I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 7 Shi Changshi

Zhu Houxuan looked back and found a middle-aged scholar appeared at the door of Gongzheng Institute, glaring at Jin Tong, but he still dropped the hammer in his hand steadily.

This middle-aged scholar has a clear face and two long wisps of beard around his lips, but his pair of triangular eyes ruin his overall temperament, making him look a little cunning. This is Shi Lu, the current left chief historian of the Prince of Jing's Palace, and the highest-ranking civil servant in the palace.

"Where did this rude man come from, and he actually instigated the prince to forge iron!" Shi Changshi walked over quickly and pointed at Jin Tong's nose and said.

Jin Tong wanted to explain something, but when he glanced at Shi Changshi's official uniform, his eyes were suddenly filled with fear, and he knelt down with a thud.

"And you, servant, why don't you stop the prince?" Shi Changshi continued to look at Hou Sen.

Hou Sen's face turned even darker and he knelt down without saying a word.

Finally, Shi Changshi's eyes finally fell on Zhu Houxuan, "Your Highness, I was wondering why you didn't summon me and Liu Changshi to give lectures these days. It turns out that you were deceived by these servants."

"Shi Changshi!" Zhu Houxuan said coldly, "These servants can't deceive me. They can't stop me from doing anything I want to do."

"Your Highness, there is no need to make excuses for these two people. Your Highness is still young and cannot recognize their true colors. Where are you? Capture these two criminals for me. Give each of them twenty strokes of the cane to teach them a lesson." Shi Changshi continued to be relentless.

Zhu Houxuan's face turned cold. After these twenty blows, Jin Tong might be fine, but Hou Sen would probably be half dead.

He didn't have a very good impression of Shi Changshi, because in their previous encounters, Shi Changshi saw that he was young and always PUA him in words and deeds, wanting to control him and make decisions for him in everything. Although he did it very covertly, Zhu Houxuan, who had the soul of a time traveler, could still feel it clearly. Before, he was focused on giving up and naturally didn't care much about these things, but now the situation is different.

Perhaps it was his previous poor performance that gave Shi Changshi the illusion that he could easily control him, and today he even wanted to directly attack his people. The iron-making matter could be a big deal or a small one, but he could not tolerate the fact that his authority as a prince was ignored in front of so many people.

If he fails to handle this matter well today, his authority will suffer a great blow. If he fails to protect Jin Tong and Hou Sen, who will do things for him in the mansion in the future? This will affect his next plan.

"Shi Changshi is so majestic!" Zhu Houxuan said coldly.

"Why do you say that, Your Highness? As the Chief Clerk of the Prince's Palace, I should advise Your Highness to follow the right path and do the right thing! This is my duty!" Chief Clerk Shi immediately retorted.

"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and act!" Shi Changshi shouted at the hesitant palace guards.

"Let's see who dares! All of you step back!" Zhu Houxuan took a step forward and stood in front of Hou Sen and Jin Tong.

"Your Highness!" Shi Changshi looked at Zhu Houxuan with a stern face, looking uneasy.

"Shi Changshi still knows how to advise me! He made the decision for me before I even gave any advice? Can't I even make this decision? People who don't know would think that Shi Changshi is the Prince Jing of the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Houxuan put a big hat on Shi Changshi.

"I dare not! How could Your Majesty think of me like this? I am just doing my job loyally!" Shi Changshi finally began to look Zhu Houchun in the face. He did not expect Zhu Houchun to say such heart-wrenching words.

"Why not? Shi Changshi is too bold. If what happened today gets out, outsiders will probably think that Shi Changshi is bullying me because I am young."

"You" Shi Changshi was speechless for a moment. He stared into Zhu Houxuan's eyes, but he only saw endless indifference, which made him feel very unfamiliar. He suddenly realized that the boy who was half a head shorter than him when he first entered the government two years ago was now as tall as him, so he could no longer look down at this boy.

Zhu Houxuan stared at Shi Changshi without giving in, constantly putting pressure on him.
The scene became tense for a moment. Everyone around looked at their noses and their hearts, not daring to breathe.

"This king is so unlucky! I lost my father when I was young, and just after I finished mourning for my father and inherited the title of king, I almost fell into the water and died. I am an orphan and a widow who depend on each other for survival. Now that my health is getting better, I want to exercise but I am bullied."

"Your Highness, please be careful with your words!" Shi Changshi finally couldn't stand it anymore.

He was filled with immense regret. He had just wanted to take advantage of the young prince today to increase the weight of his words in the palace, but he did not expect that he would be squeezed out by the young prince and lose face.

He couldn't understand why the little prince, who had always been honest and simple, suddenly became so sharp-tongued.

If Zhu Houxun's words today were to get out, it would not only be disgraceful for him, but would also ruin his reputation.

How should he get through this today? Seeing that the young prince would not give in, and none of the servants around him had the tact to help him out, he just went along with it. Shi Changshi thought bitterly.

However, he weighed the pros and cons in his mind for a long time, and finally slowly bent down, clasped his hands and said: "I am a rude minister today, but my sincerity is evident to all the world!"

Seeing that Shi Changshi had given in, Zhu Houxuan immediately put on a smiling face and reached out to help Shi Changshi up. "Sir, it is great to admit your mistakes and do good. Sir, you must be tired today. I will send someone to take you back. I will come to ask for advice another day."

"I will follow the prince's orders!" Shi Changshi said, then staggered and turned away.

Watching Shi Changshi's departing figure, Zhu Houxuan put away his smile, rubbed his chin, and his brain started working rapidly.

Although he was determined to give up after traveling through time, Zhu Houxuan still took the trouble to understand the Jingwang Mansion, the place where he settled down. Especially after realizing Shi Changshi's ill will towards him, he was still very familiar with the ecological niche of the palace.

Although the Chief Secretary of the Palace is only of the fifth rank, as the highest-ranking civil servant in the Palace, he is definitely at the top of the Palace's ecological niche.

During the Hongwu period, the highest-ranking official in the palace was the prime minister, which was the second rank. Zhu Yuanzhang had high hopes for the kings, so he sent famous ministers and generals to the palace to assist and teach the princes.

In the early Ming Dynasty, officials serving in the royal palace were honored and respected, and their transfers were flexible. People generally had high hopes for their careers, and many officials were happy to take up the positions.

But after the Jingnan Campaign, as successive Ming emperors vigorously reduced the power of the princes and strengthened the restrictions on their fiefdoms, officials in the prince's palace were also restricted by the restrictions, and the highest civil servant in the prince's palace became the fifth-rank chief historian of the prince's palace.

The most important thing is that the promotion of officials in the royal palace is restricted to one palace. The highest position they can reach is the chief secretary of the royal palace. Above that, they can only increase their salary and rank, but cannot be transferred to other places.

This made many scholars unwilling to serve as officials in the royal palace. Originally, in order to become the chief historian of the royal palace, one had to be a court official or a first-class Jinshi. However, by the middle of the Ming Dynasty, even ordinary third-class Jinshi were unwilling to become the chief historian of the royal palace.

At present, the chief secretaries of various royal palaces in the Ming Dynasty are mostly juren. Later, in the late Ming Dynasty, juren who were interested in official careers were not very willing to serve as officials in royal palaces, and scholars could become chief secretaries of royal palaces.

(End of this chapter)