Donglu Mountain, Jiming Temple.
This thousand-year-old temple is one of the oldest Buddhist temples and royal temples in Jinling. Its incense has always been strong. It has been known as ‘the first temple in the Southern Dynasties’ and the first among the ‘480 temples in the Southern Dynasties’ since ancient times.
At this moment, in a pavilion of Jiming Temple, Zhu Di was playing chess with a monk in black.
This monk in black is none other than Monk Daoyan and Prime Minister Yao Guangxiao in black.
As the chief planner of the Jingnan Campaign, Zhu Di used a mere piece of Yan land to defeat the entire country’s troops, and finally won and proclaimed himself emperor. This was unique in history, and Yao Guangxiao took the greatest credit!
However, after the success of Jingnan, Zhu Di gave him a palace maid, but Yao Guangxiao refused to accept it. He only lived in the temple. In addition to taking on the responsibility of protecting Buddhism, Yao Guangxiao no longer took the initiative to interfere in the government affairs.
‘Monk, you encouraged me to raise an army. After taking over the world, you are now free.’
Zhu Di picked up a white piece and dropped it, then smiled proudly, as if he had already won.
Yao Guangxiao smiled when he heard this and dropped a sunspot, instantly reversing the offensive and defensive situation.
When Zhu Di saw this, he glared and threw the chess piece in his hand, ‘You monk, you are so boring.’
‘Your Majesty has something on his mind, so he is absent-minded.’
The two have been monarchs and ministers for so many years, and they have accomplished great feats together to evade disasters. Their relationship is naturally extraordinary.
So Yao Guangxiao didn’t have the slightest scruple about things that others didn’t dare to ask.
‘What else could it be because of？ My second brother seems to have become a different person these days. Although he has repeatedly requested to surrender, I always feel that he has bad intentions!’
Zhu Gaoxu’s actions of voluntarily resigning, in Zhu Di’s eyes, proved to be evidence of his restlessness.
Especially this morning, he opposed his Northern Expedition for the first time, and even used a poem to accuse the prince, Yang Shiqi and others.
How could Zhu Di not understand his little thoughts？
Because the people’s livelihood opposed the Northern Expedition, the prince could say this, but the king of Han could not.
After a pause, Zhu Di recounted what happened in the past two days.
‘I’ve been upset these past few days. I have nightmares all night long and can’t sleep.’
Yao Guangxiao had been listening quietly. When Zhu Di finished speaking, he sighed.
He knew clearly that Zhu Di’s biggest worry was not the orphans who were in trouble, but the fratricide.
After all, the emperor himself ascended the throne by seizing the throne. Now that the King of Han’s ambition is obvious, how can he not be afraid？
Fraternal destruction has now become Zhu Di’s biggest worry.
‘In this case, why does the emperor give King Han the opportunity to supervise the country？’
‘The emperor thought about the friendship between relatives, so he wanted to give the King of Han a chance, but has the emperor ever thought about what would happen if things go wrong？’
Zhu Di frowned, ‘I’ll let Jian Yi Jinzhong and the others watch, and nothing will happen.’
Yao Guangxiao shook his head and laughed when he heard this, without commenting.
‘But this kid refused many times, so I was puzzled. Tell me, why is he acting like this？’
For a moment, Zhu Di really thought that his son had repented and was preparing to go to Yunnan to join the feudal clan.
However, what happened this morning made him very disappointed.
When he thought of this, Zhu Di laughed again and said, ‘What’s interesting is that after a few days in coma, this kid has learned to be smart now. Before, he was just a piece of meat on a hob and a stinky guy!’
Yao Guangxiao did not tolerate Zhu Di at all and poured cold water on him directly.
‘The King of Han is becoming more cunning and cunning. Does the Emperor think this is something to be happy about？’
It can be seen that Zhu Di prefers the King of Han, which is a fact.
Zhu Di was startled when he heard this, then became furious, stood up and overturned the chessboard.
I don’t know how long it took, but I heard Zhu Di sigh quietly.
‘Old monk, can it be that my achievements in this life cannot clear my name？’
‘Gong is merit, fault is fault, merit and fault cannot offset each other.’
‘You bastard, I really want to kill you!’
…
The next day.
The emperor Zhu Di stayed at Jiming Temple for a while in the name of being ill.
Prince Zhu Gaochi was detained for a month and was doing Genghong gymnastics in the prince’s mansion.
Zhu Gaoxu had no choice but to bite the bullet and start his career as a prisoner of the country.
