As Shen Yi's protector, the Minister of Rites of the dynasty, and one of the Great Nine Ministers, Shen naturally knew some things that others did not know. When he heard what Shen Yi said, he looked around and whispered.
"Brother, I don't know what you and Your Majesty are planning, and I don't know who will be crowned prince in the end, but no matter what you think, the court cannot cause chaos."
He said with a serious face: "This is the result of twenty years of hard work by Your Majesty, your eldest brother, and countless ministers of the imperial court. Now the country is prosperous and the court is in full swing..."
"Just take care of it!"
The words "the public is prosperous and the court is prosperous" are really not Xiao Shen Shangshu's whitewashing of peace.
In fact, from the Hongde Dynasty to the present, there are many capable ministers and virtuous ministers. For example, Zhao Changping and Zhang Jian can be said to be capable ministers.
Looking throughout the imperial court, although corruption still exists, most people are still able to do their jobs conscientiously while being corrupt.
The reason why this situation occurs is not because of the implosion of the country's fortunes or the arrival of a great age, but simply because of the leader's personal reasons.
Or to put it simply, it was the emperor’s personal reasons.
As the saying goes, what is good above is what is good below. As the greatest leader in the world, the emperor likes capable ministers and likes virtuous ministers, so he will naturally choose virtuous ministers to serve in the court. Even as long as the emperor has this tendency, those who are not virtuous in the first place will The ministers will force themselves to be virtuous.
Those who are unwilling to work will be forced to work.
For example, a person like Chen Yu would most likely become a treacherous official if he encountered a weak emperor in power, but now in the Hongde Dynasty.
Chen Yu is a real capable minister, very capable of getting things done.
This is one of the biggest characteristics of the feudal dynasty.
The rise and fall of a feudal dynasty will undergo drastic changes with the change of the emperor. It is said that there is one emperor and one courtier in one dynasty.
Nowadays, during the Hongde dynasty, the country was prosperous and the empire was at its peak. However, once the emperor changed his throne, the new king would work for two or three years and suddenly turn into an unprincipled and ignorant king. It would not take long.
In ten years or even seven or eight years, the country will weaken.
This is also the fundamental reason why Emperor Hongde is still hesitant about the crown prince to this day.
In other words, this is a common problem among "successful kings". They have achieved great achievements in their lives, so they want to carefully select a monarch who can at least maintain success, and do not want their lifelong efforts to be wasted.
Mr. Shen pulled Shen to sit down and said with a smile: "Zichang is too worried. Fortunately, Your Majesty is still alive in the court, and your brother is not dead, so the court cannot be in chaos."
"His Royal Highness is really in trouble."
Shen Yi said silently: "I can't send it anymore."
Mr. Shen knew very well that although the emperor of Ganlu Palace was reclusive now, the internal guards under him were probably working at full capacity.
There were countless pairs of eyes staring at the court for him and at Zhongshu's sitting son.
And I am afraid that the energy expended in this process will not be any less than when he personally handles political affairs.
Shen frowned and said, "The new minister of the Ministry of Rites has been in office for more than a month, but I haven't seen him much in the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites."
"Run away to His Highness the Crown Prince."
Mr. Shen said with a smile: "Most of them were promoted by the prince, but they are not allowed to go to his highness. Logically speaking, Zichang, you should also often go to his highness. In this way, it will be logical for you to pay homage to the prime minister in the future. "
Shen still frowned: "Brother, I have been content with my current position as an official. It doesn't matter if I worship the prime minister or not."
"Besides, if Senior Brother Zhang is in Zhongshu for one day, it will be impossible for me to become the Prime Minister."
This is quite true.
The Zhang and Chen families are too close. Zhongshu only has five positions in total. If they take away two of them and randomly win over one of the remaining three, the internal affairs will be completely decided by their "Ganquan faction".
In addition, Mr. Shen was still leading troops outside. At that time, the inside and outside were unified, and it was difficult to say the court's surname.
Mr. Shen patted his brother on the shoulder and said with a smile: "If you can't be a prime minister, it will be more prestigious to be a heavenly official and minister."
He shook his head silently: "My little brother's ambition is not here."
Shen Yi nodded lightly and said, "I know, but there is one thing you should always pay attention to."
"Brother, please tell me."
"This spring, you are the examiner, and all the newly promoted Jinshi this year can be regarded as your disciples."
"In order to find a way out recently, almost all of them have gone to see the prince."
Mr. Shen said softly: "As a teacher, you can't just sit back and do nothing. Take a good look at it. If there are any good ones, stop them and leave a few talents in this department."
Shen was stunned for a moment, and then whispered: "Brother, why did I hear what you said... It seems that there is something wrong with the prince?"
