"You don't owe me anymore..." Lao Zhu chuckled softly, "What does he mean?"
Queen Ma shook her head and sighed. When she saw Lao Zhu stretching out his hand, she took the initiative to hand him a cup of tea and said, "Your Majesty, you have always been foresighted, but now have you messed up? I told you a long time ago that the human heart cannot withstand temptation. . Han Du is a kid who values friendship. If you don’t test him, he will remember your kindness for the rest of his life. But your temptation has made it clear what he has remembered in his heart. Hey. ....."
Regarding Empress Ma's worries, Lao Zhu had a disapproving attitude, "Don't you owe me anymore? I'll feed him, give him clothes, give him a place to live, and give him a title. Just saying you don't owe me anymore, I think." Do you want to end it with me? You want to be beautiful."
"Father, Han Du does not live on the salary you gave him. Besides, the salary you gave Han Du has been deducted for various reasons. If he really lives on the salary you give, I'm afraid He has long since starved to death..." Zhu Biao was also dissatisfied with his father for taking away Han Du's title. Although he could not persuade his father, it did not prevent him from taking justice for Han Du.
Lao Zhu suddenly became angry and shouted: "Isn't it enough for me to give him a salary of 1,600 shi a year? As for deducting his salary, I have always made clear rewards and punishments. If he does not make mistakes, will I deduct his salary?" ?”
Regarding his father's words, Zhu Biao naturally had something to say in his heart. Sometimes it is true that Han Du was fined and forfeited his salary after making a mistake. However, there were several times when it was clear that his father was jealous of Han Du making money and would confiscate Han Du's salary for any reason.
But Zhu Biao could only think about this in his heart, but he did not dare to say it out loud.
Seeing that Lao Zhu was angry, Empress Ma had to say something to calm down, "Your Majesty, why did you say that you had nothing to do and took away Han Du's title? Now Anqing is still living in Han Mansion, how can you let her face Han Du like this? Even if you are If you don’t think about others, then you should think about Anqing.”
When Lao Zhu heard Empress Ma mention Anqing, his anger immediately disappeared. He smiled and said, "It would be great if Anqing was here. Didn't he say he doesn't owe me anything? In order to fulfill his wish, I risked being cast aside by everyone in the world." Because of his infamy, he betrothed Anqing to him. He also gave birth to a son and a daughter. Has he repaid this royal favor? He wants to settle the debt with me, but he is dreaming!"
Queen Ma and Zhu Biao looked at each other. Seeing that the emperor insisted on doing this, they both had no choice but to sigh helplessly and stopped trying to persuade him. The emperor would not listen anyway.
I don't know if it was because he had been away from the capital for too long, but Zhu Biao always felt that his father had changed a lot when he came back this time. He became a little different from the loving father he was familiar with in his memory. In the past, his father would almost always ask his opinion first on major political matters, but this time he took away Han Du's title and never informed him about it. At the slightest moment, he immediately issued an order to seize the title.
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, some people have been deprived of their titles, including marquises. But that's because these people have committed unforgivable crimes, and not killing them is not enough to thank the world. But Han Du didn't break the law, but he was deprived of his title.
...
Han Mansion.
Although Han De said that he was unworthy of being without an official position, he still couldn't let go of the fact that Han Du was deprived of his title. The title of Marquis of Chuan Guo was different from that of the second-rank Minister of Household Affairs. It was something that could be passed down to his descendants. How could he not feel a pity if it was taken away from him for no reason? But he also knew that the emperor was cunning by nature. As he got older this year, he acted more and more unconstrainedly, and no one knew the deep meaning behind the emperor's actions.
Han De was afraid that if Han Du did something at this time, it would lead to disaster, so he had to persuade his son. Now, he can only place his hope in "good fortune lies in disaster, misfortune lies in blessing".
Han Du and An Qing spent a day enjoying themselves. When they saw their father and mother looking a little depressed, they patiently tried to persuade them. Han Du didn't give up until the two elders were beaming with joy.
Just as he was about to go back to Anqing to be with him, the fifth uncle, the housekeeper, came to report, "Master Marquis, the Crown Prince is here."
"The prince is here? Where are the others? Please invite him into the inner hall quickly." Han Du said quickly.
The fifth uncle smiled bitterly when he heard this, and quickly explained, "The prince hasn't come in yet. I opened the middle door, but His Highness refuses to come in. He insists on waiting at the door. I can't persuade him. Mr. Marquis should hurry up. Let's take a look, otherwise people will spread the news and say that our family dares to make the prince wait, this... how can this happen? "
The Marquis has just been deprived of his title. If rumors spread that the prince is waiting outside the gate, then no one in the Han family will survive. It was precisely because the housekeeper thought of this that his voice was trembling.
"Let's go and invite His Highness in." Han Du immediately changed direction and ran quickly towards the door.
He ran to the gate in one breath and saw Zhu Biao standing upright in the sun. Han Du went up to greet him before he could catch his breath.
