Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 44: Dad's Responsibility, Enrollment into the Imperial Clan
At night, Zhu Yuanzhang went back and took away several packets of seeds and fertilizers that Zhu Yunfeng had brought back, leaving Zhu Di sitting there stupidly.

Zhu Yunfeng was thinking of a countermeasure.

There is no doubt that he knows too little about antiques and has forgotten that although age is not the criterion that has the greatest impact on value, it is the criterion for measuring authenticity.

If you have an antique from the Tang Dynasty, no matter how authentic it is, but it only dates back to the Ming Dynasty, it will undoubtedly be labeled a fake.

Therefore, the idea of ​​getting rich by selling antiques is obviously not feasible.

It is unrealistic to expect to get rich overnight with other things.

Only gold remains.

Gold is facing the problem of being difficult to sell and the unknown source of large amounts of funds.

Zhu Yunfeng sighed, spread his hands and leaned on the sofa.

Seeing this, Zhu Di said, "Is it difficult to deal with?"

"Well, sort of."

"Is there a way to solve?"

"Have."

"Since there is, what are you afraid of?"

"Well, I'll make a call then."

Zhu Yunfeng got up from the sofa, reached for his cell phone, hesitated for a moment, and finally made the call.

"Hey, Dad"

"What's wrong son?"

A deep middle-aged man's voice came from the other side.

"Let me tell you something."

"Ah."

"My grandfather left me a batch of gold. Do you have any channels to sell it?"

"Gold, is it real or fake?"

"Really? It was probably passed down from my ancestors, and I discovered it by accident."

"how many?"

"It's probably worth tens of thousands of dollars."

"Well, then I can pay off my debt."

"Okay, I can help you pay off your debt, but you have to give me the rest."

"Ugh."

The man on the other side sighed and said, "Dad, let me take care of the rest of the debt. You have helped me enough."

"."

Blanch!
Zhu Yunfeng was almost crying.

Sure enough, father’s love is like a landslide.

This bastard’s father.

The Zhu family used to be wealthy.

Zhu Yunfeng's father, Zhu Changqing, was a college student in the 1990s. After resigning from a state-owned enterprise, he went to Guangzhou to do business.

Since the millennium, we first started in the clothing business and later switched to the passenger transport industry.

There are buses at Guangzhou Bus Station, Shenzhen Bus Station and Changsha Bus Station, which mainly do passenger transport business between Hunan and Guangzhou.

During the peak period of passenger transport from around 2008 to 2013, he made a fortune and his net worth reached over million at its peak.

But business became difficult after 14 because high-speed railways were opened everywhere and the bus passenger transport industry plummeted. Zhu Changqing also began to transform into other businesses.

It's normal to make profits and losses in business. Until 19 years ago, I barely had a net worth of tens of millions. I set up a door and window factory and did some offline store business. I couldn't say I made a lot of money, but I still made hundreds of thousands every month.

As a result, a well-known event happened in early 20th year, which completely changed the fate of the Zhu family.

After that incident, all of Zhu Changqing's shops went bankrupt and his factories closed down. Not only did he lose all his assets, but even his cars and houses were mortgaged as well. To this day, Zhu Changqing still owes a lot of foreign debts.

You should know that Zhu Yunfeng's Camry was bought by Zhu Changqing for his mother in 07. Later, his mother changed to a Volkswagen Touareg, and Zhu Changqing himself changed from Mercedes-Benz to BMW, and then from BMW to Audi, all of which were S-class high-end cars. The Toyota was left in the basement garage at home gathering dust.

Zhu Yunfeng was admitted to university in 18 and got his driver's license during the summer vacation after his senior year in high school. His father bought him a Mercedes-Benz GLC worth more than 50 yuan. The family was very prosperous at the time and were well-known figures in the town.

As a result, in 2021, his father could no longer bear the financial burden and sold or mortgaged everything. Zhu Yunfeng could only drive that old Toyota.

If the old house was not the last bit of my father's wish to return to his roots, after my grandfather passed away 21 years ago, he gritted his teeth and took out hundreds of thousands of dollars from his limited savings to build this small building. I'm afraid Zhu Yunfeng wouldn't even know where he would go in the future.

When he encountered Zhu Yuanzhang traveling through time this time, he didn't want to look for his father at all.

Because he knew that although his father had connections in Guangzhou and could probably sell the gold of unknown origin, the foreign debt his father owed was a bottomless pit and he would have to help him pay it back when the time came.

So Zhu Yunfeng’s consideration is very simple.

