Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 49: Shooting oneself in the foot! Only loyalty and filial piety! (Long chapter)

Zhu Yunhuan's expression froze for a moment, and he said, "Mr. Yang, why don't you just speak frankly?"

Yang Shiqi first talked about another matter: "I thought that His Highness had just obtained the precious sword and had the Emperor's order, so he would arrest all three judges on the spot."

Zhu Yunhuan shook his head and said, "Although I am reckless, I also know when to be tough and when to be soft."

"If we really capture these three people, it would be a waste of money for the people behind the scenes who are directing them."

"The chances of winning in the court tomorrow will be even lower."

Yang Shiqi clapped his hands and said, "Your Highness is so young, but he is so calm. It is admirable."

Changing the subject, he continued, "The people behind the Three Law Departments are not difficult to find."

"Your Highness, write a letter tomorrow criticizing the three judicial officials for trespassing into the Prince's mansion, and the people behind them will come out on their own."

Zhu Yunxi nodded slightly.

The three judicial officials are not ordinary officials. They hold high positions of power and have deep roots in the court.

If the people behind the scenes use them as guns and then immediately turn their backs on them and refuse to protect them, then they will not only offend the three judicial officials, but also a large number of civil servants in the court.

Pulled around and moved the whole body.

The people behind them had to jump out themselves.

What's more, if the other party really turned against him, Yuan Tai and others would probably not keep it a secret for him.

Yang Shiqi smiled again and said, "However, Your Highness, don't forget that the Sanfasi is the highest judicial organ of the Ming Dynasty."

"According to the law, all major cases should be referred to the three judicial departments for trial."

"According to convention, the case of Duke Liang should be handed over to the three judicial departments for trial."

"Since we have offended the three of them tonight, Your Highness, aren't you worried that they will interfere and deliberately do bad things when they are trying the case of Liang State?"

Zhu Yunhuan said calmly: "If the three of them don't come tonight, it will be really difficult for me to handle it." "After all, handing the case over to the three judicial departments for trial is stipulated in the laws of the Ming Dynasty and is only natural."

"But now that they are here, things will be easier."

"They are so impatient that I have reason to suspect they will frame someone else and fail to conduct a fair trial."

"In that case, the case of Duke Liang cannot be tried by them."

Yang Shiqi was stunned for a moment, then he clapped his hands and laughed, "Great! The person behind the scenes probably never dreamed that the action he instigated the three judicial officials to do tonight would actually help Your Highness a lot."

"If he is patient a little longer, and waits until the Duke of Liang has handed the case over to the Three Courts for trial, and then secretly intervenes, things will be difficult to handle."

"This is really like shooting oneself in the foot, hahahaha!"

Zhu Yunhuan also laughed.

As the saying goes, "Even the wisest man makes a thousand plans, but he is bound to make mistakes."

The other party had planned everything but hadn't thought of this.

The root cause is that we are too impatient.

Lan Yu's sudden arrest disrupted their strategy and made the other side impatient to take action instead of willing to continue to endure.

With Yang Shiqi's intelligence and strategy, he would definitely be able to see this level.

I'm afraid that half of his praise just now was sincere, and the other half was just flattery.

However, this is also easy to understand.

As a subordinate, it is your duty to flatter your superior when appropriate.

The fact that he could shoot so smoothly and without leaving any traces shows how profound his skills are!

After laughing for a while, Yang Shiqi said, "Your Highness has temporarily gained the upper hand, but this battle has just begun. It is far from the time to celebrate victory."

"Now, Your Highness needs to do the most important thing, is to write a letter of apology and ask His Majesty to take back the knife."

This sentence was very plain, but it sounded like a bolt of thunder to Zhu Yunhuan's ears, completely destroying the joy he had just felt.

"It's late at night and the wind is cold here, let's go inside first."

Yang Shiqi brought Zhu Yunhuan back to the room, closed the door, and the two sat opposite each other.

