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

"Miaoyun, I know you must be homesick. I wonder how Xu Miaojin is doing now. Has she grown up a little? Should she be 15 years old after this year?"

"No, my Lord, you are always so busy, I guess I must have remembered it wrongly."

"You haven't reached the age of marriage yet?"

"Xu Miaojin has just reached the age of marriage."

Zhu Kai thought to himself, in ancient times, girls would reach the age of 14. Could it be that he remembered it wrong?
"Xu Miaojin was only fourteen years old in the eighth year of Hongwu, and she was only 14 years old after that."

"Oh, it seems I really remembered it wrong."

"My Lord, why are you suddenly asking about my sister?"

"Zhu Chong is just getting married, so Zhu Gang will be the next one."

"Yes, that's true. Your Majesty, you are not planning to let Xu Miaojin and Zhu Gang..."

Xu Miaoyun was still a little worried. The people he had always looked down upon were Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang. These two brats were like follower-chasers.

Although he follows Zhu Kai all day long, he has not learned any of Zhu Kai's cleverness. He has no opinion of his own, but has many crooked ideas.

"Your Highness, please don't set your sights on my sister. She is only fourteen years old. Her parents are old now, and they only have this little girl around. Let her stay at home for a few more years before getting married. I will personally find a husband for her then."

"Do you think you have the final say in this matter?"

"What do you mean?"

"The Emperor will definitely arrange it personally. Even if you are the Princess of Sai, you cannot stop the Emperor's decree."

"what should I do then?"

"Oh, girls nowadays are so pitiful. Fourteen is the prime age for girls to bloom. If they lived in modern times, this would be the age for them to receive compulsory education.

It is a tragedy of the times that a girl has to get married at such a young age."

"Your Majesty, what is compulsory education?"

"Compulsory education starts at the age of six and lasts until the age of fifteen. It is a nine-year compulsory education. Both boys and girls must go to school. There is no need for families to spend money. All expenses are paid by the treasury."

Xu Miaoyun was stunned after hearing this.

"How is this possible?"

"Why is it impossible?"

"Our Ming Dynasty has just stabilized, and the treasury does not have so much silver. Moreover, there are so many children in the entire Ming Dynasty. Do they all need to go to school? This is simply a fantasy."

"It's true that vision determines everything. Just because you haven't seen something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Maybe it's not possible now, but I will try my best to make this goal come true."

"My Lord, are you disgusted by my long hair and short knowledge?"

"Of course not. How could that be? You are already the most educated woman I have ever met, but what I want is for all women in the world to be as educated as you and to be able to read.

What I want to do is to improve the per capita education level of the entire Ming Dynasty. Only by improving the education level can we develop the Ming Dynasty from the foundation.

It is best to be ahead of the surrounding countries so that we will not fall behind. There is a small piece of land in the sea next to the land of Qi and Lu. "

"Your Highness, are you talking about the Japanese pirates?"

"how do you know?"

Xu Miaoyun smiled, turned back to the cabinet next to her, and took out the world map drawn by Zhu Kai himself.

"That's it."

"You usually watch this when you have nothing to do?"

"I have read almost all the books at home."

Zhu Kai was very shocked when he heard this.

"Have you finished reading all the books at home? Do you read ten lines at a glance?"

Xu Miaoyun smiled gently and said.

"Your Majesty, you are often busy outside on weekdays, and I have nothing to do at home, so I can only read books. I have been reading these Four Books and Five Classics and Ancient Chinese Literature since I was a child.

I can’t say I know it by heart, but I know it by heart. I can only read something else.”

"So you just started looking at the map I made?"

"Yes, I heard from the prince that the place where we live is actually a huge sphere, which rotates and revolves every day, so there are day and night and four seasons."

Zhu Kai was really impressed by Xu Miaoyun's ability to say these things.

Then, Xu Miaoyun said proudly again.

