Wind rises time and space gate

Chapter 498: Hidden Benefits

Several officials from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue were all moved and sighed when they received the generous gifts from the King of Yue. After this experience, the scale in their hearts gradually leaned towards the King of Yue.

There seemed to be no changes in the court, but at the same time, something seemed to have changed.

More and more people invited Jiang and Xiang to drink. Mrs. Jiang and her two daughters-in-law also frequently went to various banquets.

Jiang Wentao and Zhao Guangyuan talked about this matter, and they both felt a little uneasy. "Your Highness, this time I have helped you. There are more people talking about the prince's immorality behind his back."

Many fence-sitters began to approach the King of Yue, and many officials began to re-evaluate the King of Yue.

Zhao Guangyuan naturally felt this change. "We should be thankful that most officials are still dedicated to the country and the people. Not all of them are driven by profit."

"Yes, this is a blessing for Da Qi."

In order to cover up the evidence, the prince's subordinates did not hesitate to flood the people, resulting in the death of hundreds of innocent civilians. Two court officials who protected the prince were also killed by the prince to silence them.

Although some of the prince's men came out to confess and take the blame in this matter, and the prince denied all responsibility, no official is foolish.

"Your Majesty, should you quietly tell those people that you have a prince? I think some people are still optimistic about you, but they are worried because you will have no heir after your death."

If one is the crown prince, having no heir is a fatal flaw. Having few heirs does not give one an advantage when choosing a crown prince, let alone having no heir.

Every time there is a dispute in the imperial court over the issue of succession, there will always be a bloody storm. If the prince had an heir, Jiang Wentao felt that everything would be different.

This is also the reason why no important ministers have approached the prince even though he has returned to Beijing for more than a year.

Zhao Guangyuan knew this. If he announced that he had an heir, he might receive many ministers' surrender. Those who wanted to gain the merit of following the emperor would also gather around him. In this way, he would not be short of manpower.

But now is not the best time.

He shook his head, "The time is not right yet."

Jiang Wentao nodded. "I will obey your Majesty."

After the court meeting that day, Zhao Guangyuan and his officials and staff discussed matters frequently, and everyone felt aggrieved for the King of Yue.

The King of Yue had a very good reputation for his business outside the capital this time. During the flood, he comforted the people and delivered various supplies in a timely manner. He also paid for relief money out of his own pocket, helping the people resume their lives and production and avoiding a turmoil. He was praised by everyone in the local area.

Everyone knows that there is a King of Yue in Kyoto.

If anyone else had been in charge, the result would not have been so good. The two places would have been in chaos.

However, in order to stabilize the court and maintain the status of the prince, the emperor not only suppressed the King of Yue's achievements, but also only fined the prince and confined him to his house for the mistakes he made.

This made the officials of the Prince of Yue's Palace very angry.

Zhao Guangyuan consoled him, "It's not a bad thing. At least we know that the emperor is determined to protect the prince. We still need to make long-term plans."

Zhao Guangyuan didn't say that he got the news that the emperor called the prince into the palace and scolded him for a full hour. He believed that the prince's position in his heart was not so solid. Once the big rock is loosened, it will be much easier to pry it open.

Moreover, the mistake the prince made this time is very similar to that of his royal brother that year, but what was his royal brother's ending, and what was Zhao Guanghuan's ending.

It is impossible for the Emperor not to make a comparison.

It was impossible for the ministers not to make a comparison. Sympathy for his brother would naturally transfer some of the goodwill to him, which was a good thing for Zhao Guangyuan.

Moreover, his brother did not order anyone to assassinate the prince, did not attack the court officials, and did not order anyone to withhold half of the silver. The ministers were still sharp-eyed. It was not easy for the ministers to go directly to the King of Yue, but with the help of the King of Lu and Jiang Xiang, Zhao Guangyuan also met with some ministers in private and secretly won over many people.

Among them, the Minister of Works led several officials to the neighboring Ministry of Agriculture to thank the King of Yue because several of his inspectors were protected by the King of Yue.

It can be regarded as a choice to stand in the camp of King Yue.

Among the six ministers, only Minister of Works Shi Miao had a clean family background, without any connection to the interests of the Crown Prince and the King of Qin, so Zhao Guangyuan got a good deal. He had taken control of one of the six ministries.

In addition, the officials in Beijing did not clearly support him, but in the cities, no matter who took over the two prefectures of Linzhao and Luocheng, it would not shake the status of the King of Yue in the hearts of the people in the two places.

Apart from these two cities, the people of Lizhou and Yanzhou rented land to grow vegetables and opened workshops to solve livelihood problems and provide employment after the disaster. These two places are also well-known to everyone. The two places are also watched by the prefect Li Mao. Zhao Guangyuan believes that he has control over these two states.

In addition, he has Yuezhou, his fief, which is also impregnable. Now he has five states in his hands.

Zhao Guangyuan spread out the map and looked at it carefully with his colleagues.

He is different from the Crown Prince and the King of Qin. Those two only set their sights on the capital, but he is different.

Zhao Guangyuan scanned the map; his target was the entire Da Qi.

The cities were slowly infiltrated and captured one by one, forming a siege on the capital. Even if the capital could not be captured after a long siege, any place could be the capital!

Others first occupied the capital and then forced other cities to surrender to the central government, but he first captured the outer cities and then surrounded the capital, forcing it to become an isolated island. The countryside surrounded the city.

In modern times, it is not in vain that he spent so much time in the library.

All the Mu Liao were excited when they heard the King of Yue's plan.

"We should try to nominate a few of our people to serve in Luocheng and Linzhao. I'm afraid we'll have to lay off a lot of people this time, so we can take this opportunity to place new people there."

Moreover, the emperor suppressed the merits of the King of Yue. As long as the King of Yue recommended him, the emperor would not refuse.

After discussing with a group of officials for several days, Zhao Guangyuan selected the relatives and clansmen related to the officials who surrendered and entered the palace after getting the list.

Emperor Zhizheng felt a little uncomfortable when he saw him.

He thought that if he allowed the prince to do what he wanted, his son would probably not be able to stand in front of him properly now.

Thinking of what Liu Qi said, he had more than ten new and old wounds on his body, he couldn't help but ask: "Are your injuries feeling better?"

Zhao Guangyuan hid the sarcasm on his face and said, "It's scabbed."

There was a moment of silence between the father and son.

Emperor Zhizheng wanted to say something but he didn't say it in the end. He was the ruler of a country, and everything he did was for the court and for the stability of his country. He didn't need to explain to anyone why he did it.

"I heard that you didn't go to the Ministry of Revenue to collect the one million taels of silver you paid for it?"

"Yes, I saw with my own eyes that after the flood, the people in the two places lived in dire straits. I instructed the Ministry of Revenue to transfer the silver directly to the county government offices of the two places to build roads and bridges, and improve some livelihood projects. If one or two more schools are built, the students will choose to serve the court after they have achieved success in their studies in the future."

Emperor Zhizheng nodded with satisfaction.

I couldn't help but feel a little dazed. Back then, the late crown prince was also actively promoting county schools in various places, dreaming that everyone would have books to read and hoping that the country would be prosperous and the people would be strong.