Ming Dynasty: A hundred-year-old immortal cultivator, Zhu Yuanzhang’s biological father

Not only were the Japanese pirates not wiped out, but more than a dozen Ming soldiers were injured in vain.

This is nothing short of a great humiliation!
Zhu Xiongying took a deep breath. He could see that the old man was furious.

That look even made him want to eat the soup.

"Your son... deserves to die!"

"A thousand-household unit couldn't even catch the Japanese pirates...haha!" Zhu Yuanzhang sneered.

"Wait until we get back to the imperial court, don't embarrass yourself here!"

Tang He had a sad face and looked at Zhu Xiongying silently.

Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily: "Do you really think that I will spare your Tang family for the sake of my eldest grandson?"

"You are just a tiny country, with a bunch of Japanese pirates and barbarians. A thousand households have been injured. Haha, what use do we have to you? Your Tang family has been defending the southeast coast for ten years, and you can't even handle such a small matter. Good, very good!"

"Is it possible that some people are not paying attention to training the navy anymore and are just thinking about how to fish in troubled waters?"

Tang He was so frightened that he dared not even utter a word.

He had a very good relationship with Zhu Yuanzhang, but he also knew the old man's brutal nature.

This kind of thing was undoubtedly a slap in the face of the monarch of a great country. How could Zhu Yuanzhang tolerate it?
"He, he wouldn't dare! Our Tang family has been loyal for generations, how could they do such a thing?"

Zhu Yuanzhang sneered: "Then tell me why the Southeast was defeated? Ah?"

Tang He lowered his head silently.

He couldn't explain the play.

Zhu Xiongying was silent for a long time, analyzing the matter in his mind. After a long time, he said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Grandpa, this matter is probably not simple."

"It's not that simple, don't make excuses for him!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was still angry.

Zhu Xiongying said: "I didn't make excuses for the old Duke. This matter is probably really serious."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked up at Zhu Huai, who had a serious face, and asked suspiciously, "What do you mean?"
……

Small courtyard, fresh breeze, livestock, and a yellow dog.

Breeze, green leaves, morning light, three people.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was filled with rage, and Tang He was trembling with fear and dared not utter a word.

Zhu Xiongying's face was solemn and his heart was beating fast.

"Grandpa, I'm afraid this matter is really serious."

After hearing what Zhu Xiongying said, Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed his anger and asked suspiciously, "What do you mean?"

Tang He raised his head slightly and glanced at Zhu Xiongying, still standing beside him trembling with fear.

Zhu Xiongying supported Tang He and said, "Old Duke, please sit down first. You are old now, so don't stand with your back bent. Just listen to me first."

Tang He didn't dare to do that.

The emperor is angry and if he really gets impulsive, once the imperial order is issued, it will be hard to reverse the situation!
There are not many people who can persuade Zhu Yuanzhang, only Zhu Biao, now Zhu Xiongying.

Tang He was very glad that the emperor's grandson was still alive, and was also glad that he could have such a relationship with Zhu Xiongying.

Otherwise, his eldest son, Tang Sheng, the commander-in-chief of the Southeast Defense against Japanese invaders, might have been thrown into prison now, or even worse, he might have been skinned alive by Zhu Yuanzhang!

Zhu Yuanzhang was a cruel and bloodthirsty emperor, and he only showed his weak side in front of Zhu Xiongying.

Outside, he will always be the iron-blooded Zhu Yuanzhang!

Some time ago, the old man was infected with malaria. In the palace, the group of imperial doctors were so frightened that they trembled when they went to diagnose him.

Why?

Being an imperial physician may seem like a prestigious profession, but in reality, one could lose his head if he is not careful.

The Hongwu Emperor was a monarch who loved to vent his anger on others. Many imperial doctors in the Imperial Medical Bureau were beheaded for failing to cure his nephew Li Wenzhong.

This is Zhu Yuanzhang! A bloodthirsty and tyrannical emperor of the Ming Dynasty!
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Tang He coldly and snorted, "If I tell you to sit down, then sit down first. Put your head aside first!"

Tang He said hurriedly: "Okay...Okay."

The old Duke now placed all his hopes on Zhu Xiongying. He sat silently beside Zhu Yuanzhang, no longer as calm and composed as before, and his old heart could not help but tremble.

At my age, I still have to think about the younger generation...

Zhu Xiongying glared at Zhu Yuanzhang and said unhappily, "Can you please stop scaring people all the time? Do you really want to kill people with just one sentence? The old Duke is your old partner after all. Besides, it's not the old Duke's fault. He is thinking about his descendants. Isn't this the same as yours?"

Zhu Yuanzhang smacked his lips and hummed, "Stop speaking for him and talk about the matter."

