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

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao, father and son, were reluctant to kill him and seemed extremely worried, Ouyang Lun felt helpless.

To be honest, Ouyang Lun could understand the emotions of Zhu Yuanzhang and his son. It was like you started a company, worked hard for a long time and finally listed the company, and became a business tycoon, but you were at a loss as to the future development of the company.

At this time, a young talent stepped forward. Under his advice, he led the company to a new height. Now this young man has a very high prestige. Are you worried that this young man will take your company away?

It was actually not easy for Zhu Yuanzhang and his son Zhu Biao to express their concerns in front of him.

Ouyang Lun thought about it, then took the initiative to say: "Old Zhu, I understand your concerns."

"But have you and the Emperor's brother-in-law seen any desire for power in me over the years?"

"That's not the case." Zhu Yuanzhang said.

Zhu Biao also shook his head slowly.

"To be honest, if you hadn't run off to Northern Zhili, I would still be serving as the county magistrate, and my life would be so carefree!"

"Since I came to the capital, I found myself becoming much more haggard."

"Power is good, but that's all. If you hold power, you have to pay something. Are you really happy being the emperor, Lao Zhu?"

"Brother Emperor, do you have any other hobbies besides being an emperor?"

"There are many things to experience in life, not just power. Please don't use power and money to tarnish my noble sentiments!"

Forehead.
Upon hearing Ouyang Lun's words, Zhu Yuanzhang and his son Zhu Biao looked strange.

Although what Ouyang Lun said makes a lot of sense, this remark really deserves a beating!

Without waiting for Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao to speak, Ouyang Lun continued, "You must still want to talk about the princes. In addition to worrying about my rebellion, you must also be worried about the princes' rebellion, and you are even more worried that I will rebel together with the princes!"

"You are right to think so. After all, anyone who becomes an emperor will face this problem. You have probably thought about it for a long time, but you just haven't found a reasonable answer."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang and his son Zhu Biao nodded silently.

"To be honest, the power of the princes of the Ming Dynasty is the greatest I have ever seen. Of course, this has a lot to do with your ideas, Old Zhu. With the princes guarding the borders, even if there is chaos in the future, the world will belong to your family, Old Zhu, right?"

After Ouyang Lun finished speaking, he looked at Zhu Yuanzhang.

cough cough.

Zhu Yuanzhang coughed twice awkwardly. It was obvious that this was what he thought.

"You are actually worried about the princes' rebellion. This clearly shows that you don't fully understand my reform of the princes' management system. For the current Ming Dynasty, although the princes have great power, they actually only control less than 40% of the power to turn over the land, while the imperial court firmly controls more than 50%!"

"You can regard the vassal king as the next level leader. Nowadays, many trading companies like to open branch trading companies, which is also a reference to this."

"The princes are responsible for the daily management and operation of their fiefdoms and receive a share of the profits, but everything in the fiefdoms belongs to the imperial court. This is clearly written in the laws of the Ming Dynasty. If a prince really wants to turn his fiefdom into his own private property, it would be a heinous crime and tantamount to treason!"

"The court only needs an imperial edict to depose a vassal king, and according to the vassal king management method, the court must rotate the vassal kings every once in a while!"

"The financial and military powers are under the control of the imperial court. As long as the central government is not stupid, this prince will not rebel. If someone dares to rebel against the will of the world, there is no need for the imperial court to take action. The officials and people in the vassal state will not let this prince off!"

"So what's there to worry about?"

After Ouyang Lun finished speaking, Zhu Yuanzhang and his son Zhu Biao fell silent.

There is no doubt that what Ouyang Lun said is extremely reasonable.

A man like Ouyang Lun had almost no desire for power, so there was no need for him to take the risk of rebelling. As for being recruited by the vassal kings, that was even more impossible. Even Zhu Yuanzhang could only barely suppress Ouyang Lun. If it were someone else, Ouyang Lun would never do it.

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao, father and son, had already understood what Ouyang Lun meant, which was that he, Ouyang Lun, had no interest in the throne, and he had no intention of causing trouble with the princes.

His words were frank and his expression revealed his disdain for power and the throne.

The contrast between the two highlights the narrow-mindedness and excessive worries of Zhu Yuanzhang and his son Zhu Biao.

