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

Chapter 19: Fairy Lights Linger in the Far North
"Your Highness, I admire your actions with all my heart."

Just when the atmosphere in the hall was becoming a little awkward, Zheng He, who was serving at the bottom of the stairs, came out and bowed to Zhu Zhanjun.

Zhu Zhanjun bowed and returned the greeting.

Zheng He smiled slightly, turned to look at the old man, and saluted:
"Your Majesty, I heard that the Second Grandson of the Emperor traveled thousands of miles north to find elixirs for the Empress, and went to a place that the Ming Dynasty had never set foot on."

"You know my character. I am very curious about unknown places. I stayed here for a month just to ask the Second Imperial Grandson for news about the north. I wonder if Your Majesty can ask the Second Imperial Grandson to tell us about the situation in the north so that we can learn a little bit."

Zhu Zhanjun looked at Zheng He speechlessly.

This guy won't give up until he reaches the Yellow River. He'll try to find out what's happening in the north whenever he gets the chance.

The problem is that if he had really been there, he would have told you about it a long time ago, but the problem is that he never got to the place at all. He turned back before he even got halfway there.

Seeing Zheng He stand up and turn over what had just happened, the old man was secretly relieved.

The situation just now was indeed difficult to handle.

Give him a reward. He was also worried that today's actions would bring endless troubles to the future emperor.

If he doesn't give it, the people will say that he is a stingy emperor. He didn't get any reward for such a great contribution. And this guy is the emperor's grandson. After this, who would be willing to work hard for the court?

Now Zheng He changed the topic and put the matter aside, waiting to discuss it later.

"Second son." The old man smiled at Zhu Zhanjun, "The letter you sent back a few days ago was not very clear. Grandpa is also very curious about the situation in the north. Since everyone is here, I will let you listen to the situation in the north."

"Take out the things and show them, and also tell them about the hardships you have gone through along the way."

Lao Zhu's voice rang in my ears.

According to the plan of the two, not competing does not mean doing nothing.

When it is time to show your abilities, you must show them so that everyone, including the old man, can understand.

Zhu Zhanjun's failure to fight doesn't mean he has no ability, he just doesn't want to fight.

"My grandson accepts the order."

Zhu Zhanjun clasped his fists and bowed to the old man, then, to everyone's confusion, he turned around, walked to the door of the hall, and waved to the outside.

Xiaohu and others who were specially allowed to enter the palace came in carrying packages of various sizes.

"Greetings to Your Majesty."

Xiaohu and his companions entered the hall and bowed to the ground in unison.

The old man did not ask Xiaohu and others to get up immediately, but checked the number of people.

"Thirteen people."

The old man gently told the number of Xiaohu and others.

"If I remember correctly, there were forty-eight of you when you left."

"Your Majesty." Xiao Hu did not raise his head and replied loudly, "When we set out, including Your Highness, there were a total of 49 people."

The old man nodded slightly.

Those who didn’t return speak for themselves.

"Spread the things out."

Seeing that the old man had no intention of asking any more questions, Zhu Zhanjun stepped forward and asked Xiaohu and others to unfold the things they had prepared.

Everyone was very curious and stretched their necks to see Xiaohu and others put down their packages and open them.

"Hiss, what's that smell?"

"It stinks, it must be the corroded fur."

As the package was unfolded, a strong smell filled the entire hall.

The military generals are better off, as they have been rolling around in piles of dead bodies for years and have smelled all kinds of smells.

The civil servants all frowned and covered their noses with their hands. If the old man had not been sitting there, many of them would have run out to breathe in the fresh air.

After Xiaohu and his companions worked hard, a huge piece of leather sewn with white leather was spread out.

At the same time, the strange smell has made many civil servants' faces turn green.

Zhu Zhanjun didn't think so. He painted on it every day and had long been accustomed to the smell.

Turning to face the old man who had walked over at some point, Zhu Zhanjun said, "Your Majesty, please have this leather painting hung up."

The old man stared at the fur. The fur was mostly white and should be the fur of a white animal.

There are various crisscrossing lines drawn on the leather, and many places are marked with words.

"Is this the route you took to travel north, Your Highness?"

Zheng He, who also came over, saw the contents on the leather, his eyes lit up and he exclaimed.

For sailors, they are not afraid of hardship or fatigue, but they are afraid of having no direction. The guidance of the map can let them know where the front is, instead of being blind in the vast ocean.

"Hang it up." The old man shouted, and the palace guards got busy.

This roll of leather was four meters long and two meters wide, and its area was not very large. The palace servants fixed it up in a short while and placed it in the middle of the hall.

