King of Han Dynasty of Ming Dynasty

in the room.

Chen Ji couldn't help but be stunned when he heard Zhu Gaochi's anxious words to comfort him. He looked back in surprise and met his eyes for a moment. Although his mind was in a state of confusion, he had to suppress his emotions and did not continue to speak tactlessly or do anything extreme.

At the same time, he also wanted to hear what gave Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi the confidence to make such a bold decision. After all, the two sides had known each other for so many years. Chen Ji also knew in his heart that the crown prince in front of him was also an extremely intelligent and clever man.

He should be very clear about the interests of the current matter. Since he knows it clearly, it means he must be confident. Since he is confident, he might as well listen to what the prince has to say. If he can really be convinced and it can be done, Chen Ji will naturally be willing to do his part in it. If Zhu Gaochi's answer cannot convince him or satisfy him.

As for what Zhu Gaochi just mentioned, he would definitely not get involved in it. Not only would he not get involved in it, but he would also try his best to persuade Zhu Gaochi to give up such a crazy and unrealistic idea. If there was really no way to persuade him, he would definitely report to the Emperor Yongle who was fighting on the front line and ask him to come back to preside over the situation and suppress the prince's dangerous ideas and actions. He would never watch Zhu Gaochi lead the Ming Dynasty and the people of the world into the abyss.

Let thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people be buried with him as a result of his crazy behavior, and don't let the world, which has finally been stabilized, fall into chaos again.

When Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi saw that the old man Chen Ji in front of him had quieted down, as if he was watching his performance and sizing him up, he could roughly guess in his heart what Chen Ji was thinking or what he would do.

However, he did not point it out or bring it up. If it weren't for Zhu Gaoxu's plan, he would have been unsure and would not have dared to think of such a crazy move. But after listening to Zhu Gaoxu's plan, he became fully confident.

At the same time, in his opinion, Zhu Gaoxu's plan could convince even him, a man who always maintained stability and liked to sit back and relax, and even a self-righteous and arrogant guy like Xie Jin. For this reason, Zhu Gaochi did not believe it and could not convince the old guy Chen Ji in front of him.

Then, after a brief pause, Zhu Gaochi put on a confident smile, took a sip of tea from the cup on the table, and said softly:
"Chen Ji."

"I understand your worries and concerns very well."

"Emperor Taizu accepted it reluctantly because he had no better choice and was not sure he could fight against the gentry and officials who controlled the whole world. Emperor Taizu knew that it was difficult for the imperial power to spread to the countryside and that the people were illiterate and easily fooled. In terms of the whole world, the imperial power had less say than the gentry and officials, so he had to compromise."

"But if I can break the problem of the monopoly of discourse power by the gentry, scholars, and officials, the people of the world will no longer be so easily fooled and will truly know the benefits that the imperial power brings to the people. The imperial power is not the one who exploits the people. The ones who really exploit them are the gentry, scholars, and officials."

"Chen Ji."

"Do you think we should still be afraid of them?"

"Will the common people still listen to their lies and be fooled by those thieves?"

"Under such circumstances, do you think I can reshuffle the entire world, establish a brand new order, give the common people of the world a relatively fair and just life, make the Ming Dynasty prosperous, and create a different era of prosperity?"

"Those thieves, do they really dare to be so fearless and self-righteous?"

“Will the lives of the common people of the world be better, and will the court be better off?”

This statement came out.

Chen Ji didn't say anything, his brows were tightly furrowed, and the expression on his face kept changing.

With his knowledge and ability to connect ancient and modern times, it is naturally clear to him that what the prince said is true. The confidence of those individuals really comes from the power of public opinion in the world. It is precisely for this reason that Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was afraid to act rashly and had to compromise.

Since the Tang Dynasty, when Huang Chao used family trees to pacify the initially powerful aristocratic families, the empire was able to breathe a little, but as time went on, especially starting from the Song and Yuan dynasties, some aristocratic families slowly re-emerged.

It's like bamboo shoots popping up after the rain.

However, although its scale is not as strong as the Five Surnames and Seven Clans of the Tang Dynasty, its power is not small and is dispersed enough. In a sense, the harm caused by the current aristocratic families to the whole world is not much less than that of the Five Surnames and Seven Clans in the past.

Moreover, many of these forces have survived from the Song and Yuan dynasties.
It is not easy to break the monopoly of discourse and public opinion held by these people for thousands of years.

Using killing to stop war is not a wise choice.

This behavior had already been proven to be unfeasible and a dead end during the reign of Emperor Taizu.

After all, the emperor sits in the court and all officials rule the world.

No matter how capable and competent you are as the Son of Heaven, can you extend your influence to every corner of the world, including those villages?

Obviously it's not displayed.
So this is the real reason why those gentry, scholars, and officials are able to hold the right to speak here, and it is also the reason why they are extremely helpless and have no way to deal with it. Even if they know it, they cannot eradicate it completely.

Because the world needs people to govern it for the emperor.

After a brief moment of silence, Chen Ji stared at Zhu Gaochi with his deep eyes for a long time, then took a few deep breaths, calmed his thoughts, and said in a deep voice:

“It’s easier said than done.”

"Since Your Highness is aware of the situation, he also knows the interests involved."

"Since Your Highness has made up his mind, he also has a plan."

"Then I am all ears."

"Also let this old minister open his eyes. Your Highness, how can you break down this barrier that has enveloped the world for thousands of years and take away the means of survival for those people?"

Zhu Gaochi looked at Chen Ji and exchanged glances with him. The smile on his face did not diminish at all, and the confidence in his expression did not diminish in the slightest. He nodded with a smile, and then spoke in a deep voice:

"My reliance is very simple..."

