King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

Time flies and two days passed in the blink of an eye.

Early that morning, Zhu Di, with his personal soldiers, slowly arrived at the capital, escorting the Japanese pirates and Park family members captured from Japan.

From a distance, he saw the welcoming procession placed in front of the gate of Yingtian Prefecture. The man leading the procession was dressed in an imperial robe. He was none other than Crown Prince Zhu Biao.

Zhu Di did not dare to be arrogant. He immediately rode forward, dismounted, saluted respectfully towards Zhu Biao, and said in a deep voice.

"Your Highness, I am Zhu Di. I greet His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"Fourth."

Zhu Biao still had a gentle smile on his face. He helped Zhu Di up and said softly, "Thank you for your hard work."

"Thank you, Your Highness. This..."

"Call me Your Highness again, and I'll kick you."

Seeing that Zhu Di kept calling him "Your Highness", Zhu Biao seemed a little unhappy and interrupted Zhu Di directly. Zhu Di paused and chuckled, "Big Brother."

"Ah."

Hearing this, Zhu Biao patted Zhu Di on the shoulder, took his wrist and said, "Let's go home with you, brother."

Zhu Biao's words "go home" made Zhu Di's heart soften and he almost cried.

Ever since he was enfeoffed, he knew that Yingtian Prefecture was no longer his home, and the imperial city in Yingtian Prefecture no longer belonged to him.

But what Zhu Biao said directly hit the soft spot in Zhu Di's heart, making him feel mixed emotions.

Zhu Biao did not let Zhu Di ride a horse, but instead pulled him into the prince's carriage, which made Zhu Di flattered.

In the carriage, Zhu Biao looked at Zhu Di, and seeing that he was still a little reserved, he smiled.

"Old Four, it's only been a short time since we last met. How come you become like a woman? Is Big Brother so scary?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di just smiled lightly and said nothing.

He thought a lot as he rushed back from Penghu. The more he thought, the more he felt something was wrong, and the more frightened he became.

Therefore, after seeing Zhu Biao, he couldn't help but be more cautious, as if he was afraid of angering Zhu Biao.

The reason why Zhu Di was so cautious was very simple. Although he led his soldiers to almost wipe out the Japanese pirates along the coast, which was a great achievement, he did not have an imperial order to send troops at the beginning.

Before, there was the Tenth Prince Zhu Tan who was in charge, and now that the Tenth Prince has been removed, it’s inevitable that the old man will make a fuss about this matter.

As a son, he must keep a low profile.

"You are not as free and easy as Old Ten."

Seeing Zhu Di was silent, Zhu Biao smiled and said, "Old Ten, you can tell me what you want to say when you see me."

"He was making a scene, playing dumb, talking about irrelevant things, and asked all the questions he wanted to ask, but he was not like you, who was like a mute person."

"Have you become stupid after spending all these years in Peking?"

"Not at all."

After hearing what Zhu Biao said, Zhu Di smiled and said, "My brother is a little nervous. I don't know what to say to the emperor when I see him."

"After all, there is no order from the emperor for this expedition."

"The fault is all Old Ten's. Why are you worried?" Zhu Biao smiled and rolled his eyes at Zhu Di, saying, "That brat plotted against you and used you as a scapegoat for the old man. Did you accept it willingly?"

"Why don't you sue him?"

"My younger brother is old after all, and he can't be on the same level as the tenth brother."

Zhu Di smiled and said, "Besides, even if the Tenth Master was plotting against me, I still sent troops, so that was a mistake."

"The old man is not angry with you, but he will definitely scold you after seeing you."

Zhu Biao smiled and said, "You know what kind of temper our father has. He never says a good word."

Hearing this, Zhu Di's mouth twitched, he wanted to laugh but didn't dare to.

"Okay, stop holding it in!"

Seeing this, Zhu Biao reached out and poked Zhu Di, and Zhu Di then grinned.

"With these words from my elder brother, I feel much more at ease."

Zhu Di laughed and said, "Brother, you don't know, on the way back, I was worried that the old man would beat me with his shoe sole."

"Father doesn't want to beat you now, and it's not a big mistake."

Zhu Biao said: "I led the army to fight against the Japanese pirates, not to rebel. Although some people in the court have objections, they were all rebutted by my father."

"Go to the palace with peace of mind. Once your father has finished scolding you, the matter will be over."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Di nodded heavily, and at the same time he understood what Zhu Biao had not finished saying.

Zhu Biao's meaning was very clear. The old man was definitely going to scold Zhu Di. After that, Zhu Biao still had something to say to him.

The carriage slowly entered the Forbidden City and stopped at the gate. Zhu Biao personally took Zhu Di to the old man's bedroom.

The diligence of the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was rare in the world.

