Seeing that the Grand Princess could no longer be relied upon, Wanli had no choice but to turn around and invite Shen Shixing over.

Some people are tortured to the point of being on the verge of death, or even die of starvation in prison, while others are plump, clean and decent, and even look better than before.

Shen Shixing was obviously the latter. As the prime minister of the dynasty and the last minister to stand against the emperor, he was naturally treated with favor. Wanli specifically ordered Zhang Jing to arrange a clean courtyard for Mr. Shen, send people to serve him, give him good food, and try his best to meet his requirements.

Therefore, when the two met, they still maintained the minimum decency between a king and his subject.

After Shen Shixing performed the formalities, Wanli offered him a seat. After a moment of silence, he sighed and said, "Sir, the situation has collapsed. Governors and generals have all surrendered to the enemy. Our ancestors' country is no longer safe."

"Alas." Shen Shixing sighed and finally stopped practicing the silent meditation. "If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have done it in the first place."

"Hai Rui, I didn't kill him..." At this point, Wanli didn't dare to pretend anymore, and said with a bitter face: "He threw himself on the halberd and committed suicide. Sir, you know me well. Even if I want to kill him, I will only beat him to death."

"This..." Shen Shixing was stunned for a while and said, "Why is Mr. Hai? And why are you?"

"How would I know why Hai Rui is tired of living?" Wanli said angrily, "As for me, I would rather be regarded as a tyrant than a fool..."

"How foolish!" Upon hearing this, Shen Shixing, the top life man, the master of the art of mixing things up, and the immortal who is good at smoothing things over, stamped his feet and said, "A tyrant can still get by, but a tyrant will never die!"

"Alas..." Wanli sighed depressedly, thinking that I didn't have time to do anything, so now 'I and you will die together'?

"There are no such things as incompetent emperors or tyrants in this world. They are all poor creatures who have been forced into a corner..." He then said to himself, "I can't just watch our ancestors' kingdom being taken away and remain indifferent, can I? Anyone else would do the same."

"No, as long as you don't commit suicide, you won't die." Shen Shixing shook his head slowly. He pulled his beard and thought for a while before he made up his mind and said, "Your Majesty, what did you say on the day when Duke Hai died?"

"These are all extremely treasonous words..." Wanli snorted. He still asked someone to fetch the unabridged version of "Inner Daily Records" for Shen Shixing and said, "Please read it carefully."

Shen Shixing finally flipped through the extremely pornographic and violent content and found the record of the first day of the winter month last year, and carefully watched the process of Hai Rui's performance that day.

After reading it, Shen Shixing closed the book and sighed, "Mr. Hai died for the people of the world."

"What does it mean?" Wanli asked curiously. This was something he had never been able to figure out.

Shen Shixing said: "If Your Majesty had listened to him and recalled the mining supervisor and tax collector, there would naturally not have been all the subsequent changes."

"That's a bit far-fetched..." Wanli muttered. These civil servants always accuse people of something. Who is Tianxia? What is his name?

At this point, Shen Shixing didn't want to waste time talking to him, so he changed the subject and said, "In fact, according to Lord Hai's method, Your Majesty could have been safe."

"What method?" Wanli was stunned for a moment and said, "I will do the sacrifices, and the Zhao family will be in charge of the government?"

"That's right. 'Be quiet and do nothing, and love the people'. This eight-character prescription is very appropriate. Lord Hai can come up with this way for the royal family and the Zhao family to coexist. I really admire it." Shen Shixing nodded and said:

"And since he said that if he were to negotiate, he would do his best to help the royal family retain the right of veto, requiring all civil and military officials to swear an oath of allegiance, and that all decrees must be signed with the imperial seal before they can take effect - we should be able to reach an agreement. These three points are enough to guarantee the power and safety of your majesty and your descendants."

"What a stupid idea..." Wanli still wanted to be tough, but he no longer had the arrogance of "I am the only one in the world! Those who obey me will prosper, and those who disobey me will perish"...

After holding it in for a long while, he said reluctantly: "Then let's negotiate based on this as the bottom line..."

"Now?" Shen Shixing thought to himself, what a waste! He couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "Wouldn't the death of Lord Hai be in vain?"

"A minister is dead, let alone committing suicide. Do I have to wear mourning for him?" Wanli snorted. He felt that he had shown them mercy and allowed them to share power, so they should thank God and kowtow to express their gratitude.

"Your Majesty has not yet understood the situation. Duke Hai negotiated these conditions himself. If it were someone else, there would be no chance." Shen Shixing said sternly, "Moreover, the Jiangnan Group and Zhao Hao raised an army under the banner of revenge for Duke Hai. If they don't take revenge first, but talk to Your Majesty about the division of power, how will the world see them?"

"I've already said that Hai Rui committed suicide. What revenge is there to take..." Wanli corrected.

"It's too late." Shen Shixing rolled his eyes at him and said, "If you had issued an edict to confess your guilt, admitted that Hai Rui's death was the reason for his remonstrance, and announced that everyone would listen to him, the matter could still be settled. But Your Majesty has already announced that you killed Duke Hai, and now they have already raised an army, and the nine provinces have been pacified by the edict. Will they stop the war just because Your Majesty changed his mind?"

"Then what should I do now?" Wanli looked at Shen Shixing eagerly.

"We still have to announce the real cause of Hai Gong's death first. This will at least stop the loss temporarily, and we can start peace talks immediately." Shen Shixing sighed and said, "As for what the negotiations will be like, don't set your position first, let's talk about it first."

"Then I'll have to trouble Yuanfu to contact Zhao Hao and Jiangnan Group." Wanli could only try his best now.

