I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 582 Zhu Houcong

"Give him a reward!" said the young Taoist indifferently.

The fat eunuch hesitated for a moment and said, "Your Highness, Taoist Zhang used a lot of precious medicinal materials in this furnace of elixir. These medicinal materials alone are worth 600 silver coins."

"That also needs to be rewarded. As long as the things are good, they are worth rewarding!" the young Taoist continued.

"As you command!" the fat eunuch said hastily, but he had no intention of leaving.
"Huang Banban, is there anything else?" The young Taoist noticed something unusual about Huang Jin.

"Your Highness, they are here again." Huang Jin said in a low voice.

The young Taoist's expression suddenly became a little strange. There was resistance in his desire, and some fear in his yearning. However, this strange feeling only lasted for a short moment before he put it away.
"Tell them that the cousin of the Prince of Jing has done a great favor to the Prince of Xing's Mansion and to me, Zhu Houcong. It is not reasonable for me to oppose the cousin of the Prince of Jing."

This young Taoist is the current Prince Xing Zhu Houcong.

The first Prince of Xing died in the 15th year of the Zhengde reign. His son Zhu Houcong succeeded him in the 18th year of the Zhengde reign. In the same year, Concubine Shao, who was living out her days in Anlu Prefecture, also died. Her ashes were transported to the capital and buried next to Emperor Xianzong's Maoling Mausoleum.
This is the feudal system. Concubine Shao was a concubine of Emperor Xianzong Zhu Jianshen during her lifetime. After her death, her ashes also belonged to Zhu Jianshen and were buried next to the mausoleum to accompany Zhu Jianshen.
When Zhu Houcong said that Zhu Houxuan had done favors for Prince Xing's Mansion, he was referring to the matter of Concubine Shao.
"I will reply to them right away," Huang Jin said quickly.

Zhu Houcong nodded.

When Huang Jin was about to leave, Zhu Houcong suddenly stopped him and said, "The pills this time are very good. There are not enough for me to take. Ask Taoist Zhang to make a few more batches of pills."

"Yes, sir. But," Huang Jin said with difficulty.

"But what is it?" Zhu Houcong looked displeased.

"But all the money in the mansion is used up, and there is really no way to buy medicinal materials for alchemy." Huang Jin still said it all.

"What? There is no money in the mansion? My great Ming Xingwang Mansion has no money?" Zhu Houcong showed an expression of disbelief.

"Where is the money in Prince Xing's Mansion? Where did it go? Did you embezzle it all?" Zhu Houcong said angrily.

"Your Highness, please calm down. How could we dare to do that? There are simply too many places in the mansion where we spend money. On the one hand, we have to build a Taoist temple in the city, on the other hand, we have to spend a lot of money to collect ancient rare books of Taoist scriptures, on one hand, we have to support so many Taoist priests, and finally, we have to buy all kinds of medicinal materials to make pills. Our Prince Xing's mansion only earns more than 70,000 silver coins a year. Over the past few years, not only have we used up the savings left by the previous king, but we also have a lot of foreign debts on credit." Huang Jin said with a sad face.

"Wait!" Zhu Houcong's expression turned gloomy. "I remember that my father's palace had an annual income of more than 7 silver coins. How come the income is only silver coins a year now?"

"Your Highness is devoted to cultivation and rarely cares about the secular affairs of the palace. Naturally, you don't know that my Xingfan has not been in Anlu for a long time, but under the management of the previous king, we have accumulated a lot of land, although it is pitifully small compared to other royal palaces."

"So in the past few years, the palace could earn more than 100,000 silver coins a year. But three years ago, His Royal Highness the Prince of Jing started to clear the fields and implement the tax distribution system. A lot of donated land under the palace was cleared out, and many households that had taken refuge under the palace left. These led to a sharp drop in the palace's income. But there were more and more places to spend money," Huang Jin said carefully.

