I'm really not doing business

Chapter 976 All I can teach you is to run away.
Gao Qiyu was the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. After Shen Li entered the cabinet, he was effectively the Minister of Rites. Wherever he went, he was addressed as the Junior Minister of Rites.

Although Gao Qiyu proposed the shareholding system for government factories, the people who actually implemented it were the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Works.

Without a doubt, Gao Qiyu's reach went far too far.

Gao Qiyu's memorial on the reform of the official factory's shareholding system was very well written. Specifically, for each person, the master craftsman had a share of 10 percent, while the apprentices who had been apprenticed for more than five years would have a share of 1 percent. The nine grades of shareholding became another set of promotion mechanisms for the official factory.

Most importantly, in Gao Qiyu's plan, the officials in charge of the factories, such as the co-directors, agents, and general managers, had absolutely no shares in the company.

This presents a very serious contradiction: the officials in charge of people are the artisans who are the owners of the state-owned factories. So how can these officials still control these artisans?

Zhu Yijun couldn't help but look at Shen Shixing. The struggle between Gao Qiyu and Shen Shixing, these two fellow disciples, was becoming increasingly fierce.

“Your Majesty, I believe that what the Junior Minister of Rites said is inappropriate.” Shen Shixing took a deep breath, took out a memorial, and stepped forward, saying, “I have another memorial to submit.”

Shen Shixing also produced a memorial, the content of which was almost identical to Gao Qiyu's on the artisan system. The biggest difference was that in Shen Shixing's memorial, the officials of the official factories also had shares, but these shares were completely tied to their positions and would be lost once they left office.

“Minister Shen, I have also read your memorial. Officials and craftsmen are different. Officials are employed by the court to perform their duties. What is the shareholding system? The shareholding system is a rating system for craftsmen and an examination of their skills. What skills do officials have, and why should they have shareholding?” Gao Qiyu did not mince words. Seeing that His Majesty had finished reading the memorial, he immediately launched an attack on Shen Shixing.

The former Grand Secretary's disciple and his top disciple have started a war. Hasn't Zhu Yijun been so diligent in his duties for so many years just to watch the Ming Dynasty's rulers quarrel?

Zhu Yijun wished he could personally stir up trouble; he wanted things to stop arguing and instead have a fight, because that would be much more exciting!
Shen Shixing immediately said, "Young Master Zongbo, you are mistaken. Those craftsmen are one of the owners of the official factory. How can officials control the craftsmen? The shareholding system I am talking about is the shareholding of their positions, not their own."

Shen Shixing's expression was unfriendly. He felt that Gao Qiyu was simply taking advantage of the emperor's favor to cause trouble, rather than for the sake of implementing policies.

Can an official in charge of managing a government-owned factory really control it? Shen Shixing felt that Gao Qiyu was simply being stubborn and completely unreasonable.

During this period, Gao Qiyu was always causing trouble for Shen Shixing. Shen Shixing had a good temper, so he always tolerated him, just like Lin Xiangru always yielded to Lian Po. Sometimes, yielding is for the sake of the bigger picture.

However, after a period of leniency, Gao Qiyu became even more aggressive, extending his reach to the Ministry of Personnel, which made it impossible for Shen Shixing to continue to yield.

“If it’s about the position’s equity, then there’s even less room for equity. Minister Shen, and other officials in the Imperial Workshop, won’t they be promoted after their probationary period ends, perhaps even becoming ambassadors or senior officials in the Ministry of Works?” Gao Qiyu said with considerable certainty.

Shen Shixing frowned for a moment before saying, "Officials from the official factories will indeed be promoted to the Ministry of Works. This time, the Ministry of Works is building fifty-one official factories, and many of the officials were promoted from the official factories in the capital to the Ministry of Works to prepare for the construction of these new official factories."

Gao Qiyu said with his hands clasped, "That's it. Master craftsmen won't be promoted to the Ministry of Works. At most, they'll be transferred to various government factories as chief engineers, spending their entire lives working in government factories."

