marquis of jingan

Chapter 1491 High Hopes
The emperor looked at his son quietly.

He was observing Li Jian's expression.

After looking at it for a while, he didn't see anything. His Majesty the Emperor paused for a moment and said, "Since you are really ill, just rest in Yanjing for a few days and don't rush to go south again."

"As for the land survey in the south, Shen Yi is the only one in the court who is capable of handling it."

"you…"

Emperor Hong De said lightly: "You are still too young."

Li Jian bowed his head and said, "Father, when Uncle Shen went to the southeast to do his work, he was also my age. He asked me to bring some people with him, and he could get the job done by force."

"When it comes to the ability to do practical things, I am far inferior to him. This Uncle Shen you mentioned can be said to be the most accomplished person since the founding of the Great Chen."

"You still want to compare yourself with him."

The emperor smiled silently.

"Back then, he led 20 to 30 people to the southeast. In just one or two years, he established a garrison of 5,000 people, and..."

The emperor looked up at the ceiling, as if remembering the past, and said slowly: "And it didn't cost the national treasury a single ounce of silver."

"And this garrison was the predecessor of the Huai'an Army."

The emperor came back to his senses and looked at Li Jian: "Prime Minister Zhao wrote to me and told me about some things in Nanzhili. You were able to get things done in Nanzhili because this old minister of revenue who has worked for more than 30 years is helping you."

"I won't say anything else. I just want to ask you one question."

His Majesty the Emperor half-closed his eyes and asked, "If you lead your troops south to do this, the local landlords will coerce the farmers and come into conflict with the people you bring with you."

"Someone died."

The emperor looked at Li Jian and asked, "How are you going to deal with this?"

The Fourth Prince bowed his head and thought for a moment before replying, "Father, I will do my best to restrain my subordinates..."

The emperor shook his head: "You still don't understand."

"You want to lead the troops south, which is nothing more than using violence to push this matter forward. Since you have this idea, you will definitely conflict with local forces."

"What I'm asking is, if someone has already died, what would you do?"

Li Jian wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "I, your son, should severely punish the guards who killed people and give an explanation to the local people to calm their anger."

"You will be unable to investigate further if you do this."

The emperor said slowly: "Do you know what your uncle Shen will do?"

The Fourth Prince shook his head and said, "Your Highness... I don't know."

The emperor said slowly: "He will probably arrest the local landlords and charge them with treason."

"Then divide the land among the landlords."

"As for the dead people."

The emperor thought of Shen Yi's appearance and said calmly: "Lord Shen will arrest their family members on charges of treason, and then grant them amnesty. In this way, the matter will be resolved."

"Of course."

The emperor said, "He has many tricks. I am just giving you an example."

Li Jian took a deep breath, lowered his head and said, "Your son will learn from you."

"Shen Yi's precious daughter is getting older and older."

The emperor smiled and said, "He couldn't help but let it go. You should pay more attention to this matter."

"Understand?"

This is hardly a hint, but an explicit statement.

Although the emperor did not say it explicitly, his words implied that as long as he could marry the daughter of the Shen family, he would have a chance to become the crown prince!
Li Jian bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, I understand. Even if you don't say it, I really like Miss Shen."

"Ah."

The emperor nodded and said, "Shen Yi is a bit strange in this respect. If I grant you marriage, he will probably not agree. You have to work hard on your own."

"Being the son-in-law of the Shen family has many benefits."

Having said that, the emperor rubbed his temple and his expression suddenly turned ugly.

Li Jian looked up at his father, stood up in a panic, and squatted beside his father: "Father, what's wrong with you?"

"It's out of the way."

The emperor shook his head, sweat beading on his forehead.

After a while, he finally recovered.

The Fourth Prince panicked and whispered, "Son, go get the imperial physician."

The emperor shook his head slightly: "Don't make it public."

He looked at Li Jian and said slowly, "You should leave first."

Li Jian knelt down hurriedly and kowtowed: "Father, you..."

"I said, I'm fine."

