Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 691: Wen Tiren's Advice

"Sir, there is no need to be so polite. I just acted on my feelings and did what I should do." Zhu Shenzhui hurriedly helped Wen Tiren up and said with a smile.

"Your Highness, this is no small matter. Moreover, Your Highness has already planned to change the Liaodong strategy. If these two matters are dealt with together, it may be criticized and even cause turmoil in the court. I think that Your Highness should take it slowly and do one step first. After the previous matters are dealt with, it will not be too late to cancel the additional Liao salary." Wen Tiren advised softly.

"Well, sir, this is a wise remark, and I will naturally agree. Let's do the work first, and then take it step by step. There is no need to rush."

"Your Highness is wise!" Wen Tiren breathed a sigh of relief and said immediately.

"By the way, sir, you said there were three things just now, and now you have mentioned two. What is the other one?" After chatting for a few sentences, Zhu Shenzhui suddenly asked Wen Tiren.

Wen Tiren nodded, stood up and said seriously: "Your Highness, I do have one more thing, and it is related to Your Highness."

"Oh, what's the matter?" Zhu Shenzui asked curiously when he saw Wen Tiren so serious.

Wen Tiren said immediately: "Your Highness has been the regent for many days now, and has repelled the Jian Nu and gained a lot. It is indeed the first major victory for our Ming Dynasty in decades. Since Your Highness has been the regent, the government has been stable, the government orders have been smooth, and the people are safe. I really admire Your Highness's ability as a minister."

"Your Highness's achievements are not worthy of the title of Prince of Jiaocheng alone. I implore Your Highness to be promoted from Prince of a County to Prince of a Real Prince, so that you can have more power and authority and actually take charge of the government!"

Zhu Shenzhu was slightly stunned. He had never thought that Wen Tiren's third thing would be this. It had only been three months since he was promoted from a mere royal family member to the Prince of Jiaocheng. Moreover, he was temporarily in charge of the state with the title of Prince of Jiaocheng, and actually took charge of the government.

How long had it been since then? Wen Tiren actually advised him to take a step further, to directly advance from the rank of a county prince to the rank of a real prince, and to actually take charge of the government. This really surprised him.

You should know that this step is different from the previous one. Although Zhu Shencui is now the King of Jiaocheng and the Regent, the title of King of Jiaocheng is the title of his ancestors. It's just that there is no Zhu Shencui in the main clan, as he is a minor clan. When the country was abolished, only the name of the clan was left.

There is no legal problem in restoring the title now. It is natural for the prince of Jiaocheng to inherit the throne as a minor clan member. As for the title of regent, it is also to publicize to the outside world that Emperor Chongzhen is unable to govern due to health reasons, and the emperor and the empress dowager issued an order to appoint him, the prince of Jiaocheng, as regent.

But if we follow Wen Tihen's suggestion and directly upgrade the title of Prince of Jiaocheng to the title of Prince, and then actually take charge of the government, then it will be completely different.

Although there is only one step difference between a prince and a duke, the status of a prince is far higher than that of a duke. Moreover, a prince in the Ming Dynasty has different rights from those of a duke. Except for the emperor, empress dowager, queen and crown prince, the prince is the most honorable person in the world.

As for actually taking charge of government affairs, it is more than just the title of regent. Regent is the person who takes over government affairs when the emperor is unable to govern, but actually taking charge of government affairs is different, not to mention that it is the prince who actually takes charge, which is equivalent to becoming a regent.

The status of the regent is almost equal to that of the emperor, and he is not subject to the constraints of the emperor. He has the right to issue orders directly as a regent. It can be said that except for the lack of the title of emperor, he has all the real power of the emperor. This is something that the regent cannot compare to at all.

In history, the most famous regent was naturally Dorgon. After the death of Huang Taiji, Dorgon and Empress Dowager Zhezhe jointly pushed Shunzhi to the throne and served as regent. After the death of Empress Dowager Zhezhe, Dorgon went a step further and became regent from regent, which made the young Emperor Shunzhi and his biological mother, the later Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, miserable.

If it were not for the peculiar structure of the Eight Banners within the Qing Dynasty, and if it were not for the fact that various forces did not allow Dorgon to directly depose the emperor, and if Dorgon was a short-lived man who did not live long, the throne might have eventually belonged to Dorgon.

Now Wen Tihen suddenly proposed to promote Zhu Shenzhui to the title of prince and directly to the position of regent. His intention was very obvious, which was to place a heavy bet on Zhu Shenzhui and let Zhu Shenzhui eventually replace Emperor Chongzhen and become the ruler of the world.

Wen Tiren knew very well that he was not Zhu Shenzhu's trusted team. Although Zhu Shenzhu trusted and valued him now, it was because he was useful. But although he was a high-ranking official at the moment, what would happen in the future? Once Zhu Shenzhu had a candidate to replace Wen Tiren, he might kick him aside and replace him with someone else.

Wen Tiren is keen on power, how could he let himself end up losing it? If that's the case, it would be better for him to just die. Therefore, in order to completely gain Zhu Shenzhu's trust, in addition to doing the things Zhu Shenzhu gave him, the key point is to make contributions that no one else can do, and the contribution of supporting Zhu Shenzhu is the greatest contribution. If he can support Zhu Shenzhu to go a step further and directly become the regent prince, or even ascend the throne in the future, then his future position will be as stable as Mount Tai and will never fall again. Zhu Shenzhu's eyes stayed on Wen Tiren's face, and he quickly understood Wen Tiren's thoughts and couldn't help laughing.

