Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 89
"That's what happened. If you want to help me, you can. If you don't want it to be troublesome, you can go to the palace with your uncle and tell His Majesty the truth."

In the study room of Duke Ying's residence, when Fu Youde and Zhu Gaoxu explained the whole story, Zhu Gaoxu finally understood the reason for the abnormal atmosphere in Duke Ying's residence.

"For such a thing, people in the Duke's Mansion can actually show such an attitude. I'm afraid there are only a few people from the Fu family in the entire Duke's Mansion..."

Zhu Gaoxu thought of the atmosphere in the mansion, and then thought of what Fu Youde said.

With Fu Youde's sophistication, even if the spies in the mansion knew that the Crown Princess of Jin had sent someone, they probably wouldn't understand the contents too deeply.

If you want to perjure yourself, you are still somewhat sure.

But...do I really want to perjure myself?

Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Fu Youde subconsciously. He was still as calm and composed as ever.

On the contrary, Fu Zhong and Fu Rang were extremely nervous, and even their fists were clenched subconsciously.

"Save him. What if he, Feng Sheng, Xie Cheng, and Wang Bi survive?"

At this moment, Zhu Gaoxu did not think about the conflict between the Jin and Yan governments, nor did he want to take the opportunity to attack the Jin government. Instead, he thought about the Jingnan Campaign a few years later.

He did not think that his father could fight against the Southern Army Group with Fu Youde, Xie Cheng, Wang Bi, and Feng Sheng at the same time.

If these four people can die, Yan Mansion will definitely be the biggest beneficiary in the future, but...

In his thoughts, Zhu Gaoxu thought of Fu Youde and Feng Sheng's dedicated teachings to him these days.

"Without them, I'm afraid it would be difficult for me to learn the skills I have now, and my understanding of Ming Dynasty would not be as comprehensive as it is now."

Zhu Gaoxu's face was calm, but Fu Youde still saw some struggle in it, but he didn't find it strange.

Perjury, or perjury in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, not everyone can bear such pressure, not even Zhu Gaoxu.

"I can try..."

After careful consideration, Zhu Gaoxu still believed that he could help Fu Youde's family, but not because of the past few months of getting along and learning, but for his future self.

Four of the five sons of the Fu family are in the army. Except for Fu Rang, who has a lower official position, several others can help him, especially the third son Fu Mao, who serves as the commander of the Yunnan capital.

Yunnan Dusi Nineteenth Guards Station 21, mostly former troops of Fu Youde and Fu Mao, with nearly [-] soldiers.

Whether they board the Jingnan battlefield or guard the Western Frontier with the Mu family, they will be a heavy bargaining chip.

With the support of the Fu family, not only can they get the support of most of the Yunnan Metropolitan Guards, but they can also get the support of Fu Youde's old troops in Shanxi, Liaodong, and Peking.

This is indeed a bargaining chip that is difficult to refuse for Zhu Gaojiu. Even if Fu Youde is going to die eventually, Zhu Gaojiu remembers that the Fu family lived well after his death, but they just didn’t want to be officials. Otherwise, Lao Zhu’s attitude towards the Fu family Guilty, the Fu family still has a strong say in Yunnan.

The kindness of providing help in times of need is enough for them to help themselves in the future.

"it is good……"

In the study, seeing Zhu Gaoxu willing to help, the Fu Zhong brothers breathed a sigh of relief, and Fu Youde also began to express his thoughts:

"I want you to tell His Majesty the matter, but you need to hide the involvement of the concubine."

Fu Youde wanted to keep his daughter, and Zhu Gaoxu nodded without hesitation after hearing this: "If that's all, it's not difficult to do. I just need to make a confession with you, the Duke."

"Okay!" After hearing this, Fu Youde and Zhu Gaoxu made up a set of confessions.

It is said that it is a compilation, but in fact it just conceals the involvement of Fu Shi, the concubine of the Jin Dynasty, and changes it to someone else using the concubines of the Fu family, the concubine of the Jin Dynasty, to meet Fu Youde privately.

Everyone knows who this other person is, even if his name is not mentioned, Zhu Yuanzhang would know it.

After half an hour of collusion, Zhu Gaoxu and Fu Youde confirmed that the testimony was correct, and then he prepared to go to the palace to "report".

Just when he walked out of the study door, Fu Youde stopped him: "Boy!"

"Huh?" Zhu Gaoxu turned around in confusion, thinking that Fu Youde had something else to explain, but Fu Youde just looked at him and said nothing for a long time.

