Chapter 160: Internal steaming of complex fires, the intersection of cold and heat

After several days of intense debate on classics, before one knew it, the "Rain Water" solar term had arrived.

At this time of year, although the north had not yet reached the point where the atmosphere of spring was revealed, at least it was no longer snowing for days on end.

The snow in the Forbidden City was also gradually melting, becoming a bit fresher.

With good weather, it was a good time to sit around a stove and boil tea.

When Zhu Yijun ran to the Yuanxi Yannian Palace early in the morning to pay his respects to Empress Dowager Li, he was immediately kept by her to chat with the relatives.

That is, Li Wanquan and his son, and Li Caiyun.

Li Chengming sat awkwardly on his seat with half his buttocks, moving from time to time to change his posture, grimacing in pain.

Finally, he simply stood up to serve tea and water to the sovereign, father, and elders.

Empress Dowager Li gave Li Chengming a look with her eyes, then looked at her elder brother Li Wanquan: "Big brother, Chengming is already nineteen this year; it's time for him to get married, so he won't be so restless."

Li Caiyun nodded in agreement and looked at Li Wanquan: "Big brother, the Empress Dowager is right. Back in our village when we were young, anyone who wasn't married by nineteen would be pointed at behind their backs."

She was four years older than Empress Dowager Li and was already thirty-four, also the elder who loved urging marriage the most.

Li Wanquan glanced at the Emperor from the corner of his eye, his face calm: "Empress Dowager, I met with two families at the end of last year. After distinguishing for a while longer, we can settle it."

Li Chengming looked embarrassed and looked at the Emperor for help.

Zhu Yijun turned a blind eye, rubbing the teacup in his hand to warm it, and asked curiously: "Why haven't I heard cousin mention it? I wonder what kind of family they are?"

Li Wanquan had been messing around in the Central Military Governor's Office for two years, and his whole person had become much more noble.

He looked at the Emperor with restraint but not without warmth and replied: "Your Majesty, it's not a big family. One is the daughter of a scholar, whose ancestor at highest only served as a county magistrate; the other is the daughter of a merchant, a sea merchant we acquired the year before last. They look quite good, and the father's generation's intentions are considered pure and kind."

Zhu Yijun nodded and did not express any opposition.

He was quite approving of this; although he actively embraced government affairs, it was better for these relatives to be less involved.

Especially Li Chengming, who ran to build a living shrine for Wei Zhongxian; clearly, his political sense was not good, and he couldn't play these things.

At this time, Empress Dowager Li drank a cup of tea by herself and said pointedly: "If you distinguish for another year, it will pass. Do you want to get married at twenty? In my opinion, it's better to get married early; there is nothing greater than having no descendants."

Li Wanquan lowered his head and saw the Emperor's feet shrink back nervously. Before the words reached his lips, he immediately changed his way of speaking: "Marriage is a big event; take it slow, take it slow."

Empress Dowager Li still wanted to speak.

Zhu Yijun interrupted: "Since my uncle mentioned sea merchants, I happen to want to discuss this with my uncle, so as to calculate the bride price for my cousin."

"In addition to the official transport of grain, the various departments will gradually open up to private merchant associations in the next half year, and after autumn, we can almost issue licenses."

"Uncle, you should set up the framework as soon as possible."

Although it would take more than two years for Zhu Heng to rectify the shipping routes, the licenses could be issued first.

Not to mention whether it would create income or not, the sovereign mainly did it for the merchant associations; one had to arrange goods and sales channels in advance.

Of course, there was another point.

While repairing the shipping routes, there would inevitably be some monsters and ghosts buzzing like flies from time to time.

Issuing the licenses first would naturally unite people—for conservative feudal forces, capital was already considered progress.

Li Wanquan stood up immediately and bowed to thank him: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Zhu Yijun waved his hand, signaling him to sit down and talk.

