Chapter 784

When it is time to cooperate with the performance, one cannot turn a blind eye; clearly, Feng Bao still wants to continue being his "Old Ancestor," so when the Emperor lost his temper, he immediately began to cooperate with the performance.

The ministers submitted memorials stating their opinions on policies according to standard procedures and regulations; this is a reasonable and compliant act. If even this were to be thrown into the Imperial Prison, then in the future, no one would handle affairs reasonably and compliantly.

When the Emperor's authority is challenged, the Emperor needs to express his attitude. Thus, the scene of the Emperor getting angry, Feng Bao remonstrating, and Zhao Mengyou being eager to try occurred. As long as this spreads, no minister will dare to come to the Huangji Gate to force the palace.

Since the Great Rites Controversy, the major event the imperial court must guard against is the likes of Yang Tinghe and his son, gathering 229 officials, shouting "The state has nurtured scholars for 150 years, and the time to hold fast to one's integrity and die for righteousness is today," to force the palace.

This is not decent at all; the Emperor is not decent, and the ministers are not decent.

The final result is that the Great Ming is not decent.

What if Feng Bao stood by and watched, seeing the civil officials suffer without intervening?

His Majesty would certainly take the Embroidered Uniform Guard and drag all these ministers into the Imperial Prison, because His Majesty is truly capable of doing it.

As long as they step out of the palace gate of the Tonghe Palace, even Zhang Juzheng cannot stop His Majesty.

Zhu Yijun flipped through Yao Guangqi's memorial, studying the Sun Shangli Index.

The rate of price increases for essential and non-essential goods is collectively referred to as the Sun Shangli Index; this is the definition provided by Yao Guangqi.

Because it was named after observing Sun Shangli, it uses human summarization and analogical reasoning to measure and reflect price fluctuations, aiming to judge economic trends and study economic laws.

This index has been used repeatedly; for example, the expenses for the late Emperor's mausoleum, including subsequent additions of 100,000 silver, totaled 600,000 silver.

Over a period of fifteen years, the price increase rate for parity goods in Songjiang Prefecture was 7%; the price increase rate for luxury goods was 50%. Yao Guangqi did not conflate these two indices; in his view, these are two completely different worlds.

Most people, when purchasing goods, will choose parity goods first;

While a very small portion, accounting for less than one-tenth of the "meat-eaters," will choose luxury goods;

If one simply adds the two numbers together, Songjiang Prefecture's goods increased by 57%. Yao Guangqi once thought about using the proportion of the population as a weight to consolidate them into a single index.

According to the weight of consumption population proportion, with essential goods weighted at 0.9 and non-essential goods at 0.1, the final result obtained is a price increase of 11.3%, which looks clear at a glance.

But there is a huge problem: the "meat-eaters," who are fewer in number but have louder voices, will loudly cry out, "What kind of bullshit data is this! Commodity prices have clearly grown by so much; is the imperial court fooling ghosts for the sake of face?!"

And the producers, who are more numerous but have smaller voices, also face this index with question marks on their faces: have prices really risen by one-tenth? When they buy goods, the prices of rice, grain, and oil have clearly risen very little.

Clearly living in one Songjiang Prefecture, yet living entirely in two worlds; this is the world of the commodity economy.

Most importantly, Yao Guangqi believes that the accountants below will fool His Majesty, whitewash the peace, and use this "moment of statistical charm" to deceive the Emperor, disturb the imperial hearing, and interfere with His Majesty's decision-making.

Just like during the time of Emperor Renzong of Song, when eunuchs searched all of Song for wheat with double ears and planted them in the Baoqi Palace to fool Emperor Renzong; just like how the Great Ming Emperor values agricultural production, and the Magistrate of Daxing County managed to statistically report the grain of ten mu of land as one mu to celebrate this year's bumper harvest.

The three elements of agricultural production—two parts planting, three parts management, five parts fertilizer—usually measure breeding work over a span of ten or twenty years, and the main fertilizer in Great Ming, compost, is closely related to the Great Ming population and will never have an unreasonable leap-style growth.

Bureaucrats have always been like this; they only need to be responsible to their superiors. If the superior has a preference, the subordinate will surely exceed it.

Zhu Yijun thinks what Yao Guangqi said is very reasonable; similar parity goods and luxury goods must be distinguished to better reflect the overall situation.

