The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 124 The Crow Laughs at the Pig

In order to teach Zhu Chong and others well, Ma Xun had to spend a lot of time and effort, and these tasks fell on his shoulders.

Although he could also do nothing and just get away with it, no one would offend him for it.

But one must have a conscience. Since one has been taken care of by Zhu Yuanzhang's family, one must share their concerns on some matters.

What's more, I have some small ideas that I want to put into practice, so I need to be more careful in doing things.

When the sun was high in the sky, Ma Xun got up slowly, washed up, had breakfast and prepared to go out.

As soon as he reached the door, he started laughing. "You guys have a good attitude. I was going to make you stand for ten days. Let's do the math, you should stand for two more days to make it an even number."

Chang Mao said with a sad face, "Uncle, if we stand for two more days, it will be five days. How come it is an integer?"

"Then stand for six days to make it an even number?" Ma Xun laughed and teased, "You come from a family of nobility and wealth, so you should have some sense of propriety."

Deng Zhen asked curiously, "Uncle, I know about family of nobility, but what does family of wealth and power mean?"

This is the 'cultural gap', some words are not used in this day and age.

Ma Xun explained, "The bell is not only a musical instrument, but also a ritual vessel and a symbol of power. The tripod was an ancient cooking and sacrificial utensil, and was also seen as a symbol of power and nobility."

Chang Sen immediately flattered him and said, "Uncle is knowledgeable and well-versed in history and the present. I will follow him in the future. I will read more and observe etiquette, and I will definitely not make the mistake of riding a horse in a busy city again!"

Ma Xun was very satisfied and said, "You are young, so you made mistakes because you followed these useless brothers. Just stand there for three days. I will ask your sister to come over and help your aunt sort out the ancient books. You can go and help her."

Chang Sen was overjoyed and immediately became more attentive, "Uncle taught me that the nephew must study hard and help aunt organize books."

Amid the envy, jealousy and hatred of his brothers, Chang Sen ran away. When disaster struck, everyone fled, so he had no time to care about his brothers.

Chang Mao and others felt a little regretful. Their uncle had always been a protective person and was easy to talk to.

If I had known earlier to flatter more and admit my mistakes more often, I wouldn't have to stand here and be laughed at by some Beijing people.

Now that Chang Sen has run away, they still have to stand here!

The young man is teachable. Ma Xun is very pleased that the children of these nobles have performed quite well in recent days. He decides to go to the palace first and discuss the education issue with the emperor.

After riding his donkey to the palace, Ma Xun first asked about the whereabouts of the queen and the prince to avoid going the wrong way.

If anyone else had asked, the eunuchs would not have dared to answer. But since the uncle of the emperor had asked, they would have said what they should say.

When Zhu Yuanzhang saw Ma Xun, he asked, "Are you planning to take people, or weapons and horses?"

Ma Xun's intention was obvious, and he did not hide it. "I want both, I want both. Wenying also said more junior officers, such as garrison commanders, centurions, and small flag officers."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "You are right. When you lead troops to fight in the future, don't just look at the generals you are assigned to. You should also look at whether they are troops you are familiar with, whether those soldiers are good at fighting, and whether you can command them."

Ma Xun nodded vigorously, as if he had really heard it, and as if he was ready to go into battle at any time.

Zhu Yuanzhang then said to the eunuch next to him, "Bring it here."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said to Ma Xun, "The second brother and his friends have hot tempers and are hard to control now. Chang Mao's kids are also troublesome, you have to take care of them."

The young eunuch knelt down in an orderly manner, holding a tray. On the tray was a stick inlaid with a gold hoop, which was less than half a meter long.

Ma Xun immediately said, "Brother-in-law, when I start training in a few days, let Biaoer go over and pass on the order, and then give it to me."

"You are the only one who has many schemes!" Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't hide the smile on his face, and his words were full of complaints, "Biao'er's prestige is not enough, do you need to think about him establishing prestige everywhere?"

Ma Xun said, "He is the crown prince, and his prestige cannot be overstated. If it weren't for the fact that there are no Six Commanders of the Eastern Palace, I would have wanted to assign all the troops trained this time to Biao'er's name."

Zhu Yuanzhang joked, "I almost forgot that you are still the prince's tutor. You always want to ask for some benefits for the prince. This is also reasonable."

But then Zhu Yuanzhang complained, "Forget about the crown prince's six commanders. My Ming Dynasty does not need the crown prince to directly command the army. Your nephew is more capable. He can mobilize my troops as needed."

The six generals of the crown prince were indeed redundant for Zhu Biao, who had no need for these nominal personal soldiers.

As for military power and so on, not to mention that generals such as Xu Da held official positions in the Eastern Palace, Ma Xun also held the position of Right Commander of the Grand Commandery.

It is true that this is just for decoration, but it does have a certain role when necessary.

Zhu Yuanzhang then said, "Be a little harsh on the second brothers. Your sister and I can't be harsh on them, and Biaoer protects his brother everywhere."

Ma Xun said speechlessly, "Brother-in-law, you've made me the bad guy. The second brother and his friends already think I'm biased. Is it fair for me to be even harsher towards them?" Zhu Yuanzhang immediately said, "It's your fault. You're so obviously biased. It's no wonder that the second brother and his friends resent you."

