Chapter 266: A Careless Show-off

"How was this fake silver coin made?" Zhu Yijun held the counterfeit coin in his hand, examining it for a long time. This thing was a bit strange; it was truly too exquisite. If coin counterfeiting reached this level, the Great Ming's monetary system would be dead before it even got off the ground.

"The craftsman spent a month carving it out." Wang Guoguang revealed the mystery. It wasn't stamped; it was carved.

"So that's how it is. Grand Secretary, you have put in much effort." Zhu Yijun immediately realized what he had done.

He had used his intuition to ruin the speech Wang Guoguang had meticulously prepared as a political promise for his entry into the Cabinet. No wonder Wang Guoguang looked like he couldn't keep his composure; his elaborate design had lost to the innate talent of a miser.

He really hadn't done it on purpose; he was just naturally sensitive to gold and silver objects.

Wang Guoguang had originally intended to use silver coins, silver ingots, and fake silver ingots to tell the Emperor of Great Ming why silver could not serve as currency.

The lead-tin-copper alloy was extremely hard. To make such a realistic fake silver coin, Wang Guoguang had gone to immense trouble. One must know that stamping lead-tin-copper was truly too difficult. What he had presented to the Emperor wasn't stamped at all, but rather made using manual carving techniques to achieve an effect that could pass for the real thing.

The production cost of making just one such fake silver coin far exceeded the value of one tael of silver.

As a result, not long after it reached the Emperor's hands, he had cracked it based on an indescribable sense of pleasure. Even though there was no difference, the Emperor had felt it instinctively. Where could Wang Guoguang go to seek justice?

The Emperor's innate talent had disrupted Wang Guoguang's narrative structure, but he still managed to explain what he wanted to say.

Bai Yin—or more precisely, silver ingots—was not suitable for use as a universal currency because it was not suitable for the foundation of trade: exchange.

Bai Yin was too precious and easily forged, with a vast amount of counterfeits. The fake silver ingots flooding the market hindered the exchange of Great Ming's goods, thereby obstructing the process of the Great Ming's small-scale peasant economy transforming into a commodity economy. Bai Yin coins, however, would not have this problem, because true silver has excellent ductility. It can be stamped to create extremely exquisite silver coins that can fully fulfill the duties of currency.

This was what Wang Guoguang discussed, starting from the silver in Great Ming's pigsties. The powerful families and wealthy merchants hoarding silver did so not actively, but passively, because they were not confident that they could definitely obtain real gold and silver using goods, so they simply buried it in the ground to hoard it. This was December of the fifth year of Wanli; at this time, the cost of breach of contract was truly too low, and after cheating, one could flee and be extremely difficult to find.

From the very beginning of minting, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and the Inner Treasury all constantly emphasized that if the coinage wasn't exquisite, it was better not to mint at all.

The anti-counterfeiting of silver coins did not rely on whether they could ring when struck, but on their exquisite patterns, because other metals did not have such good ductility and were not easy to stamp. Even if the specific gravity and feel were the same, because of the ductility, the exquisite patterns were their greatest anti-counterfeiting feature.

The Great Ming's minting rolling mills used water-powered spiral rolling mills, which could apply enormous pressure to silver bars to press out exquisite patterns. To achieve this effect, in the current Great Ming, only the Imperial Court had such capability.

Wang Guoguang also announced his political manifesto for entering the Cabinet: he wanted to turn all of Great Ming's silver into circulating currency. Only in this way would the Single Whip Law have a foundation for implementation.

Zhu Yijun listened to Wang Guoguang's memorial in detail and highly approved of it. In the process of minting, Great Ming could collect seigniorage.

Seigniorage was the fire-loss during the minting process. The silver content of Great Ming's silver coins was ninety percent; the lead, tin, and copper added were the profit. If Great Ming were ruthless, it could lower the content a bit, or even make them with lead-tin-copper cores and skin on the outside; it all depended on the Imperial Court's fiscal situation. If the fiscal state was good, the silver content of the coins would be high; if the fiscal state was rotten, the silver content would be low.

