Chapter 104: Salted Vegetables and Tofu, Three Grudges

The five-cloud palace reaches the sky, and the golden light shines brightly.

The sound of golden water in the Jade Canal gurgles, I look down and hasten to see.

The ceremony was solemn and awe-inspiring, making people feel terrified.

……

There was food and music in the palace, a song of "Joy in Front of the Palace" was played, the singers' voices were melodious, and the dancers' postures were graceful.

The atmosphere of the banquet gradually became lively with the sounds of various instruments including poles, gongs, drums, cymbals, harps, se, flutes, shengs, pipes, xun, chisels, panpipes, bells and chimes intertwined together.

There was a round of concern and toasting.

The Dowager Concubine Wu and the Princess Wang left the banquet on the grounds that they were not able to drink enough.

Wu Jinghe watched the concubine leave, knowing in his heart that it was finally time to get down to business.

Prince Min Zhu Dingyao spoke first: "Since the emperor ascended the throne, the emperor has been blessed by heaven and the world is peaceful. I should congratulate your majesty!"

As he said this, he stood up, raised his glass high, pointed to the north, and waited for everyone in the hall to join him.

Everyone looked at each other and stood up one after another.

Wu Jinghe raised his eyebrows and glanced at Zhu Dingyao.

Minfu...

The title was first conferred on the eighteenth son of Taizu, and it has been passed down to the seventh generation today, the same generation as Emperor Shizong.

The Min Palace has never been honest. During the Zhengde period, Zhu Yanmo, the Prince of Lishan in Min Palace, "received treacherous criminals and did evil things at any time."

During the Jiajing period, they "recruited fugitives and robbed people to become bandits."

The most recent was during the first year of the Longqing reign, when “the clique was rampant, rampant day and night, and a crowd of people beat the inspectors and advisors to death.”

In short, they are professionals who keep bandits and thieves, with countless criminal records.

This is also the focus of this trip.

At this time, everyone stood up and saluted the emperor from afar, but they saw Wu Jinghe still sitting still.

Prince Dong'an gave a look, and Zhu Yingyu, the lieutenant general of Prince Yong'an's palace, immediately understood.

He pretended to be displeased and frowned, saying, "We stand up to pay respect to Your Majesty, but why is General Red Helmet sitting still?"

It looked as if the king was humiliated.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the hall looked at Wu Jinghe.

Wu Jinghe sat cross-legged behind the table, surrounded by people's gazes, and picked up a piece of food with chopsticks and chewed slowly.

It wasn't that he wasn't willing to maintain basic decency.

But it was the Prince of Min, Zhu Dingyao, who had something else to say, and he just didn't want to respond.

The words "May God bless you and the world be at peace" are not just said casually.

These were the original words spoken by Emperor Taizu when he divided the fiefdoms.

Then he said, "However, the world is so big that we must establish frontier defenses to protect the country and ensure the safety of the people."

If he really respects this, I'm afraid it will become a two-way street.

Wu Jinghe did not even look at the Lieutenant of the Auxiliary State, but only met the gaze of Prince of Min Zhu Dingyao on the opposite side of the hall.

He slowly stood up and walked over: "Your Majesty has granted me the yellow axe in my hand and the golden seal on my waist."

"It is where the emperor's heart is entrusted, where the emperor's will is accepted, where the emperor's power is manifested, and where the emperor's majesty is reached."

"I am an imperial envoy, representing His Majesty. Why should Your Highness pay respect to me from afar?"

Amidst everyone's astonishment, he gently took the wine glass from Zhu Dingyao's hand.

Drink it all in one gulp.

Then he walked back to his original position leisurely and said with a smile: "You all should respect me."

Everyone looked at each other.

Zhu Changwen opened his mouth wide. He didn't expect that his great-uncle had such a domineering and arrogant side.

But I have to say, it's so cool that it makes people a little envious.

The people coming from Xiangfan, Jingfan and other regions looked at each other. They did not expect that Wu Jinghe would take such a good opportunity in the name of respecting the emperor.

He even said such arrogant words.

Prince Min Zhu Dingyao finally reacted and his face turned pale.