"The common people pay their respects to His Highness the Crown Prince. Your Highness should hurry into the palace. If you stand here for a while longer, our whole family will have to walk outside in the morning tomorrow."
Zhu Bian originally came with an apology, but when Han Du said this, the solemn atmosphere he had been brewing for a long time suddenly dissipated. I had no choice but to stretch out my hand to help Han Du up, and said with a smile: "You are so glib. Since you don't want to stand here alone, then go in."
"Your Highness, please!" Han Du led the way and warmly invited Zhu Biao into the gate.
When they came to the inner hall and sat down, the servants brought tea to Zhu Biao and Han Du.
Zhu Biao first held the tea cup and slid the tea lid along the rim a few times, blew on it and took a sip. Then he said to Han Du: "I know that my father took away your title. I went to persuade my father, but it was useless."
"Thank you, Your Highness." Han Du smiled and bowed his head slightly, and then said with a relaxed expression: "In fact, without the title, I feel more relaxed. The ancients have not deceived me. It is really light to have no official title."
Zhu Biao stared at Han Du for a moment.
When Han Du saw Zhu Biao looking at him strangely, he couldn't help but look at himself all over, and asked doubtfully: "What's wrong?"
Zhu Biao sighed immediately and shook his head. Then he asked: "If you were deprived of your title, it was not because of yourself, but because you were deprived of your title. What would you do?"
Han Du was startled when he heard this, and couldn't help but put down the teacup that had just reached his mouth, "Why did your Highness say this?"
Zhu Biao did not hide anything from Han Du, and said calmly: "I am the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, but I went to sea for a year before returning. Some of the ministers have opinions about Gu. It happened that Cheng Ji, the censor of the Supervisory Council, impeached you, saying that you tempted Gu to go to sea. . In order to protect Gu, my father took advantage of the situation and seized your title as an explanation to the ministers. So, strictly speaking, you are taking the blame for Gu."
After Han Du listened, he lowered his head and fell into silence.
Seeing that he was so downcast, Zhu Biao thought that Han Du was reluctant to part with the title of Marquis of Zhenhai, so he sighed and said, "But don't worry, after this period of time, I will ask my father to restore your title."
Han Du was stunned for a moment, then looked into Zhu Biao's eyes and burst into laughter. Pointing at Zhu Biao, who looked confused, he said, "Your Highness doesn't think that I can't bear to part with my title, right?"
Zhu Biao was also stunned. In his impression, Han Du did not value powerful people. But since that was the case, Zhu Biao became even more confused and asked tentatively: "Then why did you have that expression just now?"
Han Du stopped laughing, his face gradually became thoughtful, and he said thoughtfully: "I was thinking just now that His Highness has only been out of the palace for a year, and some ministers are dissatisfied with His Highness. What are they dissatisfied with? "
Zhu Biao was stunned for a moment, and asked a little confused: "What do you mean, what do you want to say?"
Han Du's face suddenly straightened, his tone became solemn, and he said loudly: "The Emperor is the Son of Heaven, and His Highness is one person below ten thousand people. What reason do those civil servants have to control His Highness's whereabouts? This is something they can control? Your Highness doesn't think so. Are their hands stretched too far?"
"This..." Zhu Biao hesitated immediately. From the perspective of Master Tiandijun, it was indeed what Han Du said. Zhu Biao is the prince and the king, and the ministers are just ministers. How can the ministers care where the king goes?
"However, the king has made mistakes, and the ministers are also responsible for admonishing them. What they did should not be considered wrong, right?" Zhu Biao was a little confused. Han Du's words really conflicted with his usual common sense. I don’t know whether Han Du is right or those ministers are right.
Han Du sneered twice, waved his hand and said: "Your Highness, what you said is wrong. Ministers can admonish the king, but they don't have to admonish everything. If the king even eats, drinks, has diarrhea, sleeps, or even goes to wherever he goes, he has to admonish. This is not called admonishment, it is an attempt to deprive the king of his position. If the emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats shared the world, then the ministers could remonstrate like this. But the emperor made it clear that the Ming Dynasty was when the emperor and the people shared the world, and those who What do the scholar-bureaucrats do? Don’t they think their control is too lenient?”
"And!" Han Du continued: "Even if you are admonishing the king, it is the fault of admonishing the king. But His Royal Highness the Prince's tour of Nanyang and the expansion of the West are to open up the future for the Ming Dynasty. Such a major event for the country and the people, they They also want to remonstrate, so what are their intentions?"
Zhu Biao's face darkened immediately when he heard Han Du say that these ministers who were admonishing him were trying to sideline him. Although he is still the prince now, he will one day become the emperor. Zhu Biao is not a weak person who only gives in blindly. Naturally, he will not have a good look on people who want to ignore him.
"How dare they be so presumptuous?" Zhu Biao suddenly slapped his thigh and shouted angrily.
"There is nothing these people dare not do." Han Du shook his head and sneered.
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