Ming Dynasty: Zhu Biao's younger brother, the most rebellious son in history

Lan Yu and Chang Mao were sitting together. They saw Zhu Kai playing with his friends, then turned their heads away in anger.

Nowadays, the gate of Duke Zheng's mansion is deserted. Everyone already knows that Chang Mao and Lan Yu are not liked by Zhu Yuanzhang, nor are they well-liked by Zhu Biao. Not to mention their relationship with Zhu Kai, which is like water and fire!
In the current Daimyo royal family, only these three people are relatively powerful. Now Lan Yu and Chang Mao have offended three of them at once... They are definitely jinxes. Who would be willing to get close to them?
So, avoid them if you can and never get close to them.

Lan Yu was undoubtedly in a bad mood. He was very self-righteous and basically ignored other generals except his brother-in-law Chang Yuchun. But now, although he could still command the troops, he was responsible for training new recruits. Xu Da, Feng Sheng and Li Wenzhong were still fighting in the south and the north.

Not to mention Xu Da, Feng Sheng destroyed the Mongols, and Li Wenzhong is now leading his troops to fight against the chieftains of Yunnan and Guizhou, but Lan Yu can do nothing, which makes Lan Yu very depressed.

Lan Yu was also a tough guy. He knew very well that he could regain command of the troops by simply apologizing to Zhu Kai and then pleading with Zhu Biao, but he just didn't want to bow his head. Therefore, in the sixth year of Hongwu, Lan Yu's name was basically never heard.

As Zhu Yuanzhang arrived at the banquet, the dinner officially began. Everyone was toasting and chatting happily. However, Lan Yu and Chang Mao could only lower their heads and drink in silence.

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed not to have seen Lan Yu. He drank happily with Zhu Biao, Zhu Kai, Xu Da, Feng Sheng, Li Wenzhong, Li Zhen and others, one glass after another, and soon brought the atmosphere of the dinner to a climax.

Zhu Di sat next to Zhu Kai with a glass of wine in his hand and said to him in a frivolous way, "Second brother, look at Miss Lan and Chang Mao, should we go and tease them?"

"just go."

Zhu Kai narrowed his eyes and looked at Lan Yu.

Lan Yu also noticed Zhu Kai. After the two looked at each other, Lan Yu snorted coldly and turned his head away.

The person he hates most now is Zhu Kai!
Seeing Lan Yu's look, Zhu Kai was too lazy to look for him: "Go if you want to, I'll cheer you on here, fifth brother, come on!"

"……forget it."

Zhu Kai refused to go, so Zhu Di immediately became timid: "It's Chinese New Year, why bother yourself? You can deal with Miss Lan after the New Year."

……

Inside the palace, there was a lively atmosphere with clinking glasses and toasting.

But in the prison cell of Yingtian Prefecture, it was very quiet.

Zhou Heng was locked up in a cell and was not even allowed to go home for the New Year. Meng Duan had specifically instructed the prison guards not to make things difficult for Zhou Heng, so the guards naturally obeyed the order. On the night of New Year's Eve, not only was Zhou Heng's cell cleaned up, but even the bedding was brand new, a brazier was placed in the cell, and six dishes, a soup, and wine were all prepared for Zhou Heng.

But how could Zhou Heng eat this? He was still worried about the country and the people.

Zhou Heng even thought that after the New Year, even if it cost him his life, he would submit a death-defying memorial to Zhu Yuanzhang, asking him to be prepared for danger in times of peace and not let the second emperor of the Ming Dynasty perish.

Zhu Kai, in particular, was the root of the disaster of the Ming Dynasty. The figures of Hu Hai and Yang Guang even emerged in Zhou Heng's mind. He believed that if Zhu Kai was not eliminated, he would be like Hu Hai and Yang Guang, bringing disaster to the country and the people, and causing the disintegration of the Ming Dynasty.

Just when Zhou Heng was preparing to die to defend his principles, Meng Duan came into the cell. The jailers and prison guards came forward to pay their respects, but Meng Duan waved his hands, signaling them to open Zhou Heng's cell.

When Zhou Heng saw Meng Duan, he looked down on him and didn't even want to talk to him. He turned his head away stubbornly.

Meng Duan didn't care. He had done a lot and seen a lot of the world. Even the princes and ministers of the Yuan Dynasty were fooled by him. How could he care about Zhou Heng in front of him?
Haha, just a nerd and a young man.

Meng Duan didn't care. He sat on the chair and poured wine while saying, "It's the first time in my life that I spend the New Year in a cell. Even when I was fighting against the Mongols, I was still a guest of honor. Lord Zhou, what do you think?"

