Chapter 57: Cao Nai's Legacy

The prince's voice was slightly lower, and he selectively told Cao Nai some of the content of his conversation with Zhu Qizhen.

Cao Nai did not comment on who was right and who was wrong between Zhu Qizhen and the prince.

In the Confucian moral system, it is not advisable to talk about the monarch.

However, this is not to say that Cao Nai is not tendentious.

Cao Nai sighed and said, "I have a virtuous prince in the Ming Dynasty, and the old minister is relieved." ”

The prince listened and said, "It's Lone's inconsiderate thought that disappointed my father." Where is there anything virtuous and unvirtuous. ”

Cao Nai said: "Your Royal Highness, it stands to reason that the old minister and the prince have never had any contact, and some of the words are shallow and profound, which should not be said, but people are dying, and their words are also good, and I hope the prince will listen to them." ”

The prince said, "Sir, please speak." ”

Cao Nai said: "All the promising kings are talented and virtuous, have the heart of a strong ancestor to win over the ancestors, boast of the world's affairs, who else is me, the ancestors' business, the disadvantages of time are deep, and the descendants of future generations are not good." I will want to make a big difference in the world. In the reign of many major events, want to get rid of the accumulated evils, seek the country, thousands of generations, even thousands of years. ”

When the prince heard it, although what Cao Nai said was big and big, and he didn't seem to say who it was, the prince could also hear that what Cao Nai said was his father.

It stands to reason that the Son speaks to the Father. Even if the prince interrupted, he should avoid the table and not listen.

It's just that he doesn't know what to think, and there is only silence.

Cao Nai coughed twice and said: "The way of governing the country is the way of co-managing yin and yang, the way of civil and military. If you want to be fast, you can't reach it, and even if you want to be urgent, you can't do anything. So much so that the Ming lord folded, and the country left regrets. If the Han Wu has no Xuanzhao, the Han family has already collapsed. Today's Majesty, shrewd and capable, is a first-class master, with a trip to the Han Dynasty and a disadvantage of the Han Dynasty. ”

"Your Majesty's accumulation of disadvantages, not nothing, but thousands of years of accumulation, how can it be swept away in just a few decades, when Your Majesty was young, there were still important ministers to advise, Your Majesty still has to admonish, and now Your Majesty is old, Yu Qian is gone, there are very few people who can persuade Your Majesty. The minister is also dying. ”

"What is the fear of death? I am afraid that once the old minister is gone, His Majesty will take any more measures, and it will not be a blessing for the family and the country. ”

Cao Nai's words are actually measured, according to the prince's reaction, he decided what to say next, and it is obvious that the prince's silence gave Cao Nai more courage, so that he said more frankly and explicitly.

However, what Cao Nai said is also true.

Nowadays, there is no minister in the whole world who dares to oppose the king's authority.

It seems that Han Yong is very strong, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that Han Yong's strength is the opposite.

In other words, in the general direction and big decisions, Han Yong has never opposed the emperor, and only at the executive level can he dare to bargain with Zhu Qizhen.

It can be said that what Zhu Qizhen wants to do now. It's going to be done.

This is not only due to the prestige of Zhu Qizhen who has been in charge for decades, but also because Zhu Qizhen has survived a large number of veteran ministers. In addition, in the process of changing the law, there were all kinds of blows, so that among the hundreds of officials, there was no one who could gather the prestige of Shilin, such as Li Shimian and others to persuade His Majesty.

In such a situation, from such a good point of view, it is natural to be consistent from top to bottom and improve administrative efficiency.

On the bad side, it's a lone-husband.

Looking at the various policies in Zhu Qizhen's administration, the Shidafu group has already suffered a lot of impacts. Looking at the emperor's approach, it seems that there is no intention to stop.

If it goes on like this, in the eyes of many people, Zhu Qizhen is a thief.

Of course, the people of Pingtou have never been the people, but the scholars are the people.

The prince sighed lightly, but still did not speak.

He didn't know what to say. And he couldn't guess Cao Nai's intentions, so he naturally refused to express his position easily.

