The house could not be demolished; if he dared to demolish it, he would truly be condemned by thousands.
After hearing this, Zhu Ci asked instinctively, "What happened to those things from before?"
The repairs Fu mentioned certainly weren't minor; it was possible that all the furnishings and such had been sent away.
The Imperial Palace in Nanjing was once incredibly luxurious; Zhu Yousong was someone who never treated himself poorly.
Fu explained, "Part of it was taken away by the late Emperor, part of it was looted by the Tartars, what remained has mostly been destroyed as well."
One could only be grateful that when the Tartars entered Nanjing, they held the intention of occupying the place in the future, so they did not directly burn the imperial palace; otherwise, the Little Emperor would have had no choice but to live in the temporary palace.
Even so, it was only that the general structure of the buildings remained intact; the contents inside.. even the gold leaf on the pillars had been stripped bare.
After hearing this, Zhu Ci suddenly thought of the Old Summer Palace for some reason. He sighed dejectedly and said, "As long as the palaces are still there, it is fine."
Fu was very sensitive to Zhu Ci's emotions. Not knowing why he had suddenly become so melancholy for no reason, Fu could only offer comfort, saying, "Your Majesty, rest assured, they have all been repaired. Once we return, if there is anything you do not like, we can simply replace it."
Zhu Ci's mood came and went just as quickly, he couldn't help but glance at Fu, wondering why he always felt as if he were being kept.
Never mind that he didn't have high standards for his living environment to begin with; even if he wanted to change it, he would pay for it himself. What did he have to do with the Grand Secretary?
You can't just keep shearing the same sheep forever.
Before Zhu Ci prepared to set out, he called Liu Zhaoji and He Gang over.
The two of them already knew that His Majesty had decided to depart for the Capital, leaving them feeling both relieved and worried at the same time.
They felt relaxed because the Emperor and the Grand Secretary were both here, but they were also under immense pressure.
As for the worry, it was because once His Majesty left, would they be able to withstand even greater pressure?
After all, their Emperor possessed certain mystical abilities; even though the Emperor had always suppressed the matter and prevented anyone from spreading news of it, everyone still discussed it privately.
As long as the enemy's strength was greater, they would encounter all sorts of natural disasters when facing the Emperor; once or twice might be a coincidence, but three or four times.. everyone would start to whisper.
With the Imperial Seal in hand, this speculation had essentially become reality.
Zhu Ci did not care what the people below thought; if something like metaphysics could increase his people's confidence, then he didn't mind.
He instructed the two of them, "In the next stage, you can harass the Tartars as much as possible, but be careful. If you encounter Dodo's troops, you can go easy on them; losing once or twice occasionally is fine. But if you encounter Jirgalang, you cannot relax—fight hard for me!"
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: The weather is getting cold; it's time to head back. A little kitty crawls into its cat bed. jpg
Next update at noon, 12:00 PM~
Chapter 134
Although Liu Zhaoji was quite blunt, he was very sensitive when it came to warfare, he immediately asked, "Does Your Majesty intend to divide them?"
Zhu Ci nodded. "The power struggle between Jirgalang and Dorgon will inevitably affect all aspects of things."
Of course, such a simple tactic of sowing discord might not necessarily work; the leaders during a nation's founding period aren't necessarily all wise, but there certainly aren't that many fools.
However, since there was nothing better to do, it would be fine if he could cause some trouble for Jirgalang and create discord between him and Dodo; after all, there was no harm in trying.
Zhu Ci did not make a grand spectacle when he set off; he simply sat in Fu's carriage and left quietly, so much so that even the soldiers below did not know the Emperor had already departed.
Their route was to go to Huaian first, then return to Nanjing.
The place called Huaian held a significance for Zhu Ci that was second only to Suzhou, but if one were to speak of deep impressions, the days spent defending the city in Huaian were undoubtedly the most profound.
Just thinking about it, he could almost still smell that scent of gunpowder lingering in the air.
It was a pity that Suzhou was not on the way; otherwise, Zhu Ci might have wanted to go and see it as well.
