The Ming Dynasty’s Prodigal Son - Chapter 59

[59.Chapter 59 Crow’s Mouth]

After hearing this, Liu Jian’s heart trembled, and he suddenly stood up and stared straight at the brazier, as if he had discovered something shocking.

Speaking of which, the price of charcoal has now risen to thirty or forty yuan per pound. This is not because charcoal is a precious thing. In fact, it is not easy to make this thing. Not only does it need to be cut down, but also someone needs to build it in the deep mountains and old forests. After the kiln has been fired for a month, someone needs to transport the charcoal from the mountains. The cost of time and manpower is too high.

But this coal… is so cheap…

it seems to be the same as charcoal, but it has no peculiar smell, and it seems to burn longer.

Liu Jian’s heart was shocked, and then he glanced at the heavy snow outside the window, looking thoughtful.

This relatively cheap heating material… it seems…

Xie Qian and Li Dongyang seemed to have thought of something, and their expressions became complicated.

For those of them who deal with national affairs, what they think about always seems to be national affairs!

At this time, Xie Qian couldn’t help but get closer to the brazier, and couldn’t help but said: “Is it really… harmless?”

In the tea room, the three bachelors actually came to the copper basin for the small pile of coal. I didn’t go to the duty room to work all afternoon.

The three of them drank tea while looking at the anthracite coal that was still burning, as if they were holding their breath, waiting for the anthracite coal to burn to ashes.

But this anthracite is obviously much more resistant to burning than charcoal. Most of the day has passed, and the fire shows no sign of extinguishing.

Facts have proved that the heat of this anthracite dissipates very evenly and burns for an extremely long time. The three old bones only opened a small window here, but it obviously did not cause any abnormality to their bodies. The room was very warm and they would This place was isolated from the heavy snowfall of the outside world, and the longer time passed, the more shocked the three of them felt.

After a long time, Li Dongyang said: “I heard that Fang Jifan encouraged His Highness to do business, but I don’t know if it has anything to do with this thing.”

Li Dongyang glanced at Liu Jian and Xie Qian with a faint look, but the two of them just exchanged an understanding message. Eyes.

…

early the next morning.

Fang Jifan, wearing fashionable clothes with a unicorn suit underneath, walked through the snow and rushed to Zhan Shifu.

Not long after he came on duty, people came to the palace, and Prince Xuan entered the palace to attend the banquet.

Banquets are lectures given by Hanlin officials to the emperor. Almost every few days, the lecturers and readers of the Imperial Academy will gather in Chongwen Hall. Of course, the Crown Prince Zhu Houzhao will also go. This is an opportunity to learn. Sometimes, the emperor We also need to test the crown prince’s knowledge.

However, the eunuch who delivered the oral instructions gave Fang Jifan a meaningful look: “Mr. Fang Qi, His Majesty also ordered Mr. Fang Qi to accompany His Highness.”

In fact, Zhu Houzhao has been uneasy these past few days. I was extremely worried about being caught by my father and held responsible for the theft.

But in the past few days, there was no movement in the palace. Zhu Houzhao suddenly became active again. He rolled up his sleeves: “Let’s go, Lao Fang. Let’s go together.”

Uh… Brother Fang’s title has become Lao Fang. But Fang Jifan is not old, and Fang Jifan cannot call Zhu Houzhao Xiao Zhu. No matter how he listens, it seems that he has been taken advantage of by Zhu Houzhao.

The two of them had no choice but to tidy up, and entered the palace through Chongwen Gate to Chongwen Hall with an uneasy mood.

In the Chongwen Hall, Emperor Hongzhi had already taken his seat with a long face.

Dozens of Hanlins were kneeling and sitting on the right side in an orderly manner.

As for the left side, there are Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian.

Xie Qian had deep bags under his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept all night.

He was a stubborn person, and when he was determined and locked up with the anthracite, he did not believe that the anthracite was still not extinguished. As a result, it was completely consumed until the first light of dawn, and the last bit of heat dissipated, and he breathed a sigh of relief!

Huh, who do you think you are when you fight with me, Xie Qian?

However, with such continuous burning, the durability of anthracite is truly amazing. Being stubborn, Xie Qian seemed to have thought of the more far-reaching uses of this anthracite.

