Chapter 584 0579 [Cabinet Minister Changes]

In the southern suburbs, Yujin Garden.

When the children wanted to come out to play, Zhu Guoxiang simply called the whole family.

Grandma Yan has gone to the south to live with her grandson and granddaughter-in-law. There are not many women in the Zhu family. Counting the children who can run and jump, there are less than twenty of them now.

So he took his guards out of the palace in the snow and came to Yujin Garden to enjoy the snow scenery and take a look at the animals raised here.

The only remaining elephant not only trampled the Jin soldiers to death when escaping, but also participated in Zhu Guoxiang's enthronement ceremony. Naturally, it must be well taken care of. Now I don't dare to come out of the elephant house because the temperature is too low, so I have to keep it warm by the fire all day long.

"Daddy, can you put some clothes on the elephant? So it can go out and play." A little girl was feeding the elephant concentrate and suddenly raised her head and asked Zhu Guoxiang.

This is Dean Zhu's eldest daughter. The name given by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty has long been abandoned. In the end, Lao Zhu personally named his daughter Zhu Yan.

Ordinary, nothing new.

Lao Zhu thinks the same way. He just hopes that his daughter can be normal and have a happy smile every day.

Yan, the state of clever laughter.

Faced with his daughter's childish words, Zhu Guoxiang actually thought seriously: "It's okay to make thick clothes for elephants, but firstly, it's unnecessary to use too many materials, and secondly, the elephants may not like it."

Zhu Yan asked: "Why don't elephants like it?"

"Because elephants don't wear clothes." Zhu Guoxiang said.

Zhu Yan asked again: "The elephant has never worn clothes. How did daddy know that it didn't like to wear clothes?"

"Well..." Zhu Guoxiang said, "When you have a baby elephant in the future, you can make a dress and let it try it on."

Zhu Yan asked again: "When will this elephant give birth to a baby?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "This elephant is male, and we will find a female elephant in the future. When the imperial court sends troops to conquer Dali, we can bring back a female elephant."

"Oh." Zhu Yan seemed to understand.

Ju Ming said happily from the side: "It's a little difficult to answer one hundred thousand whys."

"Isn't it the same with your children?" Zhu Guoxiang said angrily.

When he walked out of the elephant room, a gust of cold wind blew, so cold that Ju Ming put his hands in his sleeves.

In the open space not far away, the wives, concubines and children of the father and son were laughing and having a snowball fight. It was rare to get together like this all year round.

After feeding the elephant, Zhu Yan happily joined the battle group, rolling up a ball of snow and running around on the ground.

Zhu Guoxiang asked: "Have you finished reading Xiao Chu's "Spring and Autumn Discrimination"?"

"I've basically finished reading it," Zhu Ming said.

"How does it compare with Huan Guo's "Spring and Autumn Biography" manuscript?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.

Ju Ming said: "The subject matter is different. Huan Guo wrote a serious biography of "Spring and Autumn", while Xiao Chu's book is equivalent to a collection of essays. He extracted a major event or point of view, and then wrote an essay based on it. These There are dozens of papers in total, a few of them are purely academic, and most of them take the opportunity to express political thoughts.”

"How do you feel after reading it?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.

Ju Ming said: "The core idea of ​​those dozens of papers is centralization of power, inner saints and outer kings. For example, he said that there were hundreds of events in the Spring and Autumn Period, and the meeting of princes took up the most space, so he discussed why Confucius paid attention to the meeting The conclusion is that the princes fighting for hegemony in the Spring and Autumn Period were fighting for the position of alliance leader, and the position of alliance leader represented the power of the world. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the emperor of Zhou gradually evolved into the overlord who presided over the alliance, which actually represented great power. "

Zhu Guoxiang was a little disappointed: "That's all?"

Ju Ming smiled and said: "Of course there are more. There are many interesting views. For example, this person supports foreign wars. He said that only rotten scholars would think that spending money to build strong soldiers and armor and driving people to die in barren land is It is better to use civilized education to make the barbarians surrender. His point of view is that the barbarians should be attacked. If they threaten China, no matter how much money and food is spent, no matter how far the troops are sent, no matter how many people are killed or injured, they should be attacked. As for the basis, haha. , The Huayi Debate."

