Chapter 727: What Does the Dzungars Have to Do with This?

"Imperial Lord, this is today's schedule for you."

Huang Xiaobao, the brush-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, stood behind Zhu Cilang and handed a schedule written on a memorial to the Hongxing Son of Heaven of the Great Ming, who was eating breakfast.

The place where Emperor Zhu dined was a hall outside the sleeping chamber of Kunning Palace. A long table was set in the hall, with Emperor Zhu seated at the head, Wu Sanmei seated to his left, and Zhu Tianfeng seated to his right. There were also two girls living with Wu Sanmei who were too young to eat adult food, so they did not join the meal.

The food on the table was very simple: rice porridge, fried dough sticks, scrambled eggs, and a small dish of pickled vegetables, with a cup of water-buffalo milk for each person. It was nutritious enough, but not excessive. That was why Zhu Cilang, Wu Sanmei, and Zhu Tianfeng were none of them particularly fat.

By the way, before breakfast, Emperor Zhu had also done half a shichen of morning exercise — jogging around the main hall of Kunning Palace, and after several laps, drawing a stiff bow for a while.

After finishing breakfast, Zhu Cilang naturally went to Fengtian Hall to handle official business, followed by the midday court session and the midday meal. After the midday meal, if there was nothing important, he could go to the inner drill ground to ride a horse for a while, then toss stone locks for a bit, and shoot a bagful of arrows. If it was summer, he would go swimming in a pond in the imperial garden.

After his afternoon exercise ended, Zhu Cilang would go to one of three places — Qianqing Palace, Kunning Palace, or the Western Mansion. When Emperor Zhu was inside the Forbidden City, he chose one of these three places to sleep every night. If he was to spend the night with one of his three consorts, he would stay overnight at Qianqing Palace or the Western Mansion. If he was to spend the night with the Empress, he would stay overnight at Kunning Palace.

Of course, after he went to Qianqing Palace, Kunning Palace, or the Western Mansion, it was not just eating, bathing, and sleeping. He still had to continue contributing his wisdom and intelligence to the people of the Great Ming. Sometimes it was reviewing memorials, sometimes studying domestic and foreign affairs, sometimes looking over the Royal Trading Company's reports or summoning its executives. Recently, he had been busy compiling mathematics textbooks and exercise collections.

And on the first and fifteenth of every month, as well as on various festivals, and on the birthdays of the Retired Emperor Chongzhen, Retired Empress Zhou, and Old Empress Zhang, as well as on the birthday and death anniversaries of the Exalted Founder Emperor, Zhu Cilang also had to go to the Retired Emperor Chongzhen's palace to pay his respects, or go to the Xiao Mausoleum to offer worship.

In addition, there were many temporary arrangements, such as reviewing the troops, presiding over examinations, and summoning all sorts of people he simply had to meet.

In short, the job of emperor could not be described as easy. Sometimes Zhu Cilang even envied the Retired Emperor Chongzhen, who spent every day eating, drinking, and enjoying himself. He was now a fortunate sovereign; after he died, they could give him the posthumous title Ming Fuzong!

And Zhu Cilang, who was run ragged every day, had to let the Directorate of Ceremonial arrange his schedule; otherwise things would surely fall into chaos.

Emperor Zhu took the schedule for today and was reading it over line by line when a young eunuch hurriedly appeared at the doorway. Huang Xiaobao quickly walked over, exchanged a few words with the young eunuch, then turned and strode back to Emperor Zhu, who was still eating breakfast. Leaning down, he whispered in his ear: "Imperial Lord, Qian Qianyi and Zhu Chunjie have arrived at Fengtian Hall."

Zhu Cilang's expression changed slightly. He set down his bowl and chopsticks, grabbed a fried dough stick, and strode out while eating it. Huang Xiaobao quickly signaled to the guards, eunuchs, and palace maids attending Emperor Zhu, and a large crowd of people followed after him.

Wu Sanmei also frowned slightly. As the Great Ming realm gradually got on track, Zhu Cilang's life had become more and more regular. Something like this — being pulled away in the middle of breakfast — was extremely rare.

She murmured to herself: "What is it this time? It couldn't be the northwest... ah!"

The northwest had been unsettled again lately!

It was not Wu Sangui who was unsettled, but Zhu Cilang's brother, the "Loan King" Zhu Cijiong. No one knew which Mongol tribal chief had made the connection, but Zhu Cijiong had actually gotten involved with Batur Khong Tayiji, the leader of the Oirat Mongol Dzungar tribe (Batur was his name; Khong Tayiji was an honorific meaning "crown prince").

