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

Chapter 190 The Prince and Auntie Get Along

"Remember, from now on, you cannot let external things affect you, otherwise I will punish you more severely than today.

If you can't remember it, next time you see it, don't blame your father for being cruel!"

Knowing that his father was around, Zhu Biao didn't really treat Zhu Xiongying harshly. He just gave him a slight symbolic punishment.

Retracting his hand and tucked it into his arms, Zhu Xiongying sat upright and said:

"I understand. I won't do it again."

Seeing that his grandson was so sensible and well-behaved, Zhu Yuanzhang liked him even more.

He simply hugged him and touched him with his bearded face.

"Oh! Have pity on my dear grandson, Grandpa made you suffer just now, come, have a piece of osmanthus cake, you will be happy after eating it."

"Xiong Ying thanks Grandpa Huang!"

Zhu Xiongying took the osmanthus cake handed to him by Zhu Yuanzhang, held it in his hand and ate it happily.

Queen Ma shifted her gaze to look at her son. She could see that he was a little worried. She didn't need to guess to know what Zhu Biao was thinking at the moment.

So she asked softly:
"What's wrong? Don't you have confidence in Yang Chen's governance of Zhenjiang Prefecture?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Biao showed a bitter smile on his face.

Firstly, his thoughts had been guessed, and secondly, as Empress Ma had said, he was worried that Zhenjiang Prefecture had not met his expectations.

Before deciding to set off, he had actually asked people more than once about the current situation in Zhenjiang Prefecture.

From what they heard from the people below, it seemed that the people of Zhenjiang Prefecture lived a very happy life, and everyone who mentioned Yang Chen praised this young man from the bottom of their hearts.

In the eyes of these common people, Yang Chen, the censor transferred from the capital, was simply a good official sent by the emperor to save them from all odds.

Originally, Zhenjiang Prefecture was just an ordinary prefecture. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was terrible. It had no ability and no wealth. Apart from making a living on a daily basis, there was nothing outstanding about it.

Without exception, all local young people want to make a living in the outside world. After seeing the colorful world, some of them don’t even want to come back and want to take their families with them.

In the end, when there were almost no young people left in Zhenjiang Prefecture, the people's situation was made even worse by the exposure they suffered from Zhou Shizhong.

All these nightmares were not resolved until Yang Chen appeared.

As of now, Yang Chen seems to have managed Zhenjiang Prefecture in an orderly and solid manner, making it extremely difficult for outsiders to interfere.

Empress Ma raised her hand and patted Zhu Biao's shoulder, her brows relaxed and she said:
"Don't worry, Biao'er. I've heard about what he did in Zhenjiang Prefecture. Yang Chen knows how to adapt flexibly. Since the purge of local bureaucrats, everyone has followed his methods to make large-scale changes.

Take the official system for example. It is obvious that severe laws are used. These severe laws directly control all those who want to obey the law in public but disobey it in private. They don't even have the courage to break the law. Whoever dares to break the law? The local guards will be the first one to not let him go.

When the young people who had fled from Zhenjiang Prefecture heard that a good official had appeared in their hometown, they all returned with their families, were given one acre and three mu of land, and began to work hard.

What moved me even more unexpectedly was that I heard that Yang Chen had put a lot of effort into carrying out an astonishing and shocking reform around Zhenjiang Prefecture.

These reforms led to the construction of many huge buildings, in which people ate, drank, defecated and urinated, and factories were also built.

The factories are responsible for various productions. Even if someone doesn't want to farm, they can still make money in these factories. He calls this a "state-owned enterprise."

Those who work in state-owned enterprises are all workers. They are not only provided with food to eat, but also with some houses to live in. "

As he spoke, Zhu Biao looked outside the carriage. They were now very close to Zhenjiang Prefecture. He could even see the flag with the word "Ming" embroidered on it on the city wall.

Thinking of what his mother had just said to him, Zhu Biao murmured to himself:

"With free food and accommodation, many people will surely flock to such a stable life. Logically, there should be many people who do not have enough. I did not expect that Yang Chen would actually use the method he told me and my father in Zhenjiang Prefecture.

By offering work in exchange for credit, they absorbed as many refugees as possible. No wonder on the way here just now, I found many refugees approaching the daughter of Zhenjiang Prefecture. Now it seems that everything is traceable. "

Before he could finish his words, the dragon chariot had already entered the area of ​​Zhenjiang Prefecture. The driver saw a fence ahead and stopped immediately.

Although he is called a coachman, his real identity is actually Mao Xiang.

