Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Basically, all the necessary preparations had been made, and the plan for the Crown Prince and his Consort to return to the imperial hometown to worship their ancestors had begun.

Not to mention that all the civil and military officials in the court did not feel any surprise about this, even many people in Yingtian Prefecture had expected this a long time ago, because a series of preparations had been made in advance.

The nobles or relatives will return to Fengyang in advance, and there will be guards and imperial guards along the way. All of this is to prepare for the crown prince's return to the imperial hometown.

However, Zhu Yunhuan was also acting on orders in this matter. He only set out after Zhu Yuanzhang's order came down.

After leaving the city, Zhu Yunhuan climbed onto Xu Miaojin's carriage and said, "Are you tired?"

Xu Miaojin smiled and said, "Your Highness, how can I be so weak? I am just riding in the carriage. If I am tired, it would be too unreasonable."

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and joked, "It's hard to say. Soldiers usually train hard, and the eunuchs in the palace often walk around. People like us neglect exercise, so maybe we really can't walk anymore."

Zhu Youling complained, "Little brother, you practiced martial arts diligently in the early years, but you have been a little slack in the past two years. I see that you have gained weight."

Zhu Yourong also said, "I have gained some weight, I think this is a good thing, it makes me look more majestic."

Zhu Yunxun pinched his face and said unhappily, "I am strong, not fat. You are not going back to the palace now, so you naturally don't know that I am still practicing martial arts diligently, but not as diligently as before."

What Zhu Yunhuan said was true. He had been busy with government affairs in recent years and had relatively tight schedules, so he did not have much time to practice swords, guns, sticks, and his riding and archery skills had declined.

But no matter what, Zhu Yunhuan didn't think he was fat, at most he was just strong. There was also a genetic reason for this, the Zhu family itself was strong and powerful.

Princess Anqing joked, "When I went to the palace yesterday, I saw that the emperor didn't want you to go back home. Wen Yao was so clingy, I'm afraid the emperor wanted to take Wen Yao to court."

"That's definitely not possible. Grandfather can only go to court earlier and leave earlier." Zhu Yunhuan said happily, "And there's Concubine Ning, who can be taken care of for a while."

Princess Ningguo said with emotion, "Father is really old. When your elder brother was alive, Father was not like this either."

Some people think that when a person has more patience with children, it is a sign of getting older. In Lao Zhu, this is now even more evident.

It is said that Zhu Wenyao cannot live without Lao Zhu. In fact, many close people also know that Lao Zhu cannot live without Zhu Wenyao now. He is basically concentrating on taking care of his precious great-grandson.

"It's only right for Grandfather to attend court during this period. He has to attend court when I come back." Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile, "If he doesn't attend court again, I don't know what people will say about him in a while."

After hearing Zhu Yunhuan's words, everyone just laughed. They really didn't know how to respond as it was too sensitive.

However, even though Zhu Yourong and Zhu Youling were not very politically sensitive, they knew that what Zhu Yunhuan said was very reasonable.

The emperor had not attended court for a while, almost a year. What was known was that the emperor was busy raising his great-grandson and had handed over government affairs to the crown prince.

Those who don’t know might think that Zhu Yunhuan, the crown prince, did something that caused the emperor to remain invisible for a long time when he was still in good health. Those who don’t know might think that this was the Ming Dynasty version of the Xuanwu Gate.

Rumors stop at the wise. Now that Zhu Yuanzhang has appeared in the court a few times, some rumors will naturally be refuted. This will not do any harm to Zhu Yunhuan.

"Aunt, aunt, I will be very busy this time when I go home to worship my ancestors." Zhu Yunhuan also became serious and said, "When the time comes, you two will have to take care of our old neighbors with my two sisters."

Princess Ningguo smiled and said, "Don't worry about this. Although we rarely go back home, we know what we should do."

Although the old neighbors in the true sense are basically gone and their current status is very different, there are some things that cannot be just judged by the current situation.

Zhu was born in Fengyang, the hometown of the emperor. As descendants of Zhu, we should recognize our origins, take care of the place where our ancestors came from and the neighbors of the past.

It is certainly not possible to confer official titles or honor them, but it is also natural to give them some rice and flour as rewards and entertain the royal family when they return to their hometown to worship their ancestors.

