Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

The red sun rises in the east, morning mist and cooking smoke linger around each other. With the sound of "cluck~", Jiangjia Village at the foot of Jingting Mountain in Xuancheng ushered in a new day.

Jiang Xinghuo flicked the cold water that had just been brought from the well in the basin with his fingers like a knife. After getting used to the temperature for a while, he scooped a handful with both hands, fanned it on his face a few times, and then raised his head and put it into his mouth. Send it.

"Brother, can you pray for rain?"

"Ahem!"

The sudden choking feeling made Jiang Xinghuo cough violently twice and spit out several mouthfuls of cold water.

Jiang Xinghuo wiped the wet hair from his forehead and raised his eyes to look at the girl beside him. Jiang Xuan was wearing a simple blue linen dress and her hair was tied into a ponytail-like bun. Looking at himself with strange eyes.

"Why ask such a question?"

Jiang Xinghuo took the coarse cloth handkerchief handed over by Jiang Xuan and wiped his mouth and cheeks. Not long after the moist feeling on his skin passed, another layer of white chapped lips appeared when the dry and cold wind blew.

This spring has been unusually dry.

"Whose national master can't pray for rain? Brother, if you can pray for rain, you can pray for rain in the village. You are already worried about this year's spring plowing."

"Do you think I am the Great Immortal of Tiger Power?" Jiang Xinghuo was speechless for a moment. This is not "Journey to the West". Why does the Imperial Master always pray for rain?

Obviously, Jiang Xinghuo lacks some understanding of the legends of Lin Lingsu, the Great Master of the Song Dynasty, and Ba Siba, the Great Master of the Great Yuan Dynasty.

"Who is the Great Immortal Huli?"

Jiang Xinghuo was too lazy to answer his cousin's question. It seemed that "Journey to the West" had not yet come out at this time.

"I say goodbye to my aunt today. I am going back to Nanjing. Can you come with me? Or maybe I can persuade my aunt."

Jiang Xuan pulled the hem of her skirt and rubbed it without making a sound.

To be honest, Jiang Xuan's little mind still hasn't figured out how her cousin, who was almost buried in the field waiting for her to collect his body, suddenly became the Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty.

But whether she understood it or not, it was an undoubted fact that the famous "Prime Minister in Black" personally came to help her family solve its difficulties.

Just as Jiang Xuan was thinking wildly, a thunderous sound came from the distance.

The disturbed villagers walked out of their homes one after another and looked towards the entrance of the village.

"Xu~"

Zhu Gaoxu reined in his horse, and hundreds of black armored soldiers behind him also stopped.

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Jiang Xinghuo was afraid that the other party would give him another "The God of War returns, and one hundred thousand soldiers greet the national master." For others, it might be a good opportunity to return home rich and show his prestige, but Jiang Xinghuo found it troublesome.

Although the news that he has become a national master has not yet spread widely, Daoyan's previous intervention has made the villagers and clan elders realize that he is already extraordinary today, and they all respect him in awe.

But Jiang Xinghuo didn't want to get involved too much with these people.

He has seen too much in the cold world. After he becomes a national master, these people will definitely want to follow him to heaven.

If you can't bear to lose face, in the future, all the dogs in the village will be able to guard the gate of Liubu Yamen in Nanjing.

When the villagers saw that the army was coming, they immediately gave up the idea of ​​watching the excitement, and the doors and windows of every house were closed.

This was in line with Jiang Xinghuo's wishes. Zhu Gaoxu rode forward alone, rolled his saddle and fell off the horse in front of Jiang Xinghuo. After saluting, he told Jiang Xinghuo about Jing Qing's assassination and what happened before and after.

"I forgot about this"

Jiang Xinghuo frowned slightly. In his previous life, Jing Qing should have been assassinated to oppose Zhu Di. But now, due to some strange combination of circumstances, he has become the most violent vanguard of the conservative faction's opposition to the reform.

However, the blood oath made by the other party seemed a bit nonsensical to Jiang Xinghuo.

Because Jiang Xinghuo vaguely remembered that in the summer of the first year of Yongle, the Yellow River (which diverted the Huai River into the sea), the Yangtze River, and the Wusong River all suffered serious floods due to heavy rains.

This means that it will definitely rain, and it will rain quite heavily, but he is not sure whether it will rain in late spring.

But this was enough for Jiang Xinghuo.

"So the Imperial Master really has the duty to pray for rain?" Jiang Xinghuo looked at his eldest disciple Zhu Gaoxu strangely.

Emperor Yongle didn't tell him this before he took up the post.

"I think so." Zhu Gaoxu scratched his head.

"Oh, that's right." Zhu Gaoxu changed the topic: "Father wants to set up a presidential reform affairs office. Master Daoyan, cough, Rong Guogong Yao Guangxiao will help you. Zhuo Gong will be appointed as the vice president with the title of minister, and will be responsible for specific affairs. But Zhuo It has not yet been decided which department will serve as the male servant."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded and said he was okay.

Emperor Yongle thought very carefully. The prestigious Dao Yan helped him control the situation, and the experienced administrative bureaucrat Zhuo Jing helped him implement and communicate. What he needed to do was to outline and guide the reform process and start the industrialization of the Ming Dynasty.

"Also, all the officials below have been assigned to you. Two clerks are assigned to you on weekdays. One is named Guo Jing and the other is Chai Che. They are the two petty officials in the prison. On the night of King Gu's rebellion, You’ve seen it.”

Listening to Zhu Gaoxu's words, Jiang Xinghuo recalled for a moment that there were indeed these two people. At the time, he thought it was a bit strange. But now that he thinks about it, he has made sense of the existence of the secret room.