“When these officials are promoted, the junior clerks who take their positions will hand over their share of the silver to these higher-ranking officials.”

“Minister Shen, we are all officials. Let’s be frank. Power is like this. You can get whatever you want, even if it’s just a dream. You don’t even need to ask for it; people will come to you to pay tribute.”

“After being promoted from the government factory to the Ministry of Works, do you think the officials in the government factory would keep the money from your official position and shareholding? In time, even the money from your shareholding in the government factory could be stolen.”

"The shareholding system was intended to make the craftsmen live in the factory, but it is clear that officials cannot do it and will only bring trouble upon themselves, so it is unnecessary."

Gao Qiyu's words were very blunt, but he was actually being very polite. Everyone was an official, and what he said was bound to happen, so he nipped that possibility in the bud from the very beginning.

No organization can function without administration. Without administration, a government office becomes a place like the Hanlin Academy, a place that devours people without spitting out their bones.

However, if an organization has too much administrative power, it will immediately become rigid. This applies not only to the imperial court and government factories, but also to the common people. A single act of excessive paperwork and meetings can keep everyone busy and exhausted.

The artisans' possession of shares was a way of counterbalancing the power of the officials. If the artisans were also given shares, even if it was just for their positions, then the artisans would no longer be able to maintain a balance with the officials.

“What you said makes a lot of sense.” Shen Shixing was the first to agree with Gao Qiyu. Shen Shixing knew very well what the officials of the Ming Dynasty were like. These scoundrels did only two things: form cliques, gang up to disrupt the government, and arbitrarily change and disrupt the established laws.

For example, this arbitrary alteration and disruption of the established laws. There are clearly defined laws and regulations of the Ming Dynasty, and even interpretations of the articles. But when they reach the hands of local judges, they always decide however they want. You troublesome people, you think you can win a lawsuit against an official?

The same applies to government factories. The regulations for government factories are clearly stipulated, but these officials simply do not comply. They find excuses to make things difficult for the craftsmen every day, doing this today and that tomorrow. When the superiors come, they will stop work and production. In the end, the superior is just a ninth-rank ambassador from the Ministry of Works, who comes to the warehouse to inspect the materials.

They spend all their time preparing for inspections, but they've never actually received one.

The reason there are so many messy things is simply because these officials are abusing their power. They deliberately create trouble to show off their authority, and often, the lower the official's rank, the bigger the rules and the more problems there are.

Having served as an official for many years, Shen Shixing was all too familiar with these problems among officials.

“But Young Master, if you do this, how will the officials manage the craftsmen?” Shen Shixing said with a furrowed brow.

“Minister Shen, they are officials, they hold power in their hands, and the court stands behind them. The craftsmen are all commoners, how can they not be controlled?” Gao Qiyu shook his head and continued, “Minister Shen, officials should be bound by the ‘Personnel Law’, and craftsmen should be bound by the ‘Official Factory Law’.”

Gao Qiyu's words are not hard to understand. Officials are the ruling class who select officials, while artisans are the ruled production class who have no shares. These officials naturally suppress the artisans.

Zhu Yijun chuckled. These two actors weren't very good at acting, not as good as Feng Bao. They were just saying things that were inconvenient to say, and they used the so-called argument to say them.

Neither of them agreed to give shares to officials.

"I understand now. Ever since the Junior Minister of State submitted his memorial, I have never understood why this shareholding system is the key, or even the cornerstone, of the reform of government factories. Now I understand."

Zhu Yijun looked at Ling Yunyi and continued, "Vice Minister Ling, when the craftsmen had grievances, did they all go to Vice Minister Wang?"

Ling Yunyi stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Sometimes, the craftsmen would talk to Wang Jian about these things, after all, Wang Jian was the nephew of Duke Wencheng. However, later, Wang Jian gradually changed, and the craftsmen stopped talking to him. After Duke Wencheng passed away, the craftsmen could only take advantage of His Majesty's visits to the official factory to complain to His Majesty."

