Chapter 388: Even If the World Condemns It, It Is Still the Fault of the Ten Thousand Directions

I truly neglect my proper work. Chapter 399: Even If the World Condemns It, It Is Still the Fault of the Ten Thousand Directions. Zhu Yijun's actions throughout his life were based on taking one step and seeing three. Zhang Juzheng's long-term appointment would inevitably cause some waves; this was a predictable risk, and Zhu Yijun specifically left a floating title for Zhang Juzheng.

It was not that there were no civil officials enfeoffed in the Great Ming. Wang Ji, Wang Yue, and Wang Yangming were all civil officials enfeoffed with hereditary titles, but these were all because of military merit.

Zhu Yijun enfeoffing Zhang Juzheng was actually also military merit. Admittedly, Zhang Juzheng had never achieved any military merit on the battlefield, but the strong army since the first year of Wanli was the foundation of everything.

Among the successive Senior Grand Secretaries of the Great Ming, except for Zhang Juzheng, no one had clearly shouted that they wanted a strong army and wanted to give military authority to generals.

Promoting literature and suppressing martial arts, using civil officials to control military officials—these two methods continued until the end of the Ming Dynasty. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, civil officials had already changed from Viceroys to Grand Coordinators, bestowed with the imperial sword, able to execute first and report later. Moreover, the late Ming also fell into another strange circle, which was that you couldn't fight. Even if you were a civil official and a Jinshi, you couldn't fight. You couldn't really suppress bandits, and you couldn't really resist the Qing.

The better you could fight, the more people in the court would clean you up. This battlefield became a business, a business of brushing up qualifications.

For example, Xiong Tingbi, for example, Sun Chuanting, for example, Lu Xiangsheng.

Sun Chuanting captured the first King of Chuang, Gao Yingxiang, in the Battle of Heishuiyu, extinguished the civil unrest in Shaanxi, and the Qin army he organized in Yulin was invincible. Later, he supervised the army in Baoding, and in the situation where Lu Xiangsheng and Gao Qiqian were defeated one after another, he still repelled the Qing army. In the battle where the Qing army harassed Shandong and broke through Jinan, the area under Sun Chuanting's jurisdiction repelled the Qing army. Sun Chuanting could fight very well, so he was attacked and criticized, and finally, the Chongzhen Emperor's suspicion arose, and Sun Chuanting was thrown into the Northern Suppressing and Pacifying Division's prison.

This prison, he lived in for three years.

The Han Dynasty's mountains and rivers had loyal officials in every generation; it was not that there was no one to use. The deaths of Xiong Tingbi and Lu Xiangsheng were all seeking glory but getting humiliation. And during the time Sun Chuanting sat in prison, the Great Ming turned sharply downward. In the ninth year of Chongzhen, the Chongzhen Emperor, who had Gao Yingxiang cut into a thousand pieces in the capital, shouted that the Great Ming was invincible under heaven. By the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, the world already had the trend of overturning.

Zhu Yijun attempted to carry out institutional design to let the strong army obtain support from the Grand Secretariat and change the pattern of promoting literature and suppressing martial arts and using civil officials to control military officials.

Promoting literature and strengthening martial arts were not contradictory. Jumping on one leg to walk naturally could not lead to long-term peace and stability.

Zhu Yijun told Zhang Juzheng his thoughts. The merit of setting the policy could also be enfeoffed. From then on, Zhang Juzheng changed from an official selecting officials to a hereditary official.

Since the Qin Shi Huang unified the six states, the basic system of officials and clerks had been officials selecting officials, and even the imperial examination system was no exception.

People like Xu Jie would use the privileges and wealth in their hands to annex land and achieve a pseudo-hereditary system, that is: hereditary and permanent, lying down and collecting rent. This was the highest pursuit of officials and clerks under the system of officials selecting officials.

Xu Jie achieved this point, and in the end, it was also pseudo-hereditary. The only hereditary things in the Great Ming were the Emperor and the military nobility. For example, the hereditary Battalion Commander in Zhang Juzheng's family, how was it not the hereditary County Baron of the previous generation?

