Li Shanchang submitted the resignation letter to Lao Zhu.
If it were according to the usual practice, Lao Zhu would have to be polite. He wanted to say, "Ai Qing is in the prime of life and should serve the court for a few more years," and then gave the discount back.
Then Li Shanchang insisted and resigned again.
This happened two or three times.
Lao Zhu again.
In this way, Li Shanchang will retire honorably.
But this time, Lao Zhu got it straight, which shows how impatient he was.
However, although Lao Zhu allowed Li Shanchang to resign as Prime Minister Zuo, he allowed him to retain the sinecure position of Grand Master, which was regarded as the most benevolent and righteous act.
After the court was over, Lao Zhu went to Liu Bowen alone to ask: "Master Liu, now that Li Shanchang is going to retire, why don't you become the Prime Minister of the Left?"
Liu Bowen saluted: "The emperor's kindness is great, but the ministers are not talented enough to shoulder this important task."
Just kidding, now he can influence the government through Zhu Biao and Zhu Bai. If he accepts Lao Zhu's appointment and kneels and licks Lao Zhu like Li Shanchang, the only officials who support him will turn into his enemies.
Now Lao Zhu is afraid of him. If he still has this supreme power, wouldn't Lao Zhu regard him as an enemy even more?
At that time, he will really be riding a tiger with a hard time getting off, caught between two ends, and walking on thin ice.
Therefore, no matter how you look at it, this position of prime minister is only harmful to him, not beneficial.
Lao Zhu never expected that Liu Bowen would refuse. After being stunned for a moment, he became furious: Damn it, you are so ungrateful. We are trying to be kind to you and let you take a position below one person and above ten thousand people, but you actually refuse? ! what are you? !
He gritted his teeth and sat quietly for a moment before saying coldly: "This matter is important, Mr. Liu should think about it carefully."
Liu Bowen knelt down and prostrated on the ground: "I'm scared. I really don't have this ability."
Lao Zhu stared at the top of his head for a long time, then waved his hand: "In that case, you can go down."
After Liu Bowen left, Lao Zhu stared at the door and thought: According to his ability, Liu Bowen is really the best candidate. However, Liu Bowen's temper was too strong and aloof, not gentle and smooth enough to unite ministers.
In fact, he was a little afraid that Liu Bowen would accept this appointment.
After all, Liu Bowen is too powerful. If you give him so much power, it is very likely that he will not be able to lose his tail.
Lao Zhu issued three imperial edicts in succession.
One is to promote the former Right Prime Minister Hu Weiyong to Left Prime Minister and abolish the position of Right Prime Minister.
The second is to establish four new yamen: Zhan Shifu, Zuo Chunfang, You Chunfang, and Si Jing Bureau.
They were responsible for explaining important military and state matters to the prince, appeasing the border princes, teaching the prince classics, court etiquette, and even writing letters.
Liu Bowen concurrently served as the Zhanshi of the third rank and was in charge of the four departments. Song Lian and Li Xiyan concurrently served as the deputy Zhanshi of the third rank.
The last one decided the marriage between Li Shanchang's eldest son Li Hong and the emperor's eldest daughter Princess Lin'an.
The wedding was held in July this year.
Hu Weiyong became the leader of hundreds of officials overnight and was unparalleled in the limelight.
The first thing Hu Weiyong did after receiving the order was to go to Li Shanchang's house to thank him for his support.
Li Shanchang hurriedly helped him up: "Oh, Mr. Hu, are you trying to defeat this official?"
Hu Weiyong said respectfully: "Grand Master, don't be humble. In the future, I will still have a lot to ask you for advice."
Li Shanchang patted him on the shoulder: "Weiyong, I always think you are the smartest and most sensible among our Huaixi nobles."
Hu Weiyong hurriedly lowered his head: "It's all the adults who taught me well."
In fact, everyone knows it well.
Although Lao Zhu promoted Hu Weiyong to serve as Prime Minister of the Left, he asked Li Shanchang to hang the title of Grand Master. He was obviously not sure whether Hu Weiyong was qualified, so he asked Li Shanchang to hang a sinecure on standby.
If Hu Weiyong fails, Chief Li Shan will be reinstated.
Not to mention, although Zhu Yuanzhang withdrew Li Shanchang's real power, he married his son and daughter, which was regarded as compensation for him.
Li Shanchang did not fall out of favor at all.
Hu Weiyong has not yet settled down.
Otherwise, how could those who came to congratulate Hu Weiyong's home turn around and come to Li Shanchang's home to congratulate him.
-----
If we really want to say who was demoted, it would be Liu Bowen.
The nobles in Huaixi rejoiced in the misfortune and rushed to tell each other.
The officials all felt sorry for Liu Bowen: he devoted himself wholeheartedly to serving the country, but he was always not favored by Lao Zhu. It's just because he doesn't belong to the Huaixi gang, and he refuses to flatter and be obedient.
The more this happened, the more the officials admired Liu Bowen, and instead stood firmly with him.
Liu Bowen didn't seem to care at all, and happily led Song Lian and Li Xiyan to Lao Zhu to express his gratitude.
Lao Zhu called Zhu Biao and Zhu Bai over: "Come on, come on. These three masters will lead all the masters to teach you for us. Please pay respects to the masters."
Liu Bowen clenched his hands and looked at Zhu Bai.
Isn’t it obvious that Zhu Bai and Zhu Biao should take classes together?
That is to train Zhu Bai as his heir.
Zhu Bai also realized this.
He did not want.
He didn't want to.
Shoot the first bird.
No matter what Lao Zhu’s true purpose is. It's like putting him on the fire.
He had to find a way to escape.
Zhu Bai said with a bitter face: "Father, your Royal Highness the Prince's martial arts skills are much better than that of my son, and he is proficient in various collections of classics. My son can't even memorize "The Doctrine of the Mean". If he is in class with the prince, he will definitely not be able to understand it, and he will not be able to understand it. I can’t keep up. It’s better to let your son go to the main hall to hang out.”
He dozed off as soon as he saw those ancient texts. When he went to the main hall, there were people playing with him playing crickets and digging out bird's nests for fishing. Following Zhu Biao was boring to death.
Lao Zhu's face sank: "You also know that you can't even memorize "The Doctrine of the Mean". Look at what the memorial you wrote is all about. Why don't you study hard?! Besides, we don't expect you to be a master of learning. I am a prodigy, I just want you to learn more about the scriptures, and follow your elder brother to learn more steadily, so as not to cause trouble for us all day long."
Zhu Bai was busy with various affairs, and sometimes it was Zhu Biao and Lao Zhu themselves who pulled him away from class.
He had an excuse, and recently he stopped going to the main hall at all, and Liu Bowen didn't go there either. Lan Yu was away and there was no one to teach him martial arts. He spent the whole day hanging out in the imperial study room and on the street.
Hanging around in the Royal Study Room can barely be regarded as studying. The key is to hang out on the streets, just like a gangster.
Lao Zhu's chest hurts when he thinks of this.
He knew that no matter how good a seedling was, he needed someone to support him before he could become successful, so he spent a lot of money to trap Zhu Bai and teach him well.
Moreover, after comparing Zhu Biao, he realized that Zhu Biao still had shortcomings in many aspects. Such as strategy, such as worldly knowledge.
So we put them together for training and let them learn from each other's strengths.
He knew Liu Bowen's concerns, but he didn't want to pay attention to them.
He is the emperor and does not need to report his plans to others.
Zhu Bai could only salute Liu Bowen and the three of them: "Master, please bow to me."
Liu Bowen and the others returned the courtesy: "Your Highness, you're welcome."