"I didn't say that."
Shen Yi said softly: "No matter whether the prince has problems or not, these new scholars will definitely annoy your majesty. How can any of the disciples of the emperor devote themselves to the prince?"
"That's outrageous."
Little Shen Shangshu nodded silently.
"That's the truth. It's just that those young people are too eager for quick success. The new Jinshi has not yet completed three years of observing the government, and they are thinking of finding a vacancy for themselves."
Mr. Shen said calmly.
"Didn't it happen that a few new Jinshi who had no experience in politics got official posts from the Crown Prince? If the Crown Prince made such a start, the other Scholars would naturally follow suit."
Little Shen Shangshu looked up at Shen Yi and said with a wry smile: "I thought the eldest brother was bored at home and didn't know anything. It turns out that the eldest brother knows everything."
"I just know a little bit."
Mr. Shen stretched out and said lazily: "You can be your Minister of Etiquette with peace of mind, and your subordinates will be in charge of what they should do, and the new Jinshi will get what they should get."
"Don't worry about other things."
Mr. Shen smiled and said, "It's the five prime ministers of Zhongshu who should worry about it."
Shen nodded silently at first, then looked at Shen Yi and asked: "Brother, it's been half a year since Yuan'er left Goryeo. How is the situation now?"
"It's okay."
Mr. Shen said with a smile: "At least he is familiar with how to lead an army. If he comes back in the future, let him lead ten thousand people so that he will not be at a loss."
"As for Korea..."
Shen Yi knocked on the table and said softly: "It's not that difficult, just let him practice his skills."
He looked at Shen.
"The fourth son of the Zichang family will wait two years and go to Korea to help his elder brother."
Shen nodded lightly and said, "Brother, it seems that he is really trying to seize Korea..."
"Of course."
Mr. Shen is calm and gentle.
"Koryeo is not a small country. Take it down now if you can. Otherwise, in a few hundred years, the descendants of that small peninsula may start to hate us."
Shen Ting's clouds were filled with confusion.
Shen Yi just smiled slightly without explaining much.
…………
The change of power in Yanjing City continues.
As he gradually gains power, His Royal Highness is also testing the boundaries of his power step by step.
He first replaced some of the officials in the court and filled some important positions in the court with people who had defected.
More than half of the backbone of the imperial court fell in favor of the Crown Prince.
And this number of people is slowly increasing as time goes by.
Time flies in the blink of an eye, and another two or three months have passed.
Time came to the autumn of Hongde's thirty-first year.
On this day, Mr. Shen was personally invited to the palace by Eunuch Xiao.
He went smoothly and met His Majesty the Emperor in the Manlu Palace, which was rarely seen by outsiders.
At this time, Emperor Hongde looked even worse.
Maybe it was because he hadn't seen the sun for so long that his face was frighteningly pale.
After seeing Shen Yi, the emperor showed a smile on his face. He waved to Shen Yi and said, "Shen Qing, come here."
Shen Yi sat down and looked at the emperor with a sad expression: "Your Majesty, are you okay?"
"Still alive."
A relieved smile appeared on the emperor's face. He sat up straight, looked at Shen Yi, and sighed softly: "Yesterday, the boss left Yanjing."
A few days ago, Prince Fu's Mansion in Fuzhou was finally completed, and the emperor's eldest son Li Wang also left Yanjing and went south.
As for the fourth son of the emperor, Li Jian, he left Yanjing earlier because the Prince Wu's Mansion in Jiangdu was completed faster.
But last time, the emperor did not express such emotion.
Obviously, in the emperor's heart, the eldest brother Li Wang was closer. After all, Concubine Hui was the woman he loved most in his life.
Maybe in his eyes, he, Concubine Hui, and Li Wang are the real family.
Shen Yi comforted softly: "Your Majesty, don't be sad, His Royal Highness Prince Fu will live a happy life."
"I hope so."
The emperor sighed silently.
"The third child has become more and more capable in the past six months."
The emperor said softly: "We have already begun to intervene in the palace guards."
Hearing this, Shen Yi narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Maybe it's for the sake of His Majesty's safety."
The emperor laughed.
"What Qing Shen said is wonderful. He is indeed thinking about my safety."
Finally, the prince's half-year-long trial finally touched his "power boundary."
In a sense, the emperor and the prince were not just a simple father-son relationship, but also political competitors.
Now, Emperor Hong De was a little unhappy.
He looked at Mr. Shen and said softly: "I don't have the energy to fight with him now. Shen Qing will go for me."
"Just hit him."
The emperor said softly: "It can be regarded as..."
"As a father, I gave him a warning."
As he said that, he looked at Shen Yi and said with a smile: "Don't say it was my order."