Zhu Yijun's personnel appointment from first-rank to super-rank for Zhang Juzheng, this institutional design, was out of this consideration.

Since Zhao Kuangyin's Chen Qiao mutiny and wearing the yellow robe, the military affairs of the Central Plains had become an extension of politics. The Great Ming's military affairs needed support from the Grand Secretariat. Support from the Emperor alone was absolutely not enough. The Emperor alone had extremely weak support power; the Wuzong era was an example.

"Your Majesty, this is very dangerous." Zhang Juzheng understood the Emperor's idea. He kept holding the teacup and turning it constantly. He was thinking about the pros and cons. The benefits were obvious: in the future, the Senior Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, for the sake of enfeoffment and hereditary military nobility, would also give more support to military affairs. The disadvantages were also obvious: political stability would be further reduced, and there would definitely be powerful ministers with both civil and military power.

"The north is getting colder and colder, and this year's spring is a bit late." Zhu Yijun looked at Zhang Juzheng and said quite definitely.

Zhang Juzheng immediately said, "Your Majesty's consideration is comprehensive."

After Zhang Juzheng finished speaking, he fell silent again. Zhu Yijun picked up the memorial and began to read it, letting Zhang Juzheng think slowly.

The silence of the Senior Grand Secretary and Grand Tutor lasted for a full quarter of an hour.

The celestial phenomena had changed. In recent years, the north had been getting colder and colder. Further north of Liaodong, the heavy snow would not completely melt until March. And the change in celestial phenomena meant that production and life would be greatly affected. Materials would become scarce. To put it more clearly, it meant that grain would have a poor harvest, which meant there must be unrest.

The Great Ming's opening of the sea had brought great profits, but with the inflow of silver, ideas would inevitably change. Money was a devil that bewitched people's hearts.

During this period when celestial phenomena changed, the north of the Great Ming would continuously suck blood from the south, not only the Southern Yamen but even including the Wanli Sea Embankment. State affairs had always been like this; pulling one hair would affect the whole body.

And violence was the ballast stone of this giant ship of the Great Ming.

Zhang Juzheng finally put down the teacup and said, "Your Majesty, this matter should be handled with extreme caution. And for the enfeoffment of military nobility, besides necessarily going through court discussion, it should also be decided by Your Majesty alone."

Court discussion was court discussion; what was finally formed by court discussion was only a suggestion. And the Emperor should enfeoff civil officials, especially the matter of the Great Ming recording the merit of setting the policy and enfeoffing, should have a veto power.

Zhang Juzheng could only guarantee that when he was a powerful minister, he would not usurp the master. If because of his reasons, the Great Ming had the necessary conditions for the formation of a powerful minister in the system, this was something Zhang Juzheng could not accept no matter what.

"What the teacher said is reasonable. Then let the matter of granting the iron certificate go through court discussion." Zhu Yijun nodded when he heard Zhang Juzheng's idea.

"Your servant kowtows to thank Your Majesty for the holy grace. Your servant considers himself to have some merit to the state. This is your servant's duty to repay the late Emperor and be loyal to Your Majesty." Zhang Juzheng stood up, flicked his sleeves, knelt on the ground and performed the great ceremony of five kowtows and three bows, solemnly thanking the Emperor for granting the iron certificate.

On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month of the eighth year of Wanli, Zhu Yijun came to the Wenhua Hall early in the morning. After the court ministers paid their respects, Zhu Yijun did not let everyone stand up and said to Feng Bao, "Proclaim the edict."

Feng Bao stepped forward, looked at the imperial edict pulled open by two small eunuchs, flicked his horsetail whisk, and said loudly, "By the order of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:"

"The state was in danger and then pacified; the sun and moon were dim and then bright again."

