Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 67 Zhu Biao Regent, Old Zhu Goes to the Modern Times

The next morning, at four o'clock, Zhu Yunfeng was called up.

He lived in Zhu Di's house in Chunhe Palace.

Last night Zhu Yuanzhang agreed to go to Xiandai to take Empress Ma and Zhu Xiongying for a physical examination.

But he also asked Zhu Yunfeng to call Zhu Di back.

Anyway, Zhu Di's mission is to follow Zhu Yunfeng. If Zhu Yunfeng leaves, Zhu Di will have no meaning in modern times.

If Zhu Di came back, he could assist Zhu Biao.

The most important thing is to monitor Zhu Yunfeng. If Zhu Yunfeng and Zhu Biao fail to handle things well, he can report to Zhu Yuanzhang at any time.

For this reason, Zhu Yunfeng and Zhu Di were drinking again last night and felt dizzy.

Huang Yan, the eunuch in charge of the Prince of Yan's mansion, respectfully woke him up outside the door and told him that the emperor wanted him to come.

"Damn it, this is too inhumane. Working like a slave in the company, I can only work overtime for more than ten hours at most. They don't even let me sleep for eight hours. Do you think I can survive?"

Zhu Yunfeng yawned and complained.

As soon as I opened the bedroom door, a eunuch stood at the door holding a tray. He presented it with both hands and said carefully: "Your Highness, King Wu, this is the dragon robe."

"Okay, I get it."

Zhu Yunfeng was just about to take it when a fragrant breeze blew towards him from both sides.

"We are here to help His Highness get dressed."

The two palace maids knelt slightly to greet him, then took the tray and started to change his clothes.

"No, no, no, I can do it myself. I'm not used to being served by others."

Zhu Yunfeng hurriedly stopped him.

Perhaps some young masters from wealthy families today are accustomed to a life of having everything provided for them, but since his parents have not been around since he was a child, he does not have such bad habits.

Seeing that he was trying to stop them, the eunuchs and palace maids did not force them. They respectfully handed him the tray, then bent down and walked away backwards.

Zhu Yunfeng scratched his head, closed the door, returned to the bedroom, and changed into the dragon robe.

In fact, it is not a formal dragon-shaped court dress, but a dragon-shaped casual dress, which is what we often see in TV dramas, a yellow round-necked shirt inside and a red cross-collared shirt outside, but with dragon patterns on it.

There is a bronze mirror in the room, and the pictures look pretty good.

Moreover, the emperor's crown hat in the Ming Dynasty was not a crown, but a black gauze hat with a folded scarf, also known as the Yishan hat. It was a semi-circular hat with a pair of small oval wings folded on it, which was quite cute.

As a prince's hat, Zhu Yunfeng's hat even has two pairs of golden dragons on it. In the middle of the crown is a small gold sun, with two golden dragons hanging on both sides.

Last night, the wardrobe supervisor came over to measure his height and it was done in one night, which was quite efficient.

However, Zhu Yunfeng estimated that there should be a lot of such clothes prepared in the Shangyi Bureau.

After all, these are costumes worn by the emperor and the prince. It would be outrageous if there was only one set. There must be a lot of spare ones, and they can be worn by slightly changing the size.

He put on his clothes and pushed the door open. Many eunuchs and palace maids were waiting outside. He walked through the corridor and outside. A cold wind blew in his face and it seemed as if there was some snow and sand falling from the sky.

"It's November here in Daming. Is it going to snow?"

Zhu Yunfeng thought to himself.

I'm afraid it's already snowing heavily in the north at this time. Although it hasn't snowed in the south yet, it's getting colder and colder.

Maybe I have to find a way to get some cotton.

He tightened the dragon robe around his body. The dragon robe is worn in all seasons. This winter dragon robe has down inside, which is quite thick and does not make people feel cold.

When he came out of Chunhe Palace, he saw Zhu Di already waiting for him in the carriage. He got on the prince's carriage prepared by the Imperial Horse Department and headed towards the Fengtian Palace.

Chunhe Palace is not far from Fengtian Hall, which is brightly lit at this moment. Torches are lit everywhere in the square outside Fengtian Hall, and together with the palace lanterns in the square, it is bright during the day.

It was time for the morning court session. All the civil and military officials at the Jinshui Bridge in the square outside Fengtian Gate lowered their heads, passed through Fengtian Gate, and slowly entered the square.

