Zhang Yanling originally thought about taking a leave of absence and sneaking out of Beijing without alerting anyone. But after thinking about it, she still decided that it would be better to go to Guangdong on official business so as not to be criticized. Although she doesn't care about others saying that she is free and loose, but less
Of course, trouble is best. At least you have to say hello to Zhu Houzhao and let him nod in agreement.
That morning, the wind was sunny and the autumn air was crisp. Zhang Yanling went to the palace to see the emperor, and also wanted to visit his sister, the Queen Mother.
Zhu Houzhao met with Zhang Yanling in the newly built water pavilion in Taiye Pool.
The underwater market in Taiye Pond is indeed extremely exquisite. In order to give Zhu Houzhao a novel place to play, Liu Jin built a floating market on the Taiye Pond on the north side of Qionghua Island.
Every night, the water market is filled with colorful lights, singing and dancing. There are all kinds of acrobatics, entertainment, entertainment, food and drink. Zhu Houzhao goes in and out of singing and dancing restaurants, wanders in brothels and brothels, and never tires of it. Every day in this water market
The lights are shining brightly, and it is very lively all night long.
Zhu Houzhao met with Zhang Yanling on the water-colored building called "Penglai Pavilion". It was noon at this time, and the long carved windows around the pavilion were open. The autumn sun shone in, and the water below was shining with golden light. On the south side of Qionghua Island,
The trees are all golden and the scenery is really beautiful.
"I see you, Your Majesty." Zhang Yanling saluted loudly.
"Uncle is here, please get up quickly. No need to be polite." Zhu Houzhao saw Zhang Yanling, with a friendly look in his eyes.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Your Majesty's residence is really a place where gods live. It's really eye-opening." Zhang Yanling stood up and looked at the surrounding scenery and praised.
Zhu Houzhao smiled proudly and said, "Uncle, you think it's good too, right? Liu Jin really had the intention to build three water pavilions, which are called Penglai Three Mountains. You don't know, I came to see them when they were built. The water below was three to four feet deep.
It is not easy to drive the entire foundation into the water for several feet and fix it."
Zhang Yanling certainly knows that this is not easy. Driving piles underwater to fix the foundation is a waste of time and money. Needless to say, the materials used must be thick and long solid logs. After they are erected, they are driven down by manpower.
In the water, logs must be used to support and fix it in the water. The difficulty can be imagined. It also consumes a lot of materials and manpower.
Not to mention, these carved and painted pavilions above the water are extremely exquisite and cost a lot of money. Liu Jin worked hard to please Zhu Houzhao.
"How can it be so easy to create such a good place? Such a pavilion in the water is worth spending some money and effort." Zhang Yanling said with a smile.
Zhu Houzhao smiled and said: "I thought my uncle would say that I was extravagant. I did spend a lot of money. Liu Jin said that I spent 200,000 taels, but I think it was more. At least 250,000 or 300,000 taels. Liu Jin is
Afraid that I would blame him, I deliberately said less."
Zhang Yanling sighed secretly in his heart and thought: I'm afraid you don't know the price of goods. How can this be built with two to three hundred thousand taels of silver? Without five to six hundred thousand taels, how could there be such a long street and many pavilions in the water?
"The emperor lives happily, let alone two or three hundred thousand taels of silver, no matter how much it is, it doesn't matter. If the emperor is in a happy mood, everyone in the world will be happy. This is worth it." Zhang Yanling patted her on the butt lightly.
Zhu Houzhao said happily: "My uncle's words are what I want. What's wrong with me spending some money? I'm not a big builder or builder, but some people are unhappy and bother me. I'm used to it, so I just ignore them.
.”
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "These people also have good intentions, the emperor does not need to care about these."
Zhu Houzhao nodded, looked at Zhang Yanling and said, "Why did uncle come to see me today? On the Mid-Autumn Festival, I invited you to come and enjoy the moon, but you declined. Why did you come here on your own initiative today?"
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "Why does the emperor still care about it? It's not that the princess gave birth to a baby. She wanted to reunite the whole family during the Mid-Autumn Festival, so she didn't come. The emperor invited many people to the palace that night, and not many ministers accompanied him."
Zhu Houzhao shook his head and said: "That's different. Others are others, but uncle is irreplaceable. My uncle didn't come, so that night was less fun. I wanted to make my ministers happy and let them come and enjoy the moon with me, but one by one
It's really embarrassing for me to have such a straight face."
Zhang Yanling laughed and said: "Your Majesty, you can be happy next time, why bother asking for trouble? It's not like you don't know the tempers of these people. I understand the Emperor's desire to have fun with his ministers, but in fact it is not necessary.
"
Zhu Houzhao sighed: "My uncle doesn't know something. I feel that too many things have happened recently, and the government and the public are very depressed. I feel that I need to get closer to them, so I did this."
Zhang Yanling nodded and said: "The emperor wants to close the distance with his ministers. The idea is right, but it is not necessary. Let me tell you something that the emperor does not like to hear. The more the emperor does this, the more guilty he becomes. The emperor does not need to care about those rumors.
Rumor. The emperor is the only son of the late emperor, and his accession to the throne is legitimate and beyond reproach. He ascends the throne.
Some things that happened later had nothing to do with the emperor. The rebellion of King Anhua was an act of rebellion, and floods and droughts were normal celestial phenomena. Others just wanted to link these things to the emperor, but it was just deception.
It's just the human heart. If the Emperor cares about these things, he has been deceived by someone with ulterior motives."
Zhu Houzhao nodded slowly when he heard the words. Zhang Yanling spoke frankly, but he felt a little guilty in his heart. So many things had happened in the three years since he took the throne, and there were so many rumors outside, and he was indeed a little panicked. He wanted to please his ministers.