"Since the Gengxu Incident, the barbarian King Andahan invaded the capital, and the military disaster in the northwest continued for twenty-five years without end; since the Dingwei Japanese pirate disaster, the Zhejiang Provincial Governor Zhu Wan committed suicide to show his ambition, and the southeast sea pirates ravaged the land with smoke and fire for thousands of miles without end, leaving the people in misery."

"I ascended the throne at a young age and inherited the boundless great calendar. I know little and am ignorant, unable to create a wise philosophy to guide the people to a place of peace and health. Below, I cannot stabilize the people's livelihood; above, I cannot condense the mandate of Heaven. I am cautious day and night, always fearing that I cannot bear this difficult responsibility, just like wading through deep water without knowing the shore. Fortunately, Heaven has favored me, and there is a wise minister who has pacified the difficulties to assist me on my left and right."

For a business like colluding with the Japanese pirates—which carries the penalty of having one's home confiscated and one's entire clan executed—only a fool who does not understand the theory of contradictions would do it. Colluding with the Japanese pirates, ever since the third year of the Hongwu reign, has been a crime that, once caught, leads to the confiscation of property and the execution of the entire clan.

"The heavens are about to fall, relying on him to prop up the space; the Dao is near ruin, ask who can hold up the sky."

This was an imperial edict written by Zhu Yijun himself, the Emperor, not drafted by the Grand Secretariat for Zhu Yijun to seal. The world was in turmoil, the master was young and the state was suspicious. The young Emperor had to have the virtue of examining the ancients, to be close to wise ministers and far from villains, just like Yi Yin establishing Tai Jia as Emperor. Tai Jia was muddled and virtuous, and was exiled to Tong Palace by Yi Yin. Tai Jia cultivated virtue, and Yi Yin restored the state government.

Even for the samurai who exist as the lowest tier of the nobility, they only have one meal of rice a day, and only three taels at that.

Feng Bao continued to read: "Respectfully following the ancestral system of the Holy Ancestor, Duke, Marquis, and Earl titles, without military merit, shall not be abused. In the eighth year of Jiajing, the Shizong Emperor once ordered court ministers to discuss the principles of enfeoffing relatives of the Emperor. The Shizong Emperor also said: 'The title and reward are the title and reward of the world, the tools that the master relies on to encourage the world. Titles and rewards are given to those with great merit, and they share the land. Only tools and names cannot be easily granted. If names and tools are light, the state is in danger.'"

"I should follow the previous path in everything, follow the ancestral laws, look up and imitate. However, now I intend to record the teacher's merit of setting the policy, and enfeoff the teacher, the Earl of Yicheng iron certificate, hereditary and permanent."

"The teacher set the policy and has great merit."

After the three Zhang brothers and the Japanese pirates left the Yanxing Tower, they were quickly bagged by the Embroidered Uniform Guards. It was clean and efficient; the capture process once again demonstrated the professionalism of the Guards. In the blink of an eye, five grown men vanished from the street corner, without even disturbing the beggar crouching in the corner of the wall.

"Second, examining the official administration..."

"The established laws of successive dynasties, spreading virtue and bestowing grace, announcing to the world, making everyone hear and know."

"Respect this."

This imperial edict was very, very long. The content below was the specific part of Zhang Juzheng's merit in setting the policy. The merit was really too much, and it couldn't be counted. After Feng Bao finished reading, he felt his throat was going to smoke. Really wanting to count the things Zhang Juzheng had done one by one, even if it was only from the seventh month of the sixth year of Longqing to the first month of the eighth year of Wanli, it was a long and tedious account.

"Your servant kowtows to thank the holy grace." Zhang Juzheng did not refuse; he had already refused yesterday.

"All ministers, stand up. I violated the ancestral laws. Today I enfeoff the teacher. The teacher once submitted a memorial on five matters. State affairs should be discussed in court. Let's discuss it today." Zhu Yijun waved his hand to signal everyone to stand up. His imperial edict had already been written, and the great seal had already been stamped. If you want to oppose or reject it, oppose it now. If you don't oppose it, don't go out the door and be sarcastic.

Everyone sat down, but everyone was very silent, not saying a word, and no one wanted to start this.

