Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 30 Similarity between Father and Son
"Hehe... I just said that Gao Xu looks like me. Isn't this a compliment from my father?"

On the city wall of Beiping in May, when a tall, fat, black man laughed happily while holding a piece of letter paper, the people around him also laughed.

The fat black man turned around. He had dark skin, long eyes and a broad face, with a high nose and curly beard. The long mustache under his nose was divided to both sides and was very slender. Not only that, the long beard on his chin was also very thick.

From a distance, this man looks like an angry lion from the Western Regions.

Looking closer, I felt that his features were kind and his whole person was very cheerful.

Compared with the high self-esteem of King Qin and King Jin, this guy who always kept saying "I" seemed very down-to-earth. It was this down-to-earth guy who guarded the north for the Ming Dynasty for 14 years.

As for the identity of this cheerful guy, he is Zhu Gaoxu's cheap father, the current Lord of Peiping, King Yan Zhu Di.

"Your Highness..."

At this moment, Zhu Di was happy because Zhu Gaoxu was praised by Zhu Yuanzhang. Next to him, a sixty-year-old monk wearing a black cassock with white eyebrows and beard walked out and saluted:

"What we should be concerned about right now is not this, but whether His Highness is related to Duke Ying and Duke Song returning to the capital."

"Huh?" After hearing the monk's words, Zhu Di turned to look at him, touched his beard, and felt a little unconfident:

"Dao Yan, although Gao Xu has been praised, it won't affect my father. The matters involving Duke Ying and Duke Song cannot involve him anyway."

It has to be said that Zhu Di is quite self-aware. Although he has always felt that Zhu Gaoxu looks like him, he is not so arrogant that Zhu Gaoxu can influence Zhu Yuanzhang's decision-making.

"Having said that, His Highness the Second Highness has changed a lot in the past few months. In addition, there is news from the capital that His Highness has gone to serve as the Yulin Left Guard, and the Yulin Left Guard is responsible for guarding the Duke of Song's Palace and the Duke of Ying's Palace, so the poor monk is worried... "

It is said that the three-pointed monk was called Daoyan by Zhu Di. Compared with this name, his more famous name is Yao Guangxiao.

Compared with the Qin and Jin vassals, Yao Guangxiao had wider sources of information. The reason for this is closely related to his status as a monk, Seng Lusi.
Therefore, he has more intelligence and can analyze more places.

Although he did not believe that the once very naughty Second Highness could influence the current emperor's decision-making, he still reminded Zhu Di out of duty.

But in response to his words, Zhu Di, as Zhu Gaoxu's father, smiled happily:

"If it is true, then I will be even more relieved."

"Don't worry?" Yao Guangxiao was stunned, but Zhu Di was quite proud:
"If this kid can stir up the muddy waters in Nanjing, then someone will guard the north for me in the future!"

Zhu Di spoke in a somewhat showy tone, leaving Yao Guangxiao speechless for a moment.

He wanted to say something to remind him, but the sound of horse hooves came from the city.

A group of cavalry galloped from the horse road under the city. The leading general dismounted and bowed to Zhu Di and others:

"Your Highness, there is news from Tangqi in the north!"

"Tell me about it." Upon hearing the news from the north, Zhu Di suddenly became interested.

Under his inquiry, the young general who came to report also replied:

"Commander Zhang led the cavalry to patrol north to the nomadic place of Wuliangha (Duoyan Sanwei). No trace of the Wuliangha people was seen. It seems that they fled north to Wuliangha Tucheng."

"Commander Zhang saw the difficulty of patrolling the enemy and wanted to withdraw his troops and go south. However, he encountered some savage Jurchens in the upper reaches of the Songhua River who wanted to rob them. He killed more than a hundred people and captured hundreds of men, women, children, old and weak people. .”

"Right now, I'm probably taking them south."

After the general reported back, Zhu Di stroked his long beard and smiled happily: "It seems that those stubborn barbarians in Wuliangha were frightened by me in the past two years, and they didn't even dare to go south to herd horses."

Seeing Zhu Di laughing and scolding, Yao Guangxiao also gave his own suggestions according to the situation:

"Since the rebellion in the 23rd year of Hongwu, the three tribes of Wuliangha have often gone south in autumn and plundered the land of Daning. Although no trace of them has been found yet, His Highness still has to send someone to inform King Ning and King Liao. Ask them to send Tangqi to patrol frequently."

"I know!" Zhu Di put away his smile, nodded calmly, and then ordered the young general:

"Zhang Yu, you will inform my brothers. In addition, let them train their troops well. When my father has the decree, I will lead the troops to pacify the group of barbarians in Wuliangha."

"Yes!" Zhang Yu bowed in return, then led the cavalry on horseback and went down to the city.