If you stand on the high platform outside the Fengtian Hall and look down, you will see that the area below is already crowded with people, at least three or four hundred.

Unlike the inner court of the Qianqing Palace, the outer court includes all the middle and upper-level officials in the capital, including the Secretariat, the Six Ministries, and the Censorate. Even if you are only a fifth-rank official in one of the six ministries, you can still have the opportunity to attend the court and meet the emperor.

However, unlike the Song Dynasty, which had a complex system and many redundant officials, the official structure of the early Ming Dynasty was simple, with the Secretariat and the Censorate as the main civil service groups.

The Censorate was independent of the administrative power, and the main administrative power was in the hands of the Secretariat, which was divided into six ministries, and then the Hanlin Academy, Imperial College, Taichang Temple, Dali Temple, Guanglu Temple, Taifu Temple, and Honglu Temple.

The officials from various ministries only number a few hundred people.

Historical records show that after Zhu Yuanzhang launched the Hu Weiyong case, almost all of these hundreds of people were purged. Together with their families, servants, neighbors, and friends, the total number of heads was about 30,000 people.

Zhu Yunfeng's carriage stopped at the outer gate of Fengtian Hall. He got off the carriage and entered the hall. He saw Zhu Yuanzhang reading memorials in the hall, while Zhu Biao was sitting beside him warming himself by the fire.

"Just got up?"

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him and thought, this guy is too lazy.

"Old man, you can sleep four or five hours a day and have plenty of energy, so do you have to ask others to do the same?"

Zhu Yunfeng couldn't help but complain: "People's physiques are different."

After deposing Hu Weiyong, Zhu Yuanzhang could review more than 200 memorials and handle more than 400 state affairs every day. He worked from four or five in the morning to twelve at night, day after day, for decades, like a robot.

But just because he can do it doesn't mean others can do it too.

If an ordinary person did the same thing as him, his body would be exhausted sooner or later and he would not live to be 71 years old.

“Don’t make excuses for laziness.”

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly.

Zhu Yunfeng rolled his eyes. It was really impossible to explain science to this old man Deng.

"when!"

"Boom boom boom!"

First there was a sound of a bell outside, and then three drum beats.

"Father, it's time."

Zhu Biao said.

"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang put down the memorial, stood up, and slowly walked out of the hall.

At this moment, the eunuchs of the Bell and Drum Department have already rung the court bell and struck the court drum, and the civil and military officials are waiting in line on the left and right in the square.

There was a chair placed on the high platform above the square, and Zhu Yuanzhang walked over.

"His Majesty is here!"

"Long live your Majesty!"

Following the ceremonial officer's shout, all officials bowed and saluted.

No one knelt, nor did they shout "Long live the emperor" like in TV dramas.

Actually, it existed before.

Later, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that "Long live the emperor" did not sound good, so he changed it to "Heaven helps you with virtue", "The world is peaceful and prosperous", and "Long live the emperor".

As a result, everyone shouted out of unison, so they changed it back and reduced the three "Long live" to one.

Only during the New Year's celebrations will there be three tones.

"Your Majesty has an edict."

Wang Dong, the head of the Internal Affairs Bureau, held up the imperial edict and said loudly, "The Emperor, in compliance with the Mandate of Heaven, proclaims that I have been entrusted with the Mandate of Heaven for twelve years. I have been worried about dangers and have worked hard every day to benefit the people. However, I have recently felt ill and need to recuperate and rest. I am afraid that I will be tired of state affairs. The Crown Prince is kind, wise, filial and friendly, and the whole world is at peace. From today on, he will govern the country, and Prince Di of Yan and Prince Yunfeng of Wu will assist him. I hope that the civil and military officials inside and outside the country will work together to assist in governing the country and ensure the safety of our people."

"The ministers obey the order."

All the officials below shouted in unison.

The regular court is different from the inner court. Those below the fourth rank are not qualified to chat with the emperor.

Officials above the fourth rank would only report matters to the emperor if asked.

If Zhu Yuanzhang has nothing to ask today, then the court will be adjourned early and the specific content will be discussed in the inner court.

Therefore, most of the time, the regular court sessions were when Zhu Yuanzhang issued imperial edicts and informed all officials of matters.

Many officials stood in line below. The 66-year-old Li Shanchang was the head of the civil servants, standing at the front. Next was a majestic man in his 50s wearing a scarlet robe, who was the Left Prime Minister Hu Weiyong.

