Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 75: Meeting the Emperor! Old Zhu's murderous intention!
At this time, the sound of night watchmen was heard from outside.

Although it was deep inside the palace and very far away from the streets, the sound was very loud and could still be faintly heard.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at him deeply and said, "It's already three o'clock in the morning. You still have to go to the palace to see the emperor tomorrow, so you should rest early."

……

September 18th, the 25th year of Hongwu.

His Majesty is seriously ill, and has ordered his grandson, Prince Wu, to serve as regent.

All matters of great and small in the court were subject to his decision.

When the news came out, the whole court was shocked.

……

Early in the morning, Yang Shiqi walked into the palace under the guidance of the eunuch.

As soon as I entered the palace, I saw many officials gathered in the square outside the main hall.

They talked in groups of three or four, discussing a lot.

"How can your majesty let the King of Wu be the regent?"

"Yes, although your majesty is ill and cannot attend to state affairs, the King of Wu is only a child of fourteen or fifteen years old. Wouldn't it be ridiculous to let him be the regent?"

"I heard that the King of Wu was also injured and is still resting in bed, unable to manage affairs, but Your Majesty insisted on letting him serve as regent. This is really unbelievable!"

"You all heard yesterday in the court that letting the King of Wu succeed was the late Crown Prince's last wish. Your Majesty has compassion for your eldest son, so I'm afraid you will follow his wishes and make the King of Wu the crown prince."

"Yes, since they are going to make King Wu the crown prince, it's not surprising to let him supervise the country, right?"

"That's different! As the saying goes, if the name is not right, the words will not flow. The King of Wu is not the crown prince yet, so he cannot be the regent."

"Your Majesty has so many princes, and now they are all in the capital. Can't you pick one to be the regent? Does it have to be the King of Wu?"

"Yes, the King of Wu has never been involved in political affairs. He is so young, how can he know how to handle state affairs? This... this... this is not a joke?"

"Even if Your Majesty wants to make King Wu the crown prince and pass the throne to him, King Wu cannot directly supervise the country right now!"

"Since ancient times, when the emperor was young, he still had to appoint ministers to assist him in handling government affairs. When the emperor came of age, the government would be returned to him. How old is the King of Wu, and why is he allowed to handle government affairs alone?"

"The affairs of state are more important than Mount Tai. How can we entrust them to a child? No matter what, we must ask Your Majesty to withdraw your order today!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, please take back your order!"

"Your Majesty, please take back your order!"

"Your Majesty, please take back your order!"

……

The officials were shouting and the crowd was furious.

Yang Shiqi walked through the crowd with an expressionless face and without looking around.

When they were far away from the crowd, they heard the eunuch leading the way said contemptuously: "A bunch of ignorant fellows."

"Is it possible for them to question your majesty's decision?"

"It's just a clown! He just screams there a few times."

"If they really dare to offend His Majesty, we will immediately let them know how powerful we are."

Yang Shiqi pretended not to hear anything and his expression remained calm.

The eunuch did not let him go, and continued, "Mr. Yang was personally recommended to Your Majesty by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu. He has a promising future ahead of him."

"Don't be like those sour, smelly, and corrupt scholars who only know how to study and stick to their own principles."

"Look, those who are causing trouble there today are all censors and officials of low rank such as the Six Ministries and the Six Ministries."

"None of the high-ranking officials in the court or officials from the six ministries came."

"Does Mr. Yang understand?"

The other party had already pointed out his name, and Yang Shiqi could no longer avoid it. He could only say, "You are right, sir. I understand!"

The eunuch continued to pursue the question, and asked again, "What does Mr. Yang understand?"

"Your Excellency has lived by the emperor's side for a long time, and you understand his heart deeply. Every word and action of yours has deep meaning."

Yang Shiqi bowed slightly and said, "What I understand is that I must carefully understand the deep meaning of your words and keep them in mind. I will definitely gain a lot in the future."

"You are so kind to me, and I will be grateful to you for your guidance and advice."

The eunuch stared at him, looking him up and down, and suddenly pinched his fingers together, raised them lightly, and said with a smile on his face, "You are an interesting person. No wonder His Royal Highness the King of Wu thinks so highly of you."

After saying this, the eunuch turned around and continued on his way.

The two of them passed through the palace walls and came to a pavilion.

There was no one in sight.

The eunuch brought Yang Shiqi to the pavilion, where only the four treasures of the study were placed on the table.

