Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 124: Yongle Dynasty New Year Celebration

The year was 1402 AD, or to be exact, it was December th, the fourth year of Jianwen.

Emperor Zhu Di led hundreds of civil and military officials, as well as many royal princes, and waited in the corridor outside Yuehua Gate, the west gate of the Qianqing Palace.

The corridor was still too narrow, and there were still a large number of officials, princesses, princes and nobles in the square outside the West Palace.

Anyone who can stand outside Yuehua Gate must be at least a prince, duke, or minister of one of the six ministries.

Zhu Di successfully entered the city of Nanjing in June.

As a result, he met Zhu Yuanzhang, who gave him a righteous title and officially ascended the throne as emperor.

Half a year has passed by now.

Since all civil and military officials as well as tens of thousands of soldiers witnessed the resurrection of Emperor Taizu with their own eyes, the news spread quickly.

However, not everyone in the Ming Dynasty has seen this kind of thing, so there are still many people who are skeptical.

Now that Old Zhu is willing to come again before the New Year and show himself in front of the civil and military officials and many princes, it will greatly increase the authority of Great Zhu Di. Naturally, Great Zhu Di welcomes it with open arms.

Zhu Yuanzhang also had his own considerations.

The Yongle Dynasty was also a place he could not give up.

The resources of the entire world are no joke.

If he could unite with the Yongle Dynasty, the future of the Ming Dynasty would be unimaginable.

What's more, his status in the Yongle Dynasty was like that of a god, and his authority was almost supreme, so he naturally had to make good use of this.

Therefore, it can be said that both sides were running in both directions.

There was no snow in Nanjing in 1402. Instead, the sun was shining brightly, except for the howling cold wind that made people's clothes flutter and rustle.

Yesterday, Zhu Biao sent little Zhu Di to inform big Zhu Di that Zhu Yuanzhang would come over at noon today.

So the great Zhu Di now stood obediently at the door of Yuehua, welcoming his father's arrival.

The crowd was silent.

Just when everyone had been waiting for almost half an hour and were getting a little impatient.

In the underground palace in the distance, two figures gradually emerged.

They were seen wearing grand robes and slowly stepping out of the underground palace and walking towards the Yuehua Gate.

"Is this the fourth brother's Ming Dynasty?"

Empress Ma looked around curiously and found that the Ming Dynasty was not much different from the Hongwu period.

But if you think about it carefully, after all, only a few years have passed.

Zhu Yuanzhang had been dead for less than five years, and Zhu Yunwen had not carried out any major construction projects, so naturally the changes would not be too big.

"Look over there."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said.

When Queen Ma looked over, she saw that the entrance of Yuehua in the distance was full of people.

The leader was a middle-aged man who looked a bit like the young Zhu Di, so he smiled and said, "That must be the grown-up Lao Si."

Little Zhu Di behind him said aggrievedly: "Mother, I have grown up too."

"That mother is wrong. It's the fourth child who is in his forties."

Queen Ma chuckled.

A few people walked and talked, and soon they arrived at the entrance of Yuehua Gate.

The middle-aged Zhu Di first looked Empress Ma up and down, and when he saw her demeanor and face, he felt tears welling up in his eyes. He knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "My son pays respect to father and mother."

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you, His Majesty Taizu, and Empress Gao."

Many princes, nobles and ministers in the rear also kowtowed in greeting.

The ministers on the other side of the corridor could not see the situation in front of them at all. When they saw people kneeling in front of them, they could only kneel down one after another.

"Get up."

Before Zhu Yuanzhang could say anything, Empress Ma walked over, helped Zhu Di up, and looked him up and down.

When Zhu Di saw his mother, he felt wronged and burst into tears: "Mom, my fifth brother's family was tied up in the capital by Jianwen on trumped-up charges, demoted to commoners, and exiled to Yunnan. Also, my seventh brother, thirteenth brother, and twelfth brother were forced to death by Jianwen before they even had children. I also escaped death many times."