Sometimes I think that Zhu Yuanzhang really has no self-awareness.

Speaking of favoritism, his partiality is almost known to everyone, but he often feels that he is treating everyone equally.

Even though he was happy that Ma Xun favored Zhu Biao, he was happy to see it happen. But he couldn't help but complain that Ma Xun was not good enough to Zhu Chong and others.

Now, Zhu Yuanzhang asked Ma Xun to be harsher on Zhu Chong and others because he loved his sons and was reluctant to do it, so he let the children's uncle discipline them.

Ma Xun was speechless and said, "I train the soldiers, but Biaoer has to go and see them often. There are many sons of nobles in the army, and they are all training for Biaoer."

Zhu Yuanzhang was even more delighted. His brother-in-law was smart. "That's the way it should be. I will definitely ask Biaoer to visit more often. There are some things that you should handle. Think more about your nephew."

It is clear that Zhu Biao has to do the work of establishing prestige, while Ma Xun, the emperor's brother-in-law, has to do the hard and tiring work as well as the work that offends people.

On the contrary, Zheng Mao and others did not dare to complain too much about Ma Xun, as they and Zhu Biao played the good cop and the bad cop respectively.

Zhu Yuanzhang then asked with concern, "No one has come to you to ask for titles or official positions these days, right?"

Ma Xun also suddenly became happy, "That's all gone. Li Xiang caused me to be scolded a few days ago, and everyone else has behaved themselves."

"Li Xiang has a lot of complaints about you, thinking you are not making progress." Zhu Yuanzhang also laughed, "This Li Shanchang was fine in the early years, but now he is becoming more and more unruly."

Ma Xun didn't know what to say. After the founding of the country, the differences between Zhu Yuanzhang and Li Shanchang became increasingly greater, and some of Li Shanchang's practices also made Zhu Yuanzhang feel more and more resentful.

Zhu Yuanzhang then complained, "Do you know the Hu Weiyong he promoted?"

"I know. He is quite capable." Ma Xun said with a smile, "I heard that he has worked in the local government. He is diligent and cautious."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "He has some talent and is quite capable. He is better than Yang Xian and is not very ostentatious now. But he was promoted by Prime Minister Li, so he is a bit of a clique member."

Ma Xun thought for a long time before saying, "Is he from Huaixi or a fellow villager of Li Xiang?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said meaningfully, "Li Xiang is from Huaixi, and he is familiar with those people in the army. But he didn't get involved much before, but now it's different. He is getting closer and closer to some Huaixi generals."

Ma Xun had nothing to say, because Li Shanchang was not only getting closer and closer to the Huaixi generals, but also intended to recruit them as his disciples.

As he grew older, Li Shanchang's ambition and desire for power continued to grow.

Zhu Yuanzhang complained for a while and then said, "Go find your sister. I have been talking for so long. If you really want to share my worries, you should go to the Secretariat and take up a position."

Don't blame Ma Xun for not understanding. He bowed respectfully and said, "I'll take my leave."

Watching Ma Xun walk backwards out of Wuying Hall and turn around to leave, Zhu Yuanzhang grabbed the brush and said, "It's like playing the lute to a cow. If I had known, I would have been tougher on you last year. You've become a bad habit!"

He pretended to back away from the Wuying Hall to show his respect to the emperor, but he pretended not to understand what the emperor said clearly. Ma Xun was also a powerful figure.

Ma Xun heaved a sigh of relief, and muttered to himself with lingering fear, "Fortunately I'm smart, I knew that entering the palace would definitely be bad!"

Then Ma Xun followed the eunuch to Kunning Palace, which was also the queen's nominal bedroom. It was because of Ma Xun's status that he could go directly there.

Even in those times when etiquette was strict, a brother-in-law like Ma Xun was not allowed to go to the queen's bedroom, or even the harem.

Seeing Ma Xun, Ma Xiuying was quite happy. "Those boys haven't finished their punishment yet, so they're in a hurry to enter the palace?"

"They are still standing at my door. We need to make them restrain themselves." Ma Xun said, "What I am most worried about now is that these meritorious officials will break the law and violate the discipline after the founding of the country. Such things are inevitable in every dynasty."

Ma Xiuying also knew about this, "Your worries are not unnecessary. Your brother-in-law and I are also worried about the same. This time, we will confer titles on meritorious officials and grant them iron certificates, and we must record their merits and demerits."

The iron certificate for meritorious officials is naturally the so-called iron certificate of immunity from death, and it is also a certificate of hereditary succession.

However, the iron certificate of immunity from death was in Zhu Yuanzhang's hands, which meant he had the final right of interpretation.

Moreover, he would not only record the merits of the heroes in the iron certificate of immunity from death, but also clearly record the mistakes they had made.

The reason is very simple. We hope that these heroes will be more vigilant and not become arrogant because of their achievements!

Ma Xun asked curiously, "Sister, my inheritance certificate can't record all my merits, right? I thought about it carefully, and I didn't do anything wrong."

Ma Xiuying smiled and said, "Do you still want to make mistakes? It would be better if there were no mistakes. I'll show it to you later and tell you what you think."

(End of this chapter)