Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 74: The Troubles over the Establishment of the Chu Chu ([-])

Near noon.

The weather in late May was extremely hot, but the lush greenery in Tianjie Temple made it cooler than in the Imperial City.

Ma He led Zhu Gaoxu to the entrance of a remote monastery in the backyard of the temple and stopped.

"Master, the prince is here to see you."

He raised his head slightly and shouted into the courtyard. At the same time, he stretched out his hand to make a gesture of invitation and said, "Your Majesty, please."

More than half of the guards guarding the forbidden courtyard were the warriors who followed Ma He and were sent by Zhu Gaoxu to protect Monk Daoyan. Therefore, when they saw Zhu Gaoxu, they all saluted and said hello, and Zhu Gaoxu nodded in response.

Monk Dao Yan learned that Zhu Gaoxu was coming to visit and was waiting in advance in the reception room of the forbidden courtyard.

Hearing Ma He's shout, he quickly got up and walked out of the room, and came to the yard to greet Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Gaoxu's eyes fell on Monk Dao Yan's bandaged right arm, and he asked with concern: "Master, do you want me to ask my father to teach you the imperial doctor?"

"It is really my fault to make the prince worried."

Monk Dao Yan came up to Zhu Gaoxu, put his left palm on his chest, bowed slightly and saluted.

After saying that, he turned around and invited Zhu Gaoxu into the living room, then ordered Ma He to close the hall door and guard outside.

"Master, do you have something to teach me?"

After Zhu Gaoxu helped Monk Daoyan sit down, he immediately asked.

Monk Dao Yan smiled happily and said: "Your Majesty is smart and can understand everything. I really did not misjudge the person."

The reason why he paid the price of breaking his right arm and prompted Zhu Gaoxu to visit him for a visit was because of multiple considerations.

Monk Daoyan is the monk Lu Sizuo Shanshi, equivalent to the current Buddhist leader of the Ming Dynasty.

If he takes the initiative to visit Zhu Gaoxu without a sufficient reason, he may be regarded as having a secret meeting with Prince Yan, thus leaving evidence to prove it.

After all, in the past two days, many civil and military officials in the court were dragged into the water by Yu Xin, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and Ru Yu, the Minister of the Ministry of War. They all submitted memorials repeatedly and argued endlessly over the matter of establishing the crown prince.

At this time, the Crown Prince of Yan, Zhu Gaoxu, was in the vortex of the turmoil surrounding the establishment of the crown prince. If he met with Monk Daoyan privately, he would most likely be slandered by someone who was interested in forming a clique for personal gain.

Now that Monk Daoyan is injured, and the Crown Prince of Yan, Zhu Gaoxu, has an old relationship with him, and he is the master of Ma He, the chief servant of Prince Yan's palace, it is completely reasonable for Zhu Gaoxu to visit him on the grounds of visitation.

"It's a matter of establishing a crown prince, I can't ignore it."

Monk Daoyan got straight to the point.

Zhu Gaoxu listened attentively.

Monk Daoyan continued: "Your Majesty has something to say about his sufferings, but he really doesn't know how to tell the prince, so he asked me to tell the prince the reason."

Zhu Gaoxu pricked up his ears and leaned his upper body forward slightly, fearing that he could not hear clearly enough.

"Although Zhu Gaochi, the king of Gaoyang County, was born with a foot disease, he is your majesty's legitimate eldest son after all. If your majesty insists on making the crown prince now, it will be suspected of abolishing the eldest son and establishing a younger one, which is not conducive to the stability of the court. Your majesty originally planned to let him be the crown prince. The Crown Prince presides over the promotion of the exchange of new currency and the trial implementation of the reform of the imperial examination. After these two major national policies are successfully implemented, the Crown Prince's reputation will surely reach its peak. At that time, His Majesty will comply with public opinion and appoint the Crown Prince as the Crown Prince, and he will be able to gain the majority The approval of the courtiers and relatives can be avoided, so as to avoid the court turmoil caused by the establishment of a prince and minimize the adverse effects of the turmoil." Monk Daoyan said here and chose to pause.

He looked sideways slightly, specifically observing Zhu Gaoxu's expression, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he was listening attentively with a solemn look on his face.