"Okay, okay, mother knows you've suffered."

Empress Ma held Zhu Di in her arms and patted his back.

In fact, she also knew what Zhu Di meant. It was true that she felt wronged, but it was also true that she took the opportunity to complain.

If we don’t file a complaint, how can we talk about legitimacy?
Although Zhu had already decided on her, if she decided on her again, even Zhu Biao would probably not be unhappy at all.

When Empress Ma died during the Hongwu period, all officials cried bitterly, and were more sad than if their own mother had died.

"Humph."

Zhu Yuanzhang came over and snorted coldly, "Old Seven and Old Thirteen have brought this upon themselves. If they hadn't committed so many evil things themselves, how could they have given others an excuse to attack them? The scholar from Shu has been in Sichuan for so many years, and his reputation is well known. Has anyone touched him?"

In the crowd behind, Prince of Qi Zhu Gui and Prince of Dai Zhu Gui shrank their necks, buried their heads on the ground, and dared not say a word.

In fact, this statement can be refuted.

Zhu Di, Zhu Su and Zhu Bo had no bad reputation. They were well-known in their fiefdoms and had the support of local officials and people.

For example, when Zhu Bo heard that Zhu Yunwen had sent people to arrest him, he set himself on fire. When many of his followers learned of this, they immediately followed him and jumped into the sea of ​​fire, voluntarily burying themselves with him.

But even so, Zhu Yunwen still wanted to torture them to death and didn't care whether they were virtuous or had a bad reputation.

After all, Zhu Yunwen's reduction of the power of the princes had a purpose.

Zhu Di, Zhu Su, Zhu Gui, and Zhu Gui all held extremely important positions, either as border kings with heavy troops, or in the heart of the Central Plains, threatening the imperial court.

On the other hand, Zhu Chun is in a remote area of ​​Bashu, he has no troops, and thirdly, his reputation is too high. Only a fool would attack him.

Unless Zhu Chun’s fiefdom is also on the border and he has a large army.

So overall.

Zhu Yunwen's reduction of the power of the princes has nothing to do with whether you have done bad things in your fiefdom.

But they didn't dare tell Zhu Yuanzhang this.

Refute Lao Zhu?

The outcome will probably be very tragic.

"My grandson meets Grandpa Huang and Grandma Huang."

At this moment, Zhu Gaochi pulled the four-year-old Zhu Zhanji over and knelt down.

Seeing Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Yuanzhang's expression eased a lot and he said with a smile: "Get up."

He still liked the little fat boy very much and said that he had the wisdom of a king.

"Zhanji has met the great-grandfather and great-grandmother."

Little Zhu Zhanji said in a baby voice.

"Hahahahaha."

Zhu Yuanzhang picked him up and said happily: "This is my great-grandson. This grandson has the appearance of an emperor."

Seeing that he was happy, the many princes and ministers around him also relaxed their expressions and showed flattering smiles.

Zhu Di complained to his mother, wiped his tears, and said with a smile: "Father, when this child was born, I had a dream."

"Did I give you a big jade tablet and tell you to pass it down to your grandchildren, so that they will prosper forever?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

Zhu Di was shocked and asked, "How did father know?"

"Forehead"

Zhu Yuanzhang rolled his eyes. He couldn't tell him that he had read it in history books, so he said, "This is a dream your father gave you. This child will ascend to the throne in the future!"

He still liked Zhu Zhanji very much, as he laid the foundation for the Renzong and Xuanzong reigns, although there were many shortcomings.

For example, his civil and political skills are first-rate, but his martial arts skills are much worse.

They were able to fight, but they didn't like to fight, which led to the Ming Dynasty shrinking its borders and giving up a lot of territories that it should have.

But this does not prevent him from being a wise ruler.

"Grandpa Emperor is wise and wise."

Zhu Gaochi was delighted and immediately knelt down and kowtowed.

Later, Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui felt disappointed.

