On June 20, Zhang Juzheng, who had been tortured by illness for nearly half a year, finally passed away with a lot of worries and unsuccessful career. That night, Zhu Yijun, who was unable to sleep, received bad news. After a long time of stalemate, he rushed to Cining Palace to report the news. Empress Dowager Li got up in her clothes, and the mother and son cried to each other.

Faced with the death of the minister Guru, Empress Dowager Li repeatedly reminded her son to manage the funeral solemnly for Zhang Juzheng and to give full mercy to his family. Zhu Yijun expressed that he would abide by his mother's order. After returning from Cining Palace, Zhu Yijun immediately issued an edict announcing that all civil and military officials would stop attending court for one month, and instructed the Ministry of Rites to set up Nine Altars to make sacrifices - this is the specification of state funeral.

Zhang Juzheng was granted the title of Shangzhuguo and Taishi during his lifetime. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, he was the only one who received such honors. Even the national teacher and prime minister, who are well-known and outstanding, has never received such honors.

The day after Zhang Juzheng passed away, Zhu Yijun ordered him to be given an official title to the state of the country and given the posthumous title of "Wenzhong". This icing on the cake pushed Zhang Juzheng's reputation to the top.

For a time, both high-ranking officials and small families in Beijing were like losing their parents, and they set up incense tables at their doorsteps to celebrate. Thousands of rituals were endless, but they were hundreds of griefs for the world. Among them, some of them were inevitably for others to see, but most officials, especially those ordinary people, expressed their griefs sincerely. The sacrifices were like turbulent tides, and simple curtains were used to fill the streets. This momentum also infected the emperor.

In order to conform to the will of the people, he asked the cabinet assistant and the eunuch of the Sili Prison to discuss and consult for opinions on Zhang Juzheng's funeral arrangements several times.

Because it was summer and the weather was hot, at the request of Zhang Juzheng's sons, the emperor allowed Zhang Juzheng's body to be put into the coffin within three days. Then the Imperial Heavenly Prison chose an auspicious day and moved the coffin south in early July. At the same time, the Ministry of Personnel, each of the Ministry of Rites sent a fourth-rank official, Shangguan of the Jinyiwei Hall, and a eunuch of the Sili Prison, and the four of them protected the spirits to Jingzhou. On the day of the hearing departure, the road from Wushamao Hutong to Zhengyangmen was not only filled with incense tables specially set up by major yamen, but also tens of thousands of people from the capital came to see him off. On both sides of the street more than ten miles long were crowded with people kneeling on the ground and crying. This scene was very touching.

It was at this time that Shi Yiwen, who was the envoy of Nanyang Xuanwei, arrived in the capital.

Zhang Juzheng still left. Where will the future of the Ming Dynasty develop?

In fact, when he was in Nanjing, Shi Yiwen wanted to go back to Beijing to treat Zhang Juzheng countless times. But in the end, he chose to give up because the reason was no different - the emperor grew up.

The emperor who grew up was tired of Zhang Juzheng. If Zhang Juzheng lived for a few more years, what direction would the future of the Ming Dynasty develop in? Although Shi Yiwen could not predict, one thing is certain that it would inevitably cause a dispute between the emperor and the prime minister. No matter what the result was, it would not be a good thing for the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Juzheng left... In fact, it was the right time to leave.

When Shi Yiwen returned to the restaurant's private room from outside Zhengyang Gate, he saw the emperor he had not seen for two years.

"Mr. Zhang is gone, are there many people seeing him off?"

“Yes, there are many people seeing off, and the scene is spectacular.”

It's almost ten miles away to send the first minister.

After hearing this, Zhu Yijun immediately forgot about his unhappiness just now and said sadly.

"The last time I saw Yuanfu was in March, but who would have thought that he would become ill in three months... I always thought that he was not a terminal illness. As long as the heavens were warm, he would slowly get better. Unexpectedly, he finally walked to the intersection of the underworld... After he let go, who would I entrust this messy state affairs to?"

The last question revealed the panic in Zhu Yijun's heart. Shi Yiwen looked up and saw that tears had already rolled out of Zhu Yijun's eyes, and he couldn't help but sigh:

"Have you made up for the cabinet ministers as recommended by Mr. Zhang before. Besides, Your Majesty is already an adult, so you can personally manage the government affairs..."

"Zhiyuan..."

Suddenly, Zhu Yijun stopped sobing and looked at Shi Yiwen and said.

"If not, you can stay in the capital and help me, beside me, beside me..."

"Your Majesty, do you know why Mr. Zhang asked his sons to go to Southeast Asia?"

Faced with the emperor's retention, Shi Yiwen asked back,

"this……"

"The reason why the new policy has been successfully implemented in the past two years is directly related to the attacks of ministers in Nanjing. Tens of thousands of officials and gentry involved were exiled to Nanyang. Despite this, they are inevitably still with relatives and friends in the court. If Mr. Zhang and his sons were in court, they would definitely do everything possible to attack them. In the end, it may not only harm their descendants, but may even make it difficult to implement the new policy, so..."

