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

However, there is no problem now. Zhu Kai taught them how to treat others, especially servants, when they were very young. Now they will not beat others for no reason, and they have learned what it means to respect others. Although Zhu Kai bullies Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang on weekdays, the two have never been alienated from Zhu Kai.

They even say outside: help your relatives and not others, and it is not acceptable for brothers to be bullied by outsiders. Zhu Kai is also willing to hand over his rear base to Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang. He believes in his younger brothers and their abilities.

Zhu Chong farmed the land and Zhu Gang developed industry. With these two strategies in place, it would be strange if the Ming Dynasty did not prosper.

Zhu Kai talked with Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang until late at night. None of the three brothers was hungry and everyone was full of energy.

On the other hand, Zhu Di next to him kept laughing, having a runny nose, and rubbing his stomach.

He is hungry.

He had no interest in what Zhu Kai talked about with Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang, such as development... How could this be more interesting than fighting a war?

Zhu Di had a beautiful dream of sweeping across the country... But beautiful dreams eventually have to be awakened, especially when he was hungry. He rubbed his stomach and endured it again and again. Seeing that it was late at night and the three brothers had not finished talking, he simply interrupted them: "Second brother, third brother, fourth brother, we have plenty of time, can we stop talking now? Let's go eat, if we continue talking, there will be no food at all."

"Look at me... I was so happy to see my brothers that I forgot to eat."

Zhu Kai pretended to have just remembered something and pulled Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang out: "Come on, come on, I'll treat you to some wine and meat, haha... We brothers haven't had a meal together for a long time."

Zhu Di followed behind and watched Zhu Kai holding Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang's hands in a friendly manner, without any envy or jealousy at all.

He knew Zhu Kai too well.

It's been a long time since we had dinner together...

Apart from the Chinese New Year, when have you three ever had a meal together?

When they were in Yingtian Prefecture, the brothers were so busy fighting that their brains were about to burst. How could they have ever eaten together?

Moreover, Zhu Di also knew that he had the best relationship with Zhu Kai. Zhu Kai ignored him and instead pulled Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang together in a friendly manner... Needless to say, Zhu Kai must have had some bad intentions to trick these two brothers.

Zhu Di saw Zhu Kai trying to trick Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang, but he didn't try to remind them. Zhu Di wished he could trick the two brothers himself, so he didn't bother to remind them.

……

At night, Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang, who had been drinking, lived in the same room. The two brothers were not drunk, and the boiling blood caused by Zhu Kai's trick had not yet cooled down. They lay in bed, unable to sleep, and chatted with their eyes open, looking at the dark ceiling.

"Brother, I feel that my second brother is different from before."

Zhu Gang lay on the bed, sighing, "My second brother is very good to us. He thinks we have grown up and are brothers now."

"Yes."

Zhu Chong was also restless. "In Yingtian Prefecture, I saw my second brother bullying us all the time and making trouble with the boys from noble families... I didn't expect him to do so many things outside. Compared with my second brother, we are too naive."

"Fourth brother, Second Brother said this to us because he treats us as adults. We cannot disappoint Second Brother's expectations of us and must do well what he has asked us to do."

Zhu Gang nodded in agreement: "Yes, we must do it well. He trusts us so much... Third brother, why do I feel something is wrong? Is Second Brother too good to us?"

"..."

Zhu Chong was speechless by Zhu Gang's sudden turn of events.

In the end, he could only laugh and curse: "You bastard, can't you bear the kindness of my second brother?"

"It's not that I can't stand it, I just feel like something is wrong."

Zhu Gang scratched his head. "Second brother usually has a good relationship with fifth brother? But today he ignored him and kept talking to us. What's going on... Is there really a problem?"

"What could be the problem?"

Zhu Chong thought differently from Zhu Gang. "Second Brother gave us cattle and sheep, land, and high-yield seeds... and you. Second Brother gave you even more. I'm jealous of you. Good fellow... He gave you half of the craftsman camp. What else are you not satisfied with?"

"I……"

Zhu Gang wanted to refute but didn't know how to refute. Zhu Gang was right. Zhu Kai didn't ask for anything today. He just kept giving, as if it was timely rain. He gave whatever was asked for. He gave what he thought of and also what he didn't expect.

Zhu Kai was stingy, and even Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't do anything about him. Now he was generous to himself, which had never happened before.

Come to think of it... there might actually be a problem.

"Well, Second Brother is indeed different to us than before. I can no longer think of Second Brother in the same way as before."

Zhu Gang was persuaded by Zhu Chong, "Third brother, Second brother thinks highly of us and lets us participate in his plan. We can't hold Second brother back, or he will look down on us."

