Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 24 Receiving merit and reward
"Shut up!"

Outside the teaching field, when the sound of reining in the horse was heard, Zhu Gaoxu and Yang Zhan skillfully turned over and dismounted.

Judging from their dismounting postures, Zhu Gaoxu has the best equestrian skills. He can dismount before the horse stops and his steps are steady.

Next was Wang Xuan. He dismounted like Zhu Gaoxu, but after dismounting he still had to run forward with the horse for a few steps.

As for the last one, Yang Zhan, he could only dismount steadily when the horse was about to stop.

But this is not bad, after all, Yang Zhan has never been exposed to equestrian before and has only practiced it in the past four months.

"At this rate, you two should be able to apply for the school entrance examination in advance, and you will get the opportunity to join the job in one year at most."

Zhu Gaoxu took out the water bag from the side of his horse and took a sip. At the same time, he poured the water into his hand and fed it to the war horse he was training.

"Complete the school exam early, go back to the institute to practice a few times, and see your highness again after receiving military honors."

Yang Zhan responded to Zhu Gaoxu with a smile, but before they could say anything more, three soldiers at the entrance of the cathedral came forward to bow:
"Your Highness, the time has come. It's time to return the horses."

"Well..." Zhu Gaoxu was quite helpless after hearing what the soldiers said.

He could have used his identity to privately own a military horse, but that would ruin his impression on Lao Zhu.

Therefore, when he practiced equestrian skills for so many days, he always borrowed horses from the large training ground.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Seeing Zhu Gaoxu speak, the three soldiers breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards the teaching grounds with the three horses.

Zhu Gaoxu and the three of them also walked slowly inward, but they seemed to have seen Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude towards him from the policy questions, so Zhu Gaoxu no longer had the initial sense of urgency.

He knew very well that Zhu Yuanzhang would ask him the question of reducing the vassal status, just to confirm his attitude towards Zhu Yunwen.

As long as he answers well, Zhu Yuanzhang will naturally arrange for him, but if he answers poorly and has hidden thoughts in the answer sheet, then what will greet Zhu Gaoxu is that Lao Zhu will not want to see him at all.

Zhu Gaoxu understood that he could not play tricks with Lao Zhu, so he answered honestly, and the content of the article also catered to Zhu Yuanzhang.

In fact, even he himself had an illusion, that is, Zhu Yuanzhang was happy after reading it and ordered Zhu Yunwen to follow his example, and Zhu Yunwen also followed his article to implement the reduction of vassal status.

If this is the case, then the three guards of his Prince Yan's Mansion will be divided into three. He can have one guard of his own and at the same time live a life as a king guarding the border in the north.

In this era, after reaching a certain level of status, the living materials enjoyed are actually no different from those of the emperor.

Therefore, as long as Zhu Yunwen gives him a way to survive, he will never rebel. Instead, he will happily guard the border for him.

However, judging from what Zhu Gaoxu knew about Zhu Yunqi from history, Zhu Yunqi's eagerness to reduce the vassal status is probably beyond anyone's imagination.

He didn't listen to Qi Tai's suggestion, so naturally he couldn't listen to himself.

Jianwen's plan to cut down the feudal vassalage will still break out, and he still has to prepare for survival...

Zhu Gaoxu was prepared in his heart, but when he was about to enter the cathedral, the sound of horse hooves was heard in the distance.

He and Yang Zhan looked back, only to see several horses galloping on the dirt road, led by a military attaché wearing the official uniform of a fifth-grade military attache.

They seemed to know Zhu Gaoxu, running towards them all the way, and pulled the reins of the horses when they were about to arrive.

The leading military attache turned over and dismounted, and after standing firm, he raised his hands and bowed:

"Your Highness, according to His Majesty's instructions, Your Highness will go to Yulin Left Guard on the first day of the fifth lunar month to serve as an official of one hundred households."

"In addition, Your Majesty will reward you with twenty bolts of silk and five hundred ingots."

While the military attaché was speaking, the soldiers behind him also got off their horses, bowed to Zhu Gaoxu, and presented a stack of five hundred treasure notes to him.

The military attaché accepted the delivery and said softly: "Twenty pieces of silk have been delivered to His Highness's residence in Habayashi Zuoe."

"Okay, thank you for your work..." Zhu Gaoxu took the stack of five hundred banknotes, bowed in return and turned to leave.

With his status, there was no need to wait for the military attaches to leave.

On the other hand, Yang Zhan and Wang Xuan returned the greetings one after another, then turned around and trotted to keep up with Zhu Gaoxu.

"Your Highness, how come your Majesty is issuing all the treasure notes? These 120 guan of treasure notes can only be exchanged for [-] five guan in silver. And I heard that the treasure notes have fallen again recently, but I don't know the price."

