I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 266 Losing and winning

Yang Shen carefully helped his father Yang Tinghe down from the sedan chair, supported Yang Tinghe and walked carefully into the house to sit down, then called a maid to massage his father's legs, and he went to pour some warm water and brought it to his father.

Yang Shen was the eldest son of Yang Tinghe and a famous talent. In the sixth year of Zhengde, when he was 24 years old, he ranked first in the palace examination and was awarded the title of editor in the Hanlin Academy.

The editor of the Hanlin Academy was a sixth-rank official. His main responsibilities were to compile the Veritable Records, record the emperor's words and deeds, lecture on classics and history, and draft documents related to ceremonies.

So Yang Shen also attended today's morning court and was able to see Zhu Houzhao's anger up close.

Yang Tinghe took the warm water and drank it all, then he let out a long sigh and said, "I'm old! I'm really old! I've only been standing for more than an hour and I'm already feeling so uncomfortable."

The two maids skillfully took off Yang Tinghe's official boots and massaged his feet and legs. Yang Tinghe leaned comfortably on the back of the chair and closed his eyes.

"Your Majesty is so mean. My father clearly supports stabilizing the price of salt, but Your Majesty still made my father stand there for an hour." Yang Shen complained.

"Your Majesty was extremely angry at the time and could not care less. Besides, I am the Prime Minister of the Cabinet. All the officials have stood, so how can I not stand?" Yang Tinghe said with narrowed eyes.

"I didn't expect His Majesty to be so angry today," Yang Shen also sat down and said in a low voice.

Yang Tinghe opened his eyes slightly, glanced at Yang Shen, and said nothing, but continued to enjoy the massage from the two maids.

Yang Shen also tacitly did not say anything.

After a while, Yang Tinghe waved his hand to let the two maids leave, and then he said: "Today Shen Hao suddenly roared in front of the emperor in Fengtian Palace. His purpose was actually to fight to the death and alienate the relationship between Your Majesty and King Jing. The method he used was correct, but he overlooked one point."

"Which point?" Yang Shen asked hurriedly.

"This trick of his may work on other emperors of this dynasty, but it will be of little use to the current emperor."

“If other emperors encountered such a thing, they would more or less feel resentful in their hearts. After all, having such a capable younger brother by their side would really have an impact on the throne,” Yang Tinghe said slowly.

"But the emperor of this dynasty is different. He has no children. He has been on the throne for more than ten years, but no one in the harem has conceived."

"Even if Your Majesty has a child, or even if there is news that a concubine is pregnant, Your Majesty's mentality will change greatly. Parents always have to think about their children. This is human nature."

"If Your Majesty has a son, then you can no longer tolerate having a capable brother by your side. The more capable this brother is, the greater the threat he poses to the throne, and the more he will be suspected."

Yang Shen nodded thoughtfully, "I didn't expect that Shen Hao would overlook this point, leading to a complete loss. No wonder His Majesty was so angry. He bluntly said in front of the emperor that His Majesty had no heir, which directly touched His Majesty's weak spot. And His Majesty didn't care about what he said about the King of Jing eyeing the artifact. His Majesty and the King of Jing have such a good relationship."

"But Shen Hao is just a pawn of the salt merchants, and he deserves it." Yang Shen shook his head and continued. Yang Tinghe's face was solemn, and suddenly he said: "The vassal king will succeed to the throne, and the small clan will replace the big clan."

Yang Shen was stunned by what he said, and asked in astonishment: "Why did father suddenly talk about this?"

"Shen Hao didn't lose everything, he still won." Yang Tinghe sighed.

"Won? Won what?" Yang Shen was even more surprised.

Yang Tinghe looked at Yang Shen with dissatisfaction and said, "You are an official in the court, a member of the officialdom. Don't spend all your time on poetry and songs. Spend more time on the interpersonal relationships in the officialdom."

Yang Shen smiled awkwardly, "Please help me, father."

"You think Shen Hao chose to do this during the court meeting just to let His Majesty hear it. In fact, he was also speaking to us and all the officials." Yang Tinghe said.

Yang Shen showed a thoughtful expression, "Your Majesty has no heir, so you don't care who will inherit the throne in the future, but we, as ministers, must care."

Yang Tinghe smiled and nodded, "Yes, we should not only care about it, but also argue for it, and not disrupt the moral principles."

"The King of Jing entered the capital as a vassal king. This had precedents, but we didn't take it seriously. Later, the King of Jing managed the royal industry, but he didn't command the army or govern the people. We also acquiesced to this. This was originally something that everyone knew, and the King of Jing acted quite low-key, so everyone was living in peace. But now Shen Hao has made it clear."

"Prince Jing was good at business before, but his reputation was not prominent. Although he used the name of Your Majesty everywhere in this salt matter, the court thought that Prince Jing had revealed his edge this time and could not be ignored. They began to re-examine Prince Jing. Today, Your Majesty was angered by Shen Hao and showed protection for Prince Jing, which made me alert. Not only I was alert, but also the people in the court. We began to think about the worst possibility."

"With the support of Your Majesty, the Prince of Jing succeeded to the throne as a vassal king and replaced the eldest clan with a smaller clan," Yang Tinghe said word by word.

"The branch of Prince Jing was established by the sixth son of Emperor Renzong, so he is originally a concubine's branch. In terms of the closeness of relationship, he is five generations away from Your Majesty. Using concubines to replace legitimate relatives, and distant relatives to replace close relatives. If Prince Jing inherits the throne, the moral order will be disrupted. We will never see this happen," said Yang Tinghe, sitting up straight.

"So Shen Hao did win a trick. He did this to alert the court officials in advance. If the King of Jing cannot inherit the throne because of this, the King of Jing will have a hard time after the new emperor ascends the throne," Yang Shen sighed.

"It's hard to say. Prince Jing is only five years younger than Your Majesty. I heard that he often stays up late and works hard to run the Royal Group. I'm afraid..." Yang Tinghe continued.

The father and son fell silent.
After a long while, Yang Shen broke the silence, "Father, why do you think the relationship between His Majesty and the King of Jing is so good? They have only known each other for six years, and now they are closer than brothers."

"I didn't understand why at first, but now I gradually understand it. Your Majesty grew up under my watch, and I know him very well. He is an enterprising person who is determined to achieve something," Yang Tinghe said slowly.

"Your Majesty wants to make progress and achieve something, but he cannot do it alone. He needs helpers and assistance. For this, he looks for one person after another. He doesn't see hope in Liu Jin, Jiang Bin, or me."

"But he saw hope in King Jing." Yang Tinghe sighed deeply.
(End of this chapter)