If not abolished

Chapter 155: The idea of ​​​​subjugation

Zhu Gaochi walked slowly. Zhu Di looked at his back as he left and suddenly felt a little sad.

"His Majesty……"

"Well, let's go back too." Zhu Di turned and left.

"Your Majesty is still considering the Crown Prince."

"Parents who love their children will think long-term about them. Whether as a father or a ruler, how can they not consider him?"

"Yes."

"I heard that Yang Pu is studying hard in prison?" Zhu Di suddenly asked.

"It seems to be the case?" Wang Jinghong thought about it. Three years ago, because the crown prince was late in welcoming him, His Majesty was very angry. Not only did he scold the crown prince, he also arrested all the crown prince's close associates. Some of them were released after being detained for a few months. He didn't know that Yang Pu was still in prison. Why did His Majesty suddenly ask about it?

"I can't use such a talent, but I can make him the crown prince in the future," Zhu Di said abruptly.

Wang Jinghong did not reply, but thought to himself that this probably meant that His Majesty understood that he had buried a talent, but the emperor was not wrong, so this person could only be reused after the crown prince ascended the throne.

Han Palace

Because Zhu Di suddenly came back, Zhu Gaoxu's original plan was disrupted. Although he often said that he was the Li Shimin of the current dynasty, Zhu Di was not Li Yuan after all, and was not so easy to bully. He still didn't dare to rebel in front of Zhu Di. It seemed that this matter still needed long-term consideration. If it didn't work, he could wait until Zhu Di was a hundred years old. He still had the confidence to rebel against Zhu Gaochi.

So these days he has been hiding some of his previous preparations, and he must not let Zhu Di know about them.

Just when Zhu Gaoxu felt he was safe, a minister suddenly stood up the next morning and reported dozens of violations of laws and regulations by Prince of Han Zhu Gaoxu.

Zhu Di glanced at him, stood up angrily and said, "You rebellious son, what else can you say?"

"Father, I am innocent. This is a frame-up..."

Zhu Gaoxu naturally refused to admit it even if he was beaten to death. He quickly came out, knelt down and shouted that he was innocent.

"It's unfair. Every single thing is unfair. You personally selected the guards, recruited elite soldiers, and even kept a deadly waiter. What do you want to do? Are you recruiting soldiers to prepare for a rebellion? If I order someone to search your house now, will we still find the dragon robe? Ah? You rebellious son." Zhu Di became angrier and angrier as he spoke. He walked over and kicked Zhu Gaoxu hard.

"Come here, take off his crown and clothes for me, and detain him in Xihua Gate first and await your punishment." Zhu Di continued.

The change happened too quickly, and Zhu Gaochi was not prepared and did not react immediately. When he reacted, he immediately knelt in front of Zhu Di to plead for his brother, "Father, could it be that my second brother was wrongly accused? There is no evidence yet. It would be bad if my second brother was wrongly accused, Father."

"Look, your royal brother is still pleading for you. How do you usually treat the prince?"

Zhu Gaoxu was stripped naked and now dressed in white. He said, "Please beg for me. Is my brother sincere or just pretending? Don't I know?" Zhu Gaoxu didn't appreciate Zhu Gaochi's kindness. "You always act like this. There are no fathers, sons or brothers in the royal family. For the sake of power, didn't you rebel and force your own nephew to death? I am learning this from you..."

"Drag him out and lock him up." Zhu Di almost fainted when he heard this, "I will destroy you, destroy you..." Zhu Di said repeatedly.

Zhu Di was so angry with Zhu Gaoxu that he withdrew from the court after a while.

Zhu Gaochi pleaded for Zhu Gaoxu outside the Qianqing Palace, and Zhu Di sent someone to persuade him to go back.

Wang Jinghong came out to persuade him, "Your Highness, His Majesty told you to go back first. You can't stand kneeling like this. It will be bad if you get sick later."

"I will go back if your Majesty releases my second brother." Zhu Gaochi said persistently.

"My dear prince, don't you know His Majesty's temper? He is very angry at the moment, so it is not easy for him to give in. How about you wait until His Majesty calms down before coming over? Go back first."

Zhu Gaochi remained unmoved. Wang Jinghong had no way to deal with him, so he said to the people around him: "Quick, go to Qingyun Palace and invite His Royal Highness the Crown Prince over." Now only Zhu Zhanji could persuade the prince.

Qingyun Palace

"Your Highness, the Prince's Highness, Wang Daban asked me to invite you to go to the Qianqing Palace to persuade His Highness the Crown Prince. His Majesty is angry now and there is no way he will take back his order. His Highness the Crown Prince is not in good health, and kneeling like this will only bring disaster to him..."

"Is this what Grandpa Huang meant?" Zhu Zhanji asked.

"Your Majesty asked Wang Daiban to persuade His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

When Zhu Zhanji heard that it was Zhu Di who asked the prince to come back, he nodded and said, "You go and tell him, I'll be there right away."

"Yes."

Zhu Zhanji then arrived at the gate of the Qianqing Palace.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince, you are finally here. Please try to persuade His Highness. This…” Wang Jinghong saw Zhu Zhanji as if he had seen a savior.

