Hu Zongxian said, bowed over, raised the confession above his head, and then Lu Fang, who had been waiting beside Jiajing, stepped forward and forwarded it to Jiajing.

Jiajing took the confession from Lu Fang's hand, looked through it twice at random, and saw that the confession recorded the testimony of Li Xuan, the river supervisor, and Yang Jinshui, the chief eunuch of his godfather, the head of the Weaving Bureau, which recorded in detail how the two of them colluded together and through what means they embezzled the money for the construction of the embankment by the imperial court, and nothing else was mentioned.

"Well, Hu Zongxian, you did a good job this time! That Yang Jinshui is crazy, let's go crazy, let them stop checking it. After reading the above content, Jiajing put it aside.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" At this time, Hu Zongxian still maintained the movement of bowing.

"Sit down, I'm looking for you today because I want to ask you something."

"Minister Hu Zongxian, thank you for your grace!" After Hu Zongxian finished speaking, he sat down on the seat prepared for him.

"You are the governor of Zhejiang, and you have been suppressing the Japanese in the southeast for a long time, according to your opinion, how long will it take for the Japanese in this coastal area to be completely wiped out." Jiajing said, turned his gaze to Hu Zongxian, and asked.

"Your Majesty, although most of the main forces of the Japanese in the southeast have been wiped out, their strength is still not to be underestimated! Most of these Japanese strongholds are on the sea or in unknown small islands, scattered and scattered, and it is difficult for our imperial army to reach them, coupled with the lack of naval air defense, it is impossible to form an effective blow to the Japanese ships. ”

"In addition, some families on the southeast coast are also secretly funding these widows behind their backs, and some people who can't survive have also joined them, and there is a great tendency to completely eradicate them, it will take at least a year."

Hu Zongxian combined his experience in suppressing Japanese people in recent years and combined it with reality to give a conservative answer.

"Well, at present, the city has built more than fifty ships capable of going to sea to fight, and has trained the soldiers to go to sea to fight the Japanese invaders, presumably in time, it should be able to achieve some results." Jiajing nodded after listening, and recognized the answer given by Hu Zongxian.

"Your Majesty Shengming!" After listening to Jiajing's story, Hu Zongxian said with sincere admiration.

"As for the problems you mentioned earlier, to do it boldly, you need the silver to let the household department allocate it, and you need the people to let the ministry transfer it to you! Those coastal families, you can watch and deal with it, don't care who is standing behind them, I have your back! ”

"Minister Hu Zongxian, thank you, Your Majesty!" Hu Zongxian said, and wanted to bow down.

"I don't know Hu Aiqing, would you like to share more for me?" Jiajing's faint voice came into Hu Zongxian's ears, like a shocking thunderbolt.

"Dare to ask what Your Majesty is referring to?" Hearing the emperor's words, Hu Zongxian already had some conjectures in his heart, but he didn't dare to confirm it.

"After the southeast coast is exterminated, you will enter the cabinet."

"What? Your Majesty! This is absolutely unacceptable! Minister Hu Zongxian is only a shallow learner, how can he be worthy of such a heavy responsibility? At that time, I am afraid that I will miss the Jiangshan Sheji, and I also ask Your Majesty to choose another wise man. When Hu Zongxian heard that the emperor was going to let him enter the cabinet, he looked shocked, knelt on the ground, and couldn't help but excuse himself.

"Hu Aiqing, don't be humble, I believe that according to your talents, you will definitely be able to shoulder this heavy responsibility, and what comes out of my mouth can you still take it back?" Jiajing turned his gaze to Hu Zongxian, with a warm smile on his face, and asked rhetorically.

"Minister Hu Zongxian, obey!"

Seeing that the emperor had made up his mind, Hu Zongxian no longer shirked, so he had to accept the order.

"Okay, then I'm looking forward to seeing Hu Aiqing in the cabinet then!" Seeing Hu Zongxian agree, Jiajing couldn't help but feel in a good mood and said loudly.

"I'm going to attend a cabinet meeting next, so I won't accompany you."

"Minister Hu Zongxian, retire." After Hu Zongxian finished speaking, he bowed and left.

……

Outside the Forbidden City, it is the hour of the highest value at this moment, and after Hu Zongxian comes out of the emperor, the whole person is still dizzy, and being able to enter the cabinet is something that countless Ming scholars dream of! Because only when you get to that position, can you fully display your ideals and ambitions, just as Hu Zongxian was thinking about it, he happened to run into Yan Song's sedan chair.

"Teacher." Hu Zongxian hurriedly got out of the way and bowed.

"It's Hu Ruzhen, Your Majesty has already summoned you?" The sedan chair stopped, Yan Song trembled down under the support of the servant, looked at the student in front of him, and said softly.

"Yes, Your Majesty has summoned me." When Hu Zongxian saw the teacher's appearance, he couldn't bear it, so he had to answer stiffly.

"Well... All right. Yan Song said that, smiled, and then shook off the servant's hand to support him, and approached Hu Zongxian.

"What did Your Majesty ask you?" Yan Song walked up to Hu Zongxian, looked at him, and asked.

"Your Majesty has asked me about the exact confession of the collapse of the embankment, as well as some of the next strategies for the southeast to suppress the Japanese." Hu Zongxian was unwilling to hide his teacher, so he replied as he was.

"Well, you're doing a good job, I'll go to the court later." Yan Song said, stretched out his dry and wrinkled hand, gently touched Hu Zongxian's head, and then got into the sedan chair.

"Student Hu Zongxian, congratulations to the teacher!" After Yan Song left, Hu Zongxian looked at the sedan chair in the distance and bowed to salute.

……

"Your Majesty has arrived!"

Outside the cabinet, a shrill voice sounded, which may not be anything in normal times, but today, in the eyes of the five cabinet elders in the cabinet, this is a talisman, and their incident has happened!

Jiajing walked into the cabinet with Lu Fang, and then sat in his place.

"Get up, get up." Jiajing's tone was flat, without any expression on his face, and he couldn't tell the depth.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, Longen!" The five elders immediately got up and sat down in their places.

I don't know if it's Jiajing's illusion, today's voice is a little louder than usual.

"Recently, Hu Zongxian submitted to me the inside information about the damage to the Zhejiang embankment, I wonder if any of you Aiqing wants to see it?" After Jiajing finished speaking, he gave Lu Fang a look, and Lu Fang quickly took the confession from Jiajing's hand and placed it on the table.

Silent, deathly silent, several pavilion elders were like statues, without movement, as if they hadn't heard Jiajing's words, and Yan Song looked like he was asleep.

"You didn't hear what I said, did you?" Jiajing frowned unhappily and spoke.

"Since you don't want to see it, then I'll let someone read it to you, Lu Fang!"

"The slave obeys." After Lu Fang finished speaking, he came to the table and opened the confession and read it word by word.

"Last year, when the imperial court built the embankment, the original materials used were fine stones, and then received 800,000 taels of silver and exchanged it for ......."

Lu Fang read it word by word, and gradually, these pavilion elders who were originally like stagnant water and knew that they could not escape death gradually regained their vitality.

What Lu Fang read was the confession of Li Xuan, the river supervisor, and his godfather Yang Jinshui who embezzled money for the project and made it shoddy, which eventually led to the collapse of the embankment.

"Your Majesty, the slave is finished." After reading the confession, Lu Fang returned to Jiajing's side with an expressionless face.

"Now that you're done, do you want to take a look at the contents?" Jiajing's tone was flat, and after Lu Fang stood beside him, he spoke immediately.

In the end, Yan Shifan hesitated for a moment, but still opened the confession and browsed carefully.