Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

Chapter 508 Joining the Cabinet! (Subscribe please!!)

At this moment, the way businessmen like Feng Degui looked at Li Shanchang was like the look of a mortal enemy.

Just now, Li Shanchang agreed to Zhu Yuanzhang's beheading them. Merchants such as Feng Degui had never thought of betraying Li Shanchang and the Huaixi Party, but now Li Shanchang wanted to personally extinguish their hope of life.

It was obvious that Li Shanchang wanted to kill them completely!
When Feng Degui and other businessmen looked at Ouyang Lun, their eyes no longer contained hatred, but even a hint of gratitude and guilt.

They racked their brains to deal with Ouyang Lun, but in the end Ouyang Lun repaid them with kindness! He asked the emperor to forgive them for their illness.

The difference between Li Shanchang and Ouyang Lun is obvious!
"Master Li, what's wrong with you today? You were so protective of the merchants just now, but now you are shouting that you want to kill them!?"

"Don't you want to live anymore?"

Ouyang Lun said sarcastically, right at his face.

"Humph, I protected them before because they were suing you, a corrupt official! Now that it has been confirmed that they deceived His Majesty, I will naturally stand on the side of justice!" Li Shanchang had no sympathy in his eyes. "On the contrary, Prince Consort Ouyang Lun, these businessmen slandered you, but you still tried to intercede for them. This really makes people wonder if all this was a play directed by you yourself!"

"Master Li, you are truly a genius at logic!"

Ouyang Lun was speechless.

"You...!" Li Shanchang was so angry that he couldn't speak.

"I don't want to bother with you!"

After that, Ouyang Lun continued to say to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your Majesty, please understand!"

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand, "Ouyang Lun, you should speak for yourself!"

Ouyang Lun immediately asked, "Your Majesty, I still hold the same view as before. Don't kill these businessmen. Give them a chance to change!"

"Of course, they can be spared the death penalty, but they can't escape the punishment of life. All the major construction sites in Ming Dynasty are in need of workers. Let them go to the construction sites to gain experience!"

“That way, not only is their arrangement resolved, but it also makes it acceptable to address the recognized shortage.”

"This is a good idea. Let's do as you say." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for not killing us!" Feng Degui and others knelt down in salute.

"You don't need to thank me, thank Ouyang Lun. If he hadn't asked for a son-in-law for you, you would have no choice but death today!" Zhu Yuanzhang said slowly.

"Thank you, Prince Consort Ouyang!"

Feng Degui and others had just heard Ouyang Lun pleading for them with their own ears, which saved their lives. Naturally, the person they were most grateful to was Ouyang Lun.

"No need to thank me, you are just being used by others, but you are really stupid, you are a disgrace to businessmen. Logically speaking, as businessmen, you should be quite smart, and you should also know what happened to those great Confucian scholars in the past."

"I hope that after you realize your mistakes, you will go to the construction site and reform yourself. Be a smart person and a good person at the same time! Don't be stupid and let others take advantage of you again!"

Ouyang Lun said lightly.

"I will keep in mind Prince Consort Ouyang's instructions." Feng Degui said hurriedly.

As Feng Degui and others were taken away, the Hall of Supreme Harmony became quiet again.

Except for Ouyang Lun who looked relaxed and comfortable, everyone else was rather serious.

Especially Li Shanchang, his face was as black as charcoal at this moment.

The situation was now very clear. Zhu Yuanzhang took successive actions to directly resolve Li Shanchang's attack on Ouyang Lun.

Li Shanchang's plan completely failed.

Originally, Li Shanchang wanted to take advantage of this drum-beating to strike a severe blow to Ouyang Lun.

With hundreds of officials jointly filing a petition in front and businessmen beating the drum to report the incident later, and with the publicity from newspapers like the New Confucian News, even if Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to protect Ouyang Lun, he would not be able to let Ouyang Lun get away with it.

But the development of things was increasingly different from what Li Shanchang had expected.

Li Shanchang didn't care about the life or death of Feng Degui and others at all. If he could use the death of Feng Degui and others to exchange for Ouyang Lun, it would definitely be a huge profit!
And if Feng Degui and others were really dead, then some things would be hidden forever.

But the actual result was that not only was Ouyang Lun not hurt at all, but even Feng Degui and others were fine.

The more Li Shanchang thought about it, the more unwilling he became.

"Your Majesty, Ouyang Lun has made so many mistakes, but he won't be punished at all!?"

"If the people knew about this, they would be very dissatisfied! They would say that Your Majesty is nepotism and protecting his son-in-law!"

