I'm really not doing business

Chapter 663: His Royal Highness Prince Lu is Still a Little Conservative

A person's life is probably like that of Sun Wukong. At the beginning, he is full of curiosity about everything and studies tirelessly. After mastering the skills, he feels that he is the only one in the world. Soon, he encounters setbacks again and again. He constantly settles down in the setbacks, constantly compromises with reality, and finally becomes the same as everyone else.

Compromising with the objective rules and regulations in reality is like the golden hoop. The golden hoop on Monkey King’s head was never put on him by the Bodhisattva, and Tang Monk’s tight hoop curse could never influence Monkey King’s behavior.

The Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun put a golden hoop on himself from the day he became emperor. This golden hoop represented the country and the people, and he could not act recklessly.

And now, Zhu Yiliu is the only one in the world who is supreme, and the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty is Zhu Yiliu's heaven.

Zhu Yiliu committed many evil deeds in the capital. He had a long record of crimes, including extorting wealthy families in Xitu City, hunting down dissidents, bombarding Lianyun Bookstore, humiliating officers and soldiers by hanging them on the city walls, uprooting twelve bookstores and digging them up three feet into the ground. Now he was sending people to the Grand Court in the Meridian Gate for public trial. This was the Zhu Yiliu who was causing trouble in the capital.

The ministers who stayed in the court now did not say a word. Even Shen Li, who was known for his uprightness and righteousness, simply asked about the imperial edict. When he learned that Prince Lu arrested people because of the imperial edict, he chose to remain silent.

The court meeting continued, but Zhu Yiliu kept yawning and seemed a little lazy.

Li Youzi, the Right Censor of the Metropolitan Censorate, frowned and said, "There is a censor who said: God hates those who are false, which is already very clear. Moreover, if we follow the method and wait for the day, the saint will be able to see through it. Now the labor service is heavy, the tax is imposed one after another, the treasury is exhausted, the army is exhausted, and the people are in poverty, which is getting worse day by day. If we are close to Confucian officials, clarify the right path, and implement good policies, we can inspire good fortune, prolong the saint's life, and enjoy the blessing of peace forever. Why do we need those heretical sayings?"

"What this means is that the heaven hates hypocrisy, which is proven by history. It's like refining the elixir. If you follow the recipe, you only need to calculate the time and wait for it to succeed. Being close to Confucian officials, clarifying the right path, and practicing good governance are the right path. But now your majesty has been deceived and is relying on heresy."

Zhu Yiliu sat up straight, pulled out a blank imperial edict, and said sternly, "Who said that? Zhao Zhenyuan, arrest him immediately and send him to the Northern Pacification Office!"

Murder, arson, arrest and extortion were the evil deeds committed yesterday. Today, we will start to do evil starting from the court meeting!
"When my brother was here, I didn't dare to say anything. But when my brother went to the Southern Court, they all jumped out. What does this censor mean? Is it heresy? Is it the theory of contradiction, the theory of public and private, the theory of production diagram, or the first and second volumes of the theory of class? F**k him! In the twelfth year of the Wanli Reform, everything proved that the theory of contradiction was correct!"

"He was deceived by someone. By whom? By the gentleman? By Wang Ci Fu? Does he dare to speak clearly?!"

"He thinks I am a child, bullies me and deceives me, and even wants to alienate my relationship with my brother. He deserves death!"

Zhu Yiliu had been following the emperor in attending government affairs for these years, and he had learned all the tricks of the despicable Confucian scholars. He was very adept at accusing others, and he could do it with ease. In fact, if you looked closely, the censors also spoke like this on a daily basis, but they were immediately accused by Zhu Yiliu of sowing discord between the prince and the emperor.

These despicable Confucian scholars usually love to pursue values ​​the most, and they would elevate small things to a terrifying height, such as the coughing at the Chao Ri Tan Forum and the impeachment of Tan Lun.

Li Youzi and Shen Li looked at Zhu Yiliu in amazement. How could such a big hat be buttoned so smoothly?
"I am not the emperor's brother. I don't have the patience to come to see you, explain things earnestly and carefully, and teach you tirelessly. I just can't stand his nonsense. Go and arrest him immediately!" Zhu Yiliu slammed the imperial table and ordered the imperial guards to arrest the man.

"Wait a minute, Captain Zhao, wait a minute." Zhu Yiliu suddenly stretched out his hand and asked Zhao Zhenyuan, who was about to leave, to sit down.

