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Song Hongshen was not surprised by the prince's reaction. The prince did not even consider the impact of this matter on the court and the people. He just subconsciously wanted to suppress him.

Whenever he thought about the crown prince ascending the throne in the future, Song Hongshen felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Meeting such a king, he was afraid that the pile of bones in the border town would eventually become a sad joke.

He was a military commander, and it was his duty to protect the territory and the people. Even if he died on the battlefield, it would be a worthy death for him.

He was only afraid that his lord would be incompetent, resulting in unnecessary sacrifices of his soldiers.

So as soon as the prince finished speaking, Song Hongshen took a few steps forward and looked at the prince with a cold gaze.

"May I ask your Highness, what is the duty of our soldiers?"

The prince replied proudly: "Of course, it is to protect the territory and the people of the Great Zhou."

Song Hongshen asked again, "Are the merchants doing the shipping business citizens of the Great Zhou?"

"They pay taxes, provide disaster relief, and do everything they should do."

The prince said disdainfully: "So what? What does the loyal and brave king want to say? Paying taxes and providing disaster relief is what they should do, but it is not a reason to order my Great Zhou navy to do it."

Song Hongshen laughed in anger and continued to ask: "I would like to ask Your Highness, as the navy of the Great Zhou, is it their duty to eliminate pirates at sea?"

The prince nodded and said, "Of course."

Song Hong said in a deep voice: "Since it is their duty to eliminate the pirates at sea, then this matter is resolved. As long as the court can eliminate those pirates, merchants engaged in shipping business will be willing to share the silver for shipbuilding with the court."

The prince was stunned and felt that he had been tricked by Song Hongshen.

He quickly said, "These are two different things. It is the duty of our Great Zhou navy to wipe out bandits. But once we receive money from merchants, the nature of our duty changes."

He then solemnly said to Emperor Xuande: "Father, I think these are two different things and should not be confused."

Song Hongshen had a puzzled look on his face, and before Emperor Xuande could open his mouth, he spoke first.

"I would like to ask your Highness one more question. If our navy encounters bandits robbing merchants' property during training, should we step forward to drive them away?"

The prince nodded, "Of course I should. It's my duty."

Song Hongshen said again: "I understand. Your Highness the Crown Prince means that we should do everything we should do, but you are not allowed to accept the money, right?"

"Even if the treasury is empty, the Japanese pirates will continue to invade next year if we don't build warships. Even if the merchants are willing to share the worries of the court, we still have to maintain our attitude and can't take this money, right?"

Then, Song Hongshen laughed sarcastically.

He took two steps closer, staring at the prince with a cold gaze.

"I have one last question. In your heart, is the safety of the people in the southeast more important, or is suppressing the Song family more important?"

In the last sentence, Song Hongshen's tone was extremely suppressed. His extremely oppressive gaze was fixed on the prince's face.

The prince deliberately over-identified, "There is no business without fraud. The merchant took out this money, isn't it to reduce losses?"

"Lord Zhongyong, please don't put a accusation on me. I'm not trying to suppress the Song family."

But under Song Hongshen's strong pressure, this sentence sounded guilty no matter how you listened to it.

Emperor Xuande watched the two men confronting each other, and suddenly realized that his feeling a few days ago that the prince had become a successful person was just an illusion.

If the prince had really become a talented person, why did he lose his momentum under the pressure of Song Hongshen?

At this moment, the two men were standing together, and Song Hongshen had the attitude and demeanor of a superior.

On the other hand, the prince found it difficult to even compete and was directly at a disadvantage.

The prince is not looking for a whetstone, he is looking for a sharp knife for himself, which will stab him if he is not careful.

Emperor Xuande suddenly looked around the hall, his eyes sweeping over the faces of the civil and military officials.

These people can use their pens to bring peace to the world, and their martial arts to determine the outcome of the world.

When he was in power, the hall was filled with the harmonious atmosphere of a wise ruler and his loyal ministers.

