Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 87: The Duke of Liang’s Power

It was naturally impossible for Zhu Yunhuan to fight with Old Zhu, but it was no problem for him to fight with Muchun.

The difference is clearly visible now. It's not just a matter of strength, but more importantly, it's about momentum.

Zhu Yunhuan accepted his defeat sincerely, because he was just not as skilled as his opponent.

When the Ming Dynasty was founded and many meritorious officials were conferred titles, among the six dukes, only Duke of Song, Feng Sheng, is still alive.

At that time, Fu Youde was conferred the title of Marquis of Yingchuan, ranking 28th. With his contribution in pacifying Yunnan and Guizhou, he was promoted to Duke of Ying in the 17th year of Hongwu.

Lan Yu did not have any title at first. He was granted the title of Marquis of Yongchang in the 12th year of Hongwu, and the title of Duke of Liang in the 20th year of Hongwu.

These three people have made the greatest contributions, but it is not the case that they are now the three giants of the military. The legacy left by Xu Da and Li Wenzhong is still there, and Xu Huizu and Li Jinglong can also be considered to be able to take on the main responsibility.

Lan Yu returned triumphantly without any grand ceremony. His main achievement was to pacify the barbarians, which was not considered a great achievement.

Lan Yu returned to the court in high spirits, and he won many battles in recent years. The only thing that made him depressed was that he was Fu Youde's deputy general in the war to pacify Yunnan and Guizhou.

Now, he is actually the Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince. It's okay that he is not as good as Feng Sheng, but he is also not as good as Fu Youde. This makes Lan Yu very angry. He has never been convinced by Fu Youde.

Because now everyone is saying that the Ming Dynasty has many brave generals, and the most valiant one is Chang Kaiping, followed by Fu Yingguo.

This made Lan Yu unhappy. In his eyes, his brother-in-law was a god-like figure, and no one could be compared with him. Even if there was someone second only to his brother-in-law, it should not be Fu Youde, but his brother-in-law!
But at this moment, Lan Yu went to court and reported the emperor's orders in an orderly manner. He took a break from his busy schedule to glance at his nephew who was standing at the head of the class.

I was so happy and proud in my heart. My niece has been as capable as any man since she was young. My own nephew doesn't need help from others. Isn't he the crown prince?

Lan Yu was not surprised at all. He had a good relationship with Zhu Biao, and he never thought that the prince would choose anyone else as his successor.

Zhu Yunhuan had been observing secretly, and he didn't need to attend the court. But there were some special occasions and moments, and as the crown prince, he had to attend the court, not to mention that this time the army was returning in triumph.

Looking at his burly great-uncle Lan Yu, Zhu Yunhuan had no expression on his face.

As soon as the court was dismissed, Lan Yu found his nephew and said, "Sheng'er, why didn't you wait for me?"

"Uncle!" Chang Sheng lowered his voice and said anxiously, "You should go to the Five Military Commandery to report on your work. Why should I wait for you?"

Lan Yu said confidently, "I'll go over right away, and it will be done in a matter of a stick of incense."

Chang Sheng was a little anxious and said, "Uncle, you are leading the infantry and cavalry from Shaanxi this time, which are under the jurisdiction of the Shaanxi Military Commission and the Right Military Commander's Office."

"Don't I know better than you?" Lan Yu said unhappily, "What's wrong? Or do you think that just because your nephew has become the crown prince, you can teach me a lesson?"

Chang Sheng wanted to cover his uncle's mouth. No wonder people said his uncle dared to speak without restraint. He dared to speak without restraint and take credit for himself in front of the emperor. How domineering must he be when he is not in front of the emperor?
Just wait, if Yunxun doesn’t come to clean up, someone will clean up after you return home!

Although Chang Sheng was a playboy, he was very sly. "Uncle, I'm going back first. There's a banquet at the mansion and my aunt is also there."

"Hey!" Lan Yu said with a smile, "I asked my sister to prepare less wine and meat, so that we could kill some barbarians. It took two years to accomplish this, and it feels so shabby now!"

Lan Yu had the confidence to say that the rebellion of Jianchang Guard was probably also participated by some barbarians. You should know that before suppressing these rebels, Lan Yu had always been suppressing the barbarians in the southwest border.

There was no sense of accomplishment in fighting the barbarians. The thing that Lan Yu was most proud of was that he destroyed the small Northern Yuan Dynasty in one fell swoop and captured countless prisoners.

The domineering Lan Yu felt that Feng Sheng, one of the six founding dukes of Song, was "only in name", and it was fine that he did not lead the army now. The main reason was that he had betrayed his nephew Chang Mao during the last expedition against Nahachu.

Lan Yu was absolutely not convinced by Feng Sheng.

Fu Youde, his contribution was great in pacifying Yunnan and Guizhou, but that was just a few barbarians. His military exploits in recent years were mainly in the fight against barbarians.

So I still don’t accept it, I really don’t accept it.

Whether it was Xu Huizu or Li Jinglong, they all said that they were like a tiger father and a dog son. In front of Xu Da and Li Wenzhong, Lan Yu was more well-behaved and honest, but in front of Xu Huizu and others, Lan Yu felt that he could teach them the skills of leading troops in battle.

It would be strange if this could be accepted!

All the generals in the court should take me as the leader!

After completing his mission, Lan Yu left the palace and immediately rode on horseback towards the Prince of Kaiping's Palace with a few of his adopted sons.

The Duke of Liang's mansion is not that far away, so I can go back later. In recent years, whenever Lan Yu returns from the expedition, the first thing he does is to go to the Prince of Kaiping's mansion to pay homage to his brother-in-law and greet his sister.

