After letting Gao Feng be dragged away, Zhu Houzhao reluctantly calmed down, sat back on the dragon chair, and said hatefully:

"I am so good to him, so trusted, he even dares to bully my imperial sister!

If it weren't for the sake of being quite clever in the past, I would have cut off his head!

There is also the queen, who is also bold and reckless, without reporting me first, she punished the imperial sister without authorization, and there is no emperor in my eyes! ””

Jiang Ning sighed in his heart.

Sometimes, Zhu Houzhao is too much in love.

It's all bearable.

Whoever changes to a ruthless emperor would have been pulled out to chop up and feed the dogs.

"Your Majesty is angry.

It is also a strange minister, who took the two princesses out of the palace at will, so that today's thing happened.

The queen is always for the stability of the harem.

If the former minister had informed the queen of this earlier, the queen would not have been so angry. It's all the responsibility of the ministers.

In addition, recently, there have been more and more impeachments among the hundreds of officials, and with this incident and the dismissal of the two scholars, they are even more dissatisfied with the ministers.

It is to ask His Majesty to punish the ministers for their crimes, so that the ministers can temporarily calm their anger and not come to pester Your Majesty day and night. In addition, the queen can also feel relieved. ”

Zhu Houzhao said unhappily:

"What does this have to do with you?

I'm not allowed, you're my most intimate humerus, if I don't need you, will I be told to use those pedantic old puppets! ”

Jiang Ning felt a warm current in his heart, but he insisted on saying on his face:

"Your Majesty, what the minister means is that the sea will be opened soon, and the border troops of the three towns will also arrive in Beijing, and there are too many things on the minister's hands.

In order to avoid mistakes, the minister wanted to hand over the right to supervise the tax.

In this way, the ministers can concentrate on training the army and opening the sea, and follow His Majesty to complete the merits of the future in the future! ”

Zhu Houzhao was moved:

"Jiang Shiyu is really not greedy for power, and he is a good courtier who is loyal to the king, unlike that group of people, who know that chasing me for this power and that power all day long, and they are annoyed to death.

Then so be it, you return the tax supervision power to the celebrant again, now that Liu Jin is in charge, he should always be trustworthy. ”

Jiang Ning smiled slightly, and said:

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that it is better to hand it over to the household department and the inner court to jointly govern. This is not a question of believing in people or not, but for the sake of the emperor's way of checks and balances.

Only in this way can a long-term system be gradually formed and lay the foundation for the stability of the Ming Dynasty in the future.

Otherwise, if there is another minister who deceives and conceals his subordinates like Gao Feng, and His Majesty's descendants do not have the ability of His Majesty, wouldn't it leave a bane. ”

Zhu Houzhao said thoughtfully: "Yes, this statement is very reasonable. In that case, leave it to the inner court and the household department. ”

Early the next morning.

Jiang Ning and Jiao Fang entered the palace in a carriage.

Today, he will meet with Wang Hua, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and a group of envoys outside the palace gate to contact the Japanese envoys.

I entered the palace early.

Jiao Fang said with a tired face:

"My lord, it is too important to open the sea to close my Ming national fortune, and there are many matters involved.

Although the lower officials tried their best, they were still afraid that there would be mistakes and they would be entrusted by His Majesty and your lordship. ”

Jiang Ning shook his head and said:

"Master Jiao, it's good to have no details, but you don't have to hold on to it.

As long as you hold the final decision and some of the most important things in your hands, you can leave the rest to the people below.

Of course, these people have to be trustworthy officials, such as Yan Song and Zhao Gong.

In addition, the shipyard in Jinling, as well as the formation of a naval division, were also directly handed over to Jinyiwei in Nanjing, as well as the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Industry, and the Zhejiang Command Envoy.

Didn't Heng Zhi get the nautical chart of Zheng Gong's voyage to the West from the Ministry of War, full of several large boxes, involving all aspects such as ship manufacturing and sailor preparation, which were very thorough and rigorous.

Give them a copy of the restoration, and draw the scoop according to the gourd, and there will be no mistakes. ”

"My lord is very right, and the lower officials should keep it in mind."

Jiang Nan nodded and continued:

"You just have to keep a close eye on the promotion and transfer of officials in various ministries and departments, and put absolutely trustworthy people in them to supervise them, and you will be done.

By the way, there are also customs matters related to tax collection, laws, lawsuits, etc., which are properly handed over to the inner court, the household department, and the criminal department to contain each other, and they cannot be allowed to dominate alone. ”

Jiao Fang suddenly realized and admired:

"What the lord said, the lower officials are really open.

Fortunately, an adult mentioned it today, otherwise the officials would be so busy that their feet would not touch the ground, but their efforts would be in vain. ”

Jiang Ning said with a smile: "Master Jiao, don't be presumptuous, if you don't help me, I'm afraid that the opening of the sea will still be far away."

This is a great thing for the country and the people, and in the future history books, there will be a strong stroke of your ink. ”

As he spoke, the two looked at each other and laughed.

