My father Yongle, building a five-good family

Chapter 153 The News Finally Arrived
At this time, the King of Yan was fighting in Datong in full swing.

But on the other side, Li Jinglong's team heading south had been waiting for several days after hearing the news from Huaihua.

At the same time, he also learned one thing along the way, that is, Prince Gu, seeing that the situation was not good, had fled all the way from Xuanfu to Nanjing with his personal soldiers to hide from the storm.

Li Jinglong almost laughed out loud at this.

Prince Gu is such a fool. Does he think that arriving in Nanjing is like returning to his hometown? Can Zhu Yunwen protect him?

I'm afraid that right now, Zhu Yunwen himself is extremely anxious.

When Taizu was alive, in order to pave the way for Zhu Yunwen, he carefully pulled out the spikes on the handle of the imperial scepter.

These spikes...are naturally the nobles who have made great contributions after Taizu conquered the country.

Without the nobles, Zhu Yunwen, with his group of scholar think tanks, was able to easily succeed to the throne.

But what happens next?
Just like now, the Prince of Yan has rebelled, and the court has been stingy, but how many capable generals can they dig out?
Li Jinglong claimed to be the son of Li Wenzhong, so naturally he could not be on the same level as ordinary generals. People like Song Zhong, who only shot himself in the foot, should not be mentioned at all.

He thought... top notch... never mind, be modest.

First-rate generals, Li Jinglong himself is one, Geng Bingwen... is also one, as for the others...

Li Jinglong really couldn't figure it out.

He sighed, thinking that he was still in front of the soldiers, and he held it in. He didn't scratch the back of his head, but he was already beginning to worry.

Or... this time I'll be the same as before, be a fence-sitter and get involved on both sides.

No matter who wins in the end, as long as Li Jinglong gets some benefits, it's fine.

Thinking of this, Li Jinglong looked at the map in his hand. The geographical environment and location of Jingzhou were clearly marked on the map.

Jingzhou is where the King of Xiang is located.

During this border patrol, in addition to taking action against Zhu Gui, Emperor Jianwen's other target was Prince of Xiang.

The Prince of Xiang is not Zhu Gui, who has committed many evil deeds and is considered the tyrant of the vassal state.

Since childhood, he was "intelligent and studious, well-informed, and good at writing. He was particularly fond of Taoist teachings and called himself Zixuzi."

If Zhu Gaoyu were here, he would remember that the immortal-looking being he saw in Yingtian Prefecture at that time was Prince of Xiang, Zhu Bai.

Zhu Bo was an upright person, but judging by the criticisms Emperor Jianwen had prepared...

What about counterfeiting banknotes, cruelly killing people, and intending to rebel, that's all bullshit.

Thinking of this, even though Li Jinglong was on Zhu Yunwen's side, he couldn't help but sigh.

It seems that the so-called benevolent king is not completely benevolent.

Given Zhu Yunwen's methods and the Prince of Xiang's temperament, Li Jinglong was very suspicious that when he captured the Prince of Xiang on such charges, the prince might take some drastic measures.

However, the way to strike a balance between Prince of Yan and Emperor Jianwen...maybe we can start with Prince of Xiang.

Li Jinglong raised his eyebrows, tightened the reins, and set off again.

……

Ying Tianfu.

In Jinling in spring, the Qinhuai River flows slowly, willows beside the river are soft and graceful, and the low mountains in the distance are like a touch of indigo in a meticulous painting.

However, the atmosphere in the city lacks the cozy feeling of warm mountains and soft waters, nor does it have the wealthy and luxurious atmosphere of Jinling that once existed.

There seemed to be a tense atmosphere brewing in the air.

Even ordinary people in Yingtian Prefecture have heard the news from the north.

——The King of Yan is rebelling!

To be precise, they came under the banner of "clearing the imperial court and pacifying the national crisis."

In the court, people like Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai, who were deeply trusted by Emperor Jianwen, suddenly became the first to be targeted by Prince Yan as treacherous and treacherous.

As soon as the news came out, Huang Zicheng and Qi Tai used flowery words in the mansion to curse the King of Yan who was far away in the north.

As for why this news spread so quickly...

Then we have to mention King Gu's troops who fled to Jinling from the north like a lost dog that day.

With tears and snot, Prince Gu explained in detail what Zhu Di had done in the north.

Xuanfu was originally close to Beiping, and the news spread when Prince Yan's defeated army fled all the way south. Although Prince Gu tried not to listen, the news seemed to have legs and poured into his ears.

When Zhu Yunwen, Qi Tai and other ministers heard that the Prince of Yan had captured Miyun, Zunhua, Huailai and other cities in just a few days, their faces turned pale.

Qi Tai even felt like he couldn't breathe.

The thing he wanted to do most now was not to scold Zhu Di, but to be a hindsight expert.

He said it a long time ago!
The Prince of Yan should be deposed first!
Now it seems that the King of Yan has had the intention of being disloyal for a long time.

But now Li Jinglong is probably still on his way to Jingzhou, dispatching troops and generals, trying to find a general who can compete with the King of Yan... This is extremely difficult.

If we have to name someone...it would only be Geng Bingwen.

