Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 125 Zhu Di's Trouble

The sixth day of September, the first year of Yongle.

After the morning court, Zhu Di called Zhu Gaoxu to Wuying Hall.

"Gao Xu, I've had enough of this fishy raw goat's milk. You have to persuade your mother not to send someone to bring me this milk!"

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu entered the palace, Zhu Di began to pour out his bitterness, frowning and said: "I really don't know how the former Han Dynasty Prime Minister Zhang liked to drink milk food?"

The so-called "Prime Minister Zhang of the Former Han Dynasty" refers to the Prime Minister Zhang Cang of the Western Han Dynasty recorded in "Historical Records: Biography of Prime Minister Zhang" - "After Cang Zhi was exempted from the prime minister, he was old, toothless in his mouth, fed on milk, and women were milk, and he was pale for more than a hundred years. And die."

"During the former Han Dynasty, after Zhang Cang was dismissed as prime minister, he was already an old man with no teeth. He ate women's breasts every day. After that, he rarely got sick and died at the age of more than a hundred years old."

Zhu Gaoxu did not gloat about his misfortune. Instead, he replied seriously: "Mr. Dai of the Taiyuan Hospital believed that Zhang Cang's ability to live for more than a hundred years was due to the effect of eating women's breasts. My mother thought it was very reasonable, so she replaced women's breasts with goat's milk. , come and take care of dad’s health.”

"Can two bowls of raw goat's milk a day really cure my hidden disease?"

Zhu Di was a little doubtful of the authenticity of this theory and couldn't help but ask.

"For more than a month, the raw goat's milk that Dad has been eating every day comes from strong ewes."

Zhu Gaoxu replied: "My child has been drinking two bowls of raw goat's milk every day during this period. My mother believes that taking this milk for a long time will only benefit the body and not cause any harm."

"Forget it, let's not mention it for now."

Zhu Di walked around the imperial table, walked behind the table and sat down, and then said, "I called you over because I have an annoying matter to discuss with you."

"Since Dad founded the Yuan Dynasty and Yongle, the Ming Dynasty has been prosperous and the country is peaceful and the people are safe. What can make Dad feel annoyed?" Zhu Gaoxu asked.

Zhu Di motioned Zhu Gaoxu with his eyes to sit down and talk. After the latter took his seat, he continued: "There was a fight in Zongwangfang yesterday, and one of your uncle Shen Wang's guards died."

The "Zongwangfang" he refers to is a city square with extraordinary meaning and influence.

According to Zhu Yuanzhang's request during his lifetime, the kings should be re-confederated overseas according to the feudal system of Zhou Dynasty. Therefore, Zhu Di had no intention of releasing the kings back to the vassal state before officially re-confessing the kings.

Except for the sect kings who had residences in the capital before, the other sect kings who did not have residences initially lived in Tianjie Temple.

Later, in order to settle these clan kings, Zhu Di paid from the inner treasury and asked the Ministry of Industry to build a complex of buildings - Zongwangfang, twenty miles south of the Xicheng military camp, where the clan kings could live in separate buildings.

For example, the residences of King Han and King Shen who were born in the same year as Zhu Gaoxu, as well as King An and King Tang and other princes of the Ming Dynasty who were younger than Zhu Gaoxu, are all in the newly built Zongwangfang.

The construction of Zongwangfang started in early June of the 31st year of Hongwu, and the main building was not completed until May of the first year of Yongle. Those kings who did not have mansions gradually moved out of Tianjie Temple and moved into new mansions.

King Zhu Gaochi of Han and King Zhu Gaosui of Zhao were lifted by Zhu Di because of their wedding, but they moved out of the former Prince Yan's Mansion and moved into the Ministry of Works. Under Zhu Di's orders, they worked day and night to prepare for the two kings in Zongwangfang in advance. The restored palace.

Of course, the palaces of the princes in Zong Wangfang are said to be palaces, but in fact, the official name is still the residence.

However, none of these villas are as vast as the King of Yan's villa, and they are just gorgeous and luxurious three-in-one mansions.

In Zongwangfang, the daily life of the kings was closely taken care of by the eunuchs in the palace, and three meals a day were served by specialized eunuchs.

Zhu Di also invited rich and educated people to serve as the attendants of young princes, specializing in teaching poetry and calligraphy, and strictly training many young princes, such as Zhu Yunxu, the prince of Wu Commandery.

There are also special palace rations and material supplies. All kinds of daily life of princes and princes can basically be carried out in the square without the need to communicate with outsiders.

According to Zhu Di's plan, before the kings changed their titles, even the marriage of the prince's son, the county prince, and his wife would be held in the square.

In other words, the power of the Ming vassal kings will be particularly restricted after Zhu Di succeeds to the throne and before he changes his title to a foreign country.

But even so, a conflict still occurred between King Han and King Shen.

"Is this happening?" Zhu Gaoxu asked with a deliberately surprised expression.

Zhu Di said: "This matter was suppressed by the Jinyi Guards sent by me. Not many people know the news."

Then, he told the whole story.

King Han and King Shen had a quarrel while playing chess yesterday and got into a fight. After the two sides started fighting, King Shen suffered a loss.

