Just like Zhu Gaoxu's experience, being an emperor in the Ming Dynasty, if you want to be lazy, it is too simple.

He always knew that the palace examination was personally written and reviewed by the emperor. But after he summoned Qi Tai, he learned that he could ask the minister to write a few questions, and then the emperor only needed to choose one question.

As for how to point out the top spot and explore the flowers, it is even easier. There is no definite standard for this matter, the emperor can be very arbitrary, and no one will make trouble. After all, those who participate in the palace examination will not fall off the list, and after the palace examination, they are all jinshi, and they are already happy.

The emperor can judge by whose handwriting is good, or by whose looks are good, and there is no problem. is like the Wang Gen in the Jianwen period, who was originally the champion, but because he was not very square, he didn't become it; and Huang Zicheng in the Hongwu period, because Taizu asked him his name, he didn't speak fluently, and he didn't become the champion.

Zhu Gaoxu remembered the stories he had heard before, and said in his heart that it was no wonder that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty had all kinds of wonders; There are those who play crickets, those who run brothels, those who are illiterate, and there are more than one who have not been in court for decades. The reason why they can do that may be because the emperor doesn't have to do anything, and the court can function as usual.

He still remembers the discussion in the textbook that the Ming and Qing dynasties were the peak of the development of feudal autocracy. This statement should also be true, but for most of the Ming Dynasty, it was probably not the emperor's centralized power, but the centralized power.

Some emperors have the subjective will to let the ministers finish all their work, but they can't divide the interests and power; It's the same as letting a horse run, but not eat grass. The result will only be that the bureaucratic clique will take most of the power and take most of the benefits. As a result, from the beginning of the Yongle Dynasty, the royal family has begun to change its strategy, gradually abandoning unrealistic illusions and seeking "checks and balances of power"; There were two sudden imbalances, one in the Civil Fort, and the other in the fall of the Eunuchs.

These are Zhu Gaoxu's own understanding of the government. But now the landscape is beginning to be reshaped, and I am afraid it has become very different from the past......

Zhu Gaoxu sat in the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace all morning, but he still did not finish reviewing the recital. He admired Huang Taizu very much in his heart, and he still dictated all the pieces at the age of seventy. Probably the people who start a business really understand that the country is not easy to come by.

After lunch, he asked the eunuch to send the rest of the music directly to the cabinet of Wuyingdian, so that the cabinet and the treasure office could deal with it. He himself went to the Rouyi Hall to read, and he hadn't finished reading the "Living Notes" written by Miaojin.

Those two yamen were initially set up temporarily because of the Northern Expedition, so they did not encounter any dissuasion. However, after Zhu Gaoxu returned to Beijing, he was still not disbanded; It's just that the right to "expedient decision-making" on urgent matters has been canceled, after all, after Zhu Gaoxu returns to the palace, urgent matters can be decided by him personally.

He had a hunch that opposition was brewing. In the "Treasure Department", an institution that refutes decision-making, there are several noble generals and eunuchs; Involving these people in the decision-making process is simply unheard of.

Zhu Gaoxu ignored it for the time being, and he stayed in the Rouyi Hall until the evening. The eunuch Cao Fu told him that it was the turn of the concubine Duan Xue to hate today. So Zhu Gaoxu ordered Cao Fu to summon Concubine De to sleep in the Qianqing Palace.

Emperor Daming is like this, from food, clothing, housing and transportation to major affairs of the court and politics, and even women, they can not worry about it, and all of them are properly arranged.

But only then did he gradually realize that Cao Fu was originally a eunuch of Shangshan, how could he take care of such a thing? At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there was no special internal official yamen that flipped the brand, and this Cao Fu unknowingly occupied a power vacuum; And Zhu Gaoxu didn't feel anything for a long time, but he felt very comfortable.

Perhaps the people in the imperial city are well-informed and often fight openly and secretly, and they are afraid that they are not fuel-efficient lamps.

When Duan Xue Hatred arrived, night had already fallen, but it was still relatively early. She wore a satin dress with crimson shawl streamers. When Duan Xue hated to follow him on his northern expedition, it was impossible to wear such clothes; Zhu Gaoxu saw her appearance at this time, and he was a little unaccustomed;

There were also retouches on her face, but when Zhu Gaoxu looked closely, he found that she only applied rouge on her lips and eyebrows, and there was no fat powder elsewhere. Her skin complexion is not as good as that of other concubines, but it is naturally very white, and she can't see the blemishes on her skin clearly at night. It was only when she got close to the light that Zhu Gaoxu saw the shallow sweat fleece on her hairline.

Duan Xuehe prepared wolfberry rice wine soup. Zhu Gaoxu felt that there was nothing wrong with his body, but his good intentions were difficult, so he didn't say anything.

At this time, Xue Hate suddenly asked: "Holy Lord, the stars and moon are very big. But why didn't they fall? ”

Zhu Gaoxu was a little surprised, he didn't expect that some of his remarks would sprout in their hearts. He was only thinking about the happy spring festival now, and he didn't want to say anything else; But just this morning, he remembered a lot of things in this area, and he was a little interested.

"Go down." Zhu Gaoxu turned his head and said.

