Jiajing Chengming

"Tang Shunzhi, a Jinshi from the Ministry of Rites, recommends himself to the Qing army, and I ask the Xiantai to approve it."

"Ge Shouli, a Jinshi from the Ministry of Rites, recommends himself to the Qing army, and I ask the Xiantai to approve it."

"Fei Maoxian, a Hanlin scholar, recommends himself to join the Qing army. I ask the Xiantai to approve it."

……

Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Left Censor-in-Chief Gui E couldn't help but burst into tears when he saw a large group of young scholars appearing outside the Censorate and submitting their petitions.

"The future life is terrible!"

"What a young man!"

Gui E couldn't help but sigh repeatedly, and then he hurriedly asked someone to take the books.

Liu Yuanqing, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, Lu Ying, the Left Censor of the Ministry of War, and others watched this scene from afar, their faces turned pale as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

Lu Ying could not help but sigh and said, "Your Majesty has repeatedly opened special examinations and has repeatedly favored me, so that now, even a radical policy like the inspection of military land can receive such a large response! It is really heartbreaking!"

"This is all the result of a wealthy nation! Otherwise, how could we have the financial resources to make them work harder?"

"But we really have no choice, and we can't persuade them anymore. We have to persuade their officers not to prevent the inspection of military land, especially not to start a rebellion, and there is no need to rebel against the northern barbarians for a momentary impulse. It's just a tax on civilian land and paying the grain for military farms, not returning the land."

"Even the rebellion in the Martial Temple could not succeed, let alone now, when Your Majesty is still so popular among young scholars, the treasury is full, and you are willing to help the people with the military expenses!"

Liu Yuanqing then expressed his own views.

Lu Ying nodded and said, "Young Master Sima is right."

Huang Wan, who was born in a wealthy family on the coast, couldn't help but shake his head and sighed when he saw this, and said to Lin Xiyuan: "Your Majesty is a wise and decisive king after all, and he was not frightened by this superficial change!"

"I'm afraid our Mindi garrison will also be revitalized because of this. But if this is the case, I don't know if Kaihai will become even more distant after your majesty really strengthens the army and becomes more powerful."

Lin Xiyuan replied worriedly.

Huang Wan still pursed her lips and said firmly: "It shouldn't happen. Your Majesty should know the disadvantages of only official trade!"

"Now, apart from entering the Imperial Study, it is difficult to find out His Majesty's heart from other places."

"Nowadays, we don't even have to select a consort from the people."

"Unfortunately, not everyone can be like Yan Song, who can always understand the emperor's intentions."

At this time, Lin Xiyuan lamented the reality that it was even more difficult for bureaucrats to obtain important information about the emperor.

It is indeed difficult for outsiders to find out Zhu Houcong's current situation since his financial resources increased greatly.

After all, apart from emotional factors and the instinctive desire to live in peace, the reason why this person is willing to sell out some information is to exchange it for economic benefits.

Now that Zhu Houcong was financially well-off, he provided better and better treatment to those around him and also supported more and more people around him. Naturally, it became difficult for outsiders to find out his information.

War situation.

boom!
On this day, Zhu Houcong was testing a new musket in the Western Garden.

This musket is a newly developed self-propelled musket by the Armory Bureau.

After pouring the primer, covering the firing port, loading the gunpowder and bullets, and compacting them with a cleaning rod, Zhu Houcong pulled the trigger, and a crisp sound was heard in the air.

At the same time, a puff of white smoke shot into the air.

After Zhu Houcong issued an edict allowing the sale of certain firearms to the Japanese daimyo, he began to attach increasing importance to the research and development of new firearms.

After all, as the emperor, he had already begun to export the bird gun, which was considered an advanced firearm in the world in the seventh year of Jiajing. This was also a change in the history of Japan, as it allowed the bird gun, a matchlock gun with a front sight and rear sight, to appear in Japan ahead of time.

What impact will this have on Japan and the world?

Zhu Houcong himself was not completely sure.

He and his important officials finally passed the resolution mainly out of economic interests.

There was no way out. The price offered by the Japanese daimyo who needed to wage war was too high.

However, based on the fact that the Japanese at that time created more negative impressions on the Ming Dynasty than positive ones, and that the Japanese in later generations also created more negative impressions than positive ones on the entire China, Zhu Houcong would instinctively be wary of importing advanced firearms into them.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong had to take his country's firearms to the next level in order to feel more secure.

Therefore, after the court meeting, he went to the Armory Bureau, which was responsible for the development of new firearms.

The so-called self-propelled musket is a flintlock gun that does not use a matchlock. After Zhu Houcong asked Zhao Jun, an old man in the palace, to lead people to develop the Banjiu gun, which is a heavy matchlock gun, Zhu Houcong asked him to lead powerful craftsmen to start developing self-propelled muskets.

By now, in the seventh year of the Jiajing reign, the self-propelled musket had been developed to a very mature level.

Soon after Zhu Houcong pulled the trigger, he saw an armored pig rib that was specially placed seventy steps in front of him tremble violently.

