Ming Dynasty: The Crocodile King of Han Prince Zhu Gaoxu's Family

Chapter 211 Zhu Zhanhe: Father-in-law, can the Yuan Dynasty be considered legitimate?!
The next morning, Zhu Zhanhe got up early. Of course, because Xiaozhi was overworked, the person who washed Zhu Zhanhe's dragon ditch early in the morning became Yun'er, which also meant that she would assist the Crown Princess Xia in serving him tonight.

"Good morning, Mother!" After getting up, Zhu Zhanhe, accompanied by his wife Xia, went to the main hall of the Prince's mansion, the Cunxin Hall, where the Prince of Han was supposed to reside, to pay his respects to Princess Wei and have breakfast with his mother. Upon entering, Princess Xia respectfully knelt to greet her mother, Princess Wei.

“He’er is here.”

"Daughter-in-law, get up quickly and have dinner with your mother." Princess Wei's happiest moments these days are talking and eating with her son and daughter-in-law.

"Thank you, Mother!" After standing up, Princess Xia bowed respectfully to Princess Wei again.

"Mother, the soup tastes quite good today. It seems that the Imperial Kitchen has made great progress since it came to Dali." Sitting at the dining table, Zhu Zhanhe took a sip of the clear soup porridge and found the taste to be very good. His eyes lit up and he praised it.

"Mother, please have a taste." Upon hearing her husband's words, Madam Xia, with great tact, got up and quickly served a bowl to Princess Wei, then brought it over.

"Alright, alright, I'll drink it too, I'll drink it too." Princess Wei happily accepted the congee her daughter-in-law handed her. She was becoming increasingly satisfied with this daughter-in-law.

"Tap tap tap tap..." Just as Zhu Zhanhe was happily chatting and drinking porridge with his mother, suddenly, someone hurriedly walked in from outside the door.

"Come in!" Zhu Zhanhe turned his head and was taken aback to see that it was Steward Hu. He immediately let him in. He knew that if it wasn't something important, Steward Hu would definitely not dare to disturb him at this time.

"Greetings to Your Highness, His Highness the Crown Prince, and His Highness the Crown Princess." After entering, Steward Hu carefully observed Zhu Zhanhe's expression. Finding that he was not angry, he breathed a sigh of relief and respectfully greeted the group.

"Get up." Seeing the anxious look on Steward Hu's face, it was clear he was looking for his son. So Princess Wei continued to drink her porridge without even raising her head.

"Your Highness, Xiao Xizi is back!" Then, Steward Hu told Zhu Zhanhe an important piece of news.

"Teng!" Zhu Zhanhe stood up abruptly after hearing Chief Steward Hu's words. He was very excited and happy because Xiao Xizi had been building ships for over a year, and he was eager to know the current progress of the fleet.

"Mother, I have something to take care of first."

"Princess Consort, please take good care of Mother." Zhu Zhanhe was so anxious that he didn't even eat. He simply gave his instructions to his mother and wife and left in a hurry.

Watching Zhu Zhanhe's departing figure, neither Princess Wei nor Princess Xia spoke, but simply watched quietly. They couldn't help, so their only task was to manage the internal affairs of the Prince's residence well and not cause any trouble for His Highness.

"Manager Hu, two things."

First, immediately send someone to invite Minister Xia to his study in Chengyun Hall.

Secondly, today, I will go to the East Third Palace to inform the princes of each branch that I have arranged for the second prince, Zhanqi, to go to the military camp for training. As long as they perform well, I will give them a chance when they reach the appropriate age.

Third, inform all departments of the Prince's Mansion that as long as they do their jobs well, I will not take any drastic action against them, and past matters can be forgiven, but they must not cause any further trouble. Zhu Zhanhe walked ahead, quickly heading towards the study of the new Prince's Mansion, because Xiao Xizi was waiting there.

"Yes, I'll arrange it right away!" Steward Hu, following behind Zhu Zhanhe, was taken aback when he suddenly heard his young master assigning tasks, but he immediately understood. Steward Hu then hurriedly jogged downstairs.

A moment later, Zhu Zhanhe arrived at the study in Chengyun Hall.

As soon as Zhu Zhanhe entered the room, he saw a figure kneeling inside.

"Little Xizi!" Zhu Zhanhe called out as he looked at the familiar figure kneeling on the ground.