The rice paper has been spread out and the ink has been ground.

Yang Shiqi was surprised to see this, but he remained cautious and did not ask any more questions.

"Mr. Yang, please come in!" The eunuch said, "Here are the questions that His Majesty has personally given you. His Majesty has given you three hours to finish answering them."

Yang Shiqi asked hurriedly, "I wonder where your Majesty is?"

The eunuch sneered and said, "You don't have to ask that."

"His Majesty said that if you answer well, he will see you."

"If it's not good, then I'll let you go back to where you came from."

"You are also not allowed to return to the Prince of Wu's mansion and see the Prince of Wu again. Do you understand?"

Yang Shiqi's heart trembled, and he said, "I heard it clearly!"

He sat down at the table, took a deep breath, and waited until his mind was calm before looking at the questions.

The exam question is to discuss how to govern the country by learning from history.

He has been well-read since childhood and has a lot of knowledge in his mind.

This type of question is not difficult for him.

Especially after following His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu for the past two days, I gradually understood what kind of person the current Emperor is.

I now have some confidence about how to write in order to win the favor of His Majesty the Emperor.

After organizing his thoughts a bit, he quickly picked up the pen and started writing quickly.

Old Zhu gave him a full three hours, but Yang Shiqi only wrote for three hours and finished it.

After handing in the paper, Yang Shiqi sat in the pavilion and waited quietly.

Not long after, an ordinary-looking old man, about sixty years old, wearing ordinary cloth, walked over at a moderate pace.

"Could this be Mr. Yang recommended by His Royal Highness Prince Wu?"

When the old man saw Yang Shiqi, he looked at him curiously and asked.

Yang Shiqi just stared at him blankly without answering immediately.

The old man felt confused after being stared at for a long time, so he coughed twice.

Yang Shiqi seemed to have just woken up from a dream, and he knelt down immediately: "I, Yang Shiqi, pay my respects to His Majesty the Emperor. Long live the Emperor!"

"This is my first time seeing Your Majesty, and I was overwhelmed by your majesty's might. I lost my mind for a moment and looked directly at Your Majesty. I beg Your Majesty to forgive me."

The old man's expression changed, as if he was shocked by his sudden action. He waved his hands repeatedly and said:
"Don't act like this and don't talk nonsense. I'm not the emperor. You've got the wrong person!" "Get up quickly. It will be bad if someone finds you!"

"This is going to cost you your head!"

Yang Shiqi did not stand up. He was not moved by his words at all. He still knelt on the ground and said, "The emperor's majesty is different from that of ordinary people. He has his own aura. Although I am stupid, I will never admit my mistake."

The old man is naturally Lao Zhu.

After hearing Yang Shiqi's ruthless remark, Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned again.

After a while, he stroked his beard and stopped denying it. He sat down in front of the desk and said calmly, "You have a good eye! Stand up!"

In fact, the appearance of an old man like him in the palace, who is idle and has nothing to do, easily makes people think that this person has an extraordinary identity.

But no matter how much people think about it, no one would normally believe that such a person who is dressed in ordinary clothes and not surrounded by a large number of eunuchs, maids and guards could be the current emperor.

It’s easy for people to have preconceived notions.

It is natural to think that when His Majesty the Emperor comes out, there will be an extraordinary ceremony.

As for such an old man, they would generally think that he was a royal relative or someone with other special status, who was summoned by the emperor and therefore appeared in the palace.

Lao Zhu had used this to test many people before.

Among them are also many people with extremely high mental and strategic capabilities.

The other party didn't see through it immediately.

Unexpectedly, Yang Shiqi saw through my plan today.

This person is truly extraordinary.

After being exposed, Lao Zhu could no longer tease the other party, which made him somewhat bored.

But his interest in Yang Shiqi couldn't help but increase a little bit.

Yang Shiqi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, if I had not been kept by Zhu Yunhuan to do things for the past two days, and thus had the opportunity to understand many things about the current emperor in depth and understand his temperament and character, it would have been impossible for me to realize that this seemingly inconspicuous, ordinary old man in front of me was actually the Hongwu Emperor who founded the Ming Empire!

This appearance is very different from the rumors outside.

Yang Shiqi's mind raced, and he said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

After saying this, Fang got up from the ground, bent over and stood with his head down.

