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

Someone suddenly called out Lan Yu's name.

Li Shanchang, who had been a little confused, suddenly thought of something.

I am!

Zhu Yuanzhang!
This first batch of kings with different surnames must have some relationship with Zhu Yuanzhang!
Xu Da, Feng Sheng, Li Wenzhong, and Lan Yu, one is Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew, one is the prince's relative, and the other two are Zhu Kai's father-in-law. They are the four most qualified military generals in the Ming Dynasty to be kings of different surnames, and they all have close ties with Zhu Yuanzhang.

This is the case for military generals, and it must be the same for civil officials as well.

Even if more people are enthusiastic about being crowned kings, it will be of no use unless they are Zhu Yuanzhang's relatives.

Lu Ben?

He is not qualified!
The family of Zhu Yuanzhang’s concubine?

Less likely!

According to Li Shanchang's understanding of Zhu Yuanzhang, there could only be four people who had some connection with Zhu Yuanzhang: Zhu Yuanzhang, Ma Xiuying, Zhu Kai, and Zhu Biao.

Apart from these four, no one else is qualified.

Then, it would be reasonable to arrange the three places for kings belonging to the civil service group in this way.

Who are Zhu Yuanzhang's relatives?
Li Shanchang quickly screened the people in his mind, but in the end he found...

The Zhu family is only full of martial virtues, and he has nothing to do with the affairs of Wenquxing.

If there are no relatives, then who among the qualified civil servants has the closest relationship with Zhu Yuanzhang?

Li Shanchang thought of himself first, but Li Shanchang did not think he could get the throne.

Liu Bowen?
He was qualified. Liu Bowen was only granted the title of earl, but that was because Zhu Yuanzhang disliked him. Based on his merits, he was qualified to be crowned king. Moreover, when a civil official was crowned king, he would be involved in the governance of the jurisdiction, and Liu Bowen also had this ability.

Looking back...Wang Guangyang, Zhao Yong...are gone.

As for other civil officials who followed Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the world, some have died of illness or old age, and some have faded out of the court and no longer care about worldly affairs. Zhu Yuanzhang would not give the title of king to such people who just rest on their laurels and wait for death.

Who else?
Is Zhao Yong okay?
Oh yes, there is also Hu Weiyong...Hu Weiyong?

Li Shanchang's eyes suddenly widened. When he looked up at Zhu Yuanzhang, he saw that Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were also looking at him.

At this moment, Li Shanchang finally determined the candidate among the civil officials who could be crowned king of the opposite sex.

Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen, and Hu Weiyong.

Is Zhao Yong the prince's man?
Let’s wait until Zhu Biao becomes emperor before conferring the title on Zhao Yong.

This time, there are and can only be three people: Li Shanchang, Liu Bowen, and Hu Weiyong.

Li Shanchang closed his eyes and felt deeply moved: Zhu Kai is such a good boy.

Being born in a royal family means you are born with a natural talent.

There are many intrigues in the imperial family, fighting for fame and fortune, and even for the ultimate throne. There are even bloodshed between brothers and fathers and sons... But with Zhu Yuanzhang, this kind of situation did not occur. On the contrary, the brothers were unusually harmonious.

Born in an imperial family, there is no quarrel between brothers...

Why did Zhu Kai come across such a good thing that has the best of both worlds?

Based on Li Shanchang's understanding of Zhu Yuanzhang, since he chose to promote the civil servants who were close to Zhu Kai to high positions, Zhu Biao must have known the inside story, and Zhu Biao did not object... Even the prince hoped that Zhu Kai could have a seat in the court.

Li Shanchang admitted that he was jealous.

How many lifetimes of virtue did Zhu Kai have to accumulate to earn such a bright future in this life?
After figuring everything out, Li Shanchang turned his gaze to Zhu Yuanzhang again and nodded slightly, indicating that he already understood Zhu Yuanzhang's thoughts.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't waste any words: "Okay, let's discuss these first in today's court meeting. The cabinet will compile a list of names for this matter and give it to the crown prince for review. If there are no problems, he will give it to us. Let's adjourn the court."

Yuan Qi, who was standing next to Zhu Yuanzhang, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the court is dismissed!"

The court officials hurriedly bid farewell to Zhu Yuanzhang, respectfully waited for Zhu Yuanzhang to leave, and then waited for Zhu Biao to leave... and then the court began to explode.

The military generals directly targeted Xu Da, while the civil service group targeted Li Shanchang.

Many people know that they are not worthy of being crowned kings now, but it is still very necessary for them to learn from Li Shanchang what conditions are required to be crowned kings, to find hope for their future lives, and to find motivation for themselves to move forward.

He was crowned a king, although he was only a king of a different surname.

Throughout history, how many people have been able to be crowned king?

Opportunities are limited and must be fought for with all one's might.

