I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 753 My Children Cannot Be Pigs
The slowing Luxi hit the waves on the river, splashing up waves. The sound of the rushing river and the sound of the waves hitting the bow intertwined together like a passionate piece of music.

Wusong Harbor is vast and boundless, with hundreds of sea and river ships moored densely at the pier. The dense forest of masts is even denser than that of Xiangjiang Harbor, like an endless black forest.

Tall towers with long arms stand on the river bank, constantly transferring bags full of goods between the ship's cabin and the dock.

Dozens of black smoke billowed up into the sky, piercing the clear blue sky. From a distance, it looked like the legendary Tower of Babel connecting heaven and earth.

From time to time, the sound of whistles could be heard, as sharp as a knife, tearing through the sky, bringing with it the smell of coal smoke from the Industrial Revolution.

“Ships from all over the world come here?” Marcelo asked incredulously. “Compared to this, Seville is just a fishing village.”

Leon's face was also full of shock. The last time he came, there were not so many ships. Now it seemed like there were twice as many ships.

Feeling the two people's extremely puzzled gazes, Jose shrugged.

"Ugh——!"

A distinctive whistle sounded from the river. Marcelo, Leon and others turned their heads and saw a new type of boat going upstream.

The ship is not big, about one hundred tons, and compared with the Luxi, it is like an elephant and a deer.

What is surprising is that this ship has no sails or oars, and its hull is shining with metallic gray. A cylinder stands upright in the middle of the ship, emitting black smoke. Its bow, which is similar to the bow of a clipper, splits through layer after layer of waves and goes upstream at a rapid speed.

"What kind of ship is this?" Marcelo asked in horror, pointing at the ship, as if he had seen a three-headed hellhound coming out of hell.

Jose put his right hand on his forehead, looked out for a while, and replied indifferently: "It should be a small steamer. The latest steamship developed by Wusong Shipyard."

Marcelo stared at José and asked through gritted teeth: “José, don’t you see? This boat has no sails or oars, but it is moving so fast.

Jose, don't you know what this means?"

Jose still looked nonchalant, "Sails and oars are both power sources, the steamer just uses a steam engine instead of sails and oars.

The small steamer of Wusong Shipyard is a bit backward. The steamer of Qinhuangdao Shipyard has a capacity of 300 tons and completed the sea trial around Jinzhou, Ganghwa Island, Hirado Port and Weihai Port last year.

Wusong Shipyard worked overtime to build this ship. But they were still a step behind, and the steam engine of Baoshan Shipyard was not as good as that of Lulong Shipyard, so they could only build a small boat like this.

Marcelo stared at José angrily.

Is that what I mean?

Leon looked at the small steamer in the distance, feeling lost and murmured, "How is it possible? How can there be a ship without sails and oars in the world? And it's moving so fast!"

He and Marcelo stared at the small steamer infatuatedly, watching it approach from the river mouth. In less than fifteen minutes, it disappeared between the water and the sky in the distance.

The steamer disappeared. Leon shook violently and woke up from his stupor. He flew over and grabbed Jose's hand tightly.

"Jose, what steam engine were you talking about?"

"Yes, it is a steam engine."

"Do you know how it works?"

"do not know."

"Have you seen it?"

"I've seen it."

"Then do you know how to make it?"

"I don't know. How to make a steam engine is the highest secret of the Ming Dynasty. If anyone dares to ask about it, someone from the Jinyiwei Security Bureau will come to your door in less than an hour.

The Security Bureau, it came to our door, it is more frightening than Satan coming to our house. The Security Bureau, the soldiers and civilians of the Ming Dynasty, who wouldn’t be afraid of it?”

Leon was desperate.

"We Portuguese cannot make this steam engine?"

"Build a steam engine?" Jose laughed twice. "Let's first imitate a thousand-ton prince's sailing ship. Clipper ships, new cannons, new gunpowder, rockets, iron and steel smelting technology.
You can't learn it. Even if you are allowed to learn it, the Portuguese can't learn it. Moreover, in recent years, new science and new technology in the Ming Dynasty have emerged continuously like a tide.

When you have worked hard to learn a certain technology, you look up and find that the Ming Dynasty has already eliminated this technology, and all your efforts have been in vain.

So if it is difficult to learn, or you can't learn it, you can just buy the machine. Why bother to learn it?"

Marcelo and Leon looked at each other, speechless. They only felt deep despair surging from the bottom of their hearts, drowning them like the sea and suffocating them.

The Luxi slowly approached the 11th berth at the Wusong Port Area B Terminal.

