This was exactly the effect that Mr. Zhao wanted. When Mason asked him if he needed to think about it again, he told him in no uncertain terms that this was the final decision.
Ma Butang immediately stood up in delight, held Zhao Hao's hands tightly and shook them vigorously. He highly praised the patriotic act of Jiangnan Group, and praised them for considering the overall situation, daring to take responsibility, and creating a new image of Ming Dynasty Confucian merchants!
The two hit it off on the spot and immediately signed a draft memorandum on what they had discussed today.
Fearing that Zhao Hao would go back on his word, Ma Sen wrote a memorial that very day and submitted it directly to Emperor Longqing.
~~
Emperor Longqing was worried about the grain transport issue.
In a rage, he ordered the arrest of Zhao and Weng and brought them to Beijing for trial. But even if he cut them into pieces, it would not restore the smooth flow of the canal and the transportation of grain to the north!
Although the imperial court will not be out of food immediately, the panic caused by the interruption of grain transport will definitely lead to instability and low morale among the people. I am afraid that even Altan and Dong Huli will have to increase their efforts to rob the Ming Dynasty this year if they know the news, so as to avoid having nothing to rob next year?
Well, the last one is just unnecessary worry, because whenever they rob someone, they always try their best.
You said the situation was so critical, but the two companies that started it, the river channel and the canal transport, were still only concerned with passing the buck to each other. The former said that they were coerced by the latter and were unable to divert the floodwater in time, which led to such a disaster.
The latter flatly denied coercion and accused the former of framing him - the river channels and grain transport were not under the same jurisdiction, so when had the river channels ever obeyed the orders of our grain transport supervisor?
The scene on the dike was chaotic at the time, and without any official documents to support the story, people from both sides of the government held different opinions, and the court was unable to distinguish them for a while.
At this time, the gap in strength between the River Channel Office and the Grain Transport Office became apparent - anyone with a discerning eye would know that the former might have exaggerated, but the latter was definitely lying.
However, the voices in the court were all pleading for the latter.
Even the eunuch Teng Xiang, who held the seal, became a lobbyist for the Grain Transport Office, and whispered to the emperor that although Zhao Kongzhao was impatient, he was brave enough to take on responsibilities, and that it was rare to find a minister like Master Gao.
As expected of the eunuch who knew the emperor best, as soon as he opened his mouth, Longqing suddenly felt that Zhao Kongzhao was not so hateful.
Even the Cabinet Chief Minister Li Chunfang had an ambiguous attitude and was reluctant to discuss the matter in court. He said that the public was outraged at the moment and ministers were easily impulsive, so they should wait until everyone calmed down before discussing it.
As a result, Longqing could only dismiss Weng Dali from his post and ordered the Jinyiwei to bring him to the capital for interrogation. As for Zhao Kongzhao, he was temporarily dismissed from his post but retained, and ordered to clean up the mess at the Canal Transport Office before coming to the capital for interrogation.
Seeing that the Emperor's wrath that had caused him to smash the figurine was about to turn into a dud, that annoying feeling of powerlessness came over him again. Emperor Longqing was so furious!
He asked the eunuchs to quickly put away all their favorite little toys, fearing that he would lose control of his anger and break another one.
In that case, you will suffer the loss and be the one who gets angry. It is too bad. Buzz Buzz will not do such a stupid thing.
~~
The emperor was sulking, and Feng Bao, who was on duty at the Imperial Household Department today, presented Ma Sen's memorial to him.
When Longqing saw this, he felt as if he had taken betel nut gas-relieving pills, and the clouds had cleared and the sun had appeared. He was so happy that he slapped his thigh and said "good" three times in a row!
He immediately ordered Feng Bao to call Zhao Hao and ask him about the details in person.
Zhao Hao happened to be in the palace that day, playing this month's new series for Zhu Yijun. The previous one, "The Deer King's Birth Story", had already been shown last month.
Today's show is "Calabash Brothers", a seven-episode masterpiece written by Mr. Zhao and presented by seven great painters from Jiangnan. The little fat man was watching it with great interest when Feng Bao came in and asked Zhao Hao to go see the emperor.
"Go quickly and come back soon." The prince didn't even raise his head, his eyes glued to the camera, watching the snake demon with fascination. He had learned to do things on his own without asking for help.
Zhao Hao followed Feng Bao and left Yikun Palace.
On the way to the Qianqing Palace, Eunuch Feng smiled gratefully and said, "Young Master Zhao is really versatile and can coax the Crown Prince. Our family has been much better off recently."
The little fat man was originally very bad-tempered in private, and he would beat and kick his friend Feng Daban at will. Although Feng Daban raised the prince by himself, he was the capital of his life. But he was also the chief of the Imperial Household Department, the director of the East Factory and the head of the Imperial Horse Bureau, and the second most important person among the eunuchs. It was also very embarrassing to be beaten by the prince every day and to be talked about behind his back all day long, okay?
"It's just a trifle. The main thing is that the prince happens to like it." Zhao Hao thought to himself, the power of the two-dimensional world is not to be underestimated. It is the magic weapon that turns Showa men into Heisei otakus. Using it to eliminate the fat boy's hostility is simply a waste of talent.
"But the prince said that he wants to marry a snake spirit as his wife in the future. You must not let the queen hear such words, otherwise we will all be offended." Master Zhao reminded Eunuch Feng.
