriously.The emperor seldom added instructions after his approval. This is the result of his dedication. After several years of reviewing memorials, he has become a professional in this field. If he sees the flaw, then there is really no place for his face.

There are only a dozen or so important memorials every day, and they were reviewed in less than half an hour. Zhu Youjian was about to pack up and go home to tease his youngest son, when the eunuch's communication voice suddenly came from outside: "The emperor is here."

The eunuchs and maids in the royal study, including Wang Chengen, quickly knelt on the ground to greet him. Zhu Youjian had the privilege, so he didn't have to kneel down. He just stood up, gave up his seat, and stood respectfully aside, waiting for the emperor to come.

Soon, Zhu Cijiong walked in with a smile, he said no, and took the honorable seat as a matter of course, and then said: "Uncle Wu has worked hard, Zhennan Wang sent someone eight hundred miles to send some fresh fruits urgently , I let someone chill it for a while, and gave it to Uncle Wu to taste, come here, serve it up."

Soon, several court ladies came in with plates of exquisite fruits, and placed them on the desk one by one. Lychees, mangoes, bananas, and jackfruits were all peeled and arranged in various exquisite patterns, which made people feel at ease. It's a pleasure to watch.

After trying a few mouthfuls, Zhu Youjian sighed: "It's really delicious, but it's a pity that the journey is far away and it's not easy to preserve. It would be great if you can buy it everywhere like apples and pears. Lang'er and Kunyi will definitely like it."

Zhu Cijiong nodded and said: "Yes, Yiqi Hongchen concubine smiled, no one knew that it was litchi, and it would be too troublesome to transport the fruits from the south to the capital. I would like to build the railway to South Zhili or even Guangdong, but The Yellow River and the Yangtze River are too wide. With the current bridge-building technology of Ming Dynasty, it may be difficult to build a railway bridge on it."

Over the past few years, Zhu Youjian has become very familiar with Zhu Cijiong's temperament. When there are no outsiders, Zhu Cijiong has almost no requirements for red tape and etiquette, so he replied casually: "Then repair it in sections, ferry At most, it will take an hour, as long as the loading and unloading docks are built on both sides of the strait, it will not waste much time."

Zhu Cijiong's eyes lit up when he heard the words, and he praised: "Yes, it can be repaired in sections! Uncle Wu's proposal is very good. I will ask the Ministry of Industry to survey and map it. I will start repairing it next year. At that time, my brothers and sisters can eat it every day." To the fruit of the South."

Wouldn't it be more absurd than Tang Minghuang to build a railway just to eat a piece of fruit? Zhu Youjian quickly shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, this is unacceptable. Building a railway is a waste of money and people, and it's not worth it for that little fruit."

Zhu Cijiong laughed and said: "Hahahaha, I'm just kidding, the transportation of fruits is only incidental, and the food, cloth, and porcelain are the main ones. This railway must be repaired. As long as it connects the north and south of Ming Dynasty, the economy can be more than doubled. The railroad money is nothing."

Zhu Youjian made a rough estimate, and said, "I'm afraid it won't cost tens of millions of taels from the capital to Nanzhili? Isn't that nothing?"

Zhu Cijiong smiled even more happily: "Hahahaha, tens of millions of taels is nothing. There is news from Macau that the Dutch have agreed to pay compensation. Zheng Zhilong is indeed a robber. He extorted 2000 million taels from the Netherlands at one time. Not bad, not bad .”

Zhu Youjian was full of surprises when he heard the words, and he said dumbfounded: "Two, 2000 million taels, the Dutch are really willing to pay?"

Zhu Cijiong said proudly: "Hmph, if you don't pay me, let him have more than 2 navy elites as coolies until he dies. The total number of people in the Netherlands is less than 200 million. Their army doesn't know how many people there are." Without 20, can they afford to lose the 2?"

Zhu Youjian said with sincere admiration: "The emperor is wise, he can earn 2000 million taels of silver casually, I admire you."

Zhu Cijiong rolled his eyes when he heard the words, and finally got to the point. He tempted: "There are still a lot of 2000 million taels waiting for us to earn. Is Uncle Wu interested?"

Zhu Youjian was taken aback when he heard the words. He really couldn't figure out what he could do to earn 2000 million taels of silver. After thinking about it for a while, he still couldn't figure it out. He simply asked, "Your Majesty, where can I earn 2000 million taels?" , do I have that ability?"

Zhu Cijiong said resolutely: "I said yes, and you have it. Spain ordered 200 flintlock guns from Daming, 2000 taels a piece, which is exactly 2000 million taels. I have asked the Ministry of Industry to speed up the production, but they asked Delivering the goods to your door, now that the Dutch have softened and there is no threat at sea, I have already asked the Spaniards to prepare the money, and when the time comes, you will pay with one hand and deliver the goods with the other, won’t you get the [-] million taels?”

Hearing this, Zhu Youjian finally understood what was going on with the 2000 million taels, but he was even more surprised. Does this have anything to do with him?

He asked curiously: "Did the emperor ask me to deliver the goods?"

Zhu Cijiong shook his head and said: "Delivery is secondary, and the Beiyang navy is responsible for it. I mainly want the European powers to see our Daming's Tianwei. This day, it is not enough to have a navy, but a warship. Let them see the powerful army of our Ming Dynasty, the first regiment of the imperial guards is well-equipped, and I plan to send [-] elites of the first regiment of the imperial guards to go to Europe with the Beiyang navy to show off."

Zhu Youjian couldn't help but feel excited when he heard the words, but it seems that this has nothing to do with him!

He asked a little bit: "This, this, what did the emperor ask me to do? I have nothing to show!"

Zhu Cijiong patted his forehead and explained: "Yes, why not? Uncle Wu, you are the Prince of Ming Dynasty, and you have a lot to show off. When the time comes, I will send you a thousand maids, a thousand eunuchs, and ten thousand royal guards to serve you Let them see how honorable our Prince of Ming Dynasty is. Besides, such a huge team must have a heavyweight person in charge. Zheng Zhilongzhen has other arrangements, and the Taifu is going to guard Liaodong. Okay, after much deliberation, I can only let Uncle Wu have a hard time."

It turned out that he was asked to show his dignity, which was not difficult, because his status was already noble, and he was just performing in his true colors.Just kidding, he is the emperor's uncle, the only one in heaven and earth, besides the Chongzheng emperor Zhu Cijiong, he is the most honored in Ming Dynasty.

(End of this chapter)