The two Song dynasties had proven with practice that minting coins with reduced precious metal content was purely digging one's own grave, because the precious metal content of currency was, at that time, a representation of the Imperial Court's credibility.

During the Northern Song, the Imperial Court minted over five billion copper coins a year. By the end of the dynasty, Emperor Huizong, Zhao Gou, let Cai Jing gradually reduce the copper content in the coins and increase the iron content. Later, they simply minted all iron coins, and slowly, they didn't even mint iron coins anymore, starting to harvest the people using *Qian Yin* and *Jiaozi*. The Imperial Court's credit began to go bankrupt.

This process of credit collapse was somewhat like the process of Great Ming's treasure notes depreciating to the point where they were considered too hard even for wiping one's backside.

Wang Guoguang spoke of many benefits of minting coins: standardized styles, ease of circulation, great benefits to commerce, facilitating the transformation of Great Ming's small-scale peasant economy, and promoting commercial development. As for the role of currency, Wang Guoguang could talk for three days and three nights without finishing. For Great Ming's nearly rotten financial affairs, being able to mint silver coins was already excellent, because before this, Great Ming did not have substantial currency.

Great Ming minted twenty million copper coins annually, roughly equivalent to twenty thousand *guan*, which was twenty thousand taels of silver. It could not satisfy the demand for large-scale circulation at all. Only during the Yongle reign were coins minted in large quantities; for example, Oda Nobunaga's clan crest was the Yongle Tongbao.

Being able to mint silver coins was already a sign that the ancestors were burning high incense and the ancestral graves were emitting blue smoke.

Great Ming's Fujian had silver mines, but the silver content was extremely low. Even so, it sparked the Ye Zongliu-Deng Maoqi civil unrest. That was in the thirteenth year of Zhengtong, a massive civil unrest involving over a million people that spread from Fujian to five provinces; its scale even exceeded the commotion caused by Huang Chao back in the day.

Great Ming had two instances of a young ruler and a suspicious state: one was Emperor Yingzong during the Zhengtong reign, with the Three Yangs assisting in government; the other was during the Wanli reign, with Zhang Juzheng assisting the state.

Zhu Yijun always felt that history gave the Three Yangs too much praise. The Three Yangs did not educate Emperor Yingzong well, nor did they leave behind a prosperous Great Ming dynasty; they were far inferior to the achievements during the times when Zhang Cong and Zhang Juzheng were in charge of the state.

Zhang Juzheng left Zhu Yijun an inheritance that could last thirty years, while what the Three Yangs left Emperor Yingzong was a Great Ming dynasty riddled with holes and with state affairs as precarious as eggs piled up. They were all civil officials, yet the Three Yangs were showered with praise, while Zhang Juzheng actually ended up with mixed reviews.

The entire territory of Great Ming could produce one hundred thousand taels of silver a year, and that was considered a good year. This bit of silver was simply not enough to issue currency.

Now, thanks to the import of overseas silver, Great Ming finally put the monetization of silver on the agenda, and the person responsible for all this was the newly entered Grand Secretary, Wang Guoguang.

Yang Bo once said that Wang Guoguang was "cautious and independent," meaning he was unconventional, his aspirations were lofty, and he was unwilling to be corrupted by others. He just wanted to do his own work. His advocacy was for a wealthy nation and strong people, not a wealthy nation and strong army, which had overlapping areas with Zhang Juzheng's New Policies. He was a comrade, a peer, and a person of similar joy.

Yang Bo said Zhang Siwei was two-faced and not a loyal subject, said Ge Shouli was honest and blunt, and said Wang Guoguang was cautious and independent. Yang Bo really had a sharp eye for people.

Zhu Yijun chatted with Wang Guoguang for a long time before confirming the expansion of the scale of coin minting. He would further expand the scale of the Armory Bureau, upgrading from a scale of five hundred thousand silver coins per year to one million five hundred thousand silver coins per year within five years. At the same time, he would increase the intensity of mining Yunnan copper, raising the scale of minting copper coins from the current thirty million coins per year to three billion coins per year within five years. And the mining of Yunnan copper and the minting of coins required the support of the Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's mansion.

