Zhu Zhanji's slap was really hard. Zhu Zhanyi was stunned by the slap. He didn't recover for a long time and even forgot about the pain.
It wasn't just Zhu Zhanzhen who was confused. Prince Ning and the others also looked blank. What's going on?
This scene was beyond their expectations.
After a while, Zhu Zhanzhen came to his senses and said aggrievedly: "Your Highness, what crime did my brother commit?"
Zhu Zhanji sneered: "Come, come here, I will tell you."
"Your Highness made it clear." Zhu Zhanchen covered his face and shook his head. He was not stupid, so he would not stick his face out and let someone slap him.
"come over!"
"...Your Highness, please be gentle~"
"Pah——!"
The slap was even harder. Zhu Zhanzhen spun around in circles a few times and squatted on the ground. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth and his cheeks were swollen.
Zhu Zhanzhen was a little annoyed: Why do you only look at one side? Don’t you know that symmetry is in line with public aesthetics?
"Your Highness, my brother... what did you do wrong?" Zhu Zhanchen covered his face and said with a cry.
After all, he is already such an adult, and now he has been granted the title of vassal king, and in front of so many people, how can he still hang out in the future without any explanation?
Zhu Quan's face looked a little ugly, but he already understood.
However, the other kings seemed unaware. They were naive and were still eating the melon, not realizing the seriousness of the problem at all.
Zhu Zhanji stood up and stepped forward, slapped him again, still only on one side, and then used his fists and kicks at the same time.
"Your Highness, calm down, stop fighting, stop fighting..." King Jing, King Huai, and King Liang quickly stepped forward to break up the fight.
After all, they are brothers. Although they are not born from the same mother, they have some feelings for each other.
"Bang bang bang!"
The three kings each received a punch, and each of them had stars in their eyes, feeling aggrieved and angry.
We just start a fight, what crime do we have?
He was angry, but no one dared to get angry, and he had to smile compensatingly: "Your Highness, please don't be angry. We are all a family. If there is any misunderstanding, just let it go."
"Misunderstanding?" Zhu Zhanji smiled coldly: "This is not a misunderstanding."
As he said that, he looked at Prince Ning and his sneer suddenly warmed up, "Prince Ning, please sit down and let me teach these useless brothers a lesson."
Zhu Quan walked to one side and sat down with an ugly expression on his face. He still didn't understand that Zhu Zhanji was referring to Sang Huai.
Glancing at Li Qing, he saw Li Qing sipping tea with a contented look on his face. He noticed his gaze and raised his head and smiled at him.
Zhu Quan was so angry that he cursed secretly: This bastard must be the one causing the trouble!
Over here, Zhu Zhanji is still beating people.
Not only the King of Xiang, Zhu Zhanzhen, but also the other three feudal princes were beaten, one against four, in a crushing manner.
Of course, the main reason was that the four of them did not dare to fight back.
"Brother, brother... don't fight." Zhu Zhanchen hugged his eldest brother's leg and begged for mercy. If the beating continued, he would really have to see Taizu.
Zhu Quan's face on the side was gloomy, almost dripping with water. Although he was not actually slapped in the face, it was not much different. He understood that Zhu Zhanji was using another way to slap him in the face.
Seeing that the beating was almost done, Zhu Zhanji dusted off his clothes, returned to the chair, sat down, and got straight to the point:
"Let me ask you, are you involved in maritime smuggling?"
The four people who were complaining were stunned and speechless.
"Bang...!" Zhu Zhanji slammed the table and said angrily: "Answer!"
Zhu Zhanzhen was excited and timidly said: "Yes, there is participation."
He had been beaten since childhood and had a psychological shadow on his elder brother, so he directly told the truth.
The other three secretly cursed the weaklings, but they also understood that when things got to this point, it would be extremely difficult to cheat even if they wanted to, so they nodded in acknowledgement.
"Isn't the salary given to you by the imperial court not enough?" Zhu Zhanji said coldly: "Then why do you still need to compete with the people for profit?"
The four of them lowered their heads in shame, speechless.
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince." Zhu Quan spoke with a stern face and a smile on his face, "As far as I know, the full opening of the sea for trade is the emperor's decree, and it is also the new emperor's new national policy, right?"
Zhu Zhanji glanced at him and nodded slightly.
Zhu Quan said again: "Since the imperial court allows private trade, why are they holding on to King Xiang and not letting them go?"
"Haha," Zhu Zhanji sneered: "Is the vassal king a common man?"
Zhu Quan choked for a moment and said harshly: "The vassal princes are also the emperor's subjects."
"Prince Ning." Zhu Zhanji's tone became cold, "don't you hear: the horses and horses do not care about the chickens and dolphins; the ice-cutting house does not keep cattle and sheep; the hundred-horse house does not keep the officials who gather together; the officials who gather together with them do not
, would you rather have thieves?
This means that the country is not based on profit, but on righteousness!”
"The vassal king has a fiefdom, a salary, and is a member of the royal family. If the vassal king intervenes in maritime trade, will the common people have a role to participate?" Zhu Zhanji said loudly: "The imperial court opened the sea in order to let the common people live a good life.
Let’s live our lives instead of letting some people rely on their power to make profits!”
Zhu Quan's face turned red for a while, and he wanted to defend himself, but was unable to speak.
Zhu Zhanji added: "Of course, it is not impossible for the vassal king to trade at sea, but there is a prerequisite."
"What conditions?" Zhu Quan asked.
"Give up your status as vassal king!" Zhu Zhanji said calmly: "Don't come here to disgrace your royal family members."
Zhu Quan's face froze, and then he became furious: "I wonder if this is the emperor's intention, or the prince making his own decisions?"
"Prince Ning, pay attention to the attitude of your words." Zhu Zhanji could not be frightened, so he immediately retorted, "If you are dissatisfied, you can go to the capital to file a complaint against this prince."
