Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 368 Lies won’t hurt, the truth is the sharpest knife!

You may not be able to do it, but you can’t help but think about it!
This is what Xia Zhibai wanted to tell Zhu Biao.

As a crown prince, one must have the courage to be the first. If one just stays dormant under the emperor's wings, no matter how talented one is, it will eventually be wiped out.

Zhu Biao's power nowadays is enormous.

But Zhu Biao hardly did anything "out of the ordinary". He just carried out his tasks step by step every day, like a puppet, doing mechanical things day after day, lacking the initiative as a leader.

What is even more frightening is that Zhu Biao has lost his own ideas.

There is nothing I want to do, and I lack real persistence.

Throughout history, there have been so many wise and virtuous rulers. Which one did not have his own firm ruling ideas? Which one did not have his own unique style? But Zhu Biao did not have one. Even though Zhu Biao was regarded by the world as the most stable crown prince from ancient times to the present, if the world were to comment on Zhu Biao's style of handling political affairs, I am afraid no one could summarize the characteristics.

Because the world only sees Zhu Yuanzhang's shadow.

This is why the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Yan dared to covet the position of crown prince.

Because Zhu Biao couldn't "convince the people"!
They obeyed Zhu Biao only because he was a good brother who handled things fairly and tolerated them. However, this was only limited within the family. In the whole world, the Prince of Jin was not inferior to Zhu Biao in terms of literary talent and martial arts, and he was also quite ambitious. Even Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the Prince of Jin differently.

As for the King of Yan.

Equally ambitious.

However, compared to the comprehensiveness of Prince of Jin, Prince of Yan is more like Zhu Yuanzhang. He has a violent temper and likes to speak with his fists. Therefore, he will naturally inherit Zhu Yuanzhang's character, that is, he is competitive. With the assistance of the great monk Yao Guangxiao, Zhu Di's ambition is constantly growing.

Zhu Biao has actually been standing still over the years.

The gap between him and other princes was constantly narrowing, and this also led to the fact that Zhu Yuanzhang had to spend more time and effort to eliminate ambitious meritorious officials one by one in order to ensure that Zhu Biao could sit firmly on the throne in the future, so as to leave Zhu Biao a world that would be easier to control in the future.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang was very powerful, if Zhu Biao was strong enough, why would Zhu Yuanzhang have ended up like this?
Zhu Yuanzhang and his son Zhu Biao were actually torturing each other.

As his eldest son and the crown prince designated by him, Zhu Yuanzhang devoted all his efforts to Zhu Biao and imparted all his life's knowledge to him. But even so, Zhu Biao was still a little "stupid". Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang often blamed Zhu Biao and reminded him, but Zhu Biao never realized it.

Zhu Biao just thought that Zhu Yuanzhang was too powerful.

In the end, Zhu Biao's way of compromise was to obey, to obey Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts.

This certainly calmed Zhu Yuanzhang's dissatisfaction, but it also aroused more concerns in Zhu Yuanzhang.

Worried that Zhu Biao would not be able to take over the emerging Ming Empire in the future, he had to rely on his thundering methods to demonstrate to Zhu Biao again and again how to govern the Ming Empire, and at the same time constantly remove possible thorns on Zhu Biao's road to power.

Isn't this Zhu Yuanzhang's compromise? !
Li Jinglong was stunned on the spot.

His whole body was already covered in cold sweat, and his eyes looking at Xia Zhibai were filled with shock and fear.

He could never have imagined that Xia Zhibai would dare to discuss the emperor's family affairs.

Even dare to comment.

Directly attack the prince.

Is this really something a minister like Xia Zhibai can do?

And how could these words make sense? Isn't stability the priority for the crown prince?
Li Jinglong looked at Xia Zhibai who was calm and composed, and then looked at Zhu Biao who had an extremely ugly expression. He couldn't help but shrink his neck, opened his mouth, and subconsciously took a few steps back, even wanting to find a gap to crawl into.

There was no conversation for a long time.

Zhu Biao's face was extremely gloomy, so gloomy that water could drip out of it. He looked at Xia Zhibai with a terrifying gaze, his eyes filled with bloodshot and anger. If he had a sword beside him, he would have wanted to chop Xia Zhibai to death on the spot. This was the first time he had been scolded like this since he was a child, except for Zhu Yuanzhang.

He couldn't accept it for a while.

Xia Zhibai looked calm. If there were any words, they were indeed unpleasant to hear. For a man like Zhu Biao who had a strong sense of self-esteem and held a high position, it was indeed difficult to accept. But this was the fact. Zhu Yuanzhang tolerated Zhu Biao only because of his humble background. So he subconsciously felt that he should not have too high expectations for his son and just let him solve any problems.

But this does not mean that Zhu Biao is really that outstanding.

At least in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, Zhu Biao's greatest identity was just the eldest son. Zhu Yuanzhang had always been dissatisfied with many other aspects, but later he worked on his own thoughts and finally chose to compromise.

Xia Zhibai asked, "Your Highness, has it been a long time since you were taught a lesson like this?"

"But lies don't hurt, the truth is the sharpest knife!"

"Your Highness is angry because he probably agrees with it in his heart."

"Otherwise I'll just laugh it off."

"It is true that Your Highness is talented and proficient in handling various political affairs, but he lacks his own style and has not formed his own ideas on governing the country. He is more like a floating duckweed, moving with the thoughts of Your Majesty."

"This approach will certainly help you avoid being criticized."

"But it also means that Your Highness lacks the ability to truly face the storm, and lacks the courage to truly stand on his own."

"In this regard, Your Majesty is not as good as other princes."

"Not even as good as King Zhou."

"Although the King of Zhou is weak in character and cannot distinguish between good and evil, he also knows what he should do and what he should insist on. Unlike His Highness, he says that he is doing it to please His Majesty, but in fact he has long lost his prejudices."

"Your Highness believes that it is not advisable for the court to spend real money to promote paper money."

"Has Your Highness really thought about it seriously?"

"Have you really considered the current situation of Ming Dynasty?"

"I have given your Highness all the advice and suggestions I can."

"Your Highness, whether you want to listen or not, I can't say anything."

"But Your Highness, you should also be aware that the current situation of the Ming Dynasty is inseparable from you."

"Because you are the crown prince, His Majesty is old and is bound to lean towards you."

"If His Highness is unable to withstand the wind and rain, then Your Majesty can only do more to protect His Highness from the wind and rain, even if it will affect the so-called eternal foundation of the Ming Dynasty. After all, if even the second emperor cannot sit firmly on the throne, how can we talk about eternal prosperity?"

"Listening to too much flattery always makes people lose the ability to think independently."

"Your Highness should wake up."

Xia Zhibai sighed meaningfully.

Then he walked out of the room leisurely.

Zhu Biao obviously did not have the right attitude. No matter how much you say to Zhu Biao, it would be like talking to a cow. He did not have the courage to explore and be the first to do something. Even if you crushed all the business methods of later generations and fed them to Zhu Biao, he would still spit them out.

Because of fear of risk!!!
(End of this chapter)