Chapter 70: Sage Monarch
Chapter 70: Sage Monarch
The heavy snow showed no signs of stopping.
For over ten days in a row, the weather only grew colder.
Many people complained about the terrible weather.
This made the smokeless coal from the Western Hills Coal Mine almost impossible to keep in stock.
The entire Beijing City was already covered in white.
The snowflakes dancing in the air were like dandelions.
They fell layer upon layer over this ancient capital.
This gave the grand, time-worn city a brand new coat.
The guards at Anding Gate opened the city gates on time.
The soldiers, breathing out white puffs, had faces stiff from the cold.
They huddled in the gate tunnel, hands tucked in, ready to check those entering and leaving the city.
However, in such weather, there were very few people coming into the city.
Outside the city gate, the snow was white and stretched as far as the eye could see.
The fresh snow showed no signs of being trampled or disturbed.
Only at the end of the snow-covered official road did the sound of hoofbeats suddenly approach rapidly.
This made the guards perk up a little.
Through the vast whiteness, a figure of a man and a horse emerged from the white mist like a ghost.
The rider on the horse seemed frozen stiff.
The horse beneath him kicked up clouds of snow with its hooves and snorted loudly.
The rider carried a bamboo tube on his back.
The bamboo tube clearly had traces of wax seal.
He wore a black padded coat and looked travel-worn.
The Janissary Corps in the gate tunnel saw him charging forward like a whirlwind and instinctively stepped back, not daring to stop him.
This was an urgent dispatch from the Express Delivery Station, sent over hundreds of miles at top speed.
The sharp-eyed guards could tell from his attire that he came from the Southwest.
The Southwest had heavy miasma and high humidity.
So urgent reports were often placed in bamboo tubes and sealed tightly with glutinous rice.
However… such urgent dispatches were rarely used under normal circumstances.
Had something happened in the Southwest?
…
Fang Jifan was always a bit late every time he went to the House of the Crown Prince.
Because… he was lazy.
But it did not matter.
Because the Bai Hu officer above him had already clocked him in.
This made Fang Jifan owe that Bai Hu officer a favor.
Fang Jifan suspected that guy was trying to curry favor with him.
But he did not bother with such trivial matters.
When he arrived at the House of the Crown Prince, he saw Zhu Houzhao riding a horse, wearing a python robe with fur.
Zhu Houzhao looked refreshed and said to Fang Jifan, “Old Fang, you are late again? Let’s go, we are going to see His Majesty.”
“See His Majesty…” Fang Jifan felt a bit nervous.
In fact, he was not afraid of anyone in the Capital.
Only seeing His Majesty… made him feel uneasy.
The Emperor seemed kind and gentle on the surface.
But he always felt that the Emperor was also a bit shrewd.
For example, the Emperor took half of the coal mine shares without hesitation.
Even though those shares originally belonged to Zhu Houzhao.
The Emperor acted so naturally, as if he were not an outsider at all.
This made Fang Jifan feel that behind the Emperor’s magnanimity, there was a side of him that was like a robber.
Another example was when he wanted to build an iron workshop in the Western Hills to make tools.
He thought it would be easy.
But the Emperor was noncommittal.
What did that mean?
Fang Jifan smiled and said, “This subject will not go. Your Highness, please go by yourself. This subject must be loyal to his duty and guard the house for Your Highness. This is this subject’s responsibility.”
Zhu Houzhao gritted his teeth and said, “Stop talking nonsense. You don’t want to see His Majesty, but do you think This Palace wants to go? This Palace feels that his right eye has been twitching today. It is a sign that he is going to get beaten. But someone from the palace came earlier and ordered that you and This Palace must enter the palace together.”
Fang Jifan gave a dry laugh and said, “Excellent. This subject has also long wanted to see His Majesty and pour out his heart. Haha… haha…”
His laughter sounded a bit forced.
Liu Jin brought a horse for Fang Jifan.
Fang Jifan mounted the horse.
They entered the palace through Chongwen Gate.
The two of them dismounted and walked side by side.
They stepped on the bricks in the palace where the snow had just been cleared.
Zhu Houzhao seemed thoughtful and said, “This Palace is still unwilling. Why did Imperial Father take my coal mine?”
Fang Jifan actually understood long ago.
Although Zhu Houzhao seemed muddle-headed, he had great ambitions.
He was different from the good-for-nothing scoundrels like Fang Jifan in the past.
He actually always wanted to do some real great things to make people look at him in a new light.
However, from the Son of Heaven above to all the officials below, they all treated him like a child.
Even in history, after Zhu Houzhao ascended the throne, he was just someone a group of ministers humored.
Doing great things… no way.
Fang Jifan could not help but glance at Zhu Houzhao with sympathy.
But then he narrowed his eyes, and a cunning glint flashed in them as usual.
“Your Highness, actually, getting rich is too easy.”
