The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 8 Visiting Relatives

The emperor was away from the capital for half a month, and the empress and the crown prince were away from the capital for more than ten days, but the affairs of the Ming Dynasty were not delayed.

When Zhu Yuanzhang was appointed King of Wu, Li Shanchang was the Right Prime Minister. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Li Shanchang was granted the title of Silver and Green Honorable Official and Upper Pillar State, and participated in the decision-making of military and national affairs.

Before this, Zhu Yuanzhang visited Bianliang and Li Shanchang stayed behind, so all matters could be handled flexibly without asking for instructions.

Many people know that Li Shanchang is the emperor's right-hand man. Even though he is a civil servant now, those old brothers from Huaixi are all obedient to him.

Li Shanchang led hundreds of officials to welcome him outside the city, and only the emperor and the crown prince showed up.

The queen brought her other children directly into the imperial city, and Uncle Ma was only heard of but never seen.

"Little brother, take a rest first." When they arrived at the palace, Ma Xiuying arranged, "We will find a place for you to live in a while, and you can stay with us in the future."

Ma Xun felt that this was not in accordance with etiquette and said, "Sister, I am a man and an adult after all, how can I live in the palace?"

Ma Xiuying said, "You can live here. Why not? I'll take you to meet my brother-in-law later."

Seeing Ma Xun's puzzled look, Zhu Jingxian said, "Uncle, the Queen Mother is talking about our uncle."

Ma Xun understood immediately that he was talking about Zhu Yuanzhang's brother-in-law Li Zhen, the current imperial son-in-law of the Ming Dynasty, the general of the state, and the Marquis of Enqin, that is, Li Wenzhong's father.

Ma Xiuying smiled and said, "Brother-in-law Chongba is very good, filial and friendly, honest and frugal, and a role model for the clan. You must learn from your brother-in-law. It is a blessing to have such a virtuous elder."

Ma Xun sat there somewhat at a loss, because he was now in the Qianqing Palace, where the emperor lived.

Ma Xiuying was busy packing things, and her two daughters were helping out, so Ma Xun was the only one doing nothing.

After doing nothing for a long time, Ma Xun heard footsteps. He stood up immediately. Zhu Yuanzhang came back with Zhu Biao.

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw Ma Xun, he said, "My dear brother, this palace is magnificent, isn't it? You can live here peacefully, and you don't have to worry about food and drink in the future."

Zhu Biao also smiled and said, "Wangcai has also been taken to the Imperial Stables. If uncle is worried about Wangcai, please have someone take him there to check on him tomorrow."

Ma Xiuying called out from inside the house, "Zhongba, do you still want that robe?"

Zhu Chongba walked quickly to the inner room, "Yes, why don't you want it? My robe is in good condition, don't throw it away."

Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely frugal, and Ma Xiuying was a model for the harem. Even now that she was the empress, she still personally prepared Zhu Yuanzhang's meals every day, and even personally asked about the food and clothing of the princes.

She was thrifty and set an example for herself. She washed her clothes over and over again, and even though they were already worn out, she was unwilling to buy new ones.

She even set up a loom in the Kunning Palace where she lived, and personally wove silk fabrics, satin quilt covers, etc. with her two legitimate daughters, which she then gave as rewards to the elderly and widowed people in the name of the royal family.

Empress Ma cut the remaining cloth into clothes and gave them to the princesses and queens.

Zhu Biao apologized and went into the inner room. The next moment he came out with a package on his back. "Uncle wears new clothes. My father's old clothes are not good."

Zhu Yuanzhang also came out and said, "Your uncle is young, so he must wear new clothes. Your uncle-in-law is old, so he can wear old clothes."

Ma Xiuying also came out, holding her two daughters on the left and right, "Let's go, let's go see my brother-in-law."

Ma Xun hurriedly followed, just a little curious, "Brother-in-law, brother-in-law lives in the palace now?"

"Your eldest brother-in-law is sixty-six years old. I am afraid that I will not be able to see him more often, so I found a house for him to live in the inner city." Zhu Yuanzhang said, "I will find a house for you there later. If you don't want to be with me and your sister, you can live alone."

Ma Xun was happy when he heard it, but suddenly he felt something was wrong.

After all this talk, aren't we still living in the palace?
Zhu Yuanzhang patted Ma Xun's hand and said, "My family was poor when I was young. I was not happy when my sister got married. Although my brother-in-law's family is more affluent, he is older, more than 20 years older than my sister."

Along the way, Zhu Yuanzhang was also talking about his family affairs, such as how Li Zhen had taken care of his father-in-law's family.

