Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 81: Not Just Housework (Five more chapters, please subscribe!)
As the crown prince who did not need to observe government affairs, Zhu Yunhuan did not have to get up before dawn, but he could not sleep too late either.

Get up at about 7 o'clock. It's not late to get up around 7 o'clock, but it's definitely not early compared to some people.

After a simple exercise and breakfast, Zhu Yunhuan hurried to Wenhua Hall before 8 o'clock. Not having to observe government affairs or attend court didn't mean he could relax.

As the top scholar in the 24th year of Hongwu, Xu Guan was a compiler in the Hanlin Academy and was not yet thirty years old.

Zhu Yunhuan "didn't recognize" this person at first, but when he knew that Xu Guan was still the top scorer in the imperial examinations, he realized that Xu Guan had not changed back to his father's surname.

This is the poem "Huang Guan" who was invincible all the way from a student to the top scholar. He not only passed six examinations successfully but also won the first place in each of them.

Zhu Yunhuan took the article from Xu Guan and read it. He said, "The writing is too ornate. It's not appropriate. Just write a biography of Master Song without commenting on it. You can talk about Master Song teaching my father, and there is no need to avoid the fact that Master Song's grandson Song Shen was involved in the Hu Weiyong case."

Xu Guan understood immediately and said, "I understand."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded slightly and said to Xu Guan, "What you advocated during the palace examination last year, 'stationing troops on the frontier, cultivating and defending, resisting when they come and preventing when they leave, so that China will not be disturbed and the border will not be in danger', is very good. Now you still need to concentrate on studying, but don't just write articles without understanding current affairs."

Even though Zhu Yunhuan was less than fifteen and Xu Guan was almost thirty, no one felt there was anything wrong with him giving Xu Guan advice in an air of seniority.

Zhu Yunxun continued, "I know you like to discuss scriptures and comment on articles, but you must not just be a poet. There are many people who have high aspirations but low skills. You are the top scholar, so you should learn practical skills."

Xu Guan immediately knelt down and said politely, "I will obey your instructions!"

Zhu Yunhuan thought that he did not have the literary talent to write the tomb inscription for Song Lian, so he asked people from the Hanlin Academy to help him polish it, and no one thought there was anything wrong with it.

As a result of this search, I actually found several people who have left a lot of fame in history.

Xu Guan was one of them, but unfortunately he did not leave much political achievements. Instead, he jumped into the river and died in the late Jingnan period. His wife and two daughters died before him.

Some people say it is blind loyalty, but in today's ethical standards, what Xu Guan and his wife and daughter did is worthy of praise and commendation.

In other words, Zhu Di was in an awkward position and was unable to give posthumous titles to Jianwen's loyal ministers.

After Xu Guan left, Zhu Yunhuan continued to look carefully at the memorials piled on the desk. It was Old Zhu who specially selected the more targeted memorials for study.

While Zhu Yunhuan was quietly looking at the memorial, the morning court was over. Officials from various government offices either returned to their offices or began to handle their affairs.

Chang Sheng did not need to sit in the court to prepare to go back to the mansion, but a eunuch came up to him and said, "Duke, His Highness summons you."

Chang Sheng immediately smiled and was in high spirits. Even after his nephew became the Crown Prince, he still could not leave the palace easily. Except when summoned to the Wenhua Palace, Chang Sheng and others could not see him under normal circumstances.

"Please take a seat." Seeing Chang Sheng coming, Zhu Yunhuan said directly, "Serve tea."

After all, he is the elder of their family and also an important official, so his treatment is much higher than that of Xu Guan and others.

Chang Sheng didn't waste any words and asked directly, "Your Highness summoned me, but is there something you want me to do?"

Zhu Yunhuan restrained his smile and asked, "I also know that the Duke of Kaiguo is not very familiar with military affairs, but I want to ask, how many adopted sons does the Duke of Liang have?"

Chang Sheng's expression changed, and he said awkwardly, "There are about twenty people who have officially worshipped me. I'm afraid there are more than fifty people who have verbally adopted me as their adopted sons."

Zhu Yunhuan snorted coldly, "No wonder he dared to say in front of Your Majesty that he could decide the promotion of officers in the army. These hundreds of adopted sons are really powerful in the army."

Zhu Yuanzhang had also adopted sons in the past. Li Wenzhong, Mu Ying, Zhu Wenxun and even the Jining Guard Commander Pingding were all adopted sons. These were formally adopted sons who were registered under his name.

But Lan Yu seemed to be really powerful, with a lot of formal adopted sons, as well as some adopted sons just verbally.

As for these adopted sons, they should not think about any inheritance rights. Lan Yu's title was given by the imperial court. There is an essential difference between a stepson and an adopted son.

Zhu Yunhuan asked again, "How much land does the Prince of Kaiping's Palace have? How about the Duke of Liang's Palace?"

Chang Sheng said quickly, "Except for the public land awarded by the court, there is not much land in the mansion, which is enough for food and accommodation in the mansion."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded in satisfaction and continued to ask, "What about the Duke of Liang? Didn't he occupy the people's land before? Has he vacated it now?"

Chang Sheng was even more embarrassed and said quickly, "After being punished by His Majesty for occupying private land a few days ago, some of it was vacated. A few days ago, my mother went to the Duke of Liang's mansion and helped to vacate some of it. Now there is almost only public land left."

Zhu Yunhuan then smiled and said, "Grandmother, you have done a good job. Duke Liang has returned victoriously. I will see if I can find an opportunity for you to go and greet him."

There must be celebration when returning to the court after a victory, but this time it was not a great victory in the Northern Expedition or the victory at Buir Lake, so there was naturally no need for Zhu Yunhuan to go out to greet him in person, let alone for Zhu the Great to go out to greet him.

