The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 495: Even the clean stream can be easily exploited
There was a heat wave in Beijing in July.

Before the hour of Si, the scorching sun began to burn the streets and alleys.

The temperature in the city also began to rise sharply.

However, people have long had ways to cool down.

Nowadays, ordinary people can afford ice at home. Many stores are equipped with ice troughs, and some people even have fans next to them.

In the palace, there were rows of little palace maids and eunuchs standing comfortably in front of the ice troughs, waving small fans.

The cool breeze blew slowly, and the entire Qianqing Palace was not hot at all.

In the imperial study, Wanli was holding little Zhu Changxun and thinking about how to teach the future prince, when the chief minister of the cabinet, Shen Li, came to ask for a meeting.

When Shen Li walked in with a memorial and took a look at it, he was stunned.

Why is this little prince here too?
He was stunned for a moment before he bowed and said, "Your humble servant greets His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Third Prince."

Then, he seemed to be frozen, seemingly not knowing what to do.

This guy is holding a memorial but not submitting it. He is just standing there in a daze. What does that mean?
Wanli nodded slightly, then couldn't help but ask curiously: "Zhonghua, is there something important?"

It’s hard to say.

Shen Li secretly glanced at little Zhu Changxun, pondered for a moment, and then held the memorial in both hands and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, please review it."

What does this guy mean?
Wanli took the memorial with one hand and opened it, his brows furrowed slightly.

No wonder this guy didn't tell me what was written in the memorial.

This is the memorial requesting the establishment of a crown prince.

Liu Yirong, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, risked his life to advise the emperor to establish a crown prince to consolidate the foundation of the country.

The prince that was requested to be appointed was naturally the little Zhu Changxun in his arms.

Shen Li saw that the little guy was there too, so he didn't want to say it directly.

This is the prelude to the struggle for the national foundation.

Liu Yirong seems to be a celebrity in history. He is one of the protagonists in the Palace Move Case and the chief minister of the Ming Dynasty Cabinet after Ye Xianggao.

Wanli frowned and thought for a while, then asked, "Newly minted Jinshi?"

Shujishi are generally newly-appointed Jinshi.

Shen Li nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, Your Majesty, Liu Yirong is a Jinshi in the Yimo year."

Yimo department.

At that time, I was preparing to destroy the Japanese pirates in Japan and didn't care about it at all.

Unexpectedly, this guy is from the Yimo Department.

I don’t know how many of the Jinshi candidates in the Yimo exam were poached by the Qingliu and even the Donglin.

Wanli asked again: "Qingliu?"

All the officials in the court knew this.

Shen Li nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, he is already well-known among the Qingliu people."

Wanli continued to ask: "Donglin?"

In fact, there was no such thing as the Donglin Party at that time.

The so-called Donglin refers to officials who have good relations with Gu Xiancheng and his gang.

Shen Li nodded repeatedly and said, "Yes, he is very close to Ye Xianggao and Han Yu."

It’s indeed the old Donglin.

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "Where is he from?"

Fortunately, I put in enough effort to come here.

Shen Li said without hesitation: "He is from Nanchang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province."

Nanchang Prefecture is far away from Puzhou, and this guy should have no direct relationship with the three major families in Puzhou.

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "Does he have any background?"

This guy is quite famous.

Shen Li explained carefully, "His father, Liu Ricai, was a Jinshi in the 32nd year of the Jiajing reign and served as the Left Provincial Governor of Shaanxi. His eldest brother, Liu Yikun, was a Jinshi in the 20th year of the Wanli reign and currently serves as the Censor of Zhejiang Province in the Censorate. His second brother, Liu Yiyu, was also a Jinshi in the Yimo year and currently serves as the Magistrate of Guangzhou."

This guy comes from a family of officials, with four Jinshi (imperial examinations) in his family!

The three brothers had just entered officialdom and their character was still unclear.

Wanli pondered for a while and asked, "How is Liu Richai as an official?" Fortunately, I have checked.

Shen Li said without hesitation, "According to the records of the Ministry of Personnel, Ri Cai was initially appointed as the Procurator of Shaozhou Prefecture. He was an expert in solving cases. He was later promoted to Director of the Ministry of Justice, and then Director of the Ministry of Rites. He was later promoted to Deputy Censor of Huguang, Supervisor of Education in Guizhou, and Councillor of Shanxi. Because of his meritorious service in resisting the invasion of the Tatars, he was promoted to Left Governor of Shaanxi. Three years later, on his way back to the court to report on his work, he fell ill at the Lintong Post Station.

