Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 1015 Fan Huai Offers Advice
"Please come in...Fan Huai?" Li Cang, who had been silent and dejected, looked up in disbelief after hearing this.

"Fan Huai is just a merchant's son. Should my Li family invite him?" Li Cang said, his voice full of resentment.

Fan Julun frowned secretly, but still said earnestly: "Second Master, you should put the overall situation first. The King of Zhou of the Ming Dynasty has already set conditions. If you want to gain their support, you must help Fan Huai and issue a guarantee for Fan Huai. This shows how much the King of Zhou values ​​this disciple."

"Let's talk about identity... In the eyes of King Zhou, who was born in the Ming Dynasty, we are all barbarians from the borderland of Annan. What's the difference? Why would he care who is the second son of the prime minister and who is the son of a merchant?"

Li Cang paused, his face flushed, and he was speechless.

"Lord Li originally hoped that the two young masters could become disciples of King Zhou. But now the two young masters have failed to win the favor of King Zhou and have been expelled from the academy, but he has not allowed me to find ways to make up for it." Fan Julun continued.

"Second Master, do you know how important it is to win over the Ming Dynasty for the future of the Li family? Or do you have a more appropriate method?"

Li Cang's face was still red and he was quite speechless.

He naturally knew the ambitions of his father Li Jilin, and also knew how important it was for the Li family to win over the Ming Dynasty.

If the Le family wanted to dominate the Annan court through the dispute between schools of thought, they had to advocate the leadership of the Le family's new school of thought in Annan. The new school of thought was the school of thought of the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty claimed that the Le family's new school of thought was a pseudo-school of thought, then even if the Le family could still barely maintain their power and status, they would have to pay a huge price.

What's more, Le Qui Ly's desire is not just to be a powerful official... If he wants to go one step further and usurp the throne of Annan, he must have a good relationship with the Ming Dynasty in order to gain recognition from the Ming Dynasty, the suzerain state of Annan.

Of course Li Cang knew this.

However, due to his disdain for Fan Huai's background and his hatred for Fan Huai himself, he was still unwilling to accept Li's recruitment of Fan Huai. He said, "That being said, granting Baowen to a merchant's son will inevitably arouse the hostility of other noble families towards Li's family."

"I will not recruit Fan Huai. Uncle, you should ask my father and let him decide."

Fan Julun was speechless. Li Cang was right. Granting Fan Huaibaowen would break the tradition of the nobles monopolizing the imperial examinations... However, he thought it was worth it to win over the Ming Dynasty.

After all, judging from King Zhou's request and what happened in the academy today, the political power represented by Fan Huai is definitely far beyond everyone's expectations.

The most important thing is... Fan Julun believes that the Nguyen family is likely to agree to King Zhou's request. If the Nguyen family gets King Zhou's support and also raises the banner of the Great Ming New Learning to compete with the Le family... then for the Le family, this will undoubtedly be a very uncomfortable thing.

With the competition between the Nguyen and Le families, Fan Julun deeply felt the urgency of the situation.

He still decided to recruit Fan Huai.

The next day, Fan Julun and Li Cheng came to the government office in Wuqu Port with generous gifts and stated that they were willing to accept the conditions of King Zhou Zhusu, and that the Li family would issue a guarantee letter for Fan Huai in exchange for the Ming Dynasty's recognition of the Li family head Li Jijie as the leader of the new school of Annan.

However, what they did not expect was that the Ming Dynasty's governor, Li Jinglong, rejected their request.

"As a disciple of His Majesty King Zhou, Fan Huai does not want his master to pave the way for him in this way." Li Jinglong said lazily. "So, you can go back. Since Fan Huai is unwilling to accept it, we have to give up what we said before."

"This..." Fan Julun was a little dumbfounded, and after thinking for a while, he clasped his fists again and said, "In this case, can I go and see Mr. Fan?"

"Perhaps, I can persuade the young master to change his mind."

"Fan Huaifang has been accepted as a disciple by His Royal Highness Prince Zhou. At His Royal Highness's order, he will be in seclusion in the academy for the next few days to practice hard and comprehend the essence of the new learning taught by His Royal Highness." Li Jinglong said. "I'm afraid he can't see outsiders."

Fan Julun could not help but feel disappointed, but Li Jinglong was also of a very noble status, so he did not dare to provoke him, and had to say goodbye and leave. Li Cheng asked: "Uncle Fan, do we need Fan Huai, the Marquis of Wuqu?"

“I just don’t know when he will come out.”

