Jiajing, the emperor who had been in power for thirty-three years, used great rituals to remove the civil servants who supported him as a young man after he ascended the throne, showing his extraordinary talent for power.
In today's Jiajing, the ability to manipulate people's minds and manipulate the political situation has reached its peak.
At this time, the Daojun Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was sitting on an exquisite futon.
Yuxi Palace is a Taoist-style palace. Four golden nanmu pillars that can only be hugged by two people support a towering dome, and the futon where Emperor Jiajing sits faces the center of the dome.
The futon is surrounded by gold inlaid on the floor tiles, forming the image of Bagua.
At this time, the "loyal and filial emperor" who carried the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty on his shoulders was reciting Taoist scriptures with his eyes closed.
He held a copper pestle and gently tapped the copper door in front of the futon, making bursts of metal and stone sounds.
Lu Fang, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony, was called the internal minister by the ministers in the outer court, and the eunuch in the inner court was respectfully called the ancestor. At this time, he knelt respectfully beside the futon and read the memorials of the ministers to Emperor Jiajing.
Lu Fang's voice was melodious and her articulation was clear. The ability of this imperial minister that Jiajing admired most was his ability to extract the key content from the vague memorials of the ministers.
At this time, Lu Fang was reading a memorial written by Nie Bao, Minister of the Ministry of War. Lu Fang did not read according to the memorial, but picked out the most critical part of the memorial and told it to the emperor:
"Your Majesty, Shangshu Nie is reporting that the current military situation in the world is rife with abuses. The fundamental reason is that the generals are not paying attention to the imperial court and are unwilling to die for the imperial court."
Jiajing stopped reciting the Taoist scriptures and tapped the copper plate gently. Lu Fang, who was best at figuring out Jiajing's thoughts, immediately continued:
"The reason why generals don't pay attention to the imperial court is because they have resentment towards the imperial court."
Jiajing tapped the copper plate gently again. Lu Fang knew that this memorial had aroused Jiajing's interest, and he quickly said:
"Nie Shangshu read the survey of the Ministry of War and found that many of the current guards' officers are descendants of criminals who were expelled from the army for their crimes. The ancestors of these people were originally criminals in the Ming Dynasty. They were imprisoned in the military for generations for their crimes. Now their descendants
If you become an officer due to chance and merit, how much loyalty can you have to the court?"
"It is stated in the laws of this dynasty that the descendants of guilty ministers cannot serve as officials. These descendants of guilty ministers mingled with the generals, which ruined the atmosphere of the guard station and made the soldiers of the guard station so unfit for battle."
Hearing Tong Qing knocking three times in succession, Lu Fang knew that Emperor Jiajing was interested in this memorial, and he immediately continued:
"Nowadays, the Japanese rebellion in the southeast has not been quelled for a long time. This is also due to the self-respect of these criminal officials who support the bandits. Nie Shangshu believes that the imperial court should send envoys to check the descendants of the criminal ministers in various places, remove them from their official positions, and recover the rewards and frequent attacks of the imperial court over the years.
If we use the money to pay for the army, and then select the best talents in the army to serve as military academies, then there will be no need for the imperial court to lose money and food, and the Japanese pirate chaos in the southeast will be solved."
Lu Fang carefully looked at Emperor Jiajing's face on the futon and saw that the loyal and filial emperor had a solemn face, with no indication of his likes or dislikes.
Lu Fang once again lamented the unfathomable power of God, only to hear Jiajing suddenly ask:
"What does the cabinet think?"
Lu Fang immediately turned to the end of the memorial, glanced at the cabinet approval and said:
"Mr. Yan Ge is in favor, Mr. Xu Ge is opposed to it, and Mr. Li Ge is non-committal."
Jiajing said with a smile: "Are you wondering why the two cabinet ministers changed their positions?"
Lu Fang quickly lowered his head. As the eunuch Bingbi, the eunuch in charge of etiquette, the most taboo thing for him was to make friends with foreign ministers.
