Chapter 63 Depressed Zhang Juzheng
Chapter 63 Depressed Zhang Juzheng
After submitting the "Memorial on Current Affairs", Zhang Juzheng waited for the Emperor to summon him with full expectation and fearlessness. However, he waited and waited, but the Emperor never summoned him, and he didn't even get a reply to the review of the memorial.
Faced with such a result, Zhang Juzheng was almost hurt by the Jiajing Emperor's attitude of ignoring him.
In Zhang Juzheng's view, his memorial was a critical criticism of current ills and a deafening remedy to save the country.
However, after submitting such a memorial, it didn't even make a splash. How could Zhang Juzheng not feel disheartened?
Zhang Juzheng was so angry that he almost couldn't help but jump up and shout that Emperor Jiajing was a tyrant.
So for a long time afterwards, Zhang Juzheng started to give up for a long time. He no longer submitted any memorials to the emperor's memorials. He pretended not to see the troubles in the court and just lay down in the Hanlin Academy, doing his job as a monk and not caring about the outside world.
Zhang Juzheng was so negative that his mentality was naturally not very good, so he fell ill not long after.
It is obvious that this illness was caused by the depression that occurred after being ignored by Emperor Jiajing.
This made Zhang Juzheng, such an elegant and enterprising young man, become haggard and helpless.
Finally, Zhang Juzheng, who could no longer hold on, made up his mind to take a long sick leave and return to his hometown in Jiangling to recuperate.
Zhu Zaigui had no idea about what had happened to Zhang Juzheng.
After all, the current political structure of the Ming Dynasty does not allow the prince to make suggestions and make decisions on court affairs.
Unless there is an instruction from His Majesty the Emperor.
Otherwise, under such a totalitarian imperial system, the status of a prince would at most be a status of honor with no real purpose.
However, Zhu Zaigui didn't care about these political matters.
Because Zhu Zaigui was also very clear about his own weight. If he really wanted to play tricks and scheme with the ministers in the court, with his limited ability, he would be led into trouble in minutes.
So Zhu Zaigui is now concentrating on studying how to make money and how to enjoy a happy and comfortable life as a prince.
As long as it does not interfere with his happy life, Zhu Zaigui will not even look at it even if there is a river of blood in the court.
After all, the Ming Dynasty is still intimidated by the high and mighty Emperor Jiajing. As long as Emperor Jiajing does not have any murderous intentions, the open and secret struggles between Yan Song's party and the Qingliu party may not be able to bring down the Ming Dynasty.
Moreover, the struggle between Yan Song's faction and the Qingliu faction was deliberately acquiesced by Emperor Jiajing.
If one day the leader of one side no longer wants to fight, or wants to give in to the other side, Emperor Jiajing will personally step in to adjust the balance.
Because this was also the imperial mentality of Emperor Jiajing. The reason why he could be high and mighty and practice Taoism in the Wanshou Palace in the Western Garden without any worries was because of his absolute grasp of power.
If the ministers below stopped fighting one day, wouldn't these ministers unite as one and challenge his imperial power?
Therefore, no matter whether it is Yan Song's party or the Qingliu party, anyone who dares to destroy the balance of Emperor Jiajing and interfere with his meditation will end up like the former Prime Minister Xia Yan.
Three months passed in a flash, and the first phase of the industrial park project built by Zhu Zaigui in Shunyi was finally about to be completed.
So on this day, Zhu Zaigui could not contain his joy and ordered Meng Chong and Teng Xiang to prepare a carriage for his escort. He wanted to go to Shunyi Industrial Park in person to take a look at his great achievements!
After receiving Zhu Zaigui's order, Meng Chong and Teng Xiang did not dare to delay for a moment.
Originally, the two wanted to arrange a prince-level ceremonial guard for Zhu Zaigui, but this was rejected by Zhu Zaigui.
Firstly, Zhu Zaigui did not like this slow-moving princely procession, and secondly, Zhu Zaigui did not want to be so conspicuous in the capital.
After all, Zhu Zaigui was a very low-key and pragmatic person. Although this kind of grand ceremony was flashy, it also caused more problems.
Therefore, it is better to travel light and in plain clothes, which not only allows you to come and go freely but also saves a lot of time.
After all, Shunyi Industrial Park is about sixty or seventy miles away from Prince Yu's Mansion. If the prince's ceremonial guard appears, it will take at least half a day or a day to reach Shunyi.
Therefore, at Zhu Zaigui's request, Meng Chong and Teng Xiang arranged two carriages and six or seven horse-riding guards to accompany him.
With such a light-hearted travel, it only takes about an hour to reach Zhu Zaigui's Shunyi Industrial Park.
Sitting in the carriage, Zhu Zaigui didn't feel any bumps on the road before leaving Beijing.
After all, the current city of Beijing has existed as the imperial capital since the Yuan Dynasty. Therefore, during the hundreds of years of development, the main roads in Beijing have been paved with smooth bluestone slabs, reducing the bumps and dust caused by dirt roads.
But just after Zhu Zaigui's carriage left the city gate, the real ancient transportation conditions appeared before Zhu Zaigui's eyes.
The dusty dirt road stretched as far as the eye could see, and the road was not completely flat. Instead, every few steps there was a pit of varying sizes that bumped the carriage.
This jolt almost broke Zhu Zaigui apart.
If this had happened a few months ago, given Zhu Zaigui's physical condition at the time, this trip would have almost cost him his life.
So after arriving at Shunyi Industrial Park after this bumpy journey, Zhu Zaigui also deeply experienced what it means to be "tired from traveling"!
So this is what the long journey means, it is almost life-threatening.
No wonder the ancients were not willing to travel far. Without a strong physical fitness, they would not be able to endure such a long journey.
After Zhu Zaigui got off the carriage, his face was a little pale, and he called Meng Chong and Teng Xiang.
"I want to learn how to ride a horse!"
Zhu Zaigui's shout startled Meng Chong and Teng Xiang.
Meng Chong said quickly: "Your Majesty, please think twice. Riding a horse is very dangerous. What if something goes wrong? What will happen?"
Zhu Zaigui ignored Meng Chong's advice and said, "Am I so hypocritical? Besides, I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty and I represent the Ming Dynasty. How embarrassing it would be if I can't even ride a horse? Teng Xiang, you come and teach me!"
Zhu Zaigui took the carriage even though he really didn't want to go back. This bumpy ride also gave Zhu Zaigui a deeper understanding of the reality of the Ming Dynasty.
I thought that life in a royal palace was completely different from life in ordinary people, but I didn't expect the difference between life in and outside the city to be so huge!
It seems that we have to think of ways to improve transportation construction. Let’s not talk about the distant ones, but at least the section from Beijing to Shunyi Industrial Park must be paved. Otherwise, won’t we still suffer the same pain when traveling back and forth here in the future?
(End of this chapter)