Chapter 165 The Art of Balance

Lu Siyuan stayed at Li Weizheng's house for three days before going to Peiping, but it was no accident that he came to Fengyang. At this moment, the Ming Dynasty began to face the first major crisis. The heir to the Ming throne was broken. Since the crown prince Zhu Biao fainted after vomiting blood in the Palace of Taihe, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an imperial edict, strictly prohibiting anyone from mentioning the new crown prince. The riot of the crown prince, which was rampant, suddenly stopped, the court calmed down, and everyone walked carefully and spoke carefully, for fear of breaking the extremely fragile balance.

But the calm of the court was only a superficial phenomenon. The calmness was turbulent and the battle for the new prince became more and more intense. In the autumn of the 24th year of Hongwu, King Zhu Di of Yan and King Zhu Quan of Ning defeated the Mongolian Khan Yesudeer in Wulu Guhe. After the failure of Yesudeer, Yesudeer was killed by his subordinates and surrendered to the Ming Dynasty. This battle pushed the reputation of King Yan Zhu Di to the highest, but the King of Qin was not willing to fall behind. He dispersed most of his wealth to support the widows, helped the tribute students, and treated the virtuous and respected the wise and the nobles, and won the reputation of virtuousness for him. Coincidentally, King Qi personally went to the fields in Shandong to cultivate fields, paid money and rice to help the disaster area in Shandong to restore production. King Zhou also personally carried mud and soil in Kaifeng Prefecture to strengthen the Yellow River embankment. Zhu Yuanzhang did not express his opinion. This cast a mysterious veil for the dispute over the new throne of the East Palace, and no one could see through the key.

This morning, Zhu Yuanzhang unexpectedly did not attend the morning court. This was the first time in a record. There were a lot of discussions in the court, and rumors spread that the prince Zhu Biao had reached his death, but the news in the palace was blocked extremely tightly, and no one got the exact news. The whole court was filled with an atmosphere of uneasiness.

As the rumor speculated, Zhu Yuanzhang did not attend the morning court because his eldest son Zhu Biao seemed to be unable to do it. He was sitting outside the prince's bedroom, staring at the ground blankly with his eyes blank. At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have been ten years old at once. His originally straight back became hunched, his face lost its luster, and his eyes were dull, just like a statue of an old age.

At this moment, his heart was already filled with grief, and despair filled his heart. He was about to lose his beloved son. He seemed to see Zhu Biao learning to speak in front of him. He still remembered his confidence when he recited the Analects of Confucius with his head held high. He was only six years old at that time, but now...

Zhu Yuanzhang buried his face in his dry palm and started to cry silently. Suddenly, a cry came from the bedroom. A eunuch stumbled and ran over and cried and said, "Your Majesty! Prince, the prince is gone."

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up, and he looked at the sky with great sorrow and anger and shouted to the sky: "God, you have no eyes!" He was so heartbroken that he fainted suddenly.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!" The Eastern Palace was in chaos, and the guards helped Zhu Yuanzhang to sit up. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Changsun Yunwen kneeling in front of him with tears on his face. He could no longer control his sadness. He hugged his grandson tightly and burst into tears. There was a burst of crying in the Eastern Palace.

Half an hour later, the news of the prince's death was officially released, and it spread throughout the court in an instant, with crying everywhere. The prince's kindness and forgiveness were deeply loved by the people. Some officials even stamped their feet and beat their chests and cried to the point of fainting.

Zhu Yuanzhang finally fell ill and did not attend court for three consecutive days. On the fourth day, he finally endured his grief and issued a nationwide mourning, strictly prohibiting talking about the establishment of the new crown prince. Those who lie would execute him and destroy his three tribes.

Two more days later, Zhu Yuanzhang gradually walked out of his grief and began to re-handle state affairs, and devoted himself to the tense and busy court affairs. He was more diligent than before. The guards in the palace sighed secretly. It was obvious that the emperor wanted to numb himself with heavy court affairs and let himself forget the pain of losing his son, but how could he forget this?

That afternoon, Zhu Yuanzhang reviewed a memorial expressionlessly. Soon, he was attracted by the content of the memorial. This was a memorial submitted by the Ministry of War. It was submitted by Ye Sheng, the commander of Shandong, who said that the sweet potato planted by thousands of households in Penglai had been successful, with a maximum yield of 3,000 kilograms of sweet potato seeds per mu. Now, 10,000 kilograms of sweet potato seeds have been transported to Beijing, hoping to be promoted nationwide.

