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

Chapter 240 Zhu Di: My goodness, I almost became a figurehead emperor

Empress Xu also stopped talking with Zhu Zhanjun and quietly made tea for the grandfather and grandson.

What is the grandson doing?

They had a lot of guesses in their minds.

Every time my father came, he was very secretive about the topic of Zhu Zhanjun, as if there was some taboo.

As smart as she was, she naturally understood that her grandson had a shocking secret.

Every time I talk about this with my husband, we both speculate and wonder what it is.
However, although they were curious, they did not ask actively.

They knew in their hearts that if they knew, Zhu Zhanjun would definitely tell them.

I haven't explained it to them now. There must be some reason why I can't tell them. Maybe one day in the future, they will have the chance to know it all.

After the palace servants left, the old man looked Zhu Zhanjun up and down for a while, and asked cautiously: "You are full of murderous aura. Did you just come down from the battlefield? What was the result of the battle?"

Zhu Zhanjun nodded and acknowledged the situation, having just come down from the battlefield.

Thinking of the casualty report received some time ago, Zhu Zhanjun held the teacup handed to him by Empress Xu and was silent for a while before he slowly said, "We have a total of four battlefields, namely the north, the west, the south and the sea."

Hearing this, the old man frowned instantly.

There were four battlefields. From Zhu Zhanjun's expression, he could tell that a lot of troops were mobilized in these four battlefields. One could imagine how much pressure his grandson was under.

Zhu Zhanjun continued, "The situation in the west is better. Everything is going smoothly. The progress in the south is a little slow, but it is also moving forward slowly."

"The war at sea is being prepared and will break out in the near future. Given the scale of the two sides, it will surely be an earth-shattering war."

"It was Zheng Zilong who was in charge, right?"

The old man recalled that during this period, all the reports submitted by the Southern Naval Base to the imperial court were signed by Guo Gang, but not Zheng Zilong.

In addition, since Zhu Zhanjun was going to fight a naval battle, it was very likely that the naval commander had been transferred away.

Zhu Zhanjun nodded.

The old man pondered for a moment and said, "Although I have never met him, I have heard from Sanbao that he is an excellent naval commander and will surely bring surprising news."

Zhu Zhanjun smiled. He also agreed with this point. Zheng Zilong's ability was undeniable.

In addition, the two often talked about future naval battles, and Zheng Zilong had a clear understanding and ideas about ocean warfare.

After talking about the navy, the old man looked at Zhu Zhanjun and guessed, "The progress at sea in the west and the south is good, and you are not in charge of them. The only one left is the north."

Zhu Zhanjun responded: "Yes, I personally commanded the north and just came down from the battlefield before returning."

"What are the results?" the old man asked hurriedly.

As a horse emperor, he was determined to deal with the emperor in the north all his life. In addition, because of the history of Yanhuang, the old man attached great importance to the north.

Noticing the old man's expression, Zhu Zhanjun explained: "I am not fighting against the barbarians from the grassland, but the old Russians from further north."

"Old Maozi?"

The old man looked a little confused. Zhang Fu also sent back reports regularly, saying that he had never heard of the existence of the Russian race in the north.

But then he reacted.

The north that Sun Tzu talked about might be different from the north he knew, so he signaled Zhu Zhanjun to continue.

Thinking of the numbers in the battle report, Zhu Zhanjun sighed and said, "I didn't go at first. The Northern Army made contact first, but the other side took the initiative and established a defense line. In order to regain the land, the Northern Army used inferior forces to defeat the superior forces. Although they won in the end, they also paid a heavy price."

The old man clenched his fists when he heard this. Given Zhu Zhanjun's character, if he had mentioned the heavy price paid, the casualties would have been huge.

Empress Xu, who was standing by, was also very nervous. She understood that for her husband and grandson, the greater the casualties, the stronger the enemy and the greater the pressure on them.

Zhu Zhanjun sighed and said, "For various reasons, only 18000 people from the Northern Army participated in the attack. By the time I arrived, the land had already been taken back."

"But more than 5000 soldiers died for their country, and 1300 of them were disabled due to injuries."

Hearing that there were more than 6000 casualties, the old man couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Some people may think that this data is not a big deal. Five or six thousand casualties among an army of one million is not a big deal.

However, the data is not calculated in this way. Two-thirds of the million-strong army must be stationed in various places to guard other territories.

Moreover, some of the soldiers have only received simple training and their actual combat capabilities are just so-so.

A country can only deploy one-third of its troops for field combat.

Taking the million as an example, there are only more than 300,000 troops that can go into battle, and more than 300,000 are deployed to various border defense zones on standby. The number of mobile troops that can be mobilized normally in each defense zone is only a few tens of thousands.

Nearly 7000 people were killed or wounded at once, which was a heavy blow to a field army.

Such heavy casualties are enough to bring the morale of an army to its lowest point, and it will take a long time to recover.

After talking about the casualty data, seeing that the old man and Empress Xu both looked a little worried, Zhu Zhanjun suddenly smiled and said, "But the Russians on the other side didn't get any advantage. From the beginning until I came back, we wiped out nearly 16 of their troops in total, and also advanced thousands of miles in territory."

Hearing such a huge victory, the sadness on the old man’s face was instantly replaced by a smile.

"They have expanded the territory and laid down such a vast land for their descendants. I believe the spirits of these soldiers in heaven will have no regrets."

"7000 for 16. This was a great fight."

The old man, who had been feeling a little heavy-hearted upon hearing about the heavy casualties, instantly smiled when he heard about the great results achieved.

He turned around and shouted to Little Sniffle who was waiting in the distance, "Little Sniffle, go prepare some drinks and food. It's a big night, and I want to have a drink to celebrate."

"I'll go, you guys chat slowly."

