In the Song and Ming dynasties, the form and connotation of the Taishan ceremony were different from those of the Qin, Han and Tang dynasties.

Qin, Han and Tang Dynasties, that is "Mount Tai Feng Zen", after the emperor ascended the throne, he will come to the head of the five mountains and tell God, the sky is still in charge of you, but I will be the master of the land of China from now on.

After Song Zhenzong, Mount Tai no longer has a great ceremony of sealing Zen, and the envoys of the imperial power came to Dongyue, more on behalf of the Son of Heaven to pray for good weather and good weather.

In the three hundred years since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, most of the people who went to Mount Tai to worship were officials of the Ministry of Rites, led by the royal prince, and this was the first time.

Therefore, in the late spring of the first year of Taichang, when the emperor's eldest son Zhu Youxiao and his entourage landed from the canal wharf, the governor of Shandong and Zhu Shouhong, the king of Lu, led their troops to greet them.

Zhu Youxiao was a little nervous at first.

At the age of sixteen or seventeen this year, he has been closed in the Forbidden City since he was a child, and the world he has seen and the knowledge he has stored may not be as good as that of a ten-year-old child from a large family in the prosperous state of the empire.

The maiden voyage who left the deep palace had to deal with such a big battle.

However, Zhu Youxiao soon discovered that Master Zheng's performance after meeting with Zhu Shouhong, the king of Lu, and Zhu Yipai, the general of Zhenguo, was much more relaxed and natural than the greetings between officials of the Ministry of Rites and the governor of Shandong.

Master Zheng didn't brag, her friendship with the king of Ludi was indeed not shallow.

Zhu Youxiao's crampedness has decreased a lot, and he has also become close to the Lubo clan, who have the same blood but have never met.

According to the itinerary formulated by the Ministry of Rites, Zhu Youxiao could live in Lufu for about ten days, and then go north to Mount Tai through Qufu.

The day after staying in King Lu's mansion, Zhu Youxiao became more and more happy - Master Zheng introduced him to a very interesting person, Song Yingxing.

Song Yingxing came to King Lu's Mansion in the summer and autumn of last year, and Zheng Haizhu mentioned a few words about steam power from the perspective of modern people, but the actual technology landing depends on this wise Ming scientist to achieve it.

Song Yingxing caught the flash of inspiration, and soon like the almost contemporaneous British craftsman Newcomen, he combined the boiler with a lever to build a rather primitive but effective steam engine, and pumped the first barrel of groundwater from the Yanzhou coal mine controlled by the Lu Wangfu.

When Zhu Youxiao appeared in front of Song Yingxing, the latter was trying to improve the steam engine of Watt, thinking about what tricks to add in order to solve the problem of recycling hot steam and save fuel.

Carpentry was a rare area for the young prince to have confidence, but at this moment he understood why Master Zheng kept mentioning Mr. Song to him on the ship.

In addition to the tenon, there are gears, in addition to woodwork, there is also copper and iron, and in addition to stationary, there is movement, and it is not driven by manpower, but the poles and wheels are moving by themselves.

"Cao Banban, in the next few days, do you still want to see this and that official in Shandong?"

"No," Cao Huachun said with understanding, "Brother is playing with Mr. Song, let's go to the Confucian Mansion in Qufu at the end of the month." ”

Zhu Youxiao was delighted, and then muttered secretly, it would be better if he didn't have to go to the Confucian Mansion to turn around, he could watch Mr. Song play tricks for a few more days, and he could make the BMX go with the stove burning.

……

Zhu Youxiao was entrusted to Song Yingxing like a child who went on vacation with his parents in later generations, accompanied by Cao Huachun and Lu Xiangsheng.

At the same time, Zheng Haizhu was sitting in another small hall in King Lu's deep house, discussing important matters with Zhu Shouhong, King of Lu, and Zhu Yipai, the "Little Highness".

As Zheng Haizhu expected, when King Lu heard the message of the Son of Heaven brought by her, his kind and calm face was a little dignified.

Donglin Zhao Nanxing and them, the pattern is small, and they also self-righteously believe that Zheng Haizhu wants to take advantage of the trip to Shandong to contact Qi Shijiao, the leader of the Qi Party who is idle at home, and plunge into the battlefield of party struggle.

