Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Some of Daoyan's words made Zhu Yunhuan start to think deeply. He didn't think that some of the things that the evil monk said were unreliable.

The reason is actually very simple. Zhu Yunhuan has a lot of plans in his mind. He has some grand blueprints of his own. Even though Zhu is constantly giving up power, Zhu Yunhuan is only the crown prince after all.

There are many things you can do as the boss, but compared to leading everything legitimately, there are definitely some differences now.

Although some of Dao Yan's words made Zhu Yunhuan think a lot, he still had to continue to deal with some political affairs.

Qi Tai and Yu Xin, the two great ministers, came to Wenhua Palace together to report some matters. It was about the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue. They were now the logistics managers of the northern expedition.

"Your Highness, the Prince of Yan reported that the Prince of Zhou has led the elite troops of Henan Dusi to Beiping to block the entrance." Qi De reported, "The Prince of Yan requested to transfer the power of patrol and lead the elite troops of Hebei Dusi to the north."

The army marched northward, and first the King of Qin, the King of Jin and others led their troops to the designated area to assemble. The princes of each major vassal state led the troops of the surrounding provinces to patrol the important places on the border.

This can also be regarded as the Ming Dynasty's defense line built by Zhu Yuanzhang. The King of Sai was the Ming Dynasty's first barrier for attacking and defending against enemies in the north.

When these northern frontier kings went on an expedition, troops from Henan, Hebei and other places naturally needed to be deployed to fill the vacancies left by the northern frontier kings.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Qi Tai and asked, "What do you think?"

Qi Tai immediately replied, "Your Highness, His Royal Highness Prince Yan led the elite troops of Beiping to Daning to join His Royal Highness Prince Ning. His Royal Highness Prince Jin led the Princes Su, Qing, and Dai to join forces in Datong Prefecture. I believe that the two armies are ready, and all the necessary supplies and weapons have basically arrived."

Zhu Yunxun frowned and asked, "Basically?"

Yu Xin quickly replied, "Your Highness, the elite troops of the Beijing Army led by Duke Liang and Duke Ying are still on the road and have not yet joined forces. Some baggage and other supplies are still on the way, so they will not delay the army's march north."

Zhu Yunhuan was quite satisfied with this answer.

This time the Ming army was divided into two routes. The nominal commanders were the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Yan, but the court successively sent four dukes, namely, Duke of Ying Fu Youde, Duke of Liang Lan Yu, Duke of Cao Li Jinglong, and Duke of Wei Xu Huizu, and they were also equipped with corresponding marquises.

The scale of this war will not be small, and the imperial court has indeed sent out all its elite troops, so we must be more fully prepared.

Don't forget that the imperial court had not yet deployed troops from Liaodong, and Feng Sheng was still stationed in Liaodong, so Li Chenggui and others did not dare to move rashly. These Koreans were actually thieves who had not given up their evil intentions. Every time the Central Plains dynasty entered a period of decline, they would expand outward.

If it was just some rebellion within the country, there might not be a need for such a big fight. Even the rebellion in Longzhou last year seemed to involve nearly 100,000 troops, but they were basically transferred from the two lakes and other places, which would not have any impact on the border defense line.

But as long as it involves using troops in the north, many things will become complicated.

Zhu Yunhuan was in a good mood because many things were going smoothly and everything was proceeding smoothly and in an orderly manner.

"My brothers have finally made some progress this time and can help me with some things." Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said with full of pride, "The Prince of Yan will move to Daning, and the Prince of Qi will guard Daning."

Zhu Quan would certainly follow Prince of Yan Zhu Di in the northern expedition, so such an important place as Daning would naturally be guarded by Prince of Qi.

Although Prince Zhu Yu of Qi was somewhat tyrannical and arrogant, he had also led several expeditions outside the Great Wall and was quite proud of his military strategy. There was nothing to worry about him taking his nephew Zhu Gaochi to guard Daning. Zhu Yunhuan was not worried that his seventh uncle would think of some petty conspiracy.

Qi Tai naturally wrote down these things. Some documents for mobilizing troops still needed to be issued by the Ministry of War. The Ministry of War was like a wronged young wife in front of the Five Military Commandery, but it should not be considered that the Ministry of War was just a decoration.

Yu Xin also spoke up at this time, "Your Highness, we have ordered the arsenals in various places to inspect the gunpowder, arrows, etc."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded in satisfaction and said, "What should be sent should be sent quickly, as they will be used during the war. However, these shortfalls should also be made up. The Ministry of War, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Five Military Commands should also remember that the arsenal must not be empty."

There are arsenals everywhere, which store a lot of military supplies, etc. Generally, when fighting, military supplies are distributed from the nearest arsenal. Now, using the war to clear out some stocks is also what should be done.

Although it cannot be said that the current Ming army can use weapons without restraint, at least they do not need to worry about insufficient arrows, gunpowder shortages, etc.

Even this time when they were going to the north, they had brought enough gunpowder. They brought both the old-fashioned powdered gunpowder and the new-fashioned granulated gunpowder. They used as much powdered gunpowder as they could, and when the stock was emptied, they could use the granulated gunpowder to replenish it. They couldn't waste it. Although the powdered gunpowder was inconvenient, it was made and should be put to use.

