The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 15 The Inner Logic of Deposing the Elder and Enthroning the Younger
Zhu Jiancan understood what Qi Xu said, but a look of worry appeared on his face.

As the saying goes, the authorities are confused, but those who watch are clear.

Although it was very clear that the crown prince's position in the Ming Dynasty was stable, it was difficult for the crown prince to truly feel at ease.

Especially now that a younger brother who is truly a genius has emerged.

Especially since his biological mother, who was the queen, had passed away for many years, and this genius brother was the youngest son of the current queen.

Zhu Jiancan couldn't convince himself that he was absolutely safe.

The prince was indeed safe in the past, because that was something that was certain in the past. Things in the future have not been certain yet, and no one can guarantee it.

Seeing that the prince was still standing still, Qi Xu boldly offered his advice:

“If Your Highness is still uneasy, you can ask the old gentleman in the court to find an opportunity to advise Your Majesty.

"Establish a fiefdom and set up guards for His Majesty the Sixteenth Prince in advance.

"The reason is that His Highness the Sixteenth Prince is a genius, and he shouldn't follow the rules for ordinary princes and wait until he's ten years old to be granted a fiefdom.

“If Your Majesty agrees, Your Highness can naturally feel relieved.

"If Your Majesty does not agree, we can immediately start thinking of countermeasures..."

Crown Prince Zhu Jiancan was silent for a few seconds again, and finally accepted Qi Xu's suggestion and got on his carriage to the laboratory.

In order to allow more people to participate in handicrafts and to allow more people to develop and build in Southeast Asia, human-powered sedan chairs were banned during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen.

At the same time, in order to encourage the public to raise more llamas, royal family members and officials were required to take the lead in using horse-drawn carriages.

Now the emperor of the Ming Dynasty also traveled in a horse-drawn carriage.

With steering support frames and rubber tires, horse-drawn carriages are now more comfortable than wobbly sedan chairs, and the key is that horse-drawn carriages run faster than sedan chairs.

When Prince Zhu Jiancan rushed to the laboratory, he was immediately shocked by the scene.

The Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, the Shangshu and ministers of the same rank, the Governors of the Five Military Commissions, the main eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department, and even ordinary princes without vassal states, as well as older princes who had not yet been enfeoffed, basically all the people with the highest status in the entire country came.

The Ming Emperor Zhu Zhonglin stood in the middle, holding the hand of a little boy of six or seven years old, the emperor's gifted youngest son Zhu Jianxuan.

These people gathered in the yard of this laboratory and observed the various things placed around the yard.

That was the main achievement of Zhu Jianxuan's laboratory over the past year.

The craftsmen in Zhu Jianxuan's laboratory are enthusiastically introducing their inventions to the bigwigs of the entire empire.

When Zhu Jiancan saw this scene, he suddenly felt a surge of anxiety in his heart.

My father really likes me, his younger brother.

He wanted to call all the people with the highest status in the entire Ming Dynasty to publicly display or show off the invention of his youngest son.

It should also be promoting the inventions of his youngest son and looking for potential customers and investors.

Although I was also favored by my father in my early years, it was far from this extent.

Even towards his eldest son, his father's eldest grandson, he did not show this level of favor.

Zhu Jiancan is now jealous, frightened and uneasy.

He was extremely afraid that his father had begun preparations to depose him as crown prince and install his younger brother as the crown prince.

However, Zhu Jiancan has been the crown prince for thirty years after all. No matter how he struggles and suffers in his heart, he always appears mature and steady on the surface.

Zhu Jiancan walked up to his father slowly and greeted the emperor politely:

"See Father."

When Zhu Jianxuan saw his elder brother coming, he also took the initiative to greet him honestly:
"Hello, brother." Zhu Zhonglin saw his eldest son coming over, nodded with a smile, and then immediately pointed to a set of machines in front of him and said:

“Look, this is your sixteenth brother’s latest invention, and it is also his most important achievement in the past year or so.

“Reciprocating steam engines, and machine tools driven directly by steam engines.

"With these machines, the production speed of our Ming Dynasty's artillery and firearms can be greatly increased several times.

"The cost can be reduced by more than half...

"Coupled with new steel smelting furnaces, the cost of steel can be reduced by at least half.

"In the future, we may even have a chance to popularize rifles."

Zhu Jiancan was also filled with horror after hearing these explanations, but on the surface he smiled and complimented:
"Father, the Emperor is wise, and my sixteenth brother is a genius. May our ancestors bless us, and may God bless the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Jiancan's praise immediately triggered the echoes of other ministers around him, who whispered to each other that Zhu Jianxuan was indeed a genius.

However, some ministers were obviously confused and didn't know whether they should respond to the conversation or how to respond.

Some people thought directly, what if they agreed and praised the emperor, and he simply went along with it and announced that Zhu Jianxuan would be the crown prince?
Deposing the eldest son and enthroning the youngest son is a taboo that seriously endangers the stability of the court.

Even if this "young" is truly wise, and has extraordinary intelligence far beyond that of ordinary people, and is countless times stronger than the original prince, the result will be the same.

Because the key to deposing the eldest and enthroning the youngest lies not in "enthroning" but in "dethroning".

Since it is to be abolished, it means that the target has become the "reserve" and it has been allowed to have public party members before.

The ministers have accepted this situation and continue to expand this faction, preparing to wait until the old emperor dies and then completely switch to this faction.

Deposing the crown prince was the emperor's way of interrupting this normal transformation process and forcibly disbanding this increasingly large party.

So it wasn't just the changing of the crown prince that was a coup, simply deposing the crown prince was already a coup.

The bureaucracy hates change, so it will instinctively reject and resist it unless there is a possibility of gaining power through speculation.

Therefore, there will be some bureaucrats who are dissatisfied with the status quo, especially those who see no chance of normal promotion to the top, or those who are suppressed in the existing court. They will choose to support the prince with potential according to the situation.

Zhu Jianxuan listened to the praises from his father, elder brother, and officials, and instinctively said very modestly:
“Thank you for your praise, Father and Big Brother. I just proposed some new improvements based on the original designs of my predecessors.

“I did not accomplish these ideas on my own, but with the personnel and financial support provided by my father.

“It was made possible by the joint efforts of Song Dao, Song Gong, and all the craftsmen and artisans.”

Emperor Zhu Zhonglin laughed out loud after hearing this:
"My son is indeed a born sincere gentleman.
"Since Xuan'er has asked for credit for everyone, the rank of all craftsmen in the laboratory will be upgraded by one level.

"Xuan'er will select a few more people with outstanding contributions and give them an additional promotion."

The surrounding craftsmen were all visibly excited when they heard about the reward, and immediately bowed to the emperor and thanked him:

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

If an adult uses the same method to commend his subordinates, the surrounding bureaucrats will also feel that this colleague knows how to be an official and is someone they can get along with and even cooperate with.

If a six or seven-year-old child says this now, we can only assume that it is his nature.

This can be said to be a natural gentleman.

Even Crown Prince Zhu Jiancan couldn't help but sigh in his heart that his younger brother was really extraordinary and it made him unable to help but worry.

At the same time, the emperor father next to him was happy, and Zhu Jiancan had to smile and admire along.

No matter how painful and conflicted you are in your heart, you cannot show it in the slightest.

(End of this chapter)