The Ministry of Personnel summarized his official career as follows: "He was of ordinary character, and wherever he went, he was always missing. Even after his death, people still miss him."

This is a typical clear stream.

It is impossible for a corrupt official to pretend to be an upright official with so little luggage, and it is even more unlikely that he would die of illness at the post station when returning to the court to report on his work.

As for his appointment as Shanxi Councillor and Shaanxi Left Governor, he may have had some connection with the three major families in Puzhou.

Most likely, Han Yu took advantage of this to push Liu Yirong out and risk his life to make suggestions.

This guy probably has bad intentions and wants to make an example of him as a warning to others as he did in the past.

Do I still need to kill a chicken to scare the monkey?

Queen Wang has given birth to a legitimate royal son, so there is no room for dispute over the throne.

However, the three powerful families in Puzhou used their beauty to corrupt the king's uncle Wang Bing, and also pushed Liu Yirong, who came from a family of officials, to risk his life to make suggestions. This was a prelude to starting a dispute over the foundation of the country.

If he severely punished his uncle Wang Bing for corruption and executed Liu Yirong for requesting the establishment of a crown prince, he would have fallen into a trap.

This will create an illusion, an illusion that will help to stir up a dispute over the foundation of the country.

If he did so, rumors would surely spread, saying that he was extremely fond of Imperial Noble Consort Qin Lan, disliked Queen Wang's family, and did not want to make the emperor's legitimate son Zhu Changxun the crown prince!
Of course, if he didn't want rumors to spread, it would be very simple, that is, to appoint a crown prince immediately.

The problem is, unless there are special circumstances, the prince will usually be appointed as the crown prince when he reaches adulthood.

The so-called special circumstances are when the emperor feels that his life is coming to an end, then he must quickly appoint a crown prince no matter how old the prince is.

As for why we have to wait until the prince grows up before making him the crown prince, there are many reasons.

For example, the etiquette for enthroning a crown prince is quite complicated. Usually, a child of a few years old would be moved around like a puppet. The scene would be very ugly and would damage the dignity of the royal family.

For example, the crown prince has certain powers and responsibilities. He even has to supervise the country when the emperor goes on tour or leads an army in person. It is obvious that a child of a few years old cannot bear such a heavy responsibility.

Also, according to the rules, after the crown prince is enthroned, he must move to the Eastern Palace, also known as the Ciqing Palace, to live alone. It is obviously not suitable for a child of a few years old to live alone.

In short, if there are no special circumstances, there is no reason to make a child of a few years old the crown prince.

However, these guys don't care about that. The three major families in Puzhou just want to make trouble. They want to use the request to establish a crown prince to stir up a dispute over the foundation of the country. They just want the world to be in chaos.

Unless the world is in chaos, they will not be able to rise to power.

The reason is actually that simple.

Since Liu Yirong was pushed out to risk his life to make suggestions, it proves that he is a pawn or a discarded piece of the three major families in Puzhou, and he is not a member of the three major families in Puzhou.

This guy is now a pure and clear stream.

Historically, this guy might have ended up in cahoots with the three great families of Puzhou.

But now, this guy was obviously pushed out to die by the three major powerful families in Puzhou.

This group of upright people, like the in-laws, are too easy to be exploited.

Fortunately, he doesn't have to kill this guy to make an example of him.

If we kill this guy, there will be a lot of trouble. There are four Jinshi in one family. He is so famous that all scholars must know him.

Although he is not afraid of trouble, he doesn't need to seek trouble.

As for appointing a crown prince, it cannot be done now.

If he establishes the crown prince, the fight for the national foundation will be over. The clues that the three major powerful families of Puzhou have finally revealed to the king's uncle Wang Bing will probably be cut off by these guys.

He has to leave people with a little hope so that they will continue to play the game and he can find out these traitors hiding in the dark.

Wanli frowned and pondered for a long time before he picked up the red pen to write comments on the memorial.

When Shen Li took the memorial with the imperial approval and took a look at it, he was stunned.

Has His Majesty changed his personality?
This batch of red is not like the Emperor's original temper at all.

The words Wanli used this time were really unlike his usual temper.

That's how he criticized it.

The crown prince should be appointed, but it should not be done too hastily. It is not an ordinary practice to appoint a crown prince when he is so young. The emperor's legitimate son needs to learn, be literate and know etiquette before he can be appointed.

He actually patiently explained it to others, which was indeed unlike his previous temper.

If it were his previous temper, he would have been lucky not to have killed me with a single blow. What kind of explanation is that?

So why did he bother to explain patiently?
This was naturally to avoid falling into the trap of the three major wealthy families in Puzhou.

(End of this chapter)