Only Zhu Yuanzhang could do such a thing as having the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard serve as a coachman.

There are countless people outside who are terrified of Mao Xiang's face. Now that he is the coachman, it can be said that everyone who knows this face knows who is sitting in the coach.

The carriage slowly stopped and Zhu Yuanzhang was obviously very unhappy.

"Mao Xiang! Why did you stop the car? We haven't reached the destination yet. Could it be that someone stopped us?"

Zhu Yuanzhang had been preparing for this trip for a long time. He originally planned to lead hundreds of guards with him.

However, Empress Ma slapped him and warned him that doing so was a waste of resources. Instead, it would be better to bring fewer people with him, which would save money.

Extravagance is not what a good emperor should do.

Faced with Empress Ma's education, only Zhu Yuanzhang could speak up and endure it.

After discussion, the two finally decided that there didn't need to be too many accompaniments, but the dragon chariot must follow.

Only Zhu Yuanzhang could sit on the dragon chariot. According to the old rules, no one could obstruct the dragon chariot when it was traveling, and it could only stop when it reached its destination.

They were still a short distance away from Zhenjiang Prefecture, but they suddenly stopped. How could Zhu Yuanzhang not be angry?

Just as he was about to violently open the door of the carriage, a young man's voice suddenly came from outside.

"Your Majesty! I haven't seen you for a long time. Your temper is still the same as always."

"Yang Chen?"

"Yang Chen!"

"gentlemen!"

"It's him!"

For a moment, everyone had different emotions in their hearts. Zhu Xiongying was very happy. With the help of his small body, he passed by Zhu Yuanzhang and was the first to run outside the dragon chariot.

When his round eyes looked at the snowflakes around him, his gaze first fell on Yang Chen. At this moment, there was a man next to Yang Chen who looked familiar to him.

That was Prince Qin Zhu Chong, Zhu Xiongying's second uncle.

"Father! It's the Master and Second Uncle who are here to pick us up!"

"The third one?"

"Third brother?"

The moment they heard the news, Empress Ma and Zhu Biao also began to walk out of the dragon chariot.

The breath forms mist in the air. December is the coldest time of winter.

If you don't wear some thick clothes, your ears will freeze off if you stand outside.

It was literally the freezing of ears. Zhu Biao looked up and saw that it was exactly as Zhu Xiongying said, it was Yang Chen and his second brother.

It’s just that Zhu Chong seemed a little nervous at this moment, in stark contrast to Yang Chen who was relaxed beside him.

After a moment, Zhu Biao smiled and said in a relaxed tone:

"Brother Yang! It's been a long time since we last met. You're still as carefree as ever. I envy you so much!"

Yang Chen smiled, took off the hood that was used to keep warm, and revealed his warm and gentle smile:
"Hahaha! Ah Biao, you're joking. There's no such thing as being free and easy. I'm just fighting for my ideal."

"You bastard! We haven't seen each other for such a long time, and you are getting more and more daring. When you saw the emperor, you even forgot the rules. Why don't you get off your horse right away!"

When the two were having a good conversation, Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and interrupted them, with a look of displeasure on his face.

Yang Chen didn't move at all, just stood there in a daze.

But at this moment, Zhu Chong next to him had already swiftly got off the horse and stood upright.

Seeing this scene, Yang Chen smiled helplessly.

As expected, Old Zhu’s power to intimidate his sons is truly astonishing.

While expressing his emotion, he got off his horse, threw the reins to the followers beside him, and walked in front of the crowd.

He first said a few words to the excited Zhu Xiongying.

"Sir! Sir! Xiongying has been doing what you asked him to do. Now, Xiongying can recite 500 ancient poems and read ancient books. He understands many principles!"

As children, once they acquire some skills, they will start wanting to share them with others.

Half squatting, Yang Chen reached out and touched the roe deer horn hat Zhu Xiongying was wearing, which was similar to the one made by the Oroqen people. This kind of hat is also sold in the Central Plains, but it is generally very different from the Oroqen ones.

However, this does not affect the Han people's love for it. Not only is it beautiful and cute in appearance, it can also keep warm.

Some adults would be willing to buy this kind of hat for their children to wear.

Yang Chen pretended to be calm, acted like a teacher, and said calmly:

"Oh? It seems that Xiong Ying thinks he is very good. I will conduct a random test on Xiong Ying tomorrow. I hope Xiong Ying can give a satisfactory answer to the teacher.

Otherwise the teacher will punish Xiongying!
I will punish you by asking you to solve ten math problems involving quadratic equations."

The moment Zhu Xiongying heard the math problem, his face turned pale.

