After ordering everything, Jiajing waved his hand and let Zhang Juzheng leave.

After Zhang Juzheng left, Lu Fang stepped forward, handed a note to Jiajing's hand, and said softly: "Your Majesty, it seems that it is almost time for spring planting, according to the convention, the Son of Heaven is ploughing in the southern suburbs, and the queen is in the northern suburbs. ”

Since the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, it has been established that the Son of Heaven ploughs in the southern suburbs, and the queen kisses silkworms in the northern suburbs.

At the beginning, not long after Jiajing ascended the throne, he wanted to follow the Zhou rites and change it to the division of heaven and earth, and then he received the first assistant of the cabinet, Xia Yan, who was divided into heaven and earth.

It's just that Zhang Xuan, Huo Tao and others objected, they thought that after Zhu Di, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, moved the capital to Beijing, he held a joint worship of heaven and earth, not to mention conforming to the historical trend, but also greatly saving resources.

The two factions quarreled fiercely, and later, under the clap of Jiajing, the sacrificial pattern of heaven and earth was restored, which has continued to this day.

"This is the note that Xu Jie handed you, and it will be discussed at the cabinet meeting later."

After Lu Fang handed the song to Jiajing, he added a sentence closely.

Jiajing took the note, and after roughly browsing the content on it, he said lightly: "I know, you go and inform the imperial concubine and let her prepare in advance." ”

"It's Your Majesty, the slave will go and inform you." Lu Fang said that, and bowed to leave.

……

At the same time, the cabinet also sent someone to communicate with the Ministry of Rites and the Taichang Temple, so that the Ministry of Rites was fully responsible for the process of this sacrifice.

As soon as Li Chunfang, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, took office, he had to organize such a complex and complicated sacrifice, and it was difficult not to believe that the cabinet had the intention of taking the school.

"Lord Shangshu, how is this good? Since the previous case, most of the officials of our Ministry of Rites have been imprisoned, not to mention the shortage of manpower, and the newly appointed officials have no experience in this area! ”

After learning the news, an official hurried to Li Chunfang, his face anxious.

"It's okay, you go down, let those newly appointed officials rehearse all the procedures of the ritual sacrifice several times, and I will be responsible for the specific affairs!" Hearing this, Li Chunfang raised his head from the bookcase and said unhurriedly.

"Yes, the lower official will notify you." Seeing that the new Lord Shangshu was so indifferent, he must have been in his chest, and the people who came were also relieved and turned to leave.

……

"Your Majesty has arrived!"

Outside the cabinet, a shrill voice sounded, and Jiajing took Lu Fang into the cabinet.

"Ministers knock to see Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live, long live!"

Seeing that the emperor had arrived, the ministers hurriedly knelt on the ground and said respectfully.

"Get up." Jiajing sat behind the bead curtain and said lightly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" The ministers then returned to their places and sat down.

"Your Majesty, early this morning, Yan Maoqing, the left deputy capital, has set off to collect salt taxes for the imperial court!"

As soon as he sat down, Yan Song took the lead in reporting to Jiajing.

"Yes, I see." Jiajing nodded and responded.

"Your Majesty, in a few days it will be spring planting, according to the custom, the sacrificial ceremony should be held in the south of Zhengyangmen and the north of Zhengyangmen, in the two big ceremonial halls!"

"After the ceremony, when the sun comes out, the Son of Heaven will plough in the southern suburbs, and the queen will be in the northern suburbs."

Xu Jie said, knelt on the ground, raised the music in his hand above his head, and said in a deep voice.

Immediately, Lu Fang took the song from Xu Jie's hand and handed it over to Jiajing.

Jiajing had already read the contents of the song in advance, so he just glanced at it twice and put it aside.

"Well, I'm right, it's just that the imperial concubine is pregnant, so the sacrificial ceremony is simple!" Jiajing turned his gaze to Xu Jie, and said lightly.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Seeing that the emperor had already spoken, Xu Jie commanded.

"Okay, you're done discussing your business, and I have something to discuss with you here." With a faint smile on his face, Jiajing spoke after looking around at the ministers.

Hearing the emperor's words, the five people present all sighed in their hearts, and they couldn't help but start to get nervous.

"At present, although most of the Japanese plagues on the southeast coast have been wiped out, the imperial court still cannot take it lightly, and most of the remaining Japanese pirates are adrift at sea, so I want to build another naval division and go to sea to fight the Japanese pirates! What do you think? ”

Hearing the emperor's words, except for Zhang Juzheng, the secretary of the Ministry of War, the rest of the ministers were all embarrassed, and the emperor still did not give up lifting the sea ban!

As cabinet elders, they naturally have a clear understanding of the strength of the Japanese in the southeast coastal area! Not to mention anything else, just the current naval division of the imperial court is enough to kill the group of pirates on the sea to the point of losing their armor.

But now, the emperor wants to use the excuse of suppressing the Japanese to build another water division, and the purpose of this water division is self-evident.

The key is that they can't openly raise objections, otherwise, no one can bear the emperor's big hats! At this time, the ministers present had a sense that although they were very unhappy, they could not find any reason to refute it.

"Your Majesty, Weichen thinks that the current strength of the Navy Division alone is enough to wipe out all the Japanese robbers along the southeast coast, and my Daming Navy Division currently has more than 50 ships capable of fighting in the ocean! Therefore, His Majesty does not need to build a new sailor. ”

Yan Song was the first to stand up and argued.

"Yes, Your Majesty, at the moment, my Great Ming Sailor has almost no opponents! There is no need to spend huge sums of money on the construction of a water division. After Yan Song, Xu Jie, who was on the side, also added.

"Since the facts are as the two Aiqing said, why is the plague still so rampant in the southeast coastal area?" After listening to the words of the two elders, Jiajing asked rhetorically.

"This ......"

Jiajing's questioning made everyone present stumped, and it was impossible for them to tell the emperor that the reason why the plague was so rampant in the past was the smuggling families in the coastal areas and the landlords and gentry, and they were the protective umbrella of these people.

More or less they have taken the money from these men!

Just as everyone was in a hurry, Gao Gong on the side saw this and said, "Your Majesty, the silver taels it will cost to build a brand new sailor are about eight million taels!" At present, although the treasury is full, we should still save some flowers, and we can no longer eat as much food as before, and end up with a deficit in the treasury. ”

"Besides, if all the eight million taels of silver used to build the water division are used to improve people's livelihood, the life of the people will be much better."

Seeing that the empty treasury card that was commonly used in the past could not be played, Gao Gong immediately changed his strategy and turned to play the card of improving people's livelihood, wanting to convince His Majesty not to build a water division.

"Hmph, a mere eight million taels of silver must be a drop in the bucket for improving people's livelihood, not to mention, most of this silver can't reach the hands of the people, so how can we improve people's livelihood?"

After Jiajing finished speaking, he slapped the table and scolded angrily: "You insects, don't think that I don't know what you did in private!" At present, the southeastern coastal area is rampant, and the people are suffering a lot. ”

"I want to build another sailor to exterminate the Japanese invaders, but you are here to push back and use all kinds of excuses to prevaricate me! Say, Have you received the benefits of the widows? ”

After Jiajing finished speaking, his eyes swept over the ministers and said in a deep voice.

(End of chapter)