"Grand Preceptor Wan?" Zhu Yijun had no choice but to start this himself.

"Your servant is here."

"Your Majesty truly has a good literary talent!"

Wan Shihe felt a jolt, and a very smooth flattery was shot out. He hadn't received the wind direction yet, so he didn't know in which direction to wash the ground. Although Wan Shihe was eighty percent sure that His Majesty was not retreating to advance and using the iron certificate to force Zhang Juzheng to leave, the scene before his eyes was that the monarch was holy and the minister was virtuous.

But what if?

Wan Shihe was waiting for the wind, waiting for His Majesty's clear wind direction.

As soon as these words came out, the group of ministers looked at Wan Shihe. When it came to the skill of flattery, one still had to look at Grand Preceptor Wan!

"Grand Preceptor Wan is truly watertight!" Zhu Yijun smiled. The court ministers looked at Wan Shihe and were also happy. They really had nothing to say, but they could still flatter. As expected of Grand Preceptor Wan.

The atmosphere of this court discussion, after Wan Shihe's interruption, immediately changed from extremely heavy to relaxed. At least it was no longer so heavy that one could hear a needle drop.

"Your Majesty, your servant thinks that enfeoffing the teacher is beyond reproach." Qi Jiguang, as the Grand General, expressed his stance and supported His Majesty's decision.

The reason, the reason was very simple: strengthening martial arts needed the support of the Emperor, the Grand Secretariat, and the court. Logistics were becoming more and more important to military operations. Qi Jiguang himself was the military god of the generation. If there was no one in the court to support him, he, Qi Jiguang, would also be a clever woman who couldn't cook without rice.

Standing from the perspective of the Grand General, His Majesty's decision was something Qi Jiguang inevitably supported.

"Enfeoffing is something that should be done, but there must be a prerequisite: to cut oneself off from the hundred officials." Tan Lun, as the Minister of War, chose to support His Majesty's decision, but he did not support it unconditionally. Even if this precedent was opened, in the future, if there was enfeoffment, there should also be a major prerequisite, which was to cut oneself off from the hundred officials before.

The Examination Law treated the hundred officials like oxen and horses.

When Yang Bo was still alive, he had always wanted to marry his non-existent daughter to Zhang Juzheng, so that the Chu and Jin parties could merge and completely bypass the Emperor. Yang Bo had expressed this more than once, and the group of ministers knew it well. If you want to aim for enfeoffment, it's not impossible, but you have to be a lone minister. You cannot walk this path if you are not a lone minister.

As soon as Tan Lun said this, the court ministers began to discuss in low voices. After discussing for a while, everyone chose to agree. They didn't want to be lone ministers, but they wanted enfeoffment. If you aren't trying to rebel, what are you trying to do?

The core of the Examination Law was not only time-limited and quantity-limited, but also the "grass list with covered names" and "filling names in the bottom register." The bottom register was locked in front of the Emperor in the Wenhua Hall. The Examination Law broke the previous rules for official promotion. Let's quantify this prerequisite of Tan Lun: whether one supports the "grass list with covered names" and "filling names in the bottom register."

To put it more simply and clearly, it was two words: loyalty!

"Besides this prerequisite, it is to enfeoff with the merit of setting the policy, and one cannot lead troops." Zhang Juzheng looked at the court ministers. As the first person to be enfeoffed with the merit of setting the policy, Zhang Juzheng drew a circle for himself, which was that he could not lead troops. Even in name, he could not. This was not drawing a prison on the ground, but a necessary restriction.

Whether one had military talent or not, in the process of gradual promotion in the Great Ming officialdom, it was enough to be tested in practice. Zhang Juzheng set restrictions for himself.

"It should be so." Wang Chonggu breathed a sigh of relief. Zhang Juzheng already put a lot of pressure on people. If he became a military noble and led troops again, then even if he didn't want to be a rebel, he would be a rebel.

These two restrictions, one before and one after, almost blocked the path of rebellion for ministers enfeoffed with the merit of setting the policy.

