Garden of Fools.

This was originally the property of Wei Guogong, but now it is temporarily requisitioned as Zhu Houzhao's station.

The Forbidden City of Nanjing has been in disrepair for a long time, except for a few eunuchs who stayed behind, it is basically not popular, and Zhu Houzhao is not good at spending manpower and financial resources to renovate the Forbidden City of Nanjing, so he temporarily stayed in this Yuyuan.

At that time, Li Zhan, the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, who held the military power of Nanjing, Yu Jing, the eunuch of Nanjing, and Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei, all gathered here.

Wu Wending, the governor who was directly in charge of the local affairs of Nanzhili, and Dai Jin, the governor, also rushed to Nanjing to wait for Zhu Houzhao to summon him.

For officials in Nanjing, Zhu Houzhao's sudden appearance really took them by surprise.

Frankly speaking, the emperor has been in the capital for more than ten years, and these officials in Nanjing don't know how chic they are, and with the opening of the empire in recent years, these powerful people in Nanjing have naturally made a lot of money, and they can be regarded as fat and oily.

Zhu Houzhao's suddenly collapsed Yuyuan decoration has far surpassed his own royal West Garden, so Zhu Houzhao can't help but laugh at Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei, is a real rich man, and Xu Pengju can only say that this is all given by the emperor, and he is afraid that Zhu Houzhao will not be happy to raid his home.

"This platinum diamond-inlaid toilet is really unaccustomed to use, as well as this gilt silver agate grate, jade white jade cup, Wei Guogong, Wei Guogong, you have to thank the Ming Dynasty for being a strong country and a rich people, otherwise, your golden and jade foolish garden will also become a place full of spider silk webs!"

Zhu Houzhao waited for other officials to come to Nanjing one after another, and these days he only temporarily rested in Yuyuan, so he chatted with Xu Pengju.

Zhu Houzhao doesn't know much about Xu Pengju, he only knows that in the 24th year of Jiajing in history, the Nanjing Zhenwu Battalion mutiny, and Xu Pengju, the military commander in charge of the Nanjing Chinese Military Governor's Mansion, was a big luck and was scolded as a straw bag by the people of the time, and he was a timid character.

And now, this Xu Pengju came to Zhu Houzhao is the same, listening to Zhu Houzhao say this, he was so frightened that he sweated, although he was in Nanjing, but he also knew that His Majesty the current emperor Zhu Houzhao was famous for killing gods, and several nobles had already ended up with a full house of beheadings, and he was really worried that Emperor Zhu Houzhao was unsatisfactory and jealous of his extravagant life and copied himself.

Therefore, Xu Pengju only said pretentiously: "What Your Majesty said is that the ministers can be like this, thanks to Your Majesty's hard work, it has opened this rare prosperous era throughout the ages!" Otherwise, even if the minister is a noble family, it will be difficult to maintain his wealth forever. ”

"It's good if you can understand, but don't worry, I won't take any of the wealth that your Xu family has gained, but the court and the people, your Xu family can't rely on the power to take advantage of the wealth, your father took the Mintian when he was alive and was trained by me to be quite conscious, and returned the Mintian, I don't want you to be the same, you should learn from your Xu family ancestors! Back then, the King of Zhongshan and Taizu also suffered hardships, and we, the descendants who lay on the merits of our ancestors and enjoyed the blessings, could not corrupt the country they had built. ”

Zhu Houzhao said a few words casually, he didn't know if Xu Pengju could listen to it, but it was always necessary to say it, any dynasty, it is inevitable that there will be some heroes and nobles left, they are naturally the heroes of the dynasty when they fight the country, but now when they guard the country, they are often the burden of the empire.

In order to support these heroes and nobles and their children and grandchildren, the imperial court also has to increase a large amount of expenses, just like the royal family.

Zhu Houzhao's current identity determines that he can't be like Li Zicheng to eliminate all these vassal kings and nobles directly without asking the reason, not only in terms of emotion, but also from the perspective of his own imperial interests, these vassal lords and nobles are his own power group against the civilian clique.

Xu Pengju naturally understands these truths, and after hearing Zhu Houzhao say this, he didn't feel anything wrong in his heart, and when he saw that the emperor himself said that he would not take any of his family wealth, he was also very relieved, and he only thought about how to tie up Zhu Houzhao, and began to wish that Zhu Houzhao would be lucky to have one or two women from the Xu family in his own foolish garden.

