With Yu Rang's public declaration of the imperial edict, the court's conferment of honors upon Shen Jing was finally settled.
In addition to being enfeoffed as a marquis and granted an official position, Emperor Zhou bestowed upon Shen Jing two thousand gold, along with some silk and cloth.
Furthermore, Emperor Zhou also granted Shen Jing the Shen Family's ancestral temple, which Shen Jing had always yearned for.
However, Emperor Zhou did not mention the matter of the salt warrants.
Shen Jing understood that the reason Emperor Zhou wanted him to receive the Yong Country Delegation was most likely to persuade them to agree to replace other tribute items with white sugar.
He was just a little confused as to why Emperor Zhou specifically chose him for this task, as many others could have done it.
Regardless, being directly enfeoffed as a marquis still made him feel great.
From now on, he was also a marquis!
It was just that the fifth-rank military scattered official position was a bit lacking.
If he had been given a general with real power, that would have been even better!
Emperor Zhou seemed quite displeased with the day's court proceedings; after Yu Rang finished reading the imperial edict, he briefly discussed the Yong Country Delegation with his officials before announcing the end of the court session and asking Shen Jing to come to the palace that evening to dine with him.
Emperor Zhou left the court with Ye Shen and sat down in the Imperial Garden, but he made Ye Shen stand.
"Your performance today has made Us very dissatisfied!"
Emperor Zhou's face was not good, and he looked at Ye Shen with a deep frown.
Ye Shen's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly bowed, saying apologetically, "This son is dull; please enlighten Father Emperor."
Emperor Zhou's eyelids lifted slightly, "Did We not tell you about the white sugar?"
"You did!"
Ye Shen answered honestly.
Emperor Zhou asked in an annoyed tone, "Then why do you think We want Shen Jing to receive the Yong Country Delegation?"
Ye Shen, having been the Crown Prince for so many years, quickly understood after a moment of thought, "Father Emperor wants Shen Jing to persuade the Yong Country Delegation to agree to our dynasty replacing other tribute items with white sugar?"
"That's right!"
Emperor Zhou sighed softly, "Do you believe that when We explicitly said We wanted Shen Jing to receive the Yong Country Delegation, he had already guessed Our purpose?"
Ye Shen thought for a moment and replied, "This son has heard that Shen Jing is clever; he probably guessed it."
"You have to hear about it? Can't you see it yourself?"
Emperor Zhou's face showed displeasure, "He, a mere commoner, confronted the current Grand Chancellor head-on; did he ever fall behind? Do you really think he forgot that it was your second brother who said his merits outweighed his faults?"
Ye Shen looked at Emperor Zhou with shame and understood, "He was sowing discord..."
"That's just the most basic thing!"
Emperor Zhou interrupted Ye Shen impatiently, "His fundamental goal was to leverage your second brother's influence!"
"Ah?"
Ye Shen was dumbfounded, looking at Emperor Zhou in confusion.
Leverage influence?
How could Shen Jing leverage his second brother's influence?
This...
This makes no sense at all!
"You've been the Crown Prince for so many years for nothing!"
Emperor Zhou's face showed disappointment, and he said testily, "He wanted to subtly lead the conversation to your second brother, forcing your second brother to speak! If your second brother were to openly oppose Us in court again, he would surely worry about incurring Our displeasure. But if your second brother agreed with Our conferment of honors on him, the dissenting voices in court would naturally be much fewer!"
Is that so?
Ye Shen was a bit dumbfounded.
Shen Jing was just a xiucai; could his schemes be that deep?
Seeing his appearance, Emperor Zhou couldn't help but sigh deeply, "As the Crown Prince, you have an excess of benevolence but a lack of authority! And the reason for your lack of authority is that you cannot control your officials! You have no idea when to suppress and when to release these court officials! If We were to pass away now, within a year, you would surely be hollowed out by these court officials!"
During the great argument among the officials in court today, even if he, the Crown Prince, had rushed over and kicked those officials a few times, he wouldn't be this disappointed.
When the officials were arguing loudly, his words as Crown Prince were soft and weak; who would listen?
He only thought about not offending anyone, but he never considered that scolding everyone and not scolding anyone at all were exactly the same!
"This son... is ashamed."
Ye Shen lowered his head, feeling uneasy.
"Shame won't solve the problem!"
Emperor Zhou shook his head and sighed, "Instead of spending time with those literati and refined scholars, you should go to the imperial prison and talk more with those important court criminals!"
"Remember, governing a country absolutely does not rely on those so-called upright gentlemen, but rather more on cunning and treacherous people!"
