The day was approaching for Fan Yikuan to leave Prince Xing's Mansion. That night, Zhu Hao stayed in the dormitory in the west courtyard of the Prince's Mansion as usual, writing his notebook. Lu Song came over to inform him that Zhu Hao would accompany his eldest son, Zhu Si, to Zhu Youyi's study that day. The king has something to discuss.
Zhu Hao didn't see Tang Yin in the past two days, and he complained in his heart that this old boy had gone to live happily. Fan Yikuan was very diligent in class, giving full play to his last energy and enthusiasm.
According to Zhu Hao's estimate, if Fan Yikuan leaves, if Tang Yin cannot insist on teaching in class every day, and it may take a while for the new teacher to come, then the palace will most likely let him, as a companion, teach the prince during this period.
Early the next morning, Tang Yin came in person and took Zhu Hao to the inner courtyard of the palace.
"Mr. Tang, does he know what he is going to say today?" Zhu Hao asked.
Tang Yin shook his head.
He was also notified of the meeting at short notice, and he said absently: "Zhu Hao, aren't you good at analyzing people's hearts? What do you think?"
Zhu Hao seemed very cautious this time: "If it is an issue with the prince's studies, King Xing can just inform him... Maybe there is something big happening in the palace."
Not everything is easy for Zhu Hao to predict. Reasonable things can be calculated. At present, everything in Prince Xing's mansion looks normal. The only thing that will change is Fan Yikuan's departure, but Zhu Hao feels that it is not because of the prince's studies. It made him feel weird.
…
…
The two of them arrived at Zhu Youqi's study.
At this time, Yuan Zonggao had arrived with Zhu Si, and it took a long time for Zhu Youqi to appear accompanied by Zhang Zuo. This was equivalent to an internal meeting of six people. In addition to the current "four giants" of the palace, there were also Zhu Hao and Zhu Si. Two children.
Zhu Youqian made the opening remarks: "Today, let Zhang Fengzheng talk about the local government affairs... Your Majesty, please listen."
Tang Yin couldn't help but glance at Zhu Hao after hearing this, and asked the boy to guess correctly. It was not a matter of who would come to class after Fan Yikuan left, but more like a temporary class for Zhu Si.
Zhang Zuo saluted and said: "The local magistrate Zhang Yezheng has been in office for more than a month. After taking over local affairs, he is obviously...different from the previous magistrate Kuang..."
Tang Yin asked curiously: "What's the difference?"
Zhang Zuodao said: "In the previous battle with the bandits, the imperial court gave many local rewards, but he basically pocketed them. After he took office, he built forts at key transportation points to prevent thieves, and asked the gentry to actively donate military supplies and wait for the money and food to be received. , but there is still no sign of construction starting.
"In addition, it seems that the funds for the Han River construction have not been distributed normally this year, but the big households in the city have been notified that they are preparing tributes for His Majesty's Thousand Autumn Festival, and everyone is asked to donate again..."
As soon as the news came out, Yuan Zonggao glanced at Tang Yin.
Not too surprising.
Officials in the Ming Dynasty were only upright on the surface. People like Kuang Yangming, who were neither honest nor corrupt officials, were even a little bit greedy, but they were considered rare good officials.
As a villain who gained power by catering to the traitors in the court, Zhang Yezheng naturally wanted to loot and plunder when he arrived at the place.
Originally, it was nothing. There was no shortage of such officials in the Ming Dynasty, but they were just trying to make money... They were so blatantly making money when they first took office, almost to the point of being unscrupulous, which still caught people off guard.
In particular, Prince Xing's Mansion itself is an existence that is transcendent from the local government. Facing such bad officials, it feels even more like being bullied to the head.
Zhu Youqian sighed: "I never expected that the imperial court would appoint an official with a bad record to replace Kuang Zhizhou, but it is said that Kuang Zhizhou still made a lot of efforts in assisting Prince Xing's government in exterminating the bandits, so that it can be seen by all."
