Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 271: There is a time limit for waiting in the East Palace

The first year of Qianxi, the second day of June.

Afterwards.

On his way back to the East Palace, Prince Zhu Zhanyu was stopped by Kang Ping, the eunuch who was responsible for the ceremony.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, Your Majesty has summoned you for something."

Zhu Zhanyu was born tall and majestic, aggressive, impulsive, jealous of evil and stubborn at the same time.

Because he once fell off the horse and injured his left arm accidentally while trying to win the championship in a horse race with the princes and princes on the school field, resulting in a shocking scar on his left arm.

This incident added a touch of irritability to his temper, and he often appeared domineering in front of the eunuchs and maids of the inner court.

But since Zhu Zhanyu was named the crown prince, perhaps he deliberately established a new "forgiving" persona and restrained his temper a lot.

Now, after listening to Kang Ping's report, he quickly and politely raised his hands and said, "I have Superintendent Lao Kang to lead the way."

Kang Ping didn't dare to accept the prince's courtesy, so he hurriedly stepped aside, bowed respectfully and made a gesture of "please come this way", and then opened the way to lead the way.

In the past, when Kang Ping was ordered to send a message to Zhu Zhanyu, Zhu Zhanyu would only reply "I understand" in a cold manner, instead of being so polite as he is now.

Zhu Zhanyu had undergone tremendous changes in just half a month, and all the chamberlains and palace servants who had come into contact with him during this period had obvious feelings.

Kang Ping had seen similar changes in Zhu Gaoxu, the second son of King Yan at that time, in the 25th year of Hongwu, but he could detect that the changes between the two were obviously different.

Zhu Gaoxu's temperament changed from the inside out. From then on, his words and deeds in treating others peacefully came from his heart.

In fact, this is the nature developed by the time traveler in the previous life, and there is no chance to look down on others.

But Zhu Zhanyu's change was that as the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, he deliberately assumed the attitude of a "courteous and virtuous corporal" who "treats others with leniency".

To put it bluntly, Zhu Zhanyu wants everyone to know that he is no longer the reckless prince in the past, but the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty with the "image of a benevolent king"!

"Father is in the Longevity Palace?"

Zhu Zhanyu sat on the chariot and followed Kang Ping for a while, and found that they were heading to the palace of the Supreme Emperor.

"Back to Your Majesty, Your Majesty went to the Palace of Longevity after the court was over."

Kang Ping stopped and bowed.

Zhu Zhanyu said "hmm" and signaled the driver to continue moving forward.

A quarter of an hour later.

Kang Ping led the prince's chariot to the gate of Longevity Palace.

"Prince is here!"

Following Kang Ping's shout, all the guards, chamberlains, and palace officials on duty saluted the crown prince one after another.

Zhu Zhanyu got off the chariot and walked across the longevity gate. After passing through the courtyard in front of the palace, he walked into the longevity hall.

As soon as he entered the main hall of the main hall, he saw an incredible scene!
The current emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Gaoxu, and the former emperor Zhu Di were actually shirtless, playing with swords and guns, and competing in martial arts!
No wonder, it is June now, the weather is already hot, strenuous exercise is easy to sweat, shirtless is more comfortable.

But what happened to the two pieces of dog skin plaster on Zhu Di's lower back?

"Father, Grandpa!"

Before Zhu Zhanyu finished speaking, Zhu Gaoxu turned to look at him and shouted: "Well done!"

At the same time, Zhu Di threw the spear in his hand towards Zhu Zhanyu and said loudly: "Go on!"

After Zhu Zhanyu took the spear, Zhu Di took a deep breath and said with a smile: "Zhanyu, have a few moves with your father."

"Good grandpa."

Zhu Zhanyu felt the weight of the spear, then walked towards Zhu Gaoxu with a smile and said: "Dad, my son is here, let's see how he moves!"

If it weren't for the three desks and six rows of bookshelves filled with books in the Hall of Longevity, some people would definitely believe that this hall was an armory.

