King of Han Dynasty of Ming Dynasty

In the small courtyard.

Xia Yuanji then expressed the two's true concerns and intentions.

In the courtyard at that moment, the air seemed to suddenly freeze.

One has to admit that as the confidants of Emperor Yongle, both Jin Zhong and Xia Yuanji, whether in their daily behavior or in light of such a major event, both of them considered the situation of the court.

Xia Yuanji and Jin Zhong have truly lived up to the trust and power bestowed upon them by the court. They have maintained their original intentions from beginning to end. They are countless times better than those ministers who appear to be glamorous on the surface but do dirty things behind the scenes. To be honest, most of the ministers in the court are not even worthy of carrying their shoes.

The two of them truly and thoroughly fulfilled their duties as court officials, enjoying court salaries, being loyal to the court, worrying about the world before worrying about themselves, and being happy after the world is happy about itself, which are the duties of loyal officials.

But these words, these things.

Although what the two said made a lot of sense, they were not selfish at all.

But when it came to the ears of Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi, it made him even more determined. He had just discussed with Zhu Gaoxu in detail, but he had not yet made up his mind, or the confidence to promote the new learning.

There is no other reason.

Because of the concerns and reasons of Xia Yuanji and Jin Zhong, in a sense, it was almost a very direct statement that the vast Ming Dynasty seemed to be the world of their Zhu family.

But all this is only on the surface. In secret, in the vast territory of the Ming Dynasty, the real owner of this land is not the Zhu family, but the gentry and nobles who have passed down this land for thousands of years.

In fact, the answers given by Xia Yuanji and Jin Zhong are similar to what Zhu Gaoxu had always emphasized before: whoever controls the land and the information has enough say over the people and the whole world.

but
Fortunately, fortunately, everything is in time.

Everything is possible to change.

After all, this is the second generation of the Ming Dynasty. The imperial power has not really declined, and the military power has not yet fallen into the hands of the Zhu family. At the same time, whether it is Emperor Yongle or the three brothers, they are still young and strong and have the ability to completely suppress and control the entire world.

If we continue to allow these bastards to mess around, and allow these so-called famous scholars to continue teaching their disciples and letting them do whatever they want, while enjoying the privileges granted by the court and constantly oppressing the people, let the Zhu family take the blame for these individuals.

As time went on, the impression of the Zhu family among the people became worse and worse, and they became the rats crossing the street that everyone wanted to beat. When the people really couldn't survive and make ends meet, then they were truly powerless to save the situation.

Moreover, even if the future rulers of the Zhu family still sit on the throne, they will probably only become puppet emperors who take the blame for others and are manipulated by others. By then, they will be truly helpless and unable to get any help from heaven or earth.

to this end.

In Zhu Gaochi's view, the position of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, as well as the civil officials who did all these dirty things, oppressed the people, aroused public resentment and anger, and made the Zhu family bear the blame, should all be dealt with, and be punished and taught a long lesson.

It is absolutely impossible and will not be allowed for such things to continue to develop in this way.

At the same time, Zhu Gaochi now completely understood why Zhu Gaoxu always said, "There is not enough time, it is better to do it sooner rather than later, and it absolutely cannot be delayed any longer," and so on, when talking about these things.

In the past, Zhu Gaochi was more or less on guard in his heart, worrying that Zhu Gaoxu's actions might be hiding some ulterior motive or some intention that he was unaware of.

But when everything was thoroughly revealed, these words and the crisis were not spoken by Zhu Gaoxu himself, but by his true die-hard fans, Xia Yuanji and Jin Zhong.

The meaning and significance here are completely different.

This will make it easier for Zhu Gaochi to listen to it, and at the same time, he won't have so many little thoughts and calculations in his mind.

Why?

The reason is very simple, because in Zhu Gaochi's heart, no matter whether it is Jin Zhong or Xia Yuanji, both of them are definitely members of his faction and the faction of Emperor Yongle. If it were not for the existence of these two people in front of him, it would be uncertain whether his position as the crown prince could be 100% guaranteed to fall on his head!

For this reason, in Zhu Gaochi's mind, the two people in front of him would never side with Zhu Gaoxu. Since they would not side with Zhu Gaoxu, there would not be any calculations involved, so what they said was worth listening to and believing.

Seeing the prince falling silent and with a gloomy expression after hearing the words, Xia Yuanji and Jin Zhong thought that the prince had heard their words, and they couldn't help but let out a long breath, and their hearts, which had been lifted up, finally settled down.

The two men looked at each other, and then Jin Zhong spoke again, continuing to increase the stakes and taking another drastic measure, hoping to strike while the iron is hot and change the prince's mind so that the current situation can be handled smoothly.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"If His Royal Highness the King of Han is allowed to act recklessly and truly attack the civil officials in the court, he will also attack the privileges and power that scholars in the world should enjoy."

"Let's not talk about how likely our court is to win. Even if our court can really crush these gentry and noble families, that is only the power of these gentry and noble families."

"If these gentry and noble families, when it comes to a life-and-death situation, completely put aside their past grudges, reach an unprecedented consensus on their goals, and directly turn to the arms of other princes at the same time, what should we do with them?"

"Your Highness the Crown Prince."

"You should know that apart from the King of Han, the King of Zhao, and your line, there are other vassal kings."

"And your elders or uncles, the surviving princes, are all extraordinary people, and they are not without any ideas about the world. They just lost when they competed with Your Majesty for the world before."

"Once all those gentry and nobles turn against us and throw themselves into the arms of a certain vassal king, the consequences will be completely unpredictable."

"Then this catastrophe is bound to be more tragic and cruel than the previous Jingnan."

