Chapter 231 Zhu Yijun: My father may not be the crown prince, but I must be the crown prince's grandson! Zhu Yijun, who was born in the 42nd year of Jiajing, is now 28 years old and is about to reach the age of 30. At this time, he is no longer the naive and ignorant boy, but a man who can interfere in the court, fight for interests for himself, and has great foresight and multi-faceted planning. In fact, the first target was the cabinet, a group of people at the pinnacle of power in the Ming Dynasty court, and it was successful. However, few people who can hold the position of Grand Secretary of the Cabinet are simple people. He has been planning for a long time. This time he took action to achieve his goal, and it was inevitable that he would expose himself. Even Zhu Yijun himself knew that he had been planning for a long time and achieved his goal on his first try, but in fact he was just taking advantage of the fact that the cabinet was not paying attention to him. He believed that this time someone would definitely notice that there was another person in Prince Yu's Mansion who was planning for the future. At least Lord Yan, who had gone through many ups and downs and still stood firm in the court, must have noticed me. But he had already anticipated and known all this, but so what? Anyway, my goal has been achieved. "But I am still worried," Feng Bao frowned, with deep worry hidden between his brows, and said, "Your Highness, if you are suddenly exposed, it will definitely be noticed by the cabinet."
"What if we are targeted..." Feng Baowei shook his head and said, "I still think it is better to hide in the dark and make profits quietly. It will not be too late to wait until the prince is fully grown." "Feng Bao, you are wrong." Zhu Yijun shook his head slightly, stood up from the recliner, looked at the gradually increasing snow, and said with a smile: "I have completed the layout of the future in the court, and I believe that in this Ming Dynasty, no one can always hide behind the scenes and do things without being discovered." "Don't treat other people as fools, and don't think that you are the only one who is sober while everyone else is drunk. This is very stupid." "Unless," Zhu Yijun seemed to have thought of something, and then added, "This person is the emperor, who controls the world with absolute strength and power." "But if it was Grandpa Emperor, why would he hide behind the scenes and do the so-called black hand? No one in Ming Dynasty is worthy of him doing this." "No one can be the opponent of Grandpa Huang, and what I want is to be like Grandpa Huang." Zhu Yijun stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the heavy snow with burning eyes, his eyes revealing an unprecedented confidence. Seeing Zhu Yijun like this, the worry between Feng Bao's brows gradually disappeared, and his frown slowly relaxed. He has witnessed the prince's growth over the years. I'm afraid no one in the Ming Dynasty knows that the prince had already started to develop his own confidants in the Ming Immortal Palace when he was only seven years old. It is not surprising that the children of the royal family matured early and had the desire to fight for power and profit at the age of seven. Moreover, they were nourished by spiritual resources since childhood, and their mental state was different from that of ordinary people. As the royal family of the Daming Immortal Palace have grown up over the years, the children have already understood what faction they should belong to in the future and who they should support in the future. Although some members of the royal family chose to wait and see and leave, if the prince had the possibility of becoming the future heir to the empire, even if there was only a slight possibility, they would choose to support him without hesitation. In addition, in the Daming Immortal Palace, many people who are not members of the royal family have now entered the "one cabinet and two institutes" of the Ministry of Industry and participated in various projects of the "Spiritual Industrial Age". At the beginning, the Crown Prince and the Prince of King Jing chose different groups. The Crown Prince chose the royal family, while the Prince of King Jing chose officials of all ranks in the Ming Dynasty and children from poor families. The royal families pride themselves on their nobility, but now the imperial court no longer supports them, and they are forced to participate in the construction of the Ming Dynasty and become ordinary officials or members of the merchant class. These people are now all potential supporters of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Of course, the approachable Crown Prince Jing also performs exceptionally well. The two of them can be said to have their own plans. But as Zhu Yijun's close companion, Feng Bao knew that the prince still held an important card in his hand, and that card was the royal family. In the Daming Immortal Palace, the number of royal family members is the largest, and the emperor tacitly approves these royal family members to practice immortality. After all, the Zhu family should be the largest family, and there is absolutely no room for error in this regard.