"Upright gentlemen like Grand Tutor Su can only serve as a bronze mirror to reflect on others and oneself; they cannot be the sharp sword in your hand!"
"This is also why We made Grand Tutor Su a Grand Academician of the Zizheng Hall and not a Prime Minister..."
Emperor Zhou patiently instructed Ye Shen, but he couldn't help but sigh.
He had already taught him to this extent; if the Crown Prince still didn't improve, he might truly have to replace him!
The power of Great Zhou was already declining; even if there wasn't a lord who could bring about a resurgence, there needed to be a Crown Prince who could preserve this foundation!
... ...
"Father, isn't His Majesty being a bit too good to this Shen Jing?"
As soon as he returned home, Yao Yu said to his father, full of indignation.
"He is indeed a bit too good!"
Yao Jian nodded slightly, "But unusual events always have a hidden agenda!"
"Hmm?"
Yao Yu was puzzled, "What does that mean?"
Yao Jian picked up his teacup and took a sip, a thoughtful expression on his face, "After the court session ended today, this old man has been thinking: does His Majesty intend to support Shen Jing to counterbalance this old man, or does he want to thoroughly stir up the waters of the court?"
"With Shen Jing's meager foundation, no matter how much he's supported, he can't counterbalance Father, can he? Supporting Shen Jing is not as good as supporting others!"
Yao Yu made no secret of his disdain for Shen Jing, then asked in confusion, "What does Father mean by His Majesty wanting to stir up the waters of the court?"
Yao Jian's eyes narrowed slightly, and he prompted, "Didn't you notice anything wrong with the large number of officials recently appointed to fill vacancies in the court?"
"This..."
Yao Yu thought for a moment and shook his head slightly.
Many officials were implicated in several major cases, so wasn't it normal for the court to appoint officials to fill vacancies?
What could be wrong with that?
"Stupid!"
Seeing that his son still didn't understand, Yao Jian couldn't help but scold him and prompted again, "Tang Zhi, the Minister of Personnel, is the Crown Prince's father-in-law. In this recent appointment of officials to fill vacancies, Tang Zhi had very little say! Among those appointed officials, there are few who are Tang Zhi's protégés! Don't you think this is a problem?"
Hmm?
Yao Yu lowered his eyebrows in thought, then looked at his father with a look of astonishment, "Father means that His Majesty has had thoughts of deposing the Crown Prince?"
"Not necessarily."
A sharp glint flashed in Yao Jian's eyes, "His Majesty might have had that thought, or he might be reprimanding the Crown Prince and his faction! But undoubtedly, His Majesty is certainly displeased with the Crown Prince!"
Listening to Yao Jian's words, Yao Yu's face suddenly became agitated.
His Majesty was displeased with the Crown Prince!
As long as His Majesty was displeased with the Crown Prince, it was a good thing!
Don't look at how glorious the Yao Family was now; this was based on His Majesty being alive and the Crown Prince not having ascended the throne.
Once the Crown Prince ascended the throne, he would inevitably promote those of his faction, such as Duke of Xin Tang Zhi, and Right Prime Minister Lu Sui.
When some people rise, others must fall.
And the Yao Family's people would very likely be the first to suffer.
Thinking of this, Yao Yu immediately lowered his voice and asked, "Should we tell the Second Prince about this?"
If His Majesty deposed the Crown Prince, there was a high probability of establishing the Second Prince, Ye Qing, as the Crown Prince.
And the Second Prince had always wanted to win over the Yao Family.
If they could help the Second Prince ascend the throne, the Yao Family would prosper for a long time to come!
"Do your job!"
Yao Jian gave him a cold look and said in a deep voice, "This old man has his own decisions; this is not something you should be thinking about right now!"
He had already reached the highest position an official could achieve; there was no possibility of going any further.
What he needed to consider now was the future of the Yao Family!
A new emperor, a new court, was indeed true.
If he didn't make a choice, and the Crown Prince ascended the throne in the future, he would still have the chance to gracefully retire.
But if he chose wrongly, he might not even have the chance to die a natural death in the future!
After all, His Majesty was only displeased with the Crown Prince now and had not shown any clear intention of deposing him.
"I understand!"
Yao Yu nodded slightly and then changed the subject, saying, "Should we try to find a way to make Shen Jing's reception of the Yong Country Delegation less smooth, to make him make mistakes, and thereby..."
"The Yong Country Delegation hasn't even arrived yet; why are you considering these things?"
Yao Jian glared at his son, "If someone is already about to fall off a cliff, and you push him again, what's the point besides getting yourself into trouble?"
