I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 456: The First Poet in Xiyuan
Chen Ju tiptoed into the Qinzheng Hall holding a stack of petitions drafted by the cabinet.

"Your Highness, this is the proposal from the Cabinet."

"Ok!"

Zhu Yijun continued to read the memorial from the Supervisory Office and just snorted.

Chen Ju put the stack of test books on the left side of the table, lowered his head and bent his waist, then walked away.

Hu Zongxian has already set out for Beijing. According to calculation, he will be able to return to the capital in about half a month.

Tan Lun has returned to Beijing, and Hu Zongxian is also going to return to Beijing. What position should he be assigned? His position overlaps with Tan Lun's, and Tan Lun's ability is not inferior to Hu Zongxian's.

Famous ministers and generals such as Wang Yi'e, Lu Tong, Wang Daokun, Yu Dayou, and Li Chao all benefited from his support. Even if Qi Jiguang and others asked him to choose between Hu Zongxian and Tan Lun, he would only choose neutrality.

How to resettle?

Zhu Yijun put down his brush, stood up and stretched his shoulders and neck in the room, then bent his waist and did dozens of chest expansion exercises, and made up his mind.

"Qi Yan."

"The slave is here!"

"Give the red-stamped memorial on the right to the Imperial Household Department and transfer it to the Supervisory Office for disposal."

"Yes!"

Zhu Yijun sat down again, reached out to the left side of the table, and picked up the items on the stack of cabinet draft papers. Chen Ju was very considerate and put that book on the top.

Zhu Yijun took it out and unfolded it. It was a memorial signed by Zhang Jiayin, the Shaoyin of Shuntian Prefecture, regarding the gang fight at the gate of Yinian Public School.

Cabinet draft.

Dingde Academy and Wenchang Academy took the initiative to provoke, violated the law and insulted civility. The masterminds Shen Yikuan and Zhu Geng were dismissed, and Shen Li and Xu Guo were fined one year's salary.

The damage to Yinian Public School was compensated by Dingde Academy and Wenchang Academy, and the medicine expenses of the beaten students were also paid by the two academies.

Li Chunming, Shen Wanxiang and Wang Yongji were brave enough to protect students and school property and take responsibility, and were awarded once for their outstanding performance in the examination of personnel.

Zhu Yijun picked up a red pen and wrote on the top of the bill: "Those who humiliate others will bring humiliation upon themselves! Shen Yikuan and Zhu Geng will be dismissed from their official posts, stripped of their honors and sent back to their hometowns for resettlement.

Shen Li and Xu Guo were disrespectful teachers, and were dismissed from their official positions and ordered to return home. The other four were also prohibited from teaching, lecturing, or writing books, so as not to mislead students and leave a bad impression on the people in their hometowns.

After checking it, Zhu Yijun signed his seal, "Guo Yi".

The ruler is averse to being named directly.

After putting down the question book and the red pen, Zhu Yijun still couldn't calm down.

Zhu Yijun was greatly inspired by what happened in the public school yesterday.

After several years of hard work, the results finally paid off.

The change of people's hearts is more joyful than gathering wealth and withdrawing troops.

At this time in the Ming Dynasty, everyone from the royal family to the noble officials and gentry were rich and indulged in pleasure.

Pleasure comes at a cost and requires hard work from the people.

It happened that the Earth entered a mini ice age at this time, and the northern grasslands were cold and dry, so the Mongols could only gather in the area south of the desert and come into direct contact with the nine borders of the Ming Dynasty.

The northwest is dry, the weather in the Central Plains is changeable, natural disasters will inevitably lead to man-made disasters, and the harvest is poor every year.

The people of the Ming Dynasty suffered from poverty, hunger and cold.

The people in the south were burdened by grain taxes, the people in the north suffered from corvee labor, and they were also exploited by the imperial court and the gentry groups, which eventually led to the chaos in the late Ming Dynasty.

You have to make changes yourself.

How to change?

Gathering wealth and withdrawing troops is only a temporary expedient; changing people's hearts is the long-term plan.

He broke the shackles that Emperor Taizu had established in the early years of the dynasty to restrict everything in order to achieve stability, and at the same time got rid of the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism that matched these shackles. He took advantage of the years when Yangming's School of Mind was flourishing and the ideological turmoil to completely transform Cheng-Zhu Confucianism, which was mixed with many private ideas.

Anyway, it has been carefully decorated by countless people throughout history.

Judging from the gang fight at Yi Nian Public School yesterday, I believe it won’t be long before a great scholar will debate the classics for me.

Zhu Yijun took out a piece of white paper, took out a brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote two lines on the paper.