This made Zhu Houcong grin.

A self-propelled musket without a fuse could be developed, and it had better shooting accuracy and range than the bird gun, which made Zhu Houcong more confident in selling the bird gun to the Japanese daimyo.

After the test firing, Zhu Houcong said to Zhao Jun, who was in charge of the Arms Bureau, "Very good! According to the rules, we will reward those who have made contributions to the development of this gun, but we must not be satisfied with just this. We must think about whether there are any new ways to improve the firing mechanism, the barrel, and the loading of bullets."

"Yes!"

Zhao Jun replied.

By the way, Zhu Houcong had received a memorial from the Ministry of Works stating that the first batch of bird guns to be shipped to Japan for sale had passed quality inspection and had sailed to Japan on March 17, the seventh year of the Jiajing reign.

Zhu Houcong knew that this meant that the Ming Dynasty would make a lot of money from Japan in the arms trade.

The Ming Dynasty's military manufacturing will no longer be entirely self-produced.

As a result, official trade will further expand in scale and variety.

As an emperor, he is not only changing the Ming Dynasty, but is also beginning to have a greater impact on the world.

However, the people around Zhu Houcong have not yet noticed this change.

What his family is most concerned about right now is actually the marriage of his younger sister, Princess Yongchun.

The son-in-law was selected from a loyal and brave orphan raised by the emperor, which made Empress Dowager Zhangsheng, Jiajing's biological mother, very happy.

Because in the eyes of Empress Dowager Zhang Sheng, this way she wouldn't have to worry about her spoiled little daughter not being able to handle the relationship with her husband's family well.

Princess Yongchun herself was also very happy about this, because she had secretly chosen her husband, and because he was raised by the royal family since childhood, she did not have to worry about facing her parents-in-law.

Zhu Houcong had also appointed his new son-in-law Chen Zhao as the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard (a nominal title), and was just waiting for him to marry the princess.

Zhu Houcong's family life remained happy because of this.

However, where there are people who are happy, there are naturally people who are unhappy.

Zhu Houcong's choice of a son-in-law for the princess made the gentry and wealthy families very unhappy because he chose one directly from the orphans raised by Jiajing.

Therefore, after Zhu Houcong finished the test firing of the musket, he received an urgent memorial from the Censorate, stating that the newly selected future prince consort was suspected of having an affair with a prostitute!

Because a prostitute named You filed a complaint in the Censorate, saying that Chen Zhao, after embezzling her ransom money, bribed the Minister of Rites Zhu Xizhou and the eunuch Huang Jin, and after being appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he also attempted to silence her. Fortunately, she was aware of it and was not harmed by Chen Zhao.

Zhu Houcong could not help but frown: "How could such a thing happen?"

Good things don't go out, bad things pass thousands of miles.

By the time Zhu Houcong learned about this, the news had already spread throughout the streets and alleys of the capital, saying that the chosen son-in-law was actually a playboy who lived in brothels and was a cruel and unfaithful man.

Many court officials who did not want the emperor to succeed in choosing a son-in-law only from among the orphans were also very happy about this, and even welcomed this embarrassing situation for the royal family.

"Now, Your Majesty should understand the consequences of not complying with the wealthy family's request to re-select a prince consort! Not only will it be embarrassing, but it will also cause trouble for the trusted eunuchs and ministers in charge of this matter."

"So what if the royal family raises an orphan? It doesn't mean he is really a good person. At least, if the rich and powerful people in the world don't recognize him as a good person, he can't become a good person!"

"Haha, that's the truth. Everyone, please come forward to report to the officials of the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial Household Department Huang Jin! This is not only to rectify the rules of the court, but also to uphold justice for the common people, and to let the powerful know to be afraid!"

As a result, these court officials began to discuss the matter, and some even called for the impeachment of Zhu Xizhou and Huang Jin and other people who were directly responsible for the selection of candidates for the son-in-law.

Zhu Houcong also knew that these people were not coming for Zhu Xizhou and Huang Jin, but for him as the emperor, and for his refusal to choose a son-in-law from the common people.

Zhu Houcong himself also felt quite aggrieved, because it was the gentry who had made things difficult for him in the beginning by not allowing talented people to run for the position of prince consort, forcing him to choose only from among the orphans. Now they were starting to make a fuss about this matter again, or at least it was very likely that they were making a fuss about this matter.

Zhu Houcong did have some political sensitivity.

However, Zhu Houcong could not completely rule out the possibility that Zhu Xizhou and Huang Jin were not doing something behind his back, or that Chen Zhao had not behaved inappropriately.

Not only did eunuchs really mess up the selection of royal consorts in history, but it also happened during the reign of Zhu Houcong himself.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong had to be cautious and had to ask Shi Bao from the Zhenfu Division to investigate first, and he also summoned Huang Jin at the same time.

"Tell me, did you mess around in the selection of the prince consort?"

Zhu Houcong asked about Huang Jinlai. (End of this chapter)