Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 126: Catching the Great Zhu Di and Taking Advantage of Him
Worship your ancestors in Fengxian Temple!
Starting from Zhu Yuanzhang, tablets of Zhu Zhongba, Zhu Bailiu, Zhu Sijiu, Zhu Wusi and others were placed in the Fengxian Hall.

During the reign of Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Yuanzhang's tablet and portrait were added.

Zhu Di did not retreat.

Because although Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to be resurrected, he seemed to be really dead, but appeared in another form.

So currently it is Schrödinger's Zhu Yuanzhang, who is in two states: resurrection and death.

If the spirit tablets and portraits were removed, and Zhu Yuanzhang did not come when there were sacrifices to heaven and ancestors, and major events such as New Year's Day, Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Winter Solstice.

What about Zhu Yuanzhang’s birthday and memorial day?

The old man was not in the Yongle Dynasty most of the time, and it can even be said that he is no different from being dead.

According to the rules, you have to go to Fengxian Hall to burn incense, and then you have to go to Xiaoling Mausoleum to personally offer sacrifices to Emperor Taizu and Empress Gao.

Just because Mr. Zhu might come over at any time, we don't go through these necessary procedures?

What should I do if I am accused of being unfilial?

After all, this is not resurrection, but becoming an "immortal", and if one becomes an immortal, he must be worshipped and offered sacrifices.

But now that Old Zhu has come down to earth, it would be inappropriate for him to offer sacrifices to himself.

For this reason, Zhu Di asked Zhu Di's opinion.

After some hesitation, Zhu Yuanzhang decided not to remove his own spirit tablet and portrait, and he would not preside over the sacrificial ceremony himself. Instead, Zhu Di would preside over it.

Again.

He has to maintain his authority.

In the past, it was the imperial authority.

Now it is theocracy.

Therefore, the necessary sacrificial activities must be carried out.

At 2: pm, or around : p.m., the tedious ceremony of greeting and offering sacrifices finally came to an end.

It should have been done in the morning. After breakfast, the ministers would come to congratulate the emperor on the New Year, present gifts, and then worship their ancestors. Then, a banquet would be given. If there was no banquet, they would be rewarded with festival money.

But Zhu Yuanzhang was so slow in coming that he didn't arrive until 11 o'clock in the morning. His ministers were so hungry that they felt dizzy and could hardly hold on.

It was not until this time that Zhu Yuanzhang ordered a banquet.

The banquet has been prepared long ago.

In the palace, "peach charms and general charcoal were planted beside the doors, and door gods were pasted on the doors."

"Paintings of the God of Fortune, the Judge of Ghosts, Zhong Kui, etc. are hung indoors."

"Eight treasures of gold and silver, a Western prayer wheel, or yellow money woven into a dragon are hung on the bed."

"Sesame straw is inserted into the eaves, and cypress branches are burned in the courtyard. It is called Sui."

And set up Aoshan lanterns and fireworks.

At the command, firecrackers blasted and fireworks bloomed.

A grand banquet was held in the Jinshen Hall, Huagai Hall and Fengtian Hall in the palace to entertain all the ministers and officials.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma sat on the dragon throne in the Jinshen Hall, raising their wine glasses. All the important ministers were allowed to sit in this hall.

The cabinet members included Xie Jin, Huang Huai, Hu Guang, Yang Rong, Yang Shiqi, Hu Yan, and Jin Youzi.

There were Yao Guangxiao, Qiu Fu, Zhu Neng, Li Yuan, Wang Cong, Zhang Xin, Xu Li and other heroes who contributed to the Jingnan Campaign.

There were also officials in the supervisory system such as the Left and Right Censors-in-Chief of the Censorate, Wang Zhang and Chen Dewen, the Left and Right Deputy Censors-in-Chief, Chen Ying and Lu Rui, and the Left and Right Assistant Censors-in-Chief.

In addition, there were the financial officers of the three departments, namely Zhang Gong, Xia Yuanji, Yu Xin, and Gu Pu, who were responsible for the reform of the Ministry of Revenue into three departments.

