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

"Ouyang Lun, what are you laughing at?"

"Do you think what we said is wrong?"

Zhu Yuanzhang saw Ouyang Lun raise his mouth corners and immediately questioned him.

"Your Majesty, I don't think you are wrong, but you don't understand my painstaking efforts!"

"In fact, what I am doing is the best for the Ming Dynasty!"

"I know what the Emperor and Your Majesty are worried about. They are simply worried that the vassal kings will no longer be controlled by the Ming central court after they become powerful."

Ouyang Lun said slowly.

"Since you know this, why do you still want to help the princes?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, you must speak with conscience! I am not helping the princes, I am helping the Ming Dynasty!"

Ouyang Lun shook his head. "Are the vassal kings and vassal territories part of the Ming Dynasty?"

"Of course it is. All the land under heaven belongs to the king!" Zhu Yuanzhang said proudly.

"Since the fiefdoms of the vassal kings belong to the Ming Dynasty, and I am the head of the Ming Dynasty's cabinet, everything I do is naturally for the Ming Dynasty. The Supreme Emperor is so suspicious of me, doesn't it mean that the monarch and his subjects are suspicious of each other, and that the father-in-law and the son-in-law are at odds with each other?!" Ouyang Lun said righteously.

"Forehead"

After hearing what Ouyang Lun said, Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned. He felt that there was something wrong with what Ouyang Lun said, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.

"No, I asked you why you wanted to help the prince. Why are you telling us all this? Give me a reasonable explanation first!"

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly realized.

Forehead.
It turns out that it is not easy for an emperor to get into trouble even if he is old!
Ouyang Lun took a deep breath and said, "Your Majesty, since I can help them develop, I am naturally confident enough to manage these vassal kings and make them subject to the central court of the Ming Dynasty so that they will not pose any threat to the central court of the Ming Dynasty!"

"Besides, the princes of the Ming Dynasty are the sons of the Supreme Emperor, and the brothers of Your Majesty. They are all family members. There is no need to be so defensive. If the princes knew about this, they would be sad."

"Humph, we were also on guard against you, but I didn't see how sad you were!" Zhu Yuanzhang said unhappily, "Are you really sure you can suppress the vassal king and have no other ideas?"

"Of course." Ouyang Lun nodded confidently, "Your Majesty, the Ming Dynasty has been around for so many years, and the times have changed a lot!"

"In the past, transportation was not convenient, communications were not developed, and information was blocked. The people and soldiers had too few channels to receive information, which caused the people and soldiers to be too alienated from the central court. When the princes rebelled, they only needed to make up an excuse to rebel. Of course, what I said does not mean that the princes really want to rebel."

Ouyang Lun saw Zhu Yuanzhang's face change and hurriedly explained.

After hearing Ouyang Lun's explanation, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression improved a lot. He glared at Ouyang Lun and said in a deep voice: "Keep talking!"

"Okay." Ouyang Lun nodded and continued, "The newspaper industry in the Ming Dynasty is now well developed. Anything that happens in the capital can spread to the area within a radius of hundreds of miles on the first day. On the third day, it can spread to the area within a radius of a thousand miles. On the seventh day, it can spread to the entire Ming Dynasty!"

"Although the princes of the vassal states control the military and political power, the appointment of officials, salaries, etc. are all in the hands of the central court. To put it bluntly, the princes have power only if the court gives them power. If the court does not give them power, the princes can be dismissed in a matter of minutes!"

"After receiving literacy education and compulsory education, the people in the vassal states will no longer be ignorant fools. They will have the ability to think independently. The people will understand that their loyalty is to the Ming Dynasty, not to a certain vassal king!"

"Therefore, the Emperor and His Majesty do not need to worry about this matter at all."

"In my opinion, the current abilities of the princes are still far from what I want! We need to squeeze them hard and improve their abilities quickly!"

After hearing what Ouyang Lun said, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but click his tongue. He was not on guard against the princes now, but he was worried that he would be ruined by Ouyang Lun.

"Ouyang Lun, no matter what, you have to ensure their safety. After all, they are our sons. Don't harm them, otherwise we will not forgive you!" Zhu Yuanzhang hurriedly reminded.

"No, Your Majesty, you are really good at making demands. It was you who said before that you were worried about the princes being too powerful, and now you are also worried about the princes being incompetent. So this matter is not yours to do, but you start making demands, right?" Ouyang Lun said unhappily.

"I am the emperor emeritus. Isn't it normal for me to make some requests? What? Do you have any objections?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked with wide eyes.

