Half a month later, the eunuch of the imperial court announced the edict to Suzhou City, but he did not rush to announce the decree, but asked Fang Yuan, Zhu Cizhi, Zhu Cihuan, and Wang Chengen to come together to receive the decree.

If the imperial court's edict is to canonize Zhu Cihuan as the prince who governs Nanjing City, what will Zhu Cizhi do when he summons him?

As soon as Fang Yuan probed the tone of the eunuch who announced the decree, he knew that it was not a simple canonization. But the imperial court's edict could not be ignored, Zhu Cizhi had gone to Jinhua Mansion, and Fang Yuan immediately asked people to go to Jinhua Mansion to pick up Zhu Cizhi and return to Suzhou City to receive the decree.

Half a month later, Zhu Cizhi hurried back to Suzhou City, and Fang Yuan summoned Wang Chengen, who was placed in the Taihu Lake base.

The eunuchs of the imperial court read out in public the holy decree of canonizing Zhu Cizhi as the prince of Nanjing City and Wang Chengen as the eunuch guarding Nanjing City.

To be able to become the prince in charge of Nanjing City, Zhu Cizhi was overjoyed, and he was busy kneeling down with a smile on his face to thank him.

Fang Zhi was slightly stunned, the court suddenly made such a biased move, which really disrupted his previous calculations. Compared with Zhu Cihuan, Zhu Cizhi is indeed a big variable. made Zhu Cizhi govern Nanjing City, and Fang Yuan was also at a loss.

Seeing that Fang Yuan was neither silent nor accepting the decree, the eunuch who announced the decree asked sharply, "Master Horse, there is still an edict in the imperial court, and the old slave asks you, are you ready to resist the decree?" ”

The imperial court followed Fang Yuan's statement and canonized the prince Zhu Cizhi to govern Nanjing, and Fang Yuan was dissatisfied and could not refute it. You can no longer write to the court to ask that Zhu Cizhi not be canonized, but that Zhu Cihuan must be canonized, which is no different from rebellion. After all, the imperial court is not the backyard of Fang Yuan's family, and it is up to him to designate who to canonize.

Fang Yuan reluctantly accepted the edict, and asked the father-in-law who announced the decree to send a hundred taels of silver, "Please report to the court to the father-in-law, this governor has no heart to resist the decree, and will definitely obey the decree." ”

The eunuch who announced the decree got the money, so he smiled with satisfaction and went back to the capital to reply to the decree.

Today, it is Fang Yuan who is in charge of Jiangnan in the south of the Yangtze River, not the imperial court in the capital. Whether or not to obey the holy decree of the imperial court is only in Fang Yuan's thoughts.

Zhu Cizhi forcibly suppressed the ecstasy in his heart, and looked at Fang Yuan tentatively, "Teacher, this edict, it's up to the teacher to decide!" ”

Fang Yuan saw through his careful thinking at a glance, but in the face of the temptation of power, it was difficult for the old bird who had been in the officialdom for decades to keep calm, not to mention that Zhu Cizhi was still sixteen or seventeen years old, and it was reasonable that the underage prince could not stand the temptation of power.

He is also secretly estimating that the situation facing Nanjing City is quite complicated now, and it is also a headache for him, not to mention the two little princes who have little political experience. Out of the protection of Zhu Cihuan, it is better to keep him away from the whirlpool of Nanjing City and concentrate on accumulating political experience in the cabinet.

Fang Yuan looked at Zhu Cihuan, who had lost the opportunity to govern, and asked, "King Wu Yue, what do you think?" ”

Zhu Cihuan humbly bowed his hand to him and said, "Teacher, the student is rude, where can he be the governor of Nanjing?" Everything is subject to the arrangements of the court and teachers. ”

Fang Yuan was very satisfied with Zhu Cihuan's humble attitude, and said with a smile, "King Wu Yue still stays in the cabinet and continues to write votes!" ”

Zhu Cihuan did not reject his arrangement, and hurriedly responded softly.