"The Seaweed King told me to pay more attention to the changes in parity goods, because the common people, who make up the majority, will choose parity goods in the vast majority of cases." Zhu Yijun underlined this sentence with a vermilion brush.

Yao Guangqi's reason is too simple: only the common people can overthrow the Great Ming imperial rule; Great Ming has no stage for the rebellion of powerful gentry and local worthies.

This is a cruel reality: powerful gentry can take away the Great Ming Emperor and change the court's decrees through assassination, poisoning, burning the palace, drowning, etc., but they alone cannot rebel.

Zhu Yijun protects himself very well; he has moved to the Tonghe Palace, and he can still keep an eye on this place, which totals eighty mu.

"This Bliss Sect." Zhu Yijun looked at Yao Guangqi's memorial and said, "These Japanese comprador agents have gone a bit too far."

Feng Bao bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, as long as the Japanese transport them to Nagasaki, it is all silver. The Japanese nation does not have that much silver to pay, so they can only use people to pay."

The Japanese comprador running dogs also have something to say: Great Ming has so many goods, wanting everything and wanting to buy everything; without enough silver, they have no choice but to cheat and use Japanese people to pay. If the Great Ming Emperor feels it is immoral, he can subsidize the supply.

Subsidies are impossible; they can only let the Japanese comprador agents continue to torment the Japanese people.

The prevalence of the Bliss Sect in Japan is actually the overall collapse and disintegration of the already fragile moral values of the Japanese people.

The process of a person's degeneration is much more comfortable than striving. Once morality disintegrates, the Japanese nation as a whole loses its ability to resist religion.

"Li Yashi said that in the process of colonization, Great Ming has a disadvantage of high morality; I can only admit that he is right." Zhu Yijun gave a vermilion approval to Yao Guangqi's memorial.

Severely crack down on the spread of the Bliss Sect in Great Ming, starting from the source. Any Japanese woman with the character "Ming" branded on her foot and who has tendencies toward the Bliss Sect should be sent to Luzon on the grounds of not being pious enough.

The next morning, the May sun was bright and beautiful. The Great Ming court officials looked at each other in the side hall of the Wenhua Palace.

His Majesty sent an imperial decree from the Tonghe Palace, saying His Majesty wants to sleep in and will not come today; the ministers should just handle things themselves.

This suddenly left the ministers at a loss.

Since the first year of Wanli, this is the first time His Majesty has been absent from the court session without cause. Should this meeting still be held? If a resolution is formed without His Majesty's approval, has this decree passed or not?

The Emperor's "lying flat" brought a huge administrative decision-making challenge to the court officials.

It's back, the familiar taste is back! The feeling from the end of the Jiajing years and the Longqing years, where the Emperor was like a divine dragon whose head and tail could not be seen, is back!

Hence Hai Rui's brows were almost knotted, and he said in horror, "Grand Secretary, what should be done about this?"

"I have a pile of things on my hands waiting for His Majesty's vermilion approval. This, this, this, with His Majesty absent, how can they be handled?" Wang Guoguang sighed heavily; accustomed to high efficiency, he was really not used to this low efficiency.

Resolutions from the meeting must be sent to the palace for the seal to be implemented. When will His Majesty apply the seal? When will the official documents flow downward?

"Don't ask me, I don't know either. You in the Ministry of Revenue should keep your mouths tighter. Can His Majesty not come? The Minister of Revenue thinks it's slow, and I think it's slow too. Why doesn't the Minister of Revenue go find His Majesty?" Zhang Juzheng spread his hands, indicating he was helpless.

His Majesty was absent from the regular court session without cause; Zhang Juzheng naturally understood His Majesty's intention very well, and he was not very anxious. It's no big deal; His Majesty has been busy for so many years, resting for a while is also excellent.

The donkey in the mill is being cursed too harshly.

Actually, Zhang Juzheng believes that the Wanli Reform has entered a stable period. In fact, this regular court session could be held every other day, or even every few days, which would save His Majesty's enthusiasm. Being unable to overcome the difficulty of finishing well, it's all just infighting; His Majesty is also tired of seeing too much of it.

Wang Guoguang said loudly, "His Majesty issued a decree to the Ministry of Revenue. There are so many people in the Ministry of Revenue, and it still needs ministerial discussion. It's impossible not to spread it out. This is not a question of whether the mouth is tight or not."

