novelAbuy Chapter 17 Please, sister, stand up for your brother!
Chapter 17 Please, sister, stand up for your brother!
"Liu Jin".
"Your servant is here."
Liu Jin jogged into the hall and stood respectfully before Zhu Houzhao.
"Order the Directorate of Ceremonial to immediately issue an imperial edict revoking the authority to issue salt permits in all regions, and bringing the salt administration under the control of the imperial court. From now on, only I shall be authorized to issue salt permits!"
"The salt certificate exchange system is abolished; from now on, salt certificates can only be exchanged for grain!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Liu Jin was thrilled. This time, His Majesty bypassed the Grand Secretariat and directly ordered the Directorate of Ceremonial to draft the decree.
Does this mean that His Majesty is starting to pay more attention to the Directorate of Ceremonial?
Liu Jin believed that as long as he waited patiently, Zhu Houzhao would eventually realize that he was the only one truly loyal to the emperor.
His Majesty will gradually value the Directorate of Ceremonial more and more, and its power will grow greater and greater.
After receiving the imperial decree, Liu Jin hurried to the Directorate of Ceremonial to issue the decree.
Subsequently, the imperial edict spread throughout the entire Ming Dynasty at the fastest speed.
Upon hearing this, Marquis Wang Yuan of Ruian, Earl Wang Qing of Chongshan, Marquis Zhang Heling of Shouning, and Marquis Zhang Yanling of Jianchang felt as if the sky had fallen.
Although each of them held a noble status and enjoyed high official positions and generous salaries, with an annual stipend of two thousand shi of rice alone.
Although they all own thousands of acres of land, they are still forcibly seizing farmland and privately occupying imperial estates.
Although they all had immense wealth, lived lavishly and enjoyed a life of luxury.
But Zhu Houzhao stripped them of their power to issue salt permits; wasn't that tantamount to taking their lives?!
Without their salt permits, they would lose hundreds of thousands of taels of silver a year!
In the Ming Dynasty, the salt business was an extremely profitable industry.
Zhu Houzhao's decision to abolish their salt permits was tantamount to confiscating their property.
So the next day, the three marquises and one earl all went to the palace to find their sisters.
Wang Yuan and Wang Qing were the younger brothers of Empress Dowager Wang, while Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling were the younger brothers of Empress Dowager Zhang.
They paired up and knelt before their respective sisters, weeping and pleading.
"Sister, we're not going to live anymore!"
"His Majesty has invalidated all our salt permits! How are we supposed to survive now?!"
"Sister, you have to stand up for your two younger brothers!"
"..."
Wang Yuan and Wang Qing wept bitterly before the Empress Dowager Wang.
Meanwhile, Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling beat their chests and stomped their feet in front of Empress Dowager Zhang, rolling on the ground in despair.
"Sister! You need to control your son! He's killing his two uncles!"
"Sister, please go and talk to your son! Please, ask him to give our two uncles a way out!"
"Sister, we are all descendants of the Zhang family. You wouldn't want our Zhang family to be poor and destitute for generations, would you?!"
"..."
Yes, Empress Dowager Zhang and Empress Dowager Wang both understood that although they had married into the Zhu family, they were not surnamed Zhu after all.
The Zhu family is already incredibly wealthy; what's wrong with letting their own family make a little more money?
Empress Dowager Zhang immediately said, "I know. What kind of behavior is this, with all this crying and making a scene?"
"You should go back first. I will go to the Emperor right away and plead with him to return your salt permits."
Only after Empress Dowager Zhang's repeated assurances did Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling give up and return home confidently.
In their view, as long as Empress Dowager Zhang intervenes, the young emperor will not dare to disobey his mother.
Just as Empress Zhang had sent Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling away, Empress Dowager Wang finally persuaded Wang Yuan and Wang Qing to return home.
Empress Dowager Wang first approached Empress Dowager Zhang. The two women discussed the matter and decided to reclaim the power to issue salt permits from Zhu Houzhao for their younger brother's sake.
Empress Dowager Zhang ordered the eunuch beside her, "Go and summon the Emperor. I have some questions for him."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
After receiving the imperial decree, the eunuch immediately came to the Qianqing Palace to deliver a message to Zhu Houzhao.
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager summon you."
After issuing the imperial edict to revoke the salt permits, Zhu Houzhao knew that this act, which threatened the power of the imperial relatives, would inevitably provoke fierce resistance from them.
At this moment, the Empress Dowager and the Grand Empress Dowager suddenly summoned him, and without a doubt, it must be about the salt permit issue.
Zhu Houzhao immediately refused: "Go back and tell the Empress Dowager that I have state affairs to attend to and I am too busy."
"After I finish my work, I will go to Cining Palace to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager."
"this……"
After being rejected by Zhu Houzhao, the eunuchs of Cining Palace stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.
The Empress Dowager ordered him to summon the Emperor, but the Emperor is unwilling to go. How can he explain this to the Empress Dowager?
Before the eunuch from Cining Palace could say anything more, Liu Jin stood before him with a forced smile and said, "Eunuch, you've heard His Majesty's words. Please leave."
Although Liu Jin was smiling, a fierce glint was already flashing in his eyes.
He is a mad dog under His Majesty's command; he is loyal only to His Majesty.
Empress Dowager, Grand Empress Dowager, none of them are people he wants to serve.
"You... oh dear!"
The eunuch from Cining Palace snorted coldly, turned around and went back to Cining Palace to report the matter to Empress Dowager Zhang.
"What?! The emperor doesn't want to come?!"
Empress Dowager Zhang stared wide-eyed in shock, unable to believe her ears.
The emperor wasn't like this before!
Although he was a bit playful and mischievous, he always obeyed his mother's every word.
So now, even the emperor can't be summoned!
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
The eunuch from Cining Palace said with a bitter face, "His Majesty not only didn't come, but also kicked me out of Qianqing Palace."
"This...this..."
This was the first time Empress Dowager Zhang had been so offended by Zhu Houzhao, and she was so angry that she couldn't speak.
Beside Empress Dowager Zhang, Empress Dowager Wang looked worried: "The Emperor doesn't want to come to the inner palace, what should we do?"
"In my opinion, the Emperor is most likely deliberately avoiding us!"
Mrs. Zhang's expression shifted between anger and uncertainty. Suddenly, she slammed her hand on the table and stood up.
"Since the Emperor will not come to the inner palace to see me, then I will go to the Qianqing Palace to see the Emperor myself."
"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager, are you going or not?"
Empress Dowager Wang hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and stood up.
"Alright, in that case, let's go together."
"Prepare the sedan chair; we're going to the Qianqing Palace!"
……
Soon, two lavishly decorated palanquins arrived outside the Qianqing Palace.
Empress Dowager Wang and Empress Dowager Zhang arrived together, surrounded by a large group of palace maids and eunuchs, and walked towards the Qianqing Palace.
Seeing this, Liu Jin was startled and quickly led the eunuchs from the Directorate of Ceremonial to step forward and block Empress Dowager Wang and Empress Dowager Zhang from entering.
"This servant greets the Empress Dowager, and pays respects to the Empress Dowager."
Liu Jin knelt before them, his attitude humble, yet he stubbornly blocked their path.
"Get out of our way! We want to see the Emperor!"
Empress Dowager Zhang shouted angrily.
Under immense pressure, Liu Jin knelt on the ground, motionless.
"His Majesty is engaged in official business. Your Highnesses, it would be best not to disturb him."