Zhu Yijun ate the breakfast prepared by the imperial chef slowly and leisurely.
A basket of seven exquisite dumplings, a bowl of yellow millet porridge, and a plate of pickles on the side.
Eat a steamed bun slowly, chew it carefully, take a sip of millet porridge, pick up a few pieces of pickled vegetables, and then take another sip of millet porridge.
Emperor Jiajing sat nearby with his hands in his sleeves, looking at Zhu Yijun eating breakfast with a kind face, as if he was looking at the most beautiful scenery in the world.
He was wearing a loose and long sky-blue Taoist robe and a purple gold Taoist crown on his head. He had a long and thin face, three long wisps of beard, a leaden complexion, and slightly red eyes that shone with brilliance.
After Zhu Yijun finished eating, a eunuch handed him a tea bowl and a copper basin.
He took the tea bowl, took a sip of the warm tea, gargled it in his mouth, and spit it into the copper basin.
"My dear grandson, have you finished eating?"
"I'm done."
"Are you full?"
"I'm full."
"After you're full, get up and follow grandpa to do a set of Tai Chi to help you digest the food!"
"good!"
The grandfather and grandson practiced Tai Chi in the hall. The morning sun shone in from the hall door, casting a ball of golden light on both of them.
After both of them finish a set of punches, they put their hands and arms down and breathe in and out.
Huang Jin, the eunuch in charge of the Imperial Household Department and governor of the Eastern Depot, appeared at the entrance of the palace at the right time.
"Your Majesty, Prince, I was watching from outside and it seemed as if I saw two cranes, one large and one small, dancing gracefully."
Emperor Jiajing laughed heartily, waved his wide sleeves, walked towards the altar in the hall, and asked, "Is Hu Zongxian here?"
"In reply to the emperor's words, I will wait in the Xi'an Gate duty room."
"pass!"
"yes!"
Li Fang, the eunuch of the Imperial Household Department and the personal eunuch of Emperor Jiajing, quietly brought a cushion and placed it next to the Taoist altar.
Emperor Jiajing sat cross-legged in the middle of the Taoist altar, and Zhu Yijun also sat cross-legged on a cushion with his eyes closed to rest.
After a while, the footsteps stopped outside the palace gate and became silent again.
Zhu Yijun knew that the emperor on the Taoist altar was practicing the small circulation of energy, which would probably take a quarter of an hour.
Today, the Emperor summoned Hu Zongxian, most likely to confirm whether the Japanese pirates in the southeast have been completely wiped out.
This military operation is really too expensive!
Although victories came one after another, money was spent like water.
The Emperor's grandfather was very enthusiastic about monasticism.
But what he believed in asceticism was to build a large Taoist temple, invite many immortals, and hold sacrificial ceremonies at great expense from time to time.
In Zhu Yijun's view, he wanted to use mountains of gold and seas of silver to build a ladder to heaven, and simply use money to bribe the gods in heaven to bestow divine talismans and immortal seals to allow him to ascend to heaven.
The campaign to suppress the Japanese invaders in the southeast required huge expenditures on military pay and rations, forcing Grandpa Huang to lead a life of austerity for several years.
As he got older and his health deteriorated, Grandpa Huang became eager to practice Taoism and become an immortal.
Last year, he instructed Yan Song and his party to carry out a large-scale rice-to-mulberry policy in Zhejiang, ostensibly to raise money for suppressing the Japanese invaders, but in reality to raise money for Taoist temple building.
The result was not only a mess, but also the corruption in Zhejiang Province was out of control.
The national treasury is still in deficit.
The Emperor had no choice but to reject the overwhelming requests from both the court and the public to overthrow Yan.
Yan Song was also sensible and immediately sent his confidant Yan Maoqing to Lianghuai, ostensibly to inspect the salt administration, but in fact to raise money for the emperor.
Ding Dong——!
The sound of a bronze chime woke Zhu Yijun up.
The emperor completed the small circulation of Qi.
As soon as the chimes fell, Huang Jin reported from outside the palace gate: "Your Majesty, Hu Zongxian is here."
"Call him in."
"yes!"
The official following behind Huang Jin had a tall and handsome figure and an extraordinary bearing.
Wearing a black gauze hat, a scarlet robe with a peacock embroidered on the chest, he walked into the hall holding up the front of his robe and knelt down in front of Emperor Jiajing who was sitting high on the altar.
"I, the Minister of War and Governor-General of Zhizhe, Hu Zongxian, pay my respects to Your Majesty!"
