It's not nice to say, if someone launches a coup d'état, it is simply impossible to get the position of governor of Jingying, don't even think about it.

"Your Majesty, since the British Duke is so resolute, it is better to promise him first, give the court half a year, and then we will slowly find a suitable candidate." Wei Zhongxian whispered to the emperor.

Wei Zhongxian knew that the emperor was reluctant to let Zhang Weixian step down, so he came to retreat as advance, ostensibly to keep Zhang Weixian, but in fact he wanted to let Zhang Weixian vacate his position as soon as possible.

Wei Zhongxian estimated that in the second half of the year, the three major halls could be rebuilt to have a rough appearance, and when the time came, he would ask his nephew Wei Liangqing for credit, and please give Wei Liangqing the title of duke, and then Wei Liangqing would be qualified to take over the Beijing camp.

Not to mention, Wei Zhongxian still has a strong sense of the overall situation, everything is arranged just right, and the response is fast.

Zhu Youxiao nodded, and said loudly: "British duke, give me another three years, aren't you only in your fifties?" Much younger than the first and second assistants, and in three years' time, I will allow you to step down, okay? ”

Wei Zhongxian almost didn't get angry, he said it was half a year, you said it was three years?

Why don't you say ten years later?

Wei Zhongxian was angry, there was no way at all, what could the emperor do if he said it in public.

Zhang Weixian was extremely happy in his heart, feeling the emperor's grace and the emperor's trust in him.

Moreover, Zhang Weixian himself is just making a gesture, and he does not really want to resign from the position of governor of Beijing.

Although he knew that it would be difficult for Zhang Zhiji to take over his position, his son-in-law was so successful now, and it was difficult to say what would happen in the future.

Anyway, Zhang Weixian felt that he could do it for one day, so it must be a good thing to leave the Beijing camp in the hands of the British government for one more day, and his posture has been in place today.

After the dispersal of the dynasty, Wei Bao waited for the eunuch to take him to dine with the emperor.

British Duke Zhang Weixian and Cheng Guo Duke Zhu Chunchen said goodbye to Wei Bao, both of them were a little envious of Wei Bao, they had not eaten with Zhu Youxiao for so many years, and they had a few meals with Emperor Wanli.

The time between Emperor Wanli and Emperor Tianqi was too short, and Emperor Longqing was also a fun person, but he didn't like to deal with ministers very much.

The two of them saw that Zhu Youzhen left without saying anything, and they also walked out.

At this time, the great eunuch Li Yongzhen stopped Zhu Youzhen: "King Xin, please stay." ”

"What's the matter, father-in-law." Zhu Youzhen was startled, hurriedly stopped, and stood with his hands down.

Wei Bao was also a little strange, I didn't know what Li Yongzhen was doing when he suddenly stopped Zhu Youzhen.

British Duke Zhang Weixian and Cheng Duke Zhu Chunchen also stopped to look, not knowing what was going on.

Not only a few of them, but also many ministers were also observing.

Although Zhu Youzhen rarely shows up, he is a very eye-catching and sensitive presence in the imperial court.

Everyone would have thought that if Zhu Youxiao did not give birth to the crown prince, Zhu Youzhen would be the first heir in legal theory.

And everyone knows that Zhu Youxiao and Zhu Youzhen have grown up together since childhood, and their relationship is very deep, and Zhu Youxiao takes care of his younger brother Zhu Youzhen very well.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen's every move is easy to attract attention.

"Oh, it is Your Majesty who wants King Xin and Fuguo Gong to dine with Your Majesty." Li Yongzhen said with a smile.

"Brother obeys." Zhu Youxiao hurriedly saluted.

Wei Bao made a speech to the British Duke and the Founding of the Kingdom.

The Duke of England and the Duke of Cheng Guo smiled and asked Wei Bao to accompany the emperor well, and left.

The British public Zhang Weixian was so happy today, not only did he say his resignation, which was equivalent to helping his son-in-law, but the emperor did not allow it, so he gave himself another three years at once.

Zhang Weixian and Zhu Chunchen invited each other to drink.

Li Yongzhen walked in front, and Wei Bao and Zhu Youzhen followed.

Although Wei Bao knew that this was a good opportunity to get close to Zhu Youzhen, he didn't flatter him, but he just cared about Zhu Youzhen's life without saying anything, and asked Zhu Youzhen if he had any difficulties.

Wei Bao thought about asking someone to send money to Zhu Youzhen, and he also sent it, but he didn't send much, but he sent two thousand taels, mainly because he didn't know what kind of character Zhu Youzhen was, and he was afraid that Zhu Youzhen would be disgusted.