In the main hall of Qianqing Palace, he sat on a small bench next to the dragon chair, listening to the reports of the six ministers and cabinet bachelors, looking at the mountains of memorials on the case, and secretly cursing Zhu Di for being a thief.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, and Jin Zhong, the Minister of War, suddenly started to quarrel.
Zhu Gaoxu was a little puzzled. These two were both virtuous ministers and officials with a reputation in history, and they were both princelings. How could they go to war？
After listening quietly for a moment, he finally understood what was going on.
It turns out that although the tasting party earned 10 million taels of silver, only 7 million taels actually went to the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Of these seven million taels, more than half was allocated for the construction of the new capital of Shuntian and the compilation of the Yongle Grand Ceremony. After all, this was the main project of the Yongle New Deal.
The real money left by the household department was only two million taels.
And all the ministries were almost too poor to open the pot, and all six ministries and hundreds of departments were reaching out to Xia Yuanji for money.
Xia Yuanji, the Minister of Household Affairs, believes that the most important thing right now is to provide relief to the victims of disasters in Shandong, Henan and other places.
So Xia Yuanji waved his hand and prepared to allocate these two million taels as disaster relief funds to help the people.
Jin Zhong, the Minister of War, was not happy when he heard this and scolded Xia Yuanji for not being able to distinguish priorities.
As the saying goes, ‘before the troops and horses are moved, the food and grass go first.’ The emperor is determined to lead the expedition in person and launch the northern expedition next spring.
The Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Works should now make every effort to raise food and grass and prepare for material dispatch for next year’s Northern Expedition.
After all, the emperor’s personal expedition is different from ordinary people. If the emperor makes a mistake due to logistical supply problems, then no one can bear the responsibility.
However, Xia Yuanji also had his own reasons, and even used the song ‘Desolate Village’ plagiarized by Zhu Gaoxu to argue.
One wanted the Emperor’s Northern Expedition to go smoothly, and the other wanted the people in the disaster area to have food to eat. Neither of them wanted to give in, so they started to quarrel in public.
The four tycoons, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Song Li, Minister of Li, Jian Yi, Minister of Rites, Lu Zhen, Minister of Punishment, Wuzhong, could not hold back. Yang Shiqi, Huang Huai and others also tried to dissuade them many times, and they saw that these two big bosses were about to fight. .
In the final analysis, these two giants have valid reasons. The difficulty lies in financial constraints and they have to spend their money wisely.
Zhu Gaoxu, however, remained squatting on the small bench without saying a word. Instead of stepping forward to stop him, he watched with great interest and even wanted to eat some melon seeds.
He thought that as long as he did not say a word during the period of supervising the country and allowed these wise officials to handle political affairs, Zhu Di would definitely be furious when he learned about it, and he would be kicked to Yunnan to become a feudal lord.
However, at this moment, the auxiliary minister Yang Shiqi said quietly, ‘Your Highness the King of Han, the emperor has ordered you to supervise the country. Please make a decision!’
Zhu Gaoxu ‘？？？’
Oh my god!
Did you eat melon on your own head？
I didn’t say a word, so I wouldn’t be such a bully, right？
Zhu Gaoxu, with a bearded face, waved his hand indifferently.
‘Just watch and figure it out. I am thinking about my pursuit of life, so don’t disturb me.’
All the giants were dumbfounded. This plot was different from what they thought!
The King of Han cleverly seized the power of supervising the country. Shouldn’t he be able to guide the country with high spirits and take the opportunity to unite the party and eradicate dissidents？
What’s going on with you now, with a look of despair on your face, sitting on a small bench thinking about your life pursuits？
Yang Shiqi punched the air, feeling a little suffocated.
But naturally he would not let Zhu Gaoxu go just like that, and reminded him seriously, ‘His Royal Highness the King of Han, Your Majesty has ordered you to supervise the country. If you are so lazy and indifferent, then we will have no choice but to ask the emperor to make a decision.’
The implication is that if you continue to be the hands-off shopkeeper, then we will report it to the emperor and take away your power to supervise the country.
However, Zhu Gaoxu suddenly became excited after hearing this.
‘Yang Shiqi, are you serious about this？ You can’t keep your word. Let’s go to Jiming Temple now!’
A group of giants ‘？？？’
Crazy？
Is there really something wrong with this Prince Han’s brain？
Why do you think he was so excited after hearing this？
All the big guys lost their temper completely. After looking at each other, they began to doubt their lives.