Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 71 Zhu Chong Returns to Beijing
In mid-December of the twelfth year of Hongwu, heavy snow fell in Nanjing.

The goose-feather-like snowflakes dyed the distant Purple Mountain white, and even the willows in Jinling City were swaying and falling in the wind and snow.

The Qinhuai River was not frozen, and a tall official ship was slowly coming down from upstream with the Chinese character "Qin" (Qin) on it.

At this time in the cabin, there was a hint of tension, a hint of resentment, and a hint of fear in the eyes of King Qin Zhu Chong.

What makes me nervous is that I will be going back to Jinling soon and I don’t know what my future will be like.

What made him resentful was that his father ordered the death of his beloved second concubine.

And fear.

Of course, what should I do when facing my father's reproach?

I was feeling very anxious and uneasy.

The boat slowly arrived outside the Shicheng Gate west of Jinling. When it had already passed the Dinghuai Gate, the people on the boat reported to the palace.

So at this moment, outside the Shicheng Gate, the eunuchs from the Xihua Gate were ordered to come and read the imperial edict to Zhu Chong.

"Your Majesty has a decree!"

After Zhu Chong and his followers got off the boat, the eunuch took the imperial edict and said loudly: "The Emperor of Heaven and Mandate of Heaven, I decree: Qin Wang Chong, did not listen to people's advice, went to the new palace, and did not live in the bedroom. I ordered the eunuchs to come and teach you. He did not obey his father's orders, and did all kinds of evil in Xi'an, and did things that were contrary to the law. He built a large palace, which wasted people's money and labor, and allowed concubines to oppress the princess and kill palace maids. This is not human behavior, he does not understand human affairs, and he is as stupid as an animal. He will not be demoted to a commoner for the time being, and he will be imprisoned in Fengyang to reflect on himself. Now that I have said this, you can reflect on it yourself."

"King Qin, please accept the order."

The eunuch said.

Zhu Chong knelt down trembling all over, raised his hands to receive the imperial edict, and said tremblingly: "Where is father?"

"Your Majesty has recently caught a cold and is recuperating in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. He said he doesn't want to see you."

The eunuch shook his head.

The eunuchs dared not offend your Majesty's prince.

After all, everyone knows that although Your Majesty severely reprimanded the King of Qin, he committed such a serious mistake but nothing happened to him and he was just imprisoned.

What if one day His Majesty softens his heart and releases him again?
"Father is ill? Then I must visit him. By the way, where is my eldest brother?"

Zhu Chong seemed to have found a life-saving straw.

He's not stupid.

Now, under the name of visiting, he can also gain the respect of filial piety. Besides, he has a good relationship with the boss, so maybe he can find the boss and ask for mercy.

But if he was sent directly to Fengyang and imprisoned, it would be a big trouble.

So Zhu Chong had to meet his father.

Even if it's just to meet big brother.

The eunuch hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "Your Majesty is seriously ill, and the Crown Prince is the regent. He now governs the country in the Qianqing Palace every day. The Crown Prince ordered Your Highness to hand over the tiger seal and seal. You will stay in Chunhe Palace tonight and leave for Fengyang tomorrow."

Zhu Chong's eyes lit up, as if he saw hope.

After all, he is his father and elder brother after all, so he should always be given a chance to meet him.

Otherwise, let him hand over the tiger seal that controls the Shaanxi army to the eunuch who goes to announce the imperial edict. He doesn't have to return to Beijing and can go directly to Fengyang.

This meeting might be his only chance, so at least he has to ask his elder brother to plead for him.

Zhu Chong immediately asked someone to find a horse and rushed to the palace at high speed.

Shichengmen is located to the west of Jinling City. You can pass through Shichengmen, then go through the South City to Datong Street. You can go north to Xihuamen and east to Wumen.

At this moment, on the street outside Xihuamen, Zhu Yunfeng, wearing pajamas inside and civilian clothes outside, was lazily returning to the palace.

From late last month to now, he has been in Daming for almost a month.

