Ming Dynasty: Traveling through the harem, Zhu Yuanzhang was dumbfounded

Chapter 121: Conflict with Confucians
Today’s protagonist is not only Yang Chen.

And there is Zhu Di, the Prince of Yan in the Ming Dynasty!
Since he was a child, he has always been suppressed by his brother and cannot raise his head.

There is no need to say much about Zhu Biao. As the eldest son, he could not earn anything no matter how hard he tried. The gap between the two was like a chasm.

Sometimes, the gap is so big that people lose the desire to catch up.

So he set his sights on his two brothers, Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang.

Unfortunately, even though both of them had shortcomings, Zhu Di could not surpass them.

Regardless of their moral character and morality, and only considering their military talent, these two princes definitely surpass Zhu Di, otherwise Zhu Di would not have given the important task to the second and third princes.

Now, Zhu Di finally has the opportunity to prove himself, not only to his father, but also to all the ministers in the world!
The moment he stood up, all the princes and ministers had a bad feeling about what was going on.

The appointment of vassal kings was not a simple appointment, but a change in the entire structure of the Ming Dynasty. Any slight change would affect the interests of many people.

They don't want these changes to happen to them, otherwise how can they profit for their own selfish ends?

Zhu Yuanzhang turned his head to look at Zhu Di, his eyes full of affirmation.

"Good! As the fourth prince, I am very happy that Prince Yan is so active in speaking. He wants to speak, so let's listen to what he has to say.

Come on! Old Four! Tell us what you want to say. If you say something wrong, we won’t blame you. "

Not only him, but other princes also showed envious expressions on their faces when they could get Zhu Yuanzhang's affirmation.

This is his biological father and also a founding emperor. Zhu is the idol of all his sons.

"My dear father, I thank you!"

After Zhu Di finished his ceremony, he stood in the position where Old Zhu had been just now.

To all ministers.

If you stand here and speak, the entire square can hear you clearly.

"Everyone! What Yang Chen said just now is right. I have been thinking for a long time, can the princes of the Ming Dynasty only be idle princes in their own fiefdoms?

Every year I receive tens of thousands of grains and money from the imperial court for nothing. If I can't do anything for the Ming Dynasty, I won't feel at ease taking this money.

Originally, the duty of the princes was to guard the border, but there were not always enemies invading the border. These enemies were very smart. They knew that the Ming Dynasty would not pursue them too far, so they always sent people to tease us.

As long as it is not too excessive, the soldiers on the city wall will not pay any attention.

Today, the Ming Dynasty is rich and powerful, with generals who can command powerful soldiers and abundant national strength.

Instead of passively defending, it is better to take the initiative to attack! Kill them and scare them! Kill them so that they dare not invade the Ming Dynasty!
I know that some of you ministers are worried that this will put the Ming Dynasty in danger. The reason is that without military protection, the Northern Yuan Dynasty will move southward.

And what I want to say is.

The vassal kings do not need a large number of troops from the imperial court, nor do they need a large amount of food from the imperial court. They only need the imperial court to support them. Even if I rely on the three existing guards in my fiefdom, I can still annihilate the enemy!
As a subject of the Ming Dynasty, I will be able to gain a foothold abroad in the future. I am willing to donate part of the territory to the Ming Dynasty for its control. From now on, there will be more and more provincial administrative commissions in the Ming Dynasty.

The larger the territory, the more wealthy the Ming Dynasty will be. I want to be the first prince to expand the territory of the Ming Dynasty. Even if I die outside, it will be worth it!"

Zhu Di's speech soon gained the support of a group of military generals.

The way for civil servants to gain merit is to govern the country well and enable the people to live and work in peace and contentment.

As military generals, some of them could barely read or write, and the only way for them to improve their status was to fight!

However, the Ming Dynasty had been at peace for too long, and border wars were very rare. Large-scale combat was impossible, and the country could only passively defend. There were too many monks and too little meat to share among the generals.

Therefore, many people, while they were old enough, volunteered to go out and fight for the Ming Dynasty and themselves.

It will be able to save face when you retire and return home in the future.

Generals die in hundreds of battles, warriors return after ten years. The Central Plains region has nurtured the unique genes of the Han people, which makes their brave blood burst out in any war process.