Zhu Xiongying nodded: "Okay!"

He looked around at Zhu Yuanzhang and Tang He, and suddenly asked, "How is our Ming Dynasty's southeastern navy?"

Zhu Yuanzhang had a say and shouted: "It's no problem to beat the Japanese barbarians!"

"Besides, our country has already built several large ships. Even if we ram them head-on, we can still overturn the Japanese ships!"

When saying this, Zhu Yuanzhang's resolute face was filled with strong disdain.

He never took the tiny country on the southeastern island seriously and never looked at the Japanese in the eye.

This is also why the old man was so angry when he heard that Southeast had suffered a defeat!
The Ming Dynasty fought many battles, some of which were equal to the enemy, some were twice as strong as the enemy, and some were half as strong as the enemy.

But when was the Ming Dynasty not victorious?
The Ming Dynasty's Tiger Guards could easily defeat the tigers and wolves outside the northern border, but they suffered a setback in the southeast. How could they tolerate this?
Zhu Xiongying nodded, deeply moved by the pride of being a great country and a strong nation.

He said, "In this case, the Southeast still suffered a defeat. Isn't this ridiculous?"

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted: "That's because the descendants of the Tang family are incompetent!"

Zhu Xiongying shook his head: "I'm afraid not. The Tang family has been defending the southeast coast for more than ten years. It is impossible for them to be defeated to this extent in a battle."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked anxiously: "What happened?"

Zhu Xiongying said: "Grandpa, let me make an assumption."

"Suppose there is a group of people in the southeast who are leading the Japanese pirates, hiding them, and revealing the movements of our Ming navy to them..."

"In this way, can we still win the battle?"

After Zhu Xiongying finished speaking, he bent down and made two pots of strong tea for the old man and Tang He.

The two old men stood there in a daze, not saying a word, with expressions of shock and doubt on their faces, staring at Zhu Xiongying silently.

There was some silence.

The old man's face was even more grim than before.

"What are you talking about!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said unhappily: "How could a Ming commoner like us be a spy? Nonsense!"

The old man put all his sincere heart into governing the people.

He was confident that he was good enough to the people. He always lived frugally, but he had never treated any of the people unfairly.

Zhu Yuanzhang treated the people of the fifteen provincial governments of the Ming Dynasty equally and never treated any of them unfairly.

I look to the bright moon, why does it shine on the ditch?
Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't understand it and didn't dare to agree with it.

Zhu Xiongying smiled slightly and said, "Grandpa, I know you have great expectations for the people. The people of our Ming Dynasty have never let you down, never let our emperor down, and never let the Ming Dynasty court down." "But what other explanation is there for this matter?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said angrily: "It doesn't make sense! Why would the people in the southeast coastal areas do this?"

Zhu Xiongying said: "I'm afraid it's not just the common people, but more likely the businessmen from the southeast."

"Why do they do this? To ban the sea! They need to defeat the Ming Dynasty in the southeast."

"In this way, the civil officials of the imperial court will know the importance of coastal defense."

Zhu Yuanzhang narrowed his eyes: "Why?"

Zhu Xiongying explained slowly, word by word: "Because this is the only way to...smuggle!"

"The silk from the inland of our Ming Dynasty is sold at one tael of silver for a piece of top-quality silk in China, but if it is exported, it can be sold for nine taels overseas!"

"Driven by such huge interests, the business groups in the southeast must be unwilling to let the country open its doors!"

"If the country's borders are not open, their smuggling profits can be maximized! If the country's borders are open, if everyone can go overseas to do business, how can they make money?"

When wealth accumulates to a certain level, businessmen will definitely want a say.

Once they have a say, they will want more power.

This is the law of social development, and it is not necessarily a bad thing.

But the bad thing is that they will use the money in their hands to exchange for power, and use this power to exchange for more money.

When they have power and wealth, what they want is to be above the law.

From ancient times to the present, this law of social development has not changed, from the beginning of "study hard and then become an official", to later gradually changing to "business hard and then become an official".

Zhu Xiongying was silent for a moment. He found that the old man's face looked even uglier. Even Tang He no longer had the panic on his face. Instead, his face was full of resentment!
Zhu Xiongying looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "The Ming Navy would not be defeated for no reason. The injuries of more than a dozen men must be paid with blood."

"Grandpa, if you get angry, if you kill Tang Sheng, or if you kill Tang Sheng, then you might really fall into the trap of some people behind the scenes."

"Since they dared to take such a big risk and attack Commander Tang and the Ming army, it means that Commander Tang has already harmed their interests!"

"This matter...be careful!"

After listening to this, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression gradually calmed down, his eyes became deep, and he remained silent for a long time.

Tang He listened to Zhu Xiongying's slow analysis and looked at his calm and confident face. He felt grateful and a little sad.

