Father can be an enemy country

Chapter 240 New Years
The sound of firecrackers bid farewell to the old year, and the fireworks are clustered for another year.

This is Zhu Zhen's second year in Daming, and he is no stranger to the New Year's procedure in the palace.

On the evening of New Year's Eve, the ancestors are worshipped, and the whole family has a New Year's Eve dinner.On the first and fifth shifts of the first lunar month, get up early to burn incense and set off fireworks, drop thousands of dollars, drink unpalatable pepper wine, and eat dumplings; then get dressed neatly and join a large group of brothers, and go to the Taimiao with the father to worship the ancestors.

Come back from Taimiao and go to court...

In the ninth year of Hongwu's New Year's Day, it was still a hundred officials congratulating, and all nations came to the court.It's just that without the greetings from the old folks in Fengyang and the familiar Fengyang flower drum, Boss Zhu's heart is always empty.

"Fortunately, there are old brothers from my hometown to accompany us to celebrate the New Year." After the court was over, Zhu Yuanzhang left Li Shanchang alone to have lunch with him.

"Don't you need to be so serious in the upper class? You can also let the old folks come again." Li Shanchang smiled.

"Oh, it's still not possible." Boss Zhu shook his head and said, "We've already figured it out. That's actually harming them. Let them live a good life at home."

"Alright." Li Shanchang nodded.

"They must be scolding us a lot, right?" Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly asked sadly.

"Hehe..." Li Shanchang shook his head with a smile and said, "The old minister has never heard of it."

"What about you? Did you scold us?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked again.

Li Shanchang took a look at Boss Zhu, saw that his eyes were downcast, unable to hide his exhaustion, so he said softly:

"The old minister had some emotions at the beginning, but the superior has the difficulty of the superior, and the superior has the consideration of the superior. As a courtier, you have to accept it whether you understand it or not."

"Listen, Uncle Li still has grievances." Zhu Yuanzhang said to the accompanying prince, "Give it to Uncle Li quickly, and we will toast him together."

The prince smiled, held the sleeve of his right hand with his left hand, and poured Li Shanchang a glass of wine with his right hand.

Li Shanchang hastily said that he didn't dare, held up the wine glass with both hands, and had a drink with Tian's father and son.

"After drinking this cup, it's all over." Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile.

"Okay, what does the superior say?" Li Shanchang quickly drank it down.

Zhu Yuanzhang watched him drink, paused while holding the wine glass, and then slowly drank the wine in the glass.

Then the prince took the cup, and Zhu Yuanzhang and Li Shanchang drank and chatted for a whole afternoon, and the two sides got rid of their grievances again, and they reconciled as before.

At least the Korean public thinks so.

But Boss Zhu still thinks that he is not paralyzed enough...

In the evening, Boss Zhu entertained all the old Huaixi brothers as usual. Although there were still four dishes and one soup, there were chicken, duck and fish, which was much more normal than the panic-stricken meal last year.

At the banquet, Boss Zhu never refused to come, and got drunk with his old brothers, and sang with them those pornographic ditties that he sang in the army in the early years.

This made Li Shanchang and a group of Huaixi nobles inevitably have an illusion that the emperor is still afraid of us making trouble, and feels that Boss Zhu has softened...

As everyone knows, a terrible storm is coming.

~~
After the banquet was over, Liu Ying and Eunuch Wu helped Boss Zhu go back to Qianqing Palace to rest.

When Eunuch Wu took off the emperor's boots and fetched a hot towel to wipe Zhu Yuanzhang's face, he saw Boss Zhu opened his eyes. His eyes were as sharp as a falcon, and he was not even half drunk.

"The Queen's hangover soup, go and bring us a bowl." Zhu Yuanzhang ordered in a deep voice.

"Yes." Eunuch Wu replied softly, and quietly closed the palace door when he exited.He knew that the emperor wanted to speak to Liu Ying alone.

"I didn't expect to be the emperor, and I have to pretend to socialize." Boss Zhu said, rubbing his temples.

"Your Majesty has worked hard." Liu Ying kept a straight face, not knowing what a smile was.

"Officials from all over the world, have you been in Beijing for a while?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked in a deep voice.

"Yes." Liu Ying nodded.

"Any gains?"

"Yes." Liu Ying reported: "The reports from various groups of spies continue to flow, but..."

"Just what?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked in a deep voice.

"It's just a mess, too much and too complicated." Liu Ying said in a muffled voice: "There is not much valuable information."

"What's the problem?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

"Because Han Han didn't see those local officials, let them talk directly with Hu Xiang. If you want to investigate them, Hu Xiang will definitely be involved." Liu Ying said helplessly: "And the emperor specifically ordered that Hu Xiang will not be involved this time."

"That's right, Hu Weiyong can't do anything. It's of great use for us to keep him." Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice, "So we have to start elsewhere."

He knew that Han Hangong, an old fox, was deliberately displacing his army.

"It's more difficult in other places. During the Chinese New Year, officials are busy with entertainment, talking about eating, drinking and having fun. They say that women gossip more than they talk about serious things. It is too difficult to find evidence that can convict them. "Liu Ying said depressedly:

"Also, Your Majesty, I'm sorry to say that there are more than 3000 officials from various provinces, prefectures and counties. It is impossible to verify their criminal evidence one by one in a short period of time. Even if we only investigate some people, it is beyond our current capabilities. "

"No, we're going to convict them all this time!" Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice, "For these stubborn guys, killing chickens is useless to warn monkeys."

"Your subordinate is stupid, please show me the emperor." Liu Yingcheng said in fear.

"Yang Xian back then must have a way..." Zhu Yuanzhang was a little disappointed. His loyal bodyguard did not seem to be material for intelligence.

"This subordinate is incompetent, please punish the emperor." Liu Ying quickly knelt down and pleaded guilty.

"Get up, don't be nervous, let's just talk casually. If you are a spy, you are trying to drive ducks to the shelves." Zhu Yuanzhang sighed:

"Intellectualization requires talent, not that piece of material, you can't force it."

"The subordinate will abdicate to let the virtuous..." Liu Ying has long since given up on the job, and with a boss like Zhu Yuanzhang, incompetence is the biggest sin.

"There is no one else available, so you can do what you can first." Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head. The first thing to do with intelligence is loyalty, and the second is to be reliable.With the whole of Huaixi unusable, there are very few suitable candidates.

"Yes." Liu Ying nodded.

"You don't have much time left." Boss Zhu said in a deep voice, "We must find a suitable charge and catch them all."

"Yes."

~~
On the second day of the new year, Zhu Zhen will go out of the palace to pay New Year's greetings.

Concubine Hu Xian woke up early to prepare New Year's gifts for the sixth child.

Today he is going to grandpa's house, master's house, uncle's house, and two elder brothers' houses, so empty-handed is not appropriate.

"Go to your uncle's house and kowtow to your grandpa and grandma for your mother, remember?" Concubine Hu Xian told the sixth son who was about to go to the cow.

Although her natal family has moved to the capital, only her mother and sister-in-law can come to the palace to visit her during festivals.

Concubine Hu Xian wanted to meet her father, but she had no chance.

"Okay." Zhu Zhen wanted to say that he was a dignified prince and would not kowtow to his relatives, but he would not make his wife angry after the Chinese New Year.

(End of this chapter)