Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Zhu Yuanzhang was also quite supportive of some minor strategic adjustments to the rebellion in Longzhou and other places. In the final analysis, the court did not have so many officials to directly serve, and the Ming Dynasty did not have much mass support there.

Therefore, it is still necessary for some chieftains to exist, but the Ming Dynasty can further strengthen its presence with its military power and begin to continuously strengthen its influence in some regions.

After finishing these things, Zhu Yunhuan was surprised to find that Zhu Chong had returned to the capital.

Zhu Laoer was very happy, pouring wine for Zhu Su, "Laowu, you are late. As an uncle, you are not attentive to your nephew's wedding. This is a bit unreasonable. It is still up to me, the second uncle, to do things."

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Zhu Chong with a helpless look, "Second Uncle, I didn't issue an order. If grandfather knew about this, it wouldn't be as simple as letting you go back to your hometown to farm!"

Zhu Chong is now a "guilty man", not making meritorious contributions but reflecting on his crime. If he leaves Fengyang without permission, the crime he will face will be even greater than when Zhu Su left his fiefdom without permission, so he cannot afford to make any mistakes.

Zhu Chong said exaggeratedly, "Look, look, this is what our Ming Dynasty's grandson should say, just like my elder brother did back then! You, the grandson, didn't issue an order, but I received the order from His Majesty the Emperor, so why is that not okay?"

Zhu Yunhuan was puzzled by the false alarm, "Second Uncle, I'm not saying anything else. Duke Xin just passed away. Since you are in your hometown, you should be the one to handle many things. This is also the attitude of our family."

Everyone was aware of Tang He's status. The emperor and the crown prince sent officials to pay tribute to him, and also ordered all the royal palaces to send people to pay homage. This was not a treatment that an ordinary minister could have.

Even when Chang Yuchun passed away, he did not receive such treatment. Only Li Wenzhong, Mu Ying and Xu Da could receive such treatment.

Zhu Chong said, "It's your business, right? You can't postpone the prince's wedding because of this? I'm running around and I'm not getting any good results. How can I seek justice?"

Zhu Yunhuan said with a straight face, "Second Uncle, I will rush back to Xi'an for you after my wedding."

Zhu Chongcai was not fooled by this and said, "Your royal grandfather told me that he will probably use troops against the north next year. Your fourth uncle is leading his troops from Beiping, and your third uncle will also lead your uncles to the battle. The reason why I am asked to go back is just to keep an eye on them!"

My second uncle is too smart. This is not a good thing. Zhu Yunhuan’s little thoughts have long been seen through.

Zhu Yunhuan was not embarrassed, and said seriously, "My fifth uncle also said that Youdun should lead the troops of Henan Dusi to patrol Beiping. I thought that Shang Bing should also not be idle, and he should also lead the troops to patrol."

Zhu Chong said somewhat unhappily, "My son is still in Sichuan and hasn't come back yet. It's fine to ask them to visit Uncle Wang, but when they come back, they have to lead the troops to patrol the border. What kind of thing is this!"

Zhu Yunhuan asked, "Then I will let Jihui, Gao Chi, and Youdun patrol the border, and let Shang Bing rest at home, is that okay?"

Zhu Chong immediately laughed, he felt sorry for his son's hard work. But it would be wrong to let the prince of Qin be the only one to have some free time. If all his other nephews went to patrol the border and his son had to rest, Zhu Chong would start to make a fuss.

Zhu Su said, "Second brother, you have to go back and keep the third and fourth brothers in check. It's not that I, as the younger brother, am saying something strange, but the two of them are getting more and more at odds with each other. If the court sends troops, they will definitely compete for credit."

Zhu Chong looked at Zhu Su, and then said to Zhu Yunxun, "Your fifth uncle is the most cunning one, and he has always liked to stir up trouble. Nephew, it's not that your second uncle is saying something strange, but among all your uncles, I am the most honest person."

They are really brothers. None of Zhu's older sons likes to stir up trouble. They always stir up trouble for no reason.

Zhu Yunxun asked worriedly, "Second uncle, I think what fifth uncle said makes sense. Military and national affairs should not be treated lightly, but if third uncle and fourth uncle really want to compete for credit, the probability of this happening is still very high."

The main reason was that there was a precedent before. It is no exaggeration to say that among the princes in the north, the most respected were Prince of Jin Zhu Gang and Prince of Yan Zhu Di in terms of military affairs. They were also used to controlling the generals, one from Shanxi and the other from Beiping to march to the northern desert.

