The cabinet's order was circulated to all parties, but the results returned were very unfavorable.
"Something's wrong, Your Majesty. Why are all these people crossing the river?"
Han Du was very puzzled, so he found Zhu Biao with reports from counties along the river.
Zhu Biao also had a serious look on his face. There was nothing so strange in the world. So many people actually crossed the Yangtze River north in a short period of time. If there is no agreement in advance, who will believe it?
What is the conspiracy behind this?
"They are just a group of people who resigned from office. What do they want to do?" Zhu Biao asked in confusion.
Of course Han Du didn't know what these people wanted to do, so he didn't know how to answer Zhu Biao. He suddenly remembered a detail and said quickly: "Your Majesty, can I read the reports from each county again?"
Although it was strange that Han Du had read these memorials a long time ago and why he wanted to read them again now, Zhu Biao still nodded and asked Wang Yue to bring the memorials to Han Du.
Han Du picked up a memorial from the tray, flipped through it a few times and then put it down. Then he continued to read each book one by one, faster and faster.
"Something's wrong, something's wrong..."
"What's wrong?" Zhu Biao asked quickly.
Han Du stopped looking at the report, looked at Zhu Biao and replied: "Please see, Your Majesty, these officials who are crossing the river are all from the south of the Yangtze River. Where are the others?"
"Everyone else's hometown is on the north side of the Yangtze River, right? They don't have to cross the river to come here!" Zhu Biao said subconsciously.
Han Du snorted coldly: "Your Majesty, this is the problem. Why do all the people in the south go to the north? Is there something happening in the north?"
"Moreover, the cabinet's orders are issued to each county. Why are reports sent from the counties in the south, but there is no movement at all from the north?"
Zhu Biao suddenly realized, and his expression instantly became extremely solemn: "You mean, there are some counties in the north that obey the imperial orders and violate them?"
Han Du nodded slowly.
The situation is unclear now, and no one knows whether it is just the hometown of these people or the entire north.
But for Han Do, it's best to prepare for the worst.
"Check, check carefully for me!" Zhu Biao shouted angrily.
Han Du immediately bowed his hands and said, "Yes!"
...
Beiping, Prince Yan's Mansion.
It was a lonely attic, and even the surrounding guards did not dare to get too close to this place. They could only stand guard in the corridor a few feet away.
On the top floor of the attic, Zhu Di was sitting in the main seat wearing a black outfit. There was only Yao Guangxiao in front of him.
Facing Zhu Di's gloomy look, Yao Guangxiao seemed to have a red light shining through his smile.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty!"
But after Yao Guangxiao finished speaking, Zhu Di did not answer, but stared at him with bright eyes.
As the echo gradually disappeared in the room, Yao Guangxiao couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
"Haha? Congratulations to this king? Why am I so happy?" Zhu Di said lightly.
Yao Guangxiao heard the sarcasm in Zhu Di's words, but he didn't care. Now everything is ready, all he needs is Zhu Di. He must convince Zhu Di no matter what!
"Your Majesty, the Emperor listened to the slanderous words and acted counterintuitively, abandoning the scholars in the world. He was even prepared to support the academies and belittle famous religions, so that all people's hearts were lost!"
"The prince has inherited the legacy of the late emperor, worshiped the saints, and treated the scholars with courtesy. Now that the world's famous people have heard that the prince has a noble character, they all flock here in admiration. This is the time for the prince to follow the emperor's edict and bring order to the chaos!"
Zhu Di didn't believe it when he said Zhu Biao was acting rebelliously. Although he was not in the capital, with his intelligence, he could roughly guess that something must have happened between the civil servant and Zhu Biao that Zhu Biao could not tolerate.
But this is indeed a great opportunity for Zhu Di, which is rare in millions of years.
As for who is right and wrong between Zhu Biao and the civil servants, Zhu Di doesn't want to know, and he is not qualified to judge the right and wrong between Zhu Biao and the civil servants now.
Zhu Di looked at the bald head in front of him quietly. Even when Yao Guangxiao said that he was of noble character, Zhu Di did not move at all. He has long passed the age where he would forget about himself after being praised by others.
"What do you want from me?"
Yao Guangxiao smiled slightly: "Your Majesty has misunderstood. It is not what we ask the Prince to do, but what he will choose to do."
Zhu Di laughed and shook his head, leaned back on the chair, stared at Yao Guangxiao and said: "What can I do? I am the leader of a vassal state. Lord, I can enjoy endless glory and wealth. My brother, the king, also loves me very much and trusts me very much."
"You said yourself that this king has gone crazy to collude with you?"
Yao Guangxiao raised his eyebrows without any worry. He has been with Zhu Di for so many years and knows more about Zhu Di than he does himself. Zhu Di's few words could not be hidden from him at all.
"Your Majesty's words are wrong. Does your Majesty really trust your Majesty? From the perspective of the poor monk, this may not be the case."
Zhu Di's smile suddenly froze on his face. The reason why he said that was just to build up his momentum. As for whether the emperor trusted him or not, to be honest, even Zhu Di couldn't be sure.
