Zhou Zhao, who had just recovered from a serious illness, taught Zhu Houxi another lesson by "relying on the old and selling the old", and Zhu Houyu did not stop thinking after asking Huang Jin to send him back.

Zhu Qingping on the side wanted to speak and stopped.

She can't talk too much about national affairs. As a female official beside the emperor, she can only do whatever His Majesty orders.

Then Zhu Houxi instructed: "Let's go to the palace back garden." ”

At this time, it is not called the Imperial Garden, Zhu Houxi just thought for a moment, and suddenly realized: It has been almost half a year since he entered the palace, and he has never set foot in this small garden behind Kunning Palace.

Half because there are many problems that need to be solved by the succession of vassal kings, and half because of the sense of mission and the fact that he thinks too much about what needs to be done in the time of the palace.

After ascending the throne, he lived a much more social life than his original accounting life.

Every day, I take the initiative to learn about the many texts, numbers, and dynamics of the empire, or study the ideological issues of science and psychology, and day after day I think about the hearts of the people and the gains and losses of some of my own actions.

"Are you always worried about me?" After crossing the Kunning Gate, Zhu Houxi suddenly asked Gao Zhong.

Gao Zhong knelt down all of a sudden: "The slave and maid only know how to work hard, Your Majesty is lenient, and the slave and maid have never felt scared." ”

But his movements speak for themselves.

The leader is diligent to a certain extent, and the people below are really holding a string at any time, for fear of being found wrong.

What's more, it is still the time when the imperial power is being taken away for life and death?

"Alright, get up." Zhu Houxi smiled shallowly and looked at the palace at this time.

Although the memory is vague, there are still many things that are different at this moment. Zhu Houxi couldn't say what was different from the imperial garden he had visited, but at this moment, it was probably more secluded.

There aren't many people in the harem now.

In addition to the Empress Dowager Zhang and the Xia family, except for the Empress Dowager Shao and the Empress Dowager Jiang, and the two princesses, the concubines of the previous emperors in the palace have all been marginalized and will no longer set foot in the forbidden palace garden, which covers an area of more than 10,000 square meters.

Zhu Houxi walked slowly in the garden, and suddenly said casually: "Change the name to the Imperial Garden, the name of the palace garden is less royal." ”

I'm afraid that the name change here is only in the future, and no matter what, I really have a lot of time to spare. I changed it first, so that I don't have the opportunity to be changed by others later.

Gao Zhong received the will, and Zhu Houxi went all the way north and looked at a location next to the wall of the North Palace.

He had the impression that there should be a lot of rockeries in this place, but now it is a palace higher than the palace wall.

"What's the name of this place?"

"Your Majesty, this place is called the Flower Viewing Palace." Gao Zhong replied with a somewhat apprehensive smile, "Although there are not many flowers and trees planted in the imperial garden, it is also interesting to look at this flower viewing hall and hide it among the big trees in the pavilion. ”

"Go up and have a look."

So I climbed this flower viewing hall, and I could see the scenery outside the palace wall in the north to the north, and I went to the south......

Zhu Houxi stood on the high platform, and faintly saw the Xia family supporting him, and the Empress Dowager Zhang was walking slowly on the west side.

Think about it, as an emperor, looking at the imperial garden from this high place, I am afraid that the "flowers" I see are mainly the concubines who are trapped in the palace and can only come here to relax.

There aren't many flowers in the garden now.

Empress Dowager Zhang's pace was very slow, and there were few people around.

Zhu Houxi seemed to be enjoying the scenery, but in fact he was still thinking about what Zhou Zhao said.

He was able to ascend to the throne of God because Zhu Houzhao had no heirs.

Because he knew the "waste" of the feudal kings in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houxi really didn't pay attention to them.

But does the emperor really need to be very good and diligent? Although the feudal kings are useless, they are also good mascots. All they need is their bloodline, so some people with a heart can do something by supporting a certain vassal king.

Standing at the height of Zhu Houxi, there is now quite a lot of information that can be summarized, and he still has a cognition that transcends the times.

It has not happened in history, and perhaps it may happen because of some of its own operations now.

The vassal king is indeed a thread that can be carried at the least cost: if there is really someone who is dissatisfied with him Zhu Houxi, he must find one from the current vassal king to cooperate, otherwise it will be a rebellion in the dynastic stability period of pure hellish difficulty.

Zhu Houxi thought about it and said, "I saw the Empress Dowager Cishou and Empress Zhuangsu, so let's go over and greet them." ”

Empress Dowager Zhang and Xia were obviously surprised to see the emperor appear here, after all, they had never seen him here.

"Aunt, sister-in-law, let's go to the pavilion over there and rest for a while."

So in the rockery in the southwest corner of the imperial garden and the pavilion next to the small pond, the three of them all sat down, and Gao Zhong and Zhu Qingping naturally ordered the accompanying eunuchs and palace maids to put tea and snacks from the food box.

Empress Dowager Zhang switched to the smirk mode again, and her face looked a little stiff.