In fact, Wei Bao probably knows what kind of character Zhu Youzhen is, but he knows it from history, after all, he has not had much contact, and the ideas and direct contact obtained from history are still very different.

Zhu Youzhen really asked people to return the silver to Wei Bao.

Wei Bao didn't let anyone send silver again.

"Fu Guogong, you can talk to Your Majesty, can you advise Your Majesty to listen to the project of building the three major halls?" Zhu Youzhen suddenly said something that surprised Wei Bao.

When Wei Bao heard this, he immediately felt very embarrassed.

If Zhu Youzhen made other requests to Wei Bao, Wei Bao would definitely agree, but this request alone was really difficult to agree.

Because that would be against the will of the current emperor.

The Forbidden City, which has gone through the Ming and Qing dynasties, is still magnificent and beautiful after more than 600 years.

The Forbidden City took 15 years to complete the construction with a lot of manpower and material resources.

In ancient times, Beijing was known as the ideal capital city of "surrounded by mountains and rivers".

The western mountains in the west are the Taihang Mountains; The Jundu Mountain in the north is the Yanshan Mountain Range, and the two mountain ranges form a semi-circular mountain bay that spreads to the southeast, and the mountain bay is surrounded by the Beijing Plain.

In terms of geographical pattern, Beijing is a strategic place with "Liaojie in the east, Taihang in the west, Shuodesert in the north, the military capital in the back, and the Central Plains in the south".

In 1399, Ming Chengzu launched the Battle of Jingjing, and after seizing the throne, he changed Beiping to Beijing in 1403.

In 1406, Ming Chengzu began to plan to move the capital to Beijing and began to build the Beijing Palace.

In 1420, the Forbidden City Palace, Taimiao, Five Prefectures and Six Yamen, Bell and Drum Towers, etc., were built, and the southern city wall was moved 0.8 kilometers south to build the imperial city.

In 1421, the capital was officially moved to Beijing, and then the Temple of Heaven and Earth and the Altar of Mountains and Rivers were built in the southern suburbs of Beijing.

From 1436 to 1445, Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty made a second addition to the city of Beijing, and the main works included the inner side of the city wall covered with bricks; excavation of the South China Sea; Build the Nine Gate Tower, the Urn City and the Arrow Tower; The four corners of the city are built with corner towers; Outside the city gate, each erects a memorial arch; The wooden bridges over the moat were all converted into stone bridges, with sluices under the bridges and revetments built of bricks and stones on the banks of the river.

After the renovation, the capital formed an extremely strong city defense system.

In the Ming Dynasty, Beijing was divided into an inner city and an outer city, and the imperial city and the Forbidden City were located in the inner city.

The inner city is divided into nine gates, namely Zhengyang Gate, Chongwen Gate, Xuanwu Gate, Chaoyang Gate, Dongzhi Gate, Fucheng Gate, Xizhi Gate, Desheng Gate, and Anding Gate.

The outer city is divided into seven city gates, namely Yongding Gate, Zuo'an Gate, You'an Gate, Guangning Gate, Guangqu Gate, and two small city gates that are easy to enter and exit, Dongbian Gate and Xibian Gate.

The Forbidden City is magnificent, solemn and gorgeous, it is the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Forbidden City is also known as the Forbidden City, the Forbidden City comes from the Ziwei Star Wall, the Ziwei Star Wall, the North Star is located in the center of the three walls, and it is the center of all the stars.

Purple is "the middle of Ziwei", and the palace is the "center" of the world; "Forbidden" refers to the Imperial Palace, where intrusion is strictly prohibited.

"History of the Ming Dynasty" records that when the Forbidden City was built, more than 100,000 famous craftsmen were recruited from all over the country, and as many as 1 million people were served, and the whole project lasted 15 years until 1421 before it was finally completed.

After the construction of the Forbidden City, it was rebuilt and expanded many times, but the overall appearance remained unchanged.

The Forbidden City is a brick and wood structure with building materials from all over the country.

The wood mainly comes from Fangshan in the suburbs of Beijing, and some from Huguang, Jiangxi, Shanxi and other provinces.

The bricks used to build walls in the palace are called Cheng mortar bricks, which are fired in Linqing, Shandong; The square bricks used for paving are called gold bricks, which are fired in Suzhou, and more than 100 million bricks are used in the entire Forbidden City.

After completion, the Forbidden City covers an area of 720,000 square meters, with a 10-meter-high city wall and a corner tower with 72 ridges on the roof at each of the four corners.

At the outermost end, there is a 52-meter-wide moat that surrounds it.

The architectural layout of the Forbidden City is divided into two parts: the outer court and the inner court.