Updating weapons and so on are not easy tasks, mainly because the Ming Dynasty was too large.

As for suddenly considering breakthroughs and innovations in weapons, it is now very difficult. Cold weapons have reached a limit, and it is difficult for any epoch-making cold weapons to appear.

As for firearms, Zhu Yunhuan never gave up and always hoped to make a breakthrough. But now it seems that it is not an easy task to make a real breakthrough.

Zhu Yunhuan remained patient. It was definitely unrealistic to make rapid progress in the short term. In the long run, as long as the right direction was found, there would naturally not be too many problems. This required continuous investment and continuous development.

After a busy day of state affairs, Zhu Yunhuan returned to the East Palace and saw Xu Miaojin busy arranging things.

Zhu Yunhuan took a closer look and asked, "Are these ornaments a bit too fancy?"

"Is this fancy?" Xu Miaojin didn't quite understand. "I chose some simple and elegant porcelain, which looks quite refined. The blue and white porcelains were not bad, but I thought they were a bit too big."

In fact, there are many small-sized blue and white porcelains in the Yuan Dynasty, but Zhu Yunhuan never particularly liked those with more complicated patterns. In terms of artistic aesthetics, he and Zhu Yunhuan are similar, preferring simplicity and antiquity.

Ru Kiln, Guan Kiln, Ge Kiln, Jun Kiln and Ding Kiln are collectively known as the five famous kilns of the Song Dynasty. Today, the blue and white porcelain produced in Jingdezhen has become a representative, and there are also many official kilns and folk kilns.

Zhu Yunhuan didn't care about Xu Miaojin's aesthetic taste. "Just do it as you like. It's fine to arrange it. Just look at it and feel happy."

Xu Miaojin smiled and asked, "Your Highness, did you announce the happy event in the court today?"

"Of course, there's no need to hide it." Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile, "This is a happy event. Grandfather and I have been happy these days, and many people are making wild guesses. It just so happens that I will be ploughing the fields in a few days, so you won't have to go over."

Xu Miaojin said quickly, "Your Highness, I am not in a situation where I cannot move now."

"You can't go there either. The most important thing is to take good care of the baby." Zhu Yunxun touched Xu Miaojin's belly and said, "You also know that grandfather said those words when he was urging the birth. Now I want to see if I, the grandson, can become the emperor first if Wen Yao is really born."

Xu Miaojin's heart suddenly began to beat violently. She was naturally happy about the pregnancy. But now it seemed that she still underestimated the significance of blood inheritance to the emperor and the crown prince. This was the key to directly determine the throne!
Suddenly realizing that this might add pressure to Xu Miaojin, Zhu Yunhuan quickly joked, "I just don't know how history books will record me in the future. When Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty was young, he was not liked by Emperor Taizu and the previous emperor. He was a playboy and didn't know etiquette since he was young. Emperor Gaozu loved Emperor Yingzong and appointed Taizong as the crown prince. You can't say for sure. At that time, they will say that Taizong always disobeyed Emperor Taizu's wishes, and Emperor Taizu wanted to change the crown prince until Wen Yao was born, which helped to stabilize the position of crown prince!"

Xu Miaojin couldn't help laughing and said quickly, "Your Highness, history books shouldn't be so ridiculous! Your Highness is deeply loved by His Majesty, and this is also obvious to all. Sometimes I want to give you some advice, Your Highness often jokes and lacks steadiness."

This is also because she knows Zhu Yunhuan better and better, and now that she is pregnant, Xu Miaojin has become a lot bolder.

In the past, when Old Zhu and Zhu Yunhuan joked about the throne, Xu Miaojin was always uneasy and never dared to participate. But now, she even dared to nag Zhu Yunhuan.

However, Zhu Yunhuan was not angry. He smiled and said, "I know my limits. I won't do this in front of outsiders. I'm careful with my words and actions outside. It's so boring if I can't talk properly at home!"

Hearing Zhu Yunhuan say this, Xu Miaojin felt quite happy. Since marrying into the royal family, she did feel that life was very interesting and beautiful.

Without mentioning anything else, just think about her mother and sisters-in-law. They are all well-behaved in the mansion, and are very cautious in what they say and do. They never do anything that seems frivolous.

As for getting along with each other, in Xu Miaojin's eyes, his parents, brother and sister-in-law seemed to respect each other like guests, as if they were just respecting each other like guests.

But in the palace where the rules should be stricter, the prince didn't care about those empty formalities at all. Sometimes what he said made Xu Miaojin not only happy in her heart, but also blushed and felt a little shy.

Seeing Xu Miaojin's happy look, Zhu Yunxun complained, "Just wait, tomorrow my two aunts and two sisters will enter the palace. And my grandmother and aunt will also enter the palace. Your sisters-in-law will also enter the palace."

It was naturally normal for ladies of noble birth to enter the palace, but thinking about that fierce imperial aunt, Xu Miaojin felt a little pressured.

Besides, Zhu Yunhuan's two sisters are not easy to deal with either. They will definitely make fun of him! (End of this chapter)