The Dali Temple Minister Tang Zong, the Shaoqing Yu Qian, Hu Run, Xue Ge, etc.

These are actually the results of Yongle's reforms.

The Cabinet, the Censorate, the Five Military Commissions, the Three Departments, and the Supreme Court separated the powers of governance, supervision, prosecution, military, finance, and legislation to prevent the concentration of power among civil servants and increase the power of the monarch.

Under this system, the cabinet had the power to govern local areas, implement policies, and provide advice to the emperor, which greatly improved the situation where the prime minister had strong power.

Zhu Yuanzhang stood on the top, with Zhu Di and many other vassal kings who had not been dealt with below him. He looked around and sighed: "I am a commoner from Huaiyou. What can the world do to me? But the Yuan Dynasty was violent and cruel, and the people were living in misery. I had no choice but to rise up and finally gain the world."

"It is because I was born in the common people, I know the hardships of the common people, I work hard and love the people, so I am not as rich as the rich man in the south of the Yangtze River, who still has a quilt when the sun is three feet high. But even so, I still have no regrets, I only hope that there will be no virtuous people left out in the world, and no benefits left out."

"It is not easy for you to get to where you are today. You should keep your original intention and work hard for the people. You can't treat the crime in the morning and then commit it in the evening, or treat the crime in the evening and then commit it in the morning. The corpse has not been moved and people are coming one after another. The more you treat, the more crimes you will commit."

"Although I have passed away,

After saying this, he raised his head and glanced at the ceiling with a grim look, pointed upward with his left hand and said, "I am watching you from heaven."

"Your Majesty Taizu's edict."

The ministers below were all panicked and hurriedly bent down and bowed.

Zhu Yuanzhang of the Yongle Dynasty was not the Zhu Yuanzhang who had not yet started a massacre in the 12th year of Hongwu.

Starting from the 13th year of Hongwu, the four major cases in the early Ming Dynasty, plus the officials that Zhu Yuanzhang dealt with casually on a daily basis, totaled tens of thousands of cases, large and small, and the number of people implicated reached more than 100,000.

It can be said that he was notorious and killed many officials in the court.

When Emperor Jianwen came to power, all the officials celebrated, celebrating that finally there was an emperor who was relatively friendly and gentle to them.

As expected, Zhu Di succeeded in suppressing the rebellion.

Taizu came down to earth.

Isn't this costing your life?
Although since Zhu Di was truly appointed by Heaven this time, Zhu Di gave him the legitimacy to avoid the Renwu Martyrdom again.

Originally, the Renwu Massacre included the subsequent killing of more than a thousand officials, and tens of thousands of their relatives.

But now, the great Zhu Di only ordered the execution of more than one hundred ministers who had instigated Zhu Yunwen to reduce the power of the princes, and he only executed the main culprits without implicating the nine clans. Fang Xiaoru was not executed along with his ten clans.

However, when Taizu came, he was even more desperate than the Renwu martyrdom.

After all, Zhu Di only carried out the Renwu Martyrdom once, and there was no large-scale killing of officials afterwards.

Old Zhu was the one who killed from beginning to end.

"It's New Year's Day, can't you say something nice?"

When Empress Ma heard Zhu Yuanzhang's implicit threat to the ministers, she rolled her eyes at him, then stood up, raised her glass and said, "Well, let's toast to the New Year."

"Come on, drink!"

The great Zhu Di also quickly raised his glass.

"drink!"

Everyone raised their glasses.

After one cup, Queen Ma pulled Old Zhu to sit down and tasted a few bites of the food.

The people below were so impressed by Mr. Zhu's prestige that they kept quiet and didn't dare to pick up their chopsticks.

Basically, except for Zhu Yunfeng, Ji He and little Zhu Di who could act as if no one was around, the rest of the people, even big Zhu Di, hardly dared to breathe.

Seeing this, Empress Ma asked, "Where is my daughter-in-law? Miaoyun? Miaoyun?"

