The Ming Dynasty started with caution

In early October of the fourteenth year of Hongzhi, it snowed in the capital.

Yan Chengjin estimated that the big ship returning from Hainan would bring back a large amount of autumn grain.

The cultivated land of the entire Qiongzhou Prefecture could harvest at least tens of thousands of stones of grain.

It could alleviate the famine in the Ming Dynasty. The construction of the Great Wall was just when grain was needed.

Yan Chengjin walked on the snowy road. The eunuchs of the Palace of Gods had not had time to clean it, so it was a little slippery.

"My dear nephew, do you have any projects recently? You can talk to my brother." Zhang Heling rubbed his hands.

Zhang Yanling stood beside him with a smile. Thanks to Yan Chengjin, their entertainment industry made a lot of money in the capital.

"Shouning Hou can make ice cream." Yan Chengjin said casually.

The bell had not rung yet, so there was time to chat for a while, so he took the time to talk about business with the Zhang brothers.

Zhang Heling snorted coldly: "Do you think we are fools? It's so cold, people are freezing to death. How can you sell popsicles for money!"

"Brother, don't talk to him, let's go to the palace first."

Before the bell was rung, the two brothers sneaked into the palace, causing dissatisfaction among the ministers around.

It was snowing heavily outside, and it was warm in the palace, where they could hide from the snow.

But if the bell hadn't been rung yet, it meant that His Majesty hadn't arrived at the East Warm Pavilion yet, so everyone had to wait outside.

Yan Chengjin felt that it would be better to stay in the sedan chair for comfort.

"Lord Wu is sick, very seriously."

"I heard that Li Mengyang impeached Yan Chengjin, was rebounded, and was demoted to Hainan."

"It's a troubled time, but with this heavy snow, next year will be a good year again."

Several ministers chatted casually.

Yan Chengjin listened on the side, not caring at all.

I don't know if Li Mengyang is in good health. He may not be able to reach Hainan after a long journey.

After a while, Emperor Hongzhi walked into the East Warm Pavilion and saw the Zhang brothers who came in before the golden bell was struck. He looked a little angry.

At this time, in the Imperial Household Department,

Xiao Jing made a cup of ginseng tea. It was cold and it was good for the body. The old ginseng was given by his descendants.

After drinking this cup, he went to Kunning Palace to serve His Majesty in the morning court.

"Master Xiao, Miao Dayao is back." The little eunuch hurried in to report.

When Emperor Hongzhi visited, he liked others to call him Master Zhu.

Xiao Jing privately liked his descendants to call him Master Xiao, not Grandpa.

This sounded more like a man.

Although he was disabled, he still had the idea of ​​becoming a complete man in his heart, just like a person with a broken leg who hoped to have a pair of legs to walk.

Xiao Jing was sitting up on the chair, his eyes shining, and he said happily: "Has the summer grain from Hainan been escorted back?"

Before the little eunuch could answer.

Suddenly, a figure rushed in with a soulless look, and knelt down in front of him. Miao Kui cried heartbreakingly: "Master, we encountered Japanese pirates in Songjiang Prefecture. The ship was gone, and the food was gone."

The seven large ships were replenished in Songjiang Prefecture for the last time.

But they didn't know that they encountered Japanese pirates at night, and there were more than a thousand of them.

Miao Kui's fleet was only about 500 people, and most of them were sailors.

If he hadn't jumped into the sea to escape, he would not have survived.

After landing, he rushed to the capital at full speed.

Xiao Jing's mouth twitched fiercely: "How much food?"

"Three thousand stones of rice, more than 46,000 stones of corn, more than 57,000 taels of money and silver..." Miao Kui counted carefully.

Xiao Jing raised his leg and kicked Miao Kui to the door: "Why don't you die outside!"

If the summer grain is lost, the official hat will be lost at the least, and the death penalty will be the most serious.

It depends on what the civil servants say.

The most important thing is that two large ships of the court were lost. These two large ships were built by the Qingjiang Shipyard. Each ship cost more than 20,000 taels of silver, and the number is very small.

The total amount is more than 100,000 taels of silver.

"Master, help me..." Miao Kui also knew that he had caused a big disaster.

"If you die outside, we can explain to His Majesty." Xiao Jing showed a murderous look: "Now you are back!"

The person died, and His Majesty would not severely punish the Silijian for this reason.

But the person is back, and the blame is on the master.

Miao Kui kowtowed repeatedly, shouting for mercy.

From the previous dynasty to the present, Xiao Jing has been with the two emperors for more than 20 years, and soon calmed down: "Get up and tell me carefully."

"Not only the court's ships, but also the five large ships of the Liangxiang merchant caravan were robbed. Those Japanese pirates came to rob the ships..." Miao Kui said aggrievedly.