"Mr. Marcelo, Mr. Leon, the governor of Huzhou, Mr. Li Sanjiang, is hosting a banquet for your delegation in Shanghai. The barge is already waiting nearby, please move the boat.

Lieutenant Colonel Jose, the order of the state government requires you to accompany us."

A port authority official came on board with two attendants and spoke politely.

Jose asked, "Is Mr. Hai in Shanghai?"

"Yes, he plans to take the Luxi to Dagu Port."

Jose was overjoyed. "Great! It is our honor to be on the same ship with Hai Qingtian. Marquis Marcelo, Baron Leon, let's move the ship."

Everyone first went down the gangway to the shore, walked a few dozen meters, and then walked along the gangway to a paddle boat.

The oars were moving, and Marcelo and León stood on the deck, holding the handrails, still immersed in shock and numbness.

"One plus one equals one, one plus two equals two, two plus two equals four"

It was a sunny day. In Xiangyun Pavilion on Qionghua Island in the Western Garden, Zhu Yijun held the fifth princess in his arms and listened to the eldest princess leading the eldest son, the second daughter, the second son, the third son, the third daughter, the fourth son and the fourth daughter, reciting multiplication formulas in a baby voice.

They kept reciting until about 350, when the reciting group, which had been quite orderly just now, began to become chaotic.

Some looked around and recited “four five is twenty-one”; some were full of confidence but recited “five five is twenty-six”; others held their heads high and opened their mouths as wide as possible, but when you listened carefully, you could see that they just opened their mouths without making any sound, performing a shoddy live version.

Queen Xue Baoqin, Imperial Concubine Song Liuli and five other concubines sat in a circle, looking at the eight princes and princesses with smiles on their faces.

The fifth princess, who was less than two years old, snuggled in Zhu Yijun's arms, biting her fingers, her jewel-like eyes blinking as she looked at her brothers and sisters with relish.

When the eldest sister, the emperor's daughter, who was leading the recitation, reached 4624, she finally realized that the whole reciting team was in chaos and she could no longer lead the team.

The eldest prince, who had recited three sixes and twenty, finally realized that what he had just recited was all wrong, and lowered his head and dared not say a word; the second prince put his hands behind his back, tilted his head, and recited loudly: four sixes and twenty-five. When he was about to recite five sixes and thirty-two, he was glared at by the eldest sister, and his neck shrank, and he immediately stopped talking.

The big sister continued to stare at the third and fourth princesses, and scared the two guys who were just reciting nonsense so much that they shut up.

The third prince continued to fill in the gaps, but suddenly he realized that there was no sound around him and he was the only one left, like a toad with its throat pinched, his mouth opening and closing, only breathing out but not making any sound.

The fifth princess clapped her hands happily, pointed at the third princess and said in a baby voice, "Toad, haha." Zhu Yijun laughed loudly, and the seven concubines couldn't help but smile.

Amidst the laughter, Zhu Yijun looked around at his eight children twice, and his expression slowly became serious.

"In a distant country, happy education is practiced. Children must grow up happily. It doesn't matter whether they can learn any useful knowledge in their childhood, as long as they are happy.

I asked you to learn to read and memorize multiplication tables from the age of two or three. Those who failed to memorize well would be criticized. Compared with happy education, this is cruel and heartless, and it is a torture to you when you are young.

But if anyone dares to mention happy education in front of me, I will definitely slap him in the face.

Life is not fair!"

The seven princes and princesses, all less than five years old, listened quietly to Zhu Yijun's words.

“Some are born into poor families and suffer from hunger and cold all their lives; others are born into rich families and have no worries about food and clothing all their lives.

The family you are born into is determined by fate and is beyond your control. But how you live your life is up to you.

I can learn from my grandfather, the emperor, and practice Taoism and worship heaven, or eat vegetarian food and worship Buddha; I can indulge in wine and sex, and live a dissolute life; I can just get by and be a paperhanger in the Ming Dynasty.

No matter what, a few decades pass by, but it is also a lifetime.

But I chose the most difficult path.

How difficult it is, you will slowly understand when you grow up. But I want to tell you, no matter which one you choose, you must first accept the consequences calmly; secondly, you must have enough ability to walk on the path you choose. "

Zhu Yijun's expression became more and more serious. His gaze lingered on the face of each of his children for a few seconds, scanning them one by one.

"My meaning is very simple. You can become painters, poets, explorers, football players, polo masters, good shooters, engineers, inventors, etc.
You can join the army, fight on the battlefield, and become a general; you can become a navigator, travel around the world; you can become an adventurer, explore every unknown corner of the world.
You have been well-fed and well-clothed since birth, and you can enjoy a life of luxury. You can pursue your hobbies freely. As your father, I will neither force you nor stop you.