Prince Shen felt dissatisfied. After returning to the palace, he called twenty personal guards and rushed to Prince Han's residence to regain his face.

King Han was furious at the time, so a fierce fight broke out between the two kings.

During the fight between the two sides, one of King Shen's personal guards was injured in the neck and died of excessive blood loss.

"How does dad plan to handle this matter?" Zhu Gaoxu asked.

Zhu Di didn't answer and asked: "What do you think?"

He wanted to severely punish King Han and King Shen, but he was afraid of being known as "the brothers cannot tolerate each other."

Zhu Gaoxu said: "Hai'er feels that it is better to refer to what the emperor did before and issue an edict to reprimand Uncle Han Wang and Wang Uncle Shen, and punish my two uncles with a year's imprisonment."

"Your imperial grandfather punished the prince before, not with heavy punishment, but to maintain the supreme majesty of the royal family."

Zhu Di continued: "Moreover, there has never been a precedent in the past where a prince's guard was beaten to death by another prince's guard."

Zhu Gaoxu thought about it for a moment and added: "In addition to imposing a fine on the child's two uncles, he also requires Uncle Han to compensate Uncle Shen's deceased bodyguard 1000 taels for funeral expenses and 1000 taels for family comfort. What do you think of this punishment?"

"Is it too light?"

Zhu Di thought deeply: "I don't want to see this kind of fighting happen again in Zongwangfang."

After a pause, he stood up and said with emotion: "In November of the 26th year of Hongwu, floods occurred in Qing, Yan, and Jining prefectures, and millions of people were affected. In March of the 27th year, Wenhe River in Ningyang The embankments burst, leaving the affected people homeless, without food, and starving to death. In August 28, a flood occurred in Dezhou, destroying the local city walls."

"In February of the 29th year of Hongwu, a fire broke out in Tongzhou, burning more than 30 houses, and tens of thousands of people lost their homes. In April of the [-]th year of Hongwu, a fire broke out in Guangnanwei, burning the city tower and the Weizhi warehouse. In August , the river broke through Kaifeng, the city was surrounded by water on three sides, and all the major warehouses were invaded by water. In March of the first year of Yongle, there was an earthquake in the capital."

When Zhu Di said this, he said with a solemn face: "Since I took over the East Palace in the 26th year of Hongwu and began to govern, I have encountered natural disasters of one kind or another almost every year. But as long as it is a natural disaster, it will always pass."

"After the local government presides over post-disaster reconstruction under my imperial order, the people will be grateful to me. Natural disasters are not terrible, but man-made disasters are the most important things that give me headaches and troubles."

Zhu Gaoxu fell into deep thought after hearing this.

He seemed to understand Zhu Di's troubles.

At this time, Zhu Di continued: "Especially at the end of March this year, a few days before the earthquake in the capital, I ordered the execution of more than 60 officials who had committed capital crimes and were sentenced to execution in accordance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Then some people scolded me. The punishment is excessive.”

Zhu Gaoxu knew this.

Most of the officials sentenced to execution were those who upheld the ancestral system and supported Zhu Gaochi as the crown prince after Zhu Di succeeded to the throne in the 31st year of Hongwu.Even though Zhu Di acted legally and compliantly at the time, there happened to be an earthquake in the capital shortly after these officials were killed.

As a result, rumors spread in the capital, and there was a lot of discussion among the people. It was believed that Emperor Yongle's execution of certain officials who had committed capital crimes was too harsh, and it was only in accordance with the law of heaven to be executed after the fall.

Spring is the season when all things grow. If the ruler kills too many people in spring, it will inevitably trigger the wrath of heaven. The earthquake in the capital is a warning to Emperor Yongle.

Zhu Gaoxu was well aware of the importance of public opinion. When he learned about the rumors, he sent people to spread the "outrage and resentment" secretly done by the killed officials.

After more than half a month of hard work by the spies, in mid-April, the unfavorable argument against Zhu Di was replaced by the view that "killing corrupt officials will bring great satisfaction to people's hearts."

"Today, the armed fight between King Han and King Shen is just a man-made disaster with a minor impact caused by the kings."

Zhu Di sat down again and said with a sad face: "Anyway, as long as the kings are not involved in treason and other heinous crimes, even if they do other illegal things, according to your emperor's past practice of dealing with erring kings, they will not will be punished too harshly.”

"In other words, if I don't control the kings, then they will only act more unscrupulously because they are my brother or nephew of the Ming Emperor."

Zhu Gaoxu thought for a moment, and then added for the second time: "Dad, I suggest that Uncle Han and Uncle Shen should be punished by one more punishment - a six-month ban."

In fact, for the Ming vassal kings, grounding was a relatively torturous punishment.

Grounding is like the prison camp in later generations, except that the range of activities of the grounded person is within his or her residence.

Zhu Di would never compromise easily. After listening to Zhu Gaoxu's second supplementary penalty clause, he pondered: "Gaoxu, I want to punish all the princes who have built mansions in the capital before, such as the King of Zhou, the King of Chu, and the Dai." Wang, Ning Wang and others also moved to live in Zongwangfang, what do you think?"

