Faced with the memorial submitted by the Crown Prince and the veteran ministers, Di Renchen gave no response for the time being.
He neither approved nor rejected it. After receiving the memorial, he seemed to let the matter die down without a word.
"Has it been 'Withheld from Reply'?" Crown Prince Di Hedong asked anxiously. "Father... does he still approve of Second Brother's approach after all?"
Zhang Guozhong shook his head and smiled. "Your Highness can rest easy. His Majesty's attitude is quite clear."
"Clear? Guozhong, please enlighten me!"
"Your Highness, the Reform is now the foremost matter of state policy. Neither you, the Second Prince, nor His Majesty himself would dispute that, would you?"
"Of course not!" Di Hedong said firmly. "How exactly it should be carried out, and who should benefit—those can be debated separately. But Great Xia has endured for a thousand years and accumulated a great many problems. It truly needs reform to set things right and restore the nation's vigor!"
"Since we agree on that, we can also be certain His Majesty supports the Reform. The only question is whether he favors a bold approach or a cautious one. Isn't that right?"
"That's right."
Zhang Guozhong smiled. "Your Highness, if His Majesty supported the Second Prince's aggressive approach, he could simply have replied to your memorial with something like, 'At the onset of an illness, strong medicine is called for.' Wouldn't you agree?"
Di Hedong pondered for a moment. "But if he supports me, why didn't he reply with something like, 'Good rain falls when the time is right'?"
Seeing that he had made his own analysis, Zhang Guozhong was not worried or displeased by their differing views. Instead, he smiled with approval. "Your Highness makes an excellent point! Judging solely by the absence of