Zhu Houzhao came to the Xu family naturally not to look for flowers and willows, he naturally came to rectify Jiangnan, and the rectification of Jiangnan is naturally inevitable to have conflicts with powerful local households in Jiangnan, Wei Guogong is the most powerful in Jiangnan, if the Wei Guogong Mansion can be suppressed, naturally other Jiangnan big households will not make waves.

This is also the reason why Zhu Houzhao wants to stay in the Wei State Mansion.

However, through the contact with Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei, in the past few days, Zhu Houzhao found that Xu Pengju was not a brave and capable person, and he was a lot more relieved, but he could also see that Xu Pengju was not a person who worried about the country and the people, and he ignored the power of the common people after enjoying wealth for a long time.

Zhu Houzhao hoped that Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei, would have this consciousness under his own initiative, and realize that the alleviation of class contradictions would be of long-term benefit to his Xu family.

Before Wang Shouren arrived in Nanjing, Zhu Houzhao was not able to directly reveal his true purpose for a while, so he took advantage of this to simply inspect the entire military administration in Nanjing.

Nanjing is different from Beijing, Nanjing is still the system before the Zhengde Dynasty, and there is still a Beijing camp, and Nanjing's Beijing camp can only be described in one word, that is, weak!

As for the civil and military officials, most of them are naturally inferior to the officials in Beijing in terms of spirit, after all, most of these officials are pensioners, and Nanjing is located in the south of the Yangtze River, a gentle and wealthy township, and Wen Tian and Wu are remarkable.

When Zhu Houzhao wanted to ride a horse to inspect the Beijing army in Nanjing, many officials in Nanjing's entourage could no longer ride their horses and had to follow them on foot.

Xu Pengju is like this now, he feels that his heart is about to jump out, and his feet follow like lead, but His Majesty the Emperor on the horse is still in good spirits, and he, as the garrison of Nanjing and the commander of the Beijing camp, cannot be left behind, so he can only continue to grit his teeth and follow, and for a while he fell directly to the ground and fainted.

Zhu Houzhao saw that Xu Pengju woke up Xu Pengju when he saw this, and couldn't help but say: "Xu Pengju, Duke of Wei, you are also a garrison of Nanjing, in charge of the military power of the Southern Capital, and you are also the queen of Zhongshan, but do you look at you now like a military general, the horse can't ride, now you walk a way, not five miles, you fainted, your physical strength, how will you lead the army to resist the enemy in the future?" ”

"Minister, minister is guilty!"

Xu Pengju said breathlessly.

Zhu Houzhao didn't have the heart to dismiss Xu Pengju now, and he couldn't find someone suitable for this position for a while, so he just snorted and threw the whip: "Jinyi Wei Liu Shi, you drive Wei Guogong to the school!" The rest of you wait, come with me first! ”

Zhu Houzhao went to the school first.

And here, Wei Guogong didn't have time to be sent to a carriage by Liu Shi, the Jinyi guard, and Xu Pengju didn't have time to thank Zhu Houzhao, and Nanzhili Patrol Yu Shi Daijin shouted out out of place because he had just entered the officialdom:

"Wait! The Son of Heaven is still a royal horse, and the Duke of Wei is a courtier, how can he drive away, His Majesty's grace is really contrary to the way of the monarch and the minister! If Wei Guogong dares to go by car, the minister will impeach Wei Guogong for the crime of trespassing! ”

Xu Pengju had no choice but to get out of the car and continue to grit his teeth and walk forward.

And this time.

The Beijing army on the Nanjing school field has indeed been assembled, because they are afraid that Zhu Houzhao will be too disappointed, Li Zan and Xu Pengju, the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, have already found peasants around overnight to act as the Beijing army, but the new cotton armor and new firearms are difficult to get together for a while, after all, Zhu Houzhao came to Nanjing too suddenly, so that the Beijing army in Nanjing looks like a group of thieves, and the army is very disheartened.

When Zhu Houzhao rode his horse with a team of brocade guards behind him, these Beijing soldiers were so frightened that they hurriedly knelt down, no different from a group of ordinary people meeting officials.

"Fortunately, King Ning didn't fight Anqing Mansion back then!"

Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but say a word, and immediately asked: "Where is Li Zhan, the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, Li Butang, like Wei Guogong, is not physically strong, and he didn't keep up for a while," said Wu Wending, the governor of Nanzhili, who was following Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao was speechless after hearing this, and said with a smile:

"The army in charge of the army will not be able to ride horses, cross-country and not good, it is really a big joke in the world, the decree, from now on, all officials in Nanjing must run in the morning to learn to ride horses, for a period of three months, Wu Wending you to teach, the officials of the Ming Dynasty have no martial arts, they are all responsible for defending the land for the government, and they can't even pass the basic physical fitness! Have you forgotten all the six arts of the gentleman? ”

After Zhu Houzhao said, Wu Wending accepted the order.

About half an hour later, when the sun was already high in the sky, Xu Pengju and other officials arrived.

Usually they can only walk around in a sedan chair, but at this moment, they are tired because of walking, and they can only confess when they see Zhu Houzhao.

"Okay, apologize to the soldiers, especially Wei Guogong and Li Zhan, the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department! If this is wartime, you are the ones who delay the military aircraft! ”

After Zhu Houzhao said this, Xu Pengju and Li Zan were both very shocked, usually they didn't even bother to look at these Beijing officers and soldiers, but now if His Majesty the Emperor didn't want to inspect, they had to come along, where would there be a reason to apologize to these officers and soldiers, so it was difficult to accept it.

"Why, do you really feel that you are a superior person, and you care about your own face?" Zhu Houzhao asked coldly.

"Don't dare!"

Xu Pengju replied to Li Zhan, and then hurriedly apologized to the Beijing army.

The officers and soldiers of Nanjing were also blind, but they were exhausted from standing in place all the time, and when they saw the two senior officials apologizing to their people, they did have fewer complaints, and they all had some good feelings towards His Majesty the Emperor who was standing on the horse.

After Xu Pengju and Li Zan apologized, Zhu Houzhao looked at Li Zan and said, "You can start!" ”

Li Zhan, the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, nodded and began to preside, while Xu Pengju was responsible for leading these Beijing troops to complete the corresponding army drill process.

But the whole exercise process was a mess, the commander Xu Peng couldn't move his sword, and the officers and soldiers were not in order, not to mention Zhu Houzhao, even the accompanying Jinyi guards couldn't help laughing, and Li Zhan, the secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, was even more eager to find a mouse hole to drill.

Zhu Hou was also not in the mood to take care of it, but he didn't say anything, this phenomenon of Nanjing's armament slackening was not unexpected, and he could not talk about disappointment, but he felt that it was a little more difficult for him to rectify Jiangnan, and Nanjing's armament was slackened, which meant that it would be difficult to have a chance of winning by using force to suppress local forces.

Zhu Houzhao was secretly glad that he had made a plan in advance and asked Wang Shouren to bring two divisions of the Guards, otherwise he would rely on the army in Nanjing, and he was really not sure what he could do in Jiangnan.

"In the fifteenth year of Zhengde, the cabinet said that the Nanjing Military Department had completed the replacement of weapons as scheduled, why were there still officers and soldiers in these armies using firecrackers with fire ropes", Zhu Houzhao asked at this time, and Li Zhan, who was already sweating on his forehead, had to make amends: "The minister doesn't know, the minister is in charge of the southern soldiers in Zhengde for 17 years." ”

"Then why didn't you report it?" Zhu Houzhao asked coldly.

"Ministers and non-magistrates have no right to impeach others," Li Zan replied.

Zhu Houzhao smiled coldly, didn't say anything, just rode away: "Go back!" The officials left on their own, so they didn't have to follow! ”

Zhu Houzhao returned to Yuyuan, and frankly speaking, Nanjing's military affairs disappointed him, and he could even guess what malpractices in the army such as empty salaries, filling his own pockets, and loose management, Nanjing must have them.

However, Zhu Houzhao didn't want to ask anymore, he was tired, he was used to it, and even he didn't think it was strange, in a peaceful and prosperous era where there was no military threat, it was difficult for the officials here to have any military crisis in the city of Nanjing, which was located in the south of the Yangtze River, and it was not even much incentive to ask the central court for money, and it was difficult to ask them for any initiative.

But Zhu Houzhao still wanted to know how far the officials of the empire Nanjing had fallen.

