After hearing Emperor Deqing's order, Zhao Junchen looked embarrassed. 【Read full text】
At this time, he still wanted to talk about some important principles for the country and the government first, and then talk about his own personal interests.
But Emperor Deqing gave the order, and Zhao Junchen had no choice.
After sighing, Zhao Junchen said: "Your Majesty, a few days ago, I followed your wishes and did not hesitate to offend the three ministers in the court. I also fully supported Cheng Yuandao, a scholar from Wenhua Palace, to join the cabinet. Ordinarily, I would like to express my gratitude to Cheng Yuandao. Isn’t that some kindness? But your Majesty, you have seen what Cheng Yuandao has done in the past few days. The first thing he did after joining the cabinet was to strictly investigate the household department under his charge. The second thing was to impeach him. Mr. Zuo Lanshan, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, who is close to me!"
Emperor Deqing snorted coldly and said, "Didn't I help you suppress these two matters? What else do you have to be dissatisfied with?"
Zhao Junchen smiled bitterly and said: "Yes, Your Majesty, you treated me so well and suppressed these two things. It's too late for me to be grateful, so how can I dare to feel dissatisfied? It's just that in order to support Cheng Yuandao's entry into the cabinet, I did not hesitate to offend other people." Among the three pavilion elders, Cheng Yuandao still regards me as an enemy and has repeatedly made things difficult for me and colleagues who are close to me, making me feel like a human being inside and out, which is really sad."
After a pause, Zhao Junchen shook his head helplessly, and continued: "I am loyal to His Majesty, if I just suffer some grievances, it is nothing, but how can those colleagues who are close to me endure this? I asked them to help support Cheng Yuandao to join the cabinet, but Cheng Yuandao repeatedly made things difficult for them after joining the cabinet. What would they think under such circumstances? Of course they would be dissatisfied with Cheng Yuandao, but they would also be more dissatisfied with the minister. I’m not convinced by what I’m doing.”
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Emperor Deqing narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he was thinking about something, but he did not interrupt Zhao Junchen's explanation.
Zhao Junchen looked up at Emperor Deqing, his expression becoming more helpless and pitiful, and continued: "Your Majesty, you also know that in the officialdom, if you want to achieve something, in addition to your own ability, you need the help and support of your colleagues around you. , otherwise nothing can be done. I am not willing to go against Your Majesty’s will and impeach the people of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. It’s just that what the Metropolitan Procuratorate has done in recent days is too excessive, and every day I have to go to jail to impeach. I and my close colleagues. If I continue to retaliate with kindness and help His Majesty protect the Metropolitan Procuratorate, I am afraid that my close colleagues will never be convinced by me again! And if I don’t have the support of these colleagues, in the future Even if I do things for His Majesty, I have more than enough ambition but not enough energy!"
Speaking of which. Zhao Junchen lowered his head again and sighed: "Such consideration is just my selfish interest. I dare not hide anything. I hope your majesty will tell you clearly."
Emperor Deqing snorted softly and said: "To put it nicely, what kind of close colleagues are you? Aren't they the cronies you made in the court camp!?"
Even so. But Emperor Deqing's complexion improved slightly, apparently accepting Zhao Junchen's explanation.
Especially Zhao Junchen's last sentence touched Emperor Deqing quite a lot.
What Zhao Junchen wanted to express was very clear. If Emperor Deqing just blindly forced Zhao Junchen to support Prince Zhu Heyu at the expense of his own party's interests, the officials of the "Zhao Party" would definitely treat him badly. Zhao Junchen was dissatisfied. If the "Zhao Party" faction fell apart, it would be extremely detrimental to Emperor Deqing's control of the overall situation in the DPRK.
On the other side, after hearing what Emperor Deqing said, pointing out that Zhao Junchen had formed a clique in the court for personal gain, Zhao Junchen seemed a little embarrassed and hung his head in silence.
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According to Zhao Junchen. The so-called "emperor's mind", first and foremost, is to acknowledge the existence of self-interest and selfishness among officials in the court, and then distribute rewards and prizes based on selfishness and self-interest. To control the thoughts and actions of hundreds of officials.
Prince Zhu Heyu believed that all officials in the court should be like saints, serving the people wholeheartedly without any selfish motives. I am afraid they would never be able to learn the emperor's mind.
Emperor Deqing was well aware of the emperor's intentions, and he also agreed with Zhao Junchen's self-interested remarks.
However, recognition is recognition, anger is anger, these explanations alone still cannot convince Emperor Deqing.
Seeing that Zhao Junchen was still hanging his head in silence, Emperor Deqing snorted again, and then said: "Even if you are in some trouble, why don't you tell me that I know? Can't I understand your difficulties? You are so fierce and unruly. If you go against my will in front of all the officials, where can I put my face?"
Zhao Junchen's face became increasingly bitter as he explained: "Your Majesty, I only discovered the dissatisfaction of Zuo Lanshan and the others before the morning court. I really had no chance to report it to you."
After glaring at Zhao Junchen, Emperor Deqing did not continue to argue on this topic. He just continued to ask with a cold face: "Just now you said that you were serving the public rather than private. You did it out of necessity. Now your selfishness Having said that, tell me about your public spirit. I want to see what other great truths you can say."
Emperor Deqing did not expect that Zhao Junchen really made some sense.
