high official

Chapter 273 Rewards and Punishments
At noon the next day, all the generals returned to the camp of the Chinese army, the three-way drum sounded, and all the generals were solemnly lined up under their tents, holding their breath and daring not to breathe.Because His Majesty the Emperor, who returned to the capital a few days ago, went and returned again...

"The emperor is here!" With a long voice from the eunuch, Zhu Di, Emperor Yongle of Ming Dynasty, appeared in the big tent with a serious face.

All the generals fell to their knees and said in unison: "Long live my emperor, long live!"

"Get up." Zhu Di sat upright on the dragon chair and snorted coldly.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The generals hurriedly stood up, bowed their heads to listen to the emperor's words.

"A few days ago, Zheng He was leaving for Zhejiang, and was about to go to the West again. I specially sent him back to Beijing." Zhu Di glanced at the generals, and anyone who dared to look at him wanted to lower his head to his belly . "Before I left, I handed over the command to the prince and asked him to act as the commander-in-chief." He sneered and said: "I thought that a pig with hundreds of thousands of troops would not be led by tens of thousands in a short time. The enemy soldiers were defeated. The result? It really opened my eyes!"

"My son is stupid, and I have failed my father's high hopes." Zhu Gaochi knelt down with a burning face, and was scolded like a pig by his father in public, and his heart was inevitably filled with humiliation and confusion.

"Your Majesty, calm down." There were all generals in the tent, and no one spoke for the prince, so Xue Lu, Marquis of Yangwu, had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "His Royal Highness has not commanded an army for many years, so it is inevitable that he will be unfamiliar with the dispatching of the army for a while, but the main force of the army is still there. How much is lost."

"You don't want to excuse him!" Zhu Di snorted coldly: "You are also a veteran who has gone out of customs with me several times. Don't you know that in the vast desert, being cut off from food supply and shaking the army's morale means that the entire army is wiped out? ?"

"Yes..." Xue Lu didn't dare to say another word.

"The prince is old and out of battle, are you too?" After training the prince, Zhu Di directed his anger at the generals again, and angrily said: "Everyone is either slow to act, hesitates, or underestimates the enemy and rushes forward, and is played like a monkey by others." , These two years have been too easy, right? Have you forgotten how to fight?!"

"Damn you!" All the generals knelt down to plead guilty, but their hearts were extremely depressed. If the crown prince hadn't changed orders day and night and issued random orders, making us dizzy, we wouldn't have slackened later.But as long as you are not a stubborn person, you will be more or less vigilant. The performance of the armies this time is really bad. If they go out like this, they will have to repeat the mistakes of Qiu Fu... The great tragedy of Qi State Duke Qiu Fu, alas, it is worth not to mention it .

Zhu Di spoke harshly and trained all the generals to be trembling. He was so ashamed that he didn't give up. He was so angry that he fired everyone and asked them to go home and take care of their grandchildren!Before, all the generals thought that they would be scolded by the emperor, or even demoted and fined, but they didn't expect to be dismissed directly. They were all shocked and kowtowed to admit their mistakes.

But Zhu Di said coldly: "I was too kind to you before, but in the end you all became so proud of your pets. Not only did you teach your children and grandchildren to be dudes, but now you even have lameness yourself. Are you worthy of my trust?"

The generals shook their heads vigorously, some of them who were expressive, slapped themselves a few times, scolding themselves for being confused, sorry for the emperor's trust, etc., but in fact there is only one real purpose... Please the emperor give them another chance.

"Shut up!" Zhu Di got tired of hearing this, and snorted, and the generals immediately fell silent, not daring to breathe.Only then did the emperor hold back his anger, and said to his second son in a slightly pleasant manner: "This time the King of Han has performed very well. He has perfectly executed my intentions and deserves praise. Tell me, what reward do you want?"

"Father is absurd." Zhu Gaoxu hurriedly said humbly: "I just did some things in my own right. This time our army exposed all kinds of problems, and all the generals were punished. How can I bear to ask for anything?" Reward? Please forgive the generals and give them a chance to prove themselves."

As soon as this remark came out, all the generals naturally cast grateful glances at the King of Han, and Zhu Di nodded approvingly and said, "It's rare that you have a kind heart. Since I have said something first, I have to honor it." Looking at him, the general said: "You have been fined for half a year, and you have been downgraded to keep your job. You know what to do after you go back, don't you?"

"I know, I know, the ministers must cherish the opportunity, and they will be ashamed today." The generals nodded like chickens pecking at rice: "I will live up to the emperor's grace and the kindness of His Highness the King of Han."

"It's good if you know, get out of here!" Zhu Di snorted, and the generals knew that the storm had passed, so they got up from the ground, and then secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

"The other one to reward is my great-grandson." Zhu Di's eyes fell on Zhu Zhanji, and he said with approval: "The young army, which has only been in the army for less than half a year, can keep up with the team in this exercise." , was not defeated, does this mean that my great-grandson is very good at it!"

All the generals hurriedly nodded, echoing the emperor's praise, but suddenly heard a discordant voice: "Grandfather, this is not fair, he is cheating!"

The generals saw that it was Zhu Zhanhe who was furious, looking at His Highness the Grandson with a dissatisfied expression.

Zhu Gaoxu's face changed, and he quickly reprimanded: "Shut up!"

Zhu Di narrowed his eyes, looked at Zhu Zhanhe coldly and said, "Why did he cheat?"

