Traveling through Du He, Li Chengqian's rebellion begins

"Brother Ma."

Du He was not polite to him either.

Du He knew that Ma Zhou was not a man who would curry favor with the powerful. That was just his character, which was closely related to his background.

Unlike a group of ministers in the court who came from official families, Ma Zhou came from a poor peasant family.

Speaking of which, the first half of Ma Zhou's life can be described in one word.

That's miserable!

His parents died when he was young, his family was extremely poor and he often had to rely on begging to make a living.

Because he was too poor, he was over 30 and still hadn't married.

A typical older bachelor.

However, Ma Zhou was also very hardworking. Although his family was poor, he loved learning and was proficient in classics, history, poetry and lyrics.

Later, with the recommendation of the noble Chang He, he successfully entered the officialdom in Chang'an, and gradually rose to a high position through his own abilities.

His inspiring life experience has inspired countless poor students.

Ma Zhou said with a smile on his face: "Prince Consort Du, please move to the side and chat."

Du He raised his head and saw Li Chengqian standing at the door of the hall and looking over here, so he nodded and said in a low voice.

"Brother Ma, please."

Ma Zhou is so evasive, so we should talk to him about Li Chengqian.

Moreover, Du He also wanted to test Ma Zhou's attitude and understand his true thoughts on the crown prince. He didn't have the chance to talk to him before, but now he should be able to find out indirectly.

The two walked for a long distance before Ma Zhou slowed down and started chatting.

"Prince Consort Du, you got His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin drunk, and His Majesty reprimanded me!"

Ma Zhou's face was full of resentment.

He served as the Chief Clerk of the Prince of Jin's Palace. If Li Zhi did not do a good job, Li Shimin would put the blame on him.

Because Li Zhi was drunk, Li Shimin specially called him to Ganlu Palace and criticized him.

Du He smiled awkwardly: "Brother Ma, His Royal Highness Prince Jin wants to drink, I can't stop him."

Believe it or not.

You are a very bad little rascal.

Prince of Jin Li Zhi told him everything.

All your words of persuasion to drink can be compiled into a collection of quotations.

Ma Zhou shook his head and didn't talk more about this issue.

"Prince Consort Du, since Kong Yingda, Yu Zhining, Zhang Xuansu, and Li Baiyao are no longer the prince's teachers, His Majesty has asked me, Chu Suiliang, Liu Li, and others to take on the responsibility of teaching the prince."

He, Chu Suiliang, Liu Li and Cen Wenben's initial task was just to have a heart-to-heart talk with the prince and to guide Li Chengqian.

Now, several teachers have resigned, and all the work has fallen on these four people.

Ma Zhou continued, "After these two days of admonishing and teaching the prince, I found that the effect is not good, and the prince is often distracted and looks absent-minded."

"Prince Consort Du, you are the prince's best friend, do you have any solution?"

Li Chengqian seemed to obey what they said, but in fact he did not take it to heart.

Moreover, when they were teaching, Li Chengqian was always distracted and didn't listen to what they said at all.

This made Ma Zhou's hair turn a lot whiter.

Du He narrowed his eyes slightly, shook his head and said, "Brother Ma, the prince is under too much pressure, so he is always worried about gains and losses."

"You have seen how much His Majesty loves the King of Wei. The Crown Prince does not feel safe at all. All admonitions against his behavior are useless."

Through Ma Zhou's performance in the court, Du He knew that he was the one who supported Li Chengqian's succession to the throne.

It is not known whether Ma Zhou supported the eldest son to succeed to the throne or was slightly more optimistic about Li Chengqian.

"Hey~"

A sigh expressed Ma Zhou's helplessness.

After a moment's silence, Ma Zhou frowned and spoke slowly.

"Your Majesty is too fond of the King of Wei. Wei Zheng and the court officials have advised him countless times, but Your Majesty still insists on doing so."

"Of course, this cannot be entirely blamed on Your Majesty. For various reasons, the prince has been somewhat rebellious in recent years, and has refused to change despite repeated admonitions."

"Your Majesty is also worried that if the crown prince succeeds to the throne, he will cause chaos in the country due to his lack of moral character."

"I just didn't expect that the more Your Majesty favored the King of Wei, the more rebellious the Crown Prince would become."

"For various reasons, this embarrassing situation has occurred."

In the early Zhenguan period, Your Majesty was indeed a wise ruler who was open to all opinions and accepted advice with an open mind. However, in recent years, Your Majesty has become somewhat unwilling to listen to outside voices.

Especially when it comes to favoring King Wei.

Li Shimin's rewards and punishments were entirely based on his own likes and dislikes.

"Brother Ma, I agree with you on this point of view."

Du He said approvingly.

Even though Li Shimin was a wise ruler, he did not understand everything clearly.

It is undeniable that he possesses extraordinary talent in both civil and military strategy and in governing the country.

However, his family education and methods of training heirs were indeed somewhat unsatisfactory.

Since they were talking about the issue of establishing a crown prince, Du He asked.

"Brother Ma, what do you think about the succession?"

"Naturally, the eldest son will succeed to the throne."

Du He nodded slightly, and then asked: "Brother Ma, there are only two of us here, why don't we open our hearts and express our feelings."

"Do you think the prince has a chance to succeed to the throne?"

Ma Zhou looked at Du He with his deep eyes, but did not answer immediately.

After a while.

Ma Zhou said with a serious expression: "If the prince works hard to govern the country and improves domestic affairs, succession will be a natural thing."

This answer is very universal.

But Du He also understood what he meant.

If the prince is virtuous and treats his ministers and people well, we will support him.

If you are extremely stupid, I will not support you.

Most of the neutral ministers in the court shared this idea.

Du He bowed to him and said, "Brother Ma, the prince is now willing to do good, so please take care of him."

Ma Zhou said succinctly: "It's my duty."

He stared at Du He and stated the purpose of this conversation: "Prince Consort Du, since His Majesty's favor towards the King of Wei cannot be changed, do you have any method to enlighten the Crown Prince?"

Under the influence of Du He, the prince has changed recently, so Ma Zhou also has some expectations for Du He.

Du He said softly: "From the perspective of the prince, understand him and identify with him."

"Makes sense!"

Ma Zhou's eyes lit up when he heard Du He's simple but reasonable words.

Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes is indeed a good idea!

I subconsciously glanced at Du He and found that he had a kind of elegance and stability.

Ma Zhou nodded thoughtfully, with an attitude of humbly asking for advice.

"Prince Consort Du, can you give me an example?"

Du He coughed lightly and said with a smile: "For example, when the prince is not interested in handling government affairs and only wants to drink and watch the dancers dance, you can say this."

"As expected of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, facing a mountain of government affairs every day, he still has free time to cultivate his sentiments."

"And for 18 years, he has been able to handle government affairs in an orderly manner every day without any mistakes."

"So it's because the prince knows how to combine work and rest."

"I have learned this, I admire you!"

Du He squeezed his throat and imitated Ma Zhou's tone of voice.

You know what, it does look like that.

Ma Zhou opened his mouth wide and said doubtfully, "Is that all?"

"That's all."

Du He smiled and nodded.

This is actually a simple psychological suggestion.

By praising Li Chengqian, he was encouraged to complete his daily government affairs consciously.

This tactful approach is more effective than directly scolding him for not doing his job and urging him to handle government affairs.

Ma Zhou said with a strange look on his face: "Let me try it first."

It was really embarrassing for him, a loyal minister, to teach the prince like a child.

After all, the prince is an adult in his 20s, not a child.

But there is no other way at the moment, so we can only try our best.