King of Han Dynasty of Ming Dynasty

Hearing this.

The atmosphere in the field suddenly froze.

The two looked at each other.

Just like this, after a long while, Zhu Gaochi saw that Zhu Gaoxu had been silent for a long time, raised his eyebrows, with a bit of contempt on his face, and said with a smile:
"Second child"

"Didn't you say you wanted to tell us a story?"

"What?"

"You haven't said anything for a long time. Could it be that you haven't thought it through yet, or you've forgotten the story?"

forgotten?
Did Zhu Gaoxu really forget?
This is obviously unlikely and completely unrealistic.

How could he forget about this matter?

If there had not been the dispute between the two about the cricket fighting, and if Zhu Gaochi had not defended Zhu Zhanji in this way or that, and had not used this as an excuse to mock and criticize him, Zhu Gaoxu really wanted to forget that story. He did not want to make trouble for himself by making things happen, nor did he want to ask so many questions and make both of them uncomfortable.

But now, others have said things to this extent, so Zhu Gaoxu, who originally wanted to let it go, no longer has such thoughts and ideas. After all, since others are unkind, how can he blame him for being unjust?
Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Gaochi with a cold expression, sneered, and couldn't help but said sarcastically:
"Okay!"

"In that case."

"Since you are so anxious and want to hear me tell you a story, Boss."

"Then we won't be polite."

"certainly."

"I hope that after I tell you this story, you can still look as happy as you do now, and can actually laugh."

"Don't let your face and mood become more excited than the storyteller like me."

That’s all I have to say.

The prince was stunned for a moment. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he suddenly raised his head. He looked back with a little surprise and doubt on his face. He looked at Zhu Gaoxu with interest, his heart was filled with anxiety and his eyelids twitched.

For some reason, at this moment, my mood started to become a little unsettled. I started to feel worried and fearful. I always felt like something big was going to happen.

Because he knew that Zhu Gaoxu was not a person who liked to act unruly for no reason.

Since he dares to say so, he must have the confidence to do so.

But even though Zhu Gaochi was resourceful, he could not figure out what kind of changes had to happen in this matter to make him behave like that.

But since he couldn't figure it out, he simply gave up thinking about it. He then looked at Zhu Gaochi with interest and said with a smile:
"fine."

"Since you are the second one, you think you have such ability."

"Then why not tell me about it?"

"To be honest, your words really aroused my curiosity."

"As for your so-called little story, I really, really want to hear it."

Since others have said so, Zhu Gaoxu simply decided not to say more about it. He simply organized his thoughts and told the story in "The Cricket" chapter of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio that he had summarized in his mind, which was a metaphor for dark things.

"The palace still has the cricket-catching game, and the people are taxed every year."

"This animal is not native to the west. A magistrate in Huayin wanted to please his superiors, so he presented one to the emperor. He tried to make it fight and found that it was talented, so he was ordered to provide it regularly. The magistrate asked the village head to report it. The wandering knights in the market found the best ones and kept them in cages, and they were sold at a high price, making them rare commodities."

"The village officials were cunning and used this tax to collect taxes from the people. Every time they collected a head, they would take away the property of several families. There was a famous man in the town who worked as a boy but could not sell it for a long time. He was a dull person, so the cunning officials reported him to be the village head. No matter how hard he tried, he could not escape."

"Before the year was up, his meager property was all gone. When the conscription came, Cheng dared not collect the household registration, and he had no compensation. He was so depressed that he wanted to die. His wife said, "What good is death? It's better to search for it yourself and hope for a chance of success." Cheng agreed."

"I go out early in the morning and come back late at night, carrying bamboo tubes and copper wire cages. I search for rocks and dig holes in the grass and weeds, trying every trick I can, but to no avail. Even if I catch three or two, they are too weak to be worth the money.

"The magistrate imposed strict time limits on the pursuit. After more than ten days, he was beaten with a hundred sticks. Pus and blood flowed from his thighs, and he could not even catch the worms. He tossed and turned on his bed, thinking only of committing suicide. Then a hunchbacked witch came to the village, who could predict the future."

"Cheng's wife came with money to ask."

"I saw a red-haired woman and a white-haired woman blocking the door. When I entered their house, I found a secret room with a curtain and an incense table outside the curtain."

At the beginning, I heard the little story told by Zhu Gaoxu.

Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi didn't think it was a big deal and didn't deeply understand the metaphor here, but as the story progressed, certain things were hinted at.

How intelligent was Zhu Gaochi?
He also instantly understood the innuendos in this story, and his expression became indignant and agitated, shouting angrily: "What a bunch of bastards."

"How dare you do such a cruel thing just for a tiny cricket."

"To disregard the lives of the people is simply to take human life lightly."

"Those officials from top to bottom are also complete bastards."

"It's flattery taken to the extreme."

"To please the emperor, you actually did such a thing."

"What do you regard the court's laws and systems as?"

"They have completely treated the court's rules and laws as a joke."

"The emperor who loves cricket fighting is also a good-for-nothing."

The words just came to this.

Zhu Gaochi's original anger and excitement turned into daze and confusion at this moment. Somehow, it was as if someone pinched his throat and he couldn't make any sound.

At the same time, the expression of Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi was also changing unpredictably at this moment, which was extremely exciting.

Before, he was only focused on following the plot of the story and venting his anger and discomfort, without fully appreciating some of the things in it. However, when he angrily scolded the emperor who loved cricket fighting, he reacted instantly and seemed to really understand the deep meaning hidden in the story told by Zhu Gaoxu.