Li Youzi said hurriedly, "Your Majesty lives in seclusion in the palace, and the ministers who speak out are afraid of punishment and keep silent. If the ministers who speak out do not speak out, who will be willing to speak out for Your Majesty? Your Highness is sensible and knows that the censors are Your Majesty's eyes and ears, so you should allow them to speak."

Li Youzi thought that Zhu Yiliu had come to his senses and realized the importance of the censors, so he chose to stop.

"No, no, no. Thank you, Chief Censor, for bringing out all the memorials from the censors. I want to see if there are any other words that go against the will of heaven and arrest them all at once to save the Imperial Guards from running around all the time." Zhu Yiliu waved his hands repeatedly.

Obviously Li Youzi misunderstood his opinion.

Zhu Yiliu is not not arresting people, he is planning to expand the scope!

If you think that this lowly scholar would exaggerate this trick, you are totally wrong. Zhu Yiliu has seen this for twelve years and is familiar with this trick.

Use religion to defeat religion, and use magic to defeat magic.

Li Youzi stared with eyes wide open, looking at it in disbelief for a long time before saying, "Oh, here, let me see how many memorials there are."

Li Youzi, the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Ming Dynasty, was already sweating profusely. He now had only one idea: when His Majesty went on a southern tour, he should exhaust all means, even if he had to hold the wheels of the carriage, to follow him south. Serving Prince Lu was really a huge challenge.

Nothing in the world is perfect. Once you gain something, you will inevitably lose it.

So what did Zhu Yiliu lose by acting so recklessly? He had no desire for the throne, and that was what Zhu Yiliu lost.

The position of emperor is more tiring than a donkey working in a mill. Whoever wants to do it can do it. If the crown prince is still young, Prince Lu would never be willing to step out from the crowd of beauties and deal with these mundane affairs. It would be a better thing if he had time to study rope-binding skills with beauties from all over the world.

After Zhao Zhenyuan confirmed the list of "opinion trash", he led the imperial guards to attack the Censorate. After a burst of crying, Zhao Zhenyuan took away three censors. These censors will be locked up in the Beizhenfusi Yamen, and will not be released until His Majesty returns to Beijing.

The court meeting was quite long, so long that Zhu Yiliu kept staring at the clock on the Wenhua Hall. Since the completion of the bell and drum tower of the main government office, the Ming Dynasty had a new industry, clocks and watches. Various kinds of clocks emerged one after another, and this clock was the New Year gift given to His Majesty by the Royal Institute of Gewu.

At 11:30 in the morning, Zhu Yiliu immediately interrupted the ministers who were still discussing the matter in the court and said, "Today's court discussion ends here. Let's see the cabinet's draft and leave the court!"

After Zhu Yiliu finished speaking, he turned around and left without even having a chance to talk to his ministers. Just kidding, during the banquet, whenever those grand secretaries stayed late, he would complain bitterly. As for being the regent, even if it was time to go off duty, he would not bother to stay for even a second longer.

"Your Highness, you have to go to the Imperial Study to review memorials." Li Yougong reminded His Highness of his next itinerary, which was still to be reviewed.

If there are many matters to be discussed in court and they will be delayed, Your Majesty will go directly to the Beida camp to review the troops and horses after lunch. If he has this half hour, he will review some memorials and reduce the workload after returning to the palace in the afternoon.

"Okay." Zhu Yiliu had no objection and walked to the imperial study in Tonghe Palace.

Zhu Yiliu looked at the pile of memorials and asked in shock, "So many?"

"The prince went to search the house yesterday, and the memorials from yesterday and today were piled together, so there are so many." Li Yougong explained why there were so many memorials.

If you didn't do it yesterday, you have to make up for it today.

"No, no! Go eat!" Zhu Yiliu originally wanted to learn from his brother to be a little more diligent, but when he saw so many, he decided to be lazy. Too many lice don't itch, too many debts don't worry, it won't be too late to look in the afternoon.

"His Majesty has prepared some seals for Your Highness. If Your Highness is bored, just use the seals directly." Li Yougong did not let Zhu Yiliu leave, but arranged a box of seals. On the seals were words like 'I know', 'Send to Your Majesty on a southern tour', 'Submit a memorial to the six ministries for discussion', 'The cabinet will draft a vote, please see', 'Not allowed', 'OK', etc., just to make it easier for Zhu Yiliu to be lazy.