In the 23rd year of Hongwu, they went to Mobei to fight and defeated the Northern Yuan Taiwei Nairbuhua. Zhu Di and Zhu Gang were competing for credit. In the 24th year of Hongwu, they fought against the foreign general Ashili and others, and the two quarreled again. Even before Zhu Biao died, Zhu Di specially ordered the Prince of Jin to control the soldiers of Shanxi and the Prince of Yan to control the soldiers of the guards in Beiping. All military affairs had to be reported to the court and the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Yan.

Zhu Chong also didn't quite understand. "It was fine before, but it has become more and more obvious in recent years. The third brother was originally loved by the emperor and has always been valued. In recent years, he has divided pastures, built cities, and led the kings to guard against border troubles. How impressive. Your fourth uncle is not a person who is willing to be inferior to others, and he likes military affairs the most. How can he be willing to do this?"

Zhu Yunxun couldn't help but complain, "Second Uncle, Third Uncle, and Fourth Uncle, if they are impeached one day, it must be because your weird words were heard by others."

Zhu Su nodded repeatedly and fanned the flames by saying, "It's as if the third brother is ruling a region, and the fourth brother has ulterior motives. No wonder, the third and fourth brothers are so powerful, while the second brother, the leader of the royal family, is still farming in his hometown. I would say that the third and fourth brothers should not think about being in the limelight, or the second brother might get caught by them!"

Although I knew before that my uncles would speak without restraint and without taboos once they were let loose, but now I look at it again, I find that even the most honest King Zhou Zhu Su is actually a master at fanning the flames and being weird.

But this is also a matter of habit, because Zhu Lao and Zhu Biao used to like to say weird things and ridicule people. The closer they are to their family, the more they like to tease them. Zhu Yunhuan also followed suit, and it was normal for him to say things that hurt people.

This is also a very normal thing. Some people say that it takes three generations to produce an aristocrat. Zhu Yunhuan is only the third generation. When Zhu Chong and others grew up, it was the old Zhu who slowly developed from a separatist regime to the founding emperor. Moreover, his family was originally from the lower class and did not have any aristocratic style.

I also thought that Zhu Yunhuan was not a petty person and could afford to take a joke.

Zhu Chong looked at Zhu Yunhuan and continued, "You two should discuss the matter of the third and fourth brothers first. I don't have any solution. I will just follow orders. It would be best if they give me, the second brother, face. If they really don't, I will just beat them up and leave. I am the King of Qin, and they are the King of Jin and the King of Yan. Who is afraid of who?"

Zhu Yunxun looked at Zhu Su and asked, "Fifth Uncle, does what Second Uncle said make sense?"

Zhu Su said, "We have separated now, so we just need to live our own lives. If my second and third brothers criticize me, I will give them enough face, but whether they listen or not is another matter. This is not like our hometown in Fengyang, where we would be beaten if we didn't obey."

This makes perfect sense, there is still some brotherly love and respect for younger brothers, but now they are all middle-aged, rich and respected princes, it is not like when they were young and they still had to follow the rules of seniority in the palace.

In the past, Zhu Chong, Zhu Su and others could still use their status as elder brothers and legitimate sons to scare other younger brothers. Now, the princes who were enfeoffed gave face to their elder brothers. In private, they just thought that if any of their elder brothers got into trouble, they could go up and step on them.

After all, among the brothers, only the eldest brother could decide their status and even life and death. As for the other brothers, they would not see them once a year after they were enfeoffed, so naturally there was no need to care so much.

After drinking and chatting with his two uncles, Zhu Yunhuan returned to the East Palace to rest. The morning court of the new day began, and naturally, the matter of Zhao Zongshou, the governor of Longzhou, asking for surrender was announced, and the court officials also discussed it.

Such early court meetings were more about announcing some policies, and sometimes the pros and cons of some policies would be analyzed and discussed more carefully during the discussion. But most of the time, it was definitely not "all-hands-on-deck" participation, but the emperor or the crown prince would summon important officials to discuss those major matters.

After the morning court session, some officials who had things to report would naturally go to the Wenhua Hall.

Summoning some officials and discussing some things are all part of Zhu Yunhuan's daily routine. He just needs to get used to this work.

As the officials left one after another, Zhu Yunhuan summoned Xia Yuanji and asked, "How much will my wedding cost?"

Xia Yuanji immediately replied, "Your Highness, His Majesty has approved the use of 80,000 taels of silver."

Zhu Yunhuan frowned upon hearing this and said, "Reduce it a bit, no more than 50,000."

Some people may not believe that the total cost of Zhu Yunhuan's wedding is not allowed to exceed 50,000 taels of silver. But to be honest, this is already an astronomical figure.

Hundreds of thousands of taels are unimaginable nowadays, let alone millions of taels.

