In fact, by now, everyone has already agreed with the feasibility of Zhu Pingan's suggestion, so the remaining question is...
Everyone turned their attention to Prince Yu.
Prince Yu was struggling at this time, his face turned from red to white and then back to red, and he was torn between his conscience and his conscience. One voice said: How can I, the son of the emperor, give bribes and gifts to a little thief like Yan Shifan? If I do this, won’t the world laugh at me, Zhu Zaihou? Another voice said: Well, you are right...
Well, although he knew the feasibility of Zhu Ping'an's suggestion, Prince Yu really couldn't bring himself to bribe or give gifts to Yan Shifan.
How can I, the son of the emperor, bow my head and give gifts and bribes to my ministers
Don't you have dignity?!
Even if I don't want dignity, the noble blood flowing in my body will not allow me to bow my head and give gifts to a minister!
If I do this, I will become a laughing stock in the world, and be ridiculed by everyone in the world! I am not as good as you, and this will make me even worse than you! If the emperor knew about this, how would he look at me? !
No! Absolutely not!!!
Prince Yu rejected Zhu Ping'an's suggestion from the bottom of his heart.
However, although Prince Yu rejected Zhu Ping'an's suggestion from the bottom of his heart, he did not close the door completely, but left a tiny gap.
This is about the annual gift for three years! The annual gift for the first two years was enough for 50,000 taels of silver each year. Last year, because it was a turbulent time and the treasury was tight, it was reduced to 30,000 taels. But the annual gift for three years added up to a full 130,000 taels of silver.
Life is really hard to sustain now. With this 130,000 taels of silver, I can do whatever I want...
In fact, Chen Yiqun also has a similar mentality to Prince Yu.
On the one hand, Chen Yiqin didn't agree with Zhu Ping'an's suggestion. Since he joined Prince Yu's mansion, Chen Yiqin has been working hard to protect Prince Yu. If Prince Yu is allowed to give gifts and bribes to Yan Shifan, wouldn't it be a kind of harm and humiliation to the invaluable Prince Yu! As the saying goes: When the master is worried, the minister is humiliated, and when the master is humiliated, the minister dies! The humiliation of Prince Yu is even more of a humiliation for us! As a minister, how can we let His Highness do something that will damage his reputation
But on the other hand, the suggestion put forward by Zhu Ping'an could indeed help Prince Yu get back the three-year annual gift. With these three-year annual gift, Prince Yu would not be constrained by money at all. This made Chen Yiqin very embarrassed.
Gao Gong thought Zhu Ping'an's suggestion was good. Gao Gong was pragmatic. What's the value of face? The key was to solve the annual gift problem. Besides, there are countless examples of people who have accomplished great things throughout history who did not care about trivial matters. Han Xin was humiliated by being kicked in the crotch, Gou Jian tasted feces to restore his country, Liu Bang shared his share of the soup, and even Emperor Taizu Hongwu once begged for a living... What's more, now it's just a gift...
The balance in Yin Shidan's heart leaned greatly towards Zhu Ping'an's suggestion. He felt that the advantages outweighed the disadvantages and it was worth a try.
After Zhu Ping'an finished speaking, he kept watching the reactions of everyone in the room, and naturally saw Prince Yu's expression of resistance and rejection.
However, Zhu Ping'an was not worried at all.
It is recorded in history books that Prince Yu finally got back the annual gift by bribing Yan Shifan. I just gave a push on the basis of respecting the historical trajectory, which accelerated the process.
Moreover, in history, Prince Yu's bribery of Yan Shifan did not bring any stain on Prince Yu. Instead, it became a rare highlight in Prince Yu's life of "bearing humiliation and accomplishing great things without paying attention to trivial matters"... In addition, Yan Shifan did have more stains because of this, and it became a strong factor in the downfall of the Yan Party and the death of Yan Shifan.
A suggestion could help Prince Yu regain the annual gift without leaving any stain, so there was no reason for me to miss this credit.
This achievement will make his position in Prince Yu's Mansion more stable and his status in Prince Yu's heart will be further enhanced.