Li Shanchang seemed to have anticipated the current situation. After Zhu Yuanzhang said to adjourn the court, Li Shanchang had already made a response. Looking at the officials rushing towards him, Li Shanchang said directly: "My Lords, this is the first time I have heard of this matter. After I have made a request to Your Majesty and the Crown Prince and inquired about the conditions for enfeoffment of a king of a different surname, and formulated the corresponding regulations, I will certainly inform you as soon as possible."

However, after he finished speaking, the court officials still had no intention of leaving. Instead, everyone looked at him more eagerly. This scene made Li Shanchang extremely helpless: "My Lords, you are all surrounding me here. I can't do anything. What's the point of looking for me?"

After saying that, Li Shanchang was not going to continue to tangle with them. Seeing the most excited courtier, he directly pointed out the other party's name: "Li Hong, if you think you can be crowned as a king, I can recommend you to the cabinet, and you can formulate the system for crowning a king, how about it?"

"..."

Li Hong, who was named by Li Shanchang, was just an official of the second rank.

After being called out by Li Shanchang, he was so embarrassed that he almost found a hole to crawl into.

He was just a minor civil servant who had served Zhu Yuanzhang for only ten years. People like Li Shanchang and Wang Guangyang, who had followed Zhu Yuanzhang from the very beginning, were the most qualified and the first to be crowned king. He came here just to join in the fun.

Seeing Li Shanchang's rare direct criticism, the others immediately remembered the fear of being dominated by Li Shanchang. After Li Shanchang returned to the court, he became a good man, but no one could forget how much shadow Li Shanchang had brought to them.

Seeing Li Shanchang's rare anger, everyone subconsciously made way for Li Shanchang and let him leave.

……

No matter how the court affairs changed, they had nothing to do with Zhu Kai. He was bored at home and was ready to leave for the grassland. On the grassland, the craftsmen who made woolen cloth had settled down in the grassland. Under Zhu Kai's special care, the people of the craftsman camp lived in Liaodong. Zhu Kai specially chose a place called Anben between the iron mine and the coal mine to live. Feng Sheng had sent 20,000 soldiers to build a city for the craftsmen before the autumn came.

The merchants who had in-depth cooperation with Zhu Kai also started their journey northward after depositing their money in Zhu Kai's bank. The people who agreed to migrate also began to move towards Liaodong.

Today, Zhu Kai is in charge of the overall construction of Liaodong and the grassland. All news will eventually be summarized here, including population migration, capital arrival, craftsmen arrival, establishment of new cities... Everything is telling Zhu Kai: In the seventh year of Hongwu, he will create a miracle year for the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Kai took the news he had gathered and ran to Kunning Palace like the wind. When he saw Ma Xiuying and Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Kai's words were full of excitement: "Dad! Mom! I want to go to Liaodong! The Ming Dynasty has entered the fast lane of rapid development since the seventh year."

After that, Zhu Kai handed the summary information in his hand to Zhu Yuanzhang, and said with a smile: "Dad, Liaodong and the grassland have begun to develop. You and your elder brother are leading the Central Plains. Don't fall behind."

"Little bastard, if you give us half of the good stuff in your hands, how can we let you surpass us?"

Thinking that Zhu Kai hid all the good things in his hands, he kept complaining, but his hands were still very honest and took the information Zhu Kai had compiled. After a simple look, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help showing his shock: "So much money... You bastard! You are throwing money away! If you spent so much money in the Central Plains, the Ming Dynasty could have developed for nearly 30 years!"

"Hey, I won't vote. It's not challenging at all."

Zhu Kai said, handing a map to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Dad, the mineral resources of our Central Plains are all on this map, but I don't recommend you to dig the treasures under our feet... In this map, I have marked the mineral resources of some other countries in the south for you, so if you want to dig, dig from them."

"You still need to tell me?"

Zhu Yuanzhang would have done the same without Zhu Kai saying anything.

The meat in your own pot is still yours even if it is rotten in the pot. The meat in other people’s bowls is only yours when you put it in your own bowl.

Zhu Yuanzhang opened the map. On the map was the Ming Dynasty, as well as the neighboring Indochina Peninsula, the Indonesian Archipelago, and Australia. Especially Australia, in Zhu Yuanzhang's view, it was a gold nugget embedded in the ocean, and it was so big, much bigger than Huguang.

"Dad, we in the Ming Dynasty have no natural enemies in these places."

Zhu Kai ate the meal prepared by Ma Xiuying and said to Zhu Yuanzhang with a smile: "Dad, the Ming Dynasty only has Wu Zhen's navy, which is too small. You must build at least two more navies in Fujian, Min, Guangdong and Guangxi. The standing army of the Ming Dynasty navy must be at least 300,000, so as to meet the needs of the future development of the Ming Dynasty."

"Dry!"

Zhu Yuanzhang began to breathe heavily. He pointed at the golden nugget embedded in the ocean and said, "This place must be ours. If anyone dares to take it, I will send an army to dig up their ancestral graves!"

Zhu Kai teased, "Haha... these 300,000 navy troops will cost a lot of money."

"Tsk, can't I afford to support 300,000 navy soldiers?"

