Daming: I am the Crown Prince

For Xu Miaojin, her status as the Crown Prince's Consort is naturally noble, and even her sisters-in-law would not deliberately show off their status in front of her.

This is not to say that it is a problem with the Xu family's family tradition. In fact, ever since she was chosen by Zhu Yuanzhang as the Crown Prince's Consort, Xu Miaojing's identity and status in the Prince of Zhongshan's Palace have become special, and the noble ladies who used to have dealings with her have become more attentive and flattering.

But the only people who didn't seem to care about her identity were naturally Zhu Yunhuan's aunts and sisters. She could already foresee that they would enter the palace tomorrow.

Xu Miaojin’s little troubles were nothing to Zhu Yunhuan, he still had to do his own thing.

At the beginning of the new day's morning court session, many things about the expedition to the north were basically clarified, and the logistics and the redeployment and adjustments of some garrisons were also further improved.

After the court session, Zhu Yunhuan summoned several senior officials, and everyone had made it clear how to deal with the Minister of Rites Ren Hengtai, which was nothing more than demoting him to serve as a warning to others.

Being demoted from the second-rank Minister of Rites to the fourth-rank Right Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate was all Ren Hengtai's own fault and he could not blame anyone else.

Many things were going on in an orderly manner. Old Zhu led the civil and military officials to perform the ploughing ceremony, which was no different from the past. Xu Miaojin, the Crown Prince's Consort, did not show up, which everyone could fully understand.

The news that the Crown Prince's wife is pregnant spread very quickly, and now most of the people in Yingtian Prefecture have heard about it.

Many people were also discussing that, judging from the emperor's physical condition, he might be able to wait until his great-grandson was ten years old.

Given the emperor's preference for the former crown prince, this great-grandson would definitely be canonized once he turned ten. Crown prince, great-grandson, would there be a great-great-grandson in the future?

This is unprecedented, and it is too early to mention some things now. However, judging from the character of the current emperor, if such a day really comes, these things may happen.

Ren Hengtai finally returned to Yingtian Prefecture. As soon as he arrived at Wenhua Palace, he knelt down and said, "I, your humble servant, Ren Hengtai, have returned from a diplomatic mission to Annan. I am reporting to Your Highness today!"

Zhu Yunxun could not help but say with regret, "It took decades of hard study to get a place on the imperial examination. It was not easy to be an official, and every step was difficult. Only then did you become the Minister of Rites. You are really stupid!"

Hearing Zhu Yunhuan say this, Ren Hengtai kowtowed and apologized, "I am a sinner who has failed to live up to your trust. I deserve to die!"

"You won't die, but your reputation will be ruined." Zhu Yunhuan shook his head and said regretfully, "Focus on your duties in the future, and don't do anything foolish again."

In fact, Ren Hengtai also understood that since the news that he bought barbarians as slaves in Annan was exposed, the matter had entered an irreversible situation.

This is a lack of personal morality, which is no small matter for some scholars in this era. His reputation in the literati circle was ruined, and his official career was bound to be frustrated.

It was a favor from the Crown Prince that he could still hold the position of the fourth-rank censor. It would be almost impossible for him to be promoted in the future. In this seemingly noble position of censor, Ren Hengtai might have to retire or die in office.

If there is a regret pill, Ren Hengtai will definitely buy one. If time can go back, he will definitely not make these stupid mistakes again.

But it's too late to say all this now. I can't change any facts. I can only accept everything that is happening now.

Zhu Yunhuan was too lazy to say anything more about Ren Hengtai's behavior, because it was useless to say anything now.

Zhu Yunhuan asked a serious question, "How did you do the things I asked you to do during this mission to Annan?"

Ren Hengtai did not dare to be careless and immediately replied, "Your Highness, everyone knows that the Annan powerful official Hu Jinyi has the intention to usurp the throne. Twenty years ago, the Annan ruler Ruizong Chen Xuan led 120,000 troops to invade Champa, but was defeated and died in battle. The Annan court falsely claimed that Ruizong drowned while patrolling the border and requested to appoint a crown prince to succeed the throne. The court then sent an envoy to appoint Chen Xuan as the King of Annan. In fact, the Annan government was controlled by the Annan King Chen Yizong at that time."

Zhu Yunhuan knew about this. Chen Yizong was Chen Ruizong's elder brother, who abdicated and called himself "Grand Emperor". Hu Jilin was Chen Yizong's favorite minister. For this favorite minister, Chen Yizong even deposed his own grandson and forced him to commit suicide.

Chen Yizong also died last year. Actually, before that, Hu Jilin's power was growing. So much so that before Chen Yizong's death, he wanted to eliminate Hu Jilin, but he was powerless.

This is actually similar to the situation in Goryeo. Hu Jinyi was also a general, and he took advantage of the internal turmoil in the government to gradually usurp the throne.

Ren Hengtai continued, "From what I have seen in Annan, almost all the loyal ministers of the King of Annan have been wiped out, and Hu Jin's intention to usurp the throne is obvious. However, the successive rulers of Annan still have some power, and most of the people are loyal to them."

The founding of the Tran Dynasty of Annan has been 170 years old, which is not a short time. In fact, the founding monarch of the Tran Dynasty of Annan, Chen Ying, also usurped the throne. As a minister of the Li Dynasty of Annan at that time, some of his actions are difficult to describe.