If you don't return home when you are rich and powerful, it is like walking at night in fine clothes. This is an allusion that has been passed down for thousands of years. When Liu Bang returned to Pei County, he held a three-day banquet and played the zither and sang songs, which is a story that will be passed down through the ages.

Even in the Ming Dynasty, people attached great importance to their hometown. If the descendants of the Zhu family did not recognize their former neighbors, it would be very unpleasant if the news got out.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Xu Miaojin and said, "You must take care of Yihuihou and Ganzu's family yourself."

Xu Miaojin knew clearly that the descendants of Yihuihou Liu Jizu and Wang Ganniang were all benefactors of the old Zhu family. They had different identities and now not only obtained the hereditary official positions of the Imperial Mausoleum Sacrifice Office.

In some important sacrificial ceremonies, these two families are qualified to accompany the worship.

Xu Miaojin knew what was going on, and said seriously, "Don't worry, Your Highness. I know my limits."

There was no need for him to remind her of these things. With Xu Miaojin's kindness, she would definitely not neglect these things. Anyone with a little bit of character would not be careless about these things.

After returning to Fengyang, Zhu Yunhuan must have been quite busy. Ancestor worship was undoubtedly the most important event, and it was also one of the important procedures before he ascended the throne.

When his aunt and sister needed to entertain old neighbors on his behalf, Zhu Yunhuan also needed to start preparing banquets and receiving some nobles. After all, a group of veterans had retired and returned to their hometowns, and these people could not be forgotten.

Everyone has a lot of things to do. Because of different identities, the things they need to do are naturally different.

Do what you are supposed to do and put yourself in the right position, then many things will naturally go more smoothly and there will be no mistakes.

The fact that Zhu Yunhuan returned to his hometown to worship his ancestors this time was enough to attract the attention of many people. Coupled with the different significance, this is why it now seems to be such a grand event.

Needless to say, as for the royal family, Zhu Yunhuan's closest relatives basically all came along, to help him do things and take on part of the tasks.

In addition, there were officials from the Ministry of Rites and other departments who also came along. The Crown Prince's ancestor worship was a major event for the country, and it would have been unacceptable if these officials had not come along.

Even this time, Zhu Yunhuan returned to Fengyang with a large number of young officials from the Hanlin Academy and other noble offices, mainly the Jinshi of last year. This was a huge opportunity for those young Jinshi, who were considered to be the disciples of the crown prince and future important officials worth cultivating. It would be even more meaningful for them to participate in the sacrifice now.

After a brief conversation, Zhu Yunhuan naturally left the carriage. It was not suitable for him to stay in the carriage all the time.

Zhu Yunxun called Mei Shunchang over and asked, "How do you feel about letting you go to the army for training?"

Mei Shunchang replied in a proper manner, "Your Highness, I am dull and can only work harder. Duke Liang said before that he felt I had no talent."

Zhu Yunhuan immediately found it funny. "I don't even want to say anything about Lan Yu! But don't be discouraged. Lan Yu has been fighting on the battlefield all his life, so it's natural that he has a higher vision."

There is definitely nothing wrong with saying this. When Lan Yu was young, he fought under famous generals such as Xu Da and Chang Yuchun. At that time, he was surrounded by the founding heroes of the Ming Dynasty and was a true hero of the time.

By the time he was young and strong, he had been well trained. As a general, he fought in many battles and made many military achievements. Naturally, this meant that he did not take ordinary people seriously at all.

This is a perfectly normal thing. After all, the environment and people around you are all talented, so it is understandable that ordinary people are not taken seriously.

Zhu Yunhuan encouraged him and said, "You are different from the Duke of Liang. After all, you are my cousin. It would be best if you can fight in the battlefield in the future, but it doesn't matter if you can't. It still depends on you to keep your mind upright and enforce military discipline."

These were also Zhu Yunhuan's expectations for these in-laws. He did not expect all of them to be talented, nor did he expect them to have outstanding abilities.

Being mediocre doesn’t really matter, as long as you have good character. Some positions don’t necessarily require outstanding abilities to be successful, and the requirements for character are actually higher.

