As a salted fish, I was forced to become the teacher of all ages

"Grandpa Hua, Lord Wandai!"

"Uncle mighty!"

"I wish my uncle many children and many blessings!"

Everywhere the carriage passed, people cheered and blessed, as if they were cheering for Huamanlou, but Huamanlou in the carriage didn't dare to show his face at all when he heard the movement, and even pulled the curtains tightly— ——It's a bit of a shame that this crying appearance is real, how can it be seen by a group of ordinary people who came here to make trouble?

It's really annoying, it's so stuffy in my chest.

After entering the city, Hua Manlou gradually calmed down. Looking at Zhao Ren, who was also in tears beside him, Hua Manlou said in a deep voice, "Did you see it?"

"Um……"

"People are neither stupid nor stupid..."

"I know."

This scene was a kind of shock to Huamanlou, but it was another kind of shock to Zhao Ren - he once again realized what level the so-called "administration of benevolence" included.

If it is said that when he went back crying to Emperor Guangxing to talk about benevolent government in Xishan, he only understood the core of "light corvee and light taxation", today he really realizes that these are not enough-no matter how light Corvée, if anyone from the surrounding small countries can bully the people of Dazhao, then the people will still be in dire straits, right?

Now he feels more and more that treating the people well is not about scholars, benevolence, filial piety, etiquette, or enlightening the world, but about hard power—not only to ensure that the people live and work in peace, but also to ensure that there are no dog's paws around the country. , but also to have the strength to stably defeat all invading enemies. This is benevolent government.

But as far as Huamanlou is concerned, the feeling is much more complicated.

When he was making arrangements in the Japanese country before, he never thought about the people today, or those who were buried in the hands of the Japanese pirates. He even subconsciously placed the tragedy on the tea mountain before on Qian Dapeng who had already been executed. Even when he was coercing Prince Zhiren and Huiruomaru, his mind was full of past and modern history.

But when he saw the people in the capital spontaneously coming to greet him, he suddenly realized who he was fighting for—just like how Qiaoqiao thanked him after the Datong War, this time to clean up the Japanese pirates is by no means repaying the grievances of his previous life. Instead, it is liquidating the enmity of this life.

and so……

How can you accept their worship under such circumstances?How to accept their gratitude?

The people of the Celestial Dynasty are like this. Qi Shaobao, who fought against the Japanese in the Ming Dynasty, was honored as Grandpa Qi by them. Although the Huamanlou of the Great Zhao Pingwo is called Grandpa Hua, it is a bit of a painting style, but there are people in the southeast who call it that, and even give it to him. The Longevity Archway was erected, this matter...

Hua Manlou felt rather embarrassed, even a little ashamed, so ashamed that he dared not face these common people directly.

But what Hua Manlou didn't realize was that this kind of guilty mentality was completely different from his previous mentality of "begging for bones when he returned to Beijing".

442. Confess

"My son, I see you... Hey!"

After Hua Manlou, who was half dragging Zhao Ren, stepped into Fengtian Hall, Emperor Guangxing, who was sitting on the throne, suddenly bounced up and rushed over before a big gift was finished, and then...

"Oh! Father, calm down! My son was wrong, and I will never dare again!"

Even though Emperor Guangxing used a rattan cane instead of a long sword, it was no problem for You Zi to strike, and it was no problem to hit him twelve times with one breath. Anyway, Zhao Ren was beaten all over the floor on the spot.

Emperor Guangxing smacked Zhao Ren while criticizing his head and covering his face, while arguing with Hua Manlou: "You excuse me, wait while I beat this rebellious son to death and talk to you!"

"Father, calm down...Father... oh... oh..."

Hua Manlou, who was kneeling by the side, was almost frightened by Emperor Guangxing's actions at first, then got up and moved to the side, and then suddenly felt that something was wrong: Zhao Ren really suffered a solid blow a few times ago, that's right. , but then the brat kept rolling on the ground, not to mention, why does Emperor Guangxing's cane look more and more like it is being pulled on the floor?

