Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 33 King Mu
Old Zhu has been partial to others for most of his life, and his partiality is undisguised.

There is no need to talk about wives and concubines. A wife is a wife and a concubine is a concubine. There is no comparison at all.

When it comes to the issue of heirs, in Zhu's mind, legitimate sons are legitimate sons and illegitimate sons are illegitimate sons. Even among legitimate sons, there is a difference between the eldest legitimate son and other legitimate sons.

But when it came to the issue of his grandchildren, Old Zhu suddenly seemed fair.

When he was not instructing Zhu Yunwen, he would not criticize Zhu Yunhuan. When he was not seeing Zhu Yunhuan, Zhu Yunwen could not enter the Wuying Palace.

His ambiguous attitude caused many people to begin to waver and made many people confused about the issue of choosing the crown prince.

Crown Prince, it is impossible for the Emperor to appoint another Crown Prince.

Prior to this, Liu Sanwu, a scholar of the Imperial Academy, had proposed that "the emperor's grandson is old and wealthy, and is the legitimate son of the family. When his son dies, his grandson will take over the throne, which is in accordance with etiquette."

This was the view of some court officials, who felt that there was nothing wrong with establishing the crown prince. Moreover, in the emperor's mind, there was no other candidate for the position of crown prince.

Zhu Yunhuan felt that he had the initiative. The fact that Zhu officially considered him as a candidate for the crown prince proved that his proactive efforts had paid off.

Zhu Yunhuan took action, and Zhu Yunwen did not dare to be careless. The two brothers were working hard to fight for it, and they both understood that the position of crown prince seemed to be within reach, but no one dared to guarantee that they could win.

Especially as the Crown Prince's funeral was approaching and the kings were about to return to the capital, the atmosphere in the court became even more turbulent.

Many people and groups are planning something, while others are watching the situation and are unwilling to express their views easily.

Zhu Yunhuan's life didn't seem to have changed much. He was still keeping vigil and reading.

But it is these things that have not changed that are essentially the biggest changes. All of this is also putting him in direct competition with Zhu Yunwen. Many court officials can see the performance of these two grandsons during the mourning period.

Some of the tutors and lecturers in the main hall also realized that Zhu Yunwen had some real talents and knowledge. And Zhu Yunhuan, the grandson of the emperor who had previously been known for his dandyism, was actually not a fool.

Suddenly, a piece of news came that caught many people off guard.

Mu Ying, Marquis of Xiping, died of illness.

Zhu Yuanzhang had many adopted sons in his early years. His nephew Li Wenzhong, his nephew Zhu Wenzhen, and Mu Ying can be regarded as the three most special adopted sons.

In the eyes of Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma, Mu Ying was not even an adopted son, but a son.

This son was also very promising and capable. He made outstanding military achievements in his early years. After the founding of the country, he pacified Yunnan and guarded the area. From the autumn of the 14th year of Hongwu until his death, Mu Ying had been engaged in political affairs for more than ten years.

Although he went to Beijing to meet Zhu Yuanzhang once during this period, he stayed there for only ten days and then hurried back to Yunnan.

He suppressed the Luchuan rebellion, set up a fortress every 60 miles along the line from Yongning to Dali, vigorously developed military farming to solve the food problem. He built water conservancy projects and promoted culture and education. The efforts of this Marquis of Xiping in Yunnan made the southwestern border of the Ming Dynasty stable.

He had very deep feelings for the Zhu family. When Empress Ma passed away, Mu Ying did not eat for three days. He coughed up blood due to excessive grief and almost fainted.

After the news of Crown Prince Zhu Biao's death reached Yunnan, Mu Ying cried so much that he fell ill, then had a stroke and fell to the ground and died.

Zhu Yunhuan was also disappointed when he heard the news. The Prince of Qianning and the Prince of Mu’s Mansion were the real pillars of the Ming Dynasty.

The descendants of the Mu family guarded Yunnan for generations and remained with the Ming Dynasty!
Zhu Yunhuan didn't think much about it and stood up and walked towards the Wuying Palace.

After requesting for a meeting, Lao Zhu also summoned him directly.

Looking at the haggard old Zhu, Zhu Yunhuan was silent for a long time but still didn't know how to comfort him.

Old Zhu said in a hoarse voice, "Are you dumb? You didn't say anything when you saw me, but Yun Wen still knew to comfort me."

Zhu Yunhuan said, "I don't know how to persuade him, so I won't say anything. I just want to make arrangements for my cousin's affairs after his death."

"Uncle?" Old Zhu looked up at Zhu Yunwen, "Yunwen said to us that he was the Marquis of Xiping, you should be more straightforward. Although the Mu family is our designated relative, he is still a minister after all."

Among the relatives that Zhu Yuanzhang identified in the "Record of Ancestral Instructions" were the Empress's family, the Crown Princess' family, the Princess of a County, and the Prince Consort's family, as well as the Mu Ying family, the Xu Da family, the Li Wenzhong family, the Guo Ying family, and the Tang He family.

