The struggle for the throne among nine princes—I really don't want to be the crown prince.

Chapter 179 Going with the Flow and Eliminating the Roots
Just as Yunzhen asked the question about waiting, Mingzhu, who was leisurely sipping tea in the courtyard of the Ming residence, asked the same question.

But what he asked was, "Is the Crown Prince still waiting?"
The one who answered him was his son, Kui Fang. As Mingzhu's youngest son, Kui Fang was handsome with delicate features and a tall, slender figure; he could be considered a good-looking man.

He said in a deep voice, "Father, the Crown Prince is still waiting."

Mingzhu's hand trembled involuntarily, and then she exclaimed, "The Crown Prince has improved so much compared to before!"

Kui Fang remained silent. He was not familiar with the Crown Prince and did not know much about him, so he did not want to comment further.

However, he knew very well that the Crown Prince was the Ming family's enemy, and only when the Crown Prince fell from power could the Ming family have a good life.

"Kui Fang, how many people knew about sending those Imperial Academy students from the two lakes to stop the Crown Prince's wedding procession?"

Before Kui Fang could even hesitate, Mingzhu coldly said, "You'd better think this through, or you won't even know how you died!"

Mingzhu's words sent a chill down Kui Fang's spine.

From childhood to adulthood, Kui Fang has always been filled with fear of his father.

Hearing his father's stern words, he hesitated for a moment and said, "Father, I did not come forward myself, but had Cheng He guide them."

"Then let me ask you, what is Cheng He doing right now? Do you have any idea?"

“My son gave Cheng He some money so he could travel around,” Kui Fang quickly explained. “No one has been able to find him recently.”

Looking at Kui Fang's confident demeanor, Mingzhu's face flashed with disappointment.

"Kui Fang, there's something you're wrong about: as long as a person is alive, they will be found one day!"

His voice lowered further as he said this: 'In this world, only the dead can keep a secret.'

"This is the first thing I'm going to teach you today."

"As for the second thing, it is to go with the flow!"

"This time, the land tax reform in the two lakes region is actually unrelated to the Crown Prince. However, since the Crown Prince is getting married, with proper guidance, the two things can be linked together."

"Moreover, if guided properly, it may have unexpected effects."

At this point, a hint of regret crossed his eyes, before he calmly added, "Also, never underestimate your opponent."

"Furthermore, don't keep looking at your opponents with the same old perspective. Listen carefully, everything is evolving with the times."

Kui Fang's body was a little stiff. When his father said that only the dead could keep a secret, he knew that his friend was dead.

Otherwise, Father wouldn't have spoken like that.

However, he kept his father's words in mind, because this time, his father really showed him what it meant to go with the flow.

Without intervening personally, but simply providing appropriate guidance, he had already taken control of everything.

After respectfully agreeing, he carefully took his leave.

Watching her son leave, Mingzhu felt increasingly disappointed.

Although he acted in accordance with the trend this time, he felt that he could achieve some results, but now it seems that he is greatly disappointed.

Fortunately, there were no losses.

He was watching the Crown Prince's reaction closely, as was the Qianxi Emperor.

Emperor Qianxi, already furious about the collective weeping at the Confucius Temple by the scholars from the Hunan and Hubei provinces, felt his stomach about to explode with rage when he heard the report that someone had actually blocked the Crown Prince's wedding procession to protest their innocence.

Despicable, absolutely despicable!
Some people really have no shame when it comes to their own benefit!

What are they doing? They're clearly trying to annoy the emperor and force him to submit under their coercion.

Emperor Qianxi did not want to back down, but he knew in his heart that if he forced things, it would not do his reputation any good.

Just as he was caught in a dilemma, the Crown Prince's wedding procession was stopped and people cried out for justice.

He knew the Crown Prince's character and was terrified that at this critical juncture, his eldest son might act recklessly and beat him first. If that happened, rumors would definitely spread that the Crown Prince was tyrannical.

How can a tyrannical and cruel person become the ruler of a country!
Just as he was about to order someone to go and relieve the siege, he heard the news that the Crown Prince had sent the wedding procession back first, while he himself stayed behind to let the students who were blocking the road and crying out for justice send a representative to speak.

Upon hearing this news, Emperor Qianxi was no longer in a hurry.

As long as the Crown Prince doesn't beat these students or arrest them, nothing else matters.

On the contrary, it would be good for the crown prince to act as a buffer in such situations.

However, Emperor Qianxi required Liang Jiugong to report news from the Crown Prince at any time.

Messages kept coming in.

Those students from the Imperial Academy didn't elect representatives!

The Crown Prince, however, insisted on meeting only with representatives of these Imperial Academy students.

The two sides are still deadlocked!

But the auspicious time for the prince's wedding is fast approaching...

Emperor Qianxi agreed with the Crown Prince's insistence.

It's not about everyone rushing in, but rather that in many situations, it's either the East Wind prevailing over the West Wind, or the West Wind prevailing over the East Wind.

By agreeing to meet, you've already made a concession. If the other party doesn't agree to your conditions and you continue to make concessions, then they're not just taking an inch, they're taking a mile!

However, as time goes by, things could easily change if things continue like this.

What will the Crown Prince do next?

Soon, Emperor Qianxi received new information: the Crown Prince had decided to meet with each of the students who requested an audience, one by one.

Meeting with them one by one is one way to do it.

But would those imperial college students dare to do it?

When Emperor Qianxi asked this question, Zhao Chang, who was reporting to him, respectfully replied, "Your Majesty is wise; the students of the Imperial Academy still insist on seeing the Crown Prince together."

"However, the Crown Prince did not back down this time. He said that since these students of the Imperial Academy blocked the bridal sedan chair to cry out for justice, it was already a great crime of disrespect."

"Considering that these people have been wronged, we can let it go."

"But when we ask them to choose representatives to voice their grievances, they refuse. When we ask them to report their grievances one by one, they don't cooperate. This isn't about having grievances to voice; it's about deliberately using this as an excuse to cause trouble."

"So the Crown Prince gave these people two choices: either they go to see him one by one; or they have the officers of the Infantry Commander's Office escort them to see the Crown Prince one by one."

After listening to Zhao Chang's report, Emperor Qianxi nodded.

The emperor was pleased to see the crown prince take a tougher stance.

Moreover, the key point is that the Crown Prince's methods were not only shrewd but also based on sound reasoning, leaving no room for criticism.

Without acting impulsively, with reason and evidence, and using both soft and hard tactics, the Crown Prince performed admirably this time.

But was stopping the Crown Prince's wedding procession really just a momentary impulse by those students?

Emperor Qianxi, who had been emperor for so many years, never believed in accidents.

In his opinion, even the most unexpected accidents are deliberately orchestrated by some people.

As a series of thoughts flashed through his mind, Emperor Qianxi said to Zhao Chang, "Keep an eye on this. I want to see how the Crown Prince will handle this next."

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(End of this chapter)