First Prince of Ming Dynasty

One night at the end of the 15th year of Hongwu, Song Lian, who had retired from illness for more than a year, could not survive the chilling winter. He was the founder of Wenzong.

It was night, Zhu Biao was woken up by his own princess gently shaking him, and he sat up with a frown and a sullen face. In the past two months, there have been a lot of affairs in the court, and there are always bad news coming from the Dongying silver mine. It was very late, and he was a little sleepless.

Chang Luohua took a sip of the scented tea handed over by the maid, and gave it to her husband when she felt that the temperature was right. Zhu Biao took a sip, then stretched out his hand and rubbed his eyes: "It's okay, let's go ahead."

"The news just came from the Song residence that the master suddenly became seriously ill, and the imperial doctor also said that there is no way to recover from it. Should I go and give it away?"

Instead of rubbing his eyes, Zhu Biao covered his face with his palms, and Chang Luohua persuaded softly, "My master is seventy-two this year, and he has a long life, so don't be too sad."

Zhu Biao slowed down for a while, then got up silently and let the maid dress him up. After putting on the clothes, he ordered: "The Holy Majesty has just rested at this time, so don't be alarmed. I will report when I get up early."

Liu Jin responded and went back to make arrangements. To the emperor, Song Lian was just a courtier, as the so-called humbleness does not respect. In the past two years, it was not that there were no meritorious founding men who were of a higher rank than Song Lian.

As far as Zhu Biao is concerned, in addition to being a monarch and his ministers, Song Lian is also his teacher who teaches careers and has the kindness of preaching and resolving doubts, so he must go to mourning and funeral.

What's more, apart from things above etiquette and righteousness, Song Lian has also worked hard for him these years. Seven or eight years earlier, he could beg for bones and return to his hometown to support his life. However, in order to stabilize the Imperial Academy, he insisted on staying in Beijing regardless of his old age.

You must know that Song Lian has already achieved fame. He is a person who can be famous in history based on his articles, scriptures and achievements in history. He does not lack the experience of being an official in the past few years. Use Zhu Biao to cultivate some useful officials and students for him.

Stepping out of the temple gate, you can see the snow and sand blowing in your face, the cold wind is blowing, not far away is the ready car, the white tiger leather seat, and the heater is burning inside, but because of the rush, and the car is too wide, the temperature is still very low.

Liu Jin quickly arranged the Wujin Qilin foot stove under the feet of His Royal Highness, and put a few hand stoves on the backrest to ensure that His Highness would not be cold at least.

Zhu Biao stared blankly at the burning candlelight in the car, but he was not too sad. After all, no one dies. The age of the master is already considered a happy and mournful one. It's just that he feels a little powerless for some reason, and he feels that people in the previous era really The ones are carving zero.

I couldn't help but think of my father and queen mother, the father and queen were nothing more than the tenacious longevity proved by history, but the mother's queen was not.

After the car drove out of Chengtian Gate, the car drove all the way, Jinwu Guards cleared the way, and Bingmasi, who had received the news a long time ago, withdrew the curfew fence set up on the street.

By the time Zhu Biao arrived at the Song Mansion, Song Lian was already sweating profusely and exhausted, hanging his last breath with precious ginseng. Zhu Biao ignored the people who saluted and kowtowed all the way, and just took off his cloak before entering the bed , lest the cold above hit the Master.

Seeing that His Royal Highness finally arrived, Song Lian's spirit was slightly cheered up, and he tried his best to swallow the ginseng soup in his mouth, and signaled the imperial doctor to administer acupuncture so that he could explain the funeral.

Zhu Biao sat in front of the couch and held his thinned hand, his palm was cold but smooth, Zhu Biao didn't know how to speak for a while.

Song Lian's eyes were glued to Zhu Biao's face, and he looked at his sad expression and smiled, "Your Highness...Your Highness, haven't you had a good rest these days? You need to rest more, and you must focus on the foundation of the country..."

Zhu Biao replied: "Yes, I listen to the master..."

After the imperial doctor gave the needle and withdrew, Song Lian's spirit visibly cheered up, but Zhu Biao could feel that the hand in his hand was getting colder and colder, as if it was colder than the snow outside.

"There is nothing to worry about in the old official's family. Your Highness should not promote more because of caring for the old official. Song Zan is not a talent for an official. It is already barely enough to be able to teach in the Imperial College."