Yao Guangxiao saw the change in Zhu Di's expression and continued: "How do you think the emperor trusts Han Du? Who do you think the emperor trusts more than Han Du?"
Zhu Di lowered his head and said in a very unwilling tone: "This king is the emperor's younger brother!"
"Han Du is still the emperor's uncle and brother-in-law!" Yao Guangxiao said disapprovingly, "And when the late emperor was still there, Han Du was a popular person in front of the late emperor. He served the late emperor for many years, and he made many meritorious deeds. Merit?"
"But even so, the emperor does not have full trust in Han Du. Otherwise, the emperor would not have asked Qi Tai to temporarily act as the cabinet as soon as Han Du went to sea. Could it be that the emperor did not know that Qi Tai and Han Du would not deal with it? This is impossible. "
"After all, the emperor still has to be on guard against Han Du. Do you think you are more trusted by the emperor than Han Du?"
Zhu Di's face turned gloomy. If the emperor really trusted him absolutely, he would not send him even a few letters of greetings all year round. Even if they occasionally send letters, they are more about asking about border affairs than reminiscing between brothers.
Seeing this, Yao Guangxiao added fuel to the fire and said meaningfully: "If the emperor really trusts the prince, why would he put Lan Yu and Fu Youde next to Peking?"
"It's said to be training troops, but the world is so big, where can't we train troops? Why do we have to put it next to Peking? After all, isn't it just to monitor the prince?"
"Even if Timur came to attack, the emperor did not transfer Lan Yu and Fu Youde away together. Isn't the purpose of keeping Fu Youde behind to guard against the prince?"
Zhu Di was said to be speechless. He was proficient in battle formations, how could he not know Zhu Biao's purpose of putting Fu Youde here. Yao Guangxiao was right, it was just to guard against him.
Looking up at Yao Guangxiao, Zhu Di gestured towards the first chair on the left with his chin.
"sit."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Yao Guangxiao knew that Zhu Di had heard his words, bowed with a smile on his face, and then sat on the chair.
Zhu Di touched the tea cup and asked calmly: "In your opinion, what should I do now?"
"Either the prince will surrender and take the whole family to the capital to plead guilty. Perhaps the emperor will imprison the prince until death for the sake of family ties. Or the prince will have to make preparations..."
Zhu Di raised his eyebrows and said, "I have done nothing and have always kept my peace. Why do I have to plead guilty?"
Yao Guangxiao laughed and shook his head: "So many people came from the north and gathered in Peiping. Your Majesty, you don't think that the emperor can't find anything, right? Even if you can hide it from the emperor, how can you hide it from the cunning Han Du?"
"You! You are deliberately framing this king!" Zhu Di became angry when he heard this.
Yao Guangxiao did not deny his relationship with those people, and explained softly: "What does the prince mean? The poor monk has followed the prince for so many years, and he thinks he still has some feelings for the prince. I understand, so why should the prince rush to deny it?"
Zhu Di took a deep look at Yao Guangxiao, put his hands on the chair, and stood up.
While pacing, he said: "What a great man doesn't want the great rivers and mountains? Naturally, I will not be an exception. If the imperial brother cannot govern the world well, then I will naturally do my part."
"But now the emperor has managed the world very well. The people live and work in peace and contentment, and the people's hearts are with the emperor. Now you want to force me to rebel. Isn't this forcing me to go to a dead end?"
Yao Guangxiao shook his head and retorted: "Your Majesty is wrong. Now the people's support is with Your Majesty, not with the Emperor!"
"Are you kidding?" Zhu Di didn't believe it at all.
In the past few years since Zhu Biao came to the throne, although he is not very outstanding, at least he has perfectly stabilized everything left by the late emperor. The people had no worries about food and clothing, so how could the people's hearts be with him?
Yao Guangxiao stared into Zhu Di's eyes and asked sternly: "The poor monk dared to ask the prince, what is the people's support?"
"The support of the people is naturally the support of the people." Zhu Di replied casually. This is an answer that everyone knows, and there is nothing difficult about it.
Yao Guangxiao shook his head after hearing this, "Of course the people's support is the people's support, but throughout the dynasties, has the prince ever seen the people stand up and say who they support?"
"Why not..." As soon as Zhu Di finished speaking, he realized that he couldn't continue.
Yao Guangxiao let out a chuckle, "Your Majesty, the people are illiterate, and even if they support them, they have no way to say who they support. Instead, it is the local squires and scholars who can tell who they support from their mouths, and who is the real aspiration of the people!"
Zhu Di was like a bolt from the blue, looking at Yao Guangxiao with wide eyes and disbelief.
Is what Yao Guangxiao said correct? Of course it is correct.
The people are all illiterate, and most of them can't even speak logically. How can such people truly show who they support? In the end, wasn't he deceived by the squires and scholars and was represented?
This is why scholars in the former Song Dynasty dared to shout to the emperor that "the scholar-bureaucrats and the emperor rule the world" with confidence. Because, the imperial power does not go to the countryside is not a lie, but an ironclad fact.
