eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 183 Ships
Prince Huai finally ended up being relegated to a commoner, and the imperial court aimed to select another person of good character from Prince Huai's heirs to succeed him.

In this way, Zhu Houzhao can explain, after all, it is a heavy hand to abolish a prince.And the other vassal kings would not react too violently. After all, the Prince Huai's lineage had not been cleaned up. The prince still wanted some friendship.On the contrary, after Duke Huai suffered such a blow, the palace might not be as well-off as it was before.

The matter of King Huai also made Emperor Hongzhi think of another problem. After returning to the palace, he issued an order to summon the British Duke Zhang Mao to the palace for an audience.

The British Duke Zhang Mao is the grandson of Hejian King Zhang Yu and the eldest son of Dingxing King Zhang Fushu. In terms of honor and honor, the British Duke has been the most honored relative for several dynasties.And he has been in charge of the Beijing Camp and the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies for decades.

Sometimes, he would be sent to perform such activities as imperial banquets and temple sacrifices.

In the Qianqing Palace, Hong Zhi shrank back into the bed, Xiao Jing helped him cover the quilt on his legs.Because the emperor is not in good health, he will be like this once it is cold, and the British Duke is his own, so the emperor is not polite.

"Xiao Jing, give me a seat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The Duke of England is also an old man with a white beard now, and he can't stand standing all the time.

"I called you here today because I have something to say. After much deliberation, it's better to talk to you first. After Emperor Xuanzong, my empress in Ming Dynasty has never chosen a family of honorable and important ministers. However, regarding the Zhejiang nest case, I I have been wondering whether my prince is not suitable for this kind of practice."

This kind of talk seems to be commonplace, but the British Duke obviously did not expect to enter the palace for this matter.Now his movements have slowed down and his figure has gained weight. Outsiders say that he is honest and honest, but in the center of the imperial court, he is just honest and can't survive for decades.

Like this, whether it is big or small, it is definitely not appropriate to tell the foreign ministers, that is, to talk to him.In fact, it was also an expression of the emperor's close relationship between them.

It may be that the emperor was a little concerned about the gossip of some people in the court after the Zhejiang case.

It doesn't matter, let's talk about responding to the emperor's behavior of showing intimacy first.Just like falling in love, if someone expresses something, you can't give up feedback.

Therefore, the British Duke "suffered" expressed his heart, "Your Majesty, I don't know what is appropriate or not. I only know that the Zhang family has suffered from the state's grace. No matter what the foreign ministers say, the British Duke will definitely be loyal to His Majesty and the Crown Prince." .”

His reply basically had nothing to do with the emperor's previous question.People who don't know will naturally think it is honest.But in fact, it was the emperor's mind.

"I didn't mention you." Emperor Hongzhi smiled and waved his hands, "I feel that my body is getting weaker and weaker. The prince is very smart, and his strategy and wisdom are far superior to my father, but the only thing that worries me is that he has some Harsh."

The Duke of England thought about the prince's various behaviors, and nodded in agreement, "Your Highness really cannot tolerate sand in his eyes. Oh, I understand. Your Majesty thinks that if His Highness can marry a daughter with a common surname according to the ancestral system, then the natal family can still do it for her." Your Highness will add some help. If it is an ordinary woman from a good family, she may not have this benefit."

"...Yes." The emperor's eyes were dark, "I am here, the prince can still consider the mood of my old father, and the method is a little softer; once I am a hundred years later, the buffer between the prince and many people will be gone. By the way, What I said to you today, I haven’t told anyone else, not even the crown prince, so the British public must keep it a secret.”

"Your Majesty understands that your mouth is very tight." The British public said that His Majesty really has good intentions, "But His Royal Highness is a very smart person, as long as someone in the court raises this point, it will not take long for His Majesty to say goodbye." I can guess."

"If you can guess it, let's talk about it. This is my proposal, what do you think of the British public?"

"Your Majesty treats me so sincerely, so I will just say a few words from my heart. If there is anything wrong, I hope Your Majesty will not be offended."

This is a polite statement. Emperor Hongzhi has a good temper and is a dignified British gentleman. As long as he is not crazy and talks nonsense, the emperor will not blame him.

"Speak all you can."