The court discussion was still ongoing, circling the various rules for enfeoffment with the merit of setting the policy, but the two most important ones were still Tan Lun's and Zhang Juzheng's, one before and one after: cutting oneself off from the hundred officials and not being allowed to lead troops.

"After the court discussion, it should be publicly discussed by the Supervising Secretaries of the Six Offices and the censor officials." Zhang Juzheng finished writing the floating ticket. The court discussion had indeed passed. Although many restrictions were added, he felt that it still needed to be publicly discussed to be more clear.

Wan Shihe smiled and shook his head, saying, "With these officials of our Great Ming, their bellies are full of ideas. If you ask them, they won't make a sound. I'm afraid they won't be able to ask anything. For officialdom, officials feel that the best situation is a pool of stagnant water, unchanging, otherwise there wouldn't be so many retrogressive lowly scholars."

Wan Shihe, as the Minister of Personnel, had long seen these officials of the Great Ming clearly. They all scolded Wan Shihe for being a fence-sitter, but Wan Shihe knew very well that ninety-nine percent of Great Ming officials were fence-sitters!

"Grand Preceptor Wan, in terms of non-discussion and ritual law, I will have to trouble you, Grand Preceptor Wan." Zhu Yijun took Zhang Juzheng's floating ticket, and after stamping it, looked at Wan Shihe and said.

Zhu Yijun clearly said that he had violated the ancestral laws, and washing the ground next would be very difficult.

"Your Majesty, this is an act of pioneering. The *Book of Rites* says: 'If you can renovate yourself one day, do so from day to day. Yea, let there be daily renovation.' The Holy Ancestor High Emperor once said: 'There is no art of immortality since ancient times, and there is no law that remains unchanged for ten thousand generations. One should change according to the times, seek the affairs of the times, and reform the old and establish the new.'" Wan Shihe bowed and answered.

Wan Shihe washed the ground for His Majesty. In his left hand, he held the ancestral laws—this move Wan Shihe had already used to perfection. In his right hand, he held reforming the old and establishing the new—this move, although rarely used, was not that Wan Shihe couldn't use it, especially when established on the basis of contradictions succeeding and explaining all principles. Wan Shihe's own attainments in ritual law were fully enough to use.

Things are not unchanging. All things in the world are always in contradictions, constantly changing. If one simply guards the ancestral laws to live, one will be unable to guide the current administrative program because the ancestral laws cannot adapt to the present.

Wan Shihe was a very smooth person. He could not use the ancestral laws to wash the ground. Those lowly scholars who did not care about practical affairs could not be his opponents.

Arguing! Now in the Great Ming, besides the Emperor, Wan Shihe had never been afraid of anyone! Including Feng Bao who practiced the *Qi-Ren Sutra*!

Zhu Yijun chose to believe. Wan Shihe indeed had his own insights in washing the ground.

On the biggest matter, the court ministers reached a consensus, and the court discussion was able to continue. The public opinion collected by Zhu Yijun in front of the Huangji Gate indeed made the Great Ming court better understand the main contradictions in the localities.

In various places, from Provincial Governors to commoners, the problems they were most concerned about were different from the main contradictions imagined by the court ministers.

For example, in the Southern Yamen, Zhu Yijun and Zhang Juzheng had always thought that the resolute execution of clearing land and returning it to the people made the wealthy households miserable. Taking advantage of the rare opportunity of collecting public opinion at the Huangji Gate, the wealthy households would express their dissatisfaction with the decree of clearing land and returning it to the people.

But it was not so.

I don't know if it was out of fear of Zhang Juzheng or out of the gradual transformation of production relations, the eyes of the wealthy households were moving away from the land and looking at the workshops.

In this collection of public opinion, the wealthy households hoped more that the Emperor could support the establishment of manual workshops.

For example, a more relaxed travel permit policy, allowing workshops to obtain more labor; reducing customs procedures, increasing the speed of goods circulation; more open official roads and post roads, and so on.

