Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 145: The Royal Physician Changed His Career to Be an Assassin

Afterwards.

Hall of Martial Arts.

"Counting the days, it's time for Zheng He to arrive at Liujiagang, Taicang."

Zhu Di stood with his hands behind his hands, staring at the area along the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty on the Great Nine Continents World Map, and said in a deep voice.

Li Xing stood on the side and said respectfully: "Last time, I was ordered by Your Majesty to lead a fleet to escort Shi Jinqing and others to the old port. The round trip took more than half a year. Now it is autumn. Going north from Quanzhou to Liujiagang often encounters headwinds. .”

The characteristics of the monsoon in the East China Sea area of ​​​​the Ming Dynasty are that northerly winds prevail in the winter area, with stable wind directions and strong winds; spring is the monsoon transition period, with changeable wind directions and weak winds; in summer, southerly winds prevail in the sea area, and the winds are weak most of the time; in autumn, The monsoon transition period is short.

Zhu Di asked: "Is the prince back?"

He asked Zhu Gaoxu to pay more attention to Zheng He's return voyage, and that's why he asked.

Zhu Gaoxu, under the emperor's order, had already ordered the guard posts along the southeast coast to use sentinel towers along the river and coast to observe movements at sea, and to report the news immediately if Zheng He's fleet was discovered.

Just as Li Xing was about to reply, Zhu Gaoxu's voice rang in Zhu Di's ears.

"Dad, Taicang Guard Commander Ping'an sent a messenger to report quickly that the fleet led by Zheng He will arrive at Liujiagang in the near future."

With a letter in his hand, Zhu Gaoxu walked quickly into Wuying Hall and came to Zhu Di's side.

"Have you received a letter from Bao'er?"

When Zhu Di heard that it was a letter sent by someone from Ping An, he was perked up and quickly reached out to take the envelope from Zhu Gaoxu.

Ping'an, nicknamed Bao'er, his father Jining Guards commanded the Qian affairs to be pacified. He died in the battle when he followed Chang Yuchun to conquer Dadu in the Yuan Dynasty in the first year of Hongwu. Zhu Yuanzhang adopted him as his adopted son and ordered him to inherit his father's position when he became an adult.

When he was young, Ping An went to the fortress with Zhu Di to fight.

At the end of the Hongwu period, after Zhu Di moved into the East Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang promoted Ping An, a brave and brave warrior, to the capital and appointed him as the guard in front of the Chunhe Palace.

After Zhu Di succeeded to the throne, in order to control Taicang, he transferred his confidant Gan Ping'an to the Taicang Guard Commander and made him responsible for the military affairs in Taicang.

In the early Ming Dynasty, there were 130 five Taicang guard ships, each with [-] soldiers escorting them. When transporting grain, the army often "traveled to a hundred thousand soldiers" with great momentum.

In the 26th year of Hongwu's reign, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the construction of a transportation warehouse at Taicang South Pier, and built 910 nine warehouses to store the court's grain.

At that time, Suzhou Prefecture was responsible for one-tenth of the country's taxes, and Taicang was responsible for one-tenth of Suzhou's taxes.

The shipbuilding industry in Taicang is particularly developed. There are two alleys on Wuling Street in Taicang called "Iron Anchor Lane", which specialize in producing anchors for shipyards. Anchors for large ships weigh hundreds or even thousands of kilograms.

Taicang's wealth and wealth provided Zheng He with abundant material support for his overseas missions.

Most of the grain ships and warships of Zheng He's fleet came from the Suzhou shipyard where Liujiagang in Taicang is located.

Unlike Jingshi Bao Shipyard, which manufactures large luxury ships of [-] to [-] tons, Suzhoufu Shipyard is mainly famous for building warships, especially small and medium-sized warships of [-] to [-] tons. The bow cover is made of hard wood. When encountering thieves, they would hang a stone anchor on the bow of the ship so that they could ram the enemy ship.

Many fast boats are equipped with cold weapons such as machetes, hooks and sickles, javelins, crossbows, and darts, as well as various firearms, such as muskets and fireballs.

Historically, from the early Hongwu period to the middle Yongle period, the Ming Dynasty's average annual shipping of grain via Liujiagang in Taicang amounted to more than 800 million shi.