Wang Xiyuan went to Yunnan to serve as an inspecting censor to preside over the Yunnan copper affairs. The Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong had already expressed his stance of full support. Moreover, judging from Wang Xiyuan's memorial, the Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's mansion was truly supporting the mining of Yunnan copper with all its might—providing people when asked, providing grain when asked, leveling official roads and post roads, dredging waterways, and sending envoys to communicate with the *Tusi* and Miao people to ensure the smooth mining of Yunnan copper and its transport out of Yunnan for minting.

What the Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's mansion considered was completely different from the local powerful families. The power of the Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's mansion came from the enfeoffment of the Great Ming Emperor. How to increase the Imperial Court's influence in Yunnan through mining Yunnan copper was the first issue the Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's mansion considered.

Because in Yunnan, the Great Ming Imperial Court's influence was actually realized through the Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's mansion. The greater the Great Ming Imperial Court's influence in Yunnan, the greater the benefits for the Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's mansion. Transportation, economy, culture, etc. —the Imperial Court and the Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's mansion were in a mutually beneficial and symbiotic relationship. Yunnan's counties and prefectures belonging to the Central Plains dynasty could be counted from the time Kublai Khan broke through Dali.

Before Kublai Khan destroyed Dali, the place of Yunnan had always belonged to outer vassals. The time Yunnan had belonged to China was a mere three hundred years, and that was counting the loose rule of the Hu Yuan. Excluding the loose rule of the Hu Yuan, the Yunnan region had belonged to China for only a little over two hundred years, shorter than the time Annan had belonged to China.

When Great Ming was first established, there were still a large number of *Tusi* in Yunnan, and these *Tusi* had gradually died out over these two hundred years, following the Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's mansion's "daily arching of a pawn."

If Great Ming is strong, the Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's mansion is strong; if Great Ming is weak, the Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's mansion is weak; if Great Ming perishes, the Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's mansion perishes. This was the relationship between the Great Ming Imperial Court and the Qian Wei Wei Guo Gong's mansion, and it was also the relationship between the Great Ming Imperial Court and the Luzon Governor's Office and the Nagasaki Governor's Office.

Sharing prosperity and decline, sharing honor and disgrace.

This was the process of institutional exploration during the process of opening the seas. For the Emperor, this was extremely dry and boring. Yunnan, Luzon, and Nagasaki were all far away at the edge of the sky. Zhu Yijun might not even go to see them in this lifetime. Discussing a place that only existed on maps and in memorials was truly a bit of empty talk.

Institutional exploration was also a process that had to be experienced.

This was also one of the reasons why the Wei Wei Guo Gong Zheng, Ma Fang, was always sending beauties to the Emperor. Although the Emperor couldn't reach Luzon, a woman who knew the current situation in Luzon was the Emperor's bedfellow, so Luzon would appear a bit more real in the Emperor's eyes.

Wang Guoguang was centralizing power through economic means. Centralization was inevitable in institutional design under an imperial system.

Zhu Yijun had Feng Bao send away the two ministers, kept Hou Yuzhao alone, and then brought Hou Yuzhao to the Baoqi Office. The Baoqi Office had various crops. For five years as one day, Zhu Yijun had been personally engaged in farming and sericulture, personally tending to these crops. He had already transformed from a "planting black household" who would kill even green radishes into an agricultural scientist.

In this era, it was not an exaggeration at all for Zhu Yijun to call himself an agricultural scientist. He had already finished reading and proofreading all the agricultural books annotated by Xu Zhenming. Xu Zhenming had been constantly tinkering with the *Sweet Potato Classic*, and his positioning of the sweet potato remained very clear: it was a famine-relief grain, a supplementary crop.

And Xu Zhenming's research focus had also begun to shift from sweet potatoes to rice. Improving rice was harder than Xu Zhenming had imagined, and it was much harder. Xu Zhenming intended to spend his whole life pursuing the improvement of rice seeds.

As a master of farming and a scientist like Xu Zhenming, Hou Yuzhao had many common topics to chat about. Zhu Yijun left silently, not disturbing the two.

The matter of farming and sericulture was the field Zhu Yijun was most conservative in. He was always so cautious, pushing for the progress of farming and sericulture.