Yang Zhan had a flexible mind. Although he knew that this pile of treasure money was an astronomical sum, he still couldn't help but feel distressed.

"How much can those twenty pieces of silk be sold for?" Zhu Gaoxu didn't know how to make clothes, and he had no one to help him, so he naturally wanted to sell the twenty pieces of silk.

"It depends on the material. If it's ordinary silk, it's about six hundred coins per piece, and twenty pieces means twelve strings." Yang Zhan responded. "It's not much." Zhu Gaoxu nodded: "You should get up early tomorrow and change this treasure banknote into money and bring it back."

Zhu Gaoxu knew that the treasure note had been depreciating, so naturally he would not keep it. Instead, he explained:
"After converting the money, go to your inner city and see if there is anyone selling horses. If there is, buy three of them. Whether they are riding horses or sub-horses, as long as they can be ridden."

"Yes!" After hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, Yang Zhan's eyes lit up, and Wang Xuan next to him also grinned.

"It's April [-]th now. Please remember to remind me that I will be on duty on the first day of May."

"it is good!"

Zhu Gaoxu made the final comment, and Yang Zhan responded cheerfully.

The three of them returned to the small courtyard one after the other, and the atmosphere was relaxed and pleasant.

However, compared to their side, a group of uninvited guests came from Fengyang County, which was more than [-] miles away.

A eunuch carrying an edict arrived at the door of a luxurious mansion with twelve leopard guard cavalry. He got off his horse and went to the door to knock on the door.

"Who……"

The concierge who opened the door was about to ask who the person was, but when he saw the other person's identity, he was frightened and turned pale.

The eunuch who delivered the order didn't say anything, he just led people into the house after the door opened.

"If there is an edict, please accept it from Duke Ying!"

When they came to the main hall, the eunuch who delivered the edict was singing the imperial edict, and his words made the faces of the few men who came over turn pale, and they didn't know what to do for a while.

However, a middle-aged man who came later was very calm, as if he had known this day would come for a long time, so he bowed to the eunuch who delivered the order:
"Father-in-law, wait a minute, I'm going to tell my father-in-law's story."

"The prince-in-law does not need to salute." Seeing the man salute, the eunuch who passed the order turned sideways, not daring to accept the salute and returned the salute instead.

Seeing this, the man known as the Prince Consort didn't say anything, turned around and walked towards the backyard.

However, before he could pass through several corridors, he saw an old man wearing a white gown walking from the backyard.

His hair and beard are all white but he is tall. He walks calmly and powerfully. Even though he is old, his eyes are not muddy but are very firm.

Just the few steps he took made the man feel like he was facing a tiger patrolling its territory in the forest.

"Father, there is a decree from the palace..."

When the middle-aged man saw the visitor, he immediately bowed and revealed everything that happened outside with an ugly face.

"It should have come a long time ago..." The old man seemed to have known that this day would come. He walked towards the main hall without stopping. The man quickly followed after seeing this.

The father and son were speechless along the way. It wasn't until they almost reached the main hall that the old man couldn't help but say:

"You are the eldest brother and the consort. Your Majesty will not embarrass you. As for me..."

The old man pondered for a moment without saying anything, and at this time they also entered the main hall.

"See Duke Ying!"

Seeing the old man's appearance, the soldiers and eunuchs in the main hall bowed and saluted one after another. Naturally, the only person who could be called Duke Ying was Fu Youde, who "ranked first in generals' merits."

"Your Majesty, Fu Youde, accepts the order..."

The tall Fu Youde chose to kneel directly when faced with the light imperial edict. The eunuch who delivered the edict seemed to know about Fu Youde. He did not blame the other party for not preparing the incense case, but opened the edict and prepared to read it out.

When the imperial edict was opened, Fu Youde's descendants held their breath, and Fu Youde himself even closed his eyes, as if he felt that his life was about to end.

"By God's blessing, the emperor issued an edict: I have given you an order to the Duke of Ying, Fu Youde. I have often thought of you since you returned home. Now I hereby give you an order to return to the capital and live in the residence of the Duke of Ying, so that you can be summoned. I will also reward you with three hundred banknotes." Ding, admire this..."

When the eunuch who delivered the edict finished reading the imperial edict, everyone in Duke Ying's palace was stunned. Fu Zhong, the eldest son of Fu Youde and known as the consort, even had an expression on his face that he would survive the disaster.

Similarly, Fu Youde also opened his eyes after reciting the imperial edict, but he was not as simple as Fu Zhong.

He knew very well that even if he escaped this time, it would not be because of his great ability, but because the person did not want him to die.

As for why you don't want him to die, you can only know if you go to the capital...

(End of this chapter)