Which of my descendants could achieve the same success as him?
Others say that birth determines destiny.

This is actually the society we live in.

But Tang He had different ideas at this time.

Even if we put aside Zhu Xiongying's noble identity, such a person will achieve infinite success in the future!
At this age, he has not yet had the coming-of-age ceremony and is not yet an adult in the true sense of the word.

Despite being so young, he is able to analyze problems in depth and deal with things calmly and coolly.

There was joy and excitement in Tang He's eyes.

There is someone to succeed the Ming Dynasty!
Putting all this aside, Tang He naturally felt deeply grateful to Zhu Xiongying.

The old man was impulsive. If it weren't for what Zhu Xiongying said today, he wouldn't even be able to predict how Zhu Yuanzhang would deal with his son.

Zhu Yuanzhang licked his cracked lips and smiled a little twistedly, "Haha, I took a nap and they thought I was out of reach."

"These jumping clowns in the southeast need to be dealt with before they go to heaven!"

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Zhu Xiongying with a sharp gaze: "Grandson, you are right. Good advice! We almost fell into their trap just now!"

"Haha, you've included us all in this plan, awesome!"

The old man had a very low bottom line towards his own family members and members of the royal family. So even though Zhu Yunwen and Lu disobeyed him when he was critically ill, the old man was ultimately reluctant to do anything harmful. He only rewarded Zhu Yunwen and let Lu and her son reflect on themselves.

But to outsiders, the old man has a very high bottom line and his dignity cannot be trampled upon in the slightest!
Now that someone in the southeast is challenging his authority and the reputation of the court, this matter will not be easily let go!
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Tang He and said, "Your son's life will be saved first."

Tang He often breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you, old man, for your magnanimity."

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted, pointed at Zhu Xiongying and said, "Why should you thank me? Thank him."

Tang He quickly thanked Zhu Huai.

Zhu Xiongying turned sideways repeatedly: "Oh, old Duke, please don't embarrass me!"

He looked at Zhu Yuanzhang in dissatisfaction, "Grandpa, you too, what can you decide? It's as if you can really control the life and death of the descendants of the Tang family."

"I think the final decision on this matter still needs to be discussed by all officials."

Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes widened and he shouted, "Anyway, we can decide!"

"Why? Your one-man show?" Zhu Xiongying asked.

Tang He glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang and quickly said to Zhu Xiongying: "Your grandfather is very capable and can change many people's ideas. Anyway, he is right, otherwise we would not be able to get here."

Zhu Xiongying said "oh" and looked at Tang He and Zhu Yuanzhang strangely.

what the hell.

……

A red sun rises from the east of the Forbidden City.

It illuminates the entire imperial city beautifully.

All government offices have opened their doors in an orderly manner.

All the officials from various departments arrived at the yamen early, and the low-level clerks had already prepared tea for the officials in the duty room of the yamen.

Lian Zining, the head of the Ministry of Works, also came early to take up his post.

There were clerks inside the room wiping the seats and mopping the floor.

"Morning, Master Lian."

Lian Zining nodded, walked to the armchair and sat down.

A pile of documents was piled on the vermilion lacquer desk. The reconstruction of the imperial mausoleum required a lot of effort and energy. Very little of the budget allocated by the Ministry of Revenue to the Ministry of Works could be applied to the imperial mausoleum project.

What exhausted him most was that his craftsmen were gradually seconded by Yang Mingsheng, a doctor in the Ministry of Works.

The petty officials below submitted written requests one after another, requesting Lian Zining to send more people.

He didn't know how many times he had made excuses, but the imperial mausoleum had a construction deadline. If he failed to complete it, he would be given a poor grade in the performance assessment, and he would have to wait a few more years to be promoted in the future.

It is difficult to be an official in the Ming Dynasty. As the above sentence says, as a grassroots official, you have to run yourself to pieces and worry yourself into gray hair.

"Morning, Master Lian."

After a while, the right director of the Ministry of Works also came in wearing an official robe, sat behind the desk opposite Lian Zining, picked up the teacup and started drinking tea.

"Why do you have to compete with Doctor Yang?"

Right Chief Han Qi blew away the hot steam of the yellow soup and said to Lian Zining earnestly, "Why don't we just muddle through? Look at me, although I'm already over fifty, I've understood the essence of being an official. Don't offend people, don't do things, don't interfere, be ambiguous about everything, and let the people below take the responsibility if they can."

"As for the repair of the imperial mausoleum, you can just let the chief clerk take care of it. Why do you have to do it yourself?"

Lian Zining teased, "If everyone behaves like Lord Han, the Ming Dynasty will be finished."

Han Qi didn't care. He had a very accurate understanding of his position.