Zhu Di placed Ping An in Taicang Guard, which shows his respect and trust for Ping An.

"Counting the days, at this time, the fleet led by Zheng He has probably sailed into Liujia Port."

While Zhu Di lowered his head to read the letter, Zhu Gaoxu added.

According to later research, the twelve-sail treasure ship used by Zheng He on his voyages to the West had an average daily speed of one hundred nautical miles, and the maximum speed could even reach more than 130 nautical miles.

In other words, the fastest trip from Quanzhou to Liujiagang will only take more than ten days.

"it is good."

Zhu Di put the letter into the envelope, turned around, walked to the chair opposite the screen map, and sat down. He casually put the envelope on the table, and then motioned to Zhu Gaoxu to come over and sit down to talk.

After Zhu Gaoxu sat down, Zhu Di waved Li Xing to retreat.

As a result, only the father and son were left in Wuying Hall.

"Gao Sui was in charge of the affairs of the Municipal Shipping Department in Quanzhou. Part of the return fleet led by Zheng He docked in Quanzhou for rest and did not go north. You also read his last letter, and now you have also read Bao'er's letter. , did you find anything unusual?"

Zhu Di asked with a stern face.

Not long ago, Zhao Wang Zhu Gaosui wrote a letter reporting that Zheng He's fleet had arrived in Quanzhou, and mentioned that there were 87 return cargo ships, but Ping'an's letter mentioned only [-] return cargo ships.

In other words, there are seven fewer cargo ships coming to Liujiagang from Quanzhou.

"Uncle Ping (Ping An) acted cautiously and would not make a mistake about the number of cargo ships. There must be something hidden in this."

Zhu Gaoxu thought for a while, and after figuring out the anomaly that Zhu Di was referring to, he spoke.

Zhu Di said in a deep voice: "Gao Sui has become much more stable and honest in the past year or so since he left Beijing for Quanzhou. Jin Yiwei has not noticed anything strange about him. Could it be that he has other agendas?"

"Dad, third brother may have been too tired and misremembered the number, or the official who inspected the ships was careless and miscounted the number of cargo ships."

Naturally, Zhu Gaojiu could not discredit Zhu Gaosui at this time. If he wanted to show his magnanimity and kindness as a prince, he had to think of ways to speak well for his third brother.

"I hope so."

Zhu Di said expressionlessly at first, then looked sideways at Zhu Gaoxu and whispered: "Since the accidental explosion in Mo Qiaosi's research laboratory specializing in smokeless gunpowder last month, injuring two craftsmen, your mother almost I have nightmares every three to five days.”

"It's all because of the kid's eagerness for quick success."

Zhu Gaoxu said very remorsefully.

In order to prevent serious casualties in the smokeless gunpowder experiment, the laboratory where the experiment was conducted was the largest of all laboratories, and all participants in the experiment were "fully armed" to prevent casualties from explosion accidents.

Even so, since Mo Qiaosi began experimenting with smokeless gunpowder in the first year of Yongle, there have still been many small explosion accidents.

Although no experimental personnel have died so far, there are many who have been seriously injured and disabled.

Zhu Gaojiu hadn't heard Empress Xu mention nightmares recently, and thought that Empress Xu, like him, believed that accidents in experiments were inevitable.

Queen Xu loved her son very much. After hearing about the explosion, she kept silent, but she would inevitably feel worried deep down in her heart.

As the saying goes, what you think about every day and what you dream about every night, it is reasonable for Queen Xu to have nightmares.

Now that Zhu Di said this, Zhu Gaoxu immediately realized his mistake.

"Also, two months ago, Zhang Yixian, who was invited by you to the pharmaceutical room of Huimin Medical Center and was responsible for the research and development of new medicines, was accidentally poisoned while testing the medicine. He was blind, mute and deafened by the poison. His The true disciple Pang Wensheng was even disfigured by the extremely toxic medicine."

Zhu Di continued: "Although you focused on comforting him, gave him a lot of money, and even sent palace officials to Zhang Yixian to take care of Zhang Yixian's food and daily life, Pang Wensheng took the money, chose to remain anonymous, and left the capital."

