Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 48
"Beep--"

In the long street of Lane [-] of Datong Street, when the wooden whistle sounded at the door of Duke Ying's Mansion, the soldiers of the Gengzi Hundred Household Regiment, who had already assembled, began to disperse in an orderly manner.

Instead, it was Xu Zibaihu led by Zhu Gaoxu.

Since it was his second shift at the Duke Ying's Mansion, Zhu Gaoxu was already familiar with it.

He went to the back-seat room in the front yard to rest according to his memory, but this time he did not focus on guarding work. Instead, he prepared paper, pen and inkstone, practicing calligraphy and monitoring at the same time.

His appearance was noticed by Fu Youde, Duke of Ying who got up early.

However, Fu Youde was hiding in the ear room of the main hall, so he could see Zhu Gaoxu, but Zhu Gaoxu could not see him.

"I didn't expect this guy to have a leisurely and elegant calligraphy practice book."

Fu Youde, wearing a cloak, stood quietly in front of the window and peeked at Zhu Gaoxu.

He knew about Feng Sheng being warned by Zhu Yuanzhang two days ago, and also knew about Feng Sheng's request to open part of the book collection to Zhu Gaoxu for reading.

But even so, Fu Youde still doesn't think there is anything outstanding about Zhu Gaoxu.

But while he was peeking like this, his eldest son Fu Zhong walked in from behind him unknowingly. It wasn't until he was almost behind Fu Youde that Fu Youde suddenly noticed it and suddenly turned his head to look.

"Dad?" Fu Zhong was startled by Fu Youde's actions, but Fu Youde shook his head after seeing the person coming:
"You really are old, you can't even notice someone coming so close."

In the Ming Dynasty, counting was based on virtual years, so Fu Youde is now over 70 years old.

Perhaps because he had been imprisoned in the mansion for too long, he could clearly feel that his physical condition was declining.

If this continues, I'm afraid he won't have a few good years left.

Thinking of this, Fu Youde turned around and went to the backyard.

However, Fu Zhong did not follow him away, but turned to look at Zhu Gaoxu who was sitting in the room.

After all, he was the consort. How could he not know that Zhu Yuanzhang reprimanded Feng Sheng and that Feng Sheng opened his collection of books to Zhu Gaoxu for reading?
He understood Zhu Yuanzhang's intentions, and he also believed that his father understood the other party's intentions, but it was just his father's temper...

"Alas..." Fu Zhong sighed. He didn't know what to do to save his family. In the end, he could only attack Fu Youde.

He turned around and followed Fu Youde, and the two of them arrived at the martial arts field in the side courtyard one after another.

There are many weapons for practicing martial arts here, and it is the place that witnessed the growth of the second and third generations of the Yingguo Duke's family.

Fu Youde not only had one pair of children, but many heirs.

In addition to his eldest son Fu Zhong, he also has four sons.

The second son, Fu Zheng, is currently serving as the commander of the Puding Tuntian Guards in Yunnan, with the rank of general.

The third son, Fu Mao, is currently serving as the commander of the capital in Yunnan.

The fourth son, Fu Jing, was also in Yunnan and served as the commander of the Dali Guard.

The fifth son, Fu Rang, is currently serving as the guard and governor of Jinwu in Nanjing. However, he has been imprisoned in his mansion since last year and has not seen his father Fu Youde for a year.

In addition to these second-generation children, many third-generation children also serve in the court, starting from either a hundred or a thousand households.

It can be said that Zhu Yuanzhang was pretty good to the children of the Fu family, but he was only so good until the letter from Jin Wang Zhu Fan.

"old……"

Fu Youde took off his cloak and stood in his middle coat to perform martial arts. He subconsciously picked up the fifty-pound iron gun he used for martial arts training.

Just by stretching out his hand, he felt the power of time.

The spear that was once so light has now become somewhat out of his control, which means that his strength is not declining at the 01:30 point.

"Dad, let's change to a lighter one."

Fu Zhong saw that his father was out of breath after a set of interception and stabbing, so he couldn't bear to dissuade him.

It was just his words that made Fu Youde angry. He turned around and yelled: "Don't hinder your father!"

Having said that, he continued to wield the iron gun stubbornly, but the heavy iron gun weighing fifty kilograms was very consuming.

Just one word (5 minutes) passed, and Fu Youde was sweating profusely, panting while holding his spear, and his back bent involuntarily.Seeing his appearance, Fu Zhong stepped forward distressedly and handed over the coarse cloth he had prepared. Fu Youde took it and wiped the sweat, then held the iron gun with one hand and inserted it back into its original position.

