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

Chapter 81 Meeting
After the New Year, the temperature began to rise gradually (the times in the book are all lunar calendar times).

At this time, all things have begun to revive, and the vast North China Plain has already turned green.

Zhu Houxun, dressed in fine clothes and riding a horse, was galloping along the canal with seven or eight followers. To be honest, he was still in a somewhat heavy mood.

He had passed by these places many times in his previous life, but the scene of the North China Plain at this time was very different from what he remembered. There were bare mountains and treeless plains everywhere. It could be said that the trees he could find only existed in villages and cities. He had to walk for a long time in the countryside before he could come across a tree.

It can be said that the forest ecology of modern China in the 21st century may be the best in the past 1000 years, easily surpassing the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Behind the ecological crisis of forest depletion in northern Ming Dynasty is actually the energy shortage caused by the explosive population growth.

Even in agricultural societies, the destruction of surface vegetation by dense populations in search of fuel is no less severe than in the industrial age.

The destruction of forest ecology leads to soil erosion, and soil erosion makes it even more difficult for forest ecology to recover, thus starting a vicious cycle.

The land in the entire north will become increasingly barren, and the population it can support will become smaller and smaller.

Therefore, developing industry and improving productivity is the only solution. Only by improving the ability and technology to obtain other energy sources and reducing transportation costs can the trend of the continuous deterioration of the environment in the north of the Ming Dynasty be curbed.

Thinking of this, Zhu Houxuan became more determined about the path he wanted to take.

Since there were no roadside trees as can be seen everywhere in later generations, the early spring was already dusty and sandy. Zhu Houxun never got off the boat to ride a horse again and stayed on the boat the whole time.

When Zhu Houxuan arrived in Beijing, it was the 27th day of the first lunar month, and the journey took 42 days.

The outer city wall of Beijing during the Zhengde period roughly overlapped with the second ring road of Beijing in later times on its east, west and north sides. As for the south, it only reached the Qianmen area in later times, and the outer city wall further south was built during the Jiajing period.

Zhu Houxuan's first impression of Beijing was the densely packed and chaotic residential areas outside the southern city wall. There was no systematic planning at all, and the people settled outside the city spontaneously, and they were built one after another over hundreds of years.

Officials from the Ministry of Clan Affairs and the Ministry of Rites and the eunuchs from the palace were already waiting outside the city. After they paid their respects to Zhu Houxuan, they led him to stay in the Palace of Princes.

Zhang Yong and Cui Yuan separated from Zhu Houxuan here as they had to go back to report.

The Ming Dynasty Princes' Palace is located at the east entrance of Shuaifu Garden in Dongcheng District, Beijing. It was the Prince of Yu's Palace in the Qing Dynasty and is now the site of Union Hospital.

The Princes' Palace was originally the residence of princes who came to Beijing to pay homage to the emperor. However, since the Xuande reign of Emperor Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji, the princes' visits to Beijing almost disappeared, and the Princes' Palace gradually became a place for the princes to study, so it was well maintained.

Since Emperor Zhengde had no children, only Zhu Houxuan lived in the huge palace of princes.

Zhu Houxuan stayed in the Princes' Pavilion for three days but was not summoned by Zhu Houzhao.

On the first day of February, after the morning court session, the civil and military officials did not return to their respective offices to do work, but went together to the Princes' Hall to pay homage to Prince of Jing, Zhu Houxuan.

This was stipulated in the "Imperial Ming Ancestor Instructions", but these officials did not kneel to Zhu Houxuan. They just bowed and said some words of greeting.

This regulation gives us a glimpse into the power and extremely high status of the princes in the early Ming Dynasty.

However, this was enough to surprise Zhu Houxuan. This prince of the Ming Dynasty was suppressed in various ways by minor officials of the fifth or sixth rank in his own palace, but after he came out, he was able to receive such great courtesy.

Zhu Houxuan returned the greetings with a very humble attitude. He knew that he would not have too many interactions with these officials, unless they were not afraid of affecting their political life. After the officials finished their audience, Zhang Yong, who had not been seen for a few days, came to announce the imperial decree to summon Zhu Houxuan to an audience.

To be honest, Zhu Houxuan was still a little nervous about this. The most important thing for his trip to the capital this time was to meet Zhu Houzhao. He estimated that he would spend some time with Zhu Houzhao, and this period of time would determine his future path, whether to return to Qizhou to prepare for a rebellion, or to become an important assistant to Zhu Houzhao.

He asked Qin Yuelan and Liu Yourong to help him tidy up his clothes, and then he sat in the palace carriage into the Forbidden City.

Zhu Houxuan was very familiar with the Forbidden City in his previous life. He had been there many times because he lived in Beijing. The layout and architectural style were not much different. The biggest difference was that there was no Manchu writing on the plaques of the palaces in the Forbidden City today.

The place for the summons was the Qianqing Palace, and Zhu Houxuan had been informed in advance that Empress Dowager Zhang would be there too.

"Your Majesty, I, Zhu Houxuan, pay my respects to you and wish you the best of health!" Zhu Houxuan bowed deeply and then greeted Empress Dowager Zhang in turn.

"Your Majesty, Prince of Jing, please stand up. We are brothers, no need to be polite!" Zhu Houzhao looked at the young man in the audience excitedly.

Zhu Houxuan stood up, raised his head and observed Zhu Houzhao on the throne, with infinite emotion in his heart: Brother, do you know how much effort I have made for this meeting!
Zhu Houzhao also observed Zhu Houxun curiously. The first thing he noticed was Zhu Houxun's height. A height of over 1.8 meters was relatively rare in that era.

Zhu Houxun was wearing a black five-clawed dragon robe. On the way, he asked Liu Yourong to make several minor modifications to the robe according to modern design concepts, mainly by tightening some places that needed to be tightened. The modified dragon robe did not look bloated or wide at all on him, and his slim figure was shown to the fullest.

His body was trained according to modern bodybuilding methods. He is well-proportioned and muscular, but not exaggerated or obvious.

Without looking at the face, just looking at this figure has a primitive and wild beauty.

The color of the dragon robe was also carefully selected by Zhu Houxun. The dark blue color is a color with red in it, and is similar to black overall.

If you want to look smart in mourning attire, wearing white will make you look very smart. Similarly, wearing black will bring Zhu Houxun's temperament to a higher level.

In addition to Zhu Houxun's handsome face, if it weren't for the childishness on his face, he would hardly be able to be told as a sixteen-year-old boy.

This is a world where appearance matters! Zhu Houxuan understood this principle better than anyone else, so he took great care of his image for this meeting.

He treated this meeting as the realization of his online love affair and tried his best not to let it get exposed.

All of Zhu Houxuan’s preparations were not in vain.

Zhu Houzhao and Empress Dowager Zhang were stunned for three seconds after seeing Zhu Houxun's appearance clearly. They had seen many handsome men, but they had never seen a handsome man like Zhu Houxun.

At this time, the most popular type in the Ming Dynasty was the kind of handsome, modest and gentlemanly men, but those handsome men were usually thin and not strong. For the ruling class, this kind of body shape was a reflection of mental hardship but no physical effort, a manifestation of long-term separation from labor, and a symbol of class.

However, human aesthetic taste for a strong body is engraved in genes, and Zhu Houxun's current image fits this aesthetic perfectly.

Although Zhu Houzhao had imagined the appearance of his younger brother many times in his mind, he was still shocked when he actually saw him in person. He was far beyond his expectations.

He said suddenly: "My dear brother, you will be a fierce general on the battlefield!"

I didn't expect there would be so many things to do on the weekend
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(End of this chapter)