You know, Zhu Di had always told them that the prince was in poor health and they could try harder.

Didn't Lao Zhu's words completely destroy their hopes?
Even if Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi died tomorrow, Zhu Yuanzhang would have to take the throne the day after tomorrow when Zhu Zhanji, who is four years old, would be crowned the king.

Zhu Yuanzhang held Zhu Zhanji in his arms, turned to look at Zhu Di and asked, "Where did you set up the celebration?"

"In the Jinshen Palace."

Da Zhu Di replied.

"Let's go."

Zhu Yuanzhang walked through the crowd and entered the corridor outside Yuehua Gate. At a glance, he saw at least a thousand people kneeling there, filling the entire corridor.

Not only that, the main gate of the West Palace next to it led to the square outside the West Palace, where thousands of people were kneeling.

Zhu Yuanzhang turned a deaf ear to him, walked through the crowd holding Zhu Zhanji, and headed south along the corridor, teasing his great-grandson. It seemed as if he did not notice the ministers and nobles around him who were kneeling on the ground and shouting, "Long live Taizu."

With him leading the way, Queen Ma followed behind, and Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He also walked behind in a swagger.

Next came the elder Zhu Di and his family, with the younger Zhu Di standing with the elder Zhu Di.

As they passed through the crowd, the people in each place stood up and followed the main group. Thousands of people lined up in a long queue and headed south towards the Jinshen Hall.

"Hey, how are you feeling today, Dad?"

Big Zhu Di asked little Zhu Di in a low voice.

Little Zhu Di said unhappily: "I'm not calling you Hello, I'm calling you Zhu Di, can't you be a little more polite to yourself?"

Zhu Di wondered, "But why should I be polite to myself? Don't you think it's weird?"

"Forehead."

Little Zhu Di thought about it and it seemed to make some sense.

Being polite to yourself will only make you feel distant.

He said, "Well, my father won a great victory recently and he is very happy."

"Oh?"

Zhu Di opened his eyes wide and asked, "How is the battle going?"

Little Zhu Di exaggeratedly described, "That battle was so intense that the sky was dark and the sun and moon were dim, and even the celestial phenomena changed. Although the old demon Han was indeed powerful, my father was not in vain. He was surrounded by chaotic energy and white fairy light illuminated the entire fairy world. He fought with the old demon Han for three full months. In the end, with one palm strike, the old demon Han vomited blood and flew backwards for 100,000 miles. He was severely injured and disappeared. His territory was also swallowed up by my father."

"Isn't there some kind of Heaven-Covering Holy Body?"

Zhu Di was surprised.

"Oh, he is in his old age, his life span is coming to an end, his energy and blood are exhausted, his body is covered with red hair, and his fate is unknown, otherwise my father would not have been able to fight back so smoothly."

Young Zhu Di made up stories and confused old Zhu Di.

But obviously.

Such an outrageous thing made Zhu Di treat it as nonsense and he didn't want to believe it at all.

As if sensing the distrust in his eyes, Xiao Zhu Di said dissatisfiedly: "Why, you don't believe it?"

"No."

Zhu Di quickly denied it.

Little Zhu Di sneered, "We do not have immortal powers when we come down to earth, and we are no different from ordinary mortals, but we are not something that mortals can bully. Do you see that flag?"

As he spoke, he pointed to the flags fluttering on the palace wall in the distance.

Zhu Di raised his head and said, "I see."

"Look at my divine palm!"

After saying that, little Zhu Di posed, shouted, and slapped the flag with his right palm.

"biu!"

Then I heard a very slight strange sound.

The flagpole broke with a sound.

Since the two Zhu Di brothers were following Zhu Yuanzhang, and many princes, nobles and officials were behind them, they could see their conversation.

When young Zhu Di pointed at the flagpole, everyone instinctively looked towards the flagpole, and then the flagpole broke and fell down instantly.

For a moment, all the nobles, princes, civil and military officials were stunned, their eyes filled with disbelief.

