Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 102 Hongzhi Teaches His Son
Emperor Hongzhi took Zhu Houzhao and brought him to a side hall and sat him on a couch.

The young eunuch immediately came over with a cup of tea and a pot of goat milk.

Zhu Houzhao glanced at him. Who are you looking down on? Serve me tea!
"Hou Zhao, you have grown up. I no longer treat you as a child. I will tell you the ins and outs of this. It will be helpful for you to ascend the throne in the future."

Zhu Houzhao hummed and took a sip of the tea. Emperor Hongzhi also intended to serve tea, but found that he was serving goat's milk.

It’s Tiangang, this bad boy!
He didn't care and said earnestly, "A few days ago, two reports were submitted from Shanxi and Sichuan. People from two villages died inexplicably."

Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a moment.

Why, why is it that father’s focus is the same as my little brother’s?
Emperor Hongzhi did not notice Zhu Houzhao's abnormality. He said, "Weinan Village in Shanxi is the hometown of the eunuch who guards Hami. Someone is trying to silence us."

"The Imperial Guards couldn't find out who did it. The officials said it was a plague, and the bodies had already been burned."

At this point, a fierce look flashed across Emperor Hongzhi's face, followed by a deep feeling of powerlessness.

"Similarly, we didn't find anything useful in Sichuan."

Zhu Houzhao suddenly shouted, "Are they using this to frame General Wang?"

Emperor Hongzhi remained silent.

"If Wang Yue doesn't make a big deal about this matter and talks to me in private, I can naturally give the Northwestern soldiers some other places to make up for their unfair military merits."

"Don't offend either side and maintain a balance between the two sides, just like the theory of the weight you mentioned."

"But Wang Yue has made a big fuss about this. I know he is forcing me to give justice to the soldiers in the northwest, but the civil officials are also forcing me to let Wang Yue withdraw."

He smiled bitterly and said, "Look, the clan society's legacy has been left to us for thousands of years. It's so difficult to protect it!"

"It's not easy to be an emperor."

Emperor Hongzhi was very tired, having to deal with both civil and military officials.

Now he couldn't help but sigh at how powerful his father was. He cultivated the Western Factory, cultivated Wang Zhi, established the treacherous party, and let them compete with the clean civil officials.

It's just like the weight theory that Zhu Houzhao mentioned, but when Emperor Hongzhi was young, Emperor Chenghua did not teach him the ways of the emperor, so he didn't understand them. By the time he understood them, the national situation had already been determined, and it was already extremely difficult to do such a thing.

"Do you think a clean official is a good official?"

Emperor Hongzhi felt it necessary to let Zhu Houzhao open his eyes and see the world.

Zhu Houzhao shook his head and said, "Not necessarily."

Karma?
How come this is different from what I thought? He thought Zhu Houzhao would say yes.

Emperor Hongzhi did not give up and continued to ask: "Is the treacherous minister a bad official?"

Zhu Houzhao still shook his head: "Not necessarily. I think this world is not black and white, it should be chaotic."

Emperor Hongzhi's hand holding the goat milk trembled slightly, and he looked at Zhu Houzhao blankly.

No, how can I continue talking like this?
He took a sip of goat milk awkwardly and nodded, "Not bad, not bad. Yang Tinghe taught you well."

Fuck this forced weird shit.

Zhu Houzhao complained in his heart.

Emperor Hongzhi said: "You understand very well, haha."

"So Qingliu can do things without moral bottom line, and they still think they are standing on the side of justice."

"Evil ministers may not be useless. In short, they all serve the imperial power. The world belongs to my Zhu family, and everyone is our enemy. That's why others say that the emperor is a lonely man."

That may not be the case, right? My little brother is not my enemy, Zhu Houzhao thought silently.

"Okay, let's get back to the case of Wang Yue." "The essence of this case has changed. It is not about the military merits of the Northwest soldiers. The conflict between the civil officials and Wang Yue has reached an irreconcilable point."

"They are afraid that Wang Yue will gain power in the northwest."

"I am afraid too."

Zhu Houzhao asked in confusion: "Father, are you also afraid that Wang Yue will rise in power in the northwest?"

Emperor Hongzhi shook his head and said, "I'm not afraid of that. Wang Yue is powerless and he can't fight against so many civil officials alone."

"I am afraid that the power of the civil servants will grow too great, too great for my father to suppress, too great for you to balance when you ascend the throne."

Zhu Houzhao said as a matter of course: "Yes, then Wang Yue should be found not guilty."

Emperor Hongzhi smiled and said, "How do we balance the civil officials? You haven't gotten round this yet. This is not a matter of judging the case."

"Nothing must happen to Wang Yue, otherwise I would not have allowed him to join the Imperial Guard. This is my way of protecting him."

"But in the same way, Wang Yue can't win. If he wins, the Censorate will kill a group of people, and the Ministry of War will kill a group of people."

Zhu Houzhao said excitedly: "Then kill him and make his head roll!"

Emperor Hongzhi rolled his eyes at him and said, "I built a Wansui Mountain, but the Ministry of Revenue refused with all kinds of excuses. I submitted a memorial, but the cabinet rejected it."

"When that time comes, my power will be unbalanced."

Emperor Hongzhi sighed. From the moment he became emperor, he had not figured out how to be an emperor. That was why he was in such a difficult situation and why the civil service group was getting bigger and bigger.

"You also saw the confrontation between Sanfashi and Wang Yue just now. Both sides have their reasons, right?"

Zhu Houzhao nodded.

Emperor Hongzhi smiled and said, "Let me tell you now, some people are being used as pawns without even knowing it."

"The people above them want this situation. They just want Wang Yue to be trapped in the capital. It doesn't necessarily mean that Wang Yue must die to be a satisfactory outcome for them."

Zhu Houzhao’s eyes widened. How could this be possible?

Their goal is not to kill Wang Yue? No wonder the evidence seems inadequate. It turns out that they just want to trap Wang Yue in the capital and prevent him from going to the northwest?
Zhu Houzhao suddenly found that his brain was not enough. How could his father be so powerful? He was even more powerful than his younger brother!

Emperor Hongzhi chuckled and said, "Do you really think your father is incompetent? You little brat, now you know how powerful your father is, right?"

Zhu Houzhao: "..."

"Then, Father, what should you do?"

Emperor Hongzhi said: "Delay, delay until there is an opportunity."

"But in short, Wang Yue cannot be right in this matter, and the civil servants cannot be wrong."

"Wang Yue will go back the same way he came here."

"As for the issue of military merit this time, we will not deal with it. Let's wait until next time. Next time, I will make it up to Wang Yue. Only in this way can this matter be completely settled."

Looking at the departing figure of his beloved son, Emperor Hongzhi sighed softly.

It is easy to say that he could delay an opportunity, but Emperor Hongzhi never figured out when this opportunity would come and what kind of opportunity it would be.

……

Zhu Houzhao left the Qianqing Palace with his hands behind his back, muttering, "Father wants an opportunity, what opportunity does he want?"

He couldn't figure it out, but...his younger brother, who was as smart as him, might be able to figure it out!
Well, after today's class is over, I'm going to ask for advice, no, test my little brother and see if he can come up with anything.

(End of this chapter)