When the gazes of all the officials gathered on the Emperor,
"Our Emperor Hongwu has long returned to his calm appearance. No one can tell what he is thinking from his face."
If Zhu Biao and Zhu Xiong hadn't known what the Emperor was thinking, they might not have been able to guess it.
"This Shen Wansan is interesting?”
"Crown Prince, what do you, the future emperor, think?”
Crown Prince Zhu Biao thought for a moment, then bowed and replied,"
"Your son has always wanted to ask Imperial Father a question. Do you think that you will make a mistake?”
"I?"
"Will he make a mistake?"
Zhu Yuanzhang did not expect the Crown Prince to ask this question in public. How was he supposed to answer?
Who didn't make mistakes, but how difficult was it to make the emperor admit his mistake?
He thought for a moment and seemed to understand what Zhu Biao meant.
He said,
"Even the Sage, Confucius, doesn't dare to say that he has never made a mistake. How can I be comparable to a Sage?“
"In the battle of Hongdu back then, if it wasn't for the fact that I didn't believe in slanderous words and went to beat Zhang Shicheng, I would have almost destroyed my entire foundation. If it wasn't for Wen Zheng, I'm afraid that my position as King of Wu would have come to an end!“
"And…"
Old Zhu sighed, but he realized that this was not a suitable place to complain and stopped in time.
Crown Prince Zhu Biao understood the Emperor's meaning and continued,"
"If saints can make mistakes and emperors can make mistakes, why is there an unchanging law?”
"I don't doubt whether what Father did was right or wrong, but I have something in my heart. If I inherit the throne in the future and discover that the Emperor has made a mistake, but because the laws of the ancestors cannot be changed, I can only watch the mistake continue.”
"Imperial Father, the right and wrong of the tax collection is up to Imperial Father to decide. Your son has no objections!”
"It's just that your son requests Imperial Father to use the unchanging method with caution!”
Crown Prince Zhu Biao openly questioned the Emperor, causing quite a stir among the officials.
Are Zhu Bi and Zhu Biao going to rebel today?
The officials finally realized what was going on.
It wasn't that the princes were rebelling, but that the emperor wanted to change the business tax.
Li Shan Chang and Hu Weiyong's expressions changed slightly. They didn't notice the obvious tacit understanding between Zhu Yuanzhang and his son.
The two of them turned their gazes to Zhu Rong,
This devil was unfathomable.
This was his first case since he joined the Jinyiwei, and he had handled it beautifully.
This case wasn't about killing the officials, but directly reforming a shortcoming of the Ming Dynasty.
Perhaps other people didn't notice the business tax.
However, how could the officials of the Ming Dynasty, especially the officials of the Ministry of Central Affairs, not notice?
This was a loophole in the Ming system, but this loophole was profitable.
Scholars couldn't do business, but they had enough power to exchange benefits with merchants.
This was almost an open secret in this place.
This was also the reason why they instinctively opposed the revision of the business tax.
Even Li Shan Chang and Hu Wei Yong, who were the wise heads of the officials, felt that Zhu Xiong seemed to have gambled for the officials of the Ming Dynasty to be promoted and make a fortune in the future.
"The unchanging method!"
"Interesting. Fifth Brother, bring me that Hu Weiyong!”
"I haven't seen this richest man in Jiangnan for a long time. Bring him to see me!”
"Alright, today's morning court session will end here!”
"You guys can go back!"
"Retreat!"
Just as the officials were waiting for the Emperor to make a decision, Old Zhu left a big question for everyone.
After the court session ended, everyone gathered into small groups to discuss the business tax.
Facing Zhu Rong who walked out, the officials looked sideways.
At this moment, no one dared to underestimate this trash of the Zhu family.
This guy had done a big job without saying a word.
"Embroidered Uniform Guards can still interfere in politics?"
Zhang Chang, the governor of the Ministry of Central Affairs, said this, and the others were indignant.
On the surface, Zhu Rong was only investigating a small case of Shen Wansan, but behind this case was a major matter of changing the laws of the Ming Dynasty.
This kind of matter should have been within the scope of their authority as civil officials.
But the Emperor, Zhu Rong, and the Crown Prince…
Before he blew up this matter, he did not reveal any news at all.
Lee Shan Chang and the others did not insist on fighting against the emperor. After all, in the early Ming Dynasty, industry and commerce had not developed.
This kind of collusion between officials and businessmen was relatively rare.
However, the Emperor's distrust and the power of the Embroidered Uniform Guards made these people feel afraid.
"We have to think of a way. Otherwise, we old fellows will be sidelined!”
Li Shan let out a long sigh. He no longer had the temper to chat with these people and left alone.
The Royal Guards, the Zhenfu Department,
Shen Wansan paced nervously in Zhu Rong's room.
Xu Miaoyun glanced at him and chuckled. She continued to study the Jinyiwei dossier.
At this moment, familiar footsteps came from outside.
Xu Miaoyun jumped up. Her husband was back.
As expected, Zhu Rong appeared outside the door.
"Shen Wansan!"
"Follow me into the palace, the emperor wants to see you!”
"Ah!"
When Shen Wansan heard the news, his legs went weak and he collapsed to the ground.
Seeing the emperor, just hearing this sentence scared him to death.
In the past years, he had dreamt of countless nights. He dreamed that after he had destroyed Zhang Shicheng, Zhu Yuanzhang stared at him with murderous eyes and the regret of being persuaded by Empress Ma.
For a long time, this was the content of Shen Wansan's nightmares.