"Sir, are you planning to roast me in a volcano?"

"I dare not. I have never had such an idea. All I think about is Your Highness. Moreover, Your Highness's merits are enough to promote you to the position of prince, so it is natural for you to be the regent." Wen Tiren said sincerely without changing his expression.

"I appreciate your kindness, sir, but now is not the time to do these things. Being promoted to prince and directly acting as regent, haha, is a bit too much. Let's discuss this matter later." Zhu Shenzhui directly rejected Wen Tiren's suggestion, but left a clue in his words. In his opinion, doing these things now is too ostentatious. Although it seems to have many advantages, there are also many disadvantages.

In Zhu Shenzhui's view, the titles of prince, regent, etc., are just empty titles as long as they control the court. It would be a waste of time and effort to disturb the situation that has just been stabilized for the sake of such empty titles.

Hearing what Zhu Shenzhu said, Wen Tiren nodded immediately. He was not disappointed at this time. He originally proposed this matter to test Zhu Shenzhu. It would be good if Zhu Shenzhu agreed. If he did not agree, it would not matter. It would let Zhu Shenzhu know his determination and loyalty. Moreover, Zhu Shenzhu did not completely reject it. Didn't he still have a "discuss later"? This was enough to make Wen Tiren feel relieved and even a little proud.

After Wen Tihen said goodbye, Zhu Shenzhui continued to read the memorials. After reviewing a few, he stood up and stretched his body in the hall as he felt a little uncomfortable sitting.

After resting for a while, he thought about it and called someone to pass on the message. Half an hour later, a man entered the palace and went directly to Wenhua Hall.

This person was none other than Kang Youfu, the general manager of Hengtong.

Ever since the Hengtong incident was exposed, Kang Youfu has been hiding secretly and has never appeared in front of the world again. Instead, he has been secretly controlling the operation of Hengtong according to Zhu Shenzhu's instructions.

After Zhu Shenzhui suddenly launched an uprising, broke through the capital in one fell swoop, and was promoted to Prince of Jiaocheng to regent, Kang Youfu showed up, mobilized all the forces in his hands, and vigorously expanded Hengtong. In just two months, the scale of Hengtong was greatly expanded, and it directly became the number one merchant in the north.

Hengtong at this time is no longer the Hengtong of the past. Who doesn't know that Zhu Shenzhui is behind Hengtong? Hengtong is no longer an ordinary wealthy merchant, but an official merchant with a royal family background.

A week ago, Zhu Shencui summoned Kang Youfu to Beijing. After Kang Youfu arrived in Beijing, Zhu Shencui naturally would not treat him unfairly. He specially gave him an official position of Yuwenlang of the Ministry of Revenue. In addition, he also gave him the position of You Canjun of the Ministry of Public Security.

These two official ranks are not very high, among which the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Revenue is the fifth rank, and the Right Counselor of the Ministry of Public Administration is the fifth rank. There are many officials of this rank in the capital, and they are nothing at all. The reason why Kang Youfu was given these two official positions is not to let Kang Youfu really become an official. Although Kang Youfu has good ability and has been with Zhu Shenzhu for many years and is also a confidant, his real ability is in business, not being an official. If he is really allowed to become a real official, it is not a good thing, and it may even bring trouble to Kang Youfu.

Ming officials were all from the imperial examination system, at least they were Juren, and even nobles who wanted to be civil officials were basically honorary titles rather than real positions. This was the convention in the Ming officialdom. Even if Zhu Shenzhui was now the regent, it was impossible to break this convention. Once Kang Youfu was made the real official, officials in the court might not target Zhu Shenzhui, but it would be easy to torment Kang Youfu. How could Zhu Shenzhui let Kang Youfu suffer such grievances?
Therefore, the official position given to Kang Youfu was actually an honorary title rather than a real position. To put it bluntly, it was just an official position. He did not have to go to the yamen to sit in the office, let alone do actual work. The officials could naturally accept this arrangement. It was also human nature for the regent to give Kang Youfu this official position. As long as it did not threaten their status and break the rules of officialdom, only a fool would oppose it.

Wearing official uniform, Kang Youfu entered the palace. Although it was his second time entering the palace, he still felt his body trembling slightly and was extremely excited.

Kang Youfu was born in an ordinary merchant family. He started as a clerk in a small tofu workshop. He was valued by Zhu Shenzhui and became a real businessman. Over the years, Kang Youfu worked diligently to manage Zhu Shenzhui's business. He gradually built Hengtong from a small business to a large business in Shanxi. Now that Zhu Shenzhui suddenly became the regent and took control of the Ming Dynasty, Kang Youfu also rose to prominence. Not only did he rapidly expand Hengtong's business, but he also rose from a businessman to a formal official of the court.

All of this was given by Zhu Shenzhui. Such changes until today seem like a dream. Taking steps and looking up at the towering palaces around him, Kang Youfu never thought that there would be such a day when he could enter the palace with his current identity.

When they arrived at the Wenhua Hall, Kang Youfu waited outside the hall for a while until someone came out to lead him in. Kang Youfu quickly tidied his appearance and followed the person into the hall.

After entering the hall and walking forward, he soon saw Zhu Shencui who was sitting there. Seeing Zhu Shencui, Kang Youfu knelt down in front of Zhu Shencui with a thud, kowtowed without saying a word, and shouted, "I pay my respects to the Regent, may you live your thousand years!"

(End of this chapter)