"My dear Hu, you have traveled a long way and must have worked hard. This is my eldest grandson, the Prince of Yu."
When Hu Zongxian entered the hall, he noticed Zhu Yijun next to the Taoist altar and guessed that he was the emperor's favorite grandson, the Prince of Yu.
Hearing what Emperor Jiajing said, he hurriedly saluted Zhu Yijun.
"Your Highness, Hu Zongxian, pays respect to His Majesty the Crown Prince."
Zhu Yijun smiled and nodded, "Hello, Minister Hu."
"Li Fang, move a seat for Hu Aiqing."
"yes."
"I respectfully thank Your Majesty for granting me this seat."
As soon as Hu Zongxian sat down, Emperor Jiajing spoke.
"You wrote in your memorial that the Japanese threat in the southeast has been completely eradicated?"
Hu Zongxian replied carefully: "Your Majesty, the Japanese pirates in Zhejiang have been wiped out. The next step is to wipe out the Japanese pirates in Fujian."
"So it wasn't completely cleared?"
There was a hint of unhappiness in Emperor Jiajing's words.
A dangerous atmosphere was floating in the hall, and Hu Zongxian's Adam's apple couldn't help but tremble up and down.
The memorials they submitted were clear and concise, but the local officials in Zhejiang and Nanzhili boasted about their achievements to the point that there were no Japanese invaders in the world.
Now I told the truth and made the emperor happy for nothing.
If the emperor is happy in vain, I will not be happy.
Zhu Yijun suddenly asked: "Where is Fujian? South of Zhejiang?"
Hu Zongxian glanced at Emperor Jiajing and found that he looked normal. He quickly replied, "To answer your question, Fujian is south of Zhejiang."
"Do Westerners who come to our Celestial Empire to buy silk, porcelain and tea have to pass through Fujian?"
Hu Zongxian's head buzzed, as if the sound of the bronze chime from Emperor Jiajing just now was ringing in his head, and he quickly answered.
"To answer your question, if Westerners come to the southeast to purchase goods, they have to go through Fujian. Quanzhou in Fujian is also a big port with many Western merchants."
Zhu Yijun turned to Emperor Jiajing and said, "Grandpa Emperor, in my opinion, the Japanese pirates in Fujian must be suppressed. If they block the trade routes, our silk, tea, and porcelain will not be sold, and the silver from the West will not come in. In the end, the treasury will be left empty-handed."
Emperor Jiajing glanced at Zhu Yijun and said in a vague tone, "Jun'er, you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are until you run a household! We have been fighting against the Japanese pirates in Zhejiang for several years, and we have spent a lot of money and grain. I wonder how much more money we will have to spend to eliminate the Japanese pirates in Fujian."
Zhu Yijun looked like he didn't know how expensive firewood and rice were. "Money? Didn't Lord Yan send people to inspect the salt administration in Lianghuai? Lianghuai is rich in salt. Lord Yan sent out capable people to investigate the long-standing bad policies, and he will definitely be able to collect the lost salt tax and national levies."
After hearing Zhu Yijun's words, Emperor Jiajing thought of this incident and felt warm in his heart.
"Huang Jin, has Yan Maoqing's memorial been delivered?"
"In reply to the emperor's words, I handed it over early in the morning."
"Show it to me."
"yes."
After Emperor Jiajing finished speaking, he closed his eyes to rest, and Zhu Yijun also closed his eyes to rest.
Hu Xianzong looked at the grandparents and grandchildren whose movements were perfectly synchronized, and his heart was filled with mixed emotions.
In less than half a minute, Huang Jin hurriedly ran over with a memorial in his hand, arrived at the palace door, and slowed down his pace.
"Your Majesty, this is Yan Maoqing's memorial."
"Hmm." Emperor Jiajing snorted softly.
Huang Jin held up the front of his clothes, climbed up the altar from the side, and handed over the memorial.
Emperor Jiajing shook his sleeves, stretched out his skinny left hand from the wide cuffs, took the memorial, and unfolded it on his knees.
The more he read, the more gloomy his face became. At the end, the furious Emperor Jiajing threw the memorial fiercely!
The long music danced in the air and fell to the ground.
"Asshole!"
With a shocking roar, Hu Zongxian, Huang Jin and Li Fang all fell to their knees, but Zhu Yijun was the only one who remained sitting steadily on the mat.
He knew that the first blow aimed at Yan Song had been swung out..