When only he and Cui Yuan were left in the main hall of Huaiyin Station, which was used by Zhu Houxi to receive his subordinates, Zhu Houyi first asked him to get up and sit down, and then looked at him deeply.

Cui Yuan's heart was a little hairy, he was afraid that he would say the wrong word next.

Zhu Houxi felt his trembling, so he spoke first: "If you have something to say, don't be afraid, how can I ever punish you for speaking freely?" ”

Cui Yuan immediately knelt down and kowtowed first: "Your Majesty has been in power for three and a half years, and the monarchy is flourishing." The ambition of the new law to enrich the country is very strong, and it is even so strong that he has raised his hand in the Fengtian Palace, and recently took over the prefect of the four prefectures for the crime of rebellion. During the consultation, when the Marquis of Jing'an arrived in Beijing, the imperial tour of the south was imminent, and there was no opportunity to advise; Now the city of Hengyang is broken, the Marquis of Zhenyuan has this report, and the ministers are directly admonished, hoping that Your Majesty will forgive your sins! ”

Zhu Houxi was silent for a moment, and then said: "Get up and sit down, no matter what you say today, I will never blame you." ”

After Cui Yuan sat down, he was still silent for a moment, and then said, "Please have a glass of thin wine." ”

“…… Do you have to be brave to say it? Or do you want to make a promise to drink together with the golden cup? ”

Cui Yuan didn't speak.

Zhu Houxi thought about it and called Huang Jin to follow him.

Huang Jin went out in a hurry.

Cui Yuan drank it all, raised his head and said, "Today, the minister will start with the things in front of him." His Majesty went to Sizhou and Fengyang, and for half a month, the ministers were ashamed that they had no good plan for the Huanghuai flood, and they did not dare to say that they could solve this eternal problem. ”

Zhu Houxi didn't understand why he said this first, and Cui Yuan then continued: "Your Majesty understands practice and learns, and creates new laws, there are often ministers who fail to speculate on His Majesty's outstanding talents, and there are also worries that if the new law is not successful, the ministers will die and the clan will be destroyed, so no one dares to say that it must not be feasible!" ”

"You mean, I have too many powers, and the ministers are worried but dare not speak?"

"After Zhou Xizheng left, among the important ministers and close ministers, no one dared to advise His Majesty like this." Cui Yuan said solemnly, "The minister is a concubine and one of the clans. These words, Jing'an Hou didn't have a chance to admonish him face to face, and now that the Huguang report came, it could only be said by the minister. Your Majesty, is it not because of your dedication to the policy, so that Your Majesty thinks that everything in the world can be said and prohibited, the gentry of the world can understand the essence of the new law, and the people of the world have the power to change the world? ”

“…… You elaborate. ”

Cui Yuan was heartbroken: "Your Majesty has removed the Holy Fathers and enshrined the new Confucian scriptures, but the officials and people of the world have been deeply Confucianized for thousands of years?" Your Majesty wants to get rid of the weeds and make the world wide, but how can the Son of Heaven plot against the subjects of the world? Your Majesty wants to cure the floods in the world and rejuvenate the water conservancy in the world to reassure the people, but how can he despise the great power of heaven and earth, overestimate the power of the people in the world, and misjudge the selfish desires of the people? Indoctrination, law, and inducement, Your Majesty attaches great importance to the latter two, and forgets the difficulty of indoctrination. ”

He paused before he said: "Use the new law to urge the unwilling to rebel, and then deal with it with the momentum of thunder; With the crime of suppression and training and rebellion as a rope, we will promote new laws, train elite soldiers, and expand our territory in the future. These, just as Wang Dehua said before, the new law is one ring after another, and all of them are indispensable. Now, however, something has gone wrong! The Son of Heaven uses his sister-in-law and nephew as bait, and this move is far from the king! Even though Your Majesty is not afraid of history, how will the people of the world view Your Majesty? If it can't win the hearts of the people all over the world, how can the new law be achieved? ”

When Zhu Houxi heard this, he understood what he wanted to say.

Cui Yuan said so much anyway, and now he simply let it go: "Your Majesty can stand up first, it should be Huanghuang Tianwei, not calculating and ruthless; If Your Majesty wants to make the world virtuous again, you must not first be the lord of the ungraced. The minister Wan Wan died and asked His Majesty: Since you know that the mother and son of King Rui are in danger of being held hostage, how will Queen Zhuangsu and King Rui deal with themselves after the chaos? What does Your Majesty do? ”

"If Pu Zitong's generation has harbored evil intentions and plotted to usurp the throne, have the mother and son of King Rui been humiliated? If people in the world say that the mother and son of King Rui also have complaints about the handling of all things after His Majesty's succession, how will the court deal with it? Are they all punished for the crime of rebellion? ”

He finally shed tears: "Your Majesty, since this year, even the ministers have been exhausted, unable to sleep at night, and walking on thin ice day by day. The minister didn't know why His Majesty was so careful, but the minister only knew that no matter how worried His Majesty was that the Ming Dynasty was riddled with diseases, he couldn't be so general as to look forward to completing his work in one battle. The ministers could not afford such a heavy responsibility, and the people of the world could not afford to rebel and fight in a row for many years. Even if you want to buy and motivate industry and commerce, don't you know that landless people are more likely to cause chaos? ”

He said so much in one breath, but the beginning of this last paragraph was very heavy.