Fang Yuan looked sideways at Zhu Cizhi, who had a very strong desire for power, and persuaded him earnestly, "King Yong, Nanjing is the center of the entire south, and if you govern Nanjing, you have to deal with all forces, and you don't have the vision and knowledge to deal with these forces, and now I am afraid that it will be difficult to be qualified for the position of the prince in charge." As a teacher, how about you go to Zhejiang to train your ability to manage military and political affairs, and then go to Nanjing to take charge of politics? ”

Zhu Cizhi is obviously a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers, where does he know that the water in the power field is deep and shallow, how can he let go of such a God-given opportunity to become famous in one fell swoop, so he said in a difficult way, "Teacher, I also know that my knowledge is shallow, but the edict of the prince of the prison country is like a holy decree, if you don't obey it, it will be a protest, I'm afraid the court will blame it!" ”

Since he brought out the edict of the imperial court to hide his ambitions, it can be seen that he is eager to enter Nanjing, Fang Yuan, as Tuogu's teacher, has fulfilled his duty to mention, so he can only sigh and say, "Since the imperial court wants King Yong to insist on going to govern Nanjing City, let's go to Nanjing City to take office!" ”

Zhu Cizhi got his answer and responded ecstatically, "Okay! ”

Fang Yuan looked at Wang Chengen with a pleasant face, smiled and said, "Princess, you are now the garrison eunuch of Nanjing City, what do you think?" ”

Wang Chengen looked at Fang Yuan, the imperial court temporarily removed the candidate for the ruling prince, and he didn't know what he thought. Whether it is Zhu Cizhi or Zhu Cihuan, Wang Chengen grew up watching, between the two princes, he actually does not occupy a position, "The old slave should be martyred when His Majesty is under house arrest." Since His Majesty ordered the old slave to come to Jiangnan to wait for the concubine, the princess, and the two little princes, the old slaves all obeyed the two little princes. ”

Fang Yuanchong Wang Chengen said, "Princess, King Yong is still young, so I ask you to take care of it." I arranged 300 brocade guards in the city of Nanjing, 5,000 soldiers at the Longjiang wharf and quarry rocks, and a large number of sailors as the guards of the city of Nanjing. If there is an accident in Nanjing City, the prince can contact the Xuanjia army in the two places to deal with it. ”

After Wang Chengen came to Jiangnan, he saw that Princess Kunxing was imprisoned in the Taihu Lake base, and the two little princes were detained in Canglang Pavilion, and Ben was also suspicious, whether Fang Yuan had other wolf ambitions, and regarded Chongzhen's princesses and little princes as puppets.

But at this moment, Wang Chengen saw that Fang Yuan had entrusted the two little princes with important responsibilities, one was transferred to Nanjing City to be in charge, and the other was transferred to the cabinet to be familiar with government affairs.

Wang Chengen felt deeply guilty, he had indeed misunderstood Fang Yuan before, "The master of the horse is really loyal, Your Majesty really didn't see the wrong person, the old slave is willing to assist the little prince to do his best, and he will die." ”

Ten days later, Zhu Cizhi set off with the edict of the imperial court to take up the post of prince in charge of Nanjing City, and became the new master of Nanjing City. Wang Chengen also went to Nanjing City to assist Zhu Cizhi as a garrison eunuch.

At this point, the turmoil in Nanjing City has come to an end.

After eliminating the hidden danger from Nanjing City, the Longjiang Shipyard, which had been suspended due to Ma Shiying's ban on cutting down giant trees under the jurisdiction of Nanjing, resumed the construction period and continued to build ironclad giant ships in full swing.

After more than half a year of construction, the wooden structure of the hull of the ironclad giant ship has been completed. Shen Mao, the chief engineer in charge of the construction of the ironclad giant ship, specially invited Fang Yuan, Princess Kunxing in the main room, Xiao Yuan in the side room, three cabinet members, Jing Jie, the commander of the Xuanjia Army, the commander of each battalion of the Xuanjia Army, Shi Lang, the commander of the Navy, Shi Fu, the deputy commander of the Navy, Tang Ruowang and Bi Maokang of the Changshu Arsenal went to the shipyard, and even Liu Rushi, who was in charge of public opinion and publicity, to personally inspect this ironclad giant ship that was beginning to take shape.

This time is not only the acceptance ceremony of the giant ship, but also the sailing ceremony.

According to Shen Mao's suggestion, Fang Yuan and his party did not board the ship from the shipyard, but adopted the plan of boarding the ship from the river. From a distance above the river, you can feel the majesty of this giant ship from the best vantage point.

Before the shipyard's shipbuilding, there was a large water village guarded, and Shi Fu led fifty warships to guard the smooth construction of this ironclad giant ship in the water village. The water gate of Shuizhai is closed all year round, and ten warships take turns patrolling back and forth in the center of the river to give early warning, so as not to be taken advantage of by the enemy's sneak attack.

Fang Yuan and his entourage approached the water village, and there were at least 100 ships moored in the center of the river to watch the launching ceremony of the giant ship, and the entire Yangtze River was also very crowded. When the boats of the common people watched from afar reached the gate of the water village, they could no longer approach.

You don't need to sail into the water village to see clearly, the huge ship standing on the riverside, from a distance, does not look like a warship, but a sea palace.