Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 33 Demonic Monk
This man is a monk.

His real name was Yao Guangxiao and his Buddhist name was Daoyan.

Later generations called him the evil monk or the black-robed prime minister.

I followed the Fourth Brother in the rebellion not to become an official, but to prove my ability and verify my knowledge...

If Zhu Yuanzhang had not read history in modern times, he really could not have imagined that this monk who was silent during his Hongwu Dynasty would actually do such a big thing after meeting the fourth brother!

No one would have known that Daoyan, who was dressed in monk's robes, had such a fierce tiger in his heart!
Sure enough, being a monk is not an easy job and it is easy to produce talented people.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought so and touched the back of his head.

I don't know whether he was praising Daoyan or praising himself.

This time, the rebellion of the Ming Cult in Zhongdu City was not orchestrated by Daoyan.

If it really was Daoyan, I would have arrested and executed him in my previous life.

How could he be allowed to live and serve as the fourth brother's military advisor?
But that Ming Wang, in his early years, had received some guidance from Dao Yan...

It would have been fine if I didn’t know Daoyan was such a person in my previous life.

Now that we are back to the eighth year of Hongwu, and know the whole story, people like Daoyan must not be missed.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang had not yet figured out how to use it and where to use it.

This is a dangerous person who is capable, ambitious and obsessed with rebellion.

If used well, it will definitely contribute to the Ming Dynasty, but if used poorly, it can easily leave behind serious consequences.

What Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to do most was naturally to find a way to use it for his own benefit.

But, if it really can't be used, then it can only be destroyed!

Although it's a pity, he still has to destroy it when it's time to do so, and he won't show any mercy!

However, the most important thing now is to deal with the affairs of Zhongdu City.

It won’t be too late to deal with Daoyan’s matter after the affairs in Zhongdu City are settled.

This is a good opportunity to give myself some time to think carefully about how to deal with Dao Yan...

……

In Fengyang, a bald monk in monk's robes was begging for alms with a broken bowl.

He looks kind and easy to talk to.

But when no one is around, those triangular eyes would occasionally reveal a gleam of brilliance.

Whenever this happened, the image of the kind-looking monk would disappear, and he would become like a sick tiger, revealing his true nature...

Hearing the sound of weapons colliding and the shouting, the monk with triangular eyes skillfully dodged to the side of the road.

Soon, soldiers and horses escorting no less than three hundred civilians passed by him.

These are all ordinary people, and they are different from the young and strong people who were recruited before and sent to Zhongdu City to work.

Among these people today, the age difference is huge.

There were people with gray hair, over sixty years old, and teenagers who were obviously only twelve or thirteen years old...

Li Shanchang was too impatient.

Zhu Hongwu is not very good either!

After this group of people left his sight, the monk shook his head slightly.

He murmured a Buddhist name and slowly left.

He is in a complicated mood now. He hopes that the situation in Zhongdu City will become too serious, and it would be best if the whole world would be in chaos.

In this way, he had a place to display his talents.

Nor do they want the world to fall into chaos.

Because this means countless more people have died and countless civilians have been displaced...

No matter what, Zhu Hongwu drove out the Tartars, restored China, and rebuilt the Han people's territory...

Thinking of this, he shook his head slightly again.

He actually understood that even if Li Shanchang did something excessive in Zhongdu City, at most it would only cause chaos in Zhongdu City.

Except for the Zhongdu City, other large areas are still very stable.

Zhu Hongwu was a guy who did many things in a rough way and was also a monk like himself.

But a lot of things were done really well.

Under his leadership, this chaotic world became increasingly stable.

It's not easy to make trouble again.

Especially in Zhu Hongwu's hands, it is difficult to make trouble...

But when it came to Zhu Yuanzhang's son, things were different.

His system of enfeoffment of princes was too crude.

In order to seize power from the generals, he pushed his sons out.

This move may seem effective, but in reality it is just a temporary solution. It will surely lead to even greater chaos in the future of the Ming Dynasty.