Zhu Houxi really didn't care much about his reputation and so-called reputation from the beginning, he always thought that he just needed to bring Daming in a good direction.

After he decided on the arrangement of the Xia family and Rui Wang, he always felt that he had no problem with such an arrangement: whether it was against it or not, the initiative was not in the hands of some people?

But now what Cui Yuan is telling him is: If you make a game with your sister-in-law and nephew, the world will not think that you are a virtuous monarch.

And in the hearts of people who have been deeply educated by Confucianism for many years, the emperor should be embarrassed.

If the emperor is a person who doesn't want a face, do you really dare to boast that the world will be "Huaide" in the future?

Now, Cui Yuanxian told him in advance: Huanghuai flood, we really can't come up with a good solution.

For so long, it's been you, half of us think you have a way, and the other half is because we can only follow you, the helmsman, because we got on the thief ship.

Zhu Houxi looked at him silently.

"In this way, the monarch and the ministers are single-minded, but the counselors are afraid of power?"

Cui Yuan immediately shook his head: "Your Majesty Yu Daming has done his best, and the ministers still admire it." It's just that Your Majesty, just as Your Majesty taught the dialectics, has to conform to the current situation in your understanding of the principle of all things and the principle of human ethics. Everything is changing, and His Majesty is thinking and doing too quickly and too quickly. Now, isn't it because His Majesty wants to resolve too many contradictions at one time and forgets his priorities? ”

Zhu Houxi finally began to think about these seriously.

Cui Yuan used these to persuade him, just hoping to persuade him with something that Zhu Houxi also approved.

To put it bluntly, today's Ming is still the Ming of the past, advocating the moral ethics advocated by Confucianism.

So what did you do after you succeeded to the throne?

After taking over the throne from Zhu Houzhao and expressing his admiration for Zhu Houzhao, his subsequent things include, but are not limited to: executing his two uncles, imprisoning his mother, and sending his wife and children out to do the game after giving him a son......

Even if the starting point is for the overall situation of the new law and the Ming Dynasty, he Zhu Houxi also ignores the technology, ideology, manpower and material resources of the Ming Dynasty's current reality, and he is only full of the new law, and his steps are still so big.

The important ministers in the center of the court knew that he was heartbroken for the Ming Dynasty, and the local gentry who controlled the public opinion of the Ming Dynasty would only think that he was an ungrateful, cruel and cruel emperor.

Even his disposal of Rui Wang's mother and son is a big problem next.

Will there be less gossip about the heavenly family in the past? If you don't, you may not spread it well.

Kill them all?

“…… I see. Zhu Houxi spoke slowly, and after a pause, he said, "Send an order to Gu Shilong and them, let's put down the rebellion completely as soon as possible." In addition, I don't talk about the Huanghuai flood today, I have to think about it. ”

“…… Your Majesty, thank you, Your Majesty! ”

Cui Yuan left, and Zhu Houxi didn't know what kind of state Jiang Mian and the others over there would be after seeing him.

Zhu Houxi's face is not good-looking, and there is caution everywhere in Huaiyin Yi.

Looking at Huang Jin who was following behind, Zhu Houxi suddenly remembered that he had asked Gao Zhong in the palace before: "By my side, are you always worried?" ”

That time, it was Zhou Zhao who just persuaded him to put the country first and not to be in a hurry.

Now, Zhu Houxi didn't ask Huang Jin, Cui Yuan had already given him the answer.

In this thought, Huang Jin saw him stop and asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, do you want to go to Concubine Shu to sit there?" ”

Zhu Houxi was slightly stunned, and then understood what he meant: Wen Suyun is a lively personality, and he can probably make himself happy when he is not in a good mood.

"No, let's go to Concubine Jing's side."

Zhu Houxi sighed slightly in his heart.

He hasn't been a boss.

Now, he's been the best kind of boss for three and a half years, and he finds that he can't be called a good boss or a great boss.

He doesn't know much about his employees.

……

Concubine Zhang Qinghe was the quietest and most indisputable of the new emperor's concubines in the Forbidden City, and even lived like a monk.