Just as Little Sniffle agreed to leave, Empress Xu stood up with a smile, intending to cook for herself.

"Okay, don't prepare too much, two or three dishes will be enough."

After Empress Xu left, the old man asked Zhu Zhanjun in a low voice: "When can I go? Your eldest uncle is watching over the north, and those barbarians are very honest. Hu Ruzhen is also very good at managing the south, and your father is even more helpless in the court. Grandpa is really free now." "Every day I just eat and sleep, and then I look forward to the arrival of my great-grandson. There is really nothing to do."

"I'm afraid if you continue to be idle like this, I'll have to find two uncles and aunts for you."

Zhu Zhanjun was completely speechless after hearing this. This old man is really a perpetual bullshitter.

Seeing the old man's expectant face, Zhu Zhanjun said helplessly: "I want to, too. The territory over there is larger than that of the Ming Dynasty. I am busy with the affairs of neighboring countries all day long and have no time to care about them. In fact, I really hope that you and Dad can go over there to help me."

When the old man heard this, he waved his hands and said, "I think it's better not to. It's not good enough for me to go to war, but I can't be the emperor. I've had enough of being the emperor."

"I'm telling you, little bastard, the Ming Dynasty is what it is today, all thanks to your father."

"If it weren't for your father, I would have defeated the Ming Dynasty long ago."

"Let me tell you, the feeling I get from the Ming Dynasty right now is that your father is the emperor, and I am just, um, a general!"

Zhu Zhanjun was amused by this remark. It turned out that the old man also had self-awareness.

"Wait a minute. If there is a chance, I will invite you over."

The old man nodded, but he did not forget to remind him: "Remember, I don't want to be the emperor. If you let me be the emperor when the time comes, don't blame me for quitting."

"Haha." Zhu Zhanjun smiled and nodded in agreement: "Okay, I'll let you be the captain."

The old man laughed out loud: "Okay, I will be a soldier and lead the horse and hold the stool for you, the emperor."

The grandfather and grandson chatted and laughed for a while, and the old man thought of something and asked again: "Who is with you now, and who is in charge over there?"

Zhu Zhanjun understood that the old man was planning to test the waters first.

"There are a lot of people, probably about 20 or 30 people."

"Wow, so many." The old man was a little surprised when he heard it. He didn't expect that his grandson had so many talented people under him.

In the old man's opinion, he can't get through, and those who can be selected are definitely rare talents.

Even without thinking, he could tell just by looking at the person who appeared before him.

Zhang Baigui, Hu Ruzhen, Zheng Zilong, his father-in-law and Lan Yu.

Each of them is a brilliant and powerful person who suppresses the contemporary world.

Without agreeing with the old man, Zhu Zhanjun continued, "You are also familiar with the people in charge."

"Who?"

"Li Shanchang."

When these words came out, the old man was shocked at first, but then his brows knitted up instantly, and he said carefully: "Although this person's ability is beyond doubt, his character seems to be not good. You should be careful when employing such people."

Zhu Zhanjun smiled and comforted him: "Don't worry, I have a method. Once you join my subordinates, they will be unconditionally loyal to me."

Hearing Zhu Zhanjun say this, the old man nodded in relief, but then he thought of something and asked tentatively: "Ji Gang, is that so?"

Zhu Zhanjun nodded in admiration.

The old man suddenly understood.

He said that based on his understanding of Ji Gang, it was impossible for him to follow Zhu Zhanjun at that time.

At that time, Zhu Zhanjun was not yet the crown prince, the power under his command was not that large, and the high-yield grain had not been announced. In the eyes of outsiders, the possibility of him becoming the crown prince was almost zero. It was impossible for Ji Gang to be so far-sighted as to choose to join directly.

This was also the question that had always been in his mind. He couldn't understand how Zhu Zhanjun managed to regain Ji Gang's favor.

Now that he knew the reason, he couldn't help but sigh in admiration at the powerful mysterious force in his grandson.

"Who else?"

Thinking of Ji Gang, the old man couldn't help but become curious and wanted to know who else in the court was Zhu Zhanjun's man.

Zhu Zhanjun thought about it and decided not to continue hiding it. He said directly, "Not many actually. There are only three in the imperial court."

When he heard that there were only three people, the old man not only did not feel relieved, but became more cautious.

Sun Tzu said that in the core of the imperial court, the power of the core no longer lies in the elite.

If he and Zhu Zhanjun were not on good terms, even one person at the center would be fatal, let alone three.

Under the old man's gaze, Zhu Zhanjun slowly said, "One of them is known to you, the commander of the Imperial Guard, Ji Gang. The second one is Hai Rui, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Metropolitan Censorate."

The old man was not surprised to hear Hai Rui.

He poached Hai Rui from Zhu Zhanjun, so it was normal that he was Zhu Zhanjun's man.

"What about the third one?"

The old man thought for a long time about the third person but couldn't remember who he was. After all, this person was too good at hiding, and he didn't notice anything unusual for so long.

Zhu Zhanjun raised a smile and spoke in a low voice, "Minister of Revenue Xia Yuanji!"

When he heard the third person, a layer of cold sweat instantly broke out on the old man's forehead.

One is the head of intelligence, one is the head of censors, and one is the head of money.

Apart from military power, this means that he has almost all of the powers that the emperor values ​​most in his hands.

Good boy! The old man was extremely grateful.

Fortunately, he made a wise choice at the beginning, otherwise, who knows now, he would have been sidelined by his own grandson as the emperor.

Thinking of his three traitors, the old man instantly became furious. He turned to the little snotty who was waiting in the distance and said, "Go to Xia Yuanji, Ji Gang, and Hai Rui's homes and give them a kick in the ass on my behalf. Make them stick their butts out for me. This is my order."

At the end, he added loudly: "Kick me hard!"

(End of this chapter)