Zhu Gaoxu knew that although the matter had been settled, it still affected his reputation.

And Zhu Di said this, probably because he wanted him to change his habit of eager for quick success.

But Zhu Di's next words surprised Zhu Gaoxu. "I've been feeling a little uneasy recently. Just in case, when you go out to inspect various government offices during this period, try to bring as many elite soldiers from the Shenji Team as possible and go less to Mo Qiaosi. If it's not necessary, don't go to Mo Qiao in the near future. That’s awesome.”

Zhu Di said with concern: "After the Ming Dynasty fleet sails into the mouth of Longjiang River, you can greet the meritorious soldiers returning home for me. I will stay in the palace recently to spend more time with your wife, children, and your mother."

"Children, listen to your father."

Although Zhu Gaoxu was surprised, Zhu Di's concern still warmed his heart, and he immediately responded respectfully.

He suddenly remembered something and added: "In a few days, it will be the day of Jinling Academy's quiz. As usual, I have to watch."

Zhu Di said: "Just go, remember to bring more guards with you."

"My child understands." Zhu Gaoxu said respectfully.

that night.

On the outskirts of Beijing.

In a cave at the foot of a barren mountain, there were three men in black, sitting cross-legged on the ground.

They gathered around a map and looked at the locations marked on the map with the help of the light from the fire nearby.

"As usual, on the [-]th of every month, the academy will hold a quiz. Zhu Er (Zhu Gaoxu) will come to the scene to observe the quiz. This is our opportunity to assassinate him. This is the map of Jinling Changke Academy, Zhu Gaoxu The place where business is handled is here, which is one of the side halls of the Zhengxin Hall in the backyard of the academy."

Pang Wensheng pointed to the location of the Zhengxin Palace on the map and said to the other two people.

As a true disciple of Zhang Yixian, he had followed Zhang Yixian to Jinling Academy many times to give lectures to students studying medicine, so he was naturally familiar with the internal situation of the academy.

As for his plot to assassinate Zhu Gaoxu, it was entirely out of revenge.

Pang Wensheng believes that if Zhu Gaoxu had not arranged for Zhang Yixian to go to Huimin Medical Center to prepare new medicines, then the accident would not have happened and Zhang Yixian, who was over sixty years old, would have become deaf-mute.

Zhang Yixian is a famous doctor who once treated Emperor Taizu Gao and Prince Yiwen. As long as Pang Wensheng makes no mistakes, he will be able to rise to prominence in the future as a true disciple of Zhang Yixian.

In other words, if it hadn't been for Zhu Gaoxu, this middle-aged imperial doctor with a bright future would not have been disfigured by the poisonous medicine and turned into an ugly monster that was neither human nor ghost.

Hatred can change a person.

Especially for Pang Wensheng, who was born as an orphan. He was Zhang Yixian's disciple who had been raised since childhood, and he was also Zhang Yixian's most valued true disciple.

In his mind, Zhang Yixian is his father and his spiritual sustenance.

He aspired to become a famous imperial physician in order to repay Zhang Yixian for his upbringing.

But Zhu Gaoxu destroyed his father!

This hatred is inseparable!

In order to retaliate against Zhu Gaoxu, Pang Wensheng chose to serve Zhu Yunxu, the king of Wu County, after careful consideration.

He knew that he was indifferent and had no power in his hands, so he decided to use Zhu Yunzhen to achieve the purpose of revenge.

Back then, when Zhang Yixian was treating Zhu Yunxian, he would occasionally bring Pang Wensheng with him. Therefore, Pang Wensheng and Zhu Yunxian had known each other many years ago, even though Zhu Yunxian was still a child at that time.

But it has been nine years since the 25th year of Hongwu, and the children of that year have grown up.

Pang Wensheng was good at understanding people's hearts. He could see that Zhu Yunxi could not let go of the deaths of Zhu Yunxi and Zhu Yunwen.

Therefore, after he surrendered to Zhu Yunxi, he weaved a shocking lie - there was another hidden reason behind the deaths of Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yunxi!

Of the four royal relatives who took the boat that year, only Zhu Yunxi and Zhu Yunwen died of illness one after another, while Ouyang Lun and Zhu Gaoxu lived well. Isn't this a coincidence?

