Every year on the first day of the first lunar month, the imperial court has to hold a very grand Zhengdan pilgrimage, except for the year, because Li Zicheng recovered, killed the king of Qin in Xi'an, Chongzhen stopped the court.

According to the Ming etiquette system, on the first day of the New Year, not only the emperor should accept the congratulations of the hundred officials in the Huangji Palace, the queen should accept the congratulations of the wives in the Kunning Palace, and the crown prince should also accept the congratulations of the hundred officials in the East Palace (because it is inconvenient for Zhu Cihong to live in the Zhongcui Palace, it is generally placed in the Wenhua Hall where he is studying).

On the first day of the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, a pilgrimage ceremony was held in the Fengtian Hall of the Forbidden City in Nanjing, compared with the pilgrimage being held in the Jingshi Imperial Palace, this pilgrimage was slightly later and smaller, limited to the nobles and officials above the fourth rank in Nanjing.

After a set of cumbersome etiquette, the nobles and officials in the hall were all solemn and solemn, and there was no voice, they all knew that after the court, the crown prince would be ready to discuss and deal with the civil revolt brought about by the new policy.

Zhu Cihong was wearing a set of nine crowns and nine chapters, overlooking the courtiers and nobles below on the golden throne, with a slight smile, and said: "Give the ministers a seat!" ”

The nobles seemed to be blinded by this sudden luck, and everyone was still hesitating, only to see that the crown prince had stepped down from the throne.

Zhu Cihong smiled, raised his confidence and said in a sonorous and powerful tone: "Taking advantage of the Zhengdan Dynasty, the palace has several important national policies to discuss with the ministers, from the fourteenth year of Chongzhen, the palace intends to continue to vigorously implement the new policy in the provinces south of the Yangtze River, refresh the rule of officials, along the Taizu, Chengzu two emperors to create a martial arts, carry forward the ancestors of my Ming Dynasty, revitalize hundreds of years of decadence, and create a generation of prosperous world. ”

Zhu Cihong's voice echoed in the hall, he spoke at length, talked eloquently, spoke unhurriedly, and spoke vividly, but no one spoke in the Fengtian Palace, and the silence in the hall was terrifying.

Everyone was a little stunned, the secret road outside has been fried because of the opposition to the new deal, don't you talk to us about how to deal with it, and continue to vigorously implement it? What is this road number?

Seeing that they were all speechless, Zhu Cihong looked at Zhu Guobi, Marquis of Funing, and said with a smile: "Marquis of Funing, this palace asked Caoyun to change the matter of shipping, have you Caoyun Yamen prepared it?" ”.

Since Ming Chengzu moved the capital to Beijing, Beijing's food supply has been dependent on the transportation of water on the Grand Canal, but a canal from south to north, from the local to the center, from Cao Ding to the household department Shangshu, cabinet bosses, I don't know how many people share the fertilizer on it.

According to the regulations of the imperial court, 8 million stones of grain are transported from Jiangnan to Beijing every year, and nearly 30 million stones are consumed inexplicably along the way.

For the prince's unreasonable play, Funing Hou Zhu Guobi was a little confused, but since this matter involved Xungui's money bag, he naturally had to oppose it greatly.

Zhu Guobi said: "Back to His Royal Highness the Prince, the ministers and others discussed with the people of various yamen for a day, and everyone's opinion is that there are too many difficulties in this matter and it is not suitable to be implemented. ”

Zhang Guowei, the secretary of the household department, did not dare to agree, and immediately stood up and said: "Changing the transportation to sea transportation, the transportation cost and consumption along the way will be greatly reduced, and the burden of the people in the south of the Yangtze River will also be greatly reduced. ”

Zhu Guobi glanced at him and said with a smile: "Long after the Jiajing Dynasty Qi Jiguang pacified the Japanese and restored calm in Haijiang, there were constantly officials in the court who proposed to change Caoyun to sea transportation.

Emperor Sejong once said on this kind of proposal, it is better to go to the disadvantages than to prosper, and it is better to save than to increase the matter. ”

Zhu Cihong sneered, there are indeed many people in the Jiajing Dynasty who propose to change the transportation to shipping, but all these initiatives are ultimately sinking into the sea, thousands of miles of canal transportation, nearly a million people are involved, there are tens of millions of stone grain available for profit distribution every year, in the face of tens of millions of taels of silver huge and stable income, who is willing to change? Who would dare to touch it?