"Of course I have some opinions. It's true that you are the emperor, but you can't just ignore the lives of the people below you. You can talk without any pain in your waist, but when you open your mouth, the people below run their legs off. Is it right for you to be a boss like this?" Ouyang Lun also got angry and retorted directly!
"Ha! You are rebelling against heaven! Don't think that you can ignore me just because you have solved a few small problems!" Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily.

"If you want to accuse someone of a crime, you can always find a pretext. I, Ouyang Lun, act in accordance with my conscience. I am not like some people who want the horse to run but don't give it grass to eat, and even keep thinking that the horse will kick him! Could it be that he has paranoia?!" Ouyang Lun directly retorted.

"Ouyang Lun, you bastard!" Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at Ouyang Lun and cursed.

"Tyrant and incompetent ruler!" Ouyang Lun.

When these words were spoken, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao were stunned.

Ouyang Lun was so bold that he dared to call Zhu Yuanzhang a "tyrant and incompetent ruler" in front of him.

Zhu Biao's forehead was covered with sweat, and he was even more worried about Ouyang Lun. It's not that no one had scolded Zhu Yuanzhang before. Those who scolded Zhu Yuanzhang as a "tyrant and incompetent ruler" now have taller grasses on their graves.

But it was precisely because of these words that Zhu Yuanzhang began to think.

"Father, my brother-in-law Ouyang didn't mean that. He just made a slip of the tongue." Zhu Biao explained quickly.

"Bullshit! I, Ouyang Lun, am eloquent and gifted in speaking. When it comes to scolding people, who in the entire Ming Dynasty can rival me? I once scolded ten great Confucian scholars and won. The record is verifiable! How could I make a mistake?" Ouyang Lun straightened his chest and said loudly: "I've scolded you! You can kill me or shave me as you please!"

After saying this, Ouyang Lun looked fearless.

"This..." Zhu Biao was dumbfounded. He didn't expect Ouyang Lun to be so tough this time. For a moment, he didn't know how to say good things for Ouyang Lun.

Based on his understanding of his father Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, he was afraid that today's matter would not end well.

But Zhu Yuanzhang did not reply immediately.

The entire hall was extremely quiet, like the silence before a storm.

"Humph!"

"Ouyang Lun, you want to irritate me so that I can remove you from office and put you in jail, and then you can stop doing anything, right?"

Ouyang Lun's originally tense face slowly relaxed, and a gleam of brilliance flashed in his eyes.

"Forget about your little tricks. We won't be fooled!!"

Um! ! ?
Ouyang Lun was stunned.

No, do I really mean that?!
I really want to scold you! Ouyang Lun wanted to refute immediately, but he found that Zhu Biao grabbed his arm and stepped forward, "Father is wise, Brother-in-law Ouyang meant this!"

"Brother-in-law Ouyang, this is what you are not!"

"My father and I both know that you have worked the hardest over the years. The current situation of Ming Dynasty is inseparable from you. We all cherish your contributions."

"But even if that's the case, you can't give up in this way!"

"right!"

After Zhu Biao said this, he winked at Ouyang Lun frantically, fearing that Ouyang Lun would not acknowledge him.

Forehead.
After hearing what Zhu Biao said, Ouyang Lun really wanted to rush up and beat up the father and son.

One plays the bad guy and the other plays the good guy, right?

It was a sin to meet this father and son pair. However, Ouyang Lun was much calmer at this moment. There was no need to completely break off relations with Zhu Yuan at this time.

Moreover, Ouyang Lun seemed to be trying to save his face by saying those words just now. It was not easy for the emperor to do this.

"Yes, you are all right."

"I didn't want to do this a long time ago, but you guys insisted on doing this and that!"

"Let me continue or remove me, just give me a straight answer!"

Ouyang Lun said with a broken jar.

"Of course we have to keep doing it!" Zhu Biao said quickly.

Then he looked at Zhu Yuanzhang again, "Father, I know you are just saying this in anger. You actually value Brother-in-law Ouyang very much. The good situation of the Ming Dynasty may be ruined because of this. If this is the case, the people of the Northern Yuan Dynasty will wake up laughing in their dreams!"

Hearing Zhu Biao's words, Zhu Yuanzhang's face relaxed. He glanced at Ouyang Lun and said slowly, "I am not an unreasonable person. I will not dismiss you from your post, let alone put you in jail. Don't yell at me that you want to quit!"