"Oh my God, the prince likes that woman with worms?" Feng Bao was shocked. Because the emperor was too obsessed with pornography, Concubine Li hated all things of that kind and vowed to create a purely green environment for the prince to grow up.
He quickly said, "Then we have to change a new animation so that the prince can forget about this!"
"Alas, I was afraid that the queen would say that we led the prince astray, so I specifically looked for cartoons that didn't even have women in them. I didn't expect that the prince would not even let go of a long worm." Young Master Zhao rubbed his forehead in annoyance and said helplessly, "Okay, let's show him "Three Monks" next time."
As the two were talking, they arrived in front of the Qianqing Gate, then they kept their distance and went inside, keeping silent and pretending not to know each other.
Feng Bao went in to report, and soon the emperor summoned Zhao Hao to the East Warm Pavilion.
"The prince called you to play again?" Longqing asked with a smile.
"Yes." Zhao Hao nodded. Longqing asked him to play with the prince more often, so there was naturally nothing to deny.
"But I asked you to help him learn more about science. Why do you let him watch cartoons all day long?" Like all fathers, Long Qing was worried that his son would become obsessed with toys.
"Your Majesty, please allow me to report that at this age, it is his nature to love to play. If you start preaching to him and tell him what science is, he will definitely find it boring. If he develops a resistance, wouldn't it be a waste of your Majesty's painstaking efforts?" Zhao Hao said seriously:
"So I think that learning through play is more suitable for Your Highness. This 'moving mirror shadow play' is a scientific prop in itself, and it can also impart scientific knowledge to Your Highness in the form of animation."
I don't know what scientific truths are contained in "The Deer King's Birth Story" and "Calabash Brothers"? The seven-color spectrum?
Long Qing was fooled by a southern MLM master. Not only did he put aside his worries about his son's education, he even became interested in this so-called "moving mirror movie".
He couldn't help thinking that although the secret play porcelain was nice, it didn't move. If he could see the moving Ximen Daguanren and Pan Jinlian swing, he would die without regrets.
But after all, Zhao Hao was his junior, and Longqing was not shameless enough to ask this kid to make an animated version of "Jin Ping Mei" for him.
Or in the future, let Chen Hong send the skilled craftsmen in the palace to learn from him. Once they master this technology, wouldn't they no longer need to rely on others for anything?
The plan worked!
~~
"Hehe, hehehe..." Not knowing what picture came to his mind, Emperor Longqing almost laughed out loud and almost forgot about the important business.
Feng Bao understood the emperor well and knew that His Majesty was distracted again, so he took the opportunity to serve tea to the emperor and moved Mason's memorial in front of Longqing.
"Ahem." Long Qing came back to his senses, coughed lightly and said to Zhao Hao, "I have something else to ask you."
As he spoke, he tapped the memorial on the table with his knuckles. "Take a look first."
Feng Bao then handed the memorial to Zhao Hao, who took it with both hands, quickly glanced through it, and then handed it back to Feng Bao, waiting with his hands down for the emperor to ask questions.
"Is everything above true?"
"Your Majesty, yes." Zhao Hao nodded.
"When you were negotiating the terms, did Mason put a knife to your neck?" Long Qing asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"No."
"Then why did you agree to such unequal conditions?" Long Qing asked.
"I proposed all the conditions, and Ma Bu Tang even advised me to think twice." Zhao Hao smiled and replied, "The Ministry of Revenue is the imperial court, and Jiangnan Group is just a small chamber of commerce. Of course, we must put ourselves in the right position to dispel the imperial court's doubts."
"You have considered everything for the court, there is really nothing to worry about." Longqing felt very comfortable when he heard this, and even felt that any further requests would be excessive. After all, the emperor liked sensible ministers, and Mr. Zhao was always particularly sensible.
Whether it is the emperor or the minister, they are in such a high position that they always take it for granted that people around them are humble and submissive. Little do they know that scumbags are the most gentle licking dogs before they succeed.
And Mr. Zhao is the man who wants to be the King of the Sea...
Longqing also asked Zhao Hao about his plan for transporting grain by sea. After listening to him, the emperor could not help but say indignantly: "Such a simple matter, how has the grain transport office handled it? This time I must let them see that without Zhao the butcher, they can still not eat hairy pigs?!"
After saying this, Longqing's inherent indecisiveness came out again. "But today's canal transportation is no longer as simple as transporting grain from the south to the north. It is also the livelihood of millions of canal workers, and it is related to the rise and fall of cities along the canal, as well as people who rely on the canal for their livelihoods. If they really lose their jobs, there will be a big mess."
"So sea transportation must not take away the rice bowl of grain transport. It just provides a layer of insurance for the court." Mr. Zhao immediately stated firmly:
"When the canal transportation encountered difficulties, we went all out and would rather lose money to help the court overcome the difficulties. When the canal transportation returns to normal, we will naturally retreat to the role of spare tires, rely on maritime trade to maintain the fleet, and wait for the next call from the court."
Even Mr. Zhao, who was so humble as to be in the dust, was moved by him, let alone the emperor.
"Good, very good, very good! This way I won't worry at all!" Longqing finally nodded heavily, picked up the red pen, and drew a big circle on the memorial, meaning that the cabinet should speed up the handling of the matter.
He will also have 10% of the shares in the future shipping company. The emperor has to pay attention to it both in public and private.
p.s. I will try to write one more update, please give me your monthly vote!