The Ming Dynasty: Starting with taking Old Zhu on a journey to the future

after eating.

Zhu Chongsi, Zhu Chongba, and the others then went back to their rooms to sleep.

I still have farm work to do early tomorrow morning.

Having eaten and drunk my fill, I naturally have to get up early to work tomorrow morning.

At the dinner table, only Zhu Wusi, Zhu Yuanzhang, Jiang Huan, and Lan Chen remained.

Zhu Wusi turned and went back into the house. Looking at Chen Shi, he asked, "Old woman, how much money do you have left to buy the chicken?"

Chen took out the cloth bag containing three cents of silver.

"There are still three hundred coins left, what's wrong?"

"What happened to our savings?"

Savings?

Chen took out a box from under a brick under the bed. Inside the box was a tattered cloth bag.

"It's all here."

The total savings amounted to fifty coins.

The imperial court's taxes, coupled with drought and frequent locust plagues, were exacerbated by the situation.

This was all their savings.

Zhu Wusi immediately emptied all the copper coins inside.

Seeing this, Chen quickly said, "Old man, what are you doing? This money is all saved for our second son's wedding. Why are you taking it out?"

After Zhu Wusi tallied the quantities...

He sighed softly, "That little rascal Chongba lost one of his sheep while herding for Landlord Liu's family today."

"What?!"

Chen felt as if the sky had fallen.

The price of a sheep can be several times higher than the price of a chicken.

Already impoverished, he is now burdened with enormous debt.

Chen sat on the edge of the bed, sighing silently.

"So what should we do now? Should we sell the land?"

Zhu Wusi counted the copper coins.

"In the evening, I took Lao Si to apologize to Liu the landlord and discuss compensation. Liu the landlord said that Li Zhen had already paid for the sheep on Lao Si's behalf."

"Li Zhen? When did he arrive? How come we didn't know?"

That's the strangest part.

Li Zhen is a landlord from the next village, and he only just found out about his fourth son losing his sheep.

How did Li Zhen find out? She even helped pay for the compensation.

He was confused until he saw Zhu Wu.

Then it seemed as if I understood something.

"Alright, you should go to sleep early. I'll handle this."

After Zhu Wusi had tallied up all his savings...

We went outside.

Zhu Yuanzhang and his two companions were enjoying the cool breeze.

There were a lot of mosquitoes, and all three of them had mosquito bites all over their hands and feet.

At this moment, Zhu Wusi walked over to Zhu Yuanzhang and sat down, and slowly began to speak.

"Old man, you paid for the sheep that Chongba lost, didn't you?"

Zhu Yuanzhang turned around upon hearing the sound.

Before Zhu Yuanzhang could respond, Zhu Wusi continued, "I don't know why you're helping us like this, but although I'm poor, my spirit is not."

"This is all my family's savings. I'll pay you back the money for that sheep once I've saved enough."

"There's no paper or pen here, otherwise I would have written you an IOU."

"Here's some money, take it back."

Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a long time without reaching out his hand: "You already know."

"It's not hard to guess."

"Grandpa, could you tell me why you're helping me like this?"

No profit can not afford to be early.

But his family was destitute, and there was nothing he could scheme for.

Whether it's compensating Zhu Chongba or Zhu Wu taking care of the female relatives at the dinner table just now.

In a way, Zhu Wusi felt that Zhu Wu was not an outsider, but more like... family.

After the silence.

Zhu Wusi glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang and said:

"I'm not afraid to admit it, but sometimes, I see you as the grown-up Chongba."

Sometimes.

He looked at Zhu Wu as if he were looking at Zhu Chongba after he had grown up.

Especially the birthmark on the back of my hand.

Like Zhu Chongba's birthmark, his skin was somewhat wrinkled.

Seeing Zhu Wu remain silent, Zhu Wusi quickly said, "Please don't take offense, I didn't mean to curry favor with you, I was just being nosy."

After saying that, Zhu Wusi slowly got up and prepared to go back to his room to sleep.

He has to go to the fields to work early tomorrow morning.

"You three should also get some rest."

Just after Zhu Wusi turned around.

Zhu Yuanzhang's voice slowly rang out: "Actually, my name isn't Zhu Wu."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Wusi stopped in his tracks.

Zhu Yuanzhang gazed at the starry sky and murmured, "I have three names: Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Xingzong, and another one called..."

"Zhu Chongba," he slowly turned around.

Bathed in the moonlight, Zhu Wusi was momentarily dazed.

The face of his own fourth son, Zhu Chongba, was actually starting to overlap with that of the old man in front of him.

He quickly rubbed his eyes.

Then he laughed and said, "That's quite a coincidence."

Zhu Yuanzhang chuckled softly.

"This is not a coincidence."

Zhu Yuanzhang slowly stood up, walked to Zhu Wusi, and slowly knelt on the ground.

"father."

This scene terrified Zhu Wusi to the point of mental breakdown.

What the hell is that?

An old man in his sixties or seventies calling himself "Dad"? Is this guy out of his mind?

Zhu Wusi looked toward Lan Chen and Jiang Huan.

His eyes seemed to be saying something.

Is he mentally unstable?

"Perhaps you find it unbelievable, but I am indeed your youngest son, Zhu Chongba."

"However, I... am Zhu Chongba from the future."

It took Zhu Wusi the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before he could barely accept that the old man in front of him was his son.

Because the person in front of him did indeed know about Zhu Chongba and the Zhu family.

Birthmarks, moles, and other facial features also match perfectly.

Upon accepting the fact that Zhu Yuanzhang was his son, Zhu Wusi's first question was...

"How are you...? Are you married?"

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly and spoke in the calmest tone possible.

"We overthrew this damned world, became emperor, and established a new dynasty."

"Simply put, we became emperor."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Wusi's first thought was not shock, but rather a question: "Old... Chongba, lies aren't made up like this."

What is the situation in your own home?

How could I not know?

They were destitute and barely survived on a few acres of land.

And you're telling me my youngest son became emperor? Isn't that ridiculous?

Even if Zhu Yuanzhang said he had become a county magistrate, he could barely believe it.

"I'm just a tenant farmer, how could I possibly give birth to an emperor?"

"Like begets like."

Zhu Chongba owning dozens of acres of land was a great honor for his family.

Become an emperor? You can't even dream of it.

Looking at his father's disbelieving expression.

Zhu Yuanzhang was somewhat helpless.

He thought that if he became emperor, his father would be proud of him.

But to my surprise, I received a question.

"I've heard that emperors always wear yellow robes. You're wearing this coarse cloth. Old Zhu, our Zhu family is practical and never does anything like that."

Even if you don't have a good future, I won't blame you.

Even if you really fall on hard times and become a beggar, begging on the streets, you're still alive, that's not shameful.

Even a beggar needs to be eloquent, thick-skinned, able to take a beating, and willing to put aside his pride.

Only beggars like this can barely survive.

Those beggars who can't speak and can only hawk their wares while holding a bowl usually end up starving to death.