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

Chapter 401: Grace from Above
In late August, consecutive days of heavy rain flooded the crops around an imperial farm on the outskirts of Peking, which happened to be part of the fiefdom of the Eastern Palace.

Early this morning, Chen Ce, the new Right Eunuch of the Eastern Palace, finally took office.

In the Sijing Bureau, after learning that Chen Ce was promoted to You Yude, Zhao Xima and Han Shuling were extremely envious. They thought that Chen Ce had only been in the Sijing Bureau for a few months, but he had suddenly been promoted to a fifth-rank official.

And they have been working in the Zhanshi Mansion for so many years, but their positions have not moved at all. It's really frustrating to compare yourself with others!

However, Zhao Zhongping and Han Douyin bowed and congratulated Chen Ce.

Chen Ce went from the Sijing Bureau to the Eastern Palace for duty. Today he was responsible for teaching Crown Prince Zhu Houzhao.

However, Chen Ce had nothing much to teach Zhu Houzhao, so he just went through the motions and took Zhu Houzhao to read a few meaningless books, and that was the end of the teaching for the day.

Yang Tinghe didn't know whether it was because of the rain or the heat, but he found Zhu Houzhao all wet.

Seeing Chen Ce was also in the school, he looked slightly unhappy, but still bowed to Zhu Houzhao and said, "Your Highness, the East Palace fiefdom outside Beiping has been hit by floods in the past few days, and almost all the food has been submerged. I just came back from an inspection there."

Zhu Houzhao said with a sound of "Oh" and said nonchalantly, "I know."

Yang Tinghe clasped his fists and said, "Your Highness should be benevolent. I beg Your Highness to allocate funds to help the crops affected by the disaster survive this winter."

Zhu Houzhao felt unhappy. He didn't have much money in the Eastern Palace, so why should he ask for more funds?

"Or, Mr. Yang, can you go ask the Ministry of Revenue?"

Yang Tinghe shook his head and said, "Your Highness, this is an internal matter of the Eastern Palace. Besides, the crops affected are not that many. The Eastern Palace only needs to allocate some food and money to be enough for them to survive this winter."

"I believe that if this matter were to be spread out and the court officials knew about it, they would definitely praise the prince for his benevolent and righteous behavior."

"Okay." Zhu Houzhao couldn't persuade Yang Tinghe, so he compromised helplessly. He had to find a way to get some money from his father to fill this hole, Zhu Houzhao thought secretly in his heart.

Yang Tinghe glanced at Chen Ce as if in protest, meaning that what he did in the Eastern Palace was truly for the Crown Prince's consideration. What about you?
What else can you teach the Crown Prince besides making trouble with him all day? The Emperor was really blind to promote you to the position of Right Instructor of the Eastern Palace.

Yang Tinghe continued to clasp his fists and said, "I am begging Your Highness to exempt this disaster-stricken area from the summer tax next year."

Zhu Houzhao was not tired of it. He didn't want to take care of these things at all. Just as he was about to agree, Chen Ce held Zhu Houzhao back.

Zhu Houzhao glanced at Chen Ce suspiciously. Chen Ce shook his head slightly and said to Yang Tinghe, "Lord Yang, the prince will consider this matter himself."

Yang Tinghe frowned and said unhappily: "Master Chen, you are too arrogant!"

"How dare you interrupt the prince?"

Chen Ce whispered to Zhu Houzhao: "Drive him away."

Yang Tinghe: “?”

Do you really think I can't hear what you are saying?
Zhu Houzhao said to Yang Tinghe: "Teacher Yang, I am tired. You should go back first. We can discuss this matter later."

Yang Tinghe: "Your Highness."

Zhu Houzhao covered his forehead and said, "I am really tired."

"Liu Daban, send Teacher Yang away."

Yang Tinghe glared at Chen Ce fiercely, "You treacherous minister, the prince will be ruined sooner or later!"
After Yang Tinghe left, Zhu Houzhao asked Chen Ce in confusion, "Little brother, what's wrong?"

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with what Yang Tinghe said just now, why don't you let me pay attention to him?"

Chen Ce smiled and said to Zhu Houzhao, "There is a problem, a big problem." "The favor comes from above. That fiefdom belongs to your East Palace. Did Yang Tinghe just come back from inspecting that fiefdom?"

Zhu Houzhao nodded.

Chen Ce continued, "Yang Tinghe is now begging you to exempt that fiefdom from taxes next year. If the people of that fiefdom want to express gratitude, will they thank you or Yang Tinghe?"

Zhu Houzhao was stunned for a moment.

Chen Ce said affirmatively: "They will thank Yang Tinghe, thinking that it was Yang Tinghe who won the grace of tax exemption for them, but what does this have to do with you, the Crown Prince?"

"When you ascend the throne in the future, you should also consider this perspective. Grace comes from above. The people and officials should only be grateful for your grace, not the grace of a certain official."

"If a minister's prestige among the people grows, he will threaten your rule."

It is obvious that Yang Tinghe's behavior was a bit incomprehensible. Of course, maybe he didn't have this intention, which only shows that he lacks political wisdom. But as a person in power, you must take all aspects into consideration to avoid your power being eroded by your ministers.

Zhu Houzhao widened his eyes. He really didn't expect that there were so many twists and turns here. Moreover, what the little brother said seemed to make sense. Zhu Houzhao learned something new.

He said seriously: "Little brother, I understand! No wonder you didn't let Yang Tinghe continue speaking just now."

"If he continues to talk, he will be a little ignorant. I am young and ignorant. If he were in front of the emperor, I am afraid that he would not even have the possibility of promotion in the future, right?"

Chen Ce said noncommittally: "Maybe."

Zhu Houzhao thought that Yang Tinghe's political wisdom was still far inferior to that of his younger brother!
Chen Ce smiled and said to Zhu Houzhao: "Okay, you can go there to inspect it when you have time, and then you can personally exempt the summer tax there next year."

Zhu Houzhao hurriedly said to Chen Ce: "How about we go to inspect today, little brother, you accompany me?"

Chen Ce said, "Okay."

……

It was still raining in Peking. The Eastern Palace guards, eunuchs, and Jinyiwei cleared the way for Zhu Houzhao. Chen Ce and Zhu Houzhao sat in the carriage, and the team soon arrived at the fiefdom.

The old farmers in the suburbs watched sadly as the crops that were about to be harvested were submerged by the flood. The money and food they had earned were gone just like that. I don’t know how heartbroken they must be.

Zhu Houzhao felt uncomfortable seeing the farmers in this state, so he immediately jumped off the carriage to comfort the people, and promised to exempt them from taxes next year and to allocate funds for them to get through this winter.

This heavy rain has lasted in Peking for almost half a month. Chen Ce knows that this torrential rain in the 14th year of Hongzhi will continue until the first day of September, which is the day after tomorrow.

He seemed to remember something and said to Zhu Houzhao, "Your Highness, aren't you able to command the heavens?"

Zhu Houzhao: "..."

Thinking back to when he pointed to the sky and asked God to make Chen Ce's condition get better quickly...

Back then, I was young and ignorant. Now, when I think back on it, I feel extremely ashamed. I blushed and asked Chen Ce, "Little brother, why are you still talking about that? What are you doing?"

"I was young and ignorant at the time, haha."

Chen Ce suddenly said, "Why don't you call the sky again and pray for the rain to stop soon."

Hey, little brother, don't go too far. It's enough to lose face once. Now that I'm grown up, I can't do such a shameful thing, especially in front of so many people!

(End of this chapter)