Zhu Yunhuan said, "My cousin is different from them. He is a relative of ours."

Old Zhu's eyes were red, and he said, "That year, your grandmother and I were in Haozhou, and we had no children. Seeing that he was very thin and pitiful, we kept him by our side and adopted him as our son. We had many adopted sons, but many of them are gone. When your father was born that year, we were afraid that these adopted sons would not accept it. Even your cousin, when he saw your father, he became close to him and said that he would protect him for the rest of his life." Zhu Yunhuan said in a muffled voice, "Cousin, isn't this protecting my father? He probably misses the Empress Dowager as well."

Old Zhu burst into tears and slammed the table, shouting, "How can they be so cruel! Bao'er is gone, Ying'er is gone too, Wenzheng, Wenzheng is probably still blaming me!"

The three adopted sons, the three most valued and closest adopted sons, are now all gone.

For Zhu, Mu Ying's death was no less than experiencing the pain of losing a son again.

After Old Zhu finished crying, Zhu Yunhuan said, "Grandfather, please order Brother Mu Chun to return my cousin's coffin to the capital."

Old Zhu wiped his tears with the back of his hand, "Hey, our Ying'er is gone, and we need to send her back."

Zhu Yunhuan was silent for a moment before he said, "Is it in Zhongshan, or somewhere else?"

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunxun and felt even more puzzled. "What did your father tell you? Did he tell you all these things?"

According to common sense, Mu Ying must be buried in Zhongshan. However, in history, Mu Ying was not buried in Zhongshan.

It’s not that Zhu Yuanzhang had any objection to Mu Ying, but that he respected some of Mu Ying’s last wishes.

Zhu Yunhuan said vaguely, "Nothing much has been said. My cousin has made outstanding contributions throughout his life. I think he should be posthumously named the King of Qianning and buried with royal rites."

Old Zhu stared at Zhu Yunhuan and said word by word, "All the kings we conferred upon him were dukes!"

Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Li Wenzhong, Deng Yu, these are the titles of kings conferred by Zhu Yuanzhang posthumously, and they were all conferred the title of kings after the death of the Dukes. However, this does not mean that all Dukes are qualified to do so, only those with great contributions can have such honor.

Zhu Yunhuan said, "Based on your cousin's achievements in Yunnan over the years, he should have been granted the title of Duke long ago. It is also appropriate to make an exception for him."

After a long silence, Lao Zhu said, "You go back first. I want to be alone for a while."

Zhu Yunhuan had no choice but to leave, but just as he turned to leave, he heard suppressed crying in the Wuying Hall.

When Xiping Hou Mu Ying passed away, Zhu Yuanzhang "cried bitterly and stopped attending court."

For a diligent emperor, there were not many people who could make Zhu Yuanzhang stop attending court. Mu Ying's death really made him sad.

In just over a month, his beloved eldest son was gone, and his favorite adopted son was also gone. Even a tough man like Lao Zhu couldn't accept it at this moment.

He is now over 60 years old, but he is still suffering from the pain of losing his children.

His biological son's funeral was about to begin, and his adopted son's coffin had been sent back and needed burial as well. Old Zhu could only send off the young one and arrange the affairs for his children after their death.

There was very little Zhu Yunhuan could do to help Zhu Yuanzhang's sadness.

He had never dealt with Mu Ying before, and the death of this relative was more of a regret for him. He could not empathize with him like Old Zhu did.

It was not just Zhu Yunhuan who was like this, Zhu Yunwen was almost the same. When the news of Mu Ying's death was passed back to Beijing, all he could think of was comforting Old Zhu, not losing a relative.

"Yunnan!" Zhu Yunhuan sat in his study and said with some melancholy, "Yunnan often has rebellions. Although Si Lunfa surrendered in the Luchuan battle, there will definitely be more rebellions next time."

The Mu family’s defense of Yunnan is definitely not just a matter of military deterrence.

This is also the continuous development and dissemination of education to win the hearts of the people.

At that time, Kublai Khan's fifth son, Kughoch, was the first Mongol prince and ruled Yunnan for nearly a hundred years. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongol prince Liang Wang used Kunming as his ruling center and still followed the Yuan Dynasty and obeyed the orders of the remnant forces of the Yuan Dynasty who retreated to the Mongolian desert area.

The chieftain Duan controlled the Dali area. Although it was directly under the jurisdiction of the Northern Yuan government, it was in a semi-independent state.

Ten years ago, Fu Youde pacified Yunnan. Although this ended Yunnan's separatist rule, the imperial court also established the Yunnan Military Command and the Yunnan Provincial Administration to manage Yunnan's military and political affairs, and set up garrisons in strategic military areas to station troops.

However, it is impossible to fully return to Yunnan in a short period of time, as Yunnan needs the continued defense of the Mu family.

Muchun should inherit the title!
The southwest needs stability, and the role of the Mu family is very obvious and unique!
(End of this chapter)