He quickly hugged his grandmother and shouted:
"ah!!!

I don’t want it, sir. The quadratic equation is too difficult. Xiongying spent a long time thinking about it and could barely solve three problems. There were ten problems in total. Xiongying couldn’t play for three days!

Can it be converted into twenty linear equations? Xiongying is confident about this. "

Yang Chen shook his head and said righteously and sternly:
"No, just ten."

Upon learning about this, Zhu Xiongying was so sad that he wanted to cry but had no tears. He thought that next time he must not act very capable in front of the teacher, otherwise he would have to suffer this situation, which would be more painful than asking him to run a 400-meter race.

Seeing that his grandson was stumped by some math problems, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but frown and said:
"Girl? What is this quadratic equation? How come I've never heard of it before?"

Empress Ma turned to look at Zhu Yuanzhang and wanted to explain, but when she thought about the fact that Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't even apply addition, subtraction, multiplication and division within 100, explaining quadratic equations to him would be like playing the lute to a cow.

So I gave up this idea.

"Anyway, you just need to know that these questions are very troublesome. You won't understand them even if I tell you."

At the same time, Yang Chen extended his hand to Zhu Biao, and the two shook hands at the same time.

"A Biao, today we meet again after a long separation. I must tell you everything that happened in Zhenjiang Prefecture. It will definitely surprise you."

Zhu Biao laughed.

"I have already told him a lot about your deeds in Zhenjiang Prefecture. You were resolute and swift, and used strict laws to suppress some troublemakers. However, these laws were not harsh. Ling Ran really admired you."

Facing Zhu Biao's words, Yang Chen smiled and said:
"I am not as good as you, the crown prince. I have heard about what happened to you at the court a few days ago. Compared to Wu, you are more direct. You arrest and punish anyone who causes trouble, and kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, so that those officials can work with their heads hanging on the edge of their pants. You did it very neatly, which is completely different from the previous crown prince. I admire you very much."

After the two chatted for a few words, Zhu Chong slowly appeared beside Yang Chen.

He mustered up the courage.

A few days ago, he heard that his father and elder brother were coming, and he was so nervous that he almost couldn't sleep, for he was afraid that the first thing his father would do when he came was to settle the score with him.

After all, as the emperor's son, he not only failed to do his job properly, but also tarnished the dignity of the royal family. If this kind of thing happened to anyone else, he would probably have been paralyzed by the family rules.

The reason why Zhu Chong can still stand here is that he does have some good physical fitness.

If he did not have such a strong body, he would have been beaten to death with water and fire sticks by the guards arranged by Zhu Yuanzhang.

The main reason was that Zhu Yuanzhang still didn't want his son to die like this.

Looking at Zhu Chong, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said:
"Second brother, have you been causing any trouble here recently?"

Hearing this, Zhu Chong shuddered as if he had been frightened. He suppressed his body's conditioned reflex and tried his best to maintain his demeanor and answer his father's question:

"Father, I have always followed your instructions and never dared to disobey you. Since I came to Zhenjiang Prefecture, I have been at the mercy of Brother Yang. I will do whatever he tells me to do, and I have always been able to complete my tasks well.

If you don't believe it, just ask him directly!"

Zhu Chong looked at Yang Chen expectantly, hoping that he could speak for him.

Seeing the expression of help on the other person's face, Yang Chen smiled:

"Your Majesty, what the King of Qin said is indeed true. He was quite honest in Zhenjiang Prefecture, which is completely different from when he was in the palace. He did not have the status of a royal family at all.

Normally, I can get along well with the aunties!"

"Brother Yang, can you please not mention this matter?"

When Zhu Chong heard Yang Chen mention his aunt, he became very embarrassed.

There was no way. The aunt had communication barriers with him. Every communication took a lot of effort, which resulted in him being laughed at by the aunt for not being able to speak Daming’s language.

In fact, it was because the villagers’ accents were too heavy for him to understand.

Zhu Yuanzhang was slightly surprised when he heard Yang Chen's words. He didn't expect that his son could have such a huge change.
Not only him, but also Queen Ma felt the same way, but she was more relieved. She reached out and touched the back of Zhu Chong's head and said:

"Second brother, you've been through a lot these days. You'll be able to come back soon. When the time comes, your mother will cook a good meal for you and let you, your eldest brother, and your father, enjoy a good meal!"

When he heard about leaving Zhenjiang Prefecture, Zhu Chong quickly refused:

"No, no, no! Mother! I won't leave. I'm very happy here!"

(End of this chapter)