Zhu Yiliu's eyes lit up, and he looked at the row of seals and said happily, "Hahaha, it's my royal brother who knows me well! Knowing that I'm lazy, my royal brother specially prepared these things for me, great!"

"What does it say on this one? Fart? Interesting, interesting."

This was specially made for Zhu Yiliu. "Bullshit", "Nonsense", "Have you ever read a book?", "Don't write again", "Idiot", "All the books of saints have been fed to dogs" and other such insults were used. A seal was also engraved for Zhu Yiliu's use.

Zhu Yijun was the emperor, he could not say such dirty words. In order to increase Zhu Yiliu's enthusiasm in handling miscellaneous affairs, Zhu Yijun tried every possible way.

"Look for a while, look for a while, hehe." Zhu Yiliu did not always use the seal. His Majesty was still too gentle. In some memorials that he did not like, Zhu Yiliu directly scolded him, saying things like "Your brain was kicked by a donkey, pigs are smarter than you, do your parents know you are like this?" This kind of words were very offensive.

Zhu Yiliu did another bad thing today. He cursed people while reviewing memorials, showing that he did whatever he wanted and would not tolerate any grievances.

The censors of the Ming Dynasty even had to get involved in a battle to defend their own fathers and mothers.

"Oh my God, is this a job for a human being?" Zhu Yiliu became tired after looking at it for a while. He didn't even have the energy to curse. He took the seal on the table, stamped a few copies, and then collapsed completely on the chair.

Zhu Yiliu had no idea how his royal brother could read these ridiculous articles. It was simply mental torture.

"Your Highness, please be careful with your words." Li Yougong said hurriedly. One must not criticize the king behind his back.

Zhu Yiliu was not one to be cautious with his words. He said carelessly, "My brother told me that if you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. Your Majesty is really not an ordinary person. Give me this job. I will ask the Imperial Household Department to approve it."

"Li Dayong, if my brother knew that I had behaved so recklessly, would he simply stop touring the south and return to the northern yamen?"

"Your Majesty has sent a letter." Li Yougong took out a letter sent by the southern tour team. His Majesty had just been away for one day, so the correspondence was naturally very fast.

"Bring it here quickly!" Zhu Yiliu took the letter, opened it and saw two words written on it: That's it?

"That's it? Just these two words? No other instructions? It would be fine if you didn't reprimand me for acting like this, but you even mocked me?!" Zhu Yiliu looked at the letter, his face visibly becoming redder, and it was obvious that his defenses were a little broken.

Just these two words revealed the emperor's brother's slight disappointment. The iron fist of feudal autocracy was only so powerful.

Zhu Yiliu suddenly remembered that his elder brother had killed the lowly scholar Chen Youren with his own hands. Chen Youren glorified the Japanese pirates and slandered Qi Jiguang's expedition to the east to suppress the Japanese pirates. His elder brother killed him in the street.

The imperial brother has been dancing with shackles and living with a mask. The imperial brother who kills without blinking an eye is the real imperial brother.

"No, what the emperor meant was spoiled. In other words, just keep doing it. It won't be a big problem." Zhu Yiliu put away the letter and said, "After dinner, if you have nothing to do, go to the street and find a few unlucky guys and put them in jail."

Zhu Yiliu had his lunch happily and then really took his men to the streets. This time they were going to arrest bandits.

There are also bandits in the capital, but thanks to the strong control of Wang Yi'e, Shen Yikuan and Wang Xiyuan, the scene of "ten miles outside the capital, there are groups of tens of hundreds of bandits, greed is unstoppable, and people's resentment is deepening" has disappeared. However, this does not mean that the capital has become a kingdom of gods on earth. In fact, bandits are still everywhere in the capital.

This time, Zhu Yiliu mainly targeted the water holes in the city. Many wellheads centered on the Sweet Water Well were occupied by a group of water carriers. Water carriers had the hardest job, carrying water back and forth between the towns and cities, traveling all the time, regardless of winter or summer. However, the money they earned through hard work was often taken away by these water tyrants.

This time, Zhu Yiliu and Zhao Zhenyuan paraded through the city to catch these water bullies. Zhu Yiliu was making trouble in the capital, and the Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun had already reached Tianjin Prefecture. Thanks to the construction of the Chidao, it only took one day for the Ming Emperor's large southern tour team to reach the Tianjin Prefecture Palace.

The larger the scale, the slower the marching speed. Even a famous general like Xu Da, who led the army, could only march thirty miles a day. However, the emergence of the Chidao and iron horses increased the marching efficiency of the Ming army from thirty miles a day to ninety miles a day.

