Zhu Yuanzhang in the cellar

Chapter 72: Beat Zhu Chong, it’s time to close the net

Zhu Chong rushed into the room, and all the guards looked at Zhu Biao.

Zhu Biao frowned and waved his hand slightly.

Everyone let go of Zhu Chong and retreated outside the West Warm Pavilion, but not too far away.

After all, they didn't dare to do anything to Zhu Chong because there was no instruction from above. They were afraid of hurting Zhu Chong and being blamed by His Majesty and the Crown Prince.

But if His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin angers His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, at the call of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and with an order, they can take tough measures to take the Prince of Qin away.

"Brother, the fourth one!"

Seeing the two people's attire, he was stunned for a moment, but then he knelt in front of Zhu Biao and said, "Brother, let me see my father."

Zhu Biao sighed and said, "Father doesn't want to see you."

"Then why did you ask me to return to Beijing?"

Zhu Chong shouted: "Father must be willing to see me."

From Xi'an Prefecture to Yingtian Prefecture is from Xi'an to Luoyang, and then from Luoyang to Kaifeng, taking the Grand Canal directly to Nanjing.

This route is the most convenient.

If you want to run fastest, you can ride horseback the whole way, from Henan to the south, changing horses but not riders at post stations along the way. You can run at a speed of over 300 kilometers a day, as long as you don't mind getting your butt rubbed until it bleeds.

But no matter whether you go by land or water, you will pass through Huainan. And the location of Zhongdu Fengyang Prefecture is located on the opposite bank of Yingtian Prefecture, across the Yangtze River through Chuzhou.

Therefore, in Zhu Chong's opinion, his father must want to see him, otherwise there would be no need to go to the trouble of summoning him to Nanjing.

However, Zhu Biao shook his head and said, "It's not that father wants to see you, but I want to see you. You are my brother. This time you have angered father, and going to Fengyang to reflect is irreversible. I have a few words for you. If you behave well in Fengyang and change your arrogant, extravagant, cruel and inhumane character, I may be able to ask father to release you in two years."

"Yeah, second brother."

Zhu Di also said casually while playing games: "Look at what you have done. You just went to Xi'an in May last year, and in just two months, you have angered the heaven and the people. Your father issued an imperial edict to reprimand you. As a result, you have not changed your ways, and now you are getting retribution. Go back to Fengyang and reform yourself, and strive for leniency, otherwise you will stay in prison for the rest of your life."

"Old Four, you!"

Zhu Chong was so angry.

I haven't seen the fourth brother for just two years. How come he speaks in such a sarcastic tone?

"All right."

Zhu Biao put down the memorial in his hand and said, "Rest in Chunhe Palace tonight and leave for Fengyang tomorrow. I hope you will repent and I will speak for you to my father."

"Brother! When we were little, you loved us brothers the most. I am your biological brother, how could you treat me like this? Besides, I know I was wrong now. I shouldn't have built a large-scale project in Xi'an, nor should I have allowed the concubine to kill the palace maids."

Zhu Chong lay on the ground, wiped his eyes, shed a few crocodile tears, and said with tears in his voice: "Even if you want to send me to Fengyang, my father is seriously ill, you still want me to visit him. Otherwise, wouldn't it be unfilial? I beg you, big brother, let me see my father. Even if I can't see him, let me stay in Jinling and visit my father at any time. I promise that once my father recovers from his illness, he still wants to send me to Fengyang, and I will definitely have no complaints."

"This"

Zhu Biao sat there, staring at Zhu Chong blankly.

Zhu Chong's face was covered with tears.

Memories of childhood surfaced.

When they were young, their father was still struggling to start his business. His territory was only in Hezhou, Chuzhou, Yingtian, Wuwei, Taiping, etc., and his future was precarious.

Zhu Biao and several of his younger brothers were all boarding in the home of Chen Di, a wealthy businessman in Taiping Prefecture. Although they were not abused, they were still living under someone else's roof.

It was not until the tenth year of Longfeng that their father finally defeated his arch-enemy Chen Youliang and proclaimed himself King of Wu in Yingtian Prefecture. He finally had the strength to conquer the world, and only then did they, the brothers, end their lives of living in other people's homes.

At that time, his father and mother were not around all year round. As the eldest brother, he was like a father to others. On the one hand, he had to receive instruction from great Confucian scholars such as Song Lian, and on the other hand, he had to discipline and take care of his younger brothers. Those days seem to be vivid in his mind.

When he thought of his childhood and saw his second brother crying, Zhu Biao felt pity for a moment and felt compassion in his heart.

"Brother."