“Productivity is the fundamental driving force behind the development of human society.”

“Develop science and technology, initiate the industrial revolution, and achieve incremental development.”

In the future, the policies of the Ming Dynasty will focus on one center, developing science and technology, promoting productivity, and starting the industrial revolution. We also have enough power to open a new era that the Chinese nation has never had before.

Create the world!
After throwing the note into the brazier and watching it turn into ashes in the orange-red flames, Zhu Yijun was in a good mood.

"Qi Yan, go out and get some fresh air!"

Qi Yan quickly said, "Your Highness, the sky is getting cloudy and it might rain."

"Let it rain, let it rain. I can't control God and he can't control me. Let him make it rain and I will curse his mother! Haha!" Zhu Yijun laughed heartily.

After exiting Ziguang Pavilion, walk north along the tree-lined avenue west of the lake.

In front is the swimming pool which was converted from the original silkworm pond.

This building is very unique, a bit like the Water Cube. Half of it is a house made of stones, and the other half is a glass greenhouse. It is crystal clear and sparkling.

When the foreign ministers saw this, they all criticized it in their hearts.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince appears to be frugal, but in fact he is a wasteful prodigal. He actually used expensive Western glass to build such a shed, which is really too extravagant.

In fact, it is cheaper to build this shed with glass than with wood.

Xiyang Island is just a name, it can be anywhere, including Luanzhou, which is very close to the capital.

However, there are requirements for the wood used to build the royal palace. The nearest wood has to be cut down from the northeast and shipped here, and the shipping cost is extremely high.

If you want to be more showy and insist on high-quality wood such as golden nanmu, you have to cut it down in the South China Sea or Yunnan, Guizhou, and Myanmar, and then transport it out of the deep mountains across thousands of miles, which will cost even more.

Zhu Yijun walked past the swimming pool and came to the Yuhe Bridge. When he had walked only one-third of the way to the east, he heard the sound of stringed instruments and beautiful singing coming from the east.

After Emperor Longqing's birthday, the concubines in the harem became fascinated by Kunqu Opera, as well as the graceful operas such as Hui Opera and Nanyin that were introduced later, and could not stop listening to them.

So Chen and Zhu Yijun agreed to rehearse the play every three days at the Liyuanfang in Xiyuan and the Qionghua Palace, and the concubines in the harem would gather at these two places to watch the play. Is today another day for watching the play?

Zhu Yijun shook his head, walked back, came to the west section of Yuhe Bridge, got off the approach bridge, and continued walking north along Huxi Boulevard.

Passing by Yuxi Palace, Zhu Yijun stopped and looked for a while.

Ming Dynasty architecture followed the Song Dynasty style and preferred to use wood.

Zhu Yijun felt very bad.

All the large timber in the Central Plains, Huguang, and the southeast has been cut down. If one wants to obtain qualified timber, they can only go to remote areas, which is too costly.

Now the Northeast and the South China Sea have been incorporated into the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Both places are rich in timber, but the Ming Dynasty wants to develop navigation and build ships, which requires a large amount of timber. It must change its construction habits and abandon or use less timber.

There are several other problems with wooden buildings. One is that they cannot be built high. If they are built to four to six floors, they have reached their limit.

Second, wood is exposed to wind and rain, and is easily eaten by insects and rats, causing it to rot and decay, and its shelf life is not long.

Third, it is easy to start a fire. A lightning strike, a lit candle, or a stove can easily cause a fire if you are not careful. Once a fire occurs, the entire camp will be burned down, which is very difficult to put out.

Now we develop our own cement.

The foundation is laid with stones, the frame is made of reinforced concrete, and blue bricks are piled around it. It is simple, quick and relatively inexpensive.

Yuxi Palace and Qingfu Hall to the north will be transformed into palace buildings with a mixed structure of brick, stone and wood.

After these two pilot projects, Neile'an Hall, Silijian Sutra Factory, West Wine House, West Flower House, Silk Washing Factory and Stolen Goods and Penalties Warehouse in Xiyuan were completely razed to the ground and rebuilt into brick, stone, reinforced concrete buildings.

When Zhu Yijun was standing on the tree-lined avenue and looking at the rebuilt Yuxi Palace and Qingfu Hall to the west, three figures quietly emerged from the east gate of the Qionghua Palace across the lake from him.

Taking advantage of the cover of flowers, plants and trees, the eunuchs and palace maids dodged the patrolling Jingjun and soon arrived at the tree-lined road on the east side of the lake from Guanghan Bridge in the east.

The three of them quietly hid behind a hidden rockery, whispering and discussing things.

