Hongwu Survival Guide

Chapter 32 I Can't Understand
These days, probably since His Majesty the Emperor personally led troops into the back lake at night, the atmosphere in the court hall can be called weird.

The most obvious one is that His Majesty the Emperor, who has always been decisive and diligent, seems to have suddenly lost interest in many things, such as the long-discussed establishment of a national station, without giving any reason, in a word, stop.

Also, His Majesty the Emperor occasionally looked at the ministers with eyes, and everyone was uncertain, but it was a little...not like looking at a living person.What's more, it's still the kind of rather penetrating gaze, as if all the officials have become the pages of history in the book, and His Majesty the Emperor can see through the past and present of the other party at a glance.

This is really scary.

On the 27rd of the first month.

The atmosphere in the early court was still the same, but there was also a small episode.

This is a personnel adjustment.

The current secretary of agriculture, Yang Siyi, was transferred to be the secretary of the household department, and Li Shanchang, the prime minister of the left, nominated Taicang Shibo to promote Chen Ning as the new minister of agriculture and agriculture.

Chen Ning was originally a small official in Zhenjiang in the Yuan court. After he took office, he worked all the way to serve as a counselor for the third grade of Zhongshu under the command of the king of Wu.

When His Majesty the Emperor was still Wu Guogong, Li Shanchang was the Zhongshu counselor.

It can be seen how important this position is.

However, more than a year ago, it was revealed that Chen Ning had deliberately framed illegal acts that caused the death of others when he was the procurator of eastern Zhejiang. To the end, he was imprisoned in the prison of Yingtian Mansion.

In December of last year, the imperial court set up a city ship promotion department, and someone recommended Chen Ning.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought of his past achievements, pardoned his crimes, and sent him to Taicang to serve as a city ship lifter.

Although the promotion of Shibo is only from the fifth rank, as we all know, the management of maritime trade is a big fat vacancy, so it is expected that Chen Ning will definitely be reused in the future.

Unexpectedly, in less than two short months, Prime Minister Zuo was about to recommend the other party to re-enter the center, and he was the third-rank Si Nongqing who had been promoted five consecutive levels.

Baiguan thought the matter was a certainty.

After all, Liu Bowen, the leader of the East Zhejiang Department, had already resigned, and the other Zhejiang Department officials in the court did not have Liu Ji's tough bones.

Unexpectedly, none of the officials expected it.

Ok.

This is nonsense.

In short, His Majesty the Emperor heard Chen Ning's name. Recently, the old god suddenly broke away in a state as if he was cultivating a Buddha, and resumed his previous killing and resoluteness. Nong Qing didn't take it seriously, and even lost his promotion from Taicang Shibo, the fifth rank, in a blink of an eye. Not to mention his dismissal, His Majesty the Emperor added that he would never be hired in the future.

This……

Sensing the change of His Majesty's mood, even the Prime Minister Zuo resolutely gave up speaking for Chen Ning, and the others dared not speak again.

It is also inevitable to remind myself.

Recently, it is not appropriate to recommend to His Majesty the Emperor.

Who is Chen Ning?

Chen Ning was one of the two accomplices Zhu Yuan mentioned in the "Book of Heaven" in the early stage of the Hu Weiyong case in the 13th year of Hongwu.

These days, Zhu Yuanzhang did not directly take down Hu Weiyong, the current Minister of Taichang Temple, just because he read "Book of Heaven", and this is naturally the case for others.

Because Lao Zhu is still hesitating.

Even if one has a firm will, when a person suddenly knows what will happen to him in the next few decades or even hundreds of years, he will inevitably have some emotions about success or failure, and doubt whether everything he has done is meaningful.

Lao Zhu's response was that if he couldn't figure it out, he would do nothing for now.

Chen Ning can only be regarded as bad luck.

Who made him have black spots.

Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang also quietly sorted out a thread in his heart.

Hu Weiyong was transferred to the center last year. He first served as Taichang Shaoqing, and in less than a year, he was transferred to Taichang Temple Minister.

If he hadn't read "The Book of Heaven", this official had indeed been marked by Zhu Yuanzhang and intended to be reused.

Chen Ning was imprisoned at the beginning. After a year, Lao Zhu almost forgot about this person. He was brought up again last year. Thinking of his past achievements, he was promoted by Taicang Shibo.Today, Chen Ning wants to jump five levels in a row and be promoted to Secretary of Agriculture.

Behind the two, there is a person standing.

Left Xiangguo Li Shanchang.

Zhu Yuan also remembered clearly in "Book of Heaven" that Hu Weiyong privately bribed Li Shanchang hundreds of gold to be transferred to the center.

