Inside the palace.
Zhu Yuanzhang was weeding the sweet potato field with a hoe.
Since planting this sweet potato field, he has been visiting it every day.
Weeding, fertilizing, and watching the sweet potato seedlings grow day by day.
Zhu Yunzhen stood aside and did not go to help.
At his current age, he is still very reluctant to wield a hoe.
Help is basically out of the question, so I won't add to the trouble.
There is not much grass in the field, and the area is not large. Although Lao Zhu is old, he is in good spirits today and has more energy to work.
After a while, everything was cleaned up.
"Grandpa Huang!" Zhu Yunzhen walked over and handed a towel to wipe sweat to Lao Zhu.
"Well!" Lao Zhu took the towel, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and sighed: "I'm old, and I sweat profusely when I do some work. I didn't sweat even when I did such things before."
Zhu Yunxuan laughed and said: "Grandpa Huang is getting stronger and stronger. Many people at your age can't even walk."
Speaking of which, Zhu Yuanzhang is only sixty now.
In the era of advanced technology in later generations, people have just reached retirement age.
Many old men at this age are still energetic, even compared to young people.
But in this day and age, sixty is considered relatively old.
After all, what we are talking about at this time is "life is rare in seventy years".
Being able to live to the age of seventy has been very rare since ancient times.
Sixty years old is certainly considered an advanced age.
Decreased energy, weak physical strength, or even bedridden.
"Hahaha!" Zhu Yuanzhang laughed heartily and asked, "What did you learn from this incident?"
"Grandpa Huang has many plans and strategies, and everything is under control." Zhu Yunxuan was full of admiration.
Lao Zhu's methods are really clever.
No mountains, no dew, no expression.
Before it happened, there was no trace at all.
All forces were manipulated by him.
Even at the beginning, he never came back to his senses.
Only when you think about it carefully can you get a glimpse of its wonder.
"Don't just think about choosing nice words to flatter us."
Lao Zhu glared at him and said: "You have been appointed as the crown prince now, and you will be in charge of the Ming Dynasty in the future."
"Although you are smart, fighting for the court is different from other things."
"An inch is long, a ruler is short."
"Look at the blue jade, charging forward on the battlefield, invincible."
"But in the court, Huang Zicheng made Lan Yu use it with just a few clever words."
Huang Zicheng's visit to Lan Yu Mansion could not be hidden from Lao Zhu.
Otherwise, Jin Yiwei's spies should die to apologize.
Huang Zicheng also knew this.
In his opinion, there must be someone watching in front of Lan Yu's door.
Instead of going secretly and disguised, it is better to go openly.
Anyway, there were only two people present when chatting with Lan Yu.
Even if Jin Yiwei's hands and eyes were all over the place, it would be impossible for him to know what they were talking about.
But he forgot that with Lao Zhu's shrewdness, he could figure it out without knowing the specific content of their conversation.
Huang Zicheng always thought that he had read a lot and had good strategies.
But in fact, every time I do something, I am always not careful enough, or my ideas are completely wrong.
Compared with those truly brilliant counselors, he is still far behind.
Zhu Yunzhen listened quietly and nodded slightly.
"Grandpa Huang, do you want to take the exam?"
"Yes, tell me." Lao Zhu walked to the pavilion next to him and sat down.
He had been working for a while and was a little tired now.
He waved his hand and made the palace maids and eunuchs retreat.
Zhu Yunxuan walked up to Lao Zhu and said with a smile: "Grandpa Huang's plan to create momentum for his grandson to become the crown prince is just one of them."
"Oh?" After hearing this, Lao Zhu's eyes suddenly lit up.
Looking at Zhu Yunzhen, there was a hint of surprise and admiration in his eyes.
"This matter has such a big momentum, civil servants, nobles, and our own family are all involved."
As he spoke, he observed Lao Zhu's reaction.
After all, he mentioned his family members in his words. Although he did not mention them by name, he was still a little unsure about Lao Zhu's attitude towards this.
Do you want to cover it, or do you really want him to spread it out?