Li Zhen's wife was Zhu Yuanzhang's second sister, Princess Xiaoqin. Zhu Yuanzhang was very grateful and fond of Li Zhen's family. But Zhu Yuanzhang didn't even want to mention his eldest sister. She married Wang Qiyi and didn't ask about her family at all.

"Uncle!" Zhu Biao was familiar with the place and started shouting as soon as he entered the door, "Uncle, we are here."

A gray-haired old man wearing tattered robes appeared, holding a chubby little baby.

Although Li Zhen is in his sixties and old, he has a ruddy complexion and must have been very handsome when he was young.

Li Zhen greeted with a smile, "Zhongba, you guys are back? Hey, this is my little brother, right?"

Ma Xun immediately bowed and saluted, "My younger brother Ma Xun, I greet my brother-in-law."

"Jinglong, kowtow to your uncle." Li Zhen patted the little fat boy's head and said with a smile, "What about the etiquette I taught you?"

The little fat boy immediately knelt down and saluted in a formal manner, "Nephew Li Jinglong, I pay my respects to my uncle."

This pink, chubby little kid in front of me is the first war god of the Ming Dynasty?
Zhu Biao handed the cloth bag to Li Zhen and complained, "My father's clothes were patched and worn over and over again, but he was reluctant to throw them away. He is the emperor, how can he wear torn clothes all the time? Uncle, these old clothes can only be given to you."

Ma Xun originally thought that it was nothing, but suddenly he felt something was wrong.

Li Zhen is now a marquis, but the clothes he wears are red, which is fine. The key is that there is a dragon on his chest. If you count carefully, there are five claws of the dragon.

Dragon robe, this is a real dragon robe!

Li Zhen complained, "Prince, I have enough clothes to wear. Prince, I have been favored by the Emperor because of Princess Xiaoqin and was given a mansion. I wonder what I have done to deserve such a high honor."

Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted and said, "Brother-in-law, these are my old clothes. It's a pity to throw them away. I wanted to give them to my younger brother, but it's not suitable for me to wear them at my age. So I can only give them to you. If you really don't want them, all these clothes will be thrown away. They are all the best silk."

Li Zhen immediately checked the clothes, reluctant to throw them away, "It would be a pity to throw them away, so I'll wash them."

After saying that, Li Zhen took Ma Xun's hand affectionately and said, "How old are you this year, little brother?"

"Twenty." Ma Xun replied, "Jinglong is good-looking, I like him."

Li Zhen pointed at Li Jinglong happily and said, "He is greedy and loves playing. He doesn't look like a farmer at all."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Brother-in-law, I'm going to let my younger brother live in the yard next door. He's all alone, and there's no one to care for him. Please remember to take good care of him. He's just like a braying donkey, and you treat him like a treasure."

Li Zhen immediately said, "Okay, I'll watch over my little brother and will definitely not let him get bullied."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said to Ma Xun, "Don't underestimate your brother-in-law. When your nephew Baoer was guarding Yanzhou, people were in panic when Zhang Shicheng invaded, and it was your brother-in-law who took over the military affairs. In just six days, Yanzhou was stabilized. When your nephew was guarding Hangzhou, it was your brother-in-law who took over the military affairs and subdued the surrendered troops with both kindness and force."

It has to be said that Zhu Yuanzhang's relatives were all powerful figures, including his nephew Zhu Wenzhen, who led 20,000 troops to resist the siege of Chen Youliang's 600,000 troops for more than 80 days.

There was his nephew Li Wenzhong, who became a general at the age of 19, killed Zhang Shicheng and forced him to flee in panic, and made continuous contributions in the Northern Expedition.

Even Li Zhen, who looks like an ordinary old man, is very capable. It's just that he is old, otherwise he might have made great military achievements.

But it can be said that Zhu Yuanzhang was really close to his brother-in-law. Generally, when generals led troops outside, their families stayed in the capital.

But when Li Wenzhong was fighting outside, Li Zhen basically followed him. When Li Wenzhong was guarding Yanzhou, Li Zhen followed him. When Li Baoer was stationed in Hangzhou, Li Zhen went to take care of him.

That's why I stay in the capital now that I'm old.

In order to take care of his brother-in-law, Zhu Yuanzhang often sent people to Hangzhou to inquire about his daily life. Now, in order to see his brother-in-law every day, he directly found a place for him to stay in the palace, and the crown prince Zhu Biao and others often came to greet him.

But if we ask ourselves, such a sincere, honest, humble and filial elder is worthy of being a role model for the children of the Zhu family.

These are real relatives, relatives who become closer as time goes by.

(End of this chapter)