The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 101 Spring of the Sixth Year of Yongle

"Who will wake up first from the dream? I know it all myself!"

Since Li Xianmu carried the coffin northward, three years have passed like flowing water.

In Shuntian Prefecture, spring comes and autumn goes, withering and flourishing several times. Now, the cold winter has passed again, and spring has returned.

Spring of the sixth year of the Yongle reign, Shuntian Prefecture.

The grave where Li Qi was buried was covered with grass, which was very resilient despite the wind and rain. Some trees were planted beside the grave, but they had not yet grown into a towering forest.

Not far from the grave, there was a thatched hut, made of wood and covered with straw. The courtyard wall was made of yellow mud and looked very simple. Li Xianmu was digging in the yard with a hoe, sweating profusely.

At the age of fifteen, he was already quite strong, with muscles all over his bare arms, clearly not like the usual weak scholars.

After watering the plants, Li Xianmu returned to the house. There were many books in the house, but even more letters, some from Nanjing and some from Beijing. Most of them were from his senior fellow student Wang Gen, and many were greetings from his mother and two older brothers.

"Xianmu!"

After unfolding the new letter, Li Xianmu looked at it for a long time, put it down, walked to the door of the thatched hut, looked at the neat courtyard, changed into clean clothes, went out, came to Li Qi's grave, kowtowed four times, and then whispered: "Father, my senior brother wrote that there is injustice in the capital. The mourning period is over, and the Ministry of Personnel is also urging me to return to the capital. This time, I really have to go back to the capital."

After Li Qi passed away, Li Xianmu escorted the coffin northward. He followed the example of filial sons of ancient times and built a hut to live in. He believed that his father was a great sage who was no less than the ancient saints, so naturally he should have a perfect son. Therefore, he persisted for three whole years.

Seeing this, Li Qi sometimes wondered if he had taught Li Xianmu to be too upright, even to the point of being pedantic. However, seeing Li Xianmu's decisiveness in handling matters that did not involve Li Qi, he felt relieved.

"It's time to go back, the second-generation head of the Li family, the culmination of my life's work!"

Clan Chief: Li Xianmu (Second Generation)

成型六维天赋：内政：85；权变：87；军略：72；统率：51；勇武：69；学术：95。

Direct descendants: 0.

Clan Chief Reputation: 60
Family Reputation: 50
Incense value: 30
Achievement Points: 1900

Li Qi convened the system and reviewed the new data of the Li family again. Li Xianmu's talent was naturally extremely high, but it had not yet been fully realized, and he could grow further after experiencing more.

He had no children, and therefore no direct descendants.

The clan leader's reputation was originally less than 60, but the three years of mourning greatly increased Li Xianmu's reputation. This is a testament to the power of perseverance.

The family's prestige naturally plummeted after Li Qi's death.

It's only natural that incense points are activated, since Li Qi has now become an ancestral tablet, and Li Xianmu has been offering incense and worshipping him all these years, which has earned him incense points.

"Mu'er, you can roam freely in this Ming Dynasty. I have already laid a foundation for you. What kind of glorious future do you have?"

After Li Xianmu left the thatched cottage, Li Qi took one last look at him before falling asleep again.

Li Xianmu was a very decisive person. After deciding to return to the capital, he packed all his belongings in just one day and then boarded the carriage to return to Tian.

Among those who came to pick him up in the carriage was his senior brother, Wang Gen!

"Since you joined the cabinet, have you noticed any differences in the affairs of the world?"

Wang Gen's official career was indeed smooth. After working with Xie Jin in the Hanlin Academy for nearly three years to revise history, he was transferred to the Wenyuan Pavilion by Zhu Di in December of the fifth year of the Yongle reign, while Hu Guang was kicked out.

"Once you enter the cabinet, you will understand why your teacher valued you so much."

Wang Gen's expression was solemn. Li Qi had said many times before that the Grand Secretariat was of great importance, and that if he had a choice in the future, he would rather not be a minister of the Six Ministries than reside in the Grand Secretariat.

"Although the cabinet is only on the surface to relay messages to His Majesty, it is actually much more than that. Based on my experience in the past few months since I joined the Wenyuan Pavilion, His Majesty will issue decrees directly by consulting cabinet ministers on about 40% of matters. The likelihood of cabinet ministers' suggestions being adopted is even higher than that of the heads of the Six Ministries."

If it weren't for its extremely low status and the fact that it only offered suggestions without any executive power, this cabinet would be practically like the Tang Dynasty's Council of State!

The Hall of State Affairs is full of prime ministers!

“My father once said that there is a distinction between the power of the emperor and the power of the prime minister. The existence of the prime minister is inevitable. Although our dynasty has abolished the prime minister, a similar position will inevitably emerge gradually. It is inevitable that the power of the cabinet ministers will increase. After I return to the court, I am afraid I will not be able to enter the cabinet in a short time. I will need my senior brother’s help.”

"That's only right."

Wang Gen readily agreed, then asked with a puzzled look, "Xianmu, before you left the capital, you said that if there was any discussion in the court about moving the capital, you should pay attention to it for me, and if His Majesty was blocked by the ministers, you should send a letter to him. What does this mean?"

"This time I observed three years of mourning for my father. Although it was out of filial piety, it also made a mark in the world. Now I should have some reputation among scholars."