To avoid causing too much commotion, no one knew of Zhu Ci's departure from Huaian. By the time he reached Nanjing, civil and military officials were waiting to welcome him outside the city, they had even prepared the Emperor's imperial carriage for him.
Before returning, Zhu Ci had already issued an imperial decree to the Ministry of Rites to be as frugal as possible and not make things too extravagant.
When he arrived at the outskirts of the city, he couldn't help but feel that it wasn't particularly frugal at all; how was it any different from the imperial carriage used by Zhu Yousong back then?
Seeing Zhu Ci frown, Fu explained softly beside him, "Your Majesty, this was used by the late Emperor; the Internal Procuratorate has performed some simple repairs."
Oh, it seems that back then, even Zhu Yousong's imperial carriage became Fu's trophy.
It made sense when you thought about it; after all, even his head had become a trophy.
He turned his head and asked Fu, "The Internal Procuratorate?"
How did this thing appear again? There had indeed been memorials sent from the Censorate earlier, inquiring whether more attendants should be added to the Emperor's side.
Although there are people by the Emperor's side, Jiang Quan and Jiang Xueyan have always been by his side.
It was just that Jiang Quan was clearly being trained as a general and could not stay by the Emperor's side to serve indefinitely. As for Jiang Xueyan.. this girl held a rank and was a female official; she should not be viewed simply as a palace maid.
Moreover, this girl has calloused hands; she is much more efficient at scrubbing guns than serving tea and water, so it is not appropriate.
That time, the memorial submitted to Zhu Ci was rejected directly; he didn't mention the palace maids, only stating that he didn't want eunuchs.
It is simply immoral for perfectly good people to be castrated just to serve in the palace.
However, he did not reprimand the person who submitted the memorial. In a feudal dynasty spanning thousands of years, everyone had become accustomed to such things, so Zhu Ci simply stated: to prevent the Eunuch Faction from deceiving the Emperor's heart, from this day forward, no attendants within the palace shall be castrated.
Everyone raised both hands and feet in agreement that the Emperor did not want the Eunuch Faction to rise from the ashes again, but if the palace was served by normal people, then these matters of depravity..
Zhu Ci was extremely calm. In any case, he didn't have a harem, as for marriage.. he had no intention of marrying in the short term; he couldn't seem to imagine the scene of married life with a strange woman.
As for falling in love.. given the social atmosphere of the Great Ming, what decent girl from a good family would be allowed to go out and date a man? Unless Zhu Ci was going to marry her no matter what, then there might be a possibility.
As for the matter of the eunuchs, it was temporarily set aside. Without eunuchs, how could there be an Internal Procuratorate?
Zhu Ci stepped forward and said softly, "The eunuchs currently in the palace are those who fled back then; having heard of the Imperial Presence's return, they have come back again."
Zhu Ci was extremely vigilant. "Are you certain they are the ones from before? Could someone be taking advantage of the chaos?"
Zhu Yousong had fled so hurriedly back then that he couldn't even take the palace's collection of books and classics, he lost the maps as well. He certainly wouldn't have bothered with other unimportant things like personnel files. Under such circumstances, verifying the personnel would be a very difficult task.
Zhu Ci remembered seeing online before that some impoverished families would have their members castrate themselves just to find a way into the palace.
In these chaotic times, there are more and more people who cannot survive, so it is hard to guarantee that such people won't appear.
Zhu Ci understood his meaning and said, "Rest assured, Your Majesty, we have naturally verified it."
There are always traces left behind when one is on duty in the palace, let alone if someone has never walked within the palace walls, they certainly wouldn't know the situation inside. Setting aside everything else, they wouldn't even know which palaces are located within the palace.
After hearing this, Zhu Ci nodded and said, "If anyone undergoes castration just to fish in troubled waters, they must be severely punished."
He knew that many were making choices out of desperation, but since the Great Ming was currently recruiting soldiers, he found it hard to understand why some would rather become disabled than serve in the military.
