The First Prince of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 65 Abandoning the Light and Embracing the Dark

The inner court meeting has concluded.

Zhu Houzhao was still very angry. He chose to go into the inner palace to rest, but left Yang Yiqing behind.

After Zhu Houzhao calmed down a bit, he summoned Yang Yiqing to the inner palace for a meeting, which showed his respect for Yang Yiqing.

"Mr. Yang, I intend to appoint you to the cabinet to counterbalance the other cabinet members. What are your thoughts?"

Zhu Houzhao seemed to deeply feel the constraints imposed on him by the court officials in carrying out his grand plans, and he now seemed to be in dire need of someone to help him deal with Liang Chu and Jin Gui.

Yang Yiqing said, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this old minister is unlikely to achieve anything."

"As the Minister of Personnel, there's not much left for you to do in court affairs. You'll be able to participate more in decision-making within the cabinet, and I will entrust you with more responsibilities," Zhu Houzhao said sincerely. "You understand me best. You know that I've always hoped to make achievements in military and political affairs, and I also need more support."

Yang Yiqing asked, "Why doesn't Your Majesty consider selecting people from among the Hanlin scholars to enter the cabinet?"

"Who among them understands me?" Zhu Houzhao sighed. "I will not fail my father's last wish. Now that Batu Mongke is too arrogant, I will do everything I can to teach him a lesson. If I can quell the troubles on the grasslands, I will have done right by my ancestors, and you will be a great contributor."

Yang Yiqing disliked being promised a pie by the emperor.

In his view, this was almost a meaningless thing.

This young emperor is clearly beyond the control of his ministers, which explains why the relationship between the emperor and the cabinet is becoming increasingly strained.

Which upright minister would like an emperor who never attends court, doesn't even live in the palace, has such big ideas, and doesn't like to listen to the opinions of his ministers?

"Furthermore, I intend to adopt the third son of the Prince of Ning into my own name. What do you think?" Zhu Houzhao suddenly asked.

Yang Yiqing quickly said, "Your Majesty, this is absolutely unacceptable! The generational order is wrong, and how can one suddenly adopt a son of a prince?"

Zhu Houzhao said helplessly, "Isn't it because I've never had an heir? I've been on the throne for ten years, and I've tried my best during these ten years. If I still don't have an heir, it's inconvenient for me to do anything. It seems like all the ministers want to tie me up, and I can't go anywhere."

Yang Yiqing said, "Even if His Majesty wants to adopt a son of a prince, he should carefully select from among the many princes, rather than making such a hasty decision."

"And who would be suitable?" Zhu Houzhao asked. "Don't tell anyone else about this. Just tell me, is the son of the Prince of Ning suitable?"

Yang Yiqing had long harbored resentment towards the Prince of Ning's actions.

However, he still did not criticize the local princes of the Ming Dynasty in front of the emperor. He said, "If Your Majesty really intends to choose an adopted son, the Ministry of Rites can discuss it. I will also study it after I return and then submit a memorial to Your Majesty. It is better for your subject to propose it than for Your Majesty to decide it personally."

According to Yang Yiqing, if the emperor has no son, the ministers will worry about him.

In some cases, the ministers should bear the blame, while you can simply be a passive recipient.

"Good." Zhu Houzhao nodded with a smile. "In a few days, the Prince of Ning's son will be coming to the capital. He went with him to Zhangjiakou this time, and you saw his heroic deeds on the battlefield. Such a brave and resourceful child is one I have never seen before in my life. Speaking of which, among all the princes' sons, who has such courage?"

Yang Yiqing thought to himself, whether this matter is true or not is still uncertain.

A prince's son who doesn't wet his pants in fear on the battlefield is a hero, let alone someone who personally kills two.

Jiang Bin and his group can't even make up a story.

……

……

Lu Wan was waiting for Yang Yiqing when she left the palace.

"Minister Yang." Lu Wan hurriedly greeted him when he saw him come out.

Yang Yiqing first gestured for them to walk further away before speaking. After the two had left the palace gates and were some distance away, he said, "You shouldn't have spoken like that in Qianqing Palace earlier. It will put you in a disadvantageous position."

Lu Wan was taken aback; he hadn't expected Yang Yiqing to be lecturing him.

"It was just a spontaneous remark," Lu Wan said. "I never imagined that the cabinet would hold such different opinions from His Majesty on such an important matter."

"Isn't it because His Majesty said he would personally lead the army? Now the ministers are all afraid. Once His Majesty leaves the capital, can they be brought back?"

Yang Yiqing seems to be very rational on this issue.

Even if one sides with the emperor, one cannot support the emperor personally going to the northwest.

If the emperor were to suddenly disappear, the Ming Dynasty would face an unprecedented succession crisis, far more serious than the Tumu Crisis.