Meng Duan's story is very legendary. Even though Zhou Heng didn't know Meng Duan well, his story is very admirable.

Throughout history, Meng Duan was the only person who went from being a swindler who cheated Mongolian princes and nobles to becoming a third-rank official of the Ming Dynasty.

Although Zhou Heng didn't want to talk to Meng Duan, he sincerely expressed his admiration for Meng Duan at this time: "Master Meng was once very great."

"Ever? Haha...Brother Zhou is still so stubborn!"

Meng Duan laughed loudly and said to Zhou Heng: "Am I just a despicable and shameless villain now?"

Zhou Heng did not speak, obviously agreeing with Meng Duan's point of view. Meng Duan continued to ask Zhou Heng: "Brother Zhou, you are an ordinary person, and so am I. When I passed the imperial examination, I also thought that I could bring honor to my ancestors and let the people live a good life, but I didn't expect to encounter the Mongols... I had no choice but to choose to deceive. Do you know why I deceived the Mongols?"

This... Zhou Heng didn’t know.

Meng Duan never said that either.

Now, Meng Duan wanted to tell Zhou Heng the reason: "Because they want to kill my fellow villagers. Back then, the Mongols were defeated by your majesty, General Chang Yuchun and Marshal Xu Da all the way north. The Mongol nobles in southern Henan wanted to kill the people and treat them as Ming troops to claim credit and reward in order to avoid being scolded by their emperor! I had to resort to this desperate measure to protect my fellow villagers."

Others are helpless, so how could Meng Duan be the same?

Meng Duan fell into memories: "Every step I took back then was a sure death. If it weren't for your majesty leading the Ming army to southern Henan, I'm afraid my identity as a liar would have been exposed. Fortunately... I saved my fellow villagers and my own life."

At that time, Meng Duan never thought that he could survive.

But in the end he survived, and was valued by Zhu Yuanzhang, and gradually became the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture.

"I am so lucky. I met Your Majesty when I saw no hope in life."

Meng Duan was full of hope for the future, which made him full of passion when he spoke: "Later, I met His Royal Highness the Second Prince, and I knew that the people of the Ming Dynasty were the happiest people."

Zhu Kai?

Zhou Heng didn't believe it, and even thought that Meng Duan did it out of instinct to flatter him.

At this point, what's the point of flattering?
The high and mighty Second Prince is spending the New Year in the palace, and you are in a cell. How can he know what you are saying?

Zhou Heng sneered at Meng Duan's actions, thinking that what Meng Duan did was completely useless. "Brother Zhou, do you think I did this to climb up the Second Prince's ladder so that I can move up a level? Haha... I am a surrendered minister, and my behavior is despicable, how can I move up a level?"

Meng Duan shook his head and smiled happily. Zhou Heng was still as stubborn as ever, but it was precisely because of his stubbornness that Meng Duan felt that coming to the cell was so valuable: "If it was just for flattery, why would I flatter the Second Prince?"

Zhou Heng still doesn’t understand!
After drinking the wine in the glass, Meng Duan filled it up again and said, "Brother Zhou, why did you become the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture? To establish a mind for heaven and earth, to establish a destiny for the people, to inherit the lost knowledge of the ancient sages, and to bring peace to the world for all eternity? This is probably what you yearn for, right?"

The four sentences quoted by Meng Duan are from "Hengqu Four Sentences" by Zhang Zai during the Northern Song Dynasty. These four sentences have become the motto of many students. Zhou Heng is no exception. What he wanted to do most were the five words "establish a mission for the people".

He wanted to do it, and he thought that was what he insisted on doing.

Meng Duan knew Zhou Heng's ambition, and he was willing to provide Zhou Heng with a stage to display his ambition and talent, but Zhou Heng's actions during these days made Meng Duan see the other side of Zhou Heng's ambition.

It's not that Zhou Heng was incompetent, but that he was very naive. After he punished the playboys time and time again and was labeled as "the upright judge" by the people, Zhou Heng's mentality changed. He was confined to the empty title of "the upright judge" and forgot his original intention.

"My dear brother, dealing with the powerful is not good for the people. Even if you are praised by the people, you may not necessarily be recognized by them. They call you the Great Judge because you stand up for the people instead of the powerful. That's all they recognize about you."

Meng Duan exposed Zhou Heng's disguise, but Zhou Heng naturally disagreed. He thought Meng Duan was just sour grapes: "Haha, since Lord Meng thinks that what I did is nothing special, then what have you done for the people during your years as the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture?"

"What I did was the same as what the Second Prince did, but the Second Prince has the status of a prince and is doted on by His Majesty, so he is more direct when doing things."