"Do you even need to say this?"

Zhu Chong rolled his eyes and said, "Okay, go to bed quickly. We have other things to do tomorrow."

……

In another room, Zhu Kai and Zhu Di were there.

After eating and drinking, Zhu Di seemed to come alive. He pulled Zhu Kai and asked, "Second brother, are you trying to trick the third and fourth brothers again? Haha, I knew it must be like this... Otherwise, why would you ignore me and talk to them so much?"

"Boy, am I this kind of person in your mind?"

Zhu Kai cursed with a smile, turned over and was ready to beat Zhu Di, but Zhu Di ran away flexibly and said to Zhu Kai with a smile: "Second brother, it must be... I know you are not a person who will suffer losses, you must be tricking them."

"I didn't, don't talk nonsense."

Of course Zhu Kai would not admit it, but pulled him aside and said:
"Let me ask you, how do you know that I cheated them? Is it because I ignored you?"

Zhu Di blinked. Isn’t this enough?

"You brat! You deserve a beating!"

Zhu Kai also stopped sleeping. He sat up and said to Zhu Di, "I gave them the cattle and sheep, didn't I? I gave them the people, didn't I? I gave them the land, didn't I? I was going to give a batch of my precious craftsman camp to my fourth brother, and you actually said that I cheated them. If it were you, would you use so many things to cheat people?"

"..."

Zhu Di was a little embarrassed. He didn't know anything about what Zhu Kai was talking about.

I was only thinking about the war, so how could I listen to what they were talking about?
"Uh... Second brother is right."

Zhu Di scratched his head, then became dissatisfied again and said to Zhu Kai: "Second brother, you are biased. You have arranged for them all, but what about me? You can't just ignore me, right? I followed the third and fourth brothers out, but I took risks. You can't just ignore me, right?"

"Oh, why not?"

Zhu Kai laughed, "I plan to send you to Lan Yu's army and let you serve as a personal soldier beside him to gain some experience."

"Go find Miss Lan?" Zhu Di immediately shook his head like a rattle, "I won't go. Miss Lan and I have a grudge. If I go, I don't know how she will deal with me. I won't go... I won't go."

"You have to go even if you don't want to."

Zhu Kai would not listen to his complaints and directly made an arrangement: "You stay with Lan Yu this year, follow Xu Da next year, and then Li Wenzhong, Feng Sheng, Zhao Yong... You can't escape from any of these people. If you dare not go, I will show you how I will deal with you."

"..."

Faced with Zhu Kai's undisguised threat, Zhu Di's face looked extremely ugly.

But thinking that these were Zhu Kai's words, he had no choice but to obey and could only agree helplessly.

Zhu Kai might show leniency to others, but Zhu Di knew the consequences of not listening to Zhu Kai.

As for Zhu Di’s suspicion, whether Zhu Kai was trying to trick Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang...of course he was!

Zhu Kai was notorious in the civil service circle. It was not easy for him to recruit officials. He could recruit only capable clerks, but these capable clerks did not understand the overall situation as thoroughly as the officials. Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang were different. They were the Kings of the Frontier conferred by Zhu Yuanzhang, and their status was registered in the court.

Zhu Yuanzhang would naturally equip him with a complete set of personnel for his use, and Zhu Kai must make use of these people.

If they don't listen to Zhu Kai, how can they not listen to Zhu Chong?

In addition, Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang developed Shaanxi, Gansu and Longnan and turned them into granaries. Zhu Kai did not ask for much. As long as the grain could meet the needs of the people and take into account the western border and grassland, it would be enough. By building western Shanxi into a new industrial base, Zhu Kai could use local materials and save a lot of transportation costs.

Don't think that the transportation cost is low. When transporting food from the Central Plains to the Western Border, at least 50% of it is consumed on the way.

Therefore, if Zhu Kai wanted to cut down on expenses, he had to use local materials. Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang developed Shaanxi, Gansu, Long, western Shanxi and other places, and gave the people oxen and farm tools so that they could easily cultivate more fields...to satisfy the self-sufficiency of the people in the western border, and to provide more food for the soldiers on the western frontier.

In this way, the transportation expenses can be reduced, and a portion of the saved transportation costs can be given to Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang, which will be enough to surprise them.

Zhu Kai laughed. Do you really think my things are easy to take?

You think you got the upper hand...

Haha, when you realize that you’ve been taken advantage of, don’t cry!
……

Encouraged by Zhu Kai, Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang quickly went deep into the fields.