She was once designated by Empress Dowager Zhang as one of the tools to be elected to the palace in the future, and because of the impeachment of the imperial history after the fire of the Rijing Gate, it was well known, and finally because of her quietness and etiquette, she was chosen to be in front of Zhu Houxi, because Zhu Houyu was a little surprised when he saw her for the first time and finally stayed in the palace.

Now, Zhang Qinghe is nineteen years old, but when she saw Zhu Houxi coming in, her every move was more disciplined than Lin Qingping back then, like a middle-aged woman who has been educated by etiquette for many years and is in a humble position.

Today, Zhang Qinghe was a little nervous.

Because after the emperor came in and sat down, his eyes didn't appreciate the carefully built courtyard of Huaiyin Station outside the window, nor did he think about anything, but just followed her.

Watch her go to fetch tea herself, watch her boil water, and watch her silently warm the cup to make tea.

"I remember, you didn't want to be elected to the palace."

Hearing Zhu Houxi's words, Zhang Qinghe's hand trembled, and then his wrist was scalded by the hot tea droplets splashed in the teapot.

But she only pursed her lips and did not make a sound.

“…… The concubine was young and ignorant at the time......"

Zhu Houxi didn't speak, took her hand, and took off the tea towel next to her.

It was the beginning of the month, and the tea towel was cold, and Zhu Houxi gently pressed it on the place where she was burned.

Cui Yuan is right, he is indeed unkind.

Sun Ming's marriage is politics.

The news of Lin Qingping's pregnancy is politics.

The choice of several concubines is also political.

There were twelve women at once, and each of them had another life of lack of freedom and sure of calculation.

Zhu Houxi didn't even think too much about their real inner needs, where would he think about his sister-in-law who didn't have much friendship?

But he always thinks that he is right, for the sake of the Ming Dynasty and the common people in the world.

An inexplicable sense of mission from above.

"When you return to Beijing, you will recall your father back to the capital, and you miss him too, right?"

“…… His father was trusted by His Majesty, and it was a blessing for his old man to be able to work in Guangdong, and his concubines did not dare to cause trouble to His Majesty. ”

Zhu Houxi had that submissive face in his mind, and then smiled: "I haven't seen him for a long time, and he must miss you too." ”

After changing the tea towel, Zhu Houxi looked at the small piece of red on her white wrist: "You never want anything, you have been in the palace for so long, and the concubines said that you live like a monk in the palace." ”

“…… The concubine deserves death! ”

Zhang Qinghe immediately wanted to withdraw her hand back to apologize, but Zhu Houxi grabbed her palm.

"It's my fault." Zhu Houxi whispered, and then let out a long sigh, "It's my fault." ”

Zhang Qinghe just didn't know what to do, she had never seen such an emperor.

Zhu Houxi has been staying here since then, asking her to talk about her growing up.

He knew that he was still out of touch with this era after all, and he was conceited by the huge amount of information he had received, and comforted himself that he didn't have to disturb the people and didn't look at the real ordinary people.

Around him, there are either people in the top of the palace of the former prince, or high-ranking officials.

Most of these people are human spirits and know what kind of situation to say.

But there are actually ordinary people around him, such as Zhang Qinghe, such as some eunuchs and palace maids.

What is ridiculous is that Zhu Houxi, who "realized" the so-called practice and dialectics, is actually just a porter.

His understanding of these things is not as good as that of a person like Cui Yuan who has become a colt halfway without becoming famous in the scientific field.

On the contrary, he forgot the importance of the material foundation, and only thought about new ideas, new technologies, and new eras.

Sooner or later, history will give him a big fight.

Now is Cui Yuan's fear of a completely unpredictable future, and risking his life to give him a reminder.

It was really risking his life, after all, half a month ago, when Zhu Houxi left Huai'an, he had just been convicted of the rebellion of the four prefects.

It can be said that the supreme authority belonging to the emperor is directly exercised with subjective understanding and standpoint.

Early the next morning, Cui Yuan came to see him again.

He felt that the emperor was a little different, but he was not too sure.

Zhu Houxi suddenly asked him: "At that time, you had just participated in the national policy, and I talked about Portugal and Spain in front of Na Pilaz, and discussed the matter of the Great Wall on the South Sea, what did you think in your heart?" ”

Cui Yuan recalled the inexplicable reception and the subsequent painful national policy meeting, and the corners of his mouth trembled slightly.

Zhu Houxi smiled: "I am indeed the king of urgency. ”

“…… Your Majesty has the self-esteem of the Son of Heaven, why does he claim to be the king? ”

Zhu Houxi didn't explain, but said, "Say it casually." Where is the trouble of Huang Huaishui, let me know first. Speak freely, so that I can think carefully and act carefully. There is no rush this time, and there is no need to come up with a strategy here. ”

As soon as he heard these words, Cui Yuanchang breathed a sigh of relief.

