"Ha...lu..."
In the duty office of the South Study Room, several ministers looked in the direction of Zhu Gaochi, dumbfounded.
The latter was sitting, but his head was lowered, his eyes were closed and he was snoring. He was obviously asleep.
Wang Bashi walked in quickly with his whisk in his arms, and was stunned when he saw Zhu Gaochi like this. Then he walked to him and called softly, "Your Highness!"
"Hul... snore..." Zhu Gaochi's head rose and fell with his belly.
"Your Highness!" The bastard had to raise his voice.
"Huh! Ah!?" Zhu Gaochi opened his eyes fiercely, wiped the corners of his shiny mouth, and said with full of sleepiness, "Manager Wang?"
The bastard smiled shamefully, "The Emperor is calling you!"
"Oh!" Zhu Gaochi stood up in confusion, "It's hot and I feel sleepy, haha!" As he said that, he saw that his robe was still decent, he held up the golden crown on his head, and followed the bastard with a puffy belly.
The bastard took a few steps and looked back at Zhu Gaochi, "Your Highness, please hurry up, Long live the Lord is in a hurry!"
"Oh!" Zhu Gaochi nodded hurriedly, but then stood on the spot, "Wait a minute! I drank a little too much sour plum soup, let me relieve myself first!"
With that said, he got into the massage room next to him.
Then a crashing sound came, making the bastard in the corridor frown in shame.
"Okay!" After a moment, Zhu Gaochi came out.
The bastard glanced at Zhu Gaochi's boots and shook his head silently.
~
"My lord, see the emperor!"
Zhu Gaochi entered the palace, quietly glanced at the emperor who was busy with his head down, and saluted respectfully.
"Yes!" Zhu Yunxi raised his head and responded, his voice calm as if he had no emotion.
Then, there was a long silence between the monarch and his ministers.
Zhu Gaochi stood half-bent. After standing for a while, he felt pain in his back and his forehead was sticky with sweat.
Suddenly, Zhu Yunxi said, "What are you thinking about?"
Zhu Gaochi shrank his neck slightly, "My lord, I didn't think anything of it!"
"Then why are you sweating?"
"My lord!" Zhu Gaochi rolled his eyes, "I drank a little too much sour plum soup today!"
Zhu Yunxi rolled his eyes at him angrily, threw the memorials of Huang Zicheng and others at once, and said with a tone of indifference, "I'm ready! I can command the imperial censor!"
"Damn it! You know these Qingliu are unreliable and easy for you to spot!"
Zhu Gaochi cursed in his heart, lowered his head to pick up the memorial, and sneered twice and said nothing as acquiescence.
"Impeach Li Jinglong, your idea!" Zhu Yunxi said again, "Tell me, why?"
Zhu Gaochi sighed and stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty is asking why I asked the imperial censor to impeach me instead of impeaching me myself. Or why I asked them to impeach Duke Cao Li Jinglong?"
"Is there any difference?" Zhu Yunxi glanced at the curtain behind him.
"Actually, there is no difference!" Zhu Gaochi sighed again, "Because the emperor will not listen to some things the minister says!" As he said, he raised his head and looked at Zhu Yunxi, "The emperor trusts him more than he trusts the ministers. And if the ministers...
If you talk too much, not only will you not listen, you may even get annoyed!"
This sentence directly hit Zhu Yunxi's lungs.
"Actually, Your Majesty, I can understand why you trust him!" Zhu Gaochi said again, "Gong Cao Guo is greedy for money, but most of the money comes from the right way. He neither takes bribes nor sells out his position!"
"He does not form cliques, nor monopolizes power without authorization. He does not bully others, nor does he pretend to be powerful. As long as the emperor has told him to do something, no matter whether he does it well or not, whether he bears the infamy or not, whether he sees it in the light or not... he can do it very well.
Nothing is left out!”
"I also know more about your difficulties, Your Majesty. He can do things and relieve Your Majesty's worries. He is considerate and good at dancing! Your Majesty needs such people around you, but..."
As he spoke, Zhu Gaochi raised his head and said, "But have you ever thought about it. If you like such a person, then there will be such people in the court in the future, and there will be many Li Jinglongs. Everyone will use the power in their hands to give
Get some...reasonable benefits for yourself!"
"Small profits add up to big profits, and small mistakes add up to big mistakes."
Zhu Yunxi stared at Zhu Gaochi silently, "Go on!"
