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

Chapter 134 Chen Ce is angry with the emperor

Emperor Hongzhi summoned Yang Tinghe and Jin Gui separately, and he found that the idea of ​​the newspaper was not from these two young officials of the Eastern Palace.

Zhu Houzhao said it was his own wisdom, but Emperor Hongzhi did not believe it. He always felt that there were deep-seated reasons behind the opening of this newspaper.

Emperor Hongzhi summoned Mou Bin and asked the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate who had cooperated with Zhu Houzhao in setting up the Shuntian Press.

Mou Bin quickly gave the news. It was not difficult to find Chen Ce, but when he told Emperor Hongzhi this name, Emperor Hongzhi always felt as if he had heard it somewhere.

It was not until Mou Bin informed Emperor Hongzhi of the other party's address that Emperor Hongzhi was surprised and asked, "It's him?"

After a moment of silence, Emperor Hongzhi narrowed his eyes and said to Mou Bin: "Check whether he knows the identity of the prince."

"Check it carefully."

Mou Bin clasped his fists and said, "I obey your orders."

After Mou Bin left, Emperor Hongzhi found the original piece of paper at the bottom of the desk: It was a ghost.

If this guy knew Hou Zhao's identity...what would he want to do? What was his plan?
Why did you open this newspaper with Houzhao?
While Emperor Hongzhi was thinking deeply, Mou Bin came back and said, "Your Majesty, he doesn't seem to know the identity of the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince has been using his identity as the Imperial Guards' Assistant to the Emperor to get along with him."

Emperor Hongzhi tapped the table slowly and said without comment, "Is that so?"

Can my silly son outplay others?
How could such a smart person not see the identity of the Crown Prince?

Emperor Hongzhi was skeptical, thought for a moment and said, "I will leave the palace again tomorrow."

"You arrange it, just like last time."

"According to the order!"

……

The next morning, Chen Ce got up early as usual. There was a knock on the courtyard door early in the morning. Chen Ce opened the door curiously and saw a familiar yet unfamiliar face.

He remembered the other person. After Lin Mianzhi's death, he was fishing in Tongji Canal and it was this adult who came to see him.

According to Chen Ce's judgment at the time, the other party should be a senior official of the Ministry of Justice.

Chen Ce invited Emperor Hongzhi to come in and take a seat, then he bowed and said, "Your Excellency, I don't think I have committed any crime, have I?"

Emperor Hongzhi hummed and said, "No crime has been committed. I am here to learn about the situation of the newspaper you run."

As expected, the newspaper industry was still targeted by the higher-ups, but fortunately Chen Ce had taken precautions.

Chen Ce poured tea for Emperor Hongzhi and said in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "Drink tea, my lord. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I will answer them all I know."

Emperor Hongzhi said directly: "You are very courageous, have you ever thought that you will be punished because of the newspaper?"

Chen Ce pretended not to understand and asked, "Why do you say that, sir?"

Emperor Hongzhi sneered, "Your newspaper has caused such a big disturbance. You ask me why I said this? If scholars use your newspaper to spread criticism of the government, have you thought about the consequences?"

Chen Ce hurriedly said, "Your Excellency, this is too serious. Every newspaper has a professional review of what to publish and what to publish. I have also requested that no one is allowed to discuss the content related to the government."

Emperor Hongzhi nodded and said, "It's good that you know the limits."

But he still said with a straight face: "Why do you want to run such a business?"

Chen Ce responded fluently: "Your Excellency, all the businesses in the country have been run. I don't have any advantages. If I rashly enter someone else's field, not only will I not make any money, I may even suffer losses."

“I can only innovate and find inspiration from pawning books.”

Emperor Hongzhi was dissatisfied and said coldly, "Is that so?"

Chen Ce shook his head and said, "Of course, the essence is to make some money. You also know that my financial situation is not good."

"Just to make money?" Emperor Hongzhi pressed on.

Chen Ce: “Ah?”

"What else could it be for?" Seeing Chen Ce's confused and bewildered look, Emperor Hongzhi felt a little relieved.

As long as there is no ulterior motive.

"You run it yourself?"

Chen Ce shook his head and said, "There is another collaborator... It's not appropriate to talk about it."

Emperor Hongzhi sneered, "A member of the Imperial Guard?"

After saying this, he stared at Chen Ce's reaction.

Chen Ce was sure that the senior official in the Ministry of Justice should know that the prince was involved.

He was testing whether he knew the identity of the prince.

Chen Ce responded quickly, staring at him in astonishment without saying a word.

This reaction is just right and can convey a lot of information.

I believe that without Chen Ce saying anything, the other party will be able to guess the meaning of his expression.

Emperor Hongzhi was not sure what he was thinking, holding the teacup with a suspicious expression.

Does he really not know Hou Zhao’s identity?

This is not necessarily impossible. No matter how smart a commoner is, can he think that the current prince can leave the palace at will?

With Hou Zhao's naughty personality, she didn't have the virtues of a prince at all. It was normal that the other party didn't know about it. After all, there were all kinds of rumors about the prince and the emperor among the people. Emperor Hongzhi just couldn't believe that a commoner living in Huaihua Hutong could think that the person he was in contact with was the current crown prince.

"Sir, I would like to ask, is it because the higher-ups forbid the opening of a newspaper?"

Emperor Hongzhi said: "This is not something you should ask. Whether the higher-ups will allow it to be opened depends on their own considerations."

Chen Ce said helplessly: "If you are not allowed to open, I will just close it as soon as possible, otherwise the subsequent backlog of news releases will cause losses and it will not be worth it."

"That's not necessary." Emperor Hongzhi said casually. After thinking for a while, he added, "It depends on the situation. The higher-ups haven't decided yet. I'm just here to understand the situation."

"It's good that you know your limits. If you push too far, that may not be the case."

Emperor Hongzhi was trying to give Chen Ce a heads-up. With this kid's intelligence, he should understand what he meant.

You can have it, but you have to be tactful and not touch on sensitive topics such as government affairs.

Chen Ce bowed and said, "Thank you for your advice, sir."

It seems that Zhu Houzhao had already boasted in front of the emperor, and Chen Ce had taken Emperor Hongzhi into account.

If Emperor Hongzhi knew about the newspaper business opened by Zhu Houzhao, he would quickly realize how much benefit the newspaper would bring to Zhu Houzhao in the future.

So he would definitely support Zhu Houzhao in opening this newspaper.

Perhaps Emperor Hongzhi could compromise with the civil officials on other matters, but when it comes to his own son and the foundation of the country, Emperor Hongzhi will not compromise!

Civil officials might try to stop the newspaper from opening, but with the endorsement of Emperor Hongzhi, the future of the newspaper would be truly secure.

"Does your Excellency have anything else to say?" Chen Ce asked respectfully.

Emperor Hongzhi shook his head and said, "No more."

Chen Ce said: "Then I will see you off, sir?"

Are you trying to drive me away? Emperor Hongzhi looked at him in astonishment. No one has ever dared to treat me like this. You have the guts!
"Would you like to stay a little longer, sir? Shall I get you some cakes?"

Emperor Hongzhi said angrily, "No need! I have government affairs to attend to and I don't have time!"

(End of this chapter)