But the embarrassing thing is that not long ago, Geng Bingwen was confined to the mansion by Zhu Yunwen because of a memorial he submitted, and the old man has not been seen strolling on the street for several days.

Before, when he was not needed, he was imprisoned. If Geng Bingwen was not a founding hero, Zhu Yunwen would have called for his death. But now that he was needed... If he wanted to drag out this old man, not to mention Zhu Yunwen himself, even Qi Tai would feel embarrassed watching from the side.

Huang Zicheng was also thinking about it at this moment.

He still believed that his strategy of reducing the power of the feudal lords was not wrong.

The Prince of Yan rebelled because he was going to rebel anyway. It had nothing to do with how early or late the power of the princes was reduced. He would have rebelled in the end anyway.

The most important issue now is not to blame the previously decided plan to reduce the power of the feudal lords, but to think about how to invite Geng Bingwen out.

When deploying troops face to face with the King of Yan, most people would feel guilty without such a veteran general to lead the charge.

Huang Zicheng considered it again and again, and finally couldn't help but speak:

"Your Majesty, regardless of his seniority and achievements, the Marquis of Changxing should lead the army to defeat the Yan bandits."

Zhu Yunwen pursed his lips, looking a little uncomfortable.

After all, he felt a little embarrassed and was still a little annoyed with Geng Bingwen for what he said that day.

Geng Bingwen even said "slaughter them like pigs and sheep", so what did he think of Zhu Yunwen?

The eternal tyrant?

If this sentence was recorded in history books, how would people in later generations view Zhu Yunwen?
But after taking a deep breath, Zhu Yunwen regained his composure:

"It takes a thousand days to raise an army, but only a moment to deploy it. Although the Marquis of Changxing is old, he is still a meritorious official left by Taizu, and he has made contributions to the Ming Dynasty. It is appropriate to let him come forward now..."

As Zhu Yunwen spoke, he became more pleased.

In the end, he seemed to realize that it was a bit inappropriate to employ people in this way, so he added some rewards and titles.

After saying this, Zhu Yunwen was satisfied.

……

Hou House.

During the days when Geng Bingwen was imprisoned in the mansion, unlike his second son Geng Lin who was anxious, Geng Bingwen was leisurely and seemed quite comfortable, even enjoying it.

Geng Lin watched his father making tea and taking sips leisurely, and he couldn't help but sigh.

Geng Bingwen glanced at him leisurely, with a smile on his face:

"You still need to practice your concentration."

Geng Li's brows were almost twisted into knots:
"Dad, what are you thinking? How dare you say such words in front of the emperor?"

Geng Bingwen looked down upon the appearance of his youngest son.

"At worst, just chop off my head. Anyway, I'm over 60 years old and I've lived enough. Rather than being dragged down by illness in old age, wanting to die but not being able to, and suffering, it's better to leave a scar the size of a bowl and die quickly and painfully."

Geng Lin looked at his father, who was over sixty years old and looked like a weakling, and didn't know what to say.

The old man usually looks very gentle, but deep down, he still has the mind of a military commander.

Just when he wanted to sigh for the future of the Marquis' Mansion again, there was a sudden noisy sound outside.

The imperial edict from the palace has arrived!

Geng Bingwen and his son looked at each other, put down the teacups in their hands without saying a word, and went to the front yard.

But when he came back, Geng Lin's happy face in the front yard had disappeared without a trace at some point.

He snorted coldly: "For a title of commander, a few boxes of gold, silver, calligraphy and paintings, you are asked to work hard for your life... We are really slaves..."

Before he finished speaking, Geng Lin seemed to have realized that what he said was a bit out of line.

His face looked grim, but he still kept his mouth shut and didn't say anything else.

On the contrary, Geng Bingwen looked normal, stroking the imperial edict, as if he was thinking about something.

Geng Lin asked this question out of curiosity.

Geng Bingwen smiled and said, "Do you still remember Zhu Gaoyu?"

Geng Li raised his eyebrows: "Are you talking about the Prince of Dinghai?"

Zhu Gaoyu's words in the restaurant that day were not only fresh in Geng Bingwen's memory, but also left a deep impression on Geng Lin.

Geng Bingwen nodded and said with some emotion: "Even a child of Zhu Gaoyu's age knows that those who want to achieve great things will not achieve anything if they only do things based on their own likes and dislikes."

"If you always give maltose to those who are close to you and are stingy in giving maltose to those who are far away, then the people around you will always be those people."

"Zhu Gaoyu understands this principle, and so does the Prince of Yan. But the current emperor...does not understand it."

"He is close to Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai, Fang Xiaoru, and civil officials, and distant from nobles and generals. This is understandable. But... if there were no generals and soldiers he disliked, how could the territory of the Ming Dynasty be safe forever under the watchful eyes of the Tatars and Oirat?"

For some reason, after Geng Bingwen said this, Geng Lin felt that his heart suddenly began to beat irregularly.

What does Dad mean by this?
He moved his lips and opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

But he saw Geng Bingwen calmly turned around and walked into the house, saying only one word.

"Get ready. Command and march!"

(End of this chapter)