"You seem to be very satisfied with this person?" Zhu Guoxiang asked.

Ju Ming said: "Some of his thoughts are very to my liking, and they are not consistent. Take the discussion of war as an example. He supports foreign wars because he is not warlike. He also discusses the victory and defeat of the war. Some of the sentences are insidious. The irony of Song Huizong's expedition to Xixia and Liao probably means that if there is still a lot of shit to be wiped out in the country, don't go out to fight and be embarrassed."

Zhu Guoxiang smiled and asked, "Do you have any ideas?"

Ju Ming said: "How about letting him be the examiner of the first imperial examination?"

"I don't care." Zhu Guoxiang said.

Zhu Guoxiang had already expressed his attitude before. The cabinet ministers had too many political affairs, and the examiner should choose a minister to do them.

But among the ministers, there is currently no one who can convince the public.

This Xiao Chu had enough knowledge and was a great Confucian who refused to be recruited three times. He was awarded the title of bachelor and was enough to serve as the examiner.

"Woooooooo..."

Zhu Kang, the eldest grandson of the imperial concubine, ran to Ju Ming crying, raised his hand and pointed in the distance to complain to his father, but his forehead was hit red by a snowball.

Ju Ming turned around and saw that the culprit, Zhu Yan, was smiling playfully.

Zhu Ming couldn't help laughing, and encouraged: "You were thrown by your aunt, don't you know how to throw it back with a snowball?"

Zhu Kang said: "Auntie is stronger."

"You just hide away, why are you crying like a man?" Ju Ming didn't feel sorry for him at all.

Zhu Kang pouted and went back, picked up the snowball and was about to throw it away, when someone hit him on the face again, and he cried "Wow" even harder.

While wiping away tears and crying, he fought back with snowballs.

Zhe Yanxiu couldn't stand it anymore and shouted with a smile: "Da Lang, come here and I will teach you!"

Zhu Kang was learning throwing skills. After bullying his nephew Zhu Yan, he didn't give her a chance to take revenge: "I'm going to make a snowman with my mother."

"I want to make a snowman too!" Zhu Kang, who was crying just now, followed him happily.

After a while of making a fuss, the whole family returned to the house and started to eat mutton over a charcoal fire.

After eating hot pot and playing until the afternoon, they finally set off to return to the palace.

The snow on the streets inside and outside the city has been cleared. Whether it is a residential house or a shop, it is obliged to clean the snow in front of the door. If it is not cleared for many days and obstructs traffic, it will be fined.

Many people took advantage of the snow to go out for a stroll today. When they saw the emperor's ceremonial guard, they automatically avoided it. Some people even waved and cheered at the imperial carriage.

The citizens of Tokyo are too familiar with this. The Kaifeng Palace is too small, and the royal family often goes out to play outside the palace.

However, when Song Huizong was in power, as life became more and more difficult, many lower-class people glared at the imperial carriage.

Now that life is better, they are very happy to see the royal carriage.

Outsiders were very excited, and some of the candidates who were taking the imperial examinations could not help but kneel down to the imperial carriage. The reserved ones also bowed from a distance.

When the emperor returned to the palace, the eunuch on duty said to Zhu Guoxiang: "Your Majesty, the family of Prime Minister Gao reported that Prime Minister Gao's illness had slightly improved a few days ago, but he caught a cold and had a high fever in the past two days. He finally stopped having a fever last night, but suddenly coughed up blood this morning. The imperial physician said that he might not survive the winter."

"Got it, call the prince." Zhu Guoxiang felt a little headache.

After a while, Zhu Ming came over in a carriage, dragged a chair and sat down and asked: "What's the matter again after you just came back?"

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Deputy Prime Minister Gao Jingshan is not doing well. The imperial physician said that it is difficult for him to survive this winter."