He can understand the courage and diligence of a young son of heaven, although this majesty often gives his subordinates headaches, but this kind and persuasive temperament is still good after all.

I hope he will be able to understand more and more in the future what a storm his words and deeds will set off in Daming.

At this day's meeting, Zhu Houxi listened a lot and asked very detailed questions, but did not talk about his strategy and blueprint.

He heard Gong Hong, who "wore the guilt", about the use of so many "filial piety silver" and imperial court appropriations every year, and heard him bluntly express how much he wanted to protect the grain and transportation in the south of the Yangtze River, as well as the ancestral tombs, and how much the river yamen spent near Huai'an.

Even if the people of Huizhou Mansion are taxed on silk, it is because of what problems left by Taizu in order to stabilize Jiangnan at the beginning of the founding of the country, and how many actual interests of the people are involved now.

He didn't think he was wrong with his advice to Chu Yuanren, and he didn't think he was wrong with his more than three years at the River Yamen.

"Your Majesty wants to implement a new law and control the Huanghuai flood, and the difficulties faced by the ministers in the past will not be less. Many dynasties and dynasties have looked at businessmen differently, which has its own reasons. The minister is old and stupid, and it is not clear why the benefits of the new law will outweigh the disadvantages. If Your Majesty thinks that the ministers are also hindering the new law, the ministers are small and not afraid. ”

Gong Hong said this calmly, and then looked directly at Zhu Houxi: "I heard that Your Majesty worships the ancestral tomb, and the minister advises Your Majesty not to move the tomb to cure Huanghuai." Whether the Ming National Games will change because of this, this matter will inevitably be used by Xiaoxiao. What is the difference between Daxing Gonggong to govern Huanghuai and winning the Great Wall of Qin and Yang Sui opening the Cao River? At the moment of the new law, the re-establishment of the Great War has the meaning of opening up the territory and expanding the territory, saying that the tyrant is in power and the Ming Dynasty is about to die. If riots break out, how can the people be innocent? ”

The rest of the crowd couldn't help but look at this boss in shock, can the tyrant talk nonsense?

But Zhu Houxi thought quietly after listening to it, and just looked at him.

Look, he could guess that he had this thought. In the past three and a half years, his thinking and personality have not necessarily been understood by smart people like Daming.

"Doctor Ronglu, 1,000 silver, and one of the heirs of the shadow will enter the national prison." Zhu Houxi opened his mouth, "Yuan Zhi is meritorious, and I am carefully taught." ”

Zhang Jin has already paid off, Gong Hong is indeed just a normal high-ranking official, and Zhu Houxi even killed his own grandson with a cane.

In this decisive battle in which Zhu Houxi thinks that he "takes sides," those who do not completely stand on the side of his new law are not necessarily all those who regard the new law as a beast of prey, and those who regard Zhu Houxi and the New Party as enemies.

Everyone has their own ideas and insistences.

Since that "Golden Cup Drinking", Zhu Houxi has gradually slipped to the other end in the sense of accomplishment of "monarchs and ministers are single-minded".

For three years, there have been no more comrades and friends, and more enemies.

How can you run Daming well with such a boss?

It is likely that during the three-and-a-half-year period of the emperor's internship, he brought the situation to the brink of collapse with the superiority from five hundred years later.

Now that the rebellion has been put down, it is time for him to take stock of the gains and losses.

"Liu Tianhe's right attendant and right deputy envoy of the Ministry of Promotion, Prime Minister Dao." Zhu Houxi made another appointment, "Although you have never treated water, it is good to be willing to study." I will give you five years to lead the way, ask people of insight in the world, and try to come up with a strategy. ”

“…… Thank you, Your Majesty, Long. After many years of being the fourth product, it finally became the third product, and Liu Tianhe only felt that the burden on his shoulders was heavy.

Zhu Houxi looked at them again, and then said: "Once the rebellion is quelled, Nanjing will not go, and I don't have to see the Yellow Book Library myself." The southern tour was supposed to see the disaster, and Qing and the others were not only able to provide disaster relief, but also came to Huai'an to see the disadvantages of the Huanghuai flood, and then drove back to Beijing in a few days. ”

Jiang Mian couldn't help but take a deep look at Cui Yuan.

The emperor's decision, I don't know how many people in Nanzhili will breathe a sigh of relief.

How did Cui Yuan do it?

Zhu Houxi just felt that he really had to think about it for a while.

He envisioned that after the Huguang rebellion was put down, it should be the beginning of the renewal of the Ming Dynasty.

But now, he needs to adjust his thinking and understanding to the old first.

An engine that is too unrestrained will only run away from the wheels of old history.

(End of chapter)