This is intended to insult him!

Zhu Dingyao looked like he was about to explode.

At this moment, King Dong'an, who was sitting in the main seat, finally spoke.

Zhu Xianzhen smiled bitterly: "My family is hosting a welcoming party for the general with all their heart, and it is a time of great joy and happiness..."

"General, why do you always claim to be the incarnation of the emperor and father, making us feel uncomfortable even when drinking?"

The emperor is so far away, why don't you give him any face? Who are you doing this for?
Besides, it’s not like we don’t allow you to complete your task, so why make things difficult for everyone?

Wouldn’t a win-win situation be better?
Wu Jinghe shook his head: "My father and I have placed our trust in me, so I dare not forget about it so easily."

Prince of Dong'an Zhu Xianzhen touched his stomach and felt something was a bit tricky.

This prince consort is really stubborn.

He paused, and finally gave up the attempt. He waved away the singers and dancers in the shop, and the officials of the palace also retreated silently.

After the hall was quiet, Zhu Xianzhen looked at Wu Jinghe seriously and said, "Son-in-law, we are one family and we should not talk behind each other's backs."

"Since my son-in-law said that His Majesty is very worried about the affairs of Huguang and is very troubled."

"We have our king and father in our hearts, so we can't just sit there and watch."

"I wonder if there is anything we can do to help your majesty?"

When Prince Min Zhu Dingyao saw his uncle step forward to take the responsibility, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Although he was a prince and his uncle was only a prince of a county, the Chu clan was more assertive than the Min clan.

At this time, it would be more appropriate for this uncle to come forward to negotiate with Wu Jinghe, who represented the emperor.

Wu Jinghe fiddled with the wine glass in his hand with three fingers and pondered for a moment.

He began to praise: "Prince Dong'an is loyal and filial to his king and father, which is worthy of praise."

Then he changed the subject and asked curiously, "However, the Chu Mansion does not have a prince as its vassal now, so I'm afraid it is powerless, right?"

Zhu Xianzhen's face turned dark.

This is clearly asking whether one can make the decision.

But this statement was too blunt and did not give him any face at all.

Zhu Ying, the lieutenant of the Yong'an Palace, was displeased: "Now we have six princes of Chu Prefecture, 198 generals of the garrison, auxiliary, and state, and more than 1,260 relatives in total."

“With unity, we can achieve great things!”

Wu Jinghe glanced at Zhu Xianzhen, Prince of Dong'an, who looked pleased, but felt quite surprised.

The imperial court clearly let King Wugang take charge of the Chu vassal state, so why is King Dong'an so popular now?

Wu Jinghe thought to himself, but he didn't show his expression. He shook his head and said, "If that's the case, at the beginning of the year, the Chu family fought for land in Lingquan Mountain, drove out the residents of Jiashan, robbed them by force, and killed several people..."

He looked at Zhu Xianzhen and questioned, "It would be fine if they failed to control the situation beforehand, but why did they say they were unable to investigate afterwards? I wonder who is the culprit?"

Wu Jinghe naturally did his homework before coming.

From the old accounts of the Chu Mansion during the Jiajing period - digging up the coffin of the deceased minister Zhang Pu, opening the coffin and mutilating the corpse, and beating and extorting court officials.

During the Longqing period, they forcibly occupied the people's land in De'an Prefecture, Huguang, and harbored murderers.

Even the most recent incidents, such as the mob killing incidents in collaboration with the Yueyang Palace, were all dug up.

Now it can be done with ease.

Zhu Xianzhen looked kind, but the corners of his mouth were a little stiff.

He had made several overtures to his favor, but Wu Jinghe was still nagging about irrelevant things and harping on trivial matters.

It's really too disrespectful!
He made a final attempt and winked at Zhu Yingluo.

The latter nodded imperceptibly and explained indifferently: "As for the cause of the dispute over Lingquan Mountain, everyone in our government has tried their best to cooperate with the Censorate in investigating it."

Zhu Xianzhen tried hard to bring the topic back to the right track and said to Wu Jinghe, "It is because the affairs of the Chu Mansion have caused your majesty so much trouble that we should do our best to help your majesty."