And this Batur Khong Tayiji, for some unfathomable reason, wanted to submit to the Great Ming dynasty!

By the time Zhu Cilang hurried to the eastern warm chamber of Fengtian Hall, Qian Qianyi and Zhu Chunjie had already been waiting at the door for quite a while. Both held memorials in their hands and were sitting and talking; when they saw Emperor Zhu arrive, they hurriedly rose to salute.

Zhu Cilang smiled and said: "Don't kneel. Come in and tell me — what exactly has happened?"

The eastern warm chamber of Fengtian Hall was where Emperor Zhu convened the Two Offices Conference and the Deliberative Conference, summoned ministers or envoys, and reviewed memorials.

Every day before the midday court, Zhu Cilang would review memorials here for a while. Matters to be discussed at the Two Offices Conference were generally submitted in a memorial first for Emperor Zhu to read; there could be no surprise attacks. And the memorials Zhu Cilang had to read each day were usually laid out at the head of the long table in the eastern warm chamber in the early morning. There was a limit on the number — normally he read only sixteen memorials a day.

The Grand Secretariat and the Grand Marshal's Office each submitted six; the Left and Right Censorates each submitted one; the Court of Judicial Review submitted one; and the Deliberative Council submitted one. Each memorial had a word limit — no more than two thousand characters — and could address only one major matter. However, multiple routine personnel appointments and dismissals could be combined and counted as one major matter.

That is to say, in theory, Emperor Zhu read only thirty-two thousand characters of reports and handled sixteen major matters each day. Affairs beyond those sixteen major matters were handled by the relevant offices on their own authority and reported afterward (at the midday court). Emperor Zhu's style was truly beyond comparison with his father Chongzhen's — he was probably even lazier than the Wanli Emperor, who hid away and refused to see people.

Yet under his "lazy governance," the state was in perfect order and thriving day by day.

Of course, there were always exceptions. For example, today there was an emergency beyond the sixteen major matters — something not reported in advance but that had to be handled promptly. In such cases, whichever department's matter it was, that department's head would request an audience before the midday court and report to Emperor Zhu in person.

Today Qian Qianyi and Zhu Chunjie had come together, which meant two unexpected matters had arisen.

"Master Qian, you speak first," Zhu Cilang said after seating himself at the head of the long table, instructing Qian Qianyi to begin.

Qian Qianyi and Zhu Chunjie had already seated themselves without waiting for Zhu Cilang's instruction. They had fixed seats at this conference table — where the Chief Grand Secretary sat, where the Minister of Rites sat, where the Guard Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard sat, all were prescribed.

"Your Majesty," Qian Qianyi said, already presenting his prepared memorial with both hands, "the Shuofang Military Governor's Office reports that a formidable leader has emerged among the Oirat Mongol Dzungar tribe, named Choros Batur Khong Tayiji. This man is extremely ambitious; he wants to unify all the Oirat tribes and also conquer the Kazakh Khanate.

Furthermore, Russia's ceaseless eastward encroachment also threatens the Oirat tribes. So for these past years, Batur Khong Tayiji has been fighting a war on two fronts against the Kazakh Khanate and Russia, the two strong powers of the Western Regions.

Because Russia and the Kazakh Khanate possess excellent firearms, the Dzungar tribe has fought with great difficulty, and in the sixteenth year of Chongzhen they suffered a crushing defeat while campaigning far against the Kazakh Khanate.

And this Batur Khong Tayiji somehow learned that our dynasty can produce excellent firearms, so he wants support. He has therefore sent envoys to Shuofang, hoping to offer tribute and be granted firearms."

Somehow learned?

As Zhu Cilang listened to Qian Qianyi's words, he thought to himself: Isn't this all the result of Zhu Cijiong selling arms?

"Zhu Chunjie," Zhu Cilang said. He did not make a decision right away — this matter required joint deliberation by the Two Offices and could not be decided now — so he asked Zhu Chunjie, "What matter do you have to report?"

"Your Majesty," Zhu Chunjie said, also presenting his memorial, "the eastern barbarians recently dispatched a delegation of five ministers to Europe. They departed from a port in Joseon aboard two of our dynasty's ten-thousand-dan great ships and sailed to the Ryukyu Kingdom, where they boarded a Spanish galleon and set off for Europe via the southern sea route.

In addition, the eastern barbarians fought a battle with the eastern country of Japan on the extremely remote island of Kuye in the northeast. It seems they were defeated, so Dorgon is preparing to establish a Pacific Fleet to counter Japan..."

"What? A Pacific Fleet?"

(End of Chapter)