"Is that so?" Zhu Houcong's expression became uncertain.
Huguang Anlu Prefecture is located in the northern part of Huguang, close to Nanyang and Xinyang in Henan. The Royal Group has great influence in Henan and also has a great influence on the northern part of Huguang. Therefore, in Anlu Prefecture, Zhu Houxuan's series of policies were well implemented, resulting in a sharp drop in the income of Prince Xing's Mansion.
This led to Zhu Houcong's current predicament. But then again, given Zhu Houcong's habit of spending money lavishly, no amount of wealth could withstand his squandering.
"We can't spend it all! We can't!" Zhu Houcong murmured, still unable to believe it.

"Ours is still considered a small amount. Other palaces that have been passed down for hundreds of years have cleared out more land. The income of each palace has been falling sharply in recent years." Huang Jin continued. Zhu Houcong smiled bitterly, "My cousin, the King of Jing, has caused us a lot of trouble."

"Yes, recently all the royal palaces have been complaining about the policies of King Jing." Huang Jin said quickly.

"I am a prince of the Ming Dynasty, but I can't even afford a pill! How ridiculous! The biggest joke in the world!" Zhu Houcong said angrily.

"Your Highness, please calm down and don't get yourself in trouble." Huang Jin hurriedly stepped forward and massaged Zhu Houcong's back.

Zhu Houcong nodded, then closed his eyes, and after a while he said: "Although my cousin Prince Jing had done some favors to Prince Xing's Mansion before, those favors have been offset. From now on, Prince Xing's Mansion does not owe Prince Jing anything."

"I understand!" Huang Jin said immediately.

Zhu Houcong stood up and walked up to a tall building, where he could see the scenery outside Anlu City.
There was a long telescope on the small building. He fiddled with it skillfully and used it to look at the scenery outside the city for a long time.
He was distracted as he watched. His heart was not as calm as he appeared. Over the years, many people have told him that he was the first in line to the throne and should be the future emperor. It was Zhu Houxuan's distant cousin who stole his things...

He always refuted such remarks, saying that his cousin, Prince Jing, had done a great favor to Prince Xing's Palace, but in fact, he was very painful in his heart...

He secretly studied the Imperial Ming Ancestor Instructions and found that this was the case. According to the Imperial Ming Ancestor Instructions, "the younger brother succeeds the elder brother", Zhengde had no heir, so he should be the emperor. This made him even more miserable...

He was obsessed with monasticism for many reasons, in order to escape and alleviate this pain...

But as time went by, the pain did not fade away but became more intense. This pain continued to gnaw at his heart...

The appointment of a crown prince by the imperial court a while ago made him feel that his life had been stolen, which made him feel even more tormented and angry...

And today I find myself in such a dilemma...

The string that he had been trying so hard to maintain in his heart finally broke...

He finally made up his mind.
"I don't want to live this kind of stingy life anymore, nor do I want to stay here as a prisoner. I also want to control my own destiny," Zhu Houcong murmured.

"I want to take back my life..." Zhu Houcong said firmly.

Then he found Huang Jin and asked, "Are they still there?"

Time flies.

On October 10, the 28th year of the Zhengde reign, the Imperial Guard troops that were on the southern expedition to Annan submitted a memorial stating that they had completely captured and controlled Annan, and would soon be escorting the prisoners north to surrender.

The Imperial Guards who were sent to Vietnam to march south to Annan were before the coup d'état in the 25th year of Zhengde. After three years, they finally succeeded!
This is the best birthday gift for Zhu Houzhao, because Zhu Houzhao's birthday is October 26th.
Therefore, the day for surrendering the captives was set on October 26th.
Zhu Houzhao's health was getting worse at this time, and he was bedridden after the winter.
Zhu Houxuan had already decided not to allow Zhu Houzhao to attend the Wumen Prisoner Presentation Ceremony on October 26.
After Zhu Houzhao learned the news, he insisted on attending the Wumen prisoner presentation ceremony. Not only did he want to attend, but he also wanted to hold a military parade after the Wumen prisoner presentation.
Zhu Houzhao would definitely not agree to do this. In winter, he had to attend two important events in one day, both of which were outdoors. Zhu Houzhao's body could not bear it.
But Zhu Houxuan soon realized something.
(End of this chapter)