".Are you sure it's in the inner training ground in the north?"

"Of course he is. I'm well-informed!"

"But I heard that the inner training ground is very large. In addition to a large horse racing track and training ground, there are also stables, armories and hay houses. It's not easy to find."

"What are you afraid of? We have plenty of time. We can just look for it slowly."

After a moment's silence, the other two seemed to have believed it and reached a consensus. Just as they were about to speak, a team of patrolling Jing troops suddenly came over.

Led by a clerk of the imperial horses, the Jing troops came in formation, wearing soft armor, carrying swords and guns.

The three of them quickly shut up, pressed their backs against the rockery, and held their breath.

In the past, the Imperial Guards were hard laborers, and were filled by eunuchs who had been convicted of crimes, specializing in hard labor and menial chores.

Zhu Yijun became the crown prince and entered the Western Garden to accompany his grandfather. With the consent of Emperor Jiajing, the Jing Army was reorganized and managed by the Imperial Horse Administration. Strong and brave eunuchs were selected to serve, their treatment was improved, and they were trained every day and guarded the Western Garden.

After Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, he took over the defense of the gates of the Forbidden City and guarded the safety of the emperor and empress day and night.

After the clean army left, the three men bent over, tiptoed, and quickly left, continuing to sneak northward under the cover of trees, flowers and plants.

In Yayuan, the three were almost caught by a team of eunuchs who came out of the garden to clean the house.

Fortunately, the leader was alert and heard the footsteps. He immediately led the two men to the back of a large water tank. Then he circled around the water tank and barely avoided the team of eunuchs.

We passed Yayuan without any danger and had a smooth journey, but when we arrived at Puxiang Bridge, we were dumbfounded. There were four palace maids standing on the bridge, chattering about gossip in the cool breeze.

It looks like we won’t be able to finish the conversation in a short while.

This is a shortcut to the inner parade ground in the west. If you don't go through here, you have to go around the north entrance, where there are people coming and going, and you will be discovered if you show your head.

How to do?
The leader peered through the leaves for a while, then turned to the second person and said, "Aren't you good at throwing stones?"

The second person's eyes lit up and asked, "Throw stones to drive them away?"

The leader shook his head: "No, scare them away."

The second person immediately took out a belt and started to tie a knot and modify it.

The third person found a stone on the ground that was neither too big nor too small and was just the right size.

The second person put the stone on one end of the modified silk ribbon, raised his right hand, turned it twice in the air, and threw it at a palace maid on the bridge.

With a bang, it hit a palace maid on the back. She turned around quickly and was horrified to find that there was no one within a radius of dozens of meters.

Is there a ghost?
She was so frightened that she shivered all over and hurriedly urged her companions to leave Puxiang Bridge.

The three of them took advantage of the free time, quickly walked across the Puxiang Bridge, walked along the northern shore of Beihai Lake for a while, and finally entered the inner training ground.

Zhu Yijun rode on a fire dragon horse and trotted towards this side.

The body of the Fire Dragon Colt is fiery red, but its mane and tail are golden yellow.

He has a tall frame and a very handsome appearance.

Just now, Zhu Yijun walked over here and found that he hadn't ridden a horse for several days. He suddenly felt itchy, so he asked someone to harness the Fire Dragon Horse, changed into a blue arrow robe and red armor, pulled the bridle, held the saddle bridge, and climbed onto the horse.

Fang Liang, Qi Yan and a dozen other eunuchs followed on horseback, less than ten meters away.

When riding horses at a gallop, the speed is quite fast, so in order to avoid collision, they will keep a certain distance from each other.

Zhu Yijun pulled the reins and made the Fire Dragon Colt trot.

At this moment, the large dark cloud that was just there was blown away to who knows where by the strong wind.

The sky is high and the clouds are light, and the autumn air is crisp. The sunlight shines through the sparse clouds and lazily falls on the Forbidden City and the Western Garden. It is as peaceful as a painting.

A line of wild geese flew south in a V-formation, becoming the moving elves in this painting.

Zhu Yijun, feeling happy, said to himself: "Such a beautiful scene must be written into a poem."

He coughed twice in a pretentious manner, then recited aloud: "The autumn wind blows and the weather becomes cooler. I advise everyone to take care of their health. Moisten your lungs as the seasons change. Eat radishes in the evening and ginger in the morning."

"What a wonderful poem! He is worthy of being the number one poet in Xiyuan! If I were born in the early Tang Dynasty, Li Bai would have shouted, 'If there is Yu, why is there Liang?'"

Suddenly, a chuckling sound came from the side, which scared Zhu Yijun.

(End of this chapter)