Opposite Li Shanchang was the chief military general Li Wenzhong. As for generals such as Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and Tang He, they were not here.

Xu Da was stationed in Beiping, Chang Yuchun died of illness in the second year of Hongwu, Tang He was training troops in Shandong, and the other meritorious generals also had their own places to garrison. Currently, there were only a few meritorious generals in Beijing.

They are Lu Zhongheng, Marquis of Ji'an, Zhou Dexing, Marquis of Jiangxia, Huang Bin, Marquis of Yichun, Lan Yu, Marquis of Yongchang, Zhao Yong, Marquis of Nanxiong, and Mei Sizu, Marquis of Runan.

It was precisely because a large number of meritorious officials and nobles from the early Ming Dynasty were currently guarding the border and holding a large amount of military power that Zhu Yuanzhang had to find a way to take the military power back from them, and thus he decided on the King of the Frontier policy.

So although Zhu Yunfeng said that the feudal system would endanger his country in the future, at least for now Zhu Yuanzhang would not cancel this policy and would replace these nobles with vassal kings first. "If there is something to report, report it. If there is nothing to report, leave the court."

After the imperial edict was issued, Wang Dong shouted again.

After a while, someone came out from below and reported to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang dealt with them one by one.

Zhu Yunfeng, Zhu Biao and Zhu Di stood on his left and right sides, like three door gods, making people yawn.

Although he was sleepy, Zhu Yunfeng was still very curious about how Zhu Yuanzhang handled state affairs, so he stood beside and listened carefully.

Actually, there is nothing special about it.

When Japanese pirates came to the southeast, he said, "Tell the people to prepare their knives. When these guys come, kill them first!"

Henan suffered disasters in summer and autumn, and he said: "Relieve taxes for half a year to allow local officials to deal with the disaster."

The remnants of the Yuan Dynasty in Yunnan were restless, recruiting Ming surrendered soldiers and hiding Ming criminals. He said: "Let Cao Zhen and Gu Cheng wipe out the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty in the border areas."

When the northern tribes came to him, he said, "Settle them on the border, let Xu Da manage Peking, and be ready to attack the Northern Yuan at any time."

Basically the process is straightforward and easy to understand, and it is quite efficient.

No wonder the Ming Dynasty was able to stabilize so quickly in the early years, and it was okay to kill so many people. It turns out that Zhu Yuanzhang’s way of handling state affairs was quite straightforward.

But perhaps this is exactly what is needed. The Ming Dynasty was established not long ago, and it needs to be swift and decisive. Even if it is a bit rough, it is much better than procrastinating and taking a long time for an order to be implemented.

The morning court lasted for about an hour. Before dawn, Zhu Yuanzhang announced the end of the court meeting and returned to the Qianqing Palace.

Usually at this time he would go to have breakfast, then review memorials, and then at around eight or nine in the morning he would summon Li Wenzhong, Li Shanchang, Hu Weiyong, Chen Ning, Zeng Bingzheng, and other senior officials such as the six ministers to hold an inner court meeting.

But that was not the case this morning.

When they returned to the Qianqing Palace, Empress Ma was already up and waiting there. She was not wearing the phoenix dress, but the old-age winter clothes given by Zhu Yunfeng.

She felt warm and comfortable.

"This dress looks good on the girl, it's dignified and pretty."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked him up and down.

Queen Ma used the skin care products given by Zhu Yunfeng, and there was a fragrance coming from her body.

Hearing what Lao Zhu said, Ma Xiuying covered her mouth and laughed, "She's already over 50 years old, how can she still be called beautiful?"

"Girls are always the most beautiful in my heart."

Zhu Yuanzhang went up to Ma Xiuying and put his arms around her waist, his eyes full of affection.

'Alas'

Zhu Yunfeng shuddered all over.

This is dog food.

"Don't be so poor, your grandson is watching you."

Ma Xiuying pushed Lao Zhu away.

Next to her stood a cute five-year-old child, looking at Zhu Yunfeng curiously.

As the eldest grandson of the Ming Emperor, Zhu Xiongying was very much loved by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Not only did he visit him often and teach him personally, he even saved the princes from the harsh military education.

You have to know that Zhu Yuanzhang was very strict with his sons.

According to the "Veritable Records of Ming Taizu", in December of the first year of the Wu regime, which was the first year of the Western Wu regime founded by Zhu Yuanzhang in 1364 AD, he let his sons start physical training.