I have only one request for you. As princes and princesses of the Ming Dynasty, you can be stupid and mediocre, but you cannot lie down and give up."

Zhu Yijun said word by word: "My children can be dragons, phoenixes, tigers, wolves, or deer, but they cannot be pigs!"

The eldest princess led her younger brothers and sisters, crossed her arms and bowed: "Your sons will remember this."

Zhu Yijun handed the fifth princess over to the palace lady, and Concubine Gong Xu, along with the other concubines, led the princes and princesses downstairs to rest, drink hot milk and eat cakes.

Queen Xue Baoqin and Concubine Song Liuli continued to stay by Zhu Yijun's side.

Xue Baoqin took a piece of apple and stuffed it into her mouth. "Your Majesty, my brothers and sisters are all grown up. It's time to give them names."

Zhu Yijun nodded and replied: "Well, according to the ancestral system set by Emperor Taizu, Gaozhan Qijianyou, Houzai Yichangyou, brothers should be Chang. The five elements should also be next to the water character, and three drops of water should be used.

Let me think about it carefully and give the four brothers good names in order."

"What about the sisters?"

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "There are no rules for naming a princess. But for me, a princess is also of blood and comes from a royal family. She cannot be without a name.

Well, I thought about it and decided to use Xuan as the generational name and give them names with the character for female. You guys can also help think about it and come up with good names for the brothers and sisters."

Xue Baoqin and Song Liuli's eyes met in the air, they smiled lightly, and then quickly lowered their heads.

"Your Majesty is wise. Then we will do as you say and let our biological mother choose a name first, and then submit it to the Emperor for review and approval. Your Majesty, do you think this is a good idea?"

"Okay. Although you are all my blood, you carried me for ten months and gave birth to me at the risk of your life. You should have this right."

Chen Ju tiptoed to the side and stood there in silence.

After Zhu Yijun finished speaking, he turned to look at him, "What's the matter?"

"Lingnan has an urgent report: there are foreign envoys. The Cabinet and the Honglu Temple have submitted a petition requesting an imperial decree."

"Which country's envoy?"

"The Ottomans and Persians."

"Okay, go and invite Zhang Xiang, Right Prime Minister Wei Xuezeng, and Honglu Temple Minister Wu Dui to the Ziguang Pavilion. I will be there shortly."

"According to the order."

Zhu Yijun gave a few more instructions, and seeing that it was about time, he stood up and said, "It will take a lot of hard work for you two to raise our brothers and sisters."

"Your Majesty, this is my duty."

Xue Baoqin and Song Liuli said respectfully.

"Well, I'll leave first."

"I respectfully send you to your Majesty."

Zhu Yijun left Qionghua Island, put his hands in his sleeves, and walked on Yuhe Bridge.

He stopped suddenly and turned to look at Qionghua Island not far away.

The sky is clear, the breeze is blowing gently, the waves are rippling, the green trees are shaded, and the red walls and yellow tiles are faintly visible among the green.

"Qi Yan, now I finally understand that there is no selfishness in the royal family. My great cause cannot be ruined halfway. The key now is to choose a good successor."

Qi Yan lowered his head, held his breath, and dared not make a sound.

Zhu Yijun continued quietly, "Fortunately, I have made all the necessary preparations. Now I have the time and energy to slowly select and train a successor.

This grand undertaking cannot be accomplished by my generation alone. It needs to be passed down from generation to generation. This is the most important thing! "

Zhu Yijun sighed twice, rolled up his sleeves and continued walking forward, and soon arrived at the Ziguang Pavilion.

He first read the urgent reports from Yanzhou and Guangdong, and then read the memorials from the Cabinet and the Honglu Temple, and seemed to be thinking about something.

Twenty minutes later, Prime Minister Zhang Juzheng led the Right Prime Minister Wei Xuezeng and the Chief Minister of the Honglu Temple Wu Dui into the cabinet.

After the three of them crossed their arms and bowed, Zhu Yijun said politely, "Gentlemen, please take a seat."

After the eunuch served tea and left, Zhu Yijun continued, "The envoys from the Ottoman Empire and Persia have entered the Ming territory and are on their way to Beijing. They will arrive in ten days or so.

Their intention in coming here is nothing more than to negotiate peace with our Great Ming. What are the terms? Let us discuss it first!"

Zhu Yijun got straight to the point and then called out the name directly: "Mr. Wu, you are the Chief Minister of the Honglu Temple, you go first."

(End of this chapter)