I saw Zhao Junchen's face full of seriousness and said slowly: "Your Majesty, the reason why I impeached the Metropolitan Procuratorate is also for your Majesty's country and country. One of the reasons is that I have already said it in the morning. If not Severely punishing the Metropolitan Procuratorate will make the people dissatisfied and question the court's legal justice. Only by severely rectifying the Metropolitan Procuratorate can we stabilize the people's hearts and the country and the country."
Emperor Deqing scolded Zhao Junchen for a long time, and his mouth was dry. At this time, he was drinking tea from a tea cup. After hearing Zhao Junchen's words, he glanced sideways at Zhao Junchen and said, "I said, I don’t want to hear your talk now.”
Zhao Junchen said: "Your Majesty, how can this be mere talk? It is indeed what I really think in my heart. However, if that's all, I don't dare to disobey Your Majesty in public. There are other considerations... Your Majesty, don't you think , do those young people from the Metropolitan Procuratorate have too much influence on His Highness?"
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Emperor Deqing was slightly startled, slowly put down the tea cup in his hand, frowned slightly, and asked: "What do you mean by that?"
Zhao Junchen said: "This is my second reason. Your Majesty, the influence of the elites in the Metropolitan Procuratorate is really too great on His Royal Highness, or because the prince trusts the character of those elites too much, almost The prince will do whatever the Qingliu say. However, the prince is the prince after all and the future emperor. How can he be too deeply influenced by a certain force? If this continues. When the prince ascends the throne in the future, the world will be in ruins. , is it the prince who has the final say? Or is it those Qingliu who have the final say?"
Although Zhao Junchen's words were a bit alarmist, Emperor Deqing's expression became solemn and he said slowly: "You mean, those Qingliu will control the prince in the future? Those people around the prince. I am also well aware of their character. I don’t think they would be so disloyal.”
Zhao Junchen shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, it seems to Yichen that the important point is not whether they will do this, but whether they can do it! Even if they do not have the intention to control the prince, if they have the ability to control the prince. This has to be guarded against.”
"Can" refers to the mind, and "can" refers to the ability. Sometimes, for emperors, the latter is even more serious.
If a person has rebellious thoughts, it is not that terrible to the emperor. Just behead him if you catch him. But if a person has the strength to rebel, even if he does not have such thoughts, for the emperor, it will be a matter of restlessness.
So, does Qingliu in the court already have the ability to control the prince?
Just when Emperor Deqing was thinking deeply, Zhao Junchen further explained: "Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince's wisdom and decisiveness would never be easily manipulated by others, but the current situation is different. Normally, The people gathered around the prince are all those Qingliu, and the prince's cronies in the court are all those Qingliu who usually run errands for the prince. They are still all those Qingliu. No matter how wise and decisive the prince is, under such circumstances How can you not be affected by those clear streams? What those clear streams said. That’s what the prince did."
After a pause, Zhao Junchen continued: "Your Majesty, I boldly speculate that the so-called emperor should be broad-minded, tolerant of both pure and dark, and impartial, in order to be able to secure the world. If the people around the emperor are blindly If they are all Qingliu, it will only lead to the dominance of Qingliu, which is never a good thing. Therefore, for the sake of the prince, I want to impeach the Imperial Procuratorate and reduce some of the Qingliu forces around the prince, so that the prince can take the opportunity to absorb other forces. Only in this way can we be able to balance the pure and the dirty, and not be influenced by one family or another, and I hope your Majesty will learn from it."
Having said this, Zhao Junchen looked up at Emperor Deqing, and for the first time, his expression flashed with nervousness.
…………
Previously, Zhao Junchen mentioned that the difference between "will" and "can" actually has three meanings.
The first meaning is that the Qingliu in the court had a great influence on the prince Zhu Heyu. Even if he did not have the intention to manipulate the prince, he definitely had the ability to manipulate the prince, which made Emperor Deqing want to suppress the Qingliu forces around the prince.
The second meaning was talking about Zhao Junchen himself, implying that even if he went against Emperor Deqing's wishes, he would never go against Emperor Deqing's strength, in order to reassure Emperor Deqing.
As for the third level of meaning, it is talking about the prince Zhu Heyu - with the ambition and ability that Zhu Heyu has shown now, even if he has the determination to govern the world, does he have such ability? Is it really a good choice to hand over the Ming Dynasty to Prince Zhu Heyu? This was used to suggest that Emperor Deqing reconsider the matter of establishing a crown prince.
Zhao Junchen said these three meanings in a vague way, but Zhao Junchen believed that Emperor Deqing's intentions could definitely be heard.
In addition to these three hints, Zhao Junchen was also testing Emperor Deqing.
Zhao Junchen mentioned that the emperor should be "pure and turbid at the same time". The "clear" in it naturally refers to the clear flow in the court, and the "turbid" in it refers to Zhao Junchen himself!
If Emperor Deqing can make up his mind to ease the relationship between Zhao Junchen and Prince Zhu Heyu, make Prince Zhu Heyu no longer hostile to Zhao Junchen, and finally bring Prince Zhu Heyu and Zhao Junchen together, then Zhao Junchen will definitely I don't mind changing my position immediately and supporting Prince Zhu Heyu wholeheartedly from today on.
Emperor Deqing's next answer is related to Zhao Junchen's future path choice.
Therefore, although Zhao Junchen was well prepared, while waiting for Emperor Deqing's answer, he still couldn't help but feel a little nervous in his heart!
Then, while Zhao Junchen was waiting nervously, Emperor Deqing thought about Zhao Junchen's words for a long time before finally speaking slowly.
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