Zhu Houxi's words made the hearts of the two middle-aged and elderly women moved: "Previously, Yuan Jinsheng pretended to use the holy will to pre-select ladies outside the palace, which was really too eager. I have promised the Queen Mother and the Imperial Sister-in-law, but I have always remembered this matter. ”

mentioned Yuan Jinsheng, but the second half of the sentence reconfirmed the succession, and the hearts of Empress Dowager Zhang and Xia were different.

Zhu Houxi said with a smile: "After the succession, it must be that the mother-in-law and the biological mother will not have disputes in the future." Originally, I wanted to kiss and kiss, but later I learned that the emperor's sister-in-law had two younger sisters, one married to the Duke of Wei and the other married to the son of the Marquis of Shouning. ”

Seeing that he had really thought about this issue seriously, Xia couldn't help but feel a little moved in his heart.

If it is true that her sister will give birth to a child as a concubine and inherit it under her name, then there will be an aunt status after that, and she can move around.

But the Empress Dowager Zhang didn't think so, the emperor's words were implying that the Zhang family now has the relationship between the queen mother and the queen in the palace, and the relationship between the top ministers outside the palace by virtue of marriage?

She now knew that her brain was much worse than that of this emperor, so she didn't answer and quietly listened to what the emperor wanted to say.

"Although I proposed the method of both worlds that day, the ministers later advised me a lot, thinking that if the arrangements were not made properly in the future, there might be a great dispute." Zhu Houxi sighed, "Now that the imperial brother's funeral has ended, I have been thinking about this matter for a long time. Today, I would like to ask for the opinions of my aunt and sister-in-law. ”

“…… What is Your Majesty's intention, please advise. Empress Dowager Zhang looked at him with twelve points of spirit.

"The first method, you have to wait." Zhu Houxi smiled at Xia's family, "After the big wedding in the draft next year, if you succeed you with your sister-in-law or eldest son, I'm afraid the ministers will stop you." Therefore, I am afraid that at least the third son, the fourth son, or even further back. ”

Thinking of the difficulty of the royal heir, Xia's face turned slightly pale. Don't say that he was born as a prince, if he really doesn't die young, the third and fourth princes are only afraid that it will be a few years later.

"The second method is to choose a young son from the small sect to succeed now." Zhu Houxi looked at the Empress Dowager Zhang, "Check the list of clan relatives in the Zongren Mansion, agree on the right children, handle the ceremony, and the name will be decided." This method is fast, but after the succession, I am afraid that it will be necessary to canonize the prince in advance and establish a vassal as soon as possible. ”

Zhu Houxi looked at them after speaking.

Empress Dowager Zhang smiled reluctantly: "I have also discussed this matter with Empress Zhuang Su. After all, those who still want to be crowned kings and vassal are all in the blood of the Zhu family, and it is really not appropriate to add worries to Your Majesty. ”

"In this way, both the aunt and the imperial sister-in-law think the second method is better?"

Empress Dowager Zhang said meaningfully: "After Your Majesty received the note that day, Scholar Jiang once stated the hidden dangers. With His Majesty's blood successively, I am afraid that there will always be disputes in the future, so it's okay. ”

Zhu Houxi didn't know if he still ran over to greet him every day, which also made Empress Dowager Zhang more and more unbearable.

She is no longer the highest-ranking woman in this palace, so the palace walls are becoming more and more like prison walls.

"In that case, I'll give it an account and start preparing for it." Zhu Houxi laughed, "Find a good candidate first, and then discuss where to build a domain." ”

After a few more small talks, Zhu Houxi began to walk back.

He knew that he couldn't be too suspicious of Yang Tinghe, that would form a vicious circle. In history, although Yang Tinghe had some dealings with King Ning, he was later tossed by Jiajing with a big gift, and his son was exiled, and he never planned anything more.

The matter of Liangguang is just Yang Tinghe's last resort, and he wants Zhu Houxi to see the actual situation in Daming.

But because of Zhu Houxi's attention to the ocean, and because of the guidance of some secret black hands, this matter still has a chain reaction after all.

One of the key figures is the master butler of Zhang Heling, the Marquis of Shouning, who was found by Wang Zuo: Fang Muxian.

The Zhang family's business, and many of the Zhang family's decisions today, have his shadow behind them.

Now, in addition to Xu Pengju, the Zhang family, in addition to Zhu Houzhao's father-in-law Xia family, later became in-laws with the former cabinet minister Li Dongyang.

If Zhu Houxi is not mistaken, the Zhang family will marry the Kong family in the future, and Zhang Yanling's daughter will marry the next generation of Yan Shenggong. The mother of this Yan Shenggong is Li Dongyang's daughter.

Li Dongyang, who once impeached the Zhang brothers, has no opinion on this marriage?

With the brains of the Zhang brothers, how can there be such a big pattern? With their national relatives, how could they let literary giants like Li Dongyang and the Kong family form such a high-level relationship with them?

And this Fang Muxian, under Wang Zuo's multiple visits, seemed to have some vague relationship with Fang Xiaoru back then.

Recently, Zhu Zhishan's "Wild Notes", which has been written for several years, is still being discussed by more and more people in Jiangnan. Among them, isn't there Zhu Di who is the "successor of the vassal king"?

