Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 175: The Prime Minister’s Presence
Not far from the city of Guangzhou, Fang Xiaoru was surprised to find that the official roads here had been changed to cement official roads.

For this reason, he sighed with emotion: "Your Highness, this Guangzhou Mansion seems to be pretty good. It has already used cement official roads!"

"All the way south, the official roads were muddy and difficult to walk on. This concrete official road is indeed much better!" Zhu Biao listened, nodded and said, "It seems that the prefect of Guangzhou is your father, right?"

When Fang Xiaoru heard this, his face immediately turned red, and he quickly explained: "That's not what I meant by going down to the official position. I just went all the way south and really found that there is a cement official road here, so I was surprised and sighed!"

Zhu Biao actually just said this. After hearing what Fang Xiaoru said, he said to him: "Your father may not be able to make the decision here in Guangzhou. The chief envoy and others are all here."

When he said this, Mao Xiang rushed over and told: "Guangdong Chief Envoy Bing Lan and others are waiting for His Highness in front."

When the prince arrives, he has to pass through Guangzhou, and officials of all sizes in Guangdong must not pretend that they don't exist.

Along the way, Zhu Biao was also used to socializing.Or to be more precise, this is not just a dinner party, but an inspection. After he becomes the emperor, these are his ministers.

After turning a corner, I saw that the pavilion in front of me was filled with officials wearing various official robes.

This place was also the place where Marquis Yongjia led many officials to welcome the consort and the princess last year.

As soon as the motorcade arrived, many officials came forward to salute.

Zhu Biao asked them to stand up with a smile, and then praised: "Going south all the way alone, that is, your Guangzhou Prefecture has built a cement official road, which is not bad!"

Hearing the prince's praise, the chief envoy and others all smiled. Just as they were about to say a few words of humility, they heard Lan Yu speak first: "I heard that His Highness is coming, so we urgently purchased cement from Xiangshan County. , I just cultivated the most important official ways!"

As soon as he said these words, the smiles on all the officials' faces suddenly froze.

Needless to say, they all complained about this Lan Yu in their hearts. Do you want to speak out?
After hearing this, Zhu Biao still said with a smile: "No matter what, if you do something practical, it is good."

His words made many officials relax.Fortunately, His Highness the Crown Prince doesn't mind.

Just as they were thinking about it, Zhu Biao asked curiously: "I have a question, why did you buy cement from Xiangshan County, and Guangzhou government doesn't have it?"

After hearing this, perhaps because Fang Xiaoru was accompanying him, the officials in Guangdong asked Fang Keqin, the prefect of Guangzhou, to come forward and answer.

Just listen to Fang Keqin's reply: "The imperial court has not allocated the craftsmen to build the cement workshop. After urging several times, they all said that it was not Guangdong's turn yet. Therefore, the entire Guangdong, except Xiangshan County, has not been allocated yet. There are no cement workshops.”

"Then why don't you ask the prince-in-law for advice and ask him to send craftsmen to help you?" After hearing this, Zhu Biao still had doubts and asked immediately.

Upon hearing this, Fang Keqin smiled bitterly, glanced at the chief envoy, and replied to Zhu Biao: "The court refused, saying that cement is a national treasure and must be coordinated and arranged by the court. Xiangshan County handles special matters, so it is not an example. .”

Zhu Biao frowned after hearing this. It is true that he did not participate in every political matter, but he had not heard this statement from his father.

Immediately, he asked, "Is this the reply from the Ministry of Education?"

"Yes, Your Highness!" Fang Keqin replied immediately without hesitation.

After Zhu Biao heard this, he took this matter to heart and prepared to go back and check the situation before talking about it.

Then, he smiled again and said: "I am going south this time mainly to visit my relatives, not for official business. Just go and get busy, don't delay the political affairs!"

Afterwards, he asked Fang Xiaoru to reunite with his father first, while he called Lan Yu and went to the car to talk while the motorcade continued south.

The carriage walked on the cement road, which was much smoother and no longer so bumpy.

The Crown Princess had been in the car. When she saw Lan Yu getting up, she smiled and asked, "Uncle, are you still used to it in Guangdong?"

After finishing speaking, she said to Zhu Xiongying in her arms: "Come on, call me uncle!"

"Uncle!" Zhu Xiongying obviously didn't remember Lan Yu, but he was not afraid of life and called out obediently.

Sapphire, who had been expressionless all the time, showed a happy smile after getting into the car.