Seeing that there was nothing unusual in Lao Zhu's expression, he smiled encouragingly, and then continued.
"Grandpa Huang wants those people to jump out and see clearly the forces in the court."
This level of significance may be more important than building momentum for him to become the crown prince.
"Let you see clearly." Lao Zhu corrected the mistake in his words.
"You see, these people say they are loyal to the emperor and patriotic, but in fact, everyone is planning their own little calculations in their hearts."
"If we directly say that we will make you the emperor's grandson, those civil servants will dare to remonstrate with death and prevent us from stepping down."
"Now, let's use our strength to make them think they can take you down, and they will jump out to kill you one by one. Then we will fight against them and make them unable to speak out about their suffering."
Zhu Yunxuan smiled and said: "Grandpa Huang is brilliant."
Zhu Yuanzhang breathed out, did not correct him, and accepted his flattery, and continued: "The world scolds us for being too harsh on officials, but you have also seen that even though we have killed so many people, we can't stop them from forming cliques for personal gain." , fighting for power in the court."
"If we relax any more, I'm afraid the court will turn into a mess and the country will be ruined."
He paused, then smiled and said: "Although you are now established as the crown prince, you have high public prestige and are in the limelight, but you have no power and no direct lineage of your own, so your foundation is still unstable."
Zhu Yunzhen said with a smile: "It would be really strange if there were not a few forces and factions in the court."
"The emperor wants his grandson to be the crown prince, and his grandson should be used by me."
"The world is for the public, and kindness comes from above. The Ming Dynasty has the emperor's grandfather sitting in charge. If my grandson imitates those people and forms cliques and appoints private individuals, he will be living up to the emperor's high expectations and it will be extremely unfilial."
These words are half true and false.
Zhu Yunzhen really felt that there was no one available and he was constrained everywhere.
You still need a few close friends to get things done easily.
But in front of Lao Zhu, he was not that stupid when he said that he wanted to cultivate his own confidants.
Although Lao Zhu's previous words seemed to guide and even encourage him to establish his own power.
But Zhu Yunzhen still realized that this was wrong.
Lao Zhu may be testing.
The heart of an emperor is as deep as the sea.
At this time, he was tempted and deliberately guided, so he jumped in easily.
This was not even Lao Zhu's deliberate design, but as an emperor, he had long been accustomed to treating others in this way.
It was also naturally used on Zhu Yunzhen.
You don’t need to think too much when guiding you to dig a hole.
This is exactly where Lao Zhu is brilliant.
Only in this way can he rise from a beggar to a powerful empire.
Without this scheming, he would not have been able to establish the Ming Dynasty.
After hearing these words, Zhu Yuanzhang stared at him for a long time and suddenly burst into laughter.
"Okay! Fu'er, if you have such knowledge, it's not in vain for Grandpa Huang's painstaking teachings."
Zhu Yunzhen secretly sighed in his heart.
When dealing with Lao Zhu, you really have to be alert at all times.
If you don't respond well, it will be out of control.
It seems that Zhu Yunwen pretending to be loyal and benevolent is actually a very good choice.
No matter what happens, as long as you remember the four words "loyalty, benevolence and righteousness", you will be fine.
On the contrary, it is easier to deal with Lao Zhu.
The fact that he has always been valued by Lao Zhu is certainly due to his superior acting skills, but it is probably also inseparable from his choice to take the path of "loyalty, benevolence and righteousness".
Otherwise, with Lao Zhu's shrewdness, no matter how good Zhu Yunwen's acting skills are, he will inevitably be seen through.
But he was different.
He established a persona for himself as an extremely talented and intelligent person.
The difficulty of acting in front of Lao Zhu suddenly rose to several levels.
Does this count as cheating yourself?
But there is no regret medicine at this time!
"Grandpa Huang is old and his health is not as good as before."
Lao Zhu said slowly: "You handled Bu Sibei, Wu Wanggeng, and even the businessman's strike in a very orderly manner. You are mature and stable and can be reused."
"Now, you have been appointed as the crown prince. We want you to supervise the country and handle state affairs."
(End of chapter)