So, how should these royal family members be arranged? Nowadays, various forces are entrenched in the court and competing to grow stronger, but what is the harm in providing soil for the survival and growth of the royal family? To put it bluntly, from the perspective of the Ming Dynasty, the problem of the royal family has been solved, but from the perspective of the Zhu family, there are still problems with the royal family. How to make it stronger, but also prevent it from relying on the royal status to squeeze and destroy the living soil of other forces? Obviously, this problem has been ignored by everyone. As a result, the thousands of immortal seedlings from royal families in the "Da Ming Immortal Palace" were all arranged to work in the Ministry of Works or other places, just like ordinary officials and children of commoners. It seems that they want to merge the royal family little by little and then make it disappear. What is the difference between the royal family and other families? If the royal family cannot show its extraordinaryness, wouldn't it be a loss of face for the royal family? In fact, there is nothing wrong with doing this for the Ming Dynasty. The royal family can be self-reliant and develop on their own. When they come together, they become a ball of blazing flames, a red fire that spreads across the prairie. When they are separated, they become lonely stars that spread across the universe and illuminate the sky. The emperor just needs to take care of them. In this way, the largest immortal cultivation family in the future Ming Dynasty will still be the royal family. However, for the prince who wants to develop the royal family into his own helper, there will be a lack of help invisibly. Therefore, the prince needs to unite the royal family into one, make them obey him, and help him compete with others in the future. "My father should be back from the palace. I think my grandfather must have added a 'spiritual warehouse' for the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Yijun naturally didn't know what Feng Bao was thinking. As he spoke, he turned around and walked towards the hall of the palace. Feng Bao hurriedly followed behind him. The palace, the back hall, and the living room. "Father." Zhu Yijun bowed to Prince Yu, then looked at Prince Yu who was sitting at the top seat, staring at him without saying a word, his expression was as calm as ever. He had already anticipated in his heart that after today, his father would definitely realize that he had a plan. It just so happened that he wanted to have a showdown today. Although some of the words may sound unreasonable, the fact is that my father has made a lot of efforts and plans for the future, and even reached a cooperation with King Jing. But what he didn't know was that Zhu Yijin also had plans. King Jing and his son are much smarter than his father. Today, many of the people in charge of Xu Fan's 'one pavilion and two academies', the recently established 'Dao Pavilion', and the 'Spiritual Industrial Era' are children of officials of various ranks in the Immortal Palace. These people had long since sidelined Xu Fan, the Minister of Works. Neither his father nor the Yan Party realized it, or rather ignored it. They thought that Xu Fan's Ministry of Works was under their control, and all the local officials under it were their people. Even those immortal seedlings who had left the Immortal Palace and grew up, except for the royal children, could be pawns in their hands to be manipulated at will. However, they did not know that Zhu Yijin had already completed the layout at a deeper level! When the time comes for Prince Jing and his son to show their fangs to all their political enemies, these most basic pawns responsible for building the Ming Dynasty will all turn against Prince Jing at the first opportunity. As for Xu Fan? This Minister of Industry only cares about his own achievements and is wholeheartedly trying to help his father return to the cabinet. As for the power struggles in his "One Cabinet and Two Houses" and the various projects of "Aura Industrial Era", he doesn't care at all. He didn't even care whether his own power was undermined, as long as his national policies were implemented smoothly. Unfortunately, his father, Prince Yu, was still completely unaware of this and was still accompanying his fourth uncle, Prince Jing, working to seek benefits for the army and develop the "Military Government", with his eyes long gone from the court. Others hold both military and political power, but you only focus on military power and refuse to let go. The army is very strong, but does the 'tower of power' built by the emperor allow you to launch a coup by relying on military power? From now on, events such as the Xuanwu Gate Campaign, the Fengtian Rebellion, and the Duomen Coup can only exist in history books. In the future, if you want to compete for the position of crown prince, you can only start with your ability to govern the country and then be valued by the emperor. Therefore, King Jing seemed to be only concerned with the struggle for military power, creating an illusion for outsiders that he only cared about the importance of the army after the land reform, the start of the third and fourth stages, the advent of the war era.