As for Chen Ning, I don't need to say much.

Be good at it!
If it weren't for Zhu Yuan's "Book from Heaven", Zhu Yuanzhang felt that he would have to wait a few more years before he could escape the authority's obsession.Because, he really trusts this old brother who fought with him all the way here.

Even though these years have seen that Li Shanchang's talent is far inferior to Liu Ji, even if he understands that Li Shanchang is jealous and not broad-minded, for example, he often targets Liu Ji openly and secretly, but he still entrusts him with important tasks.

This is also Zhu Yuanzhang's way of employing people.

Never ask for perfection.

When the water is clear, there will be no fish, and when the water is clear, there will be no evil.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not doubt Li Shanchang's loyalty to him, even in "Book of Heaven", according to the details given by Zhu Yuan, he could see that even decades later, he did not really want to kill Li Shanchang.

There are too many things in the world.

Even if he is the emperor.

At the moment, Zhu Yuanzhang's feeling is, old brother, there are some things that we can't do.

However, what should I do?
Zhu Yuanzhang hasn't figured it out yet.

At the end of the court meeting, the officials dispersed one after another. Zhu Yuanzhang was still sitting alone on the throne outside Fengtian Gate, feeling the rare warm sun in winter, and thinking of Zhu Yuan again.

Even though he believed eight points, he still retained two points of doubt.

These days, Lao Zhu would occasionally think very conspiratorially, whether Zhu Yuan might be a spy sent by the Yuan court to drive a wedge between his father and his son, the monarch and his ministers.

For this reason, I deliberately looked through the history books and found the 12-year-old Gan Luo who was named Shangqing by the King of Qin.

Throughout the ages, it seems that there has never been a shortage of young and talented people.

Old Zhu gradually denied this idea.

If Zhu Yuan is really a spy sent by Yuan Ting, this spy... can be ten times or a hundred times bigger than Zheng Guo, the hydraulic engineer who offered the "plan to exhaust Qin", this is not a spy, this is a treasure.If Yuan Ting really had such a talented person who can play him so far, he would have been rejuvenated long ago, and there would still be him today.

After sitting alone for a while, Zhu Yuanzhang finally got up, instead of going to the East Pavilion, he left the Zuoshun Gate and walked to the Dahon Hall, which was specially built for the princes to study.

When he came to a room and stood by the window, he first saw Prince Zhu Biao.

Satisfied to watch for a while, the prince listened attentively to the lecture accompanied by several attendants and occasionally discussed a few words with Song Lian, unconsciously his eyes were a little wet, Lao Zhu wiped the corners of his eyes, and turned to another room.

Here are the other four princes.

The prince was already enlightened at the age of six, and Lao Zhu took it as a rule. The other princes also started to study at the age of six. The ones who meet the conditions are the second son Zhu Xi, the third son Zhu Bian, the fourth son Zhu Di and the fifth son Zhu Wei.

The sixth son Zhu Zhen is only four years old this year.

As soon as Lao Zhu looked in from the window, he immediately became angry.

In the classroom, Zhu Sheng, the old Confucian who was in charge of giving lectures today, spoke seriously. In the hall, the fifth child stood with a book and was playing with a Luban lock.

With a sharp breath, Lao Zhu walked over, kicked open the door, went straight to his fourth child, picked it up and pressed it on the desk, raised his hand and hit him, cursing while beating: "You bastard, I told you not to concentrate on listening , I asked you not to concentrate on listening..."

Lao Zhu is really fighting.

With the physical strength he had fought in the battle, only three or two hits, Zhu Di, who was only eight years old this year, didn't even have the strength to argue for himself, and burst into tears.

The other princes lost their temper when they saw Lao Zhu coming in, and they all turned into quails. The fifth son who was playing Lubansuo before felt his calf twitching, afraid that his father would run towards him in a blink of an eye.Even Zhu Sheng, the scholar in charge of today's lecture, was a little scared.

This... what's the situation?
When Lao Zhu was so angry that he almost knocked out his fourth son on the spot, the prince Zhu Biao suddenly rushed in, snatched his younger brother from his father, and while hugging Lao Zhu's waist to prevent him from arresting him, he beckoned his brothers to run , pleading: "Father, don't be angry. Mother said you can't be angry. Brothers are still young. If you want to hit me, hit me. It's because the child has not fulfilled his duty as a brother. Father, don't be angry... "

Hearing the eldest son's sensible words, Lao Zhu became even angrier when he saw the other sons fleeing one after another, even the fourth son jumped up on the spot.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he broke free, Zhu Biao fell to the ground, hugged his leg tightly, and continued to cry and beg.