The problems with Wang Chonggu's management of the official factory, which relied too heavily on personal relationships, fully surfaced after Wang Chonggu left. The artisans' channels for grievances were completely cut off, which is why Ling Yunyi implemented sweeping reforms after taking over, because the artisans had nowhere to voice their grievances.

Most importantly, the artisans in the official workshops of the capital could ask Wang Chonggu for a few words, but who could the artisans in the official workshops outside the capital say to?
In the past, the scale of official factories was not large, but now there are fifty-one official factories under construction, and the number of official factories directly under the Ministry of Works of the Ming Dynasty is as high as seventy. This excessive emphasis on personal relationships has become an obstacle to the expansion of official factories.

"How many grievances can the craftsmen confide in me? I live in the highest palace, and how many times a year can I visit the official workshops? How many craftsmen can I speak to?" Zhu Yijun said with great emotion, "When I go there, the craftsmen will only say nice things, afraid of being harassed if they say anything bad. They can only talk to me about some major injustices."

"As Shao Zongbo said, the Ministry of Personnel will carry out the reform."

Gao Qiyu's charge into battle was driven by Ling Yunyi's ideas and was a continuation of the reform of government-run factories.

"Your subject obeys the decree." Seeing that His Majesty had made a decision, Shen Shixing did not hesitate and bowed his head to accept the order. Gao Qiyu's idea was good, but in the end, all the credit went to the Ministry of Personnel and to Shen Shixing. It was Gao Qiyu who was scolded.

Even if Shen Shixing loses, he won't lose by too much. As a disciple of the Grand Secretary and a fellow disciple of the Emperor, Shen Shixing's starting point in this hundred-step competition was ninety-nine steps, while Gao Qiyu's starting point was negative two hundred steps. Being expelled from the sect by his master was not a taboo and was a great disrespect to the imperial authority.

Therefore, Zhu Yijun said that the two of them were acting, with Gao Qiyu trying to gain the emperor's favor and Shen Shixing trying to gain merit.

"Your Majesty is wise." Gao Qiyu, seeing that he had won, did not become arrogant but bowed his head and returned to his post.

"Vice Minister Ling, will the next reform of the official factory be the establishment of the Workers' Alliance?" Zhu Yijun asked Ling Yunyi. "Duke Wencheng has been thinking about this for a long time, and he has tried four or five times without success. After the Workers' Alliance was established this time, the craftsmen have been sending their proposals to the Emperor for review at every craftsmen's conference."

"Your subject obeys the decree." Ling Yunyi bowed his head. Having been back in the capital for so long, he had come to understand why the court was so stable. With His Majesty as the pillar of stability, no lowly scholar could cause any trouble.

Perhaps His Majesty has long understood the reason for the repeated failures of the Workers' Alliance: Wang Chonggu was too attached to personal relationships. But as long as Wang Chonggu is still around, this problem cannot be solved.

His Majesty even has a clear plan for the reform of the official factories.

Zhu Yijun glanced at Wang Jiaping. Since returning to the capital, Wang Jiaping had become somewhat quiet and his performance had been rather lackluster. In fact, it was not Wang Jiaping's fault, since his disciple Wu Weizhong was not up to par. During this period, Wang Jiaping could only hide in the Wenhua Hall.

"Your Majesty, the matter of Prince Lu's enfeoffment." Grand Minister Shen Li stepped forward and presented a memorial regarding the ceremony for Prince Lu's enfeoffment. The entire ceremony was the most elaborate in the history of enfeoffment of princes. In addition to the usual ceremonies, extra grand rites such as the sacrifice to Heaven and the suburban sacrifice were added, making it almost like an enthronement ceremony.

“Your Majesty, I think this is inappropriate.” Wang Yi’e, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, stepped forward and bowed his head, saying, “Your Majesty, I believe that such a protocol is somewhat presumptuous.”

"Isn't this perfectly fine? Where is this overstepping your bounds?" Zhu Yijun asked somewhat strangely, "The money for this fiefdom comes entirely from the imperial treasury, not from the national treasury. The Ministry of Revenue need not worry. I have been on the throne for eighteen years and have never asked the national treasury for any money."

