Zhu Jingyuan knew why his father's face looked so ugly.
Now neither the court nor the enemy want to continue fighting, but peace requires someone to negotiate and sign. This is by default the job of Minister of Foreign Affairs Honglu Temple.
If it is a victorious armistice agreement, the emperor's secretaries such as bachelors may also intervene and find ways to jump out and fight for the right to negotiate and sign.
Although this war is technically a draw now, the social atmosphere after the Ming Dynasty was revived was completely different from that of any previous dynasty.
Nowadays, any war that does not result in victory will be regarded as a failure by the public, not to mention that this time theoretically ground was lost.
Regardless of whether it is the interior of Africa or the Amazon jungle, as long as it is occupied before, if it is gone now, it is lost territory.
Therefore, it is impossible for anyone to jump out and compete for the opportunity to negotiate and sign by representatives this time.
As the Minister of Honglu Temple, Zhu Jianyan had a high probability of signing this peace treaty himself, which would be regarded by the Ming Dynasty as a peace treaty in which the Ming Dynasty was defeated and lost territory.
In Zhu Jingyuan's view, the impact of this kind of thing on personal reputation is actually not the most important. What is more important is the throne of the Ming Dynasty.
After Emperor Shizu re-established the Ming Dynasty, he abandoned the traditional eldest son inheritance system.
It was changed to a model similar to that of the Qing Dynasty, in which the emperor secretly designated his own successor and actually allowed all princes to compete semi-openly.
Zhu Jianyan was not the most favored prince to begin with. If he signed the peace treaty with the lost territory after the war, he would really have no chance of being crowned emperor.
As Zhu Jingyuan's son, Zhu Jingyuan had no chance of being crowned emperor.
After thinking about this, Zhu Jingyuan said subconsciously:
"Then we can only wait and talk slowly. At least we can take back those rotten lands..."
Zhu Jianyan had obviously considered a similar approach, so he immediately shook his head helplessly and said:
"There is no point in procrastinating. Now both sides are unable to occupy the other side's homeland, and neither side can see any signs of victory. This is why both sides are willing to negotiate.
“The main reason is the large-scale use of barbed wire and heavy machine guns, which has changed the pattern of war. Now it is relatively easy to defend and extremely difficult to attack.
"Those areas were originally bad areas, and the border troops had no special defense. The original idea was that as long as the enemy's main force was defeated, these bad areas were a matter of one sentence on the negotiation table.
"So we allowed it to be taken over by Xiyi, and then Xiyi set up defenses on those broken ground. Now it will be extremely difficult for us to take it back.
"More importantly, your grandfather has already passed the retirement age stipulated in the new system of Renwu, but he has not retired because of the constant wars in the past few years.
"Your grandfather is not in good health. Now he definitely wants to sign the armistice agreement as soon as possible and then abdicate to recuperate.
“Furthermore, the situation in various vassal states and on the mainland does not allow us to delay indefinitely.
“I have at most two years, or even a year, to think of ways to make the armistice more favorable.
"In one or two years, it is impossible for the battlefield situation to undergo subversive changes, and achieving large-scale victory is even more a pipe dream."
After saying what he was holding in his heart, Zhu Jianyan seemed to look away slightly, patted his son's shoulder gently, turned around and got in the car directly.
After Zhu Jingyuan was stunned for half a second, he immediately ran to the opposite side of the car, climbed into the car and sat next to Zhu Jianyan.
Zhu Jianyan looked at his son's serious expression and sighed softly with a very complicated mood:
"Jingyuan, I know you have just graduated and are eager to make a career and want to participate in everything. This is how your father came here.
“But peace talks in this form are really not helpful to your future, and may even turn into a stain.
"You are not a prince, so you don't need to rush to make meritorious deeds. Just go into politics step by step. Listen to your father and go back to rest."
Zhu Jingyuan was stunned for a moment, and then said excitedly:
"I am not the prince now, but you are, father! Only if you win the throne can I become the prince!"
Zhu Jianyan was also stunned for a moment, and then suddenly laughed:
"No wonder you were so excited before. Do you think your father still has a chance to become emperor? Then you also have a chance, haha..."
Zhu Jingyuan was stunned by his father's reaction:
"Isn't this right? You are also a prince. You have completed all the required studies and passed all the practical training. Why don't you have a chance!"