"Storyteller!!!"

Chen Ji was so stunned that he just stood there.

What the hell?
Storyteller?
Is the storyteller the support and confidence that enabled Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi to touch the interest groups such as gentry, scholars, and officials?

Are you sure you are not joking? Are you sure you are not making fun of him? Are you sure you are not joking with him about this matter?
What is the use of storytellers and what role can they play?
Chen Ji naturally knew what kind of people the so-called storytellers were. Most of them were just ants who had failed the imperial examination or could only read and write. How could such a group of ants really stir up huge waves and overturn other people's ships?
is it possible?
If those storytellers had such skills and abilities, would they still live at the bottom of society?
Can you still support your family by telling stories, showing off in public, racking your brains to come up with all kinds of fun, and entertaining the people of the world?

These words were simply the funniest joke Chen Ji had heard in all these years.

Not to mention that Chen Ji didn't believe it, if anyone else heard what happened right now, I guess no one would believe it, and no one would think it was true, because to anyone, this was no different from a fairy tale.

After a brief pause, Chen Ji slowly raised his head and looked back, and asked in a deep voice:
"Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"Do you know what you are talking about?"

"Are you sure you didn't say this on purpose to tease me?"

Such reaction.

For Zhu Gaochi, this was within his expectations.

If Chen Ji had not reacted like this, Zhu Gaochi would have been truly surprised! !

However, Zhu Gaochi was not annoyed by Chen Ji's reaction and question. It was normal for Chen Ji to have such a reaction, not to mention that Chen Ji did not understand the inside story when he first heard it. When he first heard these three words, his reaction was not much better than Chen Ji's. He also thought that the King of Han Zhu Gaoxu was deliberately teasing him with this matter and deliberately disgusting him! !

Then, Zhu Gaochi smiled, shook his head and said:
"I am not joking with you, nor do I intend to make fun of you." "The only thing I rely on in this matter is indeed the storyteller that all of you think is impossible and unrealistic!!"

“Do you find it incredible? Do you find it unrealistic?”

Chen Ji: “!!!!!!!!!”

Check it out.

Isn't this nonsense?

In this matter, who can feel it is real, who can feel it is normal?

Any normal person wouldn't believe it, okay?
However, after listening to Zhu Gaochi's firm affirmation again, Chen Ji frowned and did not answer the question immediately. He racked his brains to think whether there was something he had not thought of, or something that had been ignored for so many years.

That's it.

After pondering for a long time, Chen Ji really couldn't figure out what the "storyteller" was for, and why he could be relied upon by Zhu Gaochi. He was too lazy to think too much, so he asked directly:

"Since His Royal Highness is so sure."

"I think there must be a deeper meaning behind this that I, an old minister, am not aware of."

"If Your Highness is willing, you may as well explain to me what kind of magic power and ability this 'storyteller' has that he can be relied upon by Your Highness and play such an important role in this plan."

Hearing this, Zhu Gaochi smiled and answered directly:

"Storyteller"

"These are all illiterate students from poor families who are truly oppressed, and they have no choice but to choose this career in life."

"And what kind of people are the audiences of storytellers?"

"It is undoubtedly the common people of the world!"

"Let's talk about the profession of storytellers. If Lord Chen has any knowledge of it, he should know it better than anyone else. People in this profession are spread all over the world."

"so."

"As long as the court recruits and accepts these storytellers, as long as these storytellers can be used by the court."

"These storytellers convey the imperial court's various decrees and news to all parts of the country, and their identities are also recognized and confirmed by the imperial court."

"Master Chen, what do you think of the energy and influence these storytellers can generate? Can they break the monopoly of certain people and eliminate the means of survival for those individuals?"

"Does the imperial court have the ability to fight against it?"

"Can my plans and plots succeed?"

As Zhu Gaochi tells the story, we will learn about the real use and skills of storytellers.

Chen Ji was stunned on the spot, with all kinds of possibilities flashing through his mind from time to time, as well as things that might happen and to what extent it could be done.

Don't tell me yet.

For Chen Ji, if this matter was really as Zhu Gaochi said.

There really is a lot of potential, and it is really possible to accomplish it.

It is really possible to break the means of survival that the gentry, scholars, and officials have relied on for so many years.

It is really very possible to pull these individuals down from the altar and make them fall to the bottom.

but……

Can it really be done that easily?

Those who can really watch, or...

Seeing Chen Ji lost in thought, and his expression did not change.

Zhu Gaochi seemed to know what he was worried about, and did not hide it, and continued bluntly:

"rest assured!"

"At the beginning, we definitely can't just come up and challenge them and destroy their foundation."

“It will definitely be given to storytellers who spread all over the world to increase their popularity and fame.”

"As long as those storytellers make themselves famous and gain a certain level of popularity..."

"This will be the beginning of our competition with them."

"And I have already ordered people to start working on this matter and have begun to lay out the plan."

"Moreover, the Jinyiwei is involved in this matter and is providing escort for it. The court has the full support of me and the second brother."

"so……"

"In this situation, Lord Chen, do you think what I just said is still a fantasy?"

"Is there no possibility of achieving this?"

"Is it impossible to defeat those who exploit and enslave the people of the world?"

This question is asked.

Chen Ji paused and did not answer the question immediately. He fell into silence. After a long while, he came back to his senses. A gleam of light flashed in his cloudy eyes. He nodded heavily and said in approval:
"If this is really possible."

"That's true. It's not like there's no chance."

(End of this chapter)