Seeing that Zhu Xiongying had no intention of being hugged, he sat down cross-legged on the side of the car door, and then replied: "It's too hot in Guangdong, and there's no point in training every day. I heard that Duke Wei led the army to conquer Tubo. It's really exciting." Very yearning for it!”

When he said this, Prince Zhu Biao had also returned to the car. When he heard this, he smiled and said: "I'm afraid it's too late. Let's report from the front. The Weiguogong Company has won the battle. My father said that we will definitely win!" "

When Lan Yu heard this, she felt very regretful and immediately asked: "What about Yungui? When will the fight take place?"

At this time, Yungui was still under the control of Can Yuan and was not included in the territory of the Ming Dynasty.This place must be captured.

Zhu Biao sat down, and Zhu Xiongying walked over to hug his son, so he hugged his son, and then said to Lan Yu: "Yifan gave his fourth brother an artillery blueprint before, called the Yi Bang Cannon, it should be very powerful. , the capital has been building it. When I went south, I had just tried the prototype cannon, and it was indeed a powerful siege weapon. In a few months, after improvements, I can build more cannons, and my father will probably I will want to attack Yunnan and Guizhou."

Lan Yu didn't know about this, because when Zhang Yifan gave it to Zhu Di, Zhu Di didn't tell anyone.Of course, he would definitely take out the drawings after returning to Jiangyin, but Lan Yu didn't know about it until he returned.

Therefore, when Lan Yu heard how powerful this Hongyi artillery was, he was a little surprised.

Seeing that he suddenly became serious, he immediately asked: "How powerful is this barbarian cannon? The ones attacking the city are not the squatting tiger cannons like last time, right?"

In the last competition, the Tiger Crouching Cannon invented by the Prince Consort was unveiled. Later, when he followed Zhu Di to exterminate the Japanese pirates and pirates, he used the Tiger Crouching Cannon. Before the close combat, he fired a cannon. It was really powerful and destroyed the enemy's morale. A sexual blow, so he was impressed!
Zhu Biao obviously understood why Lan Yu cared so much about artillery, because he was just a military commander.So, he explained to him in detail: "Of course it's not like a tiger crouching cannon. It's very big and weighs several thousand catties. You have to use oxen and horses to do it. But it's really powerful. In war, if you attack an enemy city, even if Four or five miles away from the city gate, one cannon can blast through the city gate."

The artillery at this time in the early Ming Dynasty was indistinguishable from guns to guns. From this we can know how powerful it would be.Once the power of this barbarian cannon was described, even the brave and skilled Lan Yu was stunned.He didn't expect that the artillery could be so powerful!
When Lan Yu came back to her senses, she immediately asked: "It's four or five miles away, and the city gate is not big. How can it be hit?"

Fortunately, it was a famous general who immediately grasped the possible problem with this artillery.

Zhu Biao listened and said with a smile: "Yifan said that this kind of artillery can calculate the accuracy accurately, but it is possible that the fourth brother reported Yifan's words and mistook it, but estimated it. I will go over this time to ask about the situation. , let’s see how it is estimated.” “Then let me go too!” Lan Yu immediately requested after hearing this.

In the past, he despised the prince-in-law, but later he was defeated in the competition, and then he followed Zhu Di. Especially after he went to Guangdong to guard the emperor, the more he got to know the prince-in-law, the more he valued him, and he no longer dared to look down on him.

When he heard Zhu Biao's statement at this time, his intuition was that Zhu Di would not misrepresent it, and the prince-in-law should really be able to calculate it. He really wanted to see the prince-son-in-law's ability with his own eyes.

If such a powerful cannon can be accurately calculated, I don't know how much easier it will be to fight in the future!

He even felt keenly that the form of war might be rewritten.

Thinking like this, he strengthened his determination to go and see it together, and said to Zhu Biao: "He and I are related, right? It just so happens that we can become relatives together, okay?"

Zhu Biao: "..."

It's a little hard for him to imagine that this uncle-in-law, who was quite unconvinced before, now even recognizes an irreconcilable relationship?

But to him, that's a good thing, they are all his relatives, how nice they are to be harmonious!
So, he agreed: "Okay, you can arrange the things at hand and go to Xiangshan County with me!"

Zhu Biao estimated that even if he disagreed, his wife would persuade him, so he simply agreed.

Sure enough, when the princess heard this, she said happily: "This is the best!"

After finishing speaking, she asked Lan Yu with great interest: "Uncle, you are in Guangzhou, close to Xiangshan County. How is Yifan's affairs there?"