I visited almost all parts of Nanjing during this period.

But obviously there is nothing worth visiting in Nanjing. There is no business, no population, and few people can be seen in the streets and alleys.

He also wanted to see how beautiful Daming's sister was, but he found that most of the women on the streets were women, and young and beautiful girls were almost nowhere to be seen.

Only then did I remember that during the Yuan and Ming dynasties, influenced by the ideals of the Southern Song Dynasty, social customs were rather conservative, and women rarely went out except during holidays or grand celebrations.

of course.

That refers to ladies from noble families.

Women from common families will still go out to work.

But women from ordinary families got married very early. Zhu Yunfeng often saw girls aged fourteen or fifteen on the street who already had jewelry and hair tied up in a bun. Because they had been working all year round, they looked older, which made people sigh at the destruction that the feudal society had inflicted on them.

But Zhu Yunfeng naturally couldn't do anything. As I said, if productivity does not increase and there is not enough material in society, then all the systems will be empty talk.

First fill your stomach and have plenty of food so that no one is hungry, then you can think about other things.

Perhaps the only highlight of Jinling is the scenery.

This place is like an ancient city in the middle of forests and rivers, with bluestone roads everywhere, ancient houses standing tall, willows swaying on the river bank, and Purple Mountain hidden in the mist in the distance, it is magnificent.

However, no matter how beautiful the scenery is, one will get tired of seeing it every day, so Zhu Yunfeng just wandered around these two days, and he went out less and less, and now he planned to go back in the morning.

Just as he walked slowly to the mouth of the moat at Xihua Gate and showed the prince's badge at his waist, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves behind him.

Zhu Yunfeng turned his head and took a look.

He thought it was a royal guard patrol or a training troop in the forbidden camp.

Old Zhu deployed more than 100,000 troops in the city and more than 100,000 troops outside the city.

These troops conduct training marches every day.

Yes.

It's a training march.

Soldiers spend seven-tenths of their time walking to train their physical fitness, and three-tenths of their time on horseback to practice their riding skills.

If we don't march out of the city today, we'll have to do some hacking or archery in the camp.

The same was true for Zhu Di's sons. Zhu Di started this devilish training at the age of 5.

Therefore, it was common for soldiers in the city to take turns going out of the camp and returning to the camp to run and ride horses every morning and afternoon.

Perhaps it was precisely this rigorous training of the army that created the powerful Ming army that later recovered Yunnan and went north to attack the Northern Yuan Dynasty many times.

However, when Zhu Yunfeng turned around, he saw a galloping horse coming towards him, with dozens of fast horses following closely behind it.

Xihuamen is not far from Datong Street. Although the street is not prosperous, there are still some ordinary people setting up stalls and shopping on the street.

But those horses galloped all the way as if they were in an empty space, causing chaos in the streets and even causing many people to fall down while trying to avoid them.

At their high speed, they rushed forward in just a moment, less than two meters away from Zhu Yunfeng.

The leading young man was wearing a luxurious brocade robe and displayed superb riding skills. When he arrived in front of the moat outside Xihua Gate, he suddenly reined in his horse and jumped down in one go.

The guards at the moat bridge were about to step forward to stop them, but were dissuaded by the man who followed him and showed his badge. Then the leading young man looked at Zhu Yunfeng in surprise and swaggered into the palace.

"I boil it!"

Zhu Yunfeng was frightened by the horse that suddenly rushed towards his face. He stumbled several steps and almost fell to the ground.

"Your Highness."

Mao Xiang hurried over to support him.

He knew the leading young man, and the young man also knew him.

However, he had been wearing civilian clothes recently, shaved his beard and put on makeup while following Zhu Yunfeng on a secret visit in the city, so the young man did not recognize him at first.

After Zhu Yunfeng was helped to stand steadily, he looked at the man with a very unhappy look.

It is very rude to ride a horse and charge at people.

But the man had already entered the palace and was heading towards the Wuying Palace.

