Chapter 149 Xia Shangshu, go to jail?

Nanjing Imperial Palace, Fengtian Hall.

The afterglow of autumn reflected on the ground, forming a mottled silhouette, and this silhouette, like some kind of omen, shrouded the entire Fengtian Hall inside and outside.

"Commander Ji, Your Majesty calls you in."

Following a soft call in front of me, the palace door was quietly opened by the palace maid.

Ji Gang nodded, picked up his Feiyu suit and crossed the high threshold,

The furnishings in Fengtian Palace are still so luxurious and elegant, but at this moment, not many people can appreciate the scenery shown here. Because at this moment, the ministers of Fengtian Palace have lowered their heads and remained silent, even if they usually

The same is true for the most eloquent Xia Yuanji, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance.

The only person who stood opposite was Zhu Di, who was sitting on the dragon throne.

Zhu Di's face was gloomy, his eyes were cold, and there was a mocking smile on the corner of his mouth, as if what happened just now made him feel very happy, or did it make him feel some different emotions deep in his heart?

Seeing Ji Gang coming, Zhu Di was not in a hurry to speak. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and looked at him carefully for a moment, then slowly raised his arm, signaling Ji Gang to come closer and report back.

"Have you checked it out?"

"Your Majesty!" Ji Gang bowed and said, "We have verified that thirty-six corpses of caravans were found at the foot of Dongshan Mountain in Ningbo yesterday morning. Their death conditions were extremely tragic. Based on the time of death, it can be inferred that they were all committed by the person who committed the crime the night before. Wei

After the pursuit, a large number of pirates were found. Among them, the identity of the three leading pirates was unknown, but judging from their clothing and weapons, they should be

The Japanese pirates also have twenty-two accomplices, among whom the majority are Japanese pirates, about ten of whom hold long knives unique to the Japanese country. As for the remaining people, there is no detailed information yet, but according to intelligence, the current number of Japanese pirates along the coast is

They had already been wiped out in last month's naval campaign, and the Jinyiwei highly suspect that this group of Japanese pirates came from Tsushima Island further northwest."

Hearing this, Zhu Di's face became even colder.

"are you sure?"

The third prince Zhu Gaosui, who was standing next to Zhu Di, made a speech, but his attitude seemed a little careless.

"Wei Chen is absolutely sure!"

Ji Gang bowed and replied with a firm tone.

"Haha. What a Japanese pirate. I would like to know who is the one who dared to openly attack my coastal city on Tsushima Island. He is just looking for death!"

Zhu Di shouted angrily, then turned to look at Jin Youzi at the bottom on the left, and said sternly: "Draw up the decree, deploy troops to suppress Tsushima Island, and wipe out the Japanese pirates!"

"yes!"

Jin Youzi hurriedly agreed and immediately drafted the decree on the spot.

Zhu Di became more and more involved in the performance and shouted again.

"Come here, prepare a chariot for me immediately. I will personally lead an army to conquer Japan!"

"His Majesty."

After hearing this, Xia Yuanji quickly stood up to dissuade him and said: "Your Majesty, please calm down. These Japanese pirates are causing trouble and should be hunted down and captured by the Coast Guard and Navy officers and soldiers. Although the Japanese pirates are from Japan, they are not necessarily from Japan."

I'm afraid it would be inappropriate to suddenly raise troops if we are under the control of the border."

"Xia Aiqing!"

When Zhu Di heard this, he raised his eyebrows lightly, stood up slowly and asked.

"Why, does Xia Aiqing think that I can't even deal with Japan?"

Seeing this, Xia Yuanji immediately knelt down and said in panic: "I definitely didn't mean this."

"Humph! That's good!"

Zhu Di sat back on the dragon chair and said indifferently: "Whether I want to personally conquer Japan depends on the situation of Cao Guogong's mission."

After that, Zhu Di closed his eyes and stopped paying attention to everyone.

Seeing this scene, the ministers present all sighed secretly. They all knew that His Majesty the Emperor was serious about it. If tough measures were not taken, bigger things might happen.

Thinking of this, everyone exchanged glances and finally decided to follow Zhu Di's will.

If there is a "Tsuma Island", it will be fought.

After half a cup of tea, a group of elite cavalry, surrounded by a carriage, quickly left the palace and galloped along the wide streets of Nanjing City. In a short time, they disappeared into the distant sky.

The ministers left the Fengtian Palace one after another, and Zhu Di, who had been fighting wits with them all night, was left with Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Hubu, Jian Yi, the Minister of Personnel, and Ru Rui, the Minister of War, the three giants of the civil service in the early Yongle period.

After everyone left, the atmosphere became noticeably more relaxed.

This is obvious, because Zhu Di even gave him a banquet.

Although the food in the palace may not be to your taste, and you can't eat and drink as much as you want, it is still an honor.

