When Shen Shi heard this, her face was full of joy, and just as she was about to show Jiajing the results of embroidery in recent days, she stumbled upon that Jiajing's thoughts seemed to have drifted far away.

After Shen Shi noticed this, he immediately stepped forward, came to Jiajing's side, and asked softly.

"Your Majesty, have you encountered any troubles recently, if you don't dislike it, you can talk to your concubine."

Hearing this, Jiajing suddenly came back to his senses and immediately replied subconsciously.

"Uh, no."

Obviously, Shen was not very convinced by Jiajing's rhetoric, she didn't speak, just stared at Jiajing with a pair of big watery eyes, her face was full of suspicion.

Seeing this situation, Jiajing knew that he couldn't hide it from the Shen family, so he sighed helplessly, and then pointed to the empty seat next to him: "Come, sit!" ”

When Shen heard this, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and immediately sat down on the empty seat next to Jiajing without thinking.

As soon as Shen sat down, Jiajing smelled a faint fragrance similar to mint, which was refreshing.

After this, I saw Jiajing gather his mind, turn his gaze to Shen, and said slowly.

"Just now, the British Duke Zhang Rong came to me to intercede, saying that it was as a price for cutting the expenses of the clan before, hoping to give the clan and the nobles some compensation!"

"Let me hold separate examinations for the clan and nobles in addition to the imperial examinations, and select suitable talents from them!"

After patiently listening to Jiajing's narration, Shen couldn't help frowning, and turned to speak.

"Your Majesty, it's not a secret, there were people from the clan before this, who wanted to let the concubines come forward and say a few good words in front of Your Majesty, but they were all rejected by the concubines on the pretext that they were unwell."

"Now it seems that this is what I should be referring to!"

After listening to Shen's narration, Jiajing's inner vigilance was also pulled to the highest, and he sneered, and then said to himself: "Hmph, this group of guys is really calculating, they actually hit my beloved concubine with their ideas!" ”

Shen keenly sensed that Jiajing was showing signs of anger, and hurriedly explained.

"Your Majesty, the people from the clan have only come to find the concubine once, and after the concubine rejected them, they never came to the concubine again!"

After listening to Shen's explanation, the expression on Jiajing's face also looked a lot better, and he immediately spoke: "Hmph, count them as acquaintances!" ”

Seeing that Jiajing cared so much about himself, Shen suddenly felt a trace of warmth in his heart.

Immediately, he snuggled in Jiajing's arms, raised his head, and asked.

"So Your Majesty, are you worried about the fact that the examination for the Yu clan and the nobles will be held separately from the imperial examination?"

Jiajing looked at Shen's slightly reddened face, nodded imperceptibly, and then spoke.

"Well, that's right, that's what I'm worried about!"

When Jiajing said this, the conversation changed and he continued to add.

"It stands to reason that there is no need to doubt the loyalty of the clan and the nobles to my Daming!"

"Besides, I also want to make good use of this power to deal with those civil officials!"

When Jiajing said this, he couldn't help but think of the virtue of the children of the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty in later generations, and he couldn't help but feel a chill.

This suggestion put forward by the British public Zhang Rong is a blatant attempt to open the door for the clan and the nobles.

Jiajing knew very well in his heart that if he couldn't deal with the drawbacks in this, not only would he not be able to make good use of the power of the clan and the nobles, but he would also hinder himself.

"I've got to think of a way to make them work for me!"

Jiajing said this, and immediately fell into deep thought.

Not to mention anything else, the current Ming clan nobles add up to millions of people, this force is something that Jiajing can't ignore, and no one wants Daming to continue to exist more than them.

After all, the Ming Dynasty is here, and their privileges are there, once the Ming Dynasty falls, then there are only two endings waiting for them, either they are hung on the city tower by the angry peasant rebel army, or they are hung on the city tower by foreign enemies to break the resistance of the people.

In short, once the Ming Dynasty falls, these originally high-ranking clans and nobles, no matter what, will not be able to escape the reckoning!

It is precisely because of this that even though Jiajing drastically reduced the expenses of the clan last time, those clans whose interests were damaged only dared to complain a few words and play some small tricks behind their backs, but did not dare to take any actual action.