For other people, dying on the battlefield may be a very terrifying thing, but for the Han people, sacrificing in the battle process is an extremely romantic thing.

If the achievement can benefit my hometown and my family, I would do it even if it means dying!

"Your Majesty! I object! The Prince of Yan is your son. As a vassal of the Ming Dynasty, if he does not stay in the Ming Dynasty to consolidate the local area, but goes to fight and kill outside the Ming Dynasty, this will put your Majesty's bloodline in danger. If anything happens, your Majesty's descendants will not be all over the Ming Dynasty. If there is any genius or man-made disaster in the royal family in the future, I am afraid that no one will stand up to take charge of the situation!"

"The vassal kings are living abroad and do not need the Ming Dynasty to support them with food, fodder and troops. Once any danger occurs, won't they be isolated and helpless? I oppose the Ming Dynasty's vassal kings being conferred abroad! Whether it is for the Ming Dynasty's national destiny or for your majesty's personal feelings, I will stand up and make it clear!"

"Even if the vassal kings can occupy the land of other countries, there is no need to conquer any country around the Ming Dynasty. The grasslands in the north cannot be used for farming, the south is full of miasma, the west is snow-capped mountains and deserts, and the east is all oceans. The vassal kings have no more titles to give them!"

"The official who proposed this suggestion earlier, in my humble opinion, is deliberately misleading. If Your Majesty listens to him, the Ming Dynasty will be on a path of no return!"

When the silent ministers thought about the turmoil in the Ming Dynasty and the threat to their own stable interests, they immediately stood up to stop it.

There are all kinds of reasons and angles, but they just hope that Zhu Yuanzhang will not listen to Yang Chen, otherwise, their interests will probably be gone.

Seeing that someone was trying to stop him from achieving fame, Zhu Di didn't need Yang Chen to step forward.

He speaks for himself.

"Nonsense! What about consolidating the Ming Dynasty and the royal bloodline? It's all nonsense!

I, Zhu Di, am the fourth son of my father, and I have three guards and Peking as my fiefdom. Am I going to live my whole life in mediocrity?

If I, Zhu Di, have to stay here all my life and grow old, then I would rather die on the battlefield!

When my father was my age, he had already led troops in battles and became a hero in troubled times. As his son, I cannot bring shame to him.

There are no cowards among the descendants of the Zhu family! "

"I went out to fight, not to be exiled, so how can I be exiled?
As for soldiers and food, I can follow the example of Guanjun Hou of the Han Dynasty. Back then, Huo Qubing relied on 800 light cavalry to kill through the Huns and drove the enemy all the way to Langjuxu Mountain, and even all the way north to the vast sea.

If eight hundred light cavalry can do this, I don't believe that the three guards have nearly 20,000 soldiers in total! Five thousand war horses, one thousand chariots, nearly two thousand leather armor and iron frames, and countless firearms. Can't I deal with a small foreign enemy with these weapons? "

"As for how and where to fight, I already know clearly and have a goal. There are three major Jurchen tribes in the north. I will make them my primary target and deal with them as soon as possible.

As long as I am given this opportunity, the territory of Ming Dynasty will become more and more vast in the future, and it will truly be the case that all under heaven belongs to the king and all the people in the world are the king's subjects.

The world will be ruled by the Han people.

By that time, any scenery that the romantic literati want to appreciate can be found in the Ming Dynasty. It will not be limited to the scenery of the south of the Yangtze River. Whether it is the cold snow in the north or the strait in the west, they will all be divided into the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

As a vassal king, if I cannot truly contribute my value and can only stay in the territory of the Ming Dynasty for my entire life without taking a single step out until I die, then I will regret it for the rest of my life.

Father! All the ministers! For other princes, I don't know whether it is good or bad to be granted a title as a vassal king, but for me, Zhu Di, it is an opportunity.

A role model who can do practical things for the Ming Dynasty, please help me, father!"

On the high platform, Zhu Di's passionate voice fell into everyone's ears.

No matter who they are or how old they are, they are all filled with high morale by this momentum.

Xiao Zhan follows the golden drum and sleeps with a jade saddle.

Willing to put the sword down at the waist, straight to cut Loulan.

To die for the country is difficult, and to die suddenly.