Not everyone in the Ministry of Revenue has a big mouth, but as long as one person speaks out, the news will spread. And since His Majesty issued a decree to the Ministry of Revenue, wasn't it to make the news public?

"Alright, let's have the court session first. After the court is dismissed, the Junior Grand Secretary and I will go to the Tonghe Palace." Zhang Juzheng thought it over and decided it was better for him to come forward and give His Majesty a way out.

Zhang Juzheng is giving the Emperor a way out, to mess around a bit, and then do what needs to be done. Xu Jue sent news from the palace yesterday that memorials are still being reviewed normally and will be sent to the Cabinet in a day; the Great Ming administrative system is still operating efficiently.

When the Emperor loses his temper, isn't it also the Emperor giving Zhang Juzheng a reason to lose his temper?

Zhang Juzheng took a deep breath and said, "Starting today, the Official Selection Law will begin a pilot program in the Ministry of Revenue."

"Audit 380 clerks in the Ministry of Revenue, conduct performance evaluations on the past accounts, efficiency, and error frequency of all clerks, and select the best 150 to enter the Institute of Technology for commissioned training."

"Three clerks who voluntarily join the Ministry of Revenue audit will begin clerk performance evaluation starting today. After two years, if they receive a top-tier rating, they will enter the Yilun Hall and request His Majesty to specially grant them the status of Jinshi to enter officialdom."

"I'm going to the Tonghe Palace to invite His Majesty; I have to bring something to make His Majesty happy so I can invite him out. Whoever doesn't agree can go to the Tonghe Palace to invite His Majesty themselves."

The angle of Zhang Juzheng's temper is not to make things difficult for Great Ming bureaucrats; the Performance Evaluation Law and the four assessments are already absolutely high-pressure. His angle of temper is to push the decree, starting with a pilot in the Ministry of Revenue, where the audit pressure is greatest.

The three clerks who voluntarily joined the Ministry of Revenue to do audits, under circumstances where their future was unclear, still gave up the high salaries of the folk workshops. They are righteous men of loyalty, filial piety, integrity, shame, and courage. Even if their performance evaluation is slightly poor, for the purpose of "buying horse bones with a thousand gold," they must be specially granted the status of Jinshi.

This is the competition between the imperial court and the folk regarding talent.

Wang Chonggu pondered for a moment, his expression changed, and he said, "Grand Secretary, this method of yours is a bit wrong. His Majesty spoke of graduates from the Nine Dragon Academy, and you are directly sending clerks to the Academy for commissioned training?"

Many audit clerks in the Ministry of Revenue have no official status and are just accountants who know how to calculate. A large part of the reason they enter the Ministry of Revenue to work as clerks is that they can't make it outside. Not everyone is willing to risk being audited by the Tax Inspection Embroidered Uniform Guard to keep accounts for powerful gentry.

This is truly a pheasant turning into a phoenix.

After they have undergone systematic training at the Academy, they will have the status of a Xiucai, and as long as they perform well, an official position is right before their eyes.

The road to heaven is right under their feet.

"The Ministry of Revenue has an urgent need." Zhang Juzheng narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, "Junior Grand Secretary Wang, it greatly benefits the country and the people, right?"

"Yes, yes, yes, you are right!" Wang Chonggu waved his hands repeatedly; this matter was caused by his son, and he dared not say a word of disagreement.

This quick Q&A between the Grand Secretary and the Junior Grand Secretary was even a bit confusing, and the words were not clear at all. The Right Censor-in-Chief Li Youzi asked with a confused face, "Is there any difference?"

"Censor-in-Chief Li... the difference is huge." Hence Hai Rui saw that several other court officials were still confused, so he spoke up, "The Grand Secretary letting clerks be commissioned for training is essentially separating officials and clerks completely. Which yamen doesn't have more clerks than officials? Which yamen doesn't have officials relying on clerks to handle affairs?"

"The officials in these various yamens can only agree."

Officials are political officials, mainly grasping the direction;

Clerks are also officials, mainly administrative officials, and they are the ones who specifically handle affairs.

Selecting the best clerks for commissioned training, entering the Academy, and being granted the status of Jinshi is the typical content of the third volume of class theory, using the game between classes to promote decrees.

If officials oppose it, they are cutting off the road to heaven for clerks. If clerks don't say it on their lips, what will they think in their hearts?

