Chapter 17: Snow on the Lakeside Pavilion (I)
"Mom is back."
Zhu Yijing responded, then asked his son, "Tian'er, why did you come back so early today? Have you finished dealing with the matters at the government office?"
Zhu Changtian was stunned for a moment, then reacted and said helplessly, "The workers from Liulichang came to cause trouble today, so we dispersed early."
Zhu Yijing said with some displeasure, "Why are there people causing trouble again? Is it true that if there are people causing trouble all the time, the government office will have to go on strike like those factories?"
Zhu Changtian muttered quietly, "That's because the factory's money has been completely swallowed up by those princes and relatives, and His Majesty refuses to allocate funds to settle the accounts. The managers themselves can't even afford to eat, let alone pay. The workers can go on strike, but it's the sellers and buyers who are worried... The government officials don't care about these things."
Seeing his useless appearance, Zhu Yijing became even more dissatisfied and scolded him, "Others don't care, but you still want to care. Have you forgotten your last name?"
"I'm just a clerk. If my mother hadn't insisted on me inheriting the clerk position, I'd still be studying astronomy with the teachers at the academy... Now my classmates all call me a lackey of the imperial court..." Zhu Changtian muttered, "Besides, we didn't have the surname Zhu in the early years..."
Zhu Yijing's original name was Zhou Yijing. His ancestor was Chong Wang Zhu Youkai. However, by their generation, they had already fallen outside the definition of vassal kings in the "Regulations on Vassal Kings" formulated by Zhongzong. Zhu Yijing's grandmother had already changed her surname to Zhou by then.
However, in the eleventh year of Deshi, Zhu Yijing passed the imperial examination and ranked eighth in the second class, which was one of the best. The emperor also learned that Zhu Yijing was also a descendant of the Zhu family, so he ordered Zhou Yijing to restore his ancestral surname and change his name to Zhu Yijing according to the generation. Zhou Tian and his sister Zhou Zhou also changed their names to Zhu Changtian and Zhu Changzhou.
Zhu Yijing glanced at him and Zhu Changtian shut up obediently.
"Where's your sister?"
"I went out to play with those girls from Lion Street."
Zhu Yijing finally had some recollection and said, "I remember those families were all textile factory workers? You're just going to let Zhou'er go out with them? Aren't you afraid they'll run into some danger?"
"How could we, sisters who have grown up together, have any bad intentions?" Zhu Changtian saw his mother staring at him and said, "I also have to report to the government office. Mother Song is taking care of us at home..."
Zhu Yijing raised his foot to kick him, but Zhu Changtian had already jumped aside to avoid it.
He changed into a short shirt and long trousers, and his movements were naturally more agile than Zhu Yijing who was wearing official uniform.
Zhu Yijing said with some dismay, "You are, after all, a clerk, working in a government office. How can you dress like this?"
Zhu Changtian patted the narrow sleeves of his quiver and straightened the hem, which barely reached his knees. He said, "Isn't this for convenience? It's us clerks who usually run errands. Who wears a Taoist robe or cape all day? Besides, everyone on the street dresses like this. It's the new fashion. Who still dresses like people in the Xizai era?"
"you……"
Zhu Changtian hid behind a pillar. Seeing that his mother didn't chase him, he continued, "You too, mother. You've been a censor for so many years. My father has been dead for so long, and the court hasn't thought of you at all. Why are you still acting like an adjutant?"
"If it weren't for the late emperor, how could you have become an official at such a young age?"
"I don't want to do it yet. Aren't clerks just there to be exploited by those high-ranking officials?"
"The late emperor saw in..."
Before Zhu Yijing could finish her words, Zhu Changtian imitated her and said, "The late emperor, considering me a descendant of the Zhu family, specially allowed me to restore my ancestral surname and generation name. This was a sign of his appreciation for me, Zhu Yijing. My family was poor back then, and it was with great difficulty that I was able to study and become an official. If it weren't for the late emperor's appreciation, how could I be where I am today? If I don't serve my country for the rest of my life, I would be letting down the imperial family and the Ming Dynasty!"
Without waiting for his mother to say anything, Zhu Changtian continued, "I've heard this so many times that my ears are callused. Passing the imperial examination was a great achievement for you, mother. Our family is ordinary people, and we haven't benefited from the royal family's glory. The late emperor didn't appreciate you at all. It was the royal family that benefited from us. From the Xizai year to now, in so many imperial examinations, which royal family didn't take the backdoor of the 'royal family imperial examination'? Who could have gotten the eighth place in the second class when they really took the Jinshi examination? Those princes who look down on us, the later royal family members, also say that there are promising people among the royal family... Those who passed the same imperial examination as you, although they were a little older, have all entered the cabinet, or worked in the six ministries, or in lucrative places like Shandong, Henan, and Guangdong. Unlike you, you have been a censor for nearly ten years."
Zhu Yijing was so angry at his son that he almost fell backwards. He hesitated for a long time before saying, "If others hear what you said, you won't have to continue to serve as the censor for the past ten years!"
"Things are completely different now. I heard it all clearly at the government office; the officials all said this privately." Zhu Changtian walked over to his mother and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty hasn't taken charge of the government yet. I'm afraid the country will be in turmoil if there's a major change. If there's chaos, even with your status as a royal family member, you'll be no better than an ordinary citizen!"
The current emperor's name is Ci Zhao, his reign title is Zhengshou, he has been on the throne for seven years and is twenty-two years old. Normally, he should have led the army to war long ago, but his biological mother, Empress Dowager Zhao, believed that the current emperor had just gotten married and had no children yet, so he should concentrate on having children. The empress dowager would still be in charge of state affairs, and the emperor would only be responsible for reviewing them.