That is to first get the original capital through antiques, then create your own company, have a stable source of income, and then help your father pay off the debt.

Moreover, Zhu Changqing was a boss before. Zhu Yunfeng was not interested in doing business and had no experience. In the future, he could ask his father to come and help, and he could also go to Daming more often to see the situation. After all, he was his biological father.

As it turned out the antique route wasn't feasible, the only option was to go the gold route, which meant I had to help my dad pay back the debt. It was so painful.

"Just kidding son."

At this moment, Zhu Changqing's mellow voice came from the other side, and he said: "Dad owes money himself, and Dad pays it back himself. Your money is what your grandfather left you, so you can take it yourself."

"Dad"

Zhu Yunfeng couldn't help but be moved.

It’s not that he didn’t want to pay his father back, but he had already signed a contract with Zhu Yuanzhang and others, and he needed to use the money to do something important.

If I pay my father back and then go to find Zhu Yuanzhang and others, I will obviously be looked down upon by Zhu Yuanzhang and others.

By then, he will be inferior in momentum and attitude, and he will probably be controlled by Lao Zhu again, which is obviously something he does not want to see.

Therefore, Zhu Yunfeng hoped to at least keep some money to fulfill the terms he signed with Zhu Yuanzhang and others, and then his father would slowly pay him back with the difference earned by the middleman.

But I didn't expect that my father was still responsible and didn't even want a penny. After all, it was passed down from our ancestors. My father was also a descendant of the Zhu family, and he was the eldest son and grandson, so naturally he could get a share of the inheritance.

"It's okay. What are you going to do with the money?"

"I plan to start my own business."

"Any ideas?"

"Have."

"Okay, go ahead and do it. Someone will call you tomorrow. He will probably be here this afternoon. You can trade with him face to face then, and the money will be directly transferred to your account."

"Okay, thanks, Dad."

"It's okay son."

Zhu Changqing hung up the phone, and Zhu Yunfeng sighed.

In fact, Lao Zhu didn't put much pressure on him.

Because Zhu Changqing did business in other places in his early years, he basically did not educate his son.

So when Zhu Yunfeng grew up, he could be said to have no worries about food and clothing. Before 2020, basically, whatever money he asked for, Old Zhu could give him.

However, with the failure of his business and his peaceful divorce from his mother, Zhu Yunfeng himself did not want to live with his parents, so he rarely contacted them, often not calling them once a month.

Now it seems that he probably felt that he owed too much to his son, so even if it was the money passed down from his ancestors, Zhu Changqing had no intention of taking it, but leaving it to his son.

"How about it?"

Zhu Di saw that he seemed to be in a much better mood after finishing the call, so he asked.

Zhu Yunfeng said: "My dad got it done for me."

"From what you said, it seems your father owes a lot of debts. Is he planning to ask you to help pay it back?"

"No, he was just kidding. Leave it all to me."

"Your dad is a nice guy."

Zhu Di laughed and said, "If my son had that much money, he would definitely take it all away."

"Well"

When Zhu Yunfeng heard him say this, he suddenly remembered something.

He quickly opened his cell phone and called his mother.

After more than ten seconds, the call was answered.

"Hey, Mom."

"What's wrong son?"

"Let me ask you something. If your dad divorces you, will he be the only one to pay off the debt?"

"."

There was silence for a long time before the other side said, "Yes."

"I see."

Zhu Yunfeng hung up the phone and felt a little sour in his nose.

I used to hate my dad.

Not only did he not spend much time with me, he also gave me a good life. But he soon let me fall from the clouds, and now I am penniless.

Now I understand my father's responsibility. I'm afraid he divorced my mother so that he could bear the debt alone.

And most importantly, he had heard that his parents remarried and even had children after their divorce, but he had never seen the other parent, nor had he seen his half-brothers or half-sisters.

Obviously.

This was probably just an excuse. In fact, my father might have foreseen something and prepared a way out in advance, divorcing early and shouldering the debt himself, so that my mother could still have some property.

No wonder mom always gives him money.

Lying that you have already started a family can also reduce your contact with them and prevent yourself from worrying and feeling stressed.

My dad is so serious, I cried my heart out.

"Ugh."

Zhu Yunfeng sighed and said, "I want to drink, Second Ancestor, will you drink with me?"

"Okay, do you have any wine at home?"

"Yes, yes, the medicinal wine my grandfather left behind is probably not drinkable anymore. Let's go to Daming to drink it. Do you have a palace?"

"Okay, follow me."

Zhu Di stood up.