"The Edict of Favor?" Shen Li suddenly straightened his body, looked up at Zhang Juzheng in horror, and said, "Isn't this the Edict of Favor for the officialdom!"

The Edict of Favor was to weaken vassal states, letting the descendants of the enfeoffed princes all have the power of inheritance, greatly reducing the strength of each prince's mansion so they could no longer twist into a rope, thus posing no threat to the imperial court.

Although this method would be opposed by the eldest legitimate son, the other brothers who originally couldn't get a fief would all sincerely thank the Emperor for his holy virtue!

If the eldest legitimate son wants to oppose the decree, he must first deal with his own brothers.

And now, Zhang Juzheng has adapted this trick, turning it into clerks entering the Academy for commissioned training, obtaining the status of Jinshi, and stepping into officialdom.

If officials want to oppose it, they must first completely suppress the clerks' recognition of the decree, their yearning for officialdom, and their pursuit of progress, in order to form an effective opposing force.

"Cutting off someone's path to wealth is like killing their parents; what about cutting off someone's path to officialdom?" Li Changchun, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with lingering fear.

Li Changchun was a Jinshi from the second year of Longqing, a Sichuanese. After Wan Shihe passed away, he was promoted to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. This was also his first time participating in a court session. As soon as he entered the Wenhua Palace, he encountered the Emperor's strike, the first time in fifteen years.

He also learned for the first time why everyone was afraid of Zhang Juzheng.

Wang Chonggu, as the leader of the Labor Party and the Jin Party, with dual identities, was like a coward, only knowing how to say "yes, yes, yes."

If it were him, Li Changchun, he would also only say "yes, yes, yes."

Cutting off someone's path to officialdom, there's no need to be an official anymore. These clerks will handle everything in a mess. If an official's performance evaluation is bottom-tier, not only will they be dismissed, but they will likely end up in the Imperial Prison.

"What do you all think?" Zhang Juzheng did not deny it, looked around, and asked, "If you have anything to say, say it clearly in the Wenhua Palace. If you argue until the sky falls behind closed doors, that's also a matter inside the door. Once a resolution is formed, execute it."

"You can speak if you have opinions."

The court officials discovered a terrifying thing: in the past, when His Majesty was present, it didn't matter if they argued with Zhang Juzheng until their faces were red or even called him by his name, because His Majesty was there, and Zhang Juzheng couldn't easily take revenge for such a small matter of verbal dispute.

He is the Emperor's teacher and must set an example by teaching through words and deeds. His Majesty is watching from the platform!

But now, the Emperor is not on the platform. How can they oppose Zhang Juzheng? If they are not careful in their speech and offend Zhang Juzheng, and Zhang Juzheng really deals with them, who can they reason with?

His Majesty is Zhang Juzheng's student. In terms of closeness, Zhang Juzheng is closer to His Majesty!

"I have no opinion. I think inviting His Majesty back is more important!" Wang Chonggu clearly expressed his attitude. Other things were not important at all; inviting the Emperor back to his position and pinning Zhang Juzheng down was what mattered.

Without His Majesty sitting in command, the ministers felt a bit panicked.

"Then let's do it this way." Zhang Juzheng looked around again. No one opposed it, so he passed the resolution on commissioned training for clerks.

For all the court officials, the court session on the seventh day of the fifth month felt exceptionally long, because everyone was a bit more careful. But in fact, the efficiency of this court session was extremely fast; most of it was Zhang Juzheng speaking, and others didn't dare to refute much.

When the court session ended, the court officials clearly realized that it was His Majesty's wisdom that suppressed Zhang Juzheng's authority.

"Junior Grand Secretary Wang, please invite His Majesty back quickly. This court session made my heart crawl." Lu Guangzu stopped Wang Chonggu after the court was dismissed and said, "This can't go on. The May weather is colder than the dead of winter."

During the court session, Lu Guangzu wanted to speak several times but didn't dare to in the end. Zhang Juzheng without the Emperor's suppression was somewhat terrifying.

This "Grand Duke" act felt like a rebel. Rebels are all risking their lives with their heads on their belts. This court session without the Emperor had a lot of that posture.

Wang Chonggu said with some emotion, "People are easily like this. Once they get used to it, they take it for granted. People only know what they've lost when they've lost it; it turns out these things taken for granted were so hard-won."

"I'm going to the Tonghe Palace."