"Your Highness, Xiao Xizi greets you! Thump, thump, thump!" Hearing Zhu Zhanhe's voice, Xiao Xizi, who was kneeling on the ground, turned his head with a look of surprise and joy. The moment he saw Zhu Zhanhe, tears streamed down his face, and he kowtowed several times to Zhu Zhanhe. "Get up quickly, get up quickly!" Zhu Zhanhe, in a manner of mutual respect between ruler and subject, quickly helped Xiao Xizi up.

"You've gotten darker and thinner, Xiao Xizi, you've worked hard." It has to be said that after more than a year, Xiao Xizi has given Zhu Zhanhe quite a few surprises. Without the influence of the previous thin and obsequious eunuch, he has actually grown quite a bit taller and has already taken on the imposing eunuch look of Ma Bao.

"It's not hard work, it's not hard work. Serving the young master is Xiao Xizi's lifelong ideal!" Hearing Zhu Zhanhe's words, Xiao Xizi felt that all the hard work of the past year was worthwhile.

"Come, sit down and tell me about your situation over the past year." Zhu Zhanhe helped Xiao Xizi up and then sat down at the head of the huge desk in the study, waiting for Xiao Xizi's work report.

"Young Master..." Xiao Xizi was about to speak when there was a knock on the door.

"Bang bang bang, Your Highness, Lord Xia has arrived." The eunuch's voice came from outside the door.

"Come in." Although his conversation was interrupted, Zhu Zhanhe was not angry at all, after all, his strategists and laborers had just arrived.

"Father-in-law, please come in quickly and sit down to talk." As soon as Xia Yuanji entered the room, before he could even speak, Zhu Zhanhe, who was very enthusiastic, grabbed his arm and led him into the study.

"Xiao Xizi, come and pay your respects to Lord Xia. He is the former Minister of Revenue and also the father of the Crown Prince's wife." Zhu Zhanhe pulled Xia Yuanji into the study and pressed him down into a chair, not giving Xia Yuanji a chance to speak.

"This servant, Xiao Xizi, greets Lord Xia." After hearing Zhu Zhanhe's words, Xiao Xizi knew that the Crown Prince had specially invited him to discuss matters with him, so he didn't stand on ceremony and knelt down to kowtow.

"Please rise, sir." Xia Yuanji didn't recognize the young eunuch in front of him at all, so he said with a serious expression.

“Father-in-law, Xiao Xizi is my eunuch. Before the late emperor’s five campaigns, I arranged for him to come to the fiefdom ahead of time to oversee the construction of ships.” Zhu Zhanhe was not polite to his father-in-law, Xia Yuanji, and directly told him about Xiao Xizi’s job.

At the same time, he gestured to Xiao Xizi to tell him about the current progress of the shipbuilding project.

"Your Highness, Lord Xia. Xiao Xizi departed from the capital in the twenty-second year of Yongle's reign, first arriving in various places, and then going to the Qingjiang Shipyard."

With the support of His Highness, this servant has built a total of 113 ships for Your Highness this year, including Cantonese ships, Fujianese ships, and sand ships.

However, the amount of money spent was also considerable, amounting to a million…” Xiao Xizi gave Zhu Zhanhe a detailed report on his situation over the past year.

"Your Highness, I heard that you are going to review the troops in a few days, and now you are spending millions of coins to build ships. What are you trying to do..." Xia Yuanji stared blankly at his son-in-law, his heart filled with panic and unease.

The Prince of Han is rebelling at the front lines, is the Crown Prince of Han also going to rebel? Did he come to his fiefdom just to rebel?!
"Father-in-law, I have a question to ask you." Zhu Zhanhe looked at his panicked father-in-law, slowly got up, came to Xia Yuanji, and spoke softly.

"Go ahead and ask," Xia Yuanji said, knowing that his son-in-law probably wouldn't have any good questions, so his heart was in his throat.

"May I ask, Father-in-law, is the Yuan Dynasty considered a legitimate dynasty?" Zhu Zhanhe asked softly as he approached his father-in-law, Xia Yuanji, with a cup of tea in hand.

"Of course, Emperor Taizu Gao has already made a decision on this matter!" Xia Yuanji raised his hand and bowed to the sky, indicating that there was no way to refute the matter, and said with a serious expression.

"In that case, my son-in-law's recapture of the former dynasty's territory doesn't count as rebellion, does it?" Zhu Zhanhe said with a smile.

"What? You..." Upon hearing Zhu Zhanhe's words, Xia Yuanji was immediately stunned. He finally understood why Zhu Zhanhe wanted to grant him a fiefdom. This son-in-law looked down on the small Central Plains. His dream was to have a much wider world, like Genghis Khan!

(End of this chapter)