amaotonovel Chapter 699: Hit the Snake at 7 Inches
Chapter 699: Hit the Snake at 7 Inches
Du Fu once wrote in a poem, "To shoot a man, first shoot his horse; to capture a thief, first capture his king."
There's a folk saying: "To kill a snake, strike its seven-inch spot."
If you want to cause trouble for Lao Deng, you have to find his Achilles' heel directly.
Old Deng's Achilles' heel is actually quite easy to find.
Empress Ma.
Zhu Biao is Lao Deng's eldest son. He is not only the legitimate eldest son, but also Lao Zhu's lucky star and his number one executive assistant.
Then the problem is coming.
Empress Ma was not only the white moonlight that the old emperor longed for, his wife, angel investor, business partner, and mother of his children, but also his mother-in-law and talisman.
It doesn't matter if I mess with or even anger Old Deng, because I have my mother-in-law to protect me.
But if I anger my mother-in-law, who can save me?
Therefore, it's not advisable to use the mother-in-law to cause trouble for Lao Deng.
The only one suitable to cause trouble for Lao Deng and also to mess with the officials of the Ming Dynasty is Xiao Deng.
Xiao Deng is currently preoccupied with the water pump issue and doesn't seem to be a good fit for tinkering with it.
The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he became. Yang Shaofeng picked up the small dragon ball and took a sip, then sighed and said, "How boring, so boring."
Jin'er, who was doing needlework nearby, looked up at Yang Shaofeng and asked, "Boring? My husband just finished writing the memorial about the water pump a few days ago, and now you're saying it's boring?"
After a slight pause, Jin'er suddenly narrowed her eyes and smiled, "Husband, are you perhaps planning to torment His Highness the Crown Prince, but then you remembered the water pump and felt a little embarrassed to torment him, so you said it was boring?"
Ok?
Yang Shaofeng put down his teacup, pointed at Jin'er, and said, "Slander! Don't slander your husband, I'm telling you! Yu'er, did you see that? Your sister is spreading rumors!"
Yu'er's eyes darted around, and she laughed, "Sister, how can you say that about your brother-in-law? He's still your sister's husband!"
As Yu'er finished speaking, Jin'er couldn't help but burst out laughing and slapped Yu'er twice.
Yang Shaofeng was completely dumbfounded.
Who am I?
Where am I?
What am I doing?
Seeing Yang Shaofeng's bewildered and confused expression, Yu'er sighed again and said, "See? No matter how much your sister speaks up for her husband, he still can't bring himself to say a word against you, sister. Now, it's your fault!"
Jin'er slapped Yu'er again, suppressing her laughter, and said, "It's actually quite simple for my husband to make trouble for His Highness the Crown Prince."
Yang Shaofeng's eyes lit up. He picked up the small dragon ball again, took a sip, and asked, "How is it simple?"
Jin'er said with a smile, "The court has been reformed, the Secretariat has been changed into the Grand Secretariat, the original six ministries have become many ministries, and several ministers have the title of Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat. Promoting the water pump is a good opportunity to verify the effectiveness of the Secretariat reform. His Highness the Crown Prince will definitely entrust this matter to the Han Gonghe Grand Secretariat."
Yang Shaofeng nodded directly.
Just a few months after the fifth year of the Hongwu reign, the Central Secretariat began a vigorous reform.
The original Secretariat was divided into left and right sections, with the Left Chancellor and Right Chancellor each responsible for a range of matters. After the reform, the Secretariat became the Cabinet, and Li Shanchang, the Left Chancellor of the Secretariat, transformed into the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet. Together with the original councilors and the Ministers of Revenue, Works, and Rites, a total of six people formed the Cabinet.
With the reform of the Secretariat, the original Six Ministries, Five Temples, and various Directorates and Offices also underwent corresponding changes.
For example, the post station system, which originally belonged to the Ministry of War, was split off and transformed into the Ministry of Transportation. The Ministry of Works was transformed into the Ministry of Industry, with several additional departments under it. The Ministry of Justice was split into two parts: the part responsible for formulating laws remained under the direct jurisdiction of the Cabinet, but the part responsible for the final review of cases was separated from the Court of Judicial Review and, like the Censorate, was no longer involved with the Secretariat.
This reform can only be described as a mixed bag, with some people happy and others cursing.
Xu Da was the kind of contestant who was so happy he wanted to sing out loud, because Xu Da was no longer the Right Chancellor of the Secretariat, and he wouldn't be afraid if anyone confessed to using the words "Right Chancellor" in the future.
Li Shanchang, on the other hand, is the kind of player who, while happy, will also curse.
He was happy because after the reform, a new Grand Secretary was added to the cabinet to share the political affairs with him, and he finally saw hope for a complete retirement.
The reason for cursing is that the amount of messy government affairs remains the same, or even has increased.
As for those players who simply want to swear...
There were countless such candidates in the Ming Dynasty court; one more or one less wouldn't make a difference, so Yang Shaofeng couldn't be bothered to pay them any attention.
However, regardless of the circumstances, the reform of the Central Secretariat is a done deal, and the reforms of many ministries, temples, academies, and supervisory offices have been successfully implemented. Zhu Biao and Li Shanchang may indeed use this matter of manufacturing and promoting water presses to test the reformed cabinet and see how much stronger it is than the original Central Secretariat.
Jin'er continued, "Since His Highness the Crown Prince and the Korean Guild have entrusted the matter to the Cabinet and the Ministry of Works, it means that His Highness the Crown Prince doesn't actually have anything to worry about recently. Husband, you don't need to worry that too many things will tire His Highness out."
Yang Shaofeng suddenly felt quite sympathetic towards Zhu Biao.
This is the sister I've been calling out to for over ten years.
She doesn't hold back at all when it comes to messing with her younger brother!
Yang Shaofeng clicked his tongue and was about to speak when Yu'er suddenly said, "Husband, if you want to trick His Highness the Crown Prince, you'd better hurry up, otherwise, His Highness the Crown Prince will most likely trick you instead."
Ok?
Are you trying to trick me with black sesame glutinous rice balls?
Yang Shaofeng's heart tightened, and he asked, "Where did you hear this rumor, my lady?"
Yu'er shook her head directly and replied, "I haven't heard any rumors, but I'm just inferring based on His Highness the Crown Prince's past behavior."
"After all, his adoptive parents are currently in Ningyang County, and the burden of court affairs has almost entirely fallen on His Highness the Crown Prince. And now, my husband has created a water pump for him to manufacture and promote. His Highness the Crown Prince is bound to be unhappy, so how could he not be thinking of taking revenge on my husband?"
At this point, Yu'er clicked her tongue again and said, "My husband is always thinking of making things difficult for my adoptive father and His Highness the Crown Prince, but little does he know that my adoptive father and His Highness the Crown Prince are also always thinking of making things difficult for him."
"You're all making things worse, and in the end, nobody's happy."
"What a pointless thing to do!"
Yang Shaofeng snorted and said, "You just said your sister slandered your husband, and now you're starting to do the same, huh?"
"Is it my husband who's causing them trouble?"
"no!"
"Take this water pump for example, tell me, isn't it a good thing?"
"How can something that can solve the drought problem be considered a nuisance to them?"