Yongle Emperor's grandson: Zhu Yuanzhang with cheats, Zhu Di went crazy

Chapter 188 The Imperial Court Sends a Wife
Zhu Zhanjun stayed with Empress Xu in Beiping for more than half a month and then returned to Jinling.

The production workshop where Napoleon Courtyard is located has processed more than 100,000 gun barrels in the past few months, which is more than enough for the current use of the Shenwei Battalion.

Xu Da told Zhu Zhanjun that he had almost sorted out Jiaozhi and could proceed with the next plan.

Zhu Zhanjun decided to send the gun barrel over and have Tiangongfang complete the processing as quickly as possible.

Although Empress Xu was somewhat reluctant to let her grandson go, she also knew that he had a lot of things to do and could not stay with her for a long time.

He told Zhu Zhanjun to go back and take a look at the selected beauties first, and then do other things after deciding on one.

In early September, Zhu Zhanjun returned to Jinling and went to Tiangongfang first.

"Your Highness."

Xu Shou, who had been waiting for a long time, hurried forward to greet him.

"Are all the personnel ready?"

Zhu Zhanjun asked as he walked in.

"The personnel and materials are ready. We are just waiting for the gun barrel you bring back."

"You stipulated that our army should use rifled guns, so as early as April, I ordered the preparation of rice bullets."

Opening the notebook in his hand, Xu Shou reported: "According to yesterday's statistics, there are currently 200 million rounds of fixed ammunition in stock, which is enough for a war."

"The production workshop is still stepping up production, and we expect to have 23 rounds of ammunition before we set off."

Zhu Zhanjun nodded repeatedly in satisfaction.

Tiangongfang is getting bigger and bigger with its development. The original fields in the Huangzhuang area have now all been expanded into production factories.

The number of employees working there has reached 30,000.

The various items produced every day are distributed to various Veterans Chamber of Commerce branches through the Yangtze River wharf and shore transportation.

The Veteran Chamber of Commerce and Tiangong Workshop have reached maturity.

After two years of practice, Qiu Yuan managed to run the Veterans Chamber of Commerce very smoothly.

Arriving at the prepared warehouse, Zhu Zhanjun raised his hand and waved slightly, and bundles of gun barrels appeared within a few meters around him.

It took until the afternoon to finally finish dropping the gun barrels.

After inspecting Tiangongfang again, Zhu Zhanjun returned to the palace.

"You little brat, you finally came back after running away for so long. I thought you didn't want me as your mother anymore."

Zhang, who had just returned to the East Palace and was waiting with dinner prepared, hurried forward to take the cloak from behind her son, complaining under her breath.

"Mom, I want to spend more time with you, but I have so many things to do that I can't spare any time."

Zhang also understood her son's hard work. Seeing her son grow taller than her and more handsome in just one year, Zhang felt happy but also distressed.

"If you really care about your mother, you can take some time to go with me to look at those concubines, select them as soon as possible, and give me a grandson as soon as possible. I don't need you to stay by my side."

"Okay, okay, okay. I happen to be free tomorrow, so I'll go with you to have a look, okay?"

Zhu Pangpang, who was sitting at the table waiting, looked at the mother and son chatting with each other, his eyes full of relief.

My son has become more mature during this period of time since he went out. Now with his hair style, people would believe he is a teenager of sixteen or seventeen.

It turns out that children who have seen the world mature early.

Looking at the current Zhu Zhanjun, and then thinking about Zhu Zhanji who hangs out with that Sun every day, Fatty Zhu felt disappointed.

Ever since Zhu Zhanjun was designated as the Crown Prince, Zhu Zhanji has been in complete disarray.

He no longer went to school every day. He would either play with Sun or fight crickets and sing songs. He hardly did any serious work.

Zhu Pangpang wanted to say something, but was stopped by his wife.

In Zhang's words, the matter has been settled, and if he is not happy about it, just let him have fun.

"Brother is not here?"

Zhu Zhanjun sat down at the table, picked up a chicken leg with chopsticks, and asked Zhu Zhanji while chewing it.