Zhu Zhanjun held a spear in his hand and knocked on the hanging leather, "Everyone, please look over here."

Looking at the huge leather that was shaking from being poked by the gun, the old man's eyelids twitched and he said repeatedly: "Knock it slowly, don't break it."

Zhu Zhanjun ignored the old man, pointed at the huge leather picture behind him, and said to the old man and the ministers who had gathered around him:

"This is a map of half the world."

"World Atlas."

Minister of War Jin Zhong's eyes lit up and he subconsciously took a few steps forward.

The old man pulled him back and glared at him, saying, "Listen to what you say first, and then copy it down. You can read it however you want."

Jin Zhong smiled awkwardly, nodded repeatedly and returned to his seat.

Zhu Zhanjun drew a picture of the Nurgandusi area with the gun barrel: "It was summer at that time. We set out from the Nurgandusi, which was just renamed this year, and headed north along the sea."

"Along the way, we passed through deserts and uninhabited areas with no people for thousands of miles. It was not until we saw the aurora in the sky to the north that we arrived in a world covered with ice and snow in winter."

Zhu Zhanjun's face gradually turned sad. "From Daming to the snow-covered world, more than a dozen of my brothers fell on the road forever."

"In the thousand-mile uninhabited area, due to lack of food, several brothers were torn to death by wild beasts while hunting."

"besides……"

As Zhu Zhanjun talked about the reasons for the deaths of the guards one by one, he recalled those tragic scenes in his mind.

When his guard died to protect him, Zhu Zhanjun never thought that there were people in this world who would be willing to sacrifice their lives for so-called loyalty.

As he was thinking, Zhu Zhanjun stopped explaining and fell into silence.

The old man looked at the silent Zhu Zhanjun and felt distressed.

His grandson was only ten years old, an age that should have been filled with happiness and joy, but he suffered so much.

Patting Zhu Zhanjun's shoulder comfortingly, the old man gave him an encouraging look.

Everyone present had experienced the separation of life and death and could understand the sadness and pain involved. They looked at Zhu Zhanjun and the guards standing beside them with admiration.

Xiaohu and others stood calmly, with no pride or showing off on their faces, but an imperceptible sadness flashed in their eyes.

Feeling the old man's comfort, Zhu Zhanjun forced a smile, pointed to the Bering Strait, and continued to explain: "There is a huge strait here, which I call the Sun and Moon Strait. The distance between the two is about 200 miles. When we arrived here, it was winter, and almost all the water froze."

"It was so cold that the sea was frozen, so we walked on the frozen sea and headed eastwards, and finally reached another vast continent."

"Your Highness, I'm interrupting you for a moment."

Zhu Zhanjun pointed at the introduction of the map. Some ministers who didn't know geography and had never even been to the Ming Dynasty listened with confusion in their eyes.

They couldn't imagine what color the aurora in the sky was, and whether it was the light of the legendary fairy palace in the sky.

But the knowledgeable Zheng He noticed some problems.

Zhu Zhanjun stopped explaining and looked at him.

Zheng He asked in confusion: "Your Highness, how can you be sure that there is good medicine there? And how can you be sure that there is a new continent to the east, instead of continuing to the north or west?"

After saying that, he added, "I have no doubt about your Highness's intentions. I am just a little curious. After all, exploring the unknown, like sailing, requires a certain goal before moving forward."

"Just like when I sailed to the West, I had no destination. I would never dare to lead my fleet into the endless sea, because no one knew whether there was hope or death ahead."

Zhu Zhanjun nodded in agreement, his face not red, his breath not out, under the admiring eyes of Xiaohu and others, he said without any guilt:

"I did have a destination, but it was heading north. Later, on the way back, Yao saw a new continent in the east."

After hearing this, everyone became even more curious.

This prince had lived with Empress Xu in Peking since childhood, and later lived in the imperial palace in Nanjing. How did he know that there was a new continent to the east of the northernmost point?

Amid everyone's confusion, Zhu Zhanjun took out a parchment book from his sleeve and handed it to the old man.

The old man unfolded it out of curiosity and saw various crooked symbols on it.

"What is this word?"

The old man looked at it for a long time without understanding it, and asked Zhu Zhanjun in confusion.

"This is Xiawen. My grandson calls it oracle bone script, and it is also the writing system of the Xia Dynasty."

"But this is not the original carrier. It was originally on a turtle's back. That turtle's back led me to a certain place and then broke. This is what I copied."

Upon hearing that there were Xia Dynasty characters, several great scholars from the Hanlin Academy hurried over, looking excited and wanting to see the Xia Dynasty characters.

But when they saw the words on the parchment in the old man's hand, there was only confusion in their eyes.

(End of this chapter)