Zhu Youxiao not only asked the second prince Zhu Cican to send Zhu Xieyuan, who had been named Duke Liguo, back to his hometown, but also ordered the fifth prince Zhu Cizhuo to join the army of the newly established Anxi Protectorate, which was equivalent to the Anxi Protectorate. The secretary of the governor Zhou Yuji.
Because the land in the Western Regions is basically dominated by military camps and the ethnic composition is still very complex, combat operations are required, and there is no need to separate military and political affairs for the time being. Therefore, Zhu Youxiao established the Anxi Protectorate.
Joining the army is also a newly established official position for Zhu Youxiao.
After all, a great governor definitely needs assistants to do his job.
If the governor was allowed to hire his own staff, it would naturally be better than the imperial court appointing staff officers.
This is more conducive to the court's control and monitoring of the governor.
Although people should be employed without suspicion and those with suspicion should not be used, but in terms of the system, one must think of the worst in people's minds and then take precautions.
At the beginning, Lu Xiang was promoted to the governor. After Zhou Yuji followed Lu Xiangsheng and mastered various military and political affairs, Zhu Youxiao transferred Lu Xiangsheng back to the capital to strengthen central military and political management, leaving Zhou Yuji to take charge of it alone.
And now letting the fifth prince Zhu Cizhuo serve as Zhou Yuji's secretary is naturally regarded as a reuse of Zhu Cizhuo, and he is intentionally trained to become a figure who can stand alone for the Ming Dynasty in the future.
"Father, what do you mean?"
"Let the second brother send Duke Li back to his hometown with the dignity of a prince. Does this mean that the second brother will inherit Duke Li's disciples and old officials, so that he can inherit the throne in the future?"
"Also, the fifth brother has already said that he has no enterprising spirit, but my father actually asked him to join the army at the Anxi Protectorate to serve as He Guogong! Is this to inherit He Guogong's military power?"
This series of operations by Zhu Youxiao made the seventh prince Zhu Cikai, who had always been ambitious, irritated, so when he talked about this with his aide Chen Wei, his fists were clenched.
Chen Wei glanced at Zhu Cikai and said, "Your Highness, you have to calm down now."
"I can't calm down!"
Zhu Cikai suddenly punched the coffee table and roared.
Chen Wei glanced at him and saw that his face was flushed, so he said nothing more and could only wait for the seventh prince to calm down.
"We, the few of us, have worked hard to be magistrates in the local area without making any mistakes. As a result, the eldest brother suddenly came to Beijing to serve as the supervisor of the country, let alone the second brother. Now the second brother can justifiably send the ministers back to their hometown and suddenly take office. The person above the county magistrate is actually the fifth brother who doesn’t want to do anything!”
Zhu Cikai gritted his teeth and said, "I don't accept it, I really don't accept it!"
After a while, Zhu Cikai asked Chen Wei: "Tell me, why did my father do this?"
"This shows that the Fifth Highness is smart and has figured out His Majesty's thoughts. In the final analysis, Your Highness, although Your Majesty is a father and son, you are also a monarch and an ambitious minister. Your Majesty naturally has to be on guard and is not willing to let the monarch's power fall aside. Logically speaking, , if you really want to send Duke Li back to his hometown this time, it should be His Highness the eldest prince who said it. If your majesty really wants the eldest prince to inherit the throne, but your majesty did not, it means that your majesty still only regards the princes as his ministers. He will use whoever reassures him, rather than actually deciding who will be the crown prince."
Chen Wei replied.
"Sir, what you said makes sense! But the second brother also showed his desire to seize the legitimate son in front of the emperor at that time, and went to another county to serve as magistrate. Why did the emperor let him get a good job to send the Duke of Li back to his hometown, but I didn't? ?”
Zhu Cikai asked unwillingly.
"I don't understand this very well. Maybe His Highness the Second Prince really only thinks about how to be a county magistrate, and forgets to contact the courtiers. And His Majesty has always had his own eyes and ears, so he can naturally see things that we don't know. thing."
Chen Wei replied.
"You mean that the second brother doesn't interact with the ministers privately?"
Zhu Cikai asked.
Chen Wei nodded: "Well, otherwise, His Majesty would not specifically ask him to send Duke Li back home."
After hearing this, Zhu Cikai couldn't help but feel even more depressed: "The emperor's heart is really hard to guess."
Then, Zhu Cikai asked with some disappointment: "Don't you think my father has given up on me and doesn't want me to succeed him in the future?"
