Daming: I am the Crown Prince

It can't be called surveillance, it's just some necessary care for my cousins.

Even if they knew about it, they shouldn't feel hurt, because there are more or less spies from the imperial court in the princes' palaces in various places.

Even the officials understood these principles, and the Jinyiwei was indeed not as arrogant as in the early years of the founding of the country. However, both the Jinyiwei and the Northern Pacification Division were omnipresent.

This is not a special case of the Ming Dynasty, but the same in every dynasty. Even the so-called paradise for scholars, the Northern Song Dynasty, had an institution like the Imperial City Department.

As for Zhu Yunhuan's reluctance to confer the titles of princes on some of his cousins ​​who were of the right age and were the grandchildren of the emperor, it was simply because he did not want to increase the burden on the court or let the princes take advantage of them.

After finishing a day's work, Zhu Yunhuan returned to the Qianqing Palace. "Want to go to the West Palace?"

Xu Miaojin immediately smiled and said, "My grandfather sent someone to see you earlier, but he thought your majesty must be busy, so he didn't say it explicitly."

"The old man is old now, and he is afraid that I am not around." Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile, "He insisted on living in the West Palace. How could I not know what he was thinking? He just thinks that I live too far away in the East Palace."

Xu Miaojin didn't know what to say, but she understood that Old Zhu was afraid of being alone, so she insisted on keeping Zhu Wenyao by his side and was determined not to build another palace for him, but only vacate the West Palace.

As soon as the couple arrived at Xigong, they saw Zhu Wenyao happily sitting on a small wooden horse and rocking. The child was becoming more and more active.

"Mom!" Zhu Wenyao was about to stand up, but this frightened the maid next to him, "Dad."

Looking at his fat son jogging over, Zhu Yunxun asked, "Where's your great-grandfather? I haven't seen him for two days. Is he okay?"

Old Zhu, who was sitting under the porch, opened his eyes lazily. How could his great-grandson understand all that? It was all said by his grandson on purpose.

"Grandfather, is dinner ready?" Zhu Yunhuan asked with a smile, "I have been busy all day and haven't eaten yet. If there is nothing to eat here, I will go back and ask someone to prepare it."

Old Zhu then opened his eyes and said proudly, "You are the emperor. Even if I want to eat in the middle of the night, you cannot be left out. Bring the meal. Wen Yao hasn't had dinner yet."

Zhu Wenyao was not very happy and stressed, "Grandpa, eat it. Eat your fill."

"You don't want to eat good meals, but you just like to eat snacks." Old Zhu complained, "That's good, you won't be hungry if you eat more meals a day. You learned this bad habit from your father."

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "Ordinary people are lucky to have two meals a day. In good years, they can even have some dry rice and white flour. In normal years, they can't even have a full meal a few times a year. I'm lucky. I never get hungry even if I don't have a full meal."

Old Zhu snorted coldly, and then said, "It's not your fault. You have to get up early to attend court, and you don't have much time to eat and drink. It's okay as long as you don't starve. If you do, it's not right."

In fact, it was not just Zhu Yunhuan who ate small meals frequently, but Old Zhu was the same. However, Old Zhu's eating small meals frequently was obviously not as refined and particular as Zhu Yunhuan's, as Old Zhu ate almost everything.

Zhu Yunhuan held his heavy, fat son in his arms and said to Old Zhu, "My brothers are busy visiting relatives. I will scare them later and say that they are colluding with court officials and have close contacts with nobles."

Old Zhu found it funny that his grandson could only show his naughty side in front of him. He was really as dissolute and troublesome as the rumors said back then.

"If you scare them now, they will lose their courage and your uncles will have to make an apology." Old Zhu said, "Your status is different now. If you say something casually, they will have to think carefully."

Zhu Yunxun said uncertainly, "Second uncle and fifth uncle probably won't, fourth uncle might, and third uncle might have to ride back to explain in person."

Old Zhu commented with a smile, "I didn't expect that you and your second uncle have such a good relationship. Your second uncle originally looked down on you the most. But it's not surprising that you and your fifth uncle have a good relationship."

"Uncle Wu has a good relationship with Yunwen on the surface. They can discuss scriptures and doctrines together." Zhu Yunhuan laughed and joked, "Yunwen is the only one who thinks Uncle Wu likes him the most. He is still counting money after being sold."

