Bright Spring

Zhu Gaoxu then asked, "What's the matter with you?"

Cao Fu bowed and said, "When Meng Ji returned to Beijing, he brought back a woman..."

Zhu Gaoxu suddenly understood what it meant, so he waited for him to continue playing without saying a word.

Cao Fu said in a deep voice, "The queen of Chenla Kingdom, but a few months ago, because the king escaped from Angkor Thom, she was deposed."

Zhu Gaoxu was suddenly very surprised, "How could such a person come to Daming?"

Cao Fu said, "Going back to the emperor, it's a long story. Probably the enemies of Zhenla Kingdom wanted to plot against her. After many twists and turns, she met Meng Ji. Meng Ji then brought her to the capital to avoid disaster."

Then Cao Fu briefly described the domestic affairs in Chenla.After he narrated, he said, "This woman has a complicated experience, and she came here secretly, so it's not easy to be received by the government. For the time being, the servant can only ask her to settle in the King of Han's mansion in the capital of the old mansion), the servant will first see if she is reliable, Then let her meet the emperor... but this woman is indeed beautiful."

When it came to the last sentence, Cao Fu looked up at Zhu Gaoxu, and the two of them immediately had a feeling of understanding.

The old mansion is on the west side of the imperial city, not far away.After Zhu Gaoxu ascended the throne, the name of Hanwangfu was cancelled, because there was no Hanwang.Nowadays, the many halls and corridors in front of the palace are mainly the residence of the North Office of the Imperial Guard; the garden behind it is indeed quite spacious.

Zhu Gaoxu said, "It's good to let her stay in Beijing. If the imperial court wants to understand the local situation, the abolition of the Chenla Kingdom is also a clue."

Cao Fu hurriedly said, "The emperor is right, the emperor is really far-sighted."

Talking about beauties, Zhu Gaoxu remembered the pot of tea that he brought back thousands of miles away, and couldn't help but remind Cao Fudao, "Some things are better if they are as rare as possible. You don't need to bother too much, it's too troublesome."

Cao Fu said, "Slaves are not troublesome. As long as the emperor is happy, slaves will be happy."

Zhu Gaoxu said casually, "When you observe her, find out what she wants."

Cao Fu was stunned for a moment, then bowed and said, "Your servant obeys the order."

It wasn't until Cao Fu left Rouyi Hall that Zhu Gaoxu came back to his senses, the last sentence he said was a bit strange.He didn't know why, as long as someone delivered it to his door, he would feel that the other party wanted something from him.Perhaps because of his age, his temperament has changed quite a bit.

Chapter 9 and Four

The eunuch Cao Fu asked for an order to put the abolished ones in the old mansion for observation; in order to prevent such people who did not go through the selection process, in case of any accidents, Cao Fu should be held responsible.Zhu Gaoxu agreed, but he was a little curious about a woman of such status, so he asked Cao Fu to arrange a meeting first.

As for the other people who came back with eunuch Meng Ji, Zhu Gaoxu didn't need to ask them personally for the time being.Most of them were envoys from foreign domains, not kings, and Zhu Gaoxu didn't need to participate in the dismounting banquet a few days after those people arrived in Beijing.Daming is a state of etiquette, so of course it will take some time to go through the etiquette of hospitality first.

So three days later, Zhu Gaoxu went out of Chengtianmen to inspect the various yamen, and then went to inspect the mint and other places, and then he could leave the palace by the way.

Surrounded by his attendants and Jin Yiwei, Zhu Gaoxu went to inspect the banknote bank.

The printing of Daming banknotes has been stopped, and metal coins have been cast instead; but the names of the government offices and offices in charge of minting coins have not changed, and even most of the officials are the same people as before.The "Paper Making Bureau" responsible for acceptance and silver and copper raw materials is managed by the Ministry of Industry; while the Mint is managed by the "Money Printing Bureau" and is affiliated to the central bank's official office; line library".

