Ming Dynasty: Tanks blocked the door and you said to me, "Long live Ming Dynasty"

Not long after, Huang Liji returned to the Qianqing Palace, sweating profusely. Just as he was about to salute, Zhu Youxiao roared at him.

"I order all the officials in the prefectures to stop bringing trivial matters like this to my presence in the future!"

"Is it that paper doesn't cost money, or that Yima doesn't cost money?"

After saying that, he threw the letter directly at Huang Liji's face.

It would take at least twenty days for a memorial to be delivered from Nanning, Guangxi to the capital. It is ridiculous to waste such manpower and resources just for such a trivial matter!

Being the Prime Minister, he still condones such a thing to happen. This is called being in office and doing nothing!

When Huang Liji walked out of the Qianqing Palace with the memorial in his hand, he was completely stunned!

My Lord, when did you start reading memorials?

In the past, weren't they busy with carpentry work and left the power of reviewing memorials to Wei Zhongxian?

No, it seems that this master has changed since he came back to life!

Could it be that he really received guidance from Emperor Hongwu?

Then he shook his head. This is impossible!

Huang Liji would rather believe that Zhu Youxiao faked his death than believe that he was called over by Zhu Yuanzhang for a lecture.

After all, although cases of faked death are rare among the people, they do exist. However, I have never heard of anyone being called in by their ancestors to be reprimanded.

When he returned to the cabinet, several ministers surrounded him immediately.

"Lord, what is the result of the test?"

Huang Liji shook his head.

"Your Majesty is indeed alive, but his temperament has become different from before!"

"Look, our young master is actually handling government affairs and blaming the governor of Guangxi for wasting the post station's manpower."

After saying that, he threw the letter on the table, rubbed his temples with both hands, and looked worried.

Normally, such words should never be said in public, but who could blame the fact that the cabinet this time was entirely made up of Wei Zhongxian's people?

Even Huang Liji is the same!

So, he didn't mean to avoid other people.

Shi Fenglai waved his hand nonchalantly: "It is said that it is easy to change the country but difficult to change one's nature. In my opinion, he was just in a momentary mood."

"My servants have found a set of excellent carpenter's tools and will send them to Eunuch Wei."

"I guarantee that within a few days, Your Majesty will become the same as before."

Zhang Ruitu and Li Guo also nodded in agreement. They shared Shi Fenglai's opinion that His Majesty was just getting carried away and remembered to review the memorials.

But at this time Zhu Youxiao was sitting cross-legged on the carpet in the Qianqing Palace, reading all the memorials.

Greetings, condolences, and other meaningless memorials were all thrown aside by him.

In the end, there were less than a hundred copies left.

These were his ways of learning about the Ming Dynasty.

Although there are not many things that can be fully trusted, it is better than nothing at all.

A severe drought has begun in Shaanxi.

The governor of Shaanxi, the Chief Censor Hu Tingyan, reported that the Chengcheng thief Wang Er had gathered people to rebel and Chengcheng had been captured.

The students Lu Wanling and Cao Dai requested that a shrine be built for Wei Zhongxian at the Imperial College to honor him on an equal footing with Confucius.

Some officials also criticized Wei Zhongxian for building many ancestral temples for the people and asked for punishment.

Nanjing Censor Liu Han petitioned the court to intensify the investigation of officialdom and pay more attention to farming.

After reading a pile of memorials, Zhu Youxiao felt dizzy.

According to historical records, after Chongzhen ascended the throne, he worked day and night for seventeen years to handle state affairs and never dared to slack off.

I have to say, this guy is also a ruthless person!

But this also shows that Chongzhen was just a workaholic and not a suitable leader.

After marking the memorials and throwing them on the imperial desk, he called the eunuch waiting outside the door and pointed at the useless memorials on the ground.

"Pack these up and don't lose them!"

"Yes!"

Upon hearing this, the young eunuch hurried outside to call for help.

Zhu Youxiao walked towards Kunning Palace with his hands behind his back. He had been busy all day and had not eaten yet. In addition, this body had been lying in the coffin for two days, and now his stomach was empty.

We’ll talk about the things in the memorial tomorrow!

Chapter 5: Lord Hongwu, actually cooked for my great-grandmother?

Kunning Palace, which has been the residence of successive empresses of the Ming Dynasty since its construction, is also known as the Central Palace.

Its size is second only to the Qianqing Palace. It is nine bays wide with corridors and three bays deep. The roof is a double-eaved hip roof with yellow glazed tiles.

The news of Zhu Youxiao's resurrection has now spread throughout the palace.

The guards standing outside Kunning Palace saw him from afar in a dragon robe and shouted into the room.

"Your Majesty is here!"

After doing all this, he knelt down and saluted.

The palace was very quiet. Zhu Youxiao was immersed in his own inner world and was almost frightened to death by his shout.

He raised his leg and kicked the guard to the ground: "What are you howling for? If you dare to do that again, you will sweep the streets for a month!"

The guard was immediately terrified: "I deserve to die. Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace!"

Seeing him like this, Zhu Youxiao was too lazy to argue with him.

