"Prince, the purpose of your trip to Northern Xinjiang is to test Liu Mingzhi's tone and see if he supports your ascension to the throne!"
"Many of the cornerstones in the court who can assist you are already old. A hundred years after my father, they have also reached the age of retiring and returning to their hometowns. They cannot assist you for a few more years."
"Since then, Liu Mingzhi, who has good prestige in the DPRK, has been the first auxiliary minister to bear the brunt."
"As long as there is no gap between your hearts, you can safely ascend the throne, stabilize the court, and tell the story of father and Liu Mingzhi's relationship as king and minister."
"Liu Mingzhi is the pillar that my father left to you. From now on, you must accept advice carefully when you don't understand something. Remember, you are accepting advice, not asking for advice."
"You are the king of a country. Naturally, you must position yourself correctly and safeguard the dignity of the king and the face of the country."
"Although Liu Mingzhi is loyal to our Li family, we must be careful, otherwise Liu Mingzhi will be the next Wenrenzheng who has power over the whole government."
"My father doesn't want you to be separated from Liu Mingzhi, but for the sake of the country and the country, this is a last resort."
"It's like my father and my mentor. My mentor Wen Renzheng has been assisting my father with all his heart when I was young. He treats me better than he treats his own son, but I still have to guard against him, not because I am ruthless and unrighteous. , unloading the mill and killing the donkey.”
"But I have nothing to do."
"Power is in the hands of both the government and the public. The powerful minister is not a person. The powerful minister is a force."
"My mentor is loyal to me, but that doesn't mean that his disciples and old officials won't have second thoughts. Once the yellow robe is forced on you, you will have to rebel. If the king is weak and the minister is strong, the country will perish."
"The same is true for Liu Mingzhi. He is loyal to me and he can be loyal to you."
"But when he took command of the Western Expedition, his disciples were all over the Six Guards of Northern Xinjiang."
"From general to captain, he has a good reputation in court."
"Loyalty does not lie with Liu Mingzhi, but with how his forces view him and you, the new king."
"When you feel that you cannot control Liu Mingzhi, go to your mother. I have left you three strategies to make Liu Mingzhi willing to retire and return to his hometown."
"But I still don't want this day to come."
"Don't try to be strong and use imperial coercion to force powerful officials."
"The powerful ministers have nothing to do, but their cronies will obstruct it. Because if you remove their boss, everyone in the cronies will be in danger. At that time, the situation will no longer be controllable."
"Changing the day can only happen in the blink of an eye."
"The deeds of our predecessors are the guide of our descendants. We must not let the past of the traitor Cao Cao happen again in our Dalong Palace. Otherwise, a hundred years later, we will have no face to see the ancestors of the Li family."
"When Liu Mingzhi becomes the auxiliary minister, and the old cornerstones I left for you recede one after another, you will have to support some ministers to weigh Liu Mingzhi's power."
"Remember, you must be a treacherous villain. Don't care about the so-called reputation among the people. Those Confucian scholars only care about it and know nothing about things above the court."
"Being named as a foolish king who doesn't know people is nothing more than losing the foundation of our ancestors and destroying the country and the country."
"Although treacherous ministers ruin the emperor's reputation, treacherous ministers are the smartest, because they know best where their rights and status come from, and who they should be loyal to."
"That's why treacherous ministers are the ones who make a king feel most at ease, but a king must be moderate. A treacherous minister can have power, but it should not be too powerful. It is best if the power is almost the same as that of a loyal minister."
"Otherwise, the tail will be too big to fall off, which will lead to chaos."
"Whether a loyal minister or a treacherous minister, you must let him become a grasshopper in your hand. He can jump around casually, but if he wants to jump out of your hand, then you must not be merciful and crush him to death."
"A person whom the Emperor DìDū cannot control is a disaster if he is left alive. He should be eradicated as soon as possible while he is still young."
"In a word, regardless of whether they are loyal ministers or treacherous ministers, the civil and military officials in the court must allow their family to dominate, otherwise the country will be unstable."
"The battle between loyalty and treachery is like two fierce tigers, and you just have to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight."
"That's the trade-off."
"Liu Mingzhi is a person who has a lot of trouble in his eyes, especially corrupt officials. He likes to uproot corrupt officials."
"You especially need to control this aspect of him. Corrupt officials are also of great use."
"Killing two of them as a last resort can both appease the people and enrich the national treasury!"