In fact, he was deliberately paralyzing Prince Yu and everyone else. "You have known for a long time that your royal grandfather will definitely let Xu Jie, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, Zhao Zhenji and others return to the cabinet?" The thoughts in his mind were interrupted by Prince Yu's voice, and he was brought back to reality. "Yes, I know." Zhu Yijun nodded, his voice calm, neither humble nor arrogant. He wants to confront Prince Yu today! Now that his plan has been completed and exposed under the eyes of Yan Song and others, there is no need to disguise himself anymore, because he must intervene in the fight next. As for my father Zhu Zaigui, to be disrespectful, he is not capable enough, and it is time for the power of the palace to be handed over to me. If I don't take over the power of the palace and all his influence in the military from my father, and let him continue to squander money like this, then by the time the "Lingcang" is built, Xu Jie and others return to the cabinet, and the Ninth Prince enters, it will be too late. Moreover, since he had exposed himself this time, his cousin, Prince Jing Zhu Yijin, would have no chance of hiding any longer. Looking at his son Zhu Yijun, who seemed to have changed a lot and was standing in front of him, Prince Yu frowned deeply. This was the first time in all these years that he looked at his son, who had always only known how to eat, drink and have fun, with such a formal gaze. That’s right, this was indeed the first time in more than 20 years that he looked at his son Zhu Yijun with a formal gaze. Except at the beginning, he still had illusions about his father as his son, so he had Zhu Yijun, thinking that his father would look at him differently and make him the crown prince. But later, when he knew that he had been abandoned by his father, he no longer cared about this son. All he thought about was how to squeeze the Ninth Prince's living space and how to plan for the future. What he didn't expect was that when he looked at his son so formally for the first time, he found that he was completely different from his impression of him, as if he had become a different person. One could even vaguely see some shadow of an emperor in him; this calm and unhurried demeanor was very familiar. How similar is he to his fourth brother who was full of vigor and vitality when he first came to Beijing? But the difference is that compared with his fourth brother, his son Zhu Yijun is more reserved and calm. If you want to say who he is most similar to, it is undoubtedly his father. But, how is this possible? A useless person who only knows how to eat, drink, play and enjoy himself, suddenly transformed himself and had some royal temperament? Could it be that he was hiding his incompetence? Prince Yu felt it was a little unreal. Although he didn't pay much attention to Zhu Yijun, he still had some basic understanding of him. After all, they lived in the same palace and he was his only son. Moreover, even if he didn't ask, the people around him would report it. Especially his mother, Mrs. Li, who was very concerned about her son and said good things to him. "It seems that I have underestimated you." Prince Yu spoke calmly as his mind raced. He slowly picked up the herbal tea on the table and took a sip, then said casually: "The person you want to recommend," he paused, as if he was thinking about something, and then said: "Your grandfather has already agreed to appoint Shen Shixing, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, as the prefect of Yingzhou Prefecture." At the same time, Prince Yu recalled what Zhu Yijun had said to him this morning. "Father, I have something to tell you." In the study, Prince Yu stood in front of the window with a copy of "Alchemy Encyclopedia" in his hand. He glanced at Zhu Yijun who was bowing in front of him with a serious look, and said nothing. Seeing his father like this, Zhu Yijun was not embarrassed. After all, he gave everyone the impression of being a playboy. However, thinking about his plans for the future, there are some things he must say because the time has come. "Father, the Yuxi Palace will hold a political meeting today. Grandfather the Emperor will most likely set up additional 'Spiritual Storehouses' in the capital and the prefectures around Nanjing City," Zhu Yijun said. He glanced at Prince Yu, who was frowning, and knew that he had heard what he said. He immediately continued, "As everyone knows, if you want to set up additional 'Spiritual Storehouses', you must lay spiritual veins." "Now the population of Daming is growing rapidly, Xu Butang's 'Spiritual Industrial Era' is still going on, and the resource consumption is also quite huge. The existing 'Spiritual Warehouse' alone is not enough." "Therefore, we must add a new 'Spiritual Warehouse' to provide the court with more spiritual resources."