Zhu Pangpang shook his head and said, "I went to Qiantang to play. I said I wanted to see the tide. Then I planned to go to Beiping to visit your grandpa and grandma."

Zhu Zhanjun nodded, and at the same time reached out and knocked back the spoon that Zhu Pangpang was reaching for the sugar jar.

"Dad, you should eat less sweets. You are fat to begin with. If you eat more sweets, you won't be able to walk anymore."

"That's right. You still need your son to take care of you. I usually talk to your father about this, but he never listens to me." Zhang also nodded in agreement.

Ever since the old man left the country to her husband, Zhang found that her husband had become much more haggard.

In addition, since his son is not in Jinling, Zhu Pangpang has to worry about things like the promotion of high-yield grain of Tiangongfang of the Veterans Chamber of Commerce.

Zhu Pangpang's health has been getting worse over the past six months.

Zhang saw it and felt pain in her heart.

"Good good..."

Zhu Pangpang took back the spoon with a smile and took a few bites. He put down his chopsticks as if he had something on his mind and asked Zhu Zhanjun who was eating with relish.

"How much do you know about the Kong family?"

Zhu Zhanjun didn't stop his movements, and replied while eating: "About seven or eight."

"Are you sure there is no frame-up?"

Zhu Pangpang asked again.

Zhu Zhanjun shook his head: "I don't know about this. Ji Gang went to check it out. The old man didn't let me ask, saying that it would be bad for me to interfere in this kind of thing."

Zhu Zhanjun said this because his grandfather told him to.

The Kong family has become a thing of the past, and since it has been concealed, there is no need to sacrifice him for a declining family.

Before Zhu Zhanjun left, the old man told him that no matter who asked, not even Fatty Zhu, he must not admit that he was involved.

"Oh, your grandpa."

Zhu Pangpang sighed and shook his head, and didn't ask any more questions about this matter.

The Kong family's case has been determined to be a murder case. Although he knows there are some problems, it involves his biological father and his son may be involved, so he can only try his best to settle the matter.

Anyway, this is what happened, and this is the result announced by the court.

Whether the Confucian ministers and scholars believed it or not was none of the Zhu family’s business, but the Zhu family believed it anyway.

After dinner, Zhu Zhanjun saw that his father might have not had a good rest for a long time and looked a little haggard, so he asked Zhu Pangpang to go and rest and took over the processing of his father's memorials.

Zhu Pangpang still believed in his son's ability, and he was happy to have some free time. He told him not to be careless and went to bed.

Zhu Zhanjun was busy until dawn the next day. After taking the tea handed to him by a confused man, Zhu Zhanjun took a sip and walked out of the study feeling refreshed.

As his physical fitness improves, his spirit and strength are no longer comparable to ordinary people.

Not to mention reviewing memorials all night long, even if you didn't sleep for three days and three nights, you would at most feel a little sleepy, and you would recover immediately after an hour's rest.

After breakfast, Zhu Zhanjun simply washed up and went to choose a wife under the guidance of his mother, who looked very happy.

Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that in order to prevent external relatives from interfering in government affairs, all wives of the Zhu royal family must be selected from the common people.

Although it is talking about the common people, it actually refers specifically to low-level officials. There are very few people who actually come from ordinary people's families.

After all, ordinary people can't even get enough food to eat, and with the idea of ​​favoring boys over girls, how could they devote all their efforts to educating their daughters?

A girl who comes from an ordinary family has to work and take care of the whole family from a young age.

Everyone has rough hands and feet, not to mention their skin.

Such an official would not be elected even if he is blind.

Therefore, most of the selected beauties were chosen from low-level officials and small landlords.

The talent show started at the beginning of the year. The best girls were selected from all over the country. After going through layers of selection, more than 300 women finally entered the palace.

During the time when Zhu Zhanjun was away, Zhang met them several times and sent away some of those who had bad tempers and did not know the rules.

There are still more than 90 people left.

Zhu Zhanjun was going to choose his own wife from among these ninety people.

Of course, if no one is satisfied, we will re-select next year until Zhu Zhanjun is satisfied.

The girls who received the news yesterday got up before dawn to wash and dress up, trying to be in the best condition and show their charm so that they would be noticed by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince at first sight.