"King Zhou knew that Fan Huai would become the target of many noble families, so he intended to protect Fan Huai." Fan Julun speculated. "Even if we become marquises here, I'm afraid it will be of no benefit."

He thought for a long time, and finally made up his mind, saying, "Let's go, let's leave Wu Qu first."

"If there is not enough sincerity, I am afraid that King Zhou will not allow Fan Huai to receive foreign guests... I am afraid that this matter will require Lord Li to come forward personally."

As a lackey of the Li family, he could not even see His Royal Highness King Zhou. But it was different for Lord Li, the head of the family.

If Li Jilin, as the head of the family, personally came forward and humbled himself to invite Fan Huai, a mere student from a merchant family, His Royal Highness King Zhou would never reject Lord Li again.

Li Cheng had no opinion, so Fan Julun took Li Cang back to Thang Long City.

Le Qui Ly had already put down the slave rebellion and returned to Thang Long. When Pham Huon arrived in the city, he immediately went to see Le Qui Ly.

"You mean, you want our Li family to be courteous and humble to a merchant's son?" Li Jilin asked.

"Yes." Fan Julun nodded and began to analyze the pros and cons to Li Jili: "Mingsir, Fan Huai has now become a disciple of King Zhou. King Zhou is undoubtedly a person who protects his shortcomings. Given King Zhou's love for his disciples, if our Li family can win over Fan Huai, then King Zhou will definitely be loyal to our Li family."

"Although recruiting a merchant's son will damage the reputation of our Li family, the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages."

"It would be fine if the Second Young Master could become the disciple of King Zhou. But the Second Young Master has already offended King Zhou. Recruiting Fan Huai is the only way for us to remedy the situation now."

Li Jiyi glared at Li Cang fiercely. Li Cang quickly knelt down in front of his father, hanging his head and saying nothing. Li Jiyi frowned and said, "Is this... feasible?"

"Mingsir, don't forget the Ruan family."

"Now, the Ruan family is also eyeing the support of the Ming Dynasty." Fan Ju said. "If we don't take any action, will we allow Fan Huai to be recruited by the Ruan family?"

This sentence moved Le Qui Ly. Le Qui Ly was extremely wary of this "brother" who had become his biggest threat. If the Nguyen family received support from the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty was inclined to support the Nguyen family through the influence of the suzerain state, then it would be a disaster for the Le family.

He extremely didn't want to see Daming and Ruan get together.

"In this case, I will go to Wuqu Port in person." After weighing the pros and cons, Li Jilin quickly made his decision.

Even if it was to prevent Fan Huai from being recruited by the Ruan family, he should have taken the initiative and recruited Fan Huai under his command.

Even if it is just to make him a decoration, the Li family should show him favor in exchange for the support of His Royal Highness King Zhou of the Ming Dynasty behind him.

As long as they get the support of the Ming Dynasty, the Le family will be able to go one step further, overthrow the stupid and ignorant Chen family monarchs, and become the king of Dai Viet...

Thinking of this, Li Jilin felt his heart burning.

A few days later, Le Qui Ti really left Thang Long City and came to Wu Qu Port. After all, he was the Pingzhang of Annan, so even Zhu Su had to meet him in person.

Li Jiyi, as always, acted like a harmless good man. He first presented gifts to Zhou Wang Zhu Su, then asked about Zhu Su's well-being and his life in Annan. At the end, he revealed his true intentions and told Zhu Su about Fan Huai.

"I heard that Your Highness has recently accepted a new disciple in Annan?" Li Ji said with a smile. "I haven't congratulated Your Highness yet, I wonder if you can let me meet this disciple of Your Highness?"

Zhu Su sneered in his heart. Under Ruan's threat, this old fox had to become anxious.

But he had no intention of stopping it. After all, from the very beginning, he had never thought of handing "Fan Huai" over to the Ruan family.

After all, the real purpose of him and Zhu Yuanzhang was to promote the growth of the Li family and enable Li Jixi to complete the "usurpation of power" faster than in history.

The Ruan family was just a tool used to provoke the Li family.

However, the harder something is to obtain, the more it is cherished. Zhu Su would naturally not let "Fan Huai" accept Li's olive branch so easily.

After Zhu Su agreed to Li Ji's request to meet Fan Huai, Li Ji's meeting was held immediately. Later, Li Ji's willingness to issue a guarantee letter for Fan Huai so that Fan Huai could participate in the imperial examination in Annan was expressed.

However, to Li Ji's surprise, "Fan Huai" actually rejected his kindness directly.

"I'm sorry, Lord Pingzhang, please forgive my rude behavior." Fan Huai said.