Seeing this, Zhu Yunfeng said angrily: "Who is this kid? He gallops on the street without caring about pedestrians. Moreover, can he gallop so recklessly outside the palace?"

Mao Xiang replied: "Your Majesty has stipulated that riding a horse is strictly prohibited in the imperial palace, but there is no such taboo outside the imperial palace."

"Even if there is no such taboo, can you just bump into others? What if you bump into someone?" "But he is a prince."

"Prince? Just because a prince can do whatever he wants? Who is he?"

"Yes, Your Highness Prince Qin."

"Zhu Chong?"

Zhu Yunfeng opened his eyes wide.

"Your Highness, be careful with your words. Do not address His Highness the Prince of Qin by his name."

Mao Xiang said quickly.

After spending these days together, he already knew that Zhu Yunfeng was very bold. He never bowed when meeting the prince, and he dared to walk around everywhere in the palace except the harem with a prince's badge on his waist.

But even so, no one expected Zhu Yunfeng to be so bold. Not only did he call the Prime Minister by his name, he even showed no respect to His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin.

You have to know that he is the second prince and has always been arrogant and domineering.

Although they would be a little more obedient under the control of His Majesty in Jinling City, His Majesty is ill now and the Crown Prince is quite indulgent to his younger brothers, so it would be bad if the King of Wu and the King of Qin came into conflict.

In the end.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu is only the son of Your Majesty's elder brother, while His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin is Your Majesty's biological son. There is a difference between the closeness and distance between them.

"It turns out to be this little bastard."

Zhu Yunfeng shook off Mao Xiang, put his hands behind his back, and walked angrily towards the Qianqing Palace.

It's easy to tell that Zhu Chong probably went to Zhu Biao to plead for mercy.

Although that guy was a victim used by him to test Zhu Biao's determination, in essence he had no direct conflict of interest with him.

After all, even if he had committed many crimes, it was not realistic for Zhu Yuanzhang to kill his own son in ancient society.

So he should stay in confinement obediently in the future, and Zhu Yunfeng would not cause him any trouble.

But even after being recalled and imprisoned, he was still so rampant, riding his horse and bumping into him without even saying an apology. If an ordinary person could just endure it, it would be fine, but could he?
He couldn't even tolerate Zhu Yuanzhang's rudeness to him, let alone the leader of the four great evil men in the early Ming Dynasty, the worst of beasts.

"Your Highness, Your Highness."

Mao Xiang was startled and quickly grabbed him.

Zhu Yunfeng was much weaker than Mao Xiang in strength. He glared at him fiercely and said, "Old Mao, stop meddling in other people's business."

"Your Highness, His Highness the Prince of Qin."

Mao Xiang wanted to persuade.

However, Zhu Yunfeng said coldly: "I know what you want to say, but you may not know how special I am. Even if I want to beat that kid in front of His Majesty, His Majesty will not say anything. Don't stop me. If you stop me again, I will kick you."

Mao Xiang was frightened by his ugly face. Although he had also been in danger before, and had followed Taizu in the Northern Expedition when he was young, and had fought in the battles, he didn't know how many lives he had lost.

But the enemy-killing general is just a tool in front of power.

Zhu Yunfeng was really angry, and even beating him to death would not be a big deal.

On the other hand, if he hurt Zhu Yunfeng, His Majesty would be furious and all nine clans would have to die.

Thinking of this, since it was a conflict between the two princes and had nothing to do with him, Mao Xiang had no choice but to let go of his hand and stop persuading him.

At this moment in the Qianqing Palace, Zhu Biao was handling state affairs.

When Zhu Biao first became regent, the Secretariat had a very large number of memorials to deal with, and most of them were sent to him.

As time went by, Hu Weiyong became more and more powerful. Apparently, he noticed that Zhu Yuanzhang's condition showed no signs of improvement, so he often made arrangements for state affairs himself.

For this reason, several upright censors impeached him, but they were all suppressed by Zhu Biao.

This is what Zhu Yunfeng meant.