The Great Ming's travel permit system was extremely strict. Xiong Tingbi's long journey from Jiangxia, Huguang to the capital was as a bowman of the Inspection Division to participate in the selection of elite soldiers of the Beijing Battalion. Without a travel permit, according to the Great Ming Code, one would be arrested as a vagrant, and even be charged as a lowly status. In the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict saying: "Those who do not work in farming and specialize in the end are vagrants, then arrest them."

With the development of the times, annexation led to a gradual increase in tenant farmers and vagrants. This clause had slowly become a dormant clause, but when commoners left the county boundary, they still had to be checked for travel permits. The wealthy households hoped that in the Southern Yamen region, the travel permit system could be simplified, for example, from checking every county to checking every prefecture.

However, the proposal of the wealthy households was opposed by the court ministers. It was not one or two who opposed, but all of them opposed.

"These wealthy households in the Southern Yamen have a good plan, and I heard it in this Wenhua Hall! Isn't it just to oppose the decree of clearing land and returning it to the people? Making such a big circle!" Wang Guoguang felt that the wealthy households were opposing clearing land and returning it to the people.

Land needs people to cultivate. According to Qiu Jun's labor theory of value, labor gives value. Without labor, idle land has no value at all, and labor is realized by people.

These relaxed policies seemed to be shaping a better business environment, but with a careful thought, it was discovered that the wealthy households' good plan was still for the population.

"What the Minister of Revenue said is very true." Tan Lun was very approving of this. Wang Guoguang saw through the wealthy households' little tricks at a glance.

Guo Chaobin, Minister of Works, a down-to-earth worker, very, very rarely expressed his opinions in the Wenhua Hall, but today, Guo Chaobin spoke out surprisingly and rarely: "I oppose these contents. At present, the number of craftsmen in the Southern Yamen is sufficient. If policies such as travel permits, customs, and official roads are changed, I am afraid it will not be conducive to the cultivation of craftsmen."

"Your Majesty, your servant is dull and occupies a high position in the court, but I can still see this supply and demand clearly. Once these tenant farmers and self-cultivating farmers do not engage in farming and all become apprentices, then craftsmen will not be able to obtain sufficient labor remuneration. In this way, craftsmen will become slack, and under laziness and following the old ways, it will be detrimental to the prosperity of the manual workshops in the Southern Yamen."

"The wealthy households are short-sighted for temporary gain, and the court cannot be short-sighted."

It was not easy for Guo Chaobin to speak once, and he started a long speech directly. He spoke for a full quarter of an hour before stopping. He was not talking nonsense. The Great Ming's manual workshops were extremely fragile. Once the number of poor people and laborers increased sharply, it would inevitably affect the labor price. When craftsmen could not obtain sufficient labor remuneration, the enthusiasm for production and technological innovation would decrease, which would instead lead to a decrease in production efficiency.

The wealthy households wanted nothing more than to reduce costs and increase efficiency. The labor cost of manual workshops remained high. Relaxing these restrictions seemed to be able to reduce labor costs in a short time. In the short term, in one or two years, it might promote the vigorous development of the market, but the overall efficiency would be low, profits would decrease, and the wealthy households would inevitably hold money and wait, unwilling to invest. The overall production scale of the Great Ming would decrease.

The harm would be endless.

Guo Chaobin said with slight helplessness: "Your Majesty, this may be difficult to understand, but production is like this. A skilled weaver can weave half a foot a day, but an unskilled weaver can weave a few inches a day, which is excellent. If this skilled weaver is unwilling to work seriously, it will delay production. The wealthy households are eager for quick success and instant benefit, while the court should look further and plan slowly."

"The Yongding Woolen Factory is a typical example. The stall is so big, but the profit still exceeds that of the private workshops."

"I was originally confused, but as soon as Minister Guo mentioned the Yongding Woolen Official Factory, I understood!" Zhu Yijun didn't quite understand what Guo Chaobin said, but as soon as Guo Chaobin gave an example, Zhu Yijun understood immediately.