Before Wang Shouren rushed to Nanjing with the Guards, Zhu Houzhao decided to let these officials in Nanjing relax and show themselves their most essential appearance.

On this day, Zhu Houzhao summoned Xu Pengju and Li Zan again.

Xu Pengju and Li Zan were actually a little trembling, very nervous in their hearts, afraid of being punished by Zhu Houzhao, and now they were even more frightened when they were summoned by Zhu Houzhao again.

Seeing this, Zhu Houzhao just said: "You don't have to be afraid, I know that you all have your own hardships, the money allocated to you by the Ministry of War is less, and the officers and soldiers of the guard are already useless, even if they use good firearms, it will not help, I came to Nanjing, not to deal with you, I just came to see, and now I have seen it, but you have not let Nanjing have any trouble, it is useless and no big fault, I came to summon you today, just want to ask, what are the fun places in this Nanjing city, delicious dishes, Since I've come to Jiangnan, I have to taste it well! ”

Xu Pengju and Li Zan were quite stunned for a while, they didn't expect His Majesty to suddenly be so good at talking, and it seemed that they were going to play in the mountains and rivers, and both of them were a lot more relaxed all of a sudden, among them, Xu Pengju replied: "There are many unique scenery in Jinling, and the minister is willing to introduce it to His Majesty." ”

"Delicacies, the minister can also recommend some for His Majesty", Li Zan also replied.

Zhu Houzhao nodded, then got up and took the maid of Yixu Mansion into his arms and touched it: "What about the beauty?" ”

Xu Pengju showed some smiles on his face, if Zhu Houzhao asked him about military and political affairs, he couldn't answer at all, but when it came to these pleasures such as wine, he was very confident, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, if you are not satisfied with the people who serve in Yuyuan, the minister will go and change to a more stunning maid now!" ”

"Don't rob people's girls! Don't take the opportunity to make money! ”

Zhu Houzhao said a word and took the maid into the room, and Xu Pengju and Li Zan also retreated, and as soon as Xu Pengju and Li Zan retreated, Zhu Houzhao walked out again, and instructed Gu Dayong: "Send people to find them, so that they mistakenly think that I am now beginning to indulge myself and become a faint king." ”

"The minister understands!" Gu Dayong retreated.

Zhu Houzhao nodded, continued to walk to the inner room, and saw that the maid who had been touched and hugged by him just now was still lying on the couch, so he sat down: "What's your name?" ”

"Back to Your Majesty, the slave's name is Suyue", the maid replied.

Zhu Houzhao leaned down and stroked the black hair of Su Yue's sideburns: "Why do you still call yourself a slave, the people of the Ming Dynasty are no longer allowed to be slaves!" ”

"It was ordered by the grandfather of the country, saying that although there are no slaves and maids in the Ming Dynasty, we are slaves and maids, and we are playthings to serve Your Majesty, and we can usually be no big or small in the house, but we must have some rules in front of Your Majesty", the maid Su Yue couldn't help but close her eyes as she spoke, Zhu Houzhao's heavy snort made her a little nervous, and her fists were clenched very tightly, she knew what might happen next.

"You don't have to listen to him Xu Pengju, you are a citizen of the Ming Dynasty, you have to have your own ideas, I ask you, do you want to have a relationship with me, that is, let me take off your clothes, take them off one by one, and then ......" Zhu Houzhao said very carefully about what might happen next, and said that Su Yue was getting more and more nervous: "Slave, slave doesn't know!" ”

Zhu Houzhao stopped his movements and said, "I call myself a slave again!" ”

"Your Majesty spares your life, slave, I, I, I don't know", Su Yue replied tremblingly.

"You're scared of me?" Zhu Houzhao asked with a smile.

Su Yue nodded.

"You are quite sincere, then you answer me honestly, do you want to do the things you just said with me", Zhu Houzhao asked.

Su Yue was very nervous at this time, she was naturally very curious about the affairs of men and women, but when she was asked by the emperor like this, she was ashamed and embarrassed to answer.

"Answer me, don't be afraid, I won't laugh at you, I can tell you that I want to do it now," Zhu Houzhao said.

Su Yue bit her lip and nodded: "I, I think." ”

"Don't be in a hurry to tell me the answer, you have to learn to think with your own reason, think about the consequences of saying this, if you don't want to, I can let you go, but you can think about it yourself, if I let you go, and I return to the capital, what will happen to you?"