"Your Highness, it's more than that. I can draw these maps even with my eyes closed. Even if I don't know where the place on the map is, I can still draw it."

Zhu Kai said with his eyes wide open.

"My dear, you are so amazing. In the past, everyone thought you were a young lady who never left the house. I originally wanted you to manage our business, but..."

Zhu Kai hesitated when he said this.

"But what?"

"Nothing, just too tired."

"I think you just don't trust me. You keep saying that in your heart men and women are the same and that men and women are equal. But in fact, you always think of me as inferior to you."

When Xu Miaoyun said this, Zhu Kai didn't know how to refute.

Perhaps, he thought so in his heart.

So, Zhu Kai slowly walked to Xu Miaoyun, hugged her and said.

"Princess, I didn't think it through. I understand now that you not only want to be my good wife, but you also have the ability to help me deal with matters related to the court and business.

It seems that you want to be the wise guy around me."

"Mastermind? What is that?"

"It's a position similar to that of a counselor and a military advisor."

"I do have such an idea. It depends on whether you are willing to give me a chance."

"Do we need to say so much as a couple? Just from this point of view, you are much better than the Crown Princess. I am lucky to marry you."

Xu Miaoyun didn't understand why Zhu Kai would compare her with Crown Princess Chang for no reason.

"Your Majesty, are you really going to take action against Liao Yongzhong?"

"It's not that I want to do something to him, but his fate has come to an end and God wants to take him away."

"Your Highness, you are getting more and more mysterious." "As the saying goes, if you want to destroy him, you must make him rampant. In fact, I don't want to get involved too much, but what if all this is the emperor's intention?"

"Your Majesty, are you saying that the Emperor wants to use you to get rid of Liao Yongzhong?"

Zhu Kai closed his eyes and nodded.

"No way, the emperor is the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. How could he do such a thing as using a knife to kill someone? Is there anything he can't do? At least I don't believe it."

"In fact, this matter is relatively easy to understand. The reason why the emperor did this is entirely to pave the way for my eldest brother. All of this is for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

In the heart of the emperor, only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is his biological son, and we are all just vassal princes, tools that can be used and discarded at the critical moment. "

On the other side, in the court.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat high on the dragon throne and looked at everyone.

"The imperial edict has been passed on. Now, both the former court and the harem know that I want to marry Wang Baobao and his Mongolian tribe."

As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, everyone knelt down and said.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty, and congratulations, His Royal Highness Prince Qin."

"Everyone, please stand up. Don't be so polite. I have actually been considering this matter for a long time, but it is only today that I have made up my mind completely."

At this time, Hu Weiyong discovered that there was one person missing around him. Mao Xiang, the commander-in-chief of the Jinyiwei, who was here just now, disappeared in a moment.

So Hu Weiyong walked up to Li Shanchang and spoke carefully.

"Master Li, have you noticed that there seems to be one person missing around us?"

"It's none of my business, so just ignore it."

"Mao Xiang has always been the emperor's most important person and the one the emperor trusts the most. Now that he's gone, shouldn't we think about where he's gone? Where would he go at this time?"

"Whatever, he can go anywhere, it has nothing to do with me anyway."

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang saw the two of them whispering beside each other, but he said nothing because these two people had always been like this and Zhu Yuanzhang had long been accustomed to it.

"Your Majesty, I have something to say."

Chang Yuchun suddenly stood up, looking as if he was taking things very seriously.

"Chang Yuchun, tell me what you've thought of."

"Your Majesty, the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince are of similar age. Since the Third Prince already has a title, then the Fourth Prince..."

"Zhu Gang, he is younger, so there is no need to think about these things now. The key is that I haven't thought about the next arrangements yet."

As Zhu Yuanzhang was speaking, he saw Li Jinglong lowering his head below.

"You have all been with me for so many years, so you should be relatively familiar with my temper. Let's stop here for today."

"Wait a moment, Your Majesty."

