Chapter 142 Who can do anything to me?
"You..." Zhu Biao was frightened by Zhu Chong's "treasonous" words. He looked around quickly and felt relieved when he saw that there was no one around.
"You're asking for your life, and you dare to say such things? You're really... getting more and more outrageous. If you keep going like this, I won't be able to protect you in the future!"
When Zhu Biao finished speaking, his face had turned red. He had not expected that Zhu Chong would actually say such words that were disrespectful to the father and the king, and had no ethics between the monarch and his subjects.
"So," Zhu Chong spread his hands. "Brother, why do you worry so much about me? All I do is make trouble. I don't want to be like you and our father, reviewing memorials like an ascetic monk every day, and toiling over all the tedious affairs of state."
"My dream is to be a free and easy prince, but you insist on asking me to do this and that. Some people are so blind that they insist on jumping in front of me to gain a sense of importance. If I don't teach them a lesson, am I still the King of Qin?"
"You..." Zhu Biao was completely conquered by Zhu Chong's 'fallacy' and pointed at Zhu Chong's painful expression. This finally frightened Zhu Chong, who quickly stepped forward, stroked Zhu Biao's back, and comforted him repeatedly.
"Brother, don't scare me. I was just talking nonsense. Don't take it to heart. Come, have a drink of water to calm down. Okay, I'll listen to you. I'll listen to you in everything. I'll do whatever you ask me to do. Okay, whatever you want me to do today, I'll listen to you..."
Zhu Chong admired his cheap brother, the crown prince, from the bottom of his heart. He was also the first relative he recognized since he came into this world. Only in Zhu Biao could he feel the warmth of his family.
As for Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, to be honest, the two couples in the deep palace always gave him a sense of alienation and distance. Even though they were his biological parents, Zhu Chong always felt that there was too much distance between them.
"You!" Zhu Biao gasped for breath for a long time before finally catching his breath. Then he looked at Zhu Chong with a headache on his face and shook his head helplessly, "No wonder my father said you are the devil of our family. It's really true."
Zhu Chong was slightly surprised to hear that Old Zhu had such an evaluation of him, but was soon attracted by Zhu Biao's next words.
"You'd better keep quiet recently. I'm afraid that the emperor will take big action soon. Unless it is necessary, it's best not to happen again like what you did in the Ministry of Works a few days ago." Zhu Biao's words were double entendre, and Zhu Chong was stunned for a moment.
Is Old Zhu making a big move? What big move? It seems like there will be a lot of movement, but this is only the eleventh year of Hongwu. What big move could Old Zhu make at this time?
Suddenly, Zhu Chong thought of something and couldn't help but look at Zhu Biao. He asked tentatively, "Brother, are you saying that our father wants to kill someone? And the person he wants to kill is an important figure?"
Hearing Zhu Chong say this, Zhu Biao was slightly surprised. He turned back to look at him, but after looking at him for a long time, he could not figure out what he meant. He could only shake his head and smile bitterly, saying, "What are you thinking about? You don't care about the affairs of the court, so don't ask too much."
"Is it Hu Weiyong?" Zhu Chong asked tentatively and said a person's name. Crown Prince Zhu Biao's eyes suddenly froze.
Seeing Zhu Biao's expression, Zhu Chong knew that he had guessed correctly. It seemed that some things were still following the original historical process, but the time of occurrence of some events seemed to be somewhat different from what he remembered.
"It seems that your usual behavior is all pretended. It turns out you know everything." Zhu Biao sighed softly.
"Don't say that, brother. I just don't like to bother with those things. Besides, you can see it." Zhu Chong explained with a smile.
"Oh? Tell me, how did you know that?" The smile on Zhu Biao's face disappeared, and his eyes were fixed on Zhu Chong's face.
Seeing this, Zhu Chong dared not talk nonsense anymore. He sat upright in front of Zhu Biao and answered after thinking for a while.
"Actually, there were signs of this a long time ago. The Secretariat has too much power, and the Prime Minister is second only to the emperor. If the person sitting in that position was Zhuge Liang, maybe my father wouldn't have had any thoughts, but that person happened to be Sima Yi!"
When Zhu Biao heard the two names Zhu Chong said, his body trembled slightly and he looked at his brother in disbelief.
"Don't look at me like that, big brother. Our father only gets a few days off a year. With his behavior, how could he tolerate Sima Yi around him?" Zhu Chong continued, "You know our father's character best."
"He rose from a commoner to a position of power, all because he wanted to hold all the power in his hands one day. How could he tolerate others taking away most of his power?"
"Abolishing the Secretariat is probably what our father has always wanted to do. Without the Secretariat, there would be no need for the Prime Minister to exist. The only ones left would be the six ministers, who would be directly responsible to our father."
"But..." Zhu Biao showed an expression of reluctance, and his expression seemed lonely and painful.
"Don't say but." Zhu Chong sneered, "Brother, you can't stop this. Our father has already made up his mind. How could he give up just because of a few words from you?"
"Besides, it was Hu Weiyong who was asking for his own death. He's been in that position for a few years, but he's become so arrogant that he almost forgot his own last name. If he doesn't die, who will?"
"But if this happens, the court, which has just started to recover, will probably be devastated..."
"It's not that he will be unable to recover. At most, his vitality will be damaged." Zhu Chong listened to Zhu Biao's words with a look of disdain.
"If you ask me, the civil service system of our Ming Dynasty should have been changed long ago. Our father imitated the civil service system of the Tang Dynasty, which itself has all kinds of problems. Just like the road construction you just mentioned, it can be done in a few days, but it took months to go through the formalities!"
"So, you understand everything?" Zhu Biao grasped the question in Zhu Chong's words, a look of disbelief on his face, and then blurted out: "So, everything you did these days was done on purpose?"
"How is that possible? I'm not Zhuge Liang, who can predict the future." Zhu Chong shook his head. "It's mainly because of my status. Those stupid guys actually provoked me. If I don't kill his entire family, how can I possibly scare others?"
"Brother, you certainly don't know, but Qin Kui was just entrusted by someone to come to the Treasure Banknote Administration Office to kneel before me and offer me 10,000 strings of banknotes as an apology. Interesting, isn't it?"
"What?" Zhu Biao was immediately moved when he heard this. He really didn't expect that Qin Kui was involved.
"I'm hated for building a road, and I'm making them feel unbalanced. So let them be. I'm a prince of the Ming Dynasty. I'm not afraid of public opinion, nor am I afraid of accumulated criticism destroying me. Anyway, as long as I don't rebel, who can do anything to me?"
When Zhu Chong said this, Zhu Biao was stunned.
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