On the contrary, Xia Yuanji was silent for a long time after seeing Zheng He sit down, and he looked a little breathless, so he first asked: "I don't know if Lord Zheng must meet the lower officials before leaving Beijing, what is the matter?"

Zheng He sighed lightly, and didn't want to go around in circles anymore, and said: "It's not a secret, the reason why Zheng took such a lot of trouble to get a meeting with Master Xia was not anything else, but the money." ”

Xia Yuanji lowered his head, stretched out his bamboo to pick up the dishes on the table and put them in his mouth, and asked a little vaguely, "What kind of money?"

Without waiting for Zheng He to answer, he suddenly realized and said, "Oh, what Lord Zheng said is the silver approved by the emperor about repairing the fleet?"

Zheng He sighed and said, "Exactly." Now the entire fleet is waiting for this silver expenditure on the beach, and it really can't be delayed for a day, but the household department has not seen any movement for a long time, Zheng is afraid that such a delay will miss the date set by the emperor to go to sea, so he has to come to see Lord Xia. ”

Xia Yuanji was afraid that he had expected this matter a long time ago, but he pretended to be relaxed and said: "If it is for such official business, Lord Zheng can go directly to the household yamen to inquire, and the official has been busy with official business recently, so he is negligent in this matter." Perhaps, it was the following officials who were negligent and delayed, and please don't be surprised by Lord Zheng!"

Zheng He saw that Xia Yuanji began to prevaricate himself with the words of the officialdom, as expected, he smiled slightly at the moment, and was not in a hurry, but asked directly: "If the officials below delay the errand ordered by the emperor, I am afraid that they will not have the courage." Zheng is just afraid that Lord Xia will have any difficulties here, but he might as well say it clearly. ”

Xia Yuanji was broken by Zheng He's words, put down the bamboo with a snap, and said: "It's true that there are some difficulties, don't hide it from Lord Zheng, the difficulty of the household department now is that there is no money!"

Zheng He still had a smile on his face, and asked softly: "Lord Xia said that he was joking, the household department is in charge of the world's money, and this matter is approved by the emperor, how can there be no money?"

Xia Yuanji said with a serious face: "Lord Zheng has not been in the court for a long time, I'm afraid I don't know, and now the household department is indeed out of money." This year, a major flood broke out on both sides of the Ganjiang River in Jiangxi, the disaster situation was serious, countless victims were homeless, and they were waiting for the relief and resettlement of the imperial court with their children and daughters. ”

Now the emperor is planning to move the capital, and wants to change Beiping City to Beijing, so he has built a lot of construction in Beiping City, and also invited Yao Guangxiao to go to Beiping to design the planning drawings of the new Beijing. ”

"The construction of this palace city and the relocation of the city are such a huge expense. The most important thing is that Beiping is located in northern Xinjiang, and the timber materials used for construction, and even the skilled craftsmen who participated in the construction all need to be transported from the Central Plains, and even Xiaguan has just escorted a group of materials and craftsmen to Beiping, and returned to the capital not long after. Lord Zheng should have heard of these things, right?"

"In addition, the emperor is heroic and talented, and he has planned to use troops against the Northern Yuan Dynasty within next year to pacify the northern frontier, and I heard that he is also preparing to drive the expedition in person, these three armies have not moved the grain and grass first, and all the expenses required by the army before the Northern Expedition need to be prepared in advance. To tell the truth, even the monthly silver of the ministers of the DPRK and the Central People's Republic of China is now deducted from the lower officials with a copper on their fingers, and the household department is really out of money now. ”

Xia Yuanji said it very sincerely, and Zheng He believed that he was telling the truth.

To be honest, Zheng He is not unaware of these things he said, now that it is eventful, everything is complicated, and the household department is indeed facing great pressure, Xia Yuanji's position of holding the treasury money bag is indeed not easy, and he must be anxious all day long.

But at present, the voyage is indeed not delayed for half a minute

The treasures that the emperor decreed to reward the ocean-going countries have almost arrived at the location of the fleet, but the fleet has not even completed the necessary rest and replenishment, and this matter is urgent.