Zhu Chong cried and wailed, then looked at Zhu Di and cried, "Fourth brother, say something for me."

"Forehead"

Zhu Di was also hesitant. He raised his head again, then suddenly shrank his neck and said, "I have nothing to say."

"Then you stay."

Zhu Biao originally wanted to let him stay in Jinling until his father recovered from his illness before making any further decisions.

But he suddenly noticed an angry young man walking in at the door, and swallowed back what he was about to say.

Zhu Yunfeng walked in from the corridor of the West Warm Pavilion, glanced at the situation on the ground, raised his head and looked at Zhu Biao expressionlessly, and said, "Zhu Biao, can you fulfill your promise?"

Calling the prince by his name?

Mao Xiang who was following behind, and even the many guards and eunuchs on standby in the West Warm Pavilion, all opened their mouths wide.

Didn’t His Royal Highness the Prince of Wu say that he had just found it among the people?
How can you be so vigorous and uninhibited?

However, what they never expected was that the prince, who was thought to be angry because of such rudeness, was not angry. He was silent for a while and said, "I will fulfill my promise. My second brother has been transferred from Xi'an Prefecture. I just want him to stay in Jinling for a while."

"What's the point of keeping such a scum? If an ordinary person did what he did, he would have been tortured to death long ago. He is your own brother, so you have double standards. You treat others one way and your brother another."

Zhu Yunfeng glared at Zhu Biao: "It's obvious that being exiled to Fengyang and imprisoned is already a good outcome, and you still want to protect him?"

Although Zhu Chong has not yet reached the point where he killed thousands of people and destroyed thousands of families as in history, he and his second concubine Deng have tortured some palace maids to death.

Last year, he was scolded by Zhu as worse than a beast. This year, he has refused to change his ways despite repeated admonitions. It would be good enough if he was exiled to Fengyang. Why should he continue to be indulged?
"Who are you? What does my conversation with my brother have to do with you? Where are the guards? Where are the guards? Are they all dead?"

Zhu Chong was furious when he saw someone suddenly break in and try to ruin his good deeds.

However, when he called out to the guards, no one moved.

Zhu Biao slammed the table angrily and said, "What are you yelling about? You are guilty, kneel down!"

"Brother."

Zhu Chong was stunned at first, but seeing that Zhu Biao was looking at him angrily, he had to grit his teeth and continue kneeling there.

After teaching Zhu Chong a lesson, Zhu Biao softened his tone and said to Zhu Yunfeng, "Yunfeng, my second brother has already told me that he is willing to repent and only hopes to stay in the palace for a while to wait for father. Wait until father recovers and let father decide, okay?"

"It's not that he was willing to repent, but that he knew he was going to be imprisoned."

Zhu Yunfeng glanced at Zhu Chong coldly and said, "He rode recklessly on the street, knocked over many stalls, and injured many passers-by. He rushed straight towards me and almost hit me, but he didn't even say an apology. This kind of person will never repent in his life!"

Zhu Di, who was standing next to him, immediately understood why Zhu Yunfeng was so angry.

Good guy.

It turned out that he had offended his eldest grandson.

The eldest grandson is someone who even dares to slam the table and glare at his father.

Second brother, second brother.

Why would you bother him for no reason?

Now even your elder brother and I can’t protect you.

"Asshole, who do you think you are? Why do you want me to apologize to you?"

Zhu Chong's originally sad face changed drastically in an instant.

Then he stood up from the ground, walked angrily to Zhu Yunfeng, and was about to slap Zhu Yunfeng in the face.

But Zhu Yunfeng was standing at the door of the study, some distance away from him, about four or five meters, which was enough for him to react.

"Pfft!"

Zhu Yunfeng took out a bottle of transparent liquid from his pocket and sprayed it on Zhu Chong's face.

In an instant, a spicy feeling quickly spread throughout the room.

Zhu Chong was caught off guard and was sprayed in the face. He screamed, "Ahhhhhhh!"

The spicy smell even spread to the surrounding areas.

Mao Xiang, who was standing at the door, was the first to suffer and also screamed.

The guards and eunuchs behind didn't know what was going on, so they didn't dare to get close and kept retreating.

Zhu Biao also hurried to the corner of the study.

Zhu Di covered his mouth and nose and hurried to the side to open the window for ventilation.

Even Zhu Yunfeng couldn't help it, so he quickly closed his eyes and waved his left hand in front of him to get rid of the spiciness.

When he bought the pepper spray before, he saw the comments below.

A beautiful woman took several selfies of herself and her bestie with swollen eyes, and added that the effect was too strong and their room would be filled with the smell of chili peppers after just a spray.