Zhu Gaoxu noticed the gaze cast by the old monk next to him and didn't take it seriously. Naturally, he understood that the other person was saying good things for the new emperor Zhu Di.

In Zhu Di's hand, he clearly held a secret edict from Taizu that required him to appoint Zhu Gaoxu as the crown prince after he succeeded to the throne. However, he did not take it out and make it public when he was facing the crisis of establishing the crown prince. He obviously had other plans.

As an insider, Zhu Gaoxu is not the foolish Zhu Di in history who believed everything he said.

He knew that Zhu Di did this, probably to use the matter of "establishing the crown prince" to manipulate him, so that he would be loyal to the king and conscientiously implement the promotion of new coins and the reform of the imperial examination.

Zhu Gaoxu has the Four Seas Business Group at his disposal and is not worried about the promotion of new coins.

However, it is not easy to try out the reform of the imperial examination, and even if it is tried out, it will be full of difficulties.

Zhu Yuanzhang knew how difficult it was to reform the imperial examinations, so he insisted on formulating the national policy of reforming the imperial examinations for Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu before his death.

While Zhu Gaoxu was thinking, Monk Daoyan continued to say something.

""Gongyang Zhuan" says: "The direct line is established for elders, not for virtue; the son is established for nobles, not for elders. Why is Huan noble? Mother is noble. If mother is noble, how can son be noble? Son is noble to mother, and mother is noble to son. . "Zuo Zhuan" says: "When the prince dies, if there is a mother and younger brother, he will be established. If there is no one, he will be established for a long time. Select the virtuous at the end of the year, and use divination at the end of the year. This is the ancient way. It also says: If the queen has no direct descendants, then the eldest will be selected. Years are based on virtue, and virtues are used for divination. 'Does the prince know why the ancient sages and sages insisted on the eldest son inheritance system?"

"The master has a question, but I dare not not answer it."

Zhu Gaoxu first said something modestly, and then elaborated on his point of view seriously: "The eldest son inheritance system as I understand it should be 'if there is no legitimate son or a sinful disease, a legitimate grandson will be established; if there is no legitimate grandson, then the legitimate son will be the same as his mother's brother; If there is no mother's brother, a concubine is established; if there is no concubine, a legitimate grandson is born who is the same as the mother's brother; if there is no mother's brother, a concubine is established. This applies to Zeng and Xuan. The so-called "eldest son" here covers legitimate sons, legitimate grandsons, and legitimate children. , the noblest or oldest of the concubines. The ancient sages and sages discovered that the innate conditions of direct descendants or elders can be used to minimize the range of candidates for the throne, and to minimize the possibility of royal children fighting against each other for the throne. The occurrence of the incident can ensure the orderly inheritance of the throne as much as possible, which is conducive to the stability of the country and the country."

"Of course! This is the core essence of the eldest son inheritance system!"

Monk Daoyan praised.

He paused for a moment and then said: "Your Majesty, if you can think of this, you should understand your Majesty's difficulties."

"I know that my father is in trouble."

Zhu Gaoxu echoed, and then said meaningfully: "Master, if you have something to say, you can say it directly."

"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry too much. I am firm and clear in my attitude toward His Majesty's appointment as Crown Prince."

Monk Dao Yan expressed his stance first.

Since he saw Zhu Gaoxu, he naturally supported Zhu Gaoxu as the prince.

Zhu Gaoxu also knew this very well.

"The Crown Prince may be wondering, why does I support the Crown Prince? To be honest, I believe that the Crown Prince is most like me and can inherit my ambition. The Crown Prince is a human being who will never be soft when he should be ruthless, and he will hit the target when he should be patient. The dragon is dormant in the abyss, doing things with planning and then taking action. If it doesn't make a sound, it will be a blockbuster. Those who have always achieved great things have always done so."

Monk Dao Yan planned to be honest with Zhu Gaoxu, and then said: "I can see clearly that the reason why Taizu ordered Jin Shang to move into the East Palace as a prince shortly after the death of Prince Yiwen was precisely because Shen Taizu The crown prince of the ancestral family played a decisive role."

(End of this chapter)