"Isn't his illness cured?" Zhu Ming said.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I have caught a cold again. One of the cabinet ministers must be promoted to deputy prime minister, and another cabinet minister must be appointed as soon as possible. Who do you think is more suitable to join the cabinet?"

Zhu Ming said: "I am actually quite optimistic about Xu Churen who was sent out. But he is also quite old. According to the "History of Song Dynasty", he died of illness after Zhao Gou succeeded to the throne. I guess he would not live long if he was recruited into the cabinet."

Xu Churen is indeed a pity. He is perfect in terms of talent and morality.

It was only after the first withdrawal of the Jin soldiers that Zhong Shidao requested to build the Yellow River defense line. Xu Churen said that the Jin soldiers would not come again after they had just left. That was the only stain in his life.

But there is a reason for saying this. As a commander-in-chief, Zhong Shidao naturally puts military affairs first. But Xu Churen, who is in the center, has to consider financial issues. The treasury is so poor that rats can run away. What can he use to build the Yellow River defense line?

Zhu Guoxiang thought carefully and said, "Promote the old ministers who have surrendered from Hanzhong. Liu Yu, the Minister of Justice, will be promoted to cabinet minister, and Xu Fuyan, who is in charge of the Hanlin Academy, will be appointed as the Minister of Justice. The Xiao Chu you favored will be in charge of the Hanlin Academy. This position is just right for the chief examiner of the imperial examination."

"That's fine." Zhu Ming nodded.

There is also an old man named Wei Tai in Xiangyang. His family used to be an intelligence transfer station.

This man was originally going to be reused, but before Zhu Guoxiang went to Beijing, Wei Tai suddenly had a stroke and became paralyzed.

Zhu Guoxiang said, "Go visit Gao Jingshan on my behalf."

"Okay." Zhu Ming said.

Zhu Ming, who had just returned to the palace, had a simple meal and took a carriage to visit the seriously ill minister.

It was already dark, the lights were on, and the Donghua Gate was very lively.

Various controls were gradually relaxed, and even the price of wine was reduced.

Although Fanlou's business was much bleak because the old dignitaries were no longer there, there were still a few dignitaries and wealthy businessmen to support the scene.

After passing Yanglou Street south of Fanlou, and Xijier Lane, you will find the Yarn Shop.

A whole row of shops sell textiles. In addition to silk yarn, there are all kinds of silk and satin. They are still open even after dark.

Zhu Ming lifted a corner of the car curtain and silently watched the street scene.

A group of servants, surrounded by two elegant women, were selecting fabrics in the store.

Several scholars were passing by the store. They were talking and laughing, looking around, as if they were visiting the night scenery of Tokyo.

A scholar found that the prince's carriage was coming, and he turned around excitedly and bowed. His friends also greeted him warmly.

Further south is Panlou, which is much more lively than Fanlou because the overall price is cheaper. It is obvious that the consumption of the powerful class in Tokyo has been downgraded.

To the south of Panlou are Yingdian and Sangjiawazi.

Yingdian originally sold hawks and other birds of prey. During the siege, there was a shortage of food, and all the birds of prey were eaten by the boss.

After the city was broken, a large number of powerful people were liquidated and migrated. It is difficult to resume entertainment activities such as flying hawks and running dogs in a short time. Now there are only a few birds of prey in the store, and the business is very quiet. Even the store is listed for sublease and sale.

South of the Eagle Store is the Iron Flakes Hotel opened by Jews.

They have never been able to build a church in Kaifeng, so a house is specially built in the backyard of the hotel for Jewish fellow villagers to gather and worship.

There are also Jews in Hangzhou, who came to China more than 20 years ago.

There are also a large number of Arabs on the southeast coast.

Zhu Ming is considering whether to formulate relevant policies to force those long-term settlers to change their Chinese names and prohibit foreigners from marrying within the same ethnic group.

Moreover, he does not like people with the surname Pu.

But because of this broken translation, at least nine out of ten Arab businessmen who come to China at this time are either surnamed Pu or Li.