He brewed a cup of tea for Zhu Yunhuan and himself, and then said, "His Majesty gave you the sword to help you resolve the crisis tonight, and it is also a recognition of your initiative to capture the Duke of Liang."

"But if that's all, then there's no need to give Your Highness such great power."

"Commanding officials, dispatching troops, and acting at one's own discretion are powers that many provincial governors may not have when they are on duty in other places."

"Only in special circumstances can an imperial envoy appointed by the court have such great power."

"Moreover, this power only applies to the places that the imperial envoy is to inspect."

"If it is not in that place, the imperial envoy does not have this power."

"None of you princes have ever been given such great power while guarding a region!"

"But Your Highness is currently in Jinling City, not an imperial envoy on a diplomatic mission."

"Granting His Highness such great power, it would be reasonable if His Highness were made the crown prince."

"However, the matter of Lan Yu has not yet been concluded. Your Highness still has to go through the hurdle of court tomorrow. His Majesty probably has no intention of doing so. He did not mention it at all in the imperial edict, but rewarded him with a precious sword and granted him great power. What is his intention?"

Zhu Yunxi frowned slightly.

Yang Shiqi's analysis is indeed reasonable.

But does Old Zhu really have to play so many tricks on his own grandson?

"Your Majesty is testing you!"

Yang Shiqi smiled and said, "If Your Highness is willing to just be a peaceful prince, live a peaceful and happy life, Your Majesty does not need to do this."

"But since Your Highness wants to stand up and fight for the position of crown prince, it's different."

"The country and the people are of great importance. How can this be a joke?"

"Your Majesty will naturally put Your Highness through many tests before he can safely entrust the country to Your Highness."

"This is also a good thing for Your Highness."

"At least it means that His Majesty is seriously considering your Highness as a candidate for the crown prince!"

Is it necessary to conduct so many tests?
And there are levels one after another!

Do I have to go through so many difficulties?
Zhu Yunhuan secretly slandered him.

In history, wasn't Zhu Yunwen made crown prince very smoothly?
It doesn't seem to take much effort!
Why does it become so difficult when it comes to competing for the position of crown prince?
But on second thought, the records in history books are not detailed.

It took more than four months from Zhu Biao's death in May to Zhu Yunwen's appointment as the crown prince in September. During these four months, there is no record in history books about how Zhu Biao tested Zhu Yunwen and how Zhu Yunwen passed these tests.

The only record is that since Zhu Biao fell ill, Zhu Yunwen had been taking care of him very carefully, never leaving his side day or night.

Do it yourself, day and night.

After Zhu Biao's death, Zhu Yunwen was so sad that he lost his appetite and became increasingly thin due to hunger.

Later, it was only after Lao Zhu personally comforted him that he gradually recovered.

Zhu Yunwen had already taken the lead and left a deep impression of "the utmost purity and filial piety" in the heart of Zhu.

And the original body of this body of his was undoubtedly far behind.

not only that.

After Zhu Yunwen was appointed as the crown prince, he entered the palace to study with Zhu Yunwen, and always stayed by Zhu Yunwen's side to receive education.

In fact, it is another test.

Zhu Yunwen passed all the tests successfully and was able to inherit the throne.

It seems that Zhu Yunwen has at least two abilities that far exceed those of ordinary people.

First, he has a first-rate acting talent and is very good at pretending.

Second, he has excellent patience and can persist for a long time.

Thinking of this, Zhu Yunhuan couldn't help but feel a little upset.

After all, the battle for the crown prince is not about ability.

Perhaps ability is one aspect, but it is by no means everything, nor even the most important one.

What ultimately matters is Mr. Zhu’s attitude.

Simply by demonstrating ability, one can improve his status in Lao Zhu's heart, but it is far from enough.

Zhu Yuanzhang's assessment of the crown prince is multi-faceted, not just his ability.

Yang Shiqi picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea.

"Dealing with Lan Yu and handling the relationship between the military commanders and nobles and Your Highness is only the first step for Your Highness to fight for the position of crown prince."