Zhu Jianyan couldn't help laughing twice more, and then patiently explained to Zhu Jingyuan:
“It is said that Emperor Shizu once said that children born to parents before the age of twenty may not be as strong as children after the age of twenty.
“Later, the Taiyuan Hospital collaborated with hospitals from various places to conduct long-term statistics and believed that this judgment was basically correct.
"So when the emperor chooses his successor, he will not choose from his children before the age of 20.
"Your father and I happen to be 20 years younger than your grandfather, so we are not included in the selection.
"So your father was destined not to have this opportunity since he was born."
After hearing this, Zhu Jingyuan's eyes widened and he continued to ask in disbelief:
"Is this true? You had no chance of being crowned emperor in the first place? I also never had a chance from the beginning? Are there really clear regulations on this in the Renwu New Deal?"
Zhu Jianyan regained his calm expression, nodded slightly and said:
“Although there are no clear regulations, it has become a practice, and it doesn’t matter whether there are regulations or not.
“Look at the four ancestors after Renwu, all of whom ascended the throne at the age of 38, and the age difference between the age of the emperor who abdicated at the age of 60 is more than 22 years.
"So I never had a chance, so Jingyuan, get out of the car quickly, I have to go to a meeting."
After Zhu Jingyuan realized the cruel reality, he immediately had a tendency to collapse:
"So - you have no chance to be the emperor anyway, why do you want to be the Minister of Honglu Temple? Just resign!
"Anyway, the new emperor's brother cannot serve as a powerful official. You, the minister of Honglu Temple, can only work for a year or two until the new emperor ascends the throne.
"It's better to just resign now, so you don't have to get involved in negotiations and signings. Whoever wants to go can go!"
Zhu Jianyan shook his head with a wry smile, patted the back of Zhu Jingyuan's hand, and patiently comforted him:
"Although I cannot hold a real official position, my son, you and your brothers can.
"If I give up my skills at a critical moment, do you think one of your uncles will give you some shoes?"
Zhu Jianyan was stunned for a second, and then he realized the logic behind it.
His father patiently continued to go to work and continued to take on this potentially infamous job, only for the sake of his children, including himself.
Zhu Jingyuan's mood was a mess at this moment, a little aggrieved, a little disappointed, a little irritable, a little angry, and a little helpless.
Then in anger and helplessness, Zhu Jingyuan suddenly felt blessed, looked at his father with wide eyes and said:
"I have an idea! Let me sign for you!"
Zhu Jianyan subconsciously wanted to shake his head, but then quickly responded:
"Don't you...wait...right..."
Zhu Jingyuan took a deep breath and said in a rather excited tone:
"If anyone else signs this, they may be stigmatized, at least in the short term, but my brothers and I will not...
"In our Ming Dynasty, filial piety is greater than heaven. As a son, I can't bear to see your father bear the infamy, so I am willing to take responsibility for my father. No one can make irresponsible remarks.
“In this way, not only will our father and son not have a bad reputation, but we may be promoted as a good talk to offset the negative impact of the peace talks.
"By the way, I even have the opportunity to directly get a powerful official position, such as the Shaoqing of Honglu Temple or something, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs?"
After Zhu Jianyan figured it out, he couldn't help laughing, hugged his son's shoulders hard and said loudly:
"My son Jingyuan is truly a genius!"
After Zhu Jianyan laughed, he stroked his beard and said:
"It is delusional for you to want to directly become the young minister of Honglu Temple now, but if this happens, both generations of emperors will accept your love.
"No one will be able to block your promotion in the future. As long as you accumulate qualifications step by step, you can be promoted to minister in eight years at the earliest and fifteen years at the most.
"I have never had the foundation or intention to fight for the throne, so your uncle the emperor can safely use you without being suspected..."
Zhu Jingyuan was also overjoyed and made his own calculations:
"Eight years later, I will be twenty-three years old. It will be worthwhile to be a minister, but which one is better?"
Zhu Jianyan returned to his normal sitting posture and scolded his somewhat superior son:
"There is no need to worry about such distant things now. Think about how to handle the immediate things first."
"Let's drive, go directly to the palace, go to the Wenhua Palace..."
