On December 29 of the first year of Shenwu, the Forbidden City of Nanjing, the emperor Zhu Hongsan got up very early that morning, and there was a major event to be done today, that is, to convene the imperial meeting, that is, the final accounts of the first year of Shenwu and the budget meeting of the second year of Shenwu.

When Zhu Hongsan was in Wuchang, his team was just a grass platform team, and several strategists under him were full of bad water one by one, and they used conspiracy and tricks, but no one had ever seen what the state system was like. The largest official is a Ma Jiyuan, just a four-grade Zhizhou, which is equivalent to a county-level scale in later generations. However, Ma Jiyuan is not bad, at least he has been the town guard of a state, and at the end of the year, at least he has to know how much money he has spent this year. The others are not as good as him, Feng Ziyong has been a county magistrate, and the entire county government has less than 200 people, basically all of them are collected and spent, and the county's account book is also a running account. Ma Mingyuan was still a man at that time, talking about five or six people at a time, but it was not possible to really do government affairs. Tong Yangjia is finished, he is not a lifter, he is just a showman, and he has been on the run for more than ten years, how can he have the kung fu to study hard.

It is precisely because these garlic under his command are not financial materials, so when they arrive in Guangdong, Zhu Hongsan Group is also a big pot of rice, and everyone has no money, and they are collectively managed. It's good to say that in the early stage of management like this, with Zhu Hongsan's personal charm, he can still unite together (Zhu Hongsan still has personal charm?) ）。 However, after the occupation of Guangzhou, the population of the territory increased, and the various demands of his subordinates began to increase.

At this time, Zhu Hongsan went to Beijing to get Feng Ruoshu half invited and half deceived to Guangdong, Feng Laotou and Ma Jiyuan are different, Feng Laotou has rich political experience, and has risen all the way up from the prefect, prefect, political envoy, and governor in the local area, and has worked in the positions of the central squire and Dali Siqing, and is very clear about the central operating principle of the Ming Dynasty. It was also during Old Man Feng's two years in Guangdong that Zhu Hongsan's clique finally grew from a warlord force to a regime.

And the most important thing for a regime is finance, and nothing can be played without money, so Zhu Hongsan also followed the example of the Ming Dynasty to hold a final account and budget meeting at the end of each year.

Since Zhu Yousong was arrested and beheaded in the first year of Hongguang, Zhu Hongsan has been in charge of the state in Guangdong, and the budget meeting has been held three times, from the beginning when only a few cabinet elders participated, to this year's military aircraft department, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, various central ministries, Jiuqing, Jinyiwei, and other heads of state are all present as observers.

This year is different from previous years, and now the treasury has no money, and this imperial meeting Zhu Hongsan has to decide the strategic direction for the next few years, so this imperial meeting is very important, and Zhu Hongsan is extremely nervous.

In the past few days, Bian Yujing's health has improved, Zhu Hongsan has been living in Bian Yujing's place these days, and today he got up and had breakfast under Bian Yujing's service, and sat on the imperial chariot to Wenhua Palace.

Today is just a meeting in front of the emperor, which is different from the official early dynasty, so you don't have to get up so early to go to Fengtianmen to be cold. But just like that, the ministers came early, and basically everyone arrived after the sun went out. Now, thanks to the help of the Donglin Party and the Zhedong School, the various ministries and commissions of the Central Committee have finally put together all the officials. This is also true, China is like this in all times, and there will be no shortage of officials if there is a lack of anything.

The ministers of the Wenhua Palace are divided into several groups, the Huguang faction is a gang, the Guangdong faction is a gang, and although the new Zhejiang party has a large number, it cannot occupy a high position, and naturally stands with the Donglin party, which is naturally close to each other.

There are a few empty seats in the main hall, this is the position of the seven cabinet elders, and the others have no place, and in the middle of the hall is Zhu Hongsan's dragon chair. said that it was a dragon chair, but it was actually an ordinary chair, but it was just covered with a layer of bright yellow silk, and the dragon chair in Fengtian Hall had been burned by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, so Zhu Hongsan had to do it first.

Zhu Hongsan first came to the apse of the Wenhua Hall to wait, and the crown prince Zhu Hai waited here. Zhu Hai saw his father coming, and hurriedly saluted and greeted Zhu Hongsan.

"The son asks his father to say goodbye, and his father is in good health!"

"Get up, wait here for a while, there is your third brother who will attend the meeting today, wait for him for a while!"

When Zhu Hai heard that Zhu Huai, the king of Chu, was also coming to such an important meeting this year, he was unhappy, he was the prince and listened to the government, so it was naturally no problem, why did the third child just come to listen to the government?

Zhu Hongsan saw that Zhu Hai was a little dissatisfied, and said with a smile: "Don't think too much about the prince, I heard that your third brother did a very good job when he was in charge of the country in Guangzhou, and today's meeting is very important, just let him come and listen!" ”

Zhu Hai didn't dare to object when he heard Zhu Hongsan say this, so he could only accept it.

After waiting for a few minutes, the little eunuch outside the door sang: "The King of Chu has arrived!" ”

With the voice, a little fat man came in from outside the door, it was Zhu Hongsan's third son, Zhu Huai, the king of Chu.

Zhu Huai, the king of Chu, is the son of the virtuous concubine Dong Huan, and Dong Huan's mother also became the head of the nine concubines with her son, and she is only ranked after the imperial concubine Ma Ruyan and the concubine Qian Yuting in the harem, and is considered a successful person in the harem.