"Just do the job for us, and we will not let you down when the time comes!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was naturally embarrassed and furious after being confronted by Ouyang Lun, but he has calmed down now.

When he thought about it carefully, he felt a little embarrassed towards Ouyang Lun. After all, no matter what, what Zhu Biao said was right. Ouyang Lun had done so many things, and it was really not kind of him to still doubt and guard against Ouyang Lun.

Of course, this was just the slight bit of guilt Zhu Yuanzhang felt towards Ouyang Lun, nothing more.

Ouyang Lun, as a subject, you have to endure any injustice you suffer from us!

This was what Zhu Yuanzhang originally wanted to say in front of Ouyang Lun, but he was worried that Ouyang Lun would lose his temper again, so Zhu Yuanzhang just muttered it in his heart and did not say it directly.

Wait, why are we still afraid of Ouyang Lun? This shouldn’t be the case!
Forget it, let’s just consider the overall situation this time.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought that since he had said so and had stepped down, Ouyang Lun would definitely accept it happily.
Ouyang Lun rolled his eyes at Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Your Majesty, just think of me as a humble judge of others! Your empty words, coupled with your previous behavior, make me think you are a little untrustworthy!"

"I" had calmed down a lot of my anger, but when I heard Ouyang Lun's words, my anger suddenly flared up and I pointed at Ouyang Lun's nose.

"Father, calm down. I think what Brother-in-law Ouyang said makes a little sense." Zhu Biao said quickly, "Brother-in-law Ouyang is just worried about his own situation. He is afraid that he will be held accountable after the incident."

"Am I that kind of person?" Zhu Yuanzhang said unhappily.

Ouyang Lun gave Zhu Yuanzhang a look that clearly said, "Aren't you?"

"Biao'er, how do you think we should deal with this matter?" Zhu Yuanzhang originally wanted to lose his temper again, but after thinking about it, he felt that losing his temper was of no use, so he finally set his eyes on Zhu Biao.

Zhu Biao thought for a while, then said, "Father, I want you to see if there is any way to forgive Brother-in-law Ouyang even if he commits any crime in the future. I believe that Brother-in-law Ouyang will be able to put his concerns aside."

"That's a good idea." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, thought for a while, and then said, "Ouyang Lun, I will give you a gold medal of immunity from death! No matter what crime you commit in the future, you can rely on this gold medal of immunity from death to avoid death three times!"

"That's enough!"

Death-free gold medal! ! ?

When Ouyang Lun heard these words from Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth, his eyes rolled even wider.

Seeing Ouyang Lun like this, Zhu Yuanzhang's anger completely exploded.

"Biao'er, you see, we have given her enough face!"

"This golden medal of immunity from death is only given to the founding dukes and marquises. We gave it to him now, but he is still not satisfied! This guy is definitely here to cause trouble!" Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily.

"Brother-in-law, my father has given you the golden medal of immunity from death. What do you have to worry about? You should know that if you have the golden medal of immunity from death given by my father, even I can't do anything to you! And there are three chances to be exempted from death, which is enough to ensure your safety!" Zhu Biao asked with some confusion.

"Your Majesty, the golden medal of immunity from death is indeed very good, but in my opinion, this golden medal of immunity from death is not as good as the emperor writing an imperial edict to me, which means that no matter what I do in the future, I can be exempted from death three times!"

Ouyang Lun didn't hesitate too much and directly expressed his thoughts.

A death-free gold medal?

Haha, Ouyang Lun will not be fooled easily.

There is a saying that goes, a gold medal of immunity from death does not provide any protection from death.

Zhu Yuanzhang did give each of the founding dukes and princes a gold medal of immunity from death, but what was the result? In the end, Ouyang Lun forced these founding dukes and princes to hand over their military power one by one, and finally took back all the gold medals of immunity from death.

The purpose of the golden medal of immunity from death is to tell Ouyang Lun that, first of all, you have reached the point where there is nothing left to ban you!

"Father, my brother-in-law Ouyang wants you to write an imperial edict." Zhu Biao turned his head and looked at Zhu Yuanzhang.

"You don't want the golden medal of immunity from death, but you must have an imperial edict? You, Ouyang Lun, are really stupid!" Zhu Yuanzhang muttered, "Since you want an imperial edict, then I will give it to you!"

"But let's put the ugly words first!"

"You have to keep an eye on the Beijing-Pingcheng Railway. We can't let any reforms fall behind. We still want to take the train to Beijing!"

"Also, the education of the princes must not go wrong!" (End of this chapter)