In the imperial garden.
The beautiful girls of Jinling Pavilion were all gathered together. They were all dressed in bright clothes, and each of them looked elegant.
"Little sister Zi Xia's singing is getting more and more pleasant.”
Before Zhu Houzhao could speak, they had already let out a bell-like laughter.
Ever since these girls entered the palace, other than learning court etiquette, they also learned how to please the emperor and how to make the emperor admire them.
" Your Majesty is always busy with the government and it is very tiring. I was born in a family of doctors and physicians. It can be said that Your Majesty massages your acupoints to relieve fatigue…"
A young girl stood beside Zhu Houzhao and boldly pinched his shoulder. The young girl's strength was neither too strong nor too fast, and it was very comfortable to pinch his shoulder.
"Your Majesty, please sit down. I will massage your shoulders…"
These young girls used all their methods. They wanted to gain the emperor's favor. They wanted to be superior people and concubines. They didn't want to be palace maids serving others.
Zhu Houzhao found that these women were unusually bold. It was obvious that they had been ordered by someone, and the person who had ordered them must be the Empress Dowager. Otherwise, without the Empress Dowager's order, how could these eunuchs dare to let these women into the imperial garden?
Zhu Houzhao finally felt what it meant to be blessed by having everyone together…
Of course, he knew that the emperor had 3,000 concubines in his harem, and many emperors were unable to extricate themselves from their love…
In the beginning, Zhu Houzhao didn't know why these emperors had fallen.
Today, after seeing the beautiful women in the imperial garden, Zhu Houzhao finally understood why emperors and heroes could not resist the gentle love.
It turned out that there really was a woman in this world who could make people fall head over heels for her…
Originally, Zhu Houzhao thought that he had the ambition of an emperor and could resist beauty for the sake of the country.
However, today, he realized that he had overestimated his self-control. He could not resist the temptation of beauty. He could not be like Liu Xiahui.
Most importantly, the ultimate goal of these beautiful women was to become Zhu Houzhao's concubines.
If Zhu Houzhao didn't favor them, their ending would be very sad.
As the emperor, if Zhu Houzhao did not favor the harem and did not have any children, he would incur the criticism of the civil and military officials…
……
In the imperial garden, a group of beautiful women competed with each other. In order to make the emperor smile, these beautiful women displayed their most beautiful selves in front of the emperor.
When the eunuch sent by the Empress Dowager to keep an eye on the Emperor saw that he was happy, he ran back to Cining Palace and reported,""Reporting to the Empress Dowager, the beauty of Jinling Pavilion has made His Majesty very happy.”
"Alright, alright. You go to Yangxin Palace Hall and order all the eunuchs and palace maids to prepare more clothes. Send three beautiful women to Yangxin Palace Hall every day so that the Emperor won't flip the board. Who knows when the Emperor will flip the board?”
"I will obey the Empress Dowager's orders."
When night fell, Zhu Houzhao returned to Yangxin Palace Hall. This time, he returned to Yangxin Palace Hall with him, along with the nine beautiful women he liked…
The next day, these nine beautiful women walked out of the Emperor's bedroom, Yangxin Palace Hall, blushing. The Emperor conferred them the title of Zhaoyi. From now on, they were no longer beautiful women, but concubines in the Imperial Palace. Even if they had no chance to climb onto the dragon bed from now on, they could still be concubines in peace and enjoy a lifetime of glory and wealth. They would no longer be palace maids who served others.
……
Early in the morning, the sun was bright and the spring breeze was warm.
Zhu Houzhao walked out of Yangxin Palace Hall in high spirits. These beautiful women were not only beautiful, but also knew how to serve the Emperor.
……
However, after Zhu Houzhao arrived at the Palace of Heavenly Purity and read through the memorials sent yesterday, he was furious.
The cabinet and the six ministers were relatively stable, and nothing major happened.
Nothing major happened at the border. Ever since the Ming Empire destroyed the Tartar Kingdom and defeated the Franji fleet, the four seas were peaceful. Even pirates rarely appeared on the sea.
However, just because the cabinet and the six ministries didn't have any memorials didn't mean that the other ministers didn't.
A thick stack of memorials from the Imperial Censor made Zhu Houzhao furious.
What about restoring the ancestral system? The time of the morning court should not be delayed, or else the officials would slack off.