When the two brothers arrived at the bedroom, the old man was still reading memorials. There were piles of memorials on the dragon desk. This workload far exceeded that of a normal person, but he never got tired of it.

"Father."

Zhu Biao slowly stepped forward, stood beside the old man and said softly: "Fourth brother is back."

"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, wrote a few strokes on the memorial in his hand with a red pen, threw the memorial aside, and looked up at Zhu Di.

"Your son Zhu Di, kowtows to your father."

Zhu Di immediately knelt down and kowtowed, but Zhu Yuanzhang did not say anything. He looked at his fourth son indifferently with a look in his eyes.

After a long pause, he spoke.

"Fourth."

"My son is here."

"Are you guilty?"

Zhu Di was shocked when he heard this, and he kowtowed quickly, saying, "Your son knows."

"Oh?" Zhu Yuanzhang raised his eyebrows: "Then tell me, where is the crime?"

"I, your son, secretly dispatched troops to sea without the emperor's order. I cannot escape the blame. Please punish me, father!"

Zhu Di knew very well that he must not hide anything in front of the old man. The more he hid, the angrier the old man would get. Once the old man got angry, he would be in trouble.

"Um, any more?"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded when he heard this, and picked up a memorial beside him and started reading it, as if he didn't care at all what Zhu Di said.

"And..." Zhu Di thought carefully, but couldn't figure it out after a long time.

He couldn't mention Zhu Tan's matter at this time, otherwise the old man would get even angrier.

"We all know that you are sending troops out of Peking and out to sea to suppress the Japanese pirates."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the memorial nonchalantly and said, "But why didn't you send us a letter after you sent out the troops?"

"Do you still have your father in your eyes?"

Hearing this, Zhu Di felt relieved, knowing that the old man was not angry at all.

When he sent troops from Peking, Zhu Di also thought about submitting a memorial to the old man to explain the reasons.

But if that happened, Zhu Tan would inevitably be involved.

What the old man least wanted to see was the royal children killing each other. That was a big taboo. The old man would definitely be even angrier if he knew about it, so he didn't write it.

"I know I was wrong." Zhu Di kowtowed. Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him calmly and said, "You have made great contributions in leading the army. We wanted to prepare a welcoming banquet for you."

"But when I think that you are hiding something from me, I feel unhappy. You don't have to eat this meal."

"Get lost."

"Hey!"

When the old man told him to get out, Zhu Di got up and left quickly without any hesitation.

If he continued to kneel here and said something like begging his father for mercy, the old man would definitely hit him with the shoe, and he would be asking for a beating.

Since he said that, it means that the matter has passed. No matter how strong the consequences are, he, as a father, will block it.

Zhu Di left the hall, but did not leave. Instead, he stood aside and waited. Not long after, Zhu Biao came out.

The two brothers smiled at each other, Zhu Biao gave Zhu Di a wink, and Zhu Di immediately followed.

The two walked side by side towards the East Palace, and Zhu Biao chuckled softly.

"The old man just told me that you have made great contributions in destroying the Japanese pirates, and you will be rewarded at the grand court meeting tomorrow."

"The old man asked me to ask you, what do you want?"

what do you want?
Zhu Di had never thought about this. He thought it was good enough that he could get through safely this time. He didn't expect that the old man was going to give him a reward.

He is already a prince and has his own fiefdom and garrisons. What else does he want?
Zhu Di thought for a moment and asked, "Brother, I want to go to Japan. The old man..."

"That's out of the question."

Zhu Biao said with a smile: "The commander and deputy commander for the expedition to Japan have been decided. What are you going to do now?"

"Are you willing to help Lao Shi all the time?"

In fact, Zhu Di had nothing to be unwilling about. If he suffered a loss, he could just kick Zhu Tan a few times and get it back.

But seeing that Zhu Biao meant this, Zhu Di did not fight for it anymore, but said: "Then just give it to me, old man."

"It doesn't matter whether you give it or not. I am a vassal king of the Ming Dynasty. It is my duty to fight against the enemies for the country."

"You can give it up, but what about the soldiers of the Beiping Military Commission?"

Zhu Tan smiled and said, "They went to war with you and drifted on the sea for so long, why don't you give them an explanation?"

As they were talking, the two had already arrived at the East Palace. Zhu Biao directly pulled Zhu Di to sit down and ordered the servants to serve wine.

"Brother, what does the old man mean?"

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Biao and asked softly, "It is my duty to reward my soldiers, but from what I heard from my eldest brother, the old man wants me to go to the palace?"

"Do you need to say anything?"

"If you can't see this, then you're not the fourth one."

Zhu Biao smiled lightly, poured himself a glass of wine, and asked, "Have you heard about the incident between the Pu family in Fujian and the Japanese pirates?"

