Time flies quickly, and most of the winter of Zhengde's eighth year has passed, and the New Year of Zhengde's ninth year is about to be ushered in. In this year, a lot of major events have happened, for the Ming Dynasty, the most important two things, the first thing is that the vast majority of the sweet potatoes and corn promoted by the imperial court in various places have been harvested, especially the sweet potatoes that do not pick the ground, which is suitable for almost all places, which makes the court very excited, determined to promote sweet potatoes to all parts of the Ming Dynasty next year, I believe that by next spring, the big sand table in the Zhengde Palace will definitely be full of sweet potatoes and corn.

The second important thing is the annexation of North Korea, for this matter, the Ming Dynasty is very excited, the scholars believe that this is the result of the enlightenment of the sage, for this reason many people write a large number of poems and songs to praise this matter, the poor people have an extra way to live, as long as they are willing to leave their hometown, they can buy a large piece of land in North Korea at a very low price, and the merchants covet the minerals and specialties of North Korea, and flock there to find their own fortune.

It can be said that through the annexation of North Korea, the Ming Dynasty has tasted the sweetness of territorial expansion, which is also the situation that Zhou Zhong hopes to see the most, after all, if you want to solve the problems caused by the land annexation of the Ming Dynasty, as well as the land pressure brought by the huge population, you can only through the expansion of this fastest and most effective means, and now the annexation of North Korea is just a warm-up game, and when the Ming Dynasty is accustomed to the benefits of land expansion, then you don't even need to bother him, the Ming Dynasty will begin to expand outward.

The above two things are the most important for Da Ming, of course, in addition to this, there are also some other things that happen. For example, the Zhou Chong Sihai Governor's Mansion occupied the old port in Nanyang. Another great war broke out on the side of the Japanese state. The Portuguese mission to Beijing and so on, these things also had a considerable impact on the Ming Dynasty, but in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, they were not as important as the above two things.

The Chinese New Year is coming soon, and according to the rules, officialdom naturally has to have a holiday, such as the Zhou Chong's Sihai Governor's Mansion, which has already begun to prepare for a holiday. All the things that can be done before the year are done as much as possible, and then Zhou Zhong let go of the small treasury in the governor's palace, this kind of small treasury is available in every yamen, and it is inconvenient to report what the yamen needs to spend, and when there are also reward officials, they are all out of the small treasury, of course, if you meet a greedy chief official, the small treasury will also become a tool for the chief official to collect money.

With Zhouzhong's net worth, he naturally can't look down on the little income of the small treasury. Therefore, he generously took out eighty percent of the income in this year's treasury, and distributed all of them to officials at all levels of the governor's palace as year-end funds. The reason why the remaining 20% was not sent was mainly to prevent unforeseen needs, after all, there were so many people in the Governor's Palace, and there were many things to do during the New Year, so maybe there would be some places to spend money, so a little money must be left in the small treasury.

On the 28th day of the lunar month, Zhou Zhong summoned all the officials of the Governor's Mansion to have a year-end banquet in the largest restaurant in Shuangyu Port, and then announced the closure of the Yamen in the afternoon of the same day.

Today is twenty-nine, and although this year's winter is not as cold as last year, it is still very cold, the stagnant water in the pond has been frozen, and even the smaller streams have been frozen with a thick layer of ice, only the sea water is still the same, which also makes all the maritime merchants breathe a sigh of relief, after all, last year's ice and snow closure of the port has caused them considerable losses, and they naturally don't want to come again.

There is a cliff area at the easternmost end of the north port area of Shuangyu Port, where the strange stones stand up and the road is difficult to walk, but with the development of Shuangyu Port, the population here is more and more, and the land is naturally more and more precious, this cliff area is also in the port area of Shuangyu Port, the location is very good, you can see the entire Shuangyu Port here, so there are clever merchants who bought this cliff area, after the repair of master craftsmen, it has become a garden area, and named Wanghai Garden.

The real role of Wanghai Garden is actually a place to eat, in this vast garden, relying on the cliff of the mountain to build countless pavilions, each building is ingenious, guests come to Wanghai Garden, you can walk around at will, see a building is good, as long as there are no guests inside, then he can go in to eat, there are special people to serve, the dishes in the southeast and northwest are made by special chefs, the taste is extremely delicious, and each building can see the sea outside, In particular, those merchant ships shuttling in the port, it is also a very pleasant scenery, so as soon as Wanghai Park opened, it became the top restaurant in Shuangyu Port and the entire Ningbo coast, and many people came to Shuangyu Port in order to taste the food of Wanghai Garden, and by the way, enjoy the beautiful scenery on the sea.