"I'm afraid there will be a rebellion by then!"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned when he heard Li Shanchang's words. Ouyang Lun spoke first, "Rebellion? I only know that people will rebel if they cannot survive. If we let people live a good life, we don't have to worry about this problem."

"On this point, Lord Li, you are probably more clear than me! Was the rebellion in the four southern provinces caused by your nepotism, shielding your subordinates, and forming cliques for personal gain, or was it caused by the people being unable to make ends meet? I don't need to explain this further!"

Ouyang Lun said lightly.

"you!!"

Li Shanchang pointed at Ouyang Lun and was so angry that he couldn't speak.

"It's been so long since the incident in the four southern provinces happened. Why do you have to bring it up again? I am loyal to Your Majesty and the Ming Dynasty. This is obvious to all! You... you don't have to humiliate me!"

Ouyang Lun rolled his eyes and said, "Humiliate you? I'm not interested in that. What I said is true. Do you think Lord Li dares to say that I'm talking nonsense?"

amount……

Li Shanchang was speechless again. The events in the four southern provinces were indeed his dark history. He was lucky not to have been beheaded and his property confiscated by Zhu Yuanzhang. If the matter was investigated again, he would not gain any advantage.

Ouyang Lun continued, "Since Lord Li said that the matter of the four southern provinces happened so long ago, let's talk about the Ministry of Revenue?"

amount……

When the Ministry of Revenue was mentioned, Li Shanchang's face became even uglier.

"Ouyang Lun, why do you keep bringing up the past?" Li Shanchang said angrily, "Wang Bi and I have already paid the price and admitted our mistakes. What else do you want?"

"Master Li, you are really confused. You were the first to bring up the past. I just want to ask, if I were captured by you today, would you choose to let me go?"

Ouyang Lun asked back.

"Just now I said you were useless, but now it seems that I am flattering you. Whether it is the four southern provinces or the Ministry of Revenue, I have given you opportunities, but unfortunately, you are useless!"

"Now you're accusing me of bringing up the past, where's your dignity? Oh, I forgot, you've lost your dignity a long time ago!"

Ouyang Lun is firing on all cylinders.

"It is a disgrace to me to serve in the same court as you!"

"You... cough cough!" Li Shanchang was so angry that he kept coughing. Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne above, watching Ouyang Lun and Li Shanchang quarreling with each other. He had already changed from being unhappy at the beginning to now being happy to see the two quarreling.

Yeah, not bad, not bad, this is the Ouyang Lun I know.

He doesn't use any dirty words when he curses.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang was quite dissatisfied with Li Shanchang. As this old guy got older, his selfishness grew, and his actions made Zhu Yuanzhang dissatisfied again and again.

Sometimes Zhu Yuanzhang really wanted to say to Li Shanchang, if you, Li Shanchang, were reliable enough, I wouldn't have to be so accommodating to Ouyang Lun!

They are not good things at all!

"Okay, what's the point of you guys arguing like this?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said with some annoyance.

Li Shanchang was no match for Ouyang Lun, so he placed his last hope on Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. "Your Majesty, you just saw that Ouyang Lun was arrogant and did whatever he wanted in front of your Majesty in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. This is simply unworthy of a noble place, and we must not let him go!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was already a little impatient, and when Li Shanchang said this, he immediately said in a deep voice: "Li Shanchang, I think you have ignored what I just said!"

"I have already said that I know everything Ouyang Lun did, but it is not enough to deal with it."

"As for what you said about Ouyang Lun being arrogant and domineering, what's wrong with my son-in-law being a little arrogant and domineering? Is there any problem?"

"Does my son-in-law have to bow and salute you when he sees you? Do you have to stand aside even if I build a new one in the future?!"

"Um!?"

When Zhu Yuanzhang said this, not only did Li Shanchang quickly shake his head and say he dared not, but even the other officials were trembling with fear.

"Also, you keep saying that you want to serve the court, but think carefully about what you have done for the Ming Dynasty over the years? What political achievements do you have that you can show for it?"

"Humph, if your political achievements can be as good as Ouyang Lun's, if someone reports you, I will also be biased towards you!"

"The biggest goal of the Ming Dynasty now is to create the Hongwu era of prosperity. If we rely on you... I'm afraid I won't see the arrival of the prosperous era even if I die!"

"Ouyang Lun just said a lot. Everyone can talk big, but if you can make all your boasts come true, that's what I call great. That's the talent I need!"

"That's all I have to say. If you have any other opinions, you can come to me directly!"

The words fell.

The hall was silent.

Li Shanchang and other officials were completely shocked.