Zhu Yijun thought Wang Yie was trying to save money, but this was all from the imperial treasury, not the national treasury.

Wang Yi'e didn't speak, didn't answer, and didn't return to his post. He just stood there straight, his attitude clear: he opposed such a high level of protocol.

The Wenhua Hall was somewhat quiet. Even Shen Li did not argue with Wang Yi'e, which was tantamount to the Ministry of Rites acquiescing to this overstepping of protocol.

Seeing that no one spoke, Zhang Juzheng had no choice but to step forward, bow his head, and say, "Your Majesty, this is indeed somewhat presumptuous."

"I don't understand." Zhu Yijun was even more puzzled, and he decided to take another look.

Zhang Juzheng strongly approved of the emperor spending money, after all, he had received many criticisms of the emperor's frugality.

Zhang Juzheng took a deep breath, bowed again, and said, "When Your Majesty ascended the throne, the country was in turmoil, so you simply held a ceremony without offering sacrifices to Heaven or at the suburbs. This was my fault."

The boomerang that brought the emperor to the throne in the sixth year of the Longqing reign, after nineteen years of twists and turns, struck Zhang Juzheng squarely between the eyebrows.

"Ah? Oh, this..." Zhu Yijun was stunned for a moment. No wonder it was Wang Yi'e who stood up to speak. Wang Yi'e and Zhang Juzheng didn't get along. After all, Wang Yi'e was Xu Jie's favorite student. No wonder the ministers were silent and Wang Yi'e only dared to bring up the topic.

The only people who would dare to use a boomerang to hit the Grand Secretary are His Majesty and the Grand Secretary themselves.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "The enthronement ceremony is not your fault, sir. I remember that Gao Gong was in charge of the government back then. It was Gao Gong who relied on the power of the late emperor to make everything simple. It's all his fault, yes, it's all his fault."

"Your Majesty, I am guilty and thank you for your great mercy and leniency." Zhang Juzheng hesitated for a moment, then finally thanked the emperor for his grace.

It's really not Gao Gong's fault. The suburban sacrifices and the sacrifices at the Temple of Heaven were really too expensive. The two combined cost 200,000 taels of silver. Zhang Juzheng had the Ministry of Rites officials go to the Western Hills Mausoleum, the Temple of Heaven, and the Temple of Agriculture to perform the sacrifices on his behalf, thus saving 200,000 taels of silver.

Frugality was indeed Zhang Juzheng's consistent principle.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said, "Actually, it's not Gao Gong's fault. I remember that the late emperor's mausoleum cost a total of 510,000 taels of silver, and we still owed 110,000 taels. It wasn't settled until December of the first year of Wanli's reign. The country didn't have enough silver, and the scale of the operation got too big. We couldn't cover it up, and instead, we became a laughing stock among the people." "Back then, things were difficult, and we could only make do with what we could. Now that the country has silver, let's have some fun."

"Your Majesty, we obey your decree," Zhang Juzheng said, bowing again with his ministers.

The matter of usurpation must be clarified by the emperor himself.

The crime of overstepping one's bounds can be serious or minor. If the emperor himself does not clarify the past, the new matter can only be simplified. After all, if the emperor really holds someone accountable, no one can escape, although the emperor has never held anyone accountable for mere formalities.

Even the emperor himself never made his subjects kneel when he presented his memorials in private.

His Majesty is not concerned with empty formalities, and no one dares to challenge His Majesty's authority.

In many matters, the Emperor showed great tolerance and benevolence, but in many matters, His Majesty was even more ruthless than Ling Yunyi.

On the third day of the second month of the nineteenth year of the Wanli reign, Prince Lu got up very early, around the fourth watch of the night. After having breakfast, he bathed and changed his clothes, tied his hair up like an adult, and put on the Winged Crown with Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl.

