The Duke's Mansion of Liang Kingdom.
Although it is located in Jinling City, where land is at a premium, this mansion still occupies a large area.
There are three consecutive streets, and it takes almost half a quarter of an hour to walk from the east end to the west end.
Liang Guogong Lan Yu was a prestigious presence throughout the Ming Dynasty.
Naturally, the king of Kaiping often encountered spring, the kings of Zhongshan County, Xu Da, died one after another, and Tang He retired and returned to his hometown. Lan Yu's prestige in the army was at its peak, and he was vaguely known as the first person in the army.
On weekdays, the streets in front of Duke Liang's Mansion are quite busy, with countless people coming in and out.
After all, the nobles in the court, headed by Lan Yu, naturally have a lot of contacts.
But since Lan Yu was slapped and severely reprimanded by Zhu Yunxuan, Duke Liang's mansion closed its doors to thank guests and stopped interacting with the outside world. The streets in front of the mansion also became clean.
Today, a small sedan chair landed directly in front of the Duke Liang's mansion.
Huang Zicheng got off the sedan, and the people waiting next to him immediately came forward and knocked on the closed door of Duke Qi Liang's mansion.
With a "swipe" sound, the door opened a crack, and a head poked out.
He glanced at the people outside and said, "My master has closed the door to thank guests and will not see outsiders. As a distinguished guest, please come back."
"I am Huang Zicheng, Minister of Dali Temple. Please tell Duke Liang that I have something important to discuss." Huang Zicheng bowed his hands.
"It turns out to be Mr. Huang, the minister of Dali Temple." The man quickly bowed and saluted.
The Minister of Dali Temple is one of the Nine Ministers and is an important minister in the court. Of course he does not dare to neglect him.
But when he returned to the salute, he refused continuously and said: "Sir Huang, you are just a villain and don't inform me. In fact, Duke Liang has already given instructions. Unless there is an imperial edict, no outsiders will be seen. Sir, please come back."
Huang Zicheng glared at him and said: "It's not that I don't know about Liang Guogong thanking guests behind closed doors. But coming here today involves the important matter of establishing a prince, which is not a trivial matter. Don't stop me. Go and report it quickly. You will miss something important. You can’t afford it either.”
Seeing his sharp tone, the doorman thought about it secretly, then turned around and went inside to report.
After a while, he opened the door again and said, "Master Huang, Duke Liang has invited you."
Huang Zicheng stepped in.
Although Lan Yu thanked the guests behind closed doors, he had already made up his mind and knew that the other party would definitely see him.
In the lobby of the mansion, the host and guest were seated, and Lan Yu said: "Your Majesty will make your own decision on the matter of establishing the crown prince, and it is not something that ministers can say. Mr. Huang is here. If you have nothing else to do, take a sip of thin tea, and then please leave."
As the head of the nobility, he has never had anything to do with the civil officials in the court.
It's just that Huang Zicheng is the minister of Dali Temple and has a very high reputation among the scholars, so he just met him and gave him some face.
That’s it for now.
Fortunately, Huang Zicheng was neither a noble nor a general in the army, otherwise Lan Yu would never have seen him.
Huang Zicheng laughed.
"Dong Liang has always acted freely, but I didn't expect that he has become so cautious now."
"I'm not afraid, so what are you afraid of?"
Lan Yu glared at him and said: "As a civil servant, you are supposed to speak your mind, so you don't have to worry about it. But I, the general, have led troops for many years. I only know how to charge into battle and fight on the battlefield. I don't know the important affairs of the court, so I dare not say more."
After being scolded by Zhu Yunxuan, he really thought about a lot of things and realized that he could no longer be as unscrupulous as before.
Huang Zicheng picked up the tea cup, opened the lid, and blew gently. After the tea had cooled down a little, he took a sip, put the cup down, and said: "Dong Liang is thanking guests behind closed doors in his mansion, but your subordinates are I haven't been idle all day long, thinking about supporting King Wu as the crown prince."
Two rays of light suddenly shot out from the blue jade eyes.
Although he thanked guests behind closed doors, Zhu Yuanzhang still knew about the three emperors' grandsons being crowned kings.
Lao Zhu's arrangement makes it clear that the candidate for the crown prince will be born among the three of them, but the person has not been decided yet.
As a result, those nobles are naturally ready to make a move.
Honors and nobles are different from civil servants.
Civil servants always look forward and backward when doing things, thinking a lot.
But most of the nobles are military commanders and dare to fight.
In their view, they supported Lao Zhu as emperor in the past wars and had the merit of following the dragon.
Now it is only natural to support Lao Zhu's descendants to inherit the throne.
Among the three imperial grandsons, Zhu Yunxi was the legitimate son of Zhu Biao and the daughter of Chang Yuchun, so he was naturally supported by the generals and nobles.
Speaking of which, Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yunxu can be regarded as legitimate sons.
why?
Originally, Mrs. Lu was only Zhu Biao's second concubine, and the main concubine was Chang Yuchun's daughter, Chang.
