Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 201: Grandpa, I will make you a prince

Just after the New Year, Zhu returned to the Chongzhen Dynasty.

It was also the New Year in the Chongzhen Dynasty at this time. It was already the 17th year of Chongzhen.

But compared with the bustling and prosperous Ming Dynasty during the Hongwu period, the situation of the Ming Dynasty in the 17th year of Chongzhen was not optimistic.

Except for Huguang and Sichuan where the situation is relatively better, the situation in other places can be described as miserable.

And please note that.

This refers to relative, not absolute.

It doesn’t mean that the people in these places really live well.

It was just that Zhu Yuanzhang had obtained a lot of grain from later generations and had raided the homes of many princes, corrupt officials, and landlords, so he had enough grain to distribute to the victims.

But the little bit of food provided for disaster relief is just like the instant noodles distributed by the government for emergency use during disasters in later generations. Does it mean that life is good?

Obviously not.

In contrast, when disasters occurred in our country in later generations, the distribution of supplies was only a temporary transition. With our country's national strength, we could quickly rebuild after the disaster and provide the people with a better life.

However, the Ming Dynasty was now rotten to the core, and there was no such thing as post-disaster reconstruction. Therefore, for the victims and refugees, the relief grain distributed by Zhu Yuanzhang was basically just enough to keep them from starving to death and to keep them hanging on.

But even so, they were already living a little better than people in other provinces. This shows how corrupt the Ming Dynasty had become. It was not an exaggeration to say that "there was a great famine and people were eating each other."

During the Little Ice Age, the Chongzhen period at the beginning of the year was still cold, even in southern regions like Hunan.

After coming out of the warehouse, what caught my eyes was the white snow. The thick snow was three inches high, and it made a "crunching" sound when I stepped on it.

There were guards at the door of the storehouse. When Zhu came out of the storehouse, Mao Xiang was the first to notice him. He hurried forward and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

"Well, where's Xu Da?"

Lao Zhu asked.

"A group of refugees came from Jiangxi. Duke Wei settled them in the west of the city. He is currently directing people to clear the snow and set up porridge shops to treat the people."

Mao Xiang replied.

Old Zhu laughed and said, "Why is my general still doing the work of resettling refugees? Where are the officials in Changsha City?"

Mao Xiang pointed in the direction of East City and said, "They are all here too. There are turmoil and famine everywhere now, and there are countless refugees. At the end of last year, many refugees fled to Hubei because of Li Zicheng's return in Huainan. Officials in both places were very busy. In addition, we have to prepare for spring plowing this spring. Officials have to collect feces, lime, and rotten leaves everywhere to make fertilizer."

Labor and production are indispensable at all times.

So after the Chongzhen New Year, Zhu Yuanzhang started preparing for the spring plowing at the beginning of this year from September.

In addition to bringing a large number of seeds including rice, wheat, and sweet potatoes, they also brought the farm fertilizer technology learned from later generations to the end of the Ming Dynasty.

During this period, officials from all regions have received detailed formulas for farmyard manure, and they are stockpiling seeds and fertilizers for next year's spring plowing.

Although this kind of farmyard manure is not a chemical fertilizer and cannot achieve the same high-yield effect as chemical fertilizer, the ancient composting technology can only increase the yield by 5-20% at most, while farmyard manure can increase the yield by about 15-30%, which is certainly not as good as the 50% increase of chemical fertilizer, but compared with the ancient fertilizer, it is already quite good.

Therefore, officials are now focusing their energy on disaster relief, composting, reclaiming new land, and distributing land to refugees.

In the late Ming Dynasty, there were countless corrupt officials and officials who sold out their country for personal gain.

But it must be said that there are still a large number of honest and upright officials who work conscientiously and conscientiously under clear guidance.

"Ah."

Hearing that Huguang and Sichuan were now on the right track, Zhu nodded with satisfaction, and then asked, "How is the matter I ordered last time being carried out?"

Mao Xiang replied, "More than 400 have been killed. They are all officials who fled back from Jiangxi, Guangzhou, Guizhou and other places. These officials have been investigated. Duke Wei ordered the killing of all corrupt officials who oppressed the people. They are basically county and state officials. However, Prince Dehua, Prince Fuqing and their families have returned. They brought back a lot of money and grain. Duke Wei is not convenient to deal with them, so he temporarily detained them in Changsha."