If there were not so many followers traveling day and night, the fastest time to travel from the Southern Court to the Northern Court, while ensuring safety, would be fifteen days, as demonstrated by the personal experience of Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty.

In the first year of Hongxi, Ming Renzong Zhu Gaochi died suddenly of illness. Zhu Zhanji, who was inspecting the Southern Court at the time, had to rush to the Northern Court to succeed to the throne day and night. It took exactly fifteen days from the time he received the obituary to the time he rushed back to the Northern Court.

Zhu Yijun naturally did not need to rush so much. He arrived at Yangzhou Prefecture in March, crossed the river and went to Nan Ya, went to Suzhou in April, and went to Songjiang Prefecture in May. His subsequent itinerary was not determined.

The Southern Tour had been called for for several years and took nearly a year to prepare, so the itinerary was completely determined and announced to all parties before departure.

When the emperor went on tour, there was absolutely no such thing as a secret visit.

Zhu Yijun stayed in the same Yanzheng Building where he had stayed during the last naval review, as he had a large number of entourage and needed a venue to arrange accommodation.

"During this tour, even though I have repeatedly issued decrees, telling local officials that all supplies along the way should be stored by the authorities in Beijing, and not taken from the people. The purpose of the tour is to provide relief to the people, inquire about their customs and observe their habits. No large-scale arrangements should be made in any place we pass through. The people must settle down and live in peace as usual. Otherwise, it will disturb and burden the people. I have issued such decrees, but it seems that the local officials have not followed them well." Zhu Yijun said to Zhang Juzheng with emotion.

This is actually the embodiment of the bureaucracy being fully accountable to its superiors.

The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty had repeatedly stressed that no extravagant reception should be held, and all supplies for the southern tour had already been prepared by the authorities in Beijing. However, when the Emperor arrived in Tianjin Prefecture, although the Prefect of Hejian Prefecture Zhang Youxin and the Prefect of Cangzhou Jiao Liguo did not create a scene that would have drawn thousands of people to the streets, they still arranged a grand welcome ceremony with drums and gongs.

The city of Tianjin had obviously undergone a thorough cleaning, and even the gaps between bricks had been cleaned where the emperor passed.

"Prefect Zhang is in a dilemma. If he doesn't do this, the censors will accuse him of disrespecting the royal court. If he does this in a big way, he will be accused of being unthrifty. No matter what he does, it will be wrong. Today's situation has been reduced to the utmost possible." Zhang Juzheng spoke up for Zhang Youxin.

Zhang Youxin had racked his brains to find a balance, making His Majesty feel solemn while preventing the censors from finding fault and impeaching him. He also had to win His Majesty's favor. Otherwise, this reception was supposed to be a matter of flattery, and it would seem a bit stupid if he ended up flattering the horse's hoof.

Zhang Youxin really wanted to make progress, so he specially arranged for the craftsmen and weavers from the official factory of Tianjin State Weaving Bureau to welcome him at the station. The effect was surprisingly good. His Majesty talked with the craftsmen and weavers for a long time, mainly asking about four things: labor remuneration in Tianjin's official factory, official housing, three-level schools, and Huimin Pharmacy.

Labor remuneration is distributed to the lower levels, while official housing, three-level schools, and people-friendly pharmacies are welfare.

Lin Fucheng criticized the Ming Dynasty's official factories and group-building system for being bound to fail. He said that the Ming Dynasty's official factories and group-building system focused too much on the two battlefields of fairness in the labor market and the ownership of the means of production. It was also necessary to look at another battlefield, which was the rights that people must have and obtain, namely human rights. Only when craftsmen were truly incorporated into the ruling class could the official factories and group-building system have a chance to continue.

This was the lesson learned from the system of resident craftsmen when Zheng He sailed to the West. At that time, the shipbuilding industry of the Ming Dynasty was at its peak. But when Emperor Taizong Wen left, the resident craftsmen could only flee and fend for themselves, because the craftsman class was not part of the ruling class.

In the Ming Dynasty, the most important thing to become part of the ruling class is education.

"There are a total of 832 scholars in Hejian Prefecture this year, and 86 of them are craftsmen, which is about 10%. It is very good." Zhu Yijun talked about this year's Hejian Prefecture's entrance examination with a smile.