Another institution, the "Precious Banknote Treasury", has been assigned to the various treasuries in the palace.The treasury banknote bank is jointly managed by the palace supervisors, the household department and the central bank.After the Ministry of Finance received the coins from the mint, it left a part of the budgeted amount, and the rest was sent to the palace for storage, and the storage place was conveniently in the treasure bank.The central bank is in charge of the accounts of the whole process.

The treasury bank that Zhu Gaoxu and his team inspected belongs to the Ministry of Households, and the place is in the backyard of the government office of the Ministry of Households.The emperor went there in person, and Xia Yuanji, Minister of the Household Department, would of course come to receive him.

Xia Yuanji is a serious and boring person.Zhu Gaoxu talked and laughed with the ministers along the way, but Xia Yuanji hardly said a word.

However, when the Jingnan Army and the Crusade Army entered Beijing, Xia Yuanji never voluntarily surrendered; Zhu Gaoxu and his son dragged him out of the house once before he was "forced" to surrender, and there were several requests for resignation. .So Zhu Gaoxu felt that this person was quite boring, but he was still very tolerant to him.

The officials of the Baochao Depot introduced how strong the stones in the warehouse are, and then said that there are also stones under the foundation for a while, in case someone digs a tunnel to come in and steal.But this place is located within the imperial city, and it seems unrealistic to dig a tunnel from the outside.

Seeing that Zhu Gaoxu had no objection, the official opened the treasure chest again, and took out a neat pair of silver coins, "Please take a look, Your Majesty, these are the wooden grids provided by the Wood Factory of the Ministry of Industry. There are four different sizes in total. Each grid can hold coins." One hundred coins. The mint and the woodworks both use the same size of the Shouyusi Iron Works, which is very accurate; if a grid is filled with coins, there must be a hundred coins, and we don’t need to count them.”

Zhu Gaoxu took the hand with great interest and looked at it.I saw that the wooden lattice is very simple, with three longitudinal wooden strips as the skeleton, and wooden wedges riveted on both sides; making it form a long wooden lattice, about five or six inches long.

The official picked a few times in the treasure chest, and then took out a stack of coins.He turned the wooden grid upside down and said, "There are some wooden grids of the right size, which are very tight after being filled with coins. Please look at them. But most of them are a little loose. The tolerance specified by the wood factory is only large and not small."

After he put down the coins, he pointed to the piles of boxes in the stone warehouse and said, "The treasure boxes are also custom-made by the Ministry of Industry Wood Factory. There are four different colors, and they contain copper coins of one, five, and ten coins, and six coins. ten pennies of silver."

Zhu Gaoxu asked casually, "Are all these boxes full?"

"Hui Sheng said that they are all full. The other three nearby warehouses are also full." After saying that, the household official hurried over and busily opened all the boxes for Zhu Gaoxu to see.

Looking back at the left and right, Zhu Gaoxu said, "The national treasury is getting full day by day, and you all have credit for self-denial and dedication to the public."

The crowd echoed one after another, some said that the sage governed the country well, and some said that the Ming Dynasty had a prosperous age.

At this time, Xia Yuanji suddenly said, "My sage, these silver and copper plates can neither be eaten nor worn, and they cannot be squandered. The current imperial court has ample expenses because there are too few coins on the market; in a few years, they will be We have to calculate the amount recovered and spent, otherwise the price of the goods will skyrocket. If we spend too quickly now, the court may be in short supply in the future."

The joyful atmosphere that was originally blissful and joyful soon calmed down, and most of the people stopped talking.

Zhu Gaoxu understands that ministers sometimes exhort the emperor in a more tactful way; they often learn from history|history at the Sutra Banquet, or make indirect remarks at other times, just like this time.

What Xia Yuanji said today probably refers to the fact that Zhu Gaoxu is going to go out to Beijing for autumn hunting.

