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

Chapter 560 The most fundamental reason

"Although he committed suicide, the various traces he left in the capital are not so easy to erase," Zhu Houxuan said after pondering for a while.

Chen Hong and Jiang Jiangong did not speak, but waited quietly for Zhu Houxuan to give new instructions.
"Has every part of the city been completely controlled?" Zhu Houxun continued to ask.

"Everything is under control! There are old guards soldiers stationed in each minister's home to monitor," Jiang Jiangong replied quickly.

After Jiang Jiangong regained his freedom, relying on Jiang Jiangong's prestige in the Imperial Guards, Zhu Houxuan's control over the old Imperial Guards reached a new level.
"Please invite Yang Tinghe and Yang Ge Lao over. I want to talk to him." Zhu Houxuan said.

Yang Tinghe was invited over soon. At this time, Yang Tinghe was already 71 years old, with white hair and beard, but he was still in good health. He had been in the cabinet for more than 20 years.
"Mr. Yang, how are you?" Zhu Houxuan stood up and said, then motioned Yang Tinghe to sit down.

"Your Highness, Prince Wu, I hope you are well too!" Yang Tinghe looked at Zhu Houxuan with his cloudy eyes and said with emotion, then sat down.
"You're welcome, Mr. Yang. We have known each other for more than 20 years and have worked together for more than 10 years. It's better to talk about some things openly without beating around the bush," Zhu Houxuan said quietly while looking at Yang Tinghe.

"What does Your Highness want to ask?" Yang Tinghe also said.

"I would like to ask Mr. Yang what he thinks about recent events?" Zhu Houxuan said, staring at Yang Tinghe closely.

"The calamity within the family! I am also shocked and saddened by such a thing." Yang Tinghe shook his head in pain.
"I heard that you have always been against Prince Heng's coming to Beijing, especially the matter of the Queen Mother taking in the prince's son on behalf of the late emperor. Isn't this what you have always wanted to see? Why are you opposing it now?" Zhu Houxuan asked.

"Your Majesty is a great ruler and should not be treated like this, nor should it end like this. Your Highness has also made contributions to the country and should not be treated like this." Yang Tinghe said with a deep sigh.

"Although I oppose Prince Heng and others, it does not mean that I support Your Highness to ascend the throne. These are two different things," Yang Tinghe said with his neck stiff.

"I have discussed this matter with Your Highness before. Your Highness's bloodline is too distant, and according to etiquette, you cannot inherit the throne." Yang Tinghe said.

"The royal family is the model for all the families in the world. What the royal family does will have a huge impact. If Your Highness replaces the main branch with a distant branch, the world will be in chaos." Yang Tinghe said solemnly. This was one of the reasons why he had long opposed Zhu Houxuan.
The rules of etiquette were the main obstacle for Zhu Houxuan to ascend the throne.
The society of this era was a very conservative one. This thing was taken very seriously by the people because it had a more practical guiding significance among the people. To replace the main branch with a distant branch, in the eyes of the people, their property might be inherited by a distant relative through trickery, which was something they could not accept.
"I have worked with Your Highness for more than ten years. I have watched the Ming Dynasty grow stronger and stronger under Your Highness's governance. I know Your Highness has the talent to rule the world and the ambition to stabilize the country. However, Your Highness was born in the wrong era. If you were born in a time of national crisis like Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Zhaolie of the Han Dynasty, it would not be a bad idea to replace the main branch with a distant branch."

"Three years ago, if Your Highness could have used the power of Your Majesty's victory to win over the people, some people would still be willing to support Your Highness. But Your Highness did the opposite and launched a new reform, which caused complaints from all over the country and lost the people's hearts." Perhaps stimulated by the recent situation in the capital, Yang Tinghe's words today were particularly frank.
"The people have lost their support." Zhu Houxuan sneered, "Is this the reason why so many court officials are inclined to support Prince Heng and Jiang Bin?"

"I know that your highness's reforms are entirely out of public interest, but few of them can understand your highness. On the contrary, their interests have been damaged by your highness's reforms," ​​said Yang Tinghe.

After listening to this, Zhu Houxuan felt exhausted. He sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair. He had completely figured out all the problems.
"Thank you for clearing my doubts today." Zhu Houxuan said sincerely. Yang Tinghe waved his hand gently and said softly: "The Zhengde prosperous era was established in our hands. It is also the greatest achievement of my life. It should not end like this."

Zhu Houxuan nodded after listening and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Yang."

Then he said to a servant, "Send Mr. Yang back home."

After Yang Tinghe left, Zhu Houxuan sat there blankly for a long time, waiting until Chen Hong pushed the door open with worried eyes, "Your Highness, it's time to eat."

Zhu Houxuan said nothing, but just waved his hand gently.
"Your Highness, take care of yourself!" Chen Hong couldn't help but continue.

Zhu Houxuan still didn't speak, but this time he didn't drive Chen Hong away, but pointed to the chair next to him.
Chen Hong immediately understood that Zhu Houxuan wanted to talk to him and confide in him, so he sat down without any shyness.
"I didn't expect it! I didn't expect it! The culprit who harmed my brother like this was actually me." Zhu Houxuan said with a wry smile.

Chen Hong was shocked after hearing this, and immediately became anxious, saying: "Your Highness, why do you say that? It was clearly Jiang Bin who harmed His Majesty. It would be bad if your words were heard by someone with ulterior motives."

Zhu Houxuan sneered when he heard this and said, "Jiang Bin is just an appearance. My brother was actually harmed by my naivety and immaturity."

Chen Hong swallowed hard. He suddenly didn't know how to comfort Zhu Houxuan.
"I think Yongzheng was able to implement the same policy smoothly, so I can definitely implement it. This is where I am most naive and childish." Zhu Houxuan said with a wry smile.

Chen Hong keenly noticed the strange word "Yongzheng" in Zhu Houxuan's words, but he did not delve into it. As Zhu Houxuan's chief secretary, Chen Hong had often heard such strange words when talking with Zhu Houxuan, so he was no longer surprised.
"But I overlooked one point. Times have changed. During the time of Yongzheng, scholars were already afraid of being killed. Scholars with backbone had died in previous wars. The rest were a bunch of submissive slaves. It was precisely because of this that those policies could be effectively implemented. However, even so, Yongzheng suffered a certain backlash and bore a lot of infamy," Zhu Houxuan murmured.

"But now it's different. They've been doing well for more than a hundred years. They've grown wildly, expanded vigorously, and constantly encroached on various rights. They all look like they've never been bullied."

"It's been a long time since the knife has fallen on them."

“So they really dare to do anything!”

(End of this chapter)