Even if you don't spray it on your face, you can spray it on the air in front of you, and the sisters can't stand it. After all, there are experiments in the United States.

Because tear gas does not cause inflammation of the capillaries in the eyes and skin, and does not cause temporary blindness, nausea, difficulty breathing, and intense burning sensations, it often fails to immediately stop criminals from committing crimes when encountering crazy criminals or drug addicts.

Chili water is different.

An excessive dose of capsaicin can cause temporary blindness in criminals, accompanied by a lot of inflammation, causing people to quickly lose the ability to resist.

It can only be said that even Zhu Yunfeng underestimated the power of pepper spray.

It's okay outside, the wind will blow it away.

But the strong capsaicin in the room spread out and everyone in the house was affected.

Fortunately, Zhu Yunfeng was very familiar with peppers, liked spicy food, and had a certain resistance. When the spiciness dissipated a little, he squinted his eyes, found Zhu Chong's position, and kicked him.

"I'll fuck you, uncle."

Zhu Yunfeng kicked Zhu Chong to the ground, and then punched him like a storm.

Beat their own brothers in front of Zhu Biao and Zhu Di!
"Where did you come from, you bastard? I am a descendant of the royal family, I am a prince of the Ming Dynasty, and you actually dared to beat me. You have committed a heinous crime punishable by the death of all nine generations of my clan. Yiluan Guards, are you all dead?"

Zhu Chong still wanted to resist. He kicked his legs around and cursed, but he was blind and could not see anything. He was soon beaten into a pig's head by Zhu Yunfeng. Even Empress Ma could not recognize him.

"Scum! Bah!"

Zhu Yunfeng beat Zhu Chong and even spat on him, then said to Zhu Biao and Zhu Di: "Zhu Biao, Lao Si, today it's either me or him. Send him to Fengyang for confinement immediately, or I will leave."

"Mao Xiang!"

Zhu Biao covered his eyes and shouted.

"The humble position is here."

Mao Xiang knelt on one knee, enduring the severe pain.

"Bind the King of Qin and send him to Fengyang. Summon the imperial physician and treat him on the way."

Zhu Biao gritted his teeth and said, "You all go out, I want to be alone."

"Yes."

Mao Xiang called a few guards and dragged Zhu Chong out.

"Brother, you have such a cruel heart, brother!"

Zhu Chong's voice gradually faded away.

As Zhu Chong was dragged away, Zhu Di had opened the windows for ventilation, and the spicy smell in the room slowly dissipated.

It was not until then that Zhu Biao dared to open his eyes. He looked around and saw that Zhu Yunfeng had already sat on the chair in front of his desk.

The guards, eunuchs, and palace maids were also scolded away by Zhu Biao, and now there were only three of them left in the room.

"Yunfeng, why bother? He is my second brother after all, a brother from the same mother."

Before Zhu Biao could say anything, Zhu Di had already smiled bitterly.

"Then we must not let him go. It is precisely because he is a member of the Zhu royal family and represents the Ming royal family, but he acts so recklessly. How will the people of the world view him?"

Zhu Yunfeng said coldly, "I'm not targeting him. To be honest, if he behaves himself after returning to Nanjing, and doesn't act so arrogantly, maybe he can stay in Fengyang Pass for a few years and change himself, and then it won't be a big deal if he's released. But you've also seen that he's been so reckless since he returned to Nanjing. He pretends to be nice in front of you, but doesn't even pretend when he's outside. This kind of person will never repent. Rather than waiting for him to continue to act recklessly in the future and be poisoned by the palace servants who can no longer tolerate him, it's better to lock him up. This can also be considered saving his life."

Zhu Di and Zhu Biao looked at each other, and in the end, both of them could only sigh.

Zhu Biao shook his head and said, "Forget it, let's just leave it at that. Yunfeng is right. It's better to imprison him than to be poisoned in the future. At least he can live longer. I hope he can repent in Fengyang and avoid the fate he suffered later."

"Ugh."

Zhu Di sighed, then said, "Let's not talk about this anymore, let's talk about business. Yunfeng, it's been almost a month, and we have collected a lot of evidence of Hu Weiyong's crimes. He made decisions on his own in the Secretariat and often concealed memorials. The Tongzhengsi is responsible for receiving and sending official documents across the country, and the received documents are transferred to the Secretariat by the Tongzhengsi, but the documents reported to you by the Secretariat are much less than those reported by the Tongzhengsi."

"Moreover, Mao Xiang also found out that senior officials often visited Hu Weiyong's home, and they often discussed state affairs. Some matters were even decided at Hu Weiyong's home."