Today, he, the Prince of Lu, is about to depart for his fiefdom!
The official hat is folded at the back of the head with a pair of folded corners, which are rounded with gold hoops. Two dragons are adorned with gemstones, the largest of which is a crystal-clear diamond in the very center.

"This is made of real gold?!" Zhu Yiliu weighed the Shan Yi Crown in his hand, quite surprised that his stingy older brother would actually be willing to use real gold!
When he was a child, he played with the emperor's winged crown. He didn't wear it. He thought that his brother's winged crown was like a lasso for oxen and horses when they worked. Whoever wore it would have to work as hard as oxen and horses.

Zhu Yiliu was curious whether the winged crown his brother wore was really made of gold.

In fact, Zhu Yiliu knew from a very young age that the winged crown on his brother's head was not pure gold, but gold-plated, because Zhu Yiliu couldn't bite it at all. At that time, he was losing his baby teeth and had broken one of them.

Thirteen years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Now, Zhu Yiliu is about to cross the Pacific Ocean to go to the Kingdom of Gold Mountain (San Francisco, North America) to take up his fief. The two dragons playing with a pearl on the winged crown given to him by the emperor are actually made of pure gold. Except that they are four-clawed gold dragons, the style is exactly the same as His Majesty's.

It's worth noting that both brothers used fake items for their weddings, since no one doubted their identities.

"Could it be that the gold thread on this nine-chapter robe is also real gold?" Zhu Yiliu put on the Yishan crown and changed into the nine-chapter robe, only to find that the robe was a bit heavy. The emperor's robe has twelve chapters, a prince's robe has nine chapters, Korea's robe has seven chapters, and tributary states such as Japan and Ceylon have five chapters.

The imperial robes were strictly hierarchical. Zhu Yiliu's robe had three fewer embroidered patterns, but it was more expensive than the emperor's because the emperor's gold thread was fake.

Zhu Yiliu went to Tonghe Palace. Before heading to Huangji Hall to attend the enfeoffment ceremony, Zhu Yiliu first went to Tonghe Palace to ask his mother, Empress Dowager Li, to leave the palace and attend the enfeoffment ceremony at Huangji Hall.

"Greetings, Your Majesty." Zhu Yiliu met His Majesty the Emperor, dressed in imperial robes, at the gate of the rear garden of Tonghe Palace.

"Ever since I agreed to take up my fiefdom, Mother has refused to see us. She's even skipped our monthly visits on the first and fifteenth of the month. When you ask Mother to come out this time, please don't anger her. I heard from the eunuchs at Cining Palace that Mother didn't sleep a wink last night. Please don't use harsh words, understand?" Zhu Yijun stepped forward and carefully gave her some instructions.

Gao Qiyu submitted two memorials, one advocating for continued struggle and the other for ceasing the struggle.

Choosing to stop striving and, given the achievements of the Wanli Reforms, focusing on consolidating imperial power is a very good path. Maintaining commodity and cost advantages and not continuing overseas expansion would prevent Zhu Yiliu from leaving.

The blame fell on the villain, Gao Qiyu.

However, Zhu Yijun chose to continue the struggle under the shareholding system, which could not maintain the cost advantage. In order to expand overseas, the Prince of Lu would have to take up his fief.

Everything has a price. When Prince Lu was enfeoffed in Jinshan Kingdom, Zhu Yijun had to pay a price. Empress Dowager Li refused to even see her son, only seeing him once during the New Year, which was also part of the price.

"Rest assured, Your Majesty, I am no longer a child." Zhu Yiliu bowed again and, led by Zhang Hong, entered the rear garden and then the Cining Palace. There was a Buddhist pagoda in front of the palace gate.

Empress Dowager Li stayed up all night yesterday, praying for Zhu Yiliu's enfeoffment inside the Buddhist pagoda.

"Mother." Zhu Yiliu entered Cining Palace and saw his mother, whose face looked somewhat haggard.

"Liu'er, if you don't want to go so far, just tell your mother, and I'll go talk to the Emperor. Do you think he can bear to separate us, mother and son?" Empress Dowager Li looked at Zhu Yiliu for a long, long time before sighing and saying.

