Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 81 Above Xiaoling Mausoleum
"I almost forgot that today is the Ghost Festival..."

At the foot of Purple Mountain, when Zhu Gaoxu got off his horse and watched the eunuchs carrying out stacks of yellow paper, he remembered that today is the Ghost Festival on July [-]th, a day to pay homage to deceased relatives.

When he came to his senses, two Leopard Tao guards were about to take away his and Xu Zengshou's horses.

Seeing this scene, Zhu Gaoxu quickly said: "Feed it three kilograms of bean feed and ten kilograms of water."

"Yes!"

The soldiers who led Chi Huan bowed and retreated, and Zhu Gaoxu also turned his attention to the surroundings.

Behind him is a stone archway with two pillars that are three feet high and two feet wide. On the forehead are the six characters "Officials dismount" engraved across the forehead. Looking behind him, there are lush trees.

As Xu Zengshou said, the trees in the Purple Mountain were only planted 12 years ago, which is the year when Queen Ma passed away.

There are many types of trees, but most of them are cypresses, and the rest are trees from Queen Ma's hometown.

Among them, the cypress trees grow the tallest. Although they were only planted 12 years ago, they are all two feet tall, and most of the trees in Suzhou are also ten feet tall.

However, even if Zhu Yuanzhang intended to plant trees in Zijin Mountain, according to the tree planting methods of this era, if the huge Zijin Mountain is to be filled with trees, it cannot be completed in one or two years, but will last more than ten years.

While he was thinking this, the large chariot also stopped in front of the Shinto at the foot of Purple Mountain, attracting everyone's attention.

In the eyes of everyone, Guo Ying opened the door of the carriage and got out of the carriage first, and then Zhu Yuanzhang slowly got out of the carriage.

After getting off the car, he glanced at everyone, and finally stopped at the many items prepared for Empress Ma and the late Crown Prince Zhu Biao.

After checking, he walked up the Shinto in person and walked towards Xiaoling Tomb and Dongling Tomb in front.

Zhu Gaoxu followed closely, followed by Xu Zengshou and Guo Ying, and finally the eunuchs of the Supervisor of Ceremonies and more than a hundred leopard guards and elite cavalry dressed in black.

After the team walked more than five hundred steps, what appeared in front of everyone was a main gate guarded by soldiers.

The main entrance of Xiaoling Mausoleum is a typical building with yellow glazed tiles and heavy eaves. The walls are made of bricks and stones. The lower part is a stone Xumizuo with a large golden gate carved on it.

This big golden door is eight feet wide and two feet five feet deep. There are three door openings in the wall. The middle door is one foot five feet high and the left and right doors are one foot three feet high.

After walking through the Kinmen corridor, you will see a section of road with Shinto stone carvings.

The Shinto extends from east to northwest, and is lined with six kinds of stone animals: lions, scorpions, camels, elephants, unicorns, and horses. There are two pairs of each type, totaling 24 pairs and [-] pieces. Each type kneels and stands on both sides to welcome the attendants. .

To the left and right of the Shinto stone beast stood the tomb-guarding soldiers dressed in black. They looked at their noses, their noses and their hearts, with their heads slightly lowered, waiting for Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Gaoxu to pass by.

After that, Zhu Yuanzhang and others passed by the Wenwu Square Gate, the Stele Hall, the Xiang Hall, the Dashiqiao, and the Fangcheng, and finally arrived at the Xiaoling Ming Tower that was their target.

The Xiaoling Ming Tower is on the square city. It has double eaves on the top of the mountain and is covered with yellow glazed tiles. It is 31 feet long from east to west and six feet wide from north to south. There are three arches on the south side and one arch on each of the other three sides. The door nails on each door are as follows. Nine rows, nine in each row, to show the dignity of the Nine and Five.

More than [-] steps away from here, Chongqiu is the Baoding of Xiaoling, where Queen Ma's palace is located.

Therefore, after arriving at Minglou, no one except those close to him are allowed to enter.

After Zhu Gaoxu followed Zhu Yuanzhang into the Ming Tower, there was a portrait of Queen Ma hanging high, which was the same as the painting Zhu Gaoxu saw in later generations.

