King of Han Dynasty of Ming Dynasty

The palace of the King of Han.

In a secluded pavilion surrounded by lush trees, Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi and Prince of Han Zhu Gaoxu sat opposite each other, both sipping the slightly hot warm tea in their cups. Neither of them spoke and the scene seemed extremely quiet.

After a long time.

Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi put down the teacup in his hand. His originally calm expression disappeared, replaced by a smirk. He looked back with interest and said:
"Second brother! Second child!!"

"You are very smart and well prepared!"

"With just a few words, I was able to make the old bastard Kong Gongjian, the Duke of Yansheng, lose all his temper. This is something I never dreamed of."

"but."

"When did you collect the evidence of Kong Gongjian's crime?"

"Where did you get these evidences?"

"You know, we have been keeping an eye on that old bastard, Kong Gongjian, the Duke of Yansheng, for more than a day or two, and we really haven't found any problems with him. How did you investigate that you were able to make this old bastard escape unintentionally?"

"How about you tell me so that I can broaden my horizons and open my eyes?"

"Can you satisfy my curiosity?"

This statement is not false, nor was Zhu Gaochi deliberately making a sarcastic remark.

Zhu Gaochi had naturally been unhappy with Kong Gongjian, the Yansheng Duke, for a long time.

In fact, he had secretly ordered people to collect and search for evidence of his crimes.

I want to see whether this guy, who always likes to talk about morality and justice, is really as selfless as the words of the saints he talks about.

Hey…

You don't know until you check. When Zhu Gaochi checked, he was really shocked.

According to the responses from his subordinates, it was beyond Zhu Gaochi's expectations.

After nearly two years of surveillance and searching, his men really didn't find anything unusual.

No matter whether it is financial, fiscal and other issues, no problems can be found at all with Yanshenggong Kong Gongjian.

It is so clean that it is unspeakable. He looks exactly like a saint, as if he has no desires or requests at all.

When Zhu Gaochi got this answer, he was shocked. He couldn't help but wonder, are there really such clean and selfless people in this world?
But it is so clean that you can't find any forks or any problems.

After thinking about it carefully, Zhu Gaochi felt that it was definitely impossible.

So I denied my own thoughts and opinions. There was nothing I could do!
We are all human beings. We are all ordinary people.

How is it possible to be without desire? How is it possible to cut off the so-called seven emotions and six desires and truly be free of desires?
No matter how I think about it, it seems unrealistic and unlikely.

to this end.

Zhu Gaochi scolded his subordinates harshly and ordered them to search carefully again.

What can I do?

After searching everywhere, the results were still the same, without a single surprise.

Zhu Gaochi almost started to doubt his life.

He thought that he was overthinking it, so he simply stopped letting his subordinates waste time monitoring him.

He also completely lost interest in Yanshenggong Kong Gongjian, and just thought he was really a saint, and it would be fine as long as he didn't bother to answer him.

This is also the real reason why, when Zhu Gaoxu asked him in the Jinyiwei prison whether he knew about the dirty things done by Yanshenggong Kong Gongjian, Zhu Gaochi was vague and unwilling to talk more about the matter.

Because he was really embarrassed!
how to answer?

Know or not?
It seemed that no matter how he answered, it was not right. He could only be vague and hesitant and let Zhu Gaoxu guess for himself.

Of course...it was the questions Zhu Gaoxu asked that made Zhu Gaochi curious.

At the same time, he also knew that Zhu Gaoxu was not a person who liked to act insolently for no reason. He simply wanted to see something new and see the excitement. He was very curious about what Kong Gongjian had done that he could not find out to be caught by the King of Han, and what Kong Gongjian had done over the years to make Zhu Gaoxu so confident that he dared to come directly to cause trouble.

Don't even say it...

This matter was actually accomplished by Zhu Gaoxu, and he completely controlled Kong Gongjian, who seemed to have no desires.