"The matter of the Songjiang Zhang family's cotton workshop was directly brought to my attention, and I suppressed it! I didn't want to suppress it, but if such a thing gets big, it is the Emperor who is most embarrassed." Zhu Gaochi added, "Such a thing
, not once or twice. Whether it is Cao Guogong or other nobles, members of the family have annexed other people's properties in recent years. It cannot be said to be annexation, it is more appropriate to say forceful purchase! Haha, who is the property they are interested in?
Do you dare to sell it?”
"From a minister's point of view, perhaps this kind of thing is because the Li family's disciples are using tiger skin to make a banner. But from an outsider's point of view, is this...all because of you, the emperor...for indulging him?"
Are there any consequences?”
"The new policy is not concerned with the lack of numbers but with the concern of inequality. However, the person whom the emperor favors is running counter to the emperor's original intention. And because the emperor trusts him, he ignores these trivial matters for the time being. Therefore, I have no choice but to inform the emperor through other people's mouths!"
"However, I didn't instigate them!" Zhu Gaochi said with a smile, "The imperial censors are all asking for fame, but I just let out a few words, and they pounced on me."
Zhu Yunxi stared at him, "In order to prevent me from doubting you, you also asked them to impeach you?"
"Huh?" Zhu Gaochi was stunned, "Is the minister also impeached?"
Zhu Yunxi laughed angrily, "Read the memorial yourself. Ha, you want to complain through someone else's mouth, but you didn't expect that others would also accuse you severely, right?"
Zhu Gaochi lowered his head and looked at it carefully. Then his face changed drastically, his fat trembled and his expression became ferocious.
"Don't play such clever tricks in the future, or you will be deceived! You said that I trust Li Jinglong more than you. Would he dare to be so petty with me?" Zhu Yunxi looked unkind, "If it were anyone else, but with this
If you combine the censor's crimes, you can be punished!"
"Since I put you in the center, I want you to help me. You and I are blood brothers. If I can't trust you, who else can you trust? But I trust you, do you trust me?"
"damn it!"
Sweat was pouring from Zhu Gaochi's forehead, and the last few lines in the memorial were simply heart-wrenching words.
"He is both the king of the clan and the prime minister of power, with disciples and former officials all over the world. The uncrowned king may not be able to govern the country and the country..."
"You have turned all the good things into bad things!" Zhu Yunxi said angrily again.
"I am willing to be punished!"
"Your punishment will be light!" Zhu Yunxi glanced at him, "I put you in the center because of your trust and let you take charge of the power. I have already told you to be a wise king and a wise prime minister. But what about you?"
As he spoke, Zhu Yunxi suddenly sighed and said, "Penalize you? How? You asked people to impeach Li Jinglong. Your intentions were good, and what you said was right!"
Immediately, Zhu Yunxi thought again, "But we can't go without punishment! Take the memorial back, and when you get back, write me a 50,000-word statement!"
"Ah?" Zhu Gaochi was startled.
Fifty thousand words?
It's going to kill you!
"First, write about the shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty today. I am not a perfect person. I write from your perspective. I am not afraid that you will say something unpleasant and write casually!"
"Second, take a good look at what those censors sued you, and think about how to be a good king when you look back!"
"When they say Li Jinglong, they are talking about me, but why are they not talking about you? I am arrogant, so I let Li Jinglong and others do inappropriate things. If you are arrogant, what will happen in the future?"
Suddenly, Zhu Gaochi's heart tightened.
"Go down!" Zhu Yunxi seemed a little tired and waved his hand.
~~
Zhu Gaochi left, leaving only Zhu Yunxi alone in the palace.
He lowered his head to review the memorial in his hand, but suddenly he couldn't stand it anymore.
"Li Jinglong!"
"I'm here!"
Behind the curtain, Li Jinglong crawled out and choked with sobs, "It's my fault. It's Meng Lang who acted and made life difficult for me! It's my incompetence and I deserve to die!"
Based on his understanding of the emperor, he could not pass the responsibility to others after something happened.
Otherwise, throwing the blame may turn into being directly beaten to death.
"Go home! I'll give you three days to think it over carefully, and then tell me everything!" Zhu Yunxi didn't look at him, but his voice was full of anger, and he sneered, "Go back!"
"Yes! I resign!"
Li Jinglong rolled and crawled again and just stepped out of Qianqing Palace.
Suddenly, the emperor's voice came from inside, "Here, let Hu Guan come into the palace to see me!"
This chapter has been completed!