The outer dynasty is the main place for the Ming and Qing emperors to govern the government, with the three major halls of Taihe, Zhonghe and Baohe as the center, and the Wenhua Hall and the Wuying Hall are divided into two wings.

The inner court is the place where the emperor deals with daily government affairs and the concubines of the imperial family live, generally known as the "three palaces and six courtyards", mainly including the Qianqing Palace, the Jiaotai Palace, the Kunning Palace, the East and West Six Palaces and the Imperial Garden.

Not long after Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, one day, a strange guest came to the city.

He is said to be eccentric because he is proficient in yin and yang gossip, good at using gossip to predict what did not happen, and everything he predicted for people became true.

For this reason, the people in the capital call him "God Operator".

This matter soon reached the ears of Emperor Zhu Di, at this time, the emperor was excited about his stay in the glorious Forbidden City, he thought, since this person can calculate what did not happen, then why not let this "god operator" calculate the fate of this Forbidden City?

So, the god operator who was proficient in yin and yang gossip was invited into the Forbidden City by Zhu Di.

Zhu Di first asked the god operator to visit the three most luxurious halls of the Forbidden City: the Fengtian Palace, the Huagai Hall and the Jinshen Palace.

And ask this god to predict the future of these three temples.

Zhu Di thought that this god operator would flatter him and say a lot of auspicious words, but what he didn't expect was that this god operator shook his head and sighed after looking at the three major halls.

In the end, the god operator regretfully told Zhu Di that the three luxurious halls would be destroyed by a fire in the spring of the following year.

As soon as the words of this god operator came out, Zhu Di was immediately half angry, and he immediately locked up this person, wanting to wait until the spring of the next year to see the truth of this god operator's prediction.

What Emperor Zhu Di never expected was that at the end of March and early April of the second year, the three major halls were really struck by lightning and burned down.

Zhu Di hurriedly went to the prison to find the god operator, but the god operator had already committed suicide in prison.

Zhu Di believed that this fire was God's punishment for the construction of the palace, so he no longer rebuilt the three major halls.

After that, he worked on the Fengtian Gate in front of the Fengtian Temple until his death.

So, why were the three major halls of the Forbidden City destroyed by a fire?

According to the scientific speculation of later generations, because these three major halls were built very tall at that time, and at the same time, people at that time did not know how to use lightning rods to avoid lightning, so they were struck by lightning.

And the god operator only estimated the impermanence of the weather changes in the spring of the second year in Beijing, and made a prediction of the destruction of the three major halls.

Poor Emperor Zhu Di, who was high above, didn't understand why his most proud palace was destroyed by thunder and fire until he died.

Although Zhu Di is reluctant to rebuild these three major halls, it does not mean that his descendants will not rebuild.

So Wei Bao easily understands why Zhu Youxiao insists on rebuilding the three major halls, on the one hand, for the sake of face, everyone wants to build beautiful and beautiful ones in their homes, and the emperor will be no exception, on the other hand, Zhu Youxiao's biggest hobby is to engage in these craftsman work.

The rebuilding of the three major halls is such a big project, and many important projects have the personal participation of the carpenter emperor.

Wei Bao knows Zhu Youxiao best, a science and engineering man who likes craftsman work, once he encounters a big project, it is challenging and fulfilling, and he has to complete it to get this satisfaction.

It's just that it costs three or four million taels of silver every year, which is too high, so Zhu Youzhen wants to give up this project.

"Originally, King Xin personally spoke, and I, Wei Bao, said that everything should be done, but this project will be largely completed this year." Wei Bao Road.

Wei Liangqing was because of his meritorious work in building the three major halls, so he used this as an excuse to obtain the title of Ning Guogong.

"The more it's almost finished, the more it costs!" Zhu Youzhen said: "As far as I know, there are at least eight million taels of holes to be filled, if it is peaceful and prosperous, it is better to say something, at present, there are famines in various places, starvation is everywhere, the imperial court is not even one million taels of disaster relief silver this year, and it is also very difficult to supply the border army, these situations, you Fuguo Gong should be very clear, right?" ”

Wei Bao does know these circumstances, it can be said that Zhu Youxiao does not spend money, Wei Bao is happier than anyone else, the country is worried about internal and external troubles, and the people are not happy, at this time, spending money on the construction of the three major halls can be said to be of no help to the people's livelihood.

In addition to enriching the pockets of relevant officials, what help will it be to the country and the people.