“Oh?” Zhu Houzhao’s eyes lit up. “Old Fang, This Palace knew you had a way?”
When Fang Jifan heard him call him Old Fang, he really wanted to pat his shoulder and call him Little Zhu.
But… he decided against it…
It was better to keep his useful life and live idly than to court death like that.
Fang Jifan said, “Crown Prince, what is wealth in this world?”
Zhu Houzhao tilted his head and thought for a long time.
Finally, he shook his head.
What an idiot.
Fang Jifan smiled and said, “Memorials, Your Highness. Think about it. The urgent memorials sent from various prefectures every day are all delivered to the palace by the Express Delivery Station at top speed. Beijing is a place where news is hard to come by. If someone gets the latest information first, for example, if there is a flood in Jiangnan, what would happen if Your Highness knew the news in advance?”
“Send disaster relief?” Zhu Houzhao said.
Fang Jifan looked at him with disdain. “It means getting rich. Once you know in advance about the flood, it means that much of the sericulture in Jiangnan will see large-scale reduction in output. Once the output decreases, the price of silk in the market is bound to rise. If you get the information first, with this information alone, are you still afraid of not making money? Also, if a memorial comes saying there are bandits in Shandong, Southern Metropolitan Region, and other places, what will happen? Shandong and Southern Metropolitan Region are must-pass places along the Grand Canal. Once there are bandits, especially water bandits… then…”
Zhu Houzhao’s eyes lit up instantly.
It was as if he had found a new way out all of a sudden.
“You mean, from now on, This Palace will go to the Warm Pavilion every day to accompany Imperial Father in reviewing memorials, and by the way…”
Fang Jifan put on a stern face. “Your Highness, don’t talk nonsense. I did not teach you that.”
“…” Zhu Houzhao’s face turned red. “You clearly said it.”
Fang Jifan refused to admit it to the death. “I did not. Don’t talk nonsense. Don’t wrong me.”
Although Fang Jifan was seen as a muddle-headed brain-damaged patient in the eyes of others, his heart was as clear as a mirror.
It was easy to drag the Crown Prince into this.
But it was hard to guarantee that if the Emperor found out, he would not settle accounts later.
The two of them talked back and forth.
In the vast Forbidden City amidst the heavy snow, two pairs of deerskin boots stepped on the snow, leaving two clear trails.
…
Every morning, Emperor Hongzhi needed to discuss state affairs with the three Grand Secretaries of the Grand Secretariat behind closed doors.
In the past, the Emperor of the Great Ming held court once a day.
Even the diligent Emperor Taizu, Zhu Yuanzhang, only summoned ministers to discuss matters once a day.
But later, his descendants did not have as much energy as Zhu Yuanzhang.
The once-a-day court attendance became a mere formality.
By the time of the Late Emperor Chenghua, it was rare to summon ministers to discuss matters even once a month.
After Emperor Hongzhi ascended the throne, he was deeply concerned about the malpractices of the past.
So he issued an edict changing court attendance from once a day to twice a day.
Every day, morning and noon, he held courts of different sizes.
Even when faced with urgent and difficult situations, he needed to discuss with the ministers until late at night before resting.
In the warm Warm Pavilion, they had just finished discussing the recent strange celestial phenomena.
Emperor Hongzhi planned to have someone gather a batch of smokeless coal from the Western Hills Coal Mine to provide relief to the poor near the capital suburbs.
Then he could not help but cough.
Liu Jian looked at Emperor Hongzhi with concern.
His Majesty’s diligence in governance was known throughout the land.
Even the Grand Progenitor Emperor might not compare.
However… the result of such exhaustive efforts was that His Majesty’s health had always been poor.
So he could not help but say, “Your Majesty must take care of your health. Some matters need not be overly taxing.”
Emperor Hongzhi smiled wryly and shook his head.
“When I Inherited the Throne, both inside and outside the court, people were slack at their jobs.”
“The various prefectures and counties were also very lax.”
“The people suffered from hunger and cold.”
“At that time, it could be said there were internal troubles and external threats.”
“To put it bluntly, this was the result of the previous emperor neglecting state affairs.”
“As a son, I naturally cannot slander the previous emperor.”
“But the previous emperor gave me the empire, yet he also left me a mess.”
Speaking of this, he could not help but sigh.
“Now I also have a son.”
“I cannot learn from the previous emperor and leave a mess for my descendants.”
“The heavier my burden, the clearer the empire I leave for Houzhao.”
“The more I do now, the fewer troubles the Crown Prince will have in the future.”
“I take the previous emperor as a warning.”
“I also hope that the Crown Prince will not have to face internal troubles and external threats like I did when I Inherited the Throne, full of worries.”
“It does not matter if I am tired!”
“This is to share the Crown Prince’s burdens, and it is also a father’s responsibility.”