"you……!"
"Pah!" Zhu Zhanji slapped Zhu Zhanchen on the face and cursed: "Let you compete with the people for profit, this is the fate of someone who is obsessed with money."
Zhu Zhanzhen looked confused: No...why did you argue with him and beat me? Beat him?!
Humiliation, naked humiliation... Zhu Quan was trembling with anger, his face was burning. Although the slap did not fall on his face, it was no different.
I think back then, he, Prince Ning, was also a hero of his generation. He killed Meng Yuan and left his helmet and armor, and his flowers and flowers fell into the water, which was so majestic.
However, since the death of Taizu, his power and status have plummeted. First, he established the Wen Dynasty and cut down the vassal vassal, and then he was deceived by Zhu Di.
Now even his grandchildren can bully him, which is really hard for Zhu Quan to accept.
"Zhu Zhanji, don't be so arrogant!" Zhu Quan said, "I want to see what you can do to me."
Zhu Zhanji smiled: "As long as you stop interfering in maritime trade, I will naturally not take anything against Prince Ning, and we will still be a family;
Of course, if Prince Ning insists on becoming a merchant, that's not impossible, but in the family tree, your lineage of Prince Ning will have to be deleted."
"How dare you!?" Zhu Quan said angrily: "I am the seventeenth son of Taizu, how can you follow me?"
Zhu Zhanji consciously gave Prince Ning enough face. Seeing that he did not know what to do, he stopped being polite and said, "If you don't believe me, why don't you give it a try?"
"Prince Ning." Li Qing, who had been silent, spoke, "Those who know the current affairs are heroes. This is not the time of Taizu. You'd better recognize the current situation. If you don't think about yourself, think about your descendants."
.”
After a pause: "But even if Taizu were alive and saw you competing for profits with the people, he would not spare you lightly;
Your Majesty, regardless of past grievances, has done his utmost to be benevolent and righteous."
"Li Qing, stop your fucking sarcastic remarks." Zhu Quan yelled: "I think I have never offended you, why do you always hold on to me? Am I eating your rice?"
Li Qing was too lazy to argue with him and looked at Zhu Zhanji.
Zhu Zhanji looked at Zhu Quan and said, "Prince Ning, let me ask you one last time, which of the two roads do you choose?"
"I don't choose." Zhu Quan sneered, "I want to see who can do anything to me!"
In fact, Zhu Quan was not so tough as he appeared, he just wanted to bargain.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Zhanji didn't give him a chance and said directly: "Here comes someone!"
"Cengcengceng" A group of wolf-like and tiger-like guards in Jinyi rushed in, "What are the prince's orders?"
"Take Prince Ning."
Jin Yiwei hesitated for a moment, "Yes!"
"What are you doing? What are you doing...?" Zhu Quan looked serious, "Zhu Zhanji, don't go too far!"
If you don't drink a toast, you'll have to drink a fine drink...Zhu Zhanji is not a man of faith. Even if it was his uncle who committed the crime, he would still take it and say, "Take it down!"
"I will fight with you." Zhu Quan exploded, pushed Jin Yiwei away, and shouted: "Who dares to take me?!"
Jinyiwei really didn't dare. After all, he was a vassal king and belonged to the royal family. If he really wanted to hurt someone, he might be blamed by his queen.
"Take it!"
"Who dares?"
"I'll do it." Seeing that the stalemate continued, Li Qing stood up and walked towards Prince Ning.
When Zhu Quan saw Li Qing coming, he was immediately frightened. He knew that Li Qing was really brave.
"You... don't come over here. I've been trained before. You bad old man, you know better. I don't want to accidentally kill you..."
"You talk a lot." Li Qing muttered.
As soon as the knife was struck, Zhu Quan rolled his eyes and fainted, unable to say the next words.
Prince Xiang Zhu Zhanzhen and others were stunned. Even the senior Prince Ning was defeated. How could they still be okay?
Just after becoming a vassal, the vassal was cut off?
"Your Highness, please spare your life...!" Several people were really frightened.
Zhu Zhanji smiled: "Which path do you choose?"
Is there any choice?
Several people were stunned for a moment, and then became ecstatic.
Zhu Zhanzhen was the first to react: "I will not do business in the future."
"We won't do it either." The other three people followed suit.
"Very good." Zhu Zhanji pointed to the pen, ink, paper and inkstone on the table, "Publish a guarantee letter and sign it. If you violate the rules in the future, you will be directly removed from the feudal clan."
Taking advantage of King Ning's mistakes, several people did not dare to bargain and wrote letters of guarantee in a hurry.
…
Zhu Zhanji looked at the four letters of guarantee on the table and said with a smile: "It's almost as expected. Once the vassal king is solved, things will be easier to handle later on."
"Where is Prince Ning?" Li Qing glanced at the unconscious Zhu Quan and asked, "Go to prison?"
"I won't go to jail for the time being." Zhu Zhanji sighed: "After all, he is a senior vassal king, and putting the vassal king in jail will easily cause commotion. Let's lock him up in the palace first."
After a pause, "I have received the instructions from my father, and I will make a decree in his name tomorrow that vassal kings, nobles, and officials are not allowed to participate in maritime trade."
Li Qing nodded: "If they participate in the trade, then others won't have to do it. It's good to have everything covered."
"However, in this way, the wealthy gentry will become the ones who gain the most." Zhu Zhanji worried, "Corruption will inevitably breed in the future, and the officials and gentry will be the same."
Li Qing smiled bitterly: "How can everything go as planned? This is already the best solution."
"Yeah... yes!" Zhu Zhanji sighed, then smiled and said, "You can live in the palace. Looking at Prince Ning, I think he is still a little afraid of you."