Lu Wan asked, "What exactly did His Majesty want to discuss with you?"

"His Majesty wants me to join the cabinet," Yang Yiqing sighed.

Lu Wan smiled and said, "This is a good thing. Minister Yang is a high-ranking official in the court, but he has always been restrained and hindered by the cabinet. If he can now be placed in the central government, the court will rely on him a lot in future decision-making."

Lu Wan clearly strongly supported Yang Yiqing's entry into the cabinet, because if Yang Yiqing gave up his position, then the Minister of Personnel would very likely be Lu Wan's.

Yang Yiqing was getting old and seemed unable to hold on for much longer. The emperor wanted to give him a position as a senior cabinet minister before his retirement, which was considered a courtesy to the veteran official.

Yang Yiqing asked, "This matter will be discussed later. By the way, do you have any dealings with the Prince of Ning's residence?"

"Why does Minister Yang ask such a question?" Lu Wan was also somewhat flustered.

The connections between himself and the Prince Ning's mansion were far greater than outsiders knew, which was why Lu Wan was implicated in the Prince Ning's rebellion and even lost his life because of it.

"The Prince of Ning's son is in Zhangjiakou, or he will be summoned to the capital in the near future. Do you know the reason for this?" Yang Yiqing asked.

Lu Wan understood perfectly well.

Because he had frequent interactions with Qian Ning, and was even involved behind the scenes in the matter of adopting the Prince of Ning's son as the emperor's stepson.

Previously, it seemed impossible, but with the recent actions of Prince Ning and the rise of Tang Yin, the emperor was eager to personally lead the expedition, which created a mysterious opportunity for what was originally an impossible situation.

Lu Wan asked, "I heard that Commander Qian wants this boy to be in charge of offering incense at the Imperial Ancestral Temple?"

"Hmph!" Yang Yiqing said angrily, "That's something only the Crown Prince can do. How can a son of a prince be qualified? Besides, this child is not young anymore. Even if His Majesty really wants to adopt a son, he would not use a child from a distant relative."

"Who says otherwise? But some things... are really hard to resolve. Those who are close to us don't have suitable offspring to adopt," Lu Wan said with a wry smile.

What he meant was, did the emperor not want to adopt a member of the Yan clan from the Zai generation?

But the problem is... there isn't one.

This presents the most difficult situation ever faced by any monarch in history, comparable to Emperor Gaozong of Song's nationwide selection of sons. You can't expect the emperor to adopt a son for his father and a brother for himself, can you?

Yang Yiqing suddenly realized that the emperor actually did not want this matter to be leaked so early.

He said, "Let's discuss this matter further."

"Understood," Lu Wan said. "Right now, the Ministry of War needs Minister Yang's guidance to assess the merits of the Battle of Xuanfu."

Yang Yiqing said, "Why do we still have to rely on me?"

"Aren't you about to join the cabinet? Besides, who has better connections in the Ministry of War than you? Even with your relationship with His Majesty, we still need your help to mediate and offer advice on how to reward those who made contributions in the Battle of Zhangjiakou," Lu Wan said with a smile, flattering him.

……

……

Zhangjiakou Fort.

For two days after the battle, the troops remained stationary, neither pursuing the Tatars nor being redeployed to other areas for defense.

These past two days, besides attending the victory celebration banquet, Tang Yin has been dragged into secret talks by Zhang Yong and his group. Each time, Tang Yin is extremely annoyed, but he dares not refuse to go.

That night, after he returned from drinking with Jiang Bin, he heard that Zhu Yi was talking to his men.

He immediately realized that this so-called subordinate of the Prince of Ning's mansion was likely Gongsun Jin, who had accompanied Zhu Yi to the capital and then bid them farewell to deliver gifts to the capital.

He hurriedly and shamelessly went to see him, as if he were also a core member of the Prince Ning's mansion.

Upon arrival, as expected, he saw the old fox with a suspicious smile on his face, which made him feel slightly uneasy.

"Mr. Tang, you are about to be promoted and will hold a high position in the court. It would be best if you didn't get too close to us." Zhu Yi walked out the door, his attitude towards Tang Yin showing a lack of welcome.

Tang Yin asked, "May I come in and talk?"

Zhu Yi did not answer immediately.

Gongsun Jin smiled and said, "I won't disturb you two any longer."

"How can you leave so easily, Mr. Gongsun? Isn't there news about my father? Shall we go in and talk about it together?" Zhu Yi did not let Gongsun Jin leave.

Tang Yin was now able to enter Zhu Yi's room as he had wished.

After entering, he looked around and asked, "Have you been staying here for the past two days?"

Because Tang Yin is now being treated with great respect by Jiang Bin, Zhang Yong, and others, he has been eating and sleeping well these past few days, seemingly having forgotten the hardships of his journey north.