Empress Xu hurriedly went up and said, "Mother."

"It's time to meet the lady of honor. Come with me."

Empress Ma stood up and left, then said to Zhu Yuanzhang, "Chongba, all officials have come to congratulate you, and envoys from all over the world have sent letters. Isn't it time for you to write a few replies?"

"alright."

Zhu Yuanzhang knew that Empress Ma wanted to get rid of him, so he didn't say anything. He stood up and said, "Fourth Brother, follow me."

'Hey, hey, hey, others are eating.'

Zhu Yunfeng was eating heartily, and when he saw them leaving, he felt unhappy.

If you don't eat it, others will.

However, the food in Yongle's year was indeed not to his taste, and he just wanted to fill his stomach as he was very hungry, so he followed Xiao Zhu Di and Ji He.

As soon as they left, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The sense of oppression given by Zhu Yuanzhang was so strong that when he stood there and looked down at the ministers below, he felt as if he was not being stared at by just one person, but being scanned by a giant dragon.

It seemed as if the next second, an order would be issued, and they would be dragged into the imperial prison, and then their entire family would be executed. This was simply the norm during the Hongwu era.

And the Hongwu year has only been four years since then.

It was completely the dead memories that were attacking the ministers below. It would be strange if the civil and military officials were not afraid.

Fortunately, Empress Ma has now come down to earth, otherwise the ministers below could not guarantee that they would not wet their pants under Zhu's gaze.

Coming out of the Jinshen Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang put his hands behind his back and said to Empress Ma, "The banquet isn't over yet, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"Look at you, you look like you want to eat people. It seems that those officials below are not Lao Si's officials, but your enemies. If you don't leave now, aren't you afraid of death?"

Empress Ma was sharp-tongued and said to Zhu Yuanzhang, "Don't forget, this is the Ming Dynasty of the Fourth Prince, not yours. Don't always interfere with what the Fourth Prince does. He is the emperor, and he should have his own dignity."

'mother!'

'My dear mother!'

Zhu Di followed behind, almost in tears.

Although his authority did increase when Zhu Yuanzhang was around, his personal dignity was completely suppressed by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Seeing how submissive he was in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, his ministers gradually stopped regarding him as the emperor.

Therefore, in the eyes of Zhu Di, it was enough for Zhuge Liang to be a prime minister and help him increase his authority. It would be inappropriate for him to make decisions about the Ming Dynasty.

However, he also knew what kind of person his father was, so he had some psychological expectations and was prepared to accept it.

I didn't expect that my mother would speak up for me.

She is worthy of being my own mother.

"Okay, the child is the flesh that fell out of your belly, you should feel sorry for the child, okay?"

Zhu Yuanzhang did not dare to confront Empress Ma, so he could only say, "Go to the harem to see the ladies, Lao Si, let's go and have a chat."

"Yes, father."

The great Zhu Di followed Zhu Yuanzhang.

New Year celebrations include paying homage to ancestors in the morning, eating at noon, and basically just chatting in the afternoon.

While the ministers were toasting and socializing outside, their wives would go into the harem to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager, the Empress, and the other concubines, and have a lively time together.

But it was obvious that Zhu was in front and the ministers were under a lot of pressure. Once he left, everyone relaxed a little and started whispering and chatting.

Zhu Di left the crown prince Zhu Gaochi to preside over the rest of the banquet, and followed Zhu Yuanzhang to the Qianqing Palace.

In the study room of the Qianqing Palace, outsiders were not allowed to enter. On daily basis, Zhu Di would clean the room himself and his three sons, working very hard to keep the palace from being covered in dust.

Later, Zhu Di couldn't stand it anymore, so he gave this task to his three sons, so that Zhu Gaochi had to bring his two younger brothers over to clean the house every week.

Entering his study, Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied that although no one was there, the hygiene was well maintained, and said: "Old Fourth, you are thoughtful. It looks no different from my usual appearance."

"It's what a son should do."

Zhu Di shamelessly took all the credit for himself, and said, "I don't allow them to come in. When I clean this huge palace, I think of my father and often cry."