"Your Highness is very clear about the affairs of the court. I have long since had no one to teach me. It's just that those who are masters should be more lenient. The Holy One is great and powerful in founding the country. Although he governs the world with heavy codes, everyone in the world is grateful , and no one dared to disagree."

"After His Royal Highness inherits the great cause in the future, he will bestow favors on officials, civilian husbands, craftsmen, merchants, and people from foreign vassals, stop the cutting edge of pioneering, cherish the power of the people and promote reproduction...

"To grow and cultivate one's mind and one's character, one's own morality, one's treasure, one's own sage in one's heart, why bother to admire others, cultivate one's heart so that it can be abrupt and profound...Keep a clear mind and get rid of hypocrisy, and then you can be in harmony with the world Together with the sun and the moon, with the four seasons, to realize the way of a gentleman"

Zhu Biao nodded from time to time, and Song Lian's voice gradually became smaller, and finally passed away safely under the watchful eyes of all the disciples and family members, and the suppressed sobbing in the room gradually became louder.

Zhu Biao exhaled, and gently put his master's hand back into the quilt. When he was young, Zhu Biao had been fighting outside all year round. Apart from his mother and queen, the person who accompanied him the longest was Master Song.

Zhu Biao's ability today is absolutely inseparable from the old master's earnest teaching. When he first came, he looked down on this old-fashioned classics. It was Song Lian who made him realize the world and everything in it. In it, you can ask for it.

The Song Mansion was busy until early in the morning, and there was also news from the palace that the Holy Majesty announced that he would stop court for three days. Not long after, another eunuch came to declare his memory, and the last sentence was "I have been in business for 23 years. The shortness of it is always the same, and it is not only a gentleman, but it can be called a virtuous man!"

This is from Zhu Yuanzhang's final words to the old minister. It is not just a gentleman, but like the ancient sages, it contains gratitude to him for teaching the prince.

In this way, the officials of the Ministry of Rites must draw up a good posthumous title for him to be extremely honorable.

On the second day, the imperial court issued a decree posthumously conferring Song Lian's grandfather as Yazhong doctor and Taichang Shaoqing, his father as Jiayi doctor and Minister of Rites, and both his grandmother and mother as gifts to Shuren.

As for Song Lian himself, Guozijian sacrificed wine and entered Ronglu Doctor Zhengzhi Shangqing.

The Ministry of Rites drafted the posthumous title and sent it to Lao Zhu. The emperor circled Xianhe Duan in his own handwriting, and ordered someone to send it to the prince. These two are undoubtedly beautiful posthumous titles.

Being well-versed and versatile is called Xian, and being observant of etiquette and righteousness is called Duan, and this word Xian also contains a meaning that although you are versatile, you will not be a master.

It can't be said that it is wrong, the old master is indeed not good at practical affairs, and can comfort the environment and the people, but Zhu Biao, as a disciple, must give the master another level when he has the right to make decisions.

Respecting oneself and being tolerant is called being upright; keeping one’s heart chaste and quiet is called being upright; observing etiquette and self-respect is called being upright, good!
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In the 16th year of Hongwu, Zhu Biao spent a huge amount of money on medical and human research on the grounds of repairing the ancestral mausoleum of the emperor's hometown. Nowadays, there are many Japanese slaves who are injured and sick due to repairing dikes and opening up wasteland...

With the frantic mining of Dongying's minerals, Daming's gold and silver reserves were filled, and the paper currency issued became more stable, and many merchants in the surrounding vassal states began to use it.

The overseas crops brought back in the past few years have also undergone trial planting, cultivation and selection, etc., and began to try to expand the planting. Of course, it is mainly on the barren land and forests. At present, it is mainly planted as supplementary food or dishes.

Judging from the current situation, people in the Central Plains and Jiangnan areas are unwilling to try to grow these crops, and prefer to grow more cash crops. It is not easy for the imperial court to enforce them, so they can only be planted and domesticated in official and imperial fields.

Liaodong, North Korea and other places may be where they want to exert their strength.

As several small vassal states in Southwest Nanyang lead their territories, the imperial court's control of the frontier began to become more and more difficult. Zhu Biao knew that this had reached the limit of the times. There will not be any major changes in the means policy.

Fortunately, Zhu Biao now has enough money to invest in dozens of irrelevant scientific research projects that have seen no results for hundreds of years, with steam and electricity as the core goals.

…………… (End of this chapter)