Zhu Yi said, "We're just staying temporarily, why would we care where we stay? Mr. Tang, you should know what we want to talk about, yet you still came? Aren't you afraid...?"

The fact that Prince Ning was planning a rebellion is known only to Heaven, Earth, you, and me.

Now we're giving you a chance to join the emperor's camp, and you're abandoning the light for darkness? You know our side of the water is murky, yet you still insist on coming back to get involved?

Tang Yin frowned and said, "Aren't you afraid the walls might be eavesdropping?"

"What did I say?" Zhu Yi was still laughing.

Gongsun Jin laughed even more smugly, as if Tang Yin were the most unsociable and eccentric one.

Tang Yin said, "I've been thinking about this these past two days. Since you want to work for your father, why... do you insist on helping the imperial court? Wouldn't it be better if you just stood by and did nothing, as if nothing had happened?"

Zhu Yi shook his head and said, "It wasn't my choice to come to Zhangjiakou; the emperor ordered us here. Have you forgotten?"

"Then you shouldn't have risked your life like that," Tang Yin sighed. "What you're doing makes me feel like my stance is wavering."

Zhu Yi didn't say anything.

Gongsun Jin exclaimed in surprise, "Mr. Tang, what are you saying? As a subject of the Ming Dynasty, what's wrong with me doing something for the Ming?"

"Do you really have to keep pretending in front of me?" Tang Yin said bluntly.

Zhu Yi said, "Since you know everything, then tell me, what will your future stance be? If the worst-case scenario really happens... which side will you, with your wavering stance, side towards?"

Tang Yin seemed hesitant, yet, as if demonstrating loyalty, he said, "I was recommended by the Prince of Ning's mansion, what do you say?"

"I can't say," Zhu Yi said. "I'm afraid you're here to probe my intentions, deliberately trying to get me to tell you the secret."

Tang Yin seemed very hesitant. He wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with Zhu Yi, but Gongsun Jin's presence made him hesitate.

"Mr. Gongsun, you can have someone truthfully report Mr. Tang's situation back to us, and I'll say a few more words to him."

"Alright." Gongsun Jin was very perceptive.

If you tell me to come, I'll come in; if you tell me to leave, I'll leave. My main strength is being efficient and not clingy.

……

……

After Gongsun Jin left.

Tang Yin also bluntly asked, "You ask me which side I stand on between the Prince of Ning's mansion and the imperial court, but what about yourself?"

Zhu Yi said, "I have no choice. If things really come to a head, I'll die faster than anyone else. I'm basically in the emperor's hands!"

"This..." Tang Yin did not refute.

He could clearly see that Zhu Yi did not support Zhu Chenhao's rebellion.

First, the chances of success are too slim; second, the preparation time is too long; and third, Zhu Yi has an older brother.

"So you're planning to become the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty?" Tang Yin asked again, frowning.

"It's almost harder than my father successfully rebelling to become emperor," Zhu Yi said helplessly.

Tang Yin asked, "So what exactly do you want?"

Zhu Yi asked, "What do you think I, someone who understands history, should choose? Knowing that rebellion is impossible, and knowing that becoming the crown prince is also impossible, I'm doomed either way. Can you make a better choice than I am now?"

"It would be better to just go crazy!" Tang Yin complained casually.

"We're in the same boat," Zhu Yi laughed. "Right now, I'm just taking it one step at a time."

Tang Yin said, "Without a stance, you'll die even faster. You can't help the emperor achieve great feats while secretly plotting a rebellion for your father, can you? If both sides think you're a promising talent, when they really need to turn against each other, you'll probably have no place on either side!"

Zhu Yi asked with a smile, "Why can't I form my own school of thought?"

"What gives you the right?" Tang Yin asked sharply.

Zhu Yi said, "Let me suppose that the future emperor really does die unexpectedly, without any heirs or a will. If I use Jiang Bin and Qian Ning to quickly stabilize the situation and they put me on the throne as a puppet emperor... then... do you think I would need a clearer stance?"

"You're dreaming!" Tang Yin frowned.

Zhu Yi said: "The struggle for the crown prince position by the son of Prince Ning has happened in history before. It was only because of the conflict of interests between Qian Ning and Jiang Bin, and the emperor's lack of interest in it, that it was not accomplished in the end. But this also indirectly shows that the emperor really needs a nominal adopted son to make it easier for him to leave the capital."

Tang Yin said with a dark face, "I can see that you are in the same situation as me. We are stuck with no way forward or backward. It seems like we have many choices, but we are being led by the nose."

Zhu Yi laughed and said, "You should think about how to deal with the emperor first. Zhang Yong came to see me this afternoon and said that in a few days we will be setting off for Juyong Pass. It seems His Majesty wants to come out from Juyong Pass! If that's the case, then the capital is going to be quite lively!"