My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 87 The Long Necked Unicorn
Treasure ships are like ancient giant beasts, traveling upstream along the river. Compared with these treasure ships, other merchant ships on the river are like dwarfs and giants.

Zhu Zhanhe is fine, after all he has seen bigger boats in later generations.

But many people on the pier were amazed. Although it was not the first time for some people to see the treasure ship, every time they saw it, they could feel a different kind of shock.

The treasure ship headed by it was the most majestic, tens of feet long, with a tall eunuch standing on the bow with a knife. The bitter river wind blew his robes "violently", but his mountain-like body could not be shaken.

Seeing the man at the bow of the boat, Zhu Zhanhe couldn't help but praise: "What a Zheng He, he deserves to be a man who can command thousands of troops, spread his prestige overseas, and make achievements in destroying the country!"

"Uh~, Zhanhe, you read wrongly. The man at the bow is named Wang Jinghong, and he is Zheng He's deputy."

Zhu Gaochi next to him corrected.

"A deputy can have such a demeanor, let alone Zheng He!"

Zhu Zhanhe had an extremely thick skin, and said without the slightest bit of embarrassment.

The treasure ship was docked at the pier, and a middle-aged eunuch strode off the boat. He was in his 40s, with a broad face, black and red, a pair of thick eyebrows and piercing eyes. Although he was an eunuch, he was extremely mighty.

"Zheng He, Inspector of the Inner Palace, pay homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

Zheng He strode forward and bowed deeply to Zhu Gaochi.

"Haha, Sanbao, you are finally back, please hurry up!"

Zhu Gaochi stepped forward to help Zheng Hedao very affectionately.

Zheng He's nickname is Sanbao. He has served Zhu Di since he was a child, and grew up almost with Zhu Gaochi, so Zhu Gaochi is still used to calling Zheng He by his nickname.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I don't know how your Majesty's health is. Has the old disease in your leg not recurred?"

Zheng He stood up, and immediately asked about Zhu Di's situation with great concern.

"Don't worry, father is in good health. He just came back from the north last time, and his nose was bruised and his face was swollen."

Zhu Gaochi laughed again.

"Your Majesty deserves to be His Majesty, but you have suffered for the King of Han!"

Zheng He also laughed when he heard this.

Only Zhu Zhanhe at the back looked depressed, his father didn't come, so can he lie down?
Zheng He and Zhu Gaochi exchanged a few words, then saluted Yao Guangxiao, and said respectfully: "Teacher, the disciple is back, how are you?"

"It's great to be a teacher, you worked hard this time!"

Yao Guangxiao patted his disciple's broad shoulders and said in relief.

"The disciple serves the country and is loyal to His Majesty, no matter how hard it is, it is worth it!"

Zheng He straightened his spine and replied.

After meeting with Yao Guangxiao, Zheng He came to Zhu Zhanhe again, and saluted habitually: "Zheng He pays homage to the empress... um... His Royal Highness!"

Zheng He didn't look carefully just now, thinking that the person standing next to Zhu Gaochi must be Zhu Zhanji, but in the middle of the ceremony, he suddenly realized that the person in front of him seemed to be Zhu Zhanhe, the son of the King of Han, so he hurriedly changed his words.

What Zheng He couldn't figure out was why the prince didn't bring his own son, but the son of the King of Han instead?
"Zheng Nei Gong doesn't need to be too polite. I have been thinking about the treasure ship's voyage to the West for a long time, so today I am here to accompany my uncle to welcome Zheng Nei Gong back!"

Zhu Zhanhe returned the gift with a smile.

The official Zheng He paid homage to the chief eunuch of the inner palace, so the palace generally called him Zheng inner palace.

"Thank you, son!"

Zheng He and Zhu Zhanhe were not familiar with each other, so they could only reply politely.

"Sanbao, you have been here for nearly three years this time. I don't know which countries you have passed through. Did you encounter any interesting things?"

At this time Zhu Gaochi asked again.

"His Royal Highness, this time I passed Champa, Java, Old Port, Siam and other countries, crossed the Lion Kingdom and then went west, and finally arrived in the Malin Kingdom. Similarly, this time they even sent envoys to present a piece of auspiciousness to my emperor!"

When Zheng He said the last word, his face was also full of excitement.

"Auspicious!"

Zhu Gaochi and Yao Guangxiao looked at each other, and then they both showed great joy.

The civil and military officials in the rear also made a "buzz", whispering to each other, some were delighted, while others were disdainful.

Zhu Zhanhe next to him was stunned, thinking: This so-called auspiciousness, could it be that thing?

"Sanbao, what is the auspiciousness presented by Malin Kingdom, and where is it now?"

Zhu Gaochi asked eagerly at this time.

"Your Highness, wait a moment, Xiangrui is on board!"

As Zheng He said, he waved to the boat, and saw that Wang Jinghong, who was standing on the bow of the boat just now, took the lead and led several dark-skinned Africans off the boat. beast.

I saw that this strange beast was covered with colorful patterns, its body was like a deer, it had a sheep's head and an oxtail, and there were two horns growing on its head. It was actually very similar to the legendary unicorn.

The only difference is that this strange beast has a long neck, chewing things with its mouth curled up and down, and looking around curiously with its cute eyes.

Zhu Zhanhe in the crowd covered his face, and realized that it really was a giraffe.

It is recorded in historical books that Zheng He brought back a unicorn from Africa, and Zhu Di asked the artist to draw the unicorn, which is the famous "Ruiying Qilin Picture" in later generations. The unicorn painted on it is basically a giraffe.

