Chapter 214

Imitating Yan Song's manner.

He placed the court tablet in his hands before him and bowed until his forehead touched the ground.

Jiajing looked at the Grand Secretary and the Second Grand Secretary before him.

A cold sneer inevitably appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Good..."

"My esteemed ministers, do you fear the judgment of history?"

A "crash" sound rang out.

Almost simultaneously, the civil and military officials of the entire court knelt before Jiajing.

The hundred officials prostrated themselves at the palace gates!

Again, the hundred officials prostrated themselves at the palace gates!

This was the literary officials' traditional skill that began with that "triple distinction" scholar-official Shang Lu, Grand Secretary Shang.

Looking at Shang Lu's entire life.

Apart from the "triple distinction," he achieved little in his life.

Yet in the end, he received the evaluation: "The wise assistant of our dynasty, Lord Shang ranks first."

Why?

Precisely because, throughout the Ming dynasty, the hundred officials would prostrate themselves at the palace gates to remonstrate unto death.

It began with Shang Lu!

Zhu Yuanzhang, watching this scene in the chat group,

"Clang!" stood up immediately.

He gritted his teeth and growled low,

"Are they planning to rebel?!"

"Is this Great Ming the Zhu family's Great Ming, or theirs?"

Beneath the Fengtian Gate.

Jiajing looked at the hundred officials before him and couldn't help but laugh,

"Good, very good."

"That our Great Ming dynasty has you all is truly a blessing for our Great Ming dynasty."

Jiajing slowly sat back down on the dragon throne.

Looking at the hundred officials before him, he whispered,

"It doesn't matter; I, the Emperor, am not afraid!"

"The nine provinces and ten thousand regions, the people of the world, the ancestors of past generations—if blame must be assigned, let it fall solely on me, the Emperor; it has nothing to do with you, my lords!"

"Chen Hong! Lu Fang!"

"Your servants are here."

"Draft an edict: effective immediately, restore the Maritime Trade Offices of the five prefectures: Taicang, Huangdu, Quanzhou, Mingzhou, and Guangzhou."

"Add the Maritime Trade Offices of Yu Hang and Dengzhou!"

Chen Hong and Lu Fang were stunned upon hearing this.

Then, in unison, they agreed,

"Your servants receive the edict!"

Only at this moment did Jiajing understand why his elder brother, the former emperor, had been so eccentric in nature.

Just look at this group of civil and military ministers before him.

They either force the Son of Heaven to become an old fox like himself,

or they force the Son of Heaven to become like Zhu Houzhao, who simply gives up and smashes the broken jar.

Or they force him to become a puppet in their hands.

Jiajing's gaze gradually focused on the two men at the head of the hundred officials: Yan Song and Xu Jie.

He added,

"Tell the relay runners along the route to shout my edict aloud!"

"Tell the people of the world."

"I, the Emperor, intend to lift the sea ban, even if it means becoming an unworthy descendant of the Zhu family!"

"Let the people along our Great Ming's coast spit curses upon me!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Hong and Lu Fang were overcome with tears, their old eyes streaming.

Weeping with tears in their voices, they looked at Jiajing and cried out,

"Master..."

Jiajing let out a cold snort.

He slowly stood up and said with a sigh,

"Dismiss the court."

"Yan Shifan, follow me to the West Garden!"

The originally aged Yan Song looked up, his face full of confusion.

He looked at his son, Yan Shifan, behind him.

Clearly, Yan Shifan was also stunned.

"Your Majesty, this old subject..."

Jiajing glanced at Yan Song and smiled.

"Minister Yan is advanced in years; rest for now, and let Yan Shifan come instead."

Having spoken, Yan Shifan trotted along behind Jiajing.

Heading toward the direction of the Western Garden.

Gazing at Yan Shifan's back.

Yan Song's heart could not help but stir with a sense of ominous foreboding.

Just after Jiajing departed.

Beneath the Fengtian Gate, fine beads of sweat had already seeped from the backs of Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Weng Wanjian, and others.

These old foxes, who had navigated the officialdom for half their lives, had clearly perceived it.

The heavens have changed!

133, Yan Shifan: Ruined! I have been trapped by the Emperor!

Western Garden

This time, Jiajing did not, as was his custom, sit in meditation on the cushioned platform of the Jing She.

Instead, he sat directly upon the Dragon Throne, quietly scrutinizing the Yan Shifan before him.

"Yan Shifan."

"Did you hear My decree of today?"

Yan Shifan shivered.

"Your subject heard it."

"The five Maritime Trade Offices of the Taizu era shall all be restored, and two more shall be added at Yu Hang and Dengzhou."

"I wish to dispatch a capable minister to oversee all Maritime Trade matters; who do you deem most suitable?"

Yan Shifan, who had been trembling with anxiety, heard Jiajing's question, and his eyes could not help but grow brighter.

Setting aside whether it aligns with ancestral precedents or not.

How much profit lies within the fat of the Maritime Trade Office.

Yan Shifan knew this clearly.

Even though Yan Shifan knew what colossal entity lurked behind this.

Upon hearing of this assignment to oversee Maritime Trade matters.

Yan Shifan's eyes could not help but reveal a trace of greed.

It is simply that Yan Shifan did not notice at all.

That the shift in his own mindset was laid entirely bare before Jiajing.

Clearly, when Yan Shifan once evaluated the three greatest talents of the realm, he saw only Lu Bing and Yang Bo in the court.