There are side halls on the left and right sides of the main hall. Li Xing, the eunuch on duty in the right hall, saw Zhu Di withdrawing from the battle circle and walking towards this side. He immediately picked up a wet towel and greeted him.

Zhu Di took the towel, wiped the sweat from his face, raised his head and shouted: "Happy!"

Li Xing quickly flattered him: "The emperor's martial arts skills are still as good as before!"

"Haha, it won't work if you don't accept it."

Zhu Di smiled and raised his right arm, curled his fingers into a hook shape, pointed at his back, and motioned to Li Xing to help him tear off the dog skin plaster.

"May I ask, Your Majesty, do you still want to keep these two plasters?"

Li Xing asked respectfully, holding two pieces of dog skin plaster torn off.

He knew how precious the dog skin plaster in his hand was, so he asked this question.

"I have used these two secret plasters several times, and now they are stained with stinking sweat, so I won't keep any of them and give them to you as a reward!"

Zhu Di gave instructions first, and then said with emotion: "Gao Xu still had the idea. If he hadn't instructed the Taiyuan Hospital to make this secret dog skin plaster six years ago, I might not be able to cure my wind-cold bone pain in this life."

"My slave, thank the Emperor for the reward!"

Li Xing folded the two plasters and put them in his sleeve pocket, and complimented calmly: "What the Emperor said is absolutely true. Your benevolence and filial piety are unparalleled. In the past ten years, every year for the past ten years, I will personally cook two kilograms of donkey-hide gelatin cake for the Queen Mother."

"Shen Nong's Materia Medica" lists donkey-hide gelatin as a "top grade", saying that it is "mainly used for internal collapse of the heart and abdomen, malaria-like symptoms due to extreme exertion, pain in the waist and abdomen, sore limbs, bleeding in women, and miscarriage." "Okay, you and everyone else are here. Just step back."

Zhu Di put on his clothes under Li Xing's service, waved his hand and said.

"The slaves retire."

Li Xing bowed.

After a while.

The right hall of Changshou Hall.

Zhu Di, Zhu Gaoxu and Zhu Zhanyu's father, son and grandson sat down respectively.

"Zhan Yu, you are 23 years old this year."

Zhu Di said bluntly: "Grandpa, when I was your age, I already had three sons and two daughters."

Zhu Gaoxu asked: "Do you understand what your grandpa means?"

Seeing that Zhu Zhanyu was silent, he continued: "You are now the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty. The people of the Ming Dynasty need your children to prosper. Do you understand?"

"The eldest brother (Zhu Zhanjing) has three sons, and the third brother (Zhu Zhanjing) also has two sons."

Zhu Zhanyu looked at Zhu Gaoxu with pitiful eyes, and said with aggrieved face: "Dad, my son and Ning Ning are still young, how about waiting for two more years?"

As introduced in the previous article (Chapter 226), the "Ningning" he refers to is Yuan Ningning, the daughter of Zhu Gaoxu's eldest sister, Princess Yong'an, and his consort, Captain Yuan Rong.

Yuan Ningning is Zhu Zhanyu's first wife, who is now the princess.

"no!"

Zhu Gaoxu said in a tone that left no room for doubt: "I, the Prince of the Ming Dynasty, can 'stay' until the age of 50, but the Crown Prince cannot!"

He was referring to the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions" which stipulates: "When the prince's eldest son reaches the age of ten, the imperial court will grant him a gold book and gold treasure and establish him as the prince's son. If he is captured by a concubine, he will be demoted to a commoner at the least, or reduced to a commoner at the worst. Traveling to distant places. For example, if the king is thirty years old and the concubine has no legitimate son, his concubine will only be the county prince; when the king and the princess are fifty years old and there are no legitimate children, the concubine's eldest son will be named the prince's son."

"The Emperor and the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty do not adopt the system of vassal kings and concubines. It does not mean that they do not have to abide by the rules of concubines, but they must abide by the more stringent system of treating concubines."