"My son, those uncle Wang's mansions in the city were all built by the emperor's decree. If we follow what dad just said and move uncle Zhou Wang and others into Zongwangfang, I'm afraid it will cause a lot of public opinion."

Zhu Gaoxu knew that he could not blindly flatter Zhu Di, but must also tell him frankly about the disadvantages that he could consider.

Zhu Di said with anger on his face: "I am not only the emperor, but also the fourth brother of your many uncles. How can they rebel against heaven?"

Zhu Gaoxu said helplessly: "I only hope that the Nanyang sea map drawn by Zheng He can be sent to me as soon as possible. Then I will first divide the children's thorny uncle Wangs, and there will be less trouble."

"Gao Xu, you go down first." Zhu Di exhaled a breath and said slowly.

Zhu Gaoxu stood up and saluted: "My child, please leave."

After watching Zhu Gaoxu leave, Zhu Di's face regained its previous majesty, and then he shouted to the eunuch on duty outside the palace gate: "Li Xing?"

The eunuch on duty today is Li Xing, the young eunuch of the Internal Affairs Bureau. He was born in the first year of Hongwu, three years older than Zheng He, and is now 32 years old.

Because Li Xing was assigned by Zhu Di to lead a mission to the King of Siam at the beginning of this year and successfully completed the task, he was promoted by Zhu Di from an ordinary eunuch to an internal eunuch.

After Zheng He, Wang Jinghong and other eunuchs went to sea, Li Xing often accompanied Zhu Di to obey his orders.

Historically, this person served as a deputy envoy and eunuch when he accompanied Zheng He on his voyages to the West.

"The servant is here."

Li Xing walked in quickly, knelt down and saluted.

Zhu Di glanced at Li Xing and said loudly: "Come forward."

Li Xing bowed, lowered his head, and walked quickly to the imperial table.

Zhu Di took out a golden token from the drawer under the table, handed it to Li Xing, and ordered: "Take the token and quickly tell the king of Zhou to see me."

Li Xing said respectfully: "Yes."

Then, he bowed and retreated, leading two young eunuchs, and hurriedly left the palace to find the King of Zhou.

About two-quarters of an hour later, Li Xing led Zhou Wang Zhu Ju, who had not gone far after the dispersal of the dynasty, into the Wuying Hall.

"My dear brother, I pay homage to His Majesty the Emperor, Fourth Brother." Zhu Zhu bowed and bowed.

"My servant has come to restore me." Li Xing knelt down and saluted.

Zhu Di raised his hand and said: "Everyone is flat."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Zhu Ju and Li Xing said one after another.

Behind Li Xing, he quickly stepped forward and presented the token to Zhu Di.

Zhu Di took back the token and told Li Xing: "Show tea to King Zhou."

He then stood up and walked around the table, pulled Zhu Zhu to sit down, and said, "Fifth brother, sit down and talk."

When Zhu Di saw Zhu Di sitting down next to him, he stopped refusing to stand up and chose to sit down honestly.

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Xi and said with concern: "Fifth brother seems to be a little thinner. Did he not sleep well recently?"

"Thank you, fourth brother, for thinking about me. My brother is fine." Zhu Ru said respectfully.

Zhu Di exchanged greetings with Zhu Xi for a few words, and then said: "I have long said that what a king does may not be entirely reasonable. A minister should speak out and dare to remonstrate. You are my brother, so don't hesitate to say anything. Due to feelings."

"Fourth brother is so good at what he does, and I admire him so much," Zhu Ru said.

Zhu Di said: "I plan to move the younger brothers who have built mansions in the capital, such as you, the fifth brother, and the sixth brother to live in Zongwangfang. What do you think?"

"My brother's mansion in the city was built by Taizu's order," Zhu Ju said.

Zhu Di glanced at Zhu Xi and encouraged: "Go on."

Zhu Ming thought about it for a while, then he knelt down and said: "The fourth brother's surname is Zhu, and my younger brother is also surnamed Zhu. Jiangshan belongs to Zhu Ming's world. My younger brother and my fourth brother have the same origin, and they are also the flesh and blood of Taizu. My younger brother takes the name of Jiangshan Sheji." For the sake of my own responsibilities, I have already put life and death aside.”

Zhu Di already understood Zhu Rui's objection, but it was not easy to get angry. He stood up and helped the kneeling Zhu Rui up.

Seeing that Zhu Di was silent, Zhu Xi knelt down again after hesitating for a moment.

He said excitedly: "Fourth brother is the sage king of the Ming Dynasty, and I am also a citizen of the Ming Dynasty. The country belongs to the fourth brother, and to us and other people in the world. It is the inheritance passed down by Taizu for eternity."

"My brother dare not deceive the emperor in order to seek glory and wealth. I dare not live up to Taizu's spirit in heaven in order to seek his own life. I can die for my fourth brother, for the people, and for the Ming Dynasty. But words cannot If you don’t say it, you have to express your feelings. Please ask Your Majesty, Fourth Brother, to judge!”

Looking at the tearful Zhu Di, Zhu Di couldn't help but feel sympathy, and said slowly: "I understand."

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(End of this chapter)