Hearing the emperor's probing intention, Lu Fang quickly said: "How can I guess the elder Ge's thoughts?"
Jiajing suddenly raised his voice and said: "They are ministers, and you are also a minister! In terms of loyalty, foreign ministers are not as good as your internal ministers, but since ancient times, emperors have always used foreign ministers, and they have not used you internal ministers to govern the country. Lu Fang, do you know why?"
Lu Fang kowtowed quickly and did not dare to answer.
Jiajing said: "Because foreign ministers can relieve your father's worries! Xu Jie and other clean people have used the southeastern Japanese to shout poverty all day long and talk in vain. Nie Bao is the only one who knows how to share your father's worries. I want to use it
He is a minister who can do things like this."
"Let the Ministry of War draw up a plan and submit it to the cabinet."
Lu Fang immediately understood what the emperor meant.
The first thing that the emperor valued was the sentence "The Japanese pirates' rebellion will be solved by themselves." What he valued even more was that using the fines from the guilty officials to pay Mo's army could stop Qingliu from complaining about poverty.
And the extra money will naturally be used to build a palace for Emperor Zhongxiao!
Lu Fang received the order and exited from Yuxi Palace. At this time, a cold wind suddenly blew and raindrops fell from the southeast.
Seeing the sudden change in weather, Lu Fang quickly ordered the eunuchs to guard the windows and doors to prevent raindrops from falling into the Yuxi Palace.
This sudden rain aroused the interest of Emperor Jiajing. He was seen holding a copper pestle, quickly circling around the throne futon and on the gold-inlaid floor tiles.
While spinning in circles, he recited a certain verse from the Taoist Scriptures. When the verses were recited, Emperor Jiajing looked at the Qian hexagram at his feet, and finally smiled on his face.
While he was beating the copper rod with a copper pestle, he sang like a maniac:
"The sky is dark and the black dragon is moving away from the earth. The dragon's energy is rising to the southeast, bringing good fortune and good fortune!"
Lu Fang knew that this was a good sign for Emperor Jiajing, but he did not dare to delay the official business and hurriedly took the memorial to the cabinet.
At this time, on the sea in southern Fujian, a lucky boat was rising and falling on the rough sea.
A tall young man was standing on the bow of the fortune ship, holding on to the mast and looking at the waves in the distance.
"Hundred households! Big waves on the bow!"
The lucky boat was pushed up into the air by a wave, and then fell heavily to the sea, setting off a column of water.
These water jets fell on the deck, knocking off the square scarf that tied up the young man's hair. All he saw was that his long flowing hair spread out with the wind and waves. This young man dressed as a hundred households turned out to be a young woman!
The long-term life at sea has made this woman's skin a healthy wheat color, and the fake beard that was attached has been knocked off by the waves, revealing the woman's delicate facial features.
At this time, the sailors on the lucky ship were kneeling on the deck, praying to the Third Master's Empress to bless them and return to the port safely.
Without the sun, moon and stars, the lucky ship could not identify its direction. The most important test at this time was the captain's judgment. In such bad weather, only by finding the correct direction and sailing back to the offshore port could the ship be saved.
If it deviates from its course and sails into the deep sea, then this old fortune ship may not be able to survive the storm.
"Hundred households! Dragon King!"
The helmsman pointed to a black tornado not far away between the sea and the sky. The sea water was swept into the air and connected with the black rain clouds!
When everyone on the ship saw such a horrifying scene, they all put down their things and knelt down on the deck to worship.
But Baihu, who was disguised as a man, knew that this was not a dragon king. She had heard from her father about this terrible weather phenomenon, and ships would be shattered into pieces if they were caught in the wind!
But now it is too late to explain to the crew. The crew is now in a state where they are waiting to die.
This female Baihu knew that she had to break the fear in the crew's hearts before she could have a chance of survival!
The female Baihu said to the helmsman beside her: "Take out my spear!"
The helmsman asked in horror: "Baihu! What do you want to do?"
Baihu looked at the waterspout in the distance firmly and said, "I want to slay the dragon!"