Chapter 46: The Clever Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 46: The Clever Zhu Gaoxu

"The eldest brother is coming to the capital? Did he win against Joseon?" Zhu Gaoxu asked indifferently.

Zhu Gaosui nodded hurriedly, "He did indeed win."

"Then how did he deploy his troops?"

"He used a combination of benevolence and might, taking Sheng Yong as the vanguard to cross the frozen river and lure the main force of Joseon northward. Afterward, Li Jinglong used the navy to land, cutting off their retreat from the center, and trapped tens of thousands of Joseon troops within our army's encirclement. At that point, the eldest brother sent an envoy demanding that the ruler of Joseon plead guilty and confess his wrongs, and only then promised to release the captives."

After hearing this, Zhu Gaoxu nodded and smiled, "Seen this way, the eldest brother is still capable of fighting. I have nothing to worry about."

Zhu Gaosui was dumbfounded, "Second brother, has your brain been muddled by the smell of urine? If the eldest brother knows how to fight, you won't have any advantages left, you know that?"

"Is that so?" Zhu Gaoxu merely chuckled, "Third brother, if you think sitting in that position relies on literary and martial prowess, you are entirely welcome to put in the effort, sharpen your claws well, and accomplish a few splendid feats. You are also a legitimate son; who knows, you might even surpass the two of us and become the crown prince."

Zhu Gaosui was stunned once again. What kind of nonsense was this?

"Second brother, you know I support you to become the crown prince. It has always been like this."

Zhu Gaoxu burst into loud laughter, "Third brother, why do you support me as crown prince? Is there any logic to it? Do you think the second brother treats you well, or does the eldest brother hate you? Or is being a vassal king under my command more comfortable than under the eldest brother? It makes no sense at all. I’ve thought about it over and over, and there is only one possibility: you want the snipe and the clam to fight each other so you can profit as the fisherman. Am I right?"

Zhu Gaosui was struck speechless, his mouth feeling as though it had been stuffed. Since when did the second brother become so smart?

This made no sense!

"Second brother, what on earth is wrong with you? Why would you suspect your younger brother? And all these days, you've been busy forging fake bronze artifacts. What has happened to you? It feels like you've become a completely different person; your younger brother doesn't even recognize you anymore."

Zhu Gaoxu chuckled, "Third brother, actually, I find it strange myself. How is it that such a simple matter is something I’m only figuring out now... I really was too foolish, and there were far too many idiots around me—just a bunch of useless fools. I wasted so much time for nothing. The fight for the succession has truly harmed me, and I’ve wasted the prime of my youth!"

It's over. The second brother has completely lost his mind.

Zhu Gaosui screamed frantically in his heart.

Zhu Gaoxu looked at him and instead broke into a smile.

"Third brother, we are still blood brothers after all. Let me ask you this... Tell me, in the current Great Ming Dynasty, who is really calling the shots?"

Zhu Gaosui rolled his eyes, "You don't want to be the crown prince, you want to directly usurp the throne, is that it? Anyway, since you happen to rank second, why not stage a Left Shun Gate Incident?"

Since the Great Ming didn't have a Xuanwu Gate, it would have to be the Left Shun Gate. Zhu Number Two was stunned for a moment.

"Get lost!"

Zhu Gaoxu unceremoniously landed a punch on his third brother.

"Let me ask you, the Office of Transmission processes the official documents of the Six Ministries and holds the memorial memorials of the thirteen provinces... communicating between the inner court and the outer court while overseeing all officials, how does it compare to the former Secretariat?"

Zhu Gaosui hesitated for a moment, then exclaimed in shock, "You mean the Commissioner of Transmission calls the shots?"

Zhu Gaoxu shook his head again, "You're wrong again. I've been in the Office of Transmission for many days. My cousin doesn't come very often, and the few supervisory officials His Majesty inserted frequently encroached upon his authority, until Jie Jin went home to water the garden and weed, and the situation improved somewhat."

"So those supervisory officials have the power?"

"What power do they have! They are nothing more than mere Hanlin officials, with low authority and not worth mentioning."

Hearing this, Zhu Gaosui became completely bewildered... Saying Zhu Di was the Son of Heaven meant he held the greatest power, but everything Zhu Di saw was handed to him by the Office of Transmission. If someone truly wanted to conceal and blind him, they could completely do it without a sound or trace.

Yet the Office of Transmission wasn't decided by Xu Jingchang alone either; underneath him were several councilors holding real power... Who on earth was the master of this country?

Zhu Gaosui felt his brain turn into a chaotic mess of porridge, and he blankly said, "Second brother, I don't understand what you mean."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled, "I might not fully understand it yet either, but I feel that the offices of all the ministries have this flaw to a greater or lesser degree. In reality, positions that look prominent and hold great power are not actually that prominent at all, and the things that can truly be decided are practically very few."