This incident was like a spring breeze, which warmed Zhu Yuanzhang's sad heart and a long-lost smile appeared on his face. He couldn't help but mutter to himself: "The yield per mu is 3,000 kilograms, it turns out that this is true."

Zhu Yuanzhang was born into a farmer and knew the difficulty of crops. Generally, the high yield in Suhu area is only 400 to 500 kilograms. It is very normal for the dry land in the north to produce 100 to 200 kilograms of wheat per mu, but now it is 300 kilograms. With this kind of grain, the people of the Ming Dynasty will no longer starve to death. He constrained his excitement and immediately submitted a letter of instructions, ordering the Ministry of Works to be fully responsible for the matter and pilot planting in the official fields on a large scale.

Zhu Yuanzhang put down his pen, but the excitement in his heart still did not pass. He read the memorial carefully again. He couldn't help but think of Li Weizheng. Among the prince's many last words, one was that he hoped that he could allow Li Weizheng to assist his son Yunwen. Perhaps because Zhu Yuanzhang was getting older, he did not react quickly in some things before. After the Heavenly Dynasty meeting, he secretly summoned Feitingan and learned that Zhan Hui did collude with the Korean envoy to frame Li Weizheng. He gradually realized that Li Weizheng was actually revenge by the King of Qin. Although he understood it in his heart, he refused to admit his mistake. After all, Li Weizheng violated his bottom line of maritime ban.

In order to find out whether Li Weizheng continued to violate the maritime ban after being dismissed, he specially ordered Fengyang Jinyiwei to send someone to secretly monitor him. He got the news that Li Wei was raising chickens at home and was obedient to himself. This made Zhu Yuanzhang relieved. He remembered the ten thousand words letters Li Weizheng gave him about Goryeo Japan. Thinking of his bombardment of Busan, Zhu Yuanzhang finally concluded that Li Weizheng was not trying to oppose the maritime ban. He did not grow up along the coast and could not have any feelings for the sea. He was young and passionate, and he was eager to fight with Goryeo and Japan and expand the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Although it was not realistic, Zhu Yuanzhang allowed this idea. Perhaps after this major setback, Li Weizheng should have become more mature and will not be as arrogant as before.

The prince's last words mentioned that he hoped that Li Weizheng could assist Changsun. Zhu Yuanzhang could understand this suggestion. Although making Zhu Yunwen the crown prince was only one of his ideas and he needed time to think slowly, Zhu Yuanzhang was also worried that Changsun Yunwen was too young and was used by his uncles to destroy his future. Although Fang Xiaoru, Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng and others were good at learning, most of them were not familiar with the world and were too scholarly. Yunwen needed someone as good as Li Weizheng's struggle for power. Besides, Li Weizheng's life can be said to be saved by the prince, and he should be grateful to the prince.

Thinking of the prince, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart was in a state of pain. He closed his eyes in pain. After a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang slowly opened his eyes. He pondered for a moment and then issued an order: "Call Ye Tianming, the Right Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, to see me."

Soon, the guard led Ye Tianming into the imperial study. Last year, due to the poor disaster relief of Shandong's governor, the tragic phenomenon of people being cannibalized in Shandong. Zhu Yuanzhang dismissed the post of Shandong's governor and appointed Bao Zhao, the left minister of the Ministry of Revenue who was in trouble in Shandong to provide disaster relief in Shandong, as the new governor of Shandong. Ye Tianming was also moved to the left minister, while Chen Zhihao, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was old and sick, and the entire Ministry of Revenue was basically in charge of Ye Tianming.

Since Ye Tianming passed the imperial examination, Zhu Yuanzhang began to pay attention to him. He started as the chief clerk and served as a county magistrate and prefecture. He was the left minister of the Ministry of Revenue today. He was honest, shrewd and capable, and outstanding political achievements. He was highly praised by Zhu Yuanzhang and promoted him several times. Especially after he was named a princeling last year, he was the official with the highest actual power in the court. Many officials in the Eastern Palace followed him, and he already had the temperament of a leader.

Ye Tianming stepped forward and kowtowed, "I met your Majesty, Ye Tianming."

"Ye Aiqing flat!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Ye Tianming stood up and waited for Zhu Yuanzhang's question uneasy. He was the first minister Zhu Yuanzhang summoned after the death of the prince. He didn't know what happened, but he was quite nervous.

Zhu Yuanzhang saw his nervousness and smiled and comforted him, "Your dear, don't be nervous. I am in a good mood today, and I am in a good mood and it has something to do with your son-in-law."

