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

Chapter 217 Crown Prince, is this something a human being would do?

As Emperor Qianxi's cabinet, the Southern Study was responsible for most of the court's political affairs.

Every day, the Qianxi Emperor would summon his subordinates, the Grand Secretaries.

As the chief Grand Secretary, Tong Guowei was naturally on the list of those summoned daily.

He was summoned this time because of a memorial submitted by the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner.

Tong Guowei and others did not provide any comments or suggestions on how to handle this memorial; instead, they sent it directly to Emperor Qianxi's desk.

When Emperor Qianxi looked at the memorial, his face was so dark it looked like it could be wrung out.

He knew in his heart that the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner was up to something, but as the emperor, being threatened like this made him really angry!

"Tong Guowei, what do you think Shen Guotai means by this? Isn't he blatantly threatening me?!"

Faced with the enraged Emperor Qianxi, Tong Guowei remained calm, after all, this matter had nothing to do with him.

However, seeing the current situation, he still stood up shakily and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, please calm down. I believe that Shen Guotai's personal motives in this matter are not necessarily that strong."

"It's probably those people in the canal transport office who dragged him into this, forcing him to submit this memorial."

Emperor Qianxi snorted and said, "What a fine million grain transport workers! He has a million grain transport workers? Does he think my million Green Standard Army soldiers aren't fast enough or efficient enough?"

"Draft an edict for me, to execute Shen Guotai..."

Emperor Qianxi stopped himself halfway through his sentence.

Having been emperor for so many years, he knew all too well that some things couldn't be rushed.

For example, taking down Shen Guotai was satisfying, but the problem has not been fundamentally solved.

If not handled properly, it could become even more troublesome.

The capital's grain supply still relies on the Grand Canal. Sending a new governor-general might only make the situation more chaotic.

Emperor Qianxi took a deep breath and said to Tong Guowei, "Summon Shen Guotai to the capital to report on his duties."

Upon hearing that Emperor Qianxi had changed his mind, Tong Guowei breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew that the grain transport could not be disrupted yet, after all, it was the lifeline of the capital, with eight million shi of grain transported every year, and this absolutely could not be allowed to go wrong.

If there is any problem with these grain shipments, the capital will be unstable.

The instability in the capital would mean instability for the entire imperial court.

This is why the people in the canal transport group dared to submit a petition.

"Your Majesty is wise!" Tong Guowei said solemnly.

Emperor Qianxi said calmly, "Tong Guowei, in recent years the court has been busy with the war in the northwest, and the capital inspection and the grand plan have been delayed again and again."

"Now that the war in the Northwest has ended, it's time to put the matters of the capital inspection and the grand plan on the agenda."

"Your cabinet should come up with a plan to see how these two things should be implemented."

"In my opinion, the capital inspection should be carried out at least this year."

Tong Guowei's heart skipped a beat when he heard about the Beijing Inspection.

Although he was the chief Grand Secretary, most of the officials in the capital were still the old subordinates left behind by Mingzhu and Suo'etu.

Although these people outwardly obeyed his orders, Tong Guowei knew in his heart that they were not on his side at all.

He'd wanted to get rid of these two hypocritical guys for a long time!

The capital inspection and the grand plan—isn't this a golden opportunity?
Emperor Qianxi launched this inspection and grand plan not only to dismiss lazy officials, but also to purge the remaining forces of Suo'etu and Mingzhu.

After understanding Emperor Qianxi's deeper meaning, Tong Guowei felt a chill run down his spine, despite his admiration.

"Your humble servant obeys the decree!" Tong Guowei said solemnly.

Looking at Tong Guowei's solemn expression, Emperor Qianxi pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Uncle, have you seen Orondai recently?"

Just as Tong Guowei was about to reply, he heard Emperor Qianxi say, seemingly to himself, "He still owes the Crown Prince 60,000 taels of silver!"

Upon hearing this, Tong Guowei felt his head buzzing.

He turned a blind eye to Orondai's failure to repay the debt owed to the crown prince.

He was hoping that the Crown Prince would be pushed to the limit and, in a fit of rage, resort to some extreme measures to collect the debt. That way, even if the Crown Prince was in the right, he would appear to be abusing his power and lacking dignity.

After all, debts incurred through betting seem a bit unseemly.

But who knew that the Crown Prince wouldn't force the issue? He would mention it to everyone he met almost every day, as if he had suffered a great injustice.

Now, the whole capital is talking about Orondai's failure to pay his debts.

Some people even started saying that the Tong family was dishonest and couldn't accept defeat!
There are some things that people wouldn't dare say to Tong Guowei's face, but Tong Guowei knew that these words were quite harsh.

Tong Guowei was already starting to regret it. He knew very well that if he let the Crown Prince keep nagging like this, the Crown Prince would at most just be known as a gossip.

However, the Tong family's reputation, built up over many years, is now completely ruined.

What was originally intended to be a situation where the Crown Prince would suffer a silent loss has turned into this.

He hesitated for a moment, then respectfully clasped his hands towards Emperor Qianxi and said, "Your Majesty, Orondai's failure to repay the money owed to the Crown Prince is a heinous crime."

“As his uncle, I am also at fault for not disciplining him properly.”

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will go back and raise the money to pay off this debt for Orondai."

Tong Guowei played this move very cleverly.

He apologized for all the offenses he was supposed to, but he also made it clear in his words that he was just Orondai's uncle, not Orondai's biological father.