"Hahahahaha."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "Okay, okay, my son is very kind and filial. Sit down and talk."

As he said this, he sat behind the desk.

Zhu Di bowed to thank his father and the queen, then sat opposite him.

The difference between Zhu Yuanzhang's study during the Hongwu Dynasty is that Zhu Yuanzhang's chair was replaced with a sofa chair, and the chair opposite was also replaced with a sofa.

Sitting there on weekdays is called comfortable.

Now it has become a Huanghuali hardwood chair, which I find a bit uncomfortable to sit on.

But it will pass if you endure it.

After everyone was seated, Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "What about rice seeds?"

Zhu Di smiled and said, "Father, the yield per mu is 10 dan, and some even have 11 dan. I have never seen such a magical rice seed."

"Well, you will definitely get some benefits. Do your best to protect the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Zhu Yunfeng and Ji He, and then said: "This time I came here, I also intend to tell you how to go next."

"Please let me know, father."

Zhu Di hurriedly asked his father to tell him what to do.

This time, rice fertilizers and pesticides have made a great deal, because the yield is nearly four times higher than usual. If it is promoted nationwide, he can do whatever he wants.

With this grain output, although he did not dare to move the capital to the Mongolian grasslands, he dared to let Zhu Gaochi stay in Beijing while he himself lived in the Mongolian grasslands.

Let’s see which Mongolians dare to graze on the grassland. We will beat them like the Huns and Turks and force them to flee to West Asia.

"Next year, you should promote rice seeds throughout the country, and the fertilizer production method should also be promoted in an official manner. In the future, we may not be able to achieve a yield of 10 dan per mu, but 7 or 8 dan per mu should be no problem."

Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice: "Later, I will have someone send you the method of steelmaking. With steel, you can build steam engines, warships, and artillery. Steam engines can build trains that can travel a thousand miles a day. In this way, the Ming Dynasty will be strong."

"Steam engine?"

Zhu Di wondered, "What is that?"

"Yunfeng."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Yunfeng.

Zhu Yunfeng said, "This is a machine that converts heat energy into mechanical energy. It contains energy and can drive a carriage. People can sit in the carriage. It can run hundreds of miles in an hour and can run continuously for twelve hours. It only takes one day to get from Beijing to Nanjing."

"Is there such a magical thing?"

Zhu Di was dumbfounded.

Little Zhu Di said happily: "There are still many things you don't know. Anyway, just follow your father and he will not treat you unfairly."

"It's natural."

Zhu Di was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling.

Zhu Yuanzhang winked at Zhu Yunfeng.

"Cough cough cough."

Zhu Yunfeng understood and coughed twice, saying, "Of course, this father and son have to settle accounts. It's not easy for His Majesty Taizu to come down to the mortal world, and it's even more difficult to send things. Silver in the upper world is useless, and only gold can be of some use to the Immortal Dynasty. Because it is one of the materials for making immortal weapons, it is very precious even in the upper world, so."

"."

Zhu Di's heart was bleeding.

He doesn't have much gold on hand.

The court needs money everywhere.

Although there was more food, the treasury was also full.

But who would complain about having too little money?
What's more, he also wanted to march north to fight the Mongols.

But now that his father is robbing him, there is nothing he can do.

He could only say with tears in his eyes: "It is natural for my father to ask for gold, but I don't know how much."

"Just start with 500 kilograms."

Zhu Yunfeng smiled and said, "And you don't have to worry about not having gold. I will help you get a map of gold mines in the future. You don't have to touch Ming's own mines for now. There is a lot of gold in the West. You can send people to the West to bring back silk, porcelain and gold."

"it is good."

Zhu Di gritted his teeth and said, "In that case, I will just follow my father's instructions."

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunfeng looked at each other, and Zhu Yunfeng saw the cunning in the old ancestor's eyes.

This old bitch.

The Ming Dynasty itself does not want to spend a penny.

They all caught their own children.

It turns out to be my biological father.

(End of this chapter)