"It's not about contact with Zhao Hao and Jiangnan Group." Shen Shixing sighed repeatedly: "Your Majesty really knows nothing."

"I have been deceived for too long." Wanli muttered, but his eyes sparkled as he asked, "Sir, what great ideas do you have?"

"I don't have any tricks or secrets to hide from the emperor. It's just a normal judgment of human nature." Shen Shixing said expressionlessly: "In my humble opinion, if we talk to several nobles from Xishan Group and let them win over Zhao Hao, the situation should be much better."

"This..." Wanli thought for a moment, then clapped his hands and said, "Sir, you are really good!"

~~

Zhu Yijun immediately ordered people to bring Duke Ding of the state Xu Wenbi and Duke Cheng of the state Zhu Shimao from the imperial prison, and summoned Duke Ying of the state Zhang Yuangong, who was confined to reflect on his mistakes, to the Yikun Palace.

Then he would play the sympathy card with them, recounting the blood ties between their ancestors and the royal family, and the endless honors and favors they had enjoyed from generation to generation.

However, the emperor was not exaggerating. These three dukes were indeed the three families that had received the most favor from the emperor.

Xu Zengshou, the first Duke of Dingguo, was the youngest son of Xu Da and Zhu Di's brother-in-law. Before Zhu Di started his rebellion, Jianwen received a tip-off and asked Xu Zengshou a question. Xu Zengshou said, "The Prince of Yan and Emperor Xiaokang are of the same blood and are extremely rich and powerful. How could they rebel?"

After Zhu Di rebelled, Xu Zengshou was still the most diligent and loyal, secretly communicating with him and frequently passing on information. After being reported, Jianwen imprisoned him. When Zhu Di's troops entered Jinchuan Gate, Emperor Jianwen killed Xu Zengshou under the veranda of Youshun Gate and then set himself on fire.

Zhu Di was very sad about Xu Zengshou's death, and in the second year of Yongle, he was granted the title of hereditary Duke of Dingguo. When it came to Xu Wenbi, he was already the seventh Duke of Dingguo. They were all given high titles and generous salaries, entrusted with important tasks, and ranked first in the imperial court.

The first Duke of Ying, Zhang Fu, was the son of Zhang Yu, a vanguard general during Zhu Di's campaign to pacify the rebellion. In the Battle of Dongchang, Zhang Yu rushed into the enemy's ranks to save Zhu Di and died in battle from exhaustion.

Zhang Fu inherited his father's position and followed Zhu Di in his campaigns. He was the top general from the late Yongle period to the Xuande period. He was awarded the title of Duke of Guo for his contribution in pacifying Jiaozhi, and the title was inherited by his descendants. Later, he died in Tumu Fortress... Both father and son sacrificed their lives for the Zhu family.

It was the fifth generation when it came to Zhang Yuangong. Although they were not doing so well, it was their own fault. The royal family did not treat them unfairly. Before Zhang Yuangong, he was the governor of the military affairs of the Beijing camp, and he was also entrusted with important tasks.

The first generation of Duke of Cheng, Zhu Neng, was a famous general who fought against the rebellion, just like Zhang Yu. When Zhu Di succeeded in his rebellion and conferred titles on his ministers, he was ranked second among the meritorious officials. He later died of illness during his southern expedition.

When it came to Zhu Shimao, it was already the tenth generation...Originally, he would not have been eligible for the title, but his elder brother Zhu Shitai inherited the title in the second year of the Wanli reign and died in the same year. His nephew Zhu Yingzhen inherited the title, but committed suicide in the fourteenth year of the Wanli reign because of a scandal.

His great-nephew Zhu Dingchen was only four years old, far from the age to inherit the title. Anyway, the title was vacant, so Zhu Shimao made some efforts and became a duke to satisfy his desire.

His family has been in trouble for many years, but he used to be the head of the nobles. For example, his father, Zhu Xizhong, is a crazy fan of likes...

In short, the Zhu family was indeed very kind to the three families, and they could never repay it...

Then I can only not return it.

Of course, they couldn't say that. The three of them still had to behave like human beings in front of Wanli.

Especially Xu Wenbi and Zhu Shimao, who had been imprisoned in the imperial prison for such a long time and were senior executives of the group, naturally would not receive the same preferential treatment as Shen Shixing.

Although Zhang Jing did not torture them severely, he still had to interrogate them repeatedly and humiliate them at will. Moreover, the food and accommodation conditions were poor, and there were lice, fleas and rats, which had already tortured these two pampered people to the point of being nervous.

The two swore to the heavens that they had no intention of betraying the emperor. They followed Zhao Hao just to do something for the country and the people and improve their lives.

Now that the outside world is in such a mess, they are also very sad. If Meng does not abandon them, they are willing to go to Jiangnan in person to persuade Zhao Hao to stop fighting and end the situation of separation and stalemate between the north and the south.

Zhang Yuangong also said that although he had no dealings with the Xishan Group and had never taken a penny from them, he was still willing to serve the emperor.

The weak performance of the three dukes restored Wanli's badly damaged self-esteem a little, and he felt that he was able to do it again.

"Then I'll trouble you three." Wanli said reservedly.

"But we can't just talk without any words." However, the three of them were not given away for nothing. After so many years in the group, they must have made some progress. Zhu Shimao tilted his neck and said:

"We need to show some sincerity so that we can speak for the emperor."

"Yes, yes, at this point today, some things do need to change..."

Wanli felt disgusted. Well, it turns out that he didn’t take him seriously.

"You should discuss it with Mr. Shen first, and then tell me when you have a general idea." Wanli asked Zhang Hong to arrange the three dukes and Shen Shixing in the adjacent Changchun Palace so that they could communicate at any time.

At this time, I can't care about the internal and external defenses...