The more arrogant they are in the early stage, the more humble and embarrassed they will be when begging for mercy later.

Especially at the end, seeing the Duke of Yansheng, who used to look down on everyone and never looked at anyone straight in the eye, kneeling on the ground begging for mercy, greatly satisfied Zhu Gaochi's vanity and made him extremely satisfied and comfortable. If it were not for the need to maintain his own image when he was in the Duke of Yansheng's Mansion, Zhu Gaochi would have laughed out loud. Although he did not dare to laugh out loud, he shouted in his heart that he was happy several times, secretly giving Zhu Gaoxu a thumbs up and cheering for him in his heart.

After calming down at this moment, Zhu Gaochi naturally became curious. Why was Zhu Gaoxu able to find so much evidence about Duke Yansheng?

Why couldn't he find it after all these years?

This matter made him extremely distressed.

"Ha ha……"

After hearing this, looking at the puzzled Crown Prince, Zhu Gaoxu could not help but sneer, half-closed his eyes and looked back, but did not answer his question immediately, instead asked:

"Boss..."

"As you have seen so many ugly things, so many evil things and so many evil people in the world."

"You don't really believe that there are saints in this world, people who have no desires, do you?"

Zhu Gaochi was slightly startled, then shook his head and denied it:
"A saint, someone who has no desires or requests?"

"In this world, we are all ordinary people. How could such a person exist?"

In response to this answer, Zhu Gaoxu nodded with satisfaction and replied:

"Yes, the fact that you can think like this proves that you are not stupid and not someone who can be easily fooled or fooled."

"Since you already have the answer in your heart and know that such a person cannot exist, then you must know that as long as there is desire and as long as he is still a mortal, he will definitely make mistakes, or do dirty and evil things."

"As for why we can't find it, it must be because we didn't explore it carefully enough, or we overlooked something and never thought about it in some aspects."

"Right?" Having said this, Zhu Gaoxu paused, his face suddenly darkened, and he suddenly changed the subject, and continued in a deep voice:
"I think your subordinates must have recorded when they were investigating the problem of Duke Yansheng Kong Gongjian. The wife of Duke Yansheng, who likes to make friends with officials and students, likes to talk to people, right?"

"So... many students or officials would bring their wives or concubines with them when they went to the residence of Duke Yansheng, right?"

This statement came out.

Zhu Gaochi nodded without comment and admitted, "Yes, yes, my men have responded to these things."

"But what's the problem with this?"

“Isn’t this a very normal phenomenon?”

"Because of Kong Gongjian's extraordinary status, many people must have wanted to curry favor with him, simply for the sake of promotion and wealth."

"Knowing that the path of Duke Yansheng is not easy to follow, anyone who is interested will definitely want to find another way out. In the end, didn't they find his wife?"

"That doesn't really mean anything, does it?"

Yes!

From the perspective of normal logic and normal thinking, it is indeed nothing!
Of course, this view is naturally directed at people who have no problems with their thoughts and moods.

But for some things, if you think about it carefully, you will find that there are huge problems with such actions.

After a brief pause, Zhu Gaoxu slowly raised his head, looked back with a smile, and said:
"Boss..."

"Since you just said it, no one is a saint, and no one can be free of desires."

"Then there must be something fishy going on."

"so……"

"With your intelligence, can't you figure out some of the problems here?"

"Ha ha……"

After hearing this, Zhu Gaochi fell silent. Yes!
At this point, how could he still not figure out the problem here?

This... is under the guise of getting to know someone, doing some...

Just like that, after a while, Zhu Gaochi looked back, and his gaze towards Zhu Gaoxu changed involuntarily. A helpless smile appeared on his face, and he pointed at the King of Han who was very close to him, shook his head and said:

"Second brother! Second child!"

"you…"

"You...ah, you make me not know what to say to you."

"sharp……"

Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand and said, "Okay, let's stop talking nonsense. There is no point in praising each other. In this matter, let's not talk about whether others are good people or not. In this world, there is no real good or real bad. Everything is relative."