In fact, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the cost of the emperor's wedding was only a few hundred thousand or two hundred thousand taels. Zhu Houzhao, who was called willful by many people, wanted to use 400,000 taels of silver for his wedding, but the ministers refused. This is still considering that the currency in the middle and late period was not as good as the early period of the founding of the country, and the money in the early period was more valuable.

This is after a series of improvements, from 100,000 taels to 200,000 taels.

Xia Yuanji said with some embarrassment, "Your Highness is the crown prince. If the crown prince's wedding is shabby, it will not be enough to show the majesty of the court."

The emperor's mausoleum, the crown prince's marriage, etc. can easily be taken to the same level as the country's image. If everyone is reluctant to spend money, many officials will not praise frugality, but will think that they do not have the demeanor of a great country.

Zhu Yunxun asked directly, "Are you so rich now?"

Xia Yuanji said, "Your Highness, the Imperial Treasury has already taken 30,000 taels, and the Ministry of Revenue has also spent 50,000 taels."

The money has already been received. It is obvious that these officials may be stingy at ordinary times. If some government offices ask for money, the money bags of these officials will cry poor. However, for the wedding of the crown prince, the allocation of funds is more active than the other, and no one said that the money is not enough.

Not only because of Zhu Yunhuan's special status, but also because this money has long been in the court's budget and will be spent sooner or later. And this is not a number that exceeds everyone's expectations, so naturally no one will say anything.

Zhu Yunhuan thought for a moment and said, "How about this, let's find a way to get the money to the East Palace."

Xia Yuanji immediately knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly, "Your Highness, please think twice! Your Highness's wedding is a major event for the court, and nothing can go wrong!"

"I didn't say that all the money should be taken away!" Zhu Yunhuan said immediately, "It's not necessary. Since the money has been allocated, we should find a way to take it away, so that the money won't be lost in the end. What should be transferred should be transferred, and what should be saved should be saved."

As Zhu Yunhuan's money bag, Xia Yuanji was even more embarrassed, "Your Highness, if this is really the case, His Majesty will definitely punish you!"

Xia Yuanji naturally knew very well what the Crown Prince meant.

According to normal procedures, many government offices in the court would be involved in the wedding of the crown prince, and a lot of expenses would naturally be included in this fee. However, this crown prince wanted to take the money to the East Palace, and even if he had to settle the account at that time, he would go through the East Palace account, not the general account of the funds.

Zhu Yunhuan said with reason, "It's hard to say. If we really spend it freely, no matter how much money we have, it won't be enough. We should save as much as we can. I have other uses for the money that we can't spend. So, you take care of this matter, and I'll take care of His Majesty's affairs."

Zhu Yunhuan was actually quite short of money. The money in the national treasury was the national treasury's money and it certainly could not be used indiscriminately.

Money is spent on marching and fighting, salaries of officials and soldiers, or a series of infrastructure construction, etc.

As for the treasury, it seemed that there were a lot of gold, silver and jewelry, but it was the emperor's small treasury, and Zhu Yuanzhang would never let Zhu Yunhuan use it recklessly.

Although he had no shortage of small amounts of money, Zhu Yunhuan did not have much money at his disposal. So he had a crooked idea, wanting to save some money from the wedding.

If Zhu Yunhuan had been more frugal, he wouldn't have turned his wedding into a joke.

Zhu Yunhuan felt very happy. This was not abusing his power for personal gain. With such a large sum of money, he would definitely be much more well-off and would have enough funds to do many things.

When Zhu Yunhuan arrived at Wuying Palace and saw Old Zhu, he spoke first, "Why would I need 80,000 taels to get married? The court has many things to spend now, and we can't spend money like this even if we have money, not to mention that our Ming Dynasty is not strong enough."

Old Zhu immediately said, "Eighty thousand taels is not a lot. Is there anyone in this world who is more noble than our grandson? I don't believe it. Others have such a grand ceremony, so shouldn't our grandson have such a grand wedding?"

"With my status, the ceremony will be grand and lavish. I guess only the emperor's wedding in the future can be comparable to this." Zhu Yunhuan said, "I've asked someone to watch over it. Don't spend money recklessly."

Zhu Yunhuan was the crown prince. In the Ming Dynasty, only the crown prince had a wedding ceremony, and there was no emperor's wedding ceremony. Theoretically, Zhu Yunhuan's wedding ceremony was at the prince level, and 80,000 taels was an astronomical figure, comparable to that of the emperor.

Old Zhu wanted to persuade him again, but Zhu Yunhuan was vague, "Grandfather, there will be many places to spend money in the future, so spend it frugally. I'll have someone take care of the accounts, spend what should be spent, and save what shouldn't be spent!" (End of this chapter)