When Ye Tianming heard the emperor mention Li Weizheng, his heart suddenly jumped up and immediately knelt down and said, "My son-in-law is still young and immature enough to anger Your Majesty, but Your Majesty forgives him. I am very grateful."

On the day Li Wei was dismissed last year, Ye Tianming happened to check the yellow book in Zhou County, Gyeonggi, and did not attend the morning court. He only found out that Li Wei was deposed after he came back the next day. He was shocked and afraid, fearing that he would implicate him, but soon the matter stopped and did not involve him, but he was always uneasy about this matter, fearing that one day he would be involved.

Seeing that he was sincere, Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said, "I will not pursue Li Weizheng's affairs anymore. I also know that he is actually young and energetic and offended too many people, but he has made a great contribution to me. I just learned about it."

As he said that, he handed Ye Sheng, the commander of Shandong, to Ye Tianming, "Look at it! There is really a 3,000 kilograms of grain per mu in the world. This is a big thing that Li Weizheng did."

Ye Tianming read it quickly, and he was secretly surprised. He was the Minister of Revenue in charge of the world's finances. Of course, he knew what it meant to produce 3,000 kilograms of grain per mu. It would completely change the passive situation of Ming Dynasty's shortage of food. This is a huge contribution. Could it be that Li Weizheng will turn over again? He was in a mess, but he did not dare to say more.

Zhu Yuanzhang took back the memorial, but stopped mentioning it. He changed the topic and said, "I remember that Li Weizheng was the first to write a letter last year, hoping to make the eldest grandson of the emperor, Yunwen the crown prince. Later, you also wrote a letter to express the same wish. I remember correctly!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's words made Ye Tianming faint. He issued an order two days ago that he would dare to argue that those who appointed the prince would be killed without mercy. Now he suddenly raised this old thing, why didn't Ye Tianming be afraid? His legs became weak and he knelt down on the ground again, and said tremblingly: "Please forgive me for your crime!"

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said, "Don't kneel down at any time. Keep your anger. I don't mean to blame you. Why are you so timid?"

Ye Tianming breathed a sigh of relief, and he suddenly felt aroused his mind and said, "Your Majesty is the power of heaven, how can I not be afraid?"

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't speak for a long time, Ye Tianming was extremely upset and hated himself for talking nonsense. After a while, Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly, "Very good, I like to listen to the truth. Being with you is like a tiger. How could I not know? What you said today shows that you are really afraid of me, which is very good."

He walked slowly in the room with his hands behind his back. He seemed to be considering a big thing. The room was very quiet. Ye Tianming knelt on the ground and did not dare to vent. After a while, Zhu Yuanzhang finally said slowly: "Chen Zhihao, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, is old and sick. He asked me several times to surrender. I also considered that after the world's yellow book was released, the Ministry of Revenue was under great pressure. You are the left minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and you can't bear such a heavy burden, so I decided to agree to Chen Zhihao's resignation. You will take over as the Minister of Revenue. Can you do it?"

Ye Tianming couldn't believe his ears, Minister of Revenue! He was promoted to Minister of Revenue. Is this true or did he hear it wrong? He was stunned for a moment. Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to know his thoughts, and smiled and said, "You heard it right. I want to promote you to Minister of Revenue in an extraordinary way."

Ye Tianming was ecstatic. He couldn't say a word. He used the kowtow of 'bang!' to express his gratitude. Zhu Yuanzhang's face suddenly sank, staring at him coldly, and whispered: "But I want to ask you, do you understand my true intention to promote you to the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue?"

Ye Tianming thought for a moment and realized that the Minister of Personnel Zhan Hui and the Minister of War Sun Jiatai both supported the King of Qin, but there was no senior civil servant who supported the Emperor Changsun Zhu Yunwen. The emperor promoted himself in an extraordinary manner, which was to make himself clearly support the Emperor Changsun and become a force to balance Zhan Hui and Sun Jiatai.

Thinking of this, he straightened his waist and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, I understand it in my heart."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, then smiled faintly and said, "Your son-in-law is actually not bad. I hope that your father-in-law and son-in-law will have a good relationship and work together to serve my eldest grandson."

The news that the emperor accepted the resignation of Chen Zhihao of the Ministry of Revenue and was promoted to the Left Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and was promoted to the Minister of Revenue and was shocked by countless people after an hour. Although Zhan Hui was promoted to the Minister of Revenue after more than ten years, he had a very experienced father and was a meritorious in the trial of Li Shanchang's case, Ye Tianming had no background. He was able to jump from Shaoqing of Dali Temple in two years and become the Minister of Revenue. It is incredible that many people think that Ye Tianming had a very good official career. If it weren't for the great disaster in Shandong, Bao Zhao was transferred, it would not be his turn.