"That's not true. Your Highness has always been doing things in the name of supporting the eldest son of the emperor. Presumably, your majesty only knows that you only admire the eldest son of the emperor, or that like Yuan Fu, you are obsessed with the etiquette of establishing heirs and elders, and your majesty does not Your Highness’s intention to re-employ you must be because he doesn’t want to be seen as too attached to cultivating the eldest son of the Emperor.”
Chen Wei didn't want Zhu Cikai to give up the idea of seizing the legitimate son.
Because he had to admit that although Zhu Cikai had an impatient temper, he was very upright with the people around him and paid very high salaries to his staff. However, the Chen family's income was greatly reduced due to the imperial court's increase in luxury tax and ban on land and other transactions. To continue to maintain extravagant consumption, Chen Wei's income from Zhu Cikai is indispensable.
Therefore, Chen Wei also said this at this time.
Of course, more importantly, Chen Wei knew that his master wanted to hear such words.
Zhu Cikai was naturally relieved after hearing this. It was only because he still wanted to be emperor, so he didn't think there was anything wrong with what Chen Wei said.
"Then what should I do now, sir, please teach me?"
Chen Wei replied.
"Since Your Majesty thinks so, let Your Majesty continue to think so, and think that Your Highness has no ambition to compete for the throne, but just does not want to see the throne of the eldest son of the Emperor not guaranteed!
The Ming Dynasty is so big and there are so many important positions everywhere. In the future, Your Majesty cannot only use the prince, but also the people around the prince. If he knows that Your Highness has no intention of seizing the throne, but only supports His Royal Highness, the eldest son of the Emperor, then Your Majesty will still feel free to use you. to check and balance other princes. "
Chen Wei said, "Your Highness can continue to do things in the name of supporting the eldest son of the Emperor. When the time comes in the future, as long as the eldest son of the Emperor is eliminated, the power of the eldest son of the Emperor will naturally be inherited by His Highness. His Highness will inherit the throne. It's logical! Therefore, His Highness now needs to go to Shu to argue for the eldest son of the Emperor. The more excited the better, so that even if His Majesty is angry and thinks that Your Highness is reckless, he will still think that you are a pure person in his heart."
"That makes sense, then I'll do it!"
…
"Mother and concubine, my father asked the child to send Duke Li back to his hometown. This is to make sure that the child has not secretly formed a clique in the court. Are you right?"
The second prince, Zhu Cican, was questioning his mother-in-law at Wang Guifei's side.
The royal concubine laughed because of this and said: "Then you must not live up to your father's good intentions. You must maintain filial piety, loyalty and benevolence. Remember, whether you are a royal family member or a commoner, you must first be a good person." , we must learn to be tolerant."
"Well, what the mother and concubine said is right. The child feels that although the father is wise and powerful, he often loses his tolerance. This is understandable. In the old Ming Dynasty, my mother and concubine said that people's livelihood was suffering and there were many evils. It was terrible. When there is no iron-fisted rectification, I think that now that the Ming Dynasty has a harmonious government and a strong national power, it should no longer be too strict as before, but should be lenient to make the people happy!"
Zhu Cican said.
"You don't need to tell me these things. I don't know anything about them. I can't say much. If you have any ideas, you can tell your father. However, I have to tell you that as a minister, you must first remember one word of loyalty. Son, first of all, you must abide by the word filial piety! No matter what your father does, whether it is what you want to see or not, you cannot disobey it, do you understand?"
After Wang Guifei said this, she asked a question. In her seemingly indifferent words, she naturally meant to persuade her son.
Zhu Cican naturally understood the key point and replied: "Understood!"
The fifth prince Zhu Cizhuo came directly to Zhu Youxiao after receiving the order: "Father, please take back my son's life. I don't want to go to the Western Regions. I heard that the wind and sand there are bad and are not a place for human beings. My son is not a place for human beings." I don’t have any big ambitions, and I really don’t want to go.”
Zhu Youxiao glanced at Zhu Cizhuo angrily: "You must go! I will not raise trash in the Ming Dynasty who eat food and do no work!"
"Then you can arrange other work for the child, as long as you don't have to leave the capital."
Zhu Cizhuo replied.
"The orchids in that place are very beautiful. They all have high noses, pointed chins, faces as white as snow, and waists as thin as willows. Have you never heard of them?"
Zhu Youxiao said, "But since you don't want to go, forget it!"
Zhu Cizhuo immediately stood up and said: "Haier went to take office that night and asked the father to say goodbye to his mother and concubine on behalf of the boy. The boy will not go to see her!"
7017k