The people regard food as their heaven.

Zhu Yijun returned to the Guanghan Palace, sat at the desk in the Imperial Study, and took out a letter. The letter was written by Qi Jiguang to the young Emperor. After more than half a month, Qi Jiguang finally wrote a letter to the Emperor, explaining why he had to advance into Yingchang.

In Qi Jiguang's view, even if he were to bury himself, Li Rusong, Chen Dazhuang, Ma Dong, and ten thousand elite troops in Yingchang, if it could be exchanged for complete control over the mountain passes of the Great Xianbei Mountains, it would be a profitable deal for Great Ming that could not lose.

What Qi Jiguang sent to the Imperial Palace was a letter, not a memorial. It did not go through the Ministry of War, nor did it go through the Cabinet; it was a private letter, a private communication between a teacher and a student.

It was Zhu Yijun who had written to Qi Jiguang first. When Qi Jiguang was not in the capital, Zhu Yijun would write three letters a month to Qi Jiguang, nagging about his progress in martial arts, nagging about the disgusting nature of some base scholars, and nagging about some party strife in the court.

Writing letters was something Zhu Yijun had learned from Zhang Juzheng—a means of informal communication. These letters were unknown, private letters not included in the *Tongji* archives of ancient and modern times.

In the letter, Qi Jiguang mentioned a strange army from the end of the Jin dynasty: the Loyal and Filial Army.

The Loyal and Filial Army was established at the end of the Jin dynasty. Very few of those who had read Great Ming history had read about the history of the Jin dynasty; even the Jin dynasty itself seemed very unfamiliar.

The Jin dynasty rose in Liaodong. After destroying the Liao dynasty, it then destroyed the Northern Song, captured Emperor Huizong and Emperor Qinzong, and occupied a large area of territory north of the Qin Ling Mountains and the Huai River.

Genghis Khan rose in Mobei, constantly annexing many tribes on the grassland, and constantly attacking the Jin dynasty. The Jin dynasty lost its dragon-rising land of Liaodong, huddled within the passes, not daring to move easily. Facing Genghis Khan's attacks, the Jin dynasty chose to be a shrinking turtle.

When Emperor Aizong of Jin ascended the throne, he faced a riddled court situation. In order to save the nation, Emperor Aizong of Jin immediately abolished the treacherous officials, rectified military affairs, and enriched the country and strengthened the army, and the Loyal and Filial Army was established from then on.

In terms of selection, the Loyal and Filial Army used "returned righteous people," that is, those composed of Uyghurs, Naimans, Qiang, Hun, and Han people who had fled into the Jin dynasty from the Mongol-ruled areas. These people had a sea of blood and deep hatred for the Mongols. The highest establishment was seven thousand people, and they were given three times the monthly pay of other armies. The military pay was three times that of other armies; it was the culmination of the Jin dynasty's recruitment system.

And the combat record of the Loyal and Filial Army was extremely brilliant. The Battle of Dachangyuan, the Battle of Weizhou, and the Battle of Daohuigu were all victories. Its combat record against the Mongols was very strong, and its combat record against the Song was also very strong. The Battle of Tangzhou and the Battle of Guide both stunned the Southern Song army.

If the soldiers are elite, the equipment is sturdy and complete, and the military pay is abundant, then the combat power will always be strong.

The commander of the Loyal and Filial Army, Wanyan Chenheshang, was a rare military strategist in that era of chaotic warfare between the Mongol, Jin, and Song states. The Loyal and Filial Army under his command had strict discipline, was brave in battle, and committed no offenses wherever it passed, deeply winning the hearts of the people. Its discipline was comparable to the Shenwu Rear Army, commonly known as the Yue Family Army, and was almost the same as the discipline of the Southern Army under Qi Jiguang. It was a strong and fierce force relied upon by Emperor Aizong of Jin.

However, the mansion was about to collapse, and a single pillar could not support it. The Loyal and Filial Army repeatedly performed miraculous feats, but it was still difficult to save the Jin dynasty's declining national situation. In the Battle of Sanfeng Mountain, heaven did not grant time, Wanyan Chenheshang led his troops to die in battle, and most of the Loyal and Filial Army was killed. From then on, the destruction of the Jin dynasty became a matter of time.