Zhu Yiliu stood up straight, his right hand in front of him and his left hand behind his back. He said with his chest out and head held high, "Mother, I chose the Kingdom of Jinshan myself."

“My elder brother has told me more than once that he can build a grand Prince Lu’s Mansion for me in the Tenth Prince’s Mansion! Just as I’m enfeoffed, we can fill the Prince Lu’s Mansion with beauties from all over the world and let me enjoy myself for the rest of my life.”

“Mother, I don’t want to be a cow or a horse, I don’t want to be a pig either. I just want to be a human being. If I had no choice, that would be fine, but now that I have a choice, I want to be a human being.”

"I don't want to spend my whole life in the sky, only in the four corners of the high walls of the Prince Lu's mansion. Being a living dead is worse than being dead."

"You're becoming more and more like your brother. He was driven to this state by the affairs of the country. What about you?" As Empress Dowager Li spoke, tears streamed down her face. She cried for half the night, unable to stop her grief. The journey by water was 20,000 li. What difference was there between this and death?

Zhu Yiliu hesitated for a moment, feeling sad as he looked at his mother's tearful complaint, but his expression quickly turned serious as he said, "Because I grew up with my brother, it's normal for me to resemble him. Mother, don't think my brother is heartless. He has to shoulder the burden of the world. He's so tired, so very tired."

"People always say that you are a wise and sage ruler, an unparalleled wise ruler, but you are only five years older than me. I have seen it all over the past nineteen years, and the weight of the country and its people is just too heavy."

"If I can share some of the burden with my brother, he won't have to work so hard."

Empress Dowager Li's love was always somewhat biased. She always felt that her eldest son's hardships were to be expected, but Zhu Yiliu felt that his elder brother had really suffered too much in the past nineteen years. His elder brother was a living, breathing person who could also be exhausted.

Zhu Yiliu did not hide his purpose. With the ancestral system of prohibiting princes from doing anything, he could not help his elder brother at all. It would be good enough if he did not become a burden. Although he often said that his elder brother was more tired than a donkey in a mill, he knew how hard his elder brother worked.

Zhu Yijun never wronged Zhu Yiliu. Now that he's grown up, it's only right and proper that Zhu Yiliu should help with some of the burdens.

"Very well, you two brothers are so loving and respectful to each other, and you're both wholeheartedly devoted to the country and its people! It's just that your mother is a lowly woman who only cares about your personal gain. I'm a villain! Is that enough?"

"Jinshan Kingdom is so far away, the Ming Dynasty can't reach it. You might as well die outside. By the time you rot, even your mother won't know you're dead!" Empress Dowager Li suddenly shouted angrily.

Zhu Yijun was outside the door. Hearing Empress Dowager Li's shout, he was about to go in, but he raised his foot and ultimately did not go in.

"Mother!" Upon hearing this, Zhu Yiliu did not argue but called out softly before saying with a smile, "Mother, I will not die outside. If I really die outside, my brother will be furious and probably kill everyone in the East Pacific before he will be satisfied."

"Who dares to kill me? One Xu Chengchu has terrified all the officials in the country. Mother, I am the Emperor's own brother."

"No one dares to kill the child. As long as the Ming Dynasty still exists, everyone over there will have to coax the child, fearing that something might happen to him."

Zhu Yiliu was not making this up. He died in Jinshan Kingdom for no reason, and all the governor-general's offices in the entire East Pacific, and even those barbarians, were to be buried with him. He was the emperor's most beloved younger brother.

"Eh?" Empress Dowager Li wiped away her tears and looked at Zhu Yiliu, saying, "This is something I didn't expect. I am indeed a mere woman and didn't think of this."

Empress Dowager Li, who had long lived in the deep palace, was deeply devoted to her son Zhu Yiliu. She was afraid that he would die in vain outside. Empress Dowager Li was not afraid of foreigners causing trouble. With the Ming army protecting him, any foreigners would be useless. Empress Dowager Li was afraid that Zhu Yiliu would not be able to defeat the Ming people of Jinshan Kingdom. They were all very clever and had more ideas than guts.

