Ming Dynasty Strategy Notes [Transmigration Book]

When they got close, Zhu Chun's carriage stopped first, and Xia Ziling got out of the carriage. Judging from the clothes of the people in front of him, they were indeed officials from the Shu region.

Seeing Zhu Chun in the dragon robe of the vassal king get out of the carriage, he knelt down and kowtowed in front of the middle-aged man in the crimson golden pheasant official uniform, and said in a loud voice: "My minister Sichuan Cheng announced that Zhang Jing, the political envoy, and Sichuan officials, welcome the king of Shu." Just fan!"

A group of officials behind him also knelt and kowtowed along with Zhang Jing, and said in their mouths: "Welcome to the king of Shu!"

Listening to the accent of this scene, it is a native of Sichuan.Although the vassal king is not a local official, his power and prestige in the fief are more than that of a chief envoy, especially in the early Ming Dynasty when the enfeoffment system was initially established and the power of the vassal king was not restrained.

Therefore, it is also necessary for the king of Shu to be a vassal, and the chief envoy of Sichuan to come to greet him, but it is necessary to gather all the officials in Sichuan, and looking at these officials who are as wet as chickens, it is obvious that at least half of them have been waiting in the rain. It's time.Isn't this kind of behavior a little too much?

Zhu Chun's thoughts obviously coincided with his own. He stepped forward two steps, helped Zhang Jing up, and said: "Master Zhang, please get up quickly, it's rainy today, so parents and officials should wait here in the rain. The little king is broken."

Zhang Jing hurriedly said: "My lord is serious. The dragon's veins descending on Sichuan is the blessing of Sichuan, and it is also the top priority in my jurisdiction. The officials all came here spontaneously to welcome them."

Xia Ziling sneered in his heart, Zhang Zhang really knows how to open his eyes and tell nonsense, so many officials, he didn't give orders, they all came here spontaneously?Even if you beat him to death, you won't believe it.

Today's Zhu Chun is no longer the youthful King of Shu a few years ago, Ren has any thoughts in his heart, but he doesn't show it at all on his face.Zhu Chun also knew what Zhang Jing said was pure nonsense, but he couldn't refute the face of the local officials when they met for the first time, but Zhu Chun still nodded in relief, as if he was very satisfied with his arrangement, He walked back to the carriage with Zhang Jing and invited him to ride with him, but Zhang Jing refused again and again, panicking, so he gave up.

However, it was enough for the officials to go out of the city ten miles to greet them. When they entered the Chengdu mansion, what they saw was the scene of the people in the city jostling shoulder to shoulder and coming out of the house.

In ancient times, the common people didn't have much entertainment, and a nobleman came from the city. Some, no, it should be said that most of them came out to watch the excitement, and it was normal.But this posture also seemed to be coming out of the city, especially the yellow-mouthed children and the old people who also took the initiative to welcome them in the rain, Xia Ziling really felt a little unlikely.Could it be that Mr. Zhang ordered the people in the city to be beheaded if they didn't go out to greet each other?

On the first day of entering Shu, Xia Ziling felt a bit of disgust towards Zhang Jing.But this is nothing. Some officials always like to flatter and flatter. It's just their own way of being an official. If they can do something practical for the people, it's not impossible.For Zhang Jing, let's wait and observe slowly.

Now, what surprised Xia Ziling was another thing——

The time when Zhu Chun entered the feudal domain was a year earlier than in the history books, but everything else was the same.The team of chariots and horses entered Chengdu and saw that it covers an area of ​​nearly [-] hectares. It stretches from Dongxiyuhe in the north, Hongzhaobi in the south, Donghuamen in the east, and Xihuamen in the west. It is half the size of Chengdu City. The palace was dumbfounded.

In the 15th year of Hongwu, when Emperor Hongwu issued an edict to build the Shu Palace, he indeed issued an edict that "it is not magnificent to show off". Still use the best materials.

In fact, strictly speaking, the mansion of the first vassal king was invaded.

Perhaps the local officials in Chengdu have never seen what the Nanjing Imperial City looks like, but Zhu Chun, Xia Ziling and others have seen it. At first glance, the Shu Palace in Chengdu is at least two-thirds the size of the Nanjing Imperial City.This is still a discounted statement. In fact, in Xia Ziling's view, this is a replica of the Nanjing Imperial City.

Zhu Chun had just stepped into the palace after a long journey, so he should take a good rest, but now he didn't care about it, and hurriedly took Xia Ziling, Zhang Shou and other cronies for a walk around the Shu palace.

It took half a day for such a stroll, and when he returned to the entrance, Zhu Chun's face was already dark.

The whole palace, let’s talk about the buildings on the central axis first—Chengyun Gate, Chengyun Hall, Duanli Hall, Zhaoming Hall, etc., which are resplendent and magnificent; The whole hall and the throne in it are made of precious nanmu in the southwest; behind the three halls, there are more than [-] houses, all of which are exquisitely built.

This is just like an imperial palace, and it’s a big rebellion. Because the construction of the Nanjing Imperial City was hasty, and Emperor Hongwu was keen to build the central capital at that time, Xia Ziling felt in his heart that the Nanjing Imperial City was not as well built as the Shu Palace. .