Zhu Yunfeng also stood up and carried the useless Tang Sancai on his back.

Afterwards, I closed and locked all the doors and windows of the house, turned off the lights and computer, added water and cat food to Dandan's bowl, put a leash on Pipi, and set off for Daming.

The reason why he brought Pipi with him was because Ji He had returned to the county and would probably take a day or two to come back.

If no one is at home, Pippi will bark, which may disturb the neighbors and attract other dogs in the village to bark together to avoid trouble.

Another thing was that Zhu Yuanzhang liked Pippi very much. When he went back home at night, he wanted to take Pippi with him, but Pippi herself didn't want to go, so he gave up.

This time he didn't plan to go fully armed.

A lot of things have been said, Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude has softened, and Zhu Yunfeng has been determined.

Unless he threatens Zhu Yuanzhang's imperial power, his life will basically be in danger there, and his power will even be very great.

So I decided to go there this time, and bringing Pipi with me would also make Zhu Yuanzhang happier.

The two men and the dog turned off the lights and went to the cellar.

When Zhu Yunfeng was about to go down, he suddenly remembered something, so he threw the dog leash and the backpack containing the Tang Sancai to Zhu Di and said, "Wait a moment."

"what happened?"

Zhu Di asked.

"We have to bring some gifts for our ancestors."

Zhu Yunfeng scratched his head and said, "As a junior, you have to be polite. Last time, you asked me to carry so many things on your back that I couldn't carry them anymore. And I didn't have any money, so I shamelessly didn't take anything. This time, I can't do that."

"That's fine, you can figure it out."

Zhu Di stood there waiting, carrying his backpack and holding Pipi's hand.

Zhu Yunfeng went to the kitchen first and packed some condiments such as thirteen spices in a bag.

After thinking about it, I went upstairs to the medicine box to get some anti-inflammatory and cold medicine.

Although he had some money from selling some gold, the mobile phone and tablet he bought for Zhu Yuanzhang and the cosmetics and perfumes he prepared for Empress Ma were not delivered so quickly.

Besides, he lives in a mountainous area, so even if he wants to send a gift, it will only be sent to the small town at the foot of the mountain, and he has to drive to pick it up, so there are really no good gifts at the moment.

After getting some seasonings and medicines, Zhu Yunfeng finally found some bacon and sausages from the kitchen.

None of them were valuable, but the sentiment was great, and he also took the compound bow with him.

Although he bought an entry-level compound bow for more than 1000 yuan, it is much better than ancient bows and arrows and can be given to his ancestors to play with.

There is no need for large-scale purchases.

Because the principles of modern firearms are not difficult to find out, I will have the chance to buy a lathe and a diesel generator and send them to the Ming Dynasty to develop my own weapons.

Wouldn’t it be great to jump directly from the era of cold weapons to the era of hot weapons?
After preparing enough gifts, Zhu Yunfeng met up with Zhu Di. He first put the things in the cellar, then carried Pipi down and set off for the Ming Dynasty.

The wooden board in the cellar is also locked from the inside and can only be opened from the inside, which ensures 100% safety.

As space flowed, the two people and a dog came to Daming with large and small bags.

When we came out of the Ming Dynasty's underground palace, it was already dark. It was now four quarters past eight in the evening, which was a little after eight o'clock.

The sky darkened and palace lanterns were lit around the Qianqing Palace. There was no one around and it was empty.

"Go talk to your father first."

Zhu Di said.

"it is good."

Zhu Yunfeng took Pipi and Zhu Di into the Qianqing Palace.

There was no one around the underground palace, but there were guards at the gate of the Qianqing Palace, including Wang Dong, the chief of the Imperial Household Department, and Mao Xiang, the deputy chief of the Yiluansi, who were waiting outside.

When they saw Zhu Di appear outside the Qianqing Palace with a stranger and a dog, many guards and eunuchs were very surprised.

Mao Xiang hurried over and saluted, "Your Highness, what is this?"

"This is His Royal Highness the King of Wu, who was personally appointed by my father. You can go in and report to my father and you will know."

His Royal Highness the King of Wu?

Mao Xiang was dumbfounded.

Wasn’t the previous King of Wu the current King of Zhou?
Why was another King of Wu appointed so soon?
And judging from Zhu Yunfeng's appearance, he is older than Zhu Di, and I have never heard that His Majesty has any other sons.

But the King of Yan was standing nearby, so he did not dare to neglect it and had to go in to report.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang was chatting with Zhu Biao.

