Starting in Saarhu, it is a bit difficult to make a comeback.

The cabinet originally had seven people, but Fan Wencheng, the minister of household affairs, took a leave of absence due to illness, so the current three-on-three situation was formed.

Although these seven people were all promoted by Li Xianzhong.

However, Yan Mingtai, Feng Quan and Qian Qianyi were originally high-ranking officials in the former Ming Dynasty; Li Sanshun and Mao Yuanyi were Li Xianzhong's brothers in life and death, and Song Yingxing was also promoted by Li Xianzhong.

That's why the positions of these two groups of people are different.

Li Xianzhong treated them well as the founding fathers of the country. It had been more than nine years since the new dynasty, and there had been no major changes in the cabinet.

Let them be in power for nine years, which is extremely rare in the history of dynasties.

In fact, the reason is very simple. They, the founding fathers, are old and would not be able to survive Li Xianzhong under normal circumstances.

Only Li Sanshun is only two years older than Li Xianzhong, and the others are much older than Li Xianzhong.

Li Xianzhong did not have to worry that after his death, these founding ministers would continue to control the government.

Naturally, there is no need to rush to kill the hero like Zhu Yuanzhang.

Only Li Dingguo and Zheng Zhilong were slightly younger than Li Xianzhong, but they were not at the center of the imperial court.

This is the advantage of the founding emperor being young. These senior officials and ministers will die in front of him sooner or later, so why rush to eliminate them and end up with a bad reputation.

If normal development continues, the current situation can last at least another ten years.

But Li Xianzhong began to delegate power in advance, letting the prince supervise the country early, and let the second prince take charge of expanding the territory.

This forced them, the important officials of the imperial court, to consider the issue of succession to the throne.

In fact, a crown prince like Li Shengzu had his status as a crown prince clear from the moment he was born and was raised as an emperor.

His own character, ability and prestige are all excellent, and he has overseen the country for many years. It can be said that his position is as stable as Mount Tai.

But he is not the only outstanding member of the Chinese royal family.

Except for the fifth prince who is still young and whose qualifications are currently unclear, the other three princes are also very good.

Especially the second prince Li Shizu, he was a bit too good.

Coupled with the fact that he is also the legitimate prince and His Majesty's preference for him, this has resulted in the current situation of "two dragons fighting".

Sometimes the emergence of multiple particularly outstanding talents in the same group of heirs is not necessarily a good thing.

The third prince is a financial genius, and the fourth prince is an inventive genius.

Fortunately, they are not the legitimate princes, and they have no idea about the throne, otherwise the position of the crown prince may become even more confusing.

There is another reason why Yan Mingtai and others are eager to express their loyalty to the crown prince. They are older and there are many Li Sanshun and others, so they may have to retire after not working for many years.

They wanted to make new contributions in supporting the Crown Prince and raise their title to a higher level so that His Highness the Crown Prince could take care of their children and grandchildren after he ascended the throne.

Especially people like Feng Quan and Qian Qianyi who have not yet received their titles.

Although Yan Mingtai is a South Korean prince, he is almost 70 this year. I am afraid that he will not be the chief minister of the cabinet for a few more years. He has to think about his children and grandchildren.

Yan Mingtai said: "Fan Wencheng, an old fox, takes leave at this time because he wants to protect himself!"

"Now there are three votes to three in the cabinet. His vote is crucial. He cannot continue to pretend to be ill!"

So Yan Mingtai personally visited Fan Wencheng's house.

Fan Wencheng knew that he could not avoid it this time. It seemed that Yan Shoufu was still determined to participate in the battle for the Chinese reserve position.

This is a big taboo!
Fan Wencheng was Li Xianzhong's "money bag" when he was in Liaodong, and he was an old acquaintance with Yan Mingtai, the chief minister.

After a few words of greeting, Yan Mingtai said directly: "His Majesty has been missing for half a year now. The territory under the control of the second prince is getting bigger and bigger. If it is not restricted, it may lead to disaster. I propose to suspend the replenishment of supplies and troops in Europe. ”

"This can also reduce the burden on the Ministry of Revenue. Fan Shangshu must also support this pavilion, right?"

Fan Wencheng had indeed proposed to Li Shengzu before that he would reduce the scale of support to Europe.

This is because the pressure on the household department is too great.

The railway from Liaodong to the capital has just been opened, and the two railways from the capital to Nanjing and from Huai'an to Xi'an have been put into operation.

In addition, the imperial court had just occupied Australia and needed a large number of immigrants, as well as troops preparing for an expedition to Hawaii.

There are plenty of silver dollars everywhere.

Fortunately, the Suez Canal, the largest gold-guzzling project, has been opened. Although the construction of the Suez Canal is mostly relying on private funds, the Ministry of Revenue also has 2% of the shares.