, to improve the relationship with them. Not long ago, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, he summoned the ministers into the palace to enjoy the moon and give a banquet because of this mentality.
Zhang Yanling pointed out this point to the point, which made Zhu Houzhao feel a lot more relaxed. There was no need to hide it when talking to Zhang Yanling. He understood what he was thinking and she could trust him.
"Uncle, I feel a little confused. There are some things that are difficult to understand. Uncle, can you give me some answers?" Zhu Houzhao walked slowly to the long window, frowned and looked at the autumn lake scenery outside and whispered.
Zhang Yanling said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, please speak. I will try my best to answer Your Majesty."
Zhu Houzhao nodded, pondered for a moment and said, "Does uncle think I am a good emperor?"
Zhang Yanling was stunned, this question was really difficult to answer. Zhang Yanling thought for a while and smiled: "Your Majesty, what do you think makes a good emperor?"
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said: "Do you still need to ask? Aren't Emperor Qin, Han Wu, Tang Zong and Song Zu all good emperors? And my great ancestor, Emperor Gao, aren't they all good emperors?"
Zhang Yanling said with a smile: "The emperor originally wanted to compare with these people, but this standard is a bit high."
Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhang Yanling blankly and said, "Are you making fun of me?"
Zhang Yanling shook his head and said: "How dare I? What I mean is that the emperor does not need to compare with these emperors. The standard of a good emperor is actually very simple. The government is clear and clear, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and the world is peaceful. This is very good. The emperor does not need to put pressure on himself
It’s too big, you have to compare it with Emperor Qin, Han, Wu, Tang, and Song.”
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said: "My uncle means that I am not a good emperor, right? Three years after I ascended the throne, the court became noisy. There were also people who made me rebel. Natural disasters happened frequently, but I played and neglected government affairs, and the world
People must think that I am a foolish king, right?"
Zhang Yanling hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, please don't think so. I have said that some things are not the Emperor's fault. The Emperor does not need to blame himself. Some things are accumulated shortcomings, and the Emperor just caught up with them. Take the rebellion in Ningxia."
To be honest, it was not after the emperor ascended the throne that King Anhua had the intention to rebel."
Zhu Houzhao said: "I understand. But I also have a responsibility, don't I? When I came to the throne, what I wanted to do was to govern the world well. I wanted to do great things. But I feel more and more powerless.
I feel like it’s impossible to achieve. Uncle, I’m really confused and sometimes I don’t know what to do.”
Zhang Yanling looked at Zhu Houzhao quietly. This young emperor looked really depressed. He was indeed very ambitious, but reality made him realize clearly what kind of person he was. This gap was the reason for his confusion and depression.
This situation is actually very dangerous. The confusion of an emperor is different from the confusion of ordinary people. Every move of the emperor is related to the people of the world and the life and death of countless people. This needs to be taken seriously.
"Your Majesty, in my opinion, it is a good act for the Emperor to reflect on himself. The Emperor is still young and has a heavy burden on his shoulders, which inevitably puts great pressure on his heart. The Emperor has only been on the throne for three years, and he will become more and more stressed in the future.
Mature and more responsible. I think the emperor will become a good emperor.
The emperor. What the emperor is confused about is nothing more than some practical problems. Things cannot be done overnight. If you do it one by one, one by one, the Ming Dynasty will get better and better.
Prosperity. The people will naturally think that the emperor is a good emperor." Zhang Yanling comforted softly.
Zhu Houzhao sighed: "Uncle, you are comforting me, I know. But for example, the Qingtun incident was originally a good thing, but it ended up causing chaos. I don't understand. For example, the land reform that Liu Jin is trying out in Hebei has allowed the people to return to their own country.
on land.
Isn't it a good thing to clear away the acres of land and return it to the people? Why did Yang Tinghe and others say in a statement that the people in Hebei are in dire straits. You also told me that time that the horse banditry in Hebei was serious. I just can't understand this.
what is going on."
Zhang Yanling pondered for a moment and said softly: "The emperor's intentions are good and his ideas are good, but perhaps some things need to be implemented correctly and need to understand the current situation of people's livelihood before they can be implemented. We cannot take it for granted. Some policies need to be treated from the root.
, rather than arbitrarily promoting some policies for immediate benefit."
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said, "Do you think the land reform policy is wrong?"
Zhang Yanling actually didn't want to discuss these things, and he didn't even think about discussing these things with the emperor when he came this time. But when he said this, he naturally had to answer.
"Your Majesty, whether the policy is right or not depends on the actual results. It must be tested with facts. If chaos occurs because of this, it must be stopped decisively, or at least we must understand what went wrong." Zhang Yanling said solemnly.
Zhu Houzhao frowned and said, "What did you say went wrong?"
Zhang Yanling said solemnly: "To solve the financial deficit, we must either resolve to solve the problem at its root. For example, most of the fiscal and taxation in our Ming Dynasty comes from acres of land, but how much of the land in our Ming Dynasty is in the hands of the people? According to statistics from the Ministry of Household Affairs, bankruptcies occur every year
The number of farmers is huge, and the fiscal deficit will naturally decrease year by year. If the emperor really wants to improve
In order to improve finance and people's livelihood, why not take a heavy hand and order the feudal princes to hand over their acres, return them all to the state, and then distribute them to the people for farming and tax collection? We cannot cure the stubborn problems of annexation from the root. We can only rely on small measures.
"
Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhang Yanling in astonishment and said blankly: "Are you crazy? Take back all the land? Isn't that a rebellion? Uncle, you want me to be the target of public criticism."