"Retire, kid..."

Unable to get an answer, Zhu Gaoxu bowed and exited the study. Fu Youde saw that he disappeared and sat on a chair beside him.

"It's okay now." The younger Fu Rang patted his chest and took a few breaths.

Compared with him, Fu Zhong seems much calmer: "Things have not been settled, and the result is still unknown."

After saying that, Fu Zhong looked at his father, Fu Youde, who was sitting on the chair and seemed to have aged several years.

"drive!"

While the Fu family and his son were waiting for the results, Zhu Gaoxu had already led Chi Huan to West Chang'anmen Street, and rode his horse on the left and right sides of the imperial road towards Xihua Gate.

While riding Chi Huan on horseback, he imagined many scenes in his mind when he met Zhu Yuanzhang.

It was like he was watching movies in his heart, but the protagonists of these movies were only him and Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Hope it goes well..."

Riding his horse to the outside of Xihua Gate, Zhu Gaoxu handed Chi Huan over to the Jinwu guards guarding the gate and walked into the Forbidden City.

After passing through the long Xihuamen Palace Road, he came to the inner gatehouse of Xihuamen.

After passing here, what appeared in front of him was the familiar Wuying Palace Square, and a few hundred steps away was the Wuying Palace Palace where he often went.

"Relax." He seemed to be saying this to himself, but also to others.

Gathering up his courage, he walked towards Wuying Palace.

The distance of hundreds of steps made him extremely tired at the moment, but in the end he came to the outside of Wuying Palace.

"The second direct son of Yan comes to see you!"

"pass!"

Listening to the singing and singing in the hall, Zhu Gaoxu tidied himself up and walked towards Wuying Hall.

In his mind, he had rehearsed the next scene countless times. He tried hard to be the same as usual, but his efforts were defeated in the next moment.

"Zixu, the second direct descendant of Yan, bows to my grandfather."

Zhu Gaoxu walked into Wuying Hall with his head lowered, then knelt down and bowed five times and kowtowed three times.

He thought he would hear Zhu Yuanzhang's voice asking him to stand down in the next second, but this voice was not heard for a long time. All he could hear was the sound of the memorial in front of him.

The sound of the memorial seemed to have some invisible pressure, and every time it sounded, it brought him tremendous pressure.

"I'm going to be stupid to death this time..."

At this moment, Zhu Gaoxu cursed in his mind that he was blinded by the immediate interests and actually believed that Fu Youde could blind the ears of the Jinyiwei spies.

"Isn't Lao Zhu aware?" Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but raise his head and take a look.

Seeing this, he felt nervous, because Zhu Yunwen, who usually was at Wuying Hall in the afternoon, was not there.

In the huge Wuying Hall, apart from the eunuch who was the eunuch of the ceremony, there were only Zhu Yuanzhang sitting behind the dragon table and two young eunuchs serving him on the left and right.

One of them, Zhu Gaoxu, was very familiar with him. It was Yi Shiha who had brought him to Wuying Palace. At this moment, Yi Shiha's eyes also collided with Zhu Gaoxu's.

What Zhu Gaoxu didn't expect was that Yi Shiha, who was standing behind Zhu Yuanzhang, shook his head slightly.

"What do you mean? Tell me not to talk?"

Zhu Gaoxu was very grateful to Yi Shiha for his actions at this moment, but he was even more confused about the meaning of shaking his head.

"Looking around..."

Suddenly, Zhu Yuanzhang closed the memorial and said something meaningful.

His words made Zhu Gaoxu a little scared, and for a moment he didn't know whether he should reply.

Just when he was hesitating, there were footsteps again outside the palace, and a eunuch on duty walked into the palace and bowed: "Your Majesty, Li Qian is here to see you."

"Send him to come in." Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have been waiting for this man for a long time, and interrupted him before the eunuch could finish speaking.

"My slave, take your orders..." The eunuch on duty returned the greeting and exited the hall, and then another set of footsteps came from behind Zhu Gaoxu.

Seeing that the person he wanted to see arrived, Zhu Yuanzhang also glanced at Zhu Gaoxu: "Get up, stand aside and think about how to trick me before you speak!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's tone was very calm, but it was like thunder in Zhu Gaoxu's ears.

He wanted to explain, but after meeting Zhu Yuanzhang's unwavering gaze, he couldn't help but lower his head to avoid it.

In the end, he could only stand up with his head lowered and stood aside obediently.

It was at this moment that a military attaché in his thirties walked into the palace and saluted Zhu Yuanzhang.

