Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1079 The Second Brother’s Thoughts

Although they were both in the palace, the father and son did not meet very often.

First of all, as an emperor, Zhu Shenzhu was very busy every day. Although he was not as busy as the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian, who was known as the "overtime maniac", he still had a lot of state affairs to deal with every day.

Even though the power of the cabinet is much greater now than during the Chongzhen period, and many political affairs are basically handled by the cabinet first and then reviewed again by the Silijian, it still takes a lot of time for the emperor to just read the memorials that are handed over to him.

Secondly, the princes have their own residences and their studies. Especially now that Zhu Mincheng has entered the military academy like the prince, he basically eats and lives in the military academy on weekdays. According to the military academy rules set by Zhu Shenzhu, he can only return to the palace on holidays. Returning to the palace to pay respects to his father and mother, not to mention the harem, Zhu Shenzhu basically just chatted with them after meeting.

"How are your studies in the military academy these days?" Zhu Shenzhui asked after taking a sip of tea.

Zhu Mincheng was wondering, why did his father call him to the Qianqing Palace in the middle of the night to ask about his studies? Could it be that he had eaten too much at the family dinner and had nothing to do and suddenly felt like doing it? Or did he do something wrong in the military academy and his father knew about it? Was he going to teach him a lesson today? But after thinking about it, Zhu Mincheng still couldn't figure out what he had done wrong in the military academy, but since his father asked, he had to answer, so he immediately answered Zhu Shenzhui's questions seriously and talked about his academic situation in the military academy.

He listened carefully and nodded slightly. In fact, Zhu Shenzhu knew everything about not only Zhu Mincheng, but also the academic situation of Crown Prince Zhu Minlan in the military academy. He was extremely concerned about the education of the princes. After all, since Zhu Shenzhu, the education of the Ming Dynasty royal family has set new rules. Not only has a special teaching hall been opened in the palace to teach the princes, but it is also stipulated that all princes must enter the military academy to complete their studies at a certain age. This is to avoid the drawbacks of the royal education before the Ming Dynasty, and also to ensure that there will be no more waste in the royal family of the Ming Dynasty in the future.

After a while, after listening to Zhu Mincheng's answer, Zhu Shenzui encouraged him with a few words, and then chatted for a while. Just when Zhu Mincheng became more and more puzzled and was about to ask his father directly what he wanted to ask him, Zhu Shenzui got to the point and told him that during the family dinner today, Queen Xu Jingqiu said that she intended to let Zhu Mincheng get married as soon as possible, so she asked him to ask what he thought about the matter.

"I haven't graduated from the military academy yet. I am different from my elder brother. My elder brother is the crown prince and naturally wants to get married soon, but I am only a prince. And according to the rules set by you, I have to join the army after I graduate from the military academy."

"I just turned seventeen this year. I still have two years of study in the military academy, plus I have to serve in the military for at least three years after graduation, which means I have five years in total. By that time, I will only be twenty-one, and it is not too late to get married at this age, so I think..."

Hearing his answer, Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help but frowned and interrupted him directly, "Don't beat around the bush with your father, don't I know what kind of personality you have had since childhood? Answer me honestly!"

Zhu Mincheng was stunned, swallowed back the words on his lips helplessly, and said with his head down: "Dad, I don't want to get married so early, at least I don't plan to get married in the next few years."

"Asshole!" Zhu Shen was furious. Although he had guessed a little bit just now, when these words really came out of Zhu Mincheng's mouth, he still felt furious. "Your mother has been busy with your marriage these days. She asked you privately before, but you pretended to be deaf and dumb to evade the question. When I heard your mother say this, I felt something was wrong. Today I found you and asked you and it turned out to be true. You are not young anymore. If you were a commoner, it would be fine, but you are a prince! The princes of my Ming Dynasty have the ceremony of coming of age when they are twelve years old, even if it is later, they are only fifteen. You are seventeen this year, you have already come of age. As a prince and a prince of the Ming Dynasty, don't you even consider the important matter of marriage? If this gets out, how will people in the world view the royal family?"

"There is a rule among the people that there are twenty rows of crowns..." Zhu Mincheng couldn't help but mutter in his heart, but he didn't dare to say it directly. Didn't he understand his father's temper? Now that he was angry, it was better not to touch this bad luck.

Zhu Shenzhui continued, saying that even if he got married, it would not affect his studies, and he could still study in the military academy, including serving in the army after graduation. Isn't that what the prince is like? Could it be that he won't get married just because of his studies? What kind of logic is this?

With his head hung, Zhu Mincheng let Zhu Shencui scold him without saying anything, but his expression showed indifference. Seeing his dead pig-like appearance, Zhu Shencui became even more angry. He didn't know who this kid took his personality from. He was neither like himself nor his mother. It was bad enough that he had a quirky personality, but he was also particularly stubborn. He didn't know where he learned this from.

"Dad, I really don't want to get married so early. How about you let me wait for two more years?" After being scolded, Zhu Shenzhui was a little tired, and Zhu Mincheng raised his head and said this.

"You kid..." Zhu Shenzhui was so angry that he wanted to beat up this stubborn guy, but he suppressed his anger despite his shameless appearance. He calmed down and asked with a frown, "Tell me the truth, what are your plans? Don't tell me about academic performance or age, these are not problems. What are you thinking?"

"Dad, you asked me to say this?" Zhu Mincheng hesitated. "Say it!"

Seeing that Zhu Shenzhui was about to get angry again, Zhu Mincheng said, "Dad, I am actually thinking about going to the vassal state. If I leave Beijing to go to the vassal state, it is not appropriate to get married now, so I plan to get married after I go to the vassal state..."

