golden scales

The word "epidemic prevention" has become a sharp sword hanging above the heads of the powerful. No one knows when the sword will fall on their heads, and they are completely powerless to resist.Even if you are the Duke of the country, you can't escape the settlement later.

"The way to cure the symptoms is just hypocrisy," Xu Dun said disapprovingly, "Even peddlers should be able to think of it."

Xu Yunzhen was ashamed by the words, but fortunately he was old and fleshy, so he didn't become popular.

"If someone has the wisdom of a human being, he should know that it is extremely foolish to fight against the East Palace at this time." Xu Dun said: "The East Palace has three thousand guards in its hands. When the weather takes the harmony of people, who can resist?"

"Then there is only mermaid meat!"

"This is the wisdom of the middle man." Xu Dun didn't care at all that the father-in-law in front of him was his own food and clothing parent, just like teaching his children, and said: "Letting mermaid meat is just idling. From the merits of the dragon, at worst, the duke will continue for another 300 years."

Xu Yunzhen was taken aback by Xu Dun's words, and then laughed angrily: "The poets said, 'I was looking for a prince from thousands of miles in the past'. When you come to the mouth of a crazy student, the dukes of generations are like pickles like abalones!"

Xu Dun curled his lips: "With my talents, if there is a hero, the dukes of generations will be mediocre. It's just repeating the way of the ancestors."

It is impossible for Xu Yunzhen to accept this wise strategy, and he would rather go out and fight Donggong.The interpersonal network after King Zhongshan may not be without room for a struggle.He was about to drive Xu Dun out, but suddenly he wondered what the wise man would come up with.

"Wait for a wise man," Xu Dun's eyes drifted, "you should know the 'power'. The reason why the emperor is the emperor, and the reason why the duke is the duke, is nothing more than the strength of the power. But even if the emperor is as strong as the emperor, he must Being insulted by a weak official, is this because the emperor cannot kill a small official? No, it is because the small official borrowed the power of "morality and righteousness" to make the emperor's power impossible to suppress."

What Xu Dun said was not cryptic, but an allusion of the Jiajing Dynasty Hai Rui scolding the Shimiao.Emperor Jiajing of the Shimiao was able to punish all officials with a staff, kill Xia Yan, and expel Yan Song and his son. He was indeed the most powerful emperor under the second ancestor.But he had no choice but to lock up Hai Rui who scolded him.The reason for this was simply that Hai Rui had become a moral benchmark and possessed a moral status.

Now the prince has this kind of moral trend. In the general environment where it is generally believed that "the plague is fiercer than the tiger", even if someone realizes that "the prince is fiercer than the plague", how can it be curbed?They don't know the reason why everyone shouts and beats a mouse when it crosses the street, but dare not beat a tiger when it crosses the street.

"You're talking empty words, what's the benefit in the current situation?" Xu Yunzhen said impatiently.

"Join the East Palace, send outstanding children to be the officials of the East Palace, and do everything for the East Palace." Xu Dun said.

"Hahaha," Xu Yunzhen laughed loudly, "isn't this the kind of wisdom you despise!"

"Only the wise ones don't show off their wisdom to others." Xu Dun said without changing his expression, "The wise man is just trying to earn a share of the merits of the dragon, but the wise man's plan is to coerce the prince to make the princes."

"Oh?" Xu Yunzhen was taken aback when he heard this.

"Don't you remember the matter of the thorn stick?" Xu Dun asked.

At that time, Zhu Biao, the prince of Yiwen, was kind and benevolent, and advised Emperor Gao not to kill.Emperor Gao put a thorn strip on the ground and asked him to pick it up.The prince was afraid of the thorn, so he didn't dare to pick it up.Emperor Gao said: "You are afraid of taking the thorn. I will help you pull out the thorn now, so you can pick it up!"

