Emperor Zhengde of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 162
Zhang Yanling left the palace confidently and walked towards his own mansion, feeling uneasy all the way. He wondered if Zhu Houzhao could really marry his daughter as the queen?

This matter has been suppressed in his mind for a long time, seeing that the uncooked rice is about to be cooked, he has to step up the final operation.

And Zhu Houzhao, who came out of the imperial garden, heard about this at the first time. He felt a little confused. Although this was also a matchmaker's words, his mother decided to find a wife for him, but to be honest, he didn't love her at all. This cousin of his.

In addition, his uncle's behavior was shameful to everyone, which further intensified his ambivalence.

I have to talk to my queen mother about this matter, if it is later, I am afraid it will still be too late.

All the young ladies from the south of the Yangtze River who have just entered the palace have been arranged properly, and they are about to be inspected by the queen mother. If they are all favored by the queen mother, it is estimated that Zhu Houzhao will have a great fortune.

Inside the Cining Palace.

"Let's go, take the Ai family to see the beautiful girls selected into the palace this time, and see if they suit Zhao'er's taste. If even the Ai family doesn't like them, I think we should just send them back earlier!"

The Empress Dowager walked towards Chuxiu Palace with a few servants.

As soon as he went out, he saw Zhu Houzhao leading a group of guards and eunuchs coming over.The Queen Mother felt a little bit in her heart, as if something bad was about to happen.

"Mother, please wait a moment, my son, I have something to ask my mother."

Zhu Houzhao rushed over in a hurry, Tianhou's expression softened a little, and she asked, "Zhao'er, has something urgent happened? Why are you running in such a hurry?"

Zhu Houzhao looked around and asked, "Mother, can you secretly arrange your son's marriage?"

"Why do you make good claims without my son's consent? Letting sister Zhang Xuan enter the palace to be the queen is simply impossible!"

"Zhao'er, listen to your mother, your cousin is gentle and kind, virtuous and knowledgeable, I think you two are childhood sweethearts, they are just a couple, this is a match made in heaven, and the beauty of the earth, you don't want to refuse, this is my mother's intention."

"Mother, you are making unreasonable words!"

Zhu Houzhao saw that the Empress Dowager Zhang spoke clearly and logically, so he simply dropped the words and left.

The eunuchs couldn't keep up with Zhu Houzhao's heels, so they could only trot behind from a distance.

Yunluo Princess Zhu Xiurong stood behind Queen Mother Zhang, staring at his brother's back in a daze, secretly happy for him.

She couldn't bear to have her cousin as her sister-in-law, because she was so busy all day that she didn't even have time to play.

When Zhu Houzhao returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation, Cao Zhengchun had already arrived and was waiting outside the hall.

"Come in and talk with me!"

Several guards immediately stood outside the door and firmly controlled the door of Yangxin Palace.

"Cao Aiqing, I'm secretly giving you a secret decree, asking you to find out all the vassals' belongings, especially the possession of firearms, within three days, record them in detail, and report to me."

Cao Zhengchun was a little surprised, and thought to himself, there are estimated to be seventy or eighty households of the Zhu family's feudal lords in the whole country, if you want me to investigate this matter in three days, I'm afraid I can't do it!

"Returning to Your Majesty, the power of this feudal lord has greatly increased in recent years, especially recently when I heard that God of Tie Dan is also stepping up his power expansion in secret. It will take three days to find out these things. I am afraid."

Zhu Houzhao heard the truth from what Cao Zhengchun said. If he just asked about it, it would take several months to travel all over the country, but the time for this matter is very tight. Qi Jingtong said a lot before. .

So, he changed his mind and said: "What Aiqing said is also true. How about this, I will lend you the Tianzi Sword temporarily, and there is no time limit. You go and visit the vassal kings of the whole country. If anyone dares to hide cannons or As for firearms, they will all be confiscated according to the number of private possessions."

"If anyone dares to resist, we will kill them all. Hold their heads up to see me, and I will never blame you."

"Don't kill innocent people indiscriminately with the Tianzi sword I gave you. I will pay a return visit later. If I hear someone say that you have killed innocent people indiscriminately, I will never treat you lightly."

"Also, don't use my name to investigate the hidden cannon this time, you can figure it out yourself."

"I would like to follow His Majesty's instructions!"

Cao Zhengchun immediately understood Zhu Houzhao's intentions. He wanted others to take the blame for him, and he wanted to do things that benefited the court.

But what can be done?

He was already very unpopular outside, but he offended the feudal king more and more, and by then he really didn't know how he died.

Zhu Houzhao nodded in satisfaction. He is very satisfied with his subordinate. Cao Zhengchun is the kind of smart person who can work by His Majesty's side.

In the Ming Empire, the weapons of the army were kept strictly confidential. As for the artillery used by the people and the artillery used by the army, they were two different things. Ever since Qi Jingtong reported the incident to Zhu Houzhao, Zhu Houzhao had always had a bad feeling in his heart. idea.

There are ghosts in the imperial court.

And it must be for the purpose of profit, privately smuggling military firearms and a few secrets.

The core secrets manufactured by the Ministry of Industry have been strictly checked, and it is impossible to leak them out.

The only possibility is to collude with the inside and outside to reveal the secret of making artillery through secret channels.

However, Qi Jingtong said that Zhu Chenghao, the king of Lu in the coastal area, not only mastered the core technology of making artillery, but even his artillery technology has surpassed that of the imperial court.

"Cao Aiqing, I want to discuss a question with you. Please tell me your point of view."

Cao Zhengchun cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, please give me your instructions!"

Zhu Houzhao picked up the tea bowl on the dragon case, took a sip and said, "The artillery technology in the southeast coast is higher than that in the imperial court. I suspect that someone secretly colluded with the vassal king and leaked my secret. Is there such a situation? "

Cao Zhengchun said: "Returning to Your Majesty, according to the memorials sent by Jin Yiwei, this possibility is very small, because all the memorials in the palace have to be reviewed by the Ministry of Rites, and all these memorials have to be transcribed. I feel that the possibility of leaking secrets from the DPRK and China is unlikely."

Zhu Houzhao nodded after listening, he thought so too.

"However, how do you explain that their cannon technology is more advanced than mine?"

"Returning to His Majesty, there is a way to do it."

Zhu Houzhao looked up at Cao Zhengchun, he really couldn't think of any way to be smarter than his ministers.

"Learning from *********, I wonder if your Majesty has discovered a problem. Although the southeast coast is in a barren land, our country, Ming Dynasty, has always attached great importance to the development of the southeast coast since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Until today, your Majesty has imposed a sea ban. This is the best way for local people to learn.”

"They not only accepted the advanced experience of the foreigners, but also took the money from the foreigners into their own pockets, transported the tea and ceramics we produced, and then earned their money. In the long run, people in the southeast coast of my Ming Dynasty know how to communicate with the outside world. If you are in business, it is not surprising that you can learn something useful from them."

"Learn abroad? Where can I learn from?"

Zhu Houzhao asked in surprise.

In his mind, Daming is currently the most advanced country in the world, all technologies are ahead of the world, and there is nothing to learn from others.

"Yes! Your Majesty, learn from foreigners, they are Japanese!"

(End of this chapter)