After the meal, tea was served, and the monarch and his ministers began to discuss informally.

"Your Majesty." Xia Yuanji looked at Zhu Di's face and asked, "This incident happened suddenly today, but has the news come back from the Japanese mission?"

Zhu Di put down his tea cup and nodded and said: "The spies we sent included professional surveying craftsmen. There is indeed gold mountain on Sado Island, and there is also gold at Iwami, but part of Iwami has been mined. The Japanese probably haven't discovered the real silver yet.

The mountain is just the edge part."

"So His Majesty plans to take action first and occupy Tsushima Island?"

Rujun, Minister of the Ministry of War, a die-hard supporter of the emperor, immediately thought of the emperor's intention.

"Strike first will gain strength, but if you strike later you will suffer disaster." Zhu Di did not shy away and said directly: "That's it. Who knows when the Japanese will find out? It may take a long time, or it may be tomorrow."

Rujun, Minister of the Ministry of War, used water as ink to draw the locations of Tsushima Island and Japan on the table.

"As it should be, what does His Majesty Jeju Island plan to do?"

Zhu Di said calmly: "I have sent eunuchs to declare to the king of Korea. On a small island, Li Chenggui still dares to go against me, the Ming Dynasty?"

"In addition," Zhu Di said to Ji Gang who was standing, "send people to Japan again and tell Duke Cao that the king of Japan will severely punish the Japanese pirates. All Japanese pirate leaders will be executed in front of Duke Cao. Do you understand?"

In the silence of several people, Ji Gang quickly agreed.

Obviously, they were not very optimistic that Cao Guogong could complete such a task of slapping the Japanese in the face.

Just issuing an edict to reprimand the Japanese king should have sufficiently angered the Japanese, not to mention that Japan was required to severely punish the Japanese pirate leaders who brought benefits to their various daimyo.

But no one wanted to say anything to Duke Cao Guo, just like no one really wanted to know whether the caravan in Ningbo was attacked by Japanese pirates.

Zhu Di seemed to be in a good mood today. He looked at Ji Gang's leaving figure and raised his eyebrows at the third prince Zhu Gaosui.

Zhu Gaosui understood this and specifically explained to the three ministers: "The caravans in Ningbo are gangs selling counterfeit Ming Dynasty national debts. His Majesty has issued an order to severely crack down on counterfeit gangs in various places."

"Fighting the Jurchens and fighting Japan, you guys are destined to have to work hard during this period of time. Japan's gold and silver mountains are like gold and silver. There are some things that you can't tell the court officials." Zhu Di took a sip of tea and continued.

"I understand."

Xia Yuanji and the other three people said in unison.

Just when Zhu Di was about to say something more, a eunuch came to report, and Ji Gang, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, left and returned.

"Summon him in." Zhu Di was a little surprised and didn't know what was going on.

"His Majesty."

Ji Gang came in in a hurry, but Fu Er said a few words to Zhu Di, and Zhu Di's expression became slightly serious.

"Did the second brother really say that?"

"Absolutely true."

"Okay, you go down."

Ji Gang left in a hurry again.

"Father, where is the second brother?" Zhu Gaosui asked carefully.

Zhu Di sighed, looked at Jian Yi, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and Ru Ru, the Minister of War, and said, "There is something I haven't told you two yet."

The two put down their teacups and stood up quickly, but felt somewhat uncomfortable. Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, was thoughtful.

The two of them just thought, since it is the second prince's business, don't let us get involved in the dispute over the crown prince and cause trouble.

The emperor's words somewhat deviated from their thoughts.

"The Fertilizer Immortal will be released from prison in two months."

What?

Jian Yi, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Ru Ru, the Minister of the Ministry of War, were stunned.

They know that the statue of Fertilizer Immortal is there.

What does it mean to be released from prison?

Could it be that the Fertilizer Immortal is not an immortal, but a human being?

Zhu Di explained: "Yes, just as you think, the Chemical Fertilizer Immortal is just someone I pretended to be. In fact, not only did he invent chemical fertilizer in the imperial prison, but also various policies proposed by the imperial court in the past, such as peaceful farming.

The vassalage, the sharing of labor between households, the national debt of the Ming Dynasty, etc. were all his suggestions."

What?

Jian Yi, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Ru Yu, the Minister of the Ministry of War, looked at each other, and both saw the disbelief in the other's eyes.

How is this possible?

So many great strategies for establishing a country were actually the work of one person?

They originally thought that this was a plan made by the combined efforts of Dao Yan and other counselors.

Now that I think about it, these policies are indeed very different from the methods used by Dao Yan and other Yan King Qiandi's advisers to govern.

But no matter how unbelievable it was, with the confirmation of their old friend Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Revenue, they had no choice but to believe it.
To be continued...