Although it is now the period of Emperor Xiaozong's burial, all things are cumbersome, but state affairs still cannot be abolished, and the matter of the little prince committing the original still needs to be held in court.

Before Zhu Houzhao fell asleep, Wang Yue, the eunuch who was in charge of the seal, came to ask Zhu Houzhao if he would hold a court meeting tomorrow.

Zhu Houzhao knew that the current cabinet would not agree to rectify the armament training of the real side, so he was not in the mood to hold a court meeting, but when he thought that he had promised to give the queen mother the title of honor, Zhu Houzhao still nodded, and allowed the cabinet and the Ministry of War to invite the court to hold a court meeting tomorrow, and at the same time, Zhu Houzhao also ordered Zhang Sheng, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, to also participate.

The next day, that is, the early morning of October 11 in the 18th year of Hongzhi, the capital city of the Ming Dynasty has begun to snow, and the snowflakes like pulling catkins are blown up by the cold wind, and it is only after a long time that they are put on the heavy eaves of the palace, and the vermilion tile is dyed white.

Zhu Houzhao added a mink jacket and wore a layer of plain clothes, the crown on his head was also covered with a white cloth, and his whole body was snow-white, standing next to the white marble pillar and the sky and the palace walls and pavilions were the same color, only a pair of dark black eyes were extraordinarily bright, only staring at the cabinet ministers Liu Jian and others who came in front of him, and the eunuch Wang Yue, the eunuch of the palm seal and the eunuch Lu He who were wearing python robes and three mountain hats standing under the eaves of the corridors on both sides.

Since his accession to the throne, Zhu Houzhao and the two institutions of the Ming Dynasty, namely the cabinet ministers and the celebrant eunuchs, have also had many contacts.

But because of this, if it weren't for these actual contacts, Zhu Houzhao really didn't know that his imperial power as an emperor would also be restricted by these two institutions.

Because, theoretically speaking, the power of these two institutions was created by the emperor, but in reality they have become two mountains that stand in the way of their own power.

Zhu Houzhao knew that the emperors of the previous dynasty established these two institutions one after another, not to limit the imperial power, but to contain each other, balance and protect the imperial power, and the fundamental reason why the balance was broken was that the internal ministers and foreign ministers colluded together, so he set up his own emperor.

To put it bluntly, it's actually still human.

But Zhu Houzhao still doesn't understand, collusion between internal and external ministers is a taboo, these people are also bold, or maybe it is related to Emperor Hongzhi's treatment of his subordinates too leniently, if he was already in a different place in the previous dynasty, Zhu Houzhao felt that he must strictly prevent internal and external ministers from contacting privately without his knowledge, otherwise it would not be enough to ensure his safety.

Zhu Hou looked at Liu Jin, who was holding a plain white umbrella for himself: "Liu Jin, if you dare to contact foreign courtiers without my knowledge in the future, no matter how big or small it is, I will not spare you!" It's like the snow in my palm! ”

Zhu Houzhao grabbed a handful of the snow on the white marble pillar and pinched it vigorously in his hand, and then suddenly fell to the ground angrily, and the snow ball was shattered.

Liu Jin couldn't help but be shocked, and bent down slightly: "Don't worry, the emperor doesn't dare!" ”

The eunuch Wang Yue, the eunuch of the master of ceremonies, has been staring at Emperor Zhu Houzhao, he found that Zhu Houzhao seems to have changed a little, there seems to be some anger and majesty between his eyebrows, and the action of falling into the snow just now made him tremble in his heart, thinking that the emperor's personality is like that of the first emperor, although he is cynical, he has a very good temperament and has always been innocent, and there will be no city, but why did I panic just now.

At this time, Liu Jian, the first assistant of the cabinet, was carrying a robe, and Li Dongyang and Xie Qian were facing Zhu Houzhao, and Zhang Sheng, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Xu Jin, the secretary of the Ministry of War, followed him.

