When Jiajing brought Prince Yu Zhu Zaijing to the gate of Prince Yu's palace, many ministers knelt down when they saw this, and the five cabinet members were at the front of the queue.
"I have met His Majesty and His Royal Highness Prince Yu!"
"Everyone, get up." Jiajing nodded and motioned for the ministers to get down.
Jiajing glanced at Prince Yu next to him, and then said loudly: "I am very pleased that all the ministers can take time out of their busy schedules to come to Prince Yu's Mansion to congratulate me! But the protagonist today is not me. Let Prince Yu and you Say a few words."
After Jiajing finished speaking, he patted Zhu Zaijing on the shoulder, and then stepped aside.
When Xu Jie and Gao Gong saw this, their expressions condensed, and then they fell into ecstasy. The relationship between the emperor and Prince Yu is so harmonious now, which means that Prince Yu is one step closer to the throne of the prince! Yan Shifan's face was gloomy and unwilling, while Yan Song still looked like an old god, as if he didn't care about anything. As for Zhang Juzheng, his head was lowered, and his expression could not be clearly seen at all.
Suddenly being pushed to the front desk by his father, a look of shock flashed across Zhu Zaijing's face. Then he forcibly suppressed the messy thoughts in his heart, coughed twice, and said: "Thank you ministers for taking the time to come to Yu." Congratulations from the Royal Palace, you are all ministers of our Ming Dynasty, the banquet has been prepared, please come!"
After Zhu Zaijing finished speaking, he returned to Jiajing's side with a respectful expression.
"I suddenly remembered that I still have some things to deal with, so I'll leave first!"
Jiajing looked at his son with a smile in his eyes, paused, and said.
"Father, won't you stay with us?" Zhu Zaijing asked in confusion.
"If I stay, I won't be able to finish this meal! Besides, I have to go back and change my clothes. I smell like urine." After Jiajing finished speaking, he even made a show of smelling it.
"My son, I respectfully send you my father!"
"I will respectfully send you off to Your Majesty!"
Jiajing did not look back, but went straight onto the dragon chariot, and Lu Fang followed closely.
After returning to the Yangxin Hall, as soon as Jiajing sat down, Lu Fang poured him a cup of hot tea with quick eyes and hands.
Jiajing picked up the tea cup, took a sip, and said in a low voice: "Those guys have all stretched out their hands on my son and newborn grandson! Sooner or later, I will cut off all their hands."
"Lu Fang, do you think I should do this?"
Jiajing put down the tea cup in his hand, turned to Lu Fang and asked.
Lu Fang did not dare to make any response and stood silently like a stone.
"You! Oh, forget it, just go shopping with me." Jiajing sighed and said helplessly.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Lu Fang bowed and responded.
…
Capital, Prince Yu's Mansion.
After the banquet ended, the guests felt at home. Yan Song and Yan Shifan were the first to leave. However, the father and son did not choose to go back in a sedan. Instead, they walked along a secluded street, followed by guards.
"Father, why did you stop me just now? This is a perfect opportunity to get closer to King Yu!"
Yan Shifan looked at his father's back and couldn't help but speak.
"Humph, idiot! We don't eat from anyone's rice. We only eat the emperor's bowl of rice! Do you understand?"
Yan Song turned around and looked at his resentful son, as if he hated iron.
"Father, I still don't understand."
"At tonight's banquet, whoever gets closer to Prince Yu will be unlucky! His Majesty is not happy."
"Why is Your Majesty unhappy? Logically speaking, there should be so many ministers coming to celebrate..."
As Yan Shifan spoke, he stopped abruptly, his face full of horror: "Father, what you mean is..."
"Yes, your Majesty is still the emperor! If Prince Yu were the crown prince, Your Majesty would be very happy about what happened today, but Prince Yu is not the crown prince." Yan Song said, his tone becoming lower.
"Some people are like fireflies. When they see a bit of light, they move up regardless. They don't know whether it is a bright light or a fire that is about to burn them up."
"What the father said, the child has learned a lesson." After hearing this, Yan Shifan's face was filled with admiration and he felt ashamed of his previous behavior.
…
All the previously invited guests had left, but King Yu secretly kept Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng behind.
In the study, Gao Gong looked at the high-spirited Prince Yu and spoke first: "Congratulations to Prince Yu, congratulations to Prince Yu! After today, the position of Crown Prince will be within your reach!"
"Master Gao Ge, please get up quickly!" King Yu quickly helped Gao Gong up.
Immediately afterwards, Xu Jie and Zhang Juzheng also congratulated King Yu one after another. In the study, there was a scene of a monarch and his subjects being in harmony.
After congratulating him, Xu Jie was the first to speak: "Prince Yu, recently people from the Yan Party went to Zhejiang to inventory the acres of land to pave the way for the policy of changing rice to mulberry! The progress is quite smooth, and most of the fields in Zhejiang have been measured."
"Who is the person from the Yan Party?" King Yu frowned, his expression unwavering.
"Prince Yu, the person sent by the Yan Party is Gao Hanwen, a student of Xiaoge Lao Yan Shifan. It is said that he has noble character and is quite talented!"
"Hmph, what a noble character and talent! Look, this Gao Hanwen and Yan Dang are like a den of snakes and rats."
Gao Gong's angry voice came.
"Who does Gao Hanwen serve under? Can you..." King Yu turned around and looked at the paintings hanging on the wall, and paused for a moment.
"Your Highness, no! Gao Hanwen is currently serving under Hu Zongxian, the governor of Zhejiang Province. Don't act rashly! If Hu Zongxian is offended, things will be in trouble."
Seeing that King Yu wanted to completely discredit him through the methods of officials, Zhang Juzheng quickly admonished him.
"Since this method doesn't work, it will only slow down the process of clearing his father-in-law's land. Do you have any good ideas?" King Yu turned around and glanced at the three cabinet ministers one by one.
"Your Highness, I have a plan that might work!" Xu Jie raised his head and said softly.
"Oh, Mr. Xu Ge, please speak." King Yu looked at Xu Jie with interest, his eyes full of expectation.
"We might as well send people to spread rumors in Zhejiang, saying that the government's land clearing is to annex all their land when the rice is converted to mulberry next year! In this way, the land clearing will naturally not be carried out, and the strict party will change rice to mulberry. Sang's plan will also go bankrupt."
"Perhaps we can be more ruthless and let Zhejiang become chaotic! When Zhejiang is in chaos, it's time to squeeze out the abscess of the Yan Party! When the Yan Party falls and everyone is in power, our Ming Dynasty will surely prosper again. .”
"In addition, as I know, due to the floods in Zhejiang last year, the imperial court allocated funds to build new dykes. If the dykes collapse, it will endanger the nine counties and hundreds of thousands of acres of land. Once the fields are flooded, Zhejiang will be in chaos! "
After hearing what Xu Jie said, King Yu showed hesitation: "If this is the case, I'm afraid it will hurt the people of Zhejiang!"
Xu Jie nodded and sighed deeply: "Your Highness, since ancient times, those who have achieved great things have not adhered to trivial details! If you suffer the people of Zhejiang again, I will take the responsibility for your infamy."
After hearing Xu Jie's words, King Yu was moved and asked the remaining two people in the room: "What do you think of this plan?"
Zhang Juzheng was about to admonish, but was interrupted by Gao Gong, who looked enthusiastic and excited: "Your Highness, this is really a great strategy!"
A look of disgust flashed across Zhang Juzheng's eyes, and then he also saluted without saying a word.
"Then since all my dear friends agree, let's proceed according to this plan!"
After hearing this, King Yu waved his hands boldly, and there seemed to be a lot of pride in his movements.