At that time, Zhu Yuanzhang already had seven sons. Except for the fifth, sixth and seventh sons who were under three years old and did not need to participate, the rest of them had to participate.

When Zhu Di was only five years old, he had to follow his brothers in wearing hemp shoes, leg wrappings, and hiking outside the city like a soldier, riding on horseback for seven-tenths of the way and walking for three-tenths of the way. This is how he developed his current physical fitness.

In contrast, Zhu Xiongying's treatment is much better and he doesn't need to work so hard at all.

It can only be said that Zhu was good at treating his sons differently. He was strict with his sons but doted on his grandsons. Later, Zhu Xiongying died, and Zhu Yunwen became his beloved.

of course.

Now we know the later history, Zhu Yunwen has probably been eliminated from the list of Zhu's beloved grandsons.

"Let's go over there."

Zhu Yuanzhang held Ma Xiuying, and Ma Xiuying held Zhu Xiongying.

Everyone left the Qianqing Palace and arrived at the underground palace.

Zhu Yunfeng went up to put the stone tablet back in place. Zhu Yuanzhang said to Zhu Biao, "Okay, I have said everything I need to say. After I leave, the power will be handed over to you. Don't slack off. I will come here often."

"Don't worry, father. I will live up to your trust."

Zhu Biao said.

"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Remember, you must satisfy your father and not be soft-hearted. When it is time to take action, you must be decisive!"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll take your mother and son to see how they are doing."

After saying that, he pulled Ma Xiuying up and touched the stone tablet.

Ma Xiuying was very curious.

She had actually been to Xiandai several times, but she just delivered meals to Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao and did not stay for long. Today she would officially leave.

Zhu Yunfeng said, "Grandpa, let Ji He take you to a big city. There are several good luxury private hospitals in Changsha. They don't require ID cards. Tell Ji He not to be afraid of spending money. Grandma's health is the most important."

"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang responded, and then the space fluctuated and he disappeared.

The three of them left.

Zhu Yunfeng went up and moved the stone tablet away. He also touched the ball and stood up only after making sure that it could not be pierced.

Zhu Di was stunned and asked, "What are you doing?"

"What else can we do? Of course, let the old man have more rest."

Zhu Yunfeng clapped his hands.

Zhu Biao frowned: "Yunfeng, stop messing around."

"No nonsense."

Zhu Yunfeng smiled and said, "Now that Lao Deng is gone, you will be in charge of the Ming Dynasty. Aren't you happy?"

Zhu Biao rolled his eyes at him and said, "Aren't you afraid that your father will be angry?"

"Why are you so angry? He shouldn't have been allowed to mess around in the first place. How can a cowherd like him know how to govern a country? We, the third uncle, will come and make sure that when he returns, the country will be completely renewed."

Zhu Yunfeng put his hands on his hips and smiled from ear to ear.

Zhu Di said: "If you do this, your father will really be angry."

"Just kidding. Actually, I asked Jihela to use industrial electricity. Industrial electricity is much stronger than civilian electricity. I'm just afraid that the current will be transmitted over here and people will be electrocuted, right?"

Seeing that Zhu Di was serious, Zhu Yunfeng immediately explained.

He went back to Modern again last night to get some toiletries.

He suddenly thought of tricking Lao Zhu over there. He would let Ji He use this time to draw industrial electricity to charge the stone tablet.

The charging time was when the Hu Weiyong case broke out in the first month of the next year, which was when Tu Jie accused Hu Weiyong of treason.

During this period of time, let Ji He take Lao Zhu to Changsha for a visit.

Although it is not as big as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as a big city in the central and western regions with a GDP second only to Chongqing, Wuhan and Chengdu, Changsha is worth a visit for Lao Zhu.

When he comes back from Changsha, if Zhu Biao and others have not yet solved the Hu Weiyong case, then move the stone tablet back and let Zhu take action.

It's just that when he used civilian electricity to charge the stone tablet, there was no current on this side of the stone tablet.

It may be that the intermediate delivery consumes energy.

However, industrial electricity is very exaggerated. What if the current can reach here?

For safety reasons, the stone tablet still needs to be moved. Even if this side cannot receive energy temporarily, it is better than being suddenly electrocuted.

Anyway, he just needs to retain a part of the energy that can be used to travel back. Later, he will find a way to get a generator to ensure that there is energy on both sides of the stone tablet and the travel of both sides is not interrupted.

(End of this chapter)