The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 87 A Decent Status

Zhu Yuanzhang was no longer surprised by Ma Xun's unorthodoxy and audacity.

Ma Xun's caution and steadiness are reflected in his way of dealing with people, but when it comes to state affairs and ambitions, his views seem to be somewhat different from those of today's mainstream values, which is obvious to all.

If it really conforms to some of the current values, he should have been in officialdom, he should have been scheming against others in the Secretariat while working part-time in the Grand Marshal's Office, and he should have been thinking about maintaining his relationship with the Crown Prince.

But the current situation is that although Ma Xun holds a lot of official positions, he "does not do his job properly". He likes to do things that interest him and do some seemingly insignificant things.

So now that Ma Xun said some seemingly bold and presumptuous words, Zhu Yuanzhang was not surprised. He was used to it after hearing and seeing it so many times.

In the distance, a group of cavalrymen raised a cloud of dust. Chang Mao shouted excitedly, "Your Majesty, it must be my father!"

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "You really can't help the prince much! Your father has to stay in Beiping, how can he come here!"

Ma Xun guessed, "Brother-in-law, I think it's either Ping An or He Wenhui. They both followed me out last year, but unfortunately they couldn't go to Qingyang with me."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and nodded, saying, "It can only be one of them."

He Wenhui came to Zhu Yuanzhang under the guidance of the guards. "Your Majesty, I, He Wenhui, pay my respects to you. Long live your Majesty!"

"Get up." Zhu Yuanzhang looked at He Wenhui with a smile and said, "Your trip was quite good and did not disappoint me."

He Wenhui said excitedly, "It is all thanks to the careful teaching of Your Majesty and Her Royal Highness the Queen, and the great military genius of General Chang, that I was able to achieve such a small achievement."

This time, Chang Yuchun directly extinguished Huo'erhuda, Ping'an and He Wenhui also made great contributions. They joined forces to kill the right prime minister Ha Hai, which was a second-rank official, equivalent to Yang Xian of the Ming Dynasty.

The group was still very happy and continued to head towards Beiping Prefecture. Today, Beiping governs seven counties and four states, but most of the former Yuan Dynasty cities are in ruins and dilapidated.

Generals such as Chang Yuchun were waiting to welcome Zhu Yuanzhang, and in two days Xu Da and Li Wenzhong would also arrive with their troops.

"This city is just like this, it is abandoned after all." Zhu Yuanzhang said while looking at the earthen wall in the north of the city, "We still need to build this side well, after all, Beiping is an important place in the north."

Beiping was originally a city with few inhabitants and open terrain in the north, so the soldiers on the city had no support when defending. So after Xu Da conquered Beiping, he began to build a mud wall in the north of Beiping.

But don't underestimate this decision. It will also cause the area west of Deshengmen to tilt toward the southwest, resulting in a missing northwest corner of the Beijing city in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Ma Xun said, "Although the north of the city is somewhat abandoned, it can still protect the city. I will go and look at the land first and choose a Yanwang Mansion for the fourth brother."

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately smiled and asked, "You love your nephew very much. How do you plan to arrange for the fourth child?"

"Of course we can't give all of the Yuan Lord's palace to the fourth brother. Let's choose a part of the imperial city to build the Prince of Yan's Palace." Ma Xun said, "Brother-in-law, is this arrangement okay?"

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "Let's make the arrangements. Choose a part of the Yuan Emperor's Imperial City for the fourth son to build the Prince of Yan's Palace. Mark out the land first. There's no need to rush this matter."

Zhu Di was the Prince of Yan, which meant that he was coming to Beiping. Such an important place must be guarded by a capable prince. The location of the Prince of Yan's Palace was naturally important, and it must be a place with a certain foundation.

The former imperial palace of the Yuan Dynasty was quite good, although most of it was destroyed in the war, fortunately there is still a certain foundation.

After a busy day, Ma Xun briefly visited the capital of the Yuan Dynasty. In fact, there were many signs of sinicization, but they did not quite conform to Ma Xun's aesthetics and cognition.

If viewed from the perspective of people like Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Bowen, it would certainly be even more inconsistent with the unity of man and nature and the response to celestial phenomena.

After returning to the palace, Hou Maxun said, "Brother-in-law, if we really build a Yanwang Mansion for the fourth son, we must make some changes. I am not very familiar with these, but I think the Tartars' residence is not very good."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "You are so arrogant! The fourth one is going to live in the place where the Yuan Tartar emperor lived."

Ma Xun immediately corrected him and said, "We can only choose a part of the Yuan Imperial Palace to build the Prince of Yan's Palace. The fourth brother is only the Prince of Yan. The second brother went to Xi'an, so he can only choose a part of the former site of the Tang Imperial Palace to build the Prince's Palace."

Zhu Yuanzhang stared at Ma Xun, then smiled and said, "I made a mistake. I shouldn't have let them choose too many plots of land."

Zhu Yuanzhang was very satisfied with Ma Xun's subconscious remarks. Although they were all his sons and he liked them in his heart, he could not treat the princes and the crown prince the same way.

The treatment in all aspects should not be the same. There is nothing wrong in choosing the site of the former imperial palace to build the prince's palace, but only a part of the former imperial palace site can be chosen.

It is even necessary to avoid some core areas of the previous dynasty's imperial palace, such as the main hall, or the former site of the crown prince's palace.