In fact, he was not angry, he was just very casual and treated the guard as if he was joking, just like the way he joked with his colleagues before he traveled through time.

But the reaction of this guard, including the previous reactions of Wei Zhongxian, Huang Liji, and Tian Ergeng, made him deeply understand what it means to be alone.

Isn’t it me?

Just a joke can scare people half to death...

At this moment, the gate of Kunning Palace opened from the inside. Zhang Yan walked in the middle, and ten palace maids and a group of eunuchs followed on the left and right in two rows, saluting together.

"Your Majesty, your servant, welcomes you respectfully!"

"No gift!"

Zhu Youxiao was not used to such etiquette, but this was not something he could change.

After all, in this era, those in a higher position must have the dignity of a higher position!

Zhang Yan stood up and naturally extended her hand.

Zhu Youxiao then took the hand and held it, and the two of them walked into Kunning Palace together.

The palace maids on both sides were very surprised to see this scene.

You know, Tianqi had never made such a move before. At most, he would put his hand on the queen's wrist, but this time, he directly reached out and grabbed it.

This made them secretly happy. After all, the queen was valued, which was also an honor for them.

Zhang Yan herself also felt secretly delighted. Could it be that it was really the reprimand from Emperor Hongwu that changed the emperor's temper?

How could he become so enthusiastic towards me?

Zhu Youxiao had no idea what they were thinking. In his opinion, holding hands between husband and wife was a completely insignificant matter.

After entering Kunning Palace and pulling Zhang Yan to sit down, I felt a rumbling sound in my stomach.

When Zhang Yan heard this, a trace of heartache immediately appeared on her face.

"It's my fault. I forgot that Your Majesty hasn't eaten anything for several days."

"You guys, hurry to the imperial kitchen..."

"Forget it, go prepare the small kitchen, and I will personally make some food for Your Majesty."

The empress of the Ming Dynasty was particular about marrying a virtuous wife, and most of them were daughters from ordinary families. She had to be both capable of housekeeping and good at cooking. This was the minimum standard, and Zhang Yan was no exception.

Although there is an imperial kitchen in the palace, it does not provide meals all the time. If a meal is ordered at the last minute, it will take at least half an hour from the time the order is given to the time the food is delivered.

In addition, the food in the imperial kitchen is just edible, but the taste is not as good as the street food outside the palace. Therefore, any concubine with a certain status in the harem will set up a small kitchen in the palace to prepare for emergencies.

Upon hearing this, several palace maids hurried forward to prepare, but when Zhang Yan was about to get up to cook, Zhu Youxiao reached out and held her back.

"No need to bother. I will cook today's meal myself."

When these words were spoken, everyone, including Zhang Yan, was stunned.

When did the emperor learn to cook?

Seeing how shocked they were, Zhu Youxiao laughed.

"Why, you don't believe I can cook?"

Zhang Yan shook her head subconsciously.

Zhu Youxiao said, "I ate some different dishes at Lord Hongwu's place these days, which left me with a lasting aftertaste. I heard that they were the same dishes that he had made for my grandmother."

"I can use your small kitchen to try and see if I can make it."

"Back then, he cooked a lot for my grandmother."

This statement is half true and half false.

Really, he was really greedy. This body had been lying in the coffin for three days and it was already sticking to its back.

What’s fake is that he just wants to have a meal that suits his taste at this time.

I heard that...

The imperial meals in the palace are so disgusting!

We are emperors now, how can we still sacrifice our tongue?

I might as well do it myself. It doesn't take much effort anyway.

After Zhu Youxiao finished speaking, he pulled Zhang Yan up and, led by the palace maid, walked towards the small kitchen.

Zhang Yan felt incredible!

Lord Hongwu, actually cooked for my great-grandmother?

When did it happen?

Why is there no record of this in "Ming Shilu"?

She was dragged into the small kitchen in a daze. When she came to her senses, she saw Zhu Youxiao already cutting vegetables.

She hurriedly stepped forward in panic to stop him: "Your Majesty, this is not possible. I believe you. If this gets out, the officials in the court will drown me with spit."

"Who dares! I'll tear his stinky mouth apart!" Zhu Youxiao glared.

Zhang Yan was stunned and wanted to say something else, but swallowed her words back.

She was afraid that if she talked back, Zhu Youxiao, who finally came back to life, would talk back at her...

Chapter 6 Did Lord Hongwu really tell you this?

The couple, one cooks while the other washes vegetables and makes the fire.

When the fragrant side dishes were served on the plates, although Zhang Yan finally accepted the fact that the emperor could cook, she still found it a little unbelievable.

"Your Majesty, did Lord Hongwu really teach you this?"

She picked up a piece of braised pork and put it in Zhu Youxiao's bowl.

Zhu Youxiao nodded proudly and said, "That's right. In fact, what Lord Hongwu is best at is beggar's chicken. It's just that you don't have the ingredients. Wait until next time. I will make it for you to try."

Zhang Yan stopped asking questions and just kept picking up food for Zhu Youxiao with a smile on her face.

Zhu Youxiao took two bites and seeing that she was just looking at him with a silly smile, he picked up a piece of braised lamb and gave it to her.