"Oh?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was very surprised, then turned to look at Zhu Yunfeng and said, "Yunfeng, your ancestor is back, go take a look?"

Zhu Yunfeng scratched his head and said, "Then let's take a look."

Since the Ming Dynasty, there have been 65 princes who were actually conferred titles. However, during the 33-year period of the Ming Dynasty, many princes had their vassal states abolished for various reasons, up to 32 in total. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were only left.

There are only two princes in Hunan, one is the Ji Prince's Mansion in Changsha, and the other is the Gui Prince's Mansion in Hengyang.

At present, Prince Ji Zhu Youdong has fled to Nanjing, and Prince Gui Zhu Changying has fled to Guangxi.

The two princes have not returned yet, only some princes and branch princes have returned to Hunan.

According to the genealogy of Zhujiaping in Shangfeng Mountain, Zhu Yunfeng's ancestors came from the lineage of Prince Fuqing under the Prince Ji's Mansion in Changsha.

The Prince Ji's Mansion had only one heir for three generations, and it was not until the fourth generation, Zhu Zaijun, that he had four sons.

However, Zhu Zaijun's legitimate son Zhu Yizhen died early, and his illegitimate eldest son Zhu Yiluan took advantage of the situation and became the fifth Prince of Ji.

Zhu Yiluan's three sons were all legitimate, the eldest son Zhu Changchun, the second son Zhu Changwen, and the third son Zhu Changji. Zhu Cibei, the founder of Zhu Yunfeng's family, was the grandson of the third son Zhu Changji, and the second legitimate son of Zhu Changji's fourth son Zhu Yourong.

According to the genealogy, at that time, the lineage of Prince Ji, Prince Ji Zhu Changchun, had died and was inherited by his eldest son Zhu Youdong. Zhu Youdong fled to Nanjing and later died of illness in Huainan. The lineage of Prince Ji was inherited by Zhu Youdong's eldest son Zhu Cixiang, who eventually died in Burma with Yongli.

Zhu Yiluan's second son, Zhu Changwen, was granted the title of Prince of Dehua. He lived a relatively long life, reaching his 80s, and did not die until the fourth year of the Yongli reign, which was 1650.

The third son, Zhu Changji, was conferred the title Prince of Fuqing, but by this time Zhu Changji had already died, and the title was inherited by Zhu Youxi, the eldest son of the Prince of Fuqing.

Zhu Youxi was already in his 50s at that time. When Zhang Xianzhong came, he followed his second uncle Zhu Changwen to Liuzhou.

Zhu Yunfeng's direct ancestor is Zhu Youxi's fourth brother Zhu Yourong.

The family tree says that he took his wife and children, and followed his second uncle Zhu Changwen and eldest brother Zhu Youxi to Liuzhou. He only returned when Zhang Xianzhong went to Sichuan. However, Zhu Yourong died of illness not long after he returned.

Apparently, this was the time when Zhu Changwen, Zhu Youxi, Zhu Yourong and others ran back from Liuzhou.

The genealogy of Zhu Yunfeng's family said that they brought a lot of money and food with them, and came back with the intention of rebuilding the Prince Ji's Palace on the original site, and then make plans after Zhu Youdong came back.

Unexpectedly, just three or four years later, the Qing Dynasty invaded Hunan, and they were forced to divide their property and flee separately.

Therefore, if the records in the genealogy are correct, then if nothing unexpected happens, Zhu Yunfeng will meet his direct ancestor, great-grandfather Zhu Yourong, and Zhu Cibei, the founder of Zhujiaping in Shangfeng Mountain.

soon.

Zhu Changwen, Zhu Youxi and other family members were brought here.

There were no women among them, only men.

From the white-haired Zhu Changwen to the young children who are just seven or eight years old, there are four generations living under one roof, with more than twenty people in total.

After entering Zhu Yuanzhang's tent, everyone looked at each other, timidly and nervously looked at Old Zhu sitting on the chair, huddled together stiffly, not knowing what to say.

In fact, they were not abused, but were confined in Prince Ji's palace.

Although the Prince Ji's Palace was burned down, many buildings still remain, including a complete palace complex.

After Old Zhu came, he hired some people to renovate the Prince Ji's Palace a little bit, so there are some living spaces in the palace. Now both the Dehua Prince and the Fuqing Prince live in it.