"Hu Weiyong, do you have anything else to say? It's almost noon. I've been with you all morning discussing state affairs, but I haven't even had a sip of water yet. If it's not urgent, please speak to me another day."

Hu Weiyong saw that Zhu Yuanzhang was obviously prepared to reject him, so he didn't know what to say.

"Well, since the emperor has already said so, I don't have anything urgent to say now."

"In that case, let's adjourn the court."

Crown Prince Zhu Biao is now very worried and uneasy, because he knows what kind of character his younger brother Zhu Chong has.

They must be unhappy now because of the imperial edict. Usually, Zhu Kai is around to advise them.

They could be said to be listening to Zhu Kai, but Zhu Kai was not in the palace now. Since he could not get to the Crown Prince in time, he had to take on the responsibility and persuade them first.

Chang Yuchun saw the prince hurriedly walking out of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and he quickly chased after him.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince arranged for my son to replace Li Wenzhong today. Was it Your Highness the Crown Prince's arrangement or Your Highness Zhu Kai's arrangement?"

"Master Chang, what do you mean by asking this? Is there any difference? I don't really care."

Chang Yuchun looked around and found that no one was eavesdropping on their conversation, so he spoke slowly.

"Chang Sheng is my son after all, and I don't want him to be too conspicuous right now. Li Wenzhong is a petty person, and I'm afraid that this matter will offend him."

"Don't worry, father-in-law. As long as I'm here, Li Wenzhong won't have to think so much. Besides, the sooner he comes back, the sooner he can rest. I believe he will be very happy."

"That's right, Li Wenzhong is indeed such a person."

"By the way, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince went out in a hurry. Is he going to persuade His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin?"

"They are both in the Queen Mother's bedroom. I'm sure they won't be happy after receiving the Emperor's decree. So I have to go and persuade these two brothers."

"They have been with His Highness Zhu Kai for such a long time that they have already learned how to compromise and protect themselves.

And I think His Highness Zhu Kai might have anticipated what would happen today, and perhaps he had already made everything clear to the two princes in advance.

Since they were mentally prepared, they would not be so shocked when they received the emperor's edict.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not only their brother but also the crown prince of the entire Ming Dynasty, so he should stop doing these meaningless things."

"I know what's going on, don't worry, father-in-law."

While they were talking, Song Taishi Song Lian also walked out.

"Oh, I didn't expect it to be so lively here. What are you talking about here?"

“In fact, there is nothing much to say, it’s just what the emperor said today. We are actually very curious about why the emperor made such a decision.

There are other options, but they insist on marrying His Royal Highness the Prince of Qin to Wang Baobao's sister. This is a hot potato, and no one will have an easy time."

"Then what better choice is there? There is no way His Highness Zhu Kai would agree to this. If the two of them were really interested, they wouldn't have waited until now. Besides, I've heard that His Highness Zhu Kai and Xu Miaoyun have a very good relationship, which is really rare."

"It's really not proper for us to discuss these things in public. We only talked about this one thing this morning. Aren't you tired? Go back and rest quickly, and don't embarrass His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Song Lian, the Grand Historian of the Song Dynasty, cared most about discipline and ethics.

"You guys should go back quickly."

"Your Highness, please wait a moment. Yesterday you went to pick up His Highness Zhu Kai. We didn't have time to ask you if anything happened along the way."

"What else could happen? I'm bringing people to the city gate to welcome them. I won't go into any deep mountains or old forests, so I won't run into bandits."

"Every arrangement of the emperor makes sense. I think we should be more cautious and not always think things are too simple. The emperor seemed to want to say something today, but he didn't say it. We are all just guessing."

Crown Prince Zhu Biao felt very tired when he heard these old foxes talking.

In fact, he didn't have so many thoughts in his mind. He really regarded them as his own brothers and didn't want to discuss any power struggles with them. This would not be good for anyone. (End of this chapter)