Let's move the time forward a little, and the capital before Chinese New Year's Eve is equally lively and busy. Since Zhang Juzheng Bingguo, people's livelihood has indeed shown an upward trend, at least in the first good place, the number of people selling children and women is decreasing, and every year is over, the people have a little smile on their faces.

On the map, the Forbidden City is the center, and the capital is divided into several concentric circles, and the closer to the center of the circle, the stronger the festive atmosphere, and the more smiles on the faces of the people who live or work here, but the supreme ruler of the entire empire who is really in the center of the circle is not happy at all at this time.

His Majesty, the current emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yijun, the son of Wanli, was fourteen years old at the time, and after the New Year, he can be counted as fifteen. He is not tall, white and fat, not heroic, but not ugly, he belongs to the appearance of a person. As the Venerable of Ten Thousand Times, there is no hunger and cold, and the complexion is always not bad, and due to adequate nutrition, teenagers already have the appearance of adults.

In the current era, if a boy of this age is in an ordinary family, he can already be regarded as an adult. But in the concept of the empire, as long as he is not married, he is still considered a child. After going to court, he had to receive the teachings of his teacher in the imperial study and study hard to truly run a country.

The emperor has no holidays.

Even if the New Year is approaching and there is a holiday in each school or private school, as the emperor, in addition to the regular sutra feasts, the courses taught by Zhang Juzheng, the teacher of Emperor Yuanfu every day, must also study carefully, unless Zhang Juzheng himself is delayed due to illness or important affairs, otherwise, he cannot rest.

For his teacher, the little emperor is very respectful, even the older he gets, the time for pro-government is gradually approaching, and even the emperor who has opened his wisdom has secretly learned the secrets between men and women in the palace maid, and can be regarded as an adult. But in front of this teacher, he still felt like a child, trembling, concentrating, for fear that a little negligence would be criticized by the teacher.

The emperor will always remember that when his father had just died, Shoufu Gao Gong openly said the rebellious words of how the ten-year-old son of heaven could rule the world, as if he had the intention of abolishing the establishment, and his status as an orphan and widow was in jeopardy. It was this mentor who joined forces with Prime Minister Feng Daban to thwart the entire conspiracy and keep his throne. The tall back, as majestic and stable as a mountain, sheltered itself from the wind and rain, and kept all troubles out. As long as there is this mountain, I will never have to worry about the country being shaken and the society uneasy.

Longqing Tianzi is a person who is not very close to his son, his temperament is not violent, but the affinity of the family is average, and in Wanli's childhood memories, his father's impression is extremely vague.

Even as he grew older, the image of his father in his mind and the majestic and wise emperor in front of him gradually overlapped. In his heart, the feelings for this teacher are also master and father, when he first ascended the throne, when there were only two masters and apprentices, the emperor used to call Zhang Juzheng as his father. This title contains his feelings for this teacher.

As I grew older, this title was no longer appropriate, so I only addressed him as Mr. But deep down, he still calls his mentor his father, and loves and respects him as his father.

The capital in winter is very cold, and he can't wear boots for the Son of Heaven to teach, even if the palace is covered with carpets and burning earth dragons, the emperor is still worried that his teacher will be frozen. It is that every time he lectures in winter, he will order the little eunuch to prepare a thick felt, and when Zhang Juzheng sits down, he will use the felt to cushion the feet of the teacher. This is the filial piety of the little emperor, but whether Xiangguo can experience it, he is not sure.

In front of the little emperor, Zhang Juzheng will never smile, his face is like ice that will not melt for thousands of years, and even the little emperor even said in private that when his father smiles, it must be Haiyan Heqing. In this regard, he didn't have too many complaints, maybe the real father would be the same, after all, a strict father and mother are the standard of the family.

Zhu Yijun is not a very good student, in terms of learning ability, he can only be regarded as average, and he can't compare with a first-class talent like Zhang Juzheng. And Zhang Juzheng hopes to train the emperor in the shortest possible time. The way of lecturing is also the teaching method of geniuses, even if the little emperor tries his best to learn, he may not be able to catch up with the progress, not to mention that he can't make up his mind today.

After not answering two questions in a row, Zhang Juzheng's brows furrowed inadvertently, and he gently tapped the table with a ring ruler as a warning. In the entire empire, there is only this imperial ruler who has the courage to move the ruler in front of the emperor.

Looking at the serious appearance of the white and chubby little emperor in front of him, Zhang Juzheng also sighed secretly in his heart. This is Your Majesty to whom I will dedicate my life......

In a sense, Zhang Juzheng, who has experienced the three sons of heaven, can also be regarded as the elder of the three dynasties, even if the authority of the previous dynasty is not as great as the present, he is still a figure who can see the face of heaven after all, and he also understands the temperament and talent of the three sons of heaven.

