My father Yongle, building a five-good family

Chapter 60: Hundreds of Rice

The so-called "win them over with virtue, control them with propriety, if that doesn't work, then reduce their territory, if that still doesn't work, then replace their people, if it's even worse, then attack them with military force."

The general meaning is probably: first use virtue to influence, then use courtesy to restrain, if that doesn't work, reduce the fiefdom, if that still doesn't work, drive them to other places, and finally send troops to conquer.

Of course, Zhu Di didn’t believe a sh*t about this.

Seeing Zhu Di give a look to Prince Ning beside him, the two brothers, at this moment, had an inexplicable tacit understanding and a sense of desolation. They raised the wine cups in their hands and drank them all.

Seeing that it was almost his little boy's turn to present the birthday gift, Zhu Di started to scare the child again.

"You guys should show some strength. If you cause any trouble at this moment, you will be beaten when you go back."

When he said this, he was obviously talking to Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui.

As for Zhu Gaoyu...this kid is only five years old, what does he know?

In Zhu Di's opinion, it was already very good that he was able to finish his birthday congratulations smoothly and not be nervous in such a big occasion.

In response to Zhu Di's words, Zhu Gaoxu, contrary to his usual behavior, showed great confidence.

Zhu Gaoyu looked at him with a little surprise, wondering where his confidence came from.

You know, Zhu Gaoyu has not yet become proud.

He wanted to see what the second brother had prepared that made it so mysterious.

As the prince of Yan, Zhu Gaochi was naturally the first to go up and present birthday gifts.

He was holding a plain wooden box in his hand, without much decoration. When he opened it, rice grains of different colors were revealed inside.

Some of the rice was even slightly yellow, and it was obviously old rice, not seasoned at all. However, as Zhu Gaochi spoke, Zhu Yuanzhang's face slowly showed an expression of emotion:

"Grandpa Emperor, I have heard that there is a folk custom. When an elder in the family celebrates his birthday, the children and grandchildren will knock on the door of each household and ask people to give them some corn from their own family. After collecting corn from hundreds of households, it is called "Hundred Family Rice."

"It is rumored that Baijia rice can protect elders from harm and illness. I, your grandson, am here to wish you a long life and good health!"

After hearing these words, Zhu Yuanzhang could hardly conceal the joy on his face and kept saying yes.

Compared with the specially trimmed Nanshan immortal tree, Zhu Yuanzhang was more impressed by the seemingly cheap Baijia rice.

When the box of Baijia rice was brought up, he looked at the yellowish rice grains in the box and couldn't help but reveal an expression of emotion.

"I heard that the current price of rice among the people is one tael of silver for two dan of rice. Gao Chi, come to us and get some silver later. When the time comes, you can return the silver to the people and treat it as if we bought it from the people."

"The common people work hard and earn their living from the land. The rice is produced through their blood and sweat. We take it for nothing... I feel uneasy. But your intention... is good, and I feel happy. You have done a good job."

With two consecutive "good"s, everyone could understand that the birthday gift that Zhu Yuanzhang would be most satisfied with on this birthday should be this unremarkable-looking Prince of Yan.

They didn't expect that although Zhu Gaochi looked obese, he was actually a smart and filial person.

that's true.

Although Old Zhu entered the city of Nanjing with only a broken bowl.

Having been in a high position for a long time, although he does not like extravagance, he has seen a lot of good things.

As for the descendants of Lao Zhu, could they come up with something better? In other words, even if they had something better, would they dare to bring it out?
However, Zhu Gaochi's practice of filial piety won the old man's favor.

Come to think of it, Zhu Gaochi looked fat and had more difficulty walking than ordinary people. However, for the sake of the emperor's grandfather's birthday, he threw away his reputation as the prince of Yan Palace and went from house to house to beg for rice, and finally gave it to the emperor.

As long as the emperor's heart is not completely heartless, he will be able to feel something.

Zhu Yuanzhang already had a good impression of this grandson, and now there was nothing to say.

As for the child being a little fat…what does that matter?

During the uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, even monks could not get any support. Ordinary people ate grass roots, tree bark, and even Guanyin soil. It is clearly a blessing that he can be so fat now!

Zhu Gaoxu was so envious when he saw his elder brother being in the limelight.

He wished that he was the one being stared at by everyone.

You know, the Emperor has never looked at him in such a different light.

For a moment, Zhu Gaoxu felt itchy in his heart.

It was finally his turn. Zhu Gaoxu adjusted his facial expression and then strode into the hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang was sitting on the dragon throne. When he saw Zhu Gaoxu's demeanor, he nodded slightly.

Although he didn't like this grandson very much, who was always playful and not interested in studying, and even the Duke of Wei said that he was like a gangster, he was a child of the Zhu family after all, and as long as he kept quiet, this child could still be successful.

Now that we are in such a big situation, I think... I won’t let you down.

Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyes and looked at Zhu Gaoxu.

Sure enough, whether it was speech or etiquette, in this situation, Zhu Gaoxu completed it very strictly, without any of his usual erratic and unreliable behavior.

Seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's brows relaxed slightly, and his impression of the Second Prince in the Prince of Yan's Mansion changed a lot.

Then Zhu Gaoxu slowly called his attendants and opened the prepared birthday gift.

"Grandpa Emperor, this is the longevity brocade dress that my grandson prepared. It was completed by hundreds of embroiderers in a month. There are a total of 999 longevity patterns embroidered on it. In addition, gold and silver threads were specially used, and the kesi technique was used to embroider dragon and phoenix patterns, as well as crane patterns..."

Zhu Gaoyu looked at the shiny, almost blinding Wanshou brocade robe, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.

He secretly glanced at his father's face and saw that Zhu Di had a smiling face just now. It seemed that since Zhu Gaoxu took out the Wanshou Brocade Clothes, the smile on his face... disappeared without a trace.

However, I couldn’t tell whether the emperor, who was sitting on a high throne, was happy or unhappy for a while, perhaps because he was too far away.

But based on Zhu Gaoyu's inference... my second brother will be in trouble when he goes back this time.

It's a pity that even a five-year-old child like Zhu Gaoxu could understand this truth, but Zhu Gaoxu, who was so simple-minded, was still being stupid and continued to talk endlessly:
"This longevity brocade robe contains my grandson's wish for Grandpa to live a long and healthy life. Grandpa is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. I only regret that using the dragon and phoenix to represent Grandpa is unable to reflect the great achievements of Grandpa as the only emperor in history..."

First update.

It is confirmed to be on Sanjiang! Thank you, my dears. I will write a comment when the update is released. It is estimated to be released on the 1st. I hope not to disappoint my dears and write a story that I want and can make everyone happy.

Love you guys!!! Muah!!

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(End of this chapter)