Zhu Gaoxu reached out, pulled Zhu Gaosui down to sit with him, and shoulder-to-shoulder, Zhu Gaoxu smiled, "Third brother, you say the eldest brother won this time and made a great contribution, so he's very glorious, right? But it was my cousin who exposed the fact that the King of Joseon imprisoned his father. It was also my cousin who discovered that they collected unofficial histories and gossip about His Majesty to slander him. Furthermore, deploying troops to Joseon also served to pave the way for the voyages to the Western Oceans, train troops in advance, and open up trade routes. Grand Preceptor Yao also said this in the Golden Hall. Now the eldest brother has returned in glory, enjoying the admiration of countless people, but the problem is that by opening up the trade routes, he has made it possible for the goods in my hands to be sold. The one who profits in the end is me. When someone painstakingly charges forward for you and opens up a financial path for you, tell me why I should hate him? Am I out of my mind?"

"This..." Zhu Gaosui was tongue-tied. After turning it over in his mind for quite a while, in the matter of troop deployment, Zhu Gaochi had definitely played the role of a tool.

Of course, he also gained some fame, but the real benefits all fell into the hands of others up and down. He belonged to the category of a little honeybee working hard so that others could taste the sweetness.

Yet this argument wasn't necessarily completely right either.

"Second brother, the power of life and death belongs only to the Son of Heaven. If you don't become the Supreme Ruler, you will be trampled under others' feet. Father can replace a Commissioner of Transmission at any time, and he can execute senior ministers of the Nine Ministries at any time as well."

Zhu Gaoxu burst into laughter once more, "You're right, because only those in power can choose their subordinates, and Father indeed holds the ultimate authority. But why would you want to walk beneath the executioner's blade? Can Father really kill whoever he wants like Grand Emperor Taizu did?"

Zhu Gaosui was dumbfounded once again. He felt that his second brother had become unfathomably profound and was starting to sound a bit mystical. What on earth had he been studying these past few days?

Could it that forging fakes in the Office of Transmission came with an intelligence boost?

Though come to think of it, that kid Xu Jingchang was indeed freakishly clever, and Yao Guangxiao also frequently haunted the Office of Transmission... Could there really be something supernatural about it?

"Second brother, your younger brother also wants to come work with you. Just take me in."

Zhu Gaoxu was startled, "If you come over, you'll at most be an apprentice. There's no pay."

Zhu Gaosui grew anxious, "Who cares about pay? I'm willing to pay to work here."

A smile appeared on Zhu Gaoxu's face. Captured. Following the eldest brother, the third brother had now also become his tool—and a very low-grade one at that.

He truly understood now. In truth, so-called authority isn't just about how high your position is, but rather how much actual power you hold in your hands.

Otherwise, even if you are exalted as the Son of Heaven, if your actions are controlled by the eunuchs and ministers around you, or worse yet—like Emperor Xianzhi of Han or the Duke of Gaoguixiang—you directly become a puppet, you can only lament the misfortune of being born into an imperial family.

The same principle applied to Zhu Gaoxu himself. If he were merely surrounded and coerced by the nobility, even if he became the crown prince and emperor, he would ultimately be nothing more than an emperor of the nobility.

His time spent forging items during this period had made Zhu Gaoxu understand one single truth.

Real ritual vessels have three legs, and my ritual vessels also have three legs, therefore my ritual vessels are real.

As ridiculous as it sounded, isn't that precisely what they played at in the imperial court?

Jie Jin wanted to directly push for the recruitment of soldiers, but everyone up and down opposed it, and even Zhu Di did not support it.

Yet Xu Jingchang changed the phrasing, used a few tricks to pull the imperial grandson into it, and suddenly everyone supported it. It was the same challenge to ancestral traditions, yet the results were worlds apart.

The scholarship hidden within this was simply enormous.

Zhu Gaoxu had truly been beaten down so miserably that he had enlightened himself without a master, achieving his own "Dragon Field Enlightenment."

And so, Zhu Gaosui became his coolie, helping him forge fakes.

Zhu Zhanji would also occasionally come to the Office of Transmission, only to be grabbed by Zhu Gaoxu and sent to the corner to contribute a puddle of virgin boy's urine.

"The eldest grandson has peed on this. The price of this bronze artifact will at least double."

Zhu Zhanji rolled his eyes, "Second uncle, can you give the money to me?"

"I can. Your second uncle is different from those who trick kids." With that, he fished out a golden bean and shoved it into Zhu Zhanji's hand.

The little fellow weighed it; it was real.

Zhu Zhanji immediately beamed with joy, "Second uncle, from now on I'll come over to pee every day!"

One puddle of urine for a golden bean—who said there are houses of gold in books? There's gold in urine too!

Zhu Zhanji had found the wealth password... Right, with this golden bean, he could go buy a roast duck from his cousin. Just in time for his father's impending arrival in the capital, he could use it to welcome him and wash away the dust of travel. If his father ate happily, he might even reward him with a bit of extra stuff.

Right, he might as well invite His Imperial Grandfather and Her Imperial Grandmother too; they were always generous with their rewards... Zhu Zhanji felt he was simply King Yama's little book boy, a clever little sprite!