Having served as a princess, a noble consort, and an empress dowager for so many years, Empress Dowager Li knew all too well that a strong fortress often collapses from within.

But Zhu Yiliu's words completely dispelled all of Empress Dowager Li's concerns. No one could bear the price of plotting against Zhu Yiliu and the wrath of the emperor.

She always doted on her youngest son, forgetting that her eldest son, the emperor, was no longer the precarious figure he was when he was ten years old.

Zhu Yiliu spoke with Empress Dowager Li for a quarter of an hour before bowing again to take his leave.

"Alright, go and prepare. I'll get ready and go see you off to your fiefdom." Empress Dowager Li wiped away her tears, put on her regalia, and gestured for Zhu Yiliu to go and prepare for the enfeoffment ceremony. She would get ready and go herself.

If Empress Dowager Li did not attend the enfeoffment ceremony, the consequences would be very serious, mainly detrimental to the emperor. He would be branded as unfilial, putting him in a very passive position.

Even though Zhu Yiliu did not dispel Empress Dowager Li's doubts, she would still step in, saying that her younger son was her son, and her elder son was also her son.

Empress Dowager Li agreed to take up her fiefdom, but in reality, she still gave her maternal love to her eldest son, making her younger son suffer the injustice of traveling thousands of miles away, so that the affairs of state that her eldest son cared about most could proceed more smoothly.

"How is it? Is Mother going to attend the enfeoffment ceremony?" Zhu Yijun asked immediately when he saw Zhu Yiliu come out.

"Mother will go soon. Mother is just afraid that your younger brother will die outside. Your Majesty, if your younger brother really dies unjustly, what will Your Majesty do?" Zhu Yiliu was also curious about this question.

Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and said very solemnly, "I will capture all the Japanese and send them to the Xianbei grasslands. I will spend ten years building a road to Moscow. Except for the people of the Golden Mountain Kingdom who will be buried with you, I will make the entire Western Regions be buried with you!"

"The master behind the Governor-General of the Eastern Pacific is Spain. Spain is really too far away. I can only fight my way from Moscow to Madrid."

Zhu Yiliu shuddered. His elder brother was far more ruthless than he had imagined. Zhu Yiliu was willing to call him the Ruthless Emperor!

"No, no, not at all!" he hurriedly said. "Then you must protect your own life! There must be no mishaps. If we fight all the way to Madrid, how many Ming people will suffer? This is a battle that will traverse tens of thousands of miles, no small matter."

"Tsk tsk, I suddenly realize that I have to live well because I'm carrying the lives of so many people on my shoulders!"

"Liu'er, before you leave, I have one more piece of advice for you: always remember, if you encounter any danger, running away is the best course of action."

"As long as you're still alive, if three thousand isn't enough, then six thousand; if six thousand isn't enough, then thirty thousand. In any case, your life is the most important thing." Zhu Yijun straightened Zhu Yiliu's clothes and whispered, "Commander Qi will teach you how to win and how to divide the spoils, and how to be defeated and how to cover the rear."

"All I can teach you is to run away. Don't be reckless. With the Ming Dynasty behind you, you can do it ten thousand times over."

"Your Majesty, I understand," Zhu Yiliu said with absolute certainty. Striving is one thing, but life is only once.

"How about we do what we agreed before, and I get you a fake body? You can then indulge in debauchery at the Prince of Lu's residence?" Zhu Yijun suddenly said.

"Your Majesty, how can matters of state be treated like child's play? I'm already being ridiculous enough, Your Majesty shouldn't be so ridiculous either!" Zhu Yiliu waved his hands repeatedly upon hearing this. Sometimes, his steady and reliable elder brother was even more ridiculous than him!

To deceive everyone and fake a fiefdom—how could my imperial brother come up with such a thing!
(End of this chapter)