Liu Jian, the first assistant to the cabinet, and others were also looking at Zhu Houzhao, and Li Dongyang couldn't help but ask first: "Your Majesty, why is it so quiet today?" ”

When Li Dongyang asked, Liu Jian and Xie Qian both seemed to be reminded, and they hurriedly showed surprised looks.

Xu Jin, the secretary of the military department behind him, said: "It's so cold, Your Majesty naturally doesn't want to move." ”

As soon as Xu Jin, the secretary of the Ministry of War, said this, everyone didn't speak again, and Liu Jian, the first assistant of the cabinet, just snorted, not wanting to look at Xu Jin.

Zhu Houzhao pretended not to see, and in his heart he was also very unaccustomed to Liu Jian's old minister's style, but when he thought that he had not yet reached the time of the final attack, he still entered the hall lightly on the surface, and said, "Let's start!" ”

Because of the little prince's invasion of Guyuan again, it was Xu Jin, the secretary of the Ministry of War, who spoke first about what happened.

After listening to Xu Jin's words, Zhu Houzhao asked, "Do you Aiqing have any suggestions for this?" ”

The third cabinet elder did not speak, but only looked at Xu Jin, the secretary of the military department.

Xu Jin had already prepared the manuscript and said busily: "Your Majesty, Weichen sorted out the area of the little prince's invasion in recent years, and found that the little prince was mainly concentrated in Shaanxi. ”

Zhu Houzhao understood what Xu Jin meant, that is, the direct reason why the little prince was able to successfully attack the Ming Dynasty repeatedly was that the side wall was in disrepair, and it was not realistic to train troops or even send troops or something, and the most necessary and urgent thing was to allocate silver to repair the side wall.

"How much silver does it cost to repair the side wall?"

Zhu Houzhao asked.

"Back to Your Majesty, according to the report of Yang Yiqing, the governor of Shaanxi, it will be at least 400,000 taels!" Xu Jin, the secretary of the military department, replied.

Without waiting for Zhu Houzhao to ask, Liu Jian, the first assistant to the cabinet, said first: "Your Majesty, as Lord Xu said, the repair of the side wall is really urgent, but now there is no accumulated silver in Taicang, and the new taxes have not yet arrived in Beijing, and most of them have been pre-made for repairing the imperial tomb of Emperor Xiaozong, and now if you want to repair the side wall, you can only ask Your Majesty to allocate internal funds!" ”

Liu Jian, the first assistant of the cabinet, and others already knew that Zhu Houzhao had made a lot of money by opening the Royal Exposition, so they would naturally find a way to let Zhu Houzhao take out the money and spend it, instead of letting Zhu Houzhao keep it for his own use.

"Use of internal money?" Zhu Houzhao asked a little stunned.

Li Dongyang, the second assistant of the cabinet, and Liu Jian, the first assistant of the cabinet, glanced at each other and said, "Yes, Your Majesty!" Now there is only money in the treasury. “

"You know my secrets better than I do," Zhu Houzhao laughed.

At this time, Xie Qian also said: "Please also ask Your Majesty to think about the Ming Dynasty and send internal funds to repair the border wall to solve the danger of the people." ”

When Xie Qian said this, he felt in his heart how much he was for the country and the people!

Zhu Houzhao also followed what he thought in his heart and said: "Xie Aiqing is really for the country and the people!" ”

Saying that, Zhu Houzhao said to Xu Jin, the secretary of the Ministry of War: "Since the cabinet has agreed to issue internal funds, I will not be stingy, and I will issue internal funds to the Ministry of War after my father and emperor are in the tomb." ”

"Weichen thanked His Majesty Long En for the soldiers and civilians of the border town! Weichen first sent over the remaining more than 50,000 silver in the military department, and asked the governor of Shaanxi to repair the key points first, and then use His Majesty's internal funds to completely renovate them! ”

Xu Jin said busily.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao also nodded: "Accurate!" ”

The elders of the three cabinets of the cabinet and Zhang Sheng, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, were also busy saying: "Your Majesty Shengming! ”

And Zhu Houzhao said again at this time: "The military court has finished discussing it, and now it is time to discuss the matter of giving the queen mother the honorific title." ”