Cao Nai also seemed to understand this, and said: "Of course, Your Majesty's merits are known to people in the world, and the worries of the old ministers are more groundless, and the old ministers have no other intentions, I only hope that His Royal Highness can be for Han Xuan." ”

"In this way, the world will be safe."

In the later years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, because of the continuous war with the Xiongnu, the household registration in the world was halved, and there was a state of collapse.

Of course, the halving of the world's household registration is not that all these people are dead, but that these people are not in the official account books, that is, the court's ability to control the local area is shrinking.

After all, most of the power of the ancient dynasty lies in how much manpower he can mobilize and how many households he can hold, which is a direct symbol of a country's national strength.

It was also after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that Huo Guang assisted Emperor Zhao, and Emperor Xuan saved the world from an extremely dangerous situation.

Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty was the lord of Zhongxing in the Western Han Dynasty.

Cao Nai used Han Wu to evaluate Zhu Qizhen, but he didn't know whether to praise or belittle.

The crown prince only spoke at this hour, and said: "Sir, rest assured, my father is wise and powerful, and it will not be like this." ”

Even if Cao Nai said this, the prince was still very cautious, and refused to show a trace of his words to be caught.

Of course, Cao Nai is an old fritter.

Sometimes, the meaning of a sentence naturally changes differently in different occasions.

Cao Nai suddenly understood and said, "What the prince said is extremely true. It's the old minister who is too worried. Immediately, Cao Nai took out a roster from his arms, handed it to the prince and said: "The old minister is also eighty years old, and he still has some connections in the court, and now the minister is about to die, and it is useless to keep these anymore. ”

"It's also the last thought of the old minister."

The prince took it and opened it to look at it, but just looked at it

As soon as the page was covered, the light in his eyes flickered, and it was easy to calm his breath and say: "Cao Gong has a heart, and he will remember it in his heart, and he will be rewarded in the future." ”

Cao Nai is a person who must not be underestimated.

You must know that he was the first assistant of the cabinet many years ago, and he inherited the connections left by Sanyang.

Of course, the connections left by each of the three Yangs have long disappeared with the replacement of the old ones by a generation of new people. But Cao Nai's own experience has also been in the local area, and he has been in this position in Nanjing for decades.

Cao Nai has been cultivating for so many years, and how many officials he has won over is a number that no one knows. And there are many people who have sacrificed their lives in high positions.

In particular, it is no secret that Cao Nai has disagreed with the emperor's political views for so many years.

In this way, people who have opinions about Zhu Qizhen's new law are also like flowing water.

His status can be compared to Sima Guang who repaired books in Luoyang.

It's just that Zhu Qizhen lived too long and boiled this Ming Sima Guang to death.

Therefore, this list in Cao Nai's hands includes those in the court and those in the opposition, and they are generally officials and gentry with the same political views as Cao Nai. Of course, these people are also unanimous in their opposition to the new law, and their minds are different in many ways.

For example, some people oppose the large-scale expansion of the Shaofu, some oppose a whip law, some oppose the official law, and recently there are many people who oppose commercial taxes.

But those who oppose a whip law and those who oppose commercial taxation are not necessarily a group of people.

The reason why Cao Nai gave this list to Zhu Qizhen is also to understand that if the children and grandchildren of the officialdom do not have outstanding skills to occupy a core position in this relationship network, it is useless to leave these to them, and it is impossible to expect these people to treat Cao Nai's children and grandchildren like Cao Nai.

This is also the case that many politicians will not hand over their political legacy to their children and grandchildren. If you don't want to, you can't.

But the crown prince is not an ordinary person.

The status of the crown prince brought him a special political status.

As long as the prince is willing to take over this network, these people are expected to treat the prince in a more reverent way than they did with Cao Nai.

It can even be said that Cao Nai's seemingly handing over his political legacy to the crown prince is actually more of a matchmaking thing. Because I don't know how many people want to jump on the prince's boat. Become a member of the Prince's Hidden Mansion.

Of course, this is also good for the crown prince.

The prince has been in the South Seas for a long time. On the political map of the Ming Dynasty, it is simply a border area, so although there are many elites in the prince's lineage, there are not many people in essence.

In politics, the political elite is important, but many of the horses who are waving the flag are also very important.

Now Cao Nai's move immediately solved a big problem for the prince.