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

Chapter 562 Watching the Flowers Bloom and Fall in the Courtyard
Li Dongyang doesn’t know what’s happening outside yet, and his focus has been on Chen Ce during this period.

He wanted to prove to Zhu Houzhao that a large number of merchants from the Ming Dynasty went to Annan because of Chen Ce's orders.

He has been busy collecting evidence recently. Now that he has finally collected the evidence and is about to go find Zhu Houzhao, he is stopped by Fei Hong.

Li Dongyang asked Fei Hong in confusion: "What's wrong?"

Fei Hong was silent for a moment, then said to Li Dongyang: "The land of Annan should be returned soon."

Ok?
Li Dongyang didn't react for a moment, and asked in confusion: "What's going on?"

Fei Hong said: "Do you remember that Chen Ce transferred so many merchants to Annan some time ago?"

This was exactly why Li Dongyang wanted to impeach Chen Ce. He nodded and said, "I understand."

Fei Hong continued, "This is all Chen Ce's plan, targeting Annan. Now Chen Ce has closed the net."

He told Li Dongyang the whole process. When Li Dongyang heard that the economy of Annan was in turmoil due to the interest rate cut by the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of Revenue, and Annan had to send envoys to the Ming Dynasty to beg for mercy, Li Dongyang was completely stunned.

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly. As the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, Li Dongyang was not shocked by how ingenious Chen Ce's plan was, but was shocked by the ingenuity of Chen Ce's layout for the entire Ming Dynasty!
I'm afraid Chen Ce had already considered all of this when he started planning his business, money houses, new currency, overseas trade, and the Ming Dynasty's new currency settlement system.

He wanted to use the economy to completely make Ming the dominant power, so now if the internal economy of Ming was slightly turbulent, Annan would not be able to bear it.

Previously, Chen Ce sent so many merchants to Annan, but in fact, it was all a sleight of hand. It seemed that the Ming Dynasty suffered losses in the early stage. It was not until now that the truth was revealed that we could understand that everything Chen Ce had done before was to make Annan voluntarily return the disputed territory!
Li Dongyang couldn't help but gasp. Fortunately, he didn't go to Zhu Houzhao to say anything, otherwise he would have been unable to save face.

"I see."

Li Dongyang smiled awkwardly, then said: "Marquis Tai'an is truly admirable."

Fei Hong nodded in agreement, and then asked, "Master Li, what are you planning to do?"

Li Dongyang smiled and said, "Oh, nothing happened. I was planning to discuss the territorial dispute with the crown prince, but now I don't have to go, haha."

Fei Hong hummed and said, "I think the Annan envoy will arrive in Ming Dynasty in the next few days. The elder should arrange for someone to talk to them as soon as possible."

"Okay!" Li Dongyang nodded.

……

In the past few days, two groups of envoys from Annan arrived in the capital of the Ming Dynasty respectively. They were very anxious. Li Yi had already told the envoys that they must agree to any conditions offered by the Ming Dynasty.

There was no way he could refuse to agree, otherwise the country would be in danger of being destroyed. He had just rebelled and became the king of Annan not long ago, so how could he be willing to step down like this? Moreover, if he stepped down, the consequence would be certain death. Many people in the court who supported his brother Li Jing had long been skeptical about Li Jing's death.

If he were to step down, the other party would definitely use this incident to make a fuss. At that time, would he, the King of Annan, still have any hope of survival?
That is why he told the envoys from Annan that Annan must agree to any conditions offered by the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, Li Yi knew very well that the conditions offered by the Ming Dynasty were very simple. The Ming Dynasty must take back the land south of Langqiongzhao.

All the things that the Ming Dynasty did were just to take back that piece of land, but the Ming Dynasty did not use war.

Zhu Jiewei also thought about how to help Li Yi resolve this crisis, but after thinking about it, she came to no avail. Chen Ce's game was unsolvable, and no matter how smart she was, she could do nothing about it.

She also wanted to control the entire Annan through Li Yi, so she could not bear to see Li Yi step down. She had no choice but to agree to return the disputed land to the Ming Dynasty.

She had originally planned to use this land to take revenge on the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Hongzhi and Chen Ce! She had even prepared the Mongols in the north to fight. As long as the Ming Dynasty dared to take action in the south, the Mongols would start a war in the north and drag the Ming Dynasty into the quagmire of war.

But the idea was good, and all the schemes were easily cracked by Chen Ce. Although she was unwilling, she had no choice.

When the Annan envoys arrived at the Ming Dynasty, as Annan had expected, the Ming Dynasty did not put forward any excessive conditions. It only asked Annan to return the disputed land in the south to the Ming Dynasty, and the two parties signed a contract, stipulating that the land would be completely incorporated into the territory of the Ming Dynasty after the 17th year of Hongzhi, and the other party was not allowed to have any evil intentions.

The Annan envoys argued with reason, of course, this was just a show so as not to let them give away the land too easily, but the final result would not change. Annan finally compromised and signed an agreement with the Ming Dynasty, completely ceding the disputed territory of Annan to the Ming Dynasty.

This caused great turmoil within Annan, and people across the country accused the Annan King Le Yi of being cowardly and giving away his country's territory to the Ming Dynasty for nothing.

Li Yi had no words to complain about. He shouldn't have listened to Zhu Jiewei in the first place. Why did she have to make trouble? He had said long ago that the Ming Dynasty was not so easy to provoke. But it was too late to regret now. For a long time, Li Yi had to deal with domestic conflicts.

All the promises that Chen Ce made when he sat down have now been fulfilled. Li Dongyang feels it is necessary to go talk to Chen Ce.

During this period, Chen Ce was so weak that it was difficult for him to walk independently. Madam Wu made a wheelchair for Chen Ce herself and stayed by his side every day.

Xiaohua has been very sad and hopes that Chen Ce can get better soon. She cried and told Chen Ce that she wanted to marry him when she grew up and asked her brother Chen to get better soon.

Chen Ce smiled and rubbed her head, comforting her, "Yes, you will get better soon. You practice martial arts well. When you have mastered martial arts skills, I will be able to get better. At that time, I will personally forge a peerless sword for you."

Xiaohua nodded heavily: "I will definitely practice martial arts well."

On the bank of the Yongding River, green willows were swaying in the wind, and ripples occasionally appeared on the water on the shore. The Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty Cabinet personally pushed Chen Ce's wheelchair and strolled along the bank of the Yongding River.

"Chun Jian, I once suspected that your decision on Annan was wrong."

"I am ashamed."

Chen Ce shook his head slightly: "The elder is the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty. It is understandable that he considers the Ming Dynasty."

After thinking for a while, Chen Ce said to Li Dongyang earnestly, "How old is the elder this year?"

Li Dongyang said: "Fifty-nine."

"Fifty-nine... that's about to go down, hehe."

According to the unwritten rules of the Ming Dynasty, the three ministers of the cabinet usually do not retire around the age of 60. Although this is the official age limit, the top leaders of the six ministries of the cabinet are generally not subject to age restrictions. However, Li Dongyang was a little suspicious, wondering whether Chen Ce's words were just a casual remark or had some deeper meaning.

(End of this chapter)