Li Wanquan sat down and deliberated: "Your Majesty, let's not talk about going to sea for now."

"Regarding this coastal shipping, there are stories from the former Song dynasty, and all families are relatively active. Currently, the Duke of Wei, the Duke of England, the Earl of Pingjiang, the Marquis of Dingyuan, the Grand Princess, the Wang Chonggu family, the Xu Guo family... all intend to join in doing this."

"Now everyone is saying, can we follow the route of the Grain Transport Office's trial shipping last year and run it first?"

Speaking of business, Empress Dowager Li no longer tangled with the marriage matter and turned her attention to the so-called sea merchants—Empress Dowager Li was very supportive of seeking legitimate financial sources for her maiden family.

She asked curiously: "Isn't it said that the ships of the Qingjiang Shipyard won't be built until next year? What are you using to test it now?"

Li Wanquan wanted to speak but stopped.

Zhu Yijun had nothing to avoid: "Mother, the national ban on the sea is only strict on the surface; private shipbuilding and private transport have never stopped below, but it is just claimed that there is none."

"Precisely because of this, when the sea was opened during the Longqing years, they ran to the people to buy ships."

Empress Dowager Li said "Oh": "Then it seems it is still profitable."

It wouldn't be that the merchant associations would take risks just to lose money.

Zhu Yijun thought for a while and instructed Li Wanquan: "The routes north of Taicang and Retainer cannot be taken by you; that area is where water gathers, vast and without mountains, not something that can be passed by ocean-going ships."

"How about this, go east from Huai'an, lead to Denglai, and dock at Tianjin."

He paused and emphasized again: "Safety first."

Why is the coast simpler than going to sea? Because you can dock frequently.

But the East China Sea is vast and without mountains, and it is difficult to avoid, so the requirements for ships are high.

It would be fine if the ships drifted away, but it would be terrible if lives were lost.

Li Wanquan agreed immediately.

With the Emperor's diversion, Empress Dowager Li no longer talked about the marriage.

After chatting about other things, she mentioned the move of the palace to the Emperor.

In fact, since after the Lantern Festival, some unimportant things in the West Garden had been moved back to the Forbidden City one after another.

Now, the three saints should go back.

Zhu Yijun thought for a while and nodded helplessly: "I will go see if the Ciqing Palace has been repaired properly later; if there is no problem, we will move."

It was certainly repaired properly; it was repaired in August, but he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

Moreover, the house had just been renovated; wouldn't it be very reasonable to let it sit for half a year?

It couldn't be blamed on Zhu Yijun for dragging his feet.

Mainly, the experience of an office location being a building complex versus being near mountains and water was completely different.

The greenery of the Forbidden City was really not good!

Since the words had reached this point, Zhu Yijun also had an excuse to take his leave.

He looked at Empress Dowager Li: "Then I will go to the Guang Palace to pay my respects, and stop by the Ciqing Palace to see, so that we can move the palace early. Would Mother like to go together?"

Empress Dowager Li pursed her lips and rolled her eyes: "I won't go; the father-in-law will enter the palace later."

Seeing this, Zhu Yijun couldn't help but mutter that she was thirty years old and still acting like a little girl.

Thinking in his heart, he stood up and bowed respectfully on the surface, then turned and left the Yuanxi Yannian Palace.

As soon as Zhu Yijun came out of the palace, he saw Hanlin compiler Deng Yizan standing straight, waiting outside the palace with Zhang Hong on the left and right.

Seeing the Emperor come out, the two immediately greeted him: "Your Majesty."

Zhu Yijun looked at Deng Yizan strangely: "Deng Qing is not on duty until tomorrow? Where is Shen Li?"

Rotation had to follow the basic law.

Deng Yizan replied: "Your Majesty, a few days ago there was a late spring cold; under the sudden cold and heat, Shen Jiantao accidentally caught a cold and has been bedridden since then. He has not improved and can no longer get out of bed."

