I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 182 Hai Rui Cried Again

After the morning court session, Zhu Yijun returned to Xiyuan from Xihua Gate.

I made up for today's morning exercise and had a slow breakfast.

Feng Bao walked up to him and said respectfully, "Your Highness, Hai Rui is waiting for you at Xi'an Gate."

"Please come in. Um, please go to Renshou Hall."

"Yes."

Hai Rui followed Feng Bao into Xi'an Gate and walked along the straight road.

Feng Bao was in front, slightly bent over, looking straight ahead, walking neither fast nor slow.

Hai Rui followed behind him, with his head held high, back straight, and the front of his clothes held up, walking neither slowly nor quickly.

The two of them said nothing, as if they were two strangers getting together and walking on the road.

If it were other officials, such as Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, and Chen Yiqin, they would definitely seize this opportunity to chat with Feng Bao and get closer to him.

Those with wealthy families, such as Xu Jie, Zhang Siwei and others, would secretly slip bank drafts from Zhang Fuguo Bank to Feng Bao.

Bills of exchange are so useful that they are very popular across the country.

However, the bills of exchange of Huijin Bank were circulated in the south and overseas, while the bills of exchange of Wells Fargo Bank were circulated in the north and outside the Great Wall. In the capital, the bills of exchange of both banks were very popular.

But Hai Rui disdains to do so.

Feng Bao also knew that he would do this, so the two of them went their separate ways, yet in perfect harmony.

A large hall was seen in the distance. In front of the hall stood a man, about the height of a teenager of fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a red round-necked dragon robe, a winged hat on his head, and his hands hidden in his sleeves.

Your Highness the Crown Prince has grown taller again.

He has a majestic figure and a dignified appearance.

All the ministers secretly said that the prince looked very much like the emperor, his demeanor was very much like the late emperor, but his figure and demeanor were very similar to the second ancestor.

"I, Hai Rui, the doctor of the Ministry of Rites, pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Zhu Yijun stepped forward and helped Hai Rui up.

"Mr. Gangfeng, no need to be polite."

"Thank you." Hai Rui stood up and was about to speak when he was stopped by Zhu Yijun.

"Mr. Gangfeng, don't worry, just follow me first."

"Yes."

Hai Rui did not ask any more questions. He lifted up his collar and followed Zhu Yijun, walked up the steps to the palace platform, passed through the palace door, and entered the main hall.

It is magnificent here, not much different from when Emperor Jiajing was here.

Zhu Yijun led Hai Rui to the back of the hall, where there was an altar with fresh fruits on it, incense and candles on both sides, and an incense burner in the middle.

Behind the altar is a shrine with a long scroll painting hanging on it, which is the Emperor Jiajing wearing a Taoist robe.

Hai Rui opened his eyes, which were red. He fell to his knees with a plop and shouted hoarsely, "My late emperor, my late emperor! I am here."

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Hai Rui kowtowed three times on the ground, and when he raised his head, his face was already in tears.

Zhu Yijun came over with six lit incense sticks, gave three to Hai Rui, lifted his lapel, pinched the incense in his hand, knelt down respectfully, and kowtowed three times.

He stood up, put the incense in the copper burner, and stood aside.

Hai Rui kowtowed three more times, holding back his tears, and stood up tremblingly. He walked over and placed three incense sticks on the copper burner.

"Mr. Gangfeng, come on, walk with me in the garden and chat as we walk."

"Yes." Hai Rui wiped his tears with his sleeve and replied in a deep voice.

Zhu Yijun put his hands in his sleeves and walked out of the Renshou Hall with Hai Rui. Turning to the side, he saw craftsmen busy at work.

Hai Rui looked up and saw a new crane installed on the roof of the hall. The crane was standing high with its neck tilted back and its long, pointed beak pointing upwards towards the sky.

A craftsman installed a wide copper strip painted the same vermilion color along the wall pillars, extending from the eaves to the ground.

Another servant was digging a hole at the wall pillar. "Your Highness, what are you doing?"

"This is installing a lightning rod."

"lightning rod?"

"Yes. It can lead the thunder to the ground."

Hai Rui was shocked, "There is such a method?"

"Yes. The Forbidden City palaces are prone to fires, most of which are caused by thunderbolts. If we can avoid thunderbolts and stop burning palaces, the national treasury will have less expenditure, and the people will be able to breathe a sigh of relief."