In fact, after the Ministry of Rites controlled by Donglin agreed to her request, Zheng Haizhu talked to Zhu Changluo, the Son of Heaven, in the Qianqing Palace, about how to use Shandong as a test site and try to start with land taxation to touch on the current financial contradictions of the empire.

Zheng Haizhu persuaded Zhu Changluo for several reasons.

First, Shandong began to make trouble again, and the poor peasants gathered by the leader Xu Hongru in Juye and other places have reached thousands.

In the past, when the northern captives and threatened the Jingshi, when the other feudal kings stood by, the Lu Fan would mobilize the royal army to go north to protect the Jingshi, and the current Lu King Zhu Shouhong, since he opened a coal mine in Yanzhou, has donated silver to the inner treasury of the Son of Heaven for three consecutive years, which is like voluntarily paying mining taxes.

The third reason is coming out of Zheng Haizhu's mouth again.

"The king, your highness, the Tai Hospital, the Yan Shenggong has been invalidated, and the limit should be this year."

When Zhu Shouhong and Zhu Yipai heard this, they understood the opportunity.

The descendants of Confucius in Qufu, since the Song Dynasty, have been hereditary Yan Shenggong, like a noble character, showing that the emperors of the past dynasties respected the ruling art of Confucianism.

Kong Shangxian, the Shenggong of this generation, left Qufu a few years ago and lived in Beijing, and now that he is terminally ill, the imperial court naturally wants Zhang Luoyan Shenggong's attack on the title.

However, it just so happened that Kong Shangxian's two sons died in front of him, and neither of them left any heirs.

Zheng Haizhu observed King Lu's solemn state, and simply said bluntly: "The king, Kong Shangxiangong, has a younger brother, and there is more than one, who enters Beijing to establish as the heir and inherit the title of Yansheng Gong, it depends on which branch of the Kong family can share the worries of the imperial court." ”

Zhu Shouhong, the king of Lu, whispered, "That's nature", and fell silent again.

Zhu Yipai glanced at his uncle, who regarded himself as the heir of the Lu Domain, and turned to Zheng Haizhu and said, "The Confucian Mansion and the Lu Mansion are dependent on each other, and this matter is not trivial. ”

Of course, Zheng Haizhu understood the meaning of Zhu Shouhong, the representative of Zhu Yipai.

Zhu Changluo wants to recover some of the private fields that the Confucian Mansion enjoys tax exemption and preferential treatment, so that the imperial court can regain control of the tax income from these fields.

Zheng Haizhu sighed and said, "Your Royal Highness is sincere. Actually, Long Live Lord didn't feel good either. The king, your Royal Highness, if it weren't for the Jiannu in Liaodong who was no longer suffering from ringworm, if it weren't for the lack of pay in the border army, if it weren't for the fact that Jiangnan was a place of anointing and the number of fields sent was decreasing, how could you be willing to send it to Ludi first? It has been more than half a year since the Lord of Long Live ascended to the Great Unification, because the internal funds were sent to Liaodong as military salaries, and the palace did not even issue a tael of the head flower silver that was routinely rewarded. ”

Zhu Shouhong's eyes raised: "Why is this, this king is really uncomfortable to hear." ”

After that, there was no follow-up.

Zheng Haizhu said in his heart, when he wanted to dig up the meat in his bowl, even if Zhu Shouhong, who was already the most conscious vassal king in the Ming clan, would not compromise easily.

She then took out a plan that Zhu Changluo nodded: "If Lu Fan can share the worries of the court, Long Live Lord will not let Lu Fan suffer." There are two methods, one is that the coal mountains in Yanzhou are so well opened, and the ore veins in western Beijing can also be explored by people from Ludi; The second is that the Qi domain has become extinct, but Qilu was originally the same side of the water and soil, and now the waterway of Denglai has no trouble, and the Lu domain has a way to govern the army and open mines. ”

Zhu Yipai's eyes lit up when he heard this.

Zhu Shouhong glanced at his nephew, wiped his grim expression, and said with a smile: "As soon as you talk about selling the sea, you will come to the spirit." You, the name is wrong, you should be called Zhu Yihai more than your brother. ”