"Today he really couldn't hold on, so he let me take his shift."

Zhang Hong took a memorial from his sleeve, presented it with both hands, and said briefly: "Your Majesty, Shen Li requests to retire due to illness."

Zhu Yijun was stunned and took it subconsciously.

Since he ascended the throne, he had seen too many officials shouting to retire; this was the first time he had truly encountered someone who was so ill that they wanted to retire, and for a moment he was not used to it.

Zhu Yijun opened Shen Li's memorial.

He saw that the handwriting was quite crooked, clearly caused by weakness when writing.

Shen Li's literary style was excellent, and it was very smooth to read.

Zhu Yijun read it all the way down, subconsciously immersed in it, and muttered to himself: "The bones are empty, the body and soul are separated, the language is chaotic, the feet cannot support the ground, groaning and weeping day and night..."

Zhu Yijun read all the way down, subconsciously immersed in it, muttering to himself: "One bone is empty, body and soul are separated, language is chaotic, feet cannot bear the ground, groaning and weeping day and night..."

This was written... Seeing this, Zhu Yijun could not bear to continue reading.

He silently closed the memorial.

He knew that Shen Li's health was not good; he asked for leave to return to his hometown in the first year of Longqing, and especially since his marriage, more than a dozen children had died prematurely, with only two daughters surviving, which showed that the sperm quality was not very good.

Since it had reached this point, Zhu Yijun could not force him to stay.

Zhu Yijun sighed and instructed Zhang Hong: "There is no need to retire; give him leave due to illness, and return to court when he has recovered."

After saying that, he looked at Deng Yizan again and said earnestly: "In your spare time, you should still strengthen your physique and regulate your body."

It was not just Shen Li whose health was not good.

There were also Zhang Juzheng, Chen Dong, Yu Youding; either they were malnourished from birth, or they were eating messy tonics, their bodies were very weak, and they were not suffering from colds and lung diseases, then they were suffering from heatstroke and heart disease.

Not to mention exercising, it would be fine to regulate it.

Deng Yizan was short, and his body was naturally not good; he was also one of those who often asked for leave due to illness.

Seeing the Emperor say this, he had to stand there and accept the training silently.

Zhu Yijun had vented enough and did not continue; he waved his hand: "Let Wang Jiaping take Shen Li's place and serve in the Wenhua Palace."

In fact, from a political perspective, Xu Guo would be more suitable.

But Xu Guo's accent was too heavy; he could drop a candidate by a hundred places when reading the exam papers for the Emperor.

If he were in the Wenhua Palace all day saying "My child," he would probably be the second Xiong Dunpu.

Deng Yizan kept it in his heart and replied: "I will obey the decree."

Zhu Yijun nodded and gave Zhang Hong some instructions, in addition to granting travel expenses, silk, and ordering a one-stop service to return to his hometown by post, he also sent words of comfort and encouragement to Shen Li.

The group talked about business, their feet did not stop, and they went to the Chen Empress Dowager's bedroom in the Guang Palace.

Zhu Yijun walked in front, without looking back, and opened his mouth to talk about gossip: "In the past few days, what important matters does the Emperor have to handle? Deng Qing, say them all together."

There is a word called "increasing day by day."

Zhu Yijun felt that his government affairs were in such a trend, more and more every day.

Now it had reached the point where if he was not reminded, he might miss something.

This was the duty of the Wanshou Palace, and Deng Yizan naturally had a draft early: "Your Majesty, the first matter is the memorial of the Chief Assistant, the ceremony of the morning court at the Huangji Gate on the third day of the second month."

Zhu Yijun nodded.

He still remembered this matter.

The ceremony of the morning court at the Huangji Gate is a grand ceremony to meet local officials, and it is also Zhang Juzheng's first face-saving project of the New Year—this is a good habit left by the Taizu, visiting the hardships of the people, but it has been abandoned since the Hongzhi reign.