He still remembered that when he was less than ten years old, he followed his sister and wandered around. It was his fierce sister who protected him and brought him up. It was his brother-in-law who always brought him up and took care of him, which made him what he is today. Chang Lan had a stern face, while Lan Mu and other wives and concubines of Lan Yu were cautious and did not dare to breathe.

"Sister!" Lan Yu jumped off the horse and kowtowed to Chang Lanshi, "Sister, I'm back!"

Although she was angry, she still cared about her brother, who she had raised like a son and was the only blood of the family. She was naturally happy to see her brother return safely.

Chang Lan said, "Go burn some incense for your brother-in-law."

"Hey!" Lan Yu got up and said as he walked, "Sister, I have made great contributions this time, and His Majesty has rewarded me with a lot of fine clothes. I don't like fancy clothes, so I will have someone send some clothes to make for you later."

Chang Lan glanced at her brother and said, "You have so many wives and concubines, keep them. There are still a lot of silks in the mansion, and His Highness has given them many rewards recently."

"That's different!" Lan Yu was even happier and said, "It was a reward from His Highness. It was a token of His Highness's love. If I don't give the reward to my sister, how can I give it to someone else?"

Lan Mu and others were about to cry. If they couldn't give birth to a son, they would be outsiders.

When he arrived at the ancestral temple, Lan Yu changed his domineering and rude demeanor and kowtowed and burned incense in a proper manner.

Chang Lan suddenly spoke up and asked, "Lan Yu, do you know your mistake?"

"I'm wrong, I know it!" Lan Yu, who had been beaten many times since she was a child, said, "Please punish me, sister!"

Chang Lan almost laughed out of anger, and then she became even more annoyed, "Since you know you are wrong, tell me where you went wrong? Explain it to me and your brother-in-law in front of you!"

"Sister, what did I do wrong?" Lan Yu thought about it carefully and asked uncertainly, "I haven't come back for two or three years? Sister, this is not my fault. The imperial court has ordered me to fight and train troops outside. It's not that I don't want to come back!"

As soon as Chang Lan extended her hand, Chang Sheng handed over the bramble in a proper manner.

Lan Yu, who was not afraid of swords and knives, shuddered subconsciously and quickly explained, "Not this? So it means being brave in battle outside? Sister, I am not unwilling to sacrifice my life. My brother-in-law always said that when leading troops, one should go first and win wherever he goes. How could my brother-in-law be wrong?"

Seeing her sister getting closer, Lan Yu became more anxious.

Chang Sheng, who was standing aside, was worried about his uncle. It seemed that he couldn't escape the beating.

Seeing that he couldn't escape, Lan Yu took off his shirt while saying, "If sister wants to punish me, then punish me! I'm the younger brother, and it's my duty for sister to discipline me! When my parents left, they told me to let sister discipline me!"

Lan Yu is smart, sometimes she will definitely do it if she mentions her brother-in-law, but sometimes her sister will definitely show mercy if she mentions her parents.

"How dare you mention my parents!" Chang Lan hit Lan Yu's back hard with a whip. "How dare you mention them?"

His back was burning with pain, but Lan Yu knelt straighter. Although he didn't know what he had done wrong, he could hear his sister's anger. This time she was really angry. Since he was going to be beaten, he would kneel straight and take the beating. He should let his sister beat him first.

"How many years have you lived? Haven't you made any progress at all?" Chang Lan cried and beat him. "Back then, it was so difficult. I stole and robbed people. How could I let you starve? After you married your brother-in-law, he was reluctant to spend money on himself and always gave you good food, wine, and clothes. What did you lack?"

Lan Yu knelt straighter and said, "Please punish me, sister!"

"The court has granted countless fields, but the salary is not enough?" Chang Lan was not soft-hearted and continued to smoke, "You still want to occupy the people's fields? How much land is needed to support your family? You, explain it to me clearly!"

Lan Yu reacted immediately and said quickly, "Sister, a lot of the fields were bought with money!"

This was the case in feudal society, where land was considered the primary productive force. Even the richest families would not be dissatisfied with having more land, and as long as they had a little extra money, they would think about buying more land.

Not to mention collecting rent or anything like that, it can also be passed down to future generations.

Chang Lan became even more angry, waving the whip in her hand so hard that no one could see its shadow. Lan Yu gritted his teeth and said nothing, which made Chang Sheng beside him tremble with fear, thinking that his uncle's back was about to be broken.

Lan Yu didn't dare to say anything more. In the past, her sister would just hit her a few times, but this time she was really angry. In many years, her sister hadn't been so angry.

"Your niece had a miserable life and died early." Chang Lan continued to scold while crying, "Now that Yunxun has been appointed as the crown prince, his uncles can't help much. I was hoping that you could help a little, but is this how you help?"

Hearing his sister mention his niece, Lan Yu felt even more distressed. That was the niece he had raised since she was a child, and now she was gone at such a young age.

Lan Yu shouted, "I dare not! I will sell the land when I get back!"

"In front of His Majesty, you still dare to say that the promotion of officers in the army is up to you!" Chang Lan was even more angry. "I'm afraid there are more than a hundred adopted sons in the army. Ah, let me ask you, what do you want to do?"

Having just returned triumphantly, the brave and domineering Duke of Liang Lan Yu does not seem to be as majestic as the outside world says. He just kneels in the ancestral hall, not fighting back or retaliating.

Even though he is fifty years old, he still behaves well when he is punished!
(End of this chapter)