Looking at Shi Kefa's leaving back, Ming Dynasty Prince Zhu Cilang breathed a sigh of relief.

As the palace door closed, Ni Yuanlu walked out from behind.

Zhu Cilang turned to look at Ni Yuanlu, "Mr. Ni, is this okay?"

"No problem!" Ni Yuanlu answered decisively, "There are three reasons."

"First, Qian Qianyi has been demoted to a commoner by His Majesty. Without His Majesty's consent, Your Highness must not give him any official position, otherwise the imperial palace will be filled with impeachment petitions from the censors."

"So the best option at the moment is to let him stay with Shi Kefa as His Highness' invisible aide, waiting for the right time to return."

"I believe Qian Qianyi also understands this truth!"

"It would be best if he agrees. Three hundred thousand taels of silver is enough to solve the immediate problem. If he doesn't agree, there is nothing we can do."

Zhu Cilang nodded thoughtfully, and his thoughts became much clearer.

Ni Yuanlu continued, "Secondly, Shi Kefa was originally the Minister of War, and now he is also the Minister of Personnel. What does this mean?"

"It means that I have started to use him!" Zhu Cilang blinked.

"That's not entirely true. Your Highness, have you forgotten Shi Kefa's identity?"

"Donglin?"

"Yes!" Ni Yuanlu stroked his beard, "In the eyes of the ministers, Your Highness's use of Shi Kefa is the same as using the Donglin Party."

"Most of Zuo Liangyu's generals are on good terms with Donglin. Your Highness's actions will make them let down their guard. In addition, with Qian Qianyi's appointment as an aide, when all the news is passed on to them, Yuan Jixian's pressure will be much less."

Shi Kefa's concurrent tenure as Minister of Personnel actually caused such a chain reaction.

This was something Zhu Cilang had not expected.

"Third, and most importantly, this will help stabilize the officials and nobles in Nanjing."

Zhu Cilang raised his eyebrows: "What do they want to do?"

Ni Yuanlu smiled bitterly: "Don't think too much, Your Highness. What I mean is that although there are not many officials and nobles who followed Your Highness to the south, there are still many."

"In the eyes of these people in Nanjing, officials and nobles in Beijing are all enemies."

"Your Highness first accepted money from Qian Qianyi, and then promoted Shi Kefa, a Nanjing official. These actions will indirectly tell those people that Your Highness has no intention of letting Beijing officials and nobles replace them."

"That way they won't cause trouble!"

"Why did Liu Kongzhao help Qian Qianyi? To put it bluntly, he was afraid of losing power! He had no choice but to unite with Donglin to fight against the court officials and nobles in Beijing."

Zhu Cilang's eyes turned cold: "As a noble, he actually dared to unite with the Donglin Party. I will abolish his position as the governor of Caojiang."

"No!" Ni Yuanlu raised his hand to stop him. "Your Highness is short of money, Qian Qianyi wants to donate money, and Liu Kongzhao is doing this for the sake of Your Highness and the court. His behavior is not wrong. If Your Highness punishes him without reason, it will only chill the hearts of others."

After listening to Ni Yuanlu's explanation, Zhu Cilang felt like he didn't want to be the crown prince anymore.

It's too complicated.

Officials would even interpret his words and actions and try to curry favor with him.

Ni Yuanlu guessed Zhu Cilang's thoughts and taught him, "Your Highness is the crown prince. You must think clearly about the consequences before making any decision in the future."

"As for officials trying to curry favor with their superiors... some do it for promotion and wealth, but most do it for self-protection. I hope Your Highness is aware of this."

Zhu Cilang sighed.

Before coming to Nanjing, he just read and studied every day, and occasionally looked at the questions marked by his father.

Never been exposed to this level of politics.

After arriving in Nanjing to serve as regent, he finally realized how complicated the Ming Dynasty court was.

"I understand. Thank you for your teachings, sir." Zhu Cilang bowed deeply to Ni Yuanlu.

Ni Yuanlu didn't dare to accept the gift and hurriedly stopped it.

The king and his minister chatted for a while, and Zhu Cilang asked, "Sir, should we send an urgent letter to Yuan Jixian to urge him to send troops?"

"The express must be sent, and the letter must be written. The express is an official document from the court, and the letter is a confidential letter from His Highness."

“What are the contents?”

"An urgent letter urged him to send troops, and a secret letter told him to play it safe!"

"There are two contradictory letters. Which one should Yuan Jixian listen to?"

Ni Yuanlu smiled slightly: "The important town of Yuezhou is upstream of Wuchang, where Zhang Xianzhong has stationed tens of thousands of troops! Yuan Jixian is an old minister who is good at using troops, he knows what's going on."

"Your Highness only needs to urge verbally, and try not to interfere in the war. Your Highness should be really concerned about the situation in the Nanjing court."

"We cannot allow the Donglin Party to dominate alone. We should find someone who can check and balance them."

"who?"

"A noble with real power!"

Zhu Cilang thought for a moment and said, "Besides Xu Hongji, the only noble with real power in Nanjing is Liu Kongzhao."

......

A restaurant in downtown Nanjing.

In the private room, Liu Kongzhao and Qian Qianyi sat opposite each other.

"Thank you, Earl Chengyi, for your help!" Qian Qianyi bowed.

Liu Kongzhao stood up with a smile: "Mr. Qian, you are too polite. I did this entirely for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the court. I have no selfish motives at all."

Qian Qianyi was not bothered by such hypocritical words. He reached out and took out an envelope from his bosom and handed it to Liu Kongzhao: "The Earl of Chengyi has traveled a long way to help me. This is a small token of my appreciation."

Liu Kongzhao took a half step back and pretended to leave: "Is Mr. Qian trying to harm me? Now the city of Nanjing is full of Jinyiwei and factory guards. Even if I want to take it, I dare not take it!"

Qian Qianyi smiled awkwardly, "I thought... Marquis Chengyi had the ability to get rid of the Jinyiwei. I didn't expect..."

He didn't say the rest, but the meaning was very clear.

"It's not a problem to shake him off, but doing so will only draw attention. It's better to meet you openly."

"The message has been delivered. If everything else is fine, I'll leave first." Liu Kongzhao raised his leg and was about to walk out.

Qian Qianyi did not stop him. He stood up and walked him out, asking in a low voice, "Does Earl Chengyi have any other difficulties?"

"No!"

"That's good!"

The two looked at each other knowingly and said goodbye with a smile.

After Liu Kongzhao went out, he did not leave. Instead, he walked around and came to the back door from a hidden place and walked towards another room.

After pushing open the door, Duke of Wei Xu Hongji, Earl of Xincheng Zhao Zhilong and a strange man were sitting at the table, talking happily.

"Brother Liu, you are finally here!" Duke of Wei Xu Hongji stood up to greet him.

Xincheng Earl Zhao Zhilong also stood up to welcome him: "I've been waiting for you to come! Come in and have some tea!"

After entering the room and closing the door, Liu Kongzhao returned the greeting to Xu Hongji and Zhao Zhilong: "I'm sorry to have kept Brother Xu and Brother Zhao waiting for a long time. Who is this?"

Liu Kongzhao looked at the strange man.

The strange man bowed and said, "My humble self, Zhu Gui, greets Lord Chengyi."

"Zhu Gui?" Liu Kongzhao had no impression of this name and turned to look at Xu Hongji.

"Zhu Gui is the messenger of Marquis Funing." Xu Hongji explained.

Zhu Guobi, Marquis of Funing, was the commander of the grain transport system and stationed in Huai'an.