The Loyal and Filial Army had always been winning. It could not be defeated, because once the Loyal and Filial Army was defeated, all the hearts and minds that had been gathered would completely disintegrate.

The Southern Army under Qi Jiguang, which received eighteen taels of military pay, was highly similar to this Loyal and Filial Army. If the soldiers are elite, the equipment is sturdy and complete, and the military pay is abundant, the combat power will always be strong. Similarly, the fate of the six thousand Southern Army troops in his hands was very similar to that of the seven thousand Loyal and Filial Army troops. The Loyal and Filial Army could not be defeated, because if it was defeated, the hearts and minds would scatter. The Qi Family Army (the six thousand Southern Army troops) could not be defeated either, because if it was defeated, Great Ming might really perish.

When Qi Jiguang was the Regional Commander in Jizhou, his mission was to resist the enemy, that is, to block the Hu Lu from invading, and to deter the Northern Lu. He could not go outside the passes to fight, because he was the military myth created by Zhang Juzheng, the fierce weapon to deter the Northern Lu. Once the undefeated golden body of the Qi Family Army was broken, Great Ming, which was so poor that even the Imperial Tombs were in debt, really could not block the two-pronged attack of Altan Khan and Tuman Khan.

Qi Jiguang explained that the reason he wanted to advance into Yingchang was because he could afford to be defeated now, because deterring the Hu Lu was no longer the myth of his own undefeated golden body, but Great Ming's strong national power, abundant national treasury, piled-up grain and grass, and gathered hearts and minds.

He was no longer that "pillar of heaven." For some strategic risks, he could try them, and Great Ming also had the confidence to try them.

The main content of this letter was that Qi Jiguang told the Emperor that he, in fact, was not that important.

No matter how powerful the Loyal and Filial Army was, there was a day it would be defeated. No matter how fierce the Qi Family Army was, there was a time it would lose. Great Ming could afford to lose now.

Just like during the Hongwu reign, the three-pronged army of Xu Da, Li Wenzhong, and Feng Sheng attacked Lingbei and Helin, aiming to pacify Mobei and completely eliminate the Hu Yuan regime. As a result, Xu Da was defeated and returned, Li Wenzhong neither lost nor gained, and only Feng Sheng won. Great Ming lost in the fifth year of Hongwu, but in the twenty-first year of Hongwu, Lan Yu attacked Buyuerhai, completely crushing the Hu Yuan regime and completely beating the Hu Yuan's imperial title out of existence.

Great Ming could afford to lose; this was the situation Qi Jiguang most wanted to see.

Of course, Li Rusong's pursuit battle this time was fought too beautifully, making this advance look more like Qi Jiguang himself was omniscient.

Zhu Yijun finished reading the letter and said with slight confusion: "Why do I feel like General Qi is showing off? Zhang Daban, look, is General Qi implying: 'I originally intended to be defeated, but as a result, I won easily'?"

Zhang Hong smiled and said: "Your Majesty, when people with military talent fight on the battlefield, nothing is strange. The Northern Lu looks weak, but that's only weak when facing General Qi."

"General Qi means exactly this: 'I haven't even used my strength yet, and they have already fallen.'"

"It looks careless, but it's actually showing off. This isn't General Qi being intentional; who told General Qi to have military talent?"

"Zhang Daban, do you think I have military talent?" Zhu Yijun looked slightly eager to try.

After careful consideration, Zhang Hong chose to tell the truth and said very directly: "Your Majesty's political talent is something Grand Secretary Zhang has affirmed; Your Majesty's political talent is the confidence Grand Secretary Zhang had when he ran off to the Western Mountains."

"Changing the subject! What about military talent? Not answering the question, Zhang Hong! Answer me directly!" Zhu Yijun knocked on the table very dissatisfied. This Zhang Hong had also learned that set of base scholars avoiding the point.

Seeing he couldn't dodge, Zhang Hong had no choice but to say very firmly: "Your Majesty, the subject cannot discuss a problem that does not exist. Of the nine classics of the state, the one to practice is just sincerity and truth."