Zhu Yuanzhang's words were no longer just about favoring Ouyang Lun; he was just short of telling them that Ouyang Lun was protected by him, Zhu Yuanzhang. Anyone who messed with Ouyang Lun would be messing with Zhu Yuanzhang!
Zhu Yuanzhang's statement directly extinguished Li Shanchang's hopes.

Before this, Li Shanchang judged that although Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to Ouyang Lun, it was mostly just admiration, and a big part of the reason was that Ouyang Lun was the son-in-law of the emperor!

And Li Shanchang had always followed Zhu Yuanzhang, assisting him in building his empire and finally establishing the Ming Dynasty!
In any case, Li Shanchang's status in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind was higher than Ouyang Lun's.

Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately restarted him, and the purpose was very obvious, that is, to let him check and balance Ouyang Lun. All these can prove that Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to Li Shanchang.

This is also the reason why Li Shanchang dared to attack Ouyang Lun unscrupulously.

But until now, Li Shanchang suddenly realized that perhaps he was wrong from the beginning!
He overestimated his status in the eyes of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

He underestimated the importance of Ouyang Lun in the eyes of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang!
He thought he was checking Ouyang Lun or even taking him down, just like he did to Liu Bowen, but in fact, he, Li Shanchang, was just a whetstone that Zhu Yuanzhang found for Ouyang Lun!
Thinking of this, Li Shanchang's face turned pale, and his already hunched back became even more bent.

It was as if all the energy had been drained out of the whole person.

After a moment, Li Shanchang looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with despair and said in a hoarse voice, "Your Majesty, do you really think that this old minister is useless?"

"You know whether it is useful or not. Think about it carefully. Since you returned to the court, how many things have you done to make me happy?" Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice.

"Forehead……"

Li Shanchang lowered his head in shame, but a trace of unwillingness flashed in his eyes.

"Li Shanchang."

"The old minister is here."

"You haven't dealt with the Ministry of Revenue yet. How about this... I will relieve you of your position as a cabinet minister and let you focus on handling the Ministry of Revenue. If you can handle the Ministry of Revenue well, I will consider recruiting you back into the cabinet!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice.

"what!"

Hearing this, Li Shanchang was shocked all over. It was not that he felt sorry for his position as a cabinet minister, after all, he had even been a prime minister. He was truly shocked by the deep meaning behind Zhu Yuanzhang's arrangement.

Removing the cabinet minister was equivalent to kicking Li Shanchang out of the Ming Dynasty's political core. Although the Minister of Revenue had a high position in the Ming Dynasty's political system, he was not in a core position.

Zhu Yuanzhang, Crown Prince Zhu Biao and several cabinet ministers are the real decision-making circle of the Ming Dynasty!
It seems that Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang is very dissatisfied with his recent performance!
Li Shanchang was naturally extremely unwilling, but he had no choice now.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"

Li Shanchang bowed.

"In addition..." Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Ouyang Lun again, "Let Li Shanchang handle the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue. Ouyang Lun, you are only the chief of clansmen and the commander of the tax inspection bureau. These two positions are somewhat overqualified for you."

"Whatever you want... I have decided to promote you to the position of Grand Secretary of the Cabinet. You will assist me in handling government affairs together with the Crown Prince and several other Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet in the future!"

what! !

Fire me and let Ouyang Lun take charge?!
If being dismissed from the position of Grand Secretary of the Cabinet only made Li Shanchang a little disappointed, when he heard that Ouyang Lun was promoted to Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, Li Shanchang wanted to die.

humiliation! This is naked humiliation!

In addition to unwillingness, there was also a flash of hatred in Li Shanchang's eyes, but Li Shanchang lowered his head, and now everyone's eyes were on Ouyang Lun, and no one else noticed this.

Except for Li Shanchang, other ministers were also extremely shocked.

Entering the Cabinet in his early thirties? !

This is simply making history.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has no prime minister, entering the cabinet is almost the same as becoming a prime minister. Moreover, with the power that Ouyang Lu currently holds, plus the support of the Prince Consort Party, it is estimated that it won’t be long before Ouyang Lun will become the chief minister of the cabinet!

On the other hand, Ouyang Lun, the person involved, became completely frozen when he learned that he was appointed as the Grand Secretary of the Cabinet by Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Your Majesty, can we discuss this matter for a while? I am still young, and being the Minister of Revenue is already very difficult. Some time ago, I was dismissed by you for my poor performance. Now you want to promote me to the cabinet. This is too sudden!"

"Besides, my energies have been focused on taxation lately. I also have to take care of the affairs of the clan office. I don't have enough energy!"

(End of this chapter)