Zhu Yuanzhang tightened his belt and said, "Sister, we will eat half a bowl of rice every day from now on. If we don't take this land, we will only eat half a bowl of rice every day."

Judging from Zhu Yuanzhang's current appearance, people who didn't know him would think that the old man was crazy, but Ma Xiuying, who was familiar with Zhu Yuanzhang, knew that Zhu Yuanzhang had seen a treasure and he wanted to sharpen the knife and then snatch the treasure back.

"Look at you two, you seem to be obsessed with money..."

Ma Xiuying rebuked helplessly, and then said: "Alright, let's eat. From now on, you are not allowed to discuss court affairs in Kunning Palace!"

Everyone knew that Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Kai were discussing matters of family and country. Ma Xiuying had followed Zhu Yuanzhang for many years, so she would understand it.

However, the fact that the father and son are still in the mood to bicker with each other shows that there is no rush...

Since you are not in a hurry, why not have a good meal with your children first?
Ma Xiuying, as the referee, took the initiative to step down and interrupted the two people's conversation. However, Zhu Yuanzhang was like a person with a hundred claws on his mind. He hurriedly finished the rice in the bowl, then took the map given to him by Zhu Kai and ran to Wuying Hall to find Xu Da to discuss the feasibility of the plan to send troops to the deep sea.

Xu Da did not expect that Zhu Yuanzhang would come to see him right after the grand court meeting in the morning and lunch.

What did he want to say?
Is it about being crowned king?

Xu Da believed that conferring a title of king was now the top priority of the court.

But Zhu Yuanzhang told him: We want to fight.

First of all, Zhu Yuanzhang set his sights on the Indochina Peninsula and marked it on the map given to him by Zhu Kai as a rare area of ​​fertile land with two to three crops a year. Zhu Kai also told Zhu Yuanzhang that potatoes and sweet potatoes could not be used as staple foods. The most important foods were wheat and rice. Even corn was a coarse grain. In order for the people of the Ming Dynasty to eat better, a large amount of land was needed to grow rice and wheat.

At the same time, Zhu Kai told Zhu Yuanzhang that the most important thing was to ensure that the people had white rice, vegetables and meat on their tables.

Zhu Yuanzhang had no doubt about Zhu Kai and believed that what Zhu Kai said was correct.

However, in order to make the people's tables full of food, we must have enough land to fulfill this wish.

Indochina Peninsula can well achieve Zhu Yuanzhang's goal...

If such a large piece of land is used to grow crops, won't it be prosperous?
The first thing Zhu Yuanzhang said after meeting Xu Da was: "We want to fight! We want to build ships and go on an expedition!"

"????"

Xu Da didn’t understand. Even the Mongols had been destroyed, so how could there still be enemies in the Ming Dynasty?
There are no enemies at all!
"We in the Ming Dynasty naturally have no enemies, but we feel uncomfortable that our precious land is in the hands of others."

Zhu Yuanzhang pointed to the Indochina Peninsula, "Kai'er told me that it's spring here all year round, and we can farm all year round; this is Australia, a gold nugget embedded in the ocean, with iron ore, gold, silver and copper. We don't understand other mines, but Kai'er seems to know how to use them; this is the archipelago, Kai'er told me that if we dig the guano on the island to Ming, even the poorest land in Ming can become fertile soil... Tiande, I want these places! Kai'er told me that Ming's future enemies are not in the north, but in the ocean."

"..."

Zhu Kai told him everything.

But these unknowns made Xu Da wonder: "Your Majesty, where did the Second Prince get this information?"

"You don't need to worry about how Kai'er got the information. I will tell you one thing: trust Kai'er unconditionally!"

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Xu Da and said, "As long as Kai'er says it, you just need to believe it."

"..."

Xu Da was a little confused. Did Zhu Yuanzhang trust Zhu Kai so much?
Zhu Yuanzhang did it directly without verifying anything. Wasn't he afraid that Zhu Kai would tempt him and have other intentions?
However, Zhu Yuanzhang's authority was unquestionable, just as he chose to trust Zhu Kai's words unconditionally.

"Yes!"

Xu Da responded, indicating that he understood, and then said: "Wu Zhen of Qi and Lu is building seagoing ships. Your Majesty can issue an order to have Wu Zhen send a group of shipbuilding craftsmen to Fujian, Min and Guangdong to build ships."

Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said, "No, Wu Zhen is helping Kai'er with his important tasks. It's fine if we don't help him, but how can we hold Kai'er back?

If one plan fails, we can only come up with another one. Xu Da heard Zhu Yuanzhang's concern and care for Zhu Kai, and said simply: "Your Majesty, why don't we walk on two legs? On the one hand, we can find craftsmen from the people, and on the other hand, we can send a group of skilled craftsmen to Qi and Lu to learn the technology of building ships. On the one hand, it will not delay the Second Prince's work, and on the other hand, it will also allow the craftsmen to bring some help to Zhu Kai while they are learning." (End of this chapter)