Seeing the eldest son lying on the ground weeping, Lao Zhu burst into tears too, leaned over and pulled his son into his arms, crying, "Biaoer, you protect them so badly, these beasts will inevitably be wolf-hearted in the future!" , Dad will beat you to death for you first, Biaoer, my Biaoer..."

The father and son cried for a while, and finally sat down side by side by a desk. Lao Zhu still took his son's little hand and taught him earnestly: "Biaoer, it's the father's fault whether you raise it or not. I will teach you brothers. In the future You have children, but you must not be so indulgent, you must teach them to understand the truth, know the advantages and disadvantages, and if you can't do things willfully, you have to teach them a lesson, remember?"

Zhu Biao's eyes were a little red from crying, and he nodded repeatedly following his father's tone: "Father, the child remembers."

Old Zhu muttered a few more words, finally let go of Zhu Biao's little hand, and said, "Go ahead, don't study today, go find your mother and talk to her."

Zhu Biao could feel that there was something wrong with Lao Zhu's emotions, so he didn't get up worriedly, but just shouted: "Father?"

Lao Zhu waved his hand: "Go, dad, sit down for a while, I won't do anything until noon today, take a rest."

Zhu Biao said: "The boy asked the kitchen to prepare some good things. Daddy will come over at noon. Let's have dinner together?"

Lao Zhu touched Zhu Biao's little hand again and shook it: "Well, you go first, Dad will go there when the time comes."

After venting in this way, he had a meal with his wife and eldest son at noon. Lao Zhu felt that his depressed mood had improved a lot.

Things didn't end there in the morning.

As soon as he arrived at the East Pavilion after lunch, Lao Zhu handed down an oral order. Zhu Sheng, a scholar of the Imperial Academy, taught the princes not to study hard, stick twenty, think of their old age, and let their children succeed.Each of the princes was punished ten times, and copied the "San Zi Jing" once.

If you can't finish copying, you are not allowed to eat dinner.

After dealing with this matter, as soon as Lao Zhu started to review the memorials, someone came to report, and Zhao Xu arrived.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't go to Houhu recently, but he has been paying attention to Zhu Yuan's condition. Knowing that he has begun to improve, after today's outbreak, he has relieved a lot of worries. He was thinking about when he would go to Houhu again. Let's talk again.

After Zhao Xu paid his respects, Lao Zhu continued to mark a memorial with a pen that became smoother as he used it, and asked, "Is he better?"

Zhao Xudao: "It's much better. My lord went out of the inner courtyard yesterday, played a game of chess with Imperial Physician Dai, and ordered many things."

Old Zhu became interested, and raised his head to glance at Zhao Xu: "All those things?"

"First, I sent the younger one to thank the imperial physicians, and each family sent a pen as a thank you gift," Zhao Xu said, and glanced at the black pen that His Majesty was writing. Seeing that the superior had no special reaction, he continued: "Afterwards, the young ones were asked to list the identities of the maids and servants and tenants at home. The adults called it 'files'. The adults also ordered that the files be completed, and let the young ones and Zuo Qi carefully check them."

Having said that, Zhao Xu saw that His Majesty raised his head again, took out a form from his pocket, and carefully handed it over.

Zhu Yuanzhang took that page of the form and looked at it for a few times, and soon came up with a lot of inspiration, but temporarily put the form aside, and looked at Zhao Xu with a half-smile: "I asked you two to check, didn't I ask you to check yourself? "

Zhao Xu shook his head, lowered his eyes and said, "My lord didn't even ask me to fill out this file form."

Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to laugh and scold again, but considering that Zhu Yuan was so smart, if he couldn't see through this kind of thing, he would have lived two lifetimes in vain.

After thinking for a while, Old Zhu said: "From now on, the two of you will concentrate on doing things for Zhu Yuan and treat him as the master. You shouldn't inquire about the affairs of the master, so don't inquire any more, understand?"

Regarding this, Lao Zhu and Zhu Yuan thought about it together. He was really afraid that the two of them would be too diligent and find out something they shouldn't know.

Zhao Xu heard that he was about to kneel down to Lao Zhu. Of course, whatever Lao Zhu asked in the future, they would definitely have to answer, but who wasn't like this?

Now, with the words of His Majesty the Emperor, at least they don't have to hide and be double-faced anymore.

So he quickly agreed.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while, and then said: "You two are also considered meritorious, so you should be promoted to a thousand households first, and hang under the guard department. Didn't Zhu Yuan ask you to investigate the matter, and the guards are staffed by you two? Do your best in the future, and your future is indispensable."