What did he mean by continuing to ban the sea? He could not open the sea at all costs. He could not ignore the safety of the coastal people for the benefit of merchants. He could not continue to maintain the ancestral system and not allow any piece of land to enter the sea!
They said that they were going to severely punish Liu Jian and Liang Chu, saying that they were biased towards the merchants and had received a lot of bribes from them.
Since ancient times, merchants had not been engaged in production, but had been speculating and profiteering, harming the country…
This rule must not be broken in His Majesty's generation…
The status of merchants was even lower. Not only could they not participate in the imperial examination, but they were also not allowed to wear silk and satin. They were not even allowed to do business or leave the county they lived in...
Zhu Houzhao never thought that after he opened the business tax and increased the tax for the Ming Empire, he would actually anger a portion of the censors.
Perhaps it wasn't that these censors were angered, but that Zhu Houzhao's swift and decisive reform had affected the interests of certain groups.
The officials of the Imperial Censorate believed that Zhu Houzhao had violated the ancestral system.
Not only did they collect business taxes, but they also raised the status of merchants.
He had even broken the ancestral rule of the Forbidden Sea left behind by Emperor Hongwu…
His Majesty should cancel the commercial tax, continue to ban the sea, abolish the Ming Navy, and return it to the inland river…
Zhu Houzhao realized that his recent reforms had affected the interests of some groups. Now, these groups were beginning their final struggle to fight back against the imperial power…
Zhu Houzhao was angry when he saw the first rule." You censors are so full that you're panicking. Isn't it enough for me to attend court every three days? You actually want me to attend court every morning, and at three in the morning. Are you censors crazy?"
Isn't that a matter of good for you, good for me, and good for everyone? You still want to restore the ancestral system?
If you want to restore the ancestral system, I will restore the ancestral system for you. Thinking of this, Zhu Houzhao waved his pen on the memorial."The memorial is approved. However, other than the Imperial Censor, it is inconvenient for the other officials of the Imperial Court to attend court. The Imperial Censor is to wait for court every day and is not allowed to be late or leave early!”
The second rule was even more ridiculous. The Ming Navy under Wang Hong had already beaten the Frankists to a pulp. Now, the Frankists and the Wei pirates were as cowardly as a grandson. How could they dare to bully the coastal people of Guangdong and Guangxi?
After two years, the Ming Navy would be able to regain its strength and destroy the Franks and the Wei Nation!
Liang Chu and Liu Jian proposed to open the sea. There was no problem!
Fishermen depended on the sea for their livelihood. Even if they did not open the sea, they would not be able to stop the fishermen from sneaking out to sea. It was better to open the sea and let the fishermen go out to sea to pay taxes.
Increase the income of the national treasury.
Therefore, Zhu Houzhao wrote on the second memorial: "You said that opening the sea ban will endanger the safety of the coastal people. Now, find a group of pirates who can harm the people along the coast of Guangdong and Guangxi. I will re-open the sea ban for you, but if you can't find them, don't come back!”
The third condition was even more impossible. Without Liu Jian and Liang Chu, who would Zhu Houzhao ask for money from? Those two fellows were now Zhu Houzhao's cash cow, and he was still counting on them to give him money.
To dismiss two famous officials, isn't this asking me to cut off my own arms?
Do you really think I'm a fatuous ruler?
Moreover, what's wrong with me collecting business taxes? You censors actually think that Liu Jian and the others are biased towards merchants. Isn't this pointing at mulberry trees and scolding locust trees?
Zhu Houzhao's reply to the third memorial was even simpler: "Alright, before punishing Liang Chu and Liu Jian, give Zhen ten million taels of tax!”
The remaining Zhu Houzhao did not want to continue watching. He felt that if he continued to watch, he might get a heart attack. At that time, he would become an emperor who died young again.
Therefore, for the sake of his health, it was better not to read these imperial censors 'memorials.
Zhu Houzhao was already prepared to investigate these people from the Imperial Censorate.
Of course, the dogs that I raise will bite the people that I hate!
It would be bad if he bit his master!
Zhu Houzhao was waiting for the court meeting tomorrow. He wanted to personally ask these imperial censors of the Great Ming Dynasty what they were thinking and who the interest group behind them was!
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。