"Although Huai also has the ambition to display his talent, cultivate himself and govern the country. However, in my school, there are countless classmates who are frustrated and frustrated because of Bao Wen."

"How can Huai be so self-sufficient and ignore all of you classmates?"

Even when facing Li Jili, the high-ranking Pingzhang in Annan, Fan Huai still appeared to be neither humble nor overbearing, and was quite magnanimous. This also made Li Jili look up to him a little.

He had been unwilling to accept Bao Wen before, so when he was rejected by "Fan Huai" in person, Li Ji was not surprised. Instead, he said, "Young Master Fan has the noble character of an ancient gentleman. I admire him very much."

"In this case, the Li family can issue a guarantee letter for all ordinary science students in the academy... In this case, is Mr. Fan willing?"

It's okay to let one sheep go, and it's okay to drive two sheep away. Too many lice won't itch. Since he has already decided to make a hole for Fan Huai, it doesn't matter to Li Jili if the hole is bigger.

After all, for the Li family, adhering to the unspoken rules of the aristocracy is far less important than enabling the Li family to seize power and usurp the throne.

"This..." Fan Huai seemed to have not expected that Li Jilin would make such a promise so decisively, and his expression finally became extremely surprised. He left his seat and bowed deeply to Li Jilin: "In this case, Huai, on behalf of many of my classmates in the school, would like to thank Lord Pingzhang for his help!"

"Hahahaha, it won't come to that." Li Ji'e laughed happily. This Fan Huai, not only has more talent than Li Cang, but also has a remarkable character. Now he feels that this person is indeed worth winning over.

Upon learning that Fan Huai had secured admission certificates for all of them, the students in the ordinary department were immediately delighted.

A piece of guarantee letter was the stepping stone to their official career, and it also opened up a glimpse of hopelessness in their life's advancement... These students were all grateful and regarded Fan Huai as their leader.

Li Jiyi was very satisfied with his success in helping Fan Huai. He thought he could expand his power in the name of new learning. Next, as long as he waited for the King Zhou of Ming to leave Annan, he could use the influence of the King Zhou's disciple to become the first person in the new learning in Annan.

He could even use the relationship with "Fan Huai" to gain the support and endorsement of the Ming Dynasty after he usurped power in the future.

Of course, all of this was based on the premise that Fan Huai was completely biased towards his family. Therefore, Le Qui Ti did his utmost to win over Fan Huai. With his status as the Minister of Annan, he humbled himself and visited Fan Huai several times, even though he had not yet achieved fame. He gave him a large amount of gold, silver, rare books, and real estate. His sincere attitude towards the wise and humble was so sincere that even Cao Cao, who was recruiting Guan Yu, would have to admit defeat.

Finally, Fan Huai was "touched" by Li Ji's sincere attitude. One day, he said to Li Ji's face with emotion: "Mr. Li treated Huai so sincerely. Huai is really grateful."

"Huai is just a commoner, how can I repay you? I have no choice but to wait for the next life. If I become an ox or a horse, I will at least give you a gift to repay your kindness."

"Hahahaha." Li Jili couldn't help but feel delighted when he heard this. He laughed out loud and said, "Why do you say that, Mr. Fan? With such great talent, why do you need to wait for the next life?"

"When we are both in the court in the future, it would be great if you can help me a little."

Fan Huai was silent for a while, thinking for a while, and then said: "If my guess is correct, Lord Li wants to use me to gain the support of my master, His Royal Highness King Zhou, right?"

Li Ji was startled, and was surprised at the sharp insight of "Fan Huai". But he had been doing a favor to "Fan Huai" these days, and he didn't think of hiding this matter. So he simply admitted: "Indeed. The reason why Li treated Mr. Fan with courtesy was indeed for something."

"Li has the ambition to reform Annan. Annan is now plagued by problems. If we want to reform the bad policies, we must have the support of the Ming Dynasty."

"That's why I was so attentive just now. You won't dislike my sophistication, Mr. Fan?"

"Fan Huai" breathed a sigh of relief and said, "How could that be? Huai is also a citizen of Annan, and naturally hopes that Annan can get rid of its ills and become stronger day by day."

"Lord Li is willing to issue a guarantee for the children of poor families in Annan, without fear of angering many Annan nobles. This shows Lord Li's determination for reform."

"Huai is naturally willing to help. But Lord Li, please forgive me for speaking frankly."

"You want to use the favor of Huai to win over the Ming Dynasty, but I'm afraid this move will not have any effect."

"Huai has a plan. I dare to ask Mr. Li to listen to it."

(End of this chapter)