"to this end."

"Your Highness, I dare to ask you to think twice about this matter for the sake of our country and the people!"

"Never, ever, act according to your heart or your will."

"Otherwise, it might be too late to regret."

This statement is not harsh enough.

Or in other words, such words should not be uttered by a minister.

Because of these words, it can almost be said that it is an open attempt to provoke and alienate the family affection and flesh and blood of the Tian family, to provoke disputes and internal strife in the Tian family.

You know, once you are really arrested, it will be a serious crime of sowing discord among the royal family and alienating the royal family members. According to the rules and laws of the Ming Dynasty, the entire family will be executed and nine generations of the clan will be exterminated!

To tell the truth
Just now, when Jin Zhong said this, he and Xia Yuanji had a brief eye contact. Xia Yuanji was such a smart person that he knew clearly that Jin Zhong was going to use a strong medicine right after that.

But what happened at that moment was something Xia Yuanji could never have imagined in his dreams. Jin Zhong actually dared to be so cruel and brave, and even dared to say such treasonous words and be so outspoken.

Let’s stop here with these words.

Not to mention what expression Crown Prince Zhu Gaochi had at this moment, Xia Yuanji, who was standing next to him, was actually frightened by Jin Zhong's words that were so outrageous and meant to alienate the royal family. He almost couldn't help falling to the ground.

At the same time, Xia Yuanji was furious in his heart.

"no no no"

"No!"

"Do you have to be so cruel? Do you have to be so decisive?"

"There's nothing wrong with taking a strong dose of medicine, but even if you do, you shouldn't risk everyone's lives to take it!"

"Isn't this simply seeking death?"

"It's fine if he's looking for death, but the problem is that this bastard dragged him into it."

At this moment, Xia Yuanji couldn't help but greet Jin Zhong's ancestors in a "cordially" manner.

But greetings are greetings.

But seeing the prince's increasingly gloomy expression, Xia Yuanji secretly groaned in his heart, but he did not dare to sit there and wait for death or hesitate for a moment. He immediately stood up and hurried to make up for Jin Zhong's words and smooth things over. After all, he didn't care whether Jin Zhong lived or died, but he really didn't live enough and really didn't want to die!

"Your Highness, please calm down. Your Highness, please calm down."

"Master Jin."

"That's not what Master Jin meant. Master Jin doesn't have any bad intentions or disloyalty, and he doesn't use this to deliberately alienate the family ties and flesh and blood."

"It is for the sake of our country and people. We don't want the world to fall into turmoil and unrest again, and we don't want the people to suffer from war again."

"I beg Your Highness the Crown Prince to understand this."

While speaking, trying to make amends and smooth things over, Xia Yuanji knelt down without any hesitation, and kowtowed solemnly and sincerely, knocking his head on the ground like pounding garlic.

Hearing this and seeing Xia Yuanji kneeling on the ground, Jin Zhong was naturally no fool. He understood that Xia Yuanji was trying to make amends and smooth things over for him. Although he was proud of his status, he tactfully knelt down, behaving just like Xia Yuanji.

Seeing the two people kowtowing in front of him, the prince's chubby face changed. He pondered in silence, and his pupils narrowed into slits.

It is undeniable.

Jin Zhong's words seemed to be indeed treasonous, but in a sense, there was no falsehood or exaggeration in them, because given the current situation and behavior, it was not impossible, or would not happen.

When a rabbit is angry, it will bite; when a dog is angry, it will jump over the wall!

Just as Zhu Gaoxu said before, and as he had understood during this period of time, the only thing these gentry and nobles in the world have no shortage of is money and silver, and if one of these individuals is taken alone, their strength may not be strong, but when all of them unite together, their strength is really enough to make people a little intimidated.

If a knife were really put to the necks of these people, and they united themselves and supported a certain vassal king in rising up, with money, food and support from people, no one could predict the final outcome.

After all, their Zhu family started out as a rebellion in the true sense. Even the Yongle Emperor who is now sitting on the dragon throne got his position through rebellion. For this reason, it is not an exaggeration to call their Zhu family a family of rebels. It can be said that when it comes to rebellion, no one is more familiar with the process than their Zhu family.

That's it.

A long time passed.

The prince came back to his senses from his daze, slowly opened his narrowed eyes, and looked at the two people kneeling on the ground in front of him for a moment. He did not answer their questions immediately, but asked in return:
"Master Jin."

"Xia Shangshu"

"I am very curious about your colleagues who are targeting the civil officials in the court."

"When they did these things, did you know and understand them in the past, or did you just know about it today?"

The rest of the words were not finished, but everyone knew what the prince meant.

At the same time, this question was almost the second time the prince asked them for an answer. The prince had asked the two of them implicitly before, but did not ask directly. Also, because there were other problems, the two of them pretended to be stupid and evaded the question. But now it was different. This time, the prince put the question directly in the open and asked it directly, not giving the two of them a chance to evade or pretend to be stupid.

That’s all I have to say.

Xia Yuanji and Jin Zhong paused in their kowtows, subconsciously straightened up slowly, looked at each other inconspicuously, and then sighed for no reason in their hearts. They didn't dare to hide anything anymore and responded honestly:
"Your Highness the Crown Prince"

"This matter, this matter, we have known about it in the past."

"only"

Before he finished speaking, Zhu Gaochi suddenly opened his half-closed eyes. He did not let the two finish their words, but spoke directly again, asking angrily:

"You knew this in the past?"

"Okay, okay, it's really okay!"

"I knew it before, why didn't you tell me before, why didn't you report it?"

"Why are you covering up for these bastards?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you lie to me?" (End of this chapter)