Broken Sword Cliff is the tallest cliff in Wanghai Park, because when looking at this side from the sea, this cliff is like a broken sword, so it is named Broken Sword Cliff, and at the top of Broken Sword Cliff, you can overlook the entire Shuangyu Port, plus Wanghai Garden will decorate the entire cliff with a beautiful environment, and build a room called Broken Sword Pavilion for guests to drink, so Broken Sword Pavilion has always been known as the first in Wanghai Park, if there is a chance, everyone wants to sit in Broken Sword Pavilion.

There are two people sitting in the Broken Sword Pavilion today, an old man and a young man, among them, the old one has snow-white hair and is full of old age spots, but his spirit is very vigorous, and his eyes are not as cloudy as ordinary old people, but they are still very clear. The young man sitting opposite the old man looked only about twenty years old, handsome and dressed in fine clothes, looking like a rich boy, but he exuded a kind of majesty on his body, which made people dare not underestimate him.

"Lord Governor, the construction of this Wanghai Garden is really unique, the dishes are also delicious, and the old man is also a well-informed person, but after coming here once, he has to come here several times a month, and the only bad thing is that the cost here is too expensive, even if it is a fourth-grade official like the old man, he still can't afford it!" The entire Shuangyu Port can be called the Governor, naturally only Zhou Chong, and this old man who spoke was Jiao Fang, who came out again.

"Ha Luha, if Lord Jiao likes it, I will ask someone to send you a golden VIP card later, and you can enjoy a 50% discount with this card in the future, and you can also book a room first, which can be regarded as a small gift from me, the governor, to Lord Jiao!" Zhou Dazhong said with a smile that this Wanghai Garden was originally an industry under his name, and the buildings and services in the garden were also from his hands, and the reason why the dishes here are very delicious is not only the exquisite craftsmanship of the chefs, but also the credit of monosodium glutamate, that is, sea intestine noodles.

Speaking of which, the lower official is old, and the teeth in his mouth are about to fall out, but he still likes the food very much, especially the honey abalone made here in Wanghai Garden, which is really the favorite of the lower officials!" Jiao Fang accepted the distinguished guest card given by Zhou Zhong without hesitation, at his age, it was already time to do whatever he wanted, as for what face is not a problem for him, and even no matter who gives him a gift, he will accept it, as for whether to do it or not, it depends on his mood.

Zhou Zhong has long been accustomed to Jiao Fang's old and playful temperament, fortunately, Jiao Fang does have a hand in government affairs, and in just a few months, he has greatly strengthened his rule over Taiwan, Malacca, and Jiugang, and even the communication is much smoother, so that Zhou Chong has to look at old ministers like Jiao Fang with admiration. In fact, it's not surprising to think about it, a guy who can be the head of the cabinet will naturally not be able to mix up just by being cheeky, and he must have some real skills.

"Master Jiao, if you invite me to come to Wanghai Park today, you don't just want to ask for a VIP card from me, just tell me if you have anything!" Zhou Chong picked up the teacup and took a sip, although Wanghaiyuan was his, but today it was Jiao Fang who took the initiative to invite him to drink here, although he didn't say it explicitly, but Zhou Chong always felt that Jiao Fang must have something to talk about. Of course, Zhou Chong estimated that today's meal was also paid for by himself, because an old pimpy like Jiao Fang knew that Wanghai Garden was opened by Zhou Chong, but he was still entertaining here, and it was clear that he wanted Zhou Chong to pay.

Hearing Zhou Chong's words, I saw that Jiao Fang finally put away his jokes, and said with a somewhat solemn face: "Your Excellency Governor, I know that the affairs attached to North Korea this year are inseparable from you, and even some of the situations from the side of the Japanese State are also vaguely provoked by our Governor's Palace, which makes the old man very confused, so I want to ask the Governor General to solve the old man's doubts, I don't know why you spend so much thought on North Korea and the Japanese State?" ”

Jiao Fang, as a political participant in the Governor's Palace, can naturally see many confidential documents, such as information related to North Korea and the Japanese State, as well as some previous arrangements of the Governor's Palace, these things were seen by Jiao Fang, and it was naturally easy to guess the truth of the matter, and even Zhang Cai knew this, but Zhang Cai had a slippery personality, as long as Zhou Zhong was happy, he would not dissuade him at all, and even help with advice. But Jiao Fang couldn't sit still, because he felt that Zhou Zhong spent so much energy in North Korea and the Japanese State, which was really a waste of the resources of the Ming Dynasty, and North Korea was just that, but the Japanese State had no interests for the Ming Dynasty at all.

Zhou Zhong heard Jiao Fang ask about his arrangements for North Korea and the Japanese Kingdom, and he was also laughing at the moment, he had actually been waiting for Jiao Fang or Zhang Cai to ask him this question, after all, the layout of North Korea and the Japanese State was related to the historical trend of the Ming Dynasty in the future, this is not something he can complete alone, someone must assist, and now it seems that Jiao Fang, who has been the head of the cabinet, is more responsible. (To be continued......)