This man Zhu Gaoxu had seen before. He often served Zhu Yuanzhang, but he didn't often speak. His face always had an expression of "don't let strangers in".

When things have reached this point, no matter how stupid Zhu Gaoxu is, he should know the identity of this person.

If he guessed correctly, the military attaché surnamed Li was in control of the Jin Yiwei who had switched from the bright side to the secret side.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu even breathed a lot lighter, for fear that Li Qianshi would say something detrimental to him.

"Your Majesty..." Li Qianshi glanced at Zuo Zuo and Zhu Gaoxu, as if saying there were too many outsiders.

However, facing his hint, Zhu Yuanzhang responded softly: "Tell it truthfully and let this kid listen."

When he said this, Zhu Gaoxu couldn't help but raise his head, but the next moment his eyes collided with him and he had to lower his head.

"Yes..." Seeing that the emperor said so, Li Qianshi also began to report, and what he reported was indeed related to the Jin Dynasty's descendants contacting the Yingguo Duke's mansion.

"At five o'clock last night, the personal maid of the princess of the Jin Dynasty in Beijing went to Ying Guogong's mansion under the cover of Zhang Chun Baihu, the left guard of the imperial army, and orally described the events reported by King Jin to Duke Ying, Shouchun's consort, and Jin Wu's guard. Fu Rang was the one who suppressed him."

"At four o'clock in the morning, this woman left the Duke Ying's mansion."

"At four quarters past noon, Yan Erzixu entered Duke Ying's mansion and left at noon..."

Li Qianshi told everything about Jinyiwei's investigation, but at this moment, Zhu Gaoxu felt that all the pores on his scalp were stinging like needles, and his head and ears were hot.

"Have you figured out how to lie to me?"

"My grandson doesn't dare!" Zhu Yuanzhang's words frightened Zhu Gaoxu into bowing quickly.

"I'm not scared enough to kneel down." Zhu Yuanzhang looked at his grandson's knees and didn't know what he meant.

But when Zhu Gaoxu heard this, he thought Zhu Yuanzhang was scolding him for not kneeling when he made a mistake, so he knelt down in a hurry.

"..." Seeing him kneeling down, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned.

Based on his understanding of Zhu Gaoxu, in the face of this situation, Zhu Gaoxu must have stretched his neck and shouted that he was right, forcing Zhu Yuanzhang to do it himself before kneeling down.

"This kid's temperament has changed, and he has become a bit weaker."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head in his heart, and then asked: "How did they teach you to say it?"

He asked first, and then added: "You can tell me after you think about it."

"Go back to grandpa..." Zhu Gaoxu felt that time was running very slowly at this moment, and he hesitated between telling the truth or not.

Although he was afraid of death, he always felt that Lao Zhu was deceiving him, but he did not dare to gamble.

But when those words came to his lips, he thought of Yi Shiha's shaking his head, so he decided to take another gamble.

He believed that based on his status, even if he said the wrong thing, he would not be punished too much, so he bit the bullet and said:

"Li Qianshi is mostly right, but the specific thing is this..."

Zhu Gaoxu said everything he had said to him before, saying that the princess of Jin Dynasty was a "helper" who did not know the truth, and the mastermind was placed on Jin Wang Zhu Han.

Regarding the content of Zhu Fan’s words, Zhu Gaoxu also explained everything:

"The third uncle said that my grandson is young and does not know the important affairs of the country. It is best for him to come to Nanjing to help you with the governance. Therefore, I want Ying Guogong to send a few words to the people below for them to report. Grandpa, please Let the Third Uncle, or the Crown Prince, enter the Wuying Palace to manage politics."

After Zhu Gaoxu finished speaking, Wuying Hall fell into a deathly silence, without any sound.

"You go back first."

"Bet right!"

When Zhu Yuanzhang's voice sounded, Zhu Gaoxu also punched excitedly in his heart.

Soon, the eunuchs and Li Qianshi in the palace retreated, leaving only Zhu Gaoxu standing there and Zhu Yuanzhang sitting in his seat.

"What you said is nine percent true and one percent false, but I can still hear it."

Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and expressed his opinion while walking towards Zhu Gaoxu: "The woman from the Fu family was also involved in this matter, and she knew what she was doing."

"That old boy Fu Youde lied, just to protect her, and you want his family to accept your love."

"Grandpa..." It seemed that he had overcome the hurdle in his heart. The pressure on Zhu Gaoxu was much less, so he smiled bitterly: "I really didn't lie, and I haven't changed a word."