Because the last monarch of the Li Dynasty was a woman, Chen Ying was the husband of that female king. After usurping the throne, he made his king's wife the "queen" and then abolished her.

This could even be considered a smooth usurpation of the throne, without so much bloodshed, so the people of Annan were relatively accepting of the Chen Dynasty. Zhu Yunhuan listened carefully to Ren Hengtai's report on the situation in Annan. In fact, although Zhu Yunhuan was interested in Goryeo, he was more interested in Annan, and wanted to enter the Indochina Peninsula through here.

Goryeo is cold and mountainous, and even though it calls itself a small China, it has always been difficult to be self-sufficient in food. The so-called Korean food looks like a lot, but the plates are pitifully small, and each one is a bite-sized portion.

But the Indochina Peninsula is different. It can definitely become an excellent grain-producing area, and if managed properly, it will have no problem feeding back to the Ming Dynasty.

What the pragmatist Zhu Yunhuan thought about was just that simple, not just long-term interests, but also a series of current interests.

What's more, the Indochina Peninsula is not only suitable for growing crops, but also extremely rich in minerals. In addition, Zhu Yunhuan was determined to open up the sea, so the Indochina Peninsula naturally became a very important transit base.

It is difficult for the current Ming Dynasty to swallow up the entire East Asia in one breath, so it has to proceed step by step and recover its existing territories first.

After all, Annan also has historical records. The Li Dynasty before the Chen Dynasty imitated the Chinese feudal dynasties to compile their own history books. The Chen Dynasty at that time named Zhao Tuo as the ancestor. This "Dayue History" is in Chinese, which fully proves that the Ming Dynasty has the right to recover the old land.

Not only Zhu Yunhuan was listening carefully, Daoyan was also listening carefully to some of the situations reported by Ren Hengtai.

Zhu Yunhuan's thoughts on Annan were obvious, and some of his ministers naturally knew what to do, which was actually not difficult to guess at all.

After Ren Hengtai finished explaining the situation, he continued, "Your Highness, Hu Jinyi is extremely afraid that the imperial court will send troops to attack him. So he ordered his eldest son, Li Yuancheng, to be the envoy to go to the imperial court to make his case."

Daoyan was a little confused, "Li Yuancheng?"

Ren Hengtai explained, "Hu Ji's original surname was Li, so his sons all used the same surname."

Zhu Yunhuan said without comment, "As an envoy? That is the business of the Ministry of Rites and the Honglu Temple. I am busy and have no time to meet the offspring of an Annan official."

There is nothing wrong with putting on such an air. If it is a serious envoy, Zhu Yunhuan will definitely meet him.

However, Hu Jinyi was planning to usurp the throne, so there was naturally no need for Zhu Yunhuan to meet his son.

Ren Hengtai quickly explained, "Your Highness, most of the Annan dignitaries are proficient in Chinese. Li Yuancheng should not be underestimated, as he is very good at making firearms."

Zhu Yunhuan was stunned for a moment. He was tirelessly pursuing progress in firearms. Sometimes he also lamented that his ability was not enough. Even if he invested a lot of resources, he could not make any leap forward in firearms.

And this Li Yuancheng is actually quite famous in history. During the Yongle period, the Ming army attacked Hu Jinluo, and Hu Jinluo's country was destroyed and he was captured.

Also captured was Li Yuancheng, who was originally just an ordinary prisoner. However, he was able to make magic guns and firearms, so he was granted an official position by the Ming Dynasty and was also called the "God of Firearms" by some Ming soldiers.

Zhu Yunhuan, who had been uninterested at first, suddenly became interested. He wanted to see what kind of person the eldest son of the powerful official of Annan was like and whether this person could bring any help to the Ming Dynasty.

Since he is an envoy, we naturally need to consider treating him well. It is not only necessary to demonstrate the powerful military strength of the Ming Dynasty, but also to let this person show his talents and abilities.

Zhu Yunhuan was in a good mood and said to Ren Hengtai, "You are thoughtful. I am tired from traveling all the way. Go back home and rest for a few days, and then go to court in five days."

This can be regarded as some face given by Zhu Yunhuan to Ren Hengtai. After all, he is the first senior civil servant under his command.

Ren Hengtai was naturally very grateful. The five days would allow him to rest and stay out of the spotlight for a while.

As for matters like the Minister of Rites, there is naturally nothing much to say. The imperial court has already issued a clear decree that Minister of Rites Ren Hengtai has been demoted to the position of Censor, and this is a fact that cannot be changed.

After Ren Hengtai left, Jiang Lin immediately entered the Wenhua Hall with several Jinyiwei, who were also on the diplomatic mission to Annan.

The official envoy was naturally Ren Hengtai, but Zhu Yunhuan would not be completely unprepared. The Jinyiwei not only supervised Ren Hengtai, but more importantly, collected a series of intelligence and so on.

When it comes to these things, the Jinyiwei are much more professional than Ren Hengtai. Zhu Yunxun is naturally very interested in knowing and understanding some of the intelligence they collected.

Since Zhu Yunhuan is already planning to take Annan, we must of course have enough information. Even though the Ming Dynasty is strong, we still need to investigate carefully and not fight a battle we are not sure of! (End of this chapter)