If it weren't for the listing of the two stock exchanges in Beijing and Nanjing, as well as the welfare lottery launched by His Majesty, which increased the revenue of the Ministry of Revenue by 2000 million taels of silver dollars every year, Taicang's treasury silver would have bottomed out.

Of course, the most profitable things today are the cigarettes and matches invented by His Majesty.

A large amount of fine tobacco leaves grown in the southwest were processed into light cigarettes by the imperial cigarette factories.

This kind of cigarettes quickly became popular and has reached the point where demand exceeds supply. The future is promising.

Fan Wencheng said: "Mr. Yan Ge should be very clear that the reason I proposed to restrict supply before was because the Ministry of Revenue had insufficient funds, and it was not to contain His Highness the Second Prince."

"With all due respect, there is no evidence that the second prince has any rebellious intentions. What you are doing seems to be alienating the royal family!"

"And His Majesty is only temporarily missing. If this ruins the plan to conquer Europe, I'm afraid His Majesty will be angry in the future. Please think twice before taking action!"

Yan Mingtai originally came to persuade Fan Wencheng, but now he was scolded by him and naturally felt unhappy.

He said righteously: "As a minister, it is natural to think about the overall situation of the court and nip problems in the bud; if the second prince really raises an army to seize the throne, wouldn't you and I become China's eternal sinners?"

It seems to Yan Mingtai that although he did this to please the prince and pave the way for his children and grandchildren, he also had the overall interests of China in mind.

Even if he meets His Majesty in the future, he will have a clear conscience.

Seeing that he couldn't convince Fan Wencheng, he left knowingly.

As soon as he returned to Wenyuan Pavilion, he saw Feng Quan and Tian Ergen coming in a hurry.

Originally, Ergen did not want to participate in this matter, because the Intelligence Department only listened to the orders of the Chinese royal family and did not pay attention to the cabinet at all.

However, he and Feng Quan were close friends of life and death, and he had to give Feng Quan face.

Tian Ergen said: "His Majesty's whereabouts are known. On September 10th, a businessman once saw what appeared to be His Majesty and several empresses in Baghdad."

After hearing Tian Ergeng's words, Yan Mingtai immediately said: "The first day of October is the opening ceremony of the Suez Canal. It seems that Your Majesty must be going to attend the opening ceremony of the canal."

His Majesty actually went to see the second prince. This news made several people feel bad.

Feng Quan asked in a low voice: "Does His Highness the Crown Prince know this news?" Tian Ergen nodded and said: "At this time, the Intelligence Department has informed His Highness of the news."

Yan Mingtai said: "Since His Highness already knows, we don't need to enter the palace at this time. Everything depends on his own decision."

"I believe His Highness will issue a decree tomorrow morning." Li Shengzu became a little uneasy after learning the news.

The future fate of their brothers had been clearly arranged by their father when they were born.

He is the crown prince and will inherit the throne of the Chinese Empire in the future.

The second brother will be a prince who leads troops to expand territory for himself.

The Third Brotherhui took over the East Ryukyu Company and Liaodong Bank and became a giant businessman controlling the empire's business.

The fourth brother will work on his inventions with peace of mind and contribute to China's scientific research.

The fifth brother was destined to become the emperor of the Japanese country as soon as he was born, and he would appease the Japanese country for himself.

His father had clearly turned the four brothers into his right-hand men, but why did he feel uneasy? In the final analysis, it is the father's preference for the second brother and his mother's, which is caused by his own jealousy.

The second brother was transferred to Liaodong as soon as he was born, and was no longer with his mother. In addition, he was the queen's youngest son, so the queen naturally loved him very much.

The second brother had grown up by his father's side since he was a child, unlike himself who had been a hostage in the capital and was transferred back to his father a few years later.

Although his father would never show which prince he loved more in front of outsiders, he could feel that the one he loved most in his heart was actually his second brother.

The second brother has stayed with his father the longest, and his skills were taught by his father himself.

If he were not the eldest son, he might not be the crown prince.

But the father was the father after all. Even though he loved his second brother the most, he still made himself the crown prince without hesitation and spared no effort to maintain his orthodox status.

In this regard, he was much better than the previous Ming Dynasty Emperor Wanli.

In fact, my father never knew that he was also studying various military books and analyzing every battle his father fought.

He was waiting for an opportunity to show off his military talents, but his father always asked him to supervise the country and stay in the capital.

In fact, I quite envy my second brother, who can travel around the world freely, unlike me who has almost no chance to leave the capital.

It's no wonder that Li Shengzu was worried. In the past, the founding princes of unified dynasties were very rare, and there were only a few in total. There were even fewer who succeeded to the throne and died a good death.