He wanted to understand how the people farmed.

Although you can't do it yourself, it would be a great failure if you can't even understand it.

When he arrived at the fields, Zhu Chong saw the manure fermenting next to the land and he couldn't stand it. The crops grown in the fields were for people to eat, so how could manure be used?

If the head of the village next to him had not explained to him that the use of manure as fertilizer has a history since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and that it is still used today, and that manure can keep the land fertile... I'm afraid Zhu Chong would have directly banned the use of manure as fertilizer.

When Zhu Chong learned that manure had so many benefits, he didn't say anything else.

Being productive is a good thing. Even though I don’t like to accept it, it is the fact.

During dinner in the evening, Zhu Chong told Zhu Kai about this incident. Zhu Gang and Zhu Di, who were eating nearby, vomited out immediately.

The food they eat actually contains feces... Who can tolerate this?

"See what you think. Excrement is a natural organic fertilizer. It's a good thing. It's many times better than the chemical fertilizers we'll get in the future."

Zhu Kai looked at Zhu Gang and Zhu Di who were vomiting with disdain, "It seems that what Dad said is right. He is the last person in our Zhu family who knows how to farm. You little brats, you eat too well and have forgotten the fine traditions of our Zhu family."

Zhu Chong could accept it. After hearing what Zhu Kai said, he said, "My second brother taught us that we all need to learn how to do this. When I have a son, I will let him live in the countryside for three to five years. He may not learn how to do it, but he must understand it... Our father didn't teach us well, so we can't forget to educate the next generation, right?"

Zhu Chong's words were sincere.

He did learn a lot from working in the fields that he could not find in books.

Zhu Kai told him: "Third brother, this manure is not just manure, it also contains wheat straw and leaves... In autumn, they will ferment manure, wheat straw and leaves together, and then pour the fermented fertilizer for half a year into the fields after the wheat is harvested the following year... Planting crops will damage the land, but rice and wheat are fine, as these manure can replenish the nutrients that have been lost..."

Zhu Kai grew up in the countryside in his previous life. He had farmed, but he only had a vague understanding of the field.

But it was enough for him to teach Zhu Chong these things that he only had a vague understanding of.

For example, you can’t apply too much fertilizer, as too much fertilizer will burn the soil... Zhu Chong couldn’t do anything about these things, but Zhu Kai knew them.

Zhu Chong listened very carefully and nodded continuously.

Zhu Di and Zhu Gang both looked very unhappy after vomiting, but after hearing what Zhu Kai said, they gradually calmed down and suddenly felt that... these manure were not so disgusting.

After Zhu Kai finished speaking, Zhu Di asked curiously, "Second brother, how do you know so much? I have never heard of this before."

"Do you think I went to see my uncle just to have fun? I watched all this from the side."

The uncle Zhu Kai was referring to was Li Zhen, Duke of Cao.

He was the last person in the Zhu family who was still farming. There was a special piece of land in the imperial city for him to farm.

Zhu Kai said to his three younger brothers, "When three people walk together, there must be one person who can be my teacher. You can't just listen to what the scholars say to you. The most important thing is to be with the people. How many scholars are there? How many people are there? The big tree behind our Zhu family will never be the scholars, but the farmers. Why should the scholars follow us? Because we are the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, our father is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he learned civil and martial arts, and sold goods to the emperor's family. They study to serve us, but the people have to support themselves..."

Zhu Kai said a lot.

When they were in Yingtian Prefecture, Zhu Kai taught them how to be a human being. Now Zhu Kai wants to teach them how to do things and to stand firm in their position.

If Zhu Chong, Zhu Gang and Zhu Di were the three horses of the Ming Dynasty, then Zhu Kai was their instructor, who planned the direction for them and corrected their thoughts so as not to let them go astray while moving forward.

Zhu Di said that he didn't understand, but at the same time he also said that he would listen to Zhu Kai.

Zhu Kai rolled his eyes and said, "Tomorrow morning, go to Lan Yu's military camp and don't embarrass yourself here."

"..."

When Zhu Di heard Hu Kai's words, his face suddenly fell.

This was definitely not a good idea. He was still thinking about running away, but now he can't run away.

……

Is there any grudge between Zhu Di and Lan Yu?
No.

On the contrary, because of Zhu Biao, they could be considered relatives.

But Zhu Di and Lan Yu had a bad relationship, very bad... The reason was simple. Lan Yu had caused trouble for Zhu Kai, which made Zhu Di, who always followed Zhu Kai's lead, dislike Lan Yu. Zhu Kai would not allow anyone to offend him. (End of this chapter)