"Even this step has not been completed yet. Only by winning the battle in the court tomorrow can we win this battle."

"Yang Jing, Yuan Tai, and Zhou Zhiqing dared to come to the palace to ask for someone today. On the one hand, it was because someone was behind them, backing them up."

"On the other hand, it is also because they have long seen through it. This is a test from His Majesty to Your Highness, and they themselves are part of the test."

"However, they ultimately misjudged His Majesty's intentions and ended up in disgrace."

"His Majesty does still want to test Your Highness, but he is not here."

"Today I bestow upon Your Highness the precious sword, which will help Your Highness to drive back the three judges."

"But granting Your Highness too much power will inevitably cause a fierce backlash from the court officials tomorrow."

"And this is what your majesty wants to see."

"Otherwise, Your Majesty would not have done this. He would have just dismissed the three judges. There was no need to grant Your Highness such power."

"Your Majesty gave you great power in the hope that all the ministers would rise up against you."

"How to control Lan Yu, the noble generals who are proud of their achievements, and how to quell the dissatisfaction of the court officials."

"Only if you pass both of these tests successfully can you become the crown prince of Ming Dynasty and inherit the throne in the future."

Zhu Yunhuan recalled that when Zhu Biao was alive, all the civil officials and military generals supported him.

After Zhu Biao died, his former supporters split into two factions.

Military generals and nobles supported Zhu Yunhuan, while civil officials supported Zhu Yunwen.

Yang Shiqi continued, "I know that Your Highness is very dissatisfied with those civil officials, and they generally have deep hostility towards Your Highness."

"But matters in the court cannot be decided based on personal preferences alone."

"Especially now, it is the critical moment for Your Highness to fight for the position of crown prince."

Zhu Yunxun smiled and nodded: "I know what I am doing and I won't let too much personal likes and dislikes get in the way."

"As long as I can win over someone, I will try my best to win them over."

"Politics is about making more friends and fewer enemies."

Yang Shiqi was slightly stunned.

After chewing on Zhu Yunhuan's words again and again, he felt that they were concise and to the point, and he couldn't help but laugh and said, "Your Highness is so young, and yet he has such an understanding. I was worrying too much."

Zhu Yunhuan did not respond, but picked up the teacup and drank tea.

Yang Shiqi added: "In addition to this, there is one more thing that is extremely important, which is "filial piety"!"

Zhu Yunhuan put down the teacup in his hand and said, "Please give me some advice, sir!"

Although he knew that Zhu Yunwen relied on the word "filial piety" to gain the upper hand.

But he had no idea how to make a comeback.

It is undoubtedly too late to imitate Zhu Yunwen at this time. It is a bit like imitating someone else's ugly wife, and it will probably only backfire.

"To arrest Lan Yu without any purpose is reckless!"

"But this action is for your majesty's concern, which is filial piety!"

"Your Highness, please write down the word 'filial piety' in one stroke."

"Your Highness, you have stepped forward to fight for the position of crown prince to prevent the Ming Dynasty from being entrusted to the wrong person. This is filial piety!"

"Your Highness arrested Lan Yu to avoid putting His Majesty in a dilemma, and it is also for filial piety!"

"However, this action was not carried out with the emperor's will, and it has caused a stir in the city. It is filial piety to submit a memorial to apologize at this time."

"I dare not refuse a gift from an elder. It would be disrespectful to refuse, but I have no shame in accepting it!"

"However, His Majesty has awarded Your Highness a precious sword and granted Your Highness great power, but has not given You a clear position. This is His Majesty's love for Your Highness, but it is not in accordance with the law and will inevitably cause controversy in the court."

"In order to avoid damaging your Majesty's reputation, I cannot bear to see your Majesty in such a dilemma. I ask your Majesty to revoke your order. This is also the filial duty that a descendant should fulfill."

"This shows that Your Highness acts in a fair and open manner and never seeks personal gain."

"Your Highness is loyal and filial!"

(End of this chapter)