Shimiao is the worst of the three heavenly sons in terms of mean and unkind temperament, but he is a terrifying shrewd person. There may be deficiencies in governing the country, but in governing people, he is the first person in the world. Even during the reign of Sejong, Zhang Juzheng, a second-auxiliary protégé of the national dynasty, had to be cautious and did not dare to show his edge.

The emperor, who liked to play tricks on people's hearts, always belittled or even killed ministers for seemingly unbelievable and even ridiculous reasons, he always gave people a sense of unreasonableness, and even thought that it was the cultivation of the Tao that damaged his wisdom. However, after further investigation, it was found that the people killed and degraded were all committed to the taboo of the Son of Heaven, but they were not suitable for public reasons.

With seemingly absurd means, he firmly grasped the court in his own hands, although he had been cultivating in Xiyuan for many years, and the power had never been lost. Zhang Juzheng asked himself, if he was unfortunate enough to be a prime minister during the World Temple, most of them could only protect themselves like their teachers, and they would never dare to do something as drastically as they did today.

Mu Miao is generous, his own talent is mediocre but he is humble and self-aware, and he lets go of things and leaves them to his ministers to do, and rarely interferes with himself. Compared with Shizong, it is actually more in line with the image of the Ming monarch who is the Son of Heaven hanging down and ruling the arch. It may not be possible to expand the territory, but the king of the defense is the perfect image. It's a pity...... I didn't know how to control myself, and I lost my life early.

The little emperor in front of him is not as good as his father, but he is very much like his mean grandfather, and he also wants to be an emperor who manipulates his ministers as puppets. This kind of thinking can't be considered wrong for an emperor, but if he is not enough to control the officials, he will mislead the country and the people.

I can't choose the emperor, all I can do is to teach him as well as I can. No matter how stubborn it is, I must do my best to educate it. In order to take care of his hobbies, Zhang Juzheng even asked a painter to draw the lecture content into a picture book and named it the Emperor Jian Illustrated Story, in this way to attract the attention of the emperor with a childish heart.

This painstaking solitude is also a way to repay the kindness of the emperor and the queen mother, and to be loyal to the ministers. But even so, the performance of this little fat emperor is still unsatisfactory, and now that the pro-government is imminent, the ability he shows is still too far from his position. It is not enough to study with such qualifications, and you have to be distracted......

However, the position of the minister determines that Zhang Juzheng must also care about his words and deeds, as the emperor gets older and the pro-government is imminent, the scale in this regard must also be cared about, and it cannot be exceeded. He coughed, "Your Majesty, I don't know if the question left by the minister yesterday has ever been made?" ”

Wanli smiled awkwardly, "Sir, yesterday I went to the harem to say hello, and the queen mother pulled me to speak, and I said it late." When I returned to the palace, I was greedy for the concerto, and after reading it, I was happy and my blood boiled and my mind did not belong, and the result was ...... I didn't have time. Why don't we stay until today and do it together. ”

I didn't do my homework the day before yesterday. Zhang Juzheng sighed again in his heart, can't he even find a particularly suitable reason to lie? I really couldn't turn my face for this kind of thing, so I had to follow Wanli's words and ask: "I don't know what Your Majesty saw and was so excited?" ”

Wanli saw that his teacher didn't ask about his homework, and he also came to his senses, and his eyebrows fluttered: "It's the piece left behind by Jiangning, saying that Wei Guogong made a herd of cattle in Jiangning, and he can actually prevent smallpox." Sir, you know that, right? Is it true? ”

The emperor cares about the people's livelihood, which is a good thing. If you're excited about this, it's always a benevolent look. As for the recital of the eunuchs left behind in Jiangning, Chen Tianzi did not go through his own ...... Ant-like characters, villains have intentions, don't pay attention.

Zhang Juzheng could guess Huang Enhou's intentions at once, but he didn't bother to pay attention to it, the emperor's heart was a little bit like a master, and his mood improved slightly, and he replied:

"This matter has been written by the six departments of Jiangning and the two governments of Dingwei, and the ministers also know about it, so of course this matter is true. But instead of looking for a herd of cows, it's planting cowpox. It is to collect pox liquid from cattle and inject it into the human body, as long as the amount is appropriate, it will not harm people, and it can also make the body have the function of resisting smallpox, which is really a good thing. As far as the minister knows, Wei Guogong is looking for people to plant pox in Jiangning, and it has achieved initial results. Although the total number of pox patients was less than 100, all of them were free from the problem and did not contract smallpox. Yichen thought that after the New Year, he could set up a cowpox bureau in Jiangning, first plant pox in Jiangning, and if it was effective, it would be gradually implemented in the southeastern provinces. When this party succeeds, the people of our Ming Dynasty will no longer suffer from smallpox, which is really the blessing of our ancestors and the blessing of Your Majesty! ”

Although Zhang Juzheng's tone did not change significantly, those who were familiar with him could still feel that his mood at the moment was excited and happy. Emperor Wanli saw that his teacher was happy, and he was also happy, so his spirit relaxed a little, and he also said the gossip with the little eunuch in the deep palace.