On the one hand, it is because they do not have the strength to confront the emperor, and on the other hand, it is because those discerning people in the clan can see that the emperor's move is to renew the life of the Ming Dynasty.

If the treasury is allowed to continue to be empty like this, once there are any natural and man-made disasters and the people's lives are lost, then they will rise up and make trouble, and the imperial court will have to send a large number of troops to encircle and suppress the peasant uprising.

In the process, the already empty treasury of the imperial court will become more empty in the process of suppressing the rebellion, and the imperial court will also have to increase taxes in order to maintain daily expenses and military expenses needed to suppress the rebellion.

And this creates an endless cycle of suppressing rebellions – empty coffers – increasing taxes – more popular uprisings – suppressing rebellions.

In this cycle, no matter how powerful the country is, it will not last long, if at this time, there is an invasion of foreign enemies, the imperial court is simply unable to organize forces to resist, and in the end it can only lead to one ending, that is, the destruction of the country.

And in order to avoid this ending, those clans collectively acquiesced to Jiajing's previous behavior, whether Jiajing sent troops to raid the homes of King Hui, King Gui, King Zhao and many other vassal kings, they just didn't see it.

After all, as long as the butcher's knife has not fallen on you, you can accept it!

After Jiajing's series of drastic reforms, those clans and nobles were surprised to find that the Ming Dynasty, which was already dying, began to regain its vitality, and its national strength began to rise steadily, even surpassing the period when Ming Chengzu Zhu Di was in power.

They feel that there is also their own credit for this, and it is time to find the emperor to make amends, and this is why the British public Zhang Rong came to Jiajing to intercede.

After thinking about it for a long time, I saw Jiajing come back to his senses and muttered to himself silently.

"Alas, on the one hand, we must make good use of the power of these clans and nobles, and on the other hand, we must not let them sit big, thus threatening my power, this intermediate degree is not easy to master!"

At this moment, as if he had suddenly thought of something, Shen on the side turned his gaze to Jiajing, with an inexplicable look flashing in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, the concubine suddenly thought of a solution, I don't know if to talk about it?"

When Jiajing heard this, the whole person suddenly became extremely excited, and after that, only to hear the sound of 'snap', Jiajing kissed Shen's egg-white face, and urged.

"If the concubine has any thoughts, just say it!"

Facing Jiajing's encouraging eyes, Shen organized the words in his mind before he said his thoughts.

"Your Majesty, the concubine thinks so, since the British Duke has proposed to you that the examination for the clan and the nobles be held separately from the imperial examination, you might as well agree to his request!"

Facing Jiajing's slightly puzzled expression, Shen paused for a moment and continued to add.

"In this way, you can limit the number of official positions they can hold."

When Shen said this, Jiajing had fully understood what Shen meant, and added quite excitedly.

"I understand what Concubine Ai means, as long as they are not through the imperial examination and enter the official career of the clan and nobles, I have to set up an insurmountable barrier on their heads, for example, civil officials can only serve as four-rank officials at most, and military officials can only be generals at the highest."

"Well, Your Majesty is right, that's what the concubine meant."

When Shen said this, a look of panic appeared on his face again, and he immediately added to Jiajing.

"Your Majesty, there may still be many shortcomings in this idea of the concubine, Your Majesty just listen to it, don't take it seriously!"

Seeing this, Jiajing immediately shook Shen's hand and said quite seriously.

"Concubine Ai doesn't have to be humble, you really helped a lot this time!"

When Shen heard Jiajing's words, he lowered his head rather embarrassedly and said cowardly.

"Minister...... Concubines, only ...... I just hope I can help Your Majesty! ”

Immediately after, perhaps to alleviate the embarrassment, I saw Shen suggest to Jiajing.

"By the way, Your Majesty, do you want to see the embroidery of the concubine in recent days?"

"Well, in that case, then take it out and show it to me!"

When Jiajing heard this, he nodded imperceptibly, and then commanded.

"Please wait a moment, the concubine will go and bring it to Your Majesty!"

After Shen finished speaking, he slowly got up from his seat, came to the place where the embroidery had been placed earlier, and began to rummage.