Hejian Prefecture was naturally not as good as Shuntian Prefecture. In fact, the number of scholars was only 420. During the Hongwu period, there were 20 scholars in a county, 30 in a state, and 40 in a prefecture. However, due to various reasons, the number of scholars was expanded several times, and it has increased from 420 at the beginning of the country to 830.

"There are a total of 1,200 students in the three-level schools. I am very pleased. One percent is not enough. I hope that before I die, I can see that 30% of them can be scholars, juren and jinshi who come from a former craftsman background. Then I will die with peace of mind." Wang Chonggu said very solemnly.

"What are you talking about, dead or alive? Don't say anything discouraging, Deputy Prime Minister." Zhu Yijun said very unhappily, "Pah, pah, pah, you are such a bad mouth."

Wang Chonggu had not originally planned to accompany His Majesty on the southern tour. He was old and tired from the long journey, and was afraid that he would die halfway through the journey. But Wang Chonggu finally took the initiative to mention that he wanted to accompany His Majesty on the southern tour. He thought of the old story of Sima Yi and Li Jing. Sometimes, people have to save their own dignity instead of letting His Majesty say: In the past, Sima Zhongda (Sima Yi) was not old and sick, but he was able to strengthen himself and make great contributions to the Wei Dynasty.

Sima Yi staged a plot to seize the throne by sending his own death squad, which made all the older ministers in later generations nervous. In addition, Wang Chonggu was a traitor himself, so he had no choice but to follow the emperor and go south.

"Where is Marquis Ningyuan?" Zhu Yijun looked around and didn't see Li Chengliang, so he asked where he was going.

Qi Jiguang said evasively: "I went to a brothel. It's really hard to describe it in words."

Li Chengliang did what he said. He told His Majesty that he went south to see the differences between the brothels on the Qinhuai River and his brothels in Tieling. As soon as he arrived at a place, he went straight there.

"This..." Wan Shihe said with his eyes wide open, "He is the dignified Ningyuan Marquis. Even if he doesn't care about his reputation, the court still needs it. How can this marquis visit a brothel?"

"Go if you want to. After fighting for a lifetime, it's normal to enjoy yourself." Zhu Yijun said indifferently, "The reputation of the country is not supported by these red tapes."

In fact, Wan Shihe quickly figured out the reason behind this. This was actually just a means for Li Chengliang to protect himself. If he liked money and beauty, he would not pursue power excessively. He has now even given up the military power of the Liaodong Army.

This is a very risky move. If Your Majesty does not protect Li Chengliang, the generals who have lost their military power will be like lambs to be slaughtered.

However, Li Chengliang had been in the capital for more than a month, and no censor had impeached him, because Your Majesty's attitude and position were clear and everyone in the capital knew it.

"Your Majesty, please ask His Royal Highness Prince Lu to restrain himself a little." Zhang Juzheng finally couldn't help it and talked about what happened in the capital. No one else mentioned it, so he was the only one who could talk about it, and he was the only one who had the qualifications to bring up this matter.

Not everyone can bear the blame for sowing discord between the emperor's brothers.

"I think he hasn't done enough." Zhu Yijun looked at Wang Chonggu and asked, "What do you think, Wang Cifu?"

"It only took less than two cuts to make a box of floating tickets. I think it is indeed not enough. Your Highness Prince Lu is still a little conservative." Wang Chonggu said with certainty. He gave so many blank floating tickets because he thought that this devil would definitely poke a hole in the sky, but Prince Lu only used two cuts, which was a bit disappointing.

Wang Chonggu said very directly: "Your Majesty, these cheap scholars are all like this. If they don't get beaten, how can they remember your Majesty's kindness? Do they think they should speak freely? It's all because of your majesty's kindness that you don't care about them and don't appreciate your kindness. Instead, they keep chattering."

"It's only this public trial that's interesting, the rest is just childish nonsense."

In Wang Chonggu's view, even the most violent means, bombarding Lianyun Bookstore, is just a child's play, a small fight and a small scene, which has no impact on the overall situation. Bombarding a Lianyun Bookstore is nothing, at most it is a part of Xiong Tingbi's legendary story, and he has wiped out a group of rebels with ulterior motives.

But in Wang Chonggu's opinion, setting up an open-air yamen outside the Meridian Gate for public trials was an extremely important step in the construction of the Ming Dynasty's legal system, and it even had far-reaching implications. However, Wang Chonggu had not yet figured out some of the details.