There is no other reason, just to let these princes know very clearly that they are just princes and not to think too much about it.

Chang Yuchun ran into the tent carrying a wine jug, "Your Majesty, little brother, shall we have a drink?"

"Guo Er, come in and have a drink." Zhu Yuanzhang shouted, "Guo Da is not here, let's drink first." Guo Xing immediately ran into the tent and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, the mutton is being marinated and will be delivered soon."

Ma Xun also became interested, and he thought he was good at barbecue. Unfortunately, the soldiers were too rough and just roasted the whole sheep. Ma Xun was good at roasting lamb and vegetable skewers.

"My little brother doesn't want to get close to us, right?" Guo Ying said jokingly with a smile, "My third brother said that my little brother doesn't play with the boys from my Guo family, and only likes to tease the boys from the Chang family."

Chang Yuchun smiled proudly. If one were to talk about the military family that had the best relationship with Ma Xun, it would be his Chang family.

"Second brother, you have no conscience if you say that." Ma Xun was not afraid of the situation and said with a smile, "Third brother and I are close friends. He likes to drink and I like to taste wine. Besides, second brother has no children."

Zhu Yuanzhang and Chang Yuchun laughed out loud. Guo Ying didn't have a son yet, which made him very anxious.

"You can ask me later. He has a method that I don't know if it will work." Zhu Yuanzhang pointed at Ma Xun and said, "I think that method is hard to say. If it really works, he should have a child."

Chang Yuchun came to his rescue and said, "I've been married for less than half a year, so it's normal that there's no news. Guo Er has been married for many years, and he's already over 30, and he still doesn't have a son!"

Mentioning Guo Ying makes people worried. He followed his brother Guo Xing to join Zhu Yuanzhang when he was 18 years old. Now he is in his thirties and still has no son. Sometimes he can't sleep at night.

Seeing the sheep being carried in, Ma Xun immediately drew out his dagger and prepared to cut it twice.

"Can you roast lamb?" Zhu Yuanzhang first expressed doubt and worry, "Don't waste this good lamb."

Ma Xun was stunned for a moment and became a little worried, "How about cutting it into pieces and I skewer them and grill them?"

"You are so picky!" Zhu Yuanzhang strode forward, "We are in the army, we should eat meat and drink wine with big mouthfuls!"

The prohibition on alcohol in the army has not been completely lifted, which means that during the bitterly cold winter at the border, some alcohol can be delivered to the soldiers to satisfy their cravings and keep them warm.

Fortunately, we are now in the emperor's military tent and there are people guarding outside, so there is no need to worry about the bad influence if the news gets out.

If a prince breaks the law, he will be punished the same as a commoner. This is just something some people think about, but it is simply impossible to do.

When the father became president, people waved checks to collect his son's paintings. The father was a rare person who could pardon his son who had committed a crime and was imprisoned before stepping down.

At that time, you will be asked to say with admiration and respect that this reflects the love between father and son and the warmth of human nature, and you will be asked to say affectionately that this is the rule of law, democracy and freedom.

What was wrong with Zhu Yuanzhang drinking with his brothers in private? When founding the country, he could even let his relatives who had committed crimes be ambassadors. When his son-in-law was a high-ranking official in the court, not many people said that it was unfair to employ people.

Ma Xun drank with a clear conscience, and Zhu Yuanzhang and Chang Yuchun were also drinking and talking happily. Now that the great work has been accomplished, it is natural to celebrate.

Ma Xun got up with a headache. Yellow wine and other things should not make people drunk, but he was not a good drinker. The most important thing was that warm yellow wine tasted really good, and it didn't seem to have a strong alcohol content at first.

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Ma Xun who was washing up and laughed, "You are really not good at literature or martial arts, you can't even drink a little wine."

Ma Xun spat out the foam in his mouth and said, "Brother-in-law, I'll go pick up Baoer later."

Zhu Yuanzhang said directly, "You go to pick up Tiande, how can you pick up Baoer? After all, he is your junior."

"Bao'er has made such a great contribution, so it's only right for me to go pick him up." Ma Xun said, "I looked around and it seems that I am the only one who is suitable to pick up Brother Xu and Bao'er this time."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Let Wenhui and the others go to pick up Baoer, and you will help to accept the surrender."

Ma Xun said with some satisfaction, "They just captured Wang Baobao's brother and sister and the Yuan Lord's son. How can this be considered as surrender? The same goes for the Yuan Lord. It would be great if he could establish a crown prince!"

Zhu Yuanzhang also felt regretful about Ma Xun's complaints, thinking that his level was not high enough.

Although Li Wenzhong captured Yuan Zhaozong Ayushiridara's only son Maidibala, Maidibala was not yet named the crown prince.

Zhu Yuanzhang asked with a smile, "What title do you think should be given to this Mai Libala?"

"It can't be Marquis Hun De or Marquis Chong Hun," Ma Xun said, "Those Jurchens still have some backbone, and the emperor was not captured. They either hanged themselves or died in the chaos of the army."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said that Zhang Shicheng was defeated and captured, and then he helped him to be dignified. Fang Guozhen surrendered with a proper attitude, and Zhu Yuanzhang felt sorry for him and let him live in the capital. Chen Youliang's old father, younger brother and two sons were also arranged by Zhu Yuanzhang to live in seclusion.

There is no need to be so cruel to some enemies, especially those that pose no threat!

(End of this chapter)