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

Chapter 571 I still need advice from Chen Ce
What Hong Zhong did on the Wa Island was so horrific that more than two hundred officials and two princes of the Zhu family were massacred. Such a bloody storm soon spread in the capital.

Memorials one after another flew into the Qianqing Palace, requesting Emperor Hongzhi to severely punish Hong Zhong.

The group of people massacred by Hong Zhong on the Wa Island naturally had nothing to do with the civil servants of the imperial court. These civil servants of the imperial court would not be foolish enough to collude with the royal princes far away on the Wa Island, nor would they gain much benefit from these royal princes.

But the question is, if the emperor allows Hong Zhong to kill people on the Japanese island today, will he let Hong Zhong deal with them tomorrow?

So many civil servants died on the Japanese island, but the emperor did not consider the consequences and impact at all. This obviously frightened the civil servants in the capital.

In the past, the emperor's power was within their control. If the emperor wanted to kill a civil servant, he had to go through strict judicial procedures and wait until there was conclusive evidence before he could approve the execution.

But now the emperor has allowed Hong Zhong to bypass the judicial process. What if Hong Zhong wants to kill these officials in the capital? After all, the civil servants in the capital, including the entire Ming Dynasty, are not clean.

Although they were not as unscrupulous as the civil servants on the Japanese island, they had done some shady things to a greater or lesser extent, and they had engaged in a lot of corruption.

Wouldn't it be easy for the emperor to kill them in the future? Once the hole on the Japanese island is opened, what will happen in the future?
This is also the reason why these civil servants in the capital, although they have little relationship with the civil servants in the Japanese islands, wrote letters to express their grievances on their behalf.

With so many civil servants submitting memorials, one thought that Emperor Hongzhi would take them seriously. However, Emperor Hongzhi ignored these people at all and handed all the memorials to Zhu Houzhao to handle.

He wanted to see how Zhu Houzhao would deal with so many civil servants forcing him to abdicate at the same time.

Zhu Houzhao was now in a state of panic. So many civil servants threatened to resign as the crown prince, asking him to severely reprimand Hong Zhong, otherwise they would resign.

Seeing this scene, Zhu Houzhao also panicked. If so many officials in the court resigned, who would govern the country for him in the future?

Zhu Houzhao had no choice but to find Emperor Hongzhi and said with a worried look on his face: "Father, so many civil servants have submitted petitions in such a big way. If I don't deal with Hong Zhong, they may really resign."

"But if I deal with Hong Zhong, who will dare to work for me in the future?"

"I really don't know how to deal with this. Father, please teach me."

This was the first time that Zhu Houzhao faced such a big political crisis. He really didn't know how to deal with it. He was in a dilemma and was in a dilemma.

Fortunately, his father was still in front of him, and his younger brother was still alive. Although he was a little overwhelmed, he was not too nervous after all, because there was someone to back him up.

Emperor Hongzhi said to Zhu Houzhao earnestly, "My son, you said that I will not be in front of you in the future, and Chun Jian will not be in front of you either. Who should you ask?"

"I won't tell you how to deal with it yet. Just think about it carefully. If you were to deal with this matter on your own, what would you do?"

Zhu Houzhao: “Ah?”

He didn't understand. His father was right in front of him, so why did he have to face all these things on his own?

Those civil servants were as fierce as wolves and tigers, and they wanted to eat Hong Zhong. But what he couldn't understand was that Hong Zhong had clearly done the right thing on the Japanese island, so why did they want to deal with him?

Also, why doesn’t my father help me?
Zhu Houzhao pondered for a long time before saying to Emperor Hongzhi: "Father, I think... well, if they want to resign, let them do it. Keep their number within a certain range, find out the leaders, and get rid of a group first. The rest will definitely be scared."

Emperor Hongzhi asked: "What if they are not afraid? What if they insist on resigning together?"

Zhu Houzhao really didn't know what to do this time. He thought about it for a long time but couldn't figure out how to deal with it.

Emperor Hongzhi smiled and said, "My son, your idea is correct. Think about it carefully. If you really can't figure it out, go ask Chunjian." Zhu Houzhao: "Father...you don't know how to deal with it, do you? Are you trying to be mysterious with me?"

Emperor Hongzhi: “…”

"Stinky boy!"

Emperor Hongzhi had already thought about what to do for Zhu Houzhao. If he wanted to calm down this turmoil, he could actually solve it at the lowest cost, which was to demote Hong Zhong first, make things clear with Hong Zhong in advance, and then find an excuse to re-employ Hong Zhong in the future and reward him with a higher official position.

The most important thing is to stabilize this group of civil servants first.

But if you really want to solve this matter according to Emperor Hongzhi's thinking, it will undoubtedly make the civil officials feel that you, the prince, are making concessions, and that Zhu Houzhao is as weak and can be bullied as his father. In the future, they will definitely find ways to deprive Zhu Houzhao of more power.

If it were Emperor Hongzhi, he could have continued to take back power bit by bit in future operations, but Zhu Houzhao could not do that, or he could not use the method of boiling a frog in warm water to teach Zhu Houzhao little by little.

But he knew his physical condition well and he might not be able to hold on until that day.

If Chen Ce had a better idea, he would not have to let Zhu Houzhao do this for the time being. If he really let Zhu Houzhao handle it in this way, he would eventually be despised by the civil servants.

Zhu Houzhao said, "Then I'll go ask my little brother."

Emperor Hongzhi nodded and said, "Well, Chunjian may be able to teach you a better solution. If he doesn't have a good solution, I will tell you how to deal with it."

"Don't worry, as long as I'm alive, I won't let you be bullied."

Zhu Houzhao nodded heavily: "Okay!"

……

The weather was hot. Chen Ce was sitting in a wheelchair in the study. On the desk was a pile of white papers with various patterns drawn on them.

Madam Wu came to Chen Ce with some ice cubes mixed with fruit juice and asked softly, "What are you drawing, sir?"

Chen Ce said: "The blueprint of the flintlock rifle."

Wu Niangzi was puzzled and asked Chen Ce, "What is a flintlock rifle?"

Chen Ce said: "It is the fire gun of the Ming Dynasty, but it is more convenient to shoot than the fire gun. This is easier for cavalry to carry. If they really charge outside the northern border, the power of the cavalry will be greatly increased."

Madam Wu knew that her husband was still worried about the dangers in the northern border.

If there is anything that Chen Ce is still worried about, one is Zhu Houzhao's ability to govern, and the other is probably the Mongols and Tatars in the northern border.

Although Madam Wu did not know what a flintlock rifle was, and even after Chen Ce's explanation, she still had only a vague understanding, but this did not prevent Madam Wu from admiring her husband.

While the two were talking, a maid came in and said to Chen Ce, "Master, the prince is here."

(End of this chapter)