"Let's settle the matter of praying for rain first. In fact, I really want to start the reform as soon as possible, but this kind of thing is like moving forward before the troops and horses have food and grass. Before the reform is moved, public opinion takes precedence. If we don't come up with something real to refute this If the old people are stubborn, there will be no end to the trouble in the future.”

Jiang Xinghuo looked at Zhu Gaoxu and said sternly: "In addition, you are actually right. We must believe in science. This may not be a great opportunity to promote science. Others have taken the initiative to bring it to our door."

"In the war of public opinion, the media must be in its own hands. Now, the Sixth Section of Dibao selects the content to be published, sends it to the cabinet for compilation, and then the General Affairs Department distributes it to the whole country, right?"

Zhu Gaoxu nodded, but he didn't know what Mr. Jiang meant.

"Why are the public opinion wars and the Di newspaper connected?"

Jiang Xinghuo smiled: "First, transfer the Di newspaper to the President's Reform Affairs Office. Later, I will explain to you in detail how the war of public opinion works. This is much more interesting than being surrounded by enemies on all sides."

“Taking this opportunity, the military and the inner court can also integrate the war affairs and establish a separate academy of sciences. Science will be mainly used for military purposes first, and then slowly transferred to civilian uses. This way, it will gain more support. "Jiang Xinghuo thought for a moment and then said.

"What does this have to do with praying for rain? What does Mr. Jiang plan to do?"

Zhu Gaoxu had just bypassed the problem of coming to Di to report, but he couldn't keep up with Jiang Xinghuo's thinking again.

Before I knew it, the sky was already bright.

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the sun and said.

"Let's talk slowly on the way back to Nanjing. I'll say goodbye to my aunt first. Even if you don't come, I should leave today."

The Jiang family is a well-known family in the small villages in Xuancheng, but compared with the wealthy families in capitals like Nanjing, it is naturally different. Therefore, there are actually not too luxurious buildings in the village. They live in In a simple two-story building here, Jiang Xinghuo's aunt has been living here.

Although the small building is small, it is very elegantly decorated. There are beds, desks, coffee tables in the outer room and the inner room, and a row of bookcases by the window. When Jiang Xinghuo walked to the bedroom on the second floor, his aunt Jiang Chen Shi has woken up.

"Got to go?"

Ms. Jiang Chen fumbled for a handkerchief from under the pillow and covered her mouth and nose. Her face turned a little pale. She coughed twice before continuing: "Auntie will see you off later."

Jiang Xinghuo sat on the round stool in front of his aunt's bed, took the handkerchief from her hand, and replied seriously: "Well, it's time to go to Nanjing, the reform is coming soon."

"Alas..." Mrs. Jiang Chen sighed, "You have your future, and Auntie is happy for you from the bottom of her heart. But Xuan'er has been smart since she was a child, but she has a bit of a naughty temperament..."

She suddenly paused, and Jiang Xinghuo asked curiously: "Auntie doesn't want my cousin to stay in the village?"

Jiang Chen said: "If I have the opportunity to go to a bigger place, I will be blessed by you. In the future, it will be better to marry an ordinary and well-off family in Nanjing than to continue to live in the fields at the head of the village for the rest of my life."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded in agreement.

"I still have something to tell you." Mrs. Jiang Chen suddenly took his hand and said, "Since you have gone to Nanjing, try not to come back in the future. I am a woman who does not understand the things in the temple, but after all I know that the situation inside is treacherous, but there are also people who are eager to climb up to your level, and if their ability and character are insufficient, they will only hurt you in the end."

"I know." Jiang Xinghuo patted Auntie's calloused hands to reassure her.

"But Auntie really doesn't want to go with me?"

Mrs. Jiang Chen was silent for a moment, with a flash of struggle in her eyes, and finally shook her head and said: "I won't go, I have to guard the roots left by Xuan'er's father."

Jiang Xinghuo said goodbye and left, and when he was about to go out, someone suddenly came to visit him.

Jiang Xinghuo stood up and opened the door, but it was Dao Yan who was carrying the medicinal materials himself, and Huikong and others who were following him.

Obviously, Dao Yan's mental illness has gone away and his spirit has completely recovered. Now it is just a matter of slowly replenishing his body for a period of time.

Although Dao Yan had already petitioned to return to secular life, he still dressed as a monk. In addition, he was highly respected and respected, so he didn't shy away from anything. He walked straight in, leaving Huikong and others behind him.

"These are the ingredients needed for the prescription prescribed by the famous doctor who treated me. Give it to your aunt. The prescription is also in it. Just boil it and take it on time."

Jiang Xinghuo took the medicinal materials and thanked her.

Dao Yan saw some nostalgia in his eyebrows, but he smiled and said: "In the past, when Wang Anshi was recruited to Beijing by Song Shenzong to preside over the reform, he wrote, 'The spring breeze is green again on the south bank of the river, when will the bright moon shine back on me?' The same is true now. He went to Beijing to preside over the reform, does Jiang Sheng have any poems?"

Jiang Xuan, who was watching her cousin from the side, was also a little excited. She had never seen her cousin write poetry before.

Jiang Xinghuo was startled by Dao Yan's words.

But looking at the red sun in the east, Jiang Xinghuo felt a little grateful in his heart.

There was paper and pen at home. Jiang Xinghuo studied the ink and wrote a poem on the desk.

After finishing it in one breath, Jiang Xinghuo blew on the ink stain and placed it on the prescription that Dao Yan brought.

"Send Auntie"

The man promised Ling Yunzhi,

I swear I won't pay it back if I don't save the people.

Why climb a mountain with limited space?

The road ahead is all Jingting Mountain.