What Guo Chaobin said was complicated, but if summarized, it was to prevent the vicious cycle of "if you don't do it, there are plenty of people who will, but actually everyone is slacking off," and to establish a virtuous cycle like the woolen official factory where "if you work hard, I will give you more money, and everyone works hard."

The Great Ming's manual workshops and large-scale employment production were still in their infancy. If they were short-sighted, they would inevitably stifle the Great Ming's transformation from a small-scale peasant economy to a commodity economy.

The wealthy households were for private interests, and the Great Ming was for the public. It was understandable for the wealthy households to be short-sighted for their own interests, but the court must have a long-term vision. At the very least, it could not be short-sighted.

"Hmm, then follow Minister Guo's suggestion." Zhu Yijun chose Guo Chaobin's suggestion. Guo Chaobin was a very cautious person, and he was not talking nonsense.

The number of craftsmen in the Great Ming was not stagnant, but growing steadily, which could meet the needs.

If they did as Guo Chaobin said, the Great Ming court would definitely be scolded by the wealthy households as a stubborn faction that opened a pawnshop, a conservative faction that refused to adapt to the current situation and reform the old and establish the new.

But the court had the court's considerations. Agriculture and mulberry were the foundation, and land still needed people to cultivate.

The long court discussion finally ended. Zhu Yijun stretched, intending to have lunch and then go to inspect the military horses.

After Zhu Yijun finished inspecting the military horses at the Northern Camp, he arrived at the Northern Suppressing and Pacifying Division. First, he wanted to personally ask about Li Yuanyue's case, and second, he wanted to set off from the Northern Suppressing and Pacifying Division to watch the fun.

"Where is Li Yuanyue's corpse?" Zhu Yijun asked Zhao Mengyou. The coroner's report had already been issued.

"All of Li Yuanyue is here." Zhao Mengyou pointed to a coffin in front of him. After all, he was a Jinshi, and his family had prepared a coffin.

Zhu Yijun was silent for a moment and said, "The Commandant is very humorous recently. Open it and let me see."

Zhao Mengyou looked extremely embarrassed and said, "Your Majesty, don't look. The husband killed and dismembered the bodies. Li Yuanyue and the woman were dismembered together, so it's impossible to tell who is who. They were all put in one coffin."

"Can't they be sewn together?" Zhu Yijun asked with slight hesitation.

Zhao Mengyou said with great certainty, "They can't be sewn together. The coroner vomited."

"Then forget it, don't look. Let's go, let's go watch the fun." Zhu Yijun finally did not let Zhao Mengyou open the coffin. A pile of rotten meat was indeed nothing to look at. Professional coroners couldn't stand it, and Zhu Yijun, a natural noble, couldn't stand it even more.

Zhu Yijun went to the Yanxing Tower, the largest restaurant in the Great Ming capital. It was very lively.

This time, the fun was the trading house for shipping certificates of the Yanxing Tower. It opened today, and Zhu Yijun intended to see the situation this year.

Starting from the first month of the eighth year of Wanli, the Type D merchant ships of the five-masted ocean-going ships would once again join the subscription package. Zhu Yijun didn't go to the Yanxing Tower to watch the scramble, but to see the market situation on the first day of the new year.

Zhu Yijun arrived at the Yanxing Tower. The five-masted and three-masted ships were all subscribed, and the price of the previous shipping certificates had risen again.

"This rose by ten percent directly, from seven silver and seven mace per sheet to eight silver and four mace per sheet? This increase is a bit strange." Zhu Yijun held an abacus and clicked it. Recently, there had been no large injection of funds into the market. This increase was really a bit beyond Zhu Yijun's expectations.

The inner treasury eunuch Cui Min smiled and said, "Your Majesty, on the tenth day of the first lunar month, the Songjiang Ocean-going Firm conducted its annual report. Last year, the safety rate of ships returning home rose from eighty percent to ninety percent. As soon as the new year opened, it immediately blossomed like sesame flowers, rising step by step."