Chapter 208 Returning to Beijing
After Xia Yuanji sent those ministers away, he returned to his study to think about this matter. Now Zhu Di wanted to get rid of the control of those civil officials, and he might succeed.

Because during the reign of Zhu Yuanzhang, he still needed ministers to get money for him, he needed the Ministry of Revenue to control the world’s money, and he needed the Ministry of Personnel to control the world’s officials.

The Ministry of Revenue is very important. Without money, everything is in vain.

But Zhu Di had previously obtained a sum of money through the Weaving Bureau, and now he continued to obtain money through the Trade Bureau. Once Zhu Di no longer needed to rely on the Ministry of Revenue to help him obtain money, the civil officials in the world might be in trouble, because Zhu Di would kill them if they dared to engage in corruption.

Moreover, they will definitely kill very hard.

Xia Yuanji sighed. All this was because of Xu Qin. If it weren’t for Xu Qin, Zhu Di would not have gotten so much money.

In fact, the civil officials now need to have a good talk with Xu Qin. If Xu Qin does this, no one knows how many people will die. But killing Xu Qin now is useless. Even without Xu Qin, Zhu Di will continue to promote this matter. Moreover, the people in the Trade Bureau are all children of military honors, and they will definitely support Zhu Di.

The only possibility is to talk to Xu Qin and let Xu Qin control the money so that Zhu Di will not kill people so wantonly.

But now Xu Qin was called to Jiming Temple by Zhu Di. In addition, Zhi had talked with Xu Qin several times but the talks did not go well. Now it would not be so easy to talk.

Xu Qin, who was in Jiming Temple, was pulled over by Zhu Di at night to continue his deduction. While he was doing the deduction, Zhu Gaosui came to report that nearly three hundred civil officials were arrested this time.

Zhu Gaosui handed the memorial to Zhu Di, and then he went to the sand table and looked at it. He was very surprised, so he asked Xu Qin: “What is this?”

“Sand table, for simulating war. Third cousin, you came at the right time. Come and play with your father.” Xu Qin said to Zhu Gaosui with a smile.

Zhu Gaosui waved his hands and said, “I’m busy. I have to go back to interrogate those officials early tomorrow morning. You don’t know, these people are very cruel and courageous. Some of them just refuse to speak.

Hehe, they don’t even think about what the Imperial Prison is. No one has ever survived the interrogation in our Imperial Prison, so it’s only a matter of time before they confess. “

“How many people were arrested?” Xu Qin asked with a smile.

“More than 300. However, it is estimated that many more will be arrested. Now is the first round of interrogation. Every time we interrogate, we can dig out a lot of people, so hehe.” Zhu Gaosui said proudly to Xu Qin.

“So many?” Xu Qin asked in surprise.

“This is just the beginning.” Zhu Gaosui was still very happy. He was very happy to deal with those civil officials, and he could also make money.

“Shakyabao!” Zhu Di suddenly called out to Xu Qin.

Xu Qin immediately turned his head and looked at Zhu Di.

“Of course you can be the co-director of the Embroidered Uniform Guard,” Zhu Di said to Xu Qin.

“What?” Xu Qin and Zhu Gaosui looked at Zhu Di in shock.

Xu Qin immediately said to Zhu Di excitedly: “You can tire me to death, I won’t work with you anymore. I’m only sixteen years old. You want me to join the Jinyiwei and be the Tongzhi. Aren’t you afraid that I will kill Ji Gang?”

Zhu Gaosui, who was standing beside him, immediately shouted, “If you ask him to come to the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Guard will be in chaos.”

“That’s right, third cousin. I’m going to join the Jinyiwei, and I’m going to trick you when the time comes.” Xu Qin said with a smile when he heard what Zhu Gaosui said.

“Did you hear me, Dad? I don’t agree.” Zhu Gaosui shouted immediately. He didn’t want Xu Qin to go to the Jinyiwei. Although Xu Qin had become his subordinate, this subordinate was not afraid of him. What’s more, he couldn’t deal with him. Not to mention how his father would scold him, he couldn’t deal with his mother either.

I love my nephew so much now. I always praise him for his good performance.

Zhu Di stood there and thought for a while, then said, “If you don’t want to go, then don’t go! Hey, Third Brother, keep digging for me, keep digging down.”

“Yes, Dad, don’t worry.” Zhu Gaosui breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Zhu Di no longer insisted on letting Xu Qin go to the Jinyiwei.

“Okay, Sakyabao, continue.” Zhu Di put down the memorial and walked to the sand table again.

“Why don’t you take care of yourself for a while so that I can go back and lie down for a while? Your Majesty, didn’t you come to Jiming Temple to have fun? This is more tiring than managing those workshops.” Xu Qin said to Zhu Di with tears in his eyes.

“Why are you lying there? You are so young, can’t you do something? Okay, continue!” Zhu Di scolded Xu Qin, and then continued to give orders.

Zhu Gaosui was watching at the side, and the more he watched, the more surprised he was. This thing was great, it could cultivate the command ability of generals. Although it was only theory, at least they would understand some military affairs. When the time came, they could be sent to the front line for training and they would become successful.

Moreover, using this sandbox, you can have a very intuitive bird’s-eye view of the entire battlefield, which can reduce many errors.

