Domineering Daming

Zhu Xu frowned and said, "And then?"

Sun Chengzong said: "Your Majesty, the snow is not heavy now, and the carriage is difficult to move, but the horse should be fine."

Zhu Xu shook his head lightly, and said: "Your lords have been traveling in a carriage for a day and a night, and you haven't recovered yet, and you can't stand the bumps."

Sun Chengzong thought for a while, and said: "Your Majesty, you can take off the wheels and use a smooth board on the snow, and pull it with a few horses. The speed should not be much slower. Let's start now, and we should be able to reach Shenyang at noon tomorrow. However, the guards possible……"

Zhu Xu didn't care about the method, as long as he arrived in Shenyang on time at noon tomorrow, Huang Taiji might not dare to come out because of the heavy snow.

He nodded and said: "Okay, you get ready." It will take another seven or eight hours.

Seeing that Zhu Xu agreed, Sun Chengzong heaved a sigh of relief, raised his hand and said, "Observe the order."

Yuan Keli was quite surprised, he didn't reprimand or scold, he just agreed.

The adults who hadn't rested for a long time were called up again, arranged in wheelless carriages, brightly lit and ready to set off.

Several large baskets were raised one after another in the direction of Guangning and Xipingbao, watching the surroundings vigilantly.

Zhu Xu sat in the same carriage with King Ping, King Jing, Cao Huachun, and others. The groom beat the horses, and the four horses dragged the carriage to the north at a fast speed.

Inside the carriage, Cao Huachun said: "Your Majesty, let's go to Xiping Fort first, and then change horses. After crossing the Liao River, Lord Xiong's people are waiting. After another fifty miles, we will reach Shenyang."

Zhu Xu nodded, the snow was not heavy, but it was difficult to move, and the four horses were not fast, which was why Sun Chengzong asked to start immediately, and he might miss the time if he was late.

At the same time, Shenyang was also preparing for the attack. Bao Chengxian and Meng Qiaofang were already doing drills. All the dignitaries in Shenyang gathered together to practice how to welcome the Ming emperor.

Chapter 492 Supporting King Xin

Sitting in this kind of carriage is more uncomfortable than in a carriage.

But Zhu Xu also experienced more uncomfortable times, sitting there staggering, closing his eyes and falling asleep.

Next to him was Cao Huachun, King Jing and King Ping sat on the left and right sides of the chamber, King Ping also closed his eyes, only Prince Jing Zhu Luhu couldn't settle down.

After a while, Zhu Luhu looked at Zhu Xu and asked in a gentle tone, "Your Majesty, do you really want to move Wen Zhao Pavilion to the cabinet?"

You can change Zhu Youjian to any other place, except for the "cabinet", which is a symbol of power, and there is no reason for him to enter the cabinet and not be given power.

This is a clear indication that the emperor wants to delegate power to King Xin and support him.

Zhu Luhu didn't know what the emperor was planning, but he knew that this carelessness would have serious consequences.

Zhu Xu couldn't sleep, so he opened his eyes and looked at King Jing, and said with a smile, "Why, what other opinions do you have?"

King Xin, King Jing, and King Ping are currently the three most powerful people in the clan. Zhu Youjian is the emperor's brother. King Ping is in charge of the clan mansion. It hasn't played much role yet, but the hidden power is shocking.

Zhu Luhu looked at Zhu Xu, bowed slightly and said: "Your Majesty, King Xin lacks foresight and repeats things repeatedly. I think that with his character of eager for quick success and instant benefit, he is not suitable to preside over the current government affairs."

Zhu Xu didn't speak. He knew Zhu Youjian's character well. Now is the critical time for reform in Ming Dynasty. We must be cautious and make steady progress. We must not give up halfway. The sudden abolition of any policy will seriously setback the reform. , and even cast a shadow over the overall plan.

Seeing that Zhu Xu didn't answer, Zhu Luhu thought for a while, and then said: "Your Majesty, I have no other intentions. I just hope that the great cause of the emperor's innovation can be successfully completed, and my great Ming Dynasty will be rejuvenated forever!"

Zhu Xu nodded slightly, looked up at him and said, "I know what you said, so how about you also join the cabinet, assist Brother Xin Wang Huang, help the gains and losses, and make up for the vacancies."

Zhu Luhu's expression changed slightly, his expression remained calm, his eyes flashed with vigilance, and he said hastily: "Your Majesty, I don't mean that, I just simply think that trusting the king is not enough to take on great responsibilities..."

Zhu Xu smiled lightly and said, "Well, I know your loyalty, so do it well."

Zhu Luhu didn't dare to underestimate the emperor in front of him. He felt uneasy, raised his hand with a stiff neck, and said, "Observe the order."

The groom was beating the horses in front, heading north quickly, there were endless "carriages", and only the lights in the glass lampshades in the carriages could barely stay on.