Zhu Biao also spoke quickly, "Father, I have said before that Brother-in-law Ouyang is definitely not the kind of person who covets power. Obviously, Brother-in-law Ouyang said it himself. Now you must believe it, right?"

"Uh-huh!"

"I have always trusted this kid Ouyang." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, smiled, and continued, "I just heard from people below that the princes from all over the country have sent people to give gifts to you, Ouyang, and the gifts are not cheap."

“Isn’t this correct?”

Zhu Yuanzhang said.

"This is true. Most of the vassal kings still hope to manage their own fiefdoms well. After all, apart from other things, the better their fiefdoms develop, the more benefits they will gain."

"I can give them advice and solve their problems, so they come to give me some gifts and wish me a happy new year. Isn't this a normal thing?"

"Is there really no need to exaggerate?"

"Of course, if the Emperor and His Majesty the Retired Emperor do not agree that I should continue to accept gifts, then I will not accept gifts in the future."

Ouyang Lun said calmly.

"Will you not accept gifts? I'm afraid you won't accept them openly, but you'll accept them secretly!"

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately rolled his eyes at Ouyang Lun. He didn't know Ouyang Lun yet, so only others could believe what he said.

Ouyang Lun did not refute Zhu Yuanzhang's words, but silently picked up a glass of wine and drank it, but he muttered in his heart. Of course I can refuse it, but if others insist on giving it to me, I have no other choice.

After a moment, Ouyang Lun slowly stood up.

"Your Majesty, I have said what I need to say."

"It's Chinese New Year now, and everyone is celebrating the New Year happily. Let's not keep talking about these heavy topics. Although it's right to consider the long term, you feel like something that would never happen under normal circumstances must happen!"

"I don't even know what the future will look like, so how can you be sure?"

"Oh, by the way, there is one more thing I forgot to tell you. I did accept the gifts from the princes, but I threw all the letters they brought into the brazier and burned them." Ouyang Lun looked at Zhu Yuanzhang, "Grand Emperor, don't be so quick to question. You should be able to get a positive answer if you ask the Imperial Guards. After all, he saw it with his own eyes."

"We have also seen the Empress Dowager, and we have also come to pay our respects to the Emperor. It is time to go back!"

"I will not disturb the conversation between the Emperor and His Majesty. Your Majesty, I will take my leave!"

After saying this, Ouyang Lun turned around without any hesitation and walked into the snowstorm.

Ouyang Lun's pace became faster and faster. He really didn't want to continue to get entangled with the imperial father and son. After explaining for a long time, he felt that he had only temporarily dispelled the concerns of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao.

Although he was confident that he could continue to deceive people, he was still prepared for the worst. If these two people disliked him and were really determined to do so, he would be doomed.

Besides, it was useless to talk too much with the retired emperor Zhu Yuanzhang and the emperor Zhu Biao. They might even have some plans. If they continued like this, I would turn into a horse again. Oh my God!

I, Ouyang Lun, simply want to have a good New Year.

Now that the Ming Dynasty has developed into this situation, Ouyang Lun has no way of knowing what the future will be like. All he can do is live every day well and be happy every day.

He would not worry about the future like Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao.

Under the rolling wheel of history, who can decide everything? The emperor? Of course not the emperor.

After this conversation, Ouyang Lun indeed enjoyed a pleasant New Year holiday. During this period, neither Zhu Yuanzhang nor Zhu Biao came to cause trouble again.

The Spring Festival holiday has just passed.

Daming began to get busy again.

Although the weather is still cold, construction sites across the country have taken the lead in resuming work and production.

Especially the Beijing-Pingcheng Railway, because it was divided into two sections, one section was under the responsibility of Qi Tai and the other was under the responsibility of Shan Anren. Both sides were competing with each other. Everyone knew that this was a silent battle. Whoever could repair the railway faster and better would surely get the first credit!
The importance of head work is self-evident.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Ouyang Lun is still sleeping!

He was pushed up from the bed by Princess Anqing, Xu Miaoyun and Tang Miaomiao.

The three girls didn't feel too good either. After all, yesterday they had to deal with Ouyang Lun alone, but they still lost completely.

Although their legs were weak, they still insisted on waking up Ouyang Lun,

"Husband, wake up!"