"Sir, do you think there will be horns on the head of a person who has cowpox? If you really have horns because of cowpox, it will be fun? As he spoke, the little emperor raised his hands and made a horn on his head, trying to make a funny expression, hoping to make the father smile. After all, the New Year is approaching, and it is fun for the family to talk and laugh together.

How do you know that Zhang Ju's face was cold, "Your Majesty." Who brought such ignorant and false words into the ears of Your Majesty? Cowpox was originally a new prescription, and there were many unconvinced people among the people. If you want to make the people accept cowpox and be willing to plant pox, it is necessary to take the lead in the imperial court. The civil and military ministers rushed to the front, and the people were willing to follow us. If Banzai had this absurd thought in his heart first, who else in the whole world would dare to plant that cowpox! ”

Seeing that the teacher was angry, Wanli's face also became nervous, and he hurriedly got up and saluted: "The teacher is angry, is the disciple wrong...... If the disciple is ignorant, please punish the teacher. ”

The dozen or so little eunuchs standing in the study all lowered their heads, trying to pretend that they didn't see this happening. The eunuchs who are qualified to serve here are all well-read and have a certain level of knowledge, and if they are lucky enough, it is possible to give birth to one or two celebrants. Yu Zun and Humility often have their own understanding, the Son of Heaven admits his mistake to the minister and asks for punishment, isn't this bullying the king with the minister?

As Wanli's confidants and eunuchs, they have witnessed similar things more than once, and since they were ignorant teenagers to the present, the emperor has always been cowardly and respectful in front of this minister. There is no difference between schoolchildren from ordinary families, and there is no distinction between monarchs and ministers. As a slave, at such a time, pretending not to know what to do may be the best choice.

In the corner of the imperial study, a young chamberlain named Zhang Cheng had his hands clenched into fists, his nails were almost piercing into the flesh, and his teeth were clenched very hard. On this occasion, no one would pay attention to the joy and anger of a little eunuch, and no one would care about the idea of this ant. The two people in the room who were enough to decide the fate of the empire would not know that at this moment, there was an insignificant little chamberlain who had sown the seeds of hatred for some powerful being.

Zhang Juzheng also realized that he was a little harsh with the little emperor, motioned for him to return to his seat, and said: "The Duke of Wei has dedicated cowpox to the imperial court as an auspicious gift, and Your Majesty should indeed rejoice." After all, the harm of smallpox, from the clan to the people, is not immune. If the cowpox prescription is indeed effective, the Ming Dynasty will be able to kill many people less every year, long live the joy of all the people to avoid disasters, and the ancient benevolent monarch did it. However, it should also be remembered that Your Majesty is an example for all people, and you should be cautious in everything you say and do. Many times, the emperor's unintentional words fall below, and it is a great thunderstorm. As the Venerable of Ten Thousand Vehicles, you must not fail to check. ”

"The disciple wrote it down."

The little emperor who was reprimanded, although he was discouraged, he didn't take it very seriously, and the main reason was that he was used to it. Being scolded in front of his father has become part of his study in the imperial study. After a while, he regained his appearance and asked Zhang Juzheng:

"Sir, I heard that my sister also contracted smallpox this time? Is it okay now? This Wei Guogong is also hateful, there is a cowpox party who didn't say it earlier, causing the senior sister to suffer this unjustified disaster. ”

"Senior sister?" Zhang Juzheng's long eyes looked at the emperor, he didn't understand how this very quacky phrase was learned by the emperor.

Wanli nodded and said, "Yes." I am a disciple of Mr., and his heir is naturally my senior brother, and Mr.'s daughter is my senior sister. This is written on the chivalrous golden dart, the closest to the same door, as soon as there is a fight, they all call their brothers to help, and a large piece can be lively. If you really can't beat it, you can also ask the master to take action. That's a long way off...... I heard that my sister is a fairy-like beauty, unique and stunning in the world, this time I gave birth to smallpox, I don't know if it matters? The two senior brothers have entered Beijing since they entered Beijing, and I have not seen them yet, so it is better to wait for the New Year, invite the senior brother into the palace, and I will ask him face to face. This year, the household department is better, one of the whips of the Guangdong line of teachers is quite successful, this year's annual success is good, the household department has entered more than four million silver a year, since I ascended the throne, it is the first time that it is so wide, just enough to spend a flower. ”

There was silence in the study, and several little eunuchs couldn't help but smile on their faces, after all, this matter was completed, and it was a big benefit to handle it themselves. The little eunuch named Zhang Cheng frowned slightly, knowing that Banzai would probably apologize to his courtiers again. [.]