"Why did the civil and military ministers who fought together with Emperor Gao become thorns after they became famous? Thinking back when they had military power in their hands, they exchanged cups with Emperor Gao and shared their hearts. Why did they have different ambitions after the founding of the country?" Xu Dun said. The speed is getting faster and faster: "It's not that they think they can be emperors, but because once they say they are lonely, the gap between monarch and ministers cannot be suppressed. The emperor needs ministers to do things for him, and the more capable ministers are, the more power they have. Big, and eventually big enough to restrain the emperor."

Xu Yunzhen suddenly felt a little enlightened, and finally realized that his father emphasized that "accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger", while at the same time boldly and boldly working for the welfare of his family.As long as you don't touch the emperor's dragon beard, you can do whatever you want. Once the emperor is restrained, even if you don't have the intention of rebelling, you will inevitably end up dying.

"If the most important part of the East Palace is the Xu family's children, who can secretly influence the prince's decision-making, what are the generations of dukes?" The Tang and Song Dynasties are nothing more than this."

Xu Yunzhen's heart skipped a beat when he was told: Does this mean that the dynasty is really about to change?

"Shut up!" Xu Yunzhen yelled, "My family is the queen of Zhongshan King, a family of two kingdoms, and enjoy the state's favor for generations. How can you say such outrageous words!"

Xu Dun smiled coldly and didn't answer, but said: "If there is no one among the father-in-law's children to send, the students don't mind going for a walk."

"I'm afraid you don't have Mao Sui's sharpness." Xu Yunzhen's face was gloomy.

"If you don't put me in your pocket, you won't know that you are not sharp." Xu Dun got up and shook his sleeves: "Students leave."

Xu Yunzhen was so angry that Xu Dun's face was blue and white, and suddenly he shuddered, causing goosebumps all over his body, and thought to himself: Could it be that the unruly Wang Zuozhi in the book is what he looks like?

……

In August of the 16th year of Chongzhen, it has been two months since the prince left the palace for epidemic prevention and disaster relief.

Although there were ups and downs, the Yanjing market gradually recovered its prosperity.The plague has disappeared from the city, and even the beggar Hanako and the refugees have also disappeared.Because these people were all taken into refugee camps outside the capital city, and those with better physical conditions could get jobs like cleaning the streets.

Gradually stabilizing people's hearts made the prince's reputation once again rush to a peak.

It was inconvenient for the common people to directly build a shrine for His Royal Highness at home, so someone made a statue of the imaginary appearance of the prince, crowned it with the god name of Taiwei Xingjun, and placed it in a shrine at home for worship.

Naturally, the Taoist priests who walked the streets and alleys contributed to the flames, telling the story of Taiwei Xing's descent to the world as if he had personally witnessed it.

Zhu Cihong dug out a total of 30 taels of gold and 20 taels of silver from Cheng Guogong's house. The outer houses and fields were auctioned off at a discount, and he got another [-] taels, which was even richer than his father's inner money for a while.Moreover, this sum of money is not all the income from the capital's epidemic prevention campaign.

Because of Zhu Chunchen's letter, the relatives of Cheng Guogong's family donated money one after another, which was much more generous than donating to the emperor.This donation alone is as high as 10 taels.Then came the news of Zhu Chunchen's death. In order to trouble His Royal Highness to send someone to preside over Cheng Guogong's funeral, these relatives donated another 10 taels, and the palace also sent 3000 taels of funeral silver.

Of course Zhu Cihong would not waste money on dead people, he just set it on fire.

Song Hongye received a secret order from the prince to spread Zhu Chunchen's legacy in various yamen, which was seized by the prince, which contained candidates for the next Duke of Cheng.As a result, the relatives of the Zhu family had to spend a lot of money, hoping that the crown prince could say something crucial at a critical moment, so that his family could also enjoy the treatment of the Duke.

The entire Chengguogong project lasted for nearly half a month, and a large amount of money was credited to the account every day, and the final income exceeded one million taels.

That's still not all...

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