While everyone was looking at the flagpole, young Zhu Di secretly put the pistol in his left hand back.

The pistol was not big, only the size of a palm, and it did not make much noise, so almost no one saw it.

After everyone came to their senses, Xiao Zhu Di blew on his right palm and said, "See? With the little remaining immortal power, killing people is effortless. If it were in the immortal world, what would fall would not be a flagpole, but a mountain."

"My father's power is unparalleled. He sweeps across the vast lands and shakes the world!"

Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Gaosui widened their eyes and hurriedly flattered the young Zhu Di, who was about the same age as them.

Judging from the current situation, with the Emperor's words, they probably have no intention of taking the throne anymore.

But if he can hold on to his little daddy's thighs, won't he still be able to live a luxurious life when he goes to the fairyland in the future?

"How about it?"

Little Zhu Di said proudly: "Next time I will save more magic power, maybe I can blow up your bedroom with one palm."

Zhu Di hurriedly said, "Put away your magical powers. My bedroom is your bedroom, why are you blowing up your own bedroom?"

"Yes."

Little Zhu Di thought about it and gave up the idea of ​​bringing a small grenade next time.

I've been tinkering around in the factory recently and have come up with quite a few gadgets.

Stamped parts are being made for bolt action rifles, and a little bit is being done on small pistols as well.

The structure of that thing is not as complicated as an automatic rifle and it is easy to make, but it is not very powerful.

But basically, outside seven steps, the gun is fast, and within seven steps, the gun is both accurate and fast.

In addition, his marksmanship has greatly improved. As long as he carries enough bullets, he will be invincible in the era of cold weapons.

"What are you doing?"

Zhu Yuanzhang turned around and glared at them with dissatisfaction.

"coming."

The two Zhu Di brothers quickly quickened their pace and followed.

The team arrived at the Jinshen Hall in a mighty procession.

The warm afternoon sun shines brightly.

Two chairs have been prepared above the Jinshen Hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang returned little Zhu Zhanji to Zhu Gaochi, and took Empress Ma's hand and climbed up the jade steps.

Below, under the leadership of Emperor Zhu Di, many princes, nobles, and officials took their positions.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma sat on the chairs.

Zhu Di and the others stood in line, and below them, thousands of people lined up in neat rows, looking up at the towering figure of Zhu Yuanzhang in the distance.

Then Zhu Di knelt down and said, "Your Majesty the Emperor and Your Majesty the Empress. Long live Your Majesty, and long live Your Majesty."

The princes below also shouted: "Your son pays homage to His Majesty the Emperor and His Majesty the Queen Mother. Long live His Majesty, long live His Majesty, long live His Majesty."

The civil and military officials and nobles shouted, "Your Majesty, Taizu, and Empress Gao, I pay my respects to you. Long live your Majesty, and long live the Empress."

This was an honorific term used only during grand celebrations during the Ming Dynasty to address the emperor and empress; it was not used at other times.

It is worth mentioning that in the TV series, both the Queen and the Queen Mother are called "Long Live the Queen".

But in fact, in the historical materials of the Ming Dynasty, the specific honorifics used in such special occasions were all "Long live the emperor".

Therefore, at least in the Ming Dynasty, "Wansui" was not just a title exclusive to the emperor.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma sat on it.

Even Zhu Yunfeng, Ji He and little Zhu Di knelt down.

If Zhu Yunfeng had no relationship with Zhu Yuanzhang's Empress Ma, he probably would not have kneeled.

But he is of such a high generation and a direct ancestor that I have to kneel down.

In addition to them, a large group of sons including Zhu Di, Zhu Su, Zhu Zhen, Zhu Gui, Zhu Zi, Zhu Tan, Zhu Chun, Zhu Gui and their families also knelt down below.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked down and suddenly felt as if he was dreaming.

These offspring were clearly still children yesterday.

Today it has grown so big.

(End of this chapter)