Old Zhu couldn't help laughing, and then he said with emotion, "The more I look at Yunwen now, the more scared I am. That kid has really become stupid from studying too much, and has become stupid from learning from Huang Zicheng. A good prince has become like a corrupt scholar!"

Zhu Yunhuan joked, "He has a good reputation, and the scholars are all helping him to become famous. If he becomes the emperor, our Ming Dynasty will be ruled by civil officials."

Old Zhu was silent. His bastard grandson was pointing fingers at him again, and occasionally he would make fun of the issue of appointing the crown prince.

But Lao Zhu was still happy in his heart. The worst thing about some things is to keep them in your heart. If you talk about it and make a joke about it, it means you don't take it to heart and won't care about it in the future.

Xu Miaojin said, "Grandfather, the uncles have prepared a lot of good things for Wen Yao. I find them all novel."

Old Zhu took it for granted and said proudly, "Each of them uses the money provided by the court to either build large-scale projects or to eat, drink and have fun. It is only natural that they should prepare things for Wen Yao."

Zhu Yunhuan immediately complained, "You still think it's not enough, you want to give Wen Yao some good things, so I can appoint other brothers as princes. I won't allow it, unless you get married."

Old Zhu glanced at Zhu Yunhuan and thought that his grandson was stingy. Now that he was the emperor, it was reasonable for his other brothers to be princes, after all, they all had the surname Zhu.

But on second thought, I understood that it was because the Zhu family now had quite a few descendants. In terms of direct lineage, Zhu Wenyao was the fourth generation, and the third generation had also begun to reach adulthood and get married.

Of course, there is a very small number of second generation who have not yet married, but this is not a big deal, as they have all been crowned kings long ago and are just waiting to be enfeoffed.

"We shouldn't rush to confer titles on them. We should wait until they get married first." Old Zhu said casually, "Your uncles all have their own calculations, and they all want more money."

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "Not to mention the supply from the imperial court, the Maritime Customs Office is also keeping a close eye on it. Although my third and fourth uncles are focused on fighting, they are also keeping an eye on the spoils of war."

Old Zhu became serious, "Yun Hun, if we really want to fight the Tatars, are you confident in letting your fourth uncle lead the troops?"

"Third uncle and fourth uncle are definitely trustworthy, and then there are Lan Yu and Xu Huizu. My cousin Jiujiang will also go with them to gain experience." Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile, "Fourth uncle can fight, but Gao Chi and others can't."

After thinking carefully, Old Zhu said, "The princes can just guard the borders, and you can take back the military power when the time comes. Remember, take it back after the war, and don't let them command an army for a long time." Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "I have transferred all the former commanders of Yanshan Guard. They are all imperial troops, so how can they have any dealings with the princes? Grandfather, don't worry, I won't give any of the three guards to the princes."

Old Zhu was so angry that he rolled his eyes. His grandson's words were really irritating. But if you think about it carefully, there is nothing wrong with doing this. This is how the emperor should think.

Don't think too highly of others, even if they are family members. You can take care of them and protect their shortcomings, but you still need to take precautions when necessary.

As soon as the food was served, Zhu Wenyao couldn't help drooling. It wasn't because he was greedy for food, but simply because he was too young and sometimes he couldn't help drooling.

Old Zhu was happy when he saw Zhu Wenyao's look. "If your parents saw you like this, they would think we didn't give you food."

Zhu Yunxun also laughed, "Looking at it this way, it does seem like he hasn't been fed good food, but this plump, white and tender baby doesn't look hungry at all."

Picking up a goose leg for Zhu Wenyao, Old Zhu said with a smile, "Now that he has food, let's eat ours. He won't be able to finish this leg until tomorrow. He is just like you, short-sighted."

Zhu Wenyao naturally ate with relish, but for a kid of his age, the food barely broke through when he took a bite, and there was hardly even an imprint.

Old Zhu ate a few mouthfuls and said, "You became the emperor, and I don't see you celebrating much. You're now attending court and handling government affairs?"

Zhu Yunhuan was a little confused and asked, "Do we need to celebrate together? Yingtian Prefecture has set off fireworks and held some gatherings. The Ministry of Rites has also specially arranged some plays, which is also for the people to have fun together. How else do we need to celebrate?"

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Old Zhu was speechless. His grandson really didn't care about some things. Even though Old Zhu was pragmatic, his grandson was even more pragmatic and didn't care about those things.

This is naturally a good thing. The emperor is not ambitious, which is definitely a good thing for the country.