Zhu Houzhao asked.

"I, I have been in the Garden of Fools, I have served Your Majesty, I am already Your Majesty's maid, if Your Majesty does not give me to others, no one will dare to marry me, because Your Majesty's things are not accessible to anyone."

Zhu Houzhao's powerful aura made Su Yue completely follow Zhu Houzhao's psychological technique and speak.

"And what if you say what you want and have a relationship with me?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

"I will be Your Majesty's concubine, I will follow Your Majesty to the palace, I want to be a mother", Su Yue's eyes flashed with a hint of excitement.

"However, it is possible that you will die of old age in the palace, and I will never see you again," Zhu Houzhao said.

"But if I don't do the same as Your Majesty, I will die in the Garden of Foolishness, unless Your Majesty is willing to give me to anyone," Su Yue said.

"I won't give you to anyone, because in my eyes, you are a person, not a cat or dog who can be given casually, you know, people are independent, not subordinate to anyone, people have the right to life, property, and freedom, people have to learn to make decisions for themselves, you can't hope that I will bring you happiness, you have to do it yourself!"

When Zhu Houzhao was talking, Su Yue suddenly took the initiative to hug Zhu Houzhao and frantically asked Zhu Houzhao for a kiss.

Zhu Houzhao also indulged, and without any scruples, he once again had a scene of cheating outside marriage in Yuyuan.

But the civilization of this era will not feel that there is anything wrong with Zhu Houzhao doing this, and Zhu Houzhao himself does not have any moral pressure from betraying his wife.

Su Yue knew the taste of this for the first time, but she didn't have the slightest sense of rejection, because this was her own initiative, she looked at Zhu Houzhao, looking at the emperor in front of her who had only heard of it in other people's mouths, she suddenly felt like a dream, and even laughed a little proudly.

Su Yue began to take the initiative to turn over and ride on Zhu Houzhao again, and tentatively stretched out her hand.

Zhu Houzhao didn't expect that he would succeed in unlocking a restrained and shy girl by doing this, but he also found that the so-called liberation of human rights will make people learn to think independently and make their own decisions, but it will also make people more indulgent and more disregarded for morality and ethics.

Zhu Houzhao rejected Su Yue's urge to do it again, not only for moderation, but also to let Su Yue understand that he is the emperor and a human being, not something you can ask for at any time if you want.

Su Yue is indeed a little lost, but she also knows that she can't control the emperor, let alone ask the emperor for anything, when she saw the emperor Zhu Houzhao using the same way with another maid named Xiling to turn the phoenix, she even had to suppress her jealousy and face the reality calmly, because although the emperor said that he was independent, everyone else felt that he was the emperor, and even he felt so, he couldn't blame the emperor for anything, so he could only find a way to get the emperor's favor from the new, wear his clothes more exposed, and learn to flatter, Finding a way to buy better perfumes is a way to attract the emperor.

In the next few months, Zhu Houzhao completely turned Yuyuan into his own garden of desire, and also became his own **, and the maids of Yuyuan also began to be enchanting and presumptuous, when Zhu Houzhao was not so serious, they were no longer serious, and only wanted to use various methods to attract Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao also began to indulge himself, and began to collect all kinds of benefits from the officials and gentry of Nanjing, including gold and silver treasures, calligraphy and paintings, and beauties, and he found that once he used his status as emperor to only ask for benefits and not fulfill his obligations, all the benefits would come one after another.

Zhu Houzhao found that Xu Pengju and other Nanjing officials liked such emperors, and when they deliberately let loose their bones, these officials were obviously no longer only afraid of themselves, but also had a sense of intimacy with their peers, and even their smiles were more natural when they saluted.

"Your Majesty, it just snowed last night, the snow scene around Xuanwu Lake is extremely beautiful, Your Majesty is rare to visit the southern capital, why not take this opportunity to take a boat to play."

At this time, Wang Xianchen, who repaired the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou, also came to Nanjing to see Zhu Houzhao because of Wen Zhengming's relationship, and also proposed that Zhu Houzhao go to Xuanwu Lake to enjoy the snow.

"Xuanwu Lake?"

Zhu Houzhao instinctively chuckled in his heart, thinking that Yang Tinghe had been in the water for many years, but there were still people who wanted to let him, the emperor, go to the lake.