Although he has never been to other vassal prince's mansions, Xia Ziling firmly believes that there will not be another vassal prince's mansion on the right side of the Shu prince's mansion.And...Because the Shu Palace is so gorgeous, the people in Chengdu have already called it the "Imperial City" in private.

Although Zhu Chun didn't build the Shu Palace himself, if he lived in it safely, he would probably be criticized by the courtiers, let alone let those interested people play it up, what would happen in the end?

Cao Zhen, the Marquis of Jingchuan who was in charge of the construction of the Shu Palace, was leading the army to quell the rebellion of ethnic minorities in Yunnan. In fact, since the construction of the Shu Palace, he rarely came to inspect it because he was busy with official duties. The construction work was mainly handed over to an eunuch. ——Eunuch Kang.

Zhu Chun didn't care about taking a rest at this time, and immediately summoned Mr. Kang to ask for details.

This Eunuch Kang is about forty years old, with fair skin, but he looks honest and kind.

When Mr. Kang heard the call from the King of Shu, he hurried over immediately, entered the Chengyun Hall, kowtowed three times and knelt down nine times, showing a servile face, and said flatteringly: "Your Majesty, I heard that you have arrived in Shu, but my servant has been so happy that I haven't slept for three days. , the servant wanted to go out of the city to greet him, but his status was humble and he was not qualified, so he had to stand in the crowd and admire the majesty of the prince from afar."

Eunuch Kang looked at the king of Shu who was sitting on the nanmu throne, he was really handsome and extravagant, and he thought that only the palace he built could be worthy of such a person.

"Eunuch Kang presided over the construction of the palace. He has worked hard and made great achievements. Please hurry up."

"Don't dare, it's all a servant's job." After getting the order, Eunuch Kang got up and stood up, standing in His Highness a little nervously.

Xia Ziling was beside Zhu Chun, and took a good look at Eunuch Kang. Not to mention, because of his fair skin, the bruises under his eyelids were clearly visible.But Xia Ziling didn't believe that it was really caused by excitement, it was probably... panic.

After seeing the scale of the Shu Palace in Chengdu, one small matter that has troubled Xia Ziling for a long time suddenly became clear.Before, he had heard from Zhu Chun that during the years since the Shu Palace was built, the money allocated by the imperial court had been used up three times, and he had to apply for the money again from the Ministry of Household Affairs.

You must know that the first allocation of silver was allocated according to the budget for the construction of other vassal mansions. Even if Eunuch Kang proposed that the soil in Chengdu was soft and the foundation soil for the construction of the Shu Palace had to be transported from Hanzhong, then the funds were supplemented once. Should be enough too.

Since the King of Shu is the beloved son of Emperor Hongwu, Emperor Hongwu also said that "it is not magnificent to show off", and Emperor Hongwu was not stingy at all for the construction of the Shu Palace. There are not many times, the sum of the two times is enough to build two vassal mansions, this time should be enough, right?

However, Eunuch Kang is really a bottomless pit here, and he dared to ask the court for silver taels for the third time.Moreover, the memorial also stated that all the buildings had been designed and the foundations had been laid. At this time, it was impossible to reduce the construction work, and the money was not in place. He could only hand over an unfinished mansion to the King of Shu.

This is completely an overlord's way of asking for money, what else can Emperor Hongwu do.Even though the Ministry of Household complained, saying that the construction of the Shu Palace emptied the entire treasury, Emperor Hongwu could not let his son live in an unfinished building, so he forced the Ministry of Household to forcibly pay another silver tael, and finally the Shu Palace was built. .

But this time, Eunuch Kang had no good fruit to eat.Although the money was allotted, Emperor Hongwu also issued an edict-Eunuch Kang used the construction of the Shu Palace to fill his private pockets, ordering him to continue to complete the construction project as a crime.

Therefore, when Zhu Chun arrived in Chengdu this time, he also had another task, which was to find out whether Eunuch Kang, who was entrusted by Cao Zhen to take full charge of the construction of the Shu Palace, had been corrupt and filled his own pocket.

Now seeing the scale of the Shu Palace, Zhu Chun and Xia Ziling both had an idea in their minds—it really cost so much money to build such a palace. Much money.

But if Zhu Chun reported to the emperor that Mr. Kang acted impartially and did not embezzle the silver taels privately, it would not work.If so, then it is admitted that the Shu Palace was built far beyond the standard. Apart from Mr. Kang, the person who presided over the construction, Cao Zhen, the Marquis of Jingchuan who supervised the construction in name, was also inseparable.Furthermore, Cao Zhen and Lan Yu have always been on good terms, and they wanted to build the Shu Palace to look like a palace. Did the King of Shu or Lan Yu privately entrust them?There is a lot to do in this.

Therefore, when the Ministry of Household Affairs was in trouble at that time, it was not without reason that Emperor Hongwu pulled out Mr. Kang as a scapegoat before he came to Chengdu to take a look.

Now that the Prince of Shu's mansion is here, it's a done deal. It doesn't matter whether Eunuch Kang has filled his pockets or not. The important thing is that he, the scapegoat, can't do it. If he is not killed, it will be difficult to stop the people talking.