But as a grandfather, Lao Zhu certainly doesn't want his grandson to be so frugal. He still hopes that his grandson can be as flamboyant and glorious as some of his peers.

Zhu Yunhuan didn't care about that and continued, "I have arranged a lot of things these days. Now the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Justice are arranging things for Daqing. It seems that they will soon issue a general amnesty."

"Okay, we get it." Old Zhu said irritably, "What else can you think about besides being the emperor? It's the right choice for you to be the emperor. If you don't become the emperor, you might not be able to survive."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded seriously, "That's about right. I can't live without being the emperor. Anyway, I am definitely better than Yunwen. It's right to choose me. You won't be able to rest in peace after choosing him."

Xu Miaojin remained silent at this time, because some of Zhu Yunhuan's words were too "shocking".

Zhu Yuanzhang urged, "Yunwen should be crowned the King of Wu, and your other uncles should be enfeoffed as vassals. You can't delay these matters."

"Tomorrow, after the New Year's Day, I will issue an edict to make all my brothers kings." Zhu Yunhuan said directly, "The fourth brother will be made the King of Jing, and although the fifth brother is not old enough, he will also be made the King of Yue."

When Old Zhu heard this, he was shocked. "You gave your fifth son a post in Lingnan?"

Zhu Yunhuan said quickly, "How could that be possible? He is about the same as the fourth brother. The fourth brother is with his twelfth uncle, and his fiefdom is Yiling. As for the fifth brother, I will give him the Raozhou Prefecture in Jiangxi Province, which belongs to the land of Baiyue."

After hearing Zhu Yunhuan's explanation, Old Zhu felt relieved. "That's more like it. I thought you really gave your brother the title of Lingnan. Now you are really interested in Jingxiang and are thinking about opening a farm there."

Zhu Yunhuan said seriously, "Although Jiangnan is rich, it is not enough. Jingxiang and Huguang are good places, as they are suitable for growing grain. Once they are developed, the grain of the Ming Dynasty will be barely enough."

If Huguang is prosperous, the whole world will have enough food. This is also what Zhu Yunhuan has been working hard on. He hopes that he can further consolidate and promote this strategy to provide the Ming Dynasty with another grain base.

Old Zhu nodded slightly, and then said, "In this case, your twelfth uncle will come in handy. He likes fighting."

Zhu Yunhuan couldn't help laughing. After all, there are still some ethnic minorities in Jiangxi, Hubei and other places, and they are not particularly well developed now.

During the 30 years after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there were occasional rebellions by barbarians there, so both Prince of Chu Zhu Zhen and Prince of Xiang Zhu Bo had to suppress the rebellions in a timely manner.

"My fourth and fifth sons can no longer be relied upon, so we still have to rely on Uncle Twelve." Zhu Yunxun said with a smile, "In the north, my third and fourth uncles fight, and my second uncle keeps them under control. In the south, my twelfth uncle fights, and my sixth uncle keeps him under control."

Hearing Zhu Yunhuan say this, Zhu was undoubtedly the happiest, because although his grandson would be on guard against and restrict the royal family, he would also have no doubts when using them.

Moreover, he was able to understand the abilities and positions of these clan members, and let them contribute to the Ming Dynasty's country and people.

"Your sixth uncle and twelfth uncle are not very useful. Although there is some chaos in Huguang, one garrison can suppress it." Old Zhu said with a smile, "As for Yunnan and Sichuan, we need to pay more attention to them."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded and said, "It's not just the southwest, the northeast also needs to be arranged. Before I sat on the throne, I knew there were many things to do. Now that I sit on the throne, there are even more things to arrange."

Old Zhu didn't say anything more. He had understood Zhu Yunhuan's feelings a long time ago. But since he became the emperor, he naturally had to take on these responsibilities.

Some things cannot be accomplished in one or two generations. He has done what he should do and has laid a good foundation for future generations.

The subsequent things naturally need to be done by Zhu Yunhuan. And Zhu Wenyao in the future will also have to take on these responsibilities and continue to do some things.

However, Zhu Wenyao was obviously unaware of these things. He was still fighting with the goose leg. But let alone eating the meat, now he could only taste it at most.

This was enough for him. A kid of his age was only interested in the taste of some food, but not necessarily wanted to eat it very much.

After all, Zhu Wenyao had not yet been completely weaned, and Old Zhu was reluctant to let his precious great-grandson be weaned. The family was wealthy, so there was no need to let the child suffer. (End of this chapter)