"Since it hasn't changed, you are trying to sow discord between your grandfather, me, and your third uncle." Zhu Yuanzhang slapped an even bigger hat on Zhu Gaoxu.

"As for the things that Third Uncle did, why do I need to provoke him?" Zhu Gaoxu rolled his eyes, but this was not towards Zhu Yuanzhang, but towards Zhu Fan.

One thing is that he didn't know why Zhu Fan was so brave, since he dared to go against Zhu Yuanzhang when he had already established Zhu Yunwen's status, and clamored to join Wuying Hall to manage politics.

I felt speechless after hearing this. If Zhu Yunwen heard this, I'm afraid that boy would have to try every means to incite Lao Zhu and execute everyone except Zhu Han, his wife and heirs.

Thinking about it this way, Zhu Gaoxu was not surprised that Zhu Yunwen was not in Wuying Hall today.

I originally thought that there were government affairs busy, but now it seems that Lao Zhu deliberately diverted the attention.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu looked at Zhu Yuanzhang in front of him.

He is already sixty-nine years old, and has some imperceptible age spots on his face. His body, which was broad and round when he was young, has now become somewhat thinner.

But no matter how his appearance changes, as long as he can still breathe, the Ming Dynasty will not be in chaos.

It seems that Lao Zhu doesn't want Fu Youde's family to die, otherwise he would not let Zhu Yunwen go...

"What happened today will make you rot in my stomach."

"Ok?"

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly called himself "I", which made Zhu Gaoxu stunned for a moment, and then he bowed calmly: "My grandson knows, please don't worry, grandpa."

"Well..." Seeing Zhu Gaoxu's appearance, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him with satisfaction and finally made a comment:
"You are exactly the same as your father. You are cautious and calm on the surface, but bold and bold in private. No wonder your father likes you."

"The boy is far worse than my father." Zhu Gaoxu responded modestly, but Zhu Yuanzhang slapped him on the hand that was going to edit:
"Don't pretend to be in front of me, unless you are just pretending now."

"That's not true. The boy has really changed his appearance!" Hearing Zhu Yuanzhang say that he was disguising, Zhu Gaoxu became anxious. God knows how much effort he spent to wash away the dirty water from his previous body.

"Change his appearance." Zhu Yuanzhang looked him up and down and nodded: "He looks a bit human, not as bad as before."

"That's..." Zhu Gaoxu raised his head and chest, and Zhu Yuanzhang also smiled and shook his head and walked back to his seat to sit down.

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang becoming approachable, Zhu Gaoxu also stepped forward:

"Grandpa, the water in this capital is too muddy. Can you let me go back to Peking?"

Zhu Gaoxu was discussing with a smile, but Zhu Yuanzhang could feel his sincerity.

"I heard that you met Gao Sui on the street a few days ago and was hit by an old woodcutter, and by the way, you administered justice."

Zhu Yuanzhang did not answer Zhu Gaoxu's question, but instead raised a new topic.

In conversations with people like them, avoiding the topic is actually rejection. Zhu Gaoxu understood this and did not continue to pester him but nodded: "Yes, kid..."

Zhu Gaoxu recounted what happened that day. He thought that Lao Zhu would say that he did not enforce the law impartially, but Lao Zhu frowned and asked:
"That little flag officer, you only gave him ten sticks?"

"Yes..." Zhu Gaoxu nodded, but the next second he saw Zhu Yuanzhang frowning and reprimanding: "For such a person, even a hundred sticks are not an exaggeration, and you still give him money for medicine? That's pedantic!"

"But the old woodcutter also made a mistake..." Zhu Gaoxu responded awkwardly.

"Huh!" Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly: "A country woodcutter has just entered the city, how can he know what he can and cannot do?"

"Swear a few words, wave a stick to scare him, and he will know when he comes next time, but what about abuse of lynching?"

"If this guy dares to beat a woodcutter today, will he dare to use a knife on ordinary people tomorrow?"

As he said that, Zhu Yuanzhang felt puzzled and said to the door of the palace: "Arrest the little flag officer and beat him with thirty killing sticks first!"

After he finished speaking, Li Qianshi's figure walked out from the left side of the palace entrance.

He bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang and the other two people in the palace, then stepped back. Apparently he followed Zhu Yuanzhang's words and found someone to teach the little flag officer a lesson.

Looking at his back, Zhu Gaoxu was also ashamed of Zhu Yuanzhang's actions and said: "What you said and what you wrote seem to be different..."

