Emperor Ming's grandson

Chapter 27 The Questions of the Princes
The sunlight passes through the high palace walls and is projected on the magnificent glazed tiles of Jinshen Hall, reflecting dazzling light.

As the last of the three main halls of the palace, the Jinshen Hall is second only to the Fengtian Hall, commonly known as the "Jinluan Hall". It is mainly used for banquets and palace examinations. The emperor entertained princes, nobles or foreign envoys here.

At this time, it was a good season when the sun was warm and the wind was cool. Through the open door of the temple, gusts of breeze blew in, bringing a bit of coolness, but it could not dissipate the warm atmosphere in the temple.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon chair, looking at the children, grandchildren and heroes in the hall, his heart was full of joy.

Today's banquet is to celebrate Queen Ma's recovery and to reunite after a long absence.

In fact, since he ascended the throne, he has rarely had the opportunity to gather with so many relatives and old brothers.

In addition to Prince Zhu Biao, those present here include the vassal kings who have returned from the feudal country such as Qin Wang Zhu Fang, Jin Wang Zhu, Yan Wang Zhu Di, Zhou Wang Zhu Zhu, etc., as well as Duke Xu Da of Wei, Duke Li Shanchang of South Korea, Duke Chang Mao of Zheng, Duke Li Wenzhong of Cao, Tang He, Duke of Xin, and other founding Dukes of the Ming Dynasty and a group of princes, as well as noble children such as Xu Huizu, Xu Zengshou, Li Jinglong, and older married princesses such as Li Qi and Mei Yin Prince Consort.

A group of palace maids filed in. They were dressed in blouses and dresses the color of the sea and sky, with gold hairpins on their heads, and their waists were as slender as willows. They danced lightly with the ups and downs of the music, and their sleeves fluttered as if there were countless butterflies flying in the air. It’s dizzying to watch.

At the same time, the eunuchs also served carefully prepared delicacies. Each dish was delicious in color, fragrance and mouth-watering.

Shrimp with pepper and vinegar, roasted goose, lamb head and hooves with fire, goose meat buns, salted black bean and mustard sheep tripe plate, garlic vinegar white blood soup, five-flavor steamed chicken, yuan juice lamb bones, spicy vinegar kidneys, steamed fresh fish, five-flavor steamed Gluten, mutton crystal dumplings, silk goose noodle soup, three delicacies soup, mung bean chess noodles, minced pepper mutton, fragrant rice, garlic cheese, bean soup, and tea are all made with the best ingredients and the best cooking techniques. , and every table has the same portion.

Zhu Yuanzhang and the princes and nobles tasted these delicacies. Several sons of the feudal lords were full of praise while tasting, praising the exquisite skills of the imperial chefs, which were much better than the chefs in their own palaces.

Zhu Yuanzhang repeated his old tune and told them to be nice to their cooks. Anyone can be beaten, but not the cook.

At the banquet, everyone was also talking to each other.

"Dad, don't eat the roast goose."

"For others, I am in charge of my son, but you are better off. Your son is in charge of me."

Xu Da glared at Xu Huizu, who immediately did not dare to speak.

"Old Taishan, Ambassador Dai said that you have damp heat and fire poison inside, which causes heat accumulation in the internal organs and stagnation of qi and blood. Let's not eat this roast goose."

On the left, King Yan Zhu Di was Xu Da's son-in-law, so his dissuasion was quite effective. Xu Da reluctantly put down the goose leg and glared at Xu Huizu again.

Li Jinglong, who was sitting on Xu Da's right side with his father Li Wenzhong, saw this scene and burst out laughing. As a result, the fish bone accidentally got stuck in his throat and he had to cough for a long time to get it out.

With the blessing of singing, dancing and delicious food, the atmosphere of the banquet was very lively. Zhu Yuanzhang came down and exchanged glasses with his old brothers, recalling the prosperous years of the past. His sons and sons-in-law were also present, enjoying this rare reunion time together. .

After three drinks, everyone's conversation gradually turned to some recent rumors.

As the second son of Zhu Yuanzhang, King Zhu Fang of Qin was the first to mention the matter of the emperor's eldest grandson, King Zhu Xiongying of Yu. This topic made the atmosphere of the banquet a little subtle.

"Father, is it true that the eldest nephew appeared in the underworld?" King Yan Zhu Di also asked, with a bit of curiosity in his eyes.

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly, with a proud look on his face: "Of course it's true."

Zhu Biao couldn't help but praise Zhu Xiongying's miracle medicine: "That medicine is really miraculous. After my mother took it, her condition improved quickly."