Yuan Zonggao followed Zhu Youqi's words and said: "At present, it seems that Zhang Zhizhou does not implement benevolent governance when he goes to the local area. He only talks about doing it for the local people. Every time he issues a decree, it is to plunder the people's support and anointing. He must have something to rely on. I'm afraid this is the case. If the matter is reported, since it is backed by traitors in the court, it will most likely end without any illness."
As soon as these words came out, it set a tone.
Even if Zhang Yezheng is corrupt and perverts the law, Prince Xing's palace sees it and is angry in his heart, so don't make a fuss, otherwise it will only backfire on you.
This is also due to the Confucian Doctrine of the Mean that Yuan Zonggao has always admired. If the Xingwang Palace wants to settle down in such a world, it is very important to protect oneself wisely...
"Cough cough cough..."
While things were being discussed here, Zhu Youqian suddenly coughed violently.
Zhang Zuo quickly went over to help pat Zhu Youqi's back, trying his best to smoothen Zhu Youqi's breath.
Zhu Si asked with concern: "Father, are you okay?"
Zhu Youqian coughed for a long time before he could catch his breath. He raised his hand to stop his son from getting closer and said, "I'm fine, keep talking."
Zhang Zuodao: "Logically speaking, we should not stand idly by when the state government is bringing chaos to the government, but recently the Prince Xiang's Palace has repeatedly had disputes with my palace over land matters. Perhaps we should put local affairs aside as Yuan Changshi said. , settle the old grudge with Prince Xiang’s Mansion with peace of mind..."
The lineage of Prince Xiang's Mansion is the lineage of Zhu Zhanzhen, the fifth son of Renzong of the Ming Dynasty. It is now regarded as a standard branch of the royal family and is far away from the line of succession to the throne.
However, because Prince Xiang’s Mansion is located in Xiangyang, north of Anlu Prefecture, as close neighbors, the two sides often had disputes over land and land. For example, Prince Xiang’s Mansion and Prince Xing’s Mansion had an endless dispute over land and land in the last years of Hongzhi. In the end, Xiaozong came forward. , the disputed land was assigned to Prince Xing's Mansion, and the matter was settled.
Prince Xiang's Mansion suffered a loss at that time, but now Prince Xing's Mansion has made great achievements in suppressing the bandits. The court rewarded him with two thousand hectares of land. This land was not blown by strong winds. It is impossible for you to open up wasteland now. In fact, there is no wasteland to open up. Originally, the land allocated among the vassal vassals meant that the East family's flesh was given to the West family, so Prince Xiang's Mansion became the loser again.
Zhu Youtang died a long time ago. Zhu Houzhao did not care about the interests of the local vassal kings, so the allocation was made. Prince Xiang's Mansion felt that the court might be wary of the expansion of Prince Xing's Mansion, and even if it received the imperial edict, it would not be willing to treat its own fields. The land was handed over to Prince Xing's Mansion... There were signs of quarrel between the two sides again.
As a bystander, Zhu Hao knew some of the details and just watched the fun.
Zhu Youqi suddenly turned to Zhu Si: "Your Majesty, what do you think of this?"
"Um?"
Zhu Si was listening drowsily. Does Zhang Zhizhou and Prince Xiang's Mansion have anything to do with me? I was still wondering if I left the marble under the bed yesterday. I haven't found it today. I will take a bath tomorrow. Where is the best place to play...here they started asking me what I think?
What can I say?
As the nominal mentor of Zhu Si, Yuan Zonggao inspired: "Your Majesty, how do you think the conflict between Prince Xing's Palace and Prince Xiang's Palace should be resolved?"
Zhu Si said with a sad face: "Father, I don't know what kind of dispute there is between us and Prince Xiang's Mansion. If the conflict is not serious, we might as well turn the conflict into friendship."
This is the best answer I can give without knowing the situation.
I don't know what's going on, so I'll advise both parties to reconcile.
Zhang Zuodao: "It's like this, Your Majesty, this time the palace was renovated and the bandits were successfully defeated, the imperial court rewarded the palace with two hundred bodyguards from the Yiwei Department, and also added two thousand hectares of royal land. It turned out that these were mature fields privately occupied by Prince Xiang's palace, and many of them were not used. Compliance, they don’t want to hand over these fields to Prince Xing’s Mansion for nothing. What do you think are the countermeasures to deal with this matter?”
