I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 295: Lord Hai, is there enough money?
Zhu Yijun and Hai Rui from Xiyuan were walking on the tree-lined path beside the lake, basking in the sunset and taking a walk to digest their food.

Zhu Yijun put his hands in his sleeves and squinted at the orange sunset.

The sunlight shines on the layers of clouds, turning them into golden scales of koi fish.

"It's so beautiful! I really want to visit various places in Ming Dynasty, to see the magnificent mountains and rivers, and to see what these mountains and rivers that I have worked so hard to protect look like. What a pity."

Hai Rui followed closely behind with his hands behind his back, half a step behind.

He looked at Zhu Yijun, who was wearing a vermilion round-necked dragon robe with twelve emblems.

He is almost as tall as the late emperor. He will definitely be a handsome man when he grows up.

His body shape is not like the late emperor, but his expression is very similar to that of the late emperor.

Listening to what Zhu Yijun said, Hai Rui felt like something was blocking his heart.

Perhaps, the only people in the world who are truly devoted to the Ming Dynasty are His Highness and myself.

The two of them strolled by the lake. The surroundings were empty and lonely. Two figures were dragging on the ground. How lonely they felt.

Zhu Yijun continued, "People think that my father is in the Forbidden City and I am in the Western Garden, and that we are free and happy. In fact, my father is imprisoned in the Forbidden City and I am imprisoned in the Western Garden.

"Restricting the inside, restricting the inside, restricting others, and restricting yourself."

He turned his head to look at Hai Rui, then continued to walk forward slowly, "I especially like to listen to your stories about local history and travels, and listen to your stories about the beautiful scenery and different customs and practices in various places.

I asked the Eastern Depot, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Pacification Division, and the Commercial Investigation Section to collect public sentiment and opinions from various places. I also asked people to quietly subscribe to the commercial and civilian newspapers in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, and the capital, and read them whenever I have time.

But all of this is just words, cold and vague words, unreal. I often doubt whether they are true or false.

Lord Hai, sometimes I feel that the more power I have, the lonelier I feel. I dare not tell others what I am thinking. All the truth seems to be moving away from me. "

At this point, Zhu Yijun smiled and said, "Mr. Hai, since Grandpa Huang passed away, I have only talked to you about this. Sometimes I envy Grandpa Huang very much. In his last few years, he had me to talk to him about his inner thoughts.

I wonder if I will be lucky enough to meet a relative who can talk to me about my innermost thoughts when I reach his age?
Hai Rui's eyes were swollen and his nose was a little sour. He suppressed his sadness and said in a slightly hoarse voice: "Your Highness, you are still overthinking. Sometimes I think Your Highness should go hunting, listen to music, or even have a drink."

Zhu Yijun laughed loudly, "Mr. Hai, if what you just said gets out, people will say that you are a flatterer who encouraged me to seek pleasure."

Hai Rui also smiled, with tears in his eyes.

"I would not have advised you in this way in front of the late emperor. I would not have advised you in this way in front of the emperor. But Your Highness, I advise you sincerely. Just a few words. Please relax a little and don't keep yourself tense like this.

Deep love will not last, and wisdom will be hurt.

I am an upright person, not afraid of taboos, and I must advise Your Highness not to worry so much day and night. I hope Your Highness can rule the Ming Dynasty for thirty years, sixty years, or even a hundred years. "

Zhu Yijun turned to look at Hai Rui, his eyes sparkling, "The world is unpredictable, time waits for no one. I feel that ten thousand years is too long, we must seize the day!"

He suddenly turned back and continued walking forward facing the sunset.

"Okay, Lord Hai, let's not talk about these sad words. This time I insisted on conquering the north and the south. Are there many criticisms from the government and the public?"

Hai Rui looked at Zhu Yijun, who was covered in the golden sunset glow, and was in a trance for a moment. When he heard the question, he quickly calmed himself down and answered behind him.

"Criticism? Your Highness, any decree issued by Xiyuan will be criticized. However, this time the Ming Dynasty is simultaneously engaged in two national wars, the Northern Expedition and the Southern Expedition, which is indeed very dangerous.

Your Highness has explained in the imperial edict published in the palace newspaper that some wars are inevitable. Some wars, if fought this year, will not have to be fought in the next ten or fifty years.

There are some wars that our generation fights so that our descendants won't have to fight.