Zheng He didn't continue to ask, but changed the topic and asked a little casually: "Zheng heard that many adults in the court have different opinions on the voyage, I don't know what Lord Xia thinks?"

Xia Yuanji was stunned for a moment, lowered his head and picked up the bamboo and began to pick up the vegetables again, and said vaguely: "This matter is the emperor's sacred heart, who dares to say anything?"

Zheng He smiled and said: "This is not a court, and there is no one else on the side, just you and I are chatting, Lord Xia can speak freely, no matter what you say, but it doesn't hurt." ”

This is equivalent to a promise to Xia Yuanji that no matter what he said today, Zheng He will never leak it to the outside world, let alone report it to the emperor.

Although Xia Yuanji doesn't know much about Zheng He, he has heard of his character for a long time.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Yuanji put down the bamboo book abruptly and said loudly: "Okay! Since Lord Zheng asked today, Xia will also sacrifice his life to accompany the gentleman, we might as well talk to each other directly, and no one needs to hide it anymore." ”

Zheng He nodded, he had been sitting for so long, and this was what he was waiting for.

At that moment, he got up and picked up the wine jug to pour a full glass of wine for Xia Yuanji, and said: "It should be like this, the eldest husband stands between heaven and earth, and he should speak freely and express his opinions, why bother mother-in-law and mother-in-law, go around!"

Hearing this, Xia Yuanji's spirits were lifted.

To be honest, when it comes to the "big husband", Xia Yuanji is still a little embarrassed.

Mencius said: "If you have the will and the people, you must not go your own way, the rich and the rich cannot be lewd, the poor and the lowly cannot be moved, and the mighty cannot be bent, this is called a great husband." ”

Compared with himself, Xia Yuanji can at most achieve the point of "getting the will and the people", but in the court, how easy is it to really "go alone"?

In those years, Qu Yuan insisted on "going his own way" and finally ended up throwing himself into the river and dying, didn't he fail to prevent the destruction of the Chu State? He himself fell into a clear name that has been passed down through the ages, but he nailed the King of Chu to the pillar of shame in history, and this is not a true loyal minister.

At least that's what Natsuhara thinks.

Compared with the sages' definition of "big husband", he still feels a little ashamed.

But he is a straight person, Zheng He's words are really in his ears, and he feels arrogant at the moment, and he raises his head and drinks the wine in the cup.

Putting down the wine glass, his voice gradually became louder: "I can't hide it, about the matter of organizing a fleet voyage, the lower officials have a superficial opinion, it is not beneficial to the country and the people, and it is really a major malpractice today!"

Zheng He was silent, and his remarks criticized Yuanhang as "maladministration", which was really serious.

After a moment, he asked softly, "How so?"

Xia Yuanji had no scruples, looked at Zheng He and asked, "Dare to ask Lord Zheng, you asked the emperor for the voyage?"

Zheng He shook his head, this matter really has nothing to do with him, it is really Zhu Di's own idea from beginning to end.

Later, when deciding on the person to lead the fleet, Zhu Di summoned Yuan Zhongche, the son of the famous scholar Yuan Hui, and asked if it was appropriate to use Zheng He.

Yuan Zhongche replied: "The three guarantees are unscrupulous and intelligent, and there is no comparison among the servants, and the ministers can look at their complexions. ”

So Zhu Di decided to appoint Zheng He as the commander of the voyage, and it was only then that Zheng He knew about it.

Xia Yuanji looked at Zheng He's awe-inspiring expression and nodded, he believed that this was the truth.

Emperor Zhu Di has always been arbitrary, and the voyage is such a major event, even if he favors Zheng He, he will not hesitate to spend tens of millions of dollars to set such a major national policy because of the words of a eunuch.

He muttered: "I hope it is true as you said, all this is the emperor's sacred heart arbitrary, such as."

If someone really recommends this matter, then this person should be beheaded!"

Zheng He was stunned for a moment: "Oh?"