By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, land annexation was becoming increasingly serious, especially among the vassal kings and nobles. Those who had advantages and did not take advantage of them were not heroes. They were good at seizing people's land.
The imperial court repeatedly issued orders not to allow land annexation, and vassal kings had always been strictly restricted in purchasing land. However, in the imperial court, from the princes and nobles to officials, military households, and civil servants, this system was never really followed. In the end, each prince's palace had a household registration list. There is quite a lot of land.
Only then did Zhu Si know what was going on, and he hesitated and said: "If it doesn't work...then we will report it to the imperial court and report Prince Xiang's disobedience to the decree and let the imperial court come forward for us."
Zhu Youqian nodded: "Explicit rules and regulations are an optional way."
Probably Zhu Youqi didn't have a good idea himself, and thought his son's words were acceptable.
But Zhu Hao saw it.
Zhu Youyi's health is much worse than it was a year ago. He was seriously ill and bedridden for nearly two months. It is only recently that he seems normal. However, he still cannot sit for a long time and manage the affairs of the palace. Many things are left to his subordinates.
Historically, Zhu Youji was about to die of illness in three years. It is said that this serious illness was not caused in a day. Zhu Youji was not even forty years old. It seems that later generations have just reached middle age. How can a person who is about to die in three years be in good health?
Only he knows his own affairs best. Zhu Youqi feels that his body and energy are not as good as before. Of course, he must find ways to cultivate his son's ability to make decisions on the fly. He not only needs to teach his son to learn and make progress, but also to teach his son some principles in the management of the palace. .
This is the good intention of a father!
Zhu You looked at Tang Yin and asked, "Mr. Tang, what do you have to say?"
Tang Yin said: "The imperial court rewards acres of land, but insists on granting the land of Prince Xiang's Mansion in the north. Is this done deliberately by the people in the court and intends to provoke a conflict between Prince Xing's Mansion and Prince Xiang's Mansion?"
Zhang Zuo said with a smile: "Mr. Tang's words are reasonable. Even the local magistrate Zhang Yezheng may have been sent by the imperial court to hijack Prince Xing's Mansion. At this time, there are villains in the court who are causing trouble for Prince Xing's Mansion. It is very reasonable." .”
Now, as long as it is to suppress Yuan Zonggao, even Tang Yin's fart will be delicious for Zhang Zuo.
Yuan Zonggao heard some meaning, shook his head and sighed: "The land has been given by the imperial court. It's okay not to accept it. Otherwise, how will the extra two hundred guards be supported? They should belong to the palace, and we can't give in even a step."
He had previously emphasized settling the matter, but when it came to the land dispute with Prince Xiang's Mansion, Yuan Zonggao became even tougher and more radical than Zhang Zuo.
After Zhu Hao heard this, he felt that Yuan Zonggao and Zhang Zuo were just biting each other.
Zhu Youqian looked a little haggard, as if he didn't want to listen to such a useless discussion, and said: "It stands to reason that the state government should prepare tributes to celebrate His Majesty's Thousand Autumn Festival, and Prince Xing's Mansion must also participate, but this year's summer flood is about to come, and last year's river flood The embankment has been damaged in many places and has not been repaired in time. In addition, the palace has spent a lot of money in the past two years. If it is not possible... the money should be spent on repairing the river embankment first."
Zhang Zuo was in a dilemma: "But if Prince Xing's Mansion does not participate, what will happen if the traitors in the court stir up trouble?"
"I can't care less..."
Zhu Youqi didn't want to think about these bad things.
Zhu Youqian looked at Tang Yin again: "How about this. The matter of dealing with Prince Xiang's Mansion will be left to Mr. Tang for the time being. We cannot retreat on the land of Prince Xing's Mansion. This is a major matter involving the prosperity and continuation of Prince Xing's Mansion. We cannot afford to neglect it."