Jiajing looked at Shen's figure rummaging through things, and couldn't help but have a slight smile on his face, and then turned his gaze to the night scene outside the window, and said to himself silently.

"That's good!"

That night, Jiajing did not choose to go back to the Qianqing Palace, but chose to stay in the Ganlu Palace for the night.

Early in the morning, Jiajing was the first to wake up, looking at Shen's quiet sleeping face, Jiajing couldn't help but feel a trace of love and pity in his heart.

Then, without disturbing the Shen family, I saw Jiajing tiptoe up from the bed, and immediately walked out of the room after putting on the robe under the service of the maid.

Soon after Jiajing walked out of the room, Lu Fang greeted him and said respectfully.

"Your Majesty!"

When Jiajing heard this, he responded imperceptibly, and immediately sent someone to summon Shen's personal maid and admonished him.

"You must take care of the daily life of the imperial concubine, especially in terms of diet, incense and candles, etc., you must not pass through other people's hands, what is the need, just put it forward, understand?"

When Shen's personal maid heard this, she immediately knelt on the ground in fear and assured Jiajing.

"Your Majesty...... Your Majesty, slave...... The slave knows that the slave will definitely do her best to take care of the concubine! ”

Seeing this, Jiajing nodded, then withdrew his gaze from the maid's body and said slowly.

"Well, yes, get up!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, thank you, Your Majesty!"

After receiving Jiajing's answer, the personal maid of the Shen family got up from the ground tremblingly and answered repeatedly.

After this, I saw Jiajing turn his gaze to Lu Fang, who was still stunned, and commanded.

"Lu Fang, what are you still doing in a daze, why don't you catch up quickly?"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

After Jiajing's words fell, Lu Fang came back to his senses, followed Jiajing's steps step by step, and walked towards the outside of the Ganlu Palace.

Along the way, Lu Fang looked at Jiajing who was walking in front, and couldn't help but think about it, and began to calculate.

"Your Majesty is now paying more and more attention to the imperial concubine, according to this trend continues, if the imperial concubine gives birth to a son for Your Majesty, at that time, the mother is more expensive than the son, and the imperial concubine will not only be able to become the new queen of the Ming Dynasty, but the child in her belly will also become a veritable prince!"

Thinking like this, Lu Fang couldn't help but pray in her heart.

"Niangniang, even if it's just for your own sake, you must let the child in your belly be born smoothly!"

……

After leaving the Ganlu Palace, Jiajing did not choose to take the dragon bowl, but chose to walk back to the Qianqing Palace.

And Lu Fang also followed in the footsteps of Jiajing and returned to Qianqing Palace.

After resting for a while, I saw Jiajing turn his gaze to Lu Fang and command.

"Lu Fang, you go to the imperial dining room and bring me something to eat, I'm a little hungry!"

When Lu Fang heard this, his expression immediately turned grim and he said respectfully.

"Obey, Your Majesty, the slave will send someone to inform the imperial dining room!"

Just as Lu Fang was about to step away, Jiajing's voice sounded behind him again.

"By the way, I'll go to the cabinet later, and call Yan Song and Xu Jie over, and say that I have something important to discuss with them!"

Hearing this, Lu Fang paused suddenly, then turned around and responded respectfully.

"Yes, Your Majesty, the slave will definitely bring the word!"

Seeing this, Jiajing bowed slightly to Lu Fang and said unhurriedly.

"Well, without further ado, you should hurry up and go!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Seeing that Jiajing had nothing to command, Lu Fang nodded, and then walked out of the Qianqing Palace with a steady pace.

As soon as Lu Fang walked out of the Qianqing Palace, he casually summoned a eunuch and instructed him.

"Tell the imperial dining room for my father-in-law, and send some food to Your Majesty!"

The eunuch who was casually summoned by Lu Fang, after listening to Lu Fang's instructions, his face was full of respect, and he immediately responded with gratitude.

"Yes, Grandpa Lu, the little one must handle this matter well!"

After that, I saw Lu Fang wave his sleeves violently and paced in the direction of the cabinet.

(End of chapter)