The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 116 Take the Right Path

Ma Xun was not in a hurry to leave the palace, mainly because Liu Bowen would not leave Beijing immediately.

In this case, he should play out the whole play. Now he should be in a state of being punished by the emperor.

Flipping through ancient books, organizing some knowledge points and allowing palace readers to find some clues from the vast ocean of books, etc., this is what Ma Xun is doing.

This can be considered as being contented. After reading for a whole day, I returned to the courtyard feeling satisfied.

Li Zhen came back holding the chubby Li Jinglong, "Little brother, how have you been these days?"

"I'm still the same." Ma Xun said to Li Zhen with a smile, "Brother-in-law looks very good. It seems that it is more nourishing outside the palace."

There should be nothing wrong with this statement. Ma Xun now has his own residence outside the palace, and Li Zhen almost lives in the palace, but both of them actually want to live outside the palace.

Li Zhen complained, "Jinglong and his father are no longer close, what's going on?"

This is not necessarily Zhu Yuanzhang's fault, because Li Wenzhong was often fighting outside, so it is normal that Li Jinglong is not familiar with him.

On the other hand, Li Zhen regarded his eldest grandson as his lifeblood and took him with him wherever he went. Li Jinglong was close to his grandfather, so naturally he was not close to his father.

Li Jinglong bowed politely, "Uncle."

Looking at this handsome lucky doll, Ma Xun wanted to give it a gift. The child was really too cute. "Wangcai is in the yard. Go find him and play with him."

Zhu Su, this kid, was elusive. He said unhappily, "Why is it that Jinglong can go and tease Wangcai, while my fourth brother and I can only feed the donkeys?"

"How old are you? How old is Jinglong?" Ma Xun directly gave his opinion. "Besides, Jinglong still calls you his uncle. Why are you arguing with him?"

Zhu Di gloated and said, "Uncle, the fifth child is like this. He always wants to compete for favor by relying on the favor of his father, the emperor, and his mother, the empress."

"He is the youngest, you should be more considerate of him." Ma Xun immediately reminded, "Brothers are said to be friendly and respectful to each other. I see that you always bully the fifth brother and are not very respectful to your third brother."

Zhu Di was speechless. In fact, he was nice to Zhu Su. He just teased him from time to time. After all, he was the elder brother, and it was natural for him to bully his younger brother.

But Zhu Di had a problem with Zhu Gang. Among all his brothers, the one he disliked the most was Zhu Gang.

Seeing Zhu Di's expression, Ma Xun didn't say anything like "brothers fight tigers together" or "blood is thicker than water".

Because Zhu Di and Zhu Gang just had an unfriendly relationship, it could not be considered as a real feud.

What's more, it is normal to have some conflicts between brothers. Zhu Yuanzhang, who cares so much about family affection, is also full of complaints about his eldest sister.

Ma Xun was a little surprised, "Why are you two here?"

"My brother is attending government affairs, and my second and third brothers are following the guards to inspect the palace defenses." Zhu Di said enviously, "My mother asked me to bring my fifth brother here to pay respects to my uncle, and it was us who went to pick him up."

Ma Xun immediately laughed, "Then your cousin must be unhappy, but he has no choice but to agree to it."

Li Zhen smiled and shook his head slightly. He really had no way to refuse. He was invited to get on the carriage by the two princes, and his "home visit leave" ended.

Ma Xun and Liu Shuning did not return to their own courtyard, as Zhu Yuanzhang and the others would surely come over soon.

After chatting for a while, Zhu Chong and Zhu Gang arrived, wearing helmets and armor. The two young men were a little excited.

Although I wore armor when I was a child, they were all simple armor, just for show, but now I wear real armor.

Ma Xun knocked on the armor on Zhu Chong's body and said, "It looks okay. I'll get a set of silk armor later."

Zhu Gang asked curiously, "Uncle, silk armor looks good but is not practical, why wear it?"

This is also true. Silk armor is relatively light in structure and beautiful in appearance, but it has no defensive capabilities and cannot be used in actual combat. It can only be used as a general's daily clothing or ceremonial attire. It looks good but has no practical use.

"I just look good in clothes. After all, I am the right governor of the Grand Governor's Office." Ma Xun said with a smile, "Bao'er is still my superior, and he doesn't even come to discuss military affairs with me."

Li Zhen smiled and joked, "Little brother, this shows that my Bao'er is a bit arbitrary. Let him come to you for advice more often. You, the elder, still have to make the decisions on all matters, big or small."

Ma Xun nodded pretentiously, "Brother-in-law is right, but I'm afraid Baoer will think that talking to me about military affairs is like talking to a wall. My nephews are not willing to talk to me about military affairs."

"Let's talk!" Zhu Chong said anxiously, "We are just waiting for our uncle to deploy troops. We need to train!"

Zhu Gang also complained, "That's right, my uncle makes us learn the basics every day. We want to be generals, not to take the exam to become a scholar!"

Zhu Di was also anxious. His father had already allowed them to train the troops, but his uncle was speeding up the process and had not arranged any actual training.

"Combining theory with practice is the only way to train soldiers." Ma Xun said, "Although you have read some military tactics, it is not enough. When you pass the exam, you can join the army."