Back at the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Houxi looked south from afar.

The six people in the Wenyuan Pavilion were all intimidated by his "Wise Divine Martial Arts"?

Farther southeast, who have unspeakable thoughts, or are they being used by some people?

What kind of new changes will be brought about by choosing a person from the vassal prince's clan as Zhu Houzhao's stepson?

"Call Zhang Bore."

……

The Dongji Factory was changed to the Neicha Factory, and the reason why Yang Ting and them agreed was because of a major change.

The original Dongchang was supervised by eunuchs, and had the authority to directly arrest subjects without going through the three law divisions.

The current inner factory, after the completion of the transition, will only be led by the military generals, and the subsequent responsibility is only to inspect the secret spies and anti-thieves of the enemy countries that may be scattered to the Ming Dynasty. Correspondingly, there is also a foreign factory, which has now spread to the South Seas.

The factory guard, who had always been in the shadows, had at least lost an institution that made the courtiers uneasy in terms of clear authority.

So now the black hand behind the southeast mystery is already a big case that the inner factory can definitely handle.

Zhang Bo actually doesn't know how to operate such an internal guard, although Zhu Houxi is not a professional, but after all, there are many insights from later generations.

In addition, he has plenty of money for the time being.

In the Dongnuan Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, Zhang Bo stayed for more than two hours.

When he left, his face was very solemn.

For him, this is completely new territory. But from the Emperor's previous secret instructions and the amount of silver allocated to him, he knew that this might be a very important case for His Majesty to stabilize the imperial power.

The in-house factory has to have its own new channels and new ways of obtaining information.

All the original Dongchang fans were called back, and in the original Dongchang Yamen north of Donghua Gate, no outsiders knew what was being done inside.

At the national policy meeting, it was naturally prudent to select someone from the clan to succeed Zhu Houzhao under his name, and to become the king as soon as possible.

The matter was handed over to the Ministry of Rites and the Zongren Mansion.

"Now that the royal brother's funeral is over, the first year of Jiajing is approaching, and I am sixteen years old." Zhu Houxi said on the throne, "Zhang Fu respectfully asks to start the pre-selection of ladies in Guangdong, and next year he will use this to appease Guangdong." Do you think it's okay? Is it possible for Southeast to start earlier as well? ”

I don't know why, everyone looked at him with complicated eyes.

"Is it inappropriate?" Zhu Houxi asked.

Yan Song coughed: "The country is a major matter, and it should be." It's just Your Majesty, isn't it premature to decide on a candidate for such a draft? In this case, I am afraid that I will lose the original intention of Taizu to choose from a good family......"

He didn't say it thoroughly, he just said that it was too political.

In fact, the points that everyone thinks are strange also include: Are you a young man with strong blood? You're finally starting to think about women, and you're actually opening your mouth just to cooperate with political moves?

Now the pre-selection of ladies from Guangdong and Jiangnan is undoubtedly to calm the hearts of some people or divide them.

If it is not weighty, do you need to be appeased? If it is enough, can it still be called an ordinary good family?

What about the risk of relatives in the future?

Zhu Houxi thought for a while and said: "I think that to prevent foreign relatives from interfering in politics, we still have to rely on the management system of foreign relatives, rather than just completely selecting people with shallow roots from the source. Once he becomes a relative, he suddenly enjoys a glorious and honorable position, and the harm of not being able to match his virtue and ability is even greater. People who have a certain foundation may know more about the general situation, and they only need to systematically prevent their relatives from causing trouble when the current dynasty or the old and new dynasties alternate. ”

The muscle memory of the ministers in the imperial study is here, and I feel that this is another big topic that involves a wide range of issues, so is it going to be discussed for a long time?

"Your Majesty, it's better to draft according to the ancestral training. Now that the funeral of the first emperor has been completed, in order to consolidate the country, the draft is imminent. However, at this time, the lady was pre-selected, and I am afraid that some people in the world will talk about it. Wang Qiong suddenly said.

"Discussion?" Zhu Houxi looked at him, pondered for a moment, and then said, "But referring to the current situation, some people will say that the imperial brother will be drafted and married not long after his new funeral, and there is something to consider in the etiquette system?" ”

"Previously, some ministers pretended to pre-select ladies, and the officials even impeached him." Wang Qiong stared at him deeply, "I think it's better to wait for next year." Your Majesty has this intention today, and the ministers are at ease, knowing that Your Majesty has this important matter in mind. ”

Zhu Houxi laughed: "I naturally have this thing in my heart. As for the discussion of this matter, I brought it up at this time to see who would discuss it. The emperor's brother was originally elected to succeed to the throne because he had no heirs, isn't the country's top priority at present? As for the pre-selection of ladies, it was only limited to Guangdong, Nanzhili, Zhejiang, and Fujian for the first time. Therefore, those who discuss, if they are not shallow and pedantic, have other ideas. Do you think so? ”

Yang Tinghe and others were very worried: the clan relatives chose their heirs to pass on to Emperor Zhengde, and the pre-selection of ladies in the southeast and Guangdong were all aimed at the current mystery.

Who's going to jump out and talk about it?