Jiajing Chengming

"I am a man of insight."

"But even if he admired Gao Gong, he shouldn't have asked the eunuchs to privately tell the crown prince that Gao Gong was someone the crown prince could rely on in the future."

"Why, as a gentleman of the Eastern Palace, he dares not recommend ministers to the Crown Prince openly?"

Zhu Houcong learned from Xia Yan that Zhai Luan replied that he made friends with the eunuchs around the prince in order to let the eunuchs praise Gao Gong to the prince and let the prince know that Gao Gong was a talent. After that, he told Xia Yan this in the imperial study.

in fact.

The real reason why Zhai Luan made friends with the eunuchs was that he wanted to make friends with the eunuchs around the crown prince and let them slander Gao Gong.

But now, Zhao Zhenji has exposed the truth.

Then, Zhu Houcong sent Xia Yan to ask Zhai Luan.

Zhai Luan just lied and changed his tone so that it wouldn't seem like he was harming anyone.

For Zhai Luan, since the emperor sent Xia Yan to ask him, if he lied to Xia Yan, he would only be deceiving Xia Yan, and it would not be considered deceiving the emperor.

And Xia Yan's conveying of his lies to the emperor could not be considered deceiving the emperor.

Of course, more importantly, Zhu Houcong had no intention of getting to the bottom of the matter.

Even if Zhai Luan had secretly connected with the prince's eunuchs, Zhu Houcong had no intention of replacing him now.

Who made Zhai Luan so obedient in teaching the prince?

The eunuchs around the prince would also tell him everything about Zhai Luan.

Therefore, Zhu Houcong actually knew everything, but he still pretended not to know.

Zhai Luan also knew that the emperor was pretending to be ignorant and needed him to cooperate in the act, so he followed suit.

Now, Zhu Houcong needed an obedient official from the Eastern Palace who would obey the imperial power and keep an eye on the crown prince and the people around him for him, so as to prevent anyone from making trouble for the crown prince when the land survey and other policies were carried out.

After Zhu Houcong said this, Xia Yan responded in a cooperative manner: "Your Majesty is right. Zhai Luan did act too stupidly."

"Tell him that I will spare him this time because he once protected the crown prince and reported the crown prince's situation in a timely manner."

"But it won't happen again."

Zhu Houcong then made his final decision.

Xia Yan hurriedly thanked Zhai Luan on his behalf.

In response to Zhao Zhenji's memorial, Zhu Houcong simply replied "I understand".

Zhao Zhenji was naturally a little disappointed after receiving the red-ink comments.

Gao Gong even advised him: "Don't take it too seriously. Your Majesty has his own reasons for doing this. After all, strictly speaking, Minister Zhai is one of Your Majesty's own men."

"You mean, His Majesty needs him to keep an eye on the Crown Prince, the two princes, and us?"

Zhao Zhenji asked about Gao Gong.

Gao Gong nodded: "This kind of thing is inevitable in the royal family. Your Majesty can't really leave the East Palace and the two princes alone."

"Do you think that Zhai Luan really wants to let the Crown Prince know that you, Gao Suqing, are a man of great talent, so he makes friends with the nobles?"

Zhao Zhenji did not comment and asked about Gao Gong meaningfully.

Gao Gong smiled and said, "Of course not!"

"Fortunately, this matter was exposed by your brother Meng Jing, which allowed me, Gao Gong, to gain a reputation as the most popular person around the crown prince, who was so admired that he took the initiative to make friends with the nobles to help me advance."

Gao Gong bowed to Zhao Zhenji and expressed his gratitude.

Zhao Zhenji walked away with a chuckle, saying, "I know that you, Gao Suqing, are deliberately using me, otherwise you wouldn't have told me that you discovered that Zhai Luan was secretly associating with Zhong Gui. You're obviously afraid that he might harm you by associating with Zhong Gui, so you've been keeping an eye on him for a long time, right?"

"Brother Meng Jing!"

Gao Gong chased after him and said, "I want to apologize to you, but I don't know what it will take for you to forgive me."

Zhao Zhenji finally forgave Gao Gong and asked Gao Gong to treat him to a meal.

However, when Gao Gong and Zhao Zhenji came to the main hall to continue to perform their duties, they clearly felt that Zhai Luan now disliked them even more.

"Master Zhao, why did you falsely accuse Master Zhai?"

Even Crown Prince Zhu Zaigui questioned Zhao Zhenji in the main hall because Zhai Luan came to him crying and complaining that Zhao Zhenji had impeached and falsely accused him of making friends with the nobles.

Zhao Zhenji said: "Your Highness, I am not making a false accusation."

Zhu Zaigui said, "If you didn't make a false accusation, then why did the emperor only write in red that he knew about it, instead of conducting a thorough investigation? It's obvious that he was trying to save your dignity."

"Your Highness, Master Zhao submitted a memorial to report Minister Zhai's friendship with the nobles because I told him about this matter."