Meng Duan said to Zhou Heng, "My dear brother, what is serving the people? Serving the people is not about fighting against the powerful. As the chancellor, you are also serving the people. You want to transfer the power of the powerful to the people. The third and fourth princes, as well as Li Qi, the son of the Duke of Han, were the real villains in Yingtian Prefecture. They did things without considering the consequences, and beat and scolded the people at will. If a person angered them, their lackeys would even make the person's family destroyed before they would stop."

"Why, didn't the Second Prince do this? He is the most evil person in Yingtian Prefecture. Could this be false?"

"The people don't know that Master Kai is the Second Prince. They only know that the person who protects them is called 'Master Kai'."

Meng Duan still highly respected Zhu Kai and believed that Zhu Kai was a person who truly cared about the people: "As for the No. 1 villain in Yingtian Prefecture that you mentioned, the people have only heard rumors about him but have never seen him."

Zhou Heng seemed to have heard something out of the Arabian Nights: "Could it be that someone is throwing dirty water on him?"

"Why not?"

Meng Duan shook his head and continued to say to Zhou Heng, "The Second Prince's going out to play has a great impact on the people. The Third and Fourth Princes no longer dare to bully the people. On the contrary... they began to help the people. The porridge stall outside the South City was built by the Third and Fourth Princes. Young Master Li and the Second Prince are enemies, but they are also afraid of the Second Prince's power and dare not show up in the city easily. Even when they are out, they dare not bully the people. Those who are with the Second Prince, they keep an eye on Young Master Li all the time. As long as he does something excessive, the playboys who have a good relationship with the Second Prince will rush out to beat Young Master Li."

"The second prince has done even better. In the city, the people of twenty-three streets have not only solved their own survival problems under his care, but also let the people have spare money. During festivals, the children have new clothes and meat to eat during the New Year. In the farmland outside the city, the second prince has distributed his fields to the people to plant. They only need to pay one bushel of rent per mu, which is lower than the ten-and-a-half tax stipulated by Your Majesty. The canals of the farmland outside the city, the repairs of the streets in the city, the renovation of the people's houses... these are all done by the second prince. He pays wages to every citizen who works for him. Isn't this enough?"

The facts laid out one by one left Zhou Heng speechless.

Zhou Heng didn't think that Meng Duan said these words to deceive him. As a prefect of Yingtian Prefecture who was imprisoned in prison, he had no future to speak of. There was no need for Meng Duan to come to the cell and feed him potions on New Year's Eve.

But... these facts made Zhou Heng unconvinced.

The people of the twenty-three streets, the low taxes in the manor outside the city... Zhou Heng was unwilling to admit that his ideals had collapsed, and did not want to admit that what he did was fake: "He, he did this only for his own benefit."

"For my own benefit, if I can make people's lives better, what's wrong with that?"

Meng Duan raised another point, "If all the dandies in Yingtian Prefecture are like the Second Prince, and let the people benefit for their own benefit, what reason do I have to target them?"

"Yes, they violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty, but how did the Ming Dynasty come about? Who made the laws of the Ming Dynasty? They caused trouble, but did they oppress the people?"

These words shattered Zhou Heng's three views.

He wanted to refute Meng Duan, but didn't know how.

It's like knowing that something is wrong, but not being able to come up with the correct reason.

This shouldn't be the case!

The conclusion put forward by Meng Duan is indeed a paradox in the world five hundred years later, because that era was an era of rule of law, and everyone was under the supervision of the law; but it was different in the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was ruled by people, and the laws were made by people. Moreover, there were some people who could not be controlled, such as Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Kai, Zhu Biao, and some princes and nobles, who were not bound by the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

The only thing that regulates the behavior of these people is morality.

"Could it be that the Second Prince did nothing wrong?"

If Zhou Heng couldn't find any fault with Zhu Kai, he would feel uncomfortable and would simply think that Meng Duan was just trying to flatter him.

Have it?

"Have!"

Meng Duan answered firmly, sighed and said: "The Second Prince is too low-key. If everyone in the world knew about the Second Prince's behavior, then the people of the world would be able to live a good life sooner, right?"

"..."

What's wrong with this?

Zhou Heng was speechless. If Hu Weiyong was the most loyal dog under Zhu Kai's seat, then Meng Duan was the most loyal fan under Zhu Kai's seat. He described Zhu Kai as a perfect man in ancient and modern times.

"My dear brother, you are a man of talent and you are still young. You have a better future than me, but don't forget that you are an official to make the people live better and prevent them from being bullied. If the dandies don't respect the law, someone will naturally punish them. We should do what we should do, not just for the empty title of 'honest official'."

These are Meng Duan's sincere words, and Zhou Heng can feel his sincerity. (End of this chapter)