"Junior Grand Secretary Wang must invite His Majesty back." Lu Guangzu solemnly entrusted him again. Since becoming a "Grand Duke," Lu Guangzu had never been so terrified.

Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu sat on the small train puffing white smoke, set off from the Wenhua Palace, and went to the Tonghe Palace. A quarter of an hour later, the small train stopped steadily.

Although they had ridden it many times, every time they rode it, Zhang Juzheng felt it was magical. Every time the whistle blew, it seemed to be saying that the Wanli Reform, under the premise of a huge improvement in productivity, would certainly succeed.

Productivity promotes changes in production relations, and changes in production relations feed back into the development of productivity. Zhang Juzheng's confidence in the future of Great Ming had never been as firm as it was now.

"The two of you, please return. His Majesty is not seeing guests today; he is accompanying his children in the inner palace." Feng Bao stopped the two Grand Secretaries and shook his head, saying, "Except for reviewing military horses, His Majesty is not seeing ministers today."

Feng Bao's meaning was very clear: except for major military affairs, nothing else will be discussed. Unless the Great Ming army has suffered a crushing defeat in Korea, the Emperor is resting today.

His Majesty is very busy and has no time to accompany his children; it is rare for him to rest today.

"We ministers obey the decree." Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu looked at each other, had no choice but to bow to the Imperial Study, stared at each other for a while, and could only choose to leave.

The whistle sounded, the small train started, and the carriage was still quiet, with only the noise of the crankshaft pulling the wheels forward, and the noon sun spilling into the carriage.

Wang Chonggu looked out the window and said blankly, "Grand Secretary, what do you think should be done about this?"

Zhang Juzheng frowned and said, "What should be done? How would I know what should be done!"

"Of the Nine Dragon Academies, only the Institute of Technology of the Capital Academy has been built; the others haven't started construction yet. I think it's a bit hasty, but for systems, you can't wait until the academies are all built to formulate them; otherwise, how can you recruit students?"

"And no one mentioned expanding the scope of specially granted Jinshi in the memorials. Could it be that the Censor-in-Chief Hai suggested it to His Majesty?"

Wang Chonggu's expression remained normal, still looking out the window. He didn't dare tell Zhang Juzheng that all of this was a suggestion his son made to His Majesty.

"Suggested by Junior Grand Secretary Wang?" Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu were old rivals. He saw that Wang Chonggu was not right. Both of them had long passed the age of showing their emotions on their faces, so nothing could be seen on the surface.

Wang Chonggu's performance was nothing wrong, but Zhang Juzheng felt Wang Chonggu's nervousness; the atmosphere was a bit off.

"Grand Secretary, you think too highly of me. I can only preside over major construction; how could I have such a big idea." Wang Chonggu shook his head. It was indeed not his idea; it was Wang Qian spouting nonsense in front of His Majesty and offering slanderous advice.

The small train stopped in front of the Wenyuan Pavilion. Zhang Juzheng and Wang Chonggu walked into the Wenhua Palace. Shen Li and Wang Guoguang looked at the grandfather clock in the corner and determined from the time that the two had not seen the Emperor.

"Didn't see him?" Wang Guoguang said with a very surprised expression.

Wang Chonggu sighed and said, "No."

"How could you come back if you didn't see him?" Shen Li's mouth twitched, and he said blankly.

"Why don't you go?" Wang Chonggu said irritably. If the Emperor's teacher Zhang Juzheng couldn't see him, he, Shen Li, would see him even less.

Ever since His Majesty ascended the throne, the only two people His Majesty completely trusted were Zhang Juzheng and Qi Jiguang. Even Zhang Juzheng couldn't see him; if Shen Li went, he would also be shut out.

While the outer ministers were uneasy, Zhu Yijun didn't go anywhere else but was playing with Zhu Changzhi—purely playing, kicking a Cuju ball.

Ever since Zhu Changzhi started his studies, the six-year-old Zhu Changzhi's life had been full every day. Today the Emperor was resting, and Zhu Changzhi finally got some free time to play happily for a day.

Zhu Changzhi finally ran until he was tired, leaned against the back of the chair, looked at the blue sky, and asked blankly, "Father, Dr. Xing Yunlu told me that the moon is a ball, and the stars of Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth are also balls. The Earth is the same as them, a very, very big ball, and they are all planets revolving around the sun."

"Father, do you think there are people on the moon? Are there people on these stars of Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth? Just like the Westerners, living very, very far away."