"If it is a false accusation, then it can only be me who is falsely accusing Minister Zhai." Gao Gong took the initiative to speak at this time.

Zhu Zaigui was quite impressed by Gao Gong's initiative to teach him yesterday, so he became even more curious: "Really? Then why did Master Gao say that?"

"Because I do see that Minister Zhai is valued in making friends."

Gao Gong replied.

Zhai Luan couldn't help but blush.

Zhu Zaigui also looked at Zhai Luan at this time, and was about to ask Zhai Luan further questions, but Xu Jie interrupted and said, "Your Highness, let us start talking. His Majesty has already dealt with this matter. Asking further questions will only embarrass the masters!"

"Master Xu is right, let's start talking."

Zhu Zaigui understood what Xu Jie meant and nodded.

Zhai Luan breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Zhu Zaigui and Xu Jie with gratitude.

But at the same time, Zhai Luan became more wary of Gao Gong.

"That Gao Gong really has no secrets from the Crown Prince! He even dared to admit to the Crown Prince openly that he used Zhao Zhenji to deal with me!"

"And the current prince is very intelligent. I'm worried that sooner or later the prince will trust him more among the masters in the East Palace!"

Therefore, Zhai Luan took the opportunity to come to the cabinet to submit his memorial, and when he met Xia Yan, he told Xia Yan about his concerns about the future.

After hearing this, Xia Yan stood up, put his hands behind his back and said, "Your Majesty's eyes for finding talent are really ruthless! As the saying goes, once a needle is out of the bag, no one can stop it. We'd better stay away from such people."

"That being said, these two are indeed arrogant and domineering. I'm afraid they are the same as Zhang Fujing and Gui E!"

Zhai Luan said anxiously.

Xia Yan looked at the several long cypress trees outside Wenyuan Pavilion, and after a moment's silence, he said, "If they are really such people, then they are not truly loyal to Your Majesty!"

Speaking of it.

Xia Yan turned around and looked at Zhai Luan: "You don't need to worry about whether Gao Gong will gain more trust from the prince. Just remember that His Majesty still has the final say in the world today."

Zhai Luan nodded and asked Xia Yan: "Now that the crown prince has been appointed, what else will Your Majesty do with his determination to govern the country?"

"It is inevitable to survey the land area across the country."

Xia Yan replied at this time.

After hearing this, Zhai Luan took a deep breath and sighed, "Leaving Zhang Fujing and Gui E and getting rid of Yang Yiqing, I knew this would be the result!"

"no way!"

"The Henan dike breach, the anonymous provocation, and the death of the second daughter of the emperor are like three thorns piercing your majesty's chest."

"So, His Majesty will not rest until these wealthy families have completely lost the qualifications to provoke him."

Xia Yan raised his head and looked at Zhai Luan: "You are the master of the East Palace. When you govern in the future, you must know your limits and don't become a pawn for the world's wealthy and powerful families."

Zhai Luan nodded.

Xia Yan spoke again: "In addition to surveying the land, Your Majesty should also deal with taxation and promote horse-drawn trains."

Speaking of it.

Xia Yan laughed and said, "Your Majesty always brings unexpected and fresh things to people. This horse-drawn train is an example."

The next day.

In the imperial study, Zhu Houcong also talked to Zhang Cong, Gui E and Xia Yan about several major policies that would be dealt with next, and allocated power to them.

"Now the Ministry of Revenue bonds have been issued, the Crown Prince's affairs have been settled, and you have also heard about the horse-drawn trains and carriages of the Armory."

"I have thought about it and it is urgent to carry out the national land reclamation. We should also rectify the taxation policy while we are at it."

"In addition, I must take advantage of the opportunity created by the wealthy and powerful families in the world to create so many refugees for me, and use it as an opportunity to provide work-for-relief to build horse-drawn trains and improve transportation."

Zhu Houcong then made the assignment: "The matter of measuring the land will be handled by Yuan Fu himself, the taxation policy will be handed over to Gui Ge Lao, and Xia Ge Lao will be responsible for work-for-relief and improving transportation."

The three of them all agreed and sat back down.

Therefore, in the first month of the 13th year of Jiajing, after Zhu Houcong's grand sacrifice in the southern suburbs ended.

Zhang Cong instructed Guizhou Province Censor Guo Honghua to formally submit a petition requesting a thorough land reclamation across the country!
Zhu Houcong then ordered the Ministry of Revenue to discuss the matter.

At the same time, this incident also caused an uproar in the court.

You should know that in the past, the surveys of farmland in the capital were all partial surveys, including the verification of military land.

This time, the whole country will be cleaned up, which means that the sword of reform and elimination will not only hit the nobles and military landlords in the capital, but also all landlords including princes, nobles, royal relatives, eunuchs, border generals, gentry, and common people! (End of this chapter)