When they arrived at Li Shanchang's official office, a group of people had been waiting for him. When they saw Zhu Biao, they saluted and said, "I am waiting to see His Highness the Crown Prince, Your Highness Qianqiu."
These people are all officials assisting Li Shanchang. After all, his workload is not much easier than that of Zhu Yuanzhang, and is even more cumbersome.
After letting them go without courtesy, the two of them entered the house. Only Liu Jin followed, and the rest were waiting outside.
Liu Jin took the teapot handed in from outside, poured it for Zhu Biao and Li Shanchang, and stood at the door, with his arms hanging naturally and his eyes looking at his toes.
Zhu Biao glanced at the pile of official documents on the desk on the other side and said, "Xiang Li has worked hard and made great contributions. The Ming Dynasty can't be today without Xiang Li."
Li Shanchang said cheerfully: "It is the duty of a minister to serve His Highness as a Holy Lord. However, I am indeed a little overwhelmed with ambition and lack of strength. I will have to beg for my bones and return to my hometown to be raised next year."
Zhu Biao shook his head and persuaded: "Li Xiang is so young and powerful that he will be begging for bones. How can my father be willing to let you go?"
Li Shanchang said with a smile: "The old minister has occupied the position of prime minister for a long time, and it is time to give way to the young man."
Zhu Biao picked up the tea cup and took a sip: "Why should Prime Minister Li care about Yang Xian? His ending has been decided long ago, starting from the day he deceived the emperor."
Li Shanchang shook his head: "Yang Xian is not the only person in the whole court who is eyeing the position of the veteran."
Zhu Biao laughed: "Hu Weiyong is your disciple. Without your support, he would not even be as good as Yang Xian, let alone the others."
Li Shan sighed and said, "The more I look at Yang Xian recently, the more panic I feel in my heart."
Zhu Biao asked curiously: "Why? Li Xiang sees things thoroughly, how could he panic because of Yang Xian?"
Li Shanchang picked up the tea cup and took a sip: "The more I look at Hu Weiyong, the more he looks like Yang Xian when he was still Liu Bowen's subordinate. He is as talented, as good at seizing opportunities, as good at forbearance, and even has a bit of arrogance hidden in his heart. resemblance."
Zhu Biao asked with a smile: "Since Mr. Li noticed it, why bother to suppress him?"
Li Shanchang's face showed bitterness: "Hu Weiyong has fallen into the eyes of the Holy Emperor. It is not an old minister who can suppress the afternoon, let alone the teacher-student relationship for so many years."
Zhu Biao nodded, as expected of Li Shanchang, he had discovered so quickly that the biggest threat around him was not Yang Xian but Hu Weiyong. Unfortunately, it was too late. Hu Weiyong had become a tool man. Even if Li Shanchang suppressed him, the emperor would come back immediately with a decree.
The two were silent for a while, and Li Shanchang said: "The Holy Spirit's heart is becoming more and more lofty, and the old minister is really frightened, fearing that he will not even be able to enjoy his old age."
Zhu Biao comforted and said: "I know the merits of Prime Minister Li, and the same goes for my father."
Li Shanchang was silent for a while before saying, "Does the Holy One intend to abolish the position of Prime Minister?"
Zhu Biao was startled and turned to look at Li Shanchang, who had a calm expression. Zhu Yuanzhang had never said this, not even to him or Queen Ma.
Li Shanchang showed a smile on his old face: "I have followed the Holy Lord for too long. Since I became the prime minister, I have become more and more aware of the Holy Lord's fear of me. Even if I have something important, I will always ask the Holy Lord what he wants to do. decision."
Zhu Biao said nothing and looked at Li Shanchang quietly.
Li Shanchang then said: "Perhaps Your Highness also thinks there is nothing wrong with abolition of the Prime Minister, but I think the Prime Minister is necessary to exist. I will retire next year, and the abolition of the Prime Minister cannot be done on my head, so It’s not because I don’t want to give up power, but because the position of prime minister is indeed necessary!”
Zhu Biao said: "The prime minister has a high and powerful position. He is in charge of Zhongshu Province. He is in charge of six ministries and hundreds of officials from the emperor. Every dynasty has examples of powerful ministers controlling government affairs.
Li Shanchang cupped his hands and said: "There are emperors in the past dynasties who wanted to abolish the prime minister, but they did not do so in the end. His Highness's ingenuity would not have thought of the reasons. If that day really comes, I hope His Highness can persuade the Holy One."
Zhu Biao said slowly: "Since Prime Minister Li still guesses the Holy Majesty's wishes, why doesn't he give me some advice?"
Li Shanchang sighed: "Not only did I think of it, Liu Bowen should have guessed it, but we didn't dare to do it. Your Majesty did not express this intention, and I am going to say that I will die from the Holy Spirit. I am afraid that it is rare to have a good death. Only Your Highness can die." As the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, I am qualified to speak to the Holy Spirit about this matter."
Zhu Biao didn't say anything else. He talked with Li Shanchang about the imperial examination for a while, then stood up and left. After all, Li Shanchang's official affairs were still piled up.
After Li Shanchang sent Zhu Biao out of the government office in person, he sighed and went back to the house to work.
Zhu Biao sat on the road and kept thinking in his mind. There were pros and cons to abolishing the prime minister system. At least for them and his son, the pros outweighed the cons. However, even if the position of prime minister is gone in name, he will still exist in the end. The cabinet has arrived. In the end, wasn't the chief minister the prime minister? Even during Zhang Juzheng's time, he was more powerful than the emperor and had overwhelming power over the world.
The emperor's decentralization of power is actually inevitable. According to Zhu Biao's calculations, his father now has to read more than 100 memorials and deal with more than 200 military and state affairs every day. If the prime minister is abolished, the daily workload will at least double. More than double.
That's really unbearable even for those who practice triathlon. Who knows how my father did it in history, and also managed to have many sons in his spare time.
The infinite expansion of imperial power was in extremely serious conflict with the emperor's own energy. This resulted in the emperor having to take care of everything in the world, but his physical energy limited him. He could not handle the affairs of the world alone. This is what the prime minister is. The reasons for the creation of the system.
For an emperor like Zhu Yuanzhang who had no pursuit of pleasure, handling government affairs was his happiest thing, because he was from the wind and rain in the thatched house to the lone lantern in Huangjue Temple, from the swords and swords in Chuzhou to the flames of Poyang Lake. He galloped out from thousands of troops and stood up from the mountain of corpses and the sea of blood.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang cherished his hard-won power very much, but the descendants of later generations were different. They were noble people and were born for pleasure. They had no mood to sit on the table and deal with endless official affairs day by day.
Those princes who finally ascended to the throne, instead of playing around with women, building several palaces, raising tigers and leopards, drinking and having fun every day, do they have to die suddenly in a bookcase?
My father has been a hard-working man since he was a child. He is in good health, energetic and has a large appetite. If he were to be a proper Ironman champion in the future, running a marathon or something like that would be a piece of cake.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, driving away the prime minister was just a way for him to work more and be more tired in the future. What should he fear for the happiness of his descendants? Therefore, the glorious deeds of model worker Zhu Yuanzhang were left in history.
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