Many poems of our ancestors have expressed the calmness of the Chinese people in the field. They are never afraid of death, but they are afraid of dying in obscurity.

On the stage, Zhu Yuanzhang saw everything Zhu Di said just now. It was the first time he realized how ambitious his son was.

"It seems that what Yang Chen said is right. Lao Si's excellence does not lie in his abilities in all aspects, but in his courage to speak out his ambitions. As long as this kid is given a chance, perhaps he will bring some surprises to Daming. Biao'er, Biao'er, you are so lucky to have such a brother."

Old Zhu thought of the relatives and cousins ​​who had died because of his plot.

When Zhu Yuanzhang first became emperor, those who had once done him favors immediately came to ask for official positions, and Zhu Yuanzhang gave them to them later.

After all, he still wanted to repay these relatives, but he didn't expect that these people would actually allow their descendants to do evil in the local area.

In the end, Lao Zhu was reluctant to use shady methods to send him away. He was right in the big picture and in private. What was wrong was that people did not know how to look at themselves.

The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang arranged all his sons to stay outside the Great Wall was to make them check and control each other and cooperate with each other to resist foreign enemies.

When he followed Yang Chen's advice to break out of his inherent thinking, he realized how ridiculous his previous decision was and what a difficult problem he left for future generations.

Zhu Di's words were enough to show that the princes had such ambitions, and these ministers didn't know what to say for a moment.

On the contrary, it was Old Zhu who rolled his eyes and then suddenly stood up from the dragon throne.

The calloused palm slapped Zhu Di's shoulder heavily.

"Okay! What the fourth brother said makes sense! We were in danger before, but as our sons, they have the blood of the Ming Dynasty Zhu family in their bodies. How can we stay in a corner? Now our sons are at the age to make a living.

Prince Yan had this idea: I am the emperor of the Ming Dynasty in public and his biological father in private. If I cannot support my son to do what he wants to do, then wouldn’t my role as a father be in vain?
Besides, we have been displeased with the three Jurchen tribes in the north for a long time. Don't think we don't know that the general stationed at this pass wants to keep the enemy at bay.

They have not yet followed our wishes to wipe out these three Jurchen tribes, who are the descendants of the Jin Dynasty.

I don’t believe that you guys are completely unaware of what kind of disasters their ancestors once brought to the Central Plains!
The Ming Dynasty now has the power to exterminate them. If we don’t avenge our ancestors, how can we have the face to live in this world!

Those who offend the Ming Dynasty must be exterminated! Otherwise, if we leave them alone, disaster will surely follow!"

If Zhu Di's words ignited the hearts of the generals, then Zhu Yuanzhang was adding a piece of wood to the flames, making the already raging fire even more intense.

The Central Plains had been tortured too many times by the northern barbarians.

Without exception, they took advantage of the struggle for the Central Plains to stab them in the back.

In addition, no true hero appeared in time during the chaotic times, which led to the conflict and chaos continuing for a long time.

The Han people endured countless hardships, and were even treated like two-legged sheep and eaten at will.

It is not an exaggeration to say that it is hell.

As for the Jurchen issue, ever since Zhu Yuanzhang heard that his Ming Dynasty was replaced by the Jurchens, he has never given up the idea of ​​destroying the Jurchens.

He also knew that the powerful Ming Dynasty now was completely different from the poor and weak Ming Dynasty in later generations. Even if the Jurchens were eliminated, it would only be a temporary solution and not a fundamental solution.

But for Zhu Yuanzhang, even if he destroyed the Jurchen tribe, it would only be a temporary solution and would not affect his fundamental solution.

These words are like a stimulant to the veterans.

Xu Da and other generals who were the first to follow Zhu Yuanzhang began to shout slogans such as "The Ming Dynasty is mighty, long live the Ming Dynasty" at the top of their lungs.

The sound from the entire square was so inspiring that many palace maids and eunuchs passing by knelt down towards the square.

They didn't know what was going on, they just knew that it was a serious time.

As for the civil service lineage, Li Shanchang glanced at Yang Chen with eyes full of emotions. He had no idea who this young man was.

It was only the second time we met, but I felt that he was threatening me.