Looking at Zhang Yu's leaving figure, Zhu Di turned to Yao Guangxiao and smiled:

"I will go back to the palace first and tell the princess about Gao Xu. If you have nothing to do, go to the temple and knock your wooden fish."

"Your Highness, walk slowly." Yao Guangxiao responded calmly. Seeing this, Zhu Di happily got on his horse and rode home.But when he happily rushed back to the palace, Zhu Gaoxu, who was far away in the south, put on his armor and stood neatly at the door of Duke Ying's palace.

Beside him, a probationer was telling him the rules of the shift.

"Your Highness, I am on duty and do not need to participate in the drill. I am on duty for one day and have one day off. I need to change duties with my brothers from other hundreds of households, both during the day and at night. I have to rotate between Yingguogongfu and Songguogongfu. "

"The four doors of the Duke's Mansion are guarded by brothers. You and your two brothers can rest in the reverse room arranged by the Duke's Mansion in case of emergency. The work is relatively easy, but you cannot leave the Duke's house before changing your shift. Mansion."

At the gate of Duke Ying's mansion, the neatly dressed Shi Baihu explained various key points to Zhu Gaoxu, and also talked about the layout and situation of Duke Ying's mansion.

Zhu Gaoxu listened to all this, and even remembered the layout of the Duke's Mansion after just one glance.

"Inside the mansion..."

Zhu Gaoxu was just about to open his mouth to ask more questions, but he didn't expect that the main door of Duke Ying's Mansion also happened to open at this time, and all their eyes were attracted to it.

While watching, the consort Fu Zhong came out and glanced at Zhu Gaoxu.

Because his face was young and he was dressed as an official from a hundred households, Fu Zhong knew his identity instantly and bowed to him:

"Please ask His Highness the Second Prince to come into the house and monitor..."

Fu Zhong's words were a bit thorny. With Zhu Gaoxu's previous character, he would not care that he was his uncle. He would scold him first and then talk about it.

However, Zhu Gaoxu is much more mature now. He can stand in Fu Zhong's position and put himself in Fu Zhong's shoes. Therefore, he is not angry, but calmly bows in return, and then leads two soldiers into Duke Ying's mansion.

Seeing his appearance, Fu Zhong couldn't help but be stunned.

As far as he knew, Zhu Gaoxu had a bad temper. Why was he so refined now?
He didn't have time to think too much, because after Zhu Gaoxu walked into Duke Ying's mansion, he walked around the screen wall and looked around in the courtyard.

I have to say that Lao Zhu still has nothing to say about Fu Youde.

The scale of Duke Ying's mansion is large, with three rooms and five bays in the front gate, one room and five bays in the middle gate tower, and five bays and seven bays in the front hall.

Although I only saw one or two doors and one living room, according to regulations, I am afraid that the Duke Ying's mansion has at least 47 rooms, which is on the same level as the prince's mansion.

"May I ask my uncle, where will my nephew live?"

Zhu Gaoxu didn't get angry because of Fu Zhong's harsh tone just now, but bowed and asked in a neither humble nor overbearing manner.

Fu Zhong was a little confused by his polite behavior, but he still pointed to a small room in the front hall.

"Thank you, uncle." Zhu Gaoxu returned the salute and led two soldiers to the front of the hut.

He walked in by himself and looked at the furnishings in the room.

To put it simply, it is the same as an ordinary guest room, with a bed, desk and chairs, and a table, chairs and bench for eating.

Seeing that the facilities were complete, Zhu Gaoxu also walked out. He did not avoid Fu Zhong, but said directly to the soldiers on the left and right:
"The two of you will stand guard in shifts. Each of you will stand for a quarter of an hour. After rest, you will sit on the bench in the room."

"Rest?" After hearing Zhu Gaoxu's words, the two soldiers were stunned. Apparently they did not expect that His Highness could be so relaxed.

Not only them, but Fu Zhong next to him also frowned.

To Fu Zhong, Zhu Gaoxu's performance was indeed a sign of loose military discipline.

"Being on duty requires a balance between work and rest. The two of you stand guard. After a day of standing, you are physically and mentally exhausted. You will have to lie in bed tomorrow."

"We take turns standing guard, and I sit by the window to accompany them. We each have a rest, and the supervision is not relaxed. Why not?"

Zhu Gaoxu's words made the two soldiers look at each other in confusion. After a few seconds, they bowed with secret joy and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."

Zhu Gaoxu ignored the two soldiers, but returned to the house and sat on a chair by the window. He seemed to be in a daze, but he was able to capture every plant and tree in the house in time.

"..." Looking at Zhu Gaoxu's actions, Fu Zhong began to have a different opinion of him.

"I'm afraid I'm following others' opinions..." Fu Zhong shook his head and walked towards the house.

(End of this chapter)