Yan Chengjin's ship was also robbed?

Good thing!

The most important thing now is to track down the whereabouts of these Japanese.

But the sea is so vast, where can we find a boat?

Yan Chengjin's boat was also robbed. This kid has many ideas, maybe he can find a way.

Once the boat and silver are recovered, everything will be fine.

"Let's go, follow me to see the emperor!"

Outside the East Warm Pavilion, the sound of bells echoed.

The ministers entered the hall one after another, took out something from their sleeves, and bowed with a cymbal.

"It's cold, starting tomorrow, the morning court will be postponed for half an hour, and you gentlemen can sleep a little longer." Emperor Hongzhi said with great joy.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Yan Chengjin thought, it would be better to cancel the morning court.

All the court affairs were discussed in the morning court, and there was nothing to do in the afternoon and evening courts.

Emperor Hongzhi smiled and said, "Hainan's summer tax should be shipped to Tianjin Port soon, right?"

His Majesty was thinking about Hainan's summer tax.

After all, Yan Chengjin said that after Hainan was reclaimed, the grain grown was comparable to that in Jiangnan.

Summer taxes are not collected until August. Now it is October, and only Hainan's summer taxes have not been collected.

Li Dongyang nodded: "It should be soon."

HNA's power mainly relies on monsoons and ocean currents. In March, it can follow the monsoon and go all the way south.

In July and August, you can take advantage of the northward monsoon to return to the capital.

But now it’s October and there are no monsoons or ocean currents to help.

Yan Chengjin estimates that it will arrive soon.

"Your Majesty, the 580,000 shi of grain transported by water from Guangdong to the capital cannot be collected by the warehouse in Beijing, so I would like to transfer it to the warehouse in Tongzhou." Han Wen reported happily.

It is said that it is a matter of reporting, but in fact it is to show off that the treasury is full.

Jingcang specializes in collecting tax grain and tax money shipped from various places.

If there is no room for taxes and grain, it means there is too much tax and money.

The ministers looked happy, the household department had money, and when they reached out to each department, they didn't have to dig and search for it.

Emperor Hongzhi smiled happily: "That's right."

At this moment, two figures suddenly walked into the hall. Xiao Jing took Miao Kui into the hall and knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, I have something important to report!"

Internal ministers are not allowed to interfere in government affairs. It is early morning, how could Eunuch Xiao not know this?

Rushing in like this might be a big deal...

Emperor Hongzhi asked: "What do you want to report?"

"The imperial court's grain ship was robbed by the Japanese in Songjiang Prefecture. Also robbed were... five large ships of the Liangxiang caravan."

You can hear a needle drop in the main hall.

Xiao Jing was trembling, not daring to raise his head to look at His Majesty's face.

Miao Kui knelt on the ground and said, "This slave is not good at supervising your luck. Please give me death!"

Only then did Emperor Hongzhi and his ministers notice that the person next to Xiao Jing was none other than Miao Kui.

The boat was robbed?

And the tax grains shipped back from Hainan were also robbed?

Han Wen had just reported a great piece of good news. Emperor Hongzhi and his ministers were still immersed in joy and could not react for a while.

"I have entrusted an important task to the Supervisor of Ceremonies, but you can't even take a look at a few ships!"

Emperor Hongzhi was a little angry.

"This slave will die!"

Xiao Jingsheng became aroused after eating Miao Kui. He had served him conscientiously for fourteen years, and he had never been cautious or made such a big mistake.

Liu Jian frowned: "How many are these pirates?"

"There are more than a few thousand people..."

Xiao Jing overpaid by several thousand, otherwise it would appear that the Chief of Ceremony was too incompetent.

Yan Chengjin fell into deep thought.

Such a large-scale gathering of pirates would definitely be recorded in historical records, but he did not remember that there was such a huge gathering of Japanese pirates.

Is it possible that Xiao Jing dared to play matryoshka in the morning?

During the Hongzhi period, Japanese pirates continued to invade.

The two largest ones were in the sixth year of Hongzhi, when Japanese pirates invaded Nangang, Lingshui, Guangdong, and killed people and massacred villages.

In the twelfth year of Hongzhi, Japanese pirates landed in Danzhou, Guangdong and robbed the people.

Although none of them were caught.

But they rarely move north.

There is only one possibility. Liangxiang made trade prosperous in Beizhili. Tianjin Port and Songjiang Prefecture Port had a commercial level comparable to that of Guangdong. There were often ships sailing overseas, so they attracted pirates and Japanese pirates.

There was a pop.

It seemed like someone had fallen.

"Mr. Li! Why did Mr. Li faint?"