"But as long as the spiritual veins are laid, we must make full use of them. Therefore, the imperial court will inevitably have many more immortal cultivation cities, just like Nanjing City, to promote the immortal way..." As Zhu Yijun spoke, a hint of surprise appeared in Prince Yu's eyes as he looked at his son. "It seems that you have learned a lot over the years," Prince Yu said, turning around and putting down the "Complete Guide to Alchemy" in his hand, pulling out a chair and sitting down, saying, "However, whether to add a "Spiritual Warehouse" or not depends on your grandfather's opinion." "Moreover, there are many things involved that you don't know." Prince Yu paused, and then his face darkened. "It's not easy for you to analyze these superficial things. However, I hope you can analyze them yourself." After hearing Prince Yu's words, Zhu Yijun knew the impression he had made on his father in the past, so he didn't believe that this was something he had thought up. "Did Feng Bao give you the idea?" Seeing Zhu Yijun didn't say anything, Prince Yu thought he had guessed right and his face turned cold. "These servants are getting more and more outrageous..." "But Feng Bao is quite knowledgeable. He is worthy of being Lu Fang's godson. There is no harm in letting him stay by your side. You can learn more from him on weekdays." "But remember, a slave is still a slave, and his vision is limited. It is not the way of an emperor, so don't go too deep." The ways of the emperor are not something that only the emperor can learn. The education of royal descendants can be said to be influenced by them since childhood. "Yes." Zhu Yijun did not argue with Prince Yu. After today, his father would naturally know that all this had nothing to do with Feng Bao. "Well," seeing Zhu Yijun like this, Prince Yu nodded with satisfaction and said, "Tell me, what do you want this time?" Compared to the past when he would go to his mother, Li, for whatever he wanted, this time he knew how to use court affairs to benefit himself, which was already an improvement. Thinking about how his father had never cared about this son since he gave up on him, he was more like a tool of struggle to him. For a moment, Prince Yu felt a little guilty. "I hope that you will go to Yuxi Palace to discuss politics today. If there is a suitable opportunity, please recommend someone to be the prefect. This person is Shen Shixing, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel." Zhu Yijun directly stated his purpose. The spiritual veins are being laid, the spiritual warehouses are increasing, the Ninth Prince will definitely enter the scene, and the court situation will begin a new reshuffle of power. The development of Xu Fan's "Spiritual Industrial Age" has greatly increased the development speed of the Ming Dynasty, and the third and fourth stages of land reform will inevitably begin. By then, both the government and the opposition will need someone who can keep calm and take the overall situation into consideration, so Xu Jie and others will definitely return to the cabinet. But he would not say these at this time, because his father would naturally ask him about them when the time came. Prince Yu took a deep breath and looked at Zhu Yijun in front of him. "Tell me, what's going on? I don't think it's about taking advantage of others, right?" That's right, this morning, when Zhu Yijun asked him to recommend Shen Shixing as prefect if he had the right opportunity, he initially thought that this guy must have accepted some benefits from others, so he recommended this person, and he got very angry about it. Although the internal officials are of the third rank, and the prefect is only a fourth rank official, the prefect is a position of real power. The right assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel? Don't forget that the Ministry of Personnel also has a left assistant minister. If he serves as the prefect of a place where the "prefectural wealth" increases year by year, it is a complete demotion in public and promotion in private. If there is someone else in the court, this will be a huge springboard! Once promoted again, he would be promoted to the rank of a high-ranking official in one of the six ministries, or even the Inspectorate or the Provincial Governor. In the future, the entire Ming Dynasty will surely have its people cultivate immortality and lay spiritual veins. Once one becomes a high-ranking official in a certain area, it can be said that he will bring blessings to the entire family. It can be seen that Shen Shixing put in a lot of effort to get in touch with Zhu Yijun, and this man is quite ambitious. It was precisely because he was worried that Zhu Yijun would be used as a tool that he became angry. However, before this, he had already made up his mind not to promote this person, but he did not expect that the situation in the court would change suddenly.