The carriage slowly drove to a stop a few hundred paces away from the Forbidden City.

Jiang Ning and Jiao Fang said goodbye and slowly paced outside the noon gate.

At this time, many officials who acted as envoys had already gathered.

Most of them are from the Ministry of Rites and Honglu Temple.

As soon as they saw Jiang Ning, they had just stopped talking about Suosuo.

The news that he was forced to surrender his tax authority had spread throughout the government and the opposition.

But whenever an acquaintance of an official meets him, he can't say a word and starts talking about it.

Obviously, the prestige of the emperor's favorite vassal Wu Anhou is easy for many people to gloat over this experience.

Jiang Ning didn't care about this.

Xia Worm can't talk about ice, he can't deal with these people.

Just as he walked to the corner and waited for Wang Hua to come, he suddenly heard a burst of exclamations.

Jiang Ning frowned and looked over and saw an unexpected person.

It is Liu Daxia, the former secretary of the Ministry of War, who has already given office.

However, he is no longer as energetic as before, but his body is much more rickety.

This old man hasn't left yet?

Jiang Ning was a little puzzled.

According to the Ming system, all officials who are old are not allowed to stay in Beijing and must return to their hometowns as soon as possible.

Liu Daxia didn't seem to see Jiang Ning, and after responding to a few officials who greeted him, he walked straight to the noon gate, knelt down on his knees, grabbed the ground with his head, and sobbed:

"Emperor Xian, the old minister is really shameless to knock on you!

Since your collapse, first Meng Xiang, Zhang Sheng, Yan Min three scholars or Zhishi, or died, and then Liu and Xie two university scholars returned to their hometowns, and now they have resigned from their posts and left Beijing.

The team of old ministers you left behind for Your Majesty is already only supported by Chen Shangshu of the household department, and the court is already a traitor, and corruption is rampant!

Moreover, His Majesty ordered the opening of the sea, trade with the barbarians of Fanbang, and connived at the Japanese to wreak havoc on the sea frontier.

I also hope that the first emperor and the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty will be under the Jiuquan to protect my Ming Guozuo, so that the fortunate villain will not be corrupted and decadent, and the old minister will kowtow again and again! ”

When everyone heard this, they all turned their eyes to Jiang Ning.

As if he was afraid that he would kick the old man to death in a fit of rage.

In fact, Jiang Ning's face was indeed cold, but he was not going to make a fuss outside the noon gate for a white body that was half cut into the ground.

At this time, Liu Daxia, whose forehead was already bleeding, suddenly got up, looked at Jiang Ning and shouted coldly:

"Jiang Ning, like you, corrupt the country, form a party for personal gain, and make the court a miasma, a traitorous villain who will not die a good death sooner or later!"

"Shut up! It is imperative for me to open the sea, and the benefits will be visible to the naked eye, and the people and the whole country will be jubilant.

Only a man like you can be so pedantic, and you will not hesitate to ruin my Ming national fortune to stop this thing that benefits the country and the people!

This official will see what kind of face you will have in the future to see the first emperor and the ancestors of the Ming Dynasty!

Moreover, you are already white at this time, do you know what kind of crime you have to bear for scolding officials with the people?

If I were you, I would have packed up and left Beijing to return home, how could I be here like a dog with a broken spine, barking wildly! ”

"You, you!"

Liu Daxia pointed at Jiang Ning with trembling fingers, his face was red, and he couldn't say a word.

I didn't spit out a mouthful of blood, but I still collapsed.

Several officials next to him quickly supported him, and sent him home under the signal that he had already arrived at Wang Hua.

"Lord Liu is also an old minister of the Three Dynasties, why is Lord Jiang here."

Jiang Ning threw off his robe, looked at Wang Hua and said, "It's not that I want to do this, it's really that he is too annoying." ”

Wang Hua shook his head and smiled bitterly, and said, "Lord Jiang, the hour is almost up, let's go out of the city." ”

"It's fine."

The envoy who contacted the Japanese slowly left the city and stopped at the Ten Mile Long Pavilion.

Jiang Ning pulled Wang Hua to sit on the stone bench and began to drink tea and chat, chatting happily.

And this chat, nearly two hours have passed.

Several pots of tea were drunk.

It was only at this time that the Japanese mission appeared on the horizon.

"Hmph, the Japanese people are arrogant and don't know etiquette, and they dare to be so lazy in paying tribute to the Heavenly Empire, how can it be reasonable!"

Wang Hua, as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, how could he endure such a thing, and immediately showed displeasure.

Jiang Ning smiled and said:

"Lord Wang's words are good, it is a big mistake to treat the Japanese people with etiquette, and we will continue to sit here and ignore it.

When they come near and pray, they will deal with it. ”

Immediately after, the two continued to chat.

When the Japanese envoy arrived at the edge of the pavilion and stopped, he got up without hurry and slowly paced over with his hands behind his back.

Wang Hua glanced at the short widow in front of him with contempt, and said:

"Where are you?"