The emperor glanced at his son and said slowly, "Yanjing has been in a lot of trouble recently, so you better take care of yourself."

Li Jian quickly bowed his head: "I obey your command."

…………

The Fourth Prince has officially returned to the court.

Although His Majesty the Emperor still did not show up, almost everyone in the court and the country already knew that the Fourth Prince had been severely reprimanded by His Majesty the Emperor for his poor performance.

Because not long after the Fourth Prince returned in disgrace, His Majesty the Emperor issued an edict, ordering His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to enter the Secretariat to observe government affairs and participate in government affairs with several prime ministers.

For this matter, the Emperor, who had not met with his ministers for a long time, called all the prime ministers into the Ganlu Palace and explained the matter to them in person.

The prime ministers had both joy and sorrow.

The good news is that His Majesty the Emperor has finally taken interest in state affairs once again.

What is worrying is that the Emperor, who is in his prime, suddenly ordered the Crown Prince to enter the Secretariat. This is a very abnormal signal.

However, relatively speaking, this was also an inevitable normal process in the succession of the throne, and several prime ministers respectfully accepted the imperial order.

On that day, after receiving the imperial edict, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince first went to Ganlu Palace to express his gratitude, and then went to the Council Hall with a beaming smile to start his internship.

Because of the noble status of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, the Prime Ministers had to answer all the questions he asked. At the end of the day, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who had just entered the central government, was naturally very excited, but the Prime Ministers were extremely busy and felt much more tired than usual.

Fortunately, Zhang Jian didn't talk much and was a lot more relaxed than other prime ministers.

In the afternoon, Zhang Xianggong left Zhongshu early, got on the sedan chair, and came to the main gate of Shen Hou Mansion. Without waiting for the Shen family to come out to greet him, he walked in on his own. Finally, under the guidance of Shen Ji, he smoothly met Mr. Shen who was fishing under the pavilion in the back garden of Shen's house.

Mr. Zhang walked up with a smile and gave a thumbs up.

"Shen Banxian!"

After he said these four words, he noticed that there was another young man standing behind Shen Yi. Zhang Xianggong took a closer look and found that it was none other than the fourth prince of the current dynasty, Li Jian!
Zhang Jian looked at Shen Yi in surprise, then bowed to Li Jian and said, "Greetings, Fourth Prince."

Li Jian hurriedly bowed in return: "Prime Minister Zhang, you are too polite."

After the two men exchanged a few polite words, Li Jian no longer dared to stay next to the two court bigwigs. After giving Shen Ji a look, the two little guys said goodbye and left.

Under the pavilion, only two brothers were left.

Zhang Jian sat next to Shen Yi and said with a smile: "Zi Heng is really amazing. The prince has entered the Secretariat to observe government affairs today."

Mr. Shen smiled dumbly: "What kind of god is this? I just knew some news in advance."

"Since Ziheng already knew it in advance, then the Fourth Prince is..."

Speaking of this, Master Shen's face looked a little unnatural, and he said in a muffled voice: "He has taken a fancy to my daughter and has been pestering her. Today he came here again and gave me some things."

Zhang Xianggong frowned slightly and said, "Ziheng, this is no small matter."

"It's not a small matter."

Master Shen threw down the last handful of fish food and said, "But it's not very big. It won't affect me."

"That's great. I will guarantee that he will become a vassal king in the future. I still have the face to support him."

Zhang Jian didn't say anything more. Instead, he sat next to Shen Yi and let the wind blow for a while before saying, "It seems that Ziheng has high hopes for the Fourth Prince."

"Can't talk about it."

Shen Yi said quietly: "If you want to say that he has high hopes, it should be said that His Majesty has high hopes for him."

Zhang Xiang was stunned: "What does Ziheng mean by this?"

"I'm not finished yet."

Mr. Shen continued, "Your Majesty's greatest hope for him is probably to see if he can marry my daughter."

"Tsk."

Zhang Xiang gave a thumbs up.

“That kind of talk.”

"You, Shen Ziheng, are the only one who dares to say that."

(End of this chapter)