"This kind of thing, it is better for King Xin to say it to His Majesty, which minister to say, it will not please you, to tell the truth, Weichen is a little afraid to say." Wei Bao is very tactful, although he knows that Zhu Youzhen will definitely be unhappy when he says this, but he still takes the initiative to admit it, there is no need to offend Zhu Youxiao, the emperor of the Apocalypse, in order to please Zhu Youzhen.

Wei Bao didn't wait for Zhu Youzhen to speak, and continued: "In my opinion, it's best not to mention King Xin, you should be very clear about Your Majesty's preferences, and the things that Your Majesty recognizes are rarely changed, and Your Majesty doesn't have to think about the matter of silver, there are a group of people who pick it up." ”

Wei Bao lowered his voice to remind Zhu Youzhen, with an attitude of consideration for Zhu Youzhen.

Zhu Youzhen didn't seem to be angry, but said to Wei Bao very decisively: "If Fu Guogong doesn't say it, today is a good opportunity, and it's not easy for me to see His Majesty on weekdays, so I'll say it to Your Majesty myself, I don't know if Fu Guogong can help?" ”

Wei Bao sighed secretly, this Zhu Youzhen is really a stubborn personality, I reminded you so, what's the use of what you said? Do you really want to make Zhu Youxiao change his mind?

In addition to making Zhu Youxiao unhappy, what other benefits can it play?

Besides, the two of us have two mouths, how many mouths are waiting for Kebaba, Wei Zhongxian, and a few cronies and eunuchs?

Useless.

But Wei Bao knew that no matter how he persuaded Zhu Youzhen at this time, this guy who was known for his stubbornness and self-use probably wouldn't be able to listen.

Wei Bao admits that Zhu Youzhen is a person who thinks about the people, and at this point, he is definitely stronger than Zhu Youxiao, but he feels that this guy's brain is too axial, and he is too positive in trouble.

As the pinnacle of power, the emperor can be said to be the most difficult of all classes to evaluate.

Because of the strange choice given to him by history, he became a victim in the course of history.

The complex personality is too confident in his own thoughts, and he leaves no room for rejecting loyal ministers, and he also gives a ruthless end to traitorous ministers.

He has both the criticized "stubborn and self-serving" side, and the other voice of "overkill", because of the particularity of his times, if he wants to reverse the cry of this desperate road, he doesn't know if he understands whether the "degree" in his body is too strong, but as an outsider, Wei Bao's evaluation of Zhu Youzhen may be clearer than himself.

Moreover, in Wei Bao's view, Chongzhen is a rare monarch who messes up both "relations with the people" and "relations with the bureaucracy" at the same time.

Generally speaking, the monarchs who were determined to reform, such as Ming Taizu and Qing Shizong, would harm the interests of the bureaucracy, and reform was the redistribution of interests, so that the people could get benefits.

On the other hand, the monarchs who indulged in the bureaucracy's greed for ink and tyranny against the common people were probably the case with emperors, especially in the Song Dynasty, although the people were full of grievances, but they were mostly praised by the landlord class.

Chongzhen's situation is extremely special.

On the one hand, he carved the people and caused chaos in the world; On the one hand, it brutalizes the bureaucracy and causes the monarch and the minister to deviate from morality.

For the bureaucrats, Chongzhen is a "single husband", and for the people, Chongzhen is a "thief", and it is rare in the world to combine a single husband and a thief.

To put it a little too far, that's a big silly fork.

Wei Bao's mind spun fast, and after thinking about it, he said angrily: "I know that King Xin is a public heart, hoping to reduce the burden on the Ming Dynasty and seek well-being for the people, I know that I can't persuade the king, and I can't persuade Your Majesty, but if King Xin insists on advising Your Majesty, I'll help King Xin say a word." ”

Zhu Youzhen was overjoyed when he heard this, "I really didn't misunderstand the wrong person, you can not only fight well, but also be jealous and hateful, can appease the people, can kill corrupt officials, and are praised by many ordinary people, and can be appreciated by Your Majesty." You're a year older than me, and I'll call you brother, right? ”

Wei Bao was taken aback, and hurriedly said: "This is absolutely unacceptable, how dare you do it." ”

Not to mention that Zhu Youzhen is a person who wants to be an emperor in the future, even an ordinary vassal king, Wei Bao doesn't need it, and he doesn't want to take advantage of a vassal king in this title, what good is it for me to be your brother?

Zhu Youzhen looked at Li Yongzhen in front of him, and said softly: "It's okay, no one knows, in front of people, we don't call it that, just rush to help me this time, I should call Fuguo Gong as a brother." ”

"Never." Wei Bao insisted: "This is a matter of etiquette, I help the king of letters, and it is also out of public interest, although I know that it is useless, and I know that I can't do it." ”