Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 753 Zheng Hongkui Enters the Palace

"Lord Kang!" Deng Wenyuan stepped inside and was surprised to see Kang Youfu there. As an imperial guard, he knew more about some situations than outsiders and was very clear about Kang Youfu's current identity and status.

Although Kang Youfu was only a deputy minister of the Ministry of Revenue, he also held the position of Minister of the Imperial Household Department. Although the latter was an official position in the inner court, what exactly the Imperial Household Department did was unknown to outsiders, but Deng Wenyuan knew it very well.

Kang Youfu is deeply trusted by Zhu Shencui. The Imperial Household Department that he is in charge of may seem insignificant now, but in fact many of its functions overlap with the Six Ministries. In other words, he, as the Minister of the Imperial Household Department, is almost equivalent to the chief minister of a small cabinet.

As Zhu Shenzhui's right-hand man, Kang Youfu's status and position in the future will definitely surpass the six ministries and be on par with the cabinet elders. Deng Wenyuan knew this very well. So he might not care about other people, but he was respectful to Kang Youfu.

"Thank you for your hard work, Guard Deng. Is there something important that brings you here so late?" Kang Youfu hurriedly stopped Deng Wenyuan from saluting. Although his status in the inner court was not low, Deng Wenyuan's status was not bad either. Not to mention that he was the half-brother of Marquis Dingyuan, who was a leading figure among the nobles. Moreover, Deng Wenyuan was currently a second-class guard in front of the emperor and a person close to Zhu Shenzhu. How could Kang Youfu dare to be arrogant?

"Indeed, there is something." Deng Wenyuan nodded, and at the same time, he looked at Zheng Hongkui and said, "Send the regent's order, and summon Laizhou Governor Zheng Hongkui to the palace to meet the emperor immediately!"

After saying that, Deng Wenyuan took out a token from his bosom. Seeing the token, Kang Youfu's pupils shrank. This token represented that the holder had direct access to the palace. The palace gates were about to be locked. Since Deng Wenyuan took out this token, it meant that Zhu Shenzhui was anxious to see Zheng Hongkui.

Although he was somewhat puzzled, wondering why he was in such a hurry to find Zheng Hongkui at this time, Kang Youfu did not ask a single question. Seeing Zheng Hongkui standing there in a daze, seemingly not knowing how to react, Kang Youfu quickly kicked him secretly and winked at him.

"Your Majesty... I obey your order. I will go now..." Zheng Hongkui had never been to the palace before. He originally thought that he would enter the palace once before going to Shandong. Who would have thought that the order to summon him to the palace would come so soon, and at this time.

Zheng Hongkui was completely unprepared and only came to his senses after Kang Youfu reminded him. He quickly saluted and replied.

Just as Zheng Hongkui was about to follow Deng Wenyuan into the palace, Kang Youfu coughed and reminded Zheng Hongkui that he was drunk and it was inappropriate to enter the palace. He should wash up and change clothes before going. Zheng Hongkui realized what was going on and thanked Kang Youfu in a hurry. He apologized to Deng Wenyuan and said that he would go change clothes first, and then he hurried to the inner courtyard.

After a while, after washing and changing into official uniform, Zheng Hongkui came back and followed Deng Wenyuan out of the mansion and headed towards the palace.

On the way there, Zheng Hongkui secretly stuffed a purse into Deng Wenyuan's pocket when no one was paying attention. Deng Wenyuan, a child from a noble family, knew what was inside the purse as soon as he weighed it in his hand and smiled instantly.

"Brother Deng, why did the Regent ask me to enter the palace so late at night?" Zheng Hongkui asked with an apologetic smile.

"I'm just a royal guard. How would I know why the Regent summoned you to the palace..." Deng Wenyuan answered like this, but then he felt something was wrong. After all, he had taken benefits from others, so he couldn't just evade the question like this.

He paused and lowered his voice and said, "Don't worry, Lord Zheng. It shouldn't be a bad thing. Lord Xu, the Right Censor-in-Chief, is in Wenhua Palace right now. Maybe the Regent has something to consult you about."

"Thank you for your advice, Brother Deng. I have only been in Beijing for a short time and don't know many people. Today I met Brother Deng and we hit it off. If Brother Deng doesn't mind, you can come to see me after work on weekdays. I will accompany you. Can we have a few drinks together?"

"Hahaha, I am so embarrassed to bother Lord Zheng like this..."

"Don't bother me, don't bother me. Brother Deng is already giving me face by coming here. Besides, if Brother Deng can take me around the capital, let me see more and make some friends, I will be more than happy."

"Haha, you've found the right person. There's really no place in the capital that I don't know. If Lord Zheng is interested, this is just a small matter."

"Hehehe, then it's settled. I'll come to see Brother Deng when the time comes. Please don't refuse."

“No, no…”

The two continued walking and chatting, and after a while they arrived at the gate of the imperial palace. They passed the inspection with the token and registered Zheng Hongkui who was accompanying them, and then they entered the palace.

When they got to the palace gate, Deng Wenyuan instantly became serious and refused to speak to Zheng Hongkui. Zheng Hongkui was even more afraid to breathe. It was his first time to enter the palace. Although it was dark, the majestic atmosphere in the palace still made Zheng Hongkui feel a little breathless. He followed Deng Wenyuan and walked forward carefully. He didn't dare to look around, and his heart was beating non-stop.

After a while, they arrived at Wenhua Hall. Deng Wenyuan took Zheng Hongkui to the entrance of the hall and asked him to wait here for a while while he went in to report. After a while, a voice came from inside to call Zheng Hongkui in. An unfamiliar guard came out and led Zheng Hongkui inside. After entering, he did not go directly to the main hall, but went to the side hall.