When they came, they also heard about Zhu Yuanzhang's affairs. It was Xu Da, the King of Zhongshan, who ordered their imprisonment. But it was still hard to believe, so they all remained silent.

Only when he saw that they really didn't want to greet him and couldn't hold back their words did Zhu Yuanzhang impatiently say, "I am Zhu Yuanzhang, and you are the local princes of Hunan?"

"back"

Zhu Changwen hesitated for a moment, but still said, "Replying to Taizu, I am Zhu Changwen, the Prince of Dehua."

"I am Zhu Youxi, Prince of Fuqing."

Zhu Youxi also said that although they could not confirm Zhu Yuanzhang's identity, they knew very well that their lives were in his hands, so they had to bow their heads.

In this respect they are much smarter than King Zhu Zhishu of Shu.

"Ah."

Old Zhu nodded and said, "Today, the world is in chaos. I have come to save the world. All descendants of the Zhu family who have committed many evil deeds will have their titles stripped and their property confiscated. Those who have not committed any evil deeds will retain their titles. However, the Ming Dynasty is in danger. I heard that you took all your property with you when you fled. This is a good thing. At least it didn't benefit Zhang Xianzhong. However, when the country is in trouble, the descendants of the Zhu family should stand up. I know that the vassal kings have many restrictions, and the example of the King of Tang is still in front of us. I don't expect you to recruit soldiers to save the country, so I want to ask you, are you willing to contribute money and food to provide military supplies and save the Ming Dynasty from the water and fire?"

"Forehead"

"this."

Zhu Changwen and Zhu Youxi looked at each other, hesitant.

They are thinking of declining.

For example, if one has a large family to support, or if one cries poor, one cannot have his property taken away.

But Zhu obviously understood their thoughts, so he chuckled and said, "Whether you agree or not, I will send you to the Hongwu Dynasty first, and tell me when you come back, but this is the only chance. You must understand that I enfeoffed the princes because I intended for changes in the world. The princes should shoulder the responsibility of saving the Ming Dynasty from disaster. If you don't have such a sense of responsibility, what's the point of me enfeoffing you, and what's the point of the people supporting you?"

"Let me take you there first."

Zhu Yunfeng was afraid that his direct ancestor was useless and refused to pay taxes, which would make Old Zhu angry, so he quickly changed the subject and coaxed and threatened: "You are lucky to have met His Majesty Taizu. Did you know that the Qing Dynasty later broke through Shanhaiguan, and the Jiannu went south to Hunan, and all of you were killed by the Jiannu. It was only His Majesty Taizu who changed your fate, otherwise you would not have lived for more than two years."

Everyone looked at each other, at a loss as to what to do.

Zhu Yunfeng then went out of the tent with Ji He and signaled Zhu Changwen, Zhu Youxi and others to follow.

Under the watchful eyes of Mao Xiang and other guards, they had no choice but to follow them out of the tent and into the warehouse, where they were blindfolded one by one.

"I wonder who these two little brothers are?"

Zhu Changwen wanted to improve his relationship with Zhu Yunfeng, so he asked in a humble manner.

"me?"

As Zhu Yunfeng put the blindfold on him, he casually said, "I am a descendant of the Zhu family that Taizu found in the future, that is, in the world more than 400 years later. My name is Zhu Yunfeng."

As he spoke, he boasted, "To be honest, after more than 400 years, I am the most promising descendant of the Zhu family, and my current net worth is over 30 billion. You may not know what 30 billion means, but if you were in the Ming Dynasty, I would be the richest man in the world. The old man Taizu saw that I was a promising talent, so he spent a lot of magic power to bring me here. Now I am named the King of Wu in the Hongwu era. In terms of title, I am a prince, which is a bit higher than you. You can just call me His Royal Highness the King of Wu."

"So it's His Royal Highness the King of Wu. I wonder which lineage he is from?"

"What a coincidence, it's the lineage of Prince Ji."

"Oh?"

Zhu Changwen was surprised and asked, "Whose descendant is so outstanding?"

"Well, my ancestor is called Zhu Cibei. Is he here? Is there anyone named Zhu Cibei here?"

Zhu Yunfeng shouted.

He didn't have the courage to ask just now, because the younger generation of the Ci generation were all in their twenties, and he was older than them. It was really embarrassing to call them ancestors.