"This man is very dangerous. If I don't get rid of him, he will definitely threaten my position. But he is Mu Ying's son-in-law, and his status is not low. Even if he is only a seventh-rank official, relying on his status as Mu Ying's son-in-law, I can't touch him. I can only win him over. I just don't know what this guy likes. I have to send someone to find out."

Having made up his mind, he immediately gave orders that no one should oppose the prince's relocation.

What a joke! At this moment, anyone with a clear mind will understand that if you stand up and voice opposition when the crowd is excited, you will definitely end up in a bad situation.

Although this group of military generals are not as good at using their brains as their civil servants, once they are angered, their fists as big as casserole pots can do more harm than just a mouth.

"All right! Keep quiet!"

Zhu Yuanzhang led his three sons Zhu Biao, Zhu Di and Zhu Chong to fight side by side from the rear.

The two people in the middle are him and Zhu Biao, and the other two stand on the left and right respectively.

Old Zhu was in high spirits and felt very satisfied. His voice was like a loud bell, which instantly quieted everyone down.

Those who had been shouting loudly just now were now all red in the face, and now they didn’t even need to warm up before going into the field to kill the enemy.

The only sound in the huge square now was heavy breathing. Old Zhu thought for a moment before speaking:
"I have approved the title of vassal king!

Where is Yang Chen? "

"Chen is here!"

"Today you mentioned that this method helped the Ming Dynasty solve a disaster a hundred years later. What reward do you want?"

"I have been an orphan since I was a child, and my mother is a widow. It is the villagers who provide me with food and education. Therefore, I want to return to my hometown and contribute to my hometown at the grassroots level. I want my hometown to be free from hunger and cold from now on."

Yang Chen is now the Censor of the Censorate and a Beijing-based personnel. If he wants Ningming County, he needs a proper reason.

He had already investigated and found out that there were several villages in Ningming County that disappeared due to disasters. It was reasonable and untraceable for him to forge an identity.

However, his decision made others feel confused. Why did he want to run away to the countryside instead of working well in Beijing?

This is totally incomprehensible what the operation is.

What a good opportunity, yet you don’t want anything?

The two of them didn't care what the others thought, and Lao Zhu was full of admiration:

"Okay, okay, you are grateful and repay your kindness. You are a talented person who can be an official. In this case, we will put Ningming County under your jurisdiction."

It seems reasonable for a county to reward a seventh-rank official. Even if these civil servants have something to say, they will not say it now.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward!"

The plan was accomplished, and Yang Chen re-entered the civil service.

Old Zhu waved his hand.

"Okay! Now that we have talked about rewards, let's talk about two things. One is the title of vassal king.

King Yan, listen to my orders! "

"Your son obeys my order!"

Zhu Di stepped back and saluted.

Old Zhu said solemnly:

"It is an honor for a Ming Dynasty man to fight in battle, even if he dies on the battlefield. As a prince, you must not bury the blood of the descendants of Yan and Huang.

Today, I order you to be the first foreign expedition prince of the Ming Dynasty. You will recover the Beiping vassal state and set out to fight in three months. Your target will be the three Jurchen tribes in the northeast.

I also grant you eight hundred light cavalry and one hundred heavy cavalry, each equipped with three war horses. I will order the delivery of food, rations, and firearms to Peking as quickly as possible.

When you are ready, set off immediately without any delay.

As a descendant of the Ming royal family, you are not allowed to retreat in the process of fighting the enemy.

In this war, we must demonstrate the power of the Ming Dynasty and the unstoppable momentum of the Han people, so as to let the remnants of the Northern Yuan Dynasty see that the Ming Dynasty is not to be trifled with!

From now on, no matter if they are from the side branch or the main line, as long as they are from the Zhu family of the Ming Dynasty, everyone must abide by the following ancestral laws.

'The emperor guards the country's gates, and the king dies for the country.'

have you understood! "

"My son, I understand!"

Zhu Di's eyes were filled with tears; he could finally get his father's recognition.

Eight hundred light cavalry and one hundred heavy cavalry, such a configuration was far beyond Huo Qubing's original strength. In addition, he also had three personal guards in Peking, who went to attack the three Jurchen tribes.

It seems difficult, but if everything goes well, you can go all the way north!
(End of this chapter)