"Huh?" Zhu Yuanzhang turned around and looked at Zhu Gaoxu. Zhu Gaoxu originally thought he was going to be scolded, but he didn't expect that. Zhu Yuanzhang smiled heartily and said: "Since ancient times, most people who can achieve things say one thing and do another."

"How many of the things in the "Da Ming Law" do you think can be put into practice?"

"Uh..." Zhu Gaoxu was speechless. After thinking about it, he glanced at Zhu Yuanzhang and then responded: "My grandson thought that those who fell into the city could get [-]% of the money, [-]% for the towns and villages, and less than [-]% for the remote villages."

"Okay!" Hearing what Zhu Gaoxu said, Zhu Yuanzhang happily patted him on the shoulder:

"You dare to tell me the truth. You are much better than your brothers and sisters."

"If you ask me, I will answer truthfully." Zhu Gaoxu grinned, because Zhu Yuanzhang's slap was really heavy.

From this point of view, it is not unreasonable for the previous generations of Lao Zhu's family to produce several brave princes and princes. This gene is not bad at the root.

"Humph!" Hearing Zhu Gaoxu's glib words, Zhu Yuanzhang retracted his hand, but then said:
"Your beautiful words are somewhat good, but that's not the case in practice..."

As he spoke, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly, looked at Zhu Gaoxu suspiciously, and couldn't help but think of what he just said, "say one thing and do another."

He had already reacted, but Zhu Gaoxu hadn't reacted yet, and kept telling lies: "How dare you, besides, even if I want to lie, I can't fool your eyes, grandpa."

Zhu Gaoxu responded by rubbing his shoulders and licking his smiling face, just like a spoiled child.

Of course, at his age, it was not against the rules to do this in front of Zhu Yuanzhang, but it made Zhu Yuanzhang very happy.

Since the death of Zhu Biao, he has rarely seen people around him chat with him in such a free-spirited manner. Even Zhu Di, who has the same free-spirited temperament, tries his best to maintain a sense of distance between the monarch and his ministers in his letters.

As for Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Yunxi and other Zhu Biao disciples, they all kept a distance from themselves as monarchs and ministers, more like monarchs and ministers than grandfathers and grandsons.

"You're not bad," Zhu Yuanzhang said suddenly, and then walked back to his seat.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu followed him, but before he could get closer, Zhu Yuanzhang, who was sitting down, opened his mouth and changed the topic again.

"You don't have to worry about the affairs of Duke Ying's house. You just need to study."

"In addition, you should go to Chunhe Palace and tell your elder brother that tomorrow he will summon the chiefs of Qin, Jin and Yan to Wuying Palace to coordinate the administration."

As soon as he said these words, Zhu Gaoxu immediately felt a little embarrassed. He raised his hands and bowed: "Grandpa, it's not good for me to go to this matter."

"Go early. After you are done with your work, you can go home and have a meal before the drum sounds." Zhu Yuanzhang did not give Zhu Gaoxu any room to bargain, but urged him.

Seeing this, Zhu Gaoxu could only lament that Lao Zhu was capricious. One second he was in harmony with his grandfather and grandson, but the next second he started to dig holes for himself.

Let yourself inform Zhu Yunwen, the head of the third house, to join the Wuying Palace to manage politics. If you don't do it well, you may be jealous of Zhu Yunwen.

"Grandson is leaving..."

Although he knew that there was a trap ahead, Zhu Gaoxu had no choice but to accept the task and left Wuying Hall after Zhu Yuanzhang picked up the memorial and dealt with it.

Listening to Zhu Gaoxu's footsteps fading away, Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head and glanced at the door with complicated eyes.

Zhu Gaoxu didn't have to wade through any muddy waters, but his performance in the past few months meant that he was destined to help Lao Zhu wade through many muddy waters. It wasn't because of how strong his ability was, but because his identity was special enough.

He can do many things that Zhu Yunzhen and the princes of various mansions cannot do.

Just as Huang Zicheng said to Zhu Yunwen, as long as the current situation remains unchanged, Zhu Gaoxu will never have a chance to be emperor in his life. This is why Zhu Yuanzhang will use him, and it is also the reason why Zhu Yunwen does not take too much aim at Zhu Gaoxu even though he does not like him. .

His identity in the Taiping years was already visible at a glance.

　Two big chapters have been updated, and two big chapters will continue at [-] o'clock tomorrow morning

　　
　
(End of this chapter)