I have no control over what others say. But I know that Your Highness has the Ming Dynasty and the people in his heart. With this in mind, I believe that Your Highness is not reckless and willful. "

Zhu Yijun smiled happily, "I didn't expect that the one who could understand me was Lord Hai."

He nodded and continued, "The Ming ship is in tatters and needs to be repaired or it will sink sooner or later. But a major repair would involve many people's pots and pans.

These people don’t care whether the ship will sink or not, they only care whether their pots and pans will be broken or not.”

Zhu Yijun turned to look at Hai Rui, "Mr. Hai, what do you think I should do?"

"Smash those jars and pots!" Hai Rui said firmly, and then added, "But if you smash those jars and pots, their owners will jump up, and then there will be a melee, the ship will capsize, and everyone on the ship will be killed.

"Mr. Hai, I want to ask you what you should do?"

Hai Rui blinked cunningly, "Your Highness has already made a plan, why bother asking me?"

"When did Hai Gong become so cunning?"

Hai Rui chuckled, "Your Highness taught me that if I am not more cunning than the treacherous ministers, how can I defeat them?"

"Haha!" Zhu Yijun raised his head and laughed.

Hai Rui asked expectantly, "Your Highness, what is your plan?"

Zhu Yijun also blinked cunningly, "Guess!"

Hai Rui said with a chuckle: "Your Highness is a ruler, so you should treat your subjects with sincerity."

"Mr. Hai, don't play double standards. You can play dumb, but I'm just talking about treating my subjects with sincerity."

Hai Rui looked a little embarrassed. "I really can't answer the question your Highness asked just now. I can't think of a good way to answer it, so I can only perfunctorily answer it like this."

Zhu Yijun nodded, "Since Lord Hai treats you with sincerity, I will also treat you with sincerity. My plan is to establish the Taifu Temple and the Shaofu Supervisor, and to conquer the north and the south."

Hai Rui didn't quite understand at first.

What do you mean?
The Taifu Temple and the Shaofujian were in charge of the Ming Dynasty's industry and commerce and transportation, and were responsible for making money.

There are also the Northern Expedition and the Southern Expedition, how are they related to smashing pots and pans and repairing and refurbishing large ships?

But Hai Rui was a smart man, and he had a lot of contact with Zhu Yijun, so he knew a lot of his thoughts. He slowly pondered over them and figured out some ideas.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince wants to replace some of the sailors on the ship.

As long as there was a reliable person to sail the boat, the prince would not have to worry about the boat capsizing and could smash the jars and pots with confidence.

How to replace old people with new ones?

Science test?

Hai Rui immediately denied it in his mind.

Are you kidding? The scientific examination has been controlled by those people for hundreds of years. Most of those selected are from their group, and people like me are the minority.

The Northern Expedition and the Southern Expedition, it is obvious that His Highness wants to promote a group of new nobles through military merit to control the army.

The new nobles have both military merit and military power, so they can confront the civil officials and restore the situation of the Second Ancestor's era when civil and military officials were equally important. As long as the civil officials are not the only ones in power, Your Highness can easily deal with them.

If you refuse to smash the jars and pots, then replace someone else. Whoever is willing to smash them can come up.

What do the Taifu Temple and the Shaofu Supervisor want to do?

Zhu Yijun looked back at Hai Rui, trying to guess what he was thinking from the expression on his face.

Can Hai Gong guess his true intention?

Using the Taifu Temple and the Shaofu Supervisor, one openly and one secretly, a group of industrial and commercial classes were cultivated.

They also invested money to open academies and trained a large number of scholars and literati.

As a judge, I tend to be more biased towards them and give them some leniency in the imperial examinations and official system reforms, so that they can train a group of civil servants to fight against the current civil servants who mainly represent the interests of the landlord class.

In the past, civil officials and scholars were fearless because they were sure that if the emperor left them, he would not be able to control the entire country.

No matter which faction of civil servants is used, even if it is like the emperor's grandfather killing one group and using another, in the end, he will still be stuck in their circle.

You have to break the circle, establish a new circle, and then let them collide within the rules you set.

Zhu Yijun and Hai Rui tacitly agreed not to continue the conversation. "Mr. Hai, do you have enough money? I heard that you traveled around Nanzhili, doing great things for others along the way, and you barely even had enough money to pay for your trip back to Beijing."

(End of this chapter)