However, Chang died long ago.
Lao Zhu has issued an order to straighten the Lu family.
In this way, Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yunxu are naturally regarded as legitimate sons.
However, in the eyes of the military generals and nobles who supported Zhu Yunxi, they were not considered like this. Zhu Yunxi was the real legitimate son.
"The King of Wu is your nephew. If you intend to make him your heir apparent, it is a matter of course."
Huang Zicheng said softly.
He was quite right.
Before that, Lan Yu did intend to let Zhu Yunxi inherit the throne.
In his opinion, this is what it should be.
After all, Zhu Yunxi is Zhu Biao's true legitimate son.
He is also one of his own relatives. If you don’t support him, who will you support him?
But after Zhu Yunxuan beat and scolded him, Lan Yu figured it out.
Lao Zhu would never allow outsiders to take power and endanger the imperial power.
If Zhu Yunxi is really established as the crown prince, then the end of his life will come.
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty could kill Madam Gou Yi, and Lao Zhu would also kill him.
After understanding this, he no longer had the slightest interest in Zhu Yunxi succeeding to the throne.
Listening to Huang Zicheng talking about it at this moment, he couldn't help but snorted coldly and said: "How can the prince be supported by his ministers? Mr. Huang's words are beyond the bounds."
"If you dare to say more, don't blame me for writing a letter to Your Majesty. Sir Shen has a disobedient heart."
Huang Zicheng was stunned and laughed again.
"Dr. Liang Guo's words are serious."
"It's just that Duke Liang has no intention, but others may not think so!"
Lan Yu said: "I am locked up in my house, so why should I care what other people think?"
Huang Zicheng smiled and said: "That's a bad statement. Did Duke Liang ever hear that, "Everyone's mouth shines like gold, but their accumulation is like a waste of bones."
"The Duke of Liang is in the middle of the game, and he claims that he is not stained by the fine dust. Who would believe it?"
Lan Yu's face slowly darkened.
"I'm a rough guy. Mr. Huang talks so much in roundabout ways, but I can't always understand him. If you have any advice, you might as well say it directly."
"Okay!" Huang Zicheng nodded and said, "Although His Majesty has established three kings at the same time, Duke Liang must be very clear about who he prefers to be the crown prince."
Lan Yu nodded slightly.
Of course he could see that Lao Zhu's choice for the crown prince was the Southern King Zhu Yunxian.
Otherwise, he would not be named King of the South.
However, Zhu Yunzhen is indeed very smart.
In Lan Yu's view, he is indeed the best candidate to inherit the throne.
As for the rules about establishing direct descendants rather than concubines, and establishing elders rather than virtuous people, let them go to hell.
I started a rebellion just to break the rules.
Huang Zicheng observed the situation and saw that Lan Yu did not object, so he continued: "Although Your Majesty thinks so, the current situation may not be as Your Majesty intended."
"The civil servants in the court are more interested in Prince Heng. You must also know that."
"The generals in the army and the noble relatives of the country hope that King Wu will inherit the throne."
"On the contrary, His Majesty's favorite King Nan is alone and has no one to support him."
Lan Yu narrowed her eyes and said, "What does Mr. Huang mean?"
Huang Zicheng said with a smile: "The Duke of Liang is loyal to the country, serves the public good, and does not show favoritism. I admire him very much!"
"But your majesty doesn't know the heart of Duke Liang, nor do the officers and men in the army. It's hidden in your heart. How can outsiders not misunderstand it?"
"If you don't speak out, the generals in the army and the nobles in the court will think that you support the King of Wu and want to make him the crown prince. After all, you and the King of Wu are relatives."
Lan Yu hurriedly said: "Heaven and earth are above, I, Lan Yu, have absolutely no intention of doing this."
Huang Zicheng said: "It's not that I don't believe you, but that the world has trouble believing you."
He paused and said: "I do have an idea that can make His Majesty and the nobles in the court no longer doubt you."
Lan Yu asked: "Master Huang, please make it clear."
Huang Zicheng picked up the tea cup, took a sip, put it down, and then said: "Your Majesty's heart is as clear as the sun and the moon."
"As ministers, we bear the lord's salary and bear the lord's worries."
"Why don't you, Duke Liang, write to your majesty, asking you to make King Nan your crown prince?"
"Your Majesty is worried about this matter. Duke Liang has written a letter. The nobles in the court will surely take action after hearing the news."
"In this way, Duke Liang can not only clear his own suspicions, express his feelings to the nobles of the court and the generals, but also use the Holy Heart to relieve His Majesty's worries. Why not do it?"
He induced earnestly.
Hearing this, Lan Yu's eyes suddenly lit up, she slapped her thigh and said, "Master Huang's words make sense, why didn't I think of it? I will submit a letter right away, asking your Majesty to make Prince Nan the crown prince."
He was overjoyed.
At the corner of Huang Zicheng's mouth, there was an imperceptible sinister sneer, with a hint of contempt and a bit of pride hidden in it.
…
(End of chapter)