Queen Mother Zhao had the status of a mother. In this dynasty, which attached great importance to filial piety to mothers, even though she had no blood relationship with the emperor, she could rely on her status as the legitimate mother to suppress the emperor.
Under such heavy pressure, the emperor was unable to conceive even after two years of marriage.
"I've heard there's already been news of uprisings in Gansu and Shaanxi. Who knows how long peace will last here?" Zhu Changtian curled his lips and said, "Why don't we start a small business and go to Pengzhou to relax... It's a good opportunity for Zhouzhou to study there. I heard the industry there is developing faster than ours, and there aren't as many people as here, so making money and living there will be much easier."
Zhu Yijing said coldly, "You're dreaming. Hasn't Pengzhou been faking its obedience to the mainland? Everyone just sees it and doesn't speak out. If the Ming Dynasty is unstable, how will Pengzhou fare? I heard that even India has begun to resist the Ming army."
The mother and son had different opinions, so they stopped talking. Zhu Yijing only ordered: "Find your sister and study hard."
"After reading every day, you should at least take a day off. Besides, what's the point of reading all those books? You'd be better off learning about machinery with that time. Several railways were built in the capital a while ago, making it very convenient to go to Changping and Fengrun. The farthest one can go to Xuanfu. They've also been built in Nanzhili. It's obvious that there will be an even greater shortage of manpower in the future. Surveying and drawing maps are also serious matters. It's not just for being an official..."
After saying that, Zhu Changtian turned and left, leaving only his mother in the yard.
Zhu Yijing raised his hand and patted his chest, but in the end he didn't say a word.
In fact, she knew very well that what her son said was indeed correct. The Ming Dynasty today was no longer the Ming Dynasty during the Yuanguang and Xizai years. Natural disasters were a problem, not to mention it. Although the court allocated money for disaster relief, how could the speed of putting out a fire be comparable to the speed of lighting one?
Not to mention that the industry has become more and more developed in recent years, there are fewer and fewer jobs available, but the population is growing. The court cannot accommodate these unemployed people as it did in the past, and fewer and fewer people are willing to focus on farming. Although no one is starving to death at the moment, if this continues, I am afraid the situation will get worse and worse.
However, the court was still busy with the struggle between the emperor, his relatives and the cabinet. Who would have the time to take care of these things?
The emperor's hand could not reach too far. The relatives who could reach out competed with the emperor for power. The six ministries of the cabinet went back and forth, instigating the emperor and the relatives who should have been united, while his own family members were pursuing profit and encroaching on land in various places.
Local areas also operated independently, especially Jinghai, Pengzhou, India and other places. Even in the two places of Kyushu and Honshu, they often pretended to obey the imperial court but actually disobeyed it. They only focused on their own development and tried to cheat in sending taxes and grain every year. Sometimes they would use natural disasters as an excuse to reduce the tax and grain.
As for where the exemption went, who knows?
It is rotten from top to bottom, and there is no hope at home or abroad.
Zhu Yijing felt a little more desolate and melancholy about not knowing what the future held.
If the country is no longer a country, how can we talk about family?
Just as Zhu Yijing had expected, in the seventh year of Zhengshou, there was another uprising in Fujian, and even Jiangxi where she was located was not stable. Local factory workers went on strike, and former workers who had been fired came to smash and cause trouble. Zhu Yijing, the censor, led the troops to quell the rebellion. Although he succeeded in suppressing it, he aroused public anger. Every day, people threw all kinds of messy things at the door of his mansion, and some people posted insulting papers at the door. Even his daughter Zhu Changzhou, who was still studying, was affected and was ostracized by her classmates.
Zhu Yijing knew that these people had done nothing wrong and that revenge was inevitable, so he did not pursue the matter. However, he was worried that his daughter would be hurt, so he let her study at home to avoid the limelight for the time being. If that didn't work, he would try to find a way to send his daughter to study elsewhere.
Compared with these, Zhu Yijing’s top priority was to apologize to the court for the rebellion in the Jiangxi factory.
But before she could wait for the decision from above, she heard another piece of news: Queen Dowager Zhao had suddenly passed away, and the emperor officially took over the government.
The Empress Dowager was in good health but passed away suddenly. It might have something to do with the Emperor. Zhu Yijing's guess was just a guess.
However, this matter was soon related to Zhu Yijing. The reason was simple: the emperor promoted Zhu Yijing, who had served in Jiangxi for nearly ten years, and ordered her to go to Shaanxi to quell the rebellion first, and then come to Beijing to take up the post of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.
There were many people who were promoted together with Zhu Yijing, and some were transferred to higher positions, but for Zhu Yijing, this was undoubtedly an encouragement.
Zhu Changtian originally did not want to continue to be this official who was granted a special title. After Zhu Yijing put down the rebellion, he was going to Beijing to take up his post. He used the excuse of being filial to his mother and taking care of his sister to rent a house in advance and go to Beijing with him. He then resigned from his official position. This made Zhu Yijing angry with him for several days, and he finally agreed to take Zhu Changtian with him.
After all, Zhu Changtian is only seventeen years old this year, so it would be good for him to study for two more years.
The youngest, Zhu Changzhou, was the one most reluctant to leave Jiangxi. She had grown up here since she was five years old. Although she had been ostracized by everyone because of her mother's job, she had no complaints after all because they were friends and classmates who had been together for so many years.
Zhu Changtian coaxed his sister for a long time, telling her that she could make more friends in the capital and ride a steam-powered train. Only then did Zhu Changzhou feel much happier.
But they would never have thought that this trip to the capital would completely change their lives.
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