It took him many years to get rid of this fear. The unexpected disaster in Nanjing this time had evoked his nightmare again?
To meet the King of Wu from back then and the current Emperor?
His liver was trembling!
"He's even the richest man in the world. How bold is he?”
"If you want to completely end this grudge, come with me!”
Zhu Rong turned around and left with Xu Miaoyun.
"Your Highness, wait for me!"
Shen Wansan scrambled to his feet and caught up with the two of them, rushing towards the palace.
"This commoner Shen Xiu pays his respects to the emperor. Long live the emperor!”
In the Hall of Martial Valor, Shen Wansan's fat body trembled as he knelt behind the Emperor. He could not even speak properly.
"Shen Xiu, speaking of which, we haven't seen each other for many years, right?”
"Your Majesty, it has been six years!"
"Things have changed!"
Old Zhu sighed and turned to look at the richest man in the world.
"You did well this time!"
"You solved a problem for me, and I know that I blamed you wrongly, but you made your own decision and changed the materials.”
"But considering the matter of your blood letter, I announce that the matter between you and your son will be over!”
"Not only that, I want to reward you!”
When Shen Wansan heard this, he was overjoyed and immediately panicked,"
"Your Majesty, I don't dare to ask for a reward. I can't afford it!”
Seeing that this guy was not going to listen, Zhu Rong kicked him directly.
Do you really think that the emperor gave you a reward because of you?
Even though Shen Wansan was not in today's drama, he was definitely the main character.
The Emperor rewarded Shen Wansan to put an end to that matter.
If he didn't reward those who had made contributions, how could he reform the business tax?
Shen Wansan was the one who had to take the blame for the Emperor.
"You were originally a merchant with a lowly status, but this time, you have made a contribution to the petition.”
"Your family has a nephew who was born a Juren, but he hasn't been an official for many years. I'll give him a chance to be an official!”
The Emperor's reward stunned Shen Wansan.
When he came back to his senses, he was so excited that he burst into tears. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed.
"Thank you, Emperor!"
Even if the ground was bleeding, Shen Wansan did not care.
The Emperor's reward was too great. Even in his dreams, he did not dare to imagine that he would receive such a lucky thing.
According to the rules of the Ming Dynasty, even though the children of merchants had the opportunity to take the examination, the descendants of the Shen family had always been discriminated against. Even if there were descendants who had passed the imperial examination, they had never had the opportunity to be an official. Even if Shen Wansan ran his business everywhere, no one dared to pay attention to him.
After all, it had only been six years since the incident between him and the Emperor. Everyone remembered it.
In this era where agriculture was valued and commerce was suppressed, scholars were respected.
Even if Shen Wansan's wealth could rival a country, his status as a businessman was still there.
So what if he had a lot of wealth? If he offended a magistrate, the other party could take his life.
If one could not obtain an official rank, it meant that the descendants of the Shen family could only have a lowly status forever.
Even if their daughter married a poor scholar, she would still be climbing up the social ladder.
But the Emperor gave the Shen family a fair chance and their family finally produced an official,
This was too rare for the Shen family.
Shen Wansan failed to live up to expectations and started crying in the Hall of Martial Valor.
It was rare that Old Zhu was not angry. Instead, he laughed loudly.
With this laughter, all the grudges from back then were written off.
Zhu Rong was speechless. It was not easy to make his father, this narrow-minded man, forget all grudges with a smile.
Although Old Shen liked to make his own decisions, he was right to cry this time.
Shen Wansan cried a few times, but when he realized that something was wrong, he quickly stopped crying.
At this moment, the Emperor's attention had shifted from Shen Wansan to Zhu Rong.
The more Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Rong, the happier he became.
It was indeed right to throw this kid into the Brocade Guard. In just one day, he had already displayed a genius-like ability.
What he had accomplished was more perfect than he had imagined.
"You did a good job on this matter."
"Tell me, how should I reward you?"
They had been father and son for many years, but Old Zhu couldn't remember if this was the first time he had said this to Zhu Rong.
Anyway, in his memory, he was either beating up Zhu Rong or on his way to beating up Zhu Rong.
"Imperial Father, I don't want your reward anymore. Why don't you remove the punishment from my body?”
Zhu Xi smiled cheekily and tried to negotiate with Old Zhu?
"Punishment?"
Old Zhu was stunned for a moment, but he immediately understood. This guy was talking about the identity of the commander of the Brocade Guard.
So, he wanted to resign after just one day as the Commander of the Jinyiwei?
Old Zhu's joy was quickly replaced by anger.
"You unfilial son, do you have to anger me to death?”
The Crown Prince and Xu Miaoyun covered their mouths and laughed.
The relationship between Zhu Xiong and the emperor was indeed not good for more than three seconds.
Zhu Rong shrugged his shoulders. His hopes of resigning had been dashed. It seemed that he could only continue to make things worse in the future.
Old Zhu was infuriated by this guy's indifferent attitude.
"Then why don't you give me something?”
Old Zhu thought for a moment and sneered,
He directly said,
"Last time, you were reported by the officials in the Education Bureau. This matter has caused quite a stir!
"Then I'll reward you with the right to enter and leave the Education Bureau in the future, right?”
When Zhu Rong heard this, he was dumbfounded.
What was Old Zhu up to?
Giving him the right to enter and leave the Education Bureau, what was this? Was this called drinking wine under the imperial edict?
"Puff!"
Xu Miaoyun and the Crown Prince couldn't help but laugh out loud.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]