Xu Jie was transferred back to the cabinet, and the position of prefect of Yingzhou Prefecture became vacant. With the idea of making the next move as a side move, he recommended this person. In his opinion, since Shen Shixing was able to set his sights on Zhu Yijun, he was a capable person and might be useful. Of course, these were his initial thoughts, but the moment he saw Zhu Yijun, he suddenly realized that this guy had already anticipated this. "I dare not deceive my father..." Since he had come to confront his father, Zhu Yijun naturally spoke without reservation and revealed all his intentions and plans to Prince Yu. This conversation lasted for a full two hours. The expression on Prince Yu's face also changed from confusion, curiosity, and inquiry at the beginning to shock and disbelief. Even after Zhu Yijun finished speaking, Prince Yu still had an expression of disbelief on his face, looking at his son in front of him as if he was looking at a monster. He didn't expect that Zhu Yijun had been fighting openly and secretly with Zhu Yijin in the Immortal Palace since he was seven years old to develop their respective forces. Afterwards, the immortal seedlings in the Immortal Palace infiltrated into various projects of the Ming Dynasty's most important "Spiritual Industrial Era" without anyone noticing. Even the "one cabinet and two courts" controlled by Xu Fan had their power stripped away by Zhu Yijun and Zhu Yijin's men. Who could have thought that Xu Fan, the current Minister of Industry, who holds the most important "one cabinet and two academies" and "national policy of the spiritual energy industrial era", would be sidelined? And Xu Fan didn't show any sign of this? Was he cunning? Not necessarily, maybe he just didn't care. After all, the purpose of Zhu Yijun and Zhu Yijin was just to infiltrate the foundation of the Ming Dynasty during the implementation of the "one cabinet and two academies" and the "national policy of the spiritual industrial era." The two parties have different goals, but the same destination. Xu Fan was too lazy to fight for these. As long as the "Spiritual Industrial Era" was successfully completed, he could help his father return to the cabinet. Of course, what shocked Prince Yu even more was that Prince Jing and his son had already had other plans. The so-called cooperation was just a cover for Prince Jing to conceal his true purpose. This made him angry but also helpless. He was willing to endure it at that time, so could he blame King Jing? "The above is all my plan..." Zhu Yijun gave Prince Yu a long time before speaking. "What is your purpose in doing this?" Prince Yu finally came to his senses and asked in a somewhat dry voice. "I want the military power in my father's hands, I want to control Prince Yu's Mansion, and even the military power of the world!" Zhu Yi paused for a moment, and then said in a deep voice: "I want to be the crown prince!" "But, I was abandoned by your royal grandfather..." Upon hearing Zhu Yijun's purpose, Prince Yu was a little surprised, but also relieved. This kid has been planning for so long and so deeply. If he doesn't have a bigger goal, that would be weird. However, what he didn't expect was that Zhu Yijun's next words shocked him even more. "Father may not be the crown prince, but I must be the crown prince's grandson!" Zhu Yijun said with a cold look in his eyes, confidently: "Besides, if there can be a prince who lives for ten thousand years, why can't there be a grandson who lives for ten thousand years? Does it matter whether it is the direct line of blood or not?" "If there is a crown prince, there can be a crown prince grandson. Times have changed. Whether it is a crown prince or a crown prince grandson, it is ultimately a difference in power. In fact, they are just two different positions!" "..." (End of this chapter)