I came back a little late today, and I haven't dealt with any government affairs. I've been squeezed in all day, and now it's too late to correct them. I can only listen to Zhu Biao's report.

"You did the right thing. Zhu Liangzu really went too far in bullying the emperor, if it weren't for his merits."

In the study, Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied after listening to Zhu Biao's report.

Most of the government affairs were handled today, but there was one important thing. That was in the morning, Zhu Liangzu wrote a letter to impeach Panyu County Magistrate Daotong, saying that he was arrogant and rude to his superiors.

If Zhu Yuanzhang had seen this memorial, he would probably have sentenced Daotong to death, because that is what he did in history.

But today it happens that Zhu Biao is the regent.

Zhu Biao did not believe Zhu Liangzu's one-sided statement, but planned to send someone to investigate first.

As a result, Daotong's memorial also arrived in the afternoon, reporting all the illegal acts of Zhu Liangzu in Guangzhou, which made Zhu Biao very angry.

However, he still did not punish Zhu Liangzu. After all, Zhu Liangzu was one of the founding heroes and could even be considered a nobleman in Huaixi.

Although Zhu Liangzu was not the first fellow Huaixi native to follow Zhu Yuanzhang, he had made many military achievements since surrendering to Zhu Yuanzhang. Although he was not as good as the Twenty-Four Generals of Huaixi, he was naturally one of them because of his Huaixi origin.

Therefore, Zhu Biao temporarily suppressed the matter and waited for Zhu Yuanzhang to come back and deal with it.

After Zhu Yuanzhang learned the whole story, he sighed and said, "History has indeed changed."

Zhu Biao asked in surprise, "What's wrong, father?"

"Today, I read our History of Ming Dynasty at Yunfeng's place, and I learned that I killed a good official who pleaded for the people because I believed Zhu Liangzu's slander."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "However, the Ming History did not record when this happened. It only said that it was in the winter of the twelfth year of Hongwu. I didn't expect it to be today. It just so happened that I went to Yunfeng today, otherwise I would have killed a good man unjustly."

Zhu Biao smiled and said, "This is not necessarily a way to correct the mistakes we made later. In this way, our Ming Dynasty can stay on the right path and will surely be prosperous soon."

"It's hard to say. When I came here, Yunfeng's antiques were probably difficult to deal with. It is said that the Ming Dynasty was more than 600 years away from the future, and these antiques are also 600 years away from the present. As a result, the Tang Dynasty antiques are considered fake antiques made by the Ming Dynasty in the future. They cannot be sold at a high price. I guess I can only use gold items."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled bitterly.

He had heard Zhu Yunfeng say before that gold was not easy to sell, but antiques were different. If they were backed by a family tree and endorsed by clan members and were valuable, they could quickly fetch a large fortune.

As a result, this route was not feasible, and gold was more troublesome. If Zhu Yunfeng did not have a large amount of money in modern times, I am afraid their plan would have to be postponed.

I just hope Zhu Yunfeng can come up with a good idea.

"His Majesty."

At this time, Mao Xiang walked in and said, "His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan wants to see you, he..."

"Old Four is here?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was wondering, didn't he let the fourth son live in the modern world? Why did he come back? He asked, "What happened to him?"

"Your Highness also brought someone with him. That person was leading a big yellow dog and said that he was the King of Wu appointed by Your Majesty himself."

Mao Xiang hesitated.

"Oh?"

Zhu Yuanzhang thought that maybe Zhu Yunfeng had come up with a solution, so he said, "Those are the Kings of Wu whom I personally appointed. Let them in."

"Yes."

Mao Xiang was very surprised, but quickly retreated.

"I didn't expect this kid to dare to come to my Daming on his own initiative. It seems that my time with him today has worked. He is just a young boy after all."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said.

Zhu Biao asked curiously, "What method did father use?"

"That's the reason. If hard tactics don't work, try soft tactics. This is how you control people in many cases. After all, only a few people are willing to take soft tactics."

Zhu Yuanzhang pondered and said, "Now that this kid has come to the Ming Dynasty, I have to honor my personal title of King Wu. So, tomorrow I will issue an edict to have him registered at the Ministry of Imperial Clan Affairs, saying that he is the son of my second brother who was lost outside and was only found this year, and his identity has been confirmed."

"Yes."

Zhu Biao agreed.

"Father, elder brother."

"Grandfather, great uncle."

Just at this moment, Zhu Di and Zhu Yunfeng walked in.

The one walking in front was a big golden retriever, wagging its tail wildly, smiling brightly, and eager to pounce on Zhu Yuanzhang.

(End of this chapter)