Although the Crown Princess and Zhang Yifan are not related by blood, it is only because of Jing Jing's relationship.However, when it comes down to it, she feels closer than ordinary relatives. Not only did she personally witness how Zhang Yifan became the consort, but she also confirmed that Zhang Yifan is a grateful and talented person.The most important thing is that Zhang Yifan and Jing Jing are also very close to her.

Therefore, she had always been worried that it was true that Zhang Yifan had angered her father because he was young and ignorant.When I saw Lan Yu at this time, I couldn't wait to find out the truth.

After hearing this, Lan Yu said with a little admiration: "Anyway, I have never seen such a tossing person, with the posture of a prime minister!"

When the Crown Princess heard this, she couldn't help but be very happy, and asked again: "Many people in the capital don't believe that he did a good job. Do you mean that he really did a good job?"

"Don't tell me, unless you see it with your own eyes, it's really unbelievable!" Lan Yu nodded and said, "Anyway, it will be here soon, you will know it at a glance."

After finishing speaking, he looked at Zhu Biao and said, "Then I will make arrangements and send a naval escort to take a boat directly to Xiangshan County."

Zhu Biao listened, nodded, and after watching Lan Yu leave, he said to his wife with a somewhat serious expression: "What my father is really angry about is that Yifan shows signs of laziness. Maybe he did achieve success before. A little achievement, but maybe now I am proud and complacent. It is because of this that my father decided to let me come."

He hadn't told anyone about this before.Of course, exaggerating and falsely reporting political achievements can also be considered a form of poor performance.But the hiring of a curtainman was unacceptable to the diligent Zhu Yuanzhang, and it became the trigger for the outbreak of dissatisfaction with Zhang Yifan.

When the princess heard this, she immediately became worried.

As a princess, of course she knew very well how much her father hated lazy politics. Otherwise, Zhu Biao wouldn't be so busy.Sometimes, Zhu Biao felt a little uncomfortable, but he still had to persist because he was afraid that his father would think he was lazy.

To be honest, she felt that Zhu Yuanzhang's requirements were a bit strict.

However, she was only Zhu Yuanzhang's daughter-in-law, and her father-in-law was still the emperor, so she could not express her opinions and could only keep them in her heart.

Thinking of this in her heart, she said to Zhu Biao: "I know Yifan's personality, he should not be that kind of person, I believe he must have his reasons for doing things."

Zhu Biao listened, nodded, and said with a slightly solemn expression: "In my impression, he is really not irritable in doing things, unlike someone at his age. However, given his age, I am still a little worried, and Let’s hear what he has to say? I hope his answer will satisfy my father.”

At this point, he saw that his wife seemed to want to talk, and he immediately guessed what she wanted to say, so he quickly added: "Don't worry, I will definitely help him."

After hearing this, the Crown Princess smiled and stopped caring about the matter. She just teased Zhu Xiongying and said, "I'm going to meet my aunt and uncle soon. There is something delicious. Do you like it?"

Zhu Xiongying listened and nodded: "I like it, I want to eat delicious food!"

After having lunch in Guangzhou, Zhu Biao and his party took a boat south along the Pearl River under the escort of the navy transferred by Lan Yu.

What surprised Zhu Biao was that Fang Xiaoru didn't stay with his father longer and rushed back to go south by boat with him.

There was some disbelief on his face, and he said to Song Lian, and actually to Zhu Biao: "My father also tried his best to praise Xiangshan County, saying that he had never seen such a dynamic place. According to my father's words, It’s really hard for students to believe.”

After hearing this, Song Lian asked with a smile: "So you can't wait to go to Xiangshan County to visit?"

"Of course!" Fang Xiaoru heard this and immediately replied, "Students can't figure it out, what is vitality?"

Perhaps knowing that these people were the prince's confidants, Lan Yu's face was obviously not as cold as usual, and even after hearing the conversation, she even took the initiative to interrupt and said: "What the prefect said is right, Xiangshan County is indeed very dynamic. As long as you go there, you can feel it.”

Speaking of this, he thought for a while, and finally said: "It's like the feeling of spring after winter, everything is full of vitality!"

"General Lan said so, it's really so desirable!" After hearing this, Song Lian couldn't help but stroke his long beard under his forehead, showing a look of joyful yearning.

Zhu Biao became happy after hearing this and said, "Then let's see what this boy Yifan has done!"

The fleet went down the river and soon reached the boundary of Xiangshan.They didn't even reach Xiangshan County yet. Just looking at the situation along the way, they immediately knew that they had reached the boundary of Xiangshan.

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(End of this chapter)