Although the palace was kept strictly under the control of Zhu Yuanzhang, it was not realistic to spread the news and catch a few traitors.

However, suppressing the impeachment memorial would only encourage Hu Weiyong's arrogance and lay the groundwork for his subsequent handling. Therefore, it was more important to create a false impression to paralyze Hu Weiyong.

The study was warm as spring, and Zhu Biao and Zhu Di were both wearing pajamas and cotton slippers.

As the provincial governor of Hunan Province and staying at home every day, Zhu Yunfeng would put on his favorite pajamas every winter and stay in his small building to write and play with his dog.

This habit was soon passed on to Zhu Di, who also fell in love with this soft and comfortable clothing.

And there’s even a special pajama store in their town.

After returning to the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Di prepared a set of pajama sets for each of his family members and emptied out all the pajama stores in the town.

At first, Zhu Biao didn't want to wear it, thinking that the colorful pajamas were unsightly.

But after trying it once, I couldn't take it off.

After all, who can resist a set of pajamas that are warm and comfortable to wear?
"Hu Weiyong is really becoming more and more rampant."

Looking at the memorial in his hand that was completely inconsistent with the one from the Ministry of Public Security, Zhu Biao was also furious.

Even a clay man has a temper. Hu Weiyong's blatant power grab showed that he did not take the crown prince seriously.

"If you ask me, it's time to close the net and return to modern times as soon as possible."

Zhu Di said lazily.

He lay on the sofa cushion he brought and played a game on his mobile phone that could be played without an internet connection.

All I can say is that it is difficult to learn good things, but it is easy to learn bad things.

If he gains another hundred pounds, he will definitely be a fat otaku who stays at home every day.

Zhu Biao narrowed his eyes and said, "We have collected a lot of evidence. We still underestimated Hu Weiyong's arrogance. As soon as my father fell ill, he felt that he had all the power. In the past few days, when I was in the inner court, he acted as if he should handle all the state affairs. If the documents I handled were not to his liking, he even dared to refute and teach me a lesson. If you don't know, you would think he is the emperor."

"So what are you waiting for? Arrest him."

Zhu Di yelled.

He couldn't stand the life in Ming Dynasty anymore. He had nothing to do every day and he didn't even know how he had managed to hold on.

"Yunfeng said that the time is not yet ripe. It would be easy to punish him for crimes such as corruption, bribery, selling official positions, and abusing power. We can even follow the clues to bring down most of his followers."

Zhu Biao shook his head and said, "But Yunfeng said that if we want to make our father more satisfied, we have to wait a little longer."

"What are you waiting for? If you wait any longer, Tu Jie will file a complaint."

"Tu Jie is locked up now. He can appeal anytime if he wants. Just wait a little longer. I understand Yun Feng's meaning."

Zhu Biao stroked his chin and pondered.

He had watched the process of the Hu Weiyong case. In the early stage, three nobles were killed, and in the later stage, seven or eight more were killed.

I'm afraid Zhu Yunfeng is waiting for Hu Weiyong to contact the nobles.

If this is the case, not only can one more charge be added, but it can also intimidate the nobles and achieve the purpose my father wants.

Now it depends on who this unlucky noble is.

However, if Hu Weiyong really had no contact with the nobles, then let's leave it at that for now.

With the evidence collected so far, it won't be difficult to deal with his followers.

After all, Hu Weiyong was still a little too arrogant.

He thought that Zhu Yuanzhang was ill and that the prince, who was in his twenties, had to rely on him and his cronies to govern the country, so he tried to make the prince his puppet.

It's a joke.

"Brother, brother!"

At this moment, a voice suddenly came from outside.

Zhu Biao and Zhu Di looked up and saw Zhu Chong rushing in, followed by a group of guards and eunuchs who were trying to stop them.

Apparently he had forced his way in, regardless of the guards' requests.

Although the guards were all strong, Zhu Chong had received military education since childhood, and no one dared to stop him too much, so he really rushed in.

(End of this chapter)