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

Chapter 563 Persuading Li Dongyang
Of course, Chen Ce was not saying this casually. He wanted to tell Li Dongyang that it was time to retire when his term of office was up. It was better for him to voluntarily withdraw from the cabinet now than to be dismissed by Emperor Hongzhi in the future.

Li Dongyang would not be as impulsive as Liu Jian, which was why Emperor Hongzhi could not find an excuse to depose Li Dongyang.

But Emperor Hongzhi obviously did not want Li Dongyang to assist Zhu Houzhao. His preferred candidate was Fei Hong. If he wanted Fei Hong to be promoted to the chief minister of the cabinet, Li Dongyang had to step down.

If there is no excuse to force Li Dongyang to step down, Emperor Hongzhi will often frame Li Dongyang with a more serious crime and force him to leave the political stage. This is not what Chen Ce wants to see, so now he reminds Li Dongyang to know when to advance and when to retreat as soon as possible.

Li Dongyang asked Chen Ce in confusion: "Chun Jian may not know the rules of our Ming Dynasty..."

Chen Ce interrupted him with a smile and said, "I know."

Ok?
Li Dongyang looked slightly stunned. He knew that the senior officials of the six ministries of the cabinet were not subject to age restrictions, so why did he mention retirement at the right age? In this case, he definitely did not say it casually.

Li Dongyang really didn't expect that he just came to visit Chen Ce casually and chatted with him, but he could talk about such a thing.

But he couldn't figure it out, so he asked Chen Ce tentatively: "Chun Jian, I'm not targeting you. Many things are handled in a fair and just manner."

Chen Ce sat in a wheelchair, looking at the calm surface of the Yongding River, and nodded slightly, saying, "I am not such a petty person. Of course I know that Lord Li is thinking about the Ming Dynasty."

Li Dongyang nodded secretly. It seemed that Chen Ce didn't want to retaliate against him. That would be very strange. In the entire Ming Dynasty, Li Dongyang might be a little afraid of Chen Ce, except for him. With Chen Ce's ability, it would not be difficult for him to step down. He believed that Chen Ce could do it.

But if it wasn't Chen Ce who wanted him to step down, then who else could it be? This doesn't make sense. There is no one in the entire Ming Dynasty who can make him step down!
No, there is also Emperor Hongzhi!

But this doesn't make sense. He had no conflict with Emperor Hongzhi, and he is now actively giving up power. He is not as strong as he was during Liu Jian's reign. Logically, the emperor should not target him.

Li Dongyang couldn't figure it out, and he looked at Chen Ce suspiciously.

Chen Ce asked, "What does Lord Li think of the Crown Prince?"

Li Dongyang nodded: "The prince is still young and needs to learn many things slowly."

Chen Ce smiled and said, "Yes, the prince still needs to learn. Who should he learn from? Naturally, it's Elder Li."

"But the Lord is not the prince's teacher. He has always been his minister. The Lord is so smart. If the prince governs alone, it would be easy for the Lord to seize power, right?"

Li Dongyang hurriedly said: "I have never had such an idea! I have always been loyal to the emperor and patriotic..."

He suddenly stopped talking halfway and asked Chen Ce hurriedly, "Is the emperor ill?"

These days, Emperor Hongzhi seldom went to court. Li Dongyang had always wondered why the emperor, who was clearly in his prime, did not attend court. If the emperor had a health problem, then everything could be explained.

And what Chen Ce said today can be explained. The emperor wants to entrust his son to the care of others. Even if the emperor trusts Li Dongyang, can he be as good to the prince as Fei Hong is to him?
Fei Hong was Zhu Houzhao's teacher, and he spent every day with Zhu Houzhao. Moreover, Fei Hong had been in the cabinet for some time and had sufficient ability.

Emperor Hongzhi definitely wanted Fei Hong to assist the Crown Prince in the future, and if he continued to stay in the cabinet, it would disrupt Emperor Hongzhi's plan. So he had to step down as the Cabinet Chief, otherwise if Emperor Hongzhi really died in the future, he and his own Chaling Poetry School of many civil servants would pose a great threat to the Crown Prince.

Regardless of whether Li Dongyang has this intention or not, in the eyes of Emperor Hongzhi, he will be a real threat.

Chen Ce said noncommittally: "I don't know either, Lord Li, please don't ask me."

"I didn't want to do anything to Elder Liu at first, and we didn't have any grudges against each other, but in the end, he still stepped down. If he had stepped down earlier, perhaps the result would have been better. At least the emperor could have bestowed him with many honors."

In other words, if you, Li Dongyang, abdicate now, Emperor Hongzhi will not treat you unfairly, but you cannot be sure if you do so in the future.

Chen Ce's hint was already very obvious. It was impossible for Li Dongyang not to understand what Chen Ce meant. He was silent for a long time before he nodded and said, "Thank you, Chunjian. I understand."

Chen Ce sighed and said to Li Dongyang: "Lord Li has done a great job. The prosperity of the Hongzhi Dynasty is all due to you."

Nowadays, the Hongzhi Dynasty can be regarded as a real Hongzhi Restoration. As figures in the cabinet of the Hongzhi Dynasty, whether it is the retired Liu Jian or the current Prime Minister Li Dongyang and the Second Prime Minister Xie Qian, they have all witnessed the rise of an era.

This era is destined to leave a glamorous page in the history books!
Li Dongyang smiled bitterly and said, "Chun Jian, please stop mocking me. The prosperity of the Hongzhi Dynasty today is not our credit, but yours."

"Outsiders may not know, but we all know that every step of change in the Ming Dynasty was supported step by step by you, Chunjian."

During this process, Chen Ce encountered too many rebuttals, impeachments and misunderstandings, and too many people were enemies of Chen Ce, because every reform and change made by Chen Ce to the Ming Dynasty touched the interests of too many people.

If it were not for Chen Ce's persistence and the support of Emperor Hongzhi, the Ming Dynasty would never have reached this point.

Li Dongyang admired Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty very much and he agreed with all of Wang Anshi's reform strategies, but in the end he did not get the support of Song Shenzong and the reform ended in failure.

But Chen Ce was different. He was more capable than Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty, but he started from a lower level than Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty. Fortunately, he got the full support of Emperor Hongzhi.

Li Dongyang was filled with emotion. Seeing that Chen Ce could only rely on others to push him and even had difficulty walking, Li Dongyang felt very uncomfortable.

He was also grateful for Chen Ce's advice today, "Chun Jian, thank you, I hope you get well soon... Yeah!"

Chen Ce smiled and said, "Okay, as long as Lord Li can let it go."

"I can let it go. What can't I let go of? Haha, after I retire, I will go fishing with you in Yongding River. I like it very much."

"Same." Chen Ce said with a smile.

Watching Li Dongyang leave and looking at Li Dongyang's back, Chen Ce shook his head helplessly. He felt a little sympathy for Li Dongyang, but he could do nothing about it. After all, this is a political arena where there is no emotion. Moreover, Emperor Hongzhi would never let his son face an uncertainty in the future. After all, Li Dongyang, there is a huge group of Chaling poetry forces behind him.

(End of this chapter)