Li Xianmu said in a deep voice, "If I return to the capital now, I will have to spend three years in the Hanlin Academy. Even then, I will only be eighteen years old, which can be considered a young man who has achieved success. But the Yongle era will have already lasted nine years." In the ninth year of Yongle, the world will surely have changed drastically.

"A person can only become the most crucial person when he appears at the most opportune time. For example, Zhuge Liang appeared at the most critical time of Emperor Zhaolie of Han, and thus rose above Guan Yu and Zhang Fei."

Wang Gen had always known that although his junior brother was young, his strategic acumen was unmatched, but he was still shocked by what Li Xianmu was thinking.

"Junior brother, what are you doing? Is it related to the relocation of the capital?"

Even though he knew his junior brother was a man of great talent and strategy, the world was governed by the times, and Li Xianmu was too young to be able to gather popular support.

The saying "A young man with no beard is unreliable" is deeply ingrained in everyone's mind. Even Li Qi only began to accumulate power at a rapid pace when he was forty years old.

Although the School of Mind had made great progress in the past three years, precisely because of this, its school had great talents such as Xie Jin and Chen Ying, who had already made a name for themselves in the Hongwu era, as well as new talents such as Wang Gen. Even though Li Xianmu was the son of the founder of the School of Mind, he could not compete with them.

"Senior brother must be saying that I am too young and it is almost impossible for me to gather the momentum of the times, right?"

Li Xianmu's words hit the nail on the head regarding Wang Gen's thoughts. Wang Gen nodded solemnly, and Li Xianmu said casually, "That's right. I'm too young, so I don't have any power or influence on me."

The word "momentum" sounds mysterious and seems like something illusory, but in reality, it is not.

Power is the hearts and minds of people in officialdom!
Some people hold all the theoretical power, yet they are overthrown by someone outside the system. This is because the person outside the system has gathered the majority of the power.

As Wang Anshi said in his poem—

The valiant warriors, weary from a hundred battles, grieved.

Once the Central Plains suffered a defeat, the tide was difficult to turn.

Although the sons of Jiangdong are still here today,
Are you willing to fight alongside the king again?
Everyone has a scale in their heart, and they can judge whether the situation is good or bad, but most people will go with the flow.

The most common scenario is that if someone keeps winning, even before they do anything, others will already assume that they will continue to win. With this prevailing trend, the person will naturally find things going more and more smoothly, eventually winning one victory after another.

Therefore, those powerful ministers or important officials possessed influence.

Li Qi's power was immense, to the point that even the court officials stopped arguing with him, because everyone believed he was doomed to lose. This was the power he had built up through repeated victories.

Li Xianmu is too young. He has neither accumulated prestige nor achievements. The things he had accumulated by dominating the students in the Imperial Academy have been worn away over the past three years. If he becomes just another ordinary person, those things will naturally vanish.

Seeing that Li Xianmu remained perfectly clear-headed and unchanged in his attitude, Wang Gen knew that Li Xianmu must have a solution.

"Xianmu, stop keeping me in suspense and tell me your thoughts. The matter of moving the capital is of great importance. Seventy percent of the officials in the court are from the south, so they are naturally unwilling to travel thousands of miles to the north."

Moreover, this involves enormous interests, and if the relocation of the capital is successful, their family may even decline.

Even if the teachers were still alive, they would definitely have to fight against such a difficult task.

His Majesty is currently very angered by them. If it weren't for his concern for his reputation and his unwillingness to set an example of bloodshed, he would probably already have the troublemakers executed.

Li Qi's influence on Zhu Di was truly profound. He didn't kill anyone when he entered Yingtian, which prevented Zhu Di from becoming completely reckless and allowed him to maintain his composure even now.

Looking out the car window at the lush greenery of spring, Li Xianmu felt as if he were a dragon entering the sea. He proudly declared, "The general trend of the world is there. Since I have no power of my own, I can only borrow power!"

There's a saying: "I only have one chance. If I can't become famous overnight, I won't get a second chance anytime soon, and I'll have to go back to that slow, steady path of advancement."

Upon hearing this, Wang Gen immediately understood what Li Xianmu was planning to do and exclaimed in horror, "Xianmu, do you want to make great contributions, and then use that momentum to gain His Majesty's favor and accumulate power through merit?"

It's no wonder Wang Gen was so shocked. You must know that accumulating power and status is a long process. As you grow older, you do things slowly and steadily, and then your reputation will grow higher and higher.

The so-called veteran officials of two reigns, three reigns, and four reigns emerged in this way. These veteran officials held such high positions that they could even make the new emperor feel troubled. This is the great power of time.

But there is another kind of subject in this world!
That is to surpass everyone else with achievements that leave no room for argument. Such people can transcend the boundaries of time and become the most powerful among others at an age when they should not have gained such prestige.

Among the best of these people was Huo Qubing, the Grand Marshal and General of the Cavalry of the Han Dynasty.

Li Shimin, the Prince of Qin of the Tang Dynasty, was another one of the following: Grand Commandant, Minister of Works, Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, Grand Chancellor of the Central Secretariat, Grand Chancellor of Shaanxi East Circuit, Governor of Yongzhou, Governor-General of Liangzhou, Pillar of State, General of the Twelve Guards, and General of the Heavenly Strategy.

"Therefore, I must choose something that I can win to begin with!"

Li Xianmu declared confidently and forcefully, "With the support of my late father's resources, I will surely succeed in relocating the capital!"

The sound shook the surrounding fields, and all the grass and trees bowed down!
(End of this chapter)