When the female officials and palace maids heard this, they all bent their knees and said, "Yes." ”

Zhu Gaoxu was reluctant to say these things easily in front of ministers or irrelevant people, mainly for fear of being regarded as crazy with an abnormal brain; But the concubines who are close to him, he is not very wary...... Just as some people in later generations claimed that the microcosm and matter do not exist, but are only illusions of consciousness, most people will not be able to accept this kind of idealistic statement.

He took off the "match made in heaven" jade jade pendant from his belt, found another rope to tie it, and then threw a circle in the air.

Duan Xue looked at him with a confused expression.

Zhu Gaoxu shook off for a while, then put away the jade pendant and said, "Why didn't the jade pendant fly out?" ”

Duan Xue hated and said: "There is a rope to pull." ”

Zhu Gaoxu asked again: "The rope dragged it, why didn't it run into the palm of his hand?" ”

Duan Xuehate: "......"

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Because of the rotation in a circle, a kind of pulling force is needed to the middle; Otherwise, let's cut the rope, and the jade pendant will definitely fly. Has Deconcubine ever seen a magnet? ”

Duan Xue hated and nodded.

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Between the magnet and the iron, there is no rope, but there is that pulling force, which is called magnetism; And there is a force between all things, called gravity, and there is no 'rope' in sight.

The jade pendant rotates by the pulling force of the rope, and the stars circle by that gravitational force.

Ordinary two things seem to have no gravitational force, just because the thing is not heavy enough, and the gravitational force is also very small. But our earth is heavy enough, so things will always fall to the ground and not fly to the sky. ”

Duan Xue hated and groaned: "It's so strange......"

Zhu Gaoxu said with a smile: "The earth is actually a round ball, because it is too big, only those who stand on it feel as if it is flat." But if you go into the sea, you can see that the horizon is arc-shaped. ”

Duan Xue was stunned and said, "Then why don't the people below fall?" ”

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Everyone is dragged to the middle, and the people below think that the sky is below." ”

Duan Xuehate: "......"

Zhu Gaoxu said: "The best way to confirm this is to drive the boat in one direction, and finally return to the original place where it started." ”

Duan Xue hated to be stunned and didn't say anything for a long time.

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at her, didn't care very much, and took out "Living Notes" and continued to read it. He didn't think that Duan Xue would have any problems hearing these words. If there are too many things that people can't figure out, they usually forget it, because it doesn't affect the days in front of them; Only those who are very persistent, paranoid and always want to break the casserole and ask to the end, will keep thinking about it.

After a while, Duan Xue hated really didn't want to think about it, stepped forward to scoop the soup she had prepared, and handed it to Zhu Gaoxu to drink.

Zhu Gaoxu took the ceramic white bowl, glanced at her, and thanked her.

Duan Xue hated and whispered, "Holy ...... You can ask me to do something excessive, and if others don't want it, as long as the Holy One wants it, it's okay. ”

"What's the matter?" Zhu Gaoxu asked casually.

Duan Xue's face flushed.

Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a moment, and said kindly: "Haven't you let go of the previous things?" You are not guilty, and you are really not to blame for those things. Even Duan Yang said before he died, everything is not your fault. ”

Duan Xue hated and shook his head.

She was silent for a while, and muttered: "When I was in Yunnan, the saint treated me with kindness in every way, and did not hesitate to offend the Mu Mansion, and then I had nowhere to go, so the saint personally went to the city of Kunming to find me. Some people say that the Holy One is trying to win over and use me......"

Zhu Gaoxu asked, "Who said that?" ”

Duan Xue hated not to answer, and continued: "But after I understood, I felt more comfortable and at ease.

Because the Holy One was really good to me, I still remember that cold and rainy night, as if I had become a superfluous person in the world, I don't know the way forward, I don't know where to go, and looking back on the past is even more meaningless. Until the holy carriage appeared on the wet and dark road. I still remember the light was warm and the lambskin carpet in the car was soft and clean. ”

Duan Xue really rarely said so much, she was often silent, and Zhu Gaoxu could only guess her thoughts from her demeanor, behavior, and reaction. So tonight she was willing to talk, Zhu Gaoxu was very patient and listened very carefully, without the slightest hint of teasing.

Her voice was very small, "So you want to take advantage of me, just bully me, I don't hate it, but I feel better ......"

Zhu Gaoxu said in her heart: It seems that some things are requested by herself, no wonder I am.

Duan Xue thought for a moment and muttered, "At first, I felt guilty, but when the Holy Lord went crazy, I felt punished and could forgive myself. Later, I did let go of the Mu family's affairs, but I still thought that the saint was even more cruel to me. Maybe the Holy One should do that, so that I feel that I am a little useful, and I have repaid your heart and owed less? I can't tell. ”

Zhu Gaoxu asked, "Are I going to find the rope?" ”

Duan Xue hated his head and said in a low voice: "The Holy Lord can do what you want, and I am usually embarrassed to let others do it." ”

What do you want to do? Zhu Gaoxu pondered for a while, and gradually felt that the thorn was aroused. Duan Xue has been with him for several years, but he didn't expect him to have the feeling of his heart "plopping" at this time.