"He dug a horse pit, used bamboo as a weapon, and used a cart to block arrows!" Zhu Zhanhe exclaimed angrily, "Is there anyone who fights like this?"

"Have you ever heard of the principle of the impermanence of soldiers?" Zhu Di said lightly: "In war, you have more ways than others. This is something that your grandson brother deserves to praise. You should learn more and don't always be unconvinced. "

"Grandson just refuses to accept it. It is clearly stipulated that it is not easy to dig a horse pit!" Zhu Zhanhe said stubbornly with his neck straight.

"I'm authentic, just trampled on." Zhu Zhanji argued in a low voice.

Zhu Zhanhe was not convinced, he was still chattering, Zhu Di's eyes were a little impatient, but for Zhu Gaoxu's sake, he endured and did not attack.Seeing that something was wrong, Zhu Gaoxu hurriedly slapped Zhu Zhanhe severely, and scolded: "The little bastard dares to take the blame, you just listen to what the emperor says!"

Only then did Zhu Zhanhe dare not speak, and looked down at Zhu Zhanji resentfully.

"Okay." Zhu Di ignored Zhu Zhanhe, and said to Zhu Zhanji: "My dear grandson, no matter what, you did a good job this time. How do you want the emperor to reward you?"

"The grandson doesn't want the reward from the emperor's grandfather." Zhu Zhanji shook his head and said.

"Hehe...it's strange today." Zhu Di laughed and said, "None of them want rewards." He asked his eldest grandson, "Why is this?"

"The grandson's surprise victory this time can't convince the opponent, because my young army and I have not yet had the strength to defeat them openly." Zhu Zhan Jilang said: "So please wait for the grandpa, grandpa, and lead the young army When you become a strong army that can conquer the world for the emperor, you will be rewarded!"

"Hahaha..." Zhu Di laughed out loud after hearing these words, "Having ambition, this is my great grandson!" Everyone could hear the comfort in the emperor's smile. "Well, it's up to you, I will double the reward at that time!"

"Thank you, grandpa, for your kindness!" Zhu Zhanji was overjoyed.

Seeing that Zhu Zhanji's limelight overwhelmed him, Zhu Gaoxu was so angry that he didn't even have a smile on his face, and Zhu Zhanhe's eyes were spitting fire, as if he wanted to eat him.

"Grandpa, can grandson help father up?" Zhu Zhanji asked in a low voice after Zhu Di finished laughing.

"Get up." Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaochi, the smile on his face faded, and he said to the generals in a deep voice: "Today, we will rest at the same place for a day, and tomorrow the army will return to Beijing. All armies must sum up their lessons, come up with training strategies, and write them down. Let me take a look at it, there are exactly one hundred days between now and Chinese New Year, and I will practice it to the death during these one hundred days. If anyone dares to slack off, the old and new accounts will be settled together, and I will make him unable to bear it! Do you understand?!"

"Yes!" The generals responded in unison.

.

After leaving the hall, the emperor asked Zhu Zhanji to accompany him for dinner. Two eunuchs helped Zhu Gaochi out and handed it to the courtiers of the Eastern Palace who were waiting outside.

The courtiers helped the prince back to his tent. Several officials of the palace were there, all of them were full of anger, obviously they had heard about what had happened to the prince.After the eunuch withdrew, Jin Wen said angrily: "If the emperor is angry again, he shouldn't say that about the prince!"

"Shut up," Zhu Gaochi said with a dark face, "Father is the guide for son, and the emperor can say anything about me."

"Your Highness, I don't agree with you." Huang Huai said sternly: "You are the emperor's son, but you are also the heir of the Ming Dynasty. Since you are a king, you must have your own respect, even if you are the emperor. I can't insult you at will, otherwise it will be suspected of shaking the foundation of the country!"

"Hehe..." Zhu Gaochi shook his head and smiled wryly, "Master Huang is a scholar. My father is a soldier. He beats and scolds his son whenever he wants. Whether I am a prince or not doesn't matter."

"Your Highness forgive me for speaking bluntly..." Yang Pu said with a solemn expression, "This time, the emperor did not do it casually, but deliberately targeted His Highness. Not to mention today's incident, just talk about the orders you issued. It's all the emperor's will, but now you are all blamed!"

"..." Zhu Gaochi's expression darkened when he heard the words. Although he was in poor health these years, he had also commanded the defense of Beijing. As the eldest son of King Yan, how could he not know about military affairs?If he was really allowed to take command, he would never end up in such a situation, but in the order left by his father before he left, he strictly restricted what instructions he should issue every day, and he could only follow them. .The emperor scolded him so badly for such a mess of chicken feathers, it was almost suffocating to death.

"Perhaps, carrying the King of Han and suppressing His Highness is one of the purposes of the emperor's military exercise." Yang Pu whispered: "Some time ago, His Highness, with the help of Zhou Xin's case, the image in the hearts of the officials suddenly became taller. Get up. Let's borrow the name of Master Yao again, and we are really called flowers and brocades, and the fire is cooking oil, and we will definitely make the emperor unhappy again."

"It's probably like this." The other two officials nodded and sighed: "It's really not easy to be the prince of the emperor."

Zhu Gaochi was sad for a while, and after a while he put on a smiling face and said: "Fortunately, I lost to the King of Han this time, but my son won against his two sons!"

(End of this chapter)