Early that morning, Uncle Chengyi Liu Kongzhao came to the Duke of Wei's mansion.
When he was led into the West Flower Hall by the steward of the Xu Mansion, he saw Wei Guogong Xu Hongji pruning a plate of Mu Dan.
Facing the freshly pruned rosemary flowers, Xu Hongji praised: "Meddan flowers are worthy of being the king of flowers. They are bright in color, fragrant with jade beads, elegant and magnificent, and other flowers are hard to match."
Liu Kongzhao then agreed: "The Duke's Mansion of the State of Wei is just like this shepherd's flower. It is also the king among all the nobles. It is difficult for other nobles to be as good as the Duke's Mansion of Wei."
"Uncle Cheng, I made you laugh."
Xu Hongji handed the scissors to the maid and took the wet towel from another maid to wipe his hands.
While wiping his hands, Xu Hongji sighed: "Uncle Cheng, what you said just now is wrong. The glory that belongs to our Duke of Wei has passed. Now the first noble of the Ming Dynasty is the Duke of Fujian."
Liu Kongzhao's face suddenly showed a sad look, but he did not dare to say anything.
The Duke of Fujian that Xu Hongji was talking about was Zheng Zhilong. Just two days ago, Zheng Zhilong finally arrived in Nanjing.
The first time he saw Zheng Zhilong, Chongzhen made him the Duke of Fujian. He also carved out a large piece of open space on the bank of the Qinhuai River and gave it to the Zheng family to build the mansion of the Duke of Fujian.
It is said that the gold-lettered plaque of the Duke's Mansion of Fujian was written by Chongzhen himself.
Not to mention Liu Kongzhao, even Xu Hongji was envious of this kind of favor.
Xu Hongji then asked: "By the way, I heard that the military generals who made contributions in the Xuzhou War have arrived in Nanjing? The Holy Emperor will be conferring knights on a large scale soon?"
"Yes, more than a hundred people came." Liu Kongzhao said sadly.
"What? More than a hundred?" Xu Hongji was stunned when he heard this, "It seems that from now on, there is nothing unusual about the nobles in Nanjing."
"Who says it's not?" Liu Kongzhao joked, "If you pick up a brick on the street and throw it in any direction, you might be able to hit a noble. I really don't know what the Holy One is thinking. Why are those Qiu Ba knighted?"
"We have no way of guessing what your Majesty is thinking." Xu Hongji sat down and motioned for Liu Kongzhao to take a seat as well, "The case of regicide and seizing the court is said to be over, and even the Donglin Party members who were implicated were reported in the newspapers.
After the statement was made clear, the official was reinstated, but there has been no explanation for us nobles."
"Wei Guogong, this is why I'm here." Liu Kongzhao asked with a sad face, "What do you mean by the Holy One? If you say you don't punish us, I'm afraid some people will believe it, but if you say punish us, the Holy One is too late.
He hasn’t given an explanation yet, and he hasn’t sent anyone to arrest us, so what does he want?”
Xu Hongji took a sip of Longjing and asked, "Where did your Majesty go today?"
"The Holy Spirit went to Lion Rock." Liu Kongzhao replied, "The Qiu Ba and Zheng brothers who came from Xuzhou climbed up to the top of Lion Rock to enjoy the scenery. They might be drinking tea on the foundation of Yuejiang Tower.
.”
…
Liu Kongzhao really got it right.
Chongzhen and his party rested on the foundation of Yuejiang Tower.
In addition to Huang Degong, Zuo Menggeng, Ma Huabao, Wang Zuntan, Jin Shenghuan and other frontier generals, there were also brothers Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Hongkui, as well as some scholars.
Zheng Sen was also one of the Qinwang scholars who attended the chariot.
It's no wonder that even Xu Hongji envies the Zheng family.
The current situation of the Zheng family is really a raging fire.
"Long live the Lord." Gao Qiqian diligently wiped a stone clean, "Sit down and rest your feet."
Chongzhen was really tired. He immediately sat down and said to everyone: "Everyone, please stop standing and find a clean place to sit down. Let's sit and chat."
After saying that, he said to Zheng Zhilong: "Zheng Qing, sit next to me."
Zheng Zhilong, who was originally going to sit far away, quickly turned back and sat cross-legged next to Chongzhen.
Looking at Zheng Zhilong, Chongzhen suddenly asked: "Zheng Qing, I didn't want to lead the troops in person when I called you twice. Are you worried that I will put you under house arrest in Nanjing and prevent you from returning to Fujian?"
The atmosphere that had been chatting and laughing just now suddenly froze.
Zheng Zhilong, brothers Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Sen even changed their expressions.
Smiling, Chongzhen said again: "Even now, do you also have such worries?"
"Your Majesty." Zheng Zhilong hurriedly turned over and lay on the ground, saying in panic, "I have no such intention."
Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Sen also knelt down and said in panic: "Your Majesty, my brother/father has never been so worried."
"Hey, get up, this is just a casual chat, why are you so nervous?" Chongzhen motioned to the Zheng family, father and son, to sit up, and then said with a smile, "Actually, it's not surprising that you are worried about this. If it were me, even if it were you,
I may not dare to come to Nanjing this time. Which emperor would tolerate the Zheng family being solely in charge of the Ming Dynasty Navy?"
"Your Majesty, your Majesty..." Zheng Zhilong wanted to defend himself, but he didn't know how to say it.
Because the Zheng family alone controls the Ming Dynasty Navy, this is a fact that is not urgent and cannot be denied.
"Your Majesty!" Zheng Sen gritted his teeth and shouted, "We, the Zheng family, can hand over the navy!"
When Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Hongkui heard this, they both looked at Zheng Sen in shock and said to themselves, "What nonsense are you talking about, you little brat?" The Navy is the foundation of our Zheng family's livelihood. How can we just hand it over?
But in front of Chongzhen, Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Hongkui did not dare to say this openly.
"Zheng Sen, have I ever said that I want your Zheng family to hand over the navy?" Chongzhen said, "Okay, even if your Zheng family is willing to hand over the navy, are there any competent naval generals in the court who can command the navy?"
division?"
"This..." Zheng Sen was suddenly speechless. There really were no competent naval generals in the court.
If anyone is familiar with water warfare, especially naval warfare, then the Zheng brothers and their descendants are the only ones who are familiar with it.
Chongzhen turned back to Zheng Zhilong and said: "Zheng Qing, I am not telling you this to knock you, but I just want to tell you that your layout is small, but in fact, your vision can be farther."
There was a strange light in Zheng Zhilong's eyes. He had already vaguely guessed the implication of Chongzhen's words, but he was not sure yet. He asked immediately: "I wonder what the Lord meant by this?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Zheng Qing, it's just what you guessed." Chongzhen smiled slightly, but then continued with a straight face, "Your end point should not just be a person.
Parents of the Zheng family navy, one navy is too few, you should lead five, ten or even twenty navy to fight across the four seas and seize sea power from the Western Red Barbarians!"
Hearing this, Zheng Zhilong felt like something was surging inside his body.
Like Zheng Sen, Huang Zongxi, Xu Yingwei and other diligent princes, the blood in their bodies was boiling.
"Zheng Qing, don't hide in that nook and cranny, come to Nanjing, come to me!" Chongzhen stood up as he spoke, waved his hand fiercely and said, "I will use the financial resources of the whole country to build a long-distance army for you.
The navy surpassed Zheng He's fleet, and then set up a naval school under the Imperial Academy to train the navy's soldiers who are proficient in naval warfare."
"I can also issue an edict to set up a shipping and shipbuilding bank to specifically raise funds to build a navy!"
"The first enrollment quota of the Naval Academy requires five hundred scholars. If it is not enough, we can add more!"
Speaking of this meal, Chongzhen stared into Zheng Zhilong's eyes again and asked: "Zheng Qing, you will be the general manager of this naval academy. What do you think?"
"It's my wish, but I dare not invite you!" Zheng Zhilong bowed solemnly.
Establishing a shipping and shipbuilding bank to raise funds specifically to train the navy, and then setting up a naval academy to train scholars for the navy. These two points alone were enough to impress Zheng Zhilong.
Although the mansion in Anhai Town is nice, it is not as attractive as leading a huge navy across the sea. In any case, he, Zheng Zhilong, is only forty-one this year, and the blood in his veins is still not cold!
"Please get up, Qing Zheng. This matter has been settled." Chongzhen helped Zheng Zhilong up.
At this time, Zuo Mengeng, Jin Shenghuan and other generals looked at Zheng Zhilong with even more envy.
Even Huang Degong was filled with envy, because he had already seen that when they returned to Nanjing this time, the Holy Emperor would probably not let them return to the front line in Xuzhou, but Zheng Zhilong still had the opportunity to travel across the sea.
Patting Zheng Zhilong, Chongzhen said again: "Zheng Qing, I hope that in a few decades, the first noble of the Ming Dynasty will no longer be the Duke of Wei, but you, the Duke of Fujian, or even the King of Southern Fujian!"
This is almost Chi Guoguo's promise.
This means that if the job is done well, it is possible to be granted the title of King with a different surname.
However, Zheng Zhilong's heart skipped a beat after hearing this.
It's not that easy to be the first nobleman of the Ming Dynasty. It seems that the Duke of Wei is going to be in bad luck?
Although Zheng Zhilong had just arrived in Nanjing the day before yesterday, he had already heard from many people that the Duke of Wei, Duke Bao, Bo Chengyi and other nobles would most likely be deprived of their titles by the Holy Emperor because they were involved in the regicide case and the frame-up case.
It's a good thing that Chongzhen didn't mention the No. 1 Ming Dynasty noble. This mention directly caused the atmosphere at the scene to become cold.
Not only Zheng Zhilong, but also Huang Degong, Zuo Mengeng and others began to worry about their own titles. In the final analysis, the Holy Emperor only gave them titles this time, but did not give them the iron certificate of the alchemy book.
What's more, even if there is an iron coupon in the alchemy book, it may not be useful.
Doesn’t the Duke of Wei’s Mansion have the iron certificate of the elixir given by the great ancestor?
When Chongzhen saw the atmosphere, how could he not guess what everyone was thinking?
At that moment, Chongzhen pointed to the foundation under his feet and asked: "You said that the foundation of Yuejiang Tower had been laid back then, why didn't Emperor Taizu Gao allow it to be built further?"
"This..." All the generals were silent.
We all know this, but we dare not say it.
According to legend, Taizu built the Yuejiang Tower because he wanted to imitate Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty in building the Lingyan Pavilion. He also enshrined the founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty in Yuejiang Tower, and there were more of them.
There are only twenty-four heroes in Lingyan Pavilion.
But there are thirty-six heroes in Yuejiang Tower.
However, just after the foundation of Yuejiang Tower was built, Taizu suddenly had a dream.
After Taizu dreamed that his dragon controlled Bintian, these heroes rebelled one after another. The new king Zhu Biao, who was more than kind but not strong enough, was unable to suppress him. Taizu was so angry that he woke up.
After that, the construction of Yuejiang Tower was stopped.
Then he killed most of the thirty-six heroes.
The construction of Yuejiang Tower was put on hold for nearly three hundred years.