After seeing this detail, Hua Manlou instantly realized: The part Zhao Ren should smoke is that he made everyone fearful, not following the army to fight against Japan—at least in Hua Manlou's opinion, let this brat go out and meet him There is nothing wrong with the world.

And what...

If Emperor Guangxing really didn't want Zhao Ren to wander outside, why did he receive the order to take good care of Zhao Ren instead of letting him take him back to Beijing?

Therefore, on the one hand, Emperor Guangxing smoked Zhao Ren to relieve his anger, and on the other hand, it made the subsequent affairs easier-the fact that Zhao Ren left the capital privately had been exposed long ago, and the civil servants had been making trouble for a long time before, so today they smoked Zhao Ren in public. Ren also performed for this group of people, otherwise he would not see himself in Fengtian Temple.

In other words, the prince has already been beaten to the ground by the emperor himself in public, and it would be very unkind for the civil servants to use this matter to make things up indiscriminately...

With this in mind, Hua Manlou didn't bother to persuade him, he moved to the side silently to make room for the two people in front of him, and by the way, he whispered hello to Xu Dacheng who was standing in the corner of the hall: "Banban Xu , how have you always been?"

Xu Dacheng didn't dare to speak, he took a sneak peek at Emperor Guangxing and smiled at him, then the two of them stood aside, watching the emperor beating the crown prince very leisurely...

Even though the beating is part of a show, it still has to be a real slap. Why is it so comfortable to see a brat being beaten?

Not long after, Emperor Guangxing, who beat Zhao Ren from inside the hall to outside the hall, stopped angrily and out of breath, and then shouted at Zhao Ren: "Go away, go to the Palace of Compassion and Peace and greet the Empress Dowager and your mother, and then go by yourself The Taimiao kneeled all night!"

"Hiss... my son obeys the order..."

After Zhao Ren grinned and left, Emperor Guangxing straightened his dragon robe and walked up to Huamanlou, supported him without waiting for him to bow down again, and said with a smile: "Come here, let me take a good look! Well, it's dark, and it's also thinner...I've wronged you!"

Hua Manlou smiled naively: "Where did the father say that?"

Emperor Guangxing patted Hua Manlou on the shoulder, seemingly a little excited: "Come on, follow me to the study and have a good chat!"

For more than half a year, to be honest, Emperor Guangxing still missed Huamanlou very much. Before the battle with the Japanese pirates, Emperor Guangxing was even worried, for fear that his godson would be lost by him if he was not careful.

But as the battle reports came in, Emperor Guangxing felt relieved and loved Huamanlou even more: What a capable child, the Japanese plague that has not been solved in the 80 years of the Kingdom has just been pacified. up?

On the day when the Ryukyu king sent an envoy to pay tribute to ask for the title, Emperor Guangxing was so happy that he didn't fall asleep all night.

Because, what the sages want is not only the peace of the country, but also the power of all nations to come to the court, and the Ryukyu, which has been suspended for many years because of the Japanese pirates, will come to the court again. This matter must be recorded in the annals of history No matter what happens, the achievements will fall on the head of Emperor Guangxing, can you not be happy?

What's more, now that the Wa country, which has been suspended for many years, has come, it can't be said...

Can you really get the achievement of Tian Khan?

In the imperial study room, Hua Manlou and Emperor Guangxing reported for an entire hour before giving a general overview of the eight months of going out about Pingwo.

"Father, Chen Jiafu came to surrender on his own initiative, and Wei Xingchen's son-in-law was also arrested. Before leaving Beijing, the son-in-law once said that he would bring them back and let the father personally ask why they went to sea. Now the father can ask. "Hua Manlou was a little thirsty, so he took a sip of tea.

"Not busy, not busy." Emperor Guangxing said with emotion: "Eight months... Eight months ago, Da Zhao had almost nothing to do with the Japanese pirates, but who would have thought that eight months later, they would plague the southeast for more than a hundred years?" The Japanese pirates are solved? According to what you said just now, most of the Japanese pirates are mobs, vulnerable... If this is the case, how bad is my army to be suppressed and beaten by these mobs?"