Your Majesty, as you know, even when my elder brother was alive, he couldn't control that scoundrel Orondai.

As his uncle, how could I possibly interfere? His final statement about raising the money was a dramatic display of sentimentality; the prince's constant nagging implied that even if it wasn't my responsibility, I would still go and raise the money.

It can be said that Tong Guowei achieved three goals at once.

How could Emperor Qianxi not understand the meaning behind Tong Guowei's words?
He immediately said calmly, "It's only right to accept the consequences of a bet."

"Although the Crown Prince's repeated refrains are unpleasant to hear."

"But I can't just shut the Crown Prince up and stop him from speaking!"

"After all, the Crown Prince was wronged, but he didn't come to me to complain, which shows he's already very sensible."

Tong Guowei knew that Emperor Qianxi was right. In this matter, Emperor Qianxi could not favor his cousin and could not take action against Orondai.

But the crown prince only nags and never complains to him, so as his father, he can't very well blame the crown prince for it.

If that were the case, how would the courtiers view him as emperor?
How should the other princes view him as their father?

and also……

The Crown Prince did it on purpose!

Tong Guowei knew that the Crown Prince's nagging was intentional, and so did Emperor Qianxi, but they could only watch helplessly in the face of such a weak and feeble way of collecting debts.

"Uncle, look at this." Emperor Qianxi suddenly took out a memorial and handed it to Tong Guowei.

When Tong Guowei heard Emperor Qianxi address him as "uncle" instead of by his name, he felt a sense of unease.

Having spent a lot of time with Emperor Qianxi, he knew his nephew's temperament very well.

He hurriedly took the memorial, only to find that it contained no important matter, but rather a theatrical performance.

The title is "The Crown Prince Fights the Treacherous King"!
Upon seeing this name, Tong Guowei felt a buzzing in his head and instantly felt a moment of silence for Yarjianga.

The plot is very exciting. It tells the story of a righteous man who brought sweet potatoes with a yield of 3,000 catties per mu from overseas to present to the imperial court.

A prince of the imperial court, in order to starve the poor, seized their land and then falsely accused the righteous man of deceiving the emperor.

In this situation, the crown prince discerned right from wrong, and the emperor vindicated the righteous man and the sweet potato...

This story is very exciting, but Tong Guowei couldn't continue reading it because there was a clown in it.

Not only are they foolish, but they also owe the Crown Prince a debt and are trying to renege on it!

He takes advantage of being the emperor's brother-in-law and does nothing to be reasonable.

Tong Guowei hadn't seen the clown's ending yet, but the clown's name made him feel incredibly sad.

Tong Jia's forehead ornament!
Although it wasn't Orondai, people in the capital knew who it was as soon as they heard the name!

If this play goes on, then...

Although everyone knows that the prince mentioned here is Yarjianga, he is not named by name; he is simply referred to as a prince.

But this clown, although his first name and surname are not the same character, they sound exactly the same when pronounced.

He rubbed his hands together and said, "Your Majesty, this script, with its explicit naming of names, is truly... truly..."

Tong Guowei didn't say anything because he knew that Emperor Qianxi understood his meaning.

Emperor Qianxi sighed and said, "The Crown Prince said that the script is all fictional, and every name and character in Orondai's name is different."

"It was purely a coincidence. Don't take it personally, Orondai."

Tong Guowei was genuinely scared. He didn't know if Ya'erjiang A Huo would become famous if this play went on, but the Tong family would definitely become famous.

The Crown Prince lacks martial virtue!
Is 60,000 taels of silver a lot?

Sometimes, Tong Guowei could earn this much money just by doing one thing.

Isn't the Crown Prince making a mountain out of a molehill...?

"Your Majesty, if this script is not to be performed, I request that the Crown Prince change the name."

"That sixty thousand taels of silver, this servant will deliver it to the Crown Prince today." Tong Guowei shook his head, saying, "This really is..."

Looking at the somewhat dejected Tong Guowei, Emperor Qianxi sighed and said, "Uncle, if the Crown Prince doesn't come to me to complain about this matter, I can't really say anything!"

Tong Guowei understood Emperor Qianxi's meaning, so he sincerely expressed his gratitude to Emperor Qianxi.

Back in his duty room, Tong Guowei drank a couple of sips of tea, which finally calmed him down, but a fire still burned in his heart.

Half of this fire was directed at Orondai, and the other half at the Crown Prince!
The Crown Prince is too cunning! For 60,000 taels of silver, he's going to ruin their entire family!

However, he couldn't vent his anger, so he could only pick up the document and start reading.

In a fit of anger, he rejected several memorials in a row.

Just as his resentment was growing stronger, he saw the memorial from the Court of Colonial Affairs.

He was very careful with this memorial. He knew very well that this matter concerning the Court of Colonial Affairs was not easy to handle, and neither he nor Emperor Qianxi had been able to make up their minds.

Now the Court of Colonial Affairs has sent another memorial, this time it is...

Upon seeing the Crown Prince's opinion written on the memorial, his first feeling was disbelief.

How could the Crown Prince have thought of such a childish decision as drawing lots!

How can such an important event be decided by drawing lots!

If this decision is made, how can the people of the world be made to submit to the imperial court? This...

"This is really great!"

However, while he felt that the opportunity was rare, Tong Guowei had a vague feeling that something was not right!
　The second update for today is here! Hey everyone, could you please give me a vote?
　　
　
(End of this chapter)