"Greetings to the Crown Princess, Crown Princess Jin An!"

As Zhang walked into the hall, the girls who were dressed up politely bowed to her.

Zhang nodded slightly, sat down and said, "I have nothing to do today, so I called you all over to chat and talk."

While Zhang was speaking, Zhu Zhanjun stood behind a bead curtain, looking at these women.

They are all around thirteen or fourteen years old, and to be honest, it’s hard to tell their figures, only some of them have developed a bit.

There is nothing to say about their looks, each of them is top-notch, beautiful and dignified.

"This one is good, choose this one, choose this one."

"You can't choose this one. This girl has high eyebrows. It's obvious that she has a bad temper and is difficult to get along with. She doesn't know how to be considerate of others."

Zhu Zhanjun was watching, and Old Zhu and Queen Ma in the space also helped to make the choice.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought one was good, but Empress Ma immediately shook her head and rejected it.

“We think it’s pretty good.”

Empress Ma rolled her eyes at Old Zhu and said, "In your eyes, anyone who is pretty is good."

Lao Zhu smiled awkwardly, but then said, "Who said that? I fell in love with you at first sight. Doesn't this prove that my vision is correct?"

Queen Ma glared at the flatterer in annoyance and continued to watch the images projected by Zhu Zhanjun.

Soon she locked onto one and her eyes lit up instantly.

"Zhanjun, the fourth one on the right in the third row from the bottom, take a look at what he thinks."

Zhu Zhanjun looked in the direction indicated by Empress Ma, and his eyes moved instantly.

This girl is not the most beautiful among all the women, but she is the most attractive.

Zhu Zhanjun looked at the woman's face and felt that she looked familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere.

After thinking about it for a moment, my heart moved instantly.

He remembered why the girl looked familiar.

This girl's face is very similar to the queen in Journey to the West, especially her slightly drooped eyes and her every move, as if they were carved from the same mold.

"Ah, ah, ah, this is great. This girl was born with a face that represents peace and prosperity for the country and the people. She is absolutely suitable to be the queen."

When Old Zhu saw it, his eyes also lit up.

Zhu Zhanjun nodded, agreeing with what Old Zhu said, but did not confirm it immediately.

I waved my hand and my personal maid came over.

Zhu Zhanjun pointed at the woman and said, "Bring her information here so I can take a look."

"Your Highness is really discerning. He and the Crown Princess have chosen the same person."

The female official took the information and handed it to Zhu Zhanjun with a smile.

Zhu Zhanjun looked at her in surprise and asked, "My mother also likes her?"

The female official nodded and whispered back, "The Crown Princess fell in love with this girl the first time she saw her. She said that this girl is dignified and generous, and has a very good character and temper. She likes her from the bottom of her heart."

Zhu Zhanjun laughed and said, "It seems that my mother and I have the same vision."

While chatting with the female official, he flipped through the girl's information.

"Ms. Huo, nickname: Wenxiu, from Guangzhou. Her father is a captain of the Guangzhou prefecture, and her mother is..."

After confirming the woman's identity and that it was not the unwanted Hu, Zhu Zhanjun nodded with satisfaction.

"This is it. I've looked around and this girl is the best."

Queen Ma also read the information and made her own judgment.

"Little bastard, it's right to listen to your grandmother. Your grandmother never judges people."

"Your grandmother and your mother were both chosen by your great-grandmother."

Zhu Zhanjun looked around again and asked the female official to bring two more documents. Then he put the thing his mother gave him before she left in between the three documents.

Among them is a jade ruyi pendant, which represents the Crown Princess he has his eyes on, and the remaining two sachets are for the Crown Princess he has his eyes on.

Zhu Zhanjun would never treat himself badly. If he liked something, he would just accept it. There was no need to be so pretentious.

Only after the female official sealed the three documents with red silk in front of Zhu Zhanjun did Zhu Zhanjun turn around and leave.

He has already decided on the candidate, so he doesn't have to worry about anything else. All he has to do is wait for the wedding and enter the bridal chamber.

(End of this chapter)