Zhu Yijun smiled and asked, "What did Dr. Xing tell you?"

Zhu Changzhi stared at the sky with big eyes and said, "Dr. Xing told me he didn't know if there were any, but he felt that there were probably no people living on them. Some are too far from the sun, and some are too close. If they are too far, it's too cold; if they are too close, it's too hot. People can't survive."

"Father doesn't know if there are people on them either. When Zhi'er grows up, go figure it out yourself." Zhu Yijun touched Zhu Changzhi's head and said, "But I don't think there are."

"Father, I heard the lecturer say that the Censor-in-Chief Hai is always catching bad guys, catching corrupt officials, but it seems like these bad guys can never be caught, and there are so many, many of them every year. Why is this?" Zhu Changzhi asked strangely.

"What did the scholar say?" Zhu Yijun asked.

"The Grand Secretary said, if you don't cultivate yourself and don't cultivate virtue, naturally your desires will be hard to satisfy. Seeking fame and thick profit naturally emerges one after another." Zhu Changzhi clenched his small fist and said forcefully, "When I grow up, I will definitely catch all the bad guys!"

"The Censor-in-Chief Hai catching corrupt officials is not to catch all the corrupt officials." Zhu Yijun said somewhat distractedly, "Where can corrupt officials be caught? People are all like this. If they have a little power in their hands, they all think about cashing it in."

"If they can't be caught, why catch them?" Zhu Changzhi was already six years old. He had gradually understood the special nature of his status and understood the weight of the four words "country and society."

He went to the academy alone, and hundreds of people served him alone in his studies. But even in the Imperial Academy and the University, one teacher had to teach dozens of students. He could see this difference.

And his father, who was like a high mountain, was almost nowhere to be seen all day, either in the court or in the Capital Camp.

"Catching corrupt officials is to increase the cost of corruption and curb the scale of corruption among the Great Ming bureaucrats." Zhu Yijun looked at Zhu Changzhi's completely uncomprehending expression, thought for a moment, and said, "Mother doesn't let you eat sugar cubes, and for this, she even spanked you."

"Are you still secretly eating them, but not daring to be so blatant, and not daring to do it so many times?"

"No! I didn't steal any." Zhu Changzhi immediately stood up and waved his hands repeatedly, indicating he hadn't eaten any, but seeing his father's eyes becoming more severe, he said in a low voice, "Just ate a little bit."

Wang Yaozhuo, who was standing by laughing, immediately changed her face, rolled up her sleeves, and said sternly, "Good! Zhu Changzhi, you've grown capable, daring to steal sugar cubes! Look at how many teeth have been eaten by bugs! At such a young age, you know how to coerce the palace maids to give you sugar cubes!"

Zhu Yijun hurriedly reached out and said, "My lady, my lady, don't be angry. Being brave enough to admit a mistake is courage. Our Zhi'er is very brave. Eating two candies doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. Isn't he still waiting to change his teeth? It will be fine after he changes them."

"The Emperor just spoils him! Mother spoils him, and you spoil him too. When the time comes, you'll spoil him into a lawless person!" Wang Yaozhuo said in a fit of pique.

Zhu Yijun hurriedly put on a straight face and said to Zhu Changzhi, "Zhi'er, don't steal them in the future. Tell Mother. After eating sugar cubes, you must rinse your mouth in time, and you must brush your teeth on time every day, do you know?"

"I know." Zhu Changzhi nodded repeatedly and hid behind his father, sticking his tongue out at Wang Yaozhuo.

"You're making faces. If you provoke your mother again, in a while your mother will deal with me too!" Zhu Yijun pulled Zhu Changzhi in front of him and said with a smile, "Go play."

Zhu Changzhi went off to play wildly with the Cuju ball again. There were also children in the palace playing with Zhu Changzhi, ten descendants of meritorious officials and ten little eunuchs, a total of twenty sparring partners accompanying Zhu Changzhi as he grew up.

Wang Yaozhuo sat beside Zhu Yijun and asked with some worry, "Did the affairs of the outer court make my husband angry again?"

"You could say that. The decree was blocked, but doing things is not that easy, so don't worry." Zhu Yijun gave Wang Yaozhuo a reassuring smile and said, "It's okay, do it little by little, and it will always be finished. There is nothing difficult in the world, only those who have a heart."