Even if the Donglin Party in Jiangnan controlled the politics of the Southern Ming Dynasty, the financiers behind them were the gentry and wealthy businessmen in Jiangnan, not the small farmers in Jiangnan.

It is because of the existence of this interest group, whether it is the Ming Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty, even if the steamships are swimming everywhere and the trains are running everywhere in the evening and fine weather, the Cao Yun is still running, and at the beginning of the 20th century, the Grand Canal was so blocked that it could not be sailed at all, and during the Boxer Rebellion and the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, the Qing court lost hundreds of millions of taels of silver, and it was really impossible to get the funds for river control.

The Cao Gang, who lost their jobs, became the Green Gang, some changed their careers to go to the beach, and some went to Sun Yat-sen to become a revolutionary party, and in the future Xinhai Revolution, these laid-off slender men also played a big role in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty.

Zhu Guobi ignored Zhu Cihong's eyes, and continued: "Therefore, everyone thinks that since there is Emperor Sejong's testament first, if it is changed at this time, I am afraid that it will hurt Your Highness's name of benevolence and filial piety." ”

Zhu Guobi's meaning when he said this is very clear, if you want to do this, you are unfilial!

Zhu Cihong turned his head to look at Wei Guogong and Tang Guozuo and other nobles, and said: "Wei Guogong, Lingbi Marquis, Linhuai Marquis, you are all noble children, your ancestors are all heroes who followed Emperor Taizu to set the world, and they all live in Jiangnan. ”

Xu Hongji, the Duke of Wei, said: "Everything is both good and bad, the minister thought that since Emperor Shizong said that, he had his own old man's truth, and the minister thought that it would be difficult to see results in the implementation of this matter, just like the collection of commercial taxes, which has already caused chaos in the world!" ”

Good fellow, finally the business tax is mentioned!

Zhu Cihong swept around and said, "Do you all think so?" ”

"The minister supports the change of water transportation to sea transportation!"

Speaking is the descendants of Chang Yuchun, Huaiyuan Marquis Chang Yanling, he said sonorously: "During the Mengyuan period, there was Zhu Qing to create sea transport, and the number of grain transported increased year by year, up to more than 3 million stones, sea transport made Taicang develop into a large port on the southeast coast, rich and prosperous, everyone can see!" ”

Chang Yanling continued: "When His Royal Highness the Crown Prince leveled Liao, there was a shortage of grain on the front line, there was a shortage of grain in Gyeonggi, and the transportation was not smooth. ”

Zhu Cihong stroked his palms and smiled, and said: "Yes, but there is this matter, Shen Tingyang has contributed a lot, so it is still feasible to ship by sea!" ”

Xu Hongji glared at Chang Yanling, then looked at Zhu Cihong who was above him, and said in a loud voice: "The things that Emperor Shenzong and the current saint have decided should not be changed!" Please also ask His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to listen to everyone's opinions for the sake of politics, and don't be self-indulgent! ”

Zhu Cihong raised his eyebrows and said, "What's wrong with the new policy of this palace?" Who are you referring to? ”

Xu Hongji snorted coldly: "If this new policy is good, then why are so many people opposed?" Merchants go on strike, students go on strike, workers kill tax supervisors, and scholars march in groups to demonstrate, these are all things that the ministers do not understand and do not approve of, and please make these things clear to Your Highness! ”

The nobles were confused by Zhu Cihong's unconventional path, and when they saw Chang Yanling coming out to interrupt, some people were already about to retreat, and now when they saw Wei Guogong coming out to make trouble, they immediately cheered up and began to echo one after another.

"That's right! Your Highness, please make it clear to everyone! ”

"There has been a mess outside, which has obviously shown that this new policy will do more harm than good, why does the prince avoid this issue for a long time!"

"Ben Hou thinks that the new policy is really a policy to disrupt the country, and the crown prince is not suitable to supervise the country in Nanjing!"

......

Congratulations to the book friend [Nine Shadows] for becoming the fourth leader of this book!

Congratulations to the book friend [La_La] for becoming the head of this book!

I don't know why, but now it's getting slower and slower, sometimes it takes three or four hours to write a chapter, and I hope you will bear with me.

(End of chapter)