Zhu Yijun sat up straight and said with a serious face: "Speaking of this public trial, I also think that Liu'er has done a good job, but I am also worried that Liu'er just had a spur of the moment idea and was just having fun. The Second Assistant should make some plans in his busy schedule, write a memorial, and fix the system design."

"I remember the mutiny at Luomu Camp. The governor of Zhejiang, Wu Shanyan, was beheaded outside Luomu Camp and in front of Yongchang Gate, which calmed the people's anger. Although justice came late, it was finally served, and the resentment in the hearts of the people naturally dissipated."

"Your Majesty, do you mean to establish a regular system?" Wang Chonggu frowned, and then his eyes became brighter and brighter. He really accomplished this task. In the future, when the Spring and Autumn Annals make judgments, who would dare to say that he was a traitor!

"That's right." This is exactly what Zhu Yijun thought. There must be a trigger mechanism, an application scenario, and an institutional design. All of these require someone to give advice. The Minister of Justice for the twelfth year is just the right person.

"When encountering a civil uprising, holding a person on public trial is indeed a way to quickly appease the people." Wang Chonggu frowned and said, "This matter is of great importance. Please allow me to think carefully."

"No rush. The road to the southern tour is still long. Just take your time to think about it." Zhu Yijun said with a smile on his face.

"Your Majesty..." Zhang Juzheng said tentatively, "Your Majesty, you should ask Prince Lu to be more restrained. The emperor has left the capital, and everything should be stable. It's nonsense enough, so it's better not to do it again in the future."

"Sir, you acquiesced at the beginning. Am I supposed to go back to Beijing now to collect the imperial edict and then continue my southern tour? Forget it, just let him go." Zhu Yijun talked about the box of imperial edicts before leaving Beijing.

When Zhu Yijun gave Prince Lu that huge box of imperial edicts, you, the imperial teacher, the grand tutor, the prime minister, and Zhang Juzheng, the Earl of Yicheng, all saw it with your own eyes. You didn't object then, but it's too late to object now.

Zhang Juzheng acquiesced, actually he just wanted Prince Lu to teach the lowly Confucian a lesson. As a result, Prince Lu caused such a big fuss, but the emperor still seemed to enjoy watching the fun.

In the incident where Zhu Yiliu caused a disturbance in the capital, Zhang Juzheng was the conservative, Zhu Yijun was the centrist, and Wang Chonggu was the radical.

"Your Majesty, I agree with the Grand Tutor's opinion." Hai Rui stood up and expressed his support for Zhang Juzheng. This monkey still had to be put under a golden hoop. If he continued to act like this, when Hai Rui returned to Beijing, the Censorate would be moved directly to the Northern Pacification Office, and all the censors would be arrested by Prince Lu and taken to the Northern Pacification Office.

"Zhongxian Hai, if I want Prince Lu to restrain himself, I have to go back to the capital. Zhongxian Hai, think about it, who can make Prince Lu restrain himself?" Zhu Yijun spread his hands. He was not in the capital, so even if he issued an edict to reprimand him, with Zhu Yiliu's personality, it would go in one ear and out the other.

"Empress Dowager Li...Prince De...it seems like there's really no one else who can do it." Hai Rui counted two people and found no one who could do it.

Everyone knew that Empress Dowager Li doted on Prince Lu. If Empress Dowager Li loved Prince Lu ten points, she would have given Prince Lu twelve points, and the Ming Emperor Zhu Yijun, who was strictly disciplined and restrained, would have owed him two points.

His Royal Highness Prince De Zhu Zaiyu was obsessed with the infinite principles of all things and had long transcended the five elements. He was completely indifferent to these mundane affairs. Even if the northern barbarians reached the capital, Zhu Zaiyu would probably not even come out of the Royal Academy of Studies.

Hai Rui sighed heavily and said, "Then let those ignorant censors stay in jail for a while to learn a lesson. Maybe they will learn some truths."

It is better to experience the truth once in person than to tell it a thousand times. Hai Rui could only wish the imperial censors to gain enlightenment in the prison.

"That's the only way." Zhang Juzheng finally agreed with His Majesty's statement.

Zhang Juzheng and Hai Rui have tried their best to save him. It is not a question of whether Your Majesty is willing or not. Even if Your Majesty really heard the advice and issued an imperial edict, it would be of no use. If Your Majesty wants to restrain the lawless Prince Lu, he can only return to Beijing.

I can only say that these despicable Confucian scholars deserve it.

(End of this chapter)