"Zhang Hong, you have no heart of submission!" Zhu Yijun stood up and slapped the table, saying angrily: "So what if I have no military talent! So what!"

"It's nothing, really nothing. People with military talent, just let them be used by me."

"Zhang Daban, don't you think so? Military talent is nothing much; it's not abundant to begin with, and the place to use it still has to be offered to the Emperor to be displayed, right?"

Zhang Hong nodded continuously and said: "Ah, yes, yes, yes."

"Perfunctory." Zhu Yijun picked up Qi Jiguang's letter again and read it happily. He was in a very good mood and didn't have any dissatisfaction or even jealousy because his military talent was zero.

He was the Emperor, not a Great General Conquering the North.

Zhang Hong smiled. Actually, the Emperor's personality was really very good. He liked beautiful things, hated ugly things, was happy at good news, and angry at bad news. When Qi Jiguang's letter entered the court and the news of the great victory was sent back, the Emperor had been smiling the whole time—smiling sincerely, smiling brightly.

The Emperor was really simple and very easy to understand.

Of course, there are many ways to live as an Emperor. For example, Emperor Jiajing's "heavenly might is unfathomable"—court discussions were all that little copper hammer knocking non-stop, and the meaning was all up to the court officials to guess. That was one way to live. The Emperor's way, where all emotions were written on his face, was also one way to live.

That the Emperor could live so unrestrainedly was inseparable from the "Civil Zhang, Martial Qi."

Farmer Zhu Yijun went to the Martial Lecture Hall again before the end of the year and chatted with Yu Dayou for a long time about the selection of junior officers and commanders for the Martial Lecture Hall. This time, the great victory at Huining Guard gave the meritorious soldiers priority. As for the children of the military nobility, if they were willing to endure hardship, they could enter the hall; they would not be turned away. If they failed the assessment, they shouldn't command troops. Being a military noble who just eats and waits for death was also fine; the Imperial Court didn't lack their bowl of rice.

On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhu Yijun's right arm had completely healed. After a consultation by the chief physician of the Dissection Institute, it was determined that the injury the Emperor sustained in the assassination attempt at the Western Mountains had completely recovered. However, when he went to the Yicheng Earl's mansion in the Western Mountains, he still didn't ride a horse, but chose the Grand Imperial Carriage—the Son of Heaven's carriage—instead of riding a horse.

Because it had also snowed in the capital, it wasn't suitable for riding horses.

The carriage stopped slowly in front of the Yicheng Earl's mansion. Only You Qi was waiting respectfully at the door, but there was no sign of Zhang Juzheng.

This time, Zhu Yijun brought a pile of New Year's goods. Since it was almost New Year, he naturally had to bring gifts when paying a visit.

"Where is the Master?" Zhu Yijun was a bit strange. Zhang Juzheng's etiquette had always been thorough. Why wasn't he waiting outside the door to respectfully welcome the Imperial Carriage today?

You Qi knelt on the ground and said with a difficult expression: "The Master only fell asleep at dawn. The Imperial decree Your Majesty gave the subject was that during the Master's mourning period, the Master's health was the top priority. The Master ordered the subject to inform Your Majesty of the news of your arrival. The subject thought about it again and again, and still decided to follow Your Majesty's decree."

"Exempt from etiquette, exempt from etiquette. Why kneel? You did well! Since the Master is in mourning, of course, recuperating is appropriate. Did the Master stay up all night again yesterday?" Zhu Yijun understood why You Qi did this.

Zhang Juzheng had a bad habit, which was staying up late. If there were things he couldn't figure out, he would get angry with himself, unable to sleep for whole nights. Over time, this led to vagus nerve pain. Once it reached the second watch of the night, he would suddenly wake up, and then he wouldn't be able to sleep again.

This illness of Zhang Juzheng's was brought on by him struggling with himself. This habit had improved a lot after several months of conditioning, but it would still recur occasionally.