Hua Manlou comforted: "Father, there will be no more in the future. My son has easily integrated all the guards along the coast. Now, except for the Tianjin and Suzhou naval divisions, they have not been fully armed, but half a year later the rest Several naval forces will never be weaker than the Tianjin Navy..."

Emperor Guangxing waved his hand and said, "I know, and I also believe that you can handle it well. But there are some things you didn't tell me, right?"

Hua Manlou coughed dryly: "This..."

What should come is finally here.

When preparing to build the Tianjin Navy, Hua Manlou could still say that the money was earned by Xishan, and things like artillery and firecrackers were paid by Xishan in advance. The naval masters in several places, Huamanlou, didn't care about asking for a penny, and there are still a large number of censors impeaching Huamanlou to collect money in the local area, and they can splash all kinds of dirty water. This matter...

Although Emperor Guangxing suppressed everything and had no doubts about Huamanlou so far, he still wanted to know how Huamanlou was operated—everyone knew that the army was the most expensive, It's not possible that the money for building several naval divisions was copied from the Japanese pirates' lair, right?

Later, Xuanwuwei reported that Huamanlou had joined forces with various parties to buy shares with the qualification of shipping—this matter cannot be hidden, after all, too many people know about it.

But after this incident broke out, it is reasonable to say that ignoring the ancestors into the law should have caused everyone in the court to fight, but what surprised Emperor Guangxing was that when the court and China were arguing to send Huamanlou back to Beijing, the cabinet stopped. On the grounds that the Japanese pirates have not yet subsided, the matter was pushed down, saying that it would be discussed after Hua Manlou returned to Beijing. After all, the Japanese pirates were more important than other things.

Originally, Emperor Guangxing thought that the ministers would continue to pester him, but who knows that there are quite a few people who agree with this matter, this...

Emperor Guangxing, who had witnessed the whole process, was amazed, but he firmly suppressed his curiosity and didn't ask about it. He just waited for Hua Manlou to come back and confessed to him in detail—this kind of trust, Lian Wenge The old people find it quite incredible.

In short, Wen Yumin mentioned what happened to Huamanlou in Tianjin long ago. Now that the foreshadowing has been laid, it is almost time to confess...

443. What other stupid things are there?

There are actually routines for talking to the monarch, and theoretically speaking, the people in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" are the best at playing: first use the way of panting to make a sensation, and then when the monarch gets angry and wants to take it down, he casually says something like "I thought that the king was thirsty for talents, so he came to help with a certain special, but it's nothing more than that when I saw it today", and then I threw out an argument with reason and evidence, and then the host and guest enjoyed themselves.

Those who have played through this set of things have basically achieved their goals. For example, in Jiangdong, Zhuge Liang gasped and scolded the civil servants headed by Zhang Zhao, and then promoted the alliance between Sun and Liu. The only person who did not play through It's called Jiang Gan. After being played by Zhou Yu, this guy helped Cao Cao walk Huarong Road...

So, Hua Manlou's confession to Emperor Guangxing also borrowed from this set of things. He said at the beginning: "Father, my son wants to break the sea ban!"

"Pfft...cough cough cough cough..." Emperor Guangxing sprayed on the spot, coughed desperately for a while, then looked at Hua Manlou with wide eyes and asked with uncertainty: "What are you talking about?"

"Open the sea!" Hua Manlou said righteously.

After being silent for a while, Emperor Guangxing sighed quietly: "Kaihai... When I was still the prince of the Eastern Palace in the past, Elder Zeng Ge mentioned this matter to me. I know that the confinement of Haihai in Dazhao will do more harm than good. , I also know the benefits of opening the sea to Da Zhao, but... do you know why no one in the court dared to mention opening the sea for more than a hundred years?"

Hua Manlou shrugged: "I know."

"... Really know?" Emperor Guangxing wondered.

Hua Manlou nodded and said with a smile: "Father, I have said before that the prosperity of the world is for profit, and the chaos of the world is for profit. The sea ban... seems to be impossible to escape."

Both of them are smart people, so there is no need to talk too much, and they generally know what the other is implying.