The Chief Assistant said that the current Emperor is sagacious and diligent, and finally can be brought out, so he must let the local officials see it, which is called manifesting the Emperor's power, illuminating the virtue, and shining the grand event.

Of course, Qi Jiguang is naturally among them.

Deng Yizan continued: "The second is Gu Huan's memorial. After the court deliberation, three of the six articles were approved, and the other three were rejected."

"There is some debate, and the Cabinet asks Your Majesty to listen to the government at the morning court."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yijun fell into thought.

He had also read the six articles; the first said that the Beijing camp now only practices foot archery and hopes to add cavalry archery; the third is teaching the use of firearms; the sixth said that the official army of the four guards and two camps guards the harem, and in the future, they will not rotate with other departments, only eliminating people without replacing the whole department.

These three were approved, while the other three were rejected, such as verifying the shift army, training the retainers of the generals, etc.

The debate and differences were indeed relatively large. The generals of the Beijing camp and the Ministry of War had some opinions.

However...

After a while, Zhu Yijun shook his head: "I won't go; let Gu Huan go and fight."

Isn't letting Gu Huan go to the court deliberation for the Beijing camp to speak?

He couldn't stand on the stage for everything, right?

Deng Yizan did not ask in detail and continued: "The third is that the envoys of the Shunyi King, the leaders of the Jurchen barbarians, and the envoys of Korea and Ryukyu have come to pay tribute, each contributing a lot of gold, silver, and property, hoping to meet Your Majesty and play against each other in court to manifest the friendly relationship between the two sides."

Zhu Yijun did not answer immediately.

Instead, he asked an irrelevant question: "What is the name of the Jurchen leader?"

He looked at Deng Yizan, could it be...

Deng Yizan recalled for a moment and replied: "The Haixi Zhezhe and other guards Jurchen commander Ashibu, and the Bingta Lu and other guards Jurchen commander assistant Longbu."

Alright, never heard of them.

Zhu Yijun shook his head: "The barbarians are ugly, and I am still young, and my sleep is not deep, so I won't see them."

Deng Yizan was about to respond calmly, but then realized what the Emperor was saying.

His mouth opened, but finally he closed it and nodded.

"In addition, there is an impeachment memorial from Li Zaiting, the left administration commissioner of Fujian."

Zhu Yijun looked at Deng Yizan inquiringly.

Impeachment just follows the process; it shouldn't be brought to the imperial front.

Deng Yizan paused and told the whole story: "After Li Canzheng took office, he investigated the former Nangan governor Lu Wen, who used more than 5,650 taels of tax silver."

"Except for 1,399 taels for public use such as building memorial arches, he gave more than 4,250 taels to Yan Xueshi."

Lu Wen? This was from the 40th year of Jiajing!

Turning over old accounts is a taboo in officialdom.

Has Li Zaiting become so ignorant?

Only hearing Deng Yizan continue: "It involves some officials of the Fujian Administration Commission, each with their own words."

"Also, Li Canzheng took advantage of the night when no one was on duty to turn over the public treasury of the Administration Commission. Fujian left councilor Zha Zhili impeached Li Canzheng for this."

"In addition, there are memorials from officials impeaching Li Canzheng for colluding with the general Yu Dayou and being rebellious."

As soon as Zhu Yijun heard it, he understood; it was another classic repertoire of officialdom.

Taking office and fighting for the money bag.

However, Zha Zhili, last year he was still the Henan left administration commissioner, and was impeached by Liang Menglong for corruption, and now he is still not honest?

As for Yu Dayou...

Zhu Yijun asked curiously: "How did they collude?"

Deng Yizan hesitated for a while before saying: "It is said that Li Canzheng moved into Yu Dudu's mansion, and the memorial also said that the two slept together and were fellow people who played with beautiful maids."

"However, the latter is clearly fabricated, and the memorial has been returned by the Cabinet."