I'm afraid the opportunity I've been waiting for will eventually fall on this...

"Ah!"

A loud sneeze interrupted his thoughts.

He wiped it with his robe and the monk didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just a normal phenomenon. He didn't think about it as someone was nagging at him and continued walking forward...

In the afternoon, we arrived at Linhuai County, about 20 miles away from Fengyang.

Further ahead is the Huai River.

It was just after the Chinese New Year and the weather was cold, far from the time for spring plowing.

But in some fields here in Linhuai County, there are quite a few people busy.

Instead of plowing the fields, they are building dams, digging canals, and resting the farmland.

Monk Daoyan had good eyesight and saw that among the people working, there were people wearing yamen runners' uniforms.

I also saw a man wearing the clothes of a county magistrate...

Zheng Shiyuan, the magistrate of Linhuai County, is a man who gets things done.

But unfortunately, when he was inspecting the censor, he failed to control his mouth.

He had to impeach Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew.

Forced Zhu Yuanzhang to kill his nephew who had committed many unjust acts.

You have gained a lot of fame, but that’s it for your life. It’s the end, don’t even think about rising again.

Even according to Zhu Hongwu's petty and murderous nature, Zheng Shiyuan would probably be killed by someone for a reason in the next few years...

As he was thinking this, he saw from afar more than twenty riders galloping down the official road, raising a cloud of dust.

Daoyan once again quickly flashed to the side of the road.

More than twenty riders rushed past, and the dusty wind blew up Daoyan's monk's robe.

There was dust and foam in his mouth.

Daoyan didn't care about it at all, his eyes following the cavalry that rushed past.

I saw the blush on the leader's body.

This is at least a third-rank official!
Whether it was this senior military general or the personal soldiers he led, they all exuded a spirit of competence and ruthless killing.

When they left the official road and turned onto the small paths in the fields, they would control their horses to slow down, stretch out their formation, and move forward in order, so as not to trample on the farmland...

There is a reason why Zhu Yuanzhang was able to conquer the world.

Under Daoyan's gaze, the military general riding a war horse soon came to Zheng Shiyuan, the magistrate of Linhuai County.

Zheng Shiyuan went to greet him and saluted respectfully to the general who jumped off his horse.

People around me don't think there is anything wrong with this.

In the Ming Dynasty, military officials were more respected than civil officials, and civil officials were very respectful to military officials...

Daoyan watched this scene from afar and shook his head slightly again.

The generals look majestic now, but I'm afraid that in a few decades or a hundred years, under the same circumstances, the ones who perform the salute will be the third-rank generals...

After stopping and watching from a distance for a while, I found that the military general and Zheng Shiyuan, who was dressed as a county magistrate, were walking deep into the fields, leaving the others behind.

Daoyan narrowed his triangular eyes, feeling that something seemed unusual.

But he knew too little information and couldn't figure out what was specifically unusual.

So stay here for a while and then continue walking forward.

Not long after, they arrived at the ferry crossing on the Huai River.

Six ships full of immigrants slowly approached the shore one after another, and immigrants with their families got off the ships.

Most of these people were semi-forced to leave their hometowns because of the Ming Dynasty's immigration policy. When they set foot on this unfamiliar land where they would settle down in the future, most of them seemed nervous.

But among this group of people, there were three young men wearing coarse patched clothes who were different from the others.

There is no reluctance to leave home, nor the confusion and helplessness of coming to a strange place.

All I have is a heart full of novelty and a passion to do something great and unleash my passion.

There is also anticipation for achieving great success in the future.

They all felt that they would enter a new chapter in their lives and become heroes in the novels.

But they had no idea what kind of 'surprise' their father had prepared for them.

These three people are naturally Zhu Yuanzhang’s biological sons who have changed their appearance and names.

"Old Four, look, there's a monk over there!"

The second prince, Prince Qin, was sharp-eyed and saw the monk Daoyan standing there in the distance, and greeted Prince Yan Zhu Di.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di looked in the direction of the sound...

(End of this chapter)