"Your Highness, this strange beast is the auspicious unicorn presented to His Majesty by Ma Lin Kingdom!"

Zheng He excitedly stepped forward to report again.

"Kirin! What a unicorn!"

Someone in the crowd exclaimed, I have to say that except for the longer neck, the giraffe is somewhat similar to the unicorn recorded in ancient books.

Zhu Gaochi looked the giraffe up and down, and finally slapped his hands suddenly and praised: "What a unicorn, I didn't expect such auspicious beast to exist overseas!"

After Zhu Gaochi finished speaking, he ordered again loudly: "Quick! Send someone to report to the palace, there is an auspicious beast Qilin in this world!"

"The unicorn is a benevolent beast, and the Jiarui of the holy king. There is a unicorn in the world today, and it is the time of our Ming Dynasty. This is God's praise for my Ming Dynasty!"

At this time, someone among the ministers congratulated loudly, which immediately attracted the approval of many ministers, and everyone at the scene also cast their eyes on Qilin.

Sun Ruowei, who was standing beside Zhu Zhanhe, frowned slightly at this moment, her small face was full of doubts, and finally she couldn't help asking Zhu Zhanhe: "My lord, isn't this the long neck you just told me... "

Before Sun Ruowei finished speaking, Zhu Zhanhe covered her mouth to prevent her from talking nonsense.

But he didn't expect Zhu Gaochi's ears to be good, and the two of them were close to each other. Hearing Sun Ruowei's words, he turned around curiously and asked, "Zhan He, what did Sun Nuguan just say about the long neck?"

"Long neck..."

Zhu Zhanhe looked at the fanatical crowd around him, and finally had an idea: "She wants to say that it is a long-necked unicorn, which is a different species among unicorns. The unicorn is a divine beast, and it is about peace and longevity. The longer the neck of the long-necked unicorn, the longer the neck. It also means that the longer the king lives, the longer the country will be in peace!"

"So it's the long-necked unicorn, or Zhanhe, you have the knowledge!"

Zhu Gaochi clapped his hands together, and shouted excitedly again.

Zheng He's eyes lit up when he heard the conversation between Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Zhanhe, and immediately stepped forward to salute Zhu Zhanhe: "Your Majesty is really knowledgeable, I admire you so much!"

"Zheng Neigong is being polite. I just happened to have seen descriptions of unicorns in some miscellaneous books."

Zhu Zhanhe said modestly.

Only Sun Ruowei next to him looked aggrieved and puzzled. The unicorn in front of him was obviously the giraffe that the Crown Prince mentioned just now, but why didn't he let himself say it, and even made up lies to deceive the Crown Prince?

After dealing with Zheng He, at this time Zhu Gaochi had already led all the civil and military officials to watch the so-called auspicious beast Qilin at close range.

Only then did Zhu Zhanhe drag Sun Ruowei to a secluded place, looked at her pouting mouth and smiled, "Do you feel wronged?"

"It's very wronged. It's obviously not a unicorn, so why does the prince want to deceive others?"

At the end of Sun Ruowei's talk, her eye circles were slightly red. The little girl had no knowledge, and she couldn't stand a little bit of grievance.

"Would you like to hear a story?"

But Zhu Zhanhe chuckled, and without waiting for Sun Ruowei's consent, he spoke directly.

"Once upon a time there was a king who liked beautiful clothes very much. Two liars went to the king and said that they could make the most beautiful clothes in the world, and this kind of clothes had a magical effect, that is, only wise people could see them. invisible……"

Zhu Zhanhe was very eloquent, and he told the story of "The King's New Clothes" very wonderfully, and Sun Ruowei gradually listened to it with fascination.

"Finally, the king walked on the street naked, showing off his incomparably gorgeous new clothes to the people, and at this moment, suddenly a little boy pointed at the king and said, 'He really doesn't have any clothes on!' , guess what happened in the end?"

At the end of Zhu Zhanhe's talk, he purposely put off a trick, and asked Sun Ruowei with a smile.

"The little boy told the truth, and those common people obviously didn't see the king wearing clothes, so of course they laughed at the king together!"

Sun Ruowei thought for a while before replying.

"Wrong, the little boy was hanged by the king, and then all the people passing by would point to the little boy's body and say: Look, he is the fool who can't even see the king's clothes!"

Zhu Zhanhe changed the ending of the story.

The reason why fairy tales are fairy tales is because they are told to children, but in the world of adults, the reality is often very cruel.

"How could this be? Impossible, to be honest, should you die?"

Sun Ruowei was about to cry, she was not stupid, of course she could tell that Zhu Zhanhe was using the little boy in the story to mock herself.

"To be honest, you don't deserve to die, but you should also pay attention to the occasion!"

Zhu Zhanhe looked at the crowd watching the giraffe not far away before continuing.

"Do you think the uncle and the young master don't know that it's not a unicorn? And those civil and military officials, do you really think they are easy to fool?"

"What do you mean?"

Sun Ruowei was even more surprised, and even forgot to shed tears.

"It means that even if some of them know that it is not a unicorn, they still have to bite the bullet and say it is a unicorn, because it is an auspicious beast, and it is the auspiciousness bestowed by heaven for the prosperity of my Ming Dynasty!"

Zhu Zhanhe patiently explained again.

Sun Ruowei still didn't understand, and always felt that Zhu Zhanhe's words had subverted something in his heart.

Seeing that Sun Ruowei was still confused, Zhu Zhanhe couldn't help but patted her on the shoulder with a smile and said, "Just don't understand, welcome to the world of adults!"

(End of this chapter)