The lights in the side hall were brightly lit. Zhu Shenzhui sat at the top, with two people sitting on his left and right.

Zheng Hongkui recognized one of the men, it was Xu Xiancheng whom he had met before, but he did not know the other man. The man was about forty years old, handsome, and dressed in a Qilin costume. When he saw Zheng Hongkui come in, he glanced at him. The look was as sharp as a blade, which made Zheng Hongkui's heart tighten.

"Your humble servant Zheng Hongkui pays homage to His Highness the Regent. May the Regent live a thousand years and a thousand thousand years!" Needless to say, the man in the main seat, wearing a Taoist robe, without a crown but only a jade hairpin, must be the current Regent Zhu Shenzhui, otherwise he would not be sitting in this position.

Zheng Hongkui walked in and knelt down on his knees. He kowtowed three times to Zhu Shenzhui and shouted "Long live Zhu Shenzhu!"

His gesture made Zhu Shenzhui stunned, and then he did not know whether to laugh or cry. The Ming Dynasty was not the Qing Dynasty in history. The Ming Dynasty did not have so many rules for the relationship between the emperor and his subjects. Except for some major ceremonies, officials did not need to kowtow to the emperor. Generally, they just bowed their heads and saluted.

When the emperor and his subjects talked, they all sat down to talk. How could it be the case that the emperor kowtowed first and then knelt to talk? The ministers (slaves) did not dare to stand up unless the emperor called them to stand up. You should know that the officials of the Ming Dynasty were very bold. In particular, there were many censors who pointed at the emperor's nose and scolded him in court meetings. There were also many young people who were proud of their righteous and straightforward criticism and wished that the emperor would drag them out and spank them in anger.

What's a few spankings? As long as he doesn't kill himself, he will surely become famous. Even if he does, his name will go down in history and his descendants will be proud of him. This is the case for the emperor, let alone Zhu Shenzhu, a regent? So this is the first time that Zhu Shenzhu has seen a minister who behaves like Zheng Hongkui.

Zhu Shenzhui was stunned and couldn't help laughing. But when he thought about it, it made sense. Zheng Hongkui was not an orthodox military commander. His Zheng family was pirates at first and then accepted the amnesty. It was normal for him not to know the rules of the court. Moreover, it was sudden that he was summoned to the palace today. No one had taught him the rules after entering the palace. It was normal for Zheng Hongkui to subconsciously act like this when he first entered the palace to see Zhu Shenzhui.

Not only Zhu Shenzui, but even Xu Xiancheng and Zhou Anmin who were present couldn't help laughing, and looked with interest at Zheng Hongkui who was kneeling on the ground with a bruise on his forehead and his butt raised high.

"Zheng Aiqing, please stand up!" Zhu Shenzhui did not stop him. He let him kowtow if he wanted to. It would be bad to stop him at this time. After he finished kowtowing and shouted "Long live the Lord", Zhu Shenzhui spoke.

"I, your humble servant, would like to thank the Regent for his highness..." Zheng Hongkui kowtowed three more times before getting up from the ground and standing there with his hands hanging down.

"Give me a seat!"

As soon as Zhu Shenzhui finished speaking, a young eunuch brought an embroidered stool over and placed it below Xu Xiancheng and Zhou Anmin.

Zheng Hongkui thanked him again in haste, then sat down nervously. He was particularly careful when he sat down, with only half of his buttocks touching the stool. He did not dare to sit firmly at all, let alone look up at Zhu Shenzhui.

Zhu Shenzhui didn't care about these details. He first asked Zheng Hongkui in a friendly manner when he arrived in the capital, whether the journey was smooth, whether he was used to living in the capital, whether he had been to the Imperial Household Department, whether he had met Kang Youfu, whether he knew about the situation of Shandong's maritime trade, whether he had considered how to operate the maritime trade in the future, etc.

At the beginning, Zheng Hongkui was still very nervous. After all, it was the first time in his life as a pirate leader to enter the palace and have a conversation with the Regent of the Ming Dynasty.

Even though Zhu Shenzhui was not the emperor, everyone in the world knew that as the regent, he was no different from the emperor except that he did not have the title.

Zheng Hongkui was very brave when it came to looting, burning and killing at sea. For him, killing and arson were as easy as eating. But today, facing Zhu Shenzui, Zheng Hongkui was very cautious and extremely excited. Even the boldest pirates would behave differently when they arrived at this place. Not to mention Zheng Hongkui, even Zheng Zhilong would be respectful if he came.

As he answered each question, Zheng Hongkui gradually calmed down and his speech became much clearer.

He answered them one by one. When asked about maritime trade, Zheng Hongkui talked even more and said a lot about Japan. He said that he knew Japan quite well and had been to Japan many times in person. Although Japan is a small country, it is not poor. There are many wealthy families and merchants among the people, and the local wealthy families in Japan are very rich. Since Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Japan has been unified in name and no longer attacks each other like during the Warring States Period. After Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death, Tokugawa Ieyasu seized the throne and the Tokugawa shogunate controlled the Japanese government. Now Japan has long restored peace.

Japan has always had a great demand for Ming Dynasty goods. If the imperial court opens sea trade through Japan, it will surely reap huge rewards. Although Japan does not produce much, there are many good things there, such as lacquerware, swords, fans, etc., which are very popular in Ming Dynasty. By trading Ming Dynasty goods and bringing back Japan's products, the profits will be quite lucrative.

In addition, Japan's silver and copper are cheap, and they can be shipped back to the Ming Dynasty for several times the profit. Zheng Hongkui thinks it is a good idea for the court to open up maritime trade this time. As long as he controls the Japanese shipping routes and monopolizes Japanese trade, and adds the maritime trade with Korea, there will be no problem in making millions of dollars or even more in profit a year.

(End of this chapter)