"So, when we judge others here, we shouldn't be the same. We all have our own purposes for what we do, right?"

Hearing this, Zhu Gaochi was stunned for a moment, thinking of the way he had just handled the situation and what he and others had done, he couldn't help laughing, nodded slightly and sighed, saying: "Yes! This is true."

For a moment, the entire courtyard fell into an eerie silence, and neither of them spoke.

After a long while, Zhu Gaochi pondered for a moment, looked up at Zhu Gaoxu who was sitting not far away and staring at the swaying young leaves in the courtyard, and asked in a deep voice:

"Second child"

"Are you really going to take this matter lightly?"

"Are we really going to give up and give the other party a chance? Or do we believe that they can really cooperate with our actions sincerely and not have other thoughts?"

"Hehe." Zhu Gaoxu chuckled, retracted his gaze from the distance, and asked with interest, "I don't have any definite idea in my mind for the time being. You also know that if we really want to do something about this matter, it will definitely not be done in a day or a night. The things and interests involved are beyond our imagination. In addition to taking things step by step, is there any other way you can stop what is happening now?"

"If you have any good ideas or methods, of course, we can discuss them together."

In fact, when asking this question, everyone is not a fool. They naturally understand clearly that the prince in front of them must have his own unique ideas and methods.

After all, to be able to reach the current position, he cannot be an ordinary person!

So Zhu Gaoxu naturally did not say all the words directly on some issues, leaving room for both parties. Of course, it was also to make Zhu Gaochi feel involved, after all, the other person had the title of crown prince.

Although it has not been done yet and no one knows what will happen next, he should not go too far now. He should not interfere in everything and do everything for others. It may seem good and beneficial to others, but God knows what others are thinking and how they will view the things in front of them. There is no need to make others hate him or make them unhappy.

This is also the real reason why Zhu Gaoxu always brought the Crown Prince with him whenever he did anything or made any decision, and why he always discussed everything with the Crown Prince.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaochi was slightly startled, a look of astonishment flashed across his face, and he instantly understood the answer and what the King of Han was thinking. He knew that he was leaving room for maneuver. Although he said nothing, he was also happy and satisfied with this move in his heart. He no longer concealed his plans and thoughts and asked:
"Second child"

"What do you think, Nan Kong?"

"Can you handle this important task? Can you silence the people of the world and make sure that the civil officials and students have no objections?"

Zhu Gaoxu was not at all surprised when these words came out, as if everything was just as he had expected. Not to mention that the prince thought so, in fact, in terms of his true thoughts, wasn't he thinking the same thing in his heart?

After all, it is unrealistic to directly break the fixed ideas that have been formed for so many years. Although it is not shown, it does not mean that nothing should be done.

Supporting Nan Kong is the key to breaking this point.

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but smile. He pointed at the prince who was leisurely drinking hot tea and said:

"Boss"

"I'm afraid you have already thought about this idea a long time ago, right?"

Zhu Gaochi did not deny this, but a frightening cold light suddenly flashed across his seemingly calm face. He half-closed his eyes and looked back, then nodded heavily and replied:
"Indeed"

"The first time we two brothers talked with His Majesty about the harm done by corrupt officials in the court, I secretly investigated and sorted out the situation and behavior of the officials in the court and the students in the Hanlin Academy, and judged their character. The final result disappointed me greatly, and you never exaggerated at all. So I have been thinking about how to break the deadlock and how to deal with this situation in the future."

"The final result is that we should gradually replace Nan Kong with Nan Kong and gradually dilute and disperse the existing lofty status. Only in this way can we accomplish the feat you mentioned before and change the overall situation that has been deeply rooted in the world for many years."

"but."

"Looking at your idiotic expression, I'm afraid that I'm not the only one who thinks so. If nothing unexpected happens, you also planned this, right?" (End of this chapter)