"I know." Zhu Di nodded. "The reason why the Japanese pirates were able to become so powerful and repeatedly harass the coast of our Ming Dynasty is because of the support of the Pu family behind the scenes."

"Old Ten also told me that the Pu family has big plans and is planning to occupy Penghu and Changguo. They deserve to be killed."

"The old man actually knew all these things a long time ago."

Zhu Biao took a sip of wine with a calm expression.

But when Zhu Di heard this, his heart skipped a beat and he frowned slightly.

He knew that the story behind this was not simple, and he could also see that it was the old man who set up the trap. However, Zhu Di could not guess who the trap was set for.

"Our Ming Dynasty has been established for 20 years. Now the country is peaceful and the people are prosperous. Some people are not very honest anymore."

Zhu Biao did not continue speaking, but said something ambiguous, which made Zhu Di even more nervous.

“Think about it, even if a local gentry has been operating for a hundred years and has taken root since the Yuan Dynasty, it is still strange that he has such a large family business and such great abilities?”

Zhu Biao continued to speak, his eyes always looking at Zhu Di, and his tone was gentle: "There are so many places along the coast of the Ming Dynasty, and there are many merchants. Why is it that only the Pu family dared to collude with the Japanese pirates and dared to plot against our Ming Dynasty's territory?"

Zhu Di didn't dare to speak, but he was not stupid, so he could naturally understand what Zhu Biao meant.

The old man set a trap for someone within the imperial court, who must be a powerful person.

And this time, Zhu Di was summoned to the capital, probably to use his mouth to stir up a storm.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di couldn't help but feel a little sour in his heart.

He and the tenth son Zhu Tan are both the old man's sons, but the old man excluded Zhu Tan in this matter, stationed him in Penghu and not allowed him to return to Beijing, but asked himself to go to Beijing to deal with this crisis.

This is too biased.

"The Pu family is a foreign race." Zhu Biao continued, "They want to occupy the overseas islands of the Ming Dynasty and then gradually erode the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Their goal is to restore the country."

"The Japanese are the swords in their hands, and certain people in the court are their allies."

As he spoke, Zhu Biao tapped the table lightly, looked straight at Zhu Di, and asked again; "Old Four, do you know what I mean?"

Zhu Biao had already asked, so Zhu Di had no choice but to answer, so he said, "They want to... split up our Ming Dynasty."

The Park family may have this idea, but now that the Park family has been completely eradicated, this matter is not a big deal at all.

Zhu Biao said this to Zhu Di just to use this as an excuse to make Zhu Di, the great hero who wiped out the Japanese pirates, speak up and take the first step in purging the court.

It's not that Zhu Di was unwilling, but doing so made him feel like he was being plotted against, and he also felt jealous.

"During the grand court meeting, you will speak about the Park family's affairs."

Zhu Biao got straight to the point and said, "They have connections with the Japanese, and I suspect they have connections with people in the court. You can tell me about that."

"You've made this start, and you don't have to worry about the rest."

After Zhu Biao finished speaking, he looked at Zhu Di with cold eyes, waiting for his reply.

Zhu Di thought for a moment, then sighed and said, "I accept your order."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao knew that Zhu Di must have been thinking in the wrong direction, so he smiled and shook his head, saying, "Fourth Brother, these words were originally what the emperor wanted to say to you, but I stopped him."

"You know why?"

Zhu Di was stunned when he heard this, and subconsciously said: "Brother, you..."

"If Father told you, you would definitely think that Father is biased and has already found a way out for Old Ten, but left you to handle the difficult tasks."

"Is that what you think now?"

"I……"

Although Zhu Biao saw through his thoughts, Zhu Di did not explain and just drank in depression.

"Heh." Zhu Biao smiled and said, "Do you know why father favors the tenth son?"

Zhu Di looked up when he heard this, and Zhu Biao continued, "If the same thing happened to Old Ten, he would definitely not suffer in silence."

"He will definitely do the job, but he will definitely try to get some benefits from the old man so that he doesn't lose out."

"His fearlessness is most like that of our father. Would our father not like him?"

"Look at you again." Zhu Biao pointed at Zhu Di and said, "You are angry but don't say it. You just drink to keep silent."

"I am your elder brother. You and I were drinking in private, and you told me that I obeyed your orders?"

"Old Four, you are not as free and easy as before."

Hearing this, Zhu Di's heart was slightly moved, and he sighed and said: "Brother, I am getting older."

"No matter how old you are, I am still your father, and I am still your elder brother!"

Zhu Biao frowned and said: "The Ming Dynasty is also your Ming Dynasty, and the Forbidden City is also your home!"

"Why, now that I'm helping with some chores at home, you're already overthinking?" (End of this chapter)