I am afraid that if he is gone, the prince's virtue and ability will not be able to control these people, and if this continues, disaster will surely occur.

Emperor Xuande sighed inwardly. If there were one or two families that were dissatisfied, he could just clear the way for the prince before he ascended the throne.

But the crown prince is not capable now. Can he still kill all the civil and military officials?

He had been thinking about deposing the crown prince before, and this thought was particularly strong at this moment.

But every time this thought came to his mind, he would remember what Master Jingru said before his death: When the eldest prince ascends the throne, the Great Zhou will usher in a new scene and achieve unprecedented prosperity.

Master Jingru was the master of Master Ci'en of Huguo Temple. Three days after Emperor Xuande ascended the throne, he asked him to read his fortune. The next day after reading the fortune, Master Jingru passed away.

Also because of Master Jingru's words, he had high hopes for the child in the late queen's belly, but he didn't expect that the mother and child would be buried in the sea of ​​fire together.

Only children who were born safely would be ranked in the order of seniority. Therefore, the child born to Concubine Xian was the eldest son of the emperor.

Emperor Xuande, who had always believed in Master Jingru, began to doubt his words.

While Emperor Xuande was stunned, Song Hongshen spoke again.

"No business is without profiteers? Then Your Highness, do you know that 30% of the taxes in the Great Zhou are contributed by the profiteers you mentioned?"

"Moreover, the issue of shipping will not only affect the interests of those merchants. In the long run, it can also boost the national strength of the Great Zhou."

In the past, merchants brought back firearms by sea, which were far superior to those of the Great Zhou. Therefore, trade was not only for making money, but also for learning from others' strengths.

As soon as Song Hongshen opened his mouth, Emperor Xuande came back to his senses.

Seeing that the prince was still trying to argue, Emperor Xuande said, "There is no need to discuss it anymore. Just do as the loyal and brave king said."

The prince's face immediately turned grim when he heard this, but he didn't dare to say anything more. He could only comfort himself in his heart and let Song Hongshen go today.

But he wanted to let Song Hongshen go, but Song Hongshen didn't want to let him go.

As soon as Emperor Xuande finished speaking, Song Hongshen said, "Since Your Majesty also thinks that my idea is very good, shouldn't Your Highness keep his promise and apologize to me?"

If it were someone else, they would just forget what the prince said before and would not embarrass him.

But Song Hongshen didn't care about that. He looked at the prince calmly, obviously waiting for him to apologize.

The prince's face became even uglier, but a gentleman's word is as good as his bond. In front of the civil and military officials, he could not go back on his words.

Emperor Xuande also felt that Song Hongshen was too aggressive, but he also admired his ability and courage.

If only the prince could be as wise and capable as Song Hongshen, he would save himself a lot of worries.

The prince finally apologized, and he hated Song Hongshen. While apologizing, he was still thinking about what would happen next.

No matter how he apologizes today, Song Hongshen will have to pay him back tenfold or a hundredfold in the future.

Afterwards, Emperor Xuande asked about the details of the merchants' raising of silver. When he heard that it was Lin Wuchen who took the lead, Emperor Xuande praised him a few words.

Lin Wuchen gave a fundraising period of five days, so Song Hongshen decided to go south on the tenth day of September.

When he was leaving the court, some people politely congratulated Song Hongshen, saying that the loyal and brave king would make more military achievements when he went south.

Song Hongshen was humble and exchanged a few polite words.

But this scene still made the prince angry. He stared at Song Hongshen's back with a cold light in his eyes.

The fact that Song Hongshen was about to leave Beijing and head south did not cause any waves in Beijing. However, Shen Zhixiu knew that the prince would not give up, and would not be willing to let Song Hongshen make another great achievement.

In the following days, Song Hongshen prepared to go south, and the prince did not make any move.

On the morning of the seventh day of September, Su Qingyu was drinking soup when Feicui suddenly came in and reported, "Madam, Aunt Sun, the head of the Empress Xianfei's side, is here."