That matter was mentioned two months ago, and the relevant yamen had already prepared according to the schedule; but Xia Yuanji was not satisfied from the very beginning.It is impossible for him to be satisfied. The position of most of the civil servants is that they neither want the emperor to leave Beijing easily, nor do they want the emperor to spend extravagantly on the treasury.

With a smile on his face, Zhu Gaoxu responded in a joking tone, "When I first came to the throne, the treasury was empty. At that time, I was also worried about living without food, and now I will be poor after a few years." After he finished speaking, he made a gesture to indicate that Treasure chest coins in the house.

Seeing this, several officials smiled.Xia Yuanji was speechless, speechless.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at him, saw that his expression was still serious, with a faint expression of concern for the country and the people, so he eased his tone and said kindly, "The world is developing, it is impossible to be like this five years later, Xia Butang does not need to Too much worry. However, Xia Butang is dedicated to his duties and always has an abacus in his stomach, but he is also a natural household secretary."

Now, everyone laughed together.

Xia Yuanji was praised, so he had no choice but to bow and say, "I dare not be a minister."

Zhu Gaoxu dropped the stack of money in his hand, then turned and walked out of the warehouse.A group of people left the Government Office of the Ministry of Household Affairs and arrived at the Qianbu Corridor. Zhu Gaoxu got into the carriage and continued to go out of Hongwumen and Zhengyangmen in the crowd of front and back, to inspect the Iron Works of the Southern Administration and the Mint of the Banknote Printing Bureau.

Just like the inspection process last year, Zhu Gaoxu wandered around the various workshops and listened to the reports of the officials and craftsmen on duty.Then he and the accompanying officials went to rest in the reception courtyard next to the mint.

When Luan returned to the palace with the guard of honor, Zhu Gaoxu was no longer in the team.He changed his clothes, took his attendants and entourage, and went to the gate of peace in light clothes.

Because Ma Enhui lived by the Yanque Lake outside Taipingmen, it would be troublesome for Zhu Gaoxu to go out of the palace once, and he could visit Enhui on the way; so the place where he chose to meet Yisuwa was Qingshou Temple near Taipingmen.

Qingshou Temple is the property of the royal family, and the former abbot was Daoyan.Dao Yan died, and his disciple Qing Yuan took over as the host;

Chapter 9 Fate

In this strange temple, Yisuva was not sure who the man in front of her was.But she could already guess that this person was most likely the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Yisuva followed the man out of the hall where the Buddha statue was enshrined, and walked into the inner courtyard.Occasionally the man would turn his head and say something to her gently, but of course she couldn't understand at all.

She can only observe the man's demeanor and movements, and use this to guess the other's attitude and emotions.The man's calmness and kindness made Yisuva feel that he seemed harmless, and the inexplicable panic and tension in her heart eased.

It was the first time Yisuwa saw that Lord Buddha "lived" in such a temple.What's even more amazing is that the eyes of the Lord Buddha here are half-opened, and there is even an expression. The statue of the Lord Buddha is also wearing a lot of clothes, which is not like the Lord Buddha in Chenla Kingdom.

Just like the man in front, despite the hot weather, he was well dressed.The purple robe reaches to the ankle, and cloth boots are worn on the feet.The man was all over the body, not showing much skin.

Yisuwa was tall and tall. She followed this man, but felt that she had become weaker.Because he is very burly, there is a faint strength between his feet.However, he was very calm and composed, and he didn't seem to make a single unnecessary movement, and his posture and behavior were not rushed.

After a while, the man turned around at the door of a room, made a casual movement, and said something.Yisuva walked into the room, and then sat down on the stool with him.

After the two sat opposite each other, they just looked at each other like this.Seeing the white lining of the man's neckline all the way to his neck, Yisuwa realized for a moment that people here seem to dislike exposing their bodies.Seeing the man looking at her chest, she also lowered her head to glance at the soft silk, and immediately felt a little uncomfortable.

But she didn't move, she still straightened her upper body, not wanting to show cowardice.