But some knowledgeable people secretly guessed that Ye Tianming's extraordinary promotion might be related to the new prince, because the time point of promotion was too sensitive.

When he returned home from the court, officials congratulated Ye Tianming all the way. Ye Tianming returned the greetings one by one. He always returned home. He seemed to be still dreaming. As soon as he returned home, Ye Tianming immediately locked himself in the study. He wanted to calm down and think about the whole story of this matter. Speaking of this, it was because Li Weizheng told him to clearly support Zhu Yunwen. This is the root of his promotion. Could it be that the emperor's intention really decides to become the crown prince?

Although this is a bit incredible, the information conveyed by the emperor today clearly expressed this point. Ye Tianming was restless and felt that he had reached a turning point in his life destiny.

His heart was in a mess, and he thought for nearly an hour before he gradually calmed down. He opened Zhu Yuanzhang's appointment order again, Minister of Revenue? Haha! He really had such a day. Since he was the prefect of Hanyang, he dreamed that he would become the leader of the court one day, but he did not expect that he would realize this dream in just a few years.

Ye Tianming suddenly thought of Li Weizheng. This guy was indeed the lucky star he was the one he was killed. How could his vision be so accurate? He persuaded himself to surrender to the crown prince, and was promoted to the minister of the Ministry of Revenue. He then advised himself to clearly support the emperor and Changsun to take office and to the minister of the Ministry of Revenue. This was a bit like Li Weizheng told his trump card in gambling, betting on the two largest points, and he turned over completely.

Thinking of Li Weizheng, Ye Tianming thought of his mother again, and he couldn't help feeling ashamed. For Su Tong's marriage, Ye Tianming had a quarrel with his mother on the third day after Li Weizheng was dismissed. The reason was that Zhang Yue, the minister of Taichang Temple, asked him to marry him, hoping that Ye Sutong would become his daughter-in-law. Ye Tianming was quite moved and discussed with his mother. He thought that Li Weizheng would be dismissed and his mother's position would be relaxed, but he did not expect that the old lady cursed him, called him ungrateful and called him a villain. When he was about to suffer, it was Li Weizheng who helped him and helped him become the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Now that Li Wei was frustrated, he changed his face. The old lady was angry and wanted to take Ye Sutong back to her hometown. Ye Tianming could not bear the charge of unfilial piety, so she had no choice but to let the old lady take Su Tong back to her hometown.

But now Li Wei is about to turn over again. The emperor seems to have to ask him to assist the emperor's eldest grandson. He also specifically reminded them to establish a good relationship between their father-in-law and son-in-law, how to establish a good relationship, Ye Tianming knew it very well. Fortunately, he did not do anything and had room for recovery. He pondered for a long time and finally wrote a letter to his mother.

Lijia Village, Linhuai County, the Li family has been quite lively in the past two days. Li Yuanwai's new house was completed and all villagers were invited to the village. After Li Weizheng returned home, the old house of Li family was obviously not enough to live in. After the New Year, Li Yuanwai leveled three acres of wasteland behind the house and built a new house for Li Weizheng's wife and daughter. The house was completed in the past two days. In order to thank the villagers for their daily love, Li Yuanwai set up eighty tables of banquets in the village, invited all the young and old in the village, and specially invited famous zaju teams from Fengyang to cheer them up.

Early in the morning, the whole family became busy, and dozens of tenant wives and daughters rushed to help. There was a busy scene in the open space in front of Li's mansion. Li Wei was holding his two daughters and sat under a persimmon tree to teach them how to babble and learn.

The two babies were one year old during the Chinese New Year. Now they are one year and three months old. They can barely walk and speak with simple syllables. Needless to say, "father and mother", there are some things they can remember especially, such as the sister likes to say "chicken". Whenever she sees a winged person, whether it is a sparrow or a crow, she will shout happily: "chicken!"

And the sister likes to say 'fish', the same is true. As long as she sees water, she immediately points her hand and pouts, shouts: "Fish-"

Being with two little babies, Li Wei was deeply experiencing the joy of being a father. He pointed to the big tree and smiled: "You read to me, this is a 'tree'-tree!"

My sister reacted quickly and immediately said vaguely: "'Shit!'"

Li Wei was pressing her forehead against her little forehead and correcting her with a smile: "It's not the 'place', it's the 'tree'."

"Su!"

"The pronunciation is a bit similar, where are you?" Li Wei was smiling and looking at his sister who was lowering her head and playing with her fingers, "Sister, tell me."
Chapter completed!