The prince's plan was very simple.
To outsiders, since Zhao Lin accepted his money, he became his man.
No one cares what the situation is.
If Zhao Lin dared to disobey, he would be a traitor, and no one would dare to associate with such a person.
Even if Prince Yu wants to use it, he has to consider the consequences.
…
"This Zhao Lin is not simple."
The lights in Prince Yu's Mansion were bright.
Upon learning that Zhao Lin had suddenly become the governor, Prince Yu could no longer sit still and quickly summoned his staff to discuss the situation.
"I wonder what's the urgent matter that the prince summoned us for?" Xue Yanrun asked.
He is the head of the staff.
Prince Yu said, "After the court session today, my father suddenly promoted Zhao Lin to the position of Governor of Jiujiang, and demoted the former Governor Feng Siyuan to the position of Governor of Jiujiang. This makes me feel uneasy, so I'm asking for your opinions."
Zhao Chenhan, who was fortunate enough to participate in it, clenched his fists suddenly.
He appeared calm on the surface, but in his heart he was filled with surprise and turmoil.
This bastard Zhao Lin just passed the appointment as Inspector General and now he has become Governor?
Is the emperor crazy?
"Why is your majesty so kind to Zhao Lin that he was promoted to governor? I remember that he has been the prefect for less than a year, right?" Xue Yanrun said in shock.
Prince Yu nodded and said, "He became the prefect after the palace examination last year. It's ridiculous that my father made him the governor, just because Zhao Lin gave him 500,000 taels of silver."
Prince Yu glanced at Zhao Chenhan.
If this waste hadn't given Zhao Lin so much silver for nothing, where would Zhao Lin get the silver to give to the emperor?
Zhao Chenhan felt uneasy when he saw Prince Yu's look.
"Five hundred thousand taels of silver can buy a governor?"
The staff were in an uproar.
If this is possible, why follow Prince Yu? You might as well buy an official position.
As the governor, I'm afraid it will take only one or two months to get back the 500,000 taels of silver.
Prince Yu shook his head. "That's such a ridiculous excuse. I don't know what my father is thinking, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that Zhao Lin has already pledged his support to the Crown Prince. This means the Crown Prince has the support of a governor, which is a huge obstacle to our cause."
Xue Yanrun said, "Prince Yu has a point. Although Zhao Lin is young and has a shallow foundation, or perhaps no foundation at all, he has 30,000 soldiers and horses under his command, and he has Li Xingye, Fu Chengwang, and Zhu Zhongyan as his backers. Now he has joined the Crown Prince. If this continues, it will be detrimental to His Majesty."
Prince Yu said, "That's what I meant, so I'm asking you what to do."
Xue Yanrun twirled his beard and pondered, "There are only three options for dealing with Zhao Lin: kill him, win him over, or ignore him. If he were still the prefect of Qingzhou, I could have ignored him, but not now. Last year he was prefect, this year he's governor-general, what will he be next? Governor-general? Or will he go straight to the central government? No matter what, we can't underestimate him. We must prepare early."
Prince Yu asked, "What method do you think is best, Mr. Xue?"
Xue Yanrun said: "Pull first, if that doesn't work then kill."
Prince Yu looked at the other staff members.
"Mr. Xue is right. Although Zhao Lin is young, he is capable. Winning him over will definitely be a great help to the prince."
"Behind Zhao Lin are Li Xingye, Fu Chengwang, and Zhu Zhongyan. Winning over Zhao Lin is equivalent to winning over these three people, which will make it easier for the prince to fight for the throne."
"Your Majesty still has two years. No one can be sure how much Zhao Lin will grow in these two years. It would be best if we can win him over."
The staff members said one after another.
Prince Yu nodded and said, "Since everyone is talking about winning them over, how do we win them over?"
Xue Yanrun said, "Men are all about power, money, and sex. Your Majesty can promise Zhao Lin that if he ascends the throne, he will at least be granted a title of nobility. I'm not afraid that he won't be tempted."
"A title of nobility? So high?" Prince Yu frowned slightly.
Xue Yanrun smiled and said, "As the governor of a province, it is worth it to follow the dragon."
Prince Yu nodded.
Xue Yanrun continued, "It's well known that Zhao Lin is greedy for money. Your Highness can give him some money. As for the beautiful women, I don't know how Zhao Lin feels about women. You can test him first."
Prince Yu thought for a moment and asked, "Chen Han, you deal with Zhao Lin the most, what do you think?"
Zhao Chenhan quickly said, "Zhao Lin is greedy and lustful, and he won't do anything without profit. As long as we offer him enough benefits, we can definitely win him over. However, firstly, he is insatiable and will definitely ask for too much. Secondly, the Crown Prince gave him one million taels of silver before, and Your Highness can only give more than that. Money is needed everywhere now, and spending so much on him doesn't seem worth it."
Prince Yu nodded, then shook his head and said, "He wasn't worth it before, but he is now. My good brother promised to give him five million taels of silver, to be paid over five years. If he is willing to give it up, why shouldn't I?"
Zhao Chenhan secretly clenched his fists again, his nails almost digging into his flesh.
Xue Yanrun said, "Since the prince has made the decision, why not send someone to negotiate?"
Prince Yu's gaze fell on Zhao Chenhan: "You are familiar with him, you go."
"I?"
Zhao Chenhan was furious. Asking him to win over Zhao Lin was tantamount to asking him to apologize to Zhao Lin.
This is humiliating to him.
Zhao Chenhan suppressed his anger and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me. It's not that I don't dare to go. It's just that there's a deep misunderstanding between Zhao Lin and me. I'm afraid that going there will only cause trouble."
Prince Yu said unconcernedly, "Why don't you just apologize to him? You're both young people, and there's no deep hatred between you. It was just a minor disagreement during the palace exam. He won't be able to hold on to it if you apologize. Besides, he saved your life, and you haven't thanked him yet, right? This is a good opportunity to thank him."
Zhao Chenhan almost couldn't control his expression.
Let him apologize and thank you?
It would be better to kill him.
Zhao Chenhan forced a smile and said, "In that case, I will go. But if I fail, please don't blame me, Your Highness."
Prince Yu's face darkened: "Only success is allowed, failure is not allowed."
Zhao Chenhan: “!@￥%…”
When the meeting was over, Prince Yu returned to the inner chamber and said to Zhao Mingzhu, "Your brother is so ignorant. He was asked to win over Zhao Lin, but he refused to do so. If it were someone else, they would have been thrown out and beheaded long ago."
Zhao Mingzhu's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly said, "He and Zhao Lin are at odds, so he's a little upset. Please forgive me, Your Highness. I'll go to the Marquis' Mansion tomorrow and ask my mother to discipline him."
"Um."
Prince Yu nodded and said, "Now is a critical period. Why can't we let go of those minor conflicts? If we can win over Zhao Lin, not only can we gain the wealth of an entire province, but we can also gain the cooperation of Fu Chengwang, Li Xingye, and Zhu Zhongyan. The benefits are numerous. If you can't even see through this, Chenhan's future is worrying."
Zhao Mingzhu nodded repeatedly and asked curiously, "I know Li Xingye, Fu Chengwang, and Zhu Zhongyan. Why can we gain the wealth of an entire province by winning over Zhao Lin?"
Prince Yu said, "You may not know this, but today, my father demoted Feng Siyuan, the governor of Jiujiang, and replaced him with Zhao Lin. Now, our dynasty has an eighteen-year-old governor."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com