Emperor Hongzhi looked around and saw Xie Qian’s sluggish look: “Is Xie Qing feeling unwell?”

“Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty, I… am in good health.”

Emperor Hongzhi’s face became more relaxed, but he sighed: “It’s cold today. The ground is freezing, and many members of the Qing family have fallen ill. With such a celestial phenomenon, it is time to take care of your health.”

At this time, Zhu Houzhao and Fang Jifan happened to come in. Zhu Houzhao shrank his neck and looked honest.

What this guy is best at is pretending to be innocent, and Fang Jifan really convinced him. Outside he is a grandfather, but here he pretends to be his grandson. You can pretend, but I can’t?

After saluting, Emperor Hongzhi first glared at Zhu Houzhao fiercely, as if he hated iron but not steel.

However, the crown prince actually stole something on the emperor’s head. Emperor Hongzhi did not dare to make it public, and he pretended that nothing had happened.

Emperor Hongzhi didn’t have a good look towards the other instigator, Fang Jifan.

Fang Jifan felt guilty, and his survival instinct made him praise generously without hesitation: “My emperor is wise, I see that your majesty looks bad. It can be seen that at this time of heavy snowfall, your majesty is still taking care of everything and taking care of state affairs. This is the greatest blessing in the world!”

Fang Jifan understands this truth after all.

Emperor Hongzhi pretended to be careless. The recent behavior of Zhu Houzhao and Fang Jifan was said to be very absurd. Since they couldn’t make it public, it didn’t mean they couldn’t find other reasons to criticize them.

With this thought in mind, Emperor Hongzhi said calmly: “Fang Jifan.”

“I’m here.” Fang Jifan said with a smile: “When Your Majesty called out the three words Fang Jifan, it was like the sound of nature. When I heard it, I felt so comfortable all over, and suddenly I felt like a dragon and a tiger.”

“…”

” Ahem…” Zhu Houzhao coughed desperately. He felt that this old man was so shameless that even he couldn’t stand it anymore.

Emperor Hongzhi glared at him. Although he knew that this guy was trying hard to flatter the prince, and he probably knew that he and the prince had been ridiculous recently, but seeing how hard this guy was working, he felt a little softer. After all, he is still a child, so he said: “I The last time I read your strategy of “reforming from the local people and returning to the local people,” I thought it was quite reasonable. However, after thinking about it more recently, I feel that this strategy of “reforming from the local people and returning to the local people” may not be feasible

. Find a reason to suppress Fang Jifan, lest Fang Jifan get carried away with his pride.

Fang Jifan said: “Please give me some advice from your majesty.”

Emperor Hongzhi said calmly: “Although this strategy is good, the noise is too big. If the country is safe and the people are safe, it’s okay to follow the trend. But nowadays, natural disasters are frequent, and once they are dealt with, The chieftains from all over the southwest will be dissatisfied when they implement the policy of reforming their native lands and returning them to the countryside. In my opinion, now that the chieftain rebellion has just ended, the chieftains are afraid and do not dare to cause trouble again. When the time comes, the imperial court will give them some rewards, and they will not dare to make mistakes again. The stability of the southwest is related to the overall situation of the country, and reforming the country is a powerful medicine and should not be tried lightly,”

Emperor Hongzhi said. It’s clear and logical.

But in fact, what he said makes sense. Although the problems in the southwest have not been eradicated, the rebellion has just been suppressed, so it is really inappropriate to rashly implement reform and return.

Fang Jifan thought in his mind that just this year, there seemed to be a rebellion of chieftains in Guizhou and Guangxi. This matter was not only recorded in the county annals of Qinglong County, Guizhou Province, but also in the Ming Dynasty records.

Normally, when the imperial court has just put down a rebellion, even if the chieftain is dissatisfied, he will still be afraid. However, this time the rebellion happened suddenly.

Fang Jifan shook his head: “I believe that if the root cause is not cured by reforming the land and returning it to the locals, the rebellion in Guangxi, especially in Guizhou, will only intensify. Your Majesty’s attempt to be appeasement is nothing more than raising a tiger’s head. I dare to say that in the near future, A new rebellion was born, and it became very powerful.”

When he said this, the officials all looked angry!

Crow’s Mouth, what are you saying? Now that the southwest is re-established, how can there be another rebellion? This is simply nonsense!

(End of chapter)