When the maid guarding the mausoleum in the Ming Tower saw Zhu Yuanzhang's arrival, she immediately bowed five times and kowtowed three times, then stood up and presented the lit incense to Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Gaoxu.

After the two took it, they held three sticks of incense and began to bow and salute.

Among them, Zhu Gaoxu had no memory of Queen Ma, so although he acted solemnly, he was thinking wildly in his mind.

In contrast to him, Zhu Yuanzhang was bowing and saluting, with the past between him and Queen Ma flashing through his mind.

"Sister, I'm pretty hard-hearted..."

Looking back on the past, Zhu Yuanzhang could not cry. Perhaps he had already cried most of his tears in the days after Queen Ma passed away.

The rest was also donated to his eldest son Zhu Biao in Dongling.After placing the incense, Zhu Yuanzhang stood quietly in the Ming Tower, looking at the portrait of Queen Ma hanging in front of him, motionless, not knowing what he was thinking.

Zhu Gaoxu, who was standing behind him, also returned to his place after placing the incense, but he didn't have as many memories as Zhu Yuanzhang.

Although the others were standing where they were, their minds were already thinking about what to have for lunch.

"I heard before that your father takes you three brothers to the temple to worship the queen every year, but you don't cry every time."

In the bright building, Zhu Yuanzhang's voice echoed, making Zhu Gaoxu tremble in fright and at the same time he replied awkwardly:
"The kid was too young at that time and didn't understand human nature."

"Then you cry for me now." Zhu Yuanzhang interrupted.

"..." Zhu Gaoxu was speechless and did not dare to refute. He could only think about the sad things in the past in his heart.

But no matter what he thought, he couldn't squeeze out a tear from his eyes, which made his face flush with anxiety.

It happened that at this time, Zhu Yuanzhang also turned around and looked at him, looking at his appearance with a calm expression on his face.

"Grandpa...I am born with deep eye sockets and cannot cry."

Zhu Gaoxu put on a smile that was uglier than crying, but Zhu Yuanzhang did not reprimand him. Instead, he said something that surprised Zhu Gaoxu:

"You and your grandma have never met, so it's not surprising that you can't cry. My ancestors couldn't cry when I cried when I was a child."

Zhu Yuanzhang's words made Zhu Gaoxu speechless. He didn't expect Zhu Yuanzhang to be so open-minded.

As for Zhu Gaoxu's current behavior, if some Confucian scholars saw it, they might say that he was unfilial.

However, in Zhu Yuanzhang's view, this is human nature.

His actions made Zhu Gaoxu less afraid of him.

"I have thought about the money bill method you mentioned before carefully."

Suddenly, Zhu Yuanzhang changed the subject and changed from his original identity of grandson to emperor and minister. Zhu Gaoxu could not react for a moment and was stunned on the spot at a loss.

But Zhu Yuanzhang did not blame him, but expressed his own thoughts:
"If there are really a lot of gold, silver and copper mines in Yunnan, then the Ministry of Revenue will take back as many treasures as the amount of gold and silver produced every year."

"But if there are no gold, silver, and copper mines in Yunnan, then you can go to the clan mansion to get the ten sticks yourself."

Zhu Yuanzhang stated the most serious punishment he could impose on his children and grandchildren, and in Zhu Gaoxu's view, although the punishment of ten sticks was painful, it was not enough to cause fatal injuries.

Since Lao Zhu wants to explore gold, silver and copper mines in Yunnan, it will naturally cost a lot of manpower and material resources.

If it were an ordinary official who presented an untrue report, he would probably be exiled in the lightest case, or executed with a stick in the worst case.

In comparison, Zhu Gaoxu's ten sticks were able to withstand such a heavy crime, which shows how low Zhu Yuanzhang's punishment for his children and grandchildren was.

"Is that how confident you are?"

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Zhu Gaoxu, who was grinning and bowing, and couldn't help but become curious.

Faced with this question, Zhu Gaoxu also stood up with a smile: "My grandson never lies. Since he said he did, then he must!"

"There must be?" Zhu Yuanzhang repeated.

"There must be!" Zhu Gaoxu's eyes did not dodge, and he looked at Zhu Yuanzhang firmly.

That stubborn look reminded Zhu Yuanzhang of Zhu Biao...

(End of this chapter)