"I heard that there was a fire in Ciqing Palace last year, and it was simply repaired afterwards."

"As the birthplace of your majesty, we, the relatives, cannot help but feel sad for being treated so hastily."

He leaned forward, his big belly bisected by the table, and said seriously, "If the harvest is good this year, we, the relatives, can offer money to help His Majesty rebuild the palace!"

Compared with Emperor Shizong, the current emperor lacks the friendship of relatives, and compared with Emperor Muzong, he lacks the benevolence and gentleness.

He can be described as cold and cruel. No one knows what he wants with this big fanfare.

But at least we have the lesson of last year’s incident in Southern Zhili.

No one wants Huguang to be turned upside down when they can just spend money to avoid disaster.

Just think of it as spending money to get rid of poor relatives.

As soon as the words fell, Min Wang Zhu Dingyao immediately expressed his position: "If there is no major change in Huguang this year, the Min government can offer your majesty 100,000 taels of silver!"

Besides myself, there are seven or eight other princes in this prefecture. If everyone chip in a little, 100,000 taels wouldn't be a big deal.

The general of Xiangfu, who had not spoken a word during the whole meeting, said calmly: "Xiangfu also has 100,000 taels of silver to give to His Majesty."

Zhu Changwen's face changed.

I didn't tell him about this in advance!

No wonder they asked him to come! It turned out they were forcing him to pay!
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Zhu Changwen looked unhappy.

However, the situation was stronger than the person, so he had to swallow his anger and said with a hint of gnashing teeth: "The Ji family's intentions are the same!"

The Chief Secretary of Jing Mansion, the General of Rong Mansion and others all expressed their opinions.

Surprise finally showed on Wu Jinghe's face.

So generous! ?
In the blink of an eye, it's hundreds of thousands of taels!
It seems that these princes and dukes are not all fools.

pity……

This time it’s different from Nanzhili.

If nothing unexpected happened in Huguang, would there be silver?
The emperor had warned you before coming here - "Don't be lax, or you will be punished by heaven."

This is no longer something that can be solved with money!

After the various vassals expressed their opinions, Wu Jinghe remained silent.

Everyone frowned and looked at each other.

That’s not enough! ?
The slightly wealthy Prince of Dong'an Zhu Xianzhen could not help but urge: "If Huguang is prosperous, the whole world will be prosperous."

"As long as you can stabilize the situation in Huguang and deal with the flood, we can have a good harvest and share your worries."

Wu Jinghe turned his head and glanced at Zhu Xianzhen.

He then looked around at the various vassals present.

He slowly stood up, pondered for a moment, and said, "Your Highnesses, I know about your loyalty to the emperor and your patriotism, and your Majesty knows about it."

"I should have offered a toast to you all, but before you drink this glass of wine, I have something to ask you."

"Whether to drink or not depends on what your highnesses say."

He raised his glass in greeting, but his tone was very serious.

Zhu Xianzhen already had a bad premonition, so he turned his head away and said in a deep voice, "Please speak, Imperial Envoy."

Wu Jinghe nodded and asked seriously, "Huguang opened a mine privately. Zhu Yingyan was just a front man. Are there any of you who are standing behind the scenes?"

"Where are the weapons and armor? How many copper coins have been minted?"

"How did the Imperial Censor Zhang Chucheng and the Provincial Governor Tang Bin die?"

"What do you think, did Zhu Yingyan from the Yueyang Palace really commit suicide?"

As soon as he finished speaking, King Min threw the wine glass on the table, snorted coldly, and turned away.

The Chief Secretary of Jing Mansion and the General of Rong Mansion also silently put down the wine glasses in their hands, apologized, and left immediately.

Dong'an Prince Zhu Xianzhen sighed and shook his head: "The imperial envoy has too many questions. I am old and a little drowsy. See you another day."

The eunuch of the palace stepped forward with some embarrassment, gave Wu Jinghe a flattering smile, and bowed to indicate that he was going to see the guest off.

Wu Jinghe nodded.

