Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 152: Autumn Hunt of Kings
When he went to court again, Zhu Yunhuan was already accustomed to presiding over the morning court himself. The officials were not surprised by the empty dragon throne. It didn't matter whether the emperor was really sick or faking it.

Although the Crown Prince is young, he is able to control the government, and that’s enough.

Even if we think a little more, it was almost the same two or three years ago, except that it was the prince who presided over the morning court at that time.

Ren Hengtai and others basically sorted out the order of the morning court, and the order of the court was further improved.

The Crown Prince did not directly approve it because he still had to be careful about the impact. Even if it was just taking off his pants to fart, he couldn't decide right away, after all, Old Zhu was just "sick" now.

Urging the government offices to pay attention to the autumn harvest is an absolutely important matter. Many government offices need to cooperate with this matter and must not be careless.

On the other hand, the Five Military Commandery also needs to pay attention. Every autumn, it not only means clear and cool weather, but also means that the cattle and sheep are fat. This is also the season to start preparing for autumn hunting.

Therefore, the nobles of the Five Military Commanderies will also be busy, including some troops in the capital and garrisons along the border. They will go out of the border under the leadership of the princes and start the annual autumn hunting.

This is the current situation. The Ming Dynasty has a strong military force and the south of the desert has been controlled by the Ming Dynasty. It is very difficult for nomadic peoples to develop in the south of the desert. They must always be careful of the Ming army.

No civil or military officials had any objection to the autumn hunting. The main reason was that this was the strategy decided by Zhu Yuanzhang to continuously suppress and weaken the nomadic peoples so that they could not recuperate and recover their strength.

Summoning some nobles, Zhu Yunhuan asked, "Who do you think can be the commander in chief for this autumn hunt?"

Li Jinglong immediately stepped out and said, "Your Highness, I think that His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin and His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan can lead the army to the battle."

Xu Huizu added, "When His Royal Highness Prince of Yan leaves for Beiping, he can order Prince of Liao and Prince of Ning to accompany him on the expedition."

Liao Wang Zhu Zhi and Ning Wang Zhu Quan were both enfeoffed last year, so according to common sense, they can also accompany the expedition this year. Especially with Yan Wang Zhu Di, there should not be too many problems.

Li Jinglong put forward his own ideas, "Your Highness, I think His Highness the King of Liao should not act rashly. The Palace of the King of Liao has not been built yet, and Goryeo has deployed troops to attack Liaodong. His Highness the King of Liao should not go out to fight easily."

Zhu Zhi, the King of Liao, was supposed to establish his fiefdom in Guangning Prefecture, but the palace of the King of Liao had not yet been built, so he was temporarily stationed in the north of Daling River.

Xu Huizu said disapprovingly, "The usurpation of the throne by Lee Seong-gye of Goryeo has not yet stabilized the situation. We only need to let His Royal Highness Prince Qi send troops to garrison. Liaodong is now stable, so His Royal Highness Prince Yan can lead His Royal Highness Prince Liao and His Royal Highness Prince Ning in the autumn hunt. This is the long-term plan."

What Li Jinglong said made sense, because in Liaodong now, only Prince of Liao Zhu Zhi has officially been enfeoffed. It will probably take another one or two years for Prince of Shen Zhu Mo and Prince of Han Zhu Song to be enfeoffed.

Liaodong was originally a sensitive place. It was stabilized after the expedition against Nahachu, but some nomadic tribes were not completely loyal.

In addition, because Tielingwei and Wang's Goryeo fell out, even though Lee Seong-gye usurped the throne, the Ming Dynasty refused to recognize Lee Seong-gye, which put Lee Seong-gye under considerable pressure. On the one hand, he kept sending envoys to seek the Ming Dynasty's canonization, and on the other hand, he also had to deploy troops to prevent the Ming Dynasty from sending troops from Liaodong.

What Xu Huizu said was of course very reasonable. The King of the Frontier of the Ming Dynasty guarded the important border area, and one of his extremely important tasks was to lead his troops into the grassland in the autumn.

Therefore, Prince of Liao Zhu Zhi should also follow the army at this time. He is the new king and it is impossible for him to lead the army alone. Of course, he needs to follow Prince of Yan Zhu Di. This is not only for stability, but also a training for Zhu Zhi.

Prince Ning Zhu Quan was originally in Daning, so he would send troops no matter what, and no one doubted that.

Zhu Yunhuan asked, "Duke Liang, who do you think should lead the army in the northwest?"

Lan Yu replied without thinking, "Your Highness, I think His Highness the Prince of Jin can lead the army. Assisted by veteran generals, and His Highness the Prince of Su, the Prince of Dai, and the Prince of Qing, the northwest will surely be safe."

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Xu Huizu, Li Jinglong and others and asked, "What do you think?"

Li Jinglong thought about it carefully and replied, "What the Duke of Liang said is very true, but I think that His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin is in charge of the northwestern princes and is also in charge of building cities and dividing grasslands. His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin has too many tasks to do, so he should not be moved lightly."

This is a euphemism. Jin Wang Zhu Gang is now the most important prince among the royal family of the Ming Dynasty. When Zhu planned and built Dongsheng City in the frontier, he left the responsibility to Zhu Gang. Now, almost all the princes' palaces in the northwest are under the control of Jin Wang.

Xu Huizu said, "Your Highness the Prince of Qin has just suppressed the rebellion of the Qiang people. How can we let Your Highness the Prince of Qin go out of the border again?"