This time Zhao Xu directly knelt down and thanked him loudly.

Whether it's fighting on the battlefield in the open, or spying in secret, in the final analysis, isn't it for the promotion of an official?
Finally, there is a harvest.

Old Zhu asked Zhao to get up again, and asked, "Besides, what else did he order?"

Zhao Xu stood up, still bowed slightly and said, "My lord also asked my little one to ask Mr. Hua Gaohua to go to Shandong to pick him up. They are relatives of the maidservants next to your lord."

Lao Zhu frowned slightly when he thought of the few female relatives he saw when he visited Zhu Yuan on the afternoon of the twelfth day of the first lunar month.

Too pretty.

That kid... how big is that body? !
Zhao Xu didn't dare to peek at Lao Zhu's expression, but he hesitated a little, and took the initiative to say: "The writers have been serving the adults wholeheartedly when they were seriously ill. Later, the adults didn't drink soup, medicine, rice and rice, so they gave the adults mouthfuls. Hey, my lord is getting better now. This time... it is my lord who is grateful for their hard work, and that's why I took a few family members out of the chaos."

Old Zhu knew that Zhao Xu was explaining to Zhu Yuan, but after hearing him finish speaking, his expression improved because Ma Shi was inexplicably thought of.

Back then...we also loved each other.

Several times, he almost died, thanks to Ma Shi's best mediation, he saved his life under Guo Zixing's hands.

And then started feeling sad again.

Hongwu 15 years.

15 years!

Sighing inwardly, Lao Zhu was about to skip it when he suddenly remembered a detail in Zhao Xu's words just now: "Hua Gao, why did Yuan'er ask for the money?"

Zhao Xu was startled.

It wasn't His Majesty the Emperor who asked about Huagao, but...that 'problem' that came out naturally.

Yuaner? !
After Lao Zhu finished speaking, he also noticed the problem, but he didn't correct and explain anything, he just looked at Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu quickly came back to his senses, and hurriedly said: "Or maybe we met in Yangzhou back then, and Mr. Hua used to be in charge of the Northern Expedition Food Road. Although he has resigned now, it is most useful to ask him to say hello. "

Speaking of this, realizing that this is considered to be an occupation of public property, which may make the master unhappy, Zhao Xu explained: "The master also asked the younger one to send 100 taels of silver to Master Hua, saying that it was a waste of money for this journey. Master Hua insisted Confiscated, this morning, the adults asked the little one to send a pen to Mr. Hua, saying it was a gift of thanks."

By the way, I added the matter of Qingniang's family, but it was still a matter, so Zhao Xu didn't say any more.

After hearing what Zhao Xu had said, Lao Zhu just laughed and scolded: "That rascal can read a few words, why give him a pen, there is no such thing as trash."

Zhao Xu smiled apologetically, and brought up another matter: "My lord, my lord also ordered that it was He Nei who was wronged because of his affairs, and wanted to give him a small gift. But my lord also said that I should report it first. My lord, if my lord does not agree, I will not send it."

Lao Zhu immediately thought of He Shou who had been reinstated.

What happened that day, he also knew that He Shou had been wronged. He was born in commoner clothes, but he didn't think that eunuchs were scumbags who couldn't get on the stage. Otherwise, there would never be a bad idea in history that reused eunuchs.However, since he was the emperor after all, it was impossible for him to admit his mistakes and apologize to anyone. Instead, he ordered Ma Shi to reward He Shou with something, which was regarded as appeasement.

At this time, when Zhao Xu said it, Lao Zhu laughed and scolded again: "He is a thoughtful person, he can think of everything."

This word...

Zhao Xu couldn't answer.

Old Zhu asked again: "What small gift do you plan to give?"

Zhao continued: "My lord hasn't said yet, but... a small guess, or a pen."

Old Zhu laughed again: "Just said a few words, and pens are being given away everywhere. Is this being used as money?"

Zhao Xu could only laugh apologetically, but couldn't answer.

Old Zhu joked, and said: "Give it to him next time. Well... Speaking of this pen, I was just thinking about rewarding the prince. You asked Houhu to make some special pens, which are more delicate. , for the prince to use."

Zhao Xu immediately agreed.

After Lao Zhu finished speaking, he looked back and found that the boy had only been out for a day, and he had done so many things in a blink of an eye. It seemed that his illness had recovered a lot.Before, I wanted to go to Houhu again recently, this...it is better to hit the sun than to choose another day.

So he got up and said, "After hearing what you said, he is really much better. I'll go and see him."

(End of this chapter)