Zhu Huai, the king of Chu, is fifteen years old this year, and he is two years old in the Ming Dynasty, or seventeen years old according to the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Huai looks no different from his two elder brothers Zhu Hai and Zhu Jiang, and he is not like their father Zhu Hongsan. Zhu Huai is not wrong at all, this surname is a pig, less than one meter and five tall, weighing two hundred catties, and the width is about to catch up with the height, which is completely different from his two slender brothers.

In fact, Zhu Hongsan is also good-looking, with a height of 1.7 meters, he is considered tall in this era, and Zhu Hongsan has been fighting all year round, so he has a bit of heroic spirit. But this Zhu Huai is not like him at all, and Zhu Hongsan thought that Dong Huan had brought him a green hat. However, Zhu Hongsan thought about it, it was impossible, according to the excellent quality of ancient women's doors without going out of the door, it was really impossible to steal people. It was only after Zhu Hongsan and Dong Huan talked to Dong Huan that Zhu Huai looked like his uncle.

Dong Huan and Dong Zhen were snatched by Zhu Hongsan in Dongjiazhuang back then, and they were the concubines of Master Dong. After Dong Huan said this, Zhu Hongsan remembered that the young man who was hacked to death by himself back then was indeed very similar to Zhu Huai, and it seems that the nephew is like an uncle is quite accurate.

Although Zhu Huai is not good-looking, he studied very hard when he was a child, and probably knew that he was not as good-looking as his two elder brothers, so he thought of pressing his brothers in academics. After several years of study, Zhu Huai's knowledge is very profound, Tong Yangjia said that according to Zhu Huai's knowledge, it is absolutely no problem to take the test.

Although Zhu Huai did not inherit his father Zhu Hongsan, his personality was fully inherited. Zhu Huai looked at a fat face on the surface and didn't smile or speak, but his heart was very dark, and he was very vicious.

It's already December, and the temperature here in Nanjing is not freezing, but it's also very cold. Zhu Huai was still sweating when he entered the house, probably walking from the palace gate.

After Zhu Huai entered the house, he saw Zhu Hongsan and Zhu Hai, and knelt down with a smile to say goodbye: "Father, the son has asked for peace for his father!" Father's longevity Jin'an! The prince's brother is also here, and the younger brother wishes the prince's brother a good health! ”

Zhu Hai knew the character of this younger brother very well, and he looked at it smiling on the surface, but he didn't know what the hell he had in his heart.

Zhu Hongsan liked it very much, and when he saw his son sweating profusely, he said distressedly: "Third child, you are going to lose weight!" It's okay to exercise more! ”

Zhu Huai smiled bitterly and said: "Father, you also know that your son grows meat when he drinks water, and he really can't control it!" ”

Zhu Hongsan also knew the hard work of losing weight, sighed and said to Zhu Huai: "It's hard for you, don't leave in the palace in the future, your body is heavy, use your shoulder reins!" ”

Zhu Hai was taken aback when he heard Zhu Hongsan say this, you must know that in the imperial city, in addition to the emperor Zhu Hongsan who is qualified to take the imperial chariot, only Chen Zizhuang has shoulder chariots because of his old age, and even he, the crown prince, has to walk in the palace.

Zhu Huai was very happy when he heard this, and quickly knelt on the ground to thank him.

Zhu Hongsan said with a smile: "What else do you thank for, what do you and my father and son thank you for!" Come, you two brothers and I will go out to a meeting together! After Zhu Hongsan finished speaking, he pulled Zhu Hai and Zhu Huai out of the side hall together.

At this time, the main hall of Wenhua Hall is still like a market, there is a noise, after all, everyone has been in chaos in recent years, and they haven't seen each other for a long time, so today I take this opportunity to chat.

At this moment, the little eunuch outside the door sang and said, "The prime minister has arrived!" ”

Only then did the ministers inside the hall lower their voices and look at the seven prime ministers who were rushing in outside the door.

The cabinet system was changed to the prime minister system by Zhu Hongsan, but Zhu Hongsan was a township cadre, how could he know the operating mechanism of the country in later generations, so this prime minister system was still the cabinet system established by Feng Ruoshu in imitation of the Ming Dynasty at that time, and it was completely a change of soup and not a change of medicine.

The first to come was Premier Chen Zizhuang, who had worked hard in the past few years, and his hair was all white. The second assistant Ma Mingyuan came in next, Ma Lao Er is in the prime of life, just forty-five years old this year, young and strong plus good maintenance, Ma Lao Er is like a young man in his twenties, and he does not look like he was sick a few days ago. In the coming in is Tong Yangjia, if Tong Yangjia is not in the cabinet errand, he is completely an old farmer who sells vegetables in the countryside and the city, and the more than ten years of exile in the rivers and lakes have hurt him too much, but the light that pops up in his eyes from time to time betrays him, this old vegetable farmer is not simple. and then Liu Dalin, who is in charge of the Organization Department and the Personnel Department; Fu Wenlong, who is in charge of the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources; Qian Qianyi, who is in charge of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Education; The last one is Jiang Yueguang, who is in charge of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Police.

Seven prime ministers, dressed in red python robes given by the emperor, rushed in under the leadership of the first assistant Chen Zizhuang, and sat down in their seats under the attention of hundreds of officials. All the civil officials around saw this pomp and circumstance, and they were envious, jealous and hateful, and they swore in their hearts that they would definitely sit in that position in the future and show off!

As soon as the seven people sat down, the Han generals in the main hall shouted together, "Mighty!" Then the little eunuch sang and said, "His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!" Hundreds of officials stood up like a ritual! ”