"Wait! What do you mean by vassalage?" Zhu Shenzhui was stunned for a moment, and frowned as he looked Zhu Mincheng up and down, saying, "Since my dynasty, the princes of the Ming Dynasty no longer serve as vassalage. This rule was set by your father. From now on, the princes of the royal family will be granted land in the capital, and no longer be granted real titles. Don't you know that? You are dreaming, and you want to serve as vassalage? Where can you get vassalage in the Ming Dynasty?"

"There is no such thing in the Ming Dynasty, but what about outside the Ming Dynasty?" As soon as Zhu Shenzhui finished speaking, Zhu Mincheng rushed to say, "Dad, you have set a rule that not only the royal family will no longer be granted titles in the future, but also the clan members will no longer be granted titles. But don't forget that this is limited to the Ming Dynasty and not limited to overseas. Didn't you plan to grant Prince Yong a title outside the Ming Dynasty a few days ago? Since Prince Yong can be granted a title outside the Ming Dynasty, why can't my child be granted a title outside the Ming Dynasty?"

"From childhood to adulthood, I have always taken my father as my role model. As the saying goes, a good man has ambitions. Since I am a prince and a prince of the Ming Dynasty, am I not as good as the Yongwang? Since my father has an unexpected title, why is there any difference in this matter? I don't expect to be a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, but I hope to be canonized overseas, to protect my Ming Dynasty as a prince of the Ming Dynasty, and to achieve something, so that my trip to this world is not in vain!"

As he said this, Zhu Mincheng's eyes sparkled, his back straightened, his expression full of determination and great yearning. Zhu Shenzhui could not help but be stunned. He suddenly remembered his youth. Wasn't he the same when he was young? Although the purpose of his departure was different, Zhu Shenzhui at that time was preparing for his own survival and the coming chaos. However, as time went by, Zhu Shenzhui's mentality gradually changed. In the end, he took that step ahead of time, instead of just taking care of himself as he originally thought. This is how the Ming Dynasty is today.

Zhu Mincheng was full of youthful vigor and ambition, and it was not until today that Zhu Shenzhui finally understood his son. The second son, whom he had always considered inferior to the eldest son, was not so bad. He also had his own ambitions and was working hard towards them.

His expression gradually relaxed, and there was a hint of tenderness and relief in Zhu Shenzhu's eyes as he looked at Zhu Mincheng. As a prince of the Ming Dynasty, this kid had no shortage of wealth and glory in his life, but he was unwilling to spend his life like this. Even though Zhu Shenzhu made great changes to the Ming royal family after becoming emperor, in the future he, as a prince, would not be raised like a pig by the royal family like his ancestors, and he could do something, but no one expected that he would have such thoughts in his mind.

In fact, Zhu Shenzhui had already thought about conferring titles outside the royal family in the future by letting Prince Yong be conferred titles outside the royal family, but as a father, he was taking risks in making such an attempt. Conferring titles overseas sounds easy, but it is difficult to do. It is not so easy to determine the sea route just to confer titles on the new continent.

The ships that explored the route have not returned yet. We need to wait until this route is traversable, how long it will take, how to replenish supplies along the way, how to deal with risks if encountered, etc., all these can only be known after confirmation.

Even if the route is fine, it's more than a thousand miles from Ming to the New World. Once you set foot on the New World, you will have to face countless possible dangers, such as natural disasters, local tribes, unfamiliarity with the local climate, and possible dangers from adventurers from Western countries.

If there is any problem with these, the outcome will be death. Therefore, the canonization of Yong Wang is just an attempt. Even if Zhu Shenzhu has made many preparations in advance for this attempt, he still cannot guarantee what the result will be when he arrives in the New World.

If Zhu Mincheng also wanted to conquer the New World, he would also have to bear such risks. As a father, Zhu Shenzhu was unwilling to let him take such risks. In addition, Zhu Shenzhu had already thought about how to settle Zhu Mincheng. He originally planned to send people to manage Taiwan patiently after taking Taiwan, and then turn around to deal with the Jiannu in Liaodong.

Right now the Jiannu army is divided into two, with Dorgon in the west and Hauge in Korea in the east being incompatible. Although Dorgon is much stronger than Hauge in terms of strength and base, don't forget that Hauge has the assistance of the Ming Dynasty, and with the occupation of Korea, he can barely compete with Dorgon.

At present, the war between the two is about to break out. Even if it does not break out for the time being, the Ming Dynasty will not sit idly by and watch the two sides continue to stalemate. What the Ming Dynasty needs is for them to fight, the harder the better, and it is best if both sides are defeated. In the end, the Ming Dynasty will come out to clean up the mess. In this way, not only can the Liaodong issue be completely resolved, but the Korean issue can also be dealt with.

After the affairs of Liaodong and Korea are over, Zhu Shenzhu will start to attack Luzon. At present, the Spaniards and the Dutch occupy Luzon. Although the Dutch East India Company occupies Batavia, most of Luzon is in the hands of the Spanish.

In addition, Spain and the Netherlands not only occupied Luzon in Southeast Asia, but also occupied many countries in the South China Sea. Most of these places and countries were vassal states of the Ming Dynasty. The previous Ming Dynasty was unable to take care of them, but the current Ming Dynasty is different. Zhu Shenzhui will not only take action on Luzon, but also on Malacca and other places to take back control of the South China Sea. Afterwards, these places will be sealed off, and Zhu Mincheng's future location will be among them.

(End of this chapter)