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

Chapter 152 Guiding Light
The evening breeze after the beginning of spring is very warm. The green buds of the locust trees flutter in the breeze. The potted plants in the courtyard regain vitality. The lights in the central hall make the courtyard very warm and elegant.

Li Zhen had no time to appreciate the beautiful scenery of the courtyard at this time. His expression was a little solemn. He said to Chen Ce: "The East Palace has given me a task."

The Crown Prince asked you to send money to the northwest? To bypass the Ministry of War, right?

You are afraid of retaliation by the Ministry of War. After all, they dare not touch the Crown Prince, but it is easy to capture you, the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

Chen Ce nodded slightly without interrupting, and reached out to pour tea for Li Zhen.

Li Zhen thanked him, frowned, and said, "I dare not offend the Crown Prince."

"He asked me to bypass the Ministry of War and directly send a sum of money to reward the soldiers who made great contributions in the battle of Helan Mountain."

"Only the East Palace and I know about this. None of the six ministries in the court know about it. This should have been the Ministry of War's business, but I did it privately."

"What should I do if the Ministry of War finds out?"

Li Zhen smiled bitterly and said, "To be honest, I have been thinking about this for a long time, wondering whether I should send this silver on behalf of the Crown Prince."

Chen Ce motioned to Li Zhen to have some tea, but he was clearly not in the mood.

Chen Ce didn't hesitate and analyzed it to Li Zhen: "It's nothing more than a question of your pros and cons."

"You are afraid that if you send it to the Ministry of War, they will cause trouble for you. After all, your Jinyiwei's current strength cannot compete with the civil officials."

"If you do not agree to the Crown Prince's request, you will lose his trust. The Crown Prince is the future emperor. You do not want to be enemies with the Crown Prince. You must plan for your future."

Li Zhen nodded and said, "Brother Chen is smart. This is exactly what I am worried about."

Chen Ce asked Li Zhen in return: "Why don't we do a deduction? You are the Ministry of War, and I am you. I sent the silver to the northwest and returned."

"As the Minister of War, how can you ask me this?"

Li Zhen quickly got into the role, clasped his fists and said, "Brother Chen, I will start now."

"The military affairs of the country are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War. The rewards for the military merits in the Northwest will be decided by the Ministry of War. You, the Jinyiwei, are stepping in and taking over the affairs of the Ministry of War. What do you want to do?"

Chen Ce said calmly: "I was sent by the Crown Prince to the northwest to give rewards to the army."

Li Zhen continued to ask: "The Jinyiwei is the emperor's personal army. No one can mobilize it except the emperor. Where do you put the emperor with this action?"

Chen Ce said, "The Crown Prince is the foundation of the country and the future emperor. Your Excellency, do you mean that the Royal Guards can ignore the Crown Prince?"

Li Zhen hurriedly said, "Of course I don't mean that. The prince is still young and has not yet participated in political affairs. Many of his decisions may not be wise. Don't you, the Jinyiwei, know this?"

Chen Ce said calmly, "You said the prince's decision might not be wise? If I take out the blood letter of gratitude from the Northwest soldiers, how will you respond?"

"So many soldiers in the northwest are grateful to the prince. Is this an unwise decision?"

"Doesn't this further prove that the Crown Prince is sympathetic to the Northwest Army? Or is it that from your perspective, the Northwest Army should only be grateful to your Ministry of War, and not to the Crown Prince?"

Li Zhen was sweating profusely and said, "I don't mean that. The Northwest soldiers should be grateful to the prince..."

Chen Ce said, "That's why I was ordered by the Crown Prince to go to the northwest to give military silver to the soldiers. This amount of silver is not much, and it was all saved up by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince through hard work and frugality." "If such a small matter still needs the approval of the officials, isn't it too harsh on the Crown Prince?"

Chen Ce was silent for a while, and then said: "You must not make enemies with the Ministry of War. You don't need to be too radical in your words. Someone will speak for you."

"The prince has so many teachers here. When they hear that the prince has worked hard to save money and send it to the northwest, they will turn to you."

"From your subjective point of view, this is a battle you have to fight alone, but you may be able to reverse the situation through dialogue and get more people involved, so that you can stay out of it and let the civil servants fight each other."

"Also, during the conversation, you cannot just follow the military's lead. You must take control of the conversation and guide them to follow your way of thinking."

"Can you understand what I'm saying?"

"Going to the Northwest doesn't mean you're done just by paying the silver. You have to bring back a letter of gratitude. It's best if it's a concrete thank you from the Northwest soldiers. This way, you'll have something in your hands and you'll be more confident."

To be honest, after doing the identity exchange simulation just now, Li Zhen was sweating profusely and nervous because of Chen Ce's seemingly casual words.

At the beginning he was still able to guide the conversation, but later the initiative unknowingly shifted to Chen Ce's hands.

Li Zhen breathed a sigh of relief. He now finally understood how powerful the aura of this seemingly sickly young man was and how quick his mind was!
This was just a simulation. If he really faced the questions from the high-ranking officials in the court, coupled with his on-the-spot reaction, he would be able to render them speechless and make them fail miserably!
Li Zhen was extremely impressed with Chen Ce at this moment!
These seemingly insignificant conversations all contain some skills. If Chen Ce hadn't analyzed and pointed them out at the end, Li Zhen wouldn't have understood why the conversation ended up like this.

Because all of this was done intentionally by Chen Ce, every word he said was not aimless, and each one carried the art and purpose of dialogue.

There was one thing that Li Zhen had never thought of. In his inherent cognition, the mission was completed once the money was delivered to the Northwest, but Chen Ce took out a blood letter from the Northwest soldiers to thank the Crown Prince.

These things required him to take the initiative to do them, and he had never thought that this was possible.

After understanding Chen Ce's words, Li Zhen was stunned for a moment. After savoring them carefully, he was dumbfounded again. Finally, he could only sigh in admiration: "I'm convinced!"

Li Zhen stood up, clasped his fists, bowed deeply, and said to Chen Ce with gratitude: "Brother Chen, thank you so much!"

Chen Ce patted his hands and said, "Master Li, didn't you say that we are all brothers? Why do you still need to thank me?"

"I just helped my brother with this little thing. I didn't contribute any money or effort. What is there to thank him for?"

Li Zhen was silent for a long time, everything was implied, he was determined to be friends with Chen Ce, from the bottom of his heart.

If Li Zhen could only help Chen Ce with things within the scope of his authority before, now he can help Chen Ce with things that are beyond his scope!
The other party treats him as a real brother. If he doesn't open his heart to him, it would go against Li Zhen's principles of life.

"Okay! I'm grateful for your kindness. Anyway...Brother Chen, if you need anything in the future, just say a word."

"Brothers, we will go through fire and water without hesitation!"

Chen Ce smiled and said, "It's not that serious. Okay, go early and come back early. Have a safe journey."

Li Zhen nodded and said, "Okay!"

As if remembering something, Li Zhen said to Chen Ce, "By the way, while I'm away from Peking, you can use Wenli as you please. I've already told him about it, so feel free to contact him if you need anything."

Chen Ce said: "Okay!"

(End of this chapter)