"Yes. I think that the national policy of our ancestors to marry ordinary women from good families is to prevent the misfortune of relatives in the Han and Tang Dynasties. The ancestors are worried that the conservative monarch will not be strong enough and will be bullied by others. But as far as this dynasty is concerned, the natural Don't worry, everyone in the court can see that His Highness will be a hero in the future, and it is very difficult for foreign relatives to take power. Therefore, it is not wrong for His Majesty to change the ancestral system. However, I think it is still Good behavior due to ancestral system."

Emperor Hongzhi was puzzled, "Why?"

"The ancestors established this ancestral system and the ministers see that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. If it is easily changed, future generations will inevitably use it as an example. Besides..." The British Duke smiled and eased the emperor's nervousness. "Your Majesty really Do you think His Highness needs a relative to help you?"

There can be no chaos, civil servants and military generals all look to the crown prince, and many of them are waiting for the crown prince to ascend the throne, and they will fly to the sky, so the British prince is right to say so.

But from Hongzhi's point of view, he always has to take everything into consideration and be fully prepared, otherwise how can he rest assured.

"It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to hear what the British lord said. It's inevitable that if I care about it, it will cause chaos."

"As a father, it will be like this. However, Your Majesty should trust His Highness and the talents of your ministers. Even if there are some petty officials in the court, they will not be able to turn the tide."

Zhu Houzhao probably didn't know that his old father had considered this level for him.From the emperor's point of view, what the prince did was of course radical.

But Zhu Houzhao himself knows what he is doing, and he has both political and military power.

After Duke Huai's disposal method is determined, the outcome of the Zhejiang Wo case will no longer be changed.Soon after, the cabinet issued a decree requesting that all officials involved in the case in Zhejiang be arrested and sent to the capital.

Among them are lucky ones, like Qian Shi, the minister of Guanglu Temple, who can avoid the hardship of traveling in winter and be directly arrested from home to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice.

In Zhejiang, however, the arrests have continued, and even the officialdom in Nanzhili has been shaken.

When the capital's decree came, Zhang Yong was determined, and he ordered, "Tell Xu Ruoqin the decree of delegating King Huai to a commoner. Let's see what else he can rely on!"

When Xu Ruoqin was interrogated that day, this guy was always very arrogant. After all, he felt that there was someone behind him.

Then Zhang Yong also thanked Mei Kejia, "When I heard that Prince Huai was involved, our family was almost bluffed. Fortunately, Boss Mei gave the suggestion of arresting people while performing the performance, so that His Highness' important event would not be missed."

Mei Kejia didn't dare to take the credit, and said modestly: "My father-in-law is serious, I'm all serving His Highness, I'm just doing my best."

"In this case, maybe the opening of the sea that His Highness said back then should be possible?"

Mei Kejia shook his head, "No. I don't think the time is fully ripe, I can only say that it's half done. Father-in-law, the purpose of opening the sea is for trade. Trade requires a stable and peaceful environment, but there are pirates on the sea."

Mei Kejia said in his heart that those were real Japanese pirates.

"What do you mean?"

"It means that if the Japanese pirates at sea are not eradicated, or if there is not enough power to resist them, then once the sea ban is lifted, it will only let the people along the coast go out to be plundered by others. At that time, will the imperial court take care of it or not?"

Regardless of whether it is definitely unreasonable, but what to do with it.

"This is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that the sea ban is an ancestral system and a national policy. If it is to be changed, it must be effective after the change. Once the effect is not as expected or it brings new problems, then politically. There will be a lot of pressure.”

To put it simply, it is a political adventure, and if the adventure fails, it may not be changed for a long time in the future, because future generations will learn from this failure.

"so……"

"So it's best to have a naval fleet. The foundation of the fleet is ships."

It's a pity that the big Ming treasure ship owned by the Sanbao eunuch is no longer the same as it used to be.In fact, Mei Kejia had wanted to mention the ship for a long time, but there was no suitable time. Now that the situation in Zhejiang has changed, it is easier for him to say something.

So when Zhang Yong returned to Beijing, he also prepared a letter to Donggong and attached it.

This can not be blamed for his worry. In the 13th year of Hongzhi, someone went to Shu to prohibit anyone from building ocean-going ships and prohibiting the retention of sailing ships with more than two masts.This incident caused some disturbances at the time, and it ended with Donggong being furious.

As far as Zhang Yong is concerned, he has no good solution for the shipbuilding. The most important thing right now is to escort these people to the capital smoothly, and it will probably be the twelfth lunar month.

(End of this chapter)