Seeing Zhu Zhanyu's confused face, Zhu Gaoxu explained patiently: "I, the Ming vassal king, can give birth to concubine children before the wedding, but I, the Ming emperor and the prince, are not allowed to do this."

"Grandpa, is this true?"

Zhu Zhanyu looked at Zhu Di as if asking for help and asked.

Zhu Di said helplessly: "At least on the surface, the emperor or the prince of the Ming Dynasty can only favor his concubines or concubines after the wedding and the appointment of a queen or a princess."

"Furthermore, the emperor's concubines or the crown prince's concubines are not eligible to have concubine children until the queen or crown princess has given birth to an heir, unless the queen or crown princess has not given birth to an heir for several years after marriage."

Historically, Hu Shanxiang, the concubine of Emperor Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty when he was the grandson, and Qian Jinluan, the empress of Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, were both childless four years after their marriage.

Because the Hu family had no children for four years, they married the Sun family, the great-grandson of Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, and their reproductive rights were released. In the 22nd year of Yongle, they gave birth to the third daughter, Princess Changde, for Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, and in the second year of Xuande, they gave birth to a concubine. The eldest son Zhu Qizhen.

Because Queen Qian was childless for four years, the reproductive rights of other concubines of Ming Yingzong were released. So Zhou gave birth to Princess Chongqing in the 11th year of Zhengtong, and the eldest son Zhu Jianshen the following year; Wan gave birth to the second prince in the 13th year of Zhengtong. Zhu Jianlin gave birth to the third prince Zhu Jianshi the following year.

"Zhan Yu, you have been very smart since you were a child. You should understand the meaning of this rule."

Zhu Di said earnestly: "The reason why the Emperor and the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty must abide by this rule is to ensure that the eldest son of every emperor is the daughter of the Queen."

This was a method used by the Ming Emperor to strictly implement the eldest son inheritance system, which was more stringent than the eldest son inheritance system of the Ming vassals.

"Zhan Yu, you and Ning Ning have been married for more than four years. Although she gave birth to a daughter in the third year of marriage, she has not given birth to any children yet."

Zhu Gaoxu continued: "Therefore, I have discussed with your grandparents and decided to recruit some concubines for you as attendants in the East Palace, so as to expand the branches of our old Zhu family."

"Dad, grandpa, can you give me another two years of grace?"

Zhu Zhanyu asked bravely.

"This matter is not subject to discussion, and you are not allowed to act arrogant."

Zhu Gaoxu said seriously.

"Zhan Yu, grandpa knows that your relationship with Ning Ning is unusual, but your identity determines that you can't wait like this any longer."

Zhu Di advised patiently: "Ning Ning is a good boy. Your father and I are discussing how to get you some concubines. We are not trying to separate you and Ning Ning, nor are we asking you to alienate Ning Ning, but I hope you can If the rain and dew are both wet, let the East Palace give birth to an heir as soon as possible."

"My grandson knows the importance."

Zhu Zhanyu responded first, then took a deep breath, looked at Zhu Gaoxu and said, "Dad, my son has a suggestion regarding this matter."

"Say." Zhu Gaoxu said.

Zhu Zhanyu said: "My son thinks that my father should take this opportunity to set a time limit for the East Palace to be heirs, maybe three years, five years, or seven years, so that we can establish rules for future generations and avoid unnecessary trouble."

"Great!"

Zhu Di couldn't help stroking his palms and said: "You are indeed my good grandson! His mind and magnanimity are exactly the same as when I was young!"

"Zhan Yu, you can think so, I am very happy as a father."

Zhu Gaoxu smiled slightly and said: "This is what I, the crown prince of the Ming Dynasty, should look like!"

PS: Thanks to Zhongyou 1104181817, Book Friends 20211204145111961, zmzlq, Mozhishi, Yinzige and other veterans for their recommendations and monthly votes!grateful!

(End of this chapter)