What goes up must come down!
Originally, Zhu Gaochi thought that his son was just fighting crickets to kill time when he had nothing else to do. Cricket fighting was also a popular funny game for many years. From high-ranking officials to ordinary people, no one saw anything wrong with it, nor did he see any major or irreversible impact over the years.

But after listening to the story told by Zhu Gaoxu and savoring the deep meaning hidden in this story, for some reason, Zhu Gaochi had already broken out in a cold sweat without realizing it.

Because this story seems to be about the bad behavior of the common people and officials. But in fact, if you savor it carefully, you can taste that the real allusions and metaphors in this little story are all referring to and pointing to the emperor sitting on the dragon throne.

Because although these evil deeds were caused by the flattery of the people below, the problem is that if the emperor did not have such a hobby, such a preference, and did not like cricket fighting.

Whether it is the suffering people or the officials who want to take the opportunity to curry favor with them, what happened to them would definitely not happen.

And now.
What did his eldest son Zhu Zhanji do?
Aren’t they just fighting crickets?
Although what Zhu Gaoxu said was just a story, God knows whether this so-called story will develop into reality. Will his eldest son do such a thing in the future because of his hobbies and funs, and with the officials under him pretending to obey his orders but actually disobeying their orders?

If such a thing really happened.

Then, what happened in the story told by Zhu Gaoxu would probably really happen to his eldest son.

By then, it will inevitably lead to waste of money and labor, the people will suffer, the officials will not want to govern the country, and the people will be resentful, which is acceptable.

At the same time, I also understood why Zhu Gaoxu always emphasized from beginning to end that people should follow the example of their superiors and that people in their position or in this family are not worthy of having hobbies and some special preferences.

Because in their opinion, it is just a simple hobby.

But there is a high possibility that some of his subordinates who like to flatter him will turn it from being a hobby to something that harms the country and the people.

As he thought about it, Zhu Gaochi's expression turned extremely ugly, and it was so gloomy that water seemed to be dripping out of it.

The atmosphere in the field suddenly became even more gloomy than before.

That's it.

After an unknown amount of time, Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi slowly came back to his senses from his daze. He took a few deep breaths and simply calmed down his agitated emotions. He slowly raised his head and looked at Zhu Gaoxu standing beside him. He forced a smile on his face that was uglier than crying and said:
"Second child"

"you win."

“You really did it.”

"I really can't smile now, and my expression is much uglier than before."

"Are you satisfied?"

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu half-closed his eyes and looked at him for a moment, waved at him, and opened his mouth to say something, but the words did not come out.

The prince standing at the side suddenly restrained his decadent expression, and replaced it with a solemn expression. He said in a serious voice:

"Second child"

"You don't have to explain, and you don't have to say anything."

"I know it more clearly than ever in my heart. I also know that you have no other intentions, nor do you have any bad intentions. I know that you are doing this for the good of our family."

"but."

Having said this, the prince paused for a moment, then suddenly opened his half-closed eyes and stared straight at Zhu Gaoxu. His words became solemn and grim at this moment, and he said in a deep voice:
"Second child"

"Just answer this question as a brother."

"Did you hear the story you just told from somewhere else, or did you just come up with it on the spur of the moment?"

"And the emperor in your story, is it a metaphor or a metaphor? It's talking about what that little bastard Zhanji might do or what will happen in the future."

Hearing this.

Looking at Zhu Gaochi's serious expression.

Zhu Gaoxu also took a few deep breaths and stared at him for a long time. Under the eager and expectant gaze of the prince, he nodded heavily and said in a deep voice:

"Boss"

"I can't give you a 100% answer to this question."

"But it's still what I said before. I believe you should be able to taste something from the little story I just told you."

"When people are in high positions, everything they say and do will be over-interpreted."

"Or, in other words, it is followed by those below. This is an eternal truth."

"So if we want to avoid such things from happening, our first problem is to be strict with ourselves, to behave properly and sit upright, so that no one can find fault with us. Then it will not happen. If we can't do what I described in the story before, then even if we don't talk about the cricket fight, I'm afraid other things may happen."

"Just like the question of your liking for 'beauties', boss. You have been in a high position for so many years. Have the people below you done some obscure things to curry favor with you? I think you know it better than anyone else."

"so."

“It’s not what we want or what we think, but what we do.”

"That's why I've always stressed the need to always be mindful of what others are doing, and that people in our position cannot have so-called hobbies or preferences."

"Otherwise, what seems to us to be a very small matter may actually cause a huge storm behind the scenes that we cannot see, causing resentment among the people."

"Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it."

"The people are the water, and the emperor is the boat."

"I think with your intelligence, you can see these things more clearly than anyone else."

"So there are some things that we won't say any more."

"You should be able to think clearly and understand it yourself if you experience it yourself."

After hearing these words, Zhu Gaochi looked solemn and stern, and was speechless for a long time.

Yes.

If he had not been directly exposed before, he might have felt that it was no big deal or something irreversible, but now the fig leaf on this matter was ruthlessly torn off by Zhu Gaoxu.

At the same time, Zhu Gaoxu also asked him to take his own hobbies and preferences as an example, and asked him to think about what happened to him.

He couldn't help but think that some people below, based on his hobbies, intentionally or unintentionally proposed or mentioned some things to him, or did certain things to him, but they knew his character and did not dare to go too far.

If these things happened to Zhu Zhanji, it would be hard to say or comment, and I dare not imagine what would happen. (End of this chapter)