There are two iron guns on the left and right of that position, one is a large iron gun that weighs one hundred kilograms and is one foot six long, and the other is a thirty kilogram iron gun that is only one foot two.

In addition to these three guns, there are also thick and long hundred-jin swords and hundred-jin long-handled swords.

However, these weapons are all used for strength training during martial arts training, and the spears normally used on the battlefield are in another row.

In this row, many of the spears have wooden poles and iron heads, with lengths ranging from [-] to [-] feet, and weights ranging from [-] to [-] kilograms.

Second generation disciples like Fu Zhong could barely use a five or six kilogram spear in battle, while a twelve kilogram spear was the weapon used by Fu Youde in his prime.

As he grew older, the weight of his spear also continued to decrease, from twelve kilograms to ten kilograms, and then to eight kilograms.

Even so, he is still the same Ying Guogong who bravely won the three armies in Hongwu 15 years ago.

But with the rise of Qu Neng, Song Sheng and others, even he had to accept his old age.

"Back then, I led my soldiers and horses to attack the cavalry on foot. What I relied on was that the spears were like a forest and they were like a wall."

"Now I can't even use my own spear." Fu Youde touched the twelve-pound spear with a sigh. Fu Zhong next to him also took the opportunity to mention Zhu Gaoxu:

"I heard from people outside that the second son of Yan, Zixu, was only 15 years old, but he could shoot a 130-pound tiger bow in the examination school. I don't know how heavy a spear he can use."

"Haha...just bragging!" Fu Youde laughed suddenly, obviously not believing that any kid could shoot a 15-pound tiger bow at the age of 130.

"How about summoning him to take a look? Maybe he will be stronger than my father when he was young."

Fu Zhong knew his father's character and said clearly that he would definitely disagree, but if he used other methods, his father would want to expose the other party's "lies".

"Hmph!" Fu Youde really got angry and told Fu Zhong without looking back: "Call that kid and give it a try, so that he knows not to deceive himself."

"Yes, call him here so that dad can teach him a lesson, so that he can know that there are people outside the world, and there is a sky outside the world." Seeing that his plan was successful, Fu Zhong immediately winked at a servant in the martial arts arena.

The servant understood this and immediately ran from the side yard to the front yard, and quickly walked to the front of Zhu Gaoxu's house.

After arriving, he took a look down at Zhu Gaoxu's handwriting and had to say that it was very beautiful.

"Your Highness, the Duke invites you to the martial arts arena."

The guard bowed respectfully. Zhu Gaoxu, who was practicing his calligraphy, raised his head in confusion after hearing this. However, he didn't think much about it. He just put down his pen and walked out of the back-seat room. He greeted the brothers on his left and right: "Remember to add water to my ink, don't let it go." Done."

"Yes!" The brother of Xu named Baihu bowed in return. Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu also followed the servant to the side courtyard.

Not long after, he passed through a long corridor and saw Fu Youde and his son standing in an open space of rammed earth.

The two of them could easily tell each other apart, so Zhu Gaoxu bowed with the junior ceremony:

"My little boy, Zhu Gaoxu, has met Duke Ying, my uncle."

"Hmph!" Fu Youde looked at Zhu Gaoxu's face and couldn't help but think of his father, Zhu Di, and Zhu Gaoxu's 'bragging' behavior, and couldn't help but snort.

"Huh?" Hearing Fu Youde snort, Zhu Gaoxu was a little confused, wondering where he had offended this person.

"You are more polite than your father."

Fu Youde also realized that he had a bad temper, so he took the initiative to speak and mentioned Zhu Di.

He and Zhu Di were old comrades-in-arms. During the two years of Hongwu 23 and 24, Fu Youde was in the north, going on expeditions and training with Zhu Fan and Zhu Di.

He had a pretty good impression of Zhu Di, otherwise he would not agree with Fu Zhong and meet Zhu Gaoxu in person.

However, if Zhu Gaoxu does something he doesn't like, he can always see him off.

Thinking of this, Fu Youde took a look at Zhu Gaoxu's height and physique with a hint of contempt:
"I heard that you can shoot a 130-pound bow. I don't know how many pounds of weapons you can wield."

"Huh?" Zhu Gaoxu was confused: "Why do you feel the smell of gunpowder in Duke Ying's mouth?"

After doubts, Zhu Gaoxu still respected the old and loved the young, and said modestly:

"Probably..."

(End of this chapter)