"Old slave Li Guang, please pay homage to Your Highness! Your Highness is a thousand years old!"
Zhu Houzhao was sitting in the pavilion, and the gray-haired old man was kneeling outside the pavilion.
When the wind blows, some sounds will be blown away, so Li Guang shouted this sentence with all his strength.
"Get up."
As the prince has been in a high position for a long time, his momentum and self-confidence have become more and more intense, and he has become more calm when talking to others.
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
To enter the pavilion, you have to go up two steps. Zhu Houzhao is standing on it. The position is higher and the perspective is more suitable for him.
"Eunuch Li didn't go to pray for the Buddha for his father, so why did he think of coming to my East Palace?"
Li Guang was more direct, "I heard that His Highness was distressed by the fact that the people in the capital were ill and difficult to treat. They all said that the Lord was worried about the humiliation of his ministers. Although the old slave was only an eunuch, he was not far behind in the aspect of filial piety." Queen. I’m here today to share your worries with Your Highness!”
"I remembered..."
The Crown Prince suddenly said this for no reason,
Li Guang was also stunned and looked up at His Highness.
Zhu Houzhao said leisurely: "Previously, Mr. Wang mentioned to me that Eunuch Li has great supernatural powers, masters strange recipes and secret techniques, and can communicate with the gods. Your Majesty has great trust in you."
"So you have advised your father many times and done a lot of construction. At the same time, you have been greedy for money and money, and you have even made friends with ministers to gain power. It is said that some people have become your disciples..."
The first half of this sentence was fine, but the situation changed suddenly later.
Li Guang looked horrified, how could the prince suddenly say such things?
"Your Highness!" His heart trembled, "Your Highness, please be aware! Ever since I was in the palace, this old slave has received great kindness from the Emperor. He always has thoughts of repayment in his heart and practices Buddhism every day in order to keep your Majesty healthy. He is greedy for money, This old slave will never dare to make friends and gain power!"
The pressure came up all of a sudden, and Li Guang's heart tightened.
Zhu Houzhao was not in a hurry and continued to act: "I didn't believe it at first, so I asked you face to face to verify it. I haven't spoken to my father yet."
"Your Highness is wise! Your Highness does not know that some conflicts between internal ministers and foreign ministers in the palace are normal. Some of the foreign ministers really look down on the eunuch Lao Nu, so it is not surprising that there are some slanderous remarks. But Lao Nu Even if he is less knowledgeable, he is more loyal and considerate than a foreign minister."
"Oh. So that's how it is." Zhu Houzhao looked like he suddenly realized it, and then started to worry again: "But about the matter of the Medical Palace... the foreign ministers praise each other, and you don't have a good relationship with them, and you still come to give advice. , can we really work together as one?"
Li Guang immediately gave an unequivocal assurance, "Of course! Your Highness, don't misunderstand me. It's the old slave's fault that I have a bad relationship with them. The Medical Palace is your highness's business, and your highness is the master. Naturally, your highness comes first, and the old slave takes the next step." Even if I am dissatisfied, I don’t have the guts to delay His Highness’ important event!”
"Well, that's the truth. You just said 'loyalty and considerate', and it seems that it is true. My father also told me that although the internal ministers have minor mistakes, they are indeed better at being considerate than the external ones. Yours."
"That's it."
"Okay, your explanation makes sense. I think you are also a very capable person, and you are so knowledgeable about the general situation and know how to put aside personal grudges. This is better than many people. No wonder my father trusts you so much. I also think you are very good, so how about I leave this matter to you?"
Li Guang paused for a moment.
Leave it to me?
The key thing is that it cannot be handled well if it continues like this.
Zhu Hou looked at him and paused for a moment, then his tone suddenly changed, "What? You don't want to?"
Li Guang's scalp felt numb.
Is it okay to say that you are not happy at this time?
The purpose of his trip was to win over the prince.
But this is not in line with his suggestions. He originally made a complete "action plan", including what the Ministry of Industry should do and what the Ministry of Rites should do. He wrote down all the civil servants and told them to do it. This is a hot potato. Throw it to them and let them have a headache.
Now what... is this?
Fortunately, his mind is not stupid.
There was a quick wit in his heart, "Your Highness trusts the old slave so much, and the old slave deserves it. If I have the opportunity to serve His Highness, I will naturally not say a word of refusal. It's just... The emperor has already assigned the old slave errands." ...This old slave is afraid that he will not be able to do anything else, so it is okay if he is a little bit tired and tired, but if he delays His Highness’s business, wouldn’t it be a serious sin?”
Zhu Houzhao squinted his eyes.
This guy is not easy to handle.
And before he could say anything else,
Li Guang seemed to be thinking clearly, and started talking again and again, "In addition, your Highness may not know something. Government affairs like this should be handed over to the cabinet and ministries for discussion, and then handed over to the emperor for decision-making. Because of such important matters. , people, talents, and materials are all indispensable.”
This is a bit of a lesson.
That is to say, Prince, you don’t understand. Things can’t be arranged this way. This is government affairs, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t understand. I’ll tell you all this, do you understand now? Shouldn't you come to me again?
Zhu Houzhao started stroking his fingers again. He was not easy to deal with. You said this and asked me for the difficult problem?
Who is begging whom today?
"Okay, what Eunuch Li said makes sense. I'm a little tired today, so let's come here. Qiuyun, pack your things and let's go back to the palace."
ah……
Li Guang was dumbfounded for a moment.