Mei Shunchang also smiled shyly. He was well aware of his own abilities.

Although many young people once had some lofty ambitions and felt that their future had unlimited possibilities, Mei Shunchang did not think so. He had a more stable personality since he was a child and his family education was also more strict.

Zhu Yunhuan was in a good mood. Although his little cousin was not the most capable, he was definitely obedient and worry-free. In his opinion, this was excellent and worthy of his trust.

Talented people emerge in every generation, and some talents need to emerge from the royal family or relatives by marriage. Mei Shunchang is one of them now.

Zhu Yunhuan never had to worry about not having talented people at his disposal. He even had some happy worries many times, mainly because it seemed that there were too many talents and he could not use them all.

The older generation is still strong enough to calm the situation, and the young and strong generation is now quickly taking on the responsibility and becoming the backbone.

The younger generation is also thriving now, and their progress will give Zhu Yunhuan more options for the future, which is of course the best thing.

Chang Sheng, the unreliable founding duke, rode up on his horse and said cheerfully, "Your Highness, some veteran generals in the imperial city have some ideas. They want to be worshipped with you if they can get permission."

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "Just give me the list. Don't just focus on the nobles. There are also some elderly people. We should take care of them as well."

The so-called 24 generals of Huaixi are well-known throughout the world. They are indeed the core force of Zhu Yuanzhang's rise. But at the same time, there were also 700 fellow villagers who defected to him.

Most of these 700 people did not see the founding of the Ming Dynasty, nor did they all become marquises or generals. However, these fellow townsmen and old tribesmen cannot be ignored.

Chang Sheng said somewhat embarrassedly, "Although there is a list in the Five Military Commandery, I am not from Fengyang after all."

Zhu Yunhuan knew what was going on, and then he complained, "Second uncle, you should be more careful sometimes. Take my cousin from Jiujiang, for example. He is not from Fengyang either, but he knows a lot of things."

Chang Sheng was confident and said, "Your Highness, that's different. After all, I am a foreign minister. Duke Cao is different. King Qiyang was even more famous in the army."

"Alright, alright." Zhu Yunhuan smiled and waved his hand, "You should talk to Duke Wei about this matter. He is better than you in this area and is indeed much more meticulous in his work."

Chang Sheng didn't feel unhappy, he knew his own abilities, he couldn't do big things well and he didn't want to do small things. If the task fell on him, he would try his best to do it well.

He was unwilling to take a second look at anything that was not within his job scope. This was not just to avoid suspicion, but also because he was too lazy to do more things. He felt that doing too much was unnecessary.

With Xu Huizu and Li Jinglong handling some matters, Zhu Yunhuan naturally had nothing to worry about as everything would be arranged.

After thinking for a while, Zhu Yunhuan said to Mei Shunchang, "You go first. You are the grandson of His Majesty and my cousin. Although you are not from Huaixi, you are almost the same. You can talk to the nobles."

Mei Sizu and Mei Yin are not representatives of the Huaixi nobles, but they still have a say among the group of founding nobles and are somewhat special.

Mei Shunchang immediately accepted the order, "I understand."

"You have a steady temperament and do your job conscientiously, so I'm naturally relieved." Zhu Yunhuan reminded with a smile, "Remember to be more careful. Some veterans like to take advantage of their seniority. Now that you've retired and returned to your hometown, they're even more fearless."

It can be said that Mei Shunchang really did not want to interact with some veterans, but he was more aware that some things were not going according to his wishes.

But now that I have received the task, I should just do my job conscientiously.

Watching Mei Shunchang riding away, Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile, "I would be satisfied if my successor could be like Shunchang in the future."

Chang Sheng immediately smiled and said proudly, "Your Highness is probably overthinking. Jizu is probably lawless. He was clamoring to go out and play a few days ago, and he would cry if he didn't get what he wanted."

Zhu Yunhuan laughed in silence. It was very likely that Chang Jizu was a spoiled child. But it was not a big deal. As long as his behavior was not too bad, it would not be a big problem if he was a little bit spoiled.

Zhu Yunhuan's requirements for some royal family members and some nobles were really not high. Ability is one thing and character is another.

Different positioning means different requirements! (End of this chapter)