He held the wine glass with three fingers, gently put it down, turned and left.

All that was left was a deformed wine glass with three fingerprints on it.

Lying alone on the table.

It was announced that the banquet ended in a bad mood.

……

You always have to eat dinner, no matter how good or bad it is.

Just as the banquet ended unhappily and everyone dispersed, not far away from the Zhonghe Hall in the Chu Mansion, there was also a person eating leisurely.

"I ate pickled vegetables and rolled tofu~"

Some tall and thin old men were shaking their heads and singing the lyrics.

A copper pot was set up in front of him, boiling hot.

He was cutting tofu in his hands and throwing the white and tender cubes into the pot.

He took a deep breath of the fragrance with satisfaction and was about to sing the next line.

Suddenly I heard a voice coming from outside the yard and swallowed the words.

After thinking for a while, he changed his tune and sang: "I think of the Holy Lord with the world in my heart~"

As soon as he finished singing, someone from outside came up to him and said breathlessly, "Dad! My brothers and Wu Jinghe had a falling out. When I saw it, our faces were all livid, and King Min was even more furious."

King Wugang used his chopsticks to throw another handful of pickles into the pot and nodded casually.

The visitor took a breath and continued, "Dad, in my opinion, Wu Jinghe really doesn't intend to show any mercy. Uncle Wang and Prince Min's raising of mining thieves and pirates will sooner or later be exposed."

He lowered his voice and gestured: "Why don't we do Wu Jinghe a favor?"

Wugang Wang waved his hand indifferently: "You are grown up now and can make your own decisions. Go if you want."

After that, he picked up a piece of tofu, blew air on it and said, "It has nothing to do with me anyway, I don't intend to get involved."

The visitor seemed to be somewhat disappointed with his father.

He said anxiously, "Dad! Prince Ji was only a county prince at first, but after he took over the Ji clan, he became a prince naturally."

"In our Chu clan, two generations ago, the succession was also passed down from brother to brother."

"You are now in charge of the Chu clan, so you should work hard!"

King Wugang turned a deaf ear to him and concentrated on picking a hole in the tofu, stuffing some pickles into it and eating it in one big bite.

Some of them were swallowed quickly as if they were scalded.

Then he drove him away and said, "Okay, go if you want to, don't bother me."

The father and son pulled each other again. The son was afraid that Wu Jinghe would go away, so he slammed the door heavily in anger and humiliation.

King Wugang squinted his eyes, then looked away, shook his head and continued to enjoy the pickled vegetables and tofu.

Try hard?
These people have never seriously studied what kind of person the guy in the Forbidden City is like.

Now, if anyone stands out, let alone escape unscathed, I'm afraid they will soon be exiled and relocated.
King Wugang shook his head and hummed the tune again.

"I ate ~ pickles ~ rolled tofu ~"

"The emperor is not as good as me"

……

When will the bright moon appear? Let us have a meal together even though we are thousands miles apart.

Zhu Yijun was also eating his dinner absentmindedly.

It’s not that I’m thinking about anything, but I’m trying to reduce my presence.

"If your Majesty was born in August, then doesn't that mean there are still more than two months before the Emperor's Birthday?"

Some childish and crisp voices were heard and reached Zhu Yijun's ears, but he pretended not to hear them.

But he didn't hear it, someone else took over.

Empress Dowager Li smiled and said, "That's right. In two months, he will be twelve years old and will soon be an adult."

Empress Dowager Chen rarely sat at the same table with the emperor. She seemed to be smiling as she said to the emperor, "Yes, you can consider marriage now."

Zhu Yijun was helpless.

She quietly looked up at the two empress dowagers and Li Chunfang's granddaughter, Li Baiyang, who had just entered the palace.

I don’t know what the two palaces are thinking, they are more active than the outer court.

He was really not used to having this girl eat with him every day.

Just at this moment, Zhang Hong walked in from outside.

Zhu Yijun was as if he had been pardoned. He quickly finished his meal in two mouthfuls and put down his bowl and chopsticks: "Mother, there seems to be something important in the outer court. I'll go first!"

After saying that, he ran out.

(End of this chapter)