"Eunuch Wang." After Zhu Zhanji said this, he and Zhu Gaochi knelt down side by side.

This action frightened Wang Jinghong, and he asked hurriedly, "Your Highness, what are you doing?"

"First, my second uncle is also my elder, and I should plead for him. Second, my father is kneeling here, and as a son I should do the same." Zhu Zhanji said.

Wang Jinghong was about to vomit blood. Well, he asked His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to come and persuade people, but now, not only did he fail to persuade people, but another person also knelt down. What should he do? He thought for a long time but came to no avail. He had to go in and ask Zhu Di what to do.

Wang Jinghong told Zhu Di about the situation outside, and Zhu Di was surprised that Agui also came to this matter.

"Since they want to kneel, just kneel. I want to see how long they can hold out." Zhu Di was also angry today. He never expected that one day his own son would want to rebel against him. What's the matter? Can't he just repay with revenge?

"Have you investigated everything the King of Han did?" Zhu Di still went to check the authenticity of those things. What if he was really wronged?

Wang Jinghong hesitated.

Zhu Di frowned and said, "Tell me, is there anything else you can't say?"

"Your Majesty, those things are basically true, and His Royal Highness the Prince of Han claims to be Li Shimin, but that's just talk. His Royal Highness the Prince of Han did not do it." After saying this, Wang Jinghong lowered his head.

"Hmph, Li Shimin, what? He is planning to stage a Xuanwu Gate Incident. Oh, that is indeed not a simple rebellion. At least Li Yuan is still alive, but he is just frustrated and has become the emperor. He thinks that I am Li Yuan and allows him to control me, huh?" Zhu Di wanted to laugh when he heard this. He was too good to him in normal times, which made him have such an illusion.

"Your Majesty, calm down. Your Highness the King of Han is just talking."

"Say, isn't that what you have in mind?" Zhu Di disagreed. "Sure enough, his uncle was right. This rebellious son is someone who can even betray his father."

No one dared to answer the call.

After a long while, Zhu Di asked, "Are the Crown Prince and Agui still outside?"

"Yes."

Zhu Di sighed and said, "Let them in."

Wang Jinghong went to invite the person in personally.

Zhu Gaochi had been kneeling for too long and was unable to stand up. Zhu Zhanji and others helped him walk in. Zhu Di couldn't bear to see him like this and stopped him from saluting.

"You sit down first."

"Thank you, Father."

"Grandpa Emperor." Zhu Zhanji knelt down and bowed.

"Get up, get up. You still think kneeling isn't enough, right?"

After everyone sat down, Zhu Di said, "I know you are begging for mercy for that rebellious son, but what he did this time is not a small matter, it is a serious crime of treason, which is unforgivable. Besides, this is also for your future. I am still alive and can suppress him, but one day I will be gone, and this is a huge hidden danger, so it is not allowed."

"Your Majesty, I believe my brother will realize his mistakes and will change if we persuade him." Zhu Gaochi still insisted.

"I don't believe this. As long as that rebellious son has this intention, it is impossible to make him turn back from his wrong path unless he is no longer capable of doing so. Therefore, he must be abolished."

"Father, if you abolish my second brother, how will you explain to our mother in the future? When our mother was around, my brothers were still very good."

"The Queen will understand me. The Ming Dynasty cannot afford to have imperial power in turmoil again."

"Grandpa Emperor, can you let your grandson say a word?" Zhu Zhanji suddenly said.

"You say." Zhu Di wanted to hear what ideas he had.

"In fact, if we want to restrain my second uncle, there is more than just one way to abolish him. Didn't Taizu send the princes to fiefdoms to prevent this? When my second uncle arrived at the fiefdom, he had no manpower and naturally he was powerless." Zhu Zhanji said.

"You are right. That is indeed the case. Originally, that rebellious son should have been enfeoffed in Qingzhou two years ago. It was because I felt sorry for him that I kept pushing it back. Now it seems that he had the intention to seize the throne at that time, and now his ambition has grown even bigger."

"Grandpa Emperor, if you abolish my second uncle, it would be really...it would be better to let him go to his fiefdom."

"I'll think about this again." Zhu Di needed to think about it for a while, then said, "Now let's talk about you two. If I don't call you in, are you going to kneel down for a whole day to threaten me?"

"I dare not," said the Crown Prince and his grandson.

"I dare not. I think you are very brave. What is there to be afraid of? Even your brother has the guts to rebel."

"I have absolutely no second thoughts." Zhu Gaochi immediately expressed his determination.

"I know that if you have second thoughts, you can still sit here. Okay, don't say anything. Go back now. I will consider what you said carefully. Let's lock up that rebellious son first to teach him a lesson. As for whether to abolish him, I will think about it carefully."

"Father..." Zhu Gaochi wanted to say something.

Zhu Zhanji shook his head at him.

"Your son will take his leave." The two men withdrew.

"Your Majesty is still soft-hearted."

"It's not that I'm soft-hearted. If I really depose Gao Xu, what will the Crown Prince think? He will be worried every day about when I will depose him. Do you think he is really just pleading for his brother? It must be for himself. But no matter what happens in the future, he will not kill his own brother. Brotherly fratricide must not happen to them."

"Your Highness will not."

"He certainly won't, but Gao Xu may not."