"Your Majesty is wise." You Qi wiped away a cold sweat. It had snowed heavily in the capital, and the little eunuchs in the palace hadn't come to inform them whether the busy Emperor would come on the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month. Zhang Juzheng was still muttering about it yesterday, and because of some other things, his old illness recurred, and he only fell asleep at dawn. It was only after he fell asleep that the eunuchs notified them that the Emperor was coming.

The Emperor's order and the Master's order conflicted, and You Qi chose to listen to the Emperor's. The Emperor was also doing it for Zhang Juzheng's health.

Zhu Yijun walked into the Yicheng Earl's mansion feeling very relaxed, wandering around until he reached the study in the warm pavilion of the Wenchang Pavilion. Zhang Juzheng was asleep on a lounge chair. The warm pavilion was relatively warm, and there was a mattress on the lounge chair, and he was covered with a quilt, so he wouldn't catch a cold.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and whispered a few words to Zhang Hong. Zhang Hong looked very troubled, but still went to get a brush, spread out the dye, and Zhu Yijun picked up the brush in his hand with a mischievous smile, starting to draw on Zhang Juzheng's face.

A large chrysanthemum was drawn in about a quarter of an hour.

"How is the drawing?" Zhu Yijun lifted the brush, very satisfied with his work.

"Lifelike!" Feng Bao highly approved of the Emperor's painting skills. He said very worriedly: "It's just that when the Master wakes up, I'm afraid he will be angry."

"What can he do if he's angry? Can he beat me?" Zhu Yijun said very unrestrainedly with his hands on his hips: "The brush was brought by Feng Bao, the dye was spread by Zhang Hong, and the drawing was drawn by me! If the Master is angry, all three of us have a share!"

Not long after, Zhang Juzheng's eyeballs began to move. According to the latest research results of the Dissection Institute, when a person is about to wake up, there is a rapid eye movement period. As soon as Zhu Yijun saw Zhang Juzheng was about to wake up, he forcefully suppressed his laughter.

"Your Majesty?" As soon as Zhang Juzheng opened his eyes and saw the young Emperor, he was completely awake. He hurriedly stood up, bowed, and said: "Paying respects to Your Majesty. Your Majesty has arrived, and the subject failed to welcome you from afar. The subject deserves to die ten thousand times."

"Hahaha!" Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng with a chrysanthemum face, bowing and pleading guilty in a serious manner, and immediately burst into laughter. The sound of his laughter grew louder and louder, almost choking him. Even Zhang Hong and Feng Bao were gritting their teeth, not letting themselves laugh too obviously.

Zhang Juzheng was full of confusion. What was the young Emperor laughing at?

You Qi brought a mirror. When Zhang Juzheng saw it, he was dumbfounded. His face suddenly turned bright red, and he muttered and stammered: "This, this, this... I, I, I... Your Majesty, this is truly insulting to the literati, insulting to the literati. Subject, subject will go wash it off before coming to pay respects."

This old Master Zhang Juzheng walked away hurriedly and went to the washroom to wash up. Zhang Juzheng swore that he had never been so embarrassed in his life! Never! So embarrassed that he even stuttered when he spoke.

But as he washed, Zhang Juzheng actually laughed out loud. He returned to the warm pavilion feeling slightly relaxed and paid respects to the Emperor again. As for the joke the Emperor played, it was harmless to begin with, and the only ones who saw it were the Emperor, the two great eunuchs, and You Qi.

"Master, don't be angry, don't be angry. Anger hurts the body." Zhu Yijun finally stopped laughing.

"The subject is not angry." Zhang Juzheng said with great emotion: "Dark clouds press on the city, the city is about to be destroyed; armor glitters in the sun, golden scales open. The news of the great victory at Huining Guard reached the capital, and the subject was overjoyed upon hearing it. It actually resolved a worry in the subject's heart. Your Majesty finally has a bit more of a youth's disposition now."

Do what you should do at your age. The Emperor was at the age of a youth, but many times, he acted more steadily than he, an old master. This steadiness was fortunate for the state, but a misfortune for the Emperor himself.

Clearly, this great victory at Huining Guard had made the Emperor much more cheerful.

Begging for monthly tickets, Awoo!!!!!!!!!!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 267 =====