Zhu Yijun couldn't help but click his tongue; it was really good at using words, he had to admire it.

He said casually: "Let the Cabinet handle it."

Deng Yizan nodded upon hearing this.

His tone was lighter, and he concluded: "That's all. Besides that, there are the agenda and exam papers for the metropolitan examination, the debate on the Tongzheng Office newspaper, personnel appointments by the Ministry of Personnel, rewards for the great victory in the barbarian territory, etc."

The group was not far from the Guang Palace.

Along the way, they could see many court ladies and eunuchs moving objects toward the Forbidden City.

Clearly, it was in preparation for the move.

Zhu Yijun walked in front, swinging his arms, and finally started talking about gossip: "Speaking of the newspaper debate, I remember Deng Qing is a disciple of the Jiangyou Wang School?"

This is the gold content of Heart Learning.

From the former Chief Assistant, the current secondary assistant, group assistants, to the middle secretary, Hanlin compiler, disciples are everywhere.

Deng Yizan knew what the Emperor wanted to ask, and said frankly: "I dare to be concerned by Your Majesty, I am indeed a disciple of the Wang School, just don't know what the Jiangyou Wang School is."

Zhu Yijun realized and laughed: "I mean which school you learned."

Deng Yizan laughed at himself: "Returning to Your Majesty, it is exactly the theory of neither good nor evil that Gu Jun criticized as empty and Li Gong disdained."

Once the debate started, Gu Xiancheng had already been respected as a gentleman for his knowledge, and Li, even more, was called Gong by everyone.

Zhu Yijun couldn't help but tease: "You are quite frank, taking the scolding and still taking the initiative to mention it."

Deng Yizan finally restrained his expression and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, I think that learning is not done for heaven, not for earth, not for saints; in this case, why worry about other people's words."

Zhu Yijun looked at Deng Yizan's expression, and inexplicably felt a trace of emotion.

Deserving to be a scholar who came from the first place in the metropolitan examination and the third place in the palace examination.

The deeper the learning, the harder it is to be shaken by one's own philosophy.

Even if Li brought out a big killer like the universal value view, Deng Yizan's light sentence that learning is not done for heaven, earth, and saints, passed it by, clearly not taking it to heart.

Zhu Yijun walked in front, without looking back: "Then Deng Qing's learning, for whom is it done?"

Deng Yizan could not see the Emperor's expression, only feeling that the tone was not good.

He did not feel it, as always, and answered seriously: "Your Majesty, learning is naturally done for oneself."

"I call the body of the heart, the one that follows the beginning."

"The beginning is the time when all thoughts are forgotten. Suddenly feeling it, suddenly responding to it, then it is purely heaven. Once the intention moves, the second and third thoughts follow. Even more so, this thought is just sprouting, and the second and third have already appeared in between; both following and parallel are not the beginning."

"Therefore, closeness is my love, saying that when you love, you add intention, then no; respect is my respect, saying that when you respect, you add intention, then no."

"Being noble and humble is the same as being arrogant, being drunk and respectful is the same as being chaotic."

"Why? The heart that follows the outside is the heart of man, the so-called following and parallel."

"The origin of this heart does not fall into the square body, does not fall into calculation, goes away freely, comes suddenly, sees the front and does not see the back, knows the one and does not know the two, that's all."

"This is the so-called beginning."

"Gu Xiancheng wants to save the world and talk about morality, Li wants to seize the orthodoxy and talk about universal, I do not take either..."

"I only draw a prison on the ground, corner and self."

"Your Majesty, I am a true man."

This is the theory of neither good nor evil criticized by Gu Xiancheng; everything must be sought toward the beginning, and everything acquired later is false, covering the spiritual platform.

At the same time, it is also the most real, most self-centered person.

After Deng Yizan's words, the little Emperor did not answer for a long time.

The former was neither sad nor happy, waiting quietly.