Moreover, not long after the shipwreck occurred, most of the Jinyiwei who were on the same boat with the four royal relatives were executed by Emperor Taizu for failing to rescue them.

Some of the remaining Jinyi Guards died of illness after falling into the water, and others died of illness one after another after being imprisoned. Only Cao Hu, a Qianhu member of the Jinyi Guards at that time, is still alive today.

In addition, when Zhu Yunwen was recuperating, Zhu Gaoxu, who was highly regarded by Emperor Taizu, secretly asked to see Taizu many times.

Pang Wensheng suspected that Zhu Gaoxu took advantage of Zhu Yunwen's illness and was unable to accompany Emperor Taizu, so that Taizu changed his mind about appointing Zhu Yunwen as the crown prince.

After Prince Yiwen died of illness, Emperor Taizu preferred Zhu Yunwen as the successor to the throne. This was a well-known fact at that time, and many ministers also supported Zhu Yunwen at that time.

Therefore, Pang Wensheng believed that Zhu Yunwen's hidden illness was most likely caused by Zhu Gaoxu's bribery and poisoning.

His master, Zhang Yixian, was obviously an insider. The so-called test medicine that blinded, muted, and deafened people was done deliberately by Zhu Gaoxu in order to deceive others.

As a result, Zhang Yixian could neither see, hear, nor speak, so he could no longer leak the news.

Originally, Zhu Yunzhen could not let go of the death of his second and third brothers. After hearing the "secrets" mentioned by Pang Wensheng, he increasingly felt that there were indeed many coincidences in what happened back then.

Three years ago, Cao Hu paid homage to Zhu Yunwen after he was released from prison, and he happened to see him at that time.

At that time, Cao Hu told Zhu Yunwen that he had failed to protect Zhu Yunwen, otherwise he would not have fallen ill after returning to Beijing. He came here to pay homage because he felt guilty.

Pang Wensheng believed that Cao Hu should not have participated in the murder of Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Yunxi, so he could start with Ouyang Lun and Zhu Gaoxu.

Because Ouyang Lun accompanied Zheng He to the sea and did not return, Pang Wensheng suggested that he plan an assassination against Zhu Gaoxu to test Zhu Gaoxu's attitude.

Zhu Yunzhen was originally worried that he would die after the incident was revealed.

However, Pang Wensheng swore that if the assassination failed, he would commit suicide and would not implicate Zhu Yunzhen.

If Zhu Yunzhen doesn't believe him, he can send two close confidants to accompany him. When he fails, he can give him a poisonous arrow with a crossbow to shut him up forever.

Although Zhu Yunxu generally believed what Pang Wensheng said and became suspicious of Zhu Gaoxu, he still had many concerns and believed that Pang Wensheng must have other motives for revealing such shocking secrets.

After much consideration, he ordered Pang Wensheng to be expelled from the palace and prohibited anyone in the palace from contacting Pang Wensheng again. Otherwise, he would be regarded as having liaison with bandits and be punished with death.

Pang Wensheng was blinded by hatred. After planning for more than half a month, he decided to implement the plan to assassinate Zhu Gaoxu.

Since Zhu Gaoxu has been ordered to implement tax reform in the past two years, many grassroots officials who have lost their gray income have been desperate.

In order to crack down on the low-level officials' behavior of violating the law, Zhu Gaoxu used thunderous means to send Jin Yiwei to arrest a number of typical cases.

Jin Yiwei's methods have always been cruel and ruthless, which led to the death of individual low-level officials' families and the separation of their wives and children.

However, the fish that slipped through the net hated Zhu Gaoxu from then on.

At this time, the other two people sitting cross-legged next to Pang Wensheng were the people who had a deadly feud with Zhu Gaoxu due to the tax reform that year.

PS: Pang Wensheng was blinded by hatred and reason. Zhu Yunxu was not stupid, but he expected Pang Wensheng to kill Zhu Gaoxu or ruin Zhu Gaoxu’s face.

In fact, in the era of autocratic monarchy, Pang Wensheng's courage is worthy of encouragement. He had a spirit of resistance and did not give up revenge because Zhu Gaoxu was the prince.

　You can join the water group!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)