Of course, at this time I need to add fuel to the fire for Prince Yu.
"Excuse me, Your Highness, how is Han Xin?" Zhu Ping'an looked up at Prince Yu and asked softly.
"The three heroes of the early Han Dynasty have unparalleled achievements and strategies. They can be called unparalleled national heroes." Prince Yu was slightly stunned, and then replied without hesitation.
Prince Yu admired Han Xin very much. As a person with ambitions for the world, he would be eager to seek talents like Han Xin. Prince Yu still remembered that Zhu Ping'an compared himself to Liu Hou at the poetry meeting when he first entered Prince Yu's mansion, implying that he was Liu Bang, and he was very happy for several days.
"What about the humiliation under the crotch?" Zhu Ping'an asked again.
"A lack of patience can ruin a great plan. The Marquis of Huaiyin endured humiliation and finally accomplished great things."
As Prince Yu spoke, he couldn't help but be moved, and the balance in his heart began to slowly tilt.
"Your Highness is wise. I think without the 'humiliation under the crotch', the great achievements of the Marquis of Huaiyin would have lost some color. It is precisely because of the 'humiliation under the crotch' that the image of the Marquis of Huaiyin is so great. The Marquis of Huaiyin is a hero. The so-called heroes in ancient times must have extraordinary integrity. There are things that people cannot endure. When a common man sees humiliation, he draws his sword and stands up to fight. This is not brave enough. There are great brave men in the world who are not surprised when they are suddenly faced with it, and are not angry when they are attacked for no reason. They have great ambitions and far-reaching ambitions. Therefore, endure small anger and make great plans, nurture their full strength and wait for their weakness. Those who accomplish great things do not care about small details."
Zhu Ping'an bowed to Prince Yu and talked very seriously.
“Endure small anger and work on big plans, maintain one’s full strength and wait for it to be weakened, those who accomplish great things do not pay attention to small details…” Prince Yu repeated softly, and the expression on his face slowly became solemn.
“There was also King Gou Jian of Yue, who was defeated by King Fu Chai of Wu. He was forced to surrender and seek peace, and was held hostage in the Wu court. Gou Jian endured humiliation and worked like an ox or a horse. He was pardoned after tasting dung. Later, he slept on firewood and tasted gall, swallowed up the State of Wu, and dominated the world…” Seeing that Prince Yu was interested, Zhu Ping’an brought up the most inspiring example of Gou Jian’s sleeping on firewood and tasting gall to further strengthen Prince Yu’s conviction.
Sure enough, Prince Yu became even more excited after hearing this, and the blood flowing in his body seemed to be burning.
"Your Highness, if you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight." Zhu Ping'an finally bowed and saluted, and said a famous Western proverb.
This proverb is probably well known in the West, but it is the first time it has appeared in the Ming Dynasty!
"If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight!"
Upon hearing this, Prince Yu was shocked all over. He then pressed the chair hard with both hands and stood up firmly.
"If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight..."
Chen Yiqin was stunned when he heard this. He didn't even notice that his hand stroking his beard had pulled out a tuft of hair.
Yes, if you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight! If you want to be crowned as an emperor, you must be able to bear the weight of the crown. There is no free lunch in the world, and there is no reason to gain without paying a price.
Zhu Ping'an is so young, but he can see this step. I really grew up in vain.
hehe
We need to take a long-term view. I almost became short-sighted.
Chen Yiqin couldn't help but shook his head and smiled, stroking his beard, and then he found a tuft of beard that had been pulled out...
Gao Gong and Yin Shidan were also shocked by Zhu Ping'an's words "If you want to wear his crown, you must bear his weight."
"Your Highness, if you want to destroy him, you must first make him crazy... Why don't we lend a helping hand to Yan Shifan?" Zhu Ping'an added at the end.
Well
Zhu Ping'an's words and sentences are really brilliant!
Everyone was stunned again when they heard the words. As they thought about them, they felt that the two sentences Zhu Ping'an said were more and more profound.
"I have made up my mind. This time I will follow Zihou's strategy." Prince Yu looked around at everyone and said firmly.