Sure enough, a young man in his twenties stepped out timidly from the crowd and said, "I'm Zhu Cibei."

Zhu Yunfeng looked him up and down.

Ok.

He looks a bit like me and my father and grandfather.

My ancestor is worthy of being the eldest son of Zhu Cibei's lineage. He has inherited some of his style and is quite handsome.

But unfortunately, his clothes don’t look elegant and luxurious, and it is obvious that his status is not very high.

But this is normal.

Although Zhu Cibei was Zhu Yourong's second legitimate son, Zhu Yourong was not Zhu Changji's legitimate son, but a bastard's son.

The status of a concubine's son was not high to begin with, and since it was already the third generation, Zhu Cibei was only given the title of General Auxiliary to the State.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that all the princes of the Ming Dynasty were extremely wealthy. The rich ones owned millions of acres of land. Even the poorer ones, as long as they were princes, would have at least hundreds of thousands of acres of land.

But when it comes to the rank of a prince, the land is greatly reduced. A favored prince may have tens of thousands of acres of land, while an unfavored prince would be lucky to have a few thousand acres.

When it came to the rank of General Guarding the Country, and the rank of General Auxiliary the Country, General Serving the Country, Lieutenant Guarding the Country, Lieutenant Auxiliary the Country, and Lieutenant Serving the Country, there was basically no property to be divided, and not many pieces of land.

In addition, the imperial court only cares about the royal family members who are close to the current emperor in terms of seniority. Those distant relatives who are far away will not be taken care of at all, nor will they receive salaries. As a result, these lower-level royal family members have a very miserable life.

In comparison, Zhu Cibei was better off. After all, the first Prince of Fuqing was his grandfather, so he could at least get a few hundred acres of land.

In this way, when the Qing Dynasty came to divide the family property, they could still hide some gold and silver and hide in Shangfeng Mountain. Generation after generation, they could dig some silver and slowly buy land. Hundreds of years later, in the late Qing Dynasty, they could become big landlords.

The other lieutenants who guarded the country, supported the country, and served the country, who had relatively distant relationships with the current emperor, princes, and dukes, were much more miserable. Many members of the Zhu family were so poor that they had to pick up their ancestors' traditional skills and become beggars.

So to some extent, the reason why Zhu Cibei was able to survive by hiding in the deep mountains and forests was not only because he was lucky enough not to be found by the Qing Dynasty, but also because of his position which was neither high nor low.

If his status was not high, he would not attract the Qing court's vigorous hunt; if his status was not particularly low, he would not be so poor that he had to beg for food.

"Are you the grandfather?"

Zhu Yunfeng walked over and asked, "Is your father's name Zhu Yourong?"

"Yes."

Zhu Cibei said hurriedly: "Father is not in good health and is now recuperating in the mansion."

"Oh, you have to pay attention. The family tree records that the old man died of illness soon. I will take him to the afterlife for treatment later."

Zhu Yunfeng went up and took a piece of cloth to tie it on him, and said, "I am your sixteenth-generation grandson. Every generation in our family has been your eldest son, so we are very close."

Zhu Cibei could sense that Zhu Yunfeng was in a very high position, so he took advantage of the situation and said, "That's great. I want to ask the great ancestor."

"Why are you panicking? I'm here. You're my great grandfather, and I'll protect you from now on."

Zhu Yunfeng patted his chest and said, "But my grandfather can't be so shabby. Being a general who assists the country is a bit lacking. Since I am your grandson, I can't be a shabby grandson. So, I will make you a prince, and later I will talk to the old man Taizu. In the future, you will be a prince. In the future in the Ming Dynasty, whether here or in the Hongwu Dynasty, as long as you don't do anything illegal, mention my name, you can walk sideways, and I will treat it as a filial piety to you as your grandson."

"what?"

Zhu Cibei was completely dumbfounded.

This is actually a violation of ethics by Tiangang.

The prince is the son of the prince. Aren’t you my sixteenth-generation great-grandson?
So you're going to confer me the title of Prince?

and so.

Am I your ancestor or your son?
Zhu Cibei was a little confused.

This.

Does it count as going against the decision of our ancestors?

But this is the title of a prince.

He skipped from being a General Assisting the State to a General Guarding the State and went straight to being a prince.

When I think about it this way, it seems that I am not at a disadvantage.

(End of this chapter)