Qin did not establish a prince, and the eldest son Fusu was forced to commit suicide.

Although Liu Ying, the crown prince of the Han Dynasty, ascended the throne, he lived under the influence of Empress Lu all day long, and eventually died young at the age of 24.

Sima Zhong, the crown prince of Jin, was an idiot.

The prince of Sui Dynasty, Yang Yong, was deposed and finally killed by Yang Guang.

Li Jiancheng, the prince of the Tang Dynasty, died in the Xuanwumen Incident.

There was no crown prince at all in the Northern Song Dynasty. After "The Sound of Candle Shadow and Ax", Song Taizong succeeded to the throne, and several of Taizu's sons died inexplicably.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhao Gou had no heirs, so he did not have a crown prince. In the Song Dynasty, Xiaozong was adopted.

The prince Zhenjin of the Yuan Dynasty also died of illness early.

Zhu Biao, the founding prince of the Ming Dynasty, can be said to be the most stable prince in history. He also died young.

Will the Chinese prince himself suffer the same fate as them? My father is only in his early 40s now. With his physical condition, there is no problem in being emperor for another thirty years.

This means that he will be the prince for another thirty years. Thinking of this, Li Shengzu couldn't help but shake his head!

At this time, Mao Yuanyi said: "Is the Crown Prince still worried about today's court discussion?"

Mao Yuanyi was his teacher, so Li Shengzu still shouted respectfully: "Master Mao, I am worried about this matter."

In fact, Mao Yuanyi had long seen that Li Xianzhong was testing the two brothers, but he could not tell the truth about this matter and could only let Li Shengzu realize it on his own.

But after all, he is his good student, so he can still give him some guidance.

He said: "Your Majesty is the king who created the world. Today, our Chinese territory is so vast that even the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty cannot match it."

"With the emergence of new technologies such as railways, even a land area of ​​tens of thousands of miles will be able to be actually controlled in the future. Your Highness has caught up with a good era!"

"Now that His Majesty is away, His Majesty only needs to be the supervisor of his own country."

Although Mao Yuanyi said it tactfully, Li Shengzu knew that he was saying that he had transgressed.

Even if he is the crown prince and the governor of China, he has absolutely no reason to change the national policy set by his father.

If the father wanted to grant a kingdom to his second brother, he would just issue an imperial edict.

Even if his father made his second brother the crown prince, he would have no choice but to accept it. Moreover, with his father's temperament, if he had wanted to do it, he would have done it already. There was no need to go on tour incognito.

He bowed respectfully to Mao Yuanyi again and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Master Li. Li Shengzu has learned from it!"

Mao Yuanyi nodded with satisfaction and then left.

At the court meeting the next day, Li Shengzu ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War to immediately resume the replenishment of supplies and the transportation of soldiers to Europe.

He also ordered the Ministry of Civil Affairs to dispatch a large number of grassroots officials to Europe.

The emperor's brother had conquered so much territory, so there must be a lack of officials to manage it.

At this time, everyone saw that the crown prince had made up his mind, so they did not dare to say anything. If they continued to speak, they would be suspected of alienating the royal family.

But Yan Mingtai still wanted to try again.

He said: "Before An Lushan's rebellion, there were widespread rumors both in the court and among the people that he intended to rebel, but Emperor Xuanzong did not believe it. The result was the An Lushan Rebellion, and the Tang Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline."

"Never forget the past, you will be the guide for the future. Please don't ignore it, Your Highness!"

"Even if the Second Prince himself doesn't have this intention, we still have to take precautions before they happen!"

Li Shengzu glanced at the gray-haired Yan Mingtai and said: "It will be Mr. Yan Ge's 3th birthday in three days. I will personally go to the South Korean government to celebrate Mr. Yan Ge's birthday and invite hundreds of officials to go with him!"

Yan Mingtai hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Your Highness, must you have remembered it wrong? My birthday was last month, and I am only 68 this year!"

Li Shengzu said with a smile: "It seems that Mr. Yan Ge is really confused. He even remembered his birthday wrong. Ministers, don't you think so?"

What Li Shengzu said couldn't be more clear. Mr. Yan Ge is already confused, so he should take the initiative to resign from his position as chief assistant.

It was obvious that he only saved face for the Korean Gong Yan Mingtai because of his hard work and achievements.

At this time, Li Sanshun said loudly: "Congratulations to Mr. Yan Ge on his 70th birthday. It is really a joy to congratulate him. Mr. Li will definitely be there by then. We will not go home until we are drunk."

After Li Sanshun finished speaking, all the ministers congratulated Yan Mingtai.

Yan Mingtai was in a daze and took the initiative to submit his resignation after returning home!
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