Since Zhu Yuanzhang and Ma Xiuying arranged for several nephews to come and learn military affairs, Ma Xun naturally had to strictly control them.

There is no problem in arranging troops and assisting officers, etc. These also need to be completed by Zhu Yuanzhang or veteran generals in the army, because Ma Xun is not good at these things, and he cannot mislead his young men.

However, strict education and assessment are still necessary to allow Zhu Chong and others to achieve success in their studies. We cannot let them off just because they are princes.

Zhu Yuanzhang and Ma Xiuying came with Zhu Biao, and they looked very happy.

"Brother-in-law, I did allow Bao'er to take a few days off." Zhu Yuanzhang said as if to take credit for it. "If you ask me, Bao'er is reliable. If I give him a little hint, he will understand what I mean."

Li Zhen also smiled and praised, "My little brother is not bad. He can do anything you ask him to do."

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately showed a look of disdain, "Brother-in-law, please stop praising me. If Bao'er hadn't come to my rescue in time, I would have been like that. Who wouldn't have known that it was my intention?"

Ma Xun realized belatedly that this was because he was dissatisfied with his performance in the court a few days ago, which was so exaggerated that even an old artist like Zhu Yuanzhang could hardly follow the performance.

Ma Xiuying also said with some disdain, "He is too obsessed with what he does. Those people in the court are all cunning people. Brother-in-law, look at my younger brother. I'm afraid he is still a little complacent and thinks he is doing so well!"

Innocent Ma Xun looked around and saw Zhu Biao next to him smiling and nodding, which clearly showed that he looked down upon his acting skills.

Although it was a little embarrassing, Ma Xun didn't think too much about it and decided to improve it next time.

But Ma Xun asked the key point, "Brother-in-law, sister, is Biao'er's wedding going to be six ceremonies or several ceremonies?"

This is a very crucial matter, because in ancient times, marriage had a series of procedures, and the Six Rites were actually Ma Xun’s way of getting married.

Logically speaking, Zhu Biao's wedding should have been like this, but it is indeed too complicated.

Moreover, as the crown prince, Zhu Biao was the first prince of the Ming Dynasty to get married. His marriage directly affected the wedding ceremonies of his descendants in later generations.

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately said, "Your sister and I have discussed this matter. The six rituals are a bit too much."

Ma Xiuying also added, "Now we are recuperating and restoring people's livelihood. If the court advocates complicated rituals, it will also be a burden to the people."

Ma Xiuying's worries are naturally justified, and that is because what goes up must come down.

Those in high positions all pursue luxury and extravagance, so naturally this series of trends will also appear among the people.

Zhu Biao also spoke up, "Uncle, I think the three rituals are enough. But we must follow the Han tradition. Now we need to change the customs and restore the Han orthodoxy."

Ma Xun laughed when he heard it, "So, I still got a lot of advantages."

"If the rich want to observe the six rituals, that's their business." Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile, "We have the six rituals of the royal family, and I think many common people will also follow the simple ones. That's enough."

Ma Xun asked again, "It seems that the great honor will be bestowed on the meritorious officials soon. Should I change the plaque of the Xu Wang Mansion that was bestowed on my family?"

"What are you changing for?" Ma Xiuying said first, "That house is for Dad, you just live there first."

Zhu Yuanzhang also nodded. Although Ma Xun lived in the house, it was nominally awarded to Ma Taigong. If anyone dared to say that the "Prince Xu's Mansion" was not suitable, Ma Xiuying would find someone to reason with him.

Ma Xun felt that the reward was too high, and Li Zhen had the same idea, "Chongba, you said Baoer is a duke, so what's the problem with me giving him a duke?"

"Look, our relatives are more sensible!" Zhu Yuanzhang said to Zhu Biao and others with increasing pride, "Learn from your uncle, and look at your uncle, who is helping us share our worries!"

Ma Xiuying also said, "Li Xiang and Tang Shengzong are making a big fuss for the title, racking their brains to form cliques. Your uncles are only concerned about the country and don't want to cause trouble for us!"

Zhu Biao immediately said, "Uncle, you have made military achievements in your early years. As for your uncle's title, no one can say anything."

"I also plan to transfer Wang Guangyang back while I am conferring titles on meritorious officials, and I will be promoted to the position of Pingzhang Zhishi in the Secretariat." Zhu Yuanzhang became more and more complacent. "Prime Minister Li is the advisor on state affairs, but he is not in the Secretariat. Let's see how he fights!"

Ma Xun was not particularly interested in this, but he still needed to pay attention to it, after all, many things involved him.

As long as they don't interfere too much in state affairs and as long as they don't get too involved in party struggles, there's naturally nothing to worry about.

It is obviously enough for him to continue to be the Duke happily and do what he should do peacefully.

These are all Ma Xun's pursuits. Doing his own things well is obviously enough for him.

As for how much influence he can have on the court, he will neither underestimate himself nor overestimate himself.

Ultimately it is because of his status. As the younger brother of Empress Ma and the uncle of the crown prince, his influence is still there.

So be calm. There will be many ups and downs and twists and turns in the next few years. You can't act recklessly just because you have the love of the emperor and the empress. That is not the right way.

(End of this chapter)