Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 175 Smooth and Steady
It is said that good things should not flow to outsiders, Lan Yu and others all have similar thoughts, and they all feel that they have a closer relationship with the Crown Prince. So when they encounter some good things, they can still strive for it.

It seems that it is only right to take care of one's own people, and this crown prince seems to like to use his own people.

But the result is that everyone is one of us. But who are the real ones among us? Perhaps only the Crown Prince knows.

Zhu Yunhuan was still dealing with some political affairs, so Old Zhu sent someone to call him over.

Old Zhu got straight to the point and asked, "Do you know how to handle the manure you got?"

Although there were a lot of things to do in the past period of time, there was no delay in farming. Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to agriculture, and Zhu Yunhuan also cared about it very much, so many things were really not delayed.

Since the autumn harvest, a series of preparatory work has been started at the imperial farm, and many things are going in an orderly manner.

Zhu Yunhuan said quickly, "Grandfather, let's not talk about the horse manure in the Imperial Stables. I also had people collect sheep and pig manure from the Elephant Farm. I did a lot of these things."

Zhu Yunxun couldn't help but complain, "Who knows what people are saying about me now. I'm busy collecting manure."

Old Zhu said happily, "It's the same for farmers. We have so much manure. Others must envy us so much!"

Zhu Yunhuan was speechless because he knew what Old Zhu said made a lot of sense. If you really want to farm, you obviously need enough manure to ensure a higher yield of crops.

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "Let's not talk about composting. Now we have to dry the manure and ferment it. I'm busy."

Old Zhu couldn't help criticizing, "I think you are just messing around. Just grow crops the old way. With so much manure, it can't be that bad. But you let people dry those sheep dung balls in the sun. What a joke!"

Some of Zhu Yunhuan's operations seemed unnecessary to Old Zhu, such as sunbathing, fermentation, or digging a pit to bury some manure. Even burying some straw in the field, etc., were all incomprehensible to Old Zhu.

Zhu Yunhuan said, "I don't expect the fields in the imperial farms to produce more food. As long as a good method is verified, it can be promoted throughout the country and benefit the people."

Although Zhu Yuanzhang criticized and was puzzled, he did support Zhu Yunhuan.

Even though he considered himself an expert at farming and was indeed quite adept at many things, he did not object to some of Zhu Yunhuan's experiments, even though some of them seemed quite unprofitable and might not produce any output.

That is not the most important thing, even if it is time-consuming and laborious, it will not produce any output. But as long as you try some correct methods, you will make money, which will be of great help to Ming Dynasty.

In the final analysis, ordinary people do not have much money to improve experiments, but for the royal family, those are not particularly important. They can have a series of attempts without paying special attention to short-term returns.

Zhu Yunhuan said proudly, "We only planted one crop of rice last year, but I still don't think it's enough. We tried to use manure and compost, but I still don't think it's enough. We'll plant more this year, and we'll definitely be able to figure out a solution in one or two years."

Lao Zhu thought so too. It would be no big deal if he spent one or two years, even if it was just using a hundred acres of land as a test field.

This base number is indeed not small, but for the royal family it is not worth mentioning at all, not even a drop in the bucket.

Zhu Yunxun continued, "I am also asking people to do these things now, and I have spent a lot of time and effort on them."

Old Zhu naturally knew whether Zhu Yunhuan had put some thought into it or not, and he had no doubt about it.

"Go out of town in a couple of days and check on the fields." Old Zhu said, "Take your second uncle and the others with you. The royal family of the Ming Dynasty should behave properly when it is time to behave. These guys are too unreasonable."

Old Zhu loved his son after all, so even though it was clear that he would definitely punish Zhu Chong, he would still take care of him when it was necessary, and this was something he could do.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "That doesn't matter. If it weren't for the fact that Second Uncle couldn't stay in the capital, he could go to the imperial farm."

Zhu Yuanzhang glared at Zhu Yunhuan. He could turn a blind eye to other princes staying in the capital, and officials would not say much. But Zhu Chong, the Prince of Qin, was definitely not suitable to stay in the capital, there was no doubt about that.

There is no way, it is just because Zhu Chong is the King of Qin, his identity and status are too special. Even if he is honest, as long as he stays in the capital, it is easy for people to have some associations, which is obviously inappropriate.

So when it’s time to go back to Fengyang, you should go back to Fengyang. There is no need to hesitate about this. We all know it.

Old Zhu smiled and asked, "How is the situation at the Five Military Commandery now?" "Everyone got anxious when they heard about the war." Zhu Yunhuan laughed and complained, "Now, they come to me first instead of coming to grandfather."

