Zhu Yijun had nothing to fear. Even if both mother and son were to fall out with each other, he would not hesitate.
"Mother, let's not talk about whether or not you can depose your son. Even if you want to, who would you choose to ascend to the throne? King Lu's younger brother? Mother, you're old. If the Emperor isn't your son, do you think you can continue to be the Empress Dowager? Or do you want to go against the Daming Ancestor's teachings, and take over the government from behind the curtains? Mother, those bastards don't even listen to their own sons, what more you? "
Zhu Yijun's words caused Empress Dowager Li to tremble in anger.
She knew that Zhu Yijun was fearless, because he wasn't a threat. Not to mention the martial arts he had already acquired, the only person who could threaten his position as the Emperor had been spoiled by him. He had become a disobedient child who was hated by everyone. If he were to become the Emperor, he would be another Zheng De Emperor, or even more ridiculous than Zheng De Emperor. The officials would never agree to it.
If she wanted to maintain her position, and to live out her remaining years in peace, she had to let her son be the Emperor. If it was someone else's son, how could she continue to be the Empress Dowager? This in itself was an unsolvable proposition. She was guarding against her son, and her son was guarding against her.
Her biggest regret was that she did not stop Zhu Yijun from indulging his younger brother. Initially, she thought it was because of their brotherly love. It wasn't until King Lu's wedding that she realized that Zhu Yijun had ill intentions. Zhu Yijun's position as the Emperor was now secure.
The officials did not dare to remove the Emperor from his position. Even though they had many complaints about the Emperor, they did not dare to remove the Emperor.
She was just an old granny, how could she dare to do so? She was just an old granny, what could she do?
What she relied on was her past prestige, but this kind of prestige would be exhausted with the passage of time, and to a large extent, this prestige came from being the son of the Emperor, and not from herself. She did not have the legal system and righteousness to govern the country, and the legal system and righteousness were in the hands of her son. Even now, other than Wang Xijue, the other officials did not know about this matter.
Indeed, she could do nothing to Zhu Yijun.
However, this didn't mean that she would allow Zhu Yijun to do whatever he wanted. Wang Xijue was right. Zhu Yijun wanted to become the enemy of all the gentry and scholars in the world. He wanted to go against the entire ruling class of the Daming Empire, and he was relying on nothing more than a champion and tens of thousands of troops.
Zhu Yijun wanted to deal with the ministers, but behind the ministers stood all the disciples of Sage Confucius and all the scholars in the world. But what stood behind the scholars? There stood the gentry, landlords, and tyrants who controlled almost two-thirds of the land and the means of production in the world. There were also the Jin merchants and the Jiangnan merchants who controlled two-thirds of the silver and goods in the world. It was not difficult for the Emperor to deal with these officials. Even if they were all beheaded, it would only take a single thought from the Emperor. But what would happen after the Emperor was beheaded?
It had always been difficult to block the news. Once the news was leaked, it would instantly cause unrest and unrest in the entire Daming. What would the merchants, landlords, and powerful people think when their spokespersons were killed? What would the scholars who would lose their privileges think?
The ruling base of the Daming Empire was never those peddlers and pawns. To put it bluntly, the illiterate people were just a group of pigs who provided taxes to the ruling group at any time. They were stupid and easy to incite. With a little provocation, they would become extremely crazy, and with a little guidance, they would become a disaster for the world.
The ruling base of the Daming Empire was the landlords, powerful people, and rich merchants who directly controlled the fate of these stupid farmers and peddlers and pawns. They were the main force to maintain the stability of the local areas. They were indeed the blood-suckers of the empire, sucking the blood of the empire. However, they could ensure the local peace, because if the local areas were not peaceful, they would also suffer losses. In this regard, the interests of the empire and them were the same, so they were the natural allies of the empire.
Don't think that the Daming Empire could control the world by establishing a powerful regime and army. Taizu and Chengzu could say so, but who dared to say so after that? The landlords had been rooted in the local areas for more than ten generations. Their ruling base was even deeper than that of the Daming Empire. Even if the Daming Empire fell, they could still be obedient citizens of the new dynasty, and the new dynasty would still share power with them. The only difference was the amount of taxes they would pay.
Did the scholars really work for the country and the world? Most of them only wanted the benefits and privileges of the High Scholar level and above to be exempted from taxes. How many scholars in the world became landlords after becoming a High Scholar? What did they do it for? Wasn't it for money?
The Daming Empire had indeed reached a dead end today. However, since ancient times, countless dynasties had walked into such a dead end, and there were no exceptions! There were two ways to solve this problem. One was to reform, and the other was to overthrow the old dynasty. Since ancient times, how many reforms were successful? As for overthrowing the old dynasty, which emperor would overthrow his own regime?
Zhu Yijun felt that his authority was being violated. He wanted to be the sole ruler, and he wanted to take back his authority. He wanted to use the coercive power of the army to kill those who did not obey him, but …
Your Majesty, you are fighting a life-and-death battle with the foundation of your rule! No matter how angry and resentful you are, they are your foundation. No matter how corrupt they are, they are still your foundation. You have cut off the foundation with a knife. Are you prepared to continue your rule with a new foundation? If you kill all the court officials, who will maintain the normal operation of the court? Who will handle the government affairs for you? Who will govern the world for you? Will you do it yourself? Can you do it yourself?!
Do you think that no other emperor would want to do what you are doing?
Cao Cao wanted to do it, so he proposed the High Scholar based on talent. Yang Guang wanted to do it, so he created the Imperial Examinations. However, did they succeed?
Wang Xijue did not waste much time and successfully let Empress Dowager Li know that the Emperor's coup was destined to fail. It was not too late to control it now. They could also seal the news and not let anyone know. If they waited any longer, when everyone knew about this news, when the Emperor really took action, the Emperor and his mother would be the first to bear the brunt. Countless people would emerge to clean up the Emperor's side. Daming Tianxia would instantly be in chaos.
Don't look down on the landlords of the world! Your Majesty! They are not your obedient subjects! There is no emperor who can control everything! Your Majesty!
Unless you are prepared to wipe out all the landlords and merchants in the world. Unless you are prepared to break up the world and reorganize it. Unless you are prepared to make the world bleed! Otherwise, Your Majesty! You will fail in the end! Daming Tianxia will also collapse in such a war!
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