Empress Ma's face now looked healthy and rosy, completely different from the haggard look she had when she was seriously ill.

Queen Ma sat next to Zhu Yuanzhang and looked at him tenderly, her eyes full of gratitude: "Thanks to that kid Xiongying, otherwise I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to survive today."

"It's a pity. It would be great if Ying'er was here." As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang said this, the atmosphere at the banquet suddenly became a little heavy.

At this time, Crown Princess Lu was sitting behind Zhu Biao. She was dressed in luxurious palace clothes, with a decent smile on her face, but there was a hint of worry between her eyebrows. She was secretly observing everyone in the palace, but her heart was I couldn't help but feel uneasy.

And Zhu Yunwen, the young grandson of the emperor, sat in the corner and was ignored. He looked at the laughter and laughter in the hall, but felt an unspeakable loneliness in his heart. He lowered his head silently and played with the wine glass in his hand. Well, that's right. It’s just that he doesn’t have a cell phone.

However, everyone's doubts were slightly alleviated by Queen Ma's personal statement. Although it sounded a bit absurd, they began to believe it.

"Father, I heard that there has been a lot of discussion between the government and the public about the issue of conferring the title of Holy Grandson on my eldest nephew. Why has there been no movement?"

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly, picked up the wine glass full of tea and stood up.

"We know that many people don't believe it, but it's okay. When Da Sun delivers the artifact, we'll take it and slap these people in the face!"

"Artifact?"

"Yes, do you know about Kongyin?"

Everyone at the banquet naturally knows that, in fact, the storm of the Kongyin case is getting bigger and bigger throughout the Ming Dynasty.

A large number of officials from various central ministries and temples were summoned in turn by the Jin Yiwei for investigation. Against this background, the officials were in a state of turmoil.

In the end, even the six ministers could not sit still.

However, the six ministers knew very well that they could not persuade Zhu Yuanzhang. The only person who could really persuade Zhu Yuanzhang was the "Xiao He" of the Ming Dynasty who was more important than Hu Weiyong and the undoubted leader among the civil servants, South Korean Gong Li Shanchang.

After the Hu Weiyong case, because Hu Weiyong was both an in-law and a student of Li Shanchang, Li Shanchang began to gradually fade out of the Ming Dynasty court, but he still served as the censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, which is commonly known as the "Censor Zhongcheng".

In fact, Lee Sun-chang, the South Korean public official who had received various rumors, expressed concern about the expansion of the investigation into the Kongyin case. He knew well that the seriousness of this case would cause a serious disturbance in the court once it got out of control, so he privately He advised Zhu Yuanzhang and hoped that he could handle the matter carefully.

But now that the matter was mentioned at such a high-level formal banquet, the emperor obviously wanted to set the tone for the recent situation.

Zhu Yuanzhang told them confidently: "Don't worry, Da Sun has found a way to solve the root cause of the empty seal - that is to get an artifact that enables long-distance communication."

As soon as his words fell, the hall suddenly fell into silence.

The princes looked at each other and exchanged doubtful looks. Long-distance communication? Do flying pigeons deliver messages? They also know that Zhu Yuanzhang is not a person who likes to joke. There must be a reason for what he said. The meaning of Zhu Yuanzhang's words is obviously not this traditional method, but if not, how can it be realized?
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the expressions of these people, and of course he could see that many people thought this was a fantasy. In fact, if he had not seen the magic of Da Sun, Zhu Yuanzhang would naturally think so.

Soon, there was a lot of discussion in the hall.

Chang Mao, Duke of Zheng, frowned and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I am not the only one who doesn't believe it. It's just that this long-distance communication artifact has never been heard of since ancient times. How can it be transmitted thousands of miles away? Is it the magic of gods? I think this is too much. Unbelievable, unbelievable.”

Tang He, the Duke of Xinguo, also looked suspicious: "Your Majesty, I think this matter is fishy, ​​and I hope your Majesty will think again."

Jin King Zhu Xi touched his mouth and said dubiously: "Father, my son has been in the feudal country for many years and has never heard of such a strange thing. Is this long-distance communication artifact a pretense to deceive my father?"

Zhu Yuanzhang listened for a while and was too lazy to explain to them. He only announced at this time.

"Okay, there's no need to say any more. When the altar is activated next time, the grandson will send the artifact over, and you will witness it. At that time, we will officially consecrate the grandson to the saint in front of all the civil and military officials!"

(End of this chapter)