Xia Yuanji poured himself another glass of wine and said: "This person must want to take advantage of the emperor's suspicion and worry about the whereabouts of Emperor Jianwen and speak out to advocate this matter, otherwise he will build a warship, fully equipped with armor, and cruise the four seas, what will he do?

Zheng He was silent.

It seems that Xia Yuanji thought that the emperor was so aggressive, and did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to build warships and sail all over the world, in order to find the whereabouts of the missing Emperor Jianwen.

Since Emperor Jianwen set himself on fire, his whereabouts have indeed been widely spread among the people, and some people claim to have seen him in small overseas countries, but these are all nonsense.

The real fate of Emperor Jianwen back then, in addition to the emperor Zhu Di and Zhang Fu, who was guarding outside the Fengtian Hall at that time, the only one who knew the inside story was himself who had been following Zhu Di since the city of Nanjing.

(For a passage about Emperor Jianwen's self-immolation, please refer to chapters 14 to 17 of the fifth volume of this book, "The Shadow of the Imperial Tomb", and will not be repeated here.) ）

However, this is a secret that must not be mentioned, either you will keep your mouth shut and bring it into the coffin, or the emperor will let you take it into the coffin.

Sometimes Zheng He really wished he didn't know the secret at all.

So he also knew that in fact, the emperor's purpose in planning this voyage was definitely not to find the whereabouts of the so-called Emperor Jianwen.

However, he could not refute it.

He could only remain silent.

Seeing that Zheng He didn't speak, Xia Yuanji thought that he agreed with his judgment, drank another glass of wine, and said loudly: "The fleet sails far away, and there are more than 100 large and small warships built alone, each of which costs six or seven thousand taels of silver, and regardless of the daily food and clothing of tens of thousands of sergeants and personnel on board, the value of the rewards on the ships for the coastal countries to show the emperor's grace is already beyond the imagination of others. ”

"In such a waste of national strength, what can be gained? It is nothing more than to ask these small countries to bow down to my Ming Dynasty and return with sincerity. Xia Guan has also seen the report submitted to the emperor after Lord Zheng returned to Beijing, and it is clear that these small coastal states are still unsustainable, not to mention that they pose a threat to my Ming Dynasty, even that little pirate at sea also needs to turn to my Ming fleet to exterminate it. ”

"Such a small country, apart from reaching out to our Great Ming Dynasty every year to ask for money and food relief, what is the benefit of befriending them? Such a small country, which is not of our race, will have different hearts, even if it temporarily belongs to our Ming Dynasty for the sake of interests, who can guarantee that there will be no dissent in the future? Now that Annan has rebelled again, and the British Gong Zhang Fu has led the army to pacify it, isn't it the best proof of this?"

"Even if the emperor was worried that during the Northern Expedition, these southern coastal states would take the opportunity to make a move, but now he already knows that they are just some rabble, and the problem of scabies can be calmed down by a general, and there is no need to worry at all. Why bother to spend a lot of money and sail again?"

On the other hand, in China, after the Battle of Jingjing, the people of Li who suffered from the rebellion of the soldiers were recuperating and recuperating, and they had just enjoyed a few years of peace, and in recent years, there have been many natural disasters, and the victims are all over the wilderness, displaced, and in urgent need of relief from the imperial court. ”

"Northern Xinjiang is unstable, and the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty are all tribes ready to move, and sooner or later there will be a battle with my Ming Dynasty. Isn't the relocation of the capital and the Northern Expedition advocated by the emperor exactly to eliminate the calamity in the northern frontier? These have already overwhelmed the national treasury, so how can we still have spare strength to support the expenses of this huge fleet sailing all over the world?"

Putting down the wine glass, Xia Yuanji concluded: "Therefore, according to the humble opinion of the lower officials, at this time, I should work hard to stabilize the development of the national economy and people's livelihood, accumulate national strength, and work hard." In addition to spending a huge amount of money on a long voyage to the world and flaunting its might, what is the benefit of the country and the people?