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Xu Huizu and Li Jinglong with a half-smile. These two leaders of the second generation of nobles also had their own little thoughts. Some of the things they said were also slightly reserved.

The King of Qin and the King of Jin were both very special. One was the eldest of the royal family kings and was born with an extremely special status. The other was different. Not to mention in the army, he had considerable prestige in the court.

As long as these two princes are here, the other princes combined are no match for them.

In the eyes of some people, these two princes may be the two most threatening to the crown prince. Zhu Yunhuan asked with a smile, "The King of Qin has just suppressed the rebellion of the Qiang people, and the King of Jin is in charge of the northwest border affairs. If they can't move easily, we can't let the King of Zhou go, or let the King of Chu go on a long expedition?"

Lan Yu volunteered at this time and said, "Your Highness, I am willing to follow His Highness the Prince of Jin to the battle."

Li Jinglong immediately knelt down and asked for battle, "Your Highness, I am also willing to follow His Highness the Prince of Jin into battle!"

Xu Huizu naturally did not want to be outdone, and immediately said, "Your Highness, I am willing to go to war!"

The nobles in Wenhua Hall all asked to fight, not to show off, but at this stage, the nobles of the Ming Dynasty were all very warlike. They did not indulge in the current glory and wealth, and fighting in the battlefield was an opportunity to make achievements for them, and they would never have too much.

Zhu Yunhuan thought for a moment and said, "How about this, we should send out troops in three directions. In the past two years, the troops of the King of Jin and the King of Yan did not achieve any success, so this year we should send out three armies."

Looking at Lan Yu, Zhu Yunhuan said, "You command your troops to follow the King of Jin, Duke Cao will follow the King of Yan, and Duke Wei will follow the King of Qin."

This seems to be a way of balancing the two, but no one thinks it is a big problem.

In name, the three great princes were in charge of the troops, but many people knew that the troops were only mobilized by the princes during wartime. Even during the autumn hunts like now, the princes were in charge of the troops. During the Northern Expedition and the suppression of separatist regimes, the generals were in charge of the troops.

Chang Sheng looked around and saw that he was the Duke who was left behind in the capital. There was also Fu Youde, who was fighting with the great scholars for land and building a martial arts garden at the foot of Jiming Mountain.

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "Bring out the rules this morning. The Ministry of War and the Five Military Commands Office must get busy. The route, number of troops, and food and supplies must be prepared. You are all veterans, so I don't need to explain these things."

After the others left, Zhu Yunhuan called Xu Huizu and said, "Duke Wei, you will be accompanying us on this expedition, so please be careful. There was a report earlier that the Prince of Qin suppressed the Qiang people, and the Qiang people surrendered after hearing about the King of Qin's reputation."

This is a bit of a embellishment. The King of Qin was simply a demon to some Qiang people in the northwest. He had previously captured pregnant women and brought them to the King of Qin's palace when he went on an expedition, causing couples to be separated. When he went on an expedition to the Western Regions, he abducted 150 young girls and castrated 155 young boys.

The Qiang tribe surrendered simply because the reputation of the evil king Qin was too bad and they were afraid of angering him.

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "And the three guards of the King of Qin, you must enforce military discipline. The King of Qin has been doing some wrong things in recent years, and the three guards of the King of Qin must be appeased as well."

Zhu Chong was not only cruel to the Qiang and Fan people, but he also forced soldiers and civilians to work when he was carrying out large-scale construction projects, which also caused a lot of resentment.

Xu Huizu immediately accepted the order and said solemnly, "I will do my best!"

His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin is indeed the head of the royal family, and he must be respected. However, Xu Huizu is not necessarily afraid, and he would not hesitate to let him take over the Three Guards of the Prince of Qin, because he knows that the Three Guards of the Prince of Qin are essentially the soldiers of the court.

Whether it is the King of Qin or the King of Jin, no matter how powerful they seem now, they will not pose any substantial threat to the Crown Prince.

After arranging Xu Huizu's mission, Zhu Yunhuan called Li Jinglong and said, "When you go to Beiping, remember to pay attention to Prince Ning's troops after the troops are joined together."

Seeing that Li Jinglong seemed a little confused, Zhu Yunxun said, "Prince Ning is enfeoffed in Da Ning, which is originally in the south of the desert. Now there are also garrison guards who have surrendered. Most of Prince Ning's men are cavalry. Let's see how the cavalry is."

Li Jinglong understood what he meant and said, "I understand. I will definitely find out where all the guards are located."

Zhu Yunhuan joked, "Don't make it too ugly. Prince Ning is our elder after all. If he hits you, you can only endure it."

Li Jinglong responded with a smile, "Your Highness Prince Ning would not do that."

There shouldn't be any big problem with this, after all, in Zhu Quan's eyes, Li Jinglong was the Duke of Cao. In Li Jinglong's eyes, the Prince of Ning was just the Prince of Ning, and he didn't care about the generational relationship, he only cared about the monarch and his subjects.

Lan Yu happily returned to Wenhua Palace again, eagerly waiting for Zhu Yunhuan to give him some tasks.

Zhu Yunhuan said, "Follow my uncle and kill the enemy. It would be great if we can gain more gains this time. The northwest must be stable in the next two years. Don't worry about other things. You must gain something on this trip of three armies!"

Lan Yu was excited now, and said confidently, "Don't worry, Your Highness. I will lead the cavalry to roam the grasslands and kill the rebellious barbarians!"

It's just a routine autumn hunt, but the Duke of Liang might want to turn it into a war to annihilate the country!

(End of this chapter)