Even if Chang Sheng was a playboy, he understood some things. "But did you ask the Duke of Liang to send his adopted son away?"

"How do we dismiss those who have been formally accepted?" Zhu Yunhuan said unhappily, "Those who have verbally accepted should be dismissed. They just want to climb up the ladder by relying on the power of the Duke of Liang. Let him restrain himself and stop making such a mess!"

Then Zhu Yunhuan said helplessly, "Second uncle, you should hurry up too. It's time to have a child."

It's sad to say that there are only two males left in the Kaiping Palace, Chang Sheng and Chang Sen. Chang Mao has no son, and Chang Sheng and Chang Sen have no sons either. Chang Sheng is already middle-aged, and it may take two years for him to have a baby, Chang Jizu.

The same thing happened to Lan Yu. He knew what his adopted sons were thinking. But he only had one daughter, who was now the Princess of Shu. What he feared most was that his own people would be gone, and there would be no one to burn incense for him.

Even if the adopted sons are just trying to curry favor with the rich and powerful, they should still burn incense and offer sacrifices for the sake of face, otherwise they will be drowned in the saliva of the world.

Chang Sheng was also embarrassed and said quickly, "We have asked the imperial physician to help us, and we have also taken many concubines, but we still can't have any children."

Chang Sheng also knew that some people outside said that the Chang family suffered retribution, and that it was because Chang Yuchun killed the prisoners in the past that the Kaiping King’s lineage now had difficulty in having offspring.

Therefore, the Chang family has been very cautious over the years. Chang Lan's favorite thing to do is to give out porridge and pray to gods and Buddhas.

It was difficult for the founding heroes to have descendants. The most prominent three were those of Prince Kaiping, Duke of Song Feng Sheng, and Lan Yu.

Zhu Yunhuan could only say, "Don't take medicine randomly. I think I will definitely have a child. I have already thought of a name. From now on, I will call him Chang Jizu."

Zhu Yunhuan was worried about his uncle not having a son, and the situation was actually the same in the Eastern Palace.

Princess Anqing has been married to Ouyang Lun for ten years, but there has been no movement in her belly.

Although she was the emperor's legitimate daughter, no one dared to say anything to her face, but there were always some arrangements made in private.

In today's society where boys are valued more than girls, not being able to give birth to a son is a sin, let alone not being able to give birth to a daughter, which means you have no status at all.

Some families will divorce a wife if she has no children after ten years of marriage.

Seven reasons for divorce: having no children is one of them!
The prince consorts of the Ming Dynasty were a little better than those of the Northern Song Dynasty, because they could become officials. But they were not much better. The prince consorts certainly could not have the opportunity to have three wives and four concubines. Even going to brothels was a serious crime.

Princess Ningguo advised her sister, saying, "You and your husband should stop being angry with each other. You are almost thirty years old, why don't you be more stable!"

"I am not steady?" Princess Anqing said unconvincedly, "I have been a woman of virtue over the years. Those gossipers outside can only say that I am a hen that does not lay eggs. What else can they say about me?"

Princess Ningguo also sighed. In fact, her sisters were all pretty good. So far, she hadn't heard of any princess of the Ming Dynasty getting into any scandal.

Zhu Yourong asked with concern, "Aunt, are you and your uncle not on good terms?"

Princess Anqing turned away and didn't respond, but her attitude was very obvious.

Zhu Youling quickly said, "Didn't you say before that my uncle-in-law is handsome and his family background, although not as noble, is also a family tradition of poetry and literature."

"Who said that?" Princess Anqing wiped her tears and said, "My father and mother are biased. They made me marry such a family! Ouyang Lun looks handsome, but he is just a rotten thing inside! Can he be considered a family of poets and scholars? A room full of short-sighted flatterers, what else can they do except bully others?"

Zhu Yourong and Zhu Youling, who were just watching the show, were startled and they felt they had to ask more questions.

A clever maid heard Princess Anqing complaining, and hurried out of the bedroom under the pretext of serving tea and went straight to Wenhua Palace.

Zhang Fusheng stepped forward again and whispered, "Your Highness, Xiu'er is here."

Zhu Yunxun said directly, "Xuan, those who are not related should leave first."

Zhu Yunxun's face sank as he listened to the maid's explanation.

"Call Zhu Zhong here." Zhu Yunxun ordered, "Let Jiang Lin investigate carefully and find out everything Ouyang Lun and his clansmen did!"

Zhu Zhong came hurriedly, and Zhu Yunhuan just said, "Choose a few tight-lipped people and let them prepare in the next two days."

Zhu Zhong took the order without any further ado. Sometimes the Jinyiwei had to do things that were shady.

After calming down, Zhu Yunhuan walked towards the East Palace as if nothing had happened.

He was so happy to see his two aunts, "Aunt, aunt, I heard you were here, so I rushed over as fast as I could."

Princess Anqing was not polite at all and exposed the truth, saying, "If it wasn't for you, would our two nieces let us enter the palace? Tell me, which girl do you like and want me to go and see?"

"How can I decide on my own marriage? In the end, it's still my grandfather's idea." Zhu Yunhuan complained immediately.

Princess Anqing and Princess Ningguo's expressions changed immediately. How could the crown prince say such words!
This concept should not exist!
Zhu Yunhuan was depressed. It seemed that he really couldn't make some jokes, otherwise it would be a big deal if others took it seriously.

The affairs of the crown prince are more than just ordinary family affairs, they are also affairs of state and the world.

Some of the affairs of the royal family and relatives are not just simple family affairs or political affairs, they are also matters of the world.

(End of this chapter)