So Emperor Guangxing was silent for a while and then said: "Then why do you bother with this matter? If you have nothing to do, how about going to the Southwest?"

Hua Manlou had black lines all over his head: "...I'm not idle! I haven't even gotten married yet!"

"If you're not free, don't say that!" Emperor Guangxing glared at Hua Manlou: "Over the past 30 years of the Kingdom, there have been countless people who wanted to break the sea ban, but do you know what happened to them? How long ago, there was a supervisory censor who handed me a note on the first day of his tenure, please open the sea ban, and I submitted it to the court with the attitude of giving it a try, but what happened?"

"As a result..." Emperor Guangxing asked himself with a dejected face and replied: "As a result, nearly a hundred people impeached him for wronging the country, wronging the emperor and corrupting the ancestral system, forcing me to dismiss him..."

Hua Manlou weakly raised his hand: "I have heard about this matter, and Liu Qiran, the prefect of Suzhou, has also told my son, and he also told my son in a cryptic manner that things will be smooth when things are slow, and some things should not be too radical. "

"Then tell me, what do you mean!" Emperor Guangxing was a little depressed.

In fact, Emperor Guangxing didn't need to remind Hua Manlou of these things at all, because he knew that since Hua Manlou dared to talk about opening the sea, he was very clear about these things.But knowing that Gui knew that the matter of Kaihai was too sensitive after all, so he had to tell some black history—wasn't it quite shameful black history to be forced to dismiss an official by the civil servants of the Manchu Dynasty?

From this matter, it can be seen that Emperor Guangxing attaches great importance to Huamanlou. Simply put, he does not want Huamanlou to hit the entire civil servant group like an iron-headed child.

Hua Manlou scratched his head: "Actually... Erchen didn't even think about fighting with them, he just wanted to get along with them..."

"What's the matter?"

"Just...that's what, after Yin Bowen, the governor of Ningbo, was taken down, the group of people who danced the most happily were also taken down, and most of the people left were those who participated in private trade. Organized and knocked a large sum of money for the establishment of the Ningbo Navy, and then organized them to continue to do business, but unlike Yin Bowen, the money earned back was dominated by the father..."

Emperor Guangxing's eyes widened: "You...you mean..."

Hua Manlou's face was full of grief: "I'm guilty, I decided this matter privately, and... and since Ningbo, everyone who participated in trade in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Minyue areas but did not collude with the Japanese pirates also took advantage of this trend. The method has been compiled, so..."

Hua Manlou carefully looked at Emperor Guangxing, coughed dryly and said: "Hey, so with the Japanese pirates subsiding, the situation of smuggling in the southeast is now unprecedentedly prosperous. In the past, this group of people were fighting on their own, but now my ministers use To subdue the power of the Japanese pirates and integrate them all together, because the scale of smuggling has become larger and the smuggling is safer, so they pay less and get much more than before, but the one who gets the most is the father..."

Emperor Guangxing's eyes straightened: "You mean, now... I have become a smuggler?"

Hua Manlou said with difficulty: "In theory, that's what it means. Because I know that it's unrealistic to catch them all in one go, so what... it's better to help them make their careers bigger and let more people People join, that is... How should I put it, some wealthy businessmen and country gentry ministers who were not involved in this matter also let them get involved, because I think that the more people involved, the more important this matter will be. I can't hold it back, even if the Shanghai ban is still there, it will actually exist in name only..."

"And... and what, I really searched them all. The Ningbo, Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, and Qiongzhou naval divisions were built with their money, and I threatened them not to cooperate with me. If you dare to go into the sea privately, you will be sunk immediately if you are found out by the navy, no one can say that it will not work..."

"Also... and what else, Erchen even coerced them to sign an agreement. If they want to do business in the future, they have to pay protection fees to Erchen. This money will be used for the navy's expenses..."

Emperor Guangxing raised his hand, pointed at Hua Manlou's nose tremblingly, and cursed after trembling for a while, "You bastard! You bastard! You...you...damn it!"

The gentle and refined Emperor Guangxing scolded his mother!

But besides scolding his mother, how else can he express his mood at the moment?

Isn't what Hua Manlou did out of the ordinary?