Hearing Zhu Yunhuan say this, Old Zhu smiled happily, "This is the best, my grandson is still capable. I am still the emperor now, and these people in charge of the Governor's Office did not come to me when they encountered a major event, but instead let you make the decision."

Zhu Yunhuan joked, "Grandfather has always wanted to see this scene. I look unhappy now, and Duke Liang is frightened. I have been picking on him for no reason. Let's see how he behaves in the next two years."

Hearing Zhu Yunhuan say this, Old Zhu was even happier. "I was thinking that if you couldn't control them in the next two years, I would take them away before leaving. There's no need for that now. You arranged it well."

Zhu Yunwen had no doubt that Zhu Biao could do all these things. In order to smoothly transfer the imperial power, Zhu Biao could kill many people and eliminate the nobles. In history, Zhu Biao, in order to smoothly take over the throne, launched the Lanyu case. The crown prince died, the grandson was young, and all the military group of the crown prince Zhu Biao were slaughtered.

One duke, thirteen marquises, and two earls were directly executed, and more than 15,000 people were implicated and killed. Even Fu Youde and Feng Sheng were implicated and sentenced to death.

Old Zhu is becoming more and more reassured about whether Zhu Yunhuan can now smoothly take over the imperial power, and some of his previous concerns are no longer worries.

Zhu Yunhuan said, "How about Second Uncle? After coming back from this trip, I always feel that Second Uncle's spirit is not as strong as before."

Old Zhu sighed and said, "It's strange that he is so arrogant now. Let's not talk about other things. He was bypassed and a grandson was appointed as the crown prince. He doesn't say it on his face, but he must be very angry in his heart. Moreover, he was almost poisoned to death by someone close to him, so he must be even more angry in his heart. Now we have to deal with him again. It would be strange if he doesn't keep his tail between his legs."

Zhu Yunhuan could understand what Old Zhu said. Qin Wang Zhu Chong's ambition had indeed been wasted in the past two or three years. He had suffered a series of setbacks, which made this prince extremely depressed. He was also forty years old, which was about to be a grandfather in this era.

Zhu Yunhuan thought for a moment and said, "Shang Bing should have returned to Beijing in the next two days. I will take my second uncle and Shang Bing to relax and talk to them. After going through such a thing, they must be very nervous."

Old Zhu was really satisfied with his grandson, not only because of his methods and scheming in the court, but also because of his emphasis on the people and farming, or his series of plans for the future of the Ming Dynasty.

One of the things that made Zhu Yuanzhang happy was that the crown prince he chose was a bit cunning towards his family members, but he was still able to take good care of them when necessary. This of course made Zhu Yuanzhang feel extremely relieved.

Such a successor is so rare. Zhu Yuanzhang is not only proud of having trained a prince, but also a grandson.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely confident and thought he was more outstanding than Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han or Emperor Taizong of Tang.

There is no other reason, simply because his crown prince is so outstanding. Just based on the issue of succession, Zhu Yuanzhang believes that there will be no turmoil in the Ming Dynasty.

After chatting with Old Zhu for a while and having dinner, Zhu Yunhuan was ready to go home.

A new day began with a morning court session, and everything was normal, except for one more decree, which was that Zhu Yuanzhang ordered Zhu Yunhuan to lead officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works to the imperial farm to inspect the affairs of the farm.

No one had any objections. Farming itself was an extremely serious matter. After all, it was an agricultural civilization, and everyone knew the principle of agriculture as the foundation.

The emperor and the crown prince also seem to be researching some fertilizers. They have been farming in the palace since last year, and it is said that they have achieved some initial results. This is something many people have heard of. It is also known that a lot of manure is collected in the imperial farm, and it is being made according to the method researched by the emperor and the crown prince.

There's definitely no harm in going together to take a look, to see what the manure is all about and whether its benefits are exaggerated.

Of course, this is also an attitude. The Ming Dynasty has always been based on agriculture, and encouraging people to engage in agriculture and sericulture is also what a ruler should do.

I'm preparing to leave the palace, or you can say I'm preparing to leave the city. There are still many things to prepare.

Fortunately, everyone is familiar with these things, and no one is in a rush. They just need to follow the procedures.

But before that, Zhu Yunhuan still found Zhu Chong and said, "Second uncle, Shang Bing will be able to return to Beijing tomorrow, and Third uncle and the others will be able to return in two days."

Zhu Chong, who was still kneeling in the Fengxian Hall, asked, "You're all back, are you here to laugh at me?"

"Uncle, you can't say that." Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile, "Uncle, pack up and go out of the city with me to visit the imperial farm in a few days."

Zhu Chong said sarcastically, "Well, I'll go farming when I return to my hometown. I'll learn first to avoid making a fool of myself."

(End of this chapter)