Old Zhu glanced at the seat next to him and said, "There's no outsider here, so you don't have to be so reserved. Take a seat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for letting me sit down!" He carefully raised his buttocks and sat down on the chair.

"We just read the article you wrote. It's well written!"

Old Zhu said: "You have such talent, why didn't you pass the imperial examination?"

"If you weren't working for Hu'er right now, you would have done your best and would not have tried to escape."

"We all think that you are talented but deliberately failed the exam and don't want to be employed by the court. You must be severely punished according to the law!"

Yang Shiqi said hurriedly: "I have no such intention. It's just that I didn't pass the imperial examination."

Old Zhu snorted coldly and said, "We just looked at your paper. It's very well written, much better than many Jinshi candidates."

"You didn't pass the exam because the examiner was partial and cheated. He admitted the person he liked but deliberately missed the talented people who were useful to the court."

"In which year did you take the imperial examination, and who was the chief examiner?"

"We will cut him into pieces as an example to others."

These words were full of murderous intent.

Yang Shiqi hurriedly said, "It was my fault during the exam, not the examiner's. I hope Your Majesty will not blame me."

The imperial examination judged the ability of candidates based on a few essays, which was difficult to do accurately.

Moreover, examiners all have their own likes and dislikes.

Many times, the most important factor in whether or not you can be admitted to high school is whether what you write can be appreciated by the examiners.

But there is no standard at all for this.

Some candidates have extensive connections and great resources, and can find out in advance what the examiner likes and dislikes.

When answering questions in an exam, deliberately try to please the other party.

It is easy to get high scores and get your name on the list.

On the contrary, if you don’t understand the basics, it will be very difficult to write an essay that satisfies the examiner.

Often, candidates think that they have written well, but the examiner does not like it at all.

It is precisely for this reason that, since ancient times, there have always been many people who are talented but have repeatedly failed in examinations.

This is not the examiner's partiality.

Instead, people are selected based on their writing, which is an inherent drawback.

The reason why he was able to write his answers today in a way that pleased Old Zhu was mainly because he had been following His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu for the past two days and understood the Emperor's likes and dislikes.

The content written was naturally weighed over and over again and was very much in line with Lao Zhu's wishes.

If not, whether I can write it in a way that will please Mr. Zhu is another matter!
Old Zhu waved his hand and said, "Okay, don't worry about it. I have my own ideas."

Yang Shiqi dared not say anything more.

Old Zhu asked again, "I heard that early this morning, you sent people to the Ministry of Justice, Yingtian Prefecture, Imperial City Office and many other places to tell them not to investigate the case of Hu'er's assassination yesterday. Is this true?"

Yang Shiqi leaned forward slightly as he sat, and said, "Your Majesty, it is true!"

Old Zhu slammed the table and said angrily: "I issued an order yesterday. No matter who assassinated Hu'er, we will find them all even if we have to dig three feet into the ground."

"Then I will chop all of their nine clans into pieces, peel off their skin and stuff them with straw, grind their bones and scatter their ashes, and only then will I be able to alleviate the hatred in my heart."

"You actually asked the government to stop investigating. Are you trying to defy the order?"

Yang Shiqi whispered, "I dare not! This is the intention of His Royal Highness the King of Wu, and I am just conveying it on his behalf."

"Hu'er is young, so it's inevitable that he will act recklessly." Old Zhu glared at him fiercely and said, "You are his teacher, so you should advise him well. How can you follow him and act recklessly?"

Yang Shiqi lowered his head and said nothing.

Old Zhu vented his anger and then asked, "Do you know why Hu'er doesn't want to investigate further?"

Yang Shiqi's heartbeat suddenly quickened, but his face showed no sign of it and was extremely calm.

"I dare not say it!"

Old Zhu raised his eyebrows and shouted, "What are you afraid to say? I order you to say it!"

"If you don't tell me, I'll chop off your head!"

Yang Shiqi looked hesitant, as if he was a little scared and nervous.

Old Zhu stared at him closely, his eyes as sharp as knives and lightning.

for a long time.

Yang Shiqi pursed his lips and finally spoke.

"Your Highness is afraid that if you continue to investigate, you might find something bad, which would hurt the relationship between blood relatives and the harmony between brothers."

"His Highness said that since he was safe and sound, it would be better to just let it go and not investigate further."

This statement came out.

In an instant, Lao Zhu's pupils were filled with a myriad of auras and murderous intent!
(End of this chapter)