"But we must first get rid of the people with great ambitions and mediocre talents. Put aside for the time being those officials who are corrupt and bribery but are quite capable."
"Let's get fat before we talk!"
"Here is a list of all the corrupt officials in our Dalong Dynasty. I have investigated them all clearly, but I have never dealt with any of them. I even reprimanded Liu Mingzhi for this because of the Jiangnan incident. The fundamental reason is Just to leave you to stabilize people’s hearts.”
“Although the stability of the country is inseparable from the civil and military officials, the aspirations of the people cannot be ignored.”
"As long as the people are safe and have enough food and clothing, there will be nothing to worry about some clowns with evil intentions."
"If you don't have soldiers and horses to follow you, and you don't have the people's will, what will you do even if you have magic weapons?"
"So the sage said that the people are the most important, the king is the least, and the country is the second most important."
"But the era of sages' words has passed. Now the people of the country and the country share the same priority."
"As long as the people have no complaints against the court, whether the Confucian scholars among the people accuse you of being an unprincipled and ignorant king who does not distinguish between loyalties and traitors, or insult you of a fatuous and fatuous tyrant, just treat it as a deaf ear and let it go."
"I, the great dragon, have 80 million people, but only a few Confucian scholars. Some are sour Confucians who can only chew words. If you give them a knife, they won't know how to rebel."
"So if you scold them but don't do anything to them, you will have a good reputation in the hearts of the people."
"Of course, we can't let them do whatever they want! It's not impossible to catch two examples at the right time and find strong proof to sacrifice them to the sword to intimidate the Confucian scholars, but there must be restraint."
"As long as the people's will is what the general trend is, you can do it with confidence."
"This is the way to control your subordinates!"
"As for weighing the candidates for Liu Mingzhi, I have chosen two for you among the royal family's descendants, your second brother Li Baihong and your fourth brother Li Yunping."
"As for whether it will be used or not, it is too early to say. We will decide according to changes in the situation."
"As for your third brother Li Yunlong, you can use him or not. Don't use him to weigh Liu Mingzhi if you are not sure, otherwise it will only cause trouble. Sometimes I can't see through your third brother."
"You know that he was demoted to Shu and transferred to Jingzhou. It was just an imposition by the emperor to pave the way for you."
"My father really doesn't want to see your brothers killing each other a hundred years from now."
"Father, it was also a helpless move. Chu San's power in the court was already so great that I had to personally curb his power."
"You are kind and peaceful by nature. You can be a benevolent king in the prosperous times. When it comes to ruthlessness, you may not be San's opponent."
"I'm not afraid to tell you that I have indeed considered the idea of establishing San as the crown prince, but I have thought about it. San will be a wise king, but he will also be a tyrant. Compared to you, he is still slightly inferior."
"No more words to say!"
"You must make good use of Liu Mingzhi!"
"No matter what extreme things he does, as long as you follow him, he will definitely not rebel."
"There must be no gap between the king and his ministers. Otherwise, once the sprout takes root, it will be difficult to contain it."
"Father, you also said that your brother-in-law has great prestige in the army. What if he respects himself as a soldier?"
"To be crowned king, give him the honor of following the instructions and not the declaration."
"Ah? Doesn't this make him more powerful? It goes against the balance!"
"You don't understand this. Liu Mingzhi is fine no matter how you handle him, but his concept of family is far different from ordinary people."
"As long as you don't touch his family, the more rights you give him, the more guilty he will feel and the less likely he will rebel."
"Otherwise, why do you think I would marry your third sister to him, and why I would marry your daughter Jingyao to his son Liu Chengzhi."
"Relatives are Liu Mingzhi's lifeblood. If you treat him as a relative, he will naturally not have second thoughts."
"My son, I understand!"
"Go, don't forget to bring him three congratulatory gifts, congratulations on his having another daughter!"
"The way to be a king depends on enlightenment, and you will gradually understand it in the future!"
"My son, I obey!"
...........
"The younger brother was greedy and drank two glasses of thin wine to keep the older brother waiting. The younger brother apologized to the elder brother."
Liu Mingzhi walked into the main hall heavily, deliberately woke up Prince Li Baiyu, and apologized with a smile.
Li Baiyu stood up and helped Liu Mingzhi up, "Why wait for so long? We brothers don't have that much courtesy, sit down quickly!"
"Brother, please sit down!"
"Liu Song, look at the tea!"