"In addition, during this period, Hu Weiyong received a lot of bribes. Many officials were promoted by him, right?"

What he meant was, is it time to close the net?

Having been away from the modern world for too long, his mobile phone has no internet connection, and the single-player games and cached videos stored in it are no longer interesting. If he doesn't return to the modern world, Zhu Di feels like he is going crazy.

Zhu Biao looked at Zhu Yunfeng and said, "Yunfeng, what do you think? If it really doesn't work, let Tu Jie file a complaint."

"Actually, I came back today just to tell you about this."

Zhu Yunfeng laughed.

"Oh?"

Zhu Biao asked hurriedly: "Are there any new developments?"

"Ah."

Zhu Yunfeng said, "Guess who went to Hu Weiyong's house today?"

"Who?"

“Jian Hou Lu Zhongheng!”

"he?"

Zhu Biao narrowed his eyes, this was something he had expected.

The first three nobles to be executed in connection with the Hu Weiyong case were Lu Zhongheng, Marquis of Ji'an, Tang Shengzong, Marquis of Yan'an, and Fei Ju, Marquis of Pingliang.

Later, six marquises were implicated. In the case of Hu Weiyong alone, nine nobles died!
I didn't expect it is still like this today.

Could it be
Zhu Biao pondered: "Could it be that Hu Weiyong really wants to collude with them to rebel?"

"That's not it."

Zhu Yunfeng shook his head: "The military power is in the hands of our ancestors, what can he do by colluding with those nobles? In fact, he and Fei Ju were scolded by our ancestors for committing a crime, and the two of them were not convinced. Since they are all from Fengyang, they gathered together to eat, drink and complain a few words."

"Is that all?"

Zhu Biao's frown relaxed, as if there was no rebellion.

If the rebellion is confirmed, I'm afraid the situation will no longer be under his control.

“But they cursed their ancestors.”

Zhu Yunfeng changed the subject and said, "Now it depends on what you do. They cursed the old ancestor in private. It's up to you to decide whether they live or die. Now we have the evidence we need. In a few days, you can arrange for the servants of Hu Weiyong's family to file a complaint. Then you can ask Tu Jie, Shang Haoshi and others to file a complaint together to make it louder. You can directly send troops to surround Hu Weiyong's mansion and arrest the people. Then you can round up the rest of the people."

There was no collusion with nobles to rebel.

But he did curse the emperor in private with the nobles.

This is not a small matter.

But compared with the extermination of nine generations of a clan in history, it should not be that serious.

Therefore, whether to exterminate all nine clans, or to deal with only Hu Weiyong and his related followers, and then deal with Lu Zhongheng and Fei Ju, whether by stripping their titles or granting them death, was all a matter of Zhu Biao's decision.

"Do you think it would be better to sentence them to death?"

Zhu Biao thought about it and decided to ask Zhu Yunfeng for his opinion.

Zhu Yunfeng's arrangements these days were obviously more appropriate, which made him consciously want to hear the other party's ideas.

Zhu Yunfeng thought for a moment and said, "From our ancestors' perspective, they would probably be eager to find an opportunity to kill them. But from your perspective, you would publicize their crimes but pardon them, allowing them to make amends for their crimes. After all, we will have to fight the Mongols in the north later."

"My position?"

"Yes, our ancestors wanted to eliminate all unstable factors. However, killing them directly would scare the nobles, and it would be difficult to end it. In history, our ancestors even pardoned them at the beginning, and did not kill them until the 23rd year of Hongwu, just to maintain stability. If you stand up and pardon them now, it basically conforms to our ancestors' thoughts of temporarily maintaining stability. And your move can also have the effect of winning people's hearts, which will be very beneficial for you to rule the country in the future."

"That's it, that's it"

Zhu Biao muttered a few words to himself.

No wonder my father took until the 23rd year of Hongwu to use the Hu Weiyong case, which had been dormant for ten years, as an excuse to take action against these nobles. It turns out that there are so many tricks involved.

"Close the net!"

There was a cold light flashing in his eyes, and he said, "It's almost time. I will leave the palace in person and encircle and destroy Hu Weiyong's mansion!"

"You don't have to leave the palace in person. You can just lure the enemy into a trap. Produce solid evidence in front of all the civil and military officials. But it's time to end it. The fourth brother and I are going back to the modern era."

Zhu Yunfeng stretched and said, "There is really nothing fun or interesting in the Ming Dynasty. If it weren't for helping Master Taibo, no decent person would come to the Ming Dynasty."

He didn't know how his Yunfeng Company was doing, and he couldn't wait to go back and take a look.

(End of this chapter)