The carriage was quiet for a while, and Zhu Xu suddenly looked at Zhu Luhu again and said, "Prince Jing, after you return to Beijing, in the Governor's Council, you will reorganize the cabinet, six ministries, nine temples, the Royal Government, the Military Academy, and the local provinces. The powers and responsibilities of government offices, prefectures and counties, etc. must be carefully sorted out. It must be clear and careful. Don't give each government office and officials the opportunity to shirk, blame, or evade. Once something happens, people must be held accountable, especially the head of the yamen! "

Zhu Luhu was stunned, and hurriedly said: "Observe the order." But he became more and more nervous, subdividing powers and responsibilities, which is obviously a further step in political reform. I don't know how many people will resist, and at the same time, he will be framed on fire!

Zhu Luhu didn't know if this was a lesson taught by the emperor without leaving traces, but he knew that he would need to work harder in order to gain more trust from the emperor.

King Ping seemed to be asleep, staggering there, but his heart was clear.Zhu Luhu's ambition is too obvious, openly "framing" King Xin will definitely cause the emperor's dissatisfaction, and he shakes his head secretly.

Cao Huachun sat there kneeling respectfully all the time, lowered his eyes, looked up at Zhu Luhu, and remained still.

After Zhu Xu finished speaking, he closed his eyes and held his breath, as if he didn't care about Zhu Luhu's words just now.

The atmosphere in the carriage was a little strange, and then a little depressing.

The snow outside is getting heavier and heavier, and the speed of the carriage is also slowing down, but fortunately, it is still moving forward.

Inside Zhu Youjian's carriage were Wang Cheng'en, Fu Changzong and Zhou Yingqiu.

Both Fu Changzong and Zhou Yingqiu also knew about Zhu Xu's promise to Zhu Youjian not long ago. They both looked calm, but they didn't take it seriously.

Zhu Youjian also knew very well that these two were the emperor's confidantes, and if they could not be dealt with, even if he moved into the cabinet and became the "chief assistant", he could do nothing, no different from Wenzhao Pavilion.

Zhu Youjian smiled, looked at Fu Changzong like a corporal, and said, "Fu Shangshu, the Ministry of Households' tax money, tax and food should have been calculated this year, right?"

Fu Changzong leaned forward to show his respect for King Xin, and said, "Yes, 100 million shi for tax and grain, and 1000 two million taels for silver." The income of silver includes business tax, customs duties, plus tea, salt and so on.

This is also because Zhu Xu didn't want to embarrass the Ministry of Households, or the treasury.

Zhu Youjian frowned, the tax money was increasing, but the tax grain was decreasing, and asked Fu Changzong, "Why did the tax grain decrease? I remember that it was 3000 million shi last year?"

Fu Changzong pondered for a while, and said: "My lord, last year because of the payment of the owed grain, the purges in various places were more stringent, so there was a part of it. , so taxes and grains are decreasing, and will continue to decrease in the future.” In fact, part of the reason is that the Ministry of Household Affairs is promoting sweet potatoes and corn.

The Ministry of Finance did not deliberately conceal it, but Zhu Youjian could not see the details from the memorial. Hearing the words, his expression was dignified, but his heart was secretly relieved.Although this was worse than last year, it was much better than Tianqi and even the later period of Wanli, so I didn't ask any more questions, and turned to Zhou Yingqiu and said, "Shangshu Zhou, the Ministry of Officials' year-end assessment should have a result, right?"

Without the Jingcha, the importance of the assessment by the Ministry of Officials will be highlighted. Any official who adds a negative word in the assessment will be swept into the trash within the Ministry of Officials, and even in court meetings.

At the beginning, Zhao Nanxing used the word "impetuous" to drive more than 300 officials from the Zhejiang Party, the Kunming Party, and the Chu Party out of the court and out of the capital. His power can be seen!

Zhou Yingqiu looked calm, and said in a calm tone: "Go back to the prince, it has been decided."

Zhu Youjian looked at Zhou Yingqiu, and from Zhou Yingqiu's tone, he could tell that this "hidden phase" didn't like him.

Zhu Youjian said with a smile in an amiable tone: "Well, after returning to Beijing, please send Zhou Shangshu to Wenzhao Pavilion. This king wants to see these assessments."

Zhou Yingqiu looked at Zhu Youjian, remained silent for a while, and then said, "My lord, you haven't moved into the cabinet yet, are you being too eager?"

Zhu Youjian's face changed slightly, and he said in a deep voice, "What does Zhou Shangshu mean by this?"

Fu Changzong also looked at Zhou Yingqiu in surprise, and immediately felt a twitch in his heart, secretly feeling that Zhou Shangshu was old and cunning.

Zhou Yingqiu bowed slightly, and said neither humble nor overbearing: "My lord, you and I know very well that there are some things that you should not interfere with. I advise you not to interfere. The emperor has a big heart and lofty aspirations, and he will not care about the trivial matters in front of him. Courtier, you should also grasp the proper proportions..."

Zhu Youjian's face was gloomy. He didn't say that the emperor allowed him to move into the cabinet. He just said that he was the regent of the late emperor's edict. Didn't he have the right to examine the officials of the Ministry of Officials?

After Zhou Yingqiu said this, he didn't say anything, and sat there with his eyes downcast, with a calm expression, as if nothing had happened just now.