Hai Rui bowed to Zhu Yijun and said respectfully, "Your Highness has always kept the people in mind, which is truly a blessing for the people of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yijun smiled calmly, standing by the Nanhai Lake, looking at the sparkling waves.

"The people are the most important, the country is second, and the emperor is the least important. From now on, I will be the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the people of the Ming Dynasty will regard me as their emperor and father. If I don't take them to heart, who else can I expect to take them to heart?

Lord Xu, who owns four hundred thousand acres of fertile land; Lord Yan, who runs countless antique shops and is reviled by the world as a traitor; local tyrants who occupy the farmland of the nine border guards and regard the Ming Dynasty's ten thousand miles of flesh and blood Great Wall as grass; Duke Yansheng, who claims to be the descendant of the ancestors and the saint, and whose rites and morals are passed down from generation to generation, but whose fertile land is spread all over Shandong.

Can I expect them to take the people of the world to heart?"

Hai Rui said in a trembling voice, "Your Highness is wise."

"The common people are as despised as grass, cut again and again. 'The common people's hair is like leeks, cut and they grow again; their heads are like chickens, cut and they crow again. Officials do not need to be feared, they have always been despised. But how can we hope for peace!' A big fire in the grass can burn everything.

The common people cannot write, cannot submit petitions, and cannot make any sound. They are like the water, silent and still. But 'water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it.'"

Zhu Yijun turned to look at Hai Rui and said, "Mr. Gangfeng, Grandfather the Emperor handed over the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty to my father, and my father entrusted the military and state affairs to me.

"I often feel uneasy day and night. I have ways to pacify and resist the northern barbarians outside the Great Wall and the Japanese pirates in the East China Sea, but I am helpless when the vast mountains and rivers of the Ming Dynasty, the wild grasslands are on fire, and the Yellow River and the Yangtze River burst their banks."

Hai Rui cupped his hands and said, "Official governance and annexation by powerful people are the two main culprits that have plunged the Ming Dynasty into dire straits. I am a dull and stupid person, but I am willing to serve Your Highness and eliminate the dangers of dire straits for the Ming Dynasty. I will go through fire and water without hesitation."

Zhu Yijun said with a look of satisfaction: "Grandpa Emperor trusts Mr. Gangfeng, and I also trust you. Well, please tell me the result of this investigation of Taoist temple alchemists."

"Yes. This time, I checked 146 Taoist temples in the capital and the surrounding areas. Among them, 89 temples were found to have occupied farmland and houses. I also checked 4,652 Taoist priests and confiscated the certificates of ordination of 2,510 people. I also put 321 people in prison and awaiting trial."

"How will Mr. Gangfeng deal with these Taoist temples?"

"Those who occupied the temples should return them to their original owners, and those without owners should be confiscated by the government. The Coordination Bureau negotiated with me and wanted to use these Taoist temples as schools and clinics. I thought this was a good thing that would benefit the people, so I allocated 52 of them to them."

Zhu Yijun nodded, "I heard that some powerful people came to Mr. Gangfeng to intercede for you to transfer some Taoist temples and palaces to become temples?"

"Yes, Your Highness, but I rejected it sternly. Taoist sorcerers are very harmful. Buddhist monks and nuns are not clean either."

"Since Mr. Gangfeng has dealt with it this way, I feel relieved."

The two of them walked around the Nanhai Lake for half a circle, chatting as they walked. Half an hour later, Zhu Yijun sent Hai Rui to Xi'an Gate.

Looking at his back, Zhu Yijun stood still.

Hai Rui, Hai Gangfeng, your sword will probably come in handy soon.

Kill demons and eliminate evil, and I hope you will live up to my expectations in the future.

When Zhu Yijun returned to the Imperial Household Department, Chen Ju brought him a stack of reports and reported something.

"Your Highness, the palace has sent over an imperial decree, saying that 10,000 taels of silver will be allocated from the inner treasury."

Zhu Yijun frowned slightly.

My father loves beautiful women, delicious food and fine wine, and doesn't have many hobbies in other things. He is not like to renovate palaces and pavilions like my grandfather does. In fact, the expenses are not huge, but suddenly spending 12,000 taels of silver does arouse suspicion.

"Didn't the emperor say who to call?"

"Your Highness, the Emperor wants to reward someone."

"Reward who?"

Chen Ju handed over the imperial edict.

Zhu Yijun took it, glanced at it and sneered.

Now all kinds of monsters and demons are jumping out.

(End of this chapter)