One had to realize that even being a soldier didn't necessarily mean being sent to the battlefield. For those in poor health or without training, Zhu Ci didn't even bother letting them go out there; he left them to stay in logistics.
The matter regarding the eunuchs would be set aside for the moment, after all, Zhu Ci had not yet entered the city.
He looked at the Emperor's imperial carriage, waved his hand, said, "I shall enter the city on horseback!"
Although he was not the founding emperor, he had also conquered his territory through his own abilities.
He did not need to appear mysterious in the eyes of the people; he only needed to give them confidence.
“This..” Zhu Ci was slightly stunned; this option hadn't been part of their previous discussions.
At this moment, Fu immediately lowered his head and gave two orders. Before long, someone led over Langying, the black horse that he had given to Zhu Ci.
At this time, Langying was different from usual; he wore a ceremonial headpiece, his saddle was brand new, even his hooves were decorated.
The overall color of the decorations was dark gold, which perfectly complemented Zhu Ci's armor.
Well, since he was riding a horse into the city, he naturally had to be wearing armor.
Zhu Ci rode his horse, his armor slightly mottled, with many parts still bearing scars.
Since it didn't affect the defensive capabilities of the armor, he didn't have anyone repair it, mainly because it seemed he didn't have anyone under his command who was skilled at repairing such a thing.
It was said that the craftsmanship of this set of armor was extremely complex; he didn't understand the specifics, only knowing that repairing it would be very troublesome and quite expensive.
Zhu Ci currently wished he could snap a single cash coin in half to spend it, but since the armor had no issues, he would set it aside for now.
However, under the reflection of the sunlight, the mottled and damaged marks on this suit of armor unexpectedly gave off a sense of having been bloodied on the battlefield, the heavy cavalry in black armor behind him only intensified that feeling.
From the Emperor to the soldiers behind him, everyone exuded a murderous aura, which made the civil and military officials behind them seem dull and lackluster by comparison.
Oh, except for the Grand Secretary.
There was no helping it; the Grand Secretary, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses, was truly eye-catching. Coupled with the fact that he stood out brilliantly among the crowd of officials, it was difficult not to draw attention.
Perhaps it was because Zhu Ci was clad in black armor and his personal guards were all in black armor, exuding an overwhelming aura of killing intent, or perhaps it was because the onlookers were all at a considerable distance—at least outside the range of archery—but the path they walked was incredibly quiet.
The Jinwu Guard on both sides unconsciously straightened their bodies.
Zhu Ci rode all the way to the palace gates before dismounting and switching to a carriage. It wasn't that riding a horse was forbidden in the palace, but rather that his return to the palace this time was of great significance; he was to travel from the plaza all the way through, passing by the Imperial Way, which was the Danbi.
Of course, it wasn't that he was expected to walk the Imperial Way himself; that was an entire expanse of relief carvings. No matter how skilled he was, one slip and he might roll right off.
One trip down like that and he'd be dead or crippled!
Therefore, when the time comes, he will need to be carried up in an imperial sedan, while those carrying him will walk on either side of the steps; under these circumstances, he will certainly have to dismount and change vehicles.
When Zhu Ci sat in the carriage looking outside, he had a feeling that was both familiar and strange, his heart was filled with a sense of emotion.
When he first entered the palace, his heart was filled with trepidation, but later, upon leaving this imperial palace, he felt as though a great weight had been lifted from his entire body.
I never expected that after all that wandering, I would actually end up back here.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: The old man's only purpose was to leave the imperial palace as an inheritance. Kitty jumps onto the roof of the imperial palace. jpg
Next update at 6:00 PM~
Chapter 135
There was basically nothing major on the first day back at the palace; it was mostly just following ceremonial procedures, with subordinates occasionally mentioning one or two things that sounded important but actually weren't.
Even if there were truly urgent matters, as long as it wasn't the Tartars already arriving at the city gates, they would all be put on hold until this set of procedures was completed.
Once it was mostly finished, Zhu Ci took off his armor and let out a long sigh, saying, "This is just too exhausting."
He hadn't even felt this tired while fighting in his armor!