After all, Zhu Gaosui had fought in wars and commanded small-scale battles alone. He immediately discovered the role of the sand table.

“Dad, who made this?” Zhu Gaosui asked in surprise. “It was made by Shijiabao. Okay, just watch quietly.” Zhu Di stared at the sand table and continued to arrange the troops.

Zhu Gaosui could only stand there and watch. After watching it, Zhu Gaosui felt that he needed to tell his second brother.

In the next few days, Xu Qin and Zhu Di stayed in Jiming Temple and conducted at least one simulation every day.

Five days later, Zhu Di finally remembered that he was the emperor and announced his return to Beijing, because in the past few days, there were more and more petitions for mercy and, of course, more and more people were arrested.

Zhu Di felt that it was about time, so he returned to Beijing.

Xu Qin returned to the capital and went back home immediately. He didn’t want to stay with Zhu Di for a moment. Staying with him would require intensive brain work every day, which would be exhausting.

Xu Qin had just entered the mansion when he learned that his father had gone to the new mansion and his mother was still in the mansion, so Xu Qin could only go and pay his respects to his mother first.

Li was also happy to see Xu Qin coming back. She immediately took Xu Qin’s hand and looked at him carefully. She found that he had lost weight, so she asked, “Bao’er, did you not eat well or sleep well when you went to Jiming Temple?”

“Isn’t it? Mother, you don’t know, His Majesty simply doesn’t treat me as a human being. He forces me to accompany him in combat drills every day. Eh!” Xu Qin sighed when he heard his mother say that.

“Someone, please inform everyone that we will have a more substantial lunch this afternoon. We will stew an old hen with ginseng. Come on, Baoer, I have something to tell you.” Li took Xu Qin and headed for Xu Huizu’s study.

There was nothing important in Xu Huizu’s study, which was not as important as Xu Qin’s study.

After arriving at the study, Li looked at Xu Qin and asked, “Bao’er, your two uncles are out. What exactly happened? Talk to mother. Your father said that this might be a trap. Those civil officials just want you to die so that they can save other civil officials.”

“Well, my father is right. But it’s okay. My two uncles were saved because His Majesty and I were doing the deduction together. In order to let me play with him, His Majesty had to let my two uncles come out first. Otherwise, I would not play with him. Don’t worry, Mom. I know very well what those civil officials are planning.” Xu Qin immediately comforted his mother.

“It’s good that you know. Your father may not come back at noon. You should have a good chat with him in the evening. Your father still has questions. Just answer whatever he asks you.” Li said to Xu Qin. Li trusted Xu Huizu very much. Her cousin, Li Jinglong, did not listen to Xu Huizu at the beginning and ended up much worse than Xu Huizu.

“Don’t worry, mother, it’s nothing. I’ll come to find my father when he comes back.” Xu Qin nodded.

Just at this time, Xu Huizu came back. He also heard at the new mansion that the emperor had returned to Beijing. He knew that Xu Qin must have returned home as well, so he rushed back.

Xu Huizu walked quickly to the hall. He originally wanted to sit in the study first and then ask someone to invite Xu Qin over. Unexpectedly, Xu Qin and Li were already in his study.

“Master!” “Dad!”

Xu Huizu saw the two of them and smiled. Although Xu Huizu was darker now, he looked very healthy and more energetic.

“Are you back? Why are you thinner?” Xu Huizu also noticed that Xu Qin had lost weight and asked immediately.

“Ah, His Majesty has been forcing me to simulate wars on the sand table every day, and I haven’t had a day off.” Xu Qin said with a sigh.

“Sand table, simulation? What’s going on?” Xu Huizu frowned and asked Xu Qin.

Xu Qin went to pour tea for Xu Huizu. When people were discussing things in the study, maids were generally not allowed in, so Xu Qin went to pour tea for his father himself.

Xu Qin poured tea while introducing the sand table to Xu Huizu. Xu Huizu stroked his beard and his eyes lit up when he heard what Xu Qin said. Xu Huizu also liked this very much. He was also a military general and had commanded battles.

“Dad, I’ll make you one later, and then we can practice it at home.” Xu Qin brought the teacup to Xu Huizu and said.

“That won’t work. This matter requires Zhu Di’s consent. The sand table is a military secret. How can it be brought home so easily?” Xu Huizu shook his head.

“It’s simple. We create the sand table and the map ourselves, and then we can deduce on the sand table. We can create anything so that you won’t be bored, dad.” Xu Qin said.

Xu Huizu nodded and continued, “We need to explain this to Zhu Di so that he won’t punish you later.”

“Okay!” Xu Qin nodded. What his father said must be right.

“What’s the matter with your two uncles serving as the Tongzhi of Yingtian Prefecture? How is it possible for your two uncles to serve as the Tongzhi of the same place at the same time? Do you know the specific situation of this matter?” Xu Huizu stared at Xu Qin and asked. This was also what he had been wondering in his heart for some time.

“Yes, I know, Dad. Your Majesty and I have talked about the unreasonable aspects of Ming Dynasty’s taxation, so Your Majesty is preparing to reform Ming Dynasty’s taxation.” Xu Qin nodded and stood opposite Xu Huizu and nodded.

Xu Huizu didn’t ask Xu Qin to sit down, so Xu Qin didn’t dare to sit down.

(End of this chapter)