After a good while, the Emperor turned his head slowly, but to Deng Yizan's surprise, the little Emperor was full of admiration.

Zhu Yijun looked at Deng Yizan and nodded in approval: "A good self, a good true man."

"Just hope Deng Qing can find his original intention in the future."

Little Deng was not tall, and hearing this, he suspected that the Emperor was being sarcastic.

Little did he know, Zhu Yijun was not being sarcastic, but was very satisfied with the status quo of Li's chess move so far.

Li's universal morality theory was born under his influence, and naturally, there were elements of stitching.

Everything must be viewed dialectically, and stitching naturally has the disadvantages of stitching.

Although this theory has rational enlightenment significance for the modern reconstruction of Chinese philosophy, at the same time, it also has a tendency to dissolve tradition.

The universalist cultural position constructed by Li's universal morality theory based on objectivity and externality is a cultural hegemony for the current Confucianism.

A slight lack of grasp.

It will completely obscure the subjective introspective vision and spiritual transcendental vision of traditional culture.

Following this, the self-cultural consciousness is severed, and the genealogical identity of culture gives way to external judgment.

This means moving from one extreme to another.

But looking at Deng Yizan's reaction now, the heat is just right.

Moderation is good, let a hundred flowers bloom is good.

Just hope that a medicine guide can collide with the philosophical self belonging to China.

"Went to Ciqing Palace?"

Zhu Yijun and his party finally walked to the Guang Palace, but did not expect to find it empty.

Who knew that Empress Dowager Chen had gone to Ciqing Palace.

Zhang Hong summarized the news he got from going in to report: "Your Majesty, before the New Year, the Empress Dowager let the Li family girl move back to Ciqing Palace in advance to tidy it up for the Empress Dowager, so as to raise some popularity before the Empress Dowager moves."

"Unfortunately, the Li family girl fell ill last night, and the Empress Dowager went to Ciqing Palace to take care of her early in the morning."

Zhu Yijun shook his head.

This is tossing around blindly.

He shook his head: "Let's go, just go to Ciqing Palace to see."

The group turned to Ciqing Palace.

Since Zhu Yijun ascended the throne, he hadn't been to Ciqing Palace much, and after a big fire, he never went to see it again.

However, there is no need to worry about the craftsmanship of the craftsmen.

The rebuilt Ciqing Palace is almost exactly the same as before the fire.

The only difference is that it is brand new and much brighter.

With such good craftsmanship, the Emperor should be happy.

But Zhang Hong looked at the Emperor's gloomy face carefully and didn't understand what happened.

Is it because the Li family girl is ill?

Or is there a discrepancy between the rebuilt Ciqing Palace and the shape of the East Palace in this master's impression?

Time passed slowly.

The Emperor stood outside Ciqing Palace, neither leaving nor entering.

He had been standing there for a long time, but his expression was getting worse and worse.

Zhang Hong didn't know why, so he bit the bullet and stepped forward: "Imperial Master, is there anything wrong?"

Zhu Yijun stood by a wall, stretched out five fingers to wipe it, and kept twisting between his fingers.

He looked at Zhang Hong, unable to hear the tone, and frowned: "I remember, the regulations of the Forbidden City, the inner wall should use red soil."

There are many places in the Forbidden City that use red, all of which have regulations, what material should be used in what place.

Zhang Hong didn't understand engineering problems, and didn't know what the Emperor meant.

Had to carefully pick the rules and say: "Your Majesty, it should be red soil, but sometimes to rush the work, or for other calculations, other things will be used. The reconstruction of Ciqing Palace this time is absolutely not cutting corners."

Zhu Yijun wiped his fingers on Zhang Hong's clothes and nodded: "I believe this."

"After all, cinnabar is more expensive than red soil."

Zhu Yijun looked up at this newly built Ciqing Palace.

The wall full of cinnabar, compared to red soil, is more dazzling and beautiful.

(End of chapter)

(End of chapter)