It's quite out of the ordinary, it can even be called nonsense, and it looks extremely ugly.

But is Huamanlou selfish at the root of doing this?

Not at all, after all...

Even Zhao Ren could tell that Hua Manlou didn't care about money, so how could Emperor Guangxing not see it?

Dazhao does not open the sea. Fundamentally speaking, it is nothing more than internal and external troubles. Generally speaking, foreign troubles refer to the Japanese pirates who have been harassing and plundering along the coast of Dazhao for more than a hundred years. A bureaucratic gentry who sails to sea to earn money.

Now the foreign troubles have been quelled by Huamanlou, but the internal troubles...

The internal troubles were not dealt with at all. Instead, they integrated all of them together and transformed into the enemy's interior, and even became the leader.

No matter how you look at this matter, it is outrageous, but this Zhuzi did it very frankly and smoothly, and even crazily pulled more people in to play together...

Ordinarily speaking, Huamanlou's messing around like this is completely poaching Zhao's corner. According to Dazhao's law, he should be sentenced to exile for three thousand miles, but after Emperor Guangxing finished scolding, he suddenly laughed out loud: " Ha, hahahaha... You bastard! You're an idiot! You actually have the face to tell me about such a bastard thing?"

Hua Manlou said embarrassingly, "I'm... ashamed. That... Not only that, I... I also brought a large number of nobles and... and my two prospective father-in-laws to this stall. Right now, less than half of the people in the court are doing this, headed by His Majesty, including His Highness the Crown Prince..."

Emperor Guangxing immediately got up, grabbed Hua Manlou and kicked her hard twice. After kicking, he was still laughing: "You bastard, this matter... this matter has nothing to do with me. I know! Bastard, how can I dig my own corner? How do you let the history books evaluate me? Pfft...hahahaha...where is my cane? I have to teach you a lesson today...hahahaha..."

In the eyes of Emperor Guangxing, the matter of opening the sea is a life-and-death political struggle. Even if it is not a life-and-death political struggle, it will take a long time to accumulate, and it will even require a major clean-up of the court, but it will take a lot of money. It's completely the opposite, but it seems like a joke to tinker with the sea ban policy like this. I'm afraid that the courtiers will ask themselves to lift the sea ban...

And once the sea ban is lifted, the protection fees spent all over the building will turn into tariffs, and the so-called "eaten" part of Emperor Guangxing can even be divided into two, one part goes to the national treasury, and the other part goes to the internal treasury, which is reasonable and legal.

Emperor Guangxing suddenly felt that such an effective and simple and rude idea would not be realized without going to the casino for ten or eight years.

Emperor Guangxing can accept the other things, except that Hua Manlou said that he became a smuggling leader, so he said he didn't know about it-even if he really took the money, he couldn't admit it, the emperor Is it okay to dig your own corner?

Seeing Emperor Guangxing behave like this, Hua Manlou secretly wiped the cold sweat from his brow: This is over!

Hua Manlou was afraid that Emperor Guangxing would not accept his method when he confessed. After all, it was absurd to do such a thing, and it was simply unheard of in ancient times.If it were an emperor with a bad mind, or an emperor who was suspicious, he might be taken down before he could finish his sentence.

But let’s not talk about Emperor Guangxing’s benevolence. On the premise of his extreme trust in Huamanlou, he is also very familiar with Huamanlou’s style—for example, the order to extend favor to the Tatars. This matter is not an ordinary cerebral thrombosis Can think of?

Therefore, Emperor Guangxing immediately understood Huamanlou's intentions after Huamanlou spread the matter out. This tacit understanding...

"Okay, I don't blame you for thinking of such a way to open the sea." After laughing for a long time, Emperor Guangxing patted Hua Manlou on the shoulder again: "I didn't misread you, and I didn't believe you wrong either. , you can rest assured and boldly follow your method, and if something happens, I will take care of it!"

Hua Manlou raised his eyes to look at Emperor Guangxing, and said, "Father...Father trusts my minister, as long as my father trusts my minister, son... Then what, there is still something to report."

"Oh? What the hell is going on?"