Before Shi Yiwen could finish speaking, Zhu Yijun said.

"I will never let them get what they want."

You will! You will!

Thinking of this in his heart, Shi Yiwen nodded.

"Your Majesty doesn't, but they won't stop. They will continue to attack Mr. Zhang's family. If the plan fails, they will attack the new policy. At that time, it will inevitably have an impact on the Ming Dynasty. If the officials in the court continue to fight, I am afraid that Mr. Zhang will be ruined for ten years! Not only that, even Your Majesty..."

Looking at Zhu Yijun, Shi Yiwen gave him a vaccination.

"The reason why Mr. Zhang can implement it depends entirely on His Majesty's support. Their attack on the new policy is actually attacking His Majesty. They will use the attack on the new policy to make a complaint for Shen Xingshi and others..."

"They dare!"

Zhu Yijun snorted coldly.

"I'm not that confused yet! How could I let them lead the nose?"

After saying that, his expression changed slightly again, and then he said with some loss.

"Can you really have to go to Nanyang?"

"I have no choice, just like Mr. Zhang, and there is no choice either. Only the young masters of the Zhang family are in the foreign land of the South China Sea will the hatred of those people be reduced by a little. Even if Mr. Zhang dies, he is still thinking about the country of the Ming Dynasty, and the world of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Mr. Zhang..."

Sitting there, Zhu Yijun looked out the window silently. For some reason, tears blinded his eyes again. After a long time, he sighed.

"Zhiyuan, Mr. Zhang is gone, you are leaving too. You are all gone. I, what should I do?"

The moment the little emperor raised his head, Shi Yiwen found that his eyes were extremely helpless. Facing his helplessness, Shi Yiwen thought about it for a while and then said.

"Your Majesty, do you remember the map I gave you?"

"I remember that the world is so big that it is far beyond the imagination of the world. My Ming Dynasty is just a corner of it."

"Your Majesty, today's prosperity is far better than that of all dynasties. The achievements of the new policy in the past ten years have also begun to show results. In my opinion, in the next ten years, Your Majesty only needs to follow the system and continue to implement and consolidate the new policy. As long as the new policy is consolidated, the national strength of the Ming Dynasty will become stronger and stronger. With another ten years of achievements, the new army will also be strong. At that time, you can go north to wipe out the Tartars and make the Tartars surrender to the Ming Dynasty, and be the loyal dog of the Ming Dynasty. In this way, the troubles on the north side can be cured..."

While speaking, Shi Yiwen dipped his fingers in tea and drew a simple map of the northern border on the table, and explained one by one the strategies to subdue the Mongolians in the future. In fact, it is nothing more than soft and hard knives, hard knives, and soft knives. Compared with overseas expansion, Zhu Yijun, as the emperor, was more eager to pacify the north. After all, this is the responsibility of the emperor.

Next, Shi Yiwen stayed there with Zhu Yijun, talking from Mongolia to the Western Regions, from the Western Regions to Tibet, and from Tibet to the southwest. Of course, he finally talked about the Jurchens who "power to fight against the tiger". Of course, he also talked about the mainland from border troubles to the mainland and the many internal problems of the Ming Dynasty. The only thing that made Shi Yiwen glad was that the land problem of the Ming Dynasty was fundamentally alleviated with the exile of the gentry in Jiangnan and the reign of the vassal kings, and at least 100 years were won for the Ming Dynasty. Nanyang's demand for immigration in the future will also ease the issue of refugees in the Ming Dynasty to the greatest extent.

"As long as the court insists on transporting refugees to the South China Ocean, and allows them to reclaim and cultivate freely in the Northeast, Western Regions, and Hetao and other places, and implements ten-year food exemption, I think refugees will never cause harm to the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty wants to stabilize the border, it must "immigrate to the border". The more population the border is, the greater the advantage over the Mongolians and Jurchens. In addition to muskets and artillery, I think, at most forty years, the northern border disasters will definitely be fundamentally eliminated..."

Finally, when the words were finished, Shi Yiwen looked at Zhu Yijun who was thinking. He did not say too much. He just hoped to lay a foreshadowing in Zhu Yijun's heart through today's conversation. As for how the little emperor in front of him would choose in the future, it was not something he could control. But he believed that without the "country between the foundation of the country", there would be no impact of the disease, or even the ties of the civil servant group, with the intelligence and talent of this little emperor, he would definitely become a wise king.

Hope everything goes well!

Thinking of this, looking at Zhu Yijun who was already an adult in front of him, Shi Yiwen stood up and bowed over and said.

"Your Majesty, I am leaving Nanjing. After this separation, you, I, the king and the minister, may not have any chance to meet each other in this life. I believe that Your Majesty will surely open the prosperous era of my Ming Dynasty. I can live in this prosperous era. Even if I can break my bones, what's the harm..."

Sitting there silently, Zhu Yijun didn't say anything, and even when Shi Yiwen got up and said goodbye, he didn't say anything. In the end, he just looked at Shi Yiwen's back, opened his mouth but did not say anything to keep him.
Chapter completed!