No, why don't you follow the routine?
I just 'counterattacked' a little bit and then just threw it away?
Qiuyun and Zhang Yong didn't realize the overt and covert fighting, so they naturally followed the prince's instructions. This time, the palace acted just like the real thing.
"Your Highness...Your Highness."
"Anything else to say?"
Li Guang laughed dryly along with him, "Old slave... I have one more suggestion."
Zhu Houzhao had no intention of listening at all, "Oh... I still have some suggestions, but I don't think they are necessary. I know your filial piety. But the civil servants all said that it is not easy to do this, and it is not possible to do it. It's very simple. Now Eunuch Li has some suggestions... I would like to ask first, if I do what you say, it will be successful. If it cannot be done, it will be investigated when the time comes. It is because the person who did it did not implement it well. Or is there something wrong with your suggestion itself? I’m afraid it’s hard to tell clearly.”
This... Li Guang thought to himself, what kind of logic is this? Who would come up with such an idea? Whatever happens is done through brainstorming.
Pure excuse.
"Your Highness..."
"Okay, you don't have to say anything anymore. If there is anything... that's fine, just write something and I will look at it carefully."
Li Guang's heart sank even more, Your Highness... you haven't read yet, you can't read...
But Zhu Houzhao still said this. He could explain that I can't understand a lot of people around me. Why do you say I don't understand?
The Crown Prince slowly left the pavilion,
If he left, Li Guang just didn't flatter the prince. He talked for a long time and found nothing.
Now the civil servants are criticizing him verbally and in writing. If the prince is dissatisfied with him again, his fate can be imagined.
This is a matter of life and death.
Li Guang gritted his teeth and knelt down, "Your Highness! I am willing to work hard for Your Highness until I die!"
"I haven't read the book, so I don't understand. Please tell me more simply!" Zhu Houzhao roared.
Damn it, come and beg me, play tricks on me!
Qiuyun and Zhang Yong beside him were both startled and quickly lowered their heads to pretend to be good. No one expected that His Highness suddenly became angry.
The situation was like this, and Li Guang had to bow his head, "Your Highness, forgive me! What I mean is that Your Highness just gives orders, and I will try my best to get His Highness's affairs done."
"Oh, it turns out that this is what it means to work hard and die." Zhu Houzhao said as if he suddenly realized, "Actually, you don't have to think too much, you just need to remember that you are working for me, and it doesn't matter if you do it well. You have your own ability. The palace is taking care of it for you. If things don't go well, anything could be a problem. Do you understand?"
This sentence has too much connotation. Thinking of the previous incident where a civil servant complained to him,
The prince may go to the emperor at any time...
Isn't this a threat? !
But as a prince, there seems to be nothing wrong with him saying such things to a eunuch.
Li Guang couldn't figure out what it meant.
Maybe it's just a normal conversation. Normally, the prince can also say: You can get things done no matter what.
But what if it has that meaning?
Zhu Houzhao doesn't care. He also depends on how you behave towards others. If you are honest, I will treat you well. If you are dishonest, you will force me to resort to tricks.
Li Guang knew that he would not be able to escape today, so he figured that he had to do the task assigned by the prince well in order to pass the test.
The Crown Prince returned to the pavilion and sat down.
"You just said that people, money, and things are indispensable. But now those ministers are all focused on your proposal to propose the great construction of my father. How can you now submit it to the cabinet for discussion as you said?"
Li Guang said: "It can be said that this matter is for the people."
"So you didn't do it for the people before?"
Li Guang: "..."
He was too lazy to speak.
"I wonder how Your Highness would like to handle it?"
"Look at you." Zhu Houzhao pointed at him and said.
After saying this, he gave Zhang Yong a warning and walked away directly.
Li Guang didn't understand what it meant and wanted to chase him, but Zhang Yong was in front of him.
"Eunuch Li... His Highness has already given the explanation."
"But His Highness didn't say anything."
"His Highness has said that he should not submit it to the Ministry of Cabinet for discussion. But if he does not submit it, the court will not allocate the money. How can anything be accomplished without money? Eunuch Li, I also want to ask, do you really think that His Highness does not know that you are greedy? Things?"
Li Guang's face straightened, "What do you mean, Eunuch Zhang? You can't say anything nonsense."
Zhang Yong felt that this high-ranking eunuch in the past was indeed ridiculous in front of His Highness.
"The ministers are giving advice to His Highness one after another. Why don't Your Highness tell the Emperor? Your Highness is trying to save your life. Of course, money is also important, but you must know that there will be a lot of money after the house is raided. But why does the Prince If you don't listen and don't care, why bother you so much? Eunuch Li, you have to think about it carefully."
Li Guang's scalp was numb, it turns out that this is what happened! The prince’s goal is money!
This time the prince was convinced that he was guilty, so he forced him to take the money.
He and Chang Qing thought about it for a long time, but they never thought about the matter of [money]. In their opinion, how could the prince be short of money? !
But taking the money out directly doesn't mean that he is admitting that he is greedy?
The prince was really well-calculated, giving him two choices would be a dead end.
They are all dead ends, so that’s nothing to talk about!
"Hmph! The emperor is the one who calls the shots now, not the civil servants! How can they take my life as they please?!" Li Guang patted his knees and got up.
Zhang Yong also looked at him with an unkind expression, "Eunuch Li said he was a civil servant, but in his heart he was not referring to His Highness, right?!"