“Huh?!” Ouyang Lun was naturally sleepy. “Madams, it’s not even daybreak outside. Are you mistaken? Let’s sleep a little longer. We can do it again later!”

"Or do you want to do it again right now? I have no problem with that, but can your body handle it?"

Hearing Ouyang Lun's words, Princess Anqing, Xu Miaoyun, and Tang Miaomiao were all startled, their eyes filled with satisfaction and emptiness.

"Husband, we didn't wake you up for that!?"

Tang Miaomiao said with a blushing face.

"What's that?" Ouyang Lun asked in confusion.

"My dear husband, have you forgotten? Today is the first morning court since the beginning of the year. As the chief minister of the cabinet, you must go today. If you are late, you will be impeached!" Princess Anqing explained hurriedly.

"Yes!"

Ouyang Lun's eyes suddenly brightened up, "Oh my god! I almost forgot about the important matter!"

"The Emperor and the Retired Emperor haven't bothered me recently. If I don't go to the morning court now, the Zhu family will definitely cause trouble for me, considering their petty personalities."

Ouyang Lun didn't want to be caught by Zhu Biao or Zhu Yuanzhang.

"We have to go to court early this morning!"

"Three ladies, change your husband's clothes!"

Ouyang Lun took the initiative to get up from the bed, and kept muttering: "Look, being the Prime Minister of the Cabinet is so tiring, being the emperor is even more tiring, only a fool would want to be the emperor!"

With the help of Princess Anqing's three daughters, Ouyang Lun quickly changed into court clothes.

Ouyang Lun kissed the three daughters of Princess Anqing one by one, "It's so early in the morning, you should go back to sleep. When you wake up, I will probably have left the court."

In the Tai Chi Hall.

After entering the hall, all the civil and military officials cheered up. After all, this year had been quite comfortable. They had received all the rewards and gifts they deserved. In addition, last year's government affairs and tax revenues were very good, so the pressure on the officials at the beginning of the year was too great.

However, the introduction of the official performance appraisal system and the talent gradient training system has given all civil and military officials a sense of urgency. Now they all know that if they do not do their job, just sit there doing nothing, and fail to achieve political achievements, they are likely to be laid off.

The word "optimization" replaced the original word "abolition", which allowed the civil and military officials to save some face.

It sounds a lot better too.

It is said that this phrase was first uttered by Prime Minister Ouyang Fu Ma.

Of course, whether it is "optimization" or "layoffs", the essence is the same. If there are no political achievements, you will be eliminated.

No one wants to be eliminated, so at the beginning of the new year, civil and military officials are all ready to go, thinking about how to achieve political achievements as quickly as possible. No one is stupid, and if they can achieve political achievements first, they will naturally be in a safe position. It will be too late to worry until the end of the year.

There is also good news, that is, the retired emperor Zhu Yuanzhang almost never comes to court. The entire court is presided over by the new emperor Zhu Biao. Although Zhu Biao has inherited the throne for almost two years, as long as Zhu Yuanzhang is still there, all civil and military officials will regard Zhu Biao as the new emperor!

Of course, all civil and military officials were happy to see Zhu Biao presiding over the court. Zhu Biao was well-known for his generosity and benevolence, and would not put too much pressure on the civil and military officials.

"Your Majesty is here!"

"Long live my emperor! Long live!"

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang enter the Taiji Hall, all civil and military officials saluted.

"All my dear friends, please be free!"

"Today is the first morning court session of the Ming Dynasty. There are many topics to discuss. Let's not waste time and get started!"

After Zhu Biao sat on the dragon throne, he immediately spoke.

"Yes!"

All the officials responded in unison again.

There are fewer officials in the hall than in the past. Even officials like Huang Zicheng and Guo Zi are not there. It's not that they have been optimized, but that they have been demoted to internships in state-owned enterprises affiliated with the court in accordance with the previously determined official talent training.

There were dozens of officials in total, including many above